Chapter 88. Chaos is the Standard (1)
Chapter 88. Chaos is the Standard (1)
1
"I'm moving the Heavenly Martial Sect headquarters to the 22nd floor."
Viper said it offhandedly.
It had been a few days since our party cleared [Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon].
"Excuse me?"
"We're relocating. Moving the whole dojang. Just like you inherited the Demonic Cult's orthodox lineage, I became the disciple of the Murim Alliance Master, didn't I? The Heavenly Martial Sect is my guild. It's only right that it comes under the Murim Alliance with me."
Viper was calmly reading a novel.
As I'd seen before, Viper was a devoted reader despite appearances. His tastes were extremely skewed, but this place overflowed with books that satisfied even such bizarre preferences.
Viper wore glasses (non-prescription, purely for style, market price 9,800 won) and turned the pages of a book fitted with a magic cover (a Hero-grade item that can be placed over any book and freely change its title and cover design, market price 2,000 gold).
"My master's half a wreck himself, but his limbs are fine. The pharmacist said he managed to make him mobile somehow. So I intend to install him as the Grand Guardian (太上護法)."
"The Murim Alliance Master as Grand Guardian......"
"Yeah. He's been deeply grieving since the Heavenly Demon died. Watching him makes me depressed too."
Viper said it flatly.
A Guardian (護法) is a protector of a sect. Literally, one who safeguards its lineage. Among those, the Grand Guardian is the highest. Viper was essentially planning to honor the Murim Alliance Master as the greatest elder.
"At times like that, it's better to keep moving without a moment to think. Keep him busy teaching the younger generation. It'll also help boost our guild members' combat strength."
I was a little surprised. Wasn't that a genuinely considerate measure?
Viper must have sensed my gaze, because his hand paused mid-page-turn.
"...Hey, Death King. Why are you looking at me like that?"
"No, I was just admiring how the head of one of the five major guilds really isn't a position just anyone can hold."
I'd wondered why he was so deeply trusted by his subordinates despite being an otaku beyond imagination, but there was a reason. He took proper care of his people.
"O-oh, really?"
Viper blushed and scratched his nose.
"Ahem. Hm hm. D-don't get the wrong idea! I only did what was natural. If you get praised for doing what's natural, the world becomes a lonely place. Hoo, I can't let the world become lonely just because of little old me."
"That's annoying......"
"Huh?"
"I didn't say anything."
Anyway, after hearing Viper's words, I fell into thought.
Taking good care of one's people. That was something I'd been thinking about even before entering the Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon.
I had reached the rank of the 3rd-place hunter. Was it enough to simply have a high rank and know some martial arts? Reputation. Virtue. Wasn't it time for that kind of generosity of spirit too?
Let's see.
The people here I could call "my people"......
-Ah, I want to have a duel. I fucking want to have a duel. An overwhelming, demonic duel. I'm hungry for a life-or-death duel. Zombie, let's do Wuxia for the next Apocalypse too. This time let's go to a murim where the unorthodox sects (邪派) hold power instead of the Demonic Cult! Unorthodox sect masters, let's gooo!
Hm.
No.
This guy is definitely not it......
"Gong-ja! I have specially, out of consideration, crafted clippers tailored to your fingers and toes! Once you taste my snip-snip skills, you will never again be able to trim your own fingernails and toenails! Just 3 minutes! No, just 2 minutes! Please, just 120 seconds, entrust your hands and feet to me!"
This lunatic isn't it either.
Even more not it.
[Sparkle sings again today. Of the Hero's radiant exploits. Of the Hero's gallant figure roaring like a lion from the battlements of the Aegim Empire. Of the Hero's struggle in the jianghu, as beautiful as it was desperate. Ah, Sparkle is happy today, too, to behold the Hero's noble visage. A thousand years. Ten thousand years. A hundred thousand years.]
"......."
Huh?
Is there... no normal person around me?
Is there really none?
Is this real?
That was strange. I was a normal person. A model student trying to live a normal life. So why were there only a deranged ghost, a crazy Constellation, and a spaced-out sword around me?
