Chapter 91: The Path of Choice (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 91: The Path of Choice (2)
"Inject yourself with what's left. The poison we inhaled was gaseous, so you'll die without the antidote."
Jinhyuk handed the half-filled syringe to Andrea.
"Huh? Yes. Yes, sir."
Andrea accepted the syringe, her eyes wide like a startled rabbit.
Then, she carefully injected it into her arm.
I-I don't believe it...
It was true.
Just moments ago, her veins had begun to itch, but the instant the medicine was injected, the sensation vanished completely.
Andrea stared intently at Jinhyuk.
...Just who on earth is this man?
At first, he was simply a terrifying figure.
He had slaughtered the gods' emissaries with overwhelming power and wiped out the cultists.
But as they talked, her fear gradually faded, replaced now by a rising curiosity.
A curiosity to know more about him.
Besides.
He isn't just strong.
Andrea had also heard rumors about the Path of Choice.
That no one who entered had ever made it out alive.
That they merely wandered through countless choices until they died.
Yet this man had cleared the gates in the blink of an eye, as if mocking the very concept.
So quickly that she couldn't even comprehend how they had reached this point.
A different class of power, an unshakeable composure in any situation, and finally, the ability to produce results using the information he possessed.
It was all hard to believe, even as she witnessed it with her own eyes.
Andrea's pupils trembled slightly.
If it's him...
Maybe he really can kill the Cult Leader and end this hellish life of mine.
"What are you doing? Let's go."
"Ah? Yes!"
Andrea nodded quickly.
Rumble!
Immediately, the third gate opened.
Unlike the previous ones, this room was quite simple.
There was a chair in the center, a black lever installed in front of it, and a pipe extending toward the lever.
[Whew. The third gate is...]
Foot Odor spoke with a heavy sigh.
He seemed to have lost all motivation, his voice completely drained of energy.
"Cheer up."
[What?]
"You're the 5th floor's greatest Foot Od... I mean, Administrator. Don't be so depressed, pull yourself together and explain. I'll even listen to the hint before making my choice this time."
Showing concern even for the monsters of the Tower.
Wasn't this the true path a veteran player should strive for?
Jinhyuk nodded repeatedly, feeling quite proud of himself.
Of course, watching this only made Foot Odor feel like his world was crumbling.
[Fine. The third gate is 'Self-Sacrifice'. As you can see, one person must sit in the chair and pull the lever to open the door to the next gate.]
"So we just have to sit and pull the lever?"
Andrea brightened up at the unexpectedly simple condition.
[Don't celebrate too early. Keep one thing in mind. The moment you pull the lever, flames will erupt from the pipe right in front of you. It is designed to slowly burn away the hand pulling the lever.]
Due to the nature of the restraints on the chair, there was no way to avoid the flames.
A door that would only open if one burned themselves.
It was indeed a trial perfectly suited to the theme of 'Self-Sacrifice'.
"How could..."
Andrea stammered. She instinctively realized they couldn't easily slip through this one.
Right then.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
"Wow. Self-sacrifice! What a beautiful concept. So, what's the hint?"
Jinhyuk clapped his hands and bantered.
[The hint is... you don't necessarily have to sacrifice yourself. Surely someone like you has figured out what that means?]
"Ah, so if you don't want to get hurt, you can just force someone else into that chair and make them pull the lever?"
[Exactly.]
On the surface, it was called self-sacrifice, but as long as one could force someone else into the chair, they could escape without a single scratch.
Flinching, Andrea's body trembled slightly.
If one of them had to be sacrificed, it was all too obvious who that would be.
However, Jinhyuk sat in the chair without a moment's hesitation.
He fastened the restraints and placed his hand on the lever.
[What? You plan to sacrifice yourself? I didn't take you for that type. How surprising.]
Huh?
"Who said anything about sacrifice?"
Sorry, but I still have about three minutes left on my Grimoire's activation.
In other words, he could still use 'skills'.
[Lv8 'Glacial Shaping' has been activated!]
The frost emanating from Jinhyuk's fingertips completely froze the pipe solid.
Clank!
He pulled the lever immediately.
Rumble!
With a violent tremor, the door began to open. Naturally, no fire came out to burn his hand.
[......]
Lost for words, Foot Odor froze completely behind the screen.
Anyone who didn't know better might have mistaken it for a paused screen.
"I-I'm sorry."
Andrea bowed politely toward Foot Odor, then scurried toward the next gate.
Jinhyuk also clicked his tongue with a look of pity.
You really should have picked your opponent more carefully.
Of all the people to run into, you had to meet me.
Still, don't be too discouraged or beat yourself up.
Just as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, this outcome was always predestined.
* * *
There were a total of seven traps in the Path of Choice.
However, the fourth and fifth gates were also breached.
And utterly effortlessly, at that.
"Don't you have anything more creative? Something that gets the heart racing and makes my back sweat. I was hoping for something like that."
Jinhyuk made no effort to hide his boredom.
Clearing it quickly was fine, but how should he put it?
He wanted to enjoy a bit more excitement.
His deeply ingrained veteran DNA was screaming for Hell difficulty.
This really is a bad habit I need to fix, but...
What could he do?
An instinct forged over eleven years was hard to ignore.
[Something more creative... than this? T-That is...]
"What, don't tell me you don't have anything? That's strange. There's no way a path designed by a named boss of the 5th floor would be this easy."
Jinhyuk tilted his head.
Then, as if remembering something, he clapped his hands.
"Ah! Did you purposely put the easy ones first to make us let our guard down?"
[Y-Yes, exactly! The sixth gate is the masterpiece of me, Valseter!]
