Wind blew as they climbed the narrow, wandering path up to the belltower. Overhead, ravens circled, occasionally letting out eerie cries. Underfoot, loose gravel slid under their shoes, threatening to give out at any moment. A single rope handrail wound alongside the path, drooping here and there where the slender supports rusted out. Beyond the handrail, a cliff fell away, plunging all the way down to the fog-obscured Garden far below.

A stiff gust of wind whipped Vivian’s hair into his face. He spat his bangs out for the thousandth time and ran his hair back with his hand. Just long enough to be annoying, not long enough to tie back. I need a hairband, a bandana… He shot a look at Kyung. A haircut…

“What?” Kyung asked.

“You’re a barber, right? Could you cut my hair?” Vivian asked.

“Ten Gold,” Kyung returned.

“What? I don’t get a discount?” Vivian said, stunned.

Kyung frowned at him. “What should you get a discount for?”

“For being in your party!” Vivian explained.

Kyung snorted. He shook his head.

Sighing, Vivian looked at Noah. “Can’t catch a break.”

Noah’s eyes were locked on the ground. At Vivian’s voice, he jumped, then nodded. “Yeah! Uh huh.”

Vivian smiled slightly to himself. The kid’s really nervous, huh? Well, it’s not bad to be on edge in a combat area. They’re pretty dangerous places.

He nodded ahead of them. The belltower now stood crookedly overhead, its brass bell dangling precariously out of the tilted tower, threatening to drop down onto the narrow path they climbed. They stepped into the belltower’s shadow, and the rope holding the bell creaked loudly. The bell dropped, letting out a dolorous tone.

Noah yelped and sprinted down the path. He ducked and put his hands over his head.

Kyung and Vivian turned to look at him. Kyung’s brow faintly furrowed.

After a beat, Vivian snorted, chuckling. “Noah. Aww, you fell for it.”

Noah straightened slowly. He looked up. “Fell for it…”

“Yeah. The bell always does that,” Vivian said. He walked back a few steps, then strode forward. As he passed over a stone step set into the gravel path, the rope creaked and the bell tolled. Backed up again. Forward again. Another creak, another toll.

Noah frowned. “It’s just a joke?”

“Yeah. If you do it enough, the bell touches down,” Vivian said, passing back and forth quickly over the step. The rope creaked nonstop, and the bell repeatedly rang. Slowly, it drooped toward earth, lurching a few inches at a time.

“Why…?” Noah asked, confused.

Vivian shrugged. “It’s one of the stupider glitches. Doesn’t do much for you, it’s just kind of silly. Back in the day, people used to use it to stash things in the bell, but it fell out of popularity once enough people knew about it. I mean…” He looked up at the constantly ringing bell. “It’s not exactly stealthy.”

“Oh,” Noah said.

“Some people would try muffling the bell before they did it, but then everyone in the know checked to see if something was hidden inside when the bell didn’t ring… I’m surprised you don’t know. It isn’t exactly a secret,” Vivian said. Sure, most people keep Tower-related knowledge close to their chest, but then again, most Tower secrets don’t come with a rolling bell tone.

Kyung shook his head. “I’ve never heard of that, either.”

Vivian frowned. “What? Did everyone forget…?”

He looked at the bell, now lowering to head height, then nodded at Kyung. “Run ahead. Go check the bell, see if there’s something in it. People usually taped their stash to the inside of the bell, up under the lip, or to the clapper, but it doesn’t sound that off.” There’s no guarantee there’s something in there, but if everyone forgot… there’s a chance. It doesn’t cost anything to check!

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Kyung nodded and sprinted toward the belltower.

Glancing at Vivian, Noah followed after.

Bouncing from one side of the step to the other, Vivian shook his head at Noah’s back. “Making me do all the hard work…”

A few moments later, Kyung stepped out of the belltower. He inclined his head at Vivian.

Vivian jogged over. “Find something?”

Kyung held up a letter, clenched between his first two fingers. He flicked it at Vivian.

Vivian caught it. He turned it over. Scarlet ink in a loose hand spelled out, To Vivi.

Taken aback, Vivian frowned. “To me?”

Kyung shrugged. “Who else?”

Vivian’s frown deepened. But who would leave a letter for me on Floor One? Putting aside whether I’m “The Vivian” or not, I remember reaching much higher floors than Floor One. Once I reached level twenty-one, I couldn’t return to Floor One, and if I got to Floor Twenty, let alone Thirty or Forty, I’d be well above twenty just to survive. The old me definitely passed the level cap.

