Chapter 36. My Death (3)
Chapter 36. My Death (3)
5
The white light subsided.
The moment I opened my eyes, I was already back in the middle of the battlefield.
A rather familiar sight strode into my vision.
-Kirrr, kieeek!
Monsters howling eerily.
Soldiers bleeding as they fought against them.
A monster legion numbering in the thousands charged in to seize the port.
Stage 11. The so-called supply route defense battle.
The first battle to protect the Aegim Empire was unfolding.
"Thank you! You have come to aid our empire, heroes!"
The general NPC who came to greet us was no different from the last run. He wore the same armor, wore the same expression, and recited the same lines.
"Heroes! Quickly, help us save the empire......."
But only up to that point.
The similarities to the last run ended there.
From the moment the hunters responded to the general's words, everything changed.
"Black Dragon, rally!"
A single cold voice split the battlefield. The master of the Black Dragon. The Witch. Just as she had in that battle at the city gate that only I now remembered, the Witch shouted with aura in her voice. There was something in her voice that instinctively seized people's attention.
"From this moment, command of this war belongs to the Black Dragon!"
The Witch took command of the battlefield.
"Heavenly Martial Sect! Vigilante Corps! Take the left flank and break through! Pantheon and Merchant Alliance take the right! We of the Black Dragon will break through the center. Anyone with complaints about my command can voice them after the battle! If you have time to yap right now, go kill another orc!"
The world had changed.
"Uwoooooo!"
The roar raised by the hunters was proof of that change.
The major guilds moved in perfect unison. Perhaps because they had received the information from me that Stage 11 was a group battle. There were no hunters blankly spacing out like in the last run.
"You brats, follow me properly! If any of you dies before me, I'll kill you myself first!"
The Heavenly Martial Sect led by Viper.
"What the hell is that supposed to... no, never mind. All units, back up the Heavenly Martial Sect! We have to keep those wild boars from getting isolated while they run amok!"
The Vigilante Corps led by Paladin.
"Ahahaha! Individual action is summary execution, everyone! Move strictly by team!"
The Pantheon led by Heretic Questioner.
"Everyone's full of fight, I see. We'll go slowly, help out without overdoing it."
The Merchant Alliance led by the Count.
There was no gap in any guild. Everyone broke through the battlefield faithfully to their own role. Hunters specialized in combat swung their swords at the front, while hunters skilled in support chanted magic skills from behind. A great river! Like a raging current, the hunters pushed and pushed against the monster horde.
"Ooh......!"
The general NPC let out a cry of admiration. Was he moved by the sight before him?
"Truly, it is clear that God has not yet abandoned the empire! Behold! Are not the heroes who crossed over from another world pushing back the monsters without hesitation! Soldiers of the empire! Can we stand idly by! All forces, follow me!"
The soldiers roared and surged forward in a swarm.
I stepped aside and watched the scene.
"......."
Yeah.
What people need is just a small hint.
If I changed just a little, if I moved just a bit more discreetly, the scenery unfolding on the stage changed this much.
Then the guardian spirit spoke in a low voice.
-Zombie, you okay?
'Huh? What do you mean?'
-This way, you stand out less.
The guardian spirit was frowning.
-Where else are you going to find a kid who likes standing out as much as you? You're crazy about getting attention. Doesn't this mean you'll get a bit less attention than last run?
'Well, I suppose so.'
I shrugged.
'But this doesn't feel bad either.'
-Oh? You little shit, so you've grown a bit after all.
'Grown, my ass....... I'm planning to grab whatever I can grab, you know?'
Suddenly, I felt a gaze on the back of my neck.
When I turned around, an elderly swordsman was silently watching me.
It was Sword Saint.
"Uh."
I asked, a little flustered.
"What are you doing over there... sir?"
"I am watching you."
Sword Saint answered in a tone that suggested it was obvious.
"Did I not say earlier? That I would watch you for five days and then decide whether or not to kill you. So I am watching."
"...Uh, um. You're not actually planning to watch me 24 hours a day for five whole days, are you?"
"A strange question. Of course that is my intention."
Good lord.
What is that? A stalker?
"No, sir, you should be hunting monsters too! The quest rewards are going to be distributed in order of battle contribution!"
"Hm."
Sword Saint turned his gaze away and lightly swung his sword.
Chaaaak!
Blue aura raked across the front in an instant. No fewer than twenty goblins had their heads sent flying without even managing a proper scream. Fountains of blood bloomed in the middle of the battlefield.
Sword Saint leisurely turned back toward me.
"I will swing my sword from time to time, so do not worry."
"......."
"Pay me no mind and get on with your business."
Truly a veteran.
The old man was on a completely different level.
"Good grief."
Shaking my head, I headed toward the Black Witch. Along the way, Black Dragon guild members blocked my path, but they hesitated when they saw Sword Saint following behind me. In the end, the Witch noticed our approach and personally gestured to allow us through.
"What is it, Hunter Kim Gong-ja? And the old man too."
