SSS-Class Suicide Hunter

1.

I don’t think I’ve ever felt a refreshing breeze in my life.

-Hey.

But I have felt a hot wind once.

I remember feeling it one day.

-I’ve heard a lot about you.

The hot wind suddenly blew from behind me.

-Are you the Grey Spider?

-…….

-It’s hard to pronounce. Let’s just call you Grey. How about that, Grey? Sounds friendly and nice. Hey, Grey. But why is it so suffocating here? No windows? What about ventilation? Is this really a place where people live?

The ‘Grey Spider’ sighed and turned around.

The man was red and hot.

Though the season had turned to autumn, turning leaves red, this man’s hair was more akin to the sun than to autumn leaves. His eyes. His mouth, always slightly upturned. His shining white teeth. Everything about him sizzled like summer, as if he was born in the wrong season.

He wore a sleeveless martial arts uniform with ‘劍’ (Sword) boldly written on it.

Using my peripheral vision magic, I saw ‘帝’ (Emperor) written on the back of his uniform.

-You’re a real lunatic. Damn it.

The man, hot like summer, clearly had his brain fried by the scorching heat.

Above all, even his sweat smelled hot.

Not stale sweat, but fresh sweat from exercise.

Given the rumors of his incessant training, it was no lie that his meridians and energy were always buzzing with aura, without a speck of impurity. His sweat drops would probably be clearer than those of a newborn baby.

Like dew on a fresh apple.

From the man’s sweat, I could only sense the temperature. Hot wind. Sunlight glistening on perfectly torn muscles. Hot dew. As if the sun itself was smiling, his sweat blatantly revealed a laughing warmth.

-Why?

Everything about him denied death.

-Are you jealous?

-I won’t ask how you managed to casually visit this top-secret research lab, accessible only to me. Firstly, it would be a waste of my time, and secondly, it would just give you a chance to brag about yourself.

-Grey, you’re quite the smart kid. Good for you.

-And I won’t fight you. Because if we fight here, my precious research tools would be destroyed. Sword Emperor. I’m trying my best to maintain my composure. For the sake of your life and my peace, please stop provoking me. Or I’ll rip you apart, you son of a bitch.

-What? You’re more sane than I thought.

The Sword Emperor flopped down on the sofa. It was a fantastic treasure with a soft and plush feel, discovered by chance when she destroyed a kingdom 600 years ago. It was also the ‘Grey Spider’s’ special spot, where she would rest when she felt the world and her research were too bothersome.

-Oh? Hey, this sofa is really soft and squishy? What is this? It’s awesome.

It was also an intelligent magical item.

-Aaaahhh?!

-Spit it out. Before I tear your mouth off and make a scarf out of it.

-I’ve already been bitten by this sofa that opened its mouth on my magnificent butt!

-I know you’re a legendary hunter. Sword Emperor. It’s only been a fortnight since you reached the 50th floor? The streets are already abuzz with your achievements.

-My butt! My butt! Aaaahhh! My cute little butt!! It’s getting torn!!

-Damn it.

The ‘Grey Spider’ smacked the sofa with her staff. Finally, the sofa let go of the Sword Emperor’s butt and closed its mouth.

-Ha, hee, hoo… Ha, hee, hoo… That was close.

-Just tell me what you’re here for.

-I was just curious and came to see. You’ve been cooped up here for over a thousand years, right? I came to see what kind of person does such legendary hikikomori stuff. (ED: hikikomori is a term in japanese for shut-ins)

-So?

-You seem more normal than I thought. Ouch, it hurts.

The Sword Emperor dusted off his butt. The Grey Spider frowned.

-Normal? Who are you calling normal?

-Grey, you.

-…I’ve been called many things, but it’s been a while since someone called me normal.

-You get angry at things that rightfully deserve anger. Then you take responsibility in your own way. That’s just like a normal adult.

The Sword Emperor shrugged his shoulders.

The Grey Spider was incredulous.

-Do you realize that right now, in the basement of the Magic Tower, six Sword Constellations are nailed down, serving as magic power generators, and that we’ve conquered dozens of worlds so far?

-There must be reasons for each.

-…….

-I can tell just by looking into your eyes. Whether you’re just a whippersnapper taking out your frustrations on the world, or someone who spins webs in the world according to their own rules. Grey, you’re the latter. You might have been hurt in the past, but you’ve more or less overcome it.

-…Ha. A brat who I’ve only known for three minutes is acting like a sage.

-I don’t think it’s presumptuous.

The Sword Emperor grinned.

-It took you a thousand years to be in that place, and a thousand years to meet me here. Those three minutes are just the outcome of those thousand years. Life is ultimately about waiting to meet someone.

-…….

-So, am I your destiny? Sorry, but I’m not. The Sword Emperor stood up.

-I need to climb the tower more solitarily than anyone.

-…What are you talking about?

