Chapter 18. Trauma Penalty (3)
Chapter 18. Trauma Penalty (3)
4
[The challenger is Hunter Kim Gong-ja. One person.]
[Calculating clear rewards... Calculation complete.]
[The reward will be granted upon entering the 11th floor, 24 hours from now.]
Boss stage cleared.
An achievement no one had yet accomplished. And it wasn't someone else who'd done it—it was me. Me, who wasn't even registered in the rankings, who didn't even have an alias yet.
If this fact got out, the world would be turned upside down.
"Haa."
But my mood wasn't comfortable. Joy and gloom each occupied half my heart, I suppose. I wandered the ruins, which were nothing but ashes, like a lonely poet.
-Hey, why the face like you've been chewing shit? You cleared a hidden stage too. Even in my lifetime, the number of times I cleared hidden stages could be counted on one hand. The reward's probably decent.
"A psychopath like you wouldn't know why I'm gloomy. You don't have a human heart."
-Hmm. Now that I look, it's not that you've been chewing shit—you're taking a shit.
"......."
It was astonishing. With just that one remark from the guardian spirit, my gloom vanished as if washed away. Right. Living with this lunatic, it was impossible for me to get sentimental.
"...I just thought the world is kind of fucked."
-Huh?
"You saw it in the boss stage just now. Whether it's our world or another world, fucked-up things happen all the same."
-True enough.
The guardian spirit nodded.
-Wherever people live, it's all the same.
We stood in silence for a while. It was a silence to let time pass. The guardian spirit stared at the mansion's wreckage with me, then went "Ugh!" and shuddered.
-Enough. Enough. Ugh. This kind of thing doesn't suit me! More importantly, Kim Gong-ja, you were amazing earlier!
"What?"
-I mean finding your own way to clear the boss. It was incredible. I commend you!
I frowned. He probably meant it as sincere praise, but it gave me chills.
"...What's with the praise? You're making me uncomfortable."
-Hey, I praise when there's something worth praising. This time you overcame the ordeal with your skill, not luck. Our Gong-ja is my partner, so when something good happens, we should be happy together. Isn't that right?
I narrowed my brow even further.
"Suspicious......?"
-Nah, suspicious my ass. Well done, Kim Gong-ja! Impressive, Kim Gong-ja! Once the 11th floor opens like this, let's charge straight ahead and snatch the rank 1 spot! Who cares if other bastards curse us for cheating. If they're so bitter, let them eat a cheat skill themselves!
The guardian spirit laughed cheerfully. What was this? Why was this guy suddenly acting like this? Unless the sun rose in the west tomorrow or the Tower collapsed, there was no way the guardian spirit would act like this.
That was when it happened.
[Announcing to everyone.]
[Today, the 10th floor stage has been cleared.]
A voice.
[Announcing to everyone once more.]
It wasn't a sound only I could hear.
Filling the entire sky, the voice echoed.
[Today.]
[The 10th floor stage has been cleared.]
A celebratory cannonade announcing that a new era had opened.
[24 hours from now, the 11th floor stage will open.]
Piyuuuung......!
Something exploded in the sky. It was fireworks. First a purple firework burst, then red, blue, yellow—dozens of colors and thousands of streaks of fireworks bloomed brilliantly.
"Ah......."
I stared blankly up at the sky. The fireworks overhead didn't disappear even after bursting. They moved on their own. Each firework writhed like a serpent, slowly taking shape.
[24:00:00]
It was the shape of a clock.
[23:59:59]
And the clock in the sky began to move.
"......."
Side by side with the guardian spirit, I looked up at the heavens.
Suddenly, the guardian spirit muttered.
-The main story finally begins.
I nodded.
"It does."
-I saw the same fireworks show in my lifetime.
"This is my second time seeing it too. But."
I clenched my fist.
"But back then, I was in a bar on the 1st floor at this moment. I was just a spectator. I didn't know what was happening, so I floundered for a long time, and in the end I missed the opportunity and stayed an F-rank hunter my whole life....... Damn. Thinking about it again, I was an idiot."
-Heh heh.
The guardian spirit laughed.
-So, how does it feel to be promoted from extra to protagonist?
I didn't answer right away. Instead, I took out my smartphone.
It was to see how the hunter industry communities were reacting.
-What? What's with the fireworks?
-There are fireworks on the 1st floor right now. Is this only happening on the 1st floor?
-I'm at a hunting ground on the 3rd floor and the fireworks show is in full swing here too.
As expected.
The midday fireworks were turning every community into a raging fire.
-Anyone else hear that voice just now?
-I heard something about the 10th floor being cleared. Is that real?
-Did the Black Dragon Guild clear the 10th floor?
-There was no announcement at all. What's going on?
Posts.
-The next raid announced by the Management Bureau is in two weeks.
-Definitely not Black Dragon! All the Black Dragon executives are at the cafe at the intersection in front of Babylon Bank on the 1st floor right now. Attaching photo evidence.
-Who cleared it?
More posts.
-[Breaking] 10th floor cleared!
-The guild that achieved the clear hasn't been revealed yet.
-[Breaking] Black Dragon, no clear declaration.
Dozens of posts poured out every second. It wasn't just one place. Every hunter community was the same, and the flames soon spread to other communities too.
Media outlets operating in Babylon frantically churned out one-line breaking news, and the tabloids became firewood again, setting the communities ablaze.
-If it's not Black Dragon, then what bastards is it?
