Chapter 1 - Cleared the Tower with a Bug, Then Got Cursed.
Cleared the Tower with a Bug, Then Got Cursed.
Translator : Elizabeth
[1 minute left until Tower Season 16 opens][Poster: Swish]
Hyung is fully geared up today. I’m taking 1st place in the rankings this time. GG.
OO: What’s ur rank?
Swish: Fucking high. OO: Proof? Swish: Check the rankings later lol
[I’m already inside the Tower.][Poster: Lunatic]
Is Floor 1 crazy this season?
Gyanabaruru: Fr? How’d u get in?? There’s still 30 seconds left until open.
Lunatic: As if. Retard lol. Gyanabaruru: Crazy bastard. Lunatic: I am a Lunatic. Plz fix typo. OO: Looking for Floor 1 farming/gold-digging party (3/4). First come first serve.
[10 seconds to open. Get ready.][Poster: NotHuman]
TIT (Title Is Text)
(Comments 0)
[???? Why isn’t the Tower opening?][Poster: EngineeringDragon]
Am I the only one who can’t get in? Didn’t it just open?
SteamedBunPecker: Is it a bug?? Miyabi: Huh?? A message just popped up saying the Tower was cleared?
OO: What kind of bullshit is that. I just entered the Tower, how can it be cleared? EngineeringDragon: Trolls fk off. Who browses the gallery while inside the Tower?
[The Tower hasn’t even appeared, but a Clear? WTF][Poster: OO]
Seriously what is this??
2EE: I saw someone reaching out their hand when the Tower entrance was forming earlier.
OO: Suddenly what are you talking about? 2EE: But then it just went poof and vanished. OO: ????
[Announcement just dropped][Poster: Bullshit-das]
[Notice: An entity interfering with the current season via abnormal methods has been detected. Isolation and punishment processes are being initiated on said entity.] [Season 16 Reopening Date: Tomorrow 09:00]
Looks like someone caused a bug? Says they’ll deal with the bug user and reopen tomorrow. But this is the first time I’ve felt rage coming from a system notice. Shivers. Don’t know who it is, but RIP.
Yatchacha: So the theory about the System having a personality was real? lol
OO: Personality venting is real. Yatchacha: ?? SteamedBunPecker: Crazy, was it really a bug? Swish: Ha, I used a vacation day for this. If that bug user gets caught, they’re dead meat, seriously. OO: The guy using a vacation day was the one blabbing about being Rank 1? This guy was a porter lol. OO: Anyone wanna go to a cafe together? (3/4) First come first serve. Gyanabaruru: Why is there always 1 person missing here? Is this a kidnapping recruitment?
[So who is the bug user?][Poster: OO]
Which ballsy guy is it? lol What happens to that guy now? Isn’t it at least a permaban from the Tower?
OO: He’d be lucky if that was it. 2EE: He vanished without a trace right before my eyes. You have to assume he’s effectively dead. I attached a tracking skill to him, but the life signal completely cut off.
Bullshit-das: Fr?? Not only did you witness it, but you even stuck a skill on him? Don’t lie. 2EE: I recorded a video. I’ll upload it when I get home later, so check it out. OO: Oh? lol. If that’s real, that’s insane.
One day, the world changed like this.
Awakened Hunters clear the mysterious Tower. If the Tower is not cleared within the time limit, it collapses; if cleared, a new Tower is updated.
And so, it was Season 16.
[You have cleared the Tower of Trials.]
[Clear Record 0.00 seconds.]
I had committed an absurd act. With the ability I gained after awakening as a Hunter not long ago, I ended up clearing the Tower.
“This is quite interesting.”
It was truly an insignificant ability.
It was an F-Rank Inventory ability that could store and retrieve items about the size of an ordinary bag. Both the space and weight limits were so small that it was an ability that wouldn't be much help in Hunter work.
[Impossible Achievement Bonus is added to the settlement.]
[Calculating rewards.]
[Your name will be recorded as 1st place in the rankings. Please set a nickname.]
I never knew the Tower could be stored.
To be precise, a small rift appears right before the Tower generates, and that was stored in the inventory. I did it out of simple curiosity, knowing full well it obviously shouldn't work, but what on earth?
[Nickname set to 'Burp-'.]
['Burp-' is recorded as the Season 16 Ranking 1st Place.]
Well, I’ve escaped the salaryman life now.
Touching the system window floating in front of me, I spread the wings of my golden imagination.
The power to clear the Tower before it even appears. An overwhelming 1st place and upgraded rewards. Every season, the name I set will be recorded as Rank 1, and it might even be possible to become rich with the rewards from the Tower.
