Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: The Strongest Climber
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“If I were to describe the impending fate I saw, it's so dark that it's hard to even call it a future.”
What happens when the tower collapses?
A massive structure piercing straight through the sky.
The area within a 10 kilometer radius of the tower turns entirely to dust. Tower Impact—a cataclysm where all life on the land returns to nothingness, accompanied by a massive crater visible even from space.
“I confirmed it through this orb. The sight of Earth, with no towers left standing and no life remaining alive on the planet.”
To sum up her words, humanity failed to conquer the tower in the future.
As a result, all the existing towers collapse, only for new ones to rise in their place. But those new towers crumble soon after as well.
Humanity meets its end just like that. A futile conclusion.
“I get what you're saying, Nana.”
I now knew a horrific end awaited Earth. But what I was really curious about from her was something else.
“Why are you telling me this?”
Nana had specifically come to Mangul looking for 'Moon Byul.'
Even going so far as to cause a scene in the lobby.
Nana and I had no connection. So what had she seen in me that made her seek me out, knowing even the future?
“I said it earlier, didn't I? That I'm convinced of the existence of absolute fate.”
She had indeed said that, even citing her own horrific accidents as examples.
“Let me correct myself. I still believe absolute fate exerts a powerful influence, but now I'm no longer 'certain' of it.”
Her response was unexpected. It outright denied everything she'd said up to that point.
“It's all because of you, Moon Byul.”
And at the center of it all was me.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ A small reception table sat between us as we faced each other.
We each harbored different concerns, but the emotion reflected in our eyes was the same: 'doubt.'
“I started feeling something was off back then. When the Yuseong Guild leader held that press conference.”
It was right around the time I could finally leave the grimoire and start moving around.
“There was no such future.”
“You can't see every possible future, can you?”
Even if Nana could glimpse the future, it was only fragments. The press conference might simply not have been in that vision.
“The date was different, but the Yuseong Guild leader should have conquered the 62nd floor. Not suffered such humiliation.”
In the future Nana saw through the orb, Han Yu Seong ended up conquering the tower somehow.
“There's more. Mangul's second-stringer, Iru Ri, the one they call the Little Saintess? Do you know her?”
“Yeah, she's a friend.”
This time, she spoke a bit more cautiously.
“Originally, she was fated to die just a few days ago.”
“......What?”
Of course, Iru Ri was perfectly fine and alive. In fact, she was currently enjoying a vacation after conquering the 62nd floor.
“But she's alive. That's when I became convinced my prophecies were being twisted.”
“If Iru Ri was fated to die, why didn't you do anything? You could have at least warned her.”
I asked, a bit angrily at her apparent indifference.
“That's why I said it earlier. That I'd decided not to interfere with fate anymore...”
“......”
“If I stepped in with a warning and she still died, I'd have to bear that guilt. Knowing the future's information changed nothing. Until now.”
Hearing Nana's words, I could imagine what her life as a prophet had been like up to this point.
An unchangeable future. Her struggling in vain. Fate sealed by shallow meddling.
Her prophecies were brutally unfair.
“Who conquered the 62nd floor now?”
“Mangul did.”
“Exactly. My prophecy missed the mark. A future that had never once been altered, now twisted.”
Nana's voice somehow sounded excited.
“So I investigated. When did the futures I believed were set in stone start changing? Where did the twisting begin?”
By now, even I could tell why she'd come to me.
“All of this happened after you appeared, Moon Byul. And you've been involved in every incident, even if just a little.”
Nana must have endured terrible experiences since becoming a prophet.
A cruel future that wouldn't change no matter how she struggled. Eventually giving up to become a mere bystander.
I could sense the emotion in her words.
Her long-held wish: escape from a predetermined future.
“How exactly did you do it?”
My very existence was the 'joker' that fulfilled her long-cherished desire.
“Even if you say that, I really don't know. I didn't check the future and act like you did, Nana. I just lived my life. Like everyone else.”
If I had to guess, the futures she saw were probably set ones from a world without me.
An unchanging future, no matter how things played out, had been disrupted by my intervention—someone who wasn't supposed to be in that grand flow of destiny—shaking the entire current.
Like tossing a single stone into a still lake and creating ripples.
“You're not here to say something like, 'Please save the world from destruction in some future,' are you?”
“I can't exactly deny that.”
I let out an involuntary chuckle. Come on, even this was too much.
“How do you think someone like me lived, after seeing a future where destruction was certain?”
