32 – Episode 32. Each person’s choice_(3)
“I’m not begging you recklessly. Uh, so… Equivalent exchange! Master, if you teach me how to be strong, I will do everything I can… Just give me a chance.”
Tilda’s eyes didn’t budge even though I didn’t answer for a long time.
It’s probably embarrassing to see the awkward atmosphere or Suga covering his mouth while laughing.
I can feel the earnestness in the eyes that look straight into my eyes.
I don’t know why he wants to enter the tower again after being beaten that way.
I didn’t feel like asking.
Just like I decided to live on my own, he must have it too.
Something like the Maginot Line that you can’t back down from, and the experiences that created that line.
I think of Tilda struggling at the bottom of the labyrinth.
She ugly grabbed me by the crotch of my pants.
I must have had eyes like that two years ago. With a desperate look.
But if there’s one thing that makes her different from me…
After everything was over, I chose alone, and he chose me.
I don’t know why.
“Let’s ask one question.”
“Ask me!”
“Did you know that less than a day has passed since you were scammed by Flick?”
“Yes!”
“What’s the difference between me and Flick? Is there any way not to be scammed by me again?”
The great power I have felt since I came into this world.
One of them was the bottomless trust between Tilda and Dana.
Dana, I’m assuming it’s because of the color of my hair and eyes.
Even though Tilda filtered out the growl through her special sense of smell, she immediately followed me.
If you filter out a suspicious person, isn’t it natural that the person next to you is also suspicious?
At least I think so.
She even gave me dog tags without hesitation.
As I instructed, I circulated through the decks and got out of the labyrinth.
Even now, there are no suspicious eyes.
On the contrary, he answered with a very relaxed expression.
“I can’t help it even if I get scammed.”
“With that mindset, you will only be scammed for the rest of your life.”
“The captain said that. Whether it’s in the forest or on the battlefield, if you don’t trust the person who feeds you, you’ll die anyway. So when the time comes when you can’t trust anyone… I told you to pick someone whose hands smell delicious.”
“Smell? Are you talking about me?”
“Yes! All kinds of delicious smells that I have never smelled in my life! You couldn’t have eaten that much food alone, right? Because I found a person who gave food to others. If I have to trust anyone in this world, I believe in Master.”
“That’s a stupid reason.”
It really sounds like an idiot, but it solves the question.
The reason why Tilda put so much trust in me after filtering Grow with the smell of her blood…
It was because of the smell of food coming from my hands.
Well, there’s a big gap between the smell of blood and the smell of fire.
But there are so many garbage people in the kitchen.
If you work in the kitchen for just 3 days, you’ll want to kill that guy, right?
With that distinction, you are guaranteed to have a hukou for life.
But…
As I said, if I’m Tilda’s Maginot Line in this world, at least it doesn’t look like she’ll betray me.
At that time, Suga, who was listening from the side, suddenly interrupted.
“If I had to give you one piece of advice, a party in the tower… It’s not something someone asks you to do. A party is created automatically when everyone believes in their own choices and moves. Who helps who, teaches who, and if it’s a one-sided party like that, you better get rid of it?”
Everything she said is right.
In this world, you can’t help Tilda without signing a party contract because of an equal exchange, and the only condition to cancel the party is someone’s death.
Well then, before we get to the top, one of us must give way to climbing.
Unless the conditions are equal, one day we will surely face a catastrophe.
It means that solo is better than clumsy determination.
So what I had to think about was this.
As much as I can help Tilda, she will Tilda help me. Doing,
If you think about it, the decision becomes easier.
I told Suga.
“I’ll buy the contract.”
“Really? Did you make a careful decision? The contract is easy, but the terms of cancellation are… you know?”
“Yes. Of course.”
Tilda will definitely help.
She knew from the moment she saw her dog tag.
I can save my stats just by sharing my inventory, and it makes stalling easier.
In addition, I realized after seeing the Fireball card, in this world, it is overwhelmingly advantageous to play in a party rather than solo.
Even if I add it all up, it’s not a reason for me to give up on myself.
To be honest, I just wanted to take Tilda to a higher place.
I wanted to get him up so he could hit properly, instead of struggling on the floor like me.
Since he’s more mature than me, I think he’s qualified.
Maybe… That’s what I want to see myself.
Not the pitiful me stuck in the corner of the room.
You might be looking for me in Tilda as I rise up proudly.
Actually, that’s a bonus, and Tilda’s inventory is the goal.
“Good. Once we’ve decided, we’ll make a deal right away.”
I gave Suga 100 gold and bought her contract.
And we coordinated the conditions for the party in front of Tilda and Suga.
The final decision was this.
1. The name of the party is [Jessica Kitchen].
2. The decision on the value of an equivalent exchange is shared by the entire party.
3. General items, consumables, and gold are jointly owned by the party.
4. When party members find a card or artifact in the tower, they can choose the owner.
5. Transferring jointly owned items between party members is not affected by Equivalent Exchange.
6. Do-hyun Lee provides Tilda with the [Cooking] Item he produced.
7. The Tilda Crown provides labor equal to the value of the [Cooking] Item received from Dohyun Lee, within the limits of the tower.