The Witch narrowed her brow and snapped.
"I'm busy commanding the guilds right now. I don't have much headspace, okay? I'd appreciate it if you finished your business within 30 seconds."
"I have no particular business."
The old man said indifferently.
"I merely followed this young man."
"What? What's that supposed to... no, forget it. I'm not interested! I don't have time to worry about you right now. Please, if it's not important, get out quickly. Ah, over there! Team 4!"
Even while snapping at Sword Saint, the Witch was busily issuing orders to her guild members.
"Don't stupidly push forward—hold your position! If you don't want a spear shoved up your ass, don't move a muscle! Team 12, what are you doing! Do you think we came here for a stroll! Hunt properly!"
"S-sorry! Black Dragon Master!"
"If you have time to apologize, swing your sword one more time!"
She really did look busy.
I hurriedly stated my business.
"Black Dragon Master, I have a Stage 10 clear reward."
"Of course you do. So what?"
"It's a minimap reward. The battlefield is visible to me at a glance, like a minimap. Enemy and allied forces are marked as dots. Naturally, I can also see where the enemy commander is."
"......."
At last, the Witch turned her gaze and looked me straight in the face.
"Really?"
"What would I gain by lying? It's true."
"Then why didn't you come to me sooner! What have you been doing until now!"
Snatch! The Witch grabbed my right hand.
"Tell me! Where is the boss monster!"
This person's true nature comes out when she's flustered.
"Um, over there."
I pointed my fingertips in the direction marked on the minimap.
"It's hard to see because it's surrounded by monsters, but over there......."
"Repeat after me that you consent to skill use! Hurry!"
"Uh, I consent to Black Dragon Master's skill use."
"Teleport!"
Fwooosh!
The next moment, the Witch and I were floating in midair. To be precise, we were falling. High above the middle of the battlefield. Far below, the monster legion and the human forces were swarming and clashing.
The Witch shouted, her black hair whipping in the wind.
"Where!"
"Over there!"
The wind was so loud that I shouted too.
"In the direction I'm pointing right now......."
"Teleport!"
Each time the Witch called out an instant teleport, we rapidly approached the boss monster's location.
I wrapped my arms around the Witch a little more tightly in the air. There was no particular meaning to it. I just thought that holding only her right hand might result in falling from the sky.
The Witch seemed to understand, and cooperated quietly. And she shouted, still frowning.
"You, are you somewhat confident with a sword?"
"I'm good enough to take down the boss here!"
"Then I'll teleport you right above the monster! One shot! Got it?"
"Yes!"
I understood perfectly what she meant.
"Teleport!"
When the final teleport ended, we flew in directly above the boss monster.
Barely ten meters below.
A goblin king clutching a magnificent golden staff was shrieking at the surrounding monsters. In its own way, it was commanding the legion.
"Kim Gong-ja!"
"Raaaaah!"
I wrapped my whole body in aura and let out a battle cry. Perhaps it heard our voices. The goblin king commanding the monsters tilted its head and looked up.
-Grrrk?
The goblin king met my eyes.
But it was already too late.
Chaaaak!
The blade drove precisely into the goblin king's crown. Its body split cleanly in two.
For all its title as a boss monster, the goblin king couldn't even resist. It only stared at me until the end, as if resentful. Well, come to think of it, it had died twice to me alone, so it had reason to feel wronged.
-Kerrek.......
-Kr, rrrr......?
The monsters that had suddenly lost their leader looked at me aimlessly. It happened so fast that they didn't seem to have properly registered it.
I grinned.
"What?"
As I lightly trampled the goblin king's corpse.
"Want me to slice you all in two as well?"
Only then did the monsters belatedly scream.
-Kieeeek!
-Krrrk! Krr!
The goblins, orcs, and other small fry scattered in utter panic. When one fled, six fled; when six fled, thirty fled in no time. Like dominoes collapsing, monsters began fleeing in every direction.
"Yes!"
Beside me, the Witch clenched a small fist.
"Well done, Kim Gong-ja! My god! To think we're about to clear the stage in under an hour! Probably fewer than 50 hunters died! Maybe even fewer than 30... ah! It couldn't be better than this!"
This was the first time I had seen the Witch so excited.
The reason she had been expressionless in the last run... was it because quite a few hunters had died while spacing out in the early phase? And now she was happy because the damage was minimal?
'She's surprisingly simple.'
A person who grieves or rejoices depending on how few casualties there are.
I smiled.
"Now, now, you're too excited. Calm down a little."
"People should get excited when it's time to be excited! I'll praise you once more. You really did well, Kim Gong-ja! Since we started climbing the Tower, we've never cleared a stage with so few sacrifices as today. Take pride in it!"
The Witch smiled brightly.
Not the slight upturn of her lips like when she gave her speech on the wall, but a genuine, full smile.
"Even though you probably wanted to monopolize the clear reward for yourself. Really... I'm glad the new hero is someone like you. What a relief."
"......."