-I'm praying at the Pantheon right now, and I saw the Heretic Questioner suddenly gathering the priests. It's chaos. The Pantheon doesn't seem to be the one who cleared it either.
-I know! It's the Sword Saint!
-The Sword Saint cleared it alone. One hundred percent.
-Ah, if it's the Sword Saint, that's possible.
The flames spreading through the communities initially burned separately. In one place, they pushed the Pantheon guild. In another, they pointed to the Sword Saint. The Count, Viper, Paladin, and so on. The names of the hunters reigning at the top of the rankings were all mentioned at least once.
But.......
-What are you talking about. The Sword Saint is drinking milk at a bar right now.
-It's not the Sword Saint. Attaching photo evidence.
-Viper is teaching guild trainees at his dojo.
-What are you talking about?
-Paladin is working at Babylon Plaza.
-I asked directly. The Sword Saint says it wasn't him.
-Wait. That doesn't make sense, logically.
-Merchant Alliance executive here. I can't reveal my real name or alias, but it's not the Merchant Alliance.
-Why isn't a single guild declaring the clear?
-What the fXXk.
The community fires that had been burning separately soon converged into one.
Into one massive question.
-Then who is it?
-Does no one know who cleared it right now?
-Who is the hunter who cleared the 10th floor?
-Who in the world.......
* * *
Click.
I turned off my smartphone screen.
And I decided to answer the question the guardian spirit had thrown at me earlier.
"You mean how I feel right now."
Before I knew it.
The corners of my mouth were smiling.
"Honestly, it's fucking amazing."
It was an emotion I'd felt for the first time in my life. But even without anyone teaching me, I knew what this emotion was. I was certain, instinctively.
It was the feeling of standing at the top.
"I feel like I have the whole world."
-Right?
The guardian spirit grinned.
-Of course, right now it's nothing but an illusion. You don't have the whole world—at best, you've cleared the 10th floor. But it's not one hundred percent illusion either. Kim Gong-ja, right now you're closer to the top than anyone in your world.
"I know."
I turned my gaze.
"Now all that's left is the road to truly reaching the top."
The stone staircase that had to be passed to challenge the Hellfire Mansion. I saw a person leaping up those stairs.
It was the caretaker who'd lied to me about having a terminal illness.
"Huff, haah......! Haaah. Hunter, sir......!"
The caretaker was drenched in sweat. He seemed to have run up in a great hurry. He stopped in front of me and gasped for breath.
"Just now... just now, that. D-did you do that, Hunter?"
"I don't know what you're referring to."
"Th-the 10th floor clear, I mean!"
The caretaker shouted.
"I'm the person in charge today... and in the whole day today, you were the only person who challenged the 10th floor, so... i-it's chaos right now. The Management Bureau keeps calling me asking what happened......!"
"Hmm."
I glanced at the caretaker. Buzz. Buzz. Even while talking to me, the caretaker's pants pocket kept vibrating ceaselessly. Probably incoming calls. As he'd said, it seemed all hell was breaking loose in the Tower right now.
I smiled.
"What would you do if I really did clear it?"
"Excuse me?"
"I asked what you would do if I really was the hunter who cleared the 10th floor."
"W-well, that's......."
The caretaker wore a flustered expression.
"Since I failed to check your ID, Hunter... I could check it now, even at this point."
"Eyy, caretaker. You're saying something strange. It's honestly not that you failed to check it. You took a whole 100 gold from me."
"Th-that's......."
"You really work hard."
Pat.
I gently patted the caretaker's shoulder. The caretaker looked at me with a dumbfounded face. I walked past him and leisurely descended the stone staircase.
From behind me came a desperate cry.
"P-please wait a moment! Hunter! Even just your alias is fine! Please, just tell me your alias before you go! Otherwise I'll get beaten up by my seniors at the Management Bureau!"
I answered without looking back.
"I don't have an alias."
"......."
"Hang in there. Ah, and don't follow me. If you do, I'll really run."
Fortunately, the caretaker didn't follow. Even if he had, it wouldn't have been a problem. He was exhausted from climbing the stairs, so I could have easily shaken him off.
-Hey, that guy's face is a sight. He looks like he's seen a ghost.
The guardian spirit looked back on his own and snickered.
-Anyway, well done. That's how you build up your name value. Right, you hide who you are and make other people come looking for you. You figured it out on your own without me teaching you.......
"Sword Emperor, sir."
-Huh? What?
I stood in front of the teleportation stone installed at the 10th floor entrance.
"I've realized something."
-Realized what?
"I've realized why you suddenly praised me."
While reserving the teleport to the 1st floor, I spoke.
"The bet."
The guardian spirit flinched.
"I remembered. If I beat the boss within 2 coins, you promised to call me [Master Gong-ja], right? Wow, what to do. I really did break through the 10th floor in just 2 coins. Our Sword Emperor is in big trouble."
-Hey, Gong-ja... we're partners, you know... isn't that a bit much?
The guardian spirit pleaded with a tearful face.
-Think about it. The word partner refers to an equal relationship. You and me. An equal relationship. The one who conquered up to the 99th floor and the one who will one day challenge the 100th floor. Yaa, partner! Friend! How cool and beautiful is that!
I smiled brightly at him.
"Not happening. From now on, when you talk to me, call me Master Gong-ja."
-.......
"For life."
It was the moment the guardian spirit's expression fell into despair.