"G-, gee, Ho-Jae, you could`ve, um, warned me, you know?..." he says, still clutching at his head in an almost comedic fashion. We`re at the river. Since I don`t answer him, Pak So looks down at the mirror-like water. He`s sitting on a nice round rock. I`m standing to his right, just slightly behind him. If I wanted to, I could break his neck before he even knew what was happening. He wouldn`t need to know. It would just be over, and that would be it. Gently, Pak So turns to look at me. I look down at him and then away. "Sorry if I took you by surprise, I just& I`ve never seen you look this serious, so—"

　　"What are you?" I ask him.

　　"H-, huh?"

　　So many old questions are bubbling up to the top of my mind. "What are you actually? You aren`t a human. You aren`t the real Pak So. So what are you actually?"

　　"I`m not sure I understand the—"

　　I grab his neck from behind, my grip tightening.

　　Clutch Lv.8>

　　"You`re a shade. What does that mean? Why do you look like Pak So?"

　　His lips tighten into a line. Slowly, he turns his eyes back to the river. He almost looks melancholy where he sits. "I`m& We are just, I guess, shadows of your memories. Or something. We were put here to exist to train you in the—the art of mediation or something." He looks back up at me again, eyes glistening. "But that doesn`t mean we aren`t real! Just like you, we were also made by a god—several in fact. Sure, to you, I`m just a fake version of your old classmate, but to me, this is as real as I`ll ever be!"

　　His voice trembles but there`s too much power in it for me not to listen. "We`re alive, we breathe, and even though this forest and this meadow are the only things we`ve ever known, that doesn`t make us any less real than you are. I remember who you are. To me, I`m as real as your Pak So thinks himself to be. In my mind, I`ve lived the life you remember me to have lived. I remember how you used to be before you came here, how you were back in kindergarten. How the kids would pick on you for the slightest things, and how nobody would stand up for it because they all thought you were weird, too. I remember it like it was my own childhood. And I feel bad about it."

　　Slowly, I release my grip on his neck. But still, he continues.

　　"Is that feeling not real, just because your system, that cruel system, calls me a shade rather than a human? Your Pak So, the real one—whatever it means to be real—isn`t here. The last time he saw you was on a television screen. I don`t know how that made him feel, but I can tell you that where I sit, next to this river, next to you, I still feel bad for those memories I have. That I didn`t do anything. We were close enough to be friends, but I held off. Or am I not allowed to feel bad for it, since I technically didn`t do anything?"

　　I look down at the ground. "I—I didn`t say that&"

　　"You did," Pak So says sharply. "And maybe you`re right. Maybe I am just some sort of shadow of a real person, but if I feel that I am real, then am I not real?"

　　How do I even respond to that? "How should I know?"

　　His expression melts slightly. "Right, I forgot. You never did pass philosophy, did you?"

　　"Th—that was because Mister Sim didn`t like me! If he`d just read my fifty-page essay on why games are the highest form of art, then he would`ve given me the best score possible!" I cry, waving broadly.

　　Pak So chuckles. "You really are a geek." He smiles at me. "I`m glad you haven`t changed too much since we last met, Ho-Jae."

　　Last met&

　　I feel my hands ball into fists. "I have, though," I mumble. I look up at him. "And so have you."

　　Adjusting his position on the rock, Pak So shifts around to face me. His expression is back to being serious. "Ho-Jae, I need you to tell me one thing honestly. You can do that, right?"

　　I can feel my claws digging into the palms of my hands. "Yeah," I choke out. "Sure."

　　His expression turns muted. "What are you going to do with me?"

　　My jaw clenches. "I—I don`t know, I was thinking of—"

　　His eyes pierce into me. "Don`t lie to me, Ho-Jae." His smile turns teasing. "I know you can`t look people in the eye when you lie."

　　I look up at him. Into his eye. Right into his eye, his eye that looks just the same as when I last met him. "I`m going to try to infect you with a viral disease and send you back into the encampment and once as many people as possible have fallen ill and have weakened I`ll set a fire to the tents and kill them as they run out and then finally pick them off one by one while they`re in the forest until none remain."

　　His smile doesn`t even twitch. Carefully, he looks down at the ground in between us. "I see&" he says, after a long pause. And then he looks back up at me and my chest feels so tight. "Thanks for not lying to me."If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it`s taken without the author`s consent. Report it.

　　I look at him. Right into his eye. "You aren`t going to tell me not to? To ask me to spare your life? If only for old time`s sake?"

　　He makes a difficult face, but I`ve seen Pak So make that face so many times that seeing it again doesn`t faze me. "It`s not like it would help. I don`t want to die or anything, but&" He shrugs. "You can`t beat this floor without defeating us all, can you?"

　　"I don`t think so," I answer honestly.

　　He looks back down at his feet. He`s trying so hard not to show anything on his face, but his lips keep dipping down into a deep frown, the kind you only make when you`re trying to hold in tears. When he looks back up at me, his hands are clenching the fabric of his armour and his eyes are pooling. "I don`t want to go, Ho-Jae. I don`t want to. But I can`t stop you, so&" His voice wavers, trembling, dipping up and down and touching into a near-desperate falsetto. And yet, despite the tears now streaming down his face, despite the way his eyes are turning red, he`s still able to twist his lips into a strange, rebellious smile. His arms stretch out to me. "Before I have to go, will you hug me? Please."

