Chapter 3 - Episode 1. Ten Billion Stabs (2)
Chapter 3: Episode 1. Ten Billion Stabs (2)
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[The legend returns! You have successfully hunted ‘Ice Dragon King Velkisus’ alone!]
[You have achieved the ‘impossible alone’ achievement.]
[New title! You have acquired ‘Nightmare of the 99th Floor’.]
[You have acquired the item 「Ice Dragon Sword」.]
[Your level has reached its limit.]
[Your Constitution has reached its limit.]
[Your Combat Power has reached its limit.]
[Your Agility has reached its limit.]
It did not feel real to Jaehwan.
The enormous body of that mighty ice dragon lay collapsed before him.
“I acknowledge you. You truly are remarkable.”
Watching the ice dragon scatter into the air, Jaehwan unconsciously reached out.
“Wait. Hold on!”
Ice Dragon Velkisus, whose pupils were gradually clouding over, looked back at Jaehwan one last time. Jaehwan opened and closed his mouth several times. He wanted to say something, anything. By now, he had spent more of his life with that monster than with humans.
After hesitating for who knew how long, Jaehwan finally forced out the words.
“Answer me. What exactly is the Dream Demon Stone?”
At that, the ice dragon, more than half of its body already broken apart, smiled. As though it remembered the time they had spent together. Or perhaps as though it pitied him.
“You seem curious about the humans who disappeared into the past.”
“Did they really go to this world’s past?”
“You already know the answer. You will learn everything on the final floor.”
The ice dragon said nothing more.
Jaehwan waited until its body had become silver dust and completely vanished, then rose to his feet.
The entrance to the final floor stood before him.
Defeating the ice dragon had been this difficult. He could not even imagine what terrifying creature would await him on the final floor.
Still, Jaehwan did not stop.
《100》
Jaehwan checked the number written on the door. He brushed the dust from it with his hand. Every memory from the decades he had spent in the tower flashed through his mind.
‘Jay will definitely be happy when Jay hears about this.’
Jay’s bright smile was vivid before his eyes.
Jaehwan threw open the door to the hundredth floor.
* * *
The tower’s hundredth floor reminded Jaehwan of an advanced command center he had once seen in a disaster movie.
More precisely, it was dozens, perhaps hundreds of times larger than one. Tens of thousands of holographic panels shifted through different screens, showing every corner of the tower. One of them displayed Jaehwan himself.
He looked dumbfounded.
“Oh my, you’re here already. I thought you would naturally go visit the village first.”
Jaehwan tensely surveyed his surroundings, but he could sense no presence.
“Ah, don’t be so tense. I forgot to send an important message, so just wait there for a moment. It looks impressive on the outside, but it is actually an antique, so it can be quite troublesome.”
A moment later, a screen appeared before him.
[Congratulations. You are the first person in World 294 to clear every Tutorial Game.]
[Your remarkable achievement will be recorded in the immortal library, ‘Akashic Records,’ and this record will be permanently preserved for viewing only by the Lords of the 《Great Realm》 and the gods.]
Confusion swept through Jaehwan’s mind.
What was this supposed to mean?
A Tutorial Game?
Everything he had done until now had been a Tutorial Game?
A figure emerged from between the holographic panels floating in the air.
“Whew, it’s finally over... Huh?”
The figure stopped as its eyes met Jaehwan’s.
“Wow! I finally get to see you in person!”
The figure fussing so excitedly had a human body dressed in a suit, but the head of a lion. And what was with the top hat perched on that lion’s head?
The lion-headed creature spoke.
“Surprise! I was truly shocked, you know. Reaching the hundredth floor of the Tutorial alone is something that has never happened before!”
“...What kind of joke is this?”
“Kuh, that sharp tone. You truly are worthy of being the one who has captured the attention of the Lords of the 《Great Realm》!”
“What are you?”
“Ah, introductions first.”
The lion head removed the tiny top hat resting amid its mane and gave a formal bow.
“I am the demon Beastrein, master of the 《Tower of Nightmares》 you just cleared and the Game Master of World 294’s Tutorial Game.”
A game. A Tutorial Game, at that.
He had not misheard.
This entire situation, in which humanity had gone extinct, was a game.
For an instant, Jaehwan’s gaze grew unfocused. Every emotion within him raged. The self trying to accept this reality fought against the emotions that had broken free beyond his control.
How much time passed like that?
Jaehwan’s eyes returned to normal. No, they became colder and more rational than before.
“Oh? You recovered quickly.”
Jaehwan stared at Beastrein expressionlessly.
If he could not overcome even this much shock, he would never have made it here alone.
“Does this being a Tutorial mean there is a Main Game?”
