Chapter 114: 21st Floor. God of Jealousy. Zelesi (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 114: 21st Floor. God of Jealousy. Zelesi (2)
Kang Jun-hyeok’s eyes widened.
“Another trial?”
He had clearly cleared one already, yet another was being thrust upon him.
On second thought, however, it wasn't impossible. The quest for the 21st Floor was simply to pass the trials; there was no stated limit on how many there would be. The Master of All Weapons explained quietly.
[The beings who have taken up residence in the Tower are guaranteed a certain degree of autonomy over their respective floors. Just as I gave you a near-impossible quest, they can modify or add to the contents of a trial.]
“I see.”
[But it’s true that she is pushing the boundaries here. She might even face a penalty for this. She must truly despise you.]
“Hmph.”
[You can refuse if you want. You’ve already cleared one trial, so there shouldn't be an issue with passing the floor itself. Well, not that you’d ever actually refuse.]
“You know me well.”
Kang Jun-hyeok smirked and nodded.
“I accept.”
Zelesi, the God of Jealousy, smiled in return—a look that dared him to try and endure what was coming. Her Authority washed over Kang Jun-hyeok. The world shook and began to collapse.
At the end of that collapse, Kang Jun-hyeok was cast into a void of total darkness.
‘…What is this?’
He couldn't move. He couldn't see. Even his senses felt paralyzed.
As he waited in the silence, his perception slowly began to return. But something was fundamentally different.
‘This is…’
Ink-black armor encased a sturdy, powerful physique. He could feel the steady rhythm of breath in his lungs, and his muscles were coiled with tension, as if balanced on a knife's edge.
This was not his body.
In the midst of his confusion, the person standing beside him spoke.
“What are you thinking about, Alessandro?”
The man addressed Kang Jun-hyeok as Alessandro. It was the name of the free knight he had faced and defeated back on the 3rd Floor.
Only then did Kang Jun-hyeok realize the truth: he was currently inhabiting Alessandro’s body.
‘Is this possession?’
However, the body did not move according to his will. Alessandro’s mouth opened, acting independently of Jun-hyeok’s intent.
“I was just meditating for a moment.”
“Get your head in the game, Alessandro. Our mission is to protect this domain.” The other man spoke in a low, gravelly voice. “If we are pushed out of this territory, several galaxies will fall into their hands. We must win at all costs.”
Horrible things were visible across the vast reaches of space. They were entities not born of this universe—broken, twisted, and fundamentally wrong.
Kang Jun-hyeok knew exactly what those things were.
They were the Victors.
It was then that Kang Jun-hyeok understood. This was a memory of the past—a time before the universe belonged to the Losers, back when the Victors were the invaders.
It was a memory from the era of the Great War.
* * *
‘Is she showing me memories of the past?’
What was Zelesi’s intention? Before he could think further, Alessandro gripped his sword. Jun-hyeok could feel the raw struggle and resolve, as if he himself were a soldier in the Great War.
“We will win. For the universe!”
“For the universe!”
“Let’s crush those filthy invaders!”
Countless masters behind him shouted in unison. The invaders on the other side charged. A battle that shook the very foundations of the cosmos began.
Bzzzt. Bzzzzzt.
At that moment, the world distorted like static on a television screen. The battle skipped forward rapidly, and the grim result was revealed.
“Cough!”
Alessandro spat out a mouthful of blood. His limbs were twisted and broken. The corpses of countless masters lay scattered across the void like refuse. The man who had been speaking to him just moments ago was now a mangled, unrecognizable heap of flesh.
They had lost the war.
“Ah… ahhh. Aaaah…”
A groan of pure despair escaped his lips. The world was being systematically ruined at the hands of the invaders. Alessandro’s beloved universe, the freedom he cherished—everything was being torn down and destroyed.
“No. No. This can’t be happening!”
Alessandro screamed, coughing up more blood.
Despair. Helplessness. Defeat.
Every agonizing emotion Alessandro felt at that moment swallowed Kang Jun-hyeok like a tidal wave.
Bzzzt.
The static returned, and time fast-forwarded once again. The emotions this time were a heavy mix of despair, defeat, and a desperate, final resolve.
“Hmph.”
A girl sat before Alessandro. She had long, flowing black hair. Kang Jun-hyeok recognized her instantly.
The girl was the Administrator of Earth.
“So, you’re asking me to give you a chance?”
“…I beg of you, Administrator.”
“Why should I?”
The Administrator tilted her head, her expression suggesting she truly couldn't fathom why she should bother. Alessandro slowly sank to his knees. He pressed his hands to the ground and bowed his head low.
“I beg of you, Administrator. Please, show mercy and grant me just one chance.”
He was forced to bow and scrape before the very enemies of his universe. Humiliation and despair flooded his limbs. After watching Alessandro for a moment, the girl smirked.
“You want my mercy, is that it?”
The Administrator extended her bare white foot. Realizing the implication, Alessandro’s eyes flickered with a momentary spark of rage. But he swallowed his pride and slowly moved toward the girl’s foot. The great free knight, a man who had never served a master, was casting everything aside.
