Soaring. (2)

"Hup?!"

In the end, the Sword Saint was still the Sword Saint. So even though he was shocked, he still swung his sword. If I hadn't shaken him beforehand, he probably would've been able to block my attack.

However, this time I was one step ahead of him.

"...!"

My Holy Sword was pointed at the old man's neck. I stopped. The old man glanced at the sword that was only 5 centimeters away from his neck and stopped as well. As a last ditch effort, the Sword Saint had lifted his sword to my neck, but it was over 15 centimeters away.

"Hoo."

I chuckled.

"I won. Old man."

"..."

The Sword Saint's expression crumpled rapidly.

"Th-, this doesn't count! Invalid! It's invalid!"

"Ha. I don't know what you're talking about. A win is a win. Are you going to cry out that it's invalid after losing on the battlefield? Huh? I didn't know you were like that, old man."

"But there should still be a limit! This… This…."

"'This' what?"

"This was shameless!"

What? Shameless?

Wasn't that a compliment?

"Puhaha! Thanks a lot, old man. I never thought I'd hear the Sword Saint call me shameless! I finally feel that this life is worth living. I hope you live a long, healthy life."

"You…"

The Sword Saint's face trembled slightly. If looks could kill, I probably would've died already. But the more he glared at me like that, the happier I felt.

"I was holding myself back from talking about our 'Master'! I was waiting out of consideration for you. How could you trample on an old man's heart so carelessly!"

"Sure, loser."

"Lo-, loser?! Hmph. We fought 53 times so far, and I won 52 times! If I have 52 wins and 1 loss out of 53 fights then I'm naturally the winner!"

"The last fight is always the most important. Don't you know the tale of the Hegemon-King, Xiang Yu(1)? Even if you fight 100 battles and win 99 of them, if you lose 1 time, you're a loser. If you are Xiang Yu, then I am Liu Bang. I'm the master of the world."

"Then we should fight another round!"

"Hmph. I don't want to fight. I don't want to fight for the next six months. Instead, I'm going to spread the news that I beat the Sword Saint to everyone I know for six months. Then I'll think about fighting you again."

"Hu-… Kuh, huk…!!"

At that moment, the Sword Saint looked like he was about to pass out. It was as if his heart and blood vessels were obstructed and his blood flow was restricted. I said a silent prayer for the old man.

Then, a voice came from not so far away.

"…it seems you two are very close."

Paht!

Someone appeared in the air before landing lightly on the ground. It was the Black Dragon Master. The spectators around the field immediately went into an uproar as the Black Dragon Master appeared with a teleport skill. The top 3 hunters were all gathered in one place.

"Huh."

The Black Dragon Master finally realized there were other people there. She smiled and waved her hand.

Click! Click!

The hunters hurriedly took out their phones and began taking pictures of the three of us. Only then did the Black Dragon Master turn to look at us with a strange expression on her face.

"The Death King has always been childish, so that's nothing strange, but… Sword Saint, what happened to you? Did you hang out with the Death King too much? Did that end up lowering your mental age? Except for your aloof image, you are utterly rotten."

"I don't want to hear that from a witch who pretends to act coy!"

"Ah. Right. Now that I think about it, you were a bit passionate when you first entered the Tower. I can just barely remember… but I don't really miss it."

The Black Dragon Master's eyes narrowed slightly as she remembered the past. But it was only for a brief moment. The Black Dragon Master immediately schooled her expression and told us why she was there.

"I don't care if you act like children another time, but for today, please show an image befitting the first- and second-ranked. Except for you two, all of the other rankers have gathered in the Great Library."

"Huh?"

Tilting my head slightly, I sheathed my Holy Sword.

"Did something happen?"

"Somehow, you're able to do it every day without getting tired of it, but… Hmph. Today is important."

The Black Dragon Master muttered softly.

"We're going to open the 31st floor."

3.

It had already been 56 days since we cleared the Great Library.

For the past two months, the days had been hectic.

What? We had a hard time clearing the 21st to 30th floors, so we could take a rest? That was only true for ordinary hunters. Top hunters, like the Black Dragon Master and me, were rather busy. To put it bluntly, I was so busy, I felt like I was dying.

About a month ago, one of the most powerful warlords in Africa had successfully been taken down, and about 1,300 defeated soldiers had fled to the Tower. It was pretty crazy, but stuff like that happened relatively often. Nevertheless, we still had our hands full splitting up the new entrants.

"Welcome! I've been waiting for you!"

When we got to the Great Library, the Heretic Questioner greeted us with a smile.

