SSS-Class Revival Hunter-Chapter 210: Cheat (3)

“My name is Kim Gong-Ja,” I said, trying to calm down my pounding heart. “And I received the name Death King from you.”

The Tower master continued gripping my chin, looking at me with her purple eyes without uttering a word.

“I’ll say it again. It’s a pleasure to meet you officially for the first time, Tower Master.”

“Hmm.”

Our faces were so close that we could feel each other’s breaths on our faces, though her breathing was so quiet that it was barely audible.

The Tower master clicked her tongue. “It would be rude if I didn’t introduce myself as well. Alright. Like you said, I’m the master of the Tower, and I hold the title of Master of All Life. My first name is Amethyst, and my second name is Kaleido[1]. I have many other names, but I don’t think there is a need to tell you all about them.”

“Still, I would appreciate it if you did.”

“You’re really shameless.”

“I came here just to meet you and get to know you. Isn’t that commendable?”

The Tower master scoffed. “You’re a really smooth talker, just like the rumors say. I’m well aware you won over Hamustra with your sugarcoated words. However, if you’re planning to persuade me in the same way, give up. That’s my specialty too.”

“Your specialty is seducing people?”

“Yes. You should consider yourself lucky since I don’t have a hobby of messing with married men, Death King. Well, it would have been different if you were a woman.”

The Tower master let go of my chin.

[The Master of All Life has withdrawn her Draconic Pressure.]

Up until now, I could only feel my face, mouth, and heart in this darkness. Finally, I could feel the outline of my body and my limbs. My head also became much clearer.

It’s okay. My heart is still pounding, but not uncontrollably so.

“Tower Master, you know why I wanted you here. I want to use my Skill to get a glimpse into your past.”

She was quiet.

“You may be omnipotent within the Tower, but you’re also the administrator who tries her best to be fair and strict. I used my Skill fairly, so you have no choice but to grant my request.”

The Tower master narrowed her eyebrows. “Damn it.”

Looking back now, she was really different from Ja Su-Jeong[2] in The Story of the City of Ascension: Side Story. Ja Su-Jeong made no facial expressions whatsoever, but despite having the same beautiful face, the Tower master frowned, clicked her tongue, and sighed. She seemed like an actual, living person.

“Death King.”

“Yes.”

“I sincerely do not recommend experiencing my past, especially my traumas. It’s dangerous. It would actually be safer to dive toward a volcano with lit dynamites strapped around your waist.” The Tower master shook her head. “If you don’t want to crumble, please give up.”

“I want to know about you.”

“Death King, do you know who the saddest being in the myth of Icarus is? The minotaur was trapped in an eternal labyrinth as soon as he was born. Icarus wanted to fly just a little more because he could. All Daedalus did was give his son wings. Want to know the correct answer to my question? The saddest was the sun that had no choice but to burn Icarus, who approached it, and throw him into the sea. Please don’t sadden me.”

The Tower master snapped her fingers. Purple letters engraved the darkness.

“Your authorization level is B.”

Hell.

Preta Realm.

Tiryagyoni Realm.

Asura Realm.

Human Realm.

Heavenly Realm.

The Tower master looked straight at me. “The depth of life you will experience is Tiryagyoni Realm. As you already know from the Constellation Murderer’s trauma, you have to live out the trauma, starting from the Tiryagyoni Realm, not watch it. If your level had been C or lower, I would have given the matter a second thought, but... If you want to at least leave some body parts behind for a proper funeral, give up.”

Surprisingly, the Tower master spoke very eloquently.

“You know my Skill in detail. I didn’t know what the next stage of the Tiryagyoni Realm was.”

The Tower master interjected, “Of course, I have the same ability.”

“What?”

That was the last answer I expected from her.

She sighed and ran a hand through her blond hair. “Every Skill has a source. It’s much easier to develop something than create something that doesn’t exist. Your penalty of seeing traumas belongs to a dragon emperor... Anyway, it’s an ability that belongs to someone who can be considered my ancestor. I call it All Life.”

