Darkness has fallen in the mating room.
Judging by the lack of light beyond the translucent walls, it was either night or the lights had been turned off.
As a result, the temperature inside the cage began to drop rapidly.
White frost formed on the walls.
Furthermore.
[enters mating environment]
[1st timeout 00:00:00]]
[2nd timeout 10:00:00] .
.
.
A light rain began to fall from the darkness of the ceiling.
It was just enough to moisten the surface of the sawdust, but with the freezing cold around them, it was quite threatening.
Vikir ducked out of the pouring rain and into the sawdust at the bottom of the hill.
'... I wonder if this is primary.'
The blue mist that had brought the giant mantis to heat earlier was definitely round two.
Apparently it happens when the time limit for the first round is up.
'It was hot and sweaty earlier, but now it's raining and frosty. What a crazy day.'
As Vikir was thinking to himself, Sinclair, who was squatting next to him, spoke up.
"Do they want us to freeze to death out here? They're going to make us sweat and then leave us out in the rain."
It had been hot in the kennel just moments before, and Sinclair was wearing only a black sleeveless t-shirt on his upper body.
But even if it had gotten colder, she couldn't bring herself to put the cloak back on.
It was already damp from sweat and drizzle.
…phut! … phut!
When Vikir turned around after vigorously shaking off the water from his clothes, Sinclair was just breathing quietly with her head buried between her knees.
As her breathing gradually became quieter, her physical condition seemed to be not that good.
'She's hypothermic, and she's going to die if I don't keep her awake.'
Vikir moved to Sinclair's side and sat down.
He spoke to her to keep her awake.
"What were the missions on the previous floor?"
"...."
"Sinclair, what were the missions on the previous floor?"
Vikir asked, shaking her shoulder, and Sinclair snapped out of it.
She shuddered once, then opened her mouth to speak.
"Ah, on the magic train... to fight each other."
Sinclair said she survived a swarm of hellhounds on the 3rd floor, and made it to the 5th floor after experiencing a Daylily attack on the 4th floor.
The intervening time was a long one, but it wasn't particularly odd, as different floors had different notions of time inside the tower.
"Hellhound and blood daylily, I went through those too."
"Really? How many days did you endure them?"
"I didn't. I caught the Daylily."
"What, you caught it? Was that something you could catch?"
Sinclair looked genuinely surprised.
Then she spoke in a hushed voice.
"We fought it, actually. We couldn't make the sacrifice... and then the Daylily ate most of the survivors, so the mission was automatically cleared."
"Maybe that was the best thing that could have happened. Realistically."
The chances of the Colosseo Academy students catching a Daylily of Blood are slim to none.
It's just that Vikir was off-the-charts strong.
Sinclair then turned to the next floor, the 5th.
"The fifth floor was ... hell, much worse than the 3rd and 4th."
"What was it?"
"...."
Sinclair paused for a long moment before answering in a low voice.
"A killing spree."
Sinclair's next words were quite shocking.
"The location was a compartment of the magic train. When I came to, everyone was in their seats on the train."
And then, in front of everyone's eyes, the mission.
※ From now on, the 5 closest people will form one group!
※ If any of the 5 people in a group die, the group will be automatically eliminated and everyone will die!
※If you have a weaker friend, be sure to help and protect him or her! The outcome is important, but the process is also important! Cooperation is also a criterion for evaluation!
※ The stats of the dead are automatically absorbed into the stats of the killer!
※ Try to eliminate all other groups and be the last one standing!
※ P.S-I intentionally formed groups with people who seemed close to each other^^
It was a "struggle of all against all" between the survivors.
Five people in a group. And if you lose even one of them, everyone dies.
Also, if you kill a member of another group, you can take away all their stats.
As soon as the mission was announced, several students sprang into action.
In the blink of an eye, a female student swung an awl and pierced the neck of a large, burly male student next to her.
He died without so much as a scream, and all of his stats went to her.
She began attacking other students, using her stats to become as strong as one of the muscular men.
The train compartment quickly turned into chaos.
Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, and Sinclair, who happened to be in a group, worked together to deflect all the incoming attacks.
Once they'd managed to fend off everyone, another mission popped up.
※It's a bit futile to win by holding out, right? Don't make the game too boring.
※Congratulations to the five challengers who seem to be getting along so well!
※But unfortunately, only one of you can make it through this stage!!!
※From now on, we'll be sending all but one of you to the Daylily Colony on the 4th floor!
It was the fairy's stench that made the five close friends into a group in the first place.
The five survivors had already bonded over the hellish chatter.
What's more, not only were they close to begin with, but they had saved each other's lives many times over.
Of the five of them, only one can survive.
The remaining four will descend into a hell of off-size monsters.
Sinclair smiled bitterly, avoiding Vikir's gaze.
"I was the one who made the first move."
"I understand."
" ...You find that contemptible, don't you?"
"No. No one can blame you."
Vikir spoke in a dry voice.
Then he spoke.
"In that situation, it's right to let the one most capable of surviving live. That's what I would have done."
In reality, Vikir had been in situations like this countless times.
He'd been on the losing end, and he'd survived.
Sinclair stared at Vikir with a puzzled expression on her face.
