I drove the dwarven supercar through the 6th floor. A gentle wind blew past us and colorful flowers could be seen everywhere. The eyes of deers twinkled from the mountains. This scenery simply put my mind at ease.

I couldn’t help but reminisce in this state of happiness. I didn’t know why, but memories from a distance past surfaced.

I felt invincible with my friends during my teenage years. I studied hard for the college exam. Years passed and I served in the military before I could enjoy life as an adult. Then I began writing after my discharge. Things went well. I earned some money and finally left home. I thought I had achieved everything on my own back then, but I was wrong. The support from my parents and my relationships with others over 25 years made me who I was.

I spent 25 years there and 5 years here. How would they have changed in 5 years? Was the world I lived in still the same? A strange anxiety rose in me from this beautiful scenery.

“Hajin.”

Boss suddenly called my name.

“... Yes?”

I replied a bit late. The weather felt especially nice today. It felt like being in the center of a glittering universe.

“…” Boss remained silent. I turned around and saw her glaring at me.

“What?”

“Where did you say we were going?”

“Huh? I said the hot spring… Aah!”

I scratched my head. No wonder she misunderstood. The landscape distracted me and I forgot to explain.

“I didn’t mean anything strange. The hot spring is used for training. Your stats increase faster there.”

Kieeek— Spartan landed on Boss’ shoulder. He skillfully caught up to the dwarven supercar at such a high speed.

“For training?”

— Prrrr. Spartan looked at Boss with twinkling eyes. He seemed to be having strange thoughts again.

“Yeah. My stats went up by 2 in a week.”

“Really?”

Boss finally took an interest. She kept mumbling, Hot spring, hot spring, hot spring…

“Also, that horse is still following us.”

I smiled wryly. As Boss said, Bucephalus indeed followed us. She appeared to be speed walking and not quite running, yet her speed equaled the dwarven supercar going 100 km/hr.

“She’s super fast, right?”

“…”

Boss nodded in silence.

“Look carefully and you should be able to see her information.”

“…? I can’t see anything. Just a question mark.”

“Ah, I forgot.”

A Lv.13 creature’s information couldn’t be viewed on the 6th floor. Players gained access to more information the higher they climbed and the highest level one could access on the 6th floor was Lv.10. I could only view Bucephalus’ information because of my smartwatch.

“Have you heard of Bucephalus?”

“Bucephalus?” Boss’s eyes widened a little. It seemed she’d heard the name before.

“Of course. She appears in the novel I’ve been reading.”

“… I see. Anyways, that’s her.”

“Hm? How is that possible? Didn’t that horse die a long time ago?”

“Well, I don’t know. Anything’s possible in the tower.”

We continued talking and soon arrived at the hot spring surrounded by emerald-like rocks. White steam obscured the water that sparkled like diamonds.

“We’re here.”

“Oh…”

The beautiful scenery impressed even Boss.

“…!”

Boss scrutinized the hot spring and suddenly widened her eyes. She must’ve received the system notifications regarding the stat buffs.

“Um… Hajin, should I just go in like this?”

“Huh? Oh… um…”

I looked at Boss with her clothes on. She wore the Lv.4 leather armor and robe that I made for her.

“It’s better to get undressed. Completely.”

“What?” Boss frowned at me.

“Well, we’re like family, so it’s noth… I’m joking. Boss, you know how to put up a barrier, right?”

I could sense her face turning grim and quickly retracted my words. She didn’t know how to take a joke.

“Barrier?” Boss seriously asked.

“Yes. Just get naked inside a barrier. The hot spring will be most effective that way. It’ll help you train your magic power. Would you like to give it a go?”

“Hmm… Okay.”

Boss walked into the hot spring fully clothed. I stopped Spartan from chasing her.

— Pieeek… The bird almost threw a tantrum when I covered his beak. Boss glanced at us before forming a black, dome-like barrier around herself. The barrier divided the hot spring exactly in half.

— Prrr!

I let go of Spartan as he rushed towards the barrier.

“Hey, you can’t go in anyways…?”

Swoosh— To my surprise, Spartan easily went through the barrier.

“What?”

I tapped the barrier. Tok, tok. It felt firm enough to knock on.

“…”

To enter Boss’ barrier without losing a drop of blood; this must be a divine bird’s power. I felt somewhat envious and took my clothes off before entering the hot spring. Then I opened my inventory and went over what I had.

[Lv.2 Consolidation Coupon] [Lv.3 Skill Consolidation Coupon]

I received these last week for being the first to enter the 6th floor. The [Lv.2 Consolidation Coupon] should obviously be used to upgrade the system. Chwaak— I ripped it in half without hesitation.

