Chương 84: Floor 5 Rematch (4)

Round thirty-five. Loss. Materials found: 1/3; Mossbranch vine. … Round fourty-one. Loss. Materials found: 2/3; Mossbranch vine, giant huffpall. … Round fifty-three. Loss. Materials found: 2/3; Mossbranch vine, jango mushroom. … Round fifty-five. Loss. Materials found: 2/3; Jango shroom, giant huffpall. After this latest round, I flopped onto couch-bed with extreme displeasure. I mean! How the heck do I find the two rare ingredients while missing the most common one!? Is this some type of sick joke!? Tower!

Are you playing with me right now!? I was so excited and happy when I found the jango shroom. Then! A huffpall followed that!? I thought I had this round in the bag! But! No! You hid away all the mossbranch vines! You scumbag!

"Ugh…" I groaned, burying my face in the pillow.

"Your win-loss record is atrocious, you know?" Luna gently reminded me.

"Bah! Don't rub it in!"

"Pfft," Luna chuckled, "How's your body? Still sore?"

"Vaguely…" I mumbled. The fatigue potion really does work magic, but, it's not as if it gets rids of the soreness and pain completely. A bit remains after every time I drink it and… Well, I've drank it quite a bit now. What's worse is that it basically stacks, so, at some point, I doubt that even a fatigue potion will help me sooner or later—It's like the 10th doctor! I'd be forced into resting! And that sounds awful!

I'm already in the zone, if I come back to attempting the floor after taking a break, I'm basically starting over at that point! No way. I have to clear this floor before I accumulate too much fatigue.

"How about a massage then?" Luna asked, sitting beside me.

"Massage?" I repeated. I've never had one before, but, going out would probably disrupt my schedule, so I'm not that inclined to accept it...

"Yeah, I've been learning a little online. If I use mana to massage your muscles, it should feel better." Ah! She's going to massage me herself!?

"Okay~" I said, "Do I need to move or anything?"

"No, just continue lying on your stomach." She said, "Relax your body, don't be tense." I did as instructed. Her hands pressed against my back; A cold feeling followed. It was her mana, it gently caressed my muscles wherever she touched and pressed. Hm… It feels good? And that's whats confusing me. In all the books I've read and movies I've watched, whenever a massage feels good, I should be involuntarily letting out provocative moans. Yet… Nothing's happening! How boring!

She pressed into my back before moving onto my arms and shoulders. Oh! That feels nice…

"Am I doing it right?" Luna asked.

"Mm…Yeah, feels good." I replied. After she was done with my arms and shoulders, she moved onto my lower back. …I should spice things up a bit. That mischievous feeling filled me to the brink. As much as I tried to hold it back, I couldn't! I really tried! I tried so hard to hold back my trolling but! I just couldn't! (lie) This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. When she pressed down on my lower back, I involuntarily(lie) let out a sound.

"Mmph!" I felt Luna flinch and then freeze in place.

"S-Stella? A-are you okay? D-did I press down too hard?"

"Ah, no, it just felt really good." I replied.

"O-oh, I see. T-then, I'm gonna continue, okay?" Hehe! God, I want to turn around to see her face so badly. But! I must not, else, she'll know that I'm smiling from ear to ear right now. Anyways, I only played that prank two more times, if I did any more then Luna might notice. When she got to my legs, that's where it felt the best. It was the closest I've gotten to recreating those familiar anime or book scenes. But alas, reality doesn't follow fiction. What a shame. Standing up, I really did feel relieved.

That tension that's been building up in my body had mostly vanished.

"Thank you~ I feel great." I said, stretching.

"I'm glad." Luna smiled, "I've been watching a lot of videos." I smiled. My heart feels warm. … Round sixty-two. Loss. Materials found: 2/3; Mossbranch vine, giant huffpall. … Round seventy-six. Loss. Materials found: 1/3; Mossbranch vine. … Round eighty-three. Loss. Materials found: 2/3; Mossbranch vine, giant huffpall. … Taking a deep breath, I watched as the attempt timer ticked down.

"How much longer?" Luna asked. [You have forfeited this floor. You cannot reattempt to clear the floor for 1: 24]"A minute." I replied.

"Okay, after this one, let's eat lunch." Luna said, "Should I order something?"

"Mm…Nah, I'll make spaghetti."

"Okay~ Then, I'll have everything prepared by the time you get back."

"Sounds good," I nodded, "Just read the instructions on the packaging, it should tell you how much water to pour in—It should be like four quarts or something."

"Come on, even I know how to…" Luna paused, "I'll follow the instructions diligently."

"Pfft," I chuckled, "Alright." I drank each buff potion and closed my eyes. [You feel a little more focused.] [Your perception increases.] [You feel a little faster.] Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes to see the attempt timer reset.

"I'm going in." I said.

"See you in five minutes." Luna replied. Round eighty-four. [Would you like to enter the tower?] [Y/N] [Current Floor: 5]'Yes'. [Entering Floor 5] [We wish you luck.] As soon as my mind registered the change in location, I turned around and sprinted into the forest. I naturally drew mana into my legs as I ran, moving even faster than normal. My eyes darted around in a predetermined pattern—The route Luna and I created had been perfected over seventy attempts. No huffpall there. Mossbranch vine is a miss…

[4: 31] I ran and ran, searching high and low. [4: 10] Nothing. Damn it… I'm off pace. As I sprinted through the forest, in the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of a familiar plant hanging from a tree. Mossbranch! Sprinting over, in one move, I jumped and grabbed onto the vine and pulled myself up. Next, I skillfully unsheathed my dagger and cut the vine with one hand. Dropping to the floor, I sheathed my dagger, grabbed the vine and continued to run. [3: 58] Next…

I need to find the giant huffpall within a minute, that'd put me back on pace. Steadying my breathing, I moved through the trees, my eyes locking onto every possible location where the huffpall could be. [3: 11] [2: 56] Haah… This run is probably lost… Though I didn't think I'd win this time, that didn't mean I would just give up. I continued running and—Oh! Found one! Just a few trees down, a giant huffpall sat next to a tree's stump.

