Chapter 61 - An Expedition Without Dreams or Hope (3)

The two silently looked at each other's medicine. Everyone else was silent too. Seeing such different results produced from exactly the same ingredients had left them all stunned.

"Oh?"

The Apothecary moved first. She pushed her glasses firmly into place with thin fingers whose joints stood out, then tilted her head.

"Is this the medicine you made, sir...?"

The Medicine King said nothing. The Apothecary plucked his potion from his hand and examined it from every angle.

"Hmm."

She tilted it.

"Oh."

She turned it upside down. Then she returned it to the Medicine King's hand and adjusted her glasses.

"So this is... your level...?"

Hmm.

'Is she the type who becomes infinitely bolder when she thinks she has the upper hand?'

In other words, did she harbor the seeds of insanity like every other high-level hunter?

No. Surely not...

While I rekindled my faith in humanity, the Medicine King finally reacted.

"Hmm..."

There was a considerable difference in their heights. The woman's limbs were long, as full of promise as the years ahead of her; the old man's frame was small, shriveled by the years behind him. Thus, the Apothecary looked down at the Medicine King, and he looked up at her.

"Could it be, sir..."

"Could it be, youngster..."

They spoke simultaneously.

"That you're not very good...?"

"That you're lucky...?"

Hmm.

"Pardon?"

While the Apothecary tilted her head, the Medicine King nodded.

"You're lucky."

"Pardon?"

"Tsk, tsk. This is the trouble with young people. Reminds me of when I made about 1.7 billion dollars on Wall Street in ten minutes, back in my thirties. I thought it was all my own skill too."

"..."

The Apothecary tilted her head. Her glasses tilted along with it. From her now-slanted lips came a genuinely pissed-off voice.

"Would you like another round...?"

"Are you sure? The goddess of fortune never smiles twice. Tsk, tsk. Young people these days..."

Three minutes passed.

"You're very lucky. But surely the goddess of fortune never smiles three times. This time, I'll show you the difference experience makes..."

Another three minutes passed.

"You're extraordinarily lucky. But the goddess of fortune never smiles four—"

"Enough..."

At last, the Sword Star grabbed the Medicine King's shoulder.

"Enough, Medicine King..."

"Markus, what are you talking about?!"

"You're making a dreadful spectacle of yourself..."

"No! This time! This time, my skill! My experience will crush that novice's luck! Can't you see Sean McAllister's road to victory?!"

"I'm sorry, young lady. You truly are the finest apothecary. It was my fault for not believing the Death King's assurance at once."

The Sword Star bowed his head in apology. The Apothecary, who had been looking down at the Medicine King as though he were a water flea, murmured, "Hmm," and composed herself.

"Your... friend must make things difficult for you..."

"Well, he does... have his good points. He can make medicine... not as well as you, but he can..."

"Yes... I suppose he's better than nothing... He isn't entirely lacking in fundamentals, so I guess he wouldn't be completely useless as an assistant..."

Just as the Apothecary muttered this, adjusting her glasses—

"You!"

With the agility of a cat pouncing on catnip, the Count, leader of the Union, seized the Apothecary's wrist and clung to it.

"A contract!"

"Pardon?"

"A contract! An immediate contract! An exclusive contract! A contract with me!"

"Uh, um..."

"The best terms in the industry, guaranteed! I'll even let you pet cats! No, I'll let you roll around in a whole field of cats! What do you say? What do you say?!"

The Apothecary was too bewildered to speak. But the Count was only the beginning.

"Me too!"

"Apothecary! Since the Death King chose you, you're the Apothecary King!"

"No, drop the 'sa' from 'yakjesa'—Medicine Emperor!"

"O God of Medicine! Give us some medicine too!"

It was what I had experienced after clearing the tenth floor solo. Countless requests for handshakes engulfed the Apothecary.

4

"F-first!"

Flustered, the Apothecary pushed the people back.

"Anyone who wants to, um, buy medicine from me should go to the Death King first! Oh, of course, my existing customer... um, the Paladin is fine! But otherwise! I-I'm only going to sell medicine to people the Death King approves, so, um... please don't make a nuisance of yourselves..."

