Chapter 21: Gourmet Cuisine and the Dangers of Living in Luxury (Patreon)

“I don’t get it,” said Hugo from my shoulder as I traipsed through the forest. “I thought we were cool. They helped look after me when I was injured but then go crazy when I use my power?”

“They cared about Stephanie and were still grieving for her,” I replied. “Having their friend's ghost suddenly appear and be in thrall to you shocked them.”

“What was I supposed to do?” Hugo asked indignantly. “I couldn’t have raised her later on. I needed the Twilight conjuring buff to pull it off, and I was losing the chance to use it. It was then or never, isn’t that right Stephanie?” he asked to the ghost archer who still shadowed us. Hugo said it cost less energy to keep her around than to summon her if there was trouble on the way to the elevator. I decided it wasn’t worth arguing with him about it.

A flicker of disgust crossed my face over using her name. He was getting way too cavalier about this. “Don’t call her that. It’s creepy. From now on, just call her Archer or something.”

“Fine,” Hugo sighed. “You know this is technically your fault that we had to leave the group though.”

“My fault?”

“Yeah, you totally goaded me on with that whole ‘you and what army bit.’”

I swallowed my first sarcastic comeback and tried for a calmer, more agreeable tone. “I’m not saying it was the worst idea to take the ghost archer, but you should have talked it over with the group first instead of blindsiding them. Now they think we’re evil.”

Hugo gasped. “I’m not evil. If I see something I want, I just take it. That’s how life is in the bird game.”

“Yeah, but you’re not just a bird anymore. You’ve evolved. You can’t just act on instinct all the time.”

There was a pause and then he asked, “you don’t think I’m evil though, right?”

“No, just impulsive, juvenile, and short-sighted,” I said before spotting the silver elevator that glowed faintly in the moonlight.

Hugo grumbled something under his breath as he dismissed Archer, and we got inside. There were three buttons on the panel. One for each floor we’d visited. I pressed the button for floor 100. The elevator closed its doors and then re-opened them back up to my floor a second later. It looked exactly as before, and as we stepped into the hallway, a message appeared.

[Now entering residential floor 100. This is a safe zone where violence is prohibited]

Huh, that’s new. I guess that’s what happened when a floor gets cleared. Curious, I went back into the elevator and I pushed the button for floor 99.

“I thought that was our stop?” asked Hugo.

“It was. I’m just checking something out.”

The doors opened not to the stone chamber like before, but out onto a floor that looked identical to the one above it. I stepped out.

[Now entering residential floor 99. This is a safe zone where violence is prohibited]

“This must be what happens to all the floors that get cleared,” I said.

“Neat,” said Hugo impatiently. “Can we go back up now? I’m starving.”

We went back to floor 100 but much to the bird’s displeasure, I checked Earnest’s apartment first to see if he had come back. It didn’t look like anything had been touched since last time, which was more evidence that he had probably died. Though the whetstone he’d promised me was still sitting on the kitchen counter. I looked at my sword and a prompt came up that I said yes to.

[Examine? Y/N]

*Item Identified!* [Standard Katana, common: F-Grade] – Purchased by Lucas Hudson to use as a prop in a cosplay he was doing to try to impress a girl. It didn’t work. The blade is also so dull right now that it’d struggle to cut butter (Current state: Very Good).

So the sword’s state had degraded from perfect to just very good due to the fighting. I hadn’t noticed much of change, although in a life and death fight its hard to pay attention to such things. I decided to pick up the whetstone.

*Item Identified* [Enchanted Whetstone (Common: F-Grade)] – Used to sharpen F-Grade blades. When others were out partying or going on dates, you stayed home and used this to study blade sharpening like a dork.

I ran my sword across the whetstone and then did my knife for good measure without checking its state. I’m sure it would have taken more work using a regular whetstone to sharpen blades, but with the enchanted one, it took no time at all. I stored it in my inventory for safe keeping and silently thanked Earnest for leaving it behind.

