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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Black Poison
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A number of prisoners had already died in the time since Ramona became the leader. They were all from the 80th and 90th floors.
The previous leader, chosen after Mint disappeared, was said to have barely escaped with his life, but rumors were rampant that he’d been crippled.
It was a stark contrast to Mint, who had never killed a single person as leader.
Drip. Drip.
A face full of interest. Deril saw the venom dripping from Ramona.
“The boss isn’t back yet, right? I’m bored.”
“…”
“It’d be nice if she came back and killed me. It would be thrilling.”
“Crazy bitch.”
“What’s wrong?”
Ramona smiled sweetly.
“We’re all crazy here.”
Deril realized.
“Play with me.”
Ramona’s cruel ‘game’ wouldn’t stop until Mint reappeared.
“I never liked that face of yours.”
“My, how rough.”
Now, it was one of two things: either everyone died, or Mint showed up.
There was no other way.
* * *
“You know, no one else is saying it, so as a man, I’ll be brave and just ask…”
Ged swallowed hard. He couldn’t help it.
“…Big Bro, are you even human?”
The giant snake had spewed a terrifyingly dangerous poison right before their eyes. Judging by how fast the ground melted…
If they had charged in, not even their bones would have been left.
But there the snake lay, its mouth agape. Just looking at its sharp fangs sent a chill down his spine.
Mint had defeated that snake.
And she hadn’t even used much strength.
“…This one doesn’t have a good feel to it.”
As Mint stretched out her hand, a sword appeared at her fingertips. It was a strange-looking black sword, tinged with gold, that had no guard or pommel.
“Can’t be helped.”
That one phrase was enough.
The moment Mint swung the sword without hesitation, the giant snake fell.
For Ged, whose five senses had sharpened thanks to Mint’s training, clearly hearing her mutter to herself was nothing short of awe-inspiring.
He knew it too.
No matter how many times they tried, passing would have been impossible as long as that snake was there.
“What’s so strange? She was always strong, so it’s not like she looks any more like a monster now.”
She was a monster from the start. Ged’s group nodded at Haira’s cynical remark.
“Haha, Haira’s not wrong!”
While Brett grinned as always, Helios alone stared blankly at Mint.
For the past few days, Helios and Mint had been sleeping in the same bed.
For Helios, it was unavoidable.
Because every night, Mint would grab him by the collar as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Where are you going?”
“…”
“Your spot is here.”
Of course, he had resisted, cursed, and even thrown a punch, but it was all useless against the overwhelming difference in their strength.
It was so bad that Helios felt a desperate desire to become stronger for the second time in his life.
“See? You sleep well.”
Yes, the problem was that he slept incredibly well. So well it was as if he’d never lost sleep over that damn hair.
But that problem led to another.
When he opened his eyes in the morning, he would see Mint’s peacefully sleeping face.
“Sleep well?”
Sometimes, she would already be awake, staring intently at him.
Everything was a first for him. Feeling someone’s warmth, having someone greet him gently in the morning.
The fact that her face held an incredibly dry expression didn’t matter to him.
At times, when Helios couldn’t stand the embarrassment and snapped at her for staring while he slept, she would say this.
“Because you look like a pretty boy.”
Having spent so much time with Mint, he now knew this was her way of saying ‘you’re handsome.’
And because he knew, he wanted to get away from her even more.
And this teacher, who looked up at him every morning with such a gentle face…
Was standing over there.
She had a small frame, yet her back looked as immense as the giant tower.
Helios held his breath.
Soon, he had to doubt his own eyes.
Because strangely, behind that back that stood like a giant’s, once more…
The silhouette of a woman with long, straight hair overlapped with it.
Helios covered his mouth with the back of his hand.
“…Am I really going crazy?”
This time, he saw not just the hair, but the silhouette of her body as well.
Helios couldn’t take his eyes off the woman’s slender hands.
After leaving the floor, Helios and Ged’s group soon realized without difficulty that they were the only ones who had passed this time.
In truth, if it hadn’t been for Mint, Helios and Ged’s group would surely have died and failed.
“Phew, I’m telling you. I was about to challenge it, you know? Like a man. But that snake was no ordinary son of a bitch!”
“Yeah, you’re right. It was spitting red poison. Isn’t that crazy? Ugh, I think I’m gonna lose my mind. Ha, how are we supposed to go back in there…”
Ged was talking with a prisoner who seemed to be a comrade. Helios could also hear their conversation.
“Haa… The guy who was with me just now, he actually lost his mind.”
“…Red poison?”
“What, why the dazed look? Ah, well. It’s not like I’m in my right mind either.”
The prisoner talking with Ged had bulging, bloodshot eyes.
He looked utterly exhausted.
Ged felt something was off for a moment.
‘The snake that appeared in our section definitely… spat pitch-black poison, didn’t it?’
Another prisoner joined the conversation. It was about the red poison again.
It seemed they were trying to erase the horror and misery through conversation.
‘Red poison.’
Helios heard it clearly too.
Could it be that a snake using a different poison only appeared in their section?
Why?
His eyes met Mint’s.
Helios figured Mint must have also heard what he had.
Mint gave a barely perceptible smile, then brought a finger to her lips.
Shhh.
The meaning was clear.
“…About the 29th floor just now.”
So, instead of the snake, Helios brought up a different topic.
“Thinking about it, could that floor have been cleared another way?”
“How so?”
Helios hesitated for a moment.
“The voices.”
“…”
“The things the white scarecrows said… weren’t they a hint?”
“Wow, my dear disciple calls them scarecrows? How generous.”
“That’s not what I’m trying to say.”
“There’s a bad one among us!”
The white, human-like entities had been shouting something incessantly.
When you thought about it, they were asking them to find the different one among them.
If so, if they had just found that one different thing and killed only it…
Just as he was thinking this, a hand tapped his back. It was Mint.
Their eyes met, and Mint mouthed a whisper.
—Correct.
Then, a voice sounded in his ear.
It had a slightly different resonance than usual.
—You understood perfectly. There are floors that present quizzes like that. Though they’re on higher levels than this.
“…Floors?”
Did that mean it was a difficulty not normally seen on the 29th floor?
—It certainly would have been easier if you’d solved it that way. The snake wouldn’t have appeared, either.
“Then, you…”
—Of course I knew. But if I tell you everything, it’s no fun, right? When will my baby ever grow up?
“Haa…”
That damn ‘baby.’
Her relaxed tone made him furious, but he suppressed his anger by simply rubbing his face.
Honestly, this wasn’t the first or second time.
His talent lay in his potential for growth, and he showed remarkable adaptability.
He was in the process of accepting all the absurdity that came with having an eccentric teacher.
Helios quickly asked something else.
“Did you… always use a sword?”
The sight of Mint using a sword had left a deep impression on him.
And though he couldn’t bring himself to say it, the arc of her blade had been beautiful. It was the truth.
—Sometimes. I’ve used one. But I don’t really like it.
Mint gazed into the distance for a moment.
“Why is that?”
—My, since when were you so interested in me?
“…Are you being sarcastic?”
—Sir Garet wouldn’t knooow~
“…Stop talking like a child with that expression on your face. It’s just creepy.”
When Helios showed a look of disgust, Mint shrugged. So prickly.
—The sword? Because it’s something a dead person liked.
Her calm voice, so different from her usual one, carried a strange resonance.
