Too Fun to Discard
How strong were the Tower's Administrators, really?
Level 100?
Level 200?
There was no way to know the exact figure—he couldn't open their status windows—but if he had to guess, they sat somewhere around level 300. The same height Seong Yujin himself had reached in the first timeline.
Of course the raw combat power was different. They had spent thousands of years focused solely on managing the Tower and its players. Yujin, however, was another matter entirely. He possessed a monstrous talent that ordinary players could never touch, and he had never once stopped grinding to grow stronger. Even at equal levels, the fight itself would have been utterly one-sided in his favor.
So what about now?
They were still stuck in the 300s. Their pathetic combat instincts hadn't improved either. Yujin's level, meanwhile, was a meager 26. More than a tenfold gap—a chasm no amount of superior fighting sense could bridge.
And yet he attacked anyway.
Just as he had concluded moments earlier: the bastard was absolutely certain he could never actually harm him.
KRAAAAAAAAAANG—!
The Flame Dragon Blade [E] slammed into Didascalia's temple and erupted in a sheet of fire. It was a slash powerful enough to carve an Earth Dragon in half with a single stroke. The opponent, however, was nothing like that oversized worm. To a Tower Administrator, the blow was little more than an insect bite.
"Your movement really is excellent. Hard to believe you're a player who hasn't even been in the Tower a full week."
The creature's leisurely voice drifted out of the flames.
Ssshk—!
A small hand parted the fire. Not a burn, not even a smudge of soot. The motion looked as if it were simply piercing through space itself, yet Yujin's accelerated thoughts stretched it into slow motion.
He slipped aside.
Didascalia was strong, but he wasn't fighting seriously. Dodging this much was still possible.
This time a shoulder was shredded open and blood sprayed. The pain was hideous, yet Yujin's face never so much as twitched as he swung the blade again.
Hwoooooosh—!
A strike that looked ready to split a mountain.
"Tsk."
Didascalia waved a hand with the irritated expression of someone swatting a fly. The result was anything but small.
CRAAAAACK—!
The Flame Dragon Blade [E] shattered. An E-grade item simply couldn't overcome the density of the Administrator's skin. Yujin had already expected it; he released the hilt and drove his foot forward instead.
God-Infused Body [S].
A trait of a completely different league from the broken blade. Thanks to it, Yujin's flesh packed force that far surpassed any sword stroke.
"Hhk—!"
At last a note of alarm slipped from the creature's mouth. He had finally registered the power coiled inside that kick. Startled, Didascalia chose evasion over a head-on clash. He wouldn't lose to a single kick, but there was no need to take it directly either.
Yujin's toes skimmed past the Administrator's side.
Damn.
He had been sure he would land one clean hit this time. A frustrating miss. He shoved the disappointment aside and prepared to attack again.
But—
"Hold on! I think that's quite enough."
Didascalia beat his wings and opened distance in an instant. The gap was too wide for the current Yujin to close, even with the combined power of Exterior-Interior Unity [E] and God-Infused Body [S]. He had no choice but to stop.
"Truly impressive. How on earth are you already drawing on that kind of strength?"
Didascalia dusted his hands with a look of genuine incomprehension. In the entire short exchange he hadn't suffered so much as a scratch—the complete opposite of Yujin, whose cheek and shoulder hung in tatters.
"Judging by your expression, you've already realized my earlier threat was pure bluster."
The talk of eliminating the Irregular had been a bluff from the start. They could not touch Yujin—not until they understood why the Akasha System itself had changed.
"Player Seong Yujin."
Didascalia's eyes settled into something heavy and cold.
"You are unquestionably an Irregular. The Grand Council reached the same conclusion. Every Administrator agreed you should be excised from the Tower."
"Then try killing me."
"Haaah—."
The creature exhaled. The stench that rolled out made the reek of an Earth Dragon's guts smell like perfume by comparison.
"You already know I can't."
Killing intent seethed, yet it could not be unleashed.
"Answer one question and I'll simply leave. You can manage that much, can't you?"
"Dunno. Why should I bother?"
This was the absolute limit of what the bastard could do. There was no reason to play along—
"If you refuse, I'll kill that woman in your place."
Yujin's thoughts froze. He turned his head.
Didascalia's stubby finger pointed straight at Lee Sia, who stood there wearing a look of pure shock.
...Shit.
A Tower Administrator could not casually kill a player. But reasons could always be manufactured. Yujin himself was off-limits, yet someone like Lee Sia could be disposed of with a little creative rule-bending. After a full Administrators' Council, they would do whatever it took to pry his secrets loose.
Give up?
If asked which mattered more—the Akasha System or Lee Sia—the answer was obviously the former. The Sword Empress could be replaced. Outstanding slaves of her caliber were rare, but not nonexistent if one looked hard enough.
The Akasha System was another story. If they discovered he had enhanced it, their reaction was impossible to predict. What if some unimaginable sanction dropped?
That can't happen.
The advantages of party functions and daily quests were enormous. The shop on top of that. Used properly, those features might even render slaves like the Sword Empress or the Fighting Demon unnecessary.
