Chapter 209 - Cheat (2)

"... My beloved always forces difficult choices upon me."

Raviel began to sigh, then stopped. A breath cut short halfway through. In the time left over, she stroked my earlobe. I knew she had been about to sigh, then thought, 'I don't want to sigh in front of the person I love.'

"I understand that it is worth doing. Had I been in your position, I would have done exactly the same. My head understands... but my heart cannot readily give its permission."

Of course. Everything Raviel had said applied equally to me. If I were in her position, I could never readily give my permission.

"Have you prepared an argument to persuade that child?"

Raviel looked at Ja Sujeong's back.

"I have only watched her out of the corner of my eye for a day or so, but she is strong-willed. No, more than that. It would be fair to say she is resolve itself in human form."

To Ja Sujeong's eyes, Raviel and Uburka appeared [exactly as they were]. Other people saw Raviel's silver hair as black, and Uburka's green skin as an ordinary human skin tone. Their perceptions were being distorted. But that alteration of perception did not work on Ja Sujeong.

"She did not so much as blink when she saw Uburka and me the day before yesterday. That is the sort of person she is. I doubt she will readily oblige simply because you wish to die."

That was where our opinions differed. But first, I sought Raviel's consent.

"Then, for now, are you giving me permission to do this, Raviel?"

"Very well."

Raviel stated her condition.

"If you die before my eyes."

"..."

"I will allow it if you breathe your last while I am watching."

I nodded.

"That's what I'll do."

2

"Dinner is ready, everyone."

Ja Sujeong approached carrying a tray. Uburka also carried bowls in both hands. We were having cold chicken noodles. The noodles were coiled in the bowls, with ice cubes floating around them.

"Thank you for the meal."

I slurped up a mouthful of noodles and broth. Cool radish water-kimchi broth filled my mouth.

"... This is unbelievably good!"

The praise escaped me before I knew it.

"Wow, this is delicious. You're a really good cook."

"I made cold chicken noodles because it's hot out," Ja Sujeong said. "The jewel Raviel gave me is valuable, so we won't have to worry about meager meals for a while."

"Then it was worth giving it to you."

Two days earlier, Raviel had handed over an emerald as payment for letting us stay in the house. Even to someone who knew nothing about jewels, like me, it looked staggeringly expensive. At first, Ja Sujeong had refused, saying, ["It's too much."], but she had eventually backed down when Raviel said, ["I decide whether it is too much. As my host, do you intend to treat your guest as a beggar?"]

That was House Ivansia for you. Just what you would expect from the wealthiest family in the empire. Though that family was my family, too.

Heeheheh.

"... Father, your face is profoundly obnoxious. Would you stop grinning while you eat? As your son, I am becoming seriously embarrassed."

"Oh, by the way, how did you sell the jewel?"

I changed the subject.

"It couldn't have been easy for a student to exchange a jewel for cash."

"There is a classmate I know named Lee Miho. She is the third daughter of a business group involved in nonbank finance and construction. She's also the daughter of a prominent local figure, so I asked her to sell it for me."

"What?"

Wait. A prominent local figure, plus nonbank finance, plus construction... Uh...

'That's organized crime!'

She had asked a classmate from a gangster family to sell the jewel?

'Seriously?'

I looked at Ja Sujeong as she ate her noodles. Her face was expressionless. I didn't know what sort of life was stored behind that blank expression, but it certainly couldn't be an ordinary one.

Ja Sujeong tilted her head.

"Is there a problem?"

"Uh. N-no. I was just thinking you have some very interesting friends... More importantly, is it all right to tell an outsider like me all of this?"

"Yes."

Ja Sujeong answered simply.

"Because you asked, Mr. Kim Gongja."

Hmm.

"... I'd like to be clear on what you mean. You're not answering because I'm someone special, but because you were asked a question, so naturally you're answering it?"

"Yes. That is correct."

I fell silent. I had felt this ever since meeting her the day before yesterday.

'This person has no barriers.'

She answered every question and granted every request. At least, she had never refused me so far. Not once. When I said I wanted to meet and talk, and when I asked if Uburka and Raviel could stay the night, Ja Sujeong had agreed with a ["Yes."] without the slightest hesitation.

"Excuse me, Ja Sujeong."

After dinner, I decided to test my theory.

"I'm sorry, but could I ask a favor?"

