— Hit me. I need to test its durability.

Boss spoke while wearing the bear head. I hesitated before weakly striking it.

“How is it?”

— I don’t feel anything. Try hitting harder. Is that all you’ve got?

“Hmm.”

I raised my hand and clenched my fist. After a light stretch, I struck down with full force. KOONG! A small echo resounded in the jungle.

— …!

Boss’ neck trembled and shrunk on impact.

“How is it?”

— …

Her head creaked after staying still for about 30 seconds and 2 deceased bear eyes glared at me. I should probably take them out and use them as glass eyes.

“Cough.”

I returned to dismantling the grizzly bear. Meanwhile, the bear head continued to glare at me without the slightest movement.

[Lv.2 Grizzly Bear Leather] [Lv.3 Grizzly Bear’s Gall Bladder] [Your dismantling technique has improved to Lv.2.] — You may now instantly dismantle monsters Lv.2 and lower. — Monsters you dismantle will receive a boost in hygiene.

“Done.”

The grizzly bear couldn’t be eaten because of its tough muscles. I only collected its leather, which could be used to make various equipment, and its gallbladder, which could be used for medicine.

“We’re done, so let’s head back.”

I got up. However, Boss still sat on the ground and looked up at me. Was she still in shock that I hit her? I grinned and grabbed her wrist.

“Let’s go eat. We have deer meat.”

— …

“And you should take off that bear head.”

— … It’s not a bear head. It’s a helmet.

Boss finally opened her mouth and seemed to be sulking.

We returned to our temporary camp and smelled the savory meat. Boss smacked her lips. Today’s menu was the deer meat marinated in my special sauce.

“Oh, you’re back?”

Jain greeted us as she grilled. Then she tilted her head after seeing Boss, who still wore the bear head.

“Boss, did you get eaten by a bear?”

“No, it’s a good helmet despite how it looks.”

Boss proudly took off the bear head and gave it to Jain, who examined its description.

“Wow, it’s Lv.3! Isn’t this the same as the armor newbie sold on the auction house?”

“Yes, but the one I made is better.”

Not all Lv.3 items were equal. That’s why the Hero Association evaluated heroes with a rank and a grade. The difference between intermediate rank, grade 9 and intermediate rank, grade 1 was huge. Even 6 grade 9s couldn’t defeat a single grade 1 unless their gifts directly countered each other. This difference only became larger between ranks. The gargoyle leather armor I made could be considered a grade 1 item and this bear head could be considered grade 9.

“Mm, I see.”

Jain nodded as Boss snatched away the bear head and stored it in her inventory. It seemed she liked it a lot.

“Alright, let’s eat. I cooked a lot.”

“Yes.”

We gathered around the frying pan.

“These are done, right?”

“Yes. Go ahead, Boss.”

I respectfully let Boss take the first bite. She nodded and placed the deer meat in her mouth.

“Mmm.”

I enjoyed seeing Boss happily eat as the cook who marinated the meat. Jain also tried the meat and her eyes widened.

“Oh, shi… cough, this is amazing! You made this sauce?”

“Yes.”

“Wow. Oh, then is it not worth spending TP to buy bento boxes from the player shop?”

“Bento boxes? Mm, they were only for the tutorial. You shouldn’t be able to buy them anymore.”

“What? Really?”

“Yep, you can easily check it.”

Food was important in conquering any tower since starving to death and being killed in battle shared the same result. The Tower of Wish contained residential areas that sold food, but not on mission floors like the 2nd floor.

In this tower, dying meant that the number of skills you could bring back to the real world would decrease. You could lose all 7 lives simultaneously depending on how you died.

Simply put, you should avoid dying at all costs.

“You’re right. They’re not being sold anymore.”

Of course, I didn’t worry about the bento boxes. I would never have to worry about starving with Lv.2 dismantling, Lv.3 cooking, Lv.3 crafting, and the random dice. I grabbed a piece of deer meat with my chopsticks. As expected, it tasted delicious. I could practically feel my HP going up.

“Eh? Why can’t I access the public forum?”

“What? Really?”

I tried to access the public forum after Jain informed me.

[You cannot access the public forum on mission floors.]