At that, the hunters, including the Count, turned their eyes toward me. The Paladin alone silently raised her arms in celebration, then silently lowered them again.

I grinned.

"Let's think about that after we clear Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon."

"Oh! Y-yes!"

An appeal to climb the Tower always worked on hunters. Even the Count retreated with a bitter expression.

'Good.'

That settled our lineup. First, we had the Sword Star. Then the Apothecary. Above all, we had me.

"No, this can't be! It can't! My experience! My years of wisdom can't be toyed with like this by some youngster's dumb luck!"

And that fellow, whether he was the Medicine King or the Emperor of Cognitive Dissonance... well, as the Apothecary said, he was better than nothing.

"Hmm! It seems the cast has been decided."

The Librarian, who had watched our entire show, spoke brightly.

"Let me say this again. If you die inside an apocalypse, you die in reality. There is only one way to escape safely! Overcome the threat of discontinuation, however you can. Then reach a proper [ending]!"

"What counts as a proper ending?"

"That is for you to decide."

The Librarian grinned at my question.

"Perhaps you will eradicate the plague and save Murim. Perhaps you will use the plague to become its masters yourselves. The possibilities are almost endless! Decide for yourselves which would be the [best ending]."

In short, everything was entirely up to us. I nodded.

"All right. Then send us into [Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon] right—"

"Wait!"

Someone shouted.

"School Master, aren't you going?"

"Exactly. Wouldn't a martial arts story be the perfect opportunity for you to shine?"

They were hunters from the Heavenly Martial School, the guild Viper led. Viper, who had been quietly keeping his head down in the martial arts fiction group, blinked.

"Huh?"

The Heavenly Martial School's disciples each had something to say to the bewildered Viper.

"No matter how I look at it, this world was made for you..."

"I agree, School Master. Who knows the ways of the martial world better than you?"

"I think so too, Master. You should step forward."

Viper furrowed his brow, then slowly crossed his arms. Manly resolve lurked in his thick brow and the single eye beneath it.

"Indeed. I was just about to step forward. You bastards hadn't forgotten about me, had you?"

"..."

I was speechless. How strange. There was no way that man was interested in a martial arts world.

Suspicious, I opened his Character window and read his mental state... and sure enough.

「These goddamn disciples!」

「Why the fuck are they trying to send me to that backwater?!」

Viper was screaming inwardly.

Outwardly, however, he remained solemn. As though he had merely been waiting for his disciples to urge him on, the one-eyed swordsman spoke quietly.

"Those who revere martial prowess and chivalry. The world of warriors and wandering heroes—that is Murim! Though I was born elsewhere, Murim has long been the homeland of my heart."

「They won't even have flush toilets there. I went through so much fucking misery over that in the Aegim Empire. Fuck...」

Good heavens.

"Surely you know why the school I founded is called the Heavenly Martial School."

「It's an abbreviation of 'Is there any PROBLEM with the fact that I, who have the cheat skill UNRIVALED UNDER HEAVEN, was a textbook example of a thirty-two-year-old UNEMPLOYED man before entering the Tower?' But everyone thought it meant Heavenly Martial School. Even the sign maker wrote it that way. I can't explain it now, god fucking damn it...」

Ghood heavens.

"I must go."

「I absolutely don't want to go!」

I was speechless. The attendant spirit sharing my consciousness seemed speechless too.

[Sparkle reports that she, too, is speechless.]

Before us stood a being who could leave a human, a ghost, and a constellation all lost for words.

The hunters cheered for that being. "Wooo!" The Heavenly Martial School's members were especially delighted.

"That's our School Master!"

"I knew you'd say that, Master!"

"Our idol! A true hunter of our time!"

"We'll follow you all our lives, School Master!"

If I hadn't been able to read minds... I might have been impressed too. In every outward respect, Viper was the very image of a chivalrous swordsman who had devoted his life to a single blade.

