บท 61: The Seventh Floor (III)
Grumbling and cursing a few times, Snow wished she could get out of this dungeon and punch Lily in the face. Even if she couldn't right now, she silently promised her that she would.
"Is everything alright?" Darien asked. He watched the whole scene as she threw a fit.
"I thought you weren't talking to me." Snow snapped back, realizing that she was misplacing her anger.
Breathing in deeply, she closed her eyes. The swirl of emotions started to settle down, allowing her to think a bit straighter. "Sorry, just work."
"Oh, is there anything you need help in?"
"No, but thank you." Snow got up, looking for Mr. Everrett as she walked away. She knew she was pushing things away from Dairen, but she needed to cool down.
Walking around the busy crowd, she didn't hear Dairen following behind her. Her mind was too busy thinking of ways to tackle this problem. If Lily was going to be an asshole and not send any reinforcement and supplies, she needed to find a different source. Also to send a message to the upper Echelon and Heather even if it took a while.
She realized how stupid she was; the meat from the dungeon provided them with food, and the vegetables that she knew existed already in different levels were already an economic wealth without the outside source.
The only problem now was the materials for creating spare weapons if none would be provided. No blacksmith would brave the depths of a dangerous field without putting their life on the line. Her mind started to wheel into action, the only thing she could count on right now was herself, the remaining hunters, and the Players themselves.
There was too much to do. Snow stopped, Dairen bumped into her back. He let out a painful grunt as his arms literally wrapped around her and almost made her trip onto the ground.
"What?" Snow was dumbfounded by Dairen's action as he caught her in a bear hug-like embrace.
For a moment, they were both in a deep silence, unsure how they got into this odd position.
She opened up her mouth to speak but closed as she felt Dairen's gaze rested upon her. She felt...small and vulnerable. She didn't like it.
"Ahem." Snow pretends to cough to grab his attention.
Dairen didn't seem to respond and instead seemed to hug her a bit tighter.
Unsure what to do, she stood still for a moment until it got a bit too uncomfortable. She pulled herself apart, which eventually Dairen let go. A hint of reluctance appeared on his face, but it disappeared just as quickly as it appeared.
"I-" He wasn't sure how to respond, his hand slicking back his hair, taking a good look at her a few moments before he started to talk again. "You stopped, and I accidentally bumped you." He replied as if it would explain everything.
"I didn't mean to." Snow replied, realizing where she messed up. Just as the problems that seem to swallow her whole, the stress that she had been holding in her heart spilled out like a waterfall. "Look. I know we had our squabbles, but I wanted to say I am sorry for being very pushy about your powers. It was wrong of me." She quickly stated.
"It's fine, Snow." Dairen gave her a gentle smile as the breath that he had held up in his chest was let out a bit forcefully. "I know you were doing it for good intent. I was thinking about it and understood what you were trying to say. I'll be careful of my ability."
"Thank you. Just be careful out there." Snow knew that she was being worried for no reason; it was unlike her at all. She was too much of a worrywart, possibly. She pushed back those thoughts away.
"I noticed that something is troubling you."
"Yes," Her shoulders slumped down, remembering the past conversation with Lily. "We won't have much reinforcement this time."
"Why?" Dairen asked. He was confused. "Aren't you the field manager?"
"Yes." Snow's hand became a fist. "Lily picked up and was a dick about it. I need to relay a message to the upper Echelon. I don't have direct contact with one as they seem to have forgotten to give one to me." She felt a bit under-appreciated for working in this company.
"Why not send a mail to Heather and send out a message to the outside."
"I'll be doing that." Snow replied, "but that would take about a week at most. I wanted to cut the time down by a few days."
Honestly, five days was the soonest that she could get the people from the Headquarter with the time it took from the first floor to the seventh.
Dairen curiously asked, "Is there something else that is going on?"
"Well, yes." Snow slowly spoke her mind. She knew that she couldn't keep this information to herself. "I found an ancient text on the wall. It said, 'The guardians of the last stand. An end to all when the wall falls."
Such dark looming words brought an ugly silence. Even Dairen was trying to grasp her concepts.
"What can I do to help?"
"I need people, food, and weapons for the weeks to come." Snow listed. "This wall must not fall."
"I understand. I think I can do something."
"You have an idea?"
"Well, yes."
"Such as?"
"Missions or quest."
Snow realized what he was asking for. The Players did have a habit of taking up Missions with excitement when a good reward was present. They would do many things for such a simple request that it made her wonder if they would even go further to assassination for the right price. Such thoughts made her shiver.
Dairen stopped, he looked around before he jumped up on a crate. A few Players curiously looked over, wondering what was happening.
Snow could feel a tingling of magic draw around Dairen, traveling up to his throat.
Instantly, a blast of pure energy from his voice echoed out into the crowd. "Hey, guys! Snow is calling for help! You'll get a chance to get a mission!"
Suddenly, everybody who was busily doing something all rushed over to Snow in a swarm.
"What do you have?"
"Is this a new mission for a search?"
"I want to do another mission on plant searching! I'm not so good at hunting." A girl spoke out with a glimmer in her eyes. She was busily jumping up and down, waving her hand amid the crowd.
"Quiet!" Dairen shouted with a command.
Snow cleared her throat. Her wash of fear of talking in front of everyone was bubbling up in her, but she quickly squashed it down. She couldn't let such a feeling slow her down on what she needed to do.
"Hey, everyone." Snow spoke, bringing up courage every second she spoke as it got more comfortable. "I need workers, guards, and hunters. You will be compensated for your work, but the main thing I must tell you is that this place must stand."
A flurry of words started to echo out into the crowd.
"Oh my god, I just got a main mission."
"Me too. Me too."
Every single one of them excitedly spoke. Snow didn't know what was going on, but she felt a wave of emotions as she knew that whatever was happening was going in her favor.
"I will compensate you ten gold coins monthly for people who want to be a guard. For hunting down specific monsters, it will be all up later, same with the scavenging for plants that are much needed." Snow continued to explain one after another. "But the most important thing is the safety of this camp." She stressed so that the others understood her.
"Hell yea, look at that experience points and money."
The Players excitedly chattered at the thought of rewards that were to come. Snow could already see a line of excited players that wanted the many other missions that she was about to give.
#####
Snow woke up with a start in the middle of the night. Her mind buzzed with her dream that was still fresh in her mind. Quickly, she pulled out a pen and a drawing pad that she kept for personal use. Her night lamp was turned on as she walked out of her tent in her pajamas. She placed the electric light that brightened a good portion of the surrounding, which caused a few people to groan out in protest.
Her mind was too focused on being bothered by the voices as her hand-scribbled out a drawing. At first, it was just a quick sketch of the placement, and eventually, she started to darken the lines as the picture appeared before her. An angel was flying over the Great wall, looking over a large group of people.
Two people, she recognized, were overlooking the gate walls. A large hole was present, while large four-legged monsters with horns appeared rushing towards the gate. What was much more memorable was a vast divide in the ground itself as a swarm of dark water was filled with fog covering half the land.
She couldn't help but gape at what she drew; the vision was too vivid. Maybe it was her mind overthinking things, but the worry of low supplies, people, and the fall was something she did not want. Even if this wall fell, it was still her problem as it meant that the monsters would come and invade the lower floors. Her friend, Heather, was down below, and she didn't want anything to happen to her.
Placing her paper down, she got up and stuck the paper inside her tent. She didn't realize that the morning sun was already coming up, peeking at over the walls as if welcoming the trumpet of another hot day.
Her steps became quick as she started to focus on the task ahead. She knew what she needed to do, and time was of the essence.
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