Chapter 36 - My Death Is (3)

The white light faded. When I opened my eyes, I was already back in the middle of the battlefield. A rather familiar scene swept into view.

KRRR, SKREE!

Monsters howled strangely. Soldiers fought them, bleeding as they battled. An army of thousands of monsters charged forward to capture the port.

The eleventh-floor stage, otherwise known as Defend the Supply Route. The first battle to protect the Aegim Empire had begun.

“Thank you! You have come to help our empire, Heroes!”

The general NPC approaching to greet us looked no different from the previous run. He wore the same armor, made the same expression, and delivered the same lines.

“Heroes! Hurry, help us save the empire...”

But that was where it ended. That was the extent of the similarities to the previous run. From the moment the hunters responded to the general, everything changed.

“Black Dragon, assemble!”

A cold voice cut across the battlefield. The leader of Black Dragon. The Witch. Just as she had in that battle at the gate, which now only I remembered, she shouted with aura in her voice. Something about it instinctively drew everyone's attention.

“From this moment on, Black Dragon takes command of this battle!”

The Witch surveyed the battlefield imperiously.

“Heavenly Martial School! Vigilantes! Take the left flank and break through! Pantheon and the Union, take the right! Black Dragon will push through the center. If anyone objects to my command, speak up after the battle! If you have time to run your mouth now, kill another orc instead!”

The world had changed.

“Raaah!”

The hunters' roar was proof of that change. The great guilds moved in perfect coordination. Was it because I had told them the eleventh-floor stage was a group battle? None of the hunters stood around in a confused daze as they had in the previous run.

“Kids, keep up! Any bastard who dies before me is getting killed first!”

The Heavenly Martial School, led by Viper.

“What the hell does that even... No, never mind. Everyone, back up the Heavenly Martial School! Keep those wild boars from charging ahead and getting cut off!”

The Vigilantes, led by the Paladin.

“Ahaha! Acting alone is punishable by summary execution, everyone! Move strictly in teams!”

Pantheon, led by the Inquisitor.

“Everyone is so full of energy. Let's help at a steady pace, without overexerting ourselves.”

The Union, led by the Count.

Not one guild left an opening. Everyone faithfully played their part as they pushed through the battlefield. Hunters specializing in combat led the way, swinging their swords, while those skilled in support chanted magic skills behind them. A mighty river! Like a raging current, the hunters drove the monster army back, and back again.

“Oh...!”

The general NPC cried out in wonder. Was he moved by the sight before him?

“Surely our god has not yet abandoned the empire! Look! The Heroes from another world are driving the monsters back without hesitation! Soldiers of the empire! Can we simply stand idle? All troops, follow me!”

The officers and soldiers roared and surged forward. I stepped aside and watched them.

“...”

Yes. All people really needed was a little nudge. If I changed just a little, if I merely acted a little more discreetly, the scene unfolding on the stage could change this much.

Then the attendant spirit spoke quietly.

“Zombie, are you okay with this?”

'Huh? With what?'

“This way, you won't stand out as much.”

He was frowning.

“Who likes being noticed more than you? You're crazy about getting people's attention. Won't this mean you get a little less of it than in the last run?”

'Well, probably.'

I shrugged.

'But this doesn't feel bad either.'

“Oh? Have you grown up a little after all, kid?”

'Grown up, my ass... I still intend to get what I can out of this, you know?'

Suddenly, I felt a gaze on the back of my neck. I turned to find an elderly swordsman staring at me in silence. It was the Sword Star.

“Uh.”

A little bewildered, I asked,

“What are you doing there... sir?”

“Watching you.”

The Sword Star answered as though it were obvious.

“I told you earlier, did I not? I would observe you for five days, then decide whether to kill you. So I am observing you.”

“... Uh, um. Surely you don't actually mean to watch me twenty-four hours a day for five days?”

“What a strange question. Naturally, that is my intention.”

Good lord. What was this? Was he a stalker?

“But you need to kill monsters too, sir! Quest rewards are going to be awarded according to your contribution to the battle!”

“Hmm.”

The Sword Star glanced away and casually swung his sword.

SHAAAK!

Blue aura tore through the space ahead in an instant. No fewer than twenty goblins lost their heads before they could even properly scream. Fountains of blood blossomed in the middle of the battlefield.

The Sword Star turned back to me at his leisure.

“I shall swing my sword from time to time as well, so don't worry.”

“...”

“Never mind me. Go about your business.”

A true veteran. The old man was on an entirely different level.

“Oh, honestly.”

Shaking my head, I headed toward the Black Dragon Witch. Black Dragon guild members blocked my path along the way, but faltered when they saw the Sword Star following me. Eventually, the Witch noticed our approach and personally waved us through.

“What is it, Hunter Kim Gongja? And you've brought the old man too.”