“Kuh, you understand quickly too. How unusual. Those who make it here by luck are usually out of their minds and draw their swords right away.”
“What is this Main Game?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. The Main Game.”
Beastrein’s lion head let out a bizarre laugh.
With a snap of its fingers, the holographic panels all displayed different scenes at once.
〈Tower 1st Floor〉
Jaehwan stood amid a crowd of murmuring people.
“What is this? It really feels like a game.”
It was when Jaehwan had first been summoned into the game.
〈Tower 7th Floor〉
Three people stood together in a party. Someone spoke.
“My name is Yoonhwan. The one beside me is Seoyul.”
It was when he had first met Yoonhwan and Seoyul.
〈Tower 32nd Floor〉
Jaehwan emerged after a month of surviving the trial of the Shadow Cave, filthy and disheveled.
It was when his Stab had first grown.
〈Tower 54th Floor〉
Jaehwan, surrounded by people.
“Hello, my name is Jaehwan. I’m from Seoul, South Korea, and my class is Swordsman.”
It was when he joined the strongest advance force, 《Blade Walker》.
〈Tower 66th Floor〉
While fighting the boss monster Succubus, Jaehwan suddenly glanced at a woman beside him.
How could he ever forget?
It was when he found someone he loved.
〈Tower 76th Floor〉
In the middle of a pile of undead bones, Jaehwan screamed while holding a woman against his chest.
It was when he lost Seoyul to a Death Knight’s attack.
〈Tower 77th Floor〉
People scattered away as motes of light.
Overwhelming rage.
It was when the 「Stone of Regression」 was discovered and 《Blade Walker》 disbanded.
〈Tower 85th Floor〉
The cheers of those who had cleared the Demonic Floor.
It was when the final volunteer force, 《Carpe Diem》, was formed.
.
.
〈Tower 98th Floor〉
The demonic beast Giltikas.
...
It was when he lost Yoonhwan and was left alone.
〈Tower 99th Floor〉
It was when he had hunted the ice dragon alone, just recently.
Jaehwan blankly watched the screens.
Everything he had done and said until now had been recorded here. Beastrein clapped.
“It was quite the drama, spanning more than thirty years. I enjoyed having you here immensely. When you repeat the same routine every day in a place like this, you begin to crave a story like yours. I would not be surprised if the Lords of the 《Great Realm》 wept their eyes out while watching your exploits.”
The Great Realm. Lords. They were all things he had never heard of.
Jaehwan hid his anger as he spoke.
“What is it you want to say?”
“It is simple. You can play all these games again.”
Beastrein continued.
“With every memory you made here intact. It is a special privilege granted only to someone like you, who has cleared the Tutorial Game. Haha, isn’t it an incredible benefit? In your world, it would be the kind of thing found only in fantasy novels. An absolute being who starts over from the beginning while retaining all their memories! What do you think? Aren’t you already looking forward to it?”
Jaehwan was stunned.
It called this a reward.
Had the tower’s final reward not been humanity’s salvation?
No, when he thought about it, had the Tower of Nightmares ever said such a thing?
It had not.
The tower had never said a word about a final reward.
That had only been humanity’s hope.
People had assumed that, just as in countless stories, clearing the tower would free humanity from its terror or grant a fitting reward.
Out of nowhere, humanity had been given a goal, and all it could do was try to conquer it.
Now, the reward for that conquest stood before Jaehwan.
A reward granted to Jaehwan alone.
“Are you telling me to repeat everything I have done until now?”
“Well, something like that! There will be a few differences, of course.”
Jaehwan could not understand the words coming from that beast’s mouth.
He had fought until now to protect this world. To protect the world everyone else had abandoned.
To never give up on this world, no matter what happened.
That was the pride that had allowed him to remain human in this horrible tower.
Yet the reward for clearing the entire tower was to give up on this world.
“In other words, you are telling me that you will send me back to the past.”
Jaehwan’s voice was freezing over.
“You should know this already. I will not go to the past.”
Yet Beastrein made a strange expression.
“The past? You mean the past?”
“Yes.”
Mad laughter burst from the lion’s mouth.
“What is so funny?”
“Hahahaha! Come to think of it, that is right. You are the sort of human who would never return to the past. If you had, you could not have made it this far. Ahahaha!”
Beastrein continued laughing for quite some time. Then, as though by magic, it abruptly stopped.
“Let me tell you one clear and cruel fact.”
It began speaking in a chilling, mechanical voice.
“There is no way to return to the past with any item in this tower. Even in the outer world, the 《Great Realm》, there is no item capable of doing so.”
Footnotes:
Chapter discussion