Chapter 18 - Trauma Penalty (3)

4

[The clearing party consists of one hunter: Kim Gongja.]

[Calculating clear rewards... Calculation complete.]

[Rewards will be granted upon entering the eleventh floor in twenty-four hours.]

Boss stage cleared.

An achievement no one had managed before. And I—not anyone else—had accomplished it. Me, a hunter who wasn't even on the rankings and still had no alias.

If word of this got out, the whole world would be turned upside down.

"Hah."

But I didn't feel at ease. Maybe you could say joy and melancholy each occupied half my heart. Like a lonely poet, I wandered through the ruins, where nothing remained but ashes.

-Hey, why do you look like you've been chewing shit? It said you cleared the hidden stage, too. Even when I was alive, I only cleared a handful of those. The reward should be pretty good.

"A psychopath like you wouldn't understand why I'm feeling down. You don't have a human heart."

-Hmm. Now that I look closer, you're not chewing shit. You're taking one.

"..."

Amazing. That one remark from the attendant spirit had wiped away my melancholy. Right. With this lunatic around, there was no way I could get lost in sentiment.

"... I was just thinking the world is kind of shitty."

-Huh?

"You saw it in the boss stage just now. Our world or another world—it doesn't make much difference. Shitty things happen in both."

-True enough.

The attendant spirit nodded.

-Guess it's the same wherever people live.

We stood in silence for a while. A silence that let time settle. The attendant spirit gazed at the mansion's remains with me, then shuddered with an "Ugh!"

-Enough. That's enough. Sheesh. This stuff isn't for me! Anyway, Kim Gongja, you were incredible back there!

"What?"

-Finding your own way to clear the boss, I mean. That was fantastic. You've earned my praise!

I frowned. He probably meant it as an honest compliment, but it gave me the creeps.

"... What's with the compliments? You're acting like a different person."

-Kid, I give credit where it's due. You overcame that challenge with your own ability this time, not luck. My Gongja's my partner. When something good happens, I should celebrate with you. Right?

My brow furrowed even further.

"Something's fishy..."

-Aw, there's nothing fishy about it. Well done, Kim Gongja! You're amazing, Kim Gongja! Once the eleventh floor opens, let's charge ahead and snatch the number-one spot! Who cares if the others call you a cheater? If they don't like it, they can get their own cheat skills!

The attendant spirit laughed cheerfully. What was this? Why was he suddenly acting this way? Unless the sun rose in the west tomorrow or the Tower collapsed, there was no way he'd behave like this.

Just then.

[Attention, everyone.]

[Today, the tenth-floor stage has been cleared.]

A voice.

[Once again, attention, everyone.]

It wasn't a sound only I could hear.

The voice echoed, filling the sky.

[Today.]

[The tenth-floor stage has been cleared.]

A salute announcing the dawn of a new era.

[The eleventh-floor stage will open twenty-four hours from now.]

FWEEEEE...!

Something burst in the sky. Fireworks. Purple burst first, followed by red, blue, and yellow. Dozens of colors and thousands of streaks of fire blossomed in dazzling splendor.

"Ah..."

I stared blankly up at the sky. The fireworks didn't fade after bursting overhead. They moved on their own. Each streak writhed like a serpentine dragon, slowly taking shape.

[24:00:00]

The shape of a clock.

[23:59:59]

And the clock in the sky began to tick.

"..."

Side by side with the attendant spirit, I gazed up into the blue sky.

Then he murmured,

-The main story's finally starting.

I nodded.

"It sure is."

-I saw the same fireworks show when I was alive.

"This is my second time seeing it, too. But..."

I clenched my fist.

"But last time, I was in a bar on the first floor. Just a spectator. I had no idea what was happening, so I spent ages floundering around. In the end, I missed my chance and stayed an F-rank hunter for the rest of my life... Damn it. Even thinking about it now, I was such an idiot."

The attendant spirit chuckled.

-So, how does it feel to get promoted from an extra to the protagonist?

I didn't answer right away. Instead, I took out my smartphone to see how the hunter-related online communities were reacting.

-What? What's with the fireworks?

-There's a fireworks show on the first floor right now. Is this only happening here?

-I'm at the third-floor hunting grounds. The fireworks show's in full swing here too.

Sure enough, the midday fireworks had set every community ablaze.

-Anyone else hear that voice just now?

-It said the tenth floor was cleared. Is this for real?

-Did the Black Dragon Guild clear the tenth floor?

-There wasn't any announcement. What's going on?

Posts.

-The next raid announced by the Bureau is in two weeks.

-Definitely not Black Dragon! All their officers are at the cafe by the intersection in front of Babylon Bank on the first floor. Photo proof attached.

-Who cleared it?

More posts.

-[Breaking] Tenth Floor Cleared!

-The guild responsible for the clear has yet to be identified.

-[Breaking] Black Dragon Has Not Claimed the Clear.

Dozens of posts poured in every second. And it wasn't just one site. Every hunter community was the same, and the flames soon spread to other communities as well.

News outlets based in Babylon hastily churned out one-line breaking news reports, and those scraps of news became fresh kindling, fueling the fires in the communities.

-If it wasn't Black Dragon, who the hell was it?