"From today, every media outlet and reporter in the Tower will be swarming you, so brace yourself!"
Pure goodwill.
'Right.'
The Witch extended her hand for a handshake.
'That's it.'
As I took that hand, I thought.
'Of course it feels good to receive attention from ordinary people... from lots of people. It's purely pleasant. Being revered by them, envied, resented, treated as a hero. All of it feels absolutely incredible.'
But.
'It's nothing compared to being acknowledged by people like these.'
People who have lived earnestly.
Even if they could never claim to have achieved their best in life.
People who can clearly say they lived doing their utmost.
Sword Saint, who reached the peak with a single sword.
The Witch, who built the greatest power in the world of the Tower.
And countless others who truly live their hardest.
'I.......'
I squeezed the Witch's hand.
'I want to live a life acknowledged by people like these.'
And not only that.
'I want to protect these people.'
So that they won't be toyed with by a Demon King or the like.
People who have lived earnestly... without insulting or desecrating them like Flame Emperor did, without mocking them, without treating them with cold sneers or wasting time on petty schemes, purely acknowledging them... I want to be acknowledged by them.
No.
I want to be respected by them.
Even if it's an impossible dream.
'I want to live like that.'
In a world that has changed a little more.
I wanted to change a little more too.
That was my deepest desire.
-You little shit.
The guardian spirit muttered.
-You're a brat worth watching, that's for sure.
Before long, a voice announcing the Stage 11 clear rang out.
Giant letters rose in the sky.
+
[Clear Contribution Rankings]
1st. Kim Gong-ja
2nd. Black Witch (黑色魔女)
3rd. Heretic Questioner (異端審問官)
4th. Viper (毒蛇)
5th. Paladin (聖騎士)
6th. Count (伯爵)
7th. Sword Saint (劍星)
.
.
.
+
Just as the world had changed, the clear rankings had subtly changed too.
Sword Saint, who had achieved 2nd place in the last run, slid all the way down to 7th.
Meanwhile, the Witch, who had been in 6th place last time, shot up to 2nd.
[The top clearers will enter the 12th floor first.]
[The remaining clearers cannot enter the 12th floor until the top clearers have received their rewards.]
[Announcing once more to everyone.......]
And then, at last, it came.
The voice that pried open the demonic Stage 12.
"If we ride this momentum, we might clear up to Stage 20 in no time."
The Witch said, her face slightly flushed.
"I estimated at least five thousand would be sacrificed... but the first step is good. Very good."
No.
If left alone, Stage 12 would exact a horrific toll.
Above all, we would lose the Count, the Merchant Alliance Master, an essential figure for interacting with the outside. If the trade route to the outside is severed, the Tower's economy collapses in an instant. A period of chaos would come. Not five thousand, but fifty thousand—beyond fifty thousand, up to five hundred thousand casualties could occur.
'So.'
Therefore.
'I'll carry.'
A dazzling light enveloped us.
6
When I opened my eyes again, I was there.
The imperial audience chamber.
The marble floor that had been stained with blood in the last run was still white.
"Oh?"
"Hmm."
The hunters were summoned one after another. The expressions looking at me were varied. There were hunters who beamed as if to say, 'I knew you'd be here first,' and hunters who were frustrated, thinking, 'To think you'd take first place again.'
Just like the last run.
"Hunter Kim Gong-ja! You were incredible!"
Heretic Questioner came scurrying over to praise me, just the same.
"To cooperate with Black Dragon Master like that! Ahaha. Did you perhaps learn the boss monster's location from the previous stage's reward? I imagine that must be......."
"Hold on."
But unlike the last run, Heretic Questioner couldn't keep praising me. I raised my hand and stopped his words. Heretic Questioner tilted his head.
"Yes?"
"I have something to say to all of you first."
The hunters looked at me.
The Witch, still slightly flushed. Viper, frowning indifferently. Paladin, expressionless. The Count, fanning herself.
As the other hunters watched with their own varied expressions.......
'Where's Sword Saint?'
I checked the old man's movements first.
"......."
Sword Saint stood alone in a corner of the audience chamber. He was quiet. Even though our eyes met, he showed no particular reaction. He just stood with his arms crossed, silently watching me.
'It worked!'
It was completely different from the last run, when he had immediately swung his sword at me.
'It worked now!'
The infuriating conflict that had broken out in the early phase of Stage 12 was gone.
I had erased it.
I had succeeded in halting the hostile relationship, at least for a while.
Feeling my heart pound, I spoke.
"Yesterday, I said something to all of you."
"Yesterday?"
"A request."
I answered Heretic Questioner's question.
"I asked that if I ever made a request of you, you would grant it just once. That's what I said."
"Ah, yes! Of course I remember!"
"Please grant that request now."
I looked slowly around at the hunters.
The guild masters perked up their ears at the word "request."
"For the next five days. For exactly five days, please stay here without doing anything."
"......."
"Then."
I took a deep breath.
And opened my mouth.
"I will clear up to Stage 20 within five days."