That night.

Thud.

Thud, thud.

Amid the blazing flames, marshmallows skewered on long wooden sticks were roasting to a golden brown.

Seo Suji and her team members sat in comfortable positions around the campfire, which glowed alone in the pitch-black darkness.

Everyone had a pensive look on their face.

Elaine reached out to stir the marshmallow sticks, while Peace tossed foil-wrapped potatoes into the center of the fire.

Time wasn’t flowing, but objects could still be moved. Perhaps because this was permitted time within the Hunter System, the campfire item was functioning properly.

The whole situation felt surreal.

“…I don’t know how we ended up in this situation.”

After a very long silence, Seo Suji muttered as if whispering.

The companions, their faces flickering with red shadows from the dancing campfire, simultaneously raised their heads to look at her.

Seo Suji, who had changed into comfortable purple sportswear after playing in the water in the morning, smiled slightly as she looked anew at her companions dressed in identical tracksuits.

“We’ve never properly matched team uniforms before, but it’s fun and nice to be dressed like this.”

“Since we keep getting in the water at random times, it’s a hassle to wear item equipment.”

Peace replied, touching the tracksuit that looked like a high school gym uniform.

These clothes were found in the box Seo Suji had received as a gift from Dryad. It was amusing how they had thoughtfully sent not only Seo Suji’s, but also each team member’s, carefully matched to their hair color, so they had each chosen one to wear.

Seo Suji in purple, Elaine in black, Saint in brown, Peace in dark green.

“Dressed like this and roasting marshmallows, don’t we really look like unemployed bums?”

“Team Leader. I…”

Saint, who had been fiddling with the rabbit ear item she had taken off and set aside, suddenly spoke without raising her gaze.

“Honestly, I don’t want to die.”

“Saint.”

“I may not be as accomplished as you, Team Leader, but still… I’ve lived diligently. To die after living so hard, isn’t it too much? Really, I don’t want to die. It’s unfair.”

With her head bowed low, short brown hair kept falling around the edges of her face.

Seo Suji moved closer to sit beside Saint and hugged her tightly with both arms.

The terminal Saint was holding displayed the youthful photo registered on her Hunter ID.

Throughout the day, Saint had said little, just lying on a tube and fiddling with her terminal. Since time was stopped, there shouldn’t be any new information updates, so I had wondered what she was looking at.

But now it seemed she had been reflecting on her memories.

“Who wants to die? Don’t make a fuss. Let’s try to figure something out.”

Peace snapped when the silence stretched too long.

Saint jerked her head up and glared at Peace with tear-filled eyes.

“How can you say that? Making a fuss? At least Peace has experienced dating and marriage… No, never mind.”

Saint, who had started blurting out words in her anger, suddenly trailed off.

She didn’t mean to pry into Peace’s story, but she was so upset that she unintentionally touched on a part someone else was hiding.

Peace smacked his lips, rummaged in his pocket, sighed, and then picked up a stick with a marshmallow on it.

“I quit smoking when I started raising kids, and I miss it a bit now.”

“…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring that up…”

“You think I want to die? No, even more than my own death, I want the kids to live long lives even if I die.”

At Peace’s words, everyone fell silent and turned their gaze to him.

His face, with green hair tied back in a ponytail and unkempt from not shaving for a day, wore a complex expression.

He usually likes to keep himself well-groomed. He must have a lot on his mind.

As if uncomfortable with the attention, he stuffed the marshmallow into his mouth, then started fiddling with the piercings lined up on his ear as he spoke again.

“I’m not married.”

“…You said that before too. I know. I’m sorry for making it seem like I was prying…”

As Saint apologized with a sigh, Peace slowly shook his head.

“What’s there to be sorry about in this situation? I just didn’t say anything because I didn’t want people to pity my kids. I think of them as my own and raise them, so there was no need to mention it. They’re my relatives’ children.”

I had no idea.

Seo Suji also looked up at him in surprise.

Even while climbing the tower, Peace would video call the children whenever there was a break, showing such affection for them. Of course, he would rush to see them when rest periods came up, and I’d heard he was saving almost all the money he earned in accounts under the children’s names.

I never knew they weren’t his own children.

Peace continued speaking as if he had anticipated this silence, scratching his head.

“Wave wasn’t like it is now, you know. In the early days when First Wave started, people died left and right. It was just one of those things.”

“…Peace.”

“I graduated from the academy being told I had talent, so all kinds of guys would pick fights with me. You’ve experienced it too, right? Since we can’t use force on civilians, those bastards with nothing better to do would come at us for no reason.”

Seo Suji and Saint nodded with bitter smiles.

Being women, they had experienced such things even more.

Even though Peace and Elaine were quite muscular and looked strong on the outside, if it happened to them too, there really were a lot of Hunters going around with their brains left at home.

“So beating up those guys became my job. I had no interest in things like the Tower of the Sage. But when I suddenly found myself responsible for two kids, it felt suffocating. I wondered how they would live in this kind of world in the future.”

“…Is that when you started climbing the tower?”

“They’re still young kids now, but back then they were really just babies. What should I do? Should I try to live as long as possible for them, or should I give up everything? I was thinking about it when…”

Peace picked up another marshmallow skewer and grinned.

It was the smile he habitually made when confidently stepping up to face monsters.

“I was in a guild at the time, and the guild master said to me, ‘It’s a waste for you to be in a guild that just hunts regular monsters. Hunter Daphne is recruiting new team members. If you go there, you might be able to change the world somehow.'”

Seo Suji’s eyes widened as she took the branch Elaine handed her.

She had no idea there was such a story.

When Peace joined, there were still about ten team members together, so they weren’t close enough to know each individual’s story, and there wasn’t much effort to get to know those who easily left and were replaced for various reasons.

But listening to this now, she thought it would have been nice to know earlier.

If she had, they might have shared more stories.

“…If you came with such grand expectations, you must have been disappointed.”

To Seo Suji’s words as she pressed the hard outer surface of the marshmallow with her finger, Peace responded with a smile.

“No. It’s embarrassing to say this, but it exceeded my expectations.”

“…Really?”

“Day by day, I could see things changing.”

Seo Suji looked up and stared straight at Peace.

“Changing how…”

“Besides the actual buffs being applied to South Korea, just the fact that Team Daphne was steadily climbing the tower had a huge impact on people. Of course, I think the Team Leader doesn’t realize this, but…”

Saint, who had been silently listening to Peace’s words, also nodded.

“That’s right. There was a time when the atmosphere of despising the weak was prevalent. To the point where people would ask why the government should compensate victims of Agehae… As if might makes right. But our team definitely played a big role in changing that atmosphere.”

“On top of that, we provided solutions for the emerging monsters, which rapidly improved the skills of government officials responding to the Wave. People’s mental stability visibly improved. I thought this team would have value, that I wouldn’t be ashamed in front of my children with this team.”

Seo Suji wondered if their words might be somewhat exaggerated.

But these weren’t team members who would make things up.

She awkwardly pushed the marshmallow into her mouth.

A sweet taste spread softly inside her mouth.

“There was no such grand purpose, though.”

“It’s because there was no grand purpose that we were the first to climb to the 80th floor ahead of everyone else.”

That might be true.

Seo Suji smiled slightly and then let out a long breath.

Until now, she had heard more than enough arbitrary evaluations of herself.

Words of respect, accusations of showing off, calls for attention, predictions that she would reveal ulterior motives with her increased strength someday.

But this sounded different from the ramblings of people who knew nothing about her. Peace was one of those who had consistently been with her through that terrible hell.

“Do you regret it?”

Peace shook his head as soon as the question fell.