Come to think of it, all three of them weren’t even "human." This was insane. Was this my fate? If this was my fate, wasn’t it a pretty shitty fate? Was God a dog or something? Some Siberian husky......
"Aha, Death King! What are you lost in thought about?"
"Heretic Questioner. I was thinking it'd be nice if you went to the 13th floor and negotiated with the Aegim World priests. It'd be good for newbie hunters to get quests there, wouldn't it?"
"Oh! I happened to be thinking something similar. The fact that we're both thinking thoughts that would benefit everyone just proves that Death King and I are on the same wavelength! I'll be off!"
After sending off that blond Welsh-corgi-like fellow, I grew even less confident in my luck with people.
"Um. D-Death King."
A savior appeared before my despairing eyes.
"I succeeded in mass-producing the zombie virus cure. The ingredients are common enough to obtain easily now. A-and if you get the preventative shot in advance, you can walk around the 22nd floor without any problems."
This person!
"Boss."
"Y-yes. Death King......"
"Any thoughts on relocating?"
When I voiced the plan I'd been holding onto since right after the pharmacist's showdown with the Medicine King, the pharmacist blinked.
"Excuse me?"
"Your current shop is too cramped. Your reputation has gone up even more after clearing this stage, so you should expand. Orders are going to flood in—can you handle the volume at your current shop?"
"Ah. Well. I have been thinking about expanding the shop. But the real estate prices on the 1st floor... as you know, you have to take out such a huge loan... The Count did say she'd cover everything and showed me some kind of contract."
"No, absolutely do not sign that."
Where does this cat get off putting his paws on someone else's fish?
"Real estate. I'll give you all of that."
I declared generously.
"Plus moving costs and interior costs. I'll take care of everything, so you just bring yourself."
The pharmacist's mouth fell open.
"Uh. Um. R-really......?"
"Yes. You know the 20th floor is my property, right? I'll set you up in a prime location. Just bring yourself."
The pharmacist gaped. He clearly couldn't believe my offer.
But I meant every word.
'What's the point of leaving land idle?'
Thinking of it as an investment in a colleague who would later become the Alchemy Ministry Head, it didn't feel like a waste at all.
I smiled.
"In exchange, please prioritize making the medicines and potions I request. That's fine, right?"
"O-of course! I'm already doing that... Ugh. Wh-what do I do? I keep receiving so much from you, Death King......"
The pharmacist's lips trembled. No matter what he said, good news was good news. Even flustered, he couldn't quite hide his delight. His tightly clenched fists looked exactly like he was inwardly shouting "Yes! Score!"
My heart warmed too.
'Indeed. So this is the reward of taking care of people.'
Then.
"Ahem. Hm! Keh-hem. Ahem, khm!"
"......."
"Ahem. Brat. Haven't you forgotten something?"
The Medicine King was suddenly standing there. I hadn't sensed his presence at all until he was right behind me. Had this old man learned some stealth art in the murim without me knowing...? What a terrifying level of mastery.
"I wouldn't mind having a bit more land in my old age either......"
Glance.
"Oh dear, my shop is so old these days that it smells musty. The dampness builds up often, too. Terrible for my back! It's on the 3rd floor, so my knees creak going up and down every day......"
Glance.
"If only some fine young person would generously hand over a nice plot of about 100,000 pyeong in a place with good air......"
"Sorry about that. My friend was being rude."
The Sword Saint came over and grabbed the Medicine King by the scruff of his neck. Then he dragged him away.
Even as he was being dragged, the Medicine King raised his voice and squawked.
"No! What kind of heartless wretch hinders a friend's business instead of helping! Is that what they teach you in Northern Europe! Marcus, you ingrate! You come from a distinguished chaebol family, yet your business ethics are worse than a beggar's!"
"Friend. I'm already sad about getting old, so please don't make yourself ugly too...... You earn plenty of money as it is."
"I'm in the red, in the red! Orders have dried up lately! Pharmacist! You there, pharmacist brat! Last time, I was the one who threw a tantrum. The truth is, I don't have the slightest power to block Sean McCallister's victory road. Just say that one line! Come on, just say it, please!"
