Usually, when opening boxes like this all at once, there would be many overlapping junk items and small amounts of gold, so the actual space taken up in the inventory was typically not much.

But the inventory overflowed.

With very useful things.

– Is it over now?

Suddenly coming to her senses at the buzzing sound in her head, Seo Suji nodded with a satisfied smile.

“Good luck stat. As expected, games that are continuously managed with interest from the developers seem to be the best.”

– Returning to the tower?

It was a hurry to get going soon, now that all business was done and everything to be extracted had been extracted.

Originally, she had planned to dawdle, saying she wanted to play a bit more or think about it, but it seemed they had been much more accommodating than expected, so she was willing to reciprocate.

“From tomorrow. Let time flow again starting tomorrow.”

– Strictly speaking, it’s not that everyone’s time stopped, but that you were trapped in a gap in time.

“That’s fine either way.”

– Alright then. I wish you success, human.

“Don’t talk like it’s someone else’s business. I’ll be asking for favors again next time.”

After a moment of silence, a response came with an undertone of having become troublesome.

– I’m not sure if creating 〈Bay Leaf〉 was the right thing to do.

Seo Suji smiled contentedly as she took off the ring.

She waved the ring in her hand in front of the other team members who were still dazed.

“The conversation is over.”

The team members were perceptive, and having heard the content of the conversation happening right in front of them, they would probably guess the general flow.

“…This is mind-blowing.”

Saint muttered softly, her gaze fixed on the ring.

“You can do something like this? But why go to such lengths?”

At Elaine’s question, Seo Suji shrugged her shoulders.

Although she had practically shared everything that was happening, she still had to keep her promise to keep it a secret from the team members.

Seo Suji patted the shoulders of her still-astonished team members one by one.

“As you heard, we have to go back up tomorrow. That hell pit.”

“Yes, team leader.”

“Understood.”

“I know.”

The faces of the team members answering were considerably brighter than before.

They must have known too.

Team Daphne already knew they had nearly reached their limit as they climbed to the 80th floor.

No matter how well they could dodge, or how perfectly timed their recoveries were, without sufficient damage output, conquering the tower was truly not easy.

And now, suddenly being told to climb that tower again with the fate of all humanity on their backs, it couldn’t help but be burdensome. From the 81st floor onward, they would have to defeat boss monsters they had never encountered before.

But now, after opening these boxes, much of that overwhelming feeling had been alleviated.

Seo Suji empathized greatly with her team members’ state of mind.

To be honest, even when she heard about her mother’s enemy appearing, she wasn’t confident they could win.

It would be at least an 81st floor boss monster, and she wasn’t sure she could handle that power.

But now she felt like she had gained some means to respond, even if just a little.

“It’s been a while since I felt this excited.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve heard Daphne say something like that.”

Elaine nodded calmly in response.

“I’m looking forward to it too.”

Saint was busy fiddling with her weapon, 〈Snowflower Mire〉.

Seo Suji approached and crouched down beside her.

“It’s like a dream to be able to alchemize your main weapon, isn’t it?”

“Really… it’s like a dream. As soon as time starts flowing tomorrow, I’m going straight to the alchemy master.”

“I was thinking we’d all go together.”

She opened her inventory and laid out all the items that had come out for everyone to see.

Then she picked out one that would suit Saint well and held it out.

When worn with 〈Snowflower Mire〉, 2-set ability (Physical Shield +5%)

Levitation (Max height 3m, Max duration 3 minutes. Can levitate, cooldown 24 hours)]

Though the team members usually wore only tier 8 or 9 items, this was different.

Like the 〈Wings of Justice〉 that had just come out, this was also equipment worn on the back, so it didn’t interfere with equipment slots. It was the first time they had seen a back-worn item in this random draw.

Saint’s eyes, which had been fiddling with 〈Snowflower Mire〉 for a while, widened.

“…I didn’t even know it was a set item.”

Set items were items that received buffs when worn together.

Since the hunter system was so unfriendly, it was generally better to use the database compiled by users on the hunter bulletin board rather than checking item information to match set items.