I quickly headed over and harvested it, dropping it in my pouch before continuing my search, [2: 33] Two minutes… I have two minutes to find a jango shroom. I thought of my current route and where it was headed. In just a second, I made up my mind. I had to abandon the route. It could lead me to a jango shroom, for sure, but, it'd also lead me to areas with the huffpall and mossbranch vine—which I already had. But now, I only need the jango shroom. This is exactly why Luna and I made a backup map.

It didn't layout a specific route to follow, instead, it showed general areas that had a high likelihood of each material. I cut through the trees and foliage. My arm got a small cut on it as I pushed past a bush, but I paid it no mind. Just another band-aid to wear. I darted around, scouring every dry patch of land I could find. Not there, not there, and not over there… [1: 38] Ugh… I panted heavily as I continued to run. The timer slowly continued to tick down. [1: 20] [1: 06] [0: 56] Agh!

Another run where I can't find the jango shroom! I internally complained and grumbled, continuing to run at full speed. Haah… At least I'll have spaghetti to munch on after this run. [0: 43] When I saw the timer reach the forty second mark, I started to slow down to a jogging pace. It's better to save my energy for the next run. [0: 34] Finally, when the timer hit thirty seconds, I slowly came to a stop and panted. Damn, another loss- I froze.

[0: 29] Just a few feet to my right, underneath a fallen rotting log lie a singular mushroom. A jango mushroom. My heart rate instantly went through the ceiling. I could hear the pounding in my chest. I rushed over, glancing at the time. [0: 26] My mind spun a thousand tales in a second. It felt as if time had frozen with all the thoughts that passed through my head. Twenty-six seconds, can I do it in time? My shortest amount of time its taken me to do free alchemy so far is 33 seconds.

And that was in a controlled environment with no pressure. But here… It felt as if the world was weighing on me. Logically, I shouldn't take this risk. I should give up and wait for a better run to attempt free alchemy. But. When would that be? Eighty runs later? A hundred? Two hundred? Finding all three materials within five minutes was nothing short of a miracle. To be safe, I should forfeit. But I don't want to. Twenty-six seconds. No, less. I need to get the huffpall and bottle from my pouch. Damn it.

When will this chance come again? Sorry, Luna. I'm an impulsive fool. Time resumed and in one motion, I grabbed the jango shroom directly with my right hand—There's no time to harvest it. And with my left hand, I grabbed the huffpall and small bottle of water, holding them in between my fingers as I lifted them. The mossbranch vine was wrapped around my left arm.

[0: 24] Closing my eyes, I immediately drew multiple strings of mana from my core, latching them onto the most potent part of each material and into the water. [0: 20] I drew the properties onto the string and started imbuing them into the water while merging. [0: 15] They fought; They wouldn't merge so easily. I didn't breathe. I held it in so it wouldn't disrupt my alchemy.

[0: 10] Biting my lip hard enough to draw blood, I continued to try and forcefully merge the properties as they began to be imbued into the water. [0: 04] Come on! I internally shouted. [Spawning Hobgoblin] Merge!! My heart sounded like tribal drums. I ran out of time. Opening my eyes, I saw a hideous, tall green monster spawn between the trees 50 meters away. I bit my lip harder, a slight taste of blood filling my mouth. Forfeit? As if.

Continuing to press on, I withdrew all my attention from the hobgoblin and focused on merging the properties together.

"Gruk!" A disturbing sound echoed in the distance.

"Gruk! Gruk!" The grunts were getting closer. As I pushed the properties into each other, they started to integrate into one another. At the same time, the color of the bottle started to change, from clear to a light pink.

"GRUK!" It sounded right next to me. I looked up—it was there. Within 10 feet. I didn't even have time to yell. Instinctively, I uncapped the bottle and threw my hand forward. The liquid flew out of the bottle directly towards that monster's hideous mug.

"Gruk!" By the time it could reach me, the liquid splattered against it's face and I dove without regard to the right. I kissed the dirt as my body scraped against the ground. I had no time to think. Quickly flipping over, I saw the hobgoblin standing before me holding a rusty dagger. Its arms were lifted up and it was about to slam the blade into me.

"For-" As I went to speak, I stopped. The blade didn't come down upon me, no, the hobgoblin froze. A second later it tilted left and didn't stop, slamming into the ground. I stared for only a moment before instincts took over. Pushing myself up, I unsheathed my dagger and held the handle with both hands as I jumped onto the stomach of the twitching monster. I lifted the dagger up and brought it down immediately. To its throat. Then to its chest.

"Die! Die! Die!" I stabbed repeatedly, using as much strength as I could to pierce the goblin's chest. Even after it stopped twitching, I kept stabbing. Eventually, I plunged my dagger so deep into its chest that it dug into the ground and I couldn't lift it any more. I panted heavily with my head bowed over the dagger. [Floor Cleared!] [Time Taken: 0: 23] [You have set a record for your class!] [Rewards are calculating.] [Leaderboard has updated.]