Chapter 43
Lee Yumi grew up in an orphanage.
In simple terms...
She had been abandoned by her parents.
Crash!
“Haah... Huff...”
The orphanage director kicked her.
“You useless brat!”
His voice was filled with rage.
“Is carrying one plate really that difficult?”
“Is it?!”
The other children watched silently.
They knew...
If they made a mistake...
They would receive the same treatment.
The director pointed toward the broken dish.
“I’m going out to meet clients.”
“By the time I come back, clean this up.”
His eyes became cold.
“If I come back and things are still like this...”
He raised his fist.
“Then you’d better prepare yourself.”
The orphanage director dressed the children up like attractive products...
Then sold them.
Children he considered defective...
Were often returned.
Then...
During Yumi’s first year of high school...
One night...
The orphanage director returned completely drunk.
He held a soju bottle.
“You useless little bitches...”
He stumbled.
“You should all just die!”
He began attacking everyone around him.
He did not care which child he hit.
Then...
Something happened.
The man grabbed Yumi.
“Hehe.”
His drunken smile turned disgusting.
“You’re not going to sell anyway.”
He pulled her closer.
“So at least pay me back for raising you.”
STAB!
The director froze.
“H-Huh?”
Blood spread across his shirt.
“Why...”
Then his face twisted.
“F-Fuck...”
Yumi had killed him with her own hands.
Because she was young...
And because there was extensive evidence of years of abuse...
Her actions were recognized as self-defense.
But that past...
Followed her like a label for the rest of her life.
People whispered at school.
“That murderer really came back?”
One girl laughed.
“Think she’ll stab someone else?”
Another sneered.
“Scary.”
Then she looked into Yumi’s eyes.
“Maybe she really is different because she’s an orphan.”
The girl suddenly froze.
“H-Huh?”
Yumi walked straight toward her.
“What?”
The girl took a step back.
“Why are you coming closer?”
SLAP!
“Gasp!”
The girl held her cheek.
“Y-You hit me?!”
Yumi grabbed her hair.
“You people only know how to run your mouths.”
Her eyes were cold.
“Looks like you need to be hit before you understand words.”
She pulled harder.
“Come here.”
“What?”
“You’re not coming?”
After that...
Yumi responded to harassment by fighting back.
Hard enough that no one could casually touch her anymore.
Eventually...
She dropped out of school.
She survived by working part-time jobs.
Then...
She was summoned to the Tower.
“......”
This place smelled exactly like that orphanage.
The same disgusting smell.
A place where human beings were not treated as human.
That was why...
The enslaved children overlapped with her memories.
The painful past she thought she had already overcome...
Had returned.
Yumi exhaled toward the empty night sky.
Then she spoke to Suhyeok, who had listened quietly.
“...I know.”
Her voice trembled slightly.
“I’m pathetic.”
She laughed bitterly.
“I always act strong in front of everyone.”
“Then I hide alone somewhere and fall apart.”
She had finally found people she considered friends.
She did not want them to look at her with disgust too.
But Suhyeok simply replied,
“Is that so?”
Yumi stared.
“...That’s it?”
Suhyeok looked at her.
“What else were you expecting?”
His voice remained flat.
“Did you want me to pity you?”
Yumi blinked.
“No, well...”
She scratched her cheek.
“Not exactly.”
Then she laughed awkwardly.
“I just expected you to be a little shocked.”
The atmosphere became awkward.
Then Suhyeok spoke first.
“I already suspected most of it.”
Yumi looked at him.
“I knew you had been raiding slave traders.”
Then he added,
“And hiding the children somewhere.”
Yumi sighed.
“...So you knew everything.”
Her expression became apologetic.
“I’m sorry I moved on my own.”
She lowered her head slightly.
“Security around the area got stricter because of me.”
Suhyeok glanced at her.
“Yeah.”
Yumi stared.
“...Seriously?”
She looked annoyed.
“Why do you react like that to everything?”
Then she groaned.
“Now the person apologizing just feels even more uncomfortable.”
Despite her complaint...
The corners of her lips had lifted slightly.
Perhaps...
Suhyeok’s indifferent response had comforted her more than she expected.
Yumi suddenly asked,
“Do you know why I followed you this desperately, oppa?”
She looked up at the night sky.
Then continued.
“Maybe everyone has their own reasons...”
“But I absolutely have to leave this Tower.”
Her expression became bitter.
“The kids from the orphanage were scattered because of me.”
“If I want to bring them back together...”
She smiled weakly.
“I need money.”
Yumi paused.
Then she spoke again.
“Everyone says the same thing.”
“That if you reach the 100th Floor...”
“You can leave the Tower.”
Her eyes remained on the stars.
“I don’t even need a wish.”
Then she laughed quietly.
“Although if there really is one, that’d be nice.”
She shrugged.
“If I’m going through all this trouble anyway, I might as well get rich too.”
Suhyeok stayed silent.
False hope...
Could make people more miserable through its outcome than through the process.
Suhyeok knew that better than anyone.
He had experienced it himself.
Yumi smiled.
“Still...”
“It’s not like any of that is guaranteed.”
She leaned back.
“I’m just choosing to believe it.”
Then she looked at him.
“Maybe I’m the only one like that?”
No.
Humans did not simply sit around waiting for false hope.
They struggled.
They worked to turn that hope into reality.
Ironically...
That same false hope had created the current Suhyeok.
He looked at the sponsorship windows before him.
[‘One Who Practices Unwavering Faith’ has sponsored 4,000 Coins.]
[‘Miracle of Three Days’ has sponsored 3,000 Coins.]
[‘Master of Scorching Heat’ has sponsored 4,000 Coins.]
[‘God of Death’ has sponsored 4,000 Coins.]
Many Constellations wanted to see a different ending.
The chat was the same.
Suhyeok quietly said, almost like he was convincing himself.
“...Who knows.”
Yumi looked at him.
“By the time we reach the top of the Tower...”
His gaze became distant.
“Maybe your wish will already have come true.”
Yumi burst out laughing.
“Pfft.”
She smiled.
“What?”
“You can say things like that too?”
Then she relaxed slightly.
“Well...”
“That helped a little.”
She raised one finger.
“But keep this secret from the other two.”
“I don’t want them comforting me over something like this.”
Then...
Rustle. Rustle.
Yumi froze.
“......?”
Something fell behind a storage cabinet.
Then...
Two people slowly crawled out.
Bong Taesu.
Kim Hyuna.
They smiled awkwardly.
Taesu cleared his throat.
“A-Ahem!”
He held up both hands.
“We weren’t secretly listening.”
Yumi stared.
Taesu continued without shame.
“We just happened to come outside for a walk...”
He coughed.
“And somehow ended up here.”
Hyuna smiled awkwardly.
“Haha... Same.”
Yumi sighed deeply.
Their excuse was ridiculous.
Taesu cleared his throat again.
“Anyway...”
He looked at Yumi.
“If you had that kind of past...”
His expression became gentle.
“It would’ve been nice if you told us earlier.”
Then he smiled.
“Miss Yumi...”
“You’re almost as foolish as me.”
He tapped his chest.
“We’re companions.”
Then he added,
“You can tell us things like that anytime.”
Hyuna nodded.
“That’s right.”
She looked at Yumi.
“Old man Taesu was really worried.”
Her lips curled.
“He paced around all night.”
“I could hear his footsteps from my room.”
Taesu laughed awkwardly.
“I won’t force you to tell us everything.”
Then he smiled sincerely.
“But surely...”
“We can carry at least some of your burden, can’t we?”
Yumi stared at him blankly for a moment.
