Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Tower of Fate (2)
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I blankly blinked at the empty strategy guide on the wiki.
Even after leaving and coming back in, even after closing and reopening the internet app over and over.
The wiki screen hadn't changed one bit.
"Ha. Right, Tower of Fate, huh."
A hollow laugh escaped me.
It felt like the wiki was mocking me, as if to say this was my reality and what more did I expect.
My fate was what it was. Sure, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed, but it wasn't anything to despair over.
'Everyone's on equal footing in this tower anyway, right?'
Be it grand archmages, sci-fi universe commanders, or Heavenly Demons from wuxia tales.
In the end, all you could rely on here was luck.
A pure 100% luck game where no strategies or exploits worked.
I swallowed dryly, tense, and slowly approached the two doors.
The moment I got close enough to see the handles and examined the doors.
987,653 483,278
"Haha..."
Numbers appeared above each door.
The moment I grasped what they meant, the corners of my mouth twisted upward.
“Yeah… this is what makes it worth a walkthrough…!!”
Test my luck? Face judgment by fate?
If you can, go ahead and try.
Long live big data. Long live Star Wiki.
"Freebie! Freebie! Fun freebie time~."
It took just five minutes to clear from the 1st floor to the 9th.
Whether the odds were 1/2 or 1/10 didn't matter at all.
Just by following the choices made by the gallery users who climbed this tower first, I'd inevitably reach the right answer.
Sure, if my regression count far exceeded 6,000 in the distant future, there'd be no big data to speak of—
'No point worrying about that now.'
That'd be 6,000 years from now. By then, the vanguard would've gone even further.
Of course, they might be dead too.
Honestly, I figured I'd escape before then.
'At my level, I could bust out quick, right?'
Maybe not on Earth, but here, my luck might actually be decent.
And why not? I'd had this.
Swipe.
Wiki-chan's the best...!
I planted another kiss on the screen before exiting Star Wiki.
'Almost there for real.'
I double-checked the condition on the [???] icon.
It was all done. This was truly the last one.
'What could it be? What'll I get?'
A game? A video site? Or maybe read the original novel of this world?
I was curious what it'd be. Just one day had passed, but so much had happened. It felt like spotting the finish line after a long marathon.
'Wonder if I can breeze through the 10th floor too.'
I stretched casually as I walked the dim passage.
No matter the tower, the 10th floor was always a different beast in difficulty.
Even with the wiki, the Trial Tower had put my life at risk, and I'd bombed the Wisdom Tower completely.
I couldn't even imagine what failing the Mind Tower would've done, but anyway.
'I've only tried each once, so I can't say much...'
Even so, there was clearly something left even after all the freebies.
Rumble...!!
I swallowed at the heavy door sound vibrating through my body.
What would the 10th floor be? Floors 1 through 9 were all probability games.
Two doors on the 1st, mystery stairs leading who-knows-where, shell games too fast to track, and so on.
Varied enough, but every single one was a gamble.
'Luck Tower really is something else.'
I could vaguely see why its rep in the gallery was such a mess.
Sure, 50/50 now, but later you'd have to bet your life on worse odds?
You could blame yourself for lacking strength, smarts, or willpower, but here? Not even that.
'How many people could truly hate their own luck?'
Even I never hated myself back on Earth.
I hated my circumstances, the situations I was forced into.
Flash!
Lights from an unknown source illuminated the tower's center.
'...What the?'
A round table with no one around and a single chair.
Spotlight shining right on the chair, as if telling me to sit.
Step.
Up close, still nothing special.
No wiki pings laughing. No [Choice Count] like the rest of the Luck Tower yet.
"Nothing here..."
The table was big enough for about six people.
The chair looked pretty fancy, with a backrest.
'Guess I sit.'
Something felt off, didn't want to, but no choice.
As I scratched my head and sat under the pinpoint light.
Thud.
A revolver, faintly glowing gray, dropped from thin air onto the table.
'Fuck... no way...?'
Not funny at all, but my mouth quirked up anyway.
Too surreal. Was I denying reality with a hollow laugh? Wanted to run?
Shoot myself in the head with this? No idea how many rounds were loaded. What if I shoot elsewhere?
Swipe.
I slowly reached out and gripped the revolver.
The cold metal sent chills racing through me, like clutching ice in midwinter.
A bone-freezing sensation dried my mouth.
"..."
Still no wiki alert.
What the hell was I supposed to do? I swallowed, wishing for any instruction.
Static... crackle...!!
Three blue translucent humanoid holograms appeared before the table.
"What the..."
Static, crackle...
The flickering holograms suddenly gained 'color.'
Skin and muscle formed over them, turning into real people.
"..."
Each with my exact face, expression, gripping a revolver just like me—'me's.
'What the hell is this?'
We all stared wide-eyed, shocked at each other.
Even the holograms seemed flustered by the situation.
I knew this tower wasn't normal. Knew it was pulling insane stunts. But this went beyond common sense.
Something my brain couldn't comprehend, couldn't even imagine, happening right in front of me.
"Hey—"
Whoosh-!!
"...!!"
Ignoring my pounding heart, I opened my mouth to say something—then cloth shot out from behind the chair.
"Guhk..."
Mouth gagged like a muzzle.
Tried to speak, but no clear sound came out.