Uh...

“By any chance, is your title Master of All Life also...”

“That’s right. That’s where I got it from.”

Oh my god. The Tower master and I shared an ability? I blinked. “Wow, what an unexpected honor. How did this coincidence—”

“What are you saying? Because of this damn ability, my life is fucked.”

I stood corrected. The Tower master had a very foul mouth.

“It’s not even a coincidence. It’s the penalty of Returner’s Clockwork. You already know who created the Skill, right?”

“Ah, yes. The Mirage-Walking Princess.”

“She’s my daughter.”

My mouth dropped open. “What?”

“You heard me.” The Tower master sighed and held out her left hand. “Here.”

“W-What am I supposed to do?”

“Smell it.”

What a strange request.

“Uh, um. Tower Master, I... I’m already taken...”

“Are you crazy or do you have a death wish? I told you earlier that I have no interest in men. Trust me and smell the back of my hand before I flip your nostrils inside out and glue your nostril hair on your head and your bangs in your nostrils.”

I had never heard someone as aggressive as her. Having no other choice, I smelled her hand.

“Ugh.”

A dizzying scent struck my brain. The world around me spun a bit. I reflexively raised my head and took a few steps back.

“Peach?”

“Yes, that’s my scent.”

“What the...”

“That’s also what I think.” The Tower master scowled as if she had just bitten into a rotten apple. “Do you remember the pillow my daughter always carries around?”

I did. Just like the Tower master said, the Mirage-Walking Princess always carried around a pillow that had...

“...Peach patterns.”

“That girl loves me too much. She has grown up enough, but she still won’t sleep without being able to smell me. The most evil part about this is that she straight up refuses to sleep without smelling peaches.”

I felt stupefied. “I expected to hear some secrets from you, but...”

“You never imagined you would find out a secret like this one, yes? Yes, I know. I understand. There are no secrets in the world. If you forcibly discover something, what awaits you next is an infinite amount of responsibilities. Damn it.”

The Tower master seemed to have a habit of cursing out loud.

“I’m the same. Stop trying to dig up my secrets. It would be fortunate if you are still in one piece after your discoveries. Besides, the only thing you’ll discover in my closet is rotten screams.”

“What are you going to do if I still want to see that?”

The Tower master looked at me, her face impassive. For a brief moment, she looked just like Ja Su-Jeong. “I can compensate you. Tell me what Skill or Authority you want. I’ll be generous and consider your preferences. In return, please rip off Returner’s Clockwork so this trauma penalty won’t take place.”

I didn’t reply immediately.

“If you’re worried about losing your ability to regress, there’s no need. I’ll just remove the trauma penalty, and give you the same... No, I’ll give you a better Skill.”

I nodded. “I see. You can’t force me to do what you want, can you?”

The Tower master sighed. “Pretty much.”

“All you can do right now is persuade me, and that is what you’re here to do. You have the power to stop my penalty, maybe even change the world to prevent this. But the penalty originates from my rightful Skill activation. If you stop it, you’re abusing your power, so you don’t want to do that.”

It was all because she was a god bound to her own rules.

“Regardless of how much you want to stop me, you have no choice but to proceed if I don’t change my mind. Am I right?”

“Death King.”

“I’m not going to tear up Returner’s Clockwork.”

“Please listen to me. You will be torn apart.”

“If I back down now, I won’t know anything about you even until I get to the one hundredth floor. I don’t want that. I want to live alongside you, even if it’s just for one day.” freёweɓnovel.com

The Tower master’s expression drooped; she was lamenting. “Yes, I’ve been bracing myself for this day. A swordsman should know that the sword will also tear them apart one day. I should have known there is no way someone who thinks the same way as me would show up one day.”

