TSOT#1 Chapter 37

The train carrying Joo-ah’s team was Car No. 13. It was a special cabin, ensuring their safety up to the 300th floor without any threat from monsters.

“Are you tired?”

Joo-ah asked Jae-rim, who was seated beside her. He nodded slightly, indicating he was fine.

In truth, asking about fatigue in the tower was meaningless. Even someone like Jae-rim, who suffered from severe insomnia, would find that most human needs, including fatigue, dissipated within the tower.

Nevertheless, Joo-ah couldn’t stop worrying about him.

Perhaps it was because she couldn’t forget how he had risked himself to save her during their last quest.

“D-rank.”

While Joo-ah was checking to see if there was anything she could help with, Chan-hee, who was leaning his head on Yeon-joo’s shoulder across from them, called out to her.

Joo-ah looked at him, puzzled. Chan-hee wrinkled his nose and spoke bluntly.

“You seem to have misunderstood something. The person who gave you actual help to avoid failing the quest wasn’t Shin Jae-rim. It was me.”

“Oh…”

Hearing his words, Joo-ah sighed briefly before giving him a belated thank you.

“Thank you.”

Her voice was so indifferent that Chan-hee frowned.

However, Joo-ah turned her attention away, noticing a wound on Jae-rim’s hand.

“Oh? Let me heal this for you.”

Looking relieved to have found a way to help, Joo-ah quickly grabbed Jae-rim’s hand.

Although she could feel Chan-hee letting out a sarcastic laugh from across the cabin, she paid it no mind.

Jae-rim, looking a bit uncomfortable as she held his hand, spoke.

“It’s not a deep wound. There’s no need to waste your magic on something like this…”

“I know. Your stamina will recover while the train moves, and the wound will heal on its own.”

Joo-ah interrupted him calmly.

“But I still want to heal you. You risked your safety to save me, Shin Jae-rim Hunter. So I’d feel more at ease if I could repay you, even in a small way.”

Although her magic reserves were limited and conserving it was crucial in the tower, there was plenty of time left during the train ride for her to recharge.

Seeing her determined expression, Jae-rim sighed and nodded.

“All right.”

Joo-ah smiled brightly and began channeling her magic into the back of his hand. She could sense his stamina recovering.

But she didn’t just use healing energy. To ease any lingering fatigue, she infused her magic with purification as well.

The deep red wound faded as the cut healed completely. Watching the process silently, Jae-rim finally spoke.

“I didn’t risk myself for Hunter Seo Joo-ah’s sake.”

Joo-ah looked up at him.

Still gazing at his healed hand, Jae-rim continued.

“If I’m honest, I did it for myself. And now, I deeply regret it.”

“It was a foolish, reckless act without any clear solution or benefit.”

Joo-ah lowered her gaze to his hand. It was clenched into a fist, reflecting his emotions.

She didn’t deny his words. In hindsight, his actions during their last quest had indeed been reckless.

The timer was running out.
The objective was in sight.
The likelihood of failure was evident.

It was akin to choosing to starve with a full meal laid out before him, all for a teammate he barely knew.

It was a choice with no gains and only losses.

“…But,” Joo-ah said, looking back at Jae-rim, “if the same situation arose, Hunter Shin Jae-rim would make the same reckless decision, wouldn’t you?”

Jae-rim’s eyes widened as he looked up at her.

Meeting his gaze, Joo-ah smiled gently and spoke.

“And just that alone makes it a meaningful action, doesn’t it? Whether it was reckless or not doesn’t matter. What matters is your choice, and because of that choice, I’m grateful.”

She smiled warmly.

“Thank you for coming to save me. I mean it.”

Jae-rim didn’t respond. He simply stared at her before turning his gaze back to his hand.

The skin touched by her magic was spotless, free from even the smallest scar. Thanks to her purification magic, he felt a profound sense of clarity, both physically and mentally.

Her magic was pure and soothing, just like her.

