Chapter 70
Chapter 70.
'The Adventurer's Eye activated as soon as I got it.'
Does this place also get judged as being inside a tower?
I never expected to find a hidden location in the place that appeared after clearing B1.
'I should take a look first.'
Lee Ganghan approached the spot where the green light was twinkling.
As he stepped on the spot where the light was rippling,
Paaaaaat......!
Light rose from the floor.
Then something suddenly emerged from there.
'This is......'
When he examined it closely,
The object that emerged was a rectangular wooden box gleaming with golden light.
'Is it like a treasure chest?'
Such a hidden reward.
I'm glad I chose the Adventurer's Eye.
Lee Ganghan approached it with a smile on his lips, but
Sssssss......
Before he could fully extend his hand,
A green protective barrier was created around the box and a message appeared before his eyes.
[Checking player's access permission......]
[You received Clear Evaluation SSS+ in the 'Sea of Darkness'.]
[Access is possible.]
Ziiiiing.
Then the barrier disappeared.
Lee Ganghan blinked his eyes.
'If I hadn't received SSS+, I wouldn't have been able to access the box?'
What exactly are they giving as a reward
To make it this difficult?
When Lee Ganghan opened the box lid with inner anticipation,
Paaaaaat......!
Brilliant light burst forth from there.
[Sealed 'Constellations' are being liberated.]
[Constellation 'Feathered Serpent' is being liberated.]
[Constellation 'Smoking Mirror' is being liberated.]
[Constellation 'Southern Hummingbird' is being liberated.]
Then,
Messages appeared one after another all at once.
'Constellations?'
Were Constellations sealed in this tiny box?
Even 'Angel Kael' whom I met in FIPA's basement not long ago showed tremendous presence.
To think that beings at the level of Constellations were miserably sealed in such a place.
Even after opening it, Lee Ganghan couldn't easily believe the messages that appeared before his eyes.
Meanwhile,
['Feathered Serpent' proposes to become your Guardian Constellation.]
['Smoking Mirror' proposes to become your Guardian Constellation.]
['Southern Hummingbird' proposes to become your Guardian Constellation.]
The three Constellations that were released this time all at once
Proposed to become Lee Ganghan's Guardian Constellation as soon as they were liberated.
Of course,
[You are the owner of the trait 'Heavenly Demon Constitution'.]
[If you accept a Constellation, the grade of Heavenly Demon Constitution will drop to F and be fixed.]
Just like with Angel Kael,
Since a message appeared saying that accepting this would make Heavenly Demon Constitution grade F,
Lee Ganghan rejected all their proposals.
Then,
[The three Constellations are disappointed by your choice, but respect it.]
[Instead, they want to reward you separately.]
[Will you receive the Constellation's reward?]
Ttiring.
A message appeared saying they would give him a separate reward.
Well, if they're offering to give this much,
There's no reason not to accept it, right?
"I gratefully accept."
When Lee Ganghan agreed,
Flash!
Pure white light flashed from his body.
[Stat 'Divine Power' is established.]
['Divine Power' increases by 1.]
'Divine Power......?'
A stat I've never heard of was created.
"Status window."
When he opened the status window, there was 'Divine Power' newly created below Mana.
Since the value was only 1,
He didn't particularly feel any changes in his body.
'Still, it's an ability given by Constellations, so it must be useful somewhere.'
Lee Ganghan thought so and slightly bowed his head as a sign of gratitude.
Then,
Paaaaaat......!
Light scattered in all directions from inside the box.
[The three liberated Constellations begin their activities.]
With this message as the last,
The box that had sealed them became transparent
And completely disappeared from sight.
[No, what was that just now......]
"It said sealed Constellations."
[Constellations? Although they've lost their power now, they seemed to be powerful divine beings at one time......]
"Really?"
Unlike Lee Ganghan who didn't particularly feel their intense presence,
The Divine Maiden ghost kept her mouth shut quietly while the Constellations were there
And only started speaking after they left.
"You can sense such things too. Is it because you're a ghost now?"
[I'm not a ghost! But really...... One would be fine, but with three of them, I felt my presence rapidly diminishing.]