Foot Odor shouted hastily.
And three seconds later, even the sixth gate was breached. It was the fastest record yet.
"......"
"......"
[......]
An awkward silence hung in the air.
But only for a brief moment.
[Fuck this. I quit.]
Foot Odor cursed and shut off the screen.
Well, now...
Jinhyuk scratched his head awkwardly.
I ended up making the Administrator rage-quit.
In the entire history of the Tower of Trials, such an event was unprecedented.
That was why he was looking forward to it.
I wonder how many views this video will get once it's uploaded.
The corners of Jinhyuk's mouth curled upward.
He didn't know for sure, but it seemed the spot at the very top of the Hall of Fame was secured for the foreseeable future.
Right then, the illusion barrier that formed the 'Path of Choice' began to crumble.
Rumble!
The real game was finally about to begin.
* * *
[You have entered the Cult Leader's Hideout.]
The scenery changed completely.
A stone chamber filled with grotesque statues and symbols drawn in blood.
In the center, the Cult Leader could be seen doing something with a corpse.
"Wow. I thought you became a cult leader to preach, but you were actually practicing anatomy?"
Turns out he was a science major.
Seeing how he got into medical school, he must have studied hard during his student days.
In a way, he might even be classmates with Cheon Yu-seong.
"How can this be... Valseter was breached?"
"Don't be too hard on him. He seemed like a pretty timid guy."
Jinhyuk shrugged.
"So what he said was true. He warned never to let our guard down, and this is what he meant."
The Cult Leader wore a look of genuine surprise.
And with good reason.
He hadn't even considered Jinhyuk, who had been babbling nonsense in the prison, worth treating as an enemy.
Therefore, he had not doubted for a second that Jinhyuk would be torn to shreds by the gods' emissaries.
But that expectation had been completely shattered.
"Come to think of it, I don't see Lancelot—or rather, Hosenbelt."
"If you mean him, he left a while ago."
Left, huh...
He had a feeling that would be the case.
"Anyway, he sure is quick on the uptake."
"Quick on the uptake? What do you mean by that?"
"He probably realized he'd die if he stayed here, so he caught on and ran away first. That's what I mean."
"Bwahaha! Amusing. Your self-conceit is truly an art form."
The Cult Leader burst into mad laughter.
Then, in an instant, his laughter vanished.
"I don't know what you did, but you bypassed the laws of the Tower to use your unique ability and skills. Frankly, I was surprised. I never imagined a human existed who could defy absolute providence."
"I'm pretty good at what I do."
To be precise, it wasn't just "pretty good" but mind-bogglingly amazing.
But since hiding thirty percent of one's strength is a virtue, he decided to limit his self-praise to just this much.
"I look forward to seeing how far that confidence takes you. And how miserably you will scream in just a moment."
The Cult Leader reached toward the table right next to him.
A black jar sat upon the table.
"Are you planning to use a sacred relic?"
"......!"
At Jinhyuk's words, the Cult Leader's hand froze.
For the first time, a look of genuine panic was evident on his face.
"You... even know about sacred relics?"
"More or less."
He had collected all the sacred relics to make a collection in the past, so saying he didn't know would be a lie.
Still, he had to admit that gathering them all was no easy feat.
A few of them were so ridiculously hard to obtain that they almost caused him hair loss.
"......You truly are an astonishing bastard."
His tone was a mix of wonder and shock.
Of course, that sentiment did not last long.
For the words that followed were laced with thick, murderous intent.
"But if you know about sacred relics, then you must also know the power they possess."
The cursed sacred relic meant to resurrect the Demon King possessed immense mana in its own right.
In particular, the 'Filth-Devouring Jar' before him was a sacred relic of the 'Blue' grade among the seven colors.
"I recall that thing having an incredibly long cooldown. Are you really going to waste it just to take me down?"
"I doubt I'll ever encounter anyone more troublesome than you. Rather than hoarding it foolishly, I intend to use it decisively while I can."
Hmm.
That was hard to deny.
This guy was surprisingly sharp.
At that very moment,
[The sacred relic 'Filth-Devouring Jar' has been activated!]
An indescribable curse erupted from deep within the jar.
A black wave that seemed to scorch the very air.
The overflowing energy surged toward Jinhyuk like a tidal wave.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
An instant-cast ability with absolute judgment—literally a sure-kill skill!
Jinhyuk quickly tried to open up some distance, but it wasn't the kind of attack that could be dodged in the first place.
And so,
Squelch!
The wave pierced straight through Jinhyuk's chest.
Cough!
Black blood spilled from his mouth.
The pain was excruciating, enough to make him lose consciousness in an instant.
"Ugh... cough! Gasp."
With his lungs punctured, he couldn't even form proper words.
"No!"
Andrea let out a sharp scream.
And,
"Die, blaming your own arrogance, human."
The Cult Leader curled his lips into a sinister smile.
A human with a gaping hole in his body had no choice but to die.
That was the end.
Jinhyuk's consciousness faded. At the same time, his body collapsed.
[Due to the caster's death, the 'Demon King's Curse' received from the 'Rotting Heart' has been removed.]
A message that appeared because the caster had died.
And, the unique ability that activated upon the caster's death intervened.
[The caster has died.]
[Conditions have been met.]
[Unique Ability 'Blessing of the Stars' has been activated!]
From beyond the sealed ceiling, from a night sky that could never be seen on the 5th floor,
Hummmmm!
a light imbued with the energy of the stars poured down.
Simultaneously,
Thump! Thump! Thump!
the heart that had stopped began to beat once more.