The hunters in the Great Library stared at the Medicine King. The pharmacist, who had come to see the Medicine King in a new light—enough to call him an elder—after their joint research and cooperative surgery, looked at him again with eyes like he was watching a water flea, going "whoa......"
Viper, who had been quietly reading his novel, grumbled.
"Seriously, why do all the heroines die in the novels I read? Is that the trend these days?"
Indeed, a group with no normal people.
2
Opening the pharmacist's new apothecary on the 20th floor proceeded without a hitch. The construction materials were more than covered by the gold I'd won from the lottery.
There was no problem with the construction labor either.
"Listen, Death King. I can get you a discount on construction materials, you know? And that's not all. I can recruit plenty of workers too. Just put one little signature on this contract together with the pharmacist......"
"Ah, I said no!"
After shaking off the Count, who kept hovering like a cat on a laptop, I turned to Agwi.
"Is it going well?"
"Yes, my lord. The construction progress is smooth."
Agwi, wearing a yellow hard hat, a green armband, and a pink whistle in her mouth, was directing the construction. The labor for the construction was handled by skeletons summoned through Hundred Ghost Reincarnation.
"You fucking! Goddammit! Hey! You beggar's foot-wrap-looking bastard! What grudge do you have against me! Why do I have to haul rocks stuck among a bunch of bones! Say something, you bastards!"
There was one particularly foul-mouthed pretty boy with a ponytail mixed in among the gaps, but as long as the overwhelming majority of the labor force consisted of skeletons moving in perfect unison, there was no problem with the construction progress.
While the construction proceeded without issue, I, the pharmacist, and the Heavenly Martial Sect Master concluded one agreement.
"Alright, this should about do it."
The contents of the agreement were as follows.
"There are still a lot of jiangshi on the 22nd floor. Meaning, there are a lot of mobs. And there are ruined Taoist temples everywhere. Meaning, there are a lot of dungeons too."
"Yep. So our Heavenly Martial Sect will set up a base there......"
"S-so... hunters who want to go to the 22nd floor will first stop by the 20th floor... my new pharmacy... and get vaccinated... right?"
"Exactly. We collect a small fee in the process... within reason, of course."
It was a plan that benefited me, the owner of the 20th floor; the pharmacist, who was building a new nest on the 20th floor; and the Heavenly Martial Sect, which was relocating its headquarters to the 22nd floor.
'I never thought the day would come when I'd collect real estate fees.'
It was a truly satisfying feeling.
But when the apothecary actually opened, a problem with the plan revealed itself. Specifically, too many people flooded the 20th floor.
"Medicine God!"
"Pharmacist King!"
"Medicine Emperor!"
"Medicine Saint Supreme Heavenly Martial Ancient Emperor! Please sell me some medicine!"
Travel up to the 20th floor was possible without any special epithet. Therefore, not only hunters seeking vaccination to go to the 22nd floor, but far more hunters than that came flooding toward the 20th floor.
Administering the zombie virus vaccine required a somewhat complicated procedure. On top of that, manufacturing regular medicines kept tangling up the workflow. The Pharmacist, who had initially tried to handle it on her own, screamed.
"Death King, this can't go on!"
In the end, we had no choice but to call in the last member of the 22nd-floor raid party. Viper slung an arm around the Medicine King's shoulders and said,
"Medicine King, your business has been boring lately, hasn't it? I'll give you a nice spot at the Heavenly Martial Sect headquarters on the 22nd floor. Want to come work as our exclusive physician?"
"Ahem, Heavenly Martial Sect Master! What do you take this Sean McCallister for!"
He put up a big fuss, but in reality, the Medicine King's business was struggling. The merit of the pharmacy run by the Medicine King was that it handled high-grade medicines, but with the appearance of the pharmacist—a strict upgrade in every way—that had been reduced to a half-baked premium strategy.
Everyone knew it, and the Medicine King knew it too. In the end, after being urged several times, the Medicine King let out a groan.
"Fine. For the time being, I'll give shots and handle emergencies on the 22nd floor and collect some fees."
"Yeah, please. ...I also needed a personal physician to look after my master."
"Hmph. Well, that old man was easier to talk to than Marcus, at least. Fine. I was getting lonely anyway."