Just like the Sword Star. That same Sword Star crossed his arms.

"Hmm... Viper, I can see why you would wish to go."

"That goes without saying."

"Still, I don't see why I should yield my place."

The Sword Star raised his aura.

Viper was already building up his presence. The two master swordsmen's forces collided.

POP...!

With a sound like a bursting balloon, the surrounding air changed abruptly. Perhaps sensing danger, the bookmark maids scurried away or were caught in the clash and sent tumbling through the air.

The hunters grew even more excited.

"The Sword Star and Viper are facing off!"

"It's a battle of pride!"

What a spectacle. Knowing Viper's thoughts, I found it a spectacle for an entirely different reason.

Just then, something jingled.

"Sword Star. Heavenly Martial Sect's leader. Enough."

It was the sound of the Paladin stepping forward. The reason for the jingling was that she had been one of the few people to bet on the Apothecary. Her usually scrawny coin purse was now bulging with a forty-sevenfold payout.

If anything seemed a little odd about the Paladin's utterly serious expression, it must have been the magic of that swollen purse.

"Surely you don't intend to draw swords here?"

Whatever the state of her purse, her voice was serious. She was stepping in to mediate between them, as she always did.

As she always did...?

'Wait. Could it have [always] been like this...?'

"Exactly, Zombie. If it was, and we simply never knew..."

'This world really is full of forbidden knowledge we're better off not knowing...'

Viper snorted.

"If we have to cross swords, we cross swords. Fuck, the Sword Star and I are both warriors. Why don't we fight and let the stronger man go?"

「I'll lose on purpose!」

「It'd be humiliating to make it obvious, so I'll lose by the narrowest margin I can!」

「My disciples will understand if I lose to the Sword Star. Of course.」

It really was a spectacle.

The Sword Star, who couldn't possibly guess what was going on inside, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"I'm sorry, Viper... but against someone as strong as you, I have no choice but to give my all. As a result, I took out one of your eyes during our last spar. I cannot guarantee this time won't end the same way."

"Right back at you, old bastard. Come at me thinking I'm still the man I was then, and you'll end up in a coffin."

「Fuck! Fuck! Fuuuuck!」

Outwardly, Viper lacked nothing as a bold, spirited warrior.

The Sword Emperor floating beside me also wiped cold sweat from his brow, just like the Sword Star.

"Zombie."

'Yes, Mr. Sword Emperor.'

"I told you all high-level hunters are nuts. But, well... but seriously. That bastard, even among them... how do I put it..."

'He's the [real thing]...'

My forehead was covered in cold sweat too.

In fact, if we were only talking about sweating foreheads, everyone was in the same boat. All the hunters watched with cold sweat on their brows. The people watching the broadcast in Babylon's square were surely sweating too.

The Paladin's forehead was no exception. Sweat ran down her cheek and dripped onto her bulging purse of gold coins.

"Honestly, Viper, you really are..."

Viper gave a rugged smile.

"For a warrior, there are moments when backing down simply isn't an option."

「Paladin! Do something!」

She surely hadn't heard that desperate inward cry, but the Paladin really did do something. Specifically, she turned to the Sword Star and said:

"Sword Star... could you step aside this time?"

「No, why are you asking HIM to step aside?!」

'No, why are you asking HIM to step aside?!'

Ah. We matched. My thoughts had matched those of that [real thing]...

[Sparkle vibrates her blade to massage her Hero's waist.]

The Sword Emperor also placed a hand on my shoulder. While I received this silent comfort, the Paladin continued addressing the Sword Star.

"I know you always want to be on the front line. But you already participated in clearing floors twelve through nineteen with the Death King and the Witch, didn't you? To insist on being first into the twenty-second floor as well would truly be shameless."

A calm voice. A logical explanation. A face of utmost seriousness. The only distracting detail was the bulging purse protruding from her waist.

"Furthermore."

The Paladin pointed to Viper, then to the instigators who had suggested that their School Master should go.

