Chapter 384: Nine Keys (2)
Collect the nine keys.
Tilting my head at that declaration, I inquired,
“What keys are we talking about?”
“Hmm! Let me explain.”
With a flick of her finger, the Princess conjured an image on the cascading sand waterfall, as if it were embroidered with platinum threads. The image resembled a cross-section of an anthill or a tree with countless sprawling roots.
“This is……”
“Yes! Wailing Heaven. It’s a cross-section of your tower. Looks quite different from this angle, doesn’t it?”
Indeed, it was a side-on sectional view of the tower’s map by layers.
Even during my days as a newbie Hunter, maps of the early floors circulated among hunters, and recently, the Black Dragon Guild and the Temple had collaborated on mapping efforts, so I recognized it easily.
The Princess, grinning, took up a baton.
“Let’s skip the ‘Basement 1st floor’ where you were summoned before, and the ‘Ground floor’ where your homeland is located, and start from here.”
Her baton tapped the tower’s 1st floor drawn on the flowing sand.
“The 1st floor is the ‘Refuge’.”
Refuge.
“A forward base, a hub, a shelter, etc. Many terms could apply, but ‘Refuge’ fits best. A place that gives respite to those fleeing from something, a breakwater that ensures they are no longer harassed by what they’ve escaped from. That’s the role of the 1st floor.”
The baton then smoothly sliced across the 1st floor and moved sideways.
The tower’s city of Babylon.
The baton lightly pressed on the depiction of the great river that flows through Babylon.
“Here, water flows. Rain falls. The water contains… um, well, some nutrients. Though colorless and odorless, it sustains life.”
“……”
“But for those who feel merely surviving isn’t quite living,”
The baton’s tip ascended against the sand, pointing to the tower’s 2nd floor.
“They can choose to become ‘Warriors’.”
The Princess’s baton swept across the 2nd floor.
“Fruit from trees, timber, stone and ore from rocks, herbs and vegetables from plants. Defeating monsters like wolves and goblins yields meat, hides, items, and gold.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Right. You’ve walked this path yourself, but then again,”
The Princess tilted her head.
“Was all this really necessary?”
A sudden question indeed, but in a way, a very old one.
“Why not just give everything? Fruit, timber, ore, herbs, meat. Wouldn’t it have been simpler to just provide everything on demand?”
“……”
“What do you think, Wailing Heaven?”
I pondered.
Not that it wasn’t a valid question; what the Princess just mentioned was something many had wondered about in the tower’s early pioneering days. It was one reason why cults related to the tower never ceased, as Bambolina had said.
“I suppose it’s due to a lack of resources.”
“Hmm.”
“To meet the basic needs of so many people indefinitely… that would require vast resources. So, out of necessity……”
As I got to that point, I realized something.
Sighing as if to signal my realization, I said to the Princess,
“Indeed.”
“Hmm?”
“Is it intentional?”
At my question, the Princess smiled slightly.
Pressing my forehead, I confessed,
“I might not fully understand yet, not being a complete Pillar, but if I had to answer…”
The Princess’s smile deepened, as if to say, try answering as a tower Administrator-to-be.
“The Tower Master wants to be seen as the root of all evil. By deliberately placing threats like monsters and inciting trials, the Tower Master appears to refuse unlimited salvation, despite being capable, thus attracting criticism……”
No.
Wait. That’s too ideological. There must be a more tangible reason.
“Having a visible enemy helps unite those who’ve fled to the tower, perhaps? …Hmm. That doesn’t quite fit either. Then…”
The Princess watched me with her hands behind her back, willing to wait as long as needed.
After much thought, I spoke frankly.
“I’m not sure, Princess. Why is it?”
“If.”
The Princess began.
“Before your world became as hot as it is now. When the director who raised you was just your age, if the Guardian Spirit had been born in your country, what would have happened?”
I glanced at Guardian Spirit, who was snorting with his arms crossed. The answer came naturally.
“Ah… a lunatic?”
“And?”
“And, um… a bully? A gym owner? A fighter, perhaps?”
“Right.”
The Princess nodded.
“He might have gone abroad to become a mercenary, but ultimately, that’s about it. No more, no less.”
“……”
“But Wailing Heaven, what if the Sword Emperor had been born in the ancient era?”
I glanced at the Sword Emperor.
And my answer flowed just as naturally.
“He would have been a hero.”
“Not a king?”
“What king? That guy making laws and governing? People might have idolized him into forming a nation, but after the Sword Emperor’s death, it would’ve fragmented. Maybe even during his lifetime.”
“Hehe, exactly.”
The Princess laughed. Standing with her hands behind her back, she kicked at a mound of sand, innocently.
“But wouldn’t that be a more fulfilling life from the Sword Emperor’s perspective than living as a fighter?”
“…Perhaps.”
“In a world, an era where the age of warriors and heroes has ended, where sword-wielding heroes have given way to gun-toting armies, how would someone like the Sword Emperor be treated?”
An obstacle.
A maverick.
A madman.
A social misfit.
“The Sword Emperor himself wouldn’t care.”
Indeed.
“If someone pitied him, he’d look at them as if they were mad.”
Likely.
“But would that truly be a fair world for the Sword Emperor?”
Yet somehow, it felt slightly heartbreaking.
“Every society must discard something to grow. Every civilization stands on countless discarded possibilities.”
