Chapter 59
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Migration
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Six months had passed.
After making such a grand farewell, Moon Byul had been slipping out of the Grimoire every week or so, but it had already been two months since his last appearance.
“Wisp.”
“Whir whir?”
“Is everything really okay like this?”
A lot had changed since Moon Byul began his secluded training inside the Grimoire.
An S-Rank alliance had formed, centered around Alex and the United States.
There were assault teams conquering the Tower and guardian teams defending Earth from the Conquerors.
At first, the hotshot S-Ranks butted heads constantly once they formed teams.
That infighting had been a major headache.
“Just leave 'em be, and it'll sort itself out~.”
Alex had created the system but mostly stayed hands-off.
But just as he said, the teams in the guardian units who'd clashed with Conquerors at least once ended up strangely tight-knit.
Those who didn't... well, most of them sadly ended up dead.
The survivors kept getting one-on-one sessions with King and Khan, getting reformed in the process.
Alex himself stuck to the front lines with the assault teams most days but jumped to the guardian units whenever needed.
Nana would give advance warnings on when and where Conquerors would appear, bolstering defenses accordingly.
Items got distributed to the right Climbers, and assignments of who handled which threats all factored in Alex's input.
At this point, calling Alex Earth's leader wouldn't raise eyebrows.
He had his fingers in just about everything Tower-related.
The problem was that Conquerors were showing up more frequently.
They used to come one by one, then two at a time, and now sometimes four or five together.
As overwhelming moments piled up, even the assault teams had to step in directly.
Humanity had weathered those crises, and the Tower's highest cleared floor now sat at 73.
“Hiding out here again? Aren't you on merc duty tomorrow?”
“Moon Byul must be curious too. You got nothing going on, sis?”
“Guardian assignments haven't dropped yet.”
“Whir whir.”
As a supporter with powerful attack skills, I got dragged into assault teams pretty often.
The convoluted mercenary system had been streamlined too. Now Climbers could switch nationalities with a single signature.
“You think he's listening?”
“He told me last time he was.”
Whenever I had a free moment, I'd chat in front of the Grimoire about recent events.
It started as venting and impatience, but after Moon Byul said he was listening well last time, I always brought stories he'd be curious about.
Today, I was whining about worries over tomorrow's battle and how tough it all was.
“It'd be nice if he came out soon...”
“Maybe 'cause you're not telling him anything.”
Lately, whenever Alex dispatched me for high-floor assaults, he'd check in.
Asking if Moon Byul had emerged yet.
“He still hasn't come out? He didn't ditch us, right?”
“N-no way!”
“Calm down, Saintess. I'm just bummed out!”
Alex kept calling me "Saintess," so I'd gotten pretty famous myself. Like jumping from Korean celeb to global K-Pop star.
But that fame didn't mean much right now.
With public anxiety at its peak, hardly anyone was chasing celebrities.
“Ru Ri, you need a break too. I heard Su Young made something tasty.”
“...Okay.”
Ru Ri rose from her spot by the Grimoire and followed So Seori out.
As the door clicked shut, the Grimoire's cover warped.
Into the familiar shape of a 'door'.
A lot of time had passed.
It had been over 30 years since I'd last stepped out of the Grimoire.
Fortunately, it wasn't too late yet.
Society still seemed to be functioning.
“Click.”
I pressed the signaler Alex had given me and tossed it. Black mist swirled into view.
Alex slowly emerged from the fog.
His first words came out in a mocking tone.
“Thought we'd been abandoned.”
“Got the candy?”
I skipped greetings and asked about the regression candy.
He pulled out the one he'd been cherishing and showed it.
“Long time no see.”
“Greetings now? So I'm worth less than candy?”
Last time I'd emerged, Alex hadn't gotten the candy yet.
To execute my plan, I needed to confirm he'd obtained it—not someone else.
“Sorry.”
I gave an awkward smile.
“Alright, what's this grand plan of yours?”
Before retreating into the Grimoire, I'd promised to emerge around when Alex got the candy. Time had stretched a bit longer than expected, unfortunately.
“First, let me explain the world's secrets.”
