73: Retracing Her Steps

Retracing Her Steps

Upon entering the first floor, Neve was brought back to the arena that she and the other 100 players had all fought on to begin the Main Dungeon. 

There were no bodies here, though. 

[Huh? Guess the System cleaned up after a while.] 

At that moment, Tamira appeared before them.

"Hello!" She spoke, instead of just communicating with Neve telepathically as she usually did. 

She probably gave them this welcome for the sake of earning the exact reaction Ahlakan gave. 

"AH!" Ahlakan jumped at the sight of the snake's sudden appearance. Erin flinched. Neve's only reaction was an instant sense of annoyance, seeping into her heart. Tamira looked quite satisfied. 

"Is this an enemy?" Erin asked. 

"You can kill it if you want." 

"Aw, Neve, that's so mean! After all I've done for you, this is how you want to repay me?" 

Erin hesitated upon hearing that, keeping her swords by her side. Both she and Ahlakan looked to Neve for an explanation. The woman just sighed. 

"What do you want?" She asked instead, disregarding the curious looks. 

"So cold! Anyway, I figured I would let you know a little about what you're facing. But, if you don't want my advice, I guess I could just..."

"Come over here," Neve told Tamira, walking off to the right before she could even respond. "I'll be back in a sec," she told Erin and Ahlakan. 

Neve didn't mind much about Erin listening in on this, but she was hesitant to find out what Ahlakan's reaction to all of the System-related information would be.

It was selfish, absolutely, but she didn't want to go through everything she went through with Erin a second time.

[How would Ahlakan take it, though? Would her circumstances make things easier to accept?] She couldn't help but wonder, however, she quickly shook her head and pushed the matter out of her mind. Despite the guilt she felt over it. [No, no. It doesn't matter.] 

"Wow, I'm surprised you trust your new lover so little," Tamira told her. "You don't think she'd be grateful for the second chance at life you're giving her? Or, did you only want to save her so she could warm your bed at night~?" 

"J-Just cut to the chase, what is it? What do you have to say?" 

"Fine, fine. So, here's the deal," Tamira said and Neve tried her hardest to shove away the indecent thoughts she'd thrust into her head. "The enemies on this floor will not be respawning. However, this is a special case. Something I neglected to mention before is that after a week has passed, the enemies on each of the other floors respawn. I won't tell you where Thomas and his group are right now, that would be no fun, but I will say that it has been more than a week since they've made most of their progress. Meaning that in order to progress through these floors, you will be facing the enemies they already defeated. Including the boss fights."

"Uh, that's annoying." 

"Boring, right? Well, don't worry, becaaauuuuse..." She spun in the air three times and Neve instantly got that bad feeling she usually had whenever Tamira was about to say something awful. "Floor scaling is different depending on who is in it! Meaning that all of the enemies here will be adjusted to your level."

Neve's eyes widened. 

"What?" 

She was in disbelief. 

"Yep. Lovely, isn't it?"

"Wait, wait, that makes no sense," Neve declared. "When I first started this whole thing, I fought a golem on the first floor that had been like half my level because of the other players who were on the second floor. What happened?"

"Well," Tamira said lightly, "It's kind of a recent rule change, actually. Very recent."

"What do you mean?"

"Another world's attempt at the Final Challenge has forced this change," Tamira stated. "We just started giving another species the Unity Trials a little over a week ago. The higher-ups noticed that some people from this other world went into the Main Dungeon, did the first floor, and then just proceeded to stay there for the rest of the attempt, letting their friends go on ahead. They only started moving once all the other players died, even though the enemies were weaker. My superiors decided that sort of thing was unfair, so we made this adjustment. No one gets to laze around in the Main Dungeon. So, all of your enemies will match your level and respawn after a time. Additionally, if a player stays in a safe zone for too long, now, they will be forcibly kicked out for a time." 

Neve nodded along.

"Wow. Awesome. Interesting."

"I know, right? Anyway, don't worry, you-"

Neve nodded a bit more, and then quickly turned around.

"Okay, guys, change of plans. We're heading back out."

"W-WAIT!" Tamira yelled as Neve moved to walk away. Neve turned back around, raising a brow at her. "Y-You don't need to go!" 

"Bullshit," Neve replied. "Just one level 75 enemy gave Erin and I a fuck-ton of trouble. And you're saying every single enemy I fight is going to be that strong? I'd rather just keep looking for ways to get stronger, then. I have enough AP to last a while, so yeah." 