“You’re actually going to do it? How disgusting.”
Even that ultimate sacrifice was trampled upon. The Administrator giggled and pushed Alessandro away with her foot.
“Fine. I’ll give you a chance. Whether you actually achieve anything depends on your own will.”
As she spoke, the Administrator wore a twisted, cruel smile. Alessandro realized it then: the Administrator was mocking him, treating him like a disposable toy. His wish would never truly be granted.
But even so.
Even if it was a one-in-a-billion miracle.
He couldn't give up. With an unbreakable, tragic will, he accepted the chance.
In the end, Alessandro killed countless Players. A Loser of the past had, by his own hand, broken those who sought to move toward the future. Regret and despair coiled around his soul endlessly, but he couldn't stop. He would save the universe once more.
But in the end, he died at the hands of Kang Jun-hyeok.
Despair. Regret. Lamentation.
A flood of emotions that would have turned even a high-ranking monk into a vegetable dozens of times over crashed into Kang Jun-hyeok without end.
Bzzzzzzzt.
Static filled the world again. This time, it wasn't Alessandro. He saw silver hair and crimson eyes. It was the Vampire Princess, Eldiria.
“Ah… Aaaaah! Aaaaaaaah!”
She was screaming as if her entire world had ended, her face a mask of pure agony.
“My world! My people!”
Crack. Cra-crack.
A massive tree was devouring her planet. The world, reduced to mere nutrients, shriveled and collapsed. Within it, countless lives vanished in an instant.
“You! You bastard! Stop it!”
Eldiria threw her entire being into the struggle. A tidal wave of blood rose. Her Authority, which could stain and overturn all things, surged toward the Rooting Tree.
Snap.
A single branch shook. A powerful shockwave swept over Eldiria, sending her flying as she coughed up blood.
“Cough! Hack!”
Both her soul and body took a devastating hit. She needed immediate rest, but she gritted her teeth and lifted her head, staring at the tree destroying her home.
“…You. I will kill you! I’ll make you regret ever touching me!”
Snicker…
Laughter answered her cry—a laugh full of mockery, as if inviting her to try.
She retreated, carrying an intense, burning hostility. And then, she was defiled by the Tower. Players, misled by her past, came to her begging for her affection. At first, she tried to persuade them with kind words and send them away, but they wouldn't listen. Eventually, unable to contain her rage, she began to kill.
Rage and despair. Then regret. Then rage again. All those emotions faded into a dull ache over the passage of time.
And all of it crashed into Kang Jun-hyeok.
Bzzzt.
The world distorted again, and this time, a muscular man appeared.
‘The Master of All Weapons.’
Kang Jun-hyeok knew instinctively. This was the Master of All Weapons when he was still alive. Looking up at the sky, the Master reached out and clenched his fist. The sky crumpled and wavered. A magnificent power that could tear down the world itself unfolded.
But nothing was achieved. The things that had devoured the world simply erased the Master’s power. The Master of All Weapons slowly lowered his hand, a boundless sense of powerlessness washing over him.
The pasts of those he had faced and those he was connected to unfolded one after another. Kang Jun-hyeok finally realized Zelesi’s ploy.
The great ones. Those who once ruled the universe. Transcendent beings, gods.
She was showing their pasts directly, forcing him to experience their emotions firsthand.
Bzzzzzt.
His vision distorted again. This time, it was Zelesi herself. The first thing he felt was powerlessness—the despair of having everything taken away despite ruling the world as a god.
The next thing he felt was jealousy.
I hate them.
I hate them so much.
What are you?
How did you suddenly appear and steal our world?
I hate that power and that alien nature. I hate you all so much for daring to usurp our place.
The emotions of a god who governed the very concept of jealousy crashed into Kang Jun-hyeok. It was a pressure that could easily tear a human soul to shreds.
[We lost.]
A low voice echoed through the void.
[We fought a war, and in the end, we lost. The ownership of the universe was stolen from us, and we were reduced to being their playthings.]
That was the true history of the universe.
[We were strong. We had the power to rule the entire universe. Those beside you were also once beings who shook the cosmos. But even we were utterly defeated and ended up in this pathetic state.]
The gloomy voice did not stop.
[You have been given a chance. But that chance is ultimately nothing more than a joke. Just as it was for Alessandro, the conclusion is already decided. Even so, do you believe you can move forward? Do you truly believe you can change the world at the end of this?]
Look.
We were greater than you.
We were stronger than you.
Even we were eventually broken and defeated.
These are the things you will face.
Do you really believe you can succeed?
Zelesi was asking him that. To that question, Kang Jun-hyeok replied:
“Is this all?”
Zelesi faltered for a moment. She had shown him their memories and their emotions exactly as they were. Yet, Kang Jun-hyeok’s voice was incredibly calm. She belatedly looked at his face.
[….]
In that moment, Zelesi was lost for words.
Kang Jun-hyeok wore an expression of utter boredom.