Even as time passed like that, the raids continued.
Because there were plenty of hunters besides us throwing themselves at the stages.
+
21st Floor: Great Library of All Thoughts
22nd Floor: Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon (Genre: Wuxia, Fusion)
23rd Floor: Chronicles of the Cosmic Iron Knights (Genre: SF)
24th Floor: Diary of the Dawn Mountain Villa (Genre: Mystery, Historical)
+
"Excellent. Truly, truly excellent."
The Witch smiled with satisfaction.
Before anyone knew it, she was directing the hunters, meticulously deciding which Apocalypse to raid and how to organize the party for each raid.
"Death King, your splendid clear of [Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon] had a huge impact. The other hunters are burning with motivation, saying they can't lose to you. People who normally let everything I say go in one ear and out the other! Ah, if only it had always been like this."
The Witch looked at me with affectionate eyes. The gaze one might give a golden goose, perhaps? She seemed ready to declare that the Tower itself had been built thanks to me.
"At this rate, we'll break through to the 30th floor before next month."
Unfortunately, the Witch's prophecy missed the mark.
Two weeks after the Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon was cleared.
[Today, the 25th-floor stage raid has failed.]
The Witch and hundreds of other hunters stared blankly into the air.
[Announcing to everyone once more.]
[Today, the 25th-floor stage raid has failed.]
"Wh-what......"
The Witch was bewildered. Shock seeped into her black-flecked eyes.
"I assembled the best raid party and sent them... and it failed......?"
A hologram floated in the air of the Great Library. The raid was being broadcast live through the screen. In the hologram screen, countless demons cackled as they slaughtered humans.
Among the humans being slaughtered were familiar faces.
The 4th-ranked hunter. The Count (伯爵).
The 9th-ranked hunter. The Paladin (聖騎士).
One was a hunter who controlled Babylon's gold veins, and the other was a hunter who controlled its personal connections. The ones in charge of the economy and public order. As the Witch had murmured in shock, they were the strongest hand we could play.
But they failed.
+
[The Tale of Sormwyn Academy]
Genre: Romance, Fantasy
Difficulty: D-rank
Party Limit: 2-5 people
※The serialization is currently discontinued.
Introduction: Sormwyn is a prestigious magic academy with a long history. It is an ordinary academy where friendship and rivalry, love and jealousy come and go. This Apocalypse could have remained an ordinary academy story. If only an artifact of world-ending scale hadn't been sealed beneath the academy!
Reason for Cancellation: The villainess had her fiancé (the crown prince) stolen by a female student who regressed into her second playthrough. She snapped and broke the artifact's seal, releasing a great demon that destroyed the world.
+
And it was an Apocalypse with a difficulty of only D-rank.
It was a world selected because "magic was advanced and ores like mithril were abundant."
"Ahem, what a shame."
The Librarian looked down at the despondent hunters.
"However, spilled water is spilled water! If one could gather up what has been poured out, that would be another matter, but I cannot overlook a raid that has already failed. Gentlemen, please understand my position."
The Librarian was smiling with his eyes.
In other words, if there was someone with the ability to gather up spilled water... he was saying that person would be recognized as an exception.
Who the Librarian was pointing to as that exception was obvious.
"......."
I headed to the restroom in the library. I had stopped by here once before entering the Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon. In the mirror above the sink, a man with a rigidly hardened face stared back.
"Damn, I've never even read a romance novel."
-Well, you'd never read a Wuxia novel either, and you handled that just fine. It'll be okay?
"Well, that's true, but......"
I sighed and gripped my dagger.
"I can't just leave the Count and the Paladin to die. And sending other people doesn't seem like it'll clear it. I'll have to challenge it myself."
You might ask why not just give up and raid a different Apocalypse. But the story isn't that simple.
There's a reason I absolutely cannot skip that Apocalypse.
[Sparkle cheers for the Hero's resolve.]
Because a fragment of the holy sword is hidden there too.
"...Okay."
I gripped the dagger's hilt and steeled myself.
"Let's go for it!"
And I regressed to the day before the raid party was decided.
It was the moment my next stage was decided as [Romance].