With the exception of the last two items, the standard party contract of the Golden Rule was used.
According to Suga, from now on all party members will be treated as one climber.
When you trade with someone other than a party member, the price measurement of the item is also shared by all party members.
For example, if I have 1,000 gold and Tilda has 0, the item is priced as if Tilda and I had 500.
If there is an item I desperately want, I have no choice but to buy it expensively.
On the other hand, the advantages are also shared, so it would be comfortable to think of it as a two-person three-legged game.
Suga asked us with just one last clause left.
“If you are afraid of betrayal, you can add a penalty, but what should I do?”
“For example, how?”
“When we attack each other, we share the damage. Something like the condition of destroying each other’s artifacts one by one. That means the penalties should be equal to each other.”
“No need. Let’s end it like this.”
“Really?”
“An equal penalty is a way to destroy each other. It’s always more advantageous to go with me than to betray me anyway, so I won’t be betrayed.”
“Wow, look at the confidence… What about Tilda?”
“It’s okay. Even if Master betrays you, you can’t help it. It’s the only way I can become stronger.”
“This one is great in a different way… I like it. This is the contract.”
By stamping each other’s seals at the bottom of the contract, a new item appeared on the dog tag.
[Current party: Jessica Kitchen]
[Party Contractor: Tilda Crown]
Now the contract cannot be canceled until one of them dies.
From now on, I plan to teach Tilda everything I know about the tower and how to become stronger.
Instead, you have to pamper yourself.
After completing the contract, Tilda’s eyebrows tightened again.
She told her.
“From now on, you will become my tool and roll the tower like a dog. Answer.”
“Yes! I will keep that in mind, Master!”
“The title is Chef. Answer.”
“Yup Chef! I hope to go along well!”
He’s strong and has a lot of guts, so it’d be nice to pamper him.
Now with Tilda, most of my worries go away.
My inventory is currently 10 slots.
General relics go into the relics-only storage box, and Wandering Chef-only relics go into the cooker’s inventory.
A chunk of rock salt, pepper, pork fore and hind legs, herbs, and leftovers.
Even if you put that alone, it’s no big deal with 10 slots, because Tilda’s greed, which increases her inventory by 4 slots, is 5.
Even though all the ingredients and leftover dishes from Dana’s kitchen were packed into a 30-slot inventory, most of the ingredients from the tower could be moved.
Now, I’m going to leave this to Dana and clean up her kitchen.
“Thank you for your help. I will go now.”
I was about to get up, but Suga asked me.
“Dohyeon, are you leaving today?”
“Yes. My recovery is over and I want to experiment with the newly acquired artifact. We need to get in as quickly as possible.”
“Are you planning on coming back?”
Coming back?
Is there another word that does not match TOE like that?
In fact, now that stalling is possible, you can return to your heart’s content.
But… Is there any reason to come back?
The only thing you can get infinitely by going backwards is japtem.
Because TOE is a roguelike game.
So no matter how much you reverse the tower, you cannot get cards or artifacts more than a certain number of times.
I’ve already defeated the mid-boss, and I’ve killed all the junk on the way back.
Now, there is nothing to be gained by cleaning the second half of the first floor.
And I got a Hotel Armadillo and a membership card in town.
Dana’s event is over.
No matter how much I think about it, there is no reason to come back here.
When I turned my head, Dana, who had been taking care of the old man, was now looking at me.
I’m sorry I broke my promise to cook again, but it was meant to be like this anyway.
The cleaner the cut, the better.
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“No. I won’t come back now I will go up.”
“Yes, well thought out.”
After Suga said that, he got up and took a step closer to me.
Then he turned his back to Dana and spoke in a low voice.
“As I said before, the important thing in the tower is each person’s choice. Because the only thing the person who goes up can do for the remaining person is to leave it behind. That’s right.”
Then he said as he left the room.
“It was nice to meet you. If you climb the tower, you will see it again someday.”
“Thank you for letting me know about this and that. Good bye.”
I purposely said it out loud so that Dana could hear it.
She broke her promise, so now she’s going to get hit.
But Dana’s face didn’t show any emotion, such as anger or her sadness.
They just looked at me and smiled and approached me.
“Aren’t you coming back now?”
“Yes. I have to go up.”
“I’ll help you pack your things, have a good trip. You will be able to climb very, very high.”
She said as she descended the stairs.
Even if it feels awkward, this is right.
My choice is to climb the tower, and Dana will wait for the people who will come back here in a thousand years.
As Suga said, each of us goes the path we chose.
“Chef! What are you going to teach me now!? Is it the murder martial art that killed Flick? Or a card trick? Like cutting out the bottom…?”
And it was the same for Tilda.
Because he chose me.
You must bite your teeth.
“From now on, I will start a one-day farmer experience. Answer.”
“Yes?”