I laid out the Tower's principles, skipping the 90th floor.
It boiled down to this.
According to Administrator Rena, the universe must cycle endlessly.
Why would the universe's designer create it that way?
My first thought upon hearing it was the Wanderer of the Vast Deep Sea—master of my Grimoire.
Maybe the designer was something similar.
“So you two are like alumni?”
“Something like that. No idea on the exact relation, but definitely not created beings like us.”
Alex nodded.
“Too complicated.”
“I'll simplify.”
I'd harbored questions.
Why did the Tower release accumulated mana back into other worlds?
Why was destruction necessary in the process?
Even knowing the truth, it was hard to grasp. Rena had called it just a hypothesis anyway.
“Alex, ever sensed a power purer than mana?”
“You mean the mana in the air?”
“No, mana far denser.”
Mana's other name was Star Force. Far purer mana.
The power dwelling in stars.
Mana had dwelled in Earth, fostering civilization and ecosystems.
Life evolved, producing mana.
Intelligent beings generated it even more efficiently.
Just look at the Tower monsters.
Higher floors had stronger, smarter, more evolved creatures dropping high-grade mana crystals.
Earth had accumulated Star Force over eons until it hit capacity.
Like a cup brimming with water.
“Earth's full of this Star Force?”
“Yes.”
“So what if it overflows? What's that got to do with doom?”
“I got stronger by devouring Star Force.”
The basis for my hypothesis was me.
As I'd told Alex, I'd grown by consuming Star Force. Stars without it crumbled.
At some point, my body had become star-like.
Seeing the Wanderer—and my true form in the Grimoire—confirmed it. My true body now resembled the Wanderer.
That's why I'd shaped my dummy more human-like and acted through it. To avoid looking inhuman.
“What do those cosmic things devour?”
“...Star Force?”
“Exactly.”
The faint Star Force from the small stars I'd eaten in the Grimoire was just a taste.
Beings like the Wanderer feasted on real 'stars'.
“Earth's Star Force is ripe fruit to them. The Tower sows seeds or reaps the harvest.”
When a planet fills with Star Force, the Tower harvests the excess.
The designer consumes the fruit called Earth.
The maximally harvested Star Force up to the 90th floor gets sown into the next dimension's Earth, awaiting the next harvest.
Rinse and repeat forever.
“So... Earth explodes eventually?”
“Yes.”
Alex's face twisted in complication.
“That's why you kept quiet? Earth's a lost cause anyway.”
“......”
“I get the hypothesis—it's plausible. But no solution. You've got something in mind, right? You didn't hole up in that Grimoire for half a year with nothing.”
Half a year outside made me chuckle faintly.
It had been 87 years and 146 days for me.
“So no matter how much I regress, Earth's unsavable?”
Alex shook his hands in despair.
“Just pawns in the gods' game.”
“No.”
Not yet.
“Alex, if... just if. If I fail, eat the candy.”
“What's that outta nowhere? Fail what?”
“You'd have to find another answer.”
He looked utterly baffled.
“I hate being pawns in the gods' game too. That's why I came up with this.”
By now, the universe's designer might be drooling over Earth.
Just waiting to harvest the fruit.
But I'd flip it off in the most infuriating way.
“I'll eat Earth. If I can't save it, I won't let it be taken.”
Alex stared in shock.
“...Stars crumble without Star Force.”
“Yes.”
“But you'll eat it?”
“Yes.”
“You nuts?”
“Yes.”
“Hahahahaha!!”
Alex burst into laughter.
“Gonna smash it yourself since it's doomed anyway?”
“......”
“You joking?”
Like his laughter had been fake, he radiated killing intent.
“That's it? That's your answer after holing up? Figure out how to save it, not screw it over.”
Alex grabbed my collar and slammed me against the wall.
“Wait...”
“You think I came here for that crap?”
“No, wait!”
The swirling mana calmed. He was really about to attack, the psycho!
“It doesn't have to be this Earth.”
“What're you on about?”
Alex powered down his magic and released me. One wrong word, and he'd strike.
“We migrate.”
“Where?”
I shoved the Grimoire of the Universe at him.
“I've made another Earth.”