“Buy the rope?” Vivian asked.

Kyung held up a loop of heavy rope.

“Good. I’ve got this,” Vivian said, holding up his metal rake.

Kyung hooked a brow.

“It’s close enough,” Vivian said, shrugging. He looked at it. “It probably won’t crumple under my weight. And if it does… that’s what backup plans are for!”

The two of them looked out, gazing into the forest.

“So… where’re the other two?” Vivian asked.

Kyung shrugged.

Vivian sighed. He glanced at Kyung. “Not much of a conversationalist, huh.”

Kyung turned. He looked Vivian dead in the eye, then shrugged.

“Oh, come on,” Vivian said, rolling his eyes at Kyung.

A slow grin spread over Kyung’s face. Abruptly, he turned away, his shoulders shaking.

Vivian snorted and shook his head at Kyung. Putting up the strong, silent façade, huh? Finally got you to break a bit!

“Hey!” Isa waved, grinning. The end of her skirt was torn and frayed, and her arms were dirty and scratched, but she looked triumphant nonetheless.

Behind her, Noah clutched a paper bag of food close to his chest. He nodded at the other two and scurried over, running to a halt.

“Hey. What happened to you?” Vivian asked.

“Oh, not much. Just a little grinding. Guess what. I’m level three now!” Isa said, tossing her hair.

“Well, it’s better than level one,” Vivian said with a shrug.

“Where did you guys go for so long, anyways? We came back to check, but there was no trace of you two,” she asked.

“Checking out our entry point,” Vivian said, shrugging. He glanced at the sky. “We should spend the night here, then get moving in the morning.”

“Why not charge in now?” Isa asked.

“The monsters get way stronger at night. You don’t want to risk getting stuck in there after dark,” Vivian explained. He looked at Isa, squinting slightly.

“What?” Isa asked, crossing her arms.

“Were you a Player?” he asked.

“No. Hell no,” Isa said, shaking her head.

“So… how’d you end up here?” Vivian asked.

“I live in the Great Southwestern Exclusion Zone. You know, the one that covers most of Texas and the northern half of Mexico,” Isa started.

“No, I don’t,” Vivian said, startled. Half of Mexico and most of Texas? How? How did anyone let it get that large? Even the biggest ones back in my day were barely larger than a city.

Damn. I guess Noah really wasn’t kidding. Exclusion Zones are huge nowadays.

Isa furrowed her brows at Vivian, then glanced at Kyung and Noah.

“He’s weird, yeah,” Noah said, nodding.

Kyung gestured for her to continue.

“Anyways. I was riding home when I got blindsided by some lizardmen. I shot the hell out of the first two—I mean, who doesn’t carry a magic gun in an Exclusion Zone, right?—but the third one got my ass. Knocked me out and carried me back to the lizardman spawn. Woke up there panicking. I thought they were going to kill me and eat me or whatever, but instead, they just carried me into this dark, dark cave. Threw me down this slope. I rolled into the darkness, and…” She shrugged. “Next thing I know, I’m spawning in the belltower.”

“Huh,” Vivian muttered. He glanced at Isa. “Do people often get kidnapped by monsters?”

Isa shrugged. “In an Exclusion Zone? Hell if I know. I’m not in a slum Exclusion Zone like Noah, close to a city, that… if it doesn’t have rule of law, it’s at least got police. It’s the Wild West where I grew up, pretty much literally. People go missing, die, vanish, turn up again, turn up again dead, you name it, all the time out in the Great Southwestern Exclusion Zone. If you aren’t part of a posse or cartel, you’re prime meat. Won’t last long.”

Vivian twisted his lips. Guess there’s no way to know, then, if it’s that chaotic. Still, if the Tower is kidnapping people to be NPCs… that can’t be a good sign.

Something flashed in his head. The girl, smiling at him. If I ever leave— A man, the same one who’d waved at him from the entrance to the Mage’s Highway. You’ve got to be careful. I’ve heard rumors about… Monsters, rushing at him, teeth bared. The man again, blank-eyed, smiling vacantly into the distance. Would you like a cinnamon roll?

I know. I know. I’ve known. Because I knew, I—she—I had to—

Vivian staggered back. He scowled, rubbing his forehead. “Ow.”

“You… alright?” Isa asked.

“Fine, I’m fine,” Vivian muttered. He rubbed his forehead harder, then shook his head. “Ouch.”

Isa glanced up. “I’m going to go grind more. I think I can hit level five before night falls. Anyone else want to come with?”

Vivian hopped to his feet. “Let’s go.” These thoughts hurt. I don’t want to keep thinking like this. Better to distract myself watching a noob fight than sit here and give myself a migraine. Besides, I’m curious how a Seamstress fights. What kind of tools does she have at her disposal? A sewing machine? That’d be big and heavy. Needles? Ooh. String? Hell yeah. There’s actually a lot of potential here.

“Oh,” Isa muttered.

