Chapter 364: The 1st Floor (1)
There’s a story to tell later.
“I don’t recognize this ceiling…”
After being engulfed in white light, the first words I muttered were probably among the top 100 most clichéd quotes used in novels throughout human history. However, it was a lie. The scenery that came into my view wasn’t unfamiliar at all; in fact, it was quite the opposite.
-Oh? …Oh? Why am I suddenly here?
This is Café Planetarium.
Once the lobby of the Great Library, it had now been transformed into a café stage.
Under the lofty ceiling of the library, the Guardian Spirit floated leisurely.
-Ah, it seems you, Zombie, were summoned to a meeting or something again? I couldn’t attend because I don’t have the authority, right?
‘Yeah, that would be correc……’
I was about to finish my sentence when a mischievous thought struck me. If there was anyone you shouldn’t play pranks on, it was the Guardian Spirit. He ranked last on that list. I acted immediately.
[The Heaven that Gathers Wails agrees with the Sword Emperor’s statement.]
I merely thought it, yet strangely enough, a message flowed through. It wasn’t the first time, but it was certainly the first time Guardian Spirit received a message from me.
-…Huh.
The Guardian Spirit forgot what he was about to say and stared at me intently. The emotions in his gaze were diverse but starkly evident. Satisfaction and a hint of regret.
-Well, yes. It’s about time you became a complete Constellation. You little rascal. Not even 100 years old and already parading around as a Constellation, you’ve grown a lot.
‘Hey, if you add up all the time spent in traumas, it would easily exceed 100 years, don’t you think?’
I shrugged nonchalantly.
‘Anyway, it’s just as you thought. I returned from the meeting of the Pillars. I won. And as a reward, I got the chance to revise my skills once.’
-What? Skill revision? We didn’t have such a thing in my time!
‘Well, you’ve never defeated a Pillar, nor do you remember them, right…?’
-Damn it! This is discrimination against hunters! Why is it only Kim Zombie who gets all the favoritism? Hey! Pillars or Tower Masters or whatever you bastards are! If you had shown me even 1/100th of the kindness you show to Kim Zombie, would I be here munching on ghost rice cakes?!
Guardian Spirit yelled at the top of its lungs, truly believing its voice could reach the tower. I chuckled softly.
As this scene unfolded, a man approached us.
“Hey, slacker.”
Thump.
A man dressed in a part-time uniform. Despite being on duty, he was nonchalantly chewing gum, and his gaze was so frivolous one might wonder if it belonged to a human. His mere presence seemed to lower the average moral standard of humanity by 1%. Who else could it be?
It was Yoo Soo-Ha.
“What? You’re the one roaming around.”
“Weren’t you busy climbing the tower? Why are you suddenly here? Just a moment ago, this spot was empty, and now you’re sitting here.”
We were in a rather secluded part of Café Planetarium. The customers were far enough away that they hadn’t noticed my presence. Being quite well-known myself, there would be chaos if they did.
“……Do you not remember?”
“Huh? Remember what?”
Yoo Soo-Ha furrowed his brows, clueless.
‘Is that so.’
It was to be expected. Hunters associated with the Pillars all lost their memories. Yoo Soo-Ha couldn’t remember the encounter with the Staff of Time Immemorial, nor his role as a judge.
It was a painfully obvious fact, but why did it leave a bitter taste in my mouth?
“Hey.”
I swallowed that bitterness, pushing it down my throat.
“Do you want to see me dance?”
“……”
Yoo Soo-Ha’s expression seemed to say, ‘I knew you were crazy, but this is a whole new level of insanity.’
“Don’t tell me, you, a guy who already has a partner, are trying to hit on me to go clubbing? No way, kid. I don’t want to get involved with your duchy and suffer for it.”
“Are you nuts? Delusional? I’m not talking about clubbing. I was asking if you want to see me embarrass myself with a Cossack dance.”
“No, what you’re saying sounds even crazier… Hmm.”
