Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: A Memory That Doesn't Exist [20th Floor Gateway Trial]
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"...Huh?"
Ceres's voice faltered.
Her snow-white face drained of color as she glared at the system.
In the meantime, I'd paid the price for accepting the "lie," my stamina being sucked away.
Both of you were just fighting over a woman.
The system acknowledged it, so why deny it now?
This can't be happening...
Ask again, just in case.
Keep the question narrow and precise.
We froze mid-motion.
I couldn't hide my bewilderment as I looked up at her chest.
"-You like our milk cow, right?"
"Yes. I love and adore the one hiding her true self in front of you."
That much was correct.
So where did it snag?
"She helped you out without any ulterior motives, right?"
"Yes. I received a great favor from her. It's the most classic case of falling head over heels because of it."
Still true up to here.
Then...
"She helped you purely out of kindness, no hidden feelings?"
"Even if my brother is asking, that's a rude question. Even if there were ulterior motives, she's the one who's helped me from childhood until now. So the reasons I love her are overflowing—"
..........
......Ceres's mouth fell open.
She faced an unbelievable truth.
"Even if there were ulterior motives, she's the one who's helped me from childhood until now."
"My benefactor who helped me from childhood until now."
"She saved me... with ulterior motives...?"
No way.
What the hell is this flow?
It reeked of danger.
"Hey. Don't get worked up. Calm down."
"It's fine. Even if there were ulterior motives, I still love her. I just..."
She tried again to spit out the words she'd failed to say before.
"I want to prove that the reasons I love her are overflowing."
The Tower answered.
"...Why?"
"I don't know, fuck. What bullshit is this now?"
It affirmed the previous parts, so why reject this, you damn system?
Pure Love. What is going on here?
This means... there's info on the woman's side she doesn't know. It's a system error, so we need to handle it.
What do you mean?
The woman has unknown information. We have to address the part the system flagged.
How?
Project and show the part the system questioned.
The Knight of Pure Love stepped into the gateway.
We hurriedly stopped our coupling and pulled apart.
"What the hell is this? A Tower error? Is that even possible?"
"Comrade, this isn't an error. It's a problem arising because the Tower's system is questioning that woman."
"Questioning what?"
"The system is saying [You have no reason to love her]. That's why it's blocking the clear, deeming this love fight meaningless from the start."
I shook my head.
"...No way. I love her. There's no lie in my heart."
"I'm not denying your heart. Something's fundamentally wrong."
The Knight of Pure Love extended his hand.
"I'll show you the memory stored in the Tower. Let me see... Ceres, was it?"
"Yes."
"I'll hand over [the memory of when you were saved]. Watch it with the challenger and convince the Tower."
"No problem. Let's do it."
"Then..."
The Knight of Pure Love's hand glowed.
Our vision blurred, and our consciousnesses were pulled into darkness.
Immediately after, the [Memory That Doesn't Exist] grinned maliciously.
*
It was a rainy day.
A little girl rummaged through a rain-soaked trash can.
Beautiful blonde hair and a pretty face, but filthy and disheveled.
A middle-school-aged kid, belly swollen like a beggar's.
Food... weapons...
Her nails were worn down to stubs.
She ran barefoot through puddles.
An all-too-familiar face.
"That's me."
"From when you were a kid?"
"Yes. After my parents died and I was living alone..."
Looking closely, blades hid beneath her tattered clothes.
The surroundings resembled the Brass Tower but weren't the landscape I knew.
An older, less developed era.
"No one helped you wandering around like that?"
"A few talked to me. But after my parents... my mind was shattered."
-No one persistently tried to help.
-They just asked once and moved on.
-Because I'd act like a mute even if asked.
"Realistic, huh?"
"That's why I hate it more."
The young Ceres in the memory kept scanning the alley.
Nothing here either...
Should be something...
She sifted through trash with slurred words.
Mostly targeting discards from guild homes.
"Kids could make a living that way, snatching gold and items. So I'd scavenge places like that to restock blades."
"Huh? They toss items outside? Wouldn't that get you jailed right away?"
