Chapter 58 - Episode 9. Three Fortresses Meeting (3)
Chapter 58: Episode 9. Three Fortresses Meeting (3)
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《Tower of Nightmares》 Carpe Diem.
Jaehwan had decided on this plan, named the 「Carpe Diem Project」, about a week earlier.
It was shortly after the Colossal Deadman 「Magritte」 vanished.
“Youngster, are you serious? There has never been a case of anyone other than a dream demon creating a ‘Tower.’”
The 《Tower of Nightmares》 was the exclusive domain of dream demons.
Only dream demons could create Towers, and only dream demons could modify them. Other higher species, such as demons and angels, could interfere with a Tower’s control system to some extent, but only dream demons could actually construct one.
For a human to attempt building a Tower. If dream demons heard about it, he would become the laughingstock of their kind.
“It’s fine. Meikal can do it. We aren’t making a complete Tower anyway, only one floor.”
“Only one floor?”
“It just needs to be capable of controlling the flow of time. I’m not asking for much.”
A week after the former craftsmen of Twilight Dusk were brought in, 《Tower of Nightmares》 Carpe Diem revealed itself to the world for the first time.
* * *
“To think humans would build a Tower of Nightmares.”
“Even if it only has one floor, it is truly astounding.”
There was nothing special inside besides an endlessly stretching sky and a horizon without end, yet that alone was a breathtaking wonder.
Creating a Tower meant weaving an entire world. It was an achievement impossible without the ability to view an entire world at a glance and the rich imagination needed to reproduce its intricate details. That was why creating Towers had only ever been a task permitted to dream demons, who possessed imaginations suited to the work.
In the millions of years of 《Great Realm》 history, no race other than dream demons had ever created a Tower.
Yet now, a Tower made by humans stood before their eyes.
Watching the Hall Masters exclaim in amazement, Jaehwan thought:
It took some work.
For a week, Jaehwan had worked day and night beside Meikal, absorbed in building the Tower. Without the memories of what he had experienced as a 「Product」 and Meikal’s long training as an artisan, they could never have created it.
During the process, Jaehwan had also come to understand many things about dream demons.
In particular, skills like 「Crafting」, which dream demons used, had much in common with the power of Awakening Jaehwan wielded.
It even made him wonder whether dream demons had been the first to gain the power of Awakening.
Maybe it was only natural.
Those who created worlds could not help but intuit the essence of those worlds. Perhaps dream demons understood the absurdity of this world better than anyone else.
They understood what the Towers they created were, and they surely understood what 「cultivation」 meant. Perhaps that was why a dream demon like Mulack could emerge and declare that they would end 「cultivation」.
Jegal Myeong, the Hall Master of Scholar Forest Hall, spoke with emotion in his voice.
“It is deeply moving. To return here not to be 「cultivated」, but to destroy 「cultivation」...”
“M-Me too. That is exactly what I wanted to say!”
Yoon Yong, the Hall Master of Thunder God Hall, also looked excited.
After some time, the Hall Masters calmed themselves and looked to Jaehwan, waiting for him to speak.
“From now on, all training will take place here.”
Jaehwan studied the excited Hall Masters one by one before continuing.
“You have probably guessed already, but time flows about one hundred times slower inside this Tower. In other words, one day in Chaos is one hundred days here. Taking the week we have into account, you will gain a total of seven hundred days, nearly two years.”
Two years.
That was the new time the Hall Masters had gained.
“But because time flows more slowly, time itself is denser here. Even if you spend the same amount of time here as outside, the fatigue your souls feel will be on a completely different level.”
“So soul contamination will progress faster.”
Jegal Myeong quickly caught on.
“Yes. Soul contamination will rise in inverse proportion to the slowed time. That will be even more severe for souls that have lived as long as yours. You are no longer young souls like when you entered the Tutorial.”
The perceptive Hall Masters were already feeling the effects of Jaehwan’s warning. Despite their resistance to contamination thanks to their immense mental energy, their contamination levels were rising at a terrifying speed compared to normal.