"Yes, if I can help."

"Please climb up onto the table and sit there."

Ja Sujeong's head tilted slightly. Her blond hair slid to one side.

"Tables are not for sitting on, Mr. Kim Gongja."

"Yes, I'll keep that in mind. Please."

"..."

Ja Sujeong slowly climbed onto the table and sat upright on her knees.

"Hmm."

"Ugor?"

Watching the two of us, Raviel furrowed her brow, while Uburka's eyes widened. With a strong sense that my judgment was correct, I made another request.

"Would you put your hand on my head?"

"Yes."

Ja Sujeong placed her hand on my bangs. I continued making requests.

"I'm hungry. I'd like chicken skewers for a late-night snack. Please make them for me."

"... Mr. Kim Gongja."

Ja Sujeong gently admonished me.

"Using me for your convenience may have a bad influence on you in the long run. And late-night snacks are bad for your health. In my judgment, you are not hungry. You are only making these requests to understand my patterns of behavior."

"Yes, that's right. So, please."

"..."

Ja Sujeong nodded and fetched a shopping bag. She really was about to leave the house to make chicken skewers.

"Wait a moment."

Raviel took Ja Sujeong by the shoulder. Now that things had come this far, even Raviel could not help intervening.

"Miss Ja Sujeong, I ask just in case, but if a stranger on the street asked for a little help and requested that you follow them, would you go with them?"

"Yes."

Ja Sujeong readily agreed.

"If I can help."

"This is an extremely drastic example, but even if the request were to remain confined in an outlying facility for a year?"

"Yes, if I would be of help."

Raviel pressed her lips together. After a moment, she murmured, "I see."

"This is... dangerous."

Raviel and I met each other's eyes. I nodded to convey my agreement.

"Yes. It is dangerous, Raviel."

"... She is intelligent, so she can discern another person's true intentions. She can understand their purpose. Yet she merely understands it, and never refuses a sincere request? No, at this point, we must conclude that she cannot refuse."

Raviel frowned.

"That exchange has convinced me. As Gongja said, this child is indeed the Tower Master. At the very least, she is not a human born and raised by ordinary means."

"Yes. This personality seems less like something that was [formed] and more like something that was [written in]."

Like an AI responding to conditions. A being that merely answered people's wishes.

"Ja Sujeong."

I knelt on one knee before the small blond child. Only then were our eyes level. Still holding the shopping bag, Ja Sujeong gazed steadily at me.

"I come from another world. Raviel and Uburka are also travelers who have crossed over from their own worlds."

"I see."

Even at this nonsensical statement, Ja Sujeong's expression did not change. She merely nodded lightly, as though she had already suspected as much.

"Skill card, open."

I took out a golden card.

+

[Regressor's Clockwork Watch]

Rank: EX

Effect: Activates automatically upon death. Returns you to 24 hours before the moment of your death. Your memories and stats are preserved even after regression.

※However, higher hunter ranks incur stronger penalties.

※This skill was copied from hunter Yoo Suha.

+

I presented my trump card as evidence.

"In our worlds, we have things called skills. With skills, it is possible to move through space, and even to turn back time."

"..."

"As you can see, I possess a skill that means I don't stay dead even when I die. Having shown you this skill, I would like to ask you a favor, Ja Sujeong. Please kill me, just once."

"Why?"

"I believe you are the god who oversees our worlds."

I looked Ja Sujeong straight in the eyes.

"Our god places one proxy in each world to act on their behalf. The person who lived the unhappiest life becomes a candidate to serve as that proxy."

"Are you saying that I am that proxy?"

"Yes."

Then I began my story. The story of how I had entered the Tower. The stories of the director and Kim Yul. What I had experienced in the Tower, how I had met Master, and how I had met Raviel. I offered my life to the child before me as evidence.

"..."

My story went on for over an hour and a half, but Ja Sujeong silently watched my eyes throughout. I closed my mouth and waited for her reaction.

"... According to your account, Mr. Kim Gongja, there certainly is a possibility that I am the Tower Master's proxy. The idea of using a contradiction to draw out the administrator and confront the truth about that administrator also has merit."

Ja Sujeong reached out.

"You live your life with such dedication, Mr. Kim Gongja."

Her thin fingers slowly brushed back my bangs.

"Kim Yul, an older student at my school, suddenly disappeared not long ago."

