88 Yakeru, The Enigma
“…I’ll ask you one question.”
A smooth, deep voice left from the lips of the mysterious man as his gray locks were brushed in a passing breeze.
“Are you enemies of mine?” The man asked, looking directly at the three.
They didn’t know how to answer for a few seconds as the man exuded a certain tranquil, yet vicious aura, but he stepped forward, quickly dissuading any notion of that.
“No…not at all–we came here because of the explosions we heard below,” he laughed wryly, hoping not to upset the man.
He’s strong. Stronger than all of us–there’s no question about that, he thought.
Yakeru looked at him for a moment before momentarily closing his eyes, relaxing his guard as he bowed his head.
“Apologies,” Yakeru said quietly, “I didn’t realize there were others in the area.”
“No, no, it’s alright,” he assured the man with a laugh, “I’ve gotta ask…what’s up with your gear? It’s way different than anything we’ve got.”
The other two had already stood beside him, staying silent as they seemed to want to ask the exact same question.
Yakeru was silent for a moment, looking down at his body that was shrouded in the light, sleek armor that adjusted itself, resulting in metallic noises with each movement he made.
“…I see. That’s an understandable question,” Yakeru said, “…Though, apologies, but I won’t be answering it.”
“Huh? Why?!” Sol let out, disappointed by the answer received.
Yakeru narrowed his gaze, “Even if you might not be enemies, who knows if that will be the same in the future? In a world like this, it’s better to keep your hand to yourself, rather than open to any passing stranger–you’d do well to stick to that yourselves.”
It was an understandable response, seeing as they were complete strangers to the enigmatic, pale-skinned man.
“Well, can you just answer this, then? Is this cybernetic stuff from a unique system you have?” He asked.
Yakeru went silent again for a moment before rubbing his metallically-armored hand against his guarded chin, “Perhaps.”
Perhaps? He sighed to himself.
Yeong-Un spoke up this time, “Hey, that name of yers’–it doesn’t sound familiar. Are ya’ from someplace else?’
It was surprising to him that Yeong-Un was the one who realized that first, and asked it, but it made sense to him now.
“Yakeru”, that’s definitely not a name I’ve heard before. And he doesn’t look Korean, exactly, he thought.
“I’m from Japan,” Yakeru answered stoically, “Any other questions?”
It was clear that the cybernetic-enhanced man wasn’t particularly sociable, seeming impatient to go on his way.
Before Yakeru could walk away, he stopped him, “–Hey, hold on!”
“–“
Yakeru stopped, glancing back at him with his augmented gaze. He was an intimidating figure to impose so carelessly; he wasn’t towering, by any means, only just slightly taller than Yeong-Un, but his electronic armor and force behind it was daunting.
“You’re alone, right? Why not join our party?” He offered, “We could use the help–this dungeon is seeming a bit more difficult than we imagined.”
“Wait, huh?” Yeong-Un seemed taken aback by the extended invite to the stranger.
Sol didn’t say anything, but gulped as if wanting it to happen desperately as they all looked forward at the unsociable man.
“…Who said I was alone?” Yakeru asked with his deep, scarring voice.
“Err, I…” He tried to make up a reason, but he realized it was sort of a rude assumption.
Yakeru fidgeted a bit, covering his face, “…Is it that obvious…?”
“Wait, what?!” He let out.
Is he…embarrassed?! He thought.
The man who stood at the pinnacle of “cool” to the eyes of the young men was indeed blushing slightly at the presumption, covering his face with his cybernetic-armored hands.
“My bad, I didn’t mean to assume anything! I just–” He tried to assure the man.
“No, it’s fine…” Yakeru said, uncovering his face, “…It’s obvious I don’t have any friends, right?”
What’s up with this guy? He thought.
After coming back to his senses, Yakeru looked at them, composing himself again as he straightened himself out.
“Well, if you’d like me to join…I wouldn’t mind. Just for the time being, though.”
Don’t act like you’re above us now! He thought.
Either way, he extended the offer anyway, inviting the cybernetic armored man to their party, “Sounds good to me. We’re in completely different countries outside of this dungeon, anyway, so that’s understandable.”
Yakeru stared at the prompt that appeared for him before tapping it with his black-clad finger, joining the party officially. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
[Jeong-Hui | Level 23 | 3200/3200]
[Yeong-Un | Level 24 | 4000/4000]
[Sol | Level 22 | 3500/3500]
[Yakeru | Level 27 | 4500/4500]
It was relieving to see somebody so powerful in their party, especially after seeing their capabilities first hand after cutting down the Silver Ents.
