Chapter 314: I’m a Fan (1)
Even if it’s just three times, that’s enough.
In my life, please let me have my way.
In return, take everything I have.
I had stayed up all night, and upon reflection, only one choice remained.
“Are you the King of Death? What a grandiose alias. So grandiose it’s almost laughable! Remember this, I am one of the Thirteen Evils. The one who crumbled the eternal cliffs. The master of all waves crashing against every shore, the ninth Sea Lord, the Pirate General, the Madman…”
Silence.
“I heard you defeated the Crazy Madman of the Blood Sea! Quite impressive. I hear you broke through a whopping 10 floors all at once! Indeed, without a doubt, you are the first divinity to appear in a long time since the Sword Emperor! But remember this. Every Constellation shining in the night sky was once called a divinity. To introduce myself, who imparts such profound enlightenment; oh what’s the use of speaking! The Living Witness of Divine Miracles! The Thirteen Evils! The Pine Cone that Sings in the White Night, the Forester, even the aliases are terrifying…”
Silence.
“I won’t be long-winded. The longer the tongue, the shorter the life. Be afraid. Tremble in fear. Today, I will impart to you one truth…”
Silence.
“Uh. Could you possibly spare my life? Of course, I might have tormented people a bit. No, quite a lot actually… Wait! Hold on! Stop! No, it’s natural for people to become cranky when they live for 200 to 300 years! After indulging in every possible pleasure, what other joy could there be besides tormenting others! No. Wait. You shouldn’t go in there… No, no! Please wait! That bloodstain isn’t human! Really! …Ah. Fuck, I forgot to clean up after killing…”
Silence.
“I have no regrets. You know? Torturing living beings is really enjoyable.”
Silence.
“Do you think you’re so great?”
Silence.
“Strong. The King of Death, huh. The Sword Emperor obtained the title of Emperor despite being just a hunter. What’s next, a king? The Tower is indeed strange. Live a good life, cherish it and die a good death. If your life is inevitable, then fate must be imbued in your name too, and at this moment, my end is also not by chance.”
Silence.
“……Damn it. Dammit! I-I didn’t do anything wrong…”
Silence.
“This is infuriating.”
“If only you twelve had attacked together from the start… Why did no one listen to me until it was reduced to three? Brothers, are you idiots? Thinking about it, you were idiots… To have your throats slit as a price for having your ears blocked, what a shitty exchange rate…”
“Uhahahaha! King of Death! Don’t think you’ve won with this! Even if the Thirteen Evils are annihilated, there will be two, three, yes! As long as the will of our brothers continues, forever—”
Silence, silence, silence.
“Phew.”
I wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand.
“It was truly a tough and long battle…”
[I rate it as a series of battles like a glittering epic drama!]
“Hmm. If it were filmed, it would’ve been planned as a 102-episode series, but it would’ve become a legendary chronicle continuing to part 2, 3, and finally part 4, cherished in love and attention. And it would’ve become an even more painful legend due to an unfortunate incident causing an abrupt halt to the broadcast…”
[I positively agree that it is indeed glittering!]
Guardian Spirit watched us self-praise with a look of disbelief.
-Are you shooting a comedy? You just slayed twelve hunters, that’s all.
“Ah. Come to think of it, if it’s called the Thirteen Evils, why were there only twelve? I should’ve asked before slaying them, but I forgot.”
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-One of them was slain by me as I passed by 150 years ago.
“Indeed. Even after 150 years, they haven’t replenished their numbers…”
Even the 60th floor is suffering from a manpower shortage.
While lamenting the reality that despite numerous hunters aspiring to ascend the Tower, the upper floors lacked hunters, I sheathed the holy sword.
-Hmm.
Guardian Spirit glanced over, with his arms crossed.
He wasn’t looking at me.
The Guardian Spirit’s gaze was directed beyond my shoulder, towards the fortress where the Thirteen Evils had lurked. The fortress was ablaze, emitting wisps of smoke. Even from a considerable distance, the pungent smell of burning wafted over.
-Zombie.
“I know.”
I spoke nonchalantly.
“They’re persistent. They’ve followed me again.”
-How many days has it been? This is getting on my nerves. Hey, hey. Can’t you just go and catch it? How long will you ignore it?
“It’s just following me without showing any hostility, just watching. I plan to leave it alone unless it shows direct hostility towards me.”
That’s right.
I was being stalked. Probably.
I added “probably” because I truly had no idea who was following me, why, or for what purpose.
-What if it’s an assassin?
Guardian Spirit proposed an extreme hypothesis.
-Considering you saved the spiders, there’s more than one or two who bear a grudge against you now.
“If someone is so consumed by hatred that they must send an assassin to me just to get through the day, they would likely send the assassin to the spider they have a grudge against and not me, right?”
I shrugged and started walking.
“I even deliberately showed vulnerability yesterday and the day before when I was sleeping, just in case. But it never approaches after a certain distance.”
-That’s strange… What is it? Why is it following you?
“I guess it likes me.”
-Ah. So it’s someone with a rotten brain.
“At least their character isn’t rotten unlike someone.”
-Aaaargh?
“What? What is it?”
As usual, we deepened our friendship while walking through the forest path.
The unidentified X maintained a constant distance from me, neither getting closer nor going further.
“Ah.”
While keeping the presence in the back of my mind, I suddenly thought.
“I’m thirsty. Is there a stream where just drinking the water cools down the stomach? There should be one in such a forest.”
That was the moment.
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Drip, drip, drip.
As I pushed through the forest and stepped out, a stream flowed conspicuously. Two animals resembling deer were dipping their noses in the water, lapping it up. It meant the water was safe to drink.
“Oh. Lucky.”
