Transmigrator. Tower. Villains. (2)

"Hello? Mister Ativan? Are we going to the hunting grounds or not? Look, I have a huge debt piled up, so I would like to get a move on if you understand me."

The blue-eyed man continued on and on but his cloaked companion was frozen still.

"Ativan? Goddamn it!" Just as the man was about to grab Ativan's shoulder, he snapped his fingers.

Ativan turned to the blue-eyed man with a hardened gaze and clicked his tongue.

"Shut up for a second," he said. "I am thinking."

The force in his voice made the blue-eyed man stand still. Never before had he expected this lucky dog that was made a king to bark as if he was truly a lion. Such a discrepancy left the blue-eyed man stumped.

On the other hand, the dog-turned-lion was making his brain wriggle more than a worm on the verge of death.

'Fuck, fuck, fuck! Isn't this right before the scene in chapter two!?'

Ativan, the transmigrator could remember it perfectly well, he was one of the first of the record six hundred comments on that chapter after all. His 'first' had even earned him a cookie emote from the author, whatever that meant.

It was the incident that spurred the beginning of the story. After ten years of being stuck on the fifth floor, the tower's progression had reached a standstill. The tower didn't 'choose' any more people from the outside world, while the ones who initially came inside voluntarily, chasing after the romance of adventure and power had almost stopped even thinking of this place.

At such a time, an orphan on the streets of Western Europe had killed a public official and ran away to the tower to avoid the eyes of the law. That was the main character of the story.

It was revealed further down the line that he had murdered the official to save a child he had taken care of like a little sister, but that didn't change the fact that he had to face a lot of shit in the tower.

The tower where he didn't have anything. Subpar skills that wouldn't even get him in a mercenary group, no connections, no money. In such a time, he could only turn to what he had escaped from.

A life of crime.

And the one providing this life to all the lowest rung in the tower was none other than himself, or, his previous self. Ativan von Carley.

"Ativan?"

"Right," Ativan said. He turned away from the blue-eyed man and adjusted the fit of his cloak. "Let's go, Lutein."

With that, Ativan took a step ahead, not noticing the smile on his blue-eyed companion's face. He didn't have to see it. The story of [The Tower's SSS-Class Hunter] was written in first person.

***

A chance.

For a long, long time. Lutein had been searching for a chance.

Having run away from the outside world into the tower, he was left to struggle with nothing to his name. Scum of the tower's society. Unfortunately, there always existed even lower beings who leeched off even the scum to go just one step higher, and the biggest leech was none other than Ativan.

A typical idiot who believed that people who had ulterior motives were more believable than people who held trust or faith. He had squeezed out the last drops of blood from everyone who was struggling in the tower. From murder to petty thievery, selling and buying information and illegal items, human trafficking, not even children were spared from his wiles.

But, not anymore.

Five long years of gaining that bastard's trust and becoming his right-hand man were coming to an end.

At last, he had created a place where there would only be the two of them.

Killing one made him kill dozens more. And now, Lutein was planning to kill just one last time. Just one last time to get rid of this bastard.

Lutein and Ativan reached the outskirts of the hunting grounds. North of Symphonia, this place that teemed with monsters was the perfect spot for newcomers to grow their strength. The tower was considerate, it had created something right out of a game for them to work with.

Blades of overgrown grass fluttered, their sounds merging with the howling wind.

The blue of the fake sky was still bright as the pair looked into the heart of the cave. This was a new 'dungeon' hidden on the floor that Ativan had purchased the exclusive rights to.

"Let's go in," Ativan said.

Lutein adjusted his armor and tapped his sword once. Everything was prepared.

Ativan stepped ahead into the cave, and Lutein followed right back.

This cave was soon going to become one person's grave.