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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 32
Ryu Haneul and I, holding hands tightly, fell endlessly.
"Senior! Something's strange! When we usually go up the Tower, it's definitely..."
"I know! Something's wrong."
Normally, when moving between floors in the Tower, there should be a flash of light, like when using a teleportation skill, and then we'd arrive at the destination.
But we had been falling for like almost 30 minutes.
Moreover, the fact that we were 'falling' was strange.
The Tower was, after all, a 'Tower,' and clearing it involved 'climbing.'
Reaching the 50th floor by falling from the 0th floor?
It felt a bit odd.
I asked Ryu Haneul,
"How was it before you regressed? Was it like this then too?"
Ryu Haneul avoided my eyes and answered.
"I… I wasn't even Awakened back then!"
"There must have been interviews with me or something!"
"You always talked about the rewards you got from clearing the Tower, but you hardly ever mention what happened inside!"
"...You're right. So it's all my fault?"
"That's not what I meant!"
"Forget it. Just hold my hand tighter! We might end up in some strange space-time if we're not careful."
"I know that too!"
It was common for there to be a time gap of a few days to a few weeks internally when entering a floor.
At its most extreme, there was a difference of over 30 years in internal time.
If you succeed in reaching the ending of an episode story, aging and injuries were nullified, but if you failed, that was it.
Giving up midway was only possible in a very few 'system zones,' and considering the Aitel notification that popped up when we entered, it seemed virtually impossible on this floor.
Ryu Haneul looked directly at me.
His purple eyes seemed to contain both flames and the depths of the ocean.
"I will never, ever let go of this hand. I even went back in time for you, Senior. Even if we fall into hell, I will conquer it and follow you."
Those were words that resonated with me.
I burst into laughter and opened my subspace ring once again.
"Cheong Siyeol said I would open the gates of Flame Realm and raise an army of demons."
I took out the 'Winter Duke's Standard' and gripped it tightly in my left hand.
"What are you going to do?"
"Doesn't this process feel like 'loading'?"
"Yes, yes! Now that you mention it, it does."
"It's like certain conditions need to be met, right? And from what I can see, the first condition is that we get separated."
"!"
I've been climbing the Tower for a while now.
I can pick up on these kinds of hints.
Ryu Haneul asked, looking perplexed.
"Then... should we let go?"
"No, why would we?"
I held out the Winter Duke's Standard.
"Hold it, and channel mana into it with me at the same time. You know how to handle titles, right? You're the Heavenly Demon. The Heaven-Shattering Heavenly Demon."
From using it a couple of times, I was certain that this standard had the power of amplification or enhancement.
If the 'rule' of this floor was 'to be separated'—
My Law of Light could erase that rule.
And Ryu Haneul's class, 'Heavenly Demon,' could overturn that rule.
Ryu Haneul nodded.
His long, black hair flowed gracefully with the motion, and the purple halo above his head resonated.
"Let's begin."
"Yes."
I started by drawing up my mana.
【Domain Expansion: Law of Light】
Fwoosh!
A pale light flickered from the standard.
Ryu Haneul immediately poured his inner energy into it.
【Class: Heavenly Demon (Legend)】
【Trait: 'Heaven-Shattering' is activated.】
【Trait: 'Ten Thousand Demons Submit' is activated.】
【Trait: 'I Alone Am the Honored one' is activated.】
I could feel Ryu Haneul's traits, his powers, coexisting with my Law of Light under one banner.
The jet-black mana of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art writhed as if it was about to burst forth at any moment.
I instinctively knew that this was the moment.
It was the intuition of an Awakened who had spent 15 years on Earth and countless years within the Tower.
I 'thrust' the standard into the empty air.
The sensation of piercing through the exact gap traveled up my arm.
Crack!
A thick crack appeared in the empty space where we had been endlessly falling.
【Aitel Notification: Error Occurred】
【Executing simultaneous transmission.】
【Rejected: Will cause critical damage to the floor's structure.】
【Retrying】
【Rejected】
【Retrying】
【Rejected】
.
