Chapter 27: Seventh Floor, The Eerie Forest and the Mad Weretigers (4)

“

Urk!"

“D-dad!"

The reassuring smile on Seo Ho-Su's face vanished as his eyes began to tremble violently. His body followed suit and started to swell before our eyes.

What should I do?

I felt panic surge within me and I glanced at Ha Hee-Jeong. She looked just as lost, her expression mirroring my confusion.

Did this never happen in her first life...?

That was likely the case. After all, how many people would end up drinking the Weretiger King’s blood like Seo Ho-Su had? We were only supposed to have either killed the Weretiger King or offered a sacrifice.

But if... if this continued, then...

Would I have to kill him? Fuck.

I would have to for Seo Ha-Rin and Seo Ho-Su’s sake. He would never want to live his life as a crazed monster.

Who would want to harm their own comrades or, worse, their own daughter?

He had entrusted me with the responsibility of ensuring his daughter’s safety over his own. I would put him out of his misery.

Just as I braced myself to do what needed to be done, a notification appeared.

[Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok’s sponsor Omniscient Thunder Axe wishes to sponsor a neutralizing agent.]

[Warning: This is a pre-sponsorship. Accepting will increase the sponsor’s share percentage by twenty. Do you still wish to accept?]

The god, whose intentions I never fully understood, suddenly offered a lifeline in this desperate moment.

Is this what the gods do? Did they get some sick sense of joy presenting the sponsored party a choice they couldn’t refuse when the stakes were highest?

“Yes.”

I nodded, pushing down my anxiety about increasing the god’s share by twenty percent.

I recalled asking Ha Hee-Jeong about the share percentage before. She had warned me that it would be more dangerous the higher the god’s percentage was. However, she also mentioned that avoiding an increase in share percentage entirely as we climbed the tower was impossible.

She must have known that there would be moments like this.

[Due to the sponsorship of the neutralizing agent, the sponsor god’s share in Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok increases by 1.09% of Kwon Su-Hyeok’s total shares.]

[Due to the pre-sponsorship penalty, Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok loses an additional twenty percent of his shares. Current share percentage: 21.09%.]

Ha Hee-Jeong had also reassured me not to worry too much about the share percentage. She said it could be reduced through my efforts, and if I was fortunate enough to have a benevolent sponsor, they might even help decrease it themselves.

Sure, twenty-one percent was a high number, but it wasn’t more important than Seo Ho-Su’s life. I would just have to work harder. And if my sponsor turned out to be kind, all the better.

Lost in thought, I almost missed that the neutralizing agent was already in my hand. There was no time to waste. I quickly administered it to Seo Ho-Su, whose body was still convulsing violently. A few drops trickled down his chin, but I hoped it wouldn’t matter.

𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

“Dad! What’s happening? Are you okay? Please, say something...!"

The sponsored medicine worked almost instantly. Seo Ho-Su’s shaking subsided, and he slowly regained consciousness. His once wild eyes refocused, and his body’s swelling halted, though it didn’t return to its normal size.

“Dad! Are you feeling better?"

“Y-yeah. What just happened...?"

Seo Ho-Su’s body was now significantly larger. He had always been broad-shouldered, but now he looked even more imposing.

His skin, too, had taken on an odd hue. It had a faint orange tint and was less like a human’s and more like a tiger’s. His eyes seemed sharper and held a feral glint.

“I lost consciousness when I felt myself transforming into a beast..."

“Su-Hyeok oppa saved you! Suddenly, this medicine appeared out of nowhere..."

Seo Ho-Su turned to me with a bewildered look, and then his eyes filled with tears. Overwhelmed with emotion, he pulled me into a tight embrace, his now-larger frame enveloping me.

“Thank you, Su-Hyeok. Thank you so much..."

“No need to thank me. I said I’d save both you and Ha-Rin, didn’t I? Don’t you remember?"

“... Thank you."

His rough hand patted my back, and I returned the gesture, comforting him as best I could.

It seemed like he had endured a torrent of emotions in the short moment before he lost consciousness. He probably thought this daughter would be left stranded alone in the Tower of Ordeal, while his wife was left on Earth not knowing her husband had died. As someone who had never been married or had a child, I couldn't even begin to imagine the emotions he felt in that instant.

All I could do was gently stroke his back in an attempt to offer some comfort.

“How did you save me, Su-Hyeok?”

“My god sponsored me an item. They sent me a neutralizing agent which is some kind of medicine.”

“So gods do provide help, huh?”

“The notification window called it a pre-sponsorship. It seems like sponsorship is something that will be available once we progress through more floors, like the Community or shops.”

“Ah, that’s why no one’s talked about receiving sponsorships before.”

Cole nodded thoughtfully, then seemed to remember something and asked another question.

“So pre-sponsorships are possible, but no one else has received one... Then the fact that you did, Su-Hyeok, must mean...”

“The pre-sponsorship increased my god’s share percentage.”

Hearing that, Seo Ho-Su’s eyes widened in alarm, clearly unsettled. I gave him a reassuring smile and nodded to let him know it was okay.

“... No, I’m not worried about that, I expected that. Of course, we’d face penalties. I’m talking about the penalties the sponsoring god might face.”

Cole’s voice was steady.

Penalties imposed on the god?

Come to think of it, if only the climber suffered penalties, there would be no reason for gods not to offer pre-sponsorships. After all, an increase in the share percentage would be beneficial to them.

After a brief pause, Cole continued, “In the Community, an increase in your share percentage stat was never viewed positively. And for good reason—it probably benefits the gods more than us climbers.”