'Wait, body tied too?'
Unpleasant sensation—looked down to see white cloth bound around my waist.
Creak... thud...
Struggled, but couldn't stand from the chair.
The three 'me's were going through the same.
All wide-eyed, staring at the binding cloths.
Grip...
My hand tightened on the revolver instinctively.
No commands from the tower, no clear conditions explained.
But I could guess what we'd end up doing here.
Clunk.
Text floated above the table's center.
One survivor? Kill one? Unclear.
Watching the three others swallow hard while staring at me, I let out a hollow laugh.
'Not even fully loaded, huh.'
3 3 3
Glanced around—each of the three 'me's had the phrase hovering above their heads.
3
Same above mine.
Three out of six rounds.
Staring us down cruelly, like this was truly a game of fate.
"..."
Gulp.
I quietly looked down at the revolver in my hand.
Heart pounding at the thought of aiming it at 'me.'
'...It's fine. I've got the wiki.'
I steadied my breathing, calming myself.
Holograms anyway. They had revolvers, but only I had the phone.
Ding!
'Knew it, wiki to the rescue!'
Our hero had come, I thought, looking down at the wiki.
Just like before, the screen for this floor was blank.
Expected numbers to pop up over the three 'me's, looked up full of hope—
"..."
Looked everywhere, nothing changed. Hollow laugh.
No big data, no numbers anywhere.
'Fuck...'
Doesn't work on the 10th? Scoured with fresh eyes—no wiki strategy.
Stared at the revolver, squeezed my eyes shut.
Pure 100% luck game.
Don't even know who to shoot, and even if you do, no guarantee it'll fire.
Flash!
Eyes snapped open at the sound—the spotlight shifted from chair to table center.
Gulp. Swallowed at the text in the center.
Then an arrow appeared in midair, spinning rapidly.
Too fast to track, like a roulette wheel at light speed—
"..."
It slowed, clunked to a stop, pointing at me.
Misfortune or fortune? First shot was mine.
Quietly scanned the three others, all eyeing each other warily.
Hated shooting at people, but like the Trial Tower, hesitate and I'd die.
'Fake anyway. Not some stranger—it's me.'
Brainwashed myself like that, slowly aimed across with my revolver hand.
Finger on the trigger trembled.
Knew it was fake, but my face, the scared look, the fear showing... it bugged me. A lot.
'Gotta survive.'
50% chance it'd fire.
Praying, begging it to fire, squeezed eyes shut and pulled.
Bang-!!
Ears rang. Hand shook. Indescribable emotions flooded my head.
Gunpowder smell, revolver weight in my fingers, gunshot echoing in my ears.
All screaming this was real.
A normal person might snap.
But—
2
'...Insane one-shot one-kill.'
More than that, the rush of surviving flooded my brain with endorphins.
Probably 'cause the blue hologram across was just fizzling out.
If it'd been real flesh and blood, not hologram, my hands'd be shaking now.
No blood or guts, just flickering light—relief.
—Except for one tiny issue right now.
"..."
"..."
The remaining two were staring at me like I was a monster.
'Hey, gotta survive, right?'
Like they wouldn't shoot. Absurd.
Can't shoot? Don't. But I don't wanna die?
Flash!
Arrow spun wildly again, landed on the one to my right.
He glanced, still monster-staring me.
Smile.
Swallowed hard, forced a grin at him.
'I'm actually a nice guy. Had no choice. You get it, so spare me please.'
Awkward friendly smile at his revolver.
Wanna call him out for the stare, but dying hated as a monster's worse.
Swipe.
'No, fuck.'
Muzzle swung my way—I shook my head frantically.
Gave my best smile, why me? First batter doesn't get killed.
His trembling eyes—I racked my brain.
This way, I'm dead. Gotta persuade somehow.
'Win... no, survive.'
Ignored a meme popping in my head, locked eyes with 'me.'
His trigger finger tensed. Bullet in seconds.
Gunshot, then bullet high-fives my forehead. Brain-zapping refresh.
Dead. Even revolver, instant kill this close.
Whoosh!!
"...!"
Snapped my muzzle to the left guy.
Trembling index finger pointed at the text above his head.
2 3
My gun: 'only' two bullets.
Left guy's got a whopping three!
'That fucker's more dangerous!!'
Plus, if I die, the last two'll shoot each other.
'Dunno if holograms continue round 3 without me...'
Cold logic: better target him than me.
"Mmph!! Mmmph!!"
Twisted body, gestured wildly: aim at him! Snarled through the gag.
Gulp.
'Saved...'
Muzzle on my brow slowly shifted sideways. Relief.
Left guy glared daggers like I was his enemy, but...
'Jealous? Use body language then.'
I just did my best to survive.
'Please.'
Right 'me's trembling hand yanked the trigger—
Click.
"..."
"..."
Just empty air hissed out. Squeezed eyes shut.
50%... failed.
Not even a scrub fails this.
Laid it all out, thought I'd live.
Grinding teeth, cursing inwardly, slowly opened eyes.
'Yeah, fucked.'
Muzzle already on my face. Hollow laugh.
'Shoulda just stayed still.'
Left 'me' grinned slyly at me.
Truly end? What now? Squeezed eyes shut.
Ding-!
'Wiki...!'
Savior sound—eyes flew open.