Right after Ken jumped into the trap and was swallowed by the black liquid.

Only when Ken's figure completely disappeared did Siegfried release his hold on Raphne's arm.

"Ke-e-e-n!!"

Freed, Raphne immediately rushed toward the bottom of the trap.

However, the trap had already activated and was silent.

Once the trap is triggered, it won't activate again and takes a week to reset.

"No! Ken, Ke-e-e-n!! Sobbing, no, don't go, you said you'd stay by my side…"

But Raphne, unaware of this, pounded the bottom of the trap helplessly.

"...Ken."

Realizing there was no response, Raphne lowered her head and soaked the trap's bottom with her tears.

"I'll release the other two first."

Siegfried and Adrian had been watching this scene.

Adrian, holding the petrifying magical device Ken left behind, approached Mary and Emily.

Standing before the two statues, Adrian held the magical device just like Ken did earlier and aimed it at them.

Paaaah!

A characteristic light emitted from the magical device, shining on the statues.

Crack, crack-crack.

Due to the effect of the magical device, pieces of petrification fell from the two stone bodies, and soon they regained their freedom.

The curse of petrification lifted, the two of them were free again.

Emily immediately rushed towards Adrian.

"Why!! Why didn't you stop him!! Adrian!!"

Emily, with a threatening glare she'd never shown to her friend before, grabbed Adrian's collar and stared at him with a face full of despair.

"It's obvious we should have stopped him... But, ...but why!"

"That's precisely why Ken decided to petrify you all."

Emily's fierce demeanor immediately turned to confusion at Adrian's calm reply.

Seeing her silent, Adrian continued, his face a mixture of emotions.

"If you knew Ken was going to jump into such a place, you would have opposed it. And if that didn't work, you would have insisted on going with him."

"Insisted? Of course, we would have!!"

"Exactly. That's why Ken decided to keep it a secret from the three of you and go alone."

"..."

Emily couldn't argue and could only look at Adrian with trembling eyes.

Then, eventually, she lowered her head.

Indeed, Adrian's words, or rather, Ken's thoughts were correct.

They would never have let him go alone.

No matter what his thoughts or plans were, there was no guarantee he wouldn't die in such a place.

Even if not Mary or Raphne, who were strong in combat, she, with her healing magic, would have begged to go with him until the end.

If that didn't work, she would have jumped in with him at the first opportunity.

Having once experienced his death, Emily couldn't accept the thought of him facing death's edge again.

But.

Even so...

"...Why,

...Why did Ken have to go to such a dangerous place alone, sobbing..."

In the end, Emily's tears flowed down her cheeks and soaked the ground.

"Precisely because it's such a dangerous place, he decided to go alone."

It was Siegfried who answered Emily's sorrowful question.

He, too, didn't want to send his junior, friend, and precious student to a place akin to Hell alone.

However, the previous night, at the lodging where the plan was explained.

Ken's resolve had to be respected.

"If someone must die, he decided that it should only be himself. That's how he thinks."

Siegfried explained, trying to sound indifferent, but his clenched and trembling fists betrayed his true feelings.

And then, a voice spoke up. It was Mary, who had been silent ever since she was released from the petrification spell.

"So, what should we do now?"

Everyone except Raphne turned to look at Mary, who asked once more with cold, piercing eyes.

"What can we do to help Ken?"

She knew he wouldn't have jumped into danger without a plan. Even if his primary concern was their safety, there had to be a reason he went alone. He must have communicated something to Adrian or Siegfried.

Suppressing her worry, anxiety, and anger, Mary asked for a method to assist him.

Adrian, recognizing her determination, answered.

"We need to head to the 10th floor. There, we have to guard a specific stele* and wait for the opportune moment for Ken to escape." (*Stele is a rock statue in this case.)

"The 10th floor?"

A quiet voice repeated Adrian's explanation. It was Raphne, who had been sitting on the floor in tears until now. She struggled but eventually got up, her eyes meeting Adrian's.

Her gaze made Adrian momentarily grimace.

‘…It feels like my heart is going to stop.’

This was Adrian's impression as he looked into Raphne's eyes gazing back at him.

They were like those of a ferocious beast that had given up on life. Her hollow eyes carried a dangerous resolve.