“What? You don’t want me?” Vivian asked, crossing his arms.

“No, no. You’re fine,” Isa said, waving her hands. She nodded at Noah, grinning. “Don’t eat that all in one sitting, alright?”

Noah jolted. He shook his head. In a suspicious tone that suggested he was thinking of it, he said, “I wouldn’t.”

Vivian paused. He reached into the paper bag and grabbed out some hard cheese and a hunk of the crusty bread inside. “Just in case.”

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

“Good idea,” Isa agreed. She grabbed her own cheese and bread, and walked off, eating them.

Noah pursed his lips. “You can trust me…”

Kyung snorted. He grabbed his own hunk of bread, shaking his head at Noah.

Isa didn’t go far. Just around the corner, she stopped in an open meadow. Little furry creatures hurried around, barely visible through the grass.

Sitting down to watch with his back against a tree, Vivian gnawed on his bread and cheese. Let’s see what she’s got.

Isa drew out a pair of heavy scissors and charged into the field, chasing after the furry monsters. One whipped around, baring its teeth at her. Unhesitatingly, Isa charged the monster and slammed her scissors down on the creature’s head. Over and over, smashing it until it became a bloody pulp. With a gasp, she retrieved her scissors and wiped her forehead with the back of her arm, then glanced around, searching for her next victim.

Vivian licked his lips. Ah. Or… or you could just brutally beat monsters to death with scissors. Yep.

Isa cornered another monster. The scissors flashed again, resonating with bloody light. The creature bared its teeth, but before it could strike, she stabbed the scissors into its center of mass. Teeth gritted in wild determination, she let out a little growl to herself.

Vivian took a deep breath and nodded to himself. You know what, I’m gonna stop mocking her so much. I don’t want to be the next fuzzy creature she corners.

As he watched Isa corner and murder fuzzy monster after fuzzy monster, Vivian slowly drifted off. He leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes, sinking down into sleep.

On the verge of passing out, he startled himself awake. Not now!

Eh… why not now?

Vivian frowned at his hands, then shrugged. He sat up and called out his plants. The Lady’s Vine curled ever so slightly taller, while the spliced rose looked as healthy as any rose could when freshly spliced. Good, good. Everyone looks healthy. I was a bit worried about putting them in my inventory, but it looks like they can continue to grow in there.

Huh. Is there a UV light in my inventory? Is there something special about my inventory that can support plants? Or maybe this is just a weird deficiency of the Tower, that it doesn’t properly create an inventory, and so it just projects everything as continuing to live while it’s in inventory. Or something. I really don’t know. Wonder if I could test it out, somehow? Hmm. Thoughts for later.

He drew out a watering can from his inventory and carefully watered the plants, then froze. Slowly, he turned and looked at the can. His own face stared back at him, reflected in the metal watering can’s shiny sides.

Where did this come from? I didn’t have a watering can.

…Does it have any combat properties?

[Watering Can]

Good for watering things. Especially plants! Can be sold for 5 G.

Vivian stared at the can for another few seconds, then rolled his eyes. Nope. Guess not.

Isa wandered over. She frowned, looking at his tied-shirt makeshift gardening box. “What’s that?”

“Oh. I uh, I couldn’t find a screwdriver to steal a flower box off one of the houses back in the Starter Town, so I did what I could with what I had… which was a pair of Bard’s Robes, female, and a barbarian’s pauldron,” Vivian explained, shrugging.

Isa put a hand on her chin. “I have sewing skills now. I could probably sew you something better. I’d need some canvas, though. Some kind of good, sturdy fabric.”

“Have you tried napping?” Vivian asked.

“Huh?” Isa asked.

Vivian shrugged. “Sometimes I get new gear when I sleep for a while. I don’t know how it works with materials—I’ve only spawned tools—but maybe you’ll spawn some fabric if you go to sleep.”

Isa laughed. “Sure, why not? I’ll try manifesting some canvas tonight.”

“Hey, don’t knock it until you try it. It’s worked for me so far,” Vivian said. He sent the watering can back into his inventory, then sent the makeshift flower box away, too. Nodding at her, he climbed to his feet. “Done leveling?”

She nodded. “I hit level five, and it’s getting dark. We should head back to the tents.”

“Right. It’s actually a safe zone right up against the walls like that, did you know that?” Vivian explained.

“Huh? For real?” Isa asked. “I thought the whole Tower was pure danger zone.”

Vivian shook his head. “No, no. The towns are safe, and there’s plenty of spaces the Tower carves out as safe. This clearing in the Garden, for example… though in this case, I’m pretty sure it’s an accident.”

“Yeah?” Isa asked.

They wandered through the woods, back toward the wall. Vivian pushed away a handful of brambles and stepped over a rotting log. “The monsters out here and the monsters inside the Ruined Castle are completely different. Well, that’s common enough. The Tower’s full of different spawn zones. What’s important is that the stone wall is where the two zones meet.