-There are many people unluckier than me in this world. They too could ascend if they only wished. I’ve decided to climb the tower alone to prove that.

-Ha.

The Grey Spider scoffed.

-What a noble spirit.

-Yeah. It’s a big deal.

The Sword Emperor bowed his head.

-Sorry.

-…….

-I have to achieve what I want to do. At all costs. I will dedicate my life to make a mark in this world with my sword. So, I don’t have time to spare for you. Even if I become a ghost, I will fulfill my mission.

The ‘Grey Spider’ was engulfed in a strange emotion.

She felt that the man in front of her was genuinely apologizing to her. It was as if he knew exactly what he needed to apologize for and what she needed to be apologized for.

He was a man she had only known for five minutes. But the ‘Grey Spider’ felt that his footprints had already been imprinted on a dry territory of her heart. It would take many winds to erase even the traces of his steps in this desert.

-…….

-You’re just living a longer life than others. Your clock is just a bit larger, so it takes a little more effort for the second hand to meet the hour hand. Wait. Live longer. Better days will come.

-You……

The ‘Grey Spider’ opened her mouth.

-You’re an incredibly irresponsible person, aren’t you?

-Huh.

The Sword Emperor laughed.

-I’m going to climb to the 51st floor tomorrow.

-I didn’t permit it.

-Don’t worry. I plan to remodel it a bit and then settle the bill.

-You think it’s going to be that easy?

-If it annoys you, if you hate it, then follow me.

-…….

-I have neither companions nor lovers. But having a stalker secretly trailing behind me is the destiny I must carry as a popular figure. Follow me and witness me conquering the 100th floor. Trust me, Grey!

The Sword Emperor’s smile shone like the sun.

And it was hotter than the desert.

-You be the second to conquer the 100th floor!

2.

Constellation [The Warhorse of the Eternal Plains].

Objective: Defeat the Magic Tower’s forces on the 50th floor.

Quest Progress: Good.

Constellation [The Eye Living in the Labyrinth].

Objective: Reveal and expose all the facilities and terrain inside the Magic Tower.

Quest Progress: Starting.

Constellation [The Bell that Mourns the Dead].

Objective: Engrave the names of those sacrificed by the Magic Tower in the past 150 years on the five spires as a tribute.

Quest Progress: Good.

Constellation [The Lone Seeker of Truth].

Objective: Find and challenge to a one-on-one duel each sworn enemy distributed among the followers of the Magic Tower.

Quest Progress: Good.

And.

Constellation [The Incarnation of Love and Lust].

Objective: Shake and crumble the heart of the leader of the Magic Tower, commonly known as the Elder, in any way possible.

Quest Progress:

“Hey,”

Currently ongoing.

“You son of a bitch!”

A storm of magical power surged.

“Wow. This is really on a different level…”

“You thought you could come back alive! Is it reincarnation? Possession? Why didn’t you die and return?!”

I quickly raised my aura and unfolded the Infernal Heavens Demonic Art. I split my shadow into hundreds of fragments, attacking the Elder simultaneously. Boom! Hundreds of explosions erupted in midair.

-Zombie.

Behind the dust created by the explosions, the Elder was unharmed. Furiously, she was flying towards me. With every flick of her fingers, dozens of spells unfolded. All my attacks were intercepted.

-Sorry, but could you repeat what I just said?

‘It’s fine. Go ahead.’

-You don’t you seem no stronger than you were 150 years ago?

I smirked.

“Hey, Grey.”

“Die!”

“You don’t seem no stronger than you were 150 years ago? It’s, well, kind of disappointing.”

“I’ll kill you! I will rip your soul apart and scatter it across the world, then cover it in shit!”

Fierce.

“You know the heart of the remaining humans, yet you dare! Sword Emperor!”

The magic wielded by the Elder of the Magic Tower was indeed splendid.

Every instant, thirty-six different spells were launched at me. Thirty-six, each with its own direction and speed, ruthlessly slicing through the flow. An attack without any pattern. It was a carpet bombing.

Pop!

For the first time since the battle started, blood dripped from my cheek.

“Arrogantly stirring up people’s hearts, living as you please, then dying as you please! Watching you conquer the 100th floor alone? Bullshit! You bastard! You just died alone!”

-Hahahaha.

“The only regret of my life was giving a guy like you even a single chance!

-No, no. The 99th floor was surprisingly tough. I couldn’t help it, you know?

“Turn to ashes!”

Swoosh.

A blade-like magical force grazed my calf. Fortunately, it didn’t sever any nerves, but I felt a sharp pain.

“People like you always do that. Thinking they’re different, believing this time will be different, persuading with all kinds of sweet words! But the result is always failure! Sword Emperor, how are you any different from them? Just another bastard with sweet words!”

Honestly, it was dangerous.