Adrian broke into a cold sweat at her fierce spirit.

“Then let’s leave immediately.”

Without breaking her gaze, Raphne pointed her spear at Adrian.

It was as if she was threatening to kill him if he refused.

Her spear radiated a clear aura of death.

“Calm down first, Raphne.”

“Calm down? How can you expect me to calm down━!!”

Her voice, roaring like a beast, made everyone in the room flinch.

She exuded the presence of a wild animal ready to pounce at any moment.

Raphne, eyes gleaming dangerously, continued speaking.

“Ken is gone now.... Ken, Ken isn't by my side.... Ken, Ken isn't with me, Ken, Ken, Ken… Ken! Keeen!!”

Raphne’s condition was deteriorating rapidly.

She kept messing up her hair and trembling, repeatedly calling out the name of the person she dearly missed.

━Thud.

Eventually, she dropped the spear she was holding and clutched her head, collapsing back onto the floor.

Adrian was taken aback by her alarming state.

It hadn't even been an hour since Ken had disappeared.

‘…You lied, Ken Feinstein.’

Adrian recalled his resentful words.

‘Raphne will be okay. She's been doing much better since leaving the Tower.’

Ken had explained this with a bright smile, but Adrian wished Ken could see her now.

‘What part of this looks okay to you?’

Tears were streaming down her face, her hollow eyes gazing into the void, calling Ken's name in a voice that sounded as if she were about to die.

Adrian realized that throughout their journey, she had only been stable because he was always by her side.

And mere moments after Ken vanished, she had deteriorated to this extent.

However, they couldn't just stand by and watch her become more unhinged.

Ken had entrusted Adrian with the responsibility of what came next.

He had to move forward.

"Raphne... if it's Ken, you'll be able to see him in a week."

He left out any other explanations and conveyed only the information that might calm her immediately.

At that, she froze.

Raphne's tear-streaked, empty eyes and expressionless face glared fiercely at Adrian.

“...Explain.”

Her quiet voice carried a heavy sense of pressure.

“...I wonder what everyone is doing right now.”

In the world inside this trap.

If I had to name it, it would be [Bottom of Tarlos].

I thought about my companions from within a cave here.

The cave was quite cozy.

Of course, that's my opinion now that I'm nearly three months into this hellish existence.

Anyway, it's not so bad to live in.

But it definitely wasn't livable from the start.

The first few weeks, I constantly regretted coming here.

I had expected it, having experienced it in the game.

All there was to eat were strange plants and tasteless monster meat.

For drinking water, I'd collect muddy swamp water and purify it with a filter I crafted using my skills.

Outside, the high-level monsters were far more numerous than the low-level ones.

The drastic temperature differences between day and night made it difficult to move around or even sleep.

Still, by now, I feel like I've adapted quite well.

“...I wonder how much time has passed outside.”

If a year is 365 days and a week is 7 days.

Roughly calculating, it would be about a day and a half.

It's a ridiculous time difference, I realized, thinking about it.

I was curious about what everyone might be doing right now.

Since about a day has passed since I disappeared, Adrian should have explained everything to them.

“…I hope they are managing well.”

Of course, it’s not that I don't trust my companions.

It's just that from my perspective, I'm stuck here for a year trying to find the key.

If someone outside makes a mistake, I'll have to wait another year.

I want to get out without any issues in one go if possible.

“Well, I need to find the key first, anyway.”

Spending so much time alone, I developed a habit of talking to myself.

Maybe I should make a volleyball like Wilson*. (*Cast Away movie reference. Similar to Raphne’s doll in this case.)

“…Sigh, it’ll be fine, right?”

Whenever I rested, I constantly worried about the situation outside.

I want to get out of here quickly.

‘Why did they have to make a shortcut like this?’

I really resent those perverted game developers.

Shortcuts.

In games, a shortcut is typically designed to allow you to bypass certain routes quickly.

Such shortcuts also exist in dungeons, like the Tower of Tarlos in the game.

Of course, the Production Team didn’t kindly inform us about them from the start.

The existence of this shortcut was discovered because of a player’s curiosity.

It stemmed from the question, “Why don't you die if you fall into the trap on the third floor?”

Normally, traps either kill you instantly or drop your health until you escape the trap.