.
.
【Forced Execution: Forcing execution to prevent the spread of the error.】
Familiar notification windows appeared in my vision.
I couldn't help but smile, feeling a pang of nostalgia.
Ryu Haneul stared at me intently.
A moment later, the white light that should have come earlier enveloped us.
* * *
Baekya couldn't believe his eyes.
'I definitely entered the Tower, didn't I?'
The place he was standing wasn't some exotic world.
It wasn't a burning land, the capital of a thousand-year-old kingdom, or a dragon's nest.
These buildings, the Tower, and most importantly, the large river flowing through the middle of the city.
He was certain.
It was Seoul, the heart of South Korea.
The same city he had been in just a few minutes ago.
But it was slightly different from how Baekya remembered it.
Whoosh!
The entire city was ablaze.
Flame-winged demons from the Flame Realm soared through the sky.
Buildings crumbled tragically, and Hunters were dying everywhere.
'Sunny?'
He called out to his Constellation, but there was no answer.
It meant that either all of this was an illusion, or the situation was so dire that his connection to his Constellation had been severed.
He could see the Han River Park ahead.
A familiar figure stood there.
The purple halo of the Heavenly One's Authority glowed above his head, and his long, black hair swayed with the wind, along with the surrounding reeds.
But his limp hands told a different story.
Ryu Haneul was not in his right mind.
"Ryu Haneul? Are you okay?"
Baekya approached Ryu Haneul and placed his hand on his shoulder.
Thud.
"What did you see that made you so... Well, I can see why."
And then he froze too.
He recognized it instantly.
The 100-story building next to the Tower, built alongside it.
It was his building.
Four red pillars rose from the rooftop, gleaming ominously, and a red dimensional gate was open in the center of those pillars.
And from that gate, demons from the Flame Realm were pouring out endlessly.
"...Senior. No. Tell me this isn't true."
Ryu Haneul's eyes were vacant.
Baekya let out a sigh.
It was time to use the traditional solution.
'This won't do.'
He went in front of Ryu Haneul and slapped him hard across the cheek.
"Wake up!"
Smack!
The Heavenly Demon's head snapped to the side.
Like a puppet with its strings cut, or the tragic protagonist of a melodrama, the Heavenly Demon collapsed onto the ground.
"Gasp! Gasp, gasp!"
Ryu Haneul inhaled sharply, like someone who had nearly drowned.
"S-Senior? It's you, right? So right now, time is..."
His youthful face was covered in cold sweat.
Baekya grabbed both of Ryu Haneul's cheeks and looked him straight in the eyes.
"You succeeded in regressing, and I died once and returned. We entered the 50th floor of the Tower to escape Lee Baejeong. Remember?"
"Oh, yes. Yes!"
He guided Ryu Haneul's gaze, which had always been directed towards some distant point, and brought it back to the present.
It didn't take long for his eyes to regain focus.
"I'm back, Senior. Thank you."
"Good. Now get up."
"Yes."
Ryu Haneul reached out his hand.
"What are you doing? Get up on your own."
Baekya stared blankly at the offered hand.
"Never mind."
Ryu Haneul got up by himself, looking a bit dejected.
Baekya, looking at the endless stream of demons pouring out, said.
"That's been repeating since a while ago, you know?"
"Yes."
"I think this is some kind of mental attack. The kind that traps you in a dream and drains your mental energy. Sometimes it's a good dream, sometimes it's a nightmare."
"I understand."
Ryu Haneul, befitting a Heavenly Demon, looked ahead with composure.
He seemed to have completely returned to normal.
"You're right, Senior. It's trapping us in the worst possible moment and making it last forever."
"Was this your worst moment?"
"Yes."
"What kind of moment?"
His composure didn't last long.
Ryu Haneul turned his head slightly.
His slender fingers trembled.
"When you... abandoned me."
Baekya exhaled sharply.