“But no god has offered pre-sponsorships, which suggests that the penalties they face might be substantial, right?”

“Yes, even knowing that their percentage of shares would increase, they likely avoided it because the penalties for them were too severe.”

The pre-sponsorship had raised my god’s share significantly, and now a fifth of my total shares were occupied. If Cole’s hypothesis was correct, my sponsor had probably faced even harsher penalties than me.

What kind of penalties could they have incurred?

I had no way of knowing. But one thing was certain: I had chosen the right god to sign a sponsorship contract with. They had been willing to take a hit for my sake, offering help when it was needed most.

Wait... for my sake?

The more I thought about it, something didn’t add up.

Was saving Seo Ho-Su really worth the risk for my sponsor?

I wasn’t the one turning into a tiger.

Sure, Seo Ho-Su was a good person. But if I were being honest, his death wouldn’t have posed a major problem for me. I would have been sad, but that shouldn’t have been enough for my sponsor to justify taking such a big loss.

Is there something that I don’t know about Seo Ho-Su?

But that didn’t make sense either since Ha Hee-Jeong didn’t have a recollection of him from her previous life.

Why, then, would my sponsor risk so much to save him?

While pondering, I glanced at Seo Ho-Su and noticed he was looking at me with a puzzled expression.

Cole seemed to be having similar thoughts, and he spoke up cautiously.

“I’m not sure why your god chose to help Ho-Su. I think we should be grateful not just to you, but to your god as well.”

“

Er

, Su-Hyeok, thank you. I really can’t say it enough—thank you.”

“Oppa, thank you so much!”

Seo Ho-Su bowed his head again, expressing his gratitude. Seo Ha-Rin followed suit, bowing beside him.

They raised their heads and Seo Ho-Su gazed up at the sky.

“And, well... I don’t know if you can hear me, but thank you, Su-Hyeok’s sponsor.”

“I’m grateful as well Su-Hyeok’s sponsor!” Ha-Rin added, lowering her head to the sky.

Their sincere and slightly awkward display of gratitude was both endearing and amusing, and I would have laughed if it wasn’t for their genuineness. I looked around, noticing the eerie fog in the strange forest had lifted. The sky had cleared when they were giving thanks, too.

Sunlight now streamed onto the once ominous forest, and a cool breeze brushed against my cheek. The trees, which had seemed so eerie before, no longer appeared so strange. The wind stirred the leaves gently, creating a peaceful rustling sound.

Enjoying the newfound tranquility, I decided not to dwell on the mystery any longer. I didn’t know why my sponsor had saved Seo Ho-Su, but it seemed likely that my god was kind-hearted. Seo Ho-Su was a good person, and that was more than enough for me.

“Shall we move on?”

Ha Hee-Jeong’s voice broke the silence. Although her tone was calm, there was a warmth to it that suggested she was in a good mood. She must have thought Seo Ho-Su was worth saving, too.

“To hunt more tigers? Ho-Su just got healed, and we’ve already taken down the boss. Maybe we should rest a bit more?”

“No, my foresight is telling me we should do something else. It activated after we killed the king. I’m not sure if it’s a hidden mission or something else, but it seems like there’s more to find on this floor.”

“... I see.”

Cole nodded, looking a bit embarrassed. Seo Ho-Su let out a hearty laugh and thumped his chest.

“Heh, don’t worry about me, Cole. I’ve gained a new skill called Tiger’s Blood, and my stats have gone up a lot.”

“Tiger’s Blood? Oh, right, the sponsor gave you a neutralizing agent, not an antidote...”

Seo Ho-Su had clearly changed, and although he didn’t look fully like a tiger, there was a slight tiger-like quality to him if you looked closely.

This Tiger’s Blood skill—would it make him more tiger-like as it leveled up? Would he eventually look like a weretiger? Would Seo Ho-Su be okay with that if that happened?

“Look at these muscles, ha! This is amazing! I can already feel the tiger’s energy coursing through me. I can’t wait to see what happens when the skill levels up!”

... Oh, right. Seo Ho-Su is a fitness enthusiast.

He flexed his biceps and grinned from ear to ear, showing no sign of worry.

I wondered if he was trying to reassure us, but on second thought, probably not. He looked genuinely excited, just like when he shouted out those bizarre skill names.

It seemed my worries were unfounded.

“Hee-Jeong, where should we go next?”

“I’m not sure. I caught a glimpse of a cave, but I’m not certain where we are, so we’ll need to search for it.”

“Heh.”

In the midst of our conversation, Seo Ho-Su, who had been showing off his muscles, suddenly chuckled ominously.

Why is he laughing like that?

“Guys, I think I know where it is.”

“Huh?”

“Well, ever since I got the Tiger’s Blood skill, I’ve been catching a whiff of something unpleasant coming from a certain direction. I’m pretty sure that’s where we need to go.”

Seo Ho-Su grinned triumphantly.

I haven’t noticed any strange smells, did his sense of smell get enhanced after becoming more tiger-like?

If that were the case, it was great news. Even if Ha Hee-Jeong had an idea of where we should go, we were still lost and didn’t know our exact location. It would be much easier to find the place directly rather than searching blindly, especially in a forest this vast, where getting permanently lost was a real possibility.

“Then let’s get moving.”

***

「Invisible message: Climber Seo Ho-Su has inherited the Weretiger King's blood.」

「Invisible message: The hidden area ‘The Tiger and the Bear’ will be added to the hidden area ‘Weretiger King’s Lair’ of the Eerie Forest.」