I opened my mouth to answer, then closed it again.
It felt like something I shouldn't say lightly.
“It felt like a death sentence. I didn't want to do anything.”
She was like someone given a terminal diagnosis. Everyone dies eventually. But not everyone lives contemplating death.
Life is completed by death, but no one lives waiting for it.
“Then I learned of your existence. I wanted to meet you. To see who was resisting this massive flow of fate.”
Her expression somehow looked relieved.
“I'm no longer a prophet. Nothing I see comes true anymore.”
She picked up the crystal orb from the table.
“The futures I see are no longer the ones I'll experience.”
“I can't give you back the power of prophecy.”
“I know. I don't want it anyway. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss. I just came because I was curious about you, Moon Byul. Curious what future you'll create from here on.”
With that, Nana stood up.
“Oh, and I wanted to share something I learned.”
...
...
...
“That's a big problem.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Step. Step.
Crystals glowing in place of the sun lit the path.
The chill wasn't as bad as outside, but the pervasive cold reminded that this was an ice cave.
“Haa, haa.”
Every breath released white vapor that clouded his vision. Frost gathered at the tip of his nose, dripping coldly.
The man slowly ventured deeper into the cave.
The humidity and faint earthy scent grew thicker. Though deep in the cave, the glowing crystals reflected off the ice walls, creating a dreamlike atmosphere.
“This should be about it.”
He finally reached the end of the passage, following the light spilling out.
An enormous hall unfolded before him, unbelievable for a cave in the mountains.
The floor was carpeted in ice, with glowing crystals crudely attached to knight statues lining both sides.
Beyond them, atop stairs, loomed a massive throne.
The man shouted toward the throne.
“I've come to fetch you, Veil.”
Clank.
The massive figure on the throne—frozen in blue armor—began to move slowly.
Crack, snap.
Ice shattered between the armor plates as it arrogantly looked down at the man from before the throne.
Screech, screech.
It brushed dust from the armor and drew the enormous greatsword plunged beside the throne.
No telling how long it had slumbered in this cave, but the blade still gleamed with life.
Whoosh—boom!
In an instant, it drew the sword and landed in the center of the hall.
One swing of the greatsword cleaved away the cumbersome armor bits and glowing crystals.
Clang.
The knight raised the greatsword—as large as its own body—vertically, aiming at the man.
Even while pointing the sword, the armor seemed to look down on him. Not as an opponent, but as a challenger it deigned to accept. It had leisure to spare.
The man removed his thick fur hood and took a book from his waist.
“Still as fierce as ever. Well, you're the 65th floor boss, so you've got presence.”
The book floating in the air rapidly flipped its pages.
“Celebration.”
As the man chanted the spell, countless magic circles appeared on the floor.
Monsters slowly rose from the magic circles.
Wolves, yetis, soldiers, trolls.
A stench of death emanated from the summons the man had called.
Flesh sloughing off, chests pierced through.
They were anything but alive, even as a tall tale.
“Charon.”
Another chant, and mist slowly coiled over the ice floor.
“Roooaaar!”
The corpses, rejecting eternal rest, began crying out one by one.
“Bring me Veil's head.”
That was all the man said.
The summoned corpses charged at the armor in unison.
Whoosh.
Each swing of the greatsword produced a whoosh of air, sending the awakened corpses back to slumber one by one.
Clatter, clatter.
The hall echoed only with the sound of corpses moving and the whooshes of air.
Whoosh—bang!
Compared to the corpse puppets, the armor called Veil seemed far superior in power.
At first it moved around nimbly, but perhaps its legs were stiff; the armor stood in place, bisecting the corpses.
It looked almost as if the mist scattered on the floor seeped into the armor's gaps, hindering its movements.
Kiyaaaak!
But it couldn't handle the endless stream of corpses forever and began to give ground slowly.
Thud, clunk.
Time passed, and finally, the armor collapsed.
Only then did the man, who had watched from afar, approach slowly.
“Still strong as ever. The 65th floor boss, Ice Dragon King Veil.”
The man's floating book slowly turned its pages.
“In the name of the 'Grimoire of Death,' I claim you as my familiar. Let's get along from now on.”
The armor groaned in agony as something slipped from its gaps into the book.
A new magic circle formed on the floor.
From it emerged the armor wielding the greatsword, kneeling down.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Congratulations! Alex Scott has satisfied the clear conditions for the 65th floor, the first on the Earth server.] [The tutorial is now complete. All towers advance to Phase 2.]