"One was okay?"
[One is manageable~ After all, I'm also a Divine Maiden of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect.]
The Divine Maiden was confident she wouldn't lose in a 1:1 situation.
In a way, it seemed impressive that she could hold her ground before Constellations described as powerful divine beings.
'Hmm. That aside, the names of the Constellations...... I should search for them once I get back.'
Feathered Serpent, Smoking Mirror, Southern Hummingbird.
Since they all have unique names, wouldn't something come up if I search for them?
Thinking so, Lee Ganghan looked around again.
'The Adventurer's Eye isn't activating this time.'
Does this mean I've already gotten everything I can get here?
Then I should go to B2.
'The staying time is probably almost over...... I should just see the next opponent's face and return.'
Since I stayed much longer than when I entered the First Tower last time,
It wouldn't be strange if the forced return timing came soon.
So before that,
I should find out who the B2 opponent is.
Lee Ganghan quickly ran and entered the red portal.
Then,
Paaaaaat!
In the space newly unfolded beyond the portal,
Like the B1 floor, only thick darkness had settled.
[Here we go again...... Would it hurt to turn on even a little light?]
Looking at the surroundings without a single point of light,
The Divine Maiden looked around nervously.
'She gets scared again at times like this.'
Seeing her catch the Spirit of Heavenly Sword like catching a mouse, she definitely seemed to be a formidable expert,
But seeing her get scared of such darkness was just curious.
Then,
Blamm......!
When flames suddenly bloomed before his eyes,
[Hiik!]
The Divine Maiden was startled again like last time.
Still, maybe because she had been through it once,
[Ah, there she goes again, really......! Why do you keep startling me! Can't you just come out from the beginning?]
She showed more annoyance than surprise
And yelled at the flames.
Then,
Seuuuuuk......
The fire died down, and a large circular plate appeared from there.
***
'This is the roulette I used to choose the Seven Deadly Sins.'
A circular plate evenly divided into 7 sections.
In each section were written
Pride, Greed, Envy, Wrath, Lust, Avarice, and Sloth respectively.
But,
'The Greed section has an X marked on it.'
Maybe because I won against Columbus, the Guardian of Greed,
Unlike last time, the Greed section had a blood-red X prominently placed.
So does this mean one out of 6 will be selected?
While Lee Ganghan was making such assumptions,
Dreureureureuk......
The circular plate began rotating clockwise like last time.
[One of the Seven Deadly Sins tests you......]
The plate that spun for a while
Gradually slowed down
Tak.
One section caught on the 12 o'clock needle.
['Pride' tests you.]
[Current grade is Bronze. 'Minion' and 'Jester' will be matched as opponents.]
[Your opponent is the 'Jester of Pride'.]
'Jester of Pride.'
Minion didn't come up this time either.
While Lee Ganghan was waiting to see how the next opponent would appear,
[Current grade is Bronze.]
[The opponent doesn't want to reveal their name immediately.]
A message continued to appear.
'When it was Iron, the name was revealed right away.'
Now that I've become Bronze, they won't tell me the name right away?
Of course, I should also consider that the opponent didn't want to reveal it.
[The Jester of Pride summons a battlefield suitable for them......]
[The B2 battlefield is the Golden Palace (Domus Aurea).]
'Golden Palace?'
At least this time it's not the sea.
When Lee Ganghan was carefully examining the map name,
Paaaaaat......!
As the darkness lifted,
A new landscape was revealed.
The first thing that caught his eye was
A giant bronze statue towering high.
'They said Golden Palace...... Is this place like a garden?'
Looking around,
The golden gleaming buildings were built far in the distance.
Here, with fountains and flower beds, along with various sculptures and ponds arranged,
It gave the feeling of a resting space inside a palace.
[The garden is well-maintained. It would be perfect if only that huge statue wasn't there.]
"Right? I don't see the opponent."
While Lee Ganghan was having such a conversation with the Divine Maiden ghost,
[Ah-haha! You can't see me?]
Kiiiiik!
The giant bronze statue suddenly moved and opened its mouth.