-I'm praying at the Pantheon right now, and I saw the Inquisitor suddenly gathering the priests. It's chaos here. Doesn't look like the Pantheon cleared it either.

-That's it! The Sword Star!

-The Sword Star cleared it solo. One hundred percent.

-Oh, if it's the Sword Star, I can believe that.

At first, the fires spreading through the communities burned separately. One site backed the Pantheon guild. Another pointed to the Sword Star. The Count, the Viper, the Paladin, and so on. Every hunter reigning at the top of the rankings was mentioned at least once.

But...

-What are you talking about? The Sword Star's drinking milk at a bar right now.

-It isn't the Sword Star. Photo proof attached.

-The Viper's at the training hall teaching the guild's students.

-What the hell are you talking about?

-The Paladin's working in Babylon Square.

-I asked him myself. The Sword Star says it wasn't him.

-Hold on. This makes no sense.

-I'm a Union officer. I can't reveal my real name or alias, but it wasn't the Union.

-Why isn't a single guild claiming the clear?

-What the f*ck?

Before long, the communities' separate fires converged.

Into one enormous question.

-Then who was it?

-Does nobody know who cleared it?

-Which hunter cleared the tenth floor?

-Just who...?

* * *

CLICK.

I turned off my smartphone screen.

Then I decided to answer the question the attendant spirit had asked earlier.

"How do I feel right now?"

Before I knew it, a smile had spread across my face.

"Honestly, it's fucking amazing."

It was a feeling I had never experienced before. But even without anyone teaching me, I knew what it was. I was instinctively certain.

This was what it felt like to stand at the top.

"I feel like the whole world's mine."

-Right?

The attendant spirit grinned.

-Of course, for now, it's just an illusion. The whole world isn't yours. All you've done is clear the tenth floor. But it isn't a hundred percent illusion, either. Kim Gongja, right now, you're closer to the top than anyone else in your world.

"I know."

I turned my gaze away.

"All that's left now is the climb to the actual summit."

There was a stone staircase everyone had to pass to challenge the infernal mansion. I saw someone running up it.

It was the attendant I'd deceived by claiming to have an incurable disease.

"Hah, haah...! Haaah. Sir...!"

The attendant was drenched in sweat. He must have run here in quite a hurry. He stopped in front of me, panting.

"Just now... That thing just now. D-did you do that, sir?"

"I'm not sure what you're referring to."

"The t-tenth-floor clear!" the attendant shouted.

"I'm the one on duty today... And you're the only person who's challenged the tenth floor all day, so... E-everything's gone crazy. The Bureau keeps calling me, asking what happened...!"

"Hmm."

I gave the attendant a sidelong look. His trouser pocket kept buzzing, vibrating incessantly even while he talked to me. Incoming calls, probably. As he'd said, it seemed the Tower was in an uproar.

I smiled.

"What would you do if I really had cleared it?"

"Pardon?"

"I asked what you'd do if I really were the hunter who cleared the tenth floor."

"W-well..."

The attendant looked flustered.

"I didn't get a chance to check your identification... So I should check it now."

"Oh, come on. That's a strange way to put it. Honestly, it's not that you didn't get a chance to check it. You took a whole hundred gold from me."

"Th-that was..."

"You're really working hard out here."

I gave the attendant a gentle pat on the shoulder. He looked at me, dumbfounded. I walked past him and strolled leisurely down the stone steps.

A desperate cry came from behind me.

"P-please wait a moment! Sir! Your alias would be enough! Please, at least tell me your alias before you go! Otherwise, my seniors at the Bureau will beat me up!"

I answered without looking back.

"I don't have an alias."

"..."

"Keep up the good work. Oh, and don't follow me. If you do, I'll actually run away."

Fortunately, the attendant didn't follow me. Even if he had, it wouldn't have been a problem. He was exhausted from running up the stairs, so I could have easily shaken him off.

-Hey, his face is priceless. He looks like he's seen a ghost.

The attendant spirit alone looked back, snickering.

-Anyway, well done. That's how you build your reputation. Yep, keep your identity hidden and make other people come looking for you. You're doing fine without me even teaching you—

"Mr. Sword Emperor."

-Huh? What?

I stopped in front of the teleportation stone installed at the entrance to the tenth floor.

"I've figured it out."

-Figured what out?

"I've figured out why you suddenly started praising me."

As I queued up a teleport to the first floor, I said,

"The bet."

The attendant spirit flinched.

"I remembered. You promised to call me [Lord Gongja] if I beat the boss within two credits, didn't you? Wow, what now? I really did clear the tenth floor in just two credits. Our dear Sword Emperor's in quite a bind."

-Hey, Gongja... We're partners, aren't we...? Isn't that a little much?

The attendant spirit pleaded, looking miserable.

-Think about it. Partners are supposed to be equals. You and me. An equal relationship. The man who conquered ninety-nine floors and the man who'll challenge the hundredth someday. Hey, partner! Friend! How wonderful and beautiful is that?

I gave him a bright smile.

"Enough of that. From now on, call me Lord Gongja whenever you speak to me."

-...

"For the rest of your life."

At that moment, the attendant spirit's face sank into despair.