Just imagining it makes the corners of my mouth tear open in a grin. I couldn't be happier.
Ding!
[Abnormal Clear Record confirmed.]
[Reward calculation is cancelled.]
[Summoning the target to the Administrator's Room.]
Was I blinded by too much joy?
Paaat!!
In the blink of an eye, the surrounding scenery changed. Everything around was pitch black. I floated buoyantly as if I were in space.
“……What? Where is this.”
Looking straight ahead, I saw a red sphere very far away. At a glance, it looked like a giant human eye.
It seemed distant, yet it was so colossal that an overwhelming shiver ran through me. The red light of that sphere scanned me.
A chilling sensation. Brain freezing.
I might have peed a little. At this age, seriously.
[Selecting punishment for the entity…]
[Searching for the worst, supreme punishment….]
[Considering Watcher-grade punishment for the target….]
[Search for punishments inflicted by the Watcher in the past complete.]
[Priority 1 punishment most hated by the Watcher. Sentenced to Reversal Curse: Neglect Type.]
I couldn't move. Aside from listening to the ominous, unidentified thing muttering, I couldn't do anything.
[Finally, recording the entity's words.]
[Do you have any last words?]
But I knew the situation had gone wrong.
The System intends to judge me as the price for storing the Tower. But, why is that my fault? You guys were the ones who set it up wrong.
“They mess up and then bitch about it.”
Suddenly, my inner thoughts were spat out on their own. I definitely didn't intend to say it out loud.
[Recording complete.]
[Confirmed target's unrepentant heart.]
[Reviewing additional punishment.]
No, that's too much. Really, what did I do wrong?
[Priority 2 punishment most hated by the Watcher. Humiliation.]
What? I think I heard something strange.
“Is this guy actually crazy?”
Oh no, my inner thoughts went rogue again.
[Confirmed target's hostility.]
[Considering additional punishment.]
[Priority 3 punishment most hated by the Watcher. Your ugly clone will appear as a Season NPC.]
Ha- I zoned out with a hollow laugh.
If you're going to throw everything at me anyway, why do you even bother 'considering' it? Seeing it drag me here arbitrarily and acting out, I was so dumbfounded I couldn't even curse.
People say the world is unfair, but this isn't it.
[Initiating judgment.]
Fortunately, there were no more additional punishments. It was just a problem of being screwed as much as possible.
But my life was already at rock bottom. Could it get much worse than that? It should be fine, probably.
Paaaa!!-
Soon, a red light brushed past me. I distorted within the light and disappeared, and at some point, I lost consciousness.
“Is this real life….”
Should I call it fortunate? It wasn't a death penalty.
When I opened my eyes, I was home, but feeling a sense of incongruity over my entire body, I checked the mirror.
It was a girl. Not a middle-aged office worker, but a young girl.
Shake shake.
I closed my eyes and shook my head. If this is a dream, such a simple action should fix the wrong illusion.
“Haa….”
But the reflection in the mirror remained the same. A thin and fragile sigh leaked out.
“Something like this is punishment….”
Just what is that red eyeball thing? I get that he's a very transcendent being. Does he think turning a perfectly fine old man into a girl is terrible?
Actually, it is really terrible.
My mood plummeted significantly. Look at that. You can already see dark circles. Of course, I had them all the time before, too.
“Looking at it like this, it’s pitiful.”
An old man having dark circles and a young girl having dark circles definitely feel different. Shall I say it arouses protective instincts?
“Hmm…”
I peered closely into the mirror.
I am a person who values efficiency as a mature member of society. I have no intention of continuing to deny reality. And looking closely… she's quite cu-
Bang!!!Clash!!!~
I performed a headbutt on the mirror.
It seems becoming a woman has made my thinking strange due to hormones. I have no interest in cute things, but my thought just now was the exact opposite.
At this rate, efficiency won't come out of my thoughts.
Drip.
Blood flows from my forehead. Let's regain my senses with this pain. I need to keep my head on straight so I don't have strange thoughts in the future.
First, situation analysis. What has happened to me right now?
[Curse (??? Grade): Reversal Curse - Neglect Type.]
[O Strongest One who reigned above all, live your reversed life. Struggle hard with the frail body of a helpless mortal.]
A system notification window appeared, so I pressed it, and the curse description appeared.
The explanation is too unkind, but I roughly get the gist. Strange content telling me to live the life of a helpless mortal.
Is it basically making me live a life reversed from before?
Perhaps… does that apply to gender too? Is that why my body became like this?
Wait, the punishment I received wasn't just one. I remember receiving a second punishment with the strange name of Humiliation….
This.
Is it okay for me, possessing the soul of an ordinary office salaryman, to check it?