"Pwahhh!!! There's nothing like a glass of beer after that kind of tension!" said an old uncle after drinking his beer.
The old uncle embraced the girl sitting next to him intimately.
"You should try it too, Yukina!!!"
"Uncle John, I'm not old enough yet," she replied awkwardly.
"That's okay! In this broken world, who cares if kids drink? Try it~" grinned his uncle as he handed over his beer glass.
"Ah that..."
PLAAAKKKKKK
"YOU DUMB BASTARD!!!! WHAT ARE YOU GIVING YUU-CHAN, HAH!!?" a woman hit the uncle on the head.
The woman quickly snatched the girl into her arms.
"If you wanna break, just break yourself!!! Don't invite my sister...."
"What the hell? 💢"
The uncle got angry. He was attacked out of the blue, the uncle immediately turned his head in annoyance at the woman.
"Geh, you toh..."
"So what? In this dilapidated world, no one would have a problem with Yukina drinking. Everyone else drinks, why is this kid the only one drinking juice? It's a pity," replied the uncle defensively.
The woman, "💢💢💢💢"
"YUU-CHAN IS MINOR, IDIOTTTT!!!!!!" she snapped.
"Alah, two more years will be enough! What's the point of waiting!" The uncle snapped.
"Not everyone is as rigid as you."
Ah, the woman was running out of patience. She took out the wand that had been tied to her back.
"Ohh... That's right. I forgot. You're a muscle-brain idiot who doesn't think when you act, huh."
"I've decided. For the sake of Yuu-chan's future, bad influences like you must be eliminated."
The uncle, who was half-drunk, was easily provoked. He grasped his greatsword and pointed it at the woman.
"Wanna fight huh?"
"That's fine, I can't stand your blabbering."
The girl in the middle of the argument just stood there with an 'ah, they're doing it again' smile without being able to do anything. This kind of incident happened so often that she got used to it.
So used to it that she knew what would happen next.
"If it's like this, it means that after this..."
A black-haired young man and a platinum blonde young woman came to break them up.
"You guys started it again? Stop that, you're not kids, are you? How can you fight over something so trivial? Especially in front child," said the young man. He held his uncle back from the front.
"It's not my fault, it was the gorilla woman who pulled out the gun first," the uncle replied.
"Who are you calling a gorilla woman, you bastard 💢💢!!!!"
"Ma... Ma..."
At the same time, the young woman held the other woman back.
"Mou, Sooyoung... You already know Uncle John's nature, why get provoked anyway."
"He was just teasing you."
"But, char--"
"Max, please keep Uncle John away from here," tired the young woman.
"Okay."
The two men separated the woman and the uncle to make them stop fighting.
"Char-Charlotte... Listen to my explanation first," said the woman who was being dragged away.
"I did it because that bastard gave Yuu-chan a beer! I-It's not like I'm the one looking for trouble first..."
The young woman stopped, she turned to face the woman.
"I know."
"But that doesn't mean you can retaliate with violence. Get it?"
"!"
"Umm... I'm sorry..." the woman regretted.
"And Yuu-chan, why didn't you stop them?" grumbled the gentle-looking young lady.
The girl who had been watching just chuckled.
"Because I knew Char-nee and Max-nii were coming. Whether I intervene or not, Uncle John and Sooyoung Unnie will only stop when Char-nee comes. Instead of inconveniencing myself, it's better to wait and watch."
"An interesting spectacle should be enjoyed properly, right?" she smiled guiltlessly.
The young woman flicked the girl's head with a sinister expression.
"Yuu-chan?"
"Gomenasai..." she was afraid.
"Hahahahaha, young people are full energy," laughed an old man who was sitting at a table not far from them. He had been watching them while drinking his beer.
"They're so active..." Smiled the old man who was drinking with him at the table.
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"Isn't it good that young people are so energetic? I'm just worried that they'll get more and more gloomy and lackluster," smiled the grandfather.
The old man put down his glass with a calm expression.
"Hahaha... They are indeed great. Those kids have an amazing mentality."
"I hope they don't lose their cheerfulness in this hell."
"Yeah, you're right."
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****OOO****
Character Information
Name: Naeva WinterNova: X PlatinumRace: Ice PrincessAge: 30 [https://img.wattpad.com/d1359788a59aec3af429e4efedc813214288fdcf/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f5a796e4c6c4f524b4f4a41386c413d3d2d313338303831383335342e313739656230356661646463663365643730333631323836343430392e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
Name: Naeva Winter
Nova: X Platinum
Race: Ice Princess
Age: 30.000+
Status: Irregular
Affiliation: None
****OOO****
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"........."
The silent night accompanied only by the sound of crickets and other small animals feels cold and warm at the same time. The party has passed, there is always food and drink in the middle of the party. That was the case with the current party. After the dance ended, everyone in the village who was old enough drank together and the rest ate the various dishes provided.
Those who stay sober till the end, go back to their homes or are taken home by their family and friends. The rest fell asleep in the square together. Especially those at Naeva's table at the moment. Whether young or old, they were fast asleep from their hangovers in their respective seats. Leaving Naeva alone, wrapped in moonlight.
"......."
The interaction between the citizens made the girl feel complicated feelings inside her. But of all the complicated feelings in her heart, the most pronounced was sadness.