And if they also uncovered the fact that he had regressed…
That would be the absolute worst.
Decision made. A few days of effort wasted, but he could not risk exposing the enhanced Akasha System or the secret of his regression.
"Kill her."
Yujin spoke as if it were nothing.
"...What did you just say, you bastard?"
The reaction came not from Didascalia but from Lee Sia's mouth.
"Kill who? You die first, you fucking psycho piece of shit!"
"Uh…"
He had not expected to be flustered. Both Yujin and Didascalia blinked as thick streams of curses poured out of her.
"Fuck me, I stuck around because I thought even a scumbag like you was useful, and this is how you throw me away? You could just answer one damn question and instead you toss me aside? Are you even human? Huh?"
From the very first meeting the Sword Empress had already felt different from the image Yujin remembered.
"And you! You ugly monster freak! Dragging people into the Tower against their will is already pissing me off, and now you're going to kill me? Did your conscience crawl out and die? That ugly-ass face of yours is just begging to get wrecked. Settle your own shit between the two of you! Don't drag in people who have nothing to do with it!"
The stream of abuse showed no sign of ending. Lee Sia's eyes even welled with tears as she continued to curse them both as if she would die the moment she closed her mouth.
Pfft—.
Yujin laughed.
There was something oddly refreshing about a woman coated head-to-toe in monster blood and guts screaming obscenities. He had never seen anything like it even in the first timeline.
Interesting.
Honestly, it was fun. He had only planned to raise her just enough to use as a convenient slave, yet watching this, he suddenly thought having her around might not be boring after all.
"Hey, you curse too! Tell those dog bastards everything you want to say! Don't just stand there watching!"
She even goaded the frozen Park Ji-hoo beside her.
"T-trash bastards. G-go... die."
"Puhahaha!"
At Ji-hoo's timid mutter, Yujin finally lost it and burst out laughing.
"You son of a—have you lost your mind? You're laughing right now?!"
Lee Sia's voice climbed even higher. Yujin, however, no longer paid her insults any attention. Instead he looked at Didascalia with a face still full of laughter.
"Hey. I changed my mind."
"...So you'll answer, then?"
The creature finally collected himself and asked, glancing warily at Lee Sia.
"Yeah. Feels like a waste to throw away such entertaining brats."
It was a bizarre reason bordering on absurd, yet Didascalia secretly sighed in relief. Killing a player was a heavy burden even for him—especially an outstanding one who had already broken past level 20.
"A wise choice."
As Didascalia clapped his hands, Yujin spoke again.
"Don't even think about asking anything too awkward. I might change my mind again."
"Of course."
The Administrator took a small breath, then delivered the question.
"Are you a regressor?"
Fuck.
He had never expected the bastard to drive the spike in that deep right from the start. Yujin felt the sly malice glinting in those eyes. If he answered yes, Didascalia would move without a second of hesitation. A regressor was an Irregular. Even if the gift had come from the Akasha System itself, the Administrators would choose to kill Yujin for the sake of the Tower's order.
"Don't bother lying. It won't work anyway."
So he had brought some truth-detecting item. Instead of answering, Yujin closed his eyes.
"Answer. If you don't, I'll kill Player Lee Sia exactly as I said."
"This fucking—!"
Lee Sia flared up all over again.
"Hooo—."
Had the thinking finished? Yujin opened his eyes. He looked straight into Didascalia's and spoke slowly, deliberately.
"No."
"Huh? Really? No, that can't be right? Wait—?"
The creature's face twisted in shock. It was inevitable. The Yujin reflected in Didascalia's eyes looked nothing like a man telling a lie. The physical tells of a liar were unmistakable—there was a reason polygraphs existed. The item Didascalia had prepared was leagues more accurate than any machine. Yet Yujin's bodily reactions remained identical to before.
That meant only one thing.
"You're serious?"
Staring at the calm, steady heartbeat, Didascalia let out a hollow laugh.
"Satisfied? I answered your one question. Now get lost."
Yujin pressed him with a heavy, cold gaze.
"Urgh—."
Didascalia fidgeted in pure incomprehension, then finally ground his teeth and beat his wings.
"I still don't understand what the hell is going on, but a promise is a promise. I'll withdraw for today. But this isn't over! Next time I'll definitely—!"
With words that sounded exactly like a third-rate villain, the creature's form vanished. At the same moment the atmosphere around them lightened. Without anyone realizing it, the sheer weight of an Administrator's presence had been crushing the entire second stratum.
"Hey, over my ass! Our conversation is just getting started!"
The instant Didascalia disappeared, Lee Sia rolled up her sleeves and stormed toward Yujin.
"Go on, try talking shit again. What, you gonna kill me yourself this time?"
She looked ready to lunge at any second, unable to contain her rage.
But—
"Lee Sia."
Yujin called her name in a low voice.
"What? What now!"
"Do you know how to do CPR?"
CPR. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
"Why the hell are you asking that all of a sudden?"
"If you know how, do it."
With those final words, Yujin collapsed.
His heart had already stopped.