The Witch frowned irritably.

“I'm busy commanding the guilds right now. I can barely think, okay? I'd appreciate it if you could finish whatever you need to say in thirty seconds.”

“I have no particular business with you.”

The old man spoke indifferently.

“I merely followed this young man.”

“What? What is that supposed to... No, forget it. I don't care! I have no time to bother with you right now. Please, if it isn't important, leave. Ah, over there! Team Four!”

Even as she snapped at the Sword Star, the Witch was busily issuing orders to her guild members.

“Don't stick out ahead of the others like idiots! Hold your positions! Unless you want a spear up your ass, stay put! What is Team Twelve doing? Do you think we're here for a stroll? Hunt properly!”

“S-sorry, Black Dragon leader!”

“If you have time to apologize, swing your sword again!”

She really did look busy. I hurried to get to the point.

“Black Dragon leader, I have a reward from clearing the tenth floor.”

“Of course you do. So what?”

“It's a minimap reward. I can see the entire battlefield at a glance, like a minimap. Enemies and allies are marked as dots. Naturally, I can also see where the enemy commander is.”

“...”

Only then did the Witch turn and look 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 all this time!”

The Witch seized my right hand.

“Tell me! Where's the boss monster!”

So her true nature came out when she was overwhelmed.

“Um, over there.”

I pointed in the direction marked on the minimap.

“It's surrounded by monsters, so it's hard to see, but over there...”

“Repeat after me: I consent to your skill use! Hurry!”

“Uh, I consent to the Black Dragon leader's skill use.”

“Teleport!”

WHOOSH!

The next moment, the Witch and I were suspended in midair. More precisely, we were falling. High above the middle of the battlefield. Far below us, the monster army and human forces swarmed and fought.

Her black hair streaming in the wind, the Witch shouted,

“Where!”

“Over there!”

The wind was so loud that I had to shout too.

“In the direction I'm pointing right now...”

“Teleport!”

Every time the Witch called out Instant Teleportation, we rapidly closed in on the boss monster's position.

Up in the air, I wrapped my arm a little farther around the Witch. I had no ulterior motive. I simply thought I might fall out of the sky if we only held right hands. She seemed to understand, because she cooperated without protest. Then she shouted, still frowning.

“Are you any good with a sword?”

“Good enough to kill this boss!”

“Then I'll teleport you above the monster! One strike! Got it?”

“Yes!”

I knew exactly what she meant.

“Teleport!”

When the final teleportation ended, we appeared directly above the boss monster. Just ten meters below us, the Great Goblin clutched an ornate golden staff and squawked at the monsters around it. In its own way, it was probably commanding its army.

“Kim Gongja!”

“Hyaaaah!”

I wrapped my entire body in aura and let out a battle cry. Had it heard our voices? The Great Goblin directing the monsters tilted its head and looked up.

GURK?

The Great Goblin's eyes met mine. But it was already too late.

SHAAAK!

My blade plunged straight into the crown of the Great Goblin's head, splitting its body in two. For all its status as a boss monster, it couldn't even resist. It merely stared at me until the end, as though protesting the injustice. To be fair, I alone had killed it twice now, so it had reason to feel wronged.

KERRK...

GRR, RRR...?

The monsters, suddenly deprived of their leader, stared at me in confusion. It had happened so quickly that they didn't seem to have properly registered it.

I gave them a grin.

“What?”

I stepped lightly on the Great Goblin's corpse.

“Want me to slice you in half too?”

Only then did the monsters belatedly scream.

SKREEEE!

GRRRK! GRR!

The goblins, orcs, and other grunts scattered in terror. When one fled, six followed; when six fled, thirty quickly followed them. Like toppling dominoes, monsters began fleeing in every direction.

“Yes!”

Beside me, the Witch clenched her small fist.

“Well done, Kim Gongja! My goodness! We're going to clear the stage in less than an hour! Probably fewer than fifty hunters have died! Maybe even fewer than thirty... Ah! It couldn't be any better!”

I had never seen the Witch so excited. Had she been expressionless in the previous run... because quite a few hunters had died while everyone fumbled around at the start? And now she was happy because the casualties were so low?

'She's surprisingly straightforward.'

Someone whose sorrow or joy depended on how few lives had been lost.

I smiled.

“Now, now, you're getting too excited. Calm down a little.”

“People should get excited when there's something to be excited about! I'll praise you again. You really did well, Kim Gongja! Since we began climbing the Tower, we've never cleared a stage with as few casualties as today. Be proud of yourself!”

The Witch smiled brightly. It wasn't the slight lift at the corners of her mouth she'd shown while speaking atop the walls. It was a genuine, broad smile.

“Even though you must have wanted to keep the clearing reward all to yourself. Really... I'm glad our new hero is someone like you. What a relief.”

