Chapter 47

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Translator: MadScientist

Chapter: 47

Chapter Title: I'm the Protagonist Too

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"Th-this... This isn't a grape!"

The philosopher turned his eyes back to me. I didn't take them.

After watching him roll them around in his mouth, you expect me to put them back in my sockets? Even if I live in a grimoire, I've got some basic hygiene standards.

"My grapes are a bit on the hard side."

"How is this a grape?!"

Realizing he'd been tricked, the philosopher shuddered in rage.

"Then what is a grape to you?"

"Obviously! A juicy texture and that tangy bitterness. The flavor of the soul infused in the grape!"

The description of the tangy bitterness was a little gross. Should I push back a bit more?

"Didn't you say I had grapes?"

"That's right."

"You asked for them, so I gave them to you. Correct?"

"Correct."

"And now you're complaining about the taste after the fact?"

"......"

Hearing me out, the philosopher hesitated for a moment.

"I-I! I didn't get what I wanted!"

"I've already paid the price."

"Eeeeek! This is unfair!"

"Grapes aren't returnable, you know."

I just needed to keep pressing a little harder. The philosopher was jumping around mad, but he wasn't going all out.

"Th-this is a defective grape! It doesn't give me what I want!"

"Didn't you say this was a contract?"

"!"

'Contract.'

This wasn't some casual moral trade people make. It was a deal between two mages, sealed by mutual agreement.

If one side unilaterally backs out? Something bad would happen, that's for sure. And it'd be very unfavorable for the defaulter.

That's when I understood why other climbers saw this philosopher as an unbeatable foe.

Attack him in rage after he steals your grapes? That'd count as breaking the contract, and the contract magic would've executed the climber.

Looking at him now, he wasn't even on Kang's level—someone like So Seori could've taken him down easily.

"Eeeeek..."

Even as I kept pushing, the philosopher just clicked his tongue without acting. He was waiting for me to 'agree' to cancel the contract.

Like it or not, he had no choice.

"Please release me now. I made a proper ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠contract with you and have no intention of 'withdrawing' it."

"Y-you bastard! How dare you mock me?"

"Get on with it."

As expected, the philosopher just vented his anger without threatening me at all.

He extended his hand. I handed my grimoire over to him.

"Where...? Huh?"

"What's wrong? Can't do it?"

Confusion flashed across the philosopher's face.

"You wished for the impossible."

"It's possible."

Though not right this second.

"Wish for something else."

"I don't have any other wishes."

"Asking me to split your soul in two is something I can't grant anyway. If you keep insisting, you'll just lose this hard grape and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that's it."

I figured as much. My empty wish was no different from asking him to split my soul by the hour, reassemble it, and make two of me.

"Then what's the Tower's purpose?"

This seemed like a good pivot.

"That's beyond my authority."

"... Tell me about the Tower's administrator."

"That's beyond my authority too."

"You damn old coot?"

He said he'd reveal the Tower's secrets, but everything's a secret! Totally useless.

"Then tell me a Tower secret you can reveal."

"... The Tower has an administrator."

"Old man, you trying to die?"

Apparently, info I already knew didn't count, so the philosopher scratched his head too.

"A Tower secret, huh..."

After pondering briefly, he looked at me. Even with his eyes covered, I felt his sticky gaze. It gave me an odd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sense of discomfort—like being watched from the sky.

"This world is looping. Except for one person."

"What?"

The magical power enveloping the philosopher and me vanished. As if signaling the end of our contract.

"That's as far as the contract goes. This is the price for deceiving me."

Boom!

An invisible hand from the philosopher slammed down over my head.

As the massive palm descended, gusts of wind radiated out from me at the center.

Of course, I was fine.

Screeech, screeeeech.

The palm was still pressing down, trying to break through the defensive magic I'd spread above my head.

"How...? Can you see this hand?"

I silently attacked the philosopher in return. But the laser from my left hand scattered as it tried to grab him.

"Hahaha! Useless!"

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The philosopher tried to crush me like a mosquito on his thigh with his attacking right hand. As I dodged around, clear palm prints scarred the ground.

I channeled a slashing strike, inspired by Han Yu Seong's magic, into my hand blade and unleashed it.

Trusting his left hand's defense, the philosopher didn't dodge. Bad choice.

My slash severed the invisible left hand's fingers and carved a long gash from his side up to the right side of his head.

"Gaaahhh!"

His ragged clothes split open, and a fountain of blood sprayed from the gap.

"Oof..."

Even his filthy eyepatch was neatly sliced, revealing his eyes.

Looked like the philosopher had already eaten his own "grapes."

"You ate your own eyes too?"

Staggering briefly, he screamed and then seemed to pass out.

Oddly, the severed fingers of the invisible hand reattached instantly, acting with a will of their own as they kept attacking me.

Apparently, the philosopher wasn't controlling the hand.

"I knew it."

It felt more like assistance than control—turns out it's a separate entity.

The invisible hand the philosopher mentioned kept attacking me and protecting him, even with its master knocked out.

I kept severing, lasering, flaming, and freezing it, but it only paused briefly before regenerating at high speed and attacking again.

"This thing's the strong one."

The philosopher seemed weak. This hand must be the real body.

Suddenly, I felt a chill. That sticky gaze from the philosopher lingered.

'What the...?'