Yakeru didn’t even see any words, only beginning to continue moving through the interior of the grand tree as the others followed.
“What’s this place, anyway?” He asked.
“Don’t know,” Yakeru answered.
“You…don’t know?” He replied with a slight chuckle.
“I got lost in the White Forest, then found myself in here,” Yakeru explained, “I’ve only been here a few minutes longer than you all.”
Surprisingly, he didn’t consider that earlier.
That actually…makes sense, he thought.
Without even discussing it, they all began moving to the next floor of the great tree, ascending the flower-ingrained steps as all of their eyes were on the man dressed in advanced armor.
“What’s up with that techno-crap, anyway?! It was pretty awesome back there!” Yeong-Un asked while they followed behind Yakeru.
“It was nothing,” Yakeru coldly replied.
“Huh?!” Yeong-Un was taken aback by the frosty response.
Before the wild adolescent could reply in his own, spiky way, he tapped him on the shoulder and shook his head, passing him up on the staircase.
Sol whispered in the ears of the other two, “…He really isn’t very friendly, is he?”
“Well…I don’t think this world really breeds friendliness, anymore…especially if he’s been alone,” he replied quietly.
He knew first hand what type of turmoil the fallen world created, and just what kind of unseen scars it could leave on people.
…I wouldn’t judge anybody who isn’t really sociable in a world like this, he thought.
Upon reaching the next floor, Yakeru immediately put his hand on the black handle of his all-black blade, gripping it as it prompted the mechanical sheath to click, releasing the katana to be drawn fully.
“What’s up?” He asked, looking up at the gray-haired man.
Yakeru answered quietly, keeping his eyes on the room ahead as from the position on the staircase, only half of his body was showing up above, “Hostiles ahead. Seven of them. Platinum Ents.”
“Alright, let’s do this–!” Yeong-Un called out with a laugh, pushing past Yakeru as he drew both of his blades.
“Yeong-Un!” He called out, trying to stop his reckless friend, but it was a futile effort to stop that man from going into a fight.
Yakeru only watched silently for a moment before turning to him, “Your friend is careless. That’s a surefire way to end up dead in this world.”
“I know…but, he’s strong, and–he’s got us,” he assured Yakeru with a confident smile, unsheathing both of his daggers as he followed behind Yeong-Un.
“Y-yeah, he’s got us!” Sol added before whispering to Yakeru, “Please help us!”
The chamber ahead was much more akin to what the interior of a tree should look like, with walls of intertwined branches and twigs, and a covering of ivory leaves that sprouted from every corner.
It was a vast area, large enough to contain the “Platinum Ents” in question–which looked to be superior to the silver variation that Yakeru took down previously as they stood taller and possessed a more bulky, humanoid form with their shaped, metallic-seeming branches.
“Alright, be careful–if one for each of us is too much to handle, let’s regroup,” he said, walking beside the other three.
“Hah! These twigs won’t be shit!” Yeong-Un laughed.
“I’ll be taking four for myself,” Yakeru said, walking in front of them, “–You three just make sure to keep the others occupied.”
Before they could contest such a brazzen decision, the cybernetic-armored man used his ludicrous speed to appear between four of the gargantuan ents, engaging in battle with them.
“Huh?! What the shit–?! No fair!” Yeong-Un yelled out, looking to be a moment away from popping a blood vessel.
“Chill out, man! Yakeru has this–let’s just do our part,” he calmed Yeong-Un down, approaching the Platinum Ent he set his sights on.
Yeong-Un growled before begrudgingly accepting, “Fine, dammit!”
“…One if plenty…maybe too much,” Sol whispered to himself nervously.
With their opponents set individually, the group split up in the vast chamber of nature, taking on their designated opponents.
Alright, let’s do this, he thought.
[Enemy Identified: “Platinum Ent” | Level 26]
Approaching the Platinum Ent, which stood over seven meters tall with bulky, shining limbs of thick roots, he could feel its imposing size from the groans it let out, watching him with its hollow face formed of holes in its own body.
A level twenty-six opponent, even if a normal-class enemy…it’ll be a challenge for each of us. But, a challenge is what we need–if the “Tower” really is where the real game begins, we have to be prepared, he thought.