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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: The Scarecrow
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The engagement was brief, but the results were less than stellar.
It was to be expected. When the dogs first appeared,
“Aargh! H-help me!”
“Aah!”
A man was bitten and dragged away by a dog, and a woman fell into a pit while trying to escape.
“It's fine, it's fine. They're not dead.”
“How can you say that after seeing that?”
Mint said this nonchalantly, but regardless, their numbers had dwindled.
Shaking off his thoughts, Helios blocked an oncoming dog.
It was already the third engagement.
The remaining survivors were too busy fending off the dogs to talk, but they still helped one another.
Bark! Bark!
Kyaaaah!
It was a survival instinct kicking in before the terrifying dogs—the fewer they were, the worse their odds.
Helios surveyed his surroundings.
‘There has to be a specific way to clear this floor, too…’
“Hey. You.”
The man who called out to him was the one with the buzz cut he'd saved a moment ago.
Despite his simple face, his speech had the distinct cadence of a soldier.
“I've been wanting to ask you for a while now…”
The number of dogs began to dwindle slightly, as if a break was approaching.
This gave the buzz-cut man a chance to point somewhere.
“What the hell is that person?”
Helios, too, finally had a moment to look up.
“Yaaawn.”
The one yawning was his master.
Mint had found a comfortable spot near the wall. Lying on her side, head propped up by one hand, she was leisurely watching them.
“Yelp!”
Golden, disc-like objects floated lazily around Mint.
And they were pummeling any dog that came near.
“Whimper!”
“Yeeowl!”
Yes, they were literally flying into the dogs and beating them senseless. They even morphed into club-like shapes to get a better swing whenever a dog got too close!
Mint yawned, praising her discs.
“That's right, Siri. Good work.”
“Yelp!”
“Oh, Bixby, you're doing great, too.”
Helios was at a loss for words.
“Try to survive on your own.”
His master had said this at the very start before splitting off from him.
Did she think he could handle this much just because she'd taught him? Considering he'd jumped from the 8th floor to the 20th, it sounded insane.
Though, by enduring, he had ultimately proven her right.
In any case, he'd figured she was somewhere breezing through the dogs with ease.
He just never imagined she'd be… lying around like a lunatic. What in the world was she doing?
“Isn't that person with you, handsome?”
Panting from the exertion, Helios couldn't easily answer.
“What on earth kind of person is she?”
Honestly, he didn't know how to answer that himself.
What do you call someone who looks like they're on a solo picnic?
“Excuse me, but I've been wondering the same thing. What is she?”
The person who came up beside him was a woman.
The only woman who had survived so far.
The woman, who had plain brown hair cut into a bob, wore a look of disbelief.
“Wh-what? Why aren't the dogs moving…?!”
Miraculously, as soon as the woman with the bob approached, the dogs froze in place.
The buzz-cut man started to panic, earning a click of the tongue from the woman.
“It's my ability. Don't freak out, you idiot.”
“Ahem. An idiot? That's a bit harsh to say to a man…”
The buzz-cut man looked dejected, a pout that didn't quite match his large frame.
The woman gave an incredulous chuckle before turning back to press Helios.
“So, what is she? No matter how you look at it, that's an insane—no, an extra… an extraordinary display of skill.”
“I wouldn't know even if you asked me.”
I have no idea what she is either. Helios's blunt reply made the woman's brow furrow.
“Well, it's a relief to know I'm not the only one who thinks she looks like a lunatic.”
“…Is that really your response in this situation? You're not exactly normal either.”
For a moment, Helios wondered if this was how Mint felt.
The feeling she must get every time she makes him furrow his brow.
“Haha, what's this? What's going on?”
“Aah, I can finally breathe. Huh? Wait, why aren't the dogs moving over here? Aah, they're coming! They're coming!”
“Dammit! Who led the dogs this way!”
As the three of them gathered, the remaining survivors huddled together as well.
There was a brief commotion, but everyone naturally took on their share of the dogs and began to fight them off again.
Fighting back-to-back made it somewhat easier.
Helios was the only one who sensed something was wrong.
‘The number of dogs has increased again.’
It should have been time for a break, but just when the number of dogs seemed to be decreasing, it swelled again.
A chill ran down his spine at this realization.
If they had to face an endless horde of dogs with no breaks, the only thing that awaited them was death.
“Yiiipe!”
Just as he finished off a dog, Helios looked up. Strangely, he had felt a gaze fixed on him throughout the entire fight.
The gaze, of course, belonged to Mint.
He couldn't mistake it; he'd felt it ever since the 1st floor.
Why was it that only her gaze felt so distinct?
He didn't know.
What was clear was that it felt reassuring. Reassuring enough to fight without worrying about his back.
‘What is it?’
Mint, who had been lying down, was slowly sitting up.
The discs flying around her disappeared one by one.
Their eyes met across the distance.
They were quite a distance apart, but not so far that he couldn't make out the expression on her face.
He felt Mint speaking to him, just like on the 1st floor.
‘Helios.’
Her lips formed the words.
‘Brace yourself.’
He understood without difficulty.
“Something big's about to show up.”
As Mint spoke, Helios remembered something he'd forgotten.
‘The holes in the wall…!’
So far, the dogs had been swarming out of the holes in the floor. So what were the holes in the walls for?
At that moment, a shiver ran down his spine.
‘It meant they had a purpose.’
The moment he realized this, Helios instinctively shouted a warning.
“The holes in the wall! Watch the holes! Something's coming!”
“What?”
“What's coming!”
“Agh, dammit, spit, i-it out!”
A variety of shouts rang out, but they were drowned out by the noise of the swarming dogs.
Helios had shouted, but he had no idea what was actually happening either.
‘Legs…’
So it was pure coincidence that he happened to glance down in that chaotic moment.
A shadow fell at his feet!
‘Behind!’
Something was targeting him. Helios spun around on instinct.
His spear carved a fluid arc through the air.
Thunk!
The tip of his spear met a soft resistance, completely different from the feel of a dog.
Fsssh—.
Helios saw something golden scattering like feathers.
“…Straw?”
It was straw.
At the same time, Helios saw a silver slash coming for him.
‘…A sword!’
By the time he realized what it was, it was too late. The blade was inches from his face.
Before Helios could even hold his breath, the thing that lunged at him was torn apart. Someone had protected him.
“Hah, hah…!”
Helios let out the breath he'd been holding in a ragged gasp.
The dust and debris that filled the air tickled his nose.
He felt a stinging sensation and looked down.
The source of the attack lay collapsed on the floor.
Surprisingly, it was a scarecrow.
One that was holding a sharp dagger.
The moment he saw the dagger, Helios ran a hand over his own throat.
If. If he hadn't noticed the shadow, the strange presence at first…
And if no one had been there to block the subsequent blade…
A cold dread crept up his spine.
“…A scarecrow.”
“An assassin befitting a wheat field, wouldn't you say?”
A familiar voice came from beside him. He turned to see his master standing there.
“That was pretty good.”
The one who had just saved him.
A languid smile, its true meaning hidden.
Looking at her kind face, another chill ran down his spine.
It was a different kind of chill from the one he'd felt seeing the scarecrow. He couldn't pinpoint the source of this new tension.
“That's the real boss of this floor. Can you notice and react to an attack at your back in the middle of a heated battle?”
“…”
“This is the Tower's way of saying…”
Mint casually drew a finger across her throat.
“If you can't, you die.”
Helios's pupils trembled slightly.
His eyes soon turned to the others.
Six people had survived. The two who died lay motionless, pinned beneath a scarecrow.
