NOVEL NEXT Cycle 27(The Plan)
With an explosion of ice magic, the last ghost on Floor 92 died. The group cheered, heading to the exit.
Ox briefly looked over the items that the ghost had dropped, but didn’t bother picking anything up. After Floor 85 looting monsters was a waste of time.
They passed through the exit, watching golden magic check for keys before letting them pass. Thankfully the magic allowed duplicated keys, or Larissa would still be stuck on Floor 20. She’d tied her key to a marble and shot it through the exit, just to see if the marble would go through. It had. Unfortunately, upon hitting the ground, the marble exploded in a burst of fire magic and the key had disintegrated. It’d been hilarious.
They got to Floor 93, the snow level feeling wonderful after a fight next to lava.
Tig pulled his shirt off and collapsed into a snow bank, rolling around to cool down. He was trying out the otterkin race, a race designed to absolutely suck on hot floors.
“Never going with fur again,” Tig grumbled into the snow.
Larissa laughed. “You’re the one who was always complaining about hating cold.”
“Turns out, I hate being hot, too,” Tig said. “I hate all temperatures equally.”
“Come on,” Ox said, kicking Tig’s tail. “Let’s go get milkshakes.”
“I wonder if they have margaritas here,” Larissa said, heading towards the diner. “Do you think this cat will let me make one myself?”
“Probably,” Ox shrugged. “This one is pretty chill from what I remember.”
They got to the diner. Nikki was waiting behind the counter, her smile oddly strained. Ox ordered a mocha milkshake and a pizza. Tig ordered a chickenburger and blackberry milkshake. Larissa ordered tacos and a margarita. When Nikki bounced away to make everything, Larissa followed her.
Nikki looked back from the kitchen doorway. “Need something else?”
Larissa smiled. “I was wondering, if it’s not too much trouble, can I make the margarita myself?”
“Sure! But…”
“Yes?”
Nikki smiled sheepishly. “Well, there’s a rumor that players have a super cool key. If I let you make the margarita, can I see it?”
Larissa looked back at Ox and Tig, who shrugged. “I don’t see why not,” she said, pulling the key out of her inventory.
“Wow, that is cool,” Nikki said, taking it. She moved back half a step, turning the key in her hands, and teleported away.
The players stared at the empty doorway, shocked.
“Did- Did she-“
“How…”
Tig burst out laughing. “You just lost another key! Good job, Larissa!”
“Oh shut up!” she snapped, running to look out the windows. “Where did she go?”
“She can’t have gone far,” Ox said, checking the kitchen.
Tig leaned back in his chair, snickering.
Ox and Larissa were about to head outside when Nikki reappeared in the kitchen doorway.
“You weren’t expecting that, were you?” she asked, beaming as she held the key out.
Larissa dashed over and grabbed her key. “No, I wasn’t.”
“Great prank,” Tig called. “These two went berserk!”
“Thanks! I’ll make your food now,” the catgirl said, heading into the kitchen.
Larissa made her margarita, the guys got their food, and the key incident was forgotten.
As they were finishing up, one of the other catgirls came in. She saw them and smiled.
“Oh hello. I wasn’t aware any players were on the floor yet,” she said. “Do you mind if I’m here?”
“No,” Ox said, smiling at her.
“Not at all,” Tig added.
Larissa frowned. “Why are your words laced with charm magic?”
There was an awkward pause. Lily glanced at Nikki, Larissa pulled out her crossbow, and Nikki cast a sleep spell on the players.
Tig respawned. There was a click under his feet, and suddenly he was trapped.
Six catgirls stood a few feet away, some looking more embarrassed than others. Tig tried to move, but quickly realized that moving caused pain. If it weren’t for the fur, he probably would have been bleeding.
Kimi stepped forwards. “Hey. Sorry about this, but we need your key.”
“Why?” Tig asked, staring at them.
“To get off the floor,” Mika said. “Don’t worry, we’ll duplicate it and give it back.”
“You couldn’t have just asked?” he demanded.
“No,” Kimi said. “This is too important to us. We couldn’t risk getting a refusal.”
Tig glared. “I’d love to give you my key, but I can’t move my arm.”
“Promise to give us the key and we’ll let you out,” Mika said, stepping up to the thing holding him.
“Yes, I promise!”
“Thank you.”
Mika and Kimi pulled the trap down, just enough for him to extract his arms. He opened his inventory, scrolled to the bottom, and pulled out the rainbow key. With an apologetic smile, Via walked up and took it.
She duplicated the key seven times. It took long enough that Nikki had to go refresh the sleep spell on Ox and Larissa. Tig’s patience was wearing thin by the time Via passed the key back to him.
“Thank you for your cooperation,” Lily said, smiling at him. “We apologize for any pain we may have caused. But this was extremely important.”
“I’m sure,” Tig grumbled, watching Kimi and Mika pull the trap completely open. He jumped to the ground, watching suspiciously. “Why is it so important?”
“We have to see our friends,” Nikki said, shrugging.
Tig looked at their faces, realizing for the first time that these people didn’t just exist when a player was on their floor. They were individuals, sure, but they had lives outside of catering to players. With the barriers being changed, those lives had been interrupted. He felt sorry for them.
And then Tig remembered they’d murdered him and threatened him into giving them his key.
He turned his back on the group, taking a few steps towards the diner. “From here on out we’re enemies.”
“That’s fair.”
“Sorry.”
“Thank you for the key…”
