With less than two hours remaining until the results of the Position Test were announced, Khun had asked Gandr, Phae, Endorsi, Anak, Shibisu, Hatsu, Aleksai, and Laure to gather in the Medical Ward’s waiting room. Nare and Chunhwa had also been invited, but, for fairly obvious reasons, they wanted to keep to themselves until the results and been announced.
Understanding the couple’s anxieties, Khun didn’t urge them to attend. He did, however, promise to compensate them if they weren’t selected to climb the Tower. He knew Nare’s goal for climbing the Tower was to earn enough money to open a Shinheuh Breeding Farm. As for Chunhwa, he had been tasked by his village’s Elder to climb the Tower in search of his sworn brother. Neither of their goals ‘required’ them to keep climbing the Tower, so, regardless of the outcome of the Position Test, Khun promised to help them fulfill both of their objectives.
—
Seeing everyone gathered around, Khun offered a polite smile as he said, “Thanks for agreeing to meet here on such short notice. I’m sure most of you have already realized my intentions so I’ll just be out with it…I’d like for us all to form a team. Though our objectives are different, our penultimate goal is the same. By working together, we can drastically increase our chances of achieving each of our dreams…”
Never shy in the face of serious situations, Endorsi didn’t hesitate to snort in response to Khun’s words, a somewhat vicious smile spreading across her face as she retorted, “You’re speaking like we haven’t already come to a tacit agreement to climb the Tower together. Don’t tell me you’re actually trying to designate yourself as the leader of our group when there are two Princesses of Jahad and a literal Emperor in our party?”
Hearing Endorsi’s remark, Khun, and everyone else present within the room, shifted their attention to the aggressively smiling Princess. Under normal circumstances, her posturing would have been rather intimidating, but, due to the previous incident with Gandr, she still had cat-like whiskers and a triangular nose drawn on her face in black marker. She had tried scrubbing it off, but, even after washing her skin until it was tender, the marker neither faded nor smudged. Phae had also refused to help her, pointing out that she knew what she was getting herself into the moment she blew the dog whistle.
Though nobody said anything, Endorsi could tell what everyone was thinking as they stared back at her. This caused a burning sensation to flow into her cheeks, but, pretending like their stares didn’t bother her, Endorsi crossed her arms before haughtily stating, “I would normally propose that Phae be made the leader, but, considering her relationship with the Emperor, it is only natural that he be nominated for the position. I won’t deny that you are a very capable man, especially after your little performance during the Hide-and-Seek Test. However, can you really compare yourself to someone like Phae?”
Turning his head to the woman in question, Khun maintained his polite smile as he asked, “What do you think about all this, Ms. Phae?”
As Khun had already approached her beforehand, an amused giggle escaped Phae’s throat before she replied, “My Lord will undoubtedly have the highest position within our group, but, unless there is a particularly dangerous enemy, you shouldn’t expect him to intervene. As for myself, my duty is, first and foremost, to my Lord. I am more than willing to provide support, but, for the most part, my specialty lies in the production of items. I have absolutely no desire to be the leader of the group.”
Not expecting someone as confident and capable as Phae to immediately step down, Endorsi found herself at a loss for words. Fortunately, before she could completely lose herself to incredulity, Phae smiled back at her, adding, “Don’t worry. Khun is a smart young man. He might have a mischievous side to him, but he is also very cautious. So long as my Lord is present, he knows better than to act out…isn’t that right, Mr. Khun~?”
Feeling the temperature drop around his body, an awkward-sounding laugh escaped Khun’s throat as he replied, “Ms. Phae makes a good point…Besides, I’m sure everyone here has already realized that the Emperor intends to make us an offer in the near future. Depending on our decisions at that time, everything we’re talking about right now might become irrelevant. All I’m proposing is that we make things official so that, even if something happens to split our party, we can continue working towards the same goal.”
Unamused by the fact that Khun was already mentioning their party splitting before it had even formed, Endorsi pointedly asked, “What happened? You’re keeping something from us…”
With all eyes in the room shifting back to him, Khun released an exasperated sigh, falling silent for several seconds before answering, “I’ve had the feeling that something strange was going on ever since arriving on the 2nd Floor. I don’t know what it is, but I feel like something is going to happen that might force us apart. I just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page before anything unexpected happens. As for the leadership position…I don’t really care about that. I nominated Rak in order to prevent him from complaining about it later. The only thing I care about is making sure we all advance through the Floors as quickly and efficiently as possible. To that end, I hope you’ll at least trust my judgment during future Tests…”
To complete his statement, Khun lowered his head towards everyone present. He was being sincere for the first time in a long time, so, while he anticipated Endorsi to continue badgering him, he was hoping she could at least intuit he was serious. After all, they ultimately shared the same goal, and, unless something unexpected happened, they would be treading the same path for the next couple of decades, at the very least.