“So…”
“The Tower Master wanted to create a place that wasn’t left behind by any era, at least a place with that potential.”
Once more, the baton skimmed over the 2nd and 3rd floors.
“An era of warriors and heroes. A world where one’s life is affirmed through the act of cutting.”
The baton reached the 10th floor in its upstream journey.
“An era of priests and priestesses. A world where those cut off find solace.”
The baton paused once at the 11th floor.
“Thus, if the 1st to 10th floors represent the ‘Golden Age,’ then the 11th to 20th floors correspond to the ‘Silver Age.'”
“Silver…”
“You met the Aegim Empire here, right? In other towers, the 11th to 20th floors also encounter ‘other worlds.'”
Other worlds.
“Completely alien entities. Places utterly disconnected from you from start to finish. …Although, since it’s still below the 50th floor, you face ‘worlds that have already perished’ rather than ‘complete otherworlds.'”
The baton resumed its movement.
“An era of travelers. Exploring the ruins of fallen kingdoms, contemplating the lives of those people.”
12th, 13th, 14th floors…
“An era of generals. An era of merchants. An era of soldiers…”
Ascending against the sand waterfall, the baton finally reached the 20th floor.
“Now, we enter the ‘Iron Age.'”
“In our tower, it was the Grand Library.”
“Yep. Hamusutra was akin to Zhuge Liang. Mother said he became more flavorful the more he was used.”
Though it seemed rather pitiful, recalling Hamusutra’s face magically dispelled any sympathy.
“What about other towers?”
“It’s often Hamusutra as well. Next are Mutia and Mahos. Ah. Occasionally, Babbit takes charge, and once, even the fox around your neck did.”
“I was tempted to object to Babbit’s involvement, but ‘heh, a fox, you say,’ I’ll opt for a nonchalant response.”
“Yep, yep. And I’ll choose not to respond.”
The Princess kept her word, moving on to explanation.
“In the Golden Age, they learn the cost of their own survival. In the Silver Age, they learn how to interact with others. In the Iron Age, they finally meet the king of their own world.”
“King…”
The voice of Anastasia, who had once asked if I was ready to be our king, briefly crossed my mind.
“So, from there, only the high-rankers can participate in the conquest.”
“Right. If you wish to proclaim yourself the king of a world, you must first represent that world.”
“In that sense, the Sword Emperor also became a kind of king.”
-Kid. You just called me ‘Sword Emperor’ again. Does that ‘Emperor’ sound like a mere ‘subject’ to you?
Guardian Spirit interjected. And I responded even before his words fully registered in my brain.
“Do you know the Hanja for ‘mad dog,’ Emperor? I didn’t either until I looked it up once.”
-You managed to find a Hanja that’s likely to display as ■, just like your head, in Unicode characters.
“So it would be written as Sword■. Sounds like fodder for speculation.”
-I really want to beat you until you turn into actual mochi…
I awkwardly scratched the back of my head.
The Princess waited until our banter ended, then continued,
“And in the 30th floor range… the ‘Bronze Age.’ Here, you all…”
“End up with children.”
The Princess smiled faintly.
“Yeah. Though most towers interpreted it simply as gaining a ‘Below.'”
I bowed my head, reminded of the Grey Spider.
But I seemed to grasp the structure.
“In the Golden Age, focusing on oneself. In the Silver Age, on others. In the Iron Age, on what’s above. In the Bronze Age, on what’s below.”
“Right. And then there’s the 40th floor. The Stone Age.”
The Stone Age.
“Here, you all become ‘the ones being evaluated.’ I don’t need to explain further, do I?”
“Yeah. I’ve already skimmed through it once when voting last time.”
“Right. This way, the 1st to 49th floors form one cycle. So, the next cycle repeats one layer deeper. Mother loved music.”
As the Staff of Time Immemorial had said, the Princess’s baton, swishing, pointed to the 50th floor.
“However, from this cycle onward, a more aggressive meaning is added. The 50th floor functions not just as a refuge but a full-fledged ‘Base,’ a ‘Forward Operating Base,’ and from the 60th floor on, you start clashing with other worlds in earnest.”
“The 70th floor was the underworld… Indeed. That too, in some sense, is ‘Above.'”
“Yep. You probably know by now what the 80th floor and above entail.”
“Yes.”
I nodded.
“I understand… and now I see why cleared floors remain in place, accessible to others. To ensure no era disappears.”
“Exactly.”
“Your explanation is fascinating, but I still haven’t heard about the most crucial thing.”
I looked straight at the Princess Who Strolls Through Mirages and said,
“So, what exactly are the nine keys you told me to gather?”
“All the hints are in what I’ve said so far!”
The Tower Master’s daughter beamed, spinning around.
“Wailing Heaven, reflect on the worlds you’ve passed through. Examine them. Look at the traces you’ve left while climbing the tower, the path you’ve lived until now.”
Eyes resembling the Tower Master’s, yet distinct in their violet hue, gazed at me.
“The keys to the 100th floor lie right there.”
“Indeed.”
And then I finally understood.
“From the 90th to the 99th floor, it’s not about ascending…”
“Yeah.”
The Princess Who Strolls Through Mirages snapped her fingers. The sand waterfall parting in the middle of the 90th floor revealed a staircase.
But this staircase was not leading upwards.
“It’s time to start [descending].”