“To prepare for that, this Tower has an automatic logout function that activates when soul contamination exceeds 80%. Horned Beast horns will always be ready for you to consume immediately after logging out, so you do not need to worry about contamination.”
It was an exceptionally thoughtful arrangement.
A few Hall Masters who had thought Jaehwan was only a blunt, cold man looked at him differently.
“Now, I will divide those who wish to volunteer for Awakening from those who do not.”
The Hall Masters realized that the time to choose had come.
“Those who want to volunteer for Awakening, stand to my right. Those who simply wish to raise their Adaptation stages, stand to my left.”
Cayman, the Hall Master of South Sea Hall, was the first to react. Without hesitation, he walked over and stood to Jaehwan’s right.
Jaehwan spoke.
“I will say it again. You may die.”
“I will not regret it, even if I do.”
There was no wavering in Cayman’s eyes.
“If I have even the slightest potential left to grow, it must be through Awakening.”
Unlike the other Hall Masters, Cayman was not even an Over-Adapter. For decades, he had keenly felt that he had reached his limits as an Adapter.
His repeated fierce battles with Jaehwan over the past few days had also taught him something.
The shock of seeing his hard-earned nine hundred years shattered by a man who had lived less than fifty years was difficult even for Cayman, with his strong Mentality, to endure. Yet Cayman had overcome it. Instead, he chose to see it as a chance to grow stronger.
After learning about the true power of Awakened Ones, his resolve had only grown firmer.
Awakened Ones were not bound by the limits of their spiritual power reserves.
That was the most astonishing fact Cayman had learned over the past few days.
Every technique Jaehwan used consumed tremendous spiritual power, yet by an Adapter’s standards, Jaehwan’s own spiritual power was only at the level of a Non-Adapter.
That was impossible unless one had reached at least the tenth stage of Adaptation.
When Adapters reached the tenth stage, the spiritual power stored in their bodies exploded, granting them a transcendent ability called the 「Infinite Circuit」. No matter how much spiritual power they used, it did not decrease.
Yet Awakened Ones possessed comparable power even at the third stage. The principle seemed different from the Adapters’ Infinite Circuit, but both could draw on nearly limitless spiritual power.
Should he refuse to give up on the path of Adaptation and become a tenth-stage Adapter, or should he challenge the path of Awakening and become a third-stage Awakened One?
At that crossroads, Cayman chose the latter without hesitation. The former was a realm even top-class Over-Adapters struggled to reach, but the latter was possible for him.
Besides, he had the reliable support of Jaehwan.
“If I can land even one blow on those Lord bastards, I will do anything.”
“Good.”
Once the first volunteer stepped forward, an uneasy mood began spreading among the Hall Masters.
What if they lost out by not volunteering?
What if they volunteered and failed?
The emotions written across the Hall Masters’ faces were so obvious that it was embarrassing to watch.
Cheongheo, standing nearby, clicked his tongue.
Then Ja Geukryeong, the Hall Master of Goddess Hall, spoke.
“Fortress Lord, may I ask one question?”
“Go ahead.”
“Is the method of Awakening you will teach guaranteed?”
Several Hall Masters swallowed at the question. Perhaps it was the most important question at that moment.
Jaehwan answered immediately.
“No.”
“You are asking us to walk a path that is not even guaranteed?”
“I did it, and I have only lived fifty years. Are you saying you cannot?”
Ja Geukryeong closed her slightly parted lips. Her pride had been wounded.
Still, it was not something she could casually volunteer for just because her pride was hurt.
More than anything, she remembered seeing the Awakened Ones driven mad by the 「Great Disappearance」.
Jaehwan spoke again.
“I told you to choose for yourselves because it is dangerous. Once we enter the 《Abyss》, there will surely be things far worse than this.”
“He is right.”
Cheongheo, who had been watching the situation from a corner with a faint grin, spoke up.
“At your current level, you could not even reach the entrance to the 《Abyss》. You would not be able to pass the 《Palace of the Dead》, which lies on the path leading there.”