Saint hugged 〈Snowflower Wings〉 with a smile full of happiness, her cheeks flushed pink.

“Now I’ll have that physical shield that everyone else has.”

Although there was actually a discrepancy in saying everyone had it, since it was a passive skill only available to S-rank or higher hunters, Seo Suji smiled, saying it was good to see Saint, who had been struggling the most on the team with the lowest stats.

Besides that, all the other items found their owners as well.

Weapons, belts, gloves, helmets, and so on.

Peace also got 〈Demon’s Helmet〉, which was a set with his main armor, and kept grinning with a pleased expression.

However, because it looked exactly like a Korean Changui mask, with its eyes bulging out, it looked scarier than a monster.

“We’re going to be streaming too, right? Is that visual okay, team leader?”

As Saint kept giggling and teasing Peace, he reluctantly took off his helmet.

“…It’s all good, but really, what’s with this design sense? Can’t this lid be made invisible?”

“What do you mean ‘lid’, Peace? You should call it ‘Lord Helmet’. Where else can you easily get set abilities?”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

Even while complaining, it seemed his mood automatically improved when looking at the item stats. The excitement was palpable as Saint and Peace kept bickering.

Seo Suji was smiling fondly when she suddenly realized Elaine was missing and looked around.

He was lying down on the roof of the living quarters.

She leaped up, stepping on a branch of the tree in front of her, and landed beside Elaine.

Noticing Seo Suji’s approach, he was about to get up from his position of lying with his hands clasped behind his head, deep in thought, but she waved him off and lay down beside him.

It wasn’t a bad feeling to lie on the slightly sloped roof and look at the sky.

“It feels a bit strange without the wind, doesn’t it?”

At Seo Suji’s words, Elaine turned his head to look at her.

His expression was odd as he stared at her for a long time without answering, causing Seo Suji to blink a few times.

Perhaps because they had been fighting constantly in the tower, a strange shadow fell over his face with its features that had found their perfect place on skin so pale it was almost white.

“Is there something worrying you? …No, it’s strange for me to ask that. With the end of the world right around the corner. Is it because there’s so much to worry about?”

As Seo Suji asked in a whisper, focus returned to his eyes that had been staring blankly at her. Elaine instantly returned to a composed smile as if he had never been lost in thought, and shook his head.

“No. I just thought that if a moment came when I had to give up something, I would have to give up inevitably. But still, I found myself thinking that I wanted to see Daphne happy.”

She tried to understand what Elaine was saying, but couldn’t make sense of it at all.

“…What?”

“I thought there would be no way, but if we keep looking, there might be a path, right? We’ve come this far.”

“What are you talking about? Are you teasing me?”

Elaine looked at her for a long time with his clear-cut eyes before smiling.

“You are a strong person, Daphne.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Let’s finish everything.”

Seo Suji could vaguely understand that he was talking about the tower.

“To the last floor of the tower, I’m counting on you.”

“And even beyond that. I’m counting on you, Daphne.”

“Yes. You too, Elaine.”

She answered like that and closed her eyes.

‘I’m not sure if what I saw in 〈Bay Leaf〉 was the future or the past, but it’s better not to ask.’

Anyway, they were going to change the future she had seen.

If they prevent the extinction of humanity, they should be able to change the future where Elaine shed tears so sorrowfully.

Definitely.

Her back was warm and the place was just right.

Even though there was no wind, it was comfortable just being next to a completely trustworthy comrade. It felt like she could fall asleep soon if she just lay still like this.

Feeling drowsy, she decided to get as much rest as possible before the final battle.

“Wake me up when time starts flowing again.”

“Of course.”

Realizing that time had started flowing again wasn’t due to the notification from the ‘Great Beings’, nor because Elaine woke her up.

The scent in the air had changed.

The wind had started to blow.

The sound of waves gently rolling onto the beach could be heard.

That alone filled her with tension.

Time had originally been flowing. But just the fact that it had stopped briefly and started flowing again made her feel incredibly rushed. There was a strong sense of consuming an irretrievable asset.

Seo Suji pushed open her closed eyes.

It was time to live again the life that had momentarily paused.