Light leaked from the open door of the lodgings.
I knew beforehand from the messages, but Edith did not.
Looking outside, Edith said,
"Looks like the newbies have arrived."
"So it seems."
"If they're like Roderick or Iolca, then it's time for the draft..."
"There won't be a draft. It's not necessary either. And they won't be able to join our party."
"What?"
"You'll see if you watch."
I put down my teacup and stood up. Then I went out into the square.
At the entrance of the Summoning Center in the square, three men and women were gathered.
"Hey, um, can we talk..."
"I said no! You smell like a widower, you know?"
"What did you say? I was being nice to you, bitch!"
"Think I'm easy 'cause I'm a woman? Funny bastard."
The bickering man and woman drew their weapons.
[Mazel(★★★) displays hostility towards Tasir(★★★)!]
[Tasir(★★★) displays hostility towards Mazel(★★★)!]
[Hostile Relationship formed! Carefully observe the Heroes' interactions!]
Is this how it is the moment they arrive?
It went beyond absurd and became funny.
"Excuse me, are you perhaps someone who arrived earlier?"
A blonde young man, clad in splendid armor and wearing a sword, approached me. He looked more like a boy than a young man. Traces of youth remained in his features.
I replied,
"Yes."
"I am Stein Rastoph. An apprentice knight. If you don't mind, would you help me calm those two down? They refuse to listen to me..."
"Of course they wouldn't listen. To a smelly apprentice runt!" Mazel spat.
"What did you say!" Stein retorted.
"I agree with that. Who would listen to a spoiled brat who lived comfortably thanks to his parents?" Tasir chimed in.
"Insulting me is forgivable, but insulting my parents is not!"
[Stein(★★★) displays hostility towards Mazel(★★★) and Tasir(★★★)!]
Clang!
Drawing his longsword, Stein charged at the two. The standoff shifted from two individuals to three.
"What? What's wrong with those people?" Edith, arriving late, asked with a bewildered expression.
'Their personalities clash.'
Compatibility exists between Heroes too.
While some Heroes gain bonus stats when placed in the same party, others conversely lower each other's abilities. Still, it was rare for hostile relationships to form and escalate to drawn swords immediately upon summoning.
"I'll teach this impudent brat some manners!"
The first to attack was the shabby-looking man, Tasir.
Tasir's chain-sickle spun in a spiral as it shot towards Stein.
Clang!
The chain-sickle struck a transparent wall and fell short.
[What are you doing?! Are you crazy? You want to die?] Isel, appearing belatedly, glared.
"What are you?" Tasir asked.
[I am Isel! The Master's proxy. Don't mess around. I'm way stronger than you guys.]
"...Master." Stein grimaced. Something seemed to trigger a memory.
[Anyway, don't fight carelessly in the Waiting Room. I won't overlook it a second time. Understood?]
"Then separate me from this young master and the beggar. We really don't get along. Yes, if we absolutely have to form a party... with that Oppa over there." Mazel pointed at me.
Mazel, wearing heavy makeup, wore an outfit with long slits down the sides. In her right hand, she held a serrated sword. Regardless, she didn't seem old enough to be calling me 'Oppa'.
[You don't decide the party. The Master does.]
Isel dismissed Mazel's request and vanished with a pop.
Immediately after, the Party Formation screen appeared.
[Forming Party.]
[Drag and Drop Heroes!]
[Stein(★★★) joins Party 3!]
[Mazel(★★★) joins Party 3!]
[Tasir(★★★) joins Party 3!]
'Are they planning to go with just those three?'
Placing Heroes with established hostile relationships in the same party.
It didn't take much to see the efficiency would be abysmal.
It's possible to resolve the relationships by having them interact over time, but Amkena wouldn't likely have such thoughts.
[Open, Space-Time Riiift!]
Otherwise, they wouldn't have deployed the three in this volatile situation.
I sighed and returned to the lodgings. There was no need to watch anymore. Edith followed and asked,
"Han, where are you going?"
"Guess I'll just sleep."
"Those people."
"They won't come back."
I went into my room in the lodgings and sat on the bed.
Just as expected, the anticipated system messages appeared at the top of my vision.
[Tasir(★★★) has entered a Frenzy state!]
[Attacking Ally!]
[Stein(★★★) is inflicted with Bleeding. HP will decrease periodically.]
[Stein(★★★) has entered a Frenzy state!]
[Attacking Ally!]
Frenzy status effect. A state where one recognizes allies as enemies. Isel couldn't prevent it within the stage.
[Mazel(★★★) has entered a Frenzy state!]
[Attacking Ally!]
I didn't know exactly which floor they went to, but I could guess it wasn't a low floor. Otherwise, they wouldn't have subjected the newly arrived Iolca to a high-floor climb.
[Stein(★★★) Kills Ally!]
[Tasir(★★★) has returned to the Goddess's embrace. His fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
The first to die was Tasir.
Immediately after, the second death message updated.
[Mazel(★★★) has returned to the Goddess's embrace. Her fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
[Stein(★★★) falls into Despair. All stats decreased by 80%.]
A moment later.
[Stein(★★★) has returned to the Goddess's embrace. His fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]
[Party 3 has been annihilated.]
[You Lose!]
Without finishing even a single battle, Party 3 was wiped out.
This was the first full wipe since the free 10x summon back then.
The price was the death of three 3-star Heroes.
[Master, would you like to log out?]
[Yes(Select) / No]
[Goodbye then!]
As soon as the annihilation message appeared, Amkena disconnected.
Isel appeared, tears welling up in her eyes.
[Lokiii!]
"What?"
[What do we do, what do we do! Are they really quitting?]
"They might."
[Then what about me, about us!]
"What happens?"