His appearance was as cute as an angel's, but when one thought about the fact that he'd interrogated 33 of the soldiers during the separation process with the same smile, the level of cuteness dropped significantly.

"I heard that you intend to open the 31st floor."

"Yeah! We've completed the most important tasks to an extent. There is still a lot of work to be done, but I'm sure the executive level will be able to handle it. Right. Everyone has to play their part!"

"Mm."

I nodded my head.

The role of the top-ranked hunters was to continuously attack the Tower. We moved upward, planted our flags, and showed those who followed us that we still had 'further to go.' We showed them the direction. And when they saw this direction, it gave them hope.

In return, we had authority.

A responsibility that we risked our lives for.

"Death King. What happened in the spar this morning? The Sword Saint looks like he ate a pile of shit!"

"He might have to use the bathroom. Let's wrap this meeting up as soon as possible in consideration for our elders."

"Oh, no! Sword Saint, it's okay to go use the bathroom. We can wait a few more minutes. It's not like the 31st floor is gonna run away. Oh. Are you constipated? That would be a bit of a problem."

"You guys…"

"Hmm."

Crusader coughed slightly.

"Now that everyone's here, let's begin."

Crusader then turned her head to look at Hamustra.

Hamustra stood beside the table in silence, still dressed as a cafe employee. Hamustra was no longer the bookkeeper for the Great Library. Now, he was just a part-time employee of the Library Cafe Planetarium.

"Then call [The Librarian]."

"Mm. Understood."

Hamustra smiled before walking out of the Library Cafe. Not from the front door but the back. A place with a sign which said 'Only employees allowed past this point'.

A little later.

A child in fluffy pajamas followed Hamustra back into the room.

"You called…?"

The child yawned loudly.

"Ah, Death King. Long time no see."

The child was hugging a pillow in their arms, as if they had just woken up. The pillow was large and had colorful peaches on it.

No matter how you looked at them, you would think they were a little kid.

[The Lady Who Walks Through the Mirage greets you.]

This was the being who had taken over as the Librarian on the 30th floor for Hamustra. This wasn't any ordinary constellation but was instead one of the so-called 'pillars.'

I bowed slightly.

"Yeah. Long time no see, milady."

There would be a chance to talk about that Constellation later.

For now, the important fact was that [The Lady Who Walks Through The Mirage] was in charge of the Great Library and the Apocalypses. It was also a fact that she would act as a guide and helper as we attacked the Tower.

"Hmm."

The Lady looked around the table with a drowsy expression.

"All of the top rankers are gathered here… Do you plan to start today?"

"That's right."

It was the Black Dragon Master who answered on our behalf.

"You told us two months ago that the next stage would be opened whenever we wanted. We've finished arranging everything, so we'd like to start today."

"Heh. You're pretty fast…."

The Lady rubbed her eyes with her little hands.

"I'm only saying this in case you misunderstood something. There is no time limit when attacking the Tower. It doesn't matter if you take 600 days or 1200 years. It's fine even if you don't clear it. Are you really sure you want to open the 31st floor today?"

"Right. We…"

"Ah. Sorry, little Black. But I wasn't speaking to you."

The Lady interrupted the Black Dragon Master.

"This is something that can only be decided by the number one. That's the rule. It's the same in any Tower. You are currently ranked third, so you have no right to make the decision."

"..."

The Black Dragon Master shut her mouth.

"I'm sorry. You must think I'm being too stuck up, right? Unfortunately, rules are rules, especially in the Tower. Everything depends on the person in the number one spot. In truth, you're pretty lucky. In the past…"

"Lady."

Hamustra spoke up quietly from the side.

"I don't want to point it out, but you're talking too much."

"Ah. Sorry. I've been sleepy ever since I came here… Anyway, Swordy. Are you sure you want to unlock the 31st floor?"

The Lady was looking at the number one hunter in the Tower. The Sword Saint.

"..."

The Sword Saint slowly looked around. Every hunter who met the old man's gaze nodded in turn. When the Crusader, to whom his eyes turned last, also nodded, the Sword Saint finally opened his mouth.

"I'd like to unlock it."

"Hmm. Understood."

The Lady spread her arms.

The pillow she was holding fell to the floor.

"I, [The Lady Who Walks Through The Mirage], as the temporary guide of this Tower, acknowledge your journey to heaven."

Suddenly, a voice rang out.

[Announcing to everyone.]

[Today, the next stage has been unlocked]

It was the Tower's voice.

"Mm. Since everyone is here, I'll just skip the formalities…."

The Lady waved her hand.

Then, a list appeared in front of our eyes.