Despite my pride in surpassing the Constellation Killer, I was losing to the Grey Spider. Was it because it was my first time facing a great sorcerer? Or because her rage had amplified the power of her magic?

“So many! So many bastards!”

Even when I executed the first form of Infernal Heavens Demonic Art, the Sword of Starvation,

“How dare you, immerse me in so many and so many emotions!”

It was easily countered.

She seemed to know all too well what hunger really felt like.

“What’s so special about you! Trash!”

Even when I simultaneously deployed the Sword of Thirst and the Sword of the Drowned,

“What exactly are you trying to show by conquering the tower alone, to those more unfortunate than you? Sword Emperor, what have you shown them?”

The Elder quickly perceived and twisted my offense, knowing all too well what it meant to be thirsty or suffocating.

“Do you know? After you died, the Cult of the Sword Emperor was formed. Ha! Isn’t it a laughable masterpiece? A religion. Religion! You tried to show how great a human can be, but the result was the greatness of a god! People, humans, they never acknowledge someone greater than themselves. Only after becoming a god do they recognize you! Sword Emperor! In the end, you only created another deity in this world!”

Freezing death, poisonous death, death by illness, death by blunt impact, death by fire. Even suicide.

From the first to the ninth heaven of Infernal Heavens, the Elder had traversed them all, breaking through, finally reaching right in front of me.

“I’ll ask you once more!”

She too had burst blood vessels. Wounded by the sword I wielded, blood spurted from her forearm and thigh. But none of the wounds were fatal. Perhaps she had lived too long to accept new injuries now.

The Elder had reached right in front of me.

Magic, shot in like a spear, intersected with my blade.

“Why shouldn’t I kill you!”

“…….”

Thump.

My heart throbbed.

‘…Half Divine Eye.’

A sixth sense that emerged in me after meeting the Tower Master and witnessing her trauma, along with the screams of agony throughout the universe. It suddenly raised its head.

The phenomenon where I briefly glimpse the past or future of the person I’m fighting against.

This bizarre occurrence follows no certain rules. Like déjà vu, without any warning, sometimes a landscape piercing the opponent’s heart also pierces mine.

“Follow me.”

Not the voice Bae Hu-ryeong had given me,

But the voice the Sword Emperor had once given to the Elder, echoed like an auditory hallucination.

“Wait. Live longer.”

“Engrave the sight of me ascending the 100th floor in your eyes.”

“I will fulfill my mission, even if I have to become a ghost.”

“Believe in me!”

Overlaying that voice was the Elder’s emotion. Like a daydream floating in broad daylight, just as the Sword Emperor had said, the Elder had secretly followed him.

When the Sword Emperor reached the 99th floor, the Elder silently waited on the 90th.

Without telling anyone.

“…….”

One week.

“…….”

Six months.

“…….”

Three years.

“….Yes.”

When six years had passed, the Elder quietly stood up.

She murmured softly, turning her back.

“Idiot bastard.”

The hallucination shattered there.

“You idiot bastard!”

It seemed like I heard a clang.

Was it an auditory hallucination?

But the scene that had briefly unfolded before my eyes shattered like glass. Pushing through the countless shards, the Elder lunged at me.

Crack!

Her fingers stretched out and grabbed my throat.

“Do you know why I didn’t rebuild the sixth spire? Why I left the ruins untouched for over a hundred years? It was to nail your remains on it, seal them, and make them the offering for the sixth tower!”

“…….”

“Pay the price for your defeat! Sword Emperor! Just like other humans, just like the constellations, you are nothing but a failure, and I will proclaim this to the world! I’ll ensure no one else harbors vain hopes again!”

Her fingers dug into my throat.

Bae Hu-ryeong silently watched.

From behind the Elder.

The Elder was shouting at the Sword Emperor, but he was actually behind her. Even as I winced from the pain strangling my throat, I kept my gaze fixed on Bae Hu-ryeong till the end.

-…….

Bae Hu-ryeong was calm.

Expressionless.

Seeing his eyes devoid of any regret, remorse, or even a trace of self-blame, I realized something I had vaguely felt for a long time, only to truly acknowledge it at this moment.

“…No.”

I murmured.

“What?”

“The Sword Emperor… your rival, he didn’t fail.”

I raised my left hand.

Squeeze.

I grabbed the wrist of the Elder who was clutching my throat.

“Elder. The Sword Emperor never failed.”

“What are you talking about now…”

“I told you. He said he would fulfill his mission even if he had to become a ghost.”

I looked down into the Elder’s eyes.

“The Sword Emperor didn’t fail. He just died.”

“…….”

“He’s still climbing the 99th floor. But as a spirit, not a human. From the 1st floor… all over again.”

I said.

“Right?”

“…….”

In the midst of the Elder’s silence.

Indeed, and then

-You’re right.

Bae Hu-ryeong slowly opened his mouth.

-I am still undertaking the 99th-floor quest. Gong-ja.

*****