There Are Times When You Have to Pretend Not to Know

The instant the Kraken Lord died, the monster legion blanketing the plains began to melt away.

"Kyaaaaagh!!! Oh god!!!"

The abyss worshippers in human form dissolved into puddles, releasing a nauseating stench of fish across the battlefield.

"Huh?"

An unbelievable message floated before my eyes.

"Hey! Wait a second..."

My vision blurred, and the now-familiar white room—the safe zone—appeared.

"Are you insane? If you don't want to die, give me back my Kraken Lord's corpse right now!"

To snatch away the loot when it was already in my grasp—this was enough to make anyone want to quit the Tower immediately.

"Yeah, that's more like it."

Right before returning to the safe zone, I had seen it clearly. While the sea monsters covering the plains had melted away, the Kraken Lord's corpse remained exactly where it fell. There was no way something that massive could vanish suddenly, so I could relax. For now.

"Hmm... Tower, don't you think we have a lot to talk about?"

I crossed my arms and stared quietly into empty space.

"I lay my life on the line climbing you, and this is how you treat me? That's no way to behave."

I had let it slide because of the rewards, but I had plenty to discuss with the Tower.

Why Impossible difficulty was so different from the others.

Whether the people I had met were NPCs or living beings.

In truth, I already had a rough idea.

In roughly four days, the Expedition event would begin for the first time in a year. The mission sent hunters to another dimension for one week to kill as many monsters as possible. Points were awarded based on the number of monsters slain.

It was a rare event that let people grow stronger without climbing the Tower. And everyone knew that the dimensions visited during the Expedition were real, existing worlds.

"Is Impossible difficulty just a series of Expeditions? Care to answer?"

If that was the case, many of my questions would be resolved. The artificially orchestrated situations, the restrictions like how Awakeners and natives couldn't fight each other in the Expedition, or how skills were disabled in certain areas.

Plus, while the Expedition lasted a week in that dimension, only a single day passed on Earth. That explained the time discrepancy.

The problem was that all of this was still conjecture.

"If you keep ignoring me..."

I couldn't do anything if it continued to ignore me, but fortunately the Tower raised its hand first.

When I touched the message floating in the air—

The safe zone crumbled away, replaced by a landscape resembling an ancient temple. At the center stood a massive stele covered in writing.

"I was curious what our newbie looked like... but you're even cuter than I expected?"

"Pardon?"

A soft woman's voice reached me as I examined the names. I turned to see a blue-haired woman in a revealing dress approaching.

"A mere 5th-floor climber entering the Hall of Fame. Things I never imagined possible keep happening."

"The Hall of Fame?"

"It's where you arrive after clearing the 100th floor on Extreme difficulty. You're probably the first to come here without doing so."

The woman smiled faintly and stroked the stele.

"You're... the Ruler of the Bitter Cold, correct?"

"Hmm? How did you...? Well, there aren't many candidates, are there?"

From her tone and mannerisms, it was easy to deduce her identity. It would have been more shocking if she had turned out to be the Lava Princess or the Corner Shaman.

"I'd love to chat excitedly with our newbie, but time isn't unlimited. Shall we start with what you absolutely need to know?"

"Did you already know about Impossible difficulty, Ruler of the Bitter Cold?"

"Not at all. The Tower asked me to come urgently. My knowledge about Impossible difficulty is probably similar to yours."

For a moment, the words Then why are you here? rose to my throat, but I swallowed them. The Ruler of the Bitter Cold gave an awkward smile, as if she'd noticed.

"Still, I should be able to answer most of what you're curious about."

"Really?"

"The biggest question is whether the floors you're challenging are other dimensions, right? That's correct. The Tower exerts influence across multiple dimensions, and we are merely part of it."

"Then what about the version of me that continues moving after I leave the Tower?"

According to Count Wellington, even after I left the Tower, my physical body remained and continued to act. So what would happen if that body died or disappeared?

"You don't need to worry about that. This might sound strange, but even a dimension that hasn't cleared Hard difficulty should have at least one skilled puppeteer, no?"

Her words made me think of the high-ranker puppeteer in India. He could create dolls capable of simple communication and movement.

"The Tower is not omnipotent, but it can do a great many things. If gods exist in this world, the term would surely refer to the Tower."

The strongest being I had seen so far was the Empress. She was only a 92nd-floor climber on Hard difficulty.

Then how powerful must the Transcendents be—the ones who had fully cleared the even higher Extreme difficulty?

And the Tower that even those Transcendents revered...

"This power I possess. Is it truly mine?"

"Hmm?"

I asked the question I had been deliberately avoiding.

Before being chosen by the Tower, I had been nothing more than an ordinary human. Yet simply because the Tower selected me, simply because I climbed it, I had gained tremendous power.

So wasn't it possible that the Tower could one day take that power back?

"Pfft."

"Excuse me?"

The Ruler of the Bitter Cold burst into laughter at my words.

"Ah, sorry. When I first climbed Extreme, I worried about the same thing. That it might all be an illusion, that it might vanish like a dream."

