Chapter 11 – Level Up

The first thing Camellia saw when she regained consciousness…

Was the system window.

[You have reached Level 2.]

[You have earned 12 achievements.]

[You have gained 3 Status Points.]

[You may learn 1 new spell.]

[You have obtained 780 Lesser Mana Stones.]

…Good grief.

This isn’t a system.

It’s spam.

Even as she grimaced at the endless flood of notifications…

She couldn’t help feeling satisfied.

After everything she’d gone through…

She’d leveled up.

If clearing the First Floor gets me a level…

That’s more than worth it.

Leveling up in Dark Tower wasn’t easy.

Playing normally…

A player would barely reach Level 2 by the time they cleared the Third Floor.

So how had she jumped to Level 2 immediately after the First?

Just as I thought.

Dominating Named Monsters was the right answer.

Brainwashed monsters counted as summons.

Which meant…

Any experience they earned from killing monsters was also shared with her.

Lacking confidence in sneaking through alone had been one reason for her strategy.

But only one.

There had been plenty of other ways to infiltrate.

The real reason she’d risked damaging her reputation by using Domination…

Was the experience.

It had made dealing with the Reaper considerably more dangerous.

But in the end…

Even that had worked out perfectly.

A very satisfying result.

Now then…

Let’s allocate my status points first.

Camellia pulled the neglected Status window to the center of her vision.

---

Camellia Lord

Level: 2

Class: Mind Sorcerer

• Vitality: 6
• Strength: 4
• Dexterity: 4
• Intelligence: 10
• Wisdom: 10
• Charisma: 18

Remaining Status Points: 3

---

No matter how many times she looked…

The stat distribution was hopeless.

For a Sorcerer…

Whether built as support or damage…

The standard spread was roughly:

Charisma 4 : Dexterity 2 : Vitality 1

In her current state…

She was nothing more than a crippled build that happened to cast spells well.

All because I wanted a “fun” build…

She sighed inwardly.

Regretting it now wouldn’t change anything.

Fortunately…

There was still a solution.

Or rather…

Only one solution.

Looks like I’m dumping everything into Dexterity for the foreseeable future.

Dexterity improved accuracy…

Manual precision…

And maximum casting range.

It was also absolutely essential for Sorcerers.

Their spells naturally had short range…

And many were area-of-effect abilities.

On floors dominated by gigantic monsters…

Or enemies capable of killing you in a single hit…

Range became your lifeline.

Level 8…

No.

Accounting for equipment bonuses…

I’ll probably have to invest entirely into Dexterity until at least Level 6 before this build becomes usable.

Surviving with such pathetic stamina until then would be miserable.

But there wasn’t much choice.

Otherwise…

She wouldn’t merely have a terrible build.

She’d have a dead one.

Holding back tears…

Camellia invested all three Status Points into Dexterity.

The next decision…

Was her new spell.

That required no thought whatsoever.

She’d chosen it long ago.

Which left only one task.

Cleaning up her inventory.

I wonder how closely it’ll resemble the game.

In the game…

Party members had to carry backpacks or dimensional pouches.

Only clicking those items opened their inventory.

But the Lord’s inventory possessed special dimensional privileges.

Meaning…

She could access it directly through the system interface.

Magical items…

Mana Stones…

Anything classified under Magic…

Was automatically collected even from a distance.

If it all works exactly the same…

That’d be incredible.

Camellia lightly tapped the floating backpack icon.

Pop!

A sound effect rang out.

A window divided into thirty-six slots appeared.

Only two slots were occupied.

Gold.

And…

The 780 Lesser Mana Stones dropped by the goblins and gnolls her brainwashed Named Monsters had slaughtered.

It wasn’t merely similar to the game.

It was identical.

It was even easier to use than before.

She could freely store or retrieve anything with a single thought.

No clicking.

No cooldowns.

…This is insane.

It had been an ordinary game mechanic.

In reality…

It bordered on cheating.

And it paired perfectly with the Mind Sorcerer.

Unlike the game…

Where characters were restricted by fixed turns and predefined commands…

Reality allowed mental magic to be used creatively.