[Ah, what, what is it! What a surprise!]
"Are you my opponent this time?"
I thought the opponent would be a person since the B1 opponent was Columbus,
But now I see it was a giant bronze statue?
'Then I don't need to limit my thinking to just humans for future enemies either.'
While Lee Ganghan was thinking so as he looked at the bronze statue,
[Haha! That's right. If you were human, you would have naturally recognized my name, right?]
The giant bronze statue shrugged its shoulders,
Confident that Lee Ganghan would have recognized him.
"Does the bronze statue have a name?"
[Ha! You don't know me?]
At Lee Ganghan's question,
Flash!
A golden musical instrument appeared in the bronze statue's hand.
At first glance, it looked like a large harp-like instrument.
Ttiring......!
When the bronze statue plucked the strings with his fingers,
An eardrum-piercing sound echoed.
[Master of the Golden Palace! And Olympic champion! Even if you're from the East, you should recognize me with this much, right?]
"No."
[You ignorant fool!!!]
The giant bronze statue immediately pointed at him.
How much of a hint did he give to deserve such finger-pointing?
When Lee Ganghan chuckled,
The Divine Maiden ghost whispered from beside him.
[Didn't they clearly say Jester of Pride earlier? That title really suits him.]
[Jester of Pride? Haha. I cannot accept such a title! I am an emperor! Call me Emperor of Pride!]
Hearing those words too,
The bronze statue demanded to be called emperor.
'Emperor, master of the Golden Palace, Olympic champion, and quite an attention seeker...... Are these the things related to his identity?'
Something seems like it should come to mind but doesn't.
Lee Ganghan thought he had more to investigate when he returned.
'Then I should test how strong he is.'
Before the forced return time comes,
He decided to have a preliminary battle with the giant bronze statue.
I need to know how strong he is
To be properly prepared next time.
Swish!
Lee Ganghan's figure flew like an arrow
And approached the bronze statue in the blink of an eye, but
"Ugh!?"
Ziiiiing!
Around the bronze statue,
A giant golden barrier rose and bounced Lee Ganghan away.
[You barbarian!!! Do you intend to fight without an audience!!!]
Swish.
And the bronze statue pointed at Lee Ganghan again.
"Audience......?"
[That's right!]
When Lee Ganghan looked at the bronze statue with a dumbfounded expression,
He beat his chest thump, thump.
[Art is ultimately completed in front of an audience! Fighting where no one is, how could you do such a meaningless thing!!!]
As the bronze statue declared that there must be an audience,
Ttiring.
[You can conduct 'Special Streaming' on TowerTube.]
A new option called Special Streaming appeared.
'What's this?'
Is this an option that appeared because the bronze statue just declared the need for an audience?
Then,
[Will you proceed with 'Special Streaming'?]
[Current 'Humanity' viewers cannot enter 'Special Streaming'.]
Asking if he would turn on the Special Streaming function,
Additional content appeared saying that human viewers couldn't watch this.
'My viewers...... weren't they all human?'
If humans are excluded, who exactly would watch?
Lee Ganghan had such questions, but
'Since the end is not far away anyway, let me try turning it on once.'
Since the end was almost approaching,
He decided to try the new function once.
When he proceeded with Special Streaming,
Ziiiiing......
A chat window appeared
And numbers began to increase one by one at the bottom.
'53 people?'
What?
There were this many races watching the Heavenly Demon channel besides humans?
'Ah...... Is this related to the different race spectators from the arena?'
While Lee Ganghan was amazed watching the simultaneously increasing viewer count,
[Uaaaah!!! There are only this many spectators?! On the monumental day when I, Nero, make my re-debut!?]
The bronze statue opponent
Grabbed his own head after seeing the viewer count.
'Nero?'
This bronze statue,
I wondered what his name was, and it was that tyrant Nero??
'He definitely seems a bit crazy......'
While Lee Ganghan was thinking so as he watched the giant bronze statue making a fuss by himself,
Kuthung!
[I won't fight!]
The giant bronze statue Nero suddenly sat down, curled up his body, and
[I won't fight in front of these few spectators!]
Completely refused to battle.