“Oh…”

Looks like another setting had changed from the original story. However, I didn’t bother to check my smartwatch. Too many changes had occurred, most of which were minor. I could just ask the system about them later.

“You didn’t know about it?”

“No.”

“I thought you knew everything.”

“Haha, it’s not like I’m the master of this tower.”

KUAA. A roar suddenly echoed in the cave as though a drunk man had woken. Cheok Jungyeong stretched and walked over to us.

“…”

He quietly grabbed a handful of deer meat and stuffed it in his mouth.

“Got any more?”

“Hold on.”

I took out another chunk of meat from my inventory. I should at least feed him well since Boss took the bear head I planned to give him.

Tsss—

“Hehe, it’s looking great.”

Cheok Jungyeong grinned at the meat being grilled. I began to pack up the items around the cave as Cheok Jungyeong ate. We should get going after having stayed here for a while.

“Auu, I’m stuffed.”

What took 7 minutes to cook only took Cheok Jungyeon 1 minute to eat. He swiftly finished his meal and got up.

“Let’s get going.”

“Alright.”

“Okay.”

Jain stretched as Boss put on the bear head. We left the cave and walked through the jungle. Man-eating plants, gorillas, giant mosquitos, etc. We looked for an elevator while defeating all sorts of monsters.

“Oh?”

Our surroundings suddenly changed as if we passed through a barrier that separated two regions. The greenery on the ground turned into white snow. Taking a step back wouldn’t change anything. It felt like we had been transported to a different area.

“Where are we?”

“It looks like Antarctica.”

“How mysterious. We were just in a jungle.”

A fierce blizzard blew in the snowfield. The freezing temperature made the humid jungle seem like a dream.

***

A blizzard blew endlessly in the bitter cold. Rachel used the full power of her elementals to barely make an igloo. She carried her 2 unconscious guild members inside and lay a couple of blankets over them.

[Your strength has increased by 0.005 points.] [Your stamina has increased by 0.005 points.] [Your special stat, elemental affinity, has increased by 0.005 points.]

The stat alerts didn’t make her happy at all. Rachel looked down at her guild members with mixed feelings. They had fainted the moment they touched the snowmobile. Thankfully, they didn’t die. She opened the messenger.

[Communication is being hindered by the mission floor’s natural phenomenon, snowstorm.]

“Haa…”

Rachel sighed and turned back to her guild members who lay like corpses on the ground. The tower’s system said each player had 7 lives, but dying also resulted in penalties. As the vice leader, Rachel couldn’t let her guild members die without knowing anything about the penalties.

“…”

Her stomach growled. Rachel opened the player shop as she rubbed her belly. She had already eaten all the emergency food provided by her ticket. However, she didn’t worry about food since she still had 500 TP. With that in mind, she clicked on the 5 TP tutorial bento box.

[The tutorial bento box may no longer be purchased after the tutorial.]

“Eh?”

Her eyes widened in shock. Why now? She clicked on the 10 TP bento box, hoping for a different result. However, it remained the same. The player shop only featured one bento box left after she tried to buy food multiple times.

[Emergency Bento Box – 200 TP]

“Argh…”

She covered her face and stomped. It cost 200 TP for a single bento box? She felt like this was punishment for spending 3000 TP on armor. As the saying went, bad things came all at once. The mere 20 year old vice leader couldn’t handle the situation.

“Huu. I can do this. Cheer up.”

Rachel lightly slapped her face. She didn’t know when the blizzard would stop or when her 2 guild members would wake up, but she needed to find food.

Rachel left the igloo and the fierce snowstorm seemed to swallow all her senses. However, she forced herself through the snow and endured the bitter cold with her fire elemental Fiery’s help.

“…!”

She suddenly stopped and the snow around her feet slid off a cliff. A huge crevice lay in front of her.

“I almost fell…” Rachel sighed in relief and looked down the crevice.

“Ah, over there!”

She discovered a golden elevator under the 15 feet crevice. Its color contrasted with the snow and made it easy to spot. However, her joy only lasted briefly. Soon, she bit her lips.

— !@#!@%#&

— !@*&!^$@!#@#?

