Chapter 66
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Record - Complete
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The guard had intentionally left the entrance unguarded as part of a calculated plan.
As he predicted, I charged toward the forest without a shred of suspicion.
"I'm just... an adventurer?"
The presence he had misjudged belonged to me.
The guard seemed to have someone specific in mind.
He wouldn't have stepped aside, knowing my identity, just to capture me from behind.
We were complete strangers who didn't even know each other's names.
A red-haired adventurer...
There was only one person who came to mind.
"Ahem, anyway, you can't enter the forest at this hour. No matter who the adventurer is, rules are rules."
The guard quickly composed his flustered expression and pulled me out beyond the entrance.
In the meantime, the scenery inside the forest was growing chaotic.
Leaves were budding, withering, and some bore fruit that spat out slimes.
It was a series of changes that kept the perpetually damp forest as the ideal hunting ground.
"...Since it's your first time, I'll assume it was a mistake and let you go."
"I'm sorry. It won't happen again."
What mistake? He'd noticed the gap I was waiting for and dug a perfect trap.
The guard's intent to avoid escalating things was obvious.
"Yes. You don't seem like someone from the guild, and you look like you've only just started. Be careful next time."
"The guild sends people?"
"Sigh, yeah, they do. Back in the day... those nocturnal types had eyes sharp as anything, fearlessly lurking around everywhere."
The trait was throwing a fit, urging me to head deeper into the forest, but there was nothing more I could do now that the guard had spotted me.
I had to keep coming down to the first floor in the future, and causing trouble could get me arrested like what happened with Phria.
To satisfy the trait's craving for that record, I needed to reach Koon deep in the forest, but beating down other guards wasn't an option.
Like it or not, I had to settle for this.
"They wander around as they please, release the captured ones on their own whim. I thought this was a chance to create some justification, but even that fell through."
His lament was loud enough to be heard, unfiltered.
"Supervisors, mages... what's so great about them anyway..."
The guard settled back at the entrance with a weary face.
His shift still had hours left.
"W-well then, I'll be going. ...Have a good one."
I slipped away quickly.
Record Viewer《RARE》
- Dissatisfaction.
'I know it's not enough.'
I hadn't even set foot in the forest for a full minute.
I knew it was far too short a time to sate the trait's hunger.
'What you wanted wasn't Koon's record, but the forest's record, right?'
If it truly craved Koon's record more, I could have just gone when he was on duty, like when I was stuck next to Amelia.
But the trait had blocked me instead, saying the time wasn't right.
The moment the forest roared to life with changes—a fitting description might be the moment the forest restructured itself.
That's what the trait wanted: those very scenes.
It had seen the forest's restructuring in Koon's record, and to devour that record, it only moved me here after nightfall.
The first time the trait began to change was the day I accessed Harman's record, at the forge.
It was Harman's forgotten memory that the tower had sealed away.
Now, what the trait craved was the day I accessed Koon's record, in the forest.
It was the true nature of the slimes that the tower hadn't shown.
It seemed to have a clear preference for types of records.
Rather than the paths the tower intended, like quests and items, it wanted the hidden underbelly the tower concealed and didn't promote.
Perhaps that's why the anomaly occurred—because it devoured things the tower hadn't intended.
What else could explain the trait's grade changing and it speaking to me directly?
'Still, no more. Time to head up.'
Record Viewer《RARE》
- Question.
The trait hoped for one more attempt tomorrow night.
But that wasn't possible.
'I didn't think it'd turn out like this, so I didn't even book a room at the inn. If I stay like this, I'll be up all night until morning.'
I needed sleep.
Plus, I'd already told my senior I'd head back to the 11th floor after getting all the info on the upper floors.
Sticking around the first floor until the next day would look suspicious.
There was nothing to do until nightfall, so I'd just be waiting idly, but returning to the 11th floor meant I could steadily farm experience in the meantime.
It was regrettable, but I couldn't push aside higher-priority tasks for this one thing.
I opened my eyes on the cozy blanket.
It was the double room on the 11th floor that Phria and I had reserved.
"Yawn..."
While I was down on the first floor, Phria had the spacious room all to herself.
Our 11th-floor stay had been forcibly extended a week, racking up an extra week's room fee, but...
That ended today.
It had been a week since I'd accidentally one-shot the demon last time, and today marked the chance to challenge the demon suppression again.
"Time to get ready to head out. Wake up and get out of bed already."
"I wanna sleep a bit more..."
"Hmm, so you've already cleared the 11th floor and don't care? Well, fair enough."
"N-no!"
Her sleepiness vanished in an instant.
She bolted out of bed.
Was it because we'd fallen a week behind?
The line was much longer than last time.
The proportion of newbie-looking adventurers had increased accordingly.
"Phria, Rien. Two in total, confirmed."
"You visited last week, right? Other adventurers do participate repeatedly here. It's common."