“Now can we get food?” asked Hugo as we walked out into the hallway.

“Not yet.”

This time, I did have enough strength to kick the doors down as I went through every apartment. Martin, the one who’d controlled that goblin dog, had also cleared this floor. There was a chance that he might be hiding up here like before. I checked every room and every closet large enough to fit him. Each one was empty, but that didn’t mean he might not return.

I closed all the doors and then emptied a neighboring fridge before dragging it out and putting it in front of a different apartment door as a decoy. It was impossible to move without making a sound and he’d seen me scale the balconies with ease. If he came back, then he’d naturally assume that I was in there. Instead, I went into my apartment across the hall and barricaded the inside with a couple of chairs.

Once I’d said we were done, Hugo asked to see the fridge and the pantry before selecting a packet of Doritos for his evening meal. He picked them up in his beak and carried them over to the kitchen table while I made myself a basic sandwich. I didn’t feel hungry, but that could have been due to all the fighting and the adrenaline. I forced myself to eat while Hugo pecked impotently at his packet.

He eventually gave up and asked for help. I opened the packet for him and watched as he went to town on the Doritos like a wild dog.

“Hey you’re getting crumbs everywhere!” I complained to no avail as he buried his head deeper into the packet.

After we’d finished eating and I’d forced him to clean up after himself, we went to bed. Well I did anyway. For Hugo, I made him a nearby cushion to sleep on, which annoyed him. He’d wanted the bed until I explained the chances of me rolling over in my sleep and crushing him to death. After that, he seemed more than happy with the cushion. We fell asleep and didn’t wake for several hours.

[ALERT!]

[ALERT!]

I shot up out of bed and groaned. Not again.

Hugo yawned and asked, “what’s going on?”

[Congratulations residents on surviving the first twenty-four hours in the tower. Despite all the confusion and disorientation, a decent percentage of you managed to avoid getting eaten or succumbing to the elements. As a reward, a town has been constructed on floor 98 to act as a safe place. There, you can purchase goods, eat food that you didn’t hunt yourselves, or sleep in a bed for the night. Think of the town as a hub for floor 98. It is also a safe zone where violence is prohibited. Residents are incapable of being harmed inside of it, but please note that this will not impact or lessen any injuries incurred outside the town.]

I guess that finally explains what the coins were all about. It’ll be interesting to see what I can buy there.

[Floor 98 is one of several foundational floors here within the tower. Each foundational floor is far larger than a conventional floor and you will be expected to spend a significant amount of time on each of them. Golden elevators will open later to take you to other floors but you are encouraged to return back to a foundational floor after clearing them.]

I wonder how many floors there are till the next foundation one?

[Oh, and incase anyone wasn’t aware. This tower has 100 floors and the top two floors are now luxury private apartments that are far superior to anything in the town. Entry to those floors now requires a resident with an access keycard or a cardholder must invite a guest up there. You could also kill a cardholder and take their place if you’re so inclined.]

I checked my inventory and saw a card in the bottom corner next to how many coins I had. I selected it and an unremarkable plastic white card appeared in my hand.

“Well this sucks,” moaned Hugo, who apparently did not possess a card.

I smiled at him. “I guess you’re just going to have to be nice to me if you want to retain guest privileges.”

[Currently, there are five residents with access to those floors. Happy hunting.]

Five? Me, Martin, and Earnest made three, but who were the other two? It seemed unlikely that two others had cleared floor 100 without making any noise and then took the stairs. Perhaps there were pre-existing residents in the building like me who started on floor 99? Regardless, it was obvious that the System was trying to encourage the other residents to hunt cardholders which meant we had to be even more careful with who to trust.

“We can’t tell anyone about this place,” I said.

“Obviously. Now fix me up a bowl of Captain Crunch? Residents who ate cereal on the balcony always guarded their bowls jealously, and I’m curious to see what all the fuss was about.”

“Can’t you do it yourself?”

Hugo sighed, spread his wings out, and looked himself over. “For the last time, do you see any thumbs on me?”