　　I can do nothing but stare down at him and his outstretched arms, baffled.

　　"I can remember being hugged by mum, and by dad, and my sisters, but—but&" He gulps down a lump. "But I`ve never actually experienced it. Please." His tears are starting to stain the front of his armour dark. "Just& just once."

　　Stunned, uncertain, acting less so by thinking and more so by my body alone, I let him hug me. I take him into my arms, and I hold him, and I pat him on the back because I don`t know what else you`re supposed to do when someone is hugging you, and I can feel his tears and snot soaking into my pelt, but I still hold onto him for some reason that I don`t know myself. I don`t know exactly for how long I hold him, but during the entire duration, he goes from quietly weeping, to loud, heaving sobs, and hiccuping, and sniffling whimpers, and quick hyperventilations, and then he calms down again, forcing his breathing back under control, clutching at me so tightly he might actually be leaving a few marks, and then, after some time, he finally stops. Carefully, he pushes me away, and I let him leave my arms.

　　He looks up at me, his eyes red. "I—I`m ready."

　　I don`t think he is. But I can`t bring myself to say that. If he says he`s ready, then he is. I place both hands on his face, and drum my fingers in order.

　　<[Touch of Reversed Bacteria Tolerance (Lv.6)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Virus Tolerance (Lv.6)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Ulcer Tolerance (Lv.6)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Indigestion Tolerance (Lv.6)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Parasite Tolerance (Lv.6)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Necrosis Tolerance (Lv.6)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Fever Tolerance (Lv.6)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Hypothermia Tolerance (Lv.6)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Nausea Tolerance (Lv.6)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Coma Tolerance (Lv.6)]>

　　Touch of Reversed Tolerance Lv.7>

　　Instantly, with every touch of my fingers, he looks visibly worse. Paler, weaker, more dishevelled, more in pain&

　　His hand reaches up to grab mine. It`s trembling.

　　"I can& I can still keep going," he slurs.

　　I don`t want to. But I have to. I can. And he`s asking me to. So even though it hurts, even though I want to do anything else, I continue.

　　<[Touch of Reversed Bacteria Tolerance (Lv.7)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Virus Tolerance (Lv.7)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Ulcer Tolerance (Lv.7)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Indigestion Tolerance (Lv.7)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Parasite Tolerance (Lv.7)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Necrosis Tolerance (Lv.7)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Fever Tolerance (Lv.7)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Hypothermia Tolerance (Lv.7)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Nausea Tolerance (Lv.7)]>

　　<[Touch of Reversed Coma Tolerance (Lv.7)]>

　　He stumbles into my arms. His breathing is haggard, rasping in and out of his throat. "Pak So?" I say, but he doesn`t respond. His eyes are half-closed and hazy. I don`t even know if he can see me at all anymore.

　　I bite my lip.

　　Carefully, gently, I place him on my back. And then, I head back towards base camp. Since I`m carrying him on my back, I can`t leap through the treetops, but that`s fine. Once I`m at the base camp, I leave him at one of the many entrances, slumped against a wall. Climbing into a nearby tree, I watch intently, waiting impatiently for someone to find him. By the time he`s actually discovered, I`ve already considered fifteen different ways of saving him. But it`s too late for that.

　　They bring him inside.

　　Over the course of only a single week, almost every single person inside the walls of the camp falls ill. I can smell the sickness on them. I wait another week, killing anyone who tries to leave. Many people die. One by one. Sometimes in clusters, usually alone.

　　<02:06:08

　　Day 150>

　　21:53:52>

　　&It`s about time, then.

　　Once night falls, I sneak inside the camp. It isn`t hard. There aren`t many guards anymore. Inside, I can see bodies piled into mounds, many leaned against the walls, others tossed over and into the trench on the other side. The stench is indescribable. I move through this place like a spectre. Outside, a single campfire remains lit, with a slumped-over guard next to it. I snap his brittle throat. Grabbing one of the burning logs with my bare hands, I make my way to the tents. One by one, I set them alight. There aren`t many left in there to struggle, but I still kill those that try to escape.

　　But as I make my way along the base, fire in hand, I notice one of the bodies, lying in a pile among the rest.

　　Hunching down, I place Pak So on my shoulder. Once I`ve lit the final tent on fire, I bury Pak So in a grave just outside the base.

　　Dig Lv.10>

　　Excavate Lv.1>

　　A few shades remain. In the final few hours of the floor, I kill them. And once the last one falls, the sun finally rises once more.

　　points for clearing the floor.

　　You have received an additional

　　1 000 points for being the first to clear

　　the floor.>

　　you will receive an additional reward.>

　　the additional reward has been

　　traded for 5 000 points.>

　　<4 Gods have shown a positive response to you.

　　You have obtained 4 000 points.>

　　<31 Gods have shown a negative response to you.

　　31 000 points have been deducted.>

　　&Right.

　　the floor clear reward has been

　　traded for 1 000 points.>

　　&Please. Just take me back to the—