Then, in a small voice, she asked.
" ... If my brother joined, would you have done the same?"
"Of course."
"Then you would have survived. You are stronger and wiser than me."
"That is also true."
Vikir nodded nonchalantly, and Sinclair could only smile in response.
"It's a strange feeling, like being comforted and a little bit hurt...."
Sinclair hesitated for a moment before continuing.
"I guess I'll never be as strong-minded as my brother, no matter how hard I try."
Sinclair finished telling the rest of the story.
Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, Bianca, and Sinclair.
Of the five, only one would survive.
And it was Sinclair who made the first move.
Sinclair had been working hard to distance herself from her friends in anticipation of dropping out of the Academy.
So, once again, she closed her eyes tightly and cast a powerful spell.
...No, she tried.
But Sinclair couldn't make it work.
Guilt. Friendship. A tidal wave of unspeakable emotions washed over her, sapping her mana.
"...So what happened?"
Vikir continued.
He couldn't stay still, or he'd fall asleep, and then he'd really freeze to death.
Sinclair answered with a half-open, half-dazed gaze.
"Then Tudor spoke."
In Sinclair's recollection, Tudor had said exactly what Vikir had expected.
'In a situation like this, I think it's only right to let the one with the best chance of survival live.'
Suddenly, the eyes of Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, and Bianca all turned to Sinclair.
'You're the most brilliant of us all, Sinclair, so I think you should go.'
'You will get revenge on those demons. With your skills and talent, you can do it.'
'I thought of course I should get out. Make sure you survive to get my share!'
'... Heh. You realize how you've been treating me lately? Really reflect on yourself. Where can I find such a good friend?'
Tudor, Sancho, Piggy, and Bianca unanimously voted to save Sinclair.
Hearing this, Vikir nodded.
'Of course, you're right, my thoughts are also influenced by the Tudors before the regression.'
Tudor, the great hero of the Age of Destruction, always made rational choices.
However, he sometimes acted irrationally, always sacrificing himself to save others if it involved himself.
Vikir's life was once saved by Tudor's sacrifice in a life-or-death situation.
Tudor was dying for the first time. Bianca cried out. The warriors of the Humanity Alliance who had survived, but had been grieving for a long time afterward.
Vikir wondered over and over again why the great hero Tudor had sacrificed himself for the sake of a lowly warrior.
And then, in the present day, Vikir heard the answer.
"He said... 'cause that's what heroes do,' that idiot."
Sinclair's eyes narrowed.
Tudor gave Sinclair a thumbs-up with a smirk as he stood there trying not to leave.
'Don't worry. If any circumstances arise, we will use a return scroll.'
The penalty for which, instead of returning to the tutorial safe zone, all levels would be reset to 1.
At that, Vikir nodded.
'Good thing they all have their scrolls.'
Scrolls can save your life once in a crisis.
Resetting your level to 1 is a pain in the ass, but there's nothing more precious than a life.
"Yeah. Using a return scroll is a wise choice. Instead of resetting your level, you'll have the foundation to become stronger. Your stats will remain the same, and you'll have information about the missions you'll face, which will make it much easier to become stronger. Of course, once you've use the scroll, you'll be classified as the tower's pre-existing creature, so you'll be destined to create many more victims...hmm?"
Vikir had to stop mid-sentence.
"...."
He turned to the side and saw Sinclair curled up in a ball, head bowed, saying nothing.
Apparently, she had fallen asleep from her tears.
hic-hic-
Her breathing has become so soft that it is barely audible anymore.
Thud.
Sinclair's head rests on Vikir's shoulder.
Her breath, faintly warm, tickled the nape of Vikir's neck.
But.
"Wake up. If you sleep, you die."
Vikir slapped Sinclair across the cheeks, relentlessly.
"Huh, did I fall asleep?"
Sinclair jerked awake and sat up.
"Thanks, brother, I could've frozen to death if I'd messed up. I've been feeling warm and sleepy for a while now... But why does my cheek hurt like this?"
"It's your mood."
Sinclair nodded at Vikir's words.
But once the temperature dropped, there was nothing she could do about it mentally.
Next, Sinclair leaned in and whispered in Vikir's ear.
"I'm sorry, brother... I... I think that's it...."
There was no more mana to draw. Her body and mind were already exhausted.
"If only one of us can get out... you... I'll be fine... I can count on you...."
But Vikir had already stopped listening to Sinclair.
'What should I do?'
Vikir decided to look at the other room on the other side of the wall.
It was drizzling and frosty in the other room, too.
"...!"
Vikir looked over to see what the creatures in the other room were doing.
They were burrowing deep into the wet sawdust on the outside, then burrowing into the dry sawdust on the inside, and sticking together.
The creatures, who were basking in each other's warmth, also huddle together to share their body heat in the face of the cold.
'...I wonder if this was the intention of the watering. It's extremely dark and damp.'
I could see what the owner of the room was expecting.
Stripped of rain- and sweat-soaked clothing, Vikir made his way to Sinclair's side.
As he approached, Sinclair's eyes narrowed and her voice trembled.
"Bro, brother, what are you going to do....?"
Vikir answered briefly.
"I guess I'll have to live up to expectations."