[If the Master doesn't log in for a certain period, the account gets deleted. Loki, you know that! They can't just quit!]
Right. I knew. If an account remained inactive for six months in real time, it disappeared. Irrecoverable. Converting that to Waiting Room time makes it one year and six months.
[Without the Master, the Waiting Room can't be maintained. We can't receive interference power! I'll disappear. And I was born not too long ago!]
"Stop overreacting. Nothing's confirmed yet."
[But still...]
Even if Amkena disappeared right now, I could probably cover some ground using the Master's power I possess. But it wouldn't be perfect. I still needed Amkena for now. I knew that fact too. I gave a small smile and said,
"Don't worry. If they were going to quit over this, they would have quit when they dusted the 4-star."
[Really?]
I nodded.
[O-Okay. I'll believe you then.]
"By the way, why are you so desperate? Do you die or something if the tower isn't climbed?"
[Yes.]
"You die?"
[I disappear.]
"..."
Seems I asked a pointless question.
After Isel left, I fell into thought.
When Amkena returns next time, will they lift the strike, or maintain it? Although I spoke confidently, the possibility of Amkena quitting wasn't zero. That would put me in a difficult position.
'Wait.'
If it's six months...
Niflheim is...
'Is there no time?'
I frowned.
The conclusion was reached.
'The strike remains.'
High-speed climbing requires a corresponding foundation; it's indispensable.
Unless it's confirmed that Amkena has completely changed their mind, maintaining the strike seemed necessary. Even if the outcome is bad.
A more decisive failure was needed.
Quitting, or something comparable.
All I could do now was wait for the coming opportunity.
The next evening.
Logging in earlier than usual, Amkena immediately brought up the control window and charged Gems.
The payment confirmation message appeared.
[If there's something you desire right now, pay immediately!]
[Mobius supports the Master's choice!]
[You have selected the 'Gold Triple Package!']
[Package Contents – 5,000 Gems, 3 Gift Coupons]
[All this for just 90,000 Won!]
[This amount will be added to next month's phone bill. Really proceed with payment?]
[Yes(Select) / No]
After retrieving the rewards from the mailbox, Amkena immediately initiated paid summons.
[Master, commencing High-Grade Summon. I wonder what kind of Hero will appear!]
[Clack, Drrr.]
[Kaboom!]
[Rare!]
[Master 'Amkena' has acquired Hero 'Nokin(★★★)'!]
[Rare!]
[Master 'Amkena' has acquired Hero 'Winard(★★★)'!]
[Rare!]
[Master 'Amkena' has acquired Hero...]
As expected, a 3x summon again.
I understood why three. There were a few 1-stars in the training center who hadn't joined any party.
Form a party by appropriately combining low-rank and high-rank Heroes. They were trying to copy this strategy they picked up somewhere. Without knowing the principles and methods required.
I smiled.
A sparrow trying to follow a stork will tear its legs apart.
If they were going to do it blindly, a 5x summon would have been better.
These three weren't the worst combination.
Although one fell into a near-death state, they completed the test safely. They seemed to understand their roles properly. Amkena presented the three with the gift coupons obtained from the Gold Package. Two idle 1-stars also joined, creating a 5-member party.
The thus completed 'Party 3' immediately began leveling up by grinding lower floors.
Several days later.
Jena, running alongside me in the training center, spoke.
"Isn't it dangerous?"
"What is?"
"Those people. It feels like our spots could be taken."
I glanced towards a corner of the training center.
There, the members of Party 3 were gathered, sparring.
The core of three 3-stars, and two relatively weaker 1-stars.
Each time a wooden sword swung, bruises bloomed on the 1-stars' bodies.
It looked more like abuse than sparring.
"Leave them be."
One of the 3-stars from Party 3 met my eyes.
The guy hastily looked away.
The dispositions of those three weren't quite at the openly rampaging Dire Wolf level, but they weren't nice either.
They started picking fights from the first day they arrived, so Edith and I educated them. Of course, the education involved beating them to within an inch of their lives.
More time passed.
Party 3 grew steadily without any dropouts. Two swordsmen, one spear user. Two archers. No mage, but the class balance wasn't bad. Amkena's plan seemed to be proceeding well.
"You know why those guys aren't going out? 'Cause they've been abandoned by the Master, uhuhu. Once we grow a bit more, we can eat them up. Ah, except for the mage girl. We need to put her in our party."
"Isn't the party full already?"
"There are those two useless bastards, right? We just need to kick one out."
"Oho. An interesting opinion."
"Right? This is exactly... Ugh!"
Nokin, who was badmouthing in the dining hall, turned around.
A 3-star, leader of Party 3. And level 8.
Nokin, sweating profusely, said,
"Wh-What brings you here?"
"Just getting some water. Continue your conversation."
"It was nothing. Haha. Let's just go to sleep now."
The three members of Party 3 scattered like flies.
'Not a shred of teamwork in sight.'
They didn't even treat the 1-stars in their own party like people.
Still, Amkena would likely be satisfied.
Despite various hitches, Party 3 broke through the 14th floor.
It seemed floors 13 and 14 were easy. Likely a rebound effect after the difficult 12th floor.
Or perhaps they were simply lucky.
Just in case, I checked, but Stream, the indicator of linked quests, hadn't activated.
Floor 15 was highly likely to be a small-scale mission solvable by just one party of 5 members.
No member in Party 3 had surpassed level 10.
But Amkena would challenge it.
Because they had always done so before and had never failed. And the moment Party 3 broke through the 15th floor, just as Nokin boasted, we would likely be Synthesized. If there's a replacement, there's no need to manage disobedient Heroes.
I downed my water and returned to my room.
It seemed I would witness an interesting spectacle before long.
That would be the turning point.