"As for Zev..."
She did not finish her sentence. She fell silent, quietly lowering her gaze.
The middle-aged woman saw this and seemed to understand something. She covered her mouth with her hand, and tears that had only just stopped began to fall again.
Unable to accept it, she cried out,
"No."
"This isn't what I'm thinking, right? Please tell me."
The middle-aged woman's voice trembled; she could not bring herself to believe it.
Seeing this, Subedei lifted his head and looked straight into the middle-aged woman's eyes.
"He's already dead."
At Subedei's words, the middle-aged woman's tears began to flow even more. She seemed unwilling to accept the truth.
"No."
"That can't be possible."
Subedei clenched his teeth, his hands tightening into fists, and continued,
"I killed him with my own hands."
"I'm sorry."
After saying this softly, Subedei lowered his head. He said nothing more and fell silent.
"You…"
"You killed my son."
The middle-aged woman's breathing became ragged, and her sobbing grew louder. Unable to keep her balance, she collapsed straight down onto the ground.
"Zev…"
"My son…"
She whispered Zev's name over and over, and Subedei could hear it clearly.
Subedei hurriedly supported her and helped her up, keeping his eyes lowered, unable to look at her face.
Before long, the middle-aged woman stopped crying, and her tears gradually subsided.
Suddenly, Subedei saw her raise her hand toward him, clearly visible in the shadow. Thinking she was about to strike him, Subedei closed his eyes and stood still in silence.
Since it was true that he had killed Zev, it didn't matter to him what the parents said or even if they struck him.
But what came was not a powerful blow.
Instead, it was a warm, tight embrace.
Startled by what was happening, Subedei slowly opened his eyes. The middle-aged woman was holding him tightly and said in a trembling voice,
"You must have had such a hard time."
"Don't keep everything bottled up. If you want to cry, then cry."
Subedei had experienced the deaths of loved ones many times before, so his tears had nearly run dry.
More than her words, it was her warm, firm embrace that struck him as strange. At that moment, his thoughts seemed to freeze, and he was overwhelmed with shock.
He had expected to be hit, yet instead she embraced him and spoke for his sake.
"You're not angry?" he asked. "I killed your child."
"I—"
The middle-aged woman cut him off quickly.
"Shh, don't say it."
"I understand."
"I've known you since you were little. You're not that kind of child. There must have been a reason."
"Isn't that right?"
She looked at him with tear-filled eyes and spoke gently, without a hint of doubt.
Hearing this, Subedei fell silent for a moment before answering,
"Yes."
The middle-aged woman showed no surprise, as if she had known all along.
"Then hurry, come inside. Come. Tell me what happened."
Subedei slowly followed the middle-aged woman into the house. Sitting at the dining table, he told her everything that had happened.
After learning the truth, the mother pitied her son. Understanding that all of this had been caused by the monster in the tower, she did not say much. The middle-aged woman remained seated at the table in silence.
To give her some time alone, Subedei said everything he needed to say and quietly left the house. Having told everything, his heart felt lighter and calmer.
After leaving their home and returning to the town, he decided to take a look around and began walking.
Along the way, he spotted a woman in the distance and stopped immediately. She was the same woman from the photo on Subedei's phone.
Looking at her back, Subedei softly whispered to himself,
"She's still just as pretty."
"If I had been braver, would we have ended up dating?"
He kept watching her back until she disappeared from sight.
When she finally vanished, he slapped his face with both hands, snapping himself out of his daydream, and continued walking.
He didn't leave right away, instead walking while lost in memories.
"Subedei…"
At that moment, he heard someone shouting his name from afar. Turning around, he saw several of his friends approaching. Subedei greeted them and, in a roundabout way, gathered some information about that woman.
It seemed she had also gone up the tower and was said to be a very strong swordswoman. She had already reached the seventh floor with several companions.
After taking the Hunter Exam, she had become a Rank 2 hunter.
Hearing the words "Rank 2," Subedei relaxed and let out a deep breath. He was glad that she was doing well.
After quickly finishing the conversation, he parted ways with them, boarded a vehicle, and headed home. During the ride, he thought about many things. Subedei decided to get a good rest today and go up to the sixth floor the next morning.
He wanted to become strong as quickly as possible. Being alone made him much stronger, so he didn't look for companions.
Moreover, he didn't trust anyone but himself. Zev had been the only one, which was why the three of them had managed to endure together.
Retracing his route, he sat by the car window, looking out at the vast, beautiful landscape. Eventually, he arrived home and quickly began taking off his clothes. Suddenly, his stomach growled, and Subedei gave a bitter smile as he rubbed it.
"If I don't eat something…"
He opened the refrigerator to cook, but all he had was instant noodles. Ignoring everything else since he was hungry, Subedei boiled the noodles and ate.
Time passed quickly, and morning came. As Subedei prepared to head to the tower, he suddenly realized he had no weapon and stopped.
He slowly walked into the kitchen and picked up things like a knife, but no attributes appeared. Of course, his strength didn't increase either when holding them.
He quickly turned on his phone and searched for information about tower weapons, believing there might be something that could help him.
In the end, he found some important information. Only tower weapons, or weapons made by craftsmen with the appropriate profession, increased stats.
Not only strength, but defense, speed, and other attributes could also be enhanced. There were even items that increased a stat called "spirit," but they were extremely expensive, with only a few existing in the world.
Subedei searched for information about weapons made by craftsmen, but the prices were far too high.
However, since almost no one used spears, craftsmen made them rarely, and they were relatively affordable.
Subedei immediately sat down on his couch and began searching for a spear. Sitting, lying down, standing up, walking around—he kept searching while muttering to himself,
"This one's too expensive…"
"This one's expensive too…"
"This design is kind of weird…"
After searching for dozens of minutes, he finally found a spear at a reasonable price.