+

1. Pure Race

2. Demon Race

3. Snail Race

4. Angel Race

5. Ancient Race

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+

No matter how much I scrolled, the list didn't seem to have an end. Tens and hundreds of names followed one after the other.

'It's finally here.'

I tried my best to maintain my composure as my heart pounded in my chest.

However, my companions seemed to be more curious than excited. They all looked at the list with furrowed eyebrows.

In this situation, the first person to ask a question was, naturally, the Heretic Questioner.

"What is this?"

"Good question."

The Lady laughed.

Maybe she was happy to answer our question.

"Try tapping on them. You'll find out."

When he heard the Lady's words, the Heretic Question tapped on the 'Pure Race'.

Paht.

Immediately after, a hologram appeared in our minds.

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[Pure Race]

Extinction Grade: F (No Danger)

Proverb: 'We decide the World.'

Description: A race with average abilities. Depending on the world, the Pure could either be the slaves of other races or reign as the masters of that world. 'We are the representatives of intelligent beings.' The Pure claim to be the purest beings—in other words, pure human beings. According to them, average is normal, and they set it as their standard.

Talents: [Rapid Attitude Shift], [Legacy of Records], [Square Enthusiast]

Evolutions: None

Aliases: Human, Hume, Homo Sapiens, etc.

+

An image floated beside the information.

No matter how we looked at it, the being shown was exactly like us.

"..."

My heart began to pound even faster.

If I remember correctly, the stage that we were entering was….

"It's a race war!"

Race War.

"Each of you will have to pick a race! That race will worship you as their god and develop their civilizations according to your wishes and orders."

Choose one race from hundreds.

In the past, the Flame Emperor, who was number one in the rankings, chose the Fairy Race. He chose a race that was often called 'Elf'. And he manipulated those Fairies just like everything else. The process was so horrific that I'd rather not mention it.

However, what I could say was that I'd never thought Elves could become such a violent and brutal race.

'For the God of Fire!'

While shouting these words, Elves charged forward, slaughtering other races to their hearts' content.

This was an example of the kind of disaster that could occur when the number one hunter was mentally unstable.

"Hmm."

The Heretic Questioner tilted his head to the side.

"What do you mean by 'develop their civilization??"

"Exactly that. Develop their civilization in any way you desire. You can create a civilization of warlike bandits, or you can create a civilization of scholars who worship knowledge. It's all up to you. Ah, right. Would it be easier to understand if I said it this way?"

The Lady sighed softly before bending and picking up her pillow.

"This time, you all…"

Then, with the peach pillow in her hands, the Lady smiled.

"…will experience what it's like to be a Constellation!"

A buzz rippled through the room.

In the meantime, my eyes remained glued to the list, trying to decide which race would be the best choice.

'Dragon Sub Race. These guys all looked fierce and powerful like Dragons, but were they actually closer to Wyverns? The Fairies… I might have chosen them before my return. But now, the thought of using the Fairies that the Flame Emperor once used inflicted deep wounds on my tender heart…'

-Crazy.

Bae Huryeong clicked his tongue.

-Just pick the plain Pure Race. You are a Pure too. As a member of the race, you will know how to raise it best.

'No.'

It was obvious which race I had to choose.

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103. Dokkaebi Race

+

I silently touched the name of that race.

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[Dokkaebi Race]

Extinction Grade: A (Very Dangerous)

Aliases: Goblin, etc.

+

Goblin.

It felt like an electric current went through my body as I looked at this two syllable word.

How could I express what this current felt like?

Love?

Destiny?

No.

'I'm a regressor who returned 11 years in the past.'

So this-

'I have to get it.'

I took a card out of my pocket.

It was a trump card that I had cherished for a very long time.

A secret that no one could ever imagine.

'The time has come.'

On this card, which had a color that was infinitely similar to poop, intricate letters were inlaid.

+

[Goblin High Society]

Rank: F

Effects: The king goblin was lost in thought. 'The level of culture for us goblins is too low. All languages end in kerrk, kerk. I cannot show my dignity with this!' Then, the king goblin's genius mind flashed. 'That's right! From now on, I will speak gork and not kerk. Gork! It's a pronunciation that perfectly fits the precious king.'

※However, the fights within the tribe become worse.

※This is a skill copied from the Great King Goblin monster.

+

-Hey? Hey. Wait a minute.

I could practically feel the expression of the ghost behind me change.

-You wouldn't, would you? Gongja. Even if you are one of the worst bastards in the world, you're not that bad. Right?

My expression was solemn.

'Goblin.'

I declared in a steady tone.

'I choose Goblin.'

Bae Huryeong fell silent for a moment.

Then he exploded.

-Hey! You crazy bastard!!

Now.

It was time to soar.