Finally, Yoo Soo-Ha crossed his arms. It seemed he was intrigued. But he still looked at me with suspicion, wondering if I was just joking. A reasonable doubt, since if there was a list of people humanity could do without joking with, Yoo Soo-Ha would be right after the Guardian Spirit in second place.
“Alright. If you’re willing to entertain an old man by showing off, I’ll watch. Go on, dance right here in the café– What the hell are you doing, you lunatic!?”
“Cossack, dance, I am, dancing!”
“Stop it! Fuck, ah. Don’t look here! Anyone who makes eye contact with me will forever wonder what’s in their coffee from now on! Hey! If you stare for more than a second, expect phlegm, and for more than three seconds, fuck, I don’t even know! Hey! Hey! Why are you still looking?!”
Yoo Soo-Ha screamed. The customers who glanced over at the commotion and met Yoo Soo-Ha’s fierce gaze quickly averted their eyes. The handsome part-timer, who had become a fixture of Café Planetarium, was now more famous for his temper than his looks.
“Phew… Wow, shit. Crazy bastard. You actually danced when asked to?”
“Yep. If you ever want to see a Cossack dance, I’ll perform it for you anytime.”
“Why are you like this? Did you eat something weird…?”
“No. Just thought, if dancing for you makes this world a bit more bearable, then why not dance?”
“……”
Finally, Yoo Soo-Ha’s expression reached its peak. It was a look of having heard something utterly unbelievable.
“Good heavens. You’re really mad. No, I knew you were mad, but to think a madman could go madder, what should I call that?”
“Yoo Soo-Ha. I am… a god who can dance for you.”
“If a normal hunter went mad, I’d report them to the Vigilante Corps, but what do you do when the top-ranked bastard goes insane? Seriously, should I send a message to the Ivansia duchy…?”
Yoo Soo-Ha muttered seriously. Though there was nothing serious to take from his words, except for one thing I heard for the first time.
“Top rank? What are you talking about? I’m still second.”
“Huh? ……Ah, right.”
Yoo Soo-Ha frowned, as if realizing, ‘Ah, this guy didn’t know yet,’ lost in thought. He sighed heavily, filled with reluctance.
“Go see for yourself.”
“Where?”
“Babylon Square. You could check on your smartphone easily, but you don’t carry one, right? If you stay here, it’ll only cause trouble with the customers. Better leave before it gets annoying.”
Yoo Soo-Ha waved his hand dismissively. True to his words, I had long since abandoned my smartphone. I patted Yoo Soo-Ha’s back as a farewell (which earned me a punch in the solar plexus, but I took it. Damn, that hurt), and teleported to the first floor.
Upon reaching the square, I was greeted by a gigantic hologram floating in the air.
+
1st. King of Death
2nd. Sword Saint
3rd. Black Dragon Witch
4th. Viper
5th. Countess
6th. Heretic Inquisitor
7th. Paladin
+
“……”
I stood motionless in the middle of the square, looking up at the ranking list.
“Hey, isn’t that person over there…”
“King of Death, isn’t it?”
“Eh, he’s back? I didn’t hear any news.”
“He might have taken a break from climbing! Look! He looks exactly like the photo here. Compared to…”
Buzz buzz.
The square began to stir with excitement.
Numerous people were coming and going in the square. Compared to when I first challenged the 10th floor, or even to the future when I decided to undergo the 4000-day return, Babylon Square was much more vibrant.
The Great Guilds chose cooperation over invasion. The 10th, 20th, 30th, 40th floors… The endlessly unfolding fertile lands and new markets promised the tower an eternal new world. Raviel was my lover, and Uburka was my son. The procedures were strict, and the policies precise. Under the cooperation of the Great Guilds and local forces, the tower was prospering.
Even at this moment.
Humans from the outside world were also walking in the square. Although still a minority, there were empire exchange students selected by the Ivansia Duchy, Ghost Tribe members who joined Celestial Martial Guild following Viper, Earth Spirit Tribe warriors leading the trend of the Blood Fire Drama, among others of various races.