"That- that is a fair point, absolutely, but..." Tamira stated, flying in front of Neve and shrinking. 

[Is she trying to make herself look cuter or something?] 

"But, listen," Tamira continued. "Yes, the enemies will be tough, but they will not be the same as that knight you fought. Think about it, that knight was designed to be difficult to beat, Neve. Most enemies you encounter will be regular grunts, though. Simple, straightforward creatures."

[Except for the boss fights,] Neve quickly corrected in her thoughts, raising a brow. [Who I'd have to fight because they respawned.]

"B-But, the rewards, Neve! The rewards will be scaled up as well!" 

That point actually made Neve pause. 

"What?" 

"Indeed," Tamira said, smiling back at her. "The rewards you find will be scaled up to YOUR level, Neve! High-tier loot, with no one else to claim it but you!" 

"... I dunno," Neve sighed. "It's pretty fucking dangerous." 

"Think about it!" Tamira said, flying up to Neve's shoulder and getting her to look over at her allies. Erin and Ahlakan just gawked at her, both puzzled, as the snake whispered in her ear. 

"How much longer can Erin keep using those twin swords? They aren't high-quality weapons. If you're ever going to fight in this Main Dungeon, you're going to need stronger stuff. Sure, you could go looking for the right dungeon in a sea of options like trying to find a needle in a haystack, or, you could just find one or two treasure chests here and, BOOM! You have your replacement. Or, better yet, you could find high-quality materials and have Erin make her own stuff!"

"Uh..." Neve looked away. 

If she was being honest, these words did half-convince her. 

Mainly, because one thing was still true, despite this revelation. 

She still had no clue how far Thomas had gotten. 

[I might be running out of time...] 

"And," Tamira continued, her tone turning so sweet Neve almost puked. "You could find some materials for Ahlakan. She loves alchemy. Loves being useful and helpful, too. If you found some things for her to work with, she might just like you a lot more." 

Neve breathed in deeply. 

[That doesn't matter,] she replied in her thoughts. [She's not real. Why would I risk my life just so she can like me more?] 

[Do you truly believe that?] Tamira asked, speaking in Neve's mind as well. [After all, you're the one who asked me to help come up with suitable memories to make her more likely to accept this turn of events. Do you care that she's not "real"? Wouldn't it feel good to make her happy all the same?] 

Neve hissed, inhaling sharply. She felt scummy, but Tamira was right. She had done that. Again, she really didn't want to repeat everything that happened with Erin. 

She just wanted to make more pleasant memories with Ahlakan. Could she be blamed for that? 

Considering the snake's words, Neve finally sighed.

[I'll just try the second floor,] she concluded. [If it's too dangerous, I can just leave. I have enough Activity Points for the quota.]  2

"Bravo! That is what humans say, right? I look forward to your progress!" 

---

{Charlotte}

"So, you're really going through with this?" Jack asked as Charlotte finished packing. 

"Yep!" The pink-haired journalist replied. 

Though, maybe "part-time journalist" was more appropriate now that she'd found a second job. 

"I'm telling you, if you want, you could just work with me." 

"And, I'm telling you," Charlotte replied, throwing her bow over her back. "We wouldn't make enough money!"

"So, you're just going to risk your life for the sake of making an easy buck or two?" 

"Couldn't you literally ask me the same question about my previous job? Yes, I am!" She answered confidently. "We don't know how much more time we've got before all the people in the Final Challenge finally die. If my idea is going to work, I need to make enough money to be persistent and communicate often and, well... the bills were not kind to me this month, so yeah!"

"Fine, fine. I won't stop you, but I think it's crazy."

"Come on, they're only low-level dungeons. How bad could it be?" 

What she and Jack were currently talking about was the scheme Charlotte had come up with to finally communicate with the players in the Final Challenge. 

Neve, specifically, of course. Her crush took priority. 

It was simple. Charlotte had assigned a monetary value to every letter of the alphabet and was going to use these values to send messages to Neve. 

A = 1WS Token, B = 2WS Tokens, C = 3WS Tokens, and so on. 

For one singular message, this wouldn't require much money at all. There was one simple problem, though. 

Charlotte had no clue how long it would take before Neve caught on.

So, she wanted to build up some savings just in case. 

"Don't worry, I'll be fine!" Charlotte said. "I'm a journalist. I've been spending half my new life on the frontlines. This'll be a piece of cake!" 

Jack, however, did not look too confident. 

[Oh well,] Charlotte thought, setting aside his worries. [This is what I want to do. I am going through with it!] 

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