Armor clattered. A bell rang. A sword rasped from its sheath. Heavy footsteps sounded from around the corner.

Noah’s eyes widened. He whirled and sprinted toward the clearing’s exit, vanishing into the maze.

Vivian glanced over his shoulder, watching Noah flee, then stood tall. I can respawn. The kid can’t. I need a mage to get to the Ruined Castle. If I buy time for him here, I’ve still got a mage. If I run… there’s only one exit, and if they know the way to the clearing, they know the way out. Not only am I dead, but so is Noah.

Three figures rounded the hedges. A burly, muscular man in heavy armor lurked in the back. A slender woman stepped forward, her hips twining seductively, bells jangling at her hip and ankles. And at their lead, a wiry man with no muscles whatsoever, his whole body skin and bone, clenched a sword.

Ha. He’s what she’d call a System junkie. Someone who relies on the System so much he completely neglects his body, Vivian thought. It works for a while, but ultimately, they become consumed by the System, unable to function without it, and—

A moment later, he frowned. Eh. She? Who?

The trio approached Vivian. He lowered his rake and scraped at the ground. It didn’t work on Jane, but that doesn’t mean it’ll never wor—

Silver.

He leaped back. A blade sliced through the place he’d been standing moments ago.

“So you are a recruitable fighter. Why are you labeled as a Gardener?” the swordsman asked, lifting his blade.

“It’s a good season to plant tomatoes,” Vivian replied. C’mon, I’m just an NPC. Underestimate me, so I can gank you.

The swordsman snorted. “Belltower Heights has an excellent view of this garden. You can give up the ghost. We know you can fight.”

Alright, change of plans. Chat so Noah can escape! Vivian put his hands on his hips. “Why are you after Noah?”

“Well, he wasn’t picking up the Phantom Rose fast enough, and we’ve got deadlines to keep. If that gear isn’t back home by the end of the week, we’re in trouble,” Kors said evenly.

“Any progress he makes on the quest counts for us, too, so it’s not a total loss, either,” Lewis pointed out.

Vivian blinked. A second later, his eyes widened. “Eh. He’s a member of your party?”

“Well… yeah. Every Player in the Sector Three Exclusion Zone is part of the guild. Little Noah lives in our neighborhood, so he’s part of our party. An inactive member, but still,” Kors said, shrugging.

Renee sighed. “Just kill the NPC already. Let’s go catch up with the kid and bring him home. There’s plenty of work for a Mage, even a kid Mage.”

Vivian frowned. “Work?” This isn’t the story Noah told me.

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“Making enchantments and charms. As long as we get him a few more levels and he puts them into the right skills, we’ve got ourselves a money tree,” Lewis said, clapping his hands together.

Ah. Right. The enchantment mage. They’re useless in combat and usually die young, but if they survive, they can make boatloads of cash selling enchantments. The entering-the-Tower-once-a-year restriction is pretty brutal on them, not to mention coming across any random monster or Exclusion Zone alone is a dead end, as far as they’re concerned. The only ones I remember were able to rapidly gain enough cash to hire 24/7 guards, and even then, they constantly staved off kidnap attempts from rival parties.

Enchanters are incredibly rare due to the dying young thing… and if Noah’s dream is to solo climb, he absolutely cannot afford to become an enchanter.

Vivian chuckled. What, did he not want to tell me out of fear of sounding selfish? Following your dreams is a powerful enough reason to want to escape a bunch of assholes’ control to me. I mean, the mom thing does sound nicer, and it probably is also his goal, but damn.

Ha! Explains why he’s a generalist mage, too. It’s better for Climber mages to focus on one element and become OP in that single element, but an enchanter needs equal competency in all elements.

Or… well, that’s what I kind of… sort of… remember. But I also remember solo mages being total jokes, so maybe that way of thinking was wrong.

“I suppose you’re buying time for Noah to get away?” Kors said, raising his sword.

“Obviously,” Vivian said. He hooked the spray bottle on his belt and put the clippers into his inventory, raising his rake instead. I can’t let him out-reach me. I’ll treat this rake as a spear, or rather, a pole-axe. Slashing attacks only. If the tines stick, I’ll swap to the clippers.

“Pointless. I’ll kill you, and catch the kid before he can get anywhere,” Kors said.

“Good luck. I’m the Vivian,” Vivian said, narrowing his eyes at Kors. Whatever that means.

They stared at each other for a moment. Abruptly, both of them started laughing.

“Did the kid tell you to say that?” Kors said, wiping his eyes.

“No, he just told me that I was ‘the Vivian,’” Vivian said.

“Kids are so cute, sometimes. Thinking a random NPC is a guy who’s been dead for more than a century,” Kors said, shaking his head. “I guess everyone needs heroes to latch onto.”

“Ha, yeah. I mean, he couldn’t latch onto a blatant villain like you,” Vivian returned, shaking his head.

Kors narrowed his eyes. The air shimmered. A pale green glow surrounded his limbs.

There it is. The telltale sign of a System junkie. Can’t even move without his—

A sword hurtled toward Vivian. He jumped back. Eleven in speed. That should at least let me react to—

Blood spurted. Vivian stumbled, staggering backward. His shirt fell open. Blood poured down pale skin.

Damn, I need some sun, Vivian thought, staring at his pale, pasty chest.

The upper half of his body slid backward, revealing his spine, ribs, and lungs. He tipped back, taking in the sky.

HP: 10 – 9 – 8 – 7 –

His HP drained before his eyes. The world turned cold, color fading out.

Alright, so, eleven speed, not enough, Vivian reflected. He crashed down to the grass. Fuck. I’m gonna reset to level one. Time to grind again…

Would you like to checkpoint? Y/N

Checkpoint? Hell yeah! Yes!

“Alright. Let’s pick up the kid, finish up this dumb quest, and get the Phantom Rose back to the boss,” Renee said, her bells jangling.

Just you wait. I’m coming back. This is a personal grudge, now, Vivian thought.

“Yeah. Dumbass kid wants it for his mom or something? That shit’s worth cash. He should use it to pay off that gear he stole, first,” Lewis said, shaking his head.

“He’ll have plenty of time to pay this all off when he’s our pocket enchanter and money tree,” Kors said, smirking.

“Really, though, where’s Jane? We haven’t heard from her in a while. Do you think she…” Renee trailed off.

“Probably just got carried away killing Lost Ones and forgot about us,” Kors said.

“But… the quest counter hasn’t gone up…”

Vivian’s eyes shut. Everything faded to black silence.

Checkpoint x 1

Floor: 1

Level: 10

Try Again!