I approached the stream without much thought. The deer on the other side glanced at me as if thinking, ‘What’s that ugly animal?’ but I brushed them off.
A water bottle would have been convenient, but Homo Sapiens have hands.
I scooped up the water with my hands and gulped it down.
“Ah! So refreshing! Now I feel alive.”
-…….
“Uh? What? Why are you looking at me like that? Got something to say?”
-No… It’s just a bit strange.
“What exactly is strange?”
Guardian Spirit furrowed its brow.
-Kim Zombie, haven’t you been too lucky these days?
“Excuse me?”
Too lucky?
“What are you talking about?”
-Think about it. Right when you got thirsty, a stream suddenly appeared. The same happened yesterday, the day before, and even the day before that. Actually, now that I think about it, you’ve been strangely lucky since ten days ago.
Really?
I wasn’t so sure.
-Does it make any sense to have a water source wherever we go on this vast 60th floor?
Guardian Spirit passionately argued.
-And whenever you think it’s time to get some sleep, there’s always kindling nearby. It doesn’t make sense. You’re used to living in a world where drinking water and heating are taken for granted, but this kind of luck is really abnormal, you know?
“It’s not exactly a world taken for granted…”
I furrowed my brows.
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And I refuted Guardian Spirit’s words.
“Sword Emperor, sir. That’s not strange because, [knowing there was a water source in this direction], we deliberately chose this path, didn’t we?”
-…What? What are you talking about?
“What are YOU talking about? We obtained information that there was a stream flowing here [in advance], and planned our route to avoid hunger and thirst. Before we even left the village.”
-…….
Just as Guardian Spirit was about to speak.
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Slowly, Guardian Spirit’s expression turned ambiguous.
-…Right. That’s true.
“Yeah. You told me to prepare thoroughly because the 60th floor is vastly different from the stages we’ve climbed so far, being extremely wide, and if we don’t get geographic information in advance, we’ll definitely get lost. So, after making an effort to gather geographic information in the village, why are you saying something different now?”
-Right… That’s true. Hmm? It really is.
The Guardian Spirit crossed its arms.
-Why did I think your luck was strangely good…? It wasn’t luck but the result of thorough preparation…?
“Exactly. Now you’ve got me hungry for no reason talking about weird things.”
I sent out my aura and caught an animal resembling a deer. The deer, apparently not used to humans, didn’t even show signs of wariness and was easily caught by me while it was drinking.
It was a simple hunt.
“Good thing there was meat nearby.”
-…….
“Ah, there’s dry firewood. Lucky. Let’s have a barbecue today too.”
-…Were the animals on the 60th floor always this tame? No. Wait a minute. Why are there normal animals here? From what I remember, this area was only swarming with demonic beasts…
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-…But not only those. Hmm. Right. Aren’t you being sneaky eating something delicious all by yourself?
“It feels fucking great.”
-Bad guy.
“Good guy?”
-Weirdo.
That’s when it happened.
“Owowow…!”
From the [opposite] direction of where we came, someone burst through the bushes. It was a small-statured girl. As soon as she reached the stream, she fell with a thud.
“Uh-oh.”
Holding a freshly roasted deer leg, I quickly approached the girl.
“Are you alright?”
“Ugh… Meat… Meat…”
The girl sniffed around with a vacant expression, as if she was smelling with her soul rather than her body, driven by the scent of roasting deer meat.
Can’t help it with the meat.
“Here you go. Eat slowly.”
“Uuuu… Th-Thank you…”
The girl desperately gnawed on the leg I gave her.
“Cough! Ack, huk! W-Water…!”
“Here.”
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“Drink this.”
Conveniently, I had a [water bottle]. How fortunate. If I didn’t have a water bottle, I would’ve had to scoop water with my hands for the girl, which would have been quite awkward to watch from the side.
“Hwa!”
The girl drank hurriedly, spilling water around her mouth. Gulping down, her throat vibrated, and finally, she seemed to be coming back to life.
“Thanks to you, I’m saved!”
“It’s nothing. Wanderers should help each other in places like this.”
“If you weren’t here, I would have starved to death… You’re a savior…”
The girl shyly looked up at me after casting her gaze down.
Despite wandering through the forest, her clothes and hair were relatively clean. There was a sense of hardship, but not dirtiness, perhaps?
More than anything, she was exceptionally beautiful. Really exceptionally beautiful. After meeting Raviel, I hardly thought about people’s appearances, but this girl slightly distorted my ingrained habits.
I smiled gently.
“I’m glad I could help.”
I was just thinking, though.
Raviel is much prettier.
“…….”
The girl slightly furrowed her brows.
And then murmured under her breath.
“……Strange… Could it be… Yes, if it’s like this…”
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I tilted my head.
“What did you just say?”
“Nothing.”
Then the girl raised her head and smiled brightly.
“It’s nothing!”
Her smile was radiantly bright.
No matter how long she had wandered in the forest, her ragged attire and numerous wounds didn’t seem to match her spirit, but she tried her best to convey her gratitude to me with all her might.
A natural brightness shone on the girl’s face.
“I haven’t even asked for the name of my benefactor!”
“Ah.”
“Benefactor, could you please tell me your name?”
I smiled.
“Of course. My alias is King of Death.”
“King of Death… King of Death!?”
The girl was startled.
“If you’re the King of Death, are you the one who recently cleared 10 floors all at once?”
“Um, yes. That’s probably me.”
“Wow! Amazing! How could such luck be…! The Constellations were all abuzz, wondering who it could be, and to run into you in a forest where I was lost!”
Thump.
The girl excitedly grabbed my hand.
“It’s truly, truly an honor to meet you!”
With a smile that could dim even the sun.
“I’m a fan of you, King of Death!”