Another group had already taken over the elevator. Rachel examined their faces. Thankfully, she recognized them as they often appeared on Korean news. They belonged to China’s number 1 guild, Empire of Glory. Unfortunately, they seemed to have met up with the rest of their guild members and prepared to depart.

“Ah, wait!”

Rachel shouted and 8 individuals looked up at her. Upon further inspection, she saw the pride and joy on their faces from overtaking their competitors. Her intuition told her they wouldn’t wait for anyone else.

“Don’t stay quiet after calling out! You should hurry up if you want to come with us!”

The man who seemed to be their leader spoke out. Rachel could sense the lust in his eyes.

“Thank you for the offer, but I have comrades who fainted.”

“Ah, I see. I don’t think we can wait if you’re not alone. Who knows how many people will come if we do?”

However, his lust disappeared in front of his competitive spirit. Rachel shouted again as he coldly turned around. She used her only negotiation tool.

“I understand, so I’m willing to pay 500 TP. No, I’ll pay 1500 TP for my 2 comrades.”

“Hey, vice leader, do we look like beggars? We’re the best in China despite how we look.”

“I also have a Lv.3 armor. I don’t have it on me right now…”

“Oh? You were the fool who bought the gargoyle’s leather armor? Hahaha.”

“F-Fool?”

“Good luck with your passed-out friends. We’ll go on ahead.”

They only ridiculed her after she offered them everything she had. The group of 8 walked into the elevator and the door closed shut.

“Ah…”

Woong— The elevator shook and shot into the sky. Rachel could only stare as it left.

[Alert! Once activated, the elevator will reappear in a random location.]

Rachel despaired once more at the system alert. Tak, tak. The sound of footsteps rang out.

“A human?”

She guessed half-correctly. Turning around, she saw a strange half-human, half-beast monster commonly found in cold regions on Earth, a yeti.

“…!”

Rachel quickly raised her rapier, a level 1 sword she bought in Tutorial Town.

[Lv.3 Baby Yeti]

A Lv.3 monster would be the highest she had faced since entering the tower. The yeti bared its fangs at her. Rachel didn’t have much time to think. It charged towards her as if it had been ordered to kill all humans.

Rachel jumped to the side and dodged the yeti’s charge. KUOOO—! Its roar echoed in the blizzard.

Rachel decided to fight as it charged once again. However, it moved much smarter this time and leaped up with its powerful legs.

KOONG—!

The yeti slammed its fists as it landed. Rachel dodged with her elementals’ help and attacked the gaps in the yeti’s defense. She wasn’t sure if her attacks would work, but the fight seemed evenly matched.

Clang— Clang—

Her steel rapier clashed with the yeti’s fists. The yeti couldn’t gain an advantage against Rachel’s acrobatic swordsmanship.

However, Rachel knew she couldn’t drag out the fight. This was the yeti’s natural environment while she needed to use magic power just to stay warm.

— GUOOOO!

The yeti exploded with rage at Rachel’s constant dodging. It roared and swung its arm in a wide arc. Rachel decided to use this opportunity to strike.

“…!”

It seemed to have a sharp battle sense as if it led her on and lifted its foot to kick away Rachel’s rapier. Clang! Rachel clenched her fists as her rapier flew away. Use the gum if toothless! She infused elemental power into her small fist and punched.

— KOONG!

A huge sonic boom rang out from the distance along with her punch. She might’ve thought the sound came from her fist if she hadn’t paid attention.

Regardless, the sudden attack drilled a huge hole in the yeti’s chest, and its flesh and blood splattered on her.

“…?”

Rachel stood in a daze. The yeti completely stopped moving and fell forward. Then she spotted her savior beyond the fallen corpse. A man who wore a black hood and all sorts of equipment. He looked extremely warm.

“Who…”

The man pulled his hood down before she could finish. Her jaws dropped when she saw his face. She felt a sense of ease instead of surprise or happiness.

“Nice to see you again,” he spoke.

“Ah…”

As Rachel thought, he couldn’t have died in the tutorial. She felt dumb for ever worrying after seeing his robe, armor, mask, and other equipment. He was doing far better than her no matter how she looked at it.

Rachel became lost in thought at the smiling Kim Hajin.