The familiar knight and priest guided us.
Same people as before.
The priest's "common occurrence" was likely about experience grinding, but our case was different.
We'd defeated the demon but still couldn't proceed to the 12th floor.
No need to explain the absurd situation, so I kept quiet.
"No chatting during transit. No noise either. You know the rules, right?"
"Yes."
"Then let's move."
Same warnings as before.
For adventurer safety, no reason not to comply.
The iron door opened, and we descended the long staircase.
The air was still cold, with rigid iron bars flanking our view.
- Clank!
The demon still looked pathetic.
"Same as before, please handle their shares. Priest."
"Understood. Please wait a moment."
- Shing!
The chains loosened again, and the demon lurched forward with a zombie-like groan.
Its hands ultimately fell short by a hand's breadth.
"Good luck, then. We'll head out."
"We'll wait outside the door. Call if there's trouble."
Having faced the demon once before, the explanation was briefer this time.
With that, the knight and priest stepped aside.
"This time, no mishaps. I'll attack first."
"You should. Can't have me ending it in one shot again."
"Gotten cocky, have we?"
"Ahem."
A fireball floated in Phria's left hand, and as usual, she channeled magic into her sword.
Her application had become familiar; the speed was much faster now.
We couldn't level up on the 11th floor due to no suitable monsters, but the training during that wait hadn't been wasted.
- Slash!
The diagonal sword strike carved across the demon's chest.
The lingering flames burned around the wound.
"What, not even pretending to feel pain?"
The demon brimmed with energy.
It flailed its arms forward like someone incapable of pain.
The bound chains merely stretched taut.
- Slash! Swish—!
Once wasn't enough? Twice.
Still not? Thrice.
The demon's only attack was its sharp claws.
Even that was easy for Phria to react to.
When hands approached, step back a pace.
When they passed, step forward a pace.
And strike.
- Stab!
Pierce the head.
Wounds accumulated, flesh steadily burned away.
The demon's movements slowed.
"Oh, right. I should attack too."
Needed the experience, couldn't just watch.
- Slash—!
From the right shoulder, slicing deep to the left ribs.
Expending strength equivalent to two people's shares, the demon reverted to its original state.
In exchange, the chains shortened, pressing its back against the wall.
"You've attacked plenty, Phria. Should be fine now, right?"
"Yeah. But you still one-shot it. Learned a skill or something?"
It was definitely the sword—thanks to the enchant.
To be blunt, Phria was far superior to me.
In combat style and raw power.
I wasn't strong enough to one-shot monsters Phria couldn't fell in a single stroke.
Even re-facing previously defeated monsters after enchanting my weapon showed no dramatic change.
Perhaps the imbued magic had a special effect against demons.
"Whew... Let's hurry to the 12th floor. I'm sick of this place."
"Before that, stock up on necessities at the shop."
"Huh? Don't we have everything?"
"Need to prepare for the next floor."
"What even's on the 12th?"
New info should be used right away.
We were heading back up under the knight and priest's guidance.
Suddenly, the trait spoke.
It always chimed in at random times, but this felt different.
Record Viewer《RARE》
- Side.
'Why the side?'
Looking left and right yielded only iron bars.
Inside was too dark to see anything.
- Tap, tap.
The priest tapped my shoulder.
Then placed a finger to her lips.
"Shh."
She whispered softly.
I felt the knight's gaze.
Stopping suddenly would naturally draw suspicion.
Phria urged me onward.
Remembering the no-noise warning, I silently ascended the stairs.
- ｢Record - Complete｣
"Hmm, ahem."
The priest spoke.
"Knight! Who was the culprit?"
"Priest. Prisoners cannot speak."
The priest smiled brightly at the knight.
"I know. I cut them out myself; of course they can't speak."
"Then why...?"
"Well, there's always some way to make noise, right?"
"They... no."
The priest just needed a pretext.
If there had been noise, the knight would have heard it too.
Above all, they had no means to make noise.
Neither tools nor body parts.
"Someone signaled, so one adventurer stopped. Isn't that right?"
The priest opened the iron bars.
And pushed back the darkness with holy light.
"Truly, the tower is merciful."
"......"
"Even those who scheme against salvation get to continue living as prisoners."
"Dealing with the troublesome ones is always our job."
"Can't be helped. Even in death, prisoners awaken in their cells."
The fact that demons weren't enemies but tools.
Those who knew and complied became knights.
Those who believed it salvation became priests.
Those who tried to stop it became prisoners.
Their efforts to become part of the tower had twisted awry.
"Now, time to give the culprit a chance to confess."
"......"
"No one speaking? You'll feel like talking after experiencing the miracle one by one. Shall we start from the left?"
They had no vocal organs.
The knight knew all too well there was never a chance for confession to begin with.
From the moment they became tower residents, we gained immortality.
The priest performed the miracle of resurrection on each prisoner, one by one.