Simply brainwashing ordinary monsters…

Having them steal equipment from Named Monsters…

Then sending everything directly into her inventory…

Would make future battles dramatically easier.

I’ll definitely have to test this someday.

Just… not today.

Seeing how she’d already been cleaned up and tucked into bed…

Nothing serious seemed to have happened after she collapsed.

Still…

She needed to learn exactly what had occurred while she was unconscious.

As Camellia slowly sat up…

The bedroom door burst open.

“My Lady!”

Jehar rushed inside.

She naturally refrained from asking the obvious question—

How did you know I woke up without me calling?

A Lord must always remain composed.

So she merely said,

“You’re making quite a fuss.”

Jehar swallowed back tears before finally answering.

“You didn’t wake up for half a day.”

“I was so…”

“So terribly worried…”

“I’m fine.”

Words alone clearly wouldn’t convince him.

Camellia climbed out of bed.

She intended to demonstrate that she was perfectly healthy—

Then…

Her vision suddenly went black.

…Huh?

“My Lady!”

When her eyesight returned…

Jehar’s pale face was inches from her own.

He must’ve rushed forward to catch her the moment she staggered.

Seriously?

Standing up is enough to make me dizzy?

Even after being unconscious, is this really a human body?

For a brief moment…

She regretted prioritizing Dexterity over Vitality.

But it was too late now.

More importantly…

Jehar himself had gone completely pale.

He was even trembling.

That needed to be dealt with first.

“It was nothing.”

“Don’t cry.”

“It’s all my fault.”

“If I’d acted sooner…”

“You never would’ve ended up like this…”

Strictly speaking…

He wasn’t wrong.

If Jehar had fought at his true level…

The Reaper would’ve died in seconds.

…And the already fragile seal would’ve shattered beyond repair.

The Tower’s seals resembled a crumbling dam.

They already struggled to contain the evil leaking from within.

What would happen…

If a tidal wave in the form of a Transcendent struck from outside?

Holding back had been the correct decision.

Jehar…

Clearly didn’t agree.

“I swore…”

“I would never lose you again…”

“I swore nothing else would matter anymore…”

“And yet…”

“Once again…”

“I chose something other than you…”

Another tear rolled down the crimson butterfly-shaped mark beneath his eye.

It was heartbreakingly beautiful.

A scene capable of moving even stone.

Camellia, however…

Didn’t feel sympathy.

She felt terror.

…Wait.

Isn’t that a Bad Ending flag?

Those were almost exactly the words spoken before one of the game’s worst endings.

If the Lord died and resurrected more than ten times before clearing the Tenth Floor…

Jehar eventually snapped.

Unable to bear losing her…

He imprisoned her consciousness forever inside unmelting ice.

Players knew it as…

“The Fool’s End.”

It’s just similar dialogue…

Right?

…Right?

As though mocking her desperate hope…

Jehar continued muttering to himself.

His voice grew darker with every word.

“This isn’t what I wanted…”

“If I have to keep watching you push yourself…”

“Only to collapse again…”

“Then perhaps…”

The hand supporting her grew colder.

No.

This wasn’t her imagination.

The flag had been triggered.

Why?!

Why?!

I didn’t die!

We beat the Reaper!

There was no time to panic.

She had to remove the Bad Ending flag immediately.

Domination?

Charm?

No.

They might suppress him temporarily…

But they won’t solve the problem.

Think.

How do I calm Jehar down?

There has to be another way besides save-scumming…

Then—

The spell!

My new spell!

Without hesitation…

Camellia cupped Jehar’s cheeks and gently pulled him closer until their foreheads touched.

“Jehar.”

“Look at me.”

Whether it was the overwhelming influence of her eighteen Charisma…

Or because a shred of his reason still remained…

Jehar quietly met her gaze.

Good.

Camellia spoke softly.

“Tell me.”

“What is it…”

“That frightens you so deeply?”

What triggered this flag?

Why are you suddenly like this?

She asked with all the sincerity she could muster.

Jehar simply continued crying.

Not a single answer left his lips.

It didn’t matter.

Mind Reading.

The spell she’d learned upon reaching Level 2…

Would answer the question for her.