"The Heavenly Martial Sect's leader heads an organization. Though he isn't the kind of man to worry about saving face before his disciples, his position differs from yours, as someone with no such ties. Could you show him a little respect?"

"Hmm..."

The Sword Star, Markus Kallenberg, gave a low murmur. The tempered old man furrowed his brow, then relaxed it. His eyebrows rose and fell several times. Then he crossed his arms.

"When have I ever cared about saving face for your Five Great Guilds?"

The Paladin hissed through her teeth.

"Sword Star, you really...!"

"However."

Cutting her off, the Sword Star turned to look at me.

Wait, why was he looking at me now...?

"Lately, I have been thinking I might try showing a little consideration myself."

It was a lovely sight: a stubborn old man bending his will. So lovely that I wished the Medicine King or whatever, still grumbling beside him about how "this can't be right," would learn even the tiniest thing from it.

But why was he showing that side of himself now...?

"Very well."

The Sword Star stepped back. His eyes lingered regretfully on Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon, but he severed that attachment in his heart and spoke.

"Viper, this time I shall yield my place to you."

Viper's eye widened, but only for an instant. He unleashed an even stronger presence and grinned, like a gambler who had won exactly as planned.

"Should've done that sooner. Count yourself lucky to be alive, old man."

「No! What? Why are you suddenly giving way?! Markus Kallenberg! You aren't the kind of person who yields anything to anyone! No, I don't want to go!」

An indescribable, forbidden spectacle lay before me.

The Paladin also looked at the Sword Star with an expression that was indescribable, albeit in a different sense. The Inquisitor, who had been watching with shining eyes, hopped over and hugged her arm.

"Amazing! Paladin, you persuaded the Sword Star!"

"No. The Sword Star chose to accept my reasoning."

"Ahaha, is that so? Then I must hug the Sword Star!"

"I categorically refuse."

The Sword Star put up an iron wall. Of course, no iron wall could stop a natural-born psycho, so he had to endure quite an ordeal for a while.

"Really... everyone is growing, little by little."

The Witch's soft chuckle, with a hand at her mouth, punctuated the scene. Amid an atmosphere that suggested a heartwarming episode had just unfolded, the three people who would accompany me into the apocalypse [Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon] made their preparations.

"Tsk. If it's settled, let's get going, you brats. We'll be here till dawn at this rate. Honestly, you're just like I was when I was young... Can't be helped, I suppose. Hah, really. What choice is there but for me to go? That youngster's dumb luck got me several times earlier, but the unprecedented, universally acknowledged greatest apothecary of all time is none other than me, the Medicine King."

"Ugh, Death King, I'm scared... Is it really all right for someone like me to come along? Oh, of course, I'm at least better than that old bastard calling himself the Medicine King or whatever, you know? That's as firmly proven as Galileo Galilei's heliocentric theory, you know, even if that water-flea-looking old bastard somehow refuses to acknowledge the results? But still, someone like me..."

"You noncombatants. Stay out of harm's way when the fighting starts. A head can go flying in an instant, you know?"

「I don't want to go... Switch with me... Grandpa Sword Star, please switch with me, even now...」

I stared blankly at my expedition companions. The Sword Emperor spoke in a rarely heard soothing tone.

"Don't worry, Zombie. If it looks wrong, just fucking die! Catch the disease or throw yourself off a towering cliff—rewind to before this moment today! I approve of this reset from the bottom of my soul. Granted, a soul's all I've got right now."

I nodded weakly.

"Yes... Let's go..."

"Very well."

Chuckling, the Librarian snapped his fingers.

SNAP!

The apocalypse in the Sword Star's hand flew into the Librarian's grasp of its own accord. As though to say he had merely lent it to us briefly and it had always belonged to him, the Librarian opened it with practiced hands.

"Death King, Viper, Medicine King, Apothecary."

Light poured from the book.

"I designate these four as new characters in [Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon]. When you open your eyes, you will find yourselves in that world ten days before its unfortunate discontinuation."

The light enveloped us.

"I look forward to seeing you bring about a splendid ending."

And so, an expedition without dreams or hope was dispatched.