If this is for me, whoever left it somehow knew that I’d be on Floor One despite all that. In other words… they knew that I would die, and not only that, die and respawn as a level one.

Vivian regarded the note for one more moment. “Vivi…”

“Should I call you that?” Noah asked.

“You can call me whatever you want, kiddo. Vi, Viv, Vivi, I’m not picky,” he said. Before he could think about it any more deeply, he slid his thumb under the flap of the envelope and tipped out the letter.

Folded paper landed in the palm of his hand. It unfolded itself, as if it had only been folded a moment ago and still wanted to spring back. In the same scarlet, two words appeared in the center of the paper:

I’m waiting.

“What does it say?” Noah asked.

Vivian shook his head. “Nothing.” Folding the letter back up, he slid it into the envelope and sent the whole thing into his inventory before Noah could get a glimpse. His brow furrowed.

Why bother? Why hide a letter in a place only I remember, use a name she used to use, only to leave such a basic message? There’s no point…

No. There is a point.

She’s alive.

Vivian clenched his fist. He gazed up at the belltower, a glint in his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he shouted, “And what the fuck does that mean, huh?”

“Huh?” Noah asked, jumping.

“I don’t know shit about that girl! What’s the point in acting like she’s alive?” Vivian asked, somewhere between amused and frustrated. “I mean, jeez, someone went to a shit-ton of effort to leave me this message, but it doesn’t mean a damn thing to me. I almost wish I felt something, because obviously this is supposed to mean something to me, but damn, man, I don’t remember anything. Even if she’s alive, she’s whispered creepy things in my ears a few times now, but that’s all. At most, I feel weirded out by her!”

“You didn’t like the idea of her being dead,” Kyung pointed out quietly.

“Well, no. I don’t like the idea of people being dead, recent events notwithstanding,” Vivian said. After a moment, he waved his hand. “I don’t like the idea of people I like being dead. Who would?”

Kyung nodded, acknowledging his clarification.

“There wasn’t anything else in there? Anything useful? Gold? Drugs?” Vivian asked.

Kyung shook his head.

Vivian sighed. “Oh well. At least we know someone’s leaving me weird letters.” And that’s the real takeaway here. Not that the girl’s alive, not that she’s waiting, because after all, I don’t know who wrote that letter. There’s no proof of identity. Instead, I should take this as a warning that I’m not nearly as anonymous as I think. Someone knows I’m here, and not only that, knows that I’d know about this glitch, and knows about me and that girl, probably. I’m being watched. By who and how is still up in the air, but it’s worth keeping in mind.

“What did it say?” Noah asked again, a little whiny this time.

Vivian scuffed his hair. “None of your business.”

Scowling, Noah ducked away from his hand. He hurried ahead, out of the range of Vivian’s reach.

“Careful. There’s goblins ahead,” Vivian called.

Noah braked and turned an about-face, quickly retreating to behind the two melee fighters.

Vivian nodded. Now that’s a mage who knows where he ought to be. Unlike—

A blurry man’s face passed through his mind. The man’s back, as he entered the Mage’s Highway. “Viv, you can’t be so serious all the time—”

Static.

He scowled, rubbing his head hard. Alright, alright. I’ll figure it out later.

“The biggest difference between goblins and lower-level monsters is their ability to reason, to some level, and fight with tactics and techniques,” Vivian said. He called his spade to hand and tossed it lightly in the air, snatching it away with a flick of his wrist. “Although they don’t have proper Skills yet, they have beast-level and physical-level skills—that is, untrained skills, and they have enough intelligence to apply them in the correct situations.”

Kyung nodded. “Watch our six. They like to flank Parties.”

“By which he means, make sure they don’t get behind us. They know where a Party’s soft underbelly is, and you’re it,” Vivian translated.

Noah nodded. He glanced over his shoulder, immediately nervous.

Ahead of them, the remnants of a town spread away from the belltower. Shadows flitted around the ruins, moving too quickly to be properly seen. Batlike ears flicked, visible through a shattered window for a bare moment. Eyes reflected the light like a beast’s from the depths of a doorless rowhouse.

Vivian took a deep breath. “Ready?”

Kyung grunted.

Noah raised his hand. Ice crystals danced around his palm and up his arm, and a chill wind blew. “Ready.”