[You have used a Lv.2 Consolidation Coupon.]

“I would like to apply it to the system.”

[Consolidating Lv.1 Extra7’s System.] [Lv.1 Extra7’s System has increased to Lv.2 Extra7’s System.]

[Your waiting room has increased in size and its effects have improved.] [Your inventory has increased from Lv.1 to Lv. 2.] [You may now access a wider array of information.] [Community…]

I glanced over the system windows. Now, I should use the Lv.3 Skill Consolidation Coupon.

Let’s check my skills first.

[Basic Skill List (3/3)] [Lv.4 Extraction and Permanent Materialization (2 slots)] [Skill Exp 55%] [Lv.3 Synthesis (1 slot)] [Exp 0]

[Extraction and Permanent Materialization] could be upgraded through repetitive training. However, [Synthesis] remained at level 3 since it could only be upgraded with skill consolidation coupons.

[Synthesis has increased to Lv.4.] [You may now apply the skill in more diverse ways.]

[Synthesis] became Lv. 4 after I used the coupon. The maximum level for a normal skill stopped at 11. It almost reached half, so I should be able to do what I’ve been planning.

“Let’s take the Hot Spring of Peace back to my waiting room.”

I took out the reward from the castle attack.

[Lv.4 Special Chemical Activity Beaker] Lv.4 Property Transformation

Property transformation activated as soon as I filled the 1 L beaker with the hot spring water. The water inside the beaker turned into a heavy liquid similar to mercury.

Then I used [Synthesis], which also had the power of compression. The semi-solid water compressed and created extra space in the beaker.

I repeated this process multiple times from 1 L to 2 L, 4, 8… In the end, I compressed 128 L worth of spring water inside the 1 L beaker.

“All done.”

I spoke with a wide grin. Now I just had to bring this over to my waiting room. Then I’d turn the compressed water into liquid again and release it inside the mini hot spring I prepared.

Leaving the hot spring seemed like a waste, so I came up with this after much deliberation. Of course, the spring water would lose its purifying ability after compression, but stigma’s magic power should take care of that.

As I prepared to return to my waiting room with the beaker…

Splash—

I looked up and saw Bucephalus splashing water with her front legs. Splash splash splash splash. Water splashed all over my face.

“…”

I feigned indifference and messaged Boss.

Me: Boss, can you help me with my training after you’re done?

Boss: Trauning?

Me: Yup. Training.

Boss: Ok. But what kind of traoning are you referring to?

Me: Archery practice. And it’s training, not traoning. I’ll shoot, so all you have to do is evade.

Boss: It’s a typo.

The 6th floor featured many other training grounds beside the Hot Spring of Peace. For example, the Jewel Forest could be used for training skills and the Dark King Mountain Range for training traits.

Me: You can spend 3 more hours in there. It feels nice, right?

Boss: Yes. It’s good.

Boss sent one more message along with a screenshot. So she learned how to take a screenshot. Good for her.

Boss: (Photo)

Boss: Lol.

Spartan was splashing water in the photo and smiling like the happiest bird in the world.

“…”

I felt bitter for some reason. Why did I feel jealous?

“Cough.”

I closed my eyes and almost peeked with Spartan’s vision, but held back. I endured thanks to my amazing endurance stat at 7.207.

***

Time flew as Boss and I trained.

Boss restored 3.5 points of her magic power while I raised Master Sharpshooter to 57% of grade 5 and [Extraction and Permanent Materialization] to level 5. I also succeeded in creating a smaller version of the hot spring in my waiting room. It wasn’t as good as the original, but was still worth 1-2 hours of my time every day.

— Prrr, prrr.

Most importantly, I finally tamed Bucephalus after 4 more days of playing hard to get.

— Hiiing.

[Lv.13 Bucephalus has consented to become your pet!] [This relationship can break anytime with Bucephalus’ weak loyalty.]

I felt satisfied with our temporary relationship. I had enticed her with delicious food every day until she became my pet.

“Boss, can you recommend me a name?”

Boss only had about an hour left on the 6th floor. I asked her as I stroked Bucephalus’ mane.

“Can’t you just call her Bucephalus?”

“No. That stands out too much.”

“Hmm…”

Boss rubbed her chin.

“Kwangmyung. What do you think? Kim Kwangmyung in Korean.”

“…”

My mind went blank. I seriously doubted my hearing at such a weird name.

“Hm. Do you not like it?”

“Huh? Ah… It’s….”

Well, I suppose it’s better than Spartan.

“It sounds good, but she’s a girl.”

“Ah. That’s right, a girl. Then… how about Sannuri?”