“...”

“Starting today, every media outlet and reporter in the Tower will come running after you, so brace yourself!”

Pure goodwill.

'That's right.'

The Witch offered her hand for a handshake.

'That's what it is.'

As I took her hand, I thought.

'Of course, getting attention from ordinary people... from lots of people makes me happy too. It just feels good. Being exalted by them, envied, resented, treated as a hero. All of it feels so fucking fantastic.'

But.

'Not as good as earning these people's recognition.'

People who had worked hard all their lives. Even if they could never claim to have achieved the best possible outcome, they could say with certainty that they had lived doing their utmost.

The Sword Star, who had reached the pinnacle with a single sword. The Witch, who had built the greatest power in the world called the Tower. And countless others who truly lived their lives striving with all they had.

'I...'

I squeezed the Witch's hand.

'I want to live a life that earns the recognition of people like these.'

That wasn't all.

'I want to protect them.'

So that nothing like the Demon King could toy with them.

I wanted to sincerely acknowledge those who had worked hard all their lives... and earn their acknowledgment in return. Not insult or desecrate them like the Flame Emperor, not mock them, not greet everything with cold sneers or waste my days on vile schemes.

No. I wanted to earn their respect. Even if it was an impossible dream.

'That's how I want to live.'

In a world that had changed a little more, I wanted to change a little more myself. That was my deepest desire.

“You little punk.”

The attendant spirit muttered,

“You really are a bastard worth watching.”

Before long, a voice announced the clearing of the eleventh floor. Enormous letters appeared in the sky.

[Clear Contribution Rankings]

1st. Kim Gongja

2nd. Black Witch

3rd. Inquisitor

4th. Viper

5th. Paladin

6th. Count

7th. Sword Star

Just as the world had changed, the clearing rankings had shifted slightly too. The Sword Star, who had placed second in the previous run, had slipped all the way to seventh. Meanwhile, the Witch had soared from sixth to second.

[The top contributors will enter the twelfth floor first.]

[The remaining contributors cannot enter the twelfth floor until the top contributors have received their rewards.]

[Announcing once again to everyone...]

And at last, I heard it. The voice that threw open the doors to the demonic twelfth floor.

“At this rate, we might clear all the way to the twentieth floor in no time.”

The Witch spoke with her face slightly flushed.

“I expected at least five thousand casualties... This is a good start. A very good one.”

No. Left alone, the twelfth floor would exact a truly horrific toll. Above all, we would lose the Count, the Union's leader, who was indispensable to our contact with the outside. If our channel for external trade was severed, the Tower's economy would collapse in an instant. A period of turmoil would follow. The casualties might number not five thousand, but fifty thousand—perhaps even five hundred thousand.

'So.'

Therefore.

'I'll carry them through.'

Dazzling light enveloped us.

When I opened my eyes again, I was there. The imperial audience chamber. The marble floor, which had been stained with blood in the previous run, was still white.

“Oh?”

“Hmm.”

The hunters were summoned one after another. Their expressions as they looked at me varied. One smiled broadly, as if to say, “I knew you'd be here first,” while another looked frustrated, as if thinking, “First place again?” Just like the previous run.

“Hunter Kim Gongja! You were magnificent!”

The Inquisitor scurried over to praise me, just as before.

“To think you'd cooperate with the Black Dragon leader like that! Aha. Was locating the boss monster perhaps a reward from the previous stage? I imagine it must have been—”

“One moment.”

Unlike the previous run, however, the Inquisitor couldn't continue praising me. I raised a hand to stop him. He tilted his head.

“Yes?”

“There's something I need to tell everyone first.”

The hunters looked at me. The Witch still looked slightly flushed. Viper frowned indifferently. The Paladin wore an impassive expression. The Count fanned herself. As the other hunters looked on with their own expressions...

'What about the Sword Star?'

I checked the old man's behavior first.

“...”

The Sword Star stood alone in a corner of the audience chamber. Quiet. Even when our eyes met, he showed no particular reaction. He simply watched me with his arms folded.

'It worked!'

It was so different from the previous run, when he had attacked with his sword without warning.

'We're good now!'

The maddening quarrel that had erupted at the beginning of the twelfth floor was gone. I had eliminated it. I had succeeded in halting their hostility, if only temporarily.

My heart pounding, I spoke.

“There's something I told you all yesterday.”

“Yesterday?”

“The favor.”

I answered the Inquisitor's question.

“I said that if I ever asked you for a favor, I wanted you to grant it, just once.”

“Ah, yes! Of course I remember!”

“I'd like you to grant that favor now.”

I slowly looked over the hunters. At the mention of a favor, the guild leaders were listening intently.

“For the next five days. Just five days, please stay here without doing anything.”

“...”

“And in return...”