Endorsi didn’t really like the idea of following Khun’s orders, but, convincing herself that Vahn and Phae were ultimately in control, she released an exasperated sigh of her own before saying, “Fine. I never really cared about who was calling the shots. Just remember that I am a bonafide Princess of Jahad. People will naturally assume I’m the leader of the group and we’re guaranteed to draw a lot of publicity. Keep that in mind and make sure not to embarrass me. I might not actually care about public opinion all that much, but I still have an image to uphold.”
Surprised that Endorsi had given up so quickly, Khun was genuinely at a loss for how to respond. A part of him was tempted to point out the marker still on her face, but, rather than complicate things further, he ultimately just smiled and said, “Thank you…” before everyone began to fervently discuss potential team names…
—
Though Vahn had also been invited to the gathering arranged by Khun, he entrusted the situation to Phae and Gandr before making his way over to where Hoh had been hospitalized. The man had tried to kill himself following his awakening, and, though several people had visited to try and cheer him up, Vahn found the man staring off into space with a blank expression on his face.
Anticipating Baam or his former teammate, Serena, Hoh was more than a little surprised when he saw Vahn standing at the entrance to his room. For a brief moment, there was even a flash of life visible in the man’s eyes, not due to any kind of hope, but anticipation for his death. He currently had both of his arms strapped to the sides of his hospital bed, so, even if he wanted nothing more than to end his own life, he was powerless to even accomplish that.
Without beating around the bush, Vahn walked over to the man’s bed, his voice solemn and heavy as he asked, “Tell me, do you regret betraying your friends and murdering one of the few people in this Tower who could empathize with you? Even if you somehow managed to move on to the next floor, how far do you think you would have gotten on your own? People aren’t exactly lining up to ally themselves with someone who would murder their comrades for a chance to move up a single floor…”
Remembering the look on Grey’s face when he stabbed her, tears began to well up inside of Hoh’s eyes as he strained against his bindings and shouted, “Shut up! You don’t know anything! You don’t know what it’s like to be powerless! You don’t know what it’s like to be unable to change your fate no matter how hard you try! Climbing the Tower is the only chance I had left! Everything! Everyone I cared about has already been taken from me! My only hope was to climb the Tower and become a Ranker! Without power, how could I ever hope to kill that f****** monster and avenge my friends!? My family…!?”
Hearing the pain and anguish contained within Hoh’s every word, Vahn wasn’t unable to empathize with the man. That didn’t cause the glower on his face to fade away, however, as one’s suffering did not give them the right to inflict suffering upon others. Grey had her own tragic background, much like everyone else that had been chosen to climb the Tower. She and Hoh had even been close, yet, in spite of this, the man ended up murdering her in cold blood just for the chance to advance to the 3rd Floor.
To prevent the man’s continued thrashing about, Vahn pointed his finger toward Hoh, freezing him in place as he stated, “I asked if you regretted your actions. I don’t care how you ignorantly justify your actions. If you are sincere and seek to repent, I can offer you the power you seek. However, in exchange, you will live the remainder of your life carrying the burden of your sin. Now, tell me, do you regret betraying your friends and murdering another person…?”
Though he couldn’t move most of his body, Hoh was still able to produce a steady stream of tears, pain, sadness, and, most importantly, regret visible in his golden irises. This was what Vahn wanted to see, as, regardless of a person’s actions, there was hope so long as they sincerely regretted their actions. Hoh was neither evil nor malicious. He had simply been led astray, consumed by his desire for revenge and the despair he felt after realizing he lacked the talent to achieve his goals.
With Vahn releasing him from his telekinetic grasp, Hoh’s tears flowed in even greater volume as he lowered his head and shouted, “Of course I feel regret! I never meant to kill anyone! Grey…she…I…!”
Having no desire to listen to the man’s mad ramblings, Vahn performed a hushing gesture with his hand, his aura condensing around them as he said, “That’s enough. As I said previously, I don’t care how you wish to justify your actions. If you are truly repentant, you will demonstrate it through your actions. So long as you pledge to walk the path of penance in the future, I will grant you the chance to obtain the power you seek. Now, what will you choose? Will you continue trying to flee your sins by taking your own life or will you accept responsibility for your crimes by endeavoring to make the world a better place…?”
—
Though there was still more than half an hour before the results were to be announced, most of the Regulars began to sparsely populate the once overcrowded lecture hall. They were using the same hall where everyone had originally gathered to learn their Positions. Back then, everyone had been hopeful, confident, and completely sure of themselves. Now, however, their numbers had dwindled considerably, and, by the end of the days, approximately half of them were fated to be ejected from the Inner Tower. Despite this, everyone, including those who were guaranteed to fail, had shown up, each hoping and praying for a miracle as the Test Administrators and Director slowly filed into the room…
(A/N: Alternate Titles: ‘Endorsi be like, “Phae is bae.”‘,’Phae(Vahn) be like, “Ain’t nobody got time for dat…!”‘,’The Path of Penance…’)
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