“I noticed it my first time through, but… I think there’s a gap between the two monster spawn zones, where they don’t completely touch, right here at the front of the castle’s wall. In which case, it’s not that the Tower wanted to give us a safe zone, but it messed up a bit and gave us one accidentally,” Vivian explained.

“Oh. I mean, it makes sense,” Isa said with a shrug.

Vivian raised his eyebrows. “The Tower doesn’t usually make sense to people who’ve never been inside before.”

Isa spread her hands. “I grew up in an Exclusion Zone, and not a tame one, either. We had different spawn zones in the GSWEZ—the Great Southwestern Exclusion Zone. Dozens of them. When I was little, I used to run off and curl up with a book at the border between the lake and the forest. There was this little grove…”

She shook her head. “My dad said I was gonna get myself killed one day, hiding there, but the monster spawns always seemed to gap around me. Nothing ever bothered me there. So… yeah. Makes sense.”

“Huh,” Vivian muttered. I have to face it: the world outside is not the world I remember. Whether I’m ‘the Vivian’ or not, I’ve certainly passed through a few decades without any real recollection of them. But how? I mean, how did I survive a hundred years? Was I a Gardener for all that time? Do NPCs not age? Or did something else happen?

“You said you’re ‘the’ Vivian?” Isa asked, emphasizing the ‘the’ with a skeptical lilt to her voice.

Vivian waved his hand. “Maybe. It isn’t really important. We’ll find out soon, anyways.”

“Yeah, I was about to say, aren’t there rankings boards in the Ruined Castle?” Isa said, nodding.

“Right before the final boss. In later floors, they’re right at the entrance. It’s like the Tower tried to fix its mistake in hiding the ranking board, but was too ashamed to go back and fix it on Floor One, or something.” He shrugged. “Eh. It’s not a big deal, ultimately.”

Isa eyed him. “You know people make fortunes off rankings? The top ten living Rankers are all celebrities who—”

“I know, I know. Jeez. Do you think I’m a noob or something?” Vivian rolled his eyes.

“Insufferable,” Isa muttered under her breath.

“Noob says what?” Vivian said, whipping around.

Isa stared at him. “Are you ten?”

Vivian grinned widely. He waggled his eyebrows at her.

A moment later, he waved his hand. “Seamstress seems pretty powerful. Have you considered needles, thread fighting, any of that?”

“Oh, sure. I’ve just been a Seamstress for what, five whole hours, so…” Isa shrugged.

Vivian frowned at her. He waggled his finger. “That’s no excuse!”

“What about you? You’ve had days as a Gardener, days! You should be fighting with monster plants by now,” Isa returned.

“Damn, I wish. Not for lack of trying!” Vivian said, giving her finger-guns. Still waiting on that Lady’s Vine. Though… I can probably use it now. It’s just a matter of powering it with my SP, so I can control it.

I don’t want to do that until the moment of, though. It costs 1 SP an hour, and I have five. If controlling it costs more than 1 SP, I have one, maybe two attacks before I run out.

Damn, I need more SP.

Pushing aside a springy pine branch, he stepped back out at the wall. He held the branches for Isa, who gave him a nod for thanks, then let them spring back. Across the way, the Players either packed up for the night or settled in to their tents. A narrow stream of Players wandered back down the road toward the Starter Town and the exit gate, while one or two hurried toward the castle and set about erecting tents beside the wall. Alongside them, Kyung rigged up a lean-to, using the rope he’d bought and some canvas he’d retrieved from somewhere to create a sort of roof tied down to sticks staked in the ground on one hand, and to the top of the wall. He nodded as Isa and Vivian approached.

“Where’d that come from?” Vivian asked, nodding at the roof.

“Found it,” Kyung said. He nodded into the corner, where a pile of trash sat, half-covered in leaves and dirt. Mangled old tents mixed in with wrappers, broken weapons, and dirty underclothes.

“Gross,” Isa muttered.

“Better than nothing,” Vivian said, shrugging. He nodded at Kyung. “Thanks.”

“Mmm.” Kyung nodded.

Noah hurried over. He glanced at them, then looked at the Castle. “Are we heading in?”

“No. Not until tomorrow. We set off bright and early tomorrow morning, though, so get your rest in while you can,” Vivian said, patting Noah on the shoulder.

Noah took a deep breath. He nodded. “Okay.”

“You’re ready, kiddo. Well… maybe you aren’t, but stick with us, and we’ll keep you safe,” Vivian promised, grinning at him.

“What about me?” Isa asked.

“What about you?” Vivian asked, tilting his head curiously.

Isa rolled her eyes.

“We’ll do our best,” Kyung said quietly.

“Well, it’s more reassuring from you than him, anyways,” Isa muttered under her breath, flicking her eyes at Vivian.

Ignoring the blatant jab, Vivian clapped his hands and beamed. “Alright. Let’s get a good night’s sleep and get ready to tackle that Castle!”