"..."

"Not just Kim Yul. Several people disappeared. The people who bullied him. No one but me noticed that they were missing. I thought it was an unusual occurrence, but your account explains it, Mr. Kim Gongja."

Ja Sujeong stroked my head.

"If you meet the Tower Master, I would be happy if you passed on a message for me."

"What message?"

"I am happy," Ja Sujeong said quietly.

For an instant, those words sent a tingling chill down my back.

"I love this city, and I love the children who live here. I love the cicadas that sing in summer, and I love the sound of the radio drifting out through the old window next door."

And I realized what I had misunderstood. The child before me was by no means something like an AI. Still less did she answer every question and grant every request because she had no emotions. It was simply that...

'She sees all of us as [children].'

She merely saw us as children she had to care for. The unknown monsters sleeping in the shed. Me, speaking to her now. Though she might admonish us and point out our mistakes, she could not reject our final request. In short, this child was a mother.

"So please tell the Tower Master not to worry about me."

"... Yes."

I nodded.

"I'll be sure to pass it on."

"Give me a knife."

I handed her the dagger at my waist. Ja Sujeong took it and swung it a few times. Then, apparently getting a feel for it, she pointed the tip at me.

"..."

Raviel was watching me in silence.

"Mr. Kim Gongja, I am not strong, so I may not be able to kill you in a single stroke."

"I'm prepared for that. It won't be the first time I've experienced it, either..."

"If it turns out to be painful, I'm sorry. I'll apologize in advance."

SHUNK!

Before I could finish speaking, cold steel pierced my throat.

'Huh?'

My vision split into fragments like a shattered window. As agonizing pain spread through the cracks, one corner of my mind felt utterly bewildered.

'No, even so. She's still a student, and she just stabs me in the throat without any cooldown? Does that even...'

My body swayed. Unless I was mistaken, Ja Sujeong had just swung the dagger once more.

'Does that even...'

In my shredded field of vision, Ja Sujeong's face remained expressionless. Her lips moved.

"May good fortune be with you."

My consciousness abruptly cut out. Accompanied by that familiar voice announcing my death.

[You have died.]

[Your current hunter rank is B.]

.

.

.

[Recreating the trauma of the enemy who killed you.]

[Extracting data from the original owner's memories.]

.

.

.

[Failed.]

[Data required to recreate the trauma has been denied.]

[Requesting data from Zrakua... Failed. Request denied.]

.

.

.

[Unable to recreate the trauma.]

[Requesting approval from Zrakua.]

[Failed.]

[Approval through Zrakua has been denied.]

[This matter is not on Zrakua's agenda.]

.

.

.

[Unable to respond.]

['The Master of All Life' manifests.]

At that moment.

"—My goodness."

Someone—no, something—seized my chin. Hard.

"How can you be so vexing?"

The voice was like red silk soaked in peach juice for days on end, finally lifted out and wrung hard, scattering sweet droplets everywhere.

"Though I do enjoy sowing coincidences in spring and harvesting them in autumn, this is truly a development I did not anticipate."

The voice was like a hundred venomous snakes flicking their wafer-thin tongues, a hundred tongue tips burrowing into my ears.

"To dare to pry into my past."

I opened my eyes. In the darkness, a girl was grinning. The being looked exactly like the Ja Sujeong who had been stroking my head in the old traditional house moments before. Except for one thing.

"The first time, I allowed your logic to persuade me. The second time, I let your flattery pass, pretending not to notice. The third time, I found your spirit admirable and accommodated you. Foolishly."

Her eyes.

"And now, at last, we have reached the fourth time. This, too, is my own failing."

[The Master of All Life] had violet eyes.

"Even so, a side path does not thereby become a straight one, nor does a cheat become an accepted method. Death King, you have done something truly entertaining."

Violet might be the darkest color in which to reflect anything. Yet the Tower Master's violet was startlingly clear even in the darkness. Its brightness reflected not a person's face, but their heart.

"How should I punish this adorable little mischief-maker?"

"..."

"I would not particularly recommend keeping your mouth shut like a mute. If you knew just how thoroughly I could boil you up and devour you, you would realize that nothing could be more foolish than remaining silent. Come, speak."

I opened my mouth.

"This is our first formal meeting."

Then I smiled.

"Tower Master."

For the first time, I had seen the face of the being who created this Tower.