"Then that means..."

"That power is the result of your own effort and actions, not a gift from the Tower. Even if you were to become its enemy, your power will not disappear."

Back when I worked for the Cheongung Guild, I believed I had worked harder than anyone despite being a Non-Awakener. I had cut back on sleep to train my body and analyzed the Tower and monsters to find strategies.

Some people said such efforts were meaningless if you couldn't Awaken, but those accumulated days had created the person I was now.

'Woof!'

I thought I heard Poppy's voice asking if I hadn't just lazed around in the Void Pond, but since surviving even that was the fruit of my efforts, I lightly ignored it.

Thinking of the Void Pond reminded me of the children I had left behind in the Tower.

"What happened to my children left behind on the other floors?"

"Ah... I'm not sure about that..."

The Ruler of the Bitter Cold scratched her cheek awkwardly.

"To be honest, none of us know anything about your legion. The Tower didn't tell us that part."

"Then I'll have to find out myself."

Since a way to re-enter the fifth floor had appeared, I decided to look into it personally.

All my urgent questions had been answered. I would continue climbing the Tower and grow stronger alongside my legion.

As I organized my thoughts, I noticed that the number of names on the stele was higher than I expected.

"Now that I look at it, there are quite a few people who fully cleared Extreme?"

"Quite a few? There are only about twenty across all dimensions."

As the Ruler of the Bitter Cold said, there were twenty names on the Hall of Fame stele.

"But why are there only five people in the Transcendent Gallery?"

Did Transcendents die or get killed off frequently? Various thoughts crossed my mind, but her answer was simple.

"Because not many people spend all day staring at the gallery."

"Pardon?"

"You've only been visiting the Transcendent Gallery for less than a week, right? The others access it once every few months or even once every few years."

Even Transcendents ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were beings who lived in their own dimensions. They each had their own lives, so it was natural they wouldn't spend all day on the community.

"Transcendents tend to have a lot to do at first. They have to manage their own dimensions and fulfill the Tower's requests."

"Then what about the people currently staying in the gallery?"

"We've already passed that stage. Once your dimension stabilizes, it's better to leave the rest to the mortals. That's a lesson learned through countless failures and hardships."

I looked at the Hall of Fame rankings again.

Now that I looked closer, most of the people who stayed in the gallery were clustered at the top ranks.

"The Lava Princess is down at the bottom?"

"Ah... she's a bit of a special case."

According to the Ruler of the Bitter Cold, the Lava Princess was a newbie who had only recently joined the Transcendent Gallery. Yet she had more activity than anyone else.

"Ruler of the Bitter Cold, is this list in order of clearing?"

"That's right. Old Man Martial God was the first to clear Extreme difficulty."

"Then..."

I fell into brief thought. The Ruler of the Bitter Cold, watching me, spoke first.

"Umm... My name is Morpheus. Instead of calling me Ruler of the Bitter Cold, could you call me Mer? Being called by a nickname I made up when I was young is a bit embarrassing."

"Then... Mer?"

"Just call me Sister Mer comfortably!"

"Alright, Sister Mer. Clearing Extreme for the first time must have been a very long time ago, right?"

At my sudden question, Mer tilted her head.

"I suppose so?"

"Becoming a Transcendent also removes the limit on lifespan, doesn't it?"

"A Transcendent can't exactly die of old age."

"That means the ages of the Transcendents..."

A sudden chill stopped my mouth. The aura radiating from Mer, who had seemed like an ordinary person just moments ago, was now immeasurably vast.

"Yes, Sister Mer."

"What a good child our newbie is."

Mer stroked my head. At first glance she seemed like a kind adult, but the corners of her mouth that had been curved upward the entire time froze coldly.

"Anyway! Do you have any more questions? We don't have much time left..."

"Ah! Sister Mer! If you ask the Tower something, it can't ignore you, right?"

"Hm? That's true."

"Then please pass this on for me!"

I told Mer the message I had prepared.

"Um... Alright. I don't know what the result will be, though?"

"Thank you, Sister Mer."

Once the allotted time ended, my surroundings blurred.

Back in the safe zone, I immediately accessed the Transcendent Gallery.

The Transcendents each added a comment, as if they knew I had met with Mer. It seemed the Tower and the Transcendents were closer than I had thought.

"...Not everyone is that close, I see."

Come to think of it, even among Transcendents their personalities varied wildly, so the Tower probably hadn't given them all the same roles.

I turned away from the Transcendent Gallery and checked the rewards I had put off earlier.

The reward selection, which had previously allowed only one choice, had doubled to two.

This was thanks to the message I had Mer deliver to the Tower.

"Yes, if you have any conscience at all, you can't just brush me off with a single reward."

At my demand for more rewards if it had any conscience, the Tower had increased the compensation for slaying a lesser god.

"Now then, shall we open the rewards?"

I examined the system messages I had delayed.

Now that my questions were answered, it was time to enjoy the fruits of my labor.