Jae-rim allowed a small smile to form.

“Hey, D-rank. I’m the one who saved you.”

Chan-hee interrupted the gentle atmosphere.

Joo-ah turned to him with an annoyed expression.

“I already thanked you earlier.”

“But you didn’t say it as sincerely as you did to Shin Jae-rim. Are you playing favorites?”

“What are you even talking about? What do you want me to do, then?”

Chan-hee straightened up from leaning on Yeon-joo and replied.

“Say thank you with all your heart, more passionately than you did for Shin Jae-rim.”

Irritated by his ridiculous demands, Joo-ah frowned. Yeon-joo shook her head, seemingly resigned to his antics.

Reluctantly, Joo-ah kept thanking him until he was satisfied.

But when it seemed endless, she finally snapped.

“Are you kidding me?!”

“Wow, I save a teammate and get this kind of attitude in return.”

By then, the train had reached the 300th floor. The team moved toward the exit.

Ignoring Chan-hee’s comments, Joo-ah walked ahead. She suddenly froze as a bird-like monster passed right in front of her.

“That was close.”

If Chan-hee hadn’t pulled her back, she would’ve collided directly with the monster.

“Th-thank you.”

The words came out automatically, and Chan-hee grinned, looking pleased.

“You’re welcome.”

Yeon-joo, meanwhile, froze all the monsters outside the train with her abilities.

Jae-rim scanned their surroundings.

“Where’s the boss?”

Unlike other areas, the 300th floor, which had become a gate itself, emitted a strange and ominous atmosphere.

Boss floors were beyond the interference of the Storyteller.

Jae-rim, cautiously observing the quiet surroundings, suddenly looked up and shouted.

“Above us!”

The team members instinctively turned their heads upward. At that moment, something in the dark ceiling lunged toward them.

Yeon-joo swiftly created a protective barrier, encasing the team in a shield of ice.

The creature collided with the icy shield and retreated, scuttling back up the walls to the ceiling.

Level: B+
Attribute: Earth
Special Move: Venomous Fluid
Unique Traits: Final boss of the 300th-floor gate in the third tower.

The creature was a spider-like monster with a massive body and multiple legs.

[Due to the final boss’s traits, all its stats have increased by 15%.]

Its body emitted a faint glow, and its magical energy became noticeably stronger.

The monster suddenly spat out thick, sticky saliva, which dripped onto Yeon-joo’s ice wall, leaving purple trails.

Yeon-joo grimaced.

“Gross.”

She summoned an ice spear in her hand and hurled it at the monster with enough force to pierce the ceiling.

Crash!

The monster failed to dodge and plummeted to the ground with a loud thud.

Yeon-joo drew a massive sword from her inventory.

“Mind if I finish this off?”

With that, she dashed forward, surrounded by shimmering ice crystals, resembling falling snowflakes.

The monster recovered and lunged at her, spewing white threads from its mouth.

Yeon-joo gracefully evaded and leaped high into the air. As her sword rose, the ice crystals around her gathered, encasing the blade in a frosty sheen.

The monster’s body convulsed, preparing to release a toxic fluid.

But before it could, Yeon-joo’s blade struck first.

Clang!

With a sharp sound, the monster’s body froze, encased entirely in ice, and shattered into pieces.

The remnants fell to the floor like fragments of glass, leaving behind shards of ice containing traces of the monster.

[Congratulations! You’ve defeated the final boss of the tower!]
[You have been rewarded with a ‘Special Train Ticket.’]
[You have been rewarded with ‘Venom-Infused Thread.’]
[Both items can be checked in your inventory.]

The final boss vanished almost anticlimactically.

The eerie atmosphere of the gate dissipated, and the faint sounds of monsters in the distance disappeared entirely.

Yeon-joo picked up the magic crystal left by the monster.

A door to the exit platform materialized in the stillness.

Approaching her teammates with a light step, Yeon-joo smiled and said,

“Shall we head out now?”