As if expecting Suji to react with more exaggeration and surprise, Nature awkwardly added an explanation.

“You know. The giant reaper-shaped boss monster with red stars embedded in its eyes. I ended up like this after being stepped on by that bastard.”

“What do you mean…”

“A crack appeared.”

At the word “crack”, Suji was at a loss for words.

That was a wave that occurred inside the tower.

Unlike dungeons, which are generally all set up with the initial wave to allow passage through gates, waves suddenly connect to new dungeons and spew out monsters.

And only after defeating all the monsters that came out of that dungeon does it finally close.

The difference between a crack and a wave is that rather than a completely new space, it’s more like a gap opening that connects to another space in the tower.

Suji lost her mother because of that crack.

She thought that if she encountered a crack, she might also face that monster that took her mother away, but she had never even seen a trace of a crack.

“Why… Ha… I lived in the tower every day. Why did that damn crack have to appear when I wasn’t there…”

Suji unknowingly clenched her fist tightly.

If she hadn’t been aware that this was a hospital, she might have slammed it on the floor.

Her eyes reddened with a mixture of anger and resentment, and she closed them while letting out a long sigh.

Knowing that she had been chasing the monster that took her mother’s life for revenge for a very long time, Nature raised her hand to pat Suji’s back.

But as Ilaine naturally stepped between them and draped her outer garment over Suji, Nature’s hand awkwardly had to lower again.

“I don’t know why either.”

“At this point, aren’t you just mocking me? This is completely ridiculous. Even if it’s a coincidence, how can this happen? I lived in the tower for years. Afraid I might miss it… afraid I might not catch the opportunity if it came.”

“Daphne…”

“Really… ha.”

But in the end, tears didn’t fall from Suji’s eyes.

She quickly wiped away the welling tears with the back of her hand before they could fall.

She couldn’t cry for such a reason. Tears could wait until after she had properly taken her revenge.

“It’s a great relief that you came back alive.”

“…Right? I think so too. It was definitely no ordinary creature.”

“Couldn’t you check which floor the crack connected to?”

“No. My team members went ahead first, and I was alone, so I didn’t have the luxury to do that.”

Suji looked a bit surprised.

“You were alone in the tower?”

Nature replied in a lowered voice, as if displeased with the situation at that time.

“My team members were a bit greedy for titles, so they recklessly kept going up. I guess since you were resting, they wanted to hear the word ‘first place’ once during that time.”

“And then?”

“But no matter how greedy they were, they couldn’t put their lives on the line, right? I completely stopped them after we passed the 70th floor. We argued back and forth, and because they wouldn’t listen at all, I just lay down and said I couldn’t go on at the 71st floor.”

“…Don’t tell me.”

“…Yeah. The team leader kept going up reluctantly.”

To think they would leave a team member behind and go up in the tower. Who knows what could have happened.

Suji had a lot to say but held back. After all, it wasn’t good to tell another team’s leader that their judgment was lacking.

“And then, that’s when the crack appeared.”

“On the 71st floor?”

“Yeah.”

It’s scary just imagining a crack appearing while being left alone.

You never know which floors it might connect to through the crack.

“Shouldn’t you have run away immediately?”

“This is the result of running away immediately. As soon as the crack appeared, I recognized it right away. It was my first time seeing one, but you know, there’s something called intuition. So I ran frantically, and wow… it was on a different level. I really don’t know what happened, my legs were destroyed in just 1 second.”

“…Oh my god.”

“The only reason I’m still alive is because the crack closed right after that. I have no idea which floors it connected to, but it was definitely upper floors. Otherwise, there’s no way such a crazy bastard would exist.”

Suji was lost in thought for a moment before suddenly asking.

“…Are the other team members safe?”

“They’re all lying in the hospital rooms right next to this one. Including the team leader. Since this happened after he insisted on going up, he’s probably too embarrassed to tell anyone how he got injured.”

At that moment, Ilaine pointed to the sofa placed against the wall for Suji.

Suji then realized that she probably didn’t look well at all. She belatedly felt that even standing was difficult.

“Thank you.”

