Chapter 4 - Episode 1. Ten Billion Stabs (3)
Chapter 4: Episode 1. Ten Billion Stabs (3)
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Jaehwan's mouth fell open.
"What are you talking about? There should already be an item in this tower that can send someone back to the past..."
A chill ran through his chest.
Beastrein had said there was no way to return to the past here.
Beastrein had also said Jaehwan could start everything over from the beginning.
It was a contradiction.
Yet Jaehwan knew of one way to reconcile it.
The 66th floor of the tower.
There, Jaehwan had once faced a low-grade succubus, an inferior version of a dream demon.
The advance force had spent an enormous amount of time conquering the 66th floor.
The succubus had created a highly sophisticated world of illusions. The weaker someone's mental energy, the more easily they crumbled before its illusions.
The 66th floor was a place that turned humans into beasts.
Walkers trapped in the succubus's illusions brutally violated and killed one another.
Jaehwan also knew dream demons' abilities well.
He had nearly fallen victim to the succubus's illusion himself.
"The Dream Demon Stone."
At Jaehwan's words, Beastrein narrowed his eyes.
"How do you know about that item? That isn't information you could obtain inside the tower."
"The Ice Dragon told me."
"My, my. This is truly troublesome. You weren't supposed to know that yet."
Beastrein muttered under his breath.
"...This is why AI algorithms need to be designed properly. You mindlessly churn out monsters, and variables like this crop up. Damn those Creator bastards."
Watching Beastrein mumble to himself, Jaehwan spoke.
"So the people who used the Stone of Regression didn't go to the past."
Beastrein considered something for a moment, then spoke with a resolute expression.
"Well, you are the first Walker to clear this tower alone, so I suppose you have the right to know. Yes. You're correct."
Beastrein snapped his fingers again, and all the holographic panels changed at once.
"The item you found on the 77th floor wasn't the Stone of Regression. It was the Dream Demon Stone, an extremely special item that traps whoever uses it in a dream created by a dream demon, leaving them unable to escape."
Countless Walkers appeared in the holographic panels floating in the air.
Sword Panic Hwang Inchan, Sakamoto the science teacher...
Everyone who was said to have gone back to the past was there. Trapped in a dream demon's dream, they were enjoying luxurious lives, intoxicated by an endless dream.
Beastrein seemed amused by the sight.
"But I didn't lie. In a sense, they really did return to the past."
Jaehwan silently watched the screens.
In a sense, Beastrein was right.
Everyone there had given up on the present and returned to the past. They had easily severed their ties with others. They disregarded "the world others see" and valued only "the world they see."
For them, returning to the past might not have been so different from dreaming a dream demon's dream.
"Hehe. Even now, the humans of World 294 are truly strange. Up until the 77th floor, you were incredible. Countless Worlds challenged this tower, but no one had conquered it with results as exceptional as yours. It was as if you had been preparing for this kind of game for a very long time."
That was true.
At least, it had been until the 77th floor.
"I even thought that if the game continued like this, the tutorial game might become too easy. You could say this was the greatest crisis since the 《Tower of Nightmares》 was created. But you never know a story until you've seen it through to the end."
The holographic screens all showed humans using the Stone of Regression. Humans turning into motes of light and flying off somewhere. Those who had willingly become slaves to time.
"You may be the only species so obsessed with returning to the past."
A species obsessed only with regrets of the past.
Those words pierced deep into Jaehwan's chest. He watched the footage of people vanishing into motes of light. It was a sight he had seen over and over again.
Then something flashed through Jaehwan's mind.
"Well, that should have answered most of your questions, so let's get to the point..."
Jaehwan cut Beastrein off.
"You intend to make me start the game again."
"Haha, have your ears finally started working?"
"Without sending me back to the past, of course."
"That's right. The method is..."
Jaehwan nodded.
"Yes. Thanks to you, I know what this tower really is."
"Pardon?"
Jaehwan had wondered about it for a long time.
The enormous tower that had appeared one day, piercing the sky.
Then the mysterious message that followed.
[Congratulations! By the will of the 《Tower of Nightmares》, you have been chosen as a Tower Walker who will save this world. Will you answer the summons?]
[Yes / No]
He had answered the summons then.
That was why he was here.
Jaehwan walked over to the tower's inner wall and placed his hand against it. He could clearly feel the cold stone beneath his palm.
By now, he had spent longer inside this tower than he had on Earth. Yet throughout all those long years, he had never recognized something this massive as an "item."
It was time to change that perception.
Jaehwan closed his eyes and focused on the tower. He imagined it. Everything about the tower he had climbed for so long.
How long had he remained like that?
His head throbbed, and it felt as though something inside him had cracked apart. Then the item's name appeared before his eyes.
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[Item Information]
Name: Tower of Nightmares - Tutorial Mode
Description: Tentatively named "Fortress of Regret." The second creation of Mulack, a dream demon and maker of nightmares. It draws those who answer the tower's summons into a dream of a dream demon.
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"This tower was a giant Dream Demon Stone," Jaehwan said.
"I was already inside the tower-made dream of a dream demon. Ever since that moment long ago, when I agreed to the tower's offer and was summoned."
Silence fell.
Beastrein lowered his head, hiding his face. After a moment, Beastrein's body trembled as if sobbing, then Beastrein threw back their head.
"Haha, hahahahaha! Ahahahahahaha!"
Beastrein laughed as if he would bring the tower down. Yet something like strange fury could now be felt in that laughter.
"This is incredible. You keep surprising me."
Beastrein snapped his fingers, and the holographic panels changed again. The panels, which had shown only what happened inside the tower, now displayed the scene outside it.
Jaehwan stood dumbfounded.
Earth was still intact. The cities, the people. He had believed they must have been wiped out by the Tower Impact, but the world was safe.
"As you can see, your companions aren't dead. It would be a problem if they died so easily before the Main Game even began, wouldn't it?"
Beastrein continued.
"Hehe. Isn't it surprising that no one died? I thought it would be good news for people like you, who have unique groups called 'family' or 'friends.'"
Those who appeared to be Walkers were all being cared for in an enormous medical facility. It seemed the government had taken action.
Among the patients lying in beds was Jaehwan himself.
Unbelievably, he wore a very peaceful expression.
Though decades had passed here, Jaehwan's face on Earth had not aged at all.
"Though decades have passed here, only a little over a month has passed in your world's time."
Jaehwan had little trouble accepting that.
This was a dream of a dream demon. Even if hundreds of years passed here, only an instant would pass outside.
Of course, Jaehwan knew that was only true if he trusted the holographic panels shown by the demon Beastrein.
Jaehwan had no power to discern the truth.
He did not know how much of Beastrein's words were true and how much were lies. Besides, Beastrein had already deceived humans once.
All the panels went dark at once.
"It seems we've spent more time than expected. In any case, you understand well enough now that my offer won't cost you anything, right? You aren't returning to the past. You're simply starting the game again."
Looking refreshed, Beastrein entered something into the air.
"Whew. I've enjoyed this time with you."
Something appeared in Jaehwan's vision.
[The Game Master intends to completely end the tutorial game. You may return to your hometown, World 294, and participate in the Main Game without losing any memories. Will you accept this offer?]
[Yes / No]
Jaehwan stared at the screen for a moment, then made his choice.
[You have declined the offer.]
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