“Oh? I like it.”

An unexpectedly pretty name. I asked Bucephalus for her opinion, but she didn’t care and simply nibbled the grain I had given her.

“Alright, let’s go with Sannuri.”

[Lv.13 Bucephalus’ nickname has been set to Sannuri.] [Lv.13 Bucephalus secretly likes her new name.]

For the record, tamed animals could be kept in the waiting room. I already prepared a stable with an automatic feeding machine.

“I’ll see you later.”

I said to Boss, who held a ticket in her hand.

[7F Ticket] You may use this ticket to travel to the 7th floor. You cannot return to 6th floor ever again after using this ticket.

“Okay. I’ll go on ahead.”

However, she didn’t use the ticket. Instead, she placed her hands on the crystal stele nearby and returned to the 3rd floor. She probably wanted to save the first-time rewards for me.

“…”

Boss acted unexpectedly considerate when it came to such things. I stood there for a while before turning around. I had about 4 hours left with nothing urgent, but still needed to meet one more person.

I wonder what he’s doing right now? I closed my eyes and shared visions with Spartan flying across the 5th floor as I had ordered.

“He’ll be here soon.”

I confirmed that he had arrived near the Forest of Fairies. Then I returned to the Hot Spring of Peace and took a dip until I grew tired of waiting.

Tik, tik—

Time passed from 30 minutes to an hour, 2 hours… I only had about 40 minutes left.

Rustle—

I felt a presence behind me, but didn’t bother getting up. I simply sat with a smile and waited. The rustling grew louder along with footsteps. My heart beat a little faster as the distance shortened. I finally smelled him after 5 minutes that felt like 30 minutes.

“… Oh?”

A confused voice sounded from behind me. However, I didn’t turn around. I leaned against the rocks surrounding the hot spring and simply grinned. I didn’t have to check to know who finally arrived.

“You’re here.”

I stared at the water’s surface, which reflected his face. A well-tended undercut and a flawless appearance. Kim Suho looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“Long time no see.”

We finally reunited after 3 years. I felt glad and also a bit nervous. I faced him not as Black Lotus, but as Fenrir and Kim Hajin.

***

[5f, Materialized Demon Realm]

A party made up of Aileen, Yi Yongha, Jin Seyeon, and Shin Jonghak explored deeper into the demon realm.

“The demon race’s executives aren’t anything to worry about.”

Shin Jonghak smiled as he recalled the demon he just pierced a moment ago.

“Haha, you were outstanding. You have the potential to become a spear god in the future…”

“I don’t know about that.”

Jin Seyeon played along, but Aileen seemed uninterested. Honestly, Jin Seyeon originally planned on traveling alone. However, Shin Jonghak had asked to join and she couldn’t refuse. After all, she owed a great debt to his grandfather, Shin Myungchul, even though it happened more than 20 years ago.

“Shall we set out again?”

“Yeah, whatever. Let’s go.”

Aileen answered Shin Jonghak, obviously annoyed. Shin Jonghak had nothing to fear as a member of this amazing party. He walked with confidence and the monsters that appeared from time to time indeed couldn’t match them.

Jin Seyeon’s arrows killed most of the monsters before they could even reach the group. Aileen’s Spirit Speech, Yi Yongha’s hellfire, and Shin Jonghak’s spear easily destroyed the rest that managed to come close.

“Let’s walk a bit faster.”

Shin Jonghak led the way. He felt a little strange not being the leader of a group, but just being a member of this one satisfied him. They continued for about 10 minutes.

“Ah, there’s a crystal stele.” Jin Seyeon pointed into the distance.

“Where? Where?” Aileen widened her eyes in that direction.

“It’s about 3 km away, so you might not be able to see it, Miss Aileen.”

“You’re joking.”

“Haha…”

Jin Seyeon smiled and observed the scene. Three robed individuals stood next to the crystal steles. One of them seemed quite tall, probably over 2 meters with a sturdy build. Another one looked slim with a spear. The last one seemed like a woman wearing heels.

“…”

Jin Seyeon couldn’t figure out their identities. They seemed familiar, but she didn’t recognize them. Suddenly, the largest one turned his head and looked in their direction.

“Who is it? What is it? What or who are you looking at?” Aileen asked in a hurry.

Jin Seyeon whispered without averting her eyes, “They certainly don’t look friendly. We might have to confront them to use the crystal stele.”

“Yeah? Then let’s confront them.”

As expected, Aileen continued forward without a hint of hesitation.

“Yes. Let’s go.”

Yi Yongha, Shin Jonghak, and Jin Seyeon followed her.