"Now there's an association in the Tower. Back then, no."
So she scavenged.
If something usable turned up, she'd circle the Tower.
That little kid.
Ah, that fucking bitch digging through trash again!
How many times is this?!
Hey, get lost now!!
Is the retard really crazy?!
She ate shit and ran.
Trash who drew weapons on a kid.
My lust evaporated.
It soured my mood, making me question what we'd just been doing.
"That's how it was. Around then, that's when I met them."
"Who?"
"Seong-yeon and... him. He shows up a bit later...?"
She trailed off vaguely for some reason.
In the meantime, the viewpoint shifted.
She tumbled to the ground.
The kid won't get the hint.
She's a kid, so let it go here.
Don't lurk around here, go dig elsewhere, fuck.
What are her parents doing?
Obvious orphan. Abandoned, duh. Happens all the time.
In that brief viewpoint shift, she'd been beaten by them.
The kid lay collapsed in a puddle.
Words that hurt to hear, said so casually—my forehead throbbed.
"Don't get so angry. This is around when Seong-yeon shows up and saves me..."
Ceres's words halted.
"...Why?"
"Seong-yeon?"
I looked down.
A man approached the young Ceres with an umbrella.
Too burly to be Seong-yeon...
"Who...?"
Even the memory's owner, Ceres, didn't recognize him.
She said she'd met Seong-yeon here, but it was someone else.
"It's from your childhood—maybe you mixed up people?"
"No way. I remember this time like it was yesterday. So why is this..."
As we talked, he reached out to the young Ceres.
Beyond his coat, a familiar polka-dot pattern peeked out.
He was covered in burns.
"............"
"...Chang-gi?"
What the fuck.
Why am I there?
Look at those human scum bastards.
What's a kid's crime to beat her to a pulp?
Eh. Really kills my humanity.
Even his manner of speaking was mine.
High school age, maybe...?
His build matched my current one, but younger.
"What is this? What delusion made this footage appear?"
"That's what I want to ask. Seong-yeon should be saving me now—why is Chang-gi there instead?"
I looked up at the sky.
I don't know either.
We're just visualizing the memory the Tower provides.
And this memory is pure truth, no lies.
What the hell.
I was at school back then—why am I a hunter...?
.........
-Ah.
"Chang-gi?"
"Hold on. I get what this is."
"Really?"
"I know why this memory's real too. Fuck. You damn Tower bastards—"
"What does that mean?"
I didn't answer her question.
Couldn't tell her.
Because.
'This is me from before regression! From the timeline when I saved Ceres!'
In this cycle, I must've started hunting young.
That's why high-school me is in the Tower.
"Chang-gi?"
My heart pounded.
No more of this memory for Ceres to see.
"Hey, stop this! This isn't for others to see! Especially since it's completely unrelated to the girl here, you bastards!!"
"...Huh?"
"The gateway's cleared anyway, right? Let's cut it here and end it!! Shut it down now!"
As I shouted, Ceres looked troubled.
This was the right call.
She shouldn't see this memory.
I vaguely knew how it ended.
Impossible.
The Tower suspects you bypassed this gimmick, so it's a kind of interrogation.
Thus, no clear until you watch to the end and accept it.
This time, Pure Love admonished us.
We'd filled the gimmick to 100%, only to stall here.
"What if I forfeit this gateway!?"
A clattering sound repeated as I asked again.
Clearly shaking his head.
Failure. The challenger—you—will be detained.
Your partner returns to floor 1 automatically, so rest easy.
Only one challenger detained...
Recalling the 10th floor victims, a dangerous choice.
Practically suicide.
"Can't do that. Why forfeit after coming this far?"
"You shouldn't see this."
"I don't know why, but if it's real, I have a right to see it."
"That's why no!"
If Ceres steeled herself, it might end well—but if it went south...
As I agonized, she stepped forward.
"Anyway, it's my memory, so I have more rights, right?"
"Hey."
"I've endured hardships. One more in my life won't change anything."
She declared it bluntly.
"Keep showing it."
The melancholy memories of the previous cycle recited another person's life.