The Tower master extended her hands and grabbed my head before pressing her forehead against mine. I could see my eyes reflected in her purple ones. “Please stay strong. I’m always by everyone’s side.”

[The Master of All Life blesses you.]

[Your Hunter Class is B.]

[Warning.]

[Recreating your killer's trauma.]

[The penalty's intensity level is high.]

[The penalty's theme is Tiryagyoni Realm.]

Time resumed its flow. I focused on my eyes’ reflection in the Tower master’s purple gaze. That was all I could see, over and over again, as if I was gazing into a labyrinth of mirrors.

***

Rumors were persistent that year. A stone that no one touched rolled down on the street of the Barony of Divine Moonstone. The people murmured, saying this was an ominous omen for a stone to be wandering at will in the land of moonstones. Rivers boiled every night for no reason. Frogs jumped out from every waterway, shoved their heads into the ground and died.

Lightning struck the capital twenty-six times in just one day. A fortune teller at the north gate said “This is a bad omen because twenty-six is thirteen multiplied by two.”’

Rashly predicting the fortune of the country was considered a grave offense. The royal guards dragged the fortune teller out and executed him.

The rainy season had not yet arrived, but on that day, the river overflowed and flooded all the roads leading to the capital.

“The kingdom is an idiotic patient who cannot be cured,” the nobles lamented.

Years of poor harvests and plagues followed. Time rotted the spine of the kingdom, leaving pus in each of its ridges. Corpses of the kingdom's citizens flowed across the overflowing rivers.

In December of that doomed year, a girl was born in the perishing kingdom. The Baronial Family of Crystal named her Lady Amethyst for her unique eyes. The baron’s daughter was beautiful, as if she had bloomed after absorbing all the final nutrients from the decaying kingdom.

“She has purple eyes.”

A nobleman praised those eyes, saying “Once you see them, they are hard to forget.” On the other hand, there were others who criticized her eyes, saying “There is little to be special about her other than being born with special eyes.”

Her delicately combed hair slightly swayed every time she turned her head.

“Her platinum hair is truly divine. It catches your eye at first glance, but if you want to stare, you have to do it from afar. Otherwise, she won’t like it.”

There were also followers who praised her excessively.

“When you get close to her, your instincts take over before your mind can make a proper judgment. You end up reaching out without thinking. Time seems to stop at that moment. That is when she looks back at me with her crystal-clear eyes and I realize I grabbed her wrist.”

Lady Amethyst was expressionless. Her long eyebrows were straight. It was as if she was born without any emotions. She never even frowned.

“She doesn’t ever speak. It’s like there is something innately wrong with her.”

“She’s an attention seeker.”

“She’s never nervous.”

“She was born to be a celebrity.”

The year Lady Amethyst turned seventeen was when these rumors intensified. A stone no one touched rolled by itself, rivers boiled for no reason, and lightning struck the capital twenty-six times. There was a drought in the spring and the people revolted in the fall.

This was also the year when she inherited the title of family head in place of her deceased father. That was how one of the rumors came to be about the young lady herself.

“Though the people in high society are trying to keep this under wraps, Lady Amethyst killing her father is an open secret.”

When faced with the nobles discussing such rumors, Lady Amethyst smiled just as brightly as a blooming flower. The curve of her mouth contrasted dramatically with her usual poker face. The socialites glancing in her direction couldn’t help marveling at her.

From her angelically beautiful lips, a melodious voice flowed out. “Damn, you people are ridiculous.”

Lady—no, Baroness Amethyst was the greatest wacko in the kingdom’s two thousand year history.

1. The author may have been forced to choose Kaleidoscope (만화경) because, without the scope (경) part in Korean, this would have read as manhwa (만화) in Korean. People would not have understood what the author was going for. ☜

2. Jasujeong means Amethyst in Korean. The difference between Ja Su-Jeong and Amethyst is the hanjas. To Gong-Ja, the Tower master and Ja Su-Jeong feel like two people with the same name. ☜