As she sat down, she seemed to come to her senses a bit.

“When we finished clearing the 80th floor, maybe I should have pushed a little harder to see what monsters were on the 81st floor.”

“It was impossible without potions. Don’t blame yourself.”

“…I know. It’s just, I can’t help thinking that way.”

Suji let out a long sigh and lifted her head straight.

“Still, I’m really grateful that you confirmed the appearance in that situation. I’ll definitely repay this favor.”

Nature smiled brightly and opened her arms.

“Right? Even in that life-or-death moment, I swear I looked with both eyes wide open to see if that stroller really existed. How about repaying with a hug?”

“Why don’t you take good care of your arms while they’re still attached?”

Before she could answer, Ilaine responded in an icy voice.

Suji, who would normally have separated the two who seemed like sworn enemies, was lost in thought.

The boss monster mentioned by Uncle Seunghwan, who was with her mother when she passed away, seemed to be undoubtedly the same monster Nature had just testified about.

What floor would it be on?

How many more floors would they have to climb to encounter it?

They had barely managed to break through the 80th floor, but could they really make it that far?

The time it took to clear each floor was getting longer and longer. Didn’t this mean they had reached the limit of their abilities?

As these doubts arose, she remembered the email she had received from Priya.

[However, when I heard the news that Daphne had disappeared recently, I thought that Daphne might have also reached some kind of wall.

I’ve wanted to tell you this all along, but to put it bluntly, we’ll make a good team. I’m probably the only one who can promise a hunter of Daphne’s caliber a new level of power.]

Suji bit her lower lip.

‘But that person, no matter how I think about it, seems like a madman… I shouldn’t listen to someone like that. Don’t be fooled.’

When she looked up, Ilaine was looking at her with his usual kind and calm face.

Looking at him made her feel a bit calmer.

Suji shook off the complicated thoughts in her head and said,

“Let’s go for now.”

“Understood.”

As Ilaine nodded and opened the hospital room door, Nature held up the bouquet with a disappointed face.

“Oh, you’re leaving? Thanks for the flowers. But next time, please bring something to eat!”

“You really never learn. Be careful so you don’t have to come visit the hospital again.”

“Alright, darling. Let’s meet for a date next time instead of a hospital visit.”

“There you go again with the strange talk.”

“Where are you going?”

“I need to stop by my family home. Take care of yourself!”

As Suji waved back with a slight smile and left the hospital room, Ilaine gave a disapproving look towards the inside of the room before closing the door.

Then, as always, he matched his steps half a step behind Suji, as if escorting her.

“It’s just pointless talk, you don’t need to respond.”

“Why not? Nature makes things fun when she’s around. It brightens up the atmosphere. Ilaine, don’t be too grumpy.”

“…Surely not.”

“It seems like things aren’t going well with the current team. I thought we might work together again someday, so…”

“I don’t like that idea.”

“Why not?”

“I just don’t.”

“They say you don’t need a reason to like something, but you need a reason to dislike something.”

Suji turned her body halfway around to look back.

Instead of answering, Ilaine looked at the purple eyes looking up at him and changed the subject.

“Where are we going next?”

Suji tilted her head to one side, causing her long hair to cascade down.

She looked up at him with curious eyes.

“Ilaine, don’t you have any other business? Is it really okay for you to keep accompanying me?”

“It’s fine.”

Ilaine also had a younger brother and mother, but he always said that not going was his way of helping.

“Still, you should visit them when you have time.”

“The off-season was long, so I visited for quite a while. You don’t need to worry about it.”

“But… going to the family home is a personal matter, so I feel a bit sorry for keeping such a valuable person with me all the time. Of course, I do feel more secure when Ilaine is with me.”

Ilaine showed a gentle smile.

“I’ll do as you wish.”

Whenever Suji saw that smile of his, she would think that if they ever encountered an enemy susceptible to charm tactics, they could use Ilaine.

Even though it was just a slight upturn of the corners of his mouth, the destructive power of his smile was truly immense.

She unconsciously raised her hand and poked Ilaine’s dimple with her finger.