The Palace of the Dead.
It was where Catastrophe, the Sole King and the worst calamity in 《Chaos》, resided. It was also a forbidden region of 《Chaos》, where countless large Deadmans roamed.
The Hall Masters’ shoulders trembled as though the thought alone gave them chills.
“If we succeed in Awakening, how strong can we become?”
Jegal Myeong, the Hall Master of Scholar Forest Hall, asked the question.
“If you complete Awakening safely, you will gain power similar to mine now.”
“...Really?”
“Yes.”
The Hall Masters’ faces brightened at the thought of gaining power equal to Jaehwan’s.
The power that defeated the Colossal Deadman 「Magritte Who Walks Backward」 and split a wave of Deadmans with a single strike...
“But the chance of succeeding in Awakening is not high. I would guess...”
“If even one of you succeeds in Awakening, honestly, it would be a miracle.”
Cheongheo once again spoke up.
“You heard all that talk about the 「Great Disappearance」 earlier, so you should understand. Even that formidable Rupture failed to mass-produce Awakened Ones. Out of tens of thousands of people, less than 0.01 percent could become Awakened Ones. Even then, most could not endure the mental shock and either killed themselves or went mad and died.”
He spoke as though he knew the matter well.
That made sense. Cheongheo had lived for nearly a thousand years. It would not have been strange for him to know about the 「Great Disappearance」 seven hundred years ago.
“Even so, the reason the Fortress Lord and I want to make you into Awakened Ones is that you will not survive the coming expedition without that level of power.”
“Awakened Ones are not the only ones who can grow stronger. As far as I know, a ninth-stage Adapter can possess power comparable to a third-stage Awakened One.”
At Ja Geukryeong’s words, Cheongheo frowned slightly.
“You are being difficult. Well, you are not wrong. The problem is how you, who have only reached the seventh stage, intend to become ninth-stage Adapters.”
“I do not think I am the one who needs to worry about that.”
Ja Geukryeong continued while looking at Jaehwan.
“How does the Fortress Lord intend to raise the ‘Adaptation stages’ of those who refuse Awakening?”
Jaehwan and Cheongheo could somehow help the others through Awakening. But how would they make the remaining Adapters stronger?
“I heard that for high-stage Adapters like you to grow stronger, the only methods are learning new skills and raising their proficiency, or accumulating a certain number of Enlightenment Points.”
“To be more precise, new skills alone are not enough. They must be top-class skills.”
Once one reached around the seventh stage of Adaptation, raising spiritual power alone began to reach its limit as a way to advance Adaptation stages. The System did not calculate Adaptation stages based only on the total amount of spiritual power.
Jaehwan answered.
“I have prepared a solution for that problem as well.”
“...What is it? Did you gather a pile of top-class skill books?”
Even in the 《Great Realm》, top-class skills were as difficult to obtain as stars in the sky unless one belonged to one of the Five Great Families or the Legions of the Lords of the twelve zones.
Even among the six Hall Masters here, few had mastered more than three such top-class skills. Unless they raided a family’s treasury, acquiring top-class skills was nearly impossible.
“They do not have to be skill books. You can learn from teachers.”
“Teachers?”
Ja Geukryeong, the Hall Master of Goddess Hall, frowned slightly.
Certainly, skills could be passed down through personal transmission as well as skill books. But who would casually teach skills as valuable as their own lives?
And who in this 《Chaos》 could teach skills to people on the level of the Ten Hall Masters?
“Who would dare claim they can teach us?”
“The teachers are here.”
Ja Geukryeong flinched and looked around. Yet all she could see were Jaehwan, the six Hall Masters, and Cheongheo.
“Are you saying you will teach us skills?”
“No.”
“Then who in the world...”
At that moment, Ja Geukryeong realized something and opened her mouth wide. It was strange that she had not thought of it until now.
Jaehwan nodded.
“You will learn each other’s skills. The teachers who will teach you are yourselves.”
Footnotes:
Chapter discussion