I was very afraid of the 8th floor.
Not because of a powerful enemy, or hellish landscapes, but something far more annoying.
The 8th floor was based around riddles and puzzles.... and I was not particularly well versed in either.
I was the type of person who would ignore puzzles to open doors and instead just smash through them.
But breaking apart the tower was not possible.
My only saving grace was that it was a floor instance that would pair 2 players together.
In other words, I would most likely be reliant on my teammate.
I sighed to myself and looked to the sky.
It would have been a lot easier if the riddles and puzzles were the same each entry, but every instance held different riddles and randomized puzzles.
I passed luckily in my previous life since I had been paired with someone who was fairly competent.
A slight feeling of regret washed over me as I was never able to repay that favor due to my untimely death.
"...Well, I may as well give it a shot."
[Enter 8th Floor?]
Y/N
[...Travelling to 8th Floor - Enigma Chamber - ]
I found myself in a dimly lit hallway. The ceiling stretched high, fading into darkness, and the walls bore many carvings and tapestries.
"Hey! It's you!"
I turned right to look at who I had been paired with.
My face fell flat.
In front of me was a girl I had met shortly after exiting the tutorial.
"Seo Ahrin... what's up."
I greeted her without malice, but she immediately responded with an irritated glare.
"What's up?! Haven't you heard from other people? I've been searching for you to challenge you to a duel!"
My eyebrow raised in confusion.
Indeed, I hadn't heard of such news, probably due to the fact that I had given my utmost efforts in clearing floors instead of socializing.
To begin with, I wasn't social, so it wasn't surprising I hadn't heard such news.
"...Why? I don't think I've done anything wrong to you."
But still, I had no idea why she was upset enough with me to duel me.
'Was it seriously because of the stuff I did in the tutorial?'
I did remember her complaining about my actions back there, but it's not as if I actually killed anyone.
"Y-y-you, did you seriously forget what I said?!"
Her emerald eyes gleamed with anger.
She had said something to me?
"Uh... what? I mean... uhm.. no?"
I sputtered out a slightly pathetic reply.
"I said... that I would remember your actions, and that I would grow stronger, in other words.... it was a challenge to you!"
"...That's stupid, if we were to fight, I'm one hundred percent certain you'd lose. Anyway, can we make a move on and clear this floor?"
She balled her fists and stared at me angrily, she looked like a pouting child more than anything else, but I held in my laughter.
"I'll prove my strength to you... but for now, I can agree with you. Let's clear the floor first and then deal with our dispute."
I silently thought to myself.
'Isn't it a one-sided dispute? She's jousting at windmills more than anything else...'
My thoughts were interrupted when system windows appeared.
[Welcome to the Enigma Chamber! Your intelligence shall be tested through various riddles and puzzles. Answer correctly, and you may proceed. You have an unlimited guesses, but for every guess you get wrong, a monster will spawn, increasing in strength as per the amount of wrong answers.]
The floor was explained to us and I decided now would be a good time to admit my shortcomings.
"..So... I'm not particularly well versed in puzzles and this kind of thing... I'll be relying on you."
Ahrin tilted her head downwards and blushed, confusing me.
"I.... I'm not any better...."
"So what you're saying is... we're screwed?"
She did not answer, but the answer was obvious.
I sighed and looked around the room again.
Several lanterns lit up the room, revealing the marble flooring.
I walked forwards, Ahrin following, albeit at a distance.
In front of me stood a large pedestal, with a small keyhole.
Behind the pedestal stood 4 stone statues side by side.
Each statue depicted an angelic figure, wings and laurel, holding differing items.
The first statue held a book, the second a sword, the third a key, and the last one held a ring.
The pedestal suddenly began shaking, as glowing letters were inscribed beneath the keyhole.
I read them out.
"I can be held but not touched. I am greater than a house but lighter than a feather. What am I?"
I was at a complete loss, and turned my head towards Ahrin, hope shining in my blue eyes.
She looked back at me and shrugged.
"...Okay, let's think for a second, held but not touched, larger than a house but not heavy..."
Ahrin seemed to have an idea and spoke.
"It's... probably some sort of invisible force, or concept, I guess? Like, it's clearly not physical."
I pondered for a second before agreeing with her assessment.
"These statues are also strange."
Approaching the statues, I spoke my thoughts.
The statues had to hold some sort of meaning.
A book, a sword, a ring and a key.
"You said concepts, right? So.. what do these items represent?"
"Well.. I guess a book is knowledge.. yeah, that's pretty obvious."
I nodded my head at her assessment before bring up my own idea.
"The sword can represent both violence and protection... The ring.. represents love?"
"Yeah, that sounds possible?"
Ahrin did not seem sure, but agreed with me anyway before speaking once more.
"And the key should be... truth?"
Our conjectures seemed to be logical, but I was still not sure how they related to the riddle on the pedestal.
I mumbled to myself, repeating the riddle.
"Held but not touched... greater than a house but lighter than a feather..."
Ahrin brushed back her black hair, deep in thought.
I looked at her, expectingly, only to be disappointed.
"I don't know."
It seemed that we would be in the 8th floor for a while.