There would be discrimination, of course. Contempt, too. But while I was endlessly climbing the tower, taking care of external affairs, my comrades poured all their sweat and blood into internal management.
At least, there was no Babylon Square turned into ruins by countless terrorist attacks in our world. We, and I, will not allow even an inch of ruin to encroach upon this place.
Never ever.
“Hey, look over there!”
Someone pointed at the hologram. The reaction was minimal because most of the crowd was looking at me.
However, a clear change was happening on the ranking list that was enough to divert people’s attention.
Fzzt fzzt-
Noise interfered with the hologram, and suddenly the text changed.
+
1st. The Heaven that Gathers Wails
2nd. Sword Saint
3rd. Black Dragon Witch
4th. Viper
5th. Countess
6th. Heretic Inquisitor
7th. Paladin
+
As if waiting for me to come and see it, my title on the ranking list changed.
A few people witnessed the change. The magical power inherent in the sound “Huh?” instinctively drew people’s attention. Dozens of passersby shifted their gaze, and in no time, the “Huh?” spread throughout the square.
“What’s that? The Heaven that Gathers Wails?”
“That’s where the King of Death used to be.”
“Di-Did the King of Death die and get removed from the list…?”
“My god. The King of Death might be dead?”
“The King of Death is dead?”
“King of Death got whacked?”
“King of Death was brutally murdered!!”
Dear citizens of the Tower, such a commendable example of information distortion you’re showing….
“Why The Heaven that Gathers Wails, though?” or “Even if King of Death died, it’s impossible for a new Hunter to suddenly take first place,” or “That person standing there looks exactly like King of Death…” were some of the voices, but the rumor of my death buried all minority opinions.
And so, the square was in uproar for about four minutes.
“Really!”
The first person to rush towards me through the commotion was the Black Dragon Witch.
To be precise, she didn’t exactly rush. She used her specialty, the [Teleportation] skill, to appear right beside me.
“Can’t you stop yourself from causing trouble for one damn minute!?”
“Hewwwo. Nice to see you UwU.”
“……What’s with that sound, like scraping the bottom of a dog bowl?”
“Didn’t you know? This is the latest greeting these days.”
“What nonsense…… No, forget it. Rather than trying to make sense of you, I’d rather charge infantry into the Maginot Line. You come back after so long, and the first thing you do is spread a rumor that the top-ranked hunter might be dead!”
“It wasn’t me.”
I felt slightly wronged.
I just gained a new alias, and the rumor was spread by the people here. There must have been members of the Black Dragon Guild among the crowd. They must have rushed to inform the Black Dragon Witch as soon as they heard the commotion. Thanks to that, the Black Dragon Witch used teleportation to arrive here in less than five minutes.
‘But it’s been a while.’
Indeed, other comrades don’t remember the events of the heavens floors either. If they had, I would have shared the story with the Black Dragon Witch too.
That’s what I thought.
“Long time no see. How have the other comrades been?”
“……Huh? What are you talking about.”
Thus, I was completely unprepared for the Black Dragon Witch’s response.
“You’re talking as if we haven’t seen each other for months. Didn’t you just meet the Countess a few days ago?”
I was momentarily stunned.
“……What?”
“What? What do you mean ‘what’? I heard about it. The heavenly floor, right? There’s no one else who would climb such a terrifying place as nonchalantly as you. What would you have done if the judge had betrayed you?”
My eyebrows twitched.
The commotion among the bystanders began to subside. The Black Dragon Witch had appeared in person and was bantering with me.
If I were not truly the King of Death, this would have been impossible, and thus the rumor of “King of Death is dead” quickly died down.
Contrary to the calming crowd, my mind was in turmoil.
“Wait a minute. How do you remember…”
“I’ll let you explain that.”
Thud.
Footsteps approached.
“It wasn’t difficult.”
I blankly turned my head. Cat-eared Merchant’s Union members were escorting someone through the crowd, parting the bystanders.
There stood the Countess, smiling with a fan in hand.