Not because of those who left her.
Rather, it was because she didn't feel anything in that nostalgia. That's right, Naeva's heart ached a bit because she didn't feel anything when the nostalgic images crossed her head.
She had seen those memories flashed a thousand times. Her memories of 18 years couldn't be forgotten. Therefore, Naeva must have gotten used to it. Sadness, anger, happiness, all the emotions in those memories she never once forgot. As a result, the memories that should have been special, turned into 'ordinary'. And that's what made her a bit sad.
For Naeva, compared to her 18 years of life, the vague memories of her 30,000 years of life are far more valuable. The only good thing about those 18 years of memory for Naeva is that it's the only memory that keeps her in touch with her humanity.
All this time, you thought Naeva was really touched by her party kids?
Did she really notice them because her emotions were starting to return?
Is Naeva slowly starting to love them?
If you really think that way... Congratulations, that means Naeva's cold side didn't really penetrate your heart.
You're similar to Zodiack.
You both still have expectations to Naeva's emotions. You're both positive about Naeva's nature. And you both give your hopes to her.
Unfortunately, this girl is much more complex than that.
Naeva has mentioned this many times. She never really moved based on emotion alone. It wasn't that Naeva didn't feel anything. It was just that, if her emotions were likened to water in a large tub that was tightly closed, then Naeva's emotions were just droplets leaking from the tub. She froze her emotions herself. It took a while for the ice to melt. The reason she had been moving all this time was purely out of a small interest in something she hadn't seen in a long time and purely for her own benefit.
Although, there was one more reason that Naeva hid deeply. A reason that is both similar and different from what you might think.
Why did this loner girl agree to move in a group?
Maybe because... she just wants to remember...
Remembering how she was when she was human.
"You waited until there were no more conscious people around, right? Isn't it time now? Get out of there, Erato descendant," Naeva said as she swirled the beer in her glass.
A girl who had been watching her from the moment she arrived in Rokka Village revealed herself.
"I knew it, a creature like you can't be unaware."
The little girl with short pink hair and eggplant purple eyes looked at her warily.
"There aren't many Conquerors I can't access information about. But you, who isn't even a ranker, can go so far as to make Tower protect your information access to the Highest Level Information category."
"You must be in direct contact with Eternal Arbiter, Naeva Winter-san."
Naeva was not at all surprised or panicked. She still remained in her calm expression.
"Eternal Arbiter... I wouldn't say I don't have a relationship with her."
"But that relationship is different from the relationship between her and the Tower officials," Naeva replied without turning to the little girl.
The girl, Mika, was thinking of the right words to reply.
"........."
Since Mika was thinking too long, Naeva took over the conversation.
"Combining Rokka's abilities and Erato's blood. You must have extraordinary abilities."
"How much do you know about me?" Naeva asked.
This time Mika didn't have to think to answer.
"More than everyone in the village. About... 30%? I'm not sure since you're a rare case."
"30% hmm... That's quite a lot. Name them one by one," Naeva continued.
"No problem."
Mika knew that what Naeva was saying was an order. That girl could easily destroy 5th Floor if she answered incorrectly. That was also the reason why Mika had never once put Naeva in the position of an opponent or a stranger to be avoided. From the very beginning.
Clichéd scenes like the MC having to put in extra effort to get her partner, the accidental and fateful meeting, the drama the MC has to go through to make friends, the power of friendship that touches a new friend, etc. Those kinds of things don't need to happen here.
Days before Naeva and Ruka arrived, no, months before that, Mika already knew things. Ever since her brother asked her to pay more attention to her nephew who had just gone to the tutorial, Mika had been tapping into the Tower System to keep an eye on Ruka. Everything that happened to Ruka from the tutorial to returning to the 5th Floor, had been noticed by her aunt. Of course Mika still gave him privacy. She only noticed important events that happened outside of her niece's privacy. Including, Ruka's meeting with Lady Calliope, Princess Ptolemaios and... this Unofficial Irregular Ranker.
Mika also knew about the deal between Ruka and Naeva. Honestly, when it happened, Mika was really angry at her niece for having the audacity to sell her name. Especially to the Irregular Conqueror whose background she could not access.
Even so, Mika could still control herself because Naeva had not done anything unlawful or suspicious. Until when, Mika witnessed everything that happened on 2nd Floors to 5th.
If you think about it, the entire Tower has CCTV that watches the entire area and is directly connected to the computers in the admin and examiner rooms. Then there are people who can tap into that computer to see everything that is displayed on CCTV. It wouldn't be surprising if that eavesdropper knew things that were hidden from the surface, would it?
Mika knew all about Naeva in the Tower ever since she changed her observation subject from Ruka to Naeva starting on 2nd Floor. Snippets of Cleopatra's past and future spoilers, the deal between the two regarding the Sun Priestess, everything that happened in the process of fulfilling that deal, how she got Carmela's few billion on the 3rd Floor, the 12 mysterious people who were subject to her, the things that happened after her body swapped with another person on the 4th floor ascension exam, Naeva defeating the fake Ice Princess with the help of the Ego Weapon, her dragging Ruka out of there in order to go to the 5th Floor immediately and how easily Naeva passed through the 4th and 5th Floors without any significant difficulty.
Mika knows everything.