However, the Hell trap on the third floor was different.

Emily and her companions, as the protagonists, simply fall to the [Bottom of Tarlos] and engage in endless battles for survival.

They must either fight until death or reload from a save point.

While feeling suspicious about this, players continued to investigate the trap.

Eventually, they found a way to escape the trap from an unexpected place.

It involved an NPC on the 50th floor.

If you rescue an S-Class NPC named Gail, a former knight commander, from prison, an event occurs.

‘It’s surprising enough they discovered Gail’s connection to this trap... but the first person who escaped here wasn’t normal either.’

Here’s how it progresses after rescuing Gail:

After freeing Gail on the 50th floor, you get caught in the trap on the 3rd floor and end up at the [Bottom of Tarlos].

Then, you have to survive for an entire year of in-game time.

I don’t know why the first person to find this stayed here for a year, but maybe they enjoyed survival games.

But thanks to that twisted person’s bizarre gameplay, we learned the method to escape this trap.

After a year, another player discovered a portal at the centre of this place.

Entering that portal transports you to a corner of the 10th floor.

There, you find Gail’s corpse, leaning against a pillar beside countless remains of monsters.

And in front of the portal stands a special-looking stele.

After players pieced together the tower’s lore, they concluded:

Gail knew Emily, who had saved him, fell to the [Bottom] and guarded the escape portal on the 10th floor for her.

If you don't rescue Gail, the portal won't open because the countless monsters will destroy the portal's stele.

"...But it takes a considerable amount of time to get to the 50th floor."

Therefore, I gave up on rescuing Gail.

I have my companions with me.

Since I fell into this hell, the plan is for my companions to guard the stele on the 10th floor.

Then I'll find the key to the shortcut here and escape from the [Bottom].

"...Please, everyone, come through safely."

I prayed as I lay on my makeshift bed, staring at the ceiling of the dark cave.

“Die, all of you━!!!”

━KWAANG!!

Six days had passed since Ken entered the trap.

As per his plan, Raphne and the others were heading to the portal on the 10th floor to guard it.

They were currently on the 10th floor.

In the lead was Raphne, roaring in fury and bloodlust.

The spear she wielded extended at will, slicing through the charging monsters as if grinding them down.

"Raphne━!! Slow down!"

"Shut up━!! Keep up!! I don't have time to wait for you━!!"

Raphne snarled sharply in response to Adrian's shout as he struggled to keep up.

'How on earth did Ken handle this beast?'

Adrian clicked his tongue inwardly.

Without Ken, Raphne was like a starving wild animal.

She was always on edge, unleashing an aura that made you feel she'd bite your head off if you irritated her.

The calm and gentle demeanor Raphne had when Ken was around was unimaginable now.

This was exactly how Adrian remembered her from their freshman year.

Faced with her uncontrollable behavior, Adrian resolved to put a Curse on her.

If she were a bit more docile, he might have considered another approach.

Hence, he secretly marveled at how Ken managed to handle someone like Raphne with the ease of handling a cute kitten.

"Well, thanks to that, we're making good progress."

Siegfried commented as he ran alongside.

Indeed, their speed in clearing each floor was astonishing.

So much so that any veteran adventurer who had long challenged this Tower would be shocked speechless.

Mary and Emily, sharing the same urgency to find Ken as Raphne did, silently followed her breakneck pace.

At this blistering speed, the party reached the 10th floor half a day earlier than expected.

"...Huff, huff."

They swiftly dealt with the monsters blocking their path, ignoring those that pursued from behind.

Their sole focus was reaching their goal.

Thus, they managed to climb to a place that would have taken an experienced adventurer party five days to reach in just under a day.

"...Is that the stele?"

"...Yeah, I think so."

Unlike her exhausted companions, Raphne's spirit was still unquenched as she pointed her spear towards something.

It was a ruined site, illuminated by a mysterious light like a spotlight.

Among the cluster of pillars within the ruins, surrounded by bright green grass and beautiful flowers, stood a solitary blue stele.

A place entirely different from the dreary, purple-covered tenth floor—this mysterious site felt almost otherworldly.

"...Ken, just wait a little longer."

As Raphne gently caressed the stele, she couldn't help but picture his face, yearning to see him soon.

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