The philosopher was out cold. Maybe even dead. So why was I still feeling that gaze?

I turned toward the source: the red moon rising in the sky.

"Finally noticed, huh?"

A familiar voice echoed. It came from the sky.

The left hand gripping the philosopher started attacking me too.

"Nice big hand you've got there."

"Because of you vermin, my farm!"

'Farm?'

Now it clicked.

Why was the Tower mission to protect the village from threats, not just block monsters?

Because there were other threats.

This village was the philosopher's grape farm. When magic beasts came and fresh corpses appeared, he harvested his warm grapes.

The philosopher was just harvesting slowly. He was another threat to the village.

But the grape-loving philosopher was rolling on the ground, bleeding profusely. So where was the hand's true body?

The slender thread from what looked like an old man's hand pointed to the red moon in the sky.

His voice echoed from the heavens too.

At this point, anyone could tell the red moon was the philosopher's true form.

Boom! Boom!

"You rat!"

"Hmm."

I pondered my next move.

Looking at things, I needed to destroy the moon. But was that okay?

I'd probably struggle if I held back.

So Seori said it'd be fine. Let's go with that.

I aimed at the sky—specifically, the rising moon.

With my incantation, a magic circle larger than the village bloomed from my fingertips.

"Sorry."

An insincere apology to the nameless administrator.

A blinding radiance unlike any before engulfed the 40th floor's sky.

Divine Beast Guild building, penthouse—Guild Master Nana's room.

An unfamiliar shadow sneaks in through the window.

The man moves without hesitation, clearly familiar with the room's layout.

He cautiously grips the master bedroom doorknob and opens it slowly to avoid noise.

Flash!

The sudden brightness startled Alex, making him whip around.

There stood a familiar face—on all fours.

Obviously not human. A bear.

"Hi?"

"Grrr."

Nana's summon, Grizzly, bared its sharp fangs threateningly, growling at the intruder.

Alex hesitated. Should he call Veil and trash the place, or come back tomorrow?

Unlike other summons, Grizzly was gone for good if killed, so that wasn't an option.

"Who are you?"

Fortunately, Nana emerged from the kitchen, having sensed the presence. She hadn't been in the master bedroom to begin with.

"Hello? Alex here."

Recognizing him, Nana's eyes widened 1.5 times over.

'Alex Scott.' That was him.

It took some effort to convince the prophet Nana he wasn't an intruder.

"This is breaking in!"

"No, I had urgent business..."

With Nana fluent in English, communication was no issue.

Alex explained his fugitive status due to the misunderstanding and asked for her help.

She seemed curious about him but didn't act aggressively.

She'd seen the Phase 2 message too and knew she couldn't beat him in a real fight.

Her prophecy skill wasn't omnipotent. It always based predictions on the first run.

Even if he, the regressor, twisted the future, she only saw futures fixed in her timeline.

At some point, she'd sought out the irregular him for consultations on how to change the doomed future. That's how it should've gone.

So why hadn't she come? Why was she still in Korea?

Last time, she'd known ahead and waited for him in China before he cleared the 65th floor.

"That's an astonishing story..."

"......"

He's the astonished one. Why doesn't she know yet? Not doing her job? He dropped hints like last time!

"Hey, Nana."

"Call me Divine Beast Guild Master."

"Right, Divine Beast Guild Master."

Calling her by her old casual nickname slipped out, and she drew a firm line.

Their psychological distance had grown this far.

She'd always been the one clinging to him before, begging him to change the future.

What's with the third run? Why am I the one begging?

He couldn't even guess where it went wrong. This felt like Doctor Strange erasing his existence and chasing after an ex. Something like that.

"But how didn't you know about me? You should've noticed the future shift with your prophecies."

"I didn't know there'd be another one outside fate."

"Another...?"

"Do you know a climber named Moon Byul, Mr. Alex?"

There it was. The Ned who'd stolen his ex!

Moon Byul, apparently.

"Who's that?"

"... It's not official yet, so please keep it quiet."

"Of course. I'm a 'solo' guy. Lips sealed."

Nana eyed him suspiciously but explained.

"He's a grimoire user with the Grimoire of the Universe."

"No way? That grimoire doesn't have an owner."

"Moon Byul is its owner."

"... Holy."

Now he got why this run was messed up. The Grimoire of the Universe user—who'd never appeared before—was the cause.

"Nana—no, Divine Beast Guild Master. One favor."

"What is it, Mr. Alex?"

"Can you help me meet this Moon Byul guy? It's important for the future."

Very important. Ally or enemy? Why step up now after staying out of it? Why outside prophecies? Another regressor like him?

A total enigma.

"Not hard. Come with me tomorrow."

"Oh! Thanks. And one more thing."

"Yes."

Alex hesitated bashfully. But she was a comrade in his grand world-saving goal now—surely this was fine?

"Can I crash here just for tonight? Came in a hurry, no Korean won... I'll pay back once the warrant's lifted."

Seeing Nana's "What is this guy?" face made him sigh heavily.

Damn, he knew. A loser like this as a third-run regressor? Totally believable.

But was he doing this for his own gain? With his luck lately, what choice did he have?

"... I really will pay you back."

"I'll show you to a guest room."

Goddamn, his regressor pride was in tatters. Wasn't this supposed to be his protagonist world?!