He had been hailed as a savior by countless people, but this was the first time he had received such heartfelt devotion.
"What was I to you?"
"...That."
"Forget it. Don't answer. Anyway, it's good that you're awake. You're here, and I'm here."
Ryu Haneul obediently closed his mouth.
Just as he said, Baekya was still standing by his side.
Their faces were bathed in the red light of the burning sky.
The colors and shadows were familiar.
It was like the time when he proudly displayed the 'Sunny' emblem without even bothering with a handkerchief.
Baekya continued.
"I get it now. I understand why they tried to separate us. This is the type of Epilogue Story that becomes ridiculously easy if even one of us is with the other."
It was true.
Because Baekya was there, Ryu Haneul was able to quickly regain his senses.
"Will the rewards remain the same?"
"They might adjust it, but it shouldn't change much. I've pushed the limits with Law of Light a lot, and I know they can't change the rules themselves."
"Ah!"
"We didn't say it was okay to reduce the rewards just because we lowered the difficulty. This is good. I should be able to reach A-Rank without any problems."
Ryu Haneul clicked his tongue.
"Senior, isn't this totally cheating?"
Baekya nodded.
"Why are you talking like I did it all by myself? We did this together."
Ryu Haneul loved the word 'together' in that answer.
The world around them warped and twisted, fading into a monochrome palette.
Space distorted once more.
* * *
Everything before Ryu Haneul's eyes turned white.
At that moment, he saw the Aitel System notification and Baekya's memories.
【Loading...】
【Selecting...】
【The selection process may take some time...】
'Senior?'
He wasn't sure if his senior had also seen his memories, but it was likely that he hadn't.
Judging by the notification, this situation seemed to have risen due to his senior's unique characteristics.
'It's when he was young.'
The first thing that caught his eye was 12 years old Baekya.
'He was ordinary back then?'
Baekya at that time was just an elementary school student, a bit more handsome than his peers.
That year, the Tower appeared in the world, and Gates started opening.
12-year-old Baekya was abducted into the Tutorial on his way home from school.
After overcoming several near-death experiences and returning home, he found that the entire neighborhood where his house had been was swallowed by a collapsed Gate and turned into a sea of lava.
'M-Mom? Dad?'
The next Baekya was 15 years old.
It was around the time when the chaos of the early Gate openings reached its peak.
Gates were still bursting open everywhere.
'Level 1 Gate outbreak in Busan!'
The conflict between Awakened and non-Awakened people was intensifying.
'We oppose the forced conscription of Awakened!'
'Awakened are innocent, non-Awakened are guilty? Punish Rankers' misconduct severely!'
Conflicts with other countries also began.
'Japan has dispatched Awakened special forces to Dokdo!'
The next scene was on a certain floor of the Tower.
In that place where sandstorms raged endlessly and mummies never died, Baekya spent a long, long time.
The deaths of his comrades were too numerous to count.
'Mister! Mister!'
It had been a long time since Baekya became the last survivor of the 1st Generation, the final survivor of the 1st Tutorial.
He witnessed a fight against an unimaginably powerful ancient dragon.
■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■
He also saw memories that were completely blacked out.
How much time had passed?
【Selection process complete.】
The system notification appeared.
【Constructing the world.】
Fwaaaaaah!
The next moment, they were standing in the middle of a desert.
The sun blazed fiercely in a cloudless blue sky, and sand dunes like tidal waves stretched to the horizon.
Unlike before, when they were slightly apart, this time they were completely stuck together.
Ryu Haneul asked.
"Where are we?"
"Ha."
The emotion Baekya displayed at that moment was something Ryu Haneul had never seen before, not in the previous regression or this one.
"S-Senior?"
The eyes that had been looking up at the top of the Tower rolled back, hiding within themselves.
Baekya… was afraid.
Baekya, who had fought ancient dragons, closed Level 1 Gates, and wandered through the other worlds within the Tower as if they were his own backyard, was afraid of a mere desert.
"Okay, this might be a bit tough."
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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