Report
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 32
Baekya and Ryu Haneul were falling endlessly, hand in hand.
"Senior! Something's strange! When we climbed the Tower before, it definitely..."
"I know! Something's wrong."
Normally, when moving between floors in the Tower, they should have arrived at their destination with a flash of light, like using a teleportation skill.
But they had been falling for what felt like almost 30 minutes.
Moreover, the fact that they were 'falling' was strange in itself.
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 off.
He asked Ryu Haneul—
"What was it like before the regression? Was it like this then too?"
Ryu Haneul avoided his gaze and replied—
"I… I wasn't even Awakened back then!"
"There must have been interviews or something!"
"You always talked about the rewards from the raids, but you rarely mentioned what happened inside!"
"...Is that so? Then it's all my fault?"
"That's not what I meant!"
"Forget it. Just hold my hand tighter! We might end up falling into some strange space-time."
"I know that too!"
It was common for time to flow differently inside the Tower, sometimes creating a gap of a few days to a few weeks compared to the outside world.
In the most extreme cases, the difference could be over 30 years.
If they succeeded in clearing the Epilogue Story, aging and injuries were nullified, but if they failed, that was the end.
Giving up midway was only possible in a few 'System Zones,' and considering the Aitel notification that appeared when they entered, it seemed virtually impossible on this floor.
Ryu Haneul looked directly at him.
His purple eyes seemed to contain both flames and the depths of the ocean.
"I'll never, ever let go of this hand. I even went back in time for you, Senior. Even if we fall into hell, I'll conquer it to follow you."
Those were words that pleased him greatly.
He burst into laughter and opened his inventory once more.
"Cheong Siyeol said I'd open the gates of the Flame Realm and raise an army of demons."
He took out the 'Winter Vanguard's Standard' and gripped it tightly in his left hand.
"What are you going to do?"
"Doesn't this process feel like 'loading'?"
"Y-Yes! Now that you mention it, it does."
"It's like we need certain conditions to be met, right? And from what I can see, the first condition is for us to be separated."
"!"
It wasn't like it was his first or second time climbing the Tower.
He could figure this much out with a little intuition.
Ryu Haneul asked, looking perplexed—
"Then... should we let go?"
"No, why would we?"
He held out the Winter Vanguard's Standard.
"Grab it, and channel your mana into it with me at the same time. You know how to handle titles, right? You're the Heaven Shattering Heavenly Demon."
Having used it a few times, he was certain this standard had the power of amplification or enhancement.
If the 'rule' of this floor was to 'separate them'...
His Law of Light could erase that rule.
And Ryu Haneul's class, 'Heavenly Demon,' could overturn that law.
Ryu Haneul nodded.
His long, black hair flowed gracefully with the motion, and the purple halo above his head hummed.
"Let's begin."
"Yes."
Baekya channeled his mana first.
【Domain Expansion: Law of Light】
Fwaaaaaah!
A pale light flickered from the standard.
Ryu Haneul immediately poured his inner energy into it.
【Class: Heavenly Demon (Legendary)】
【Trait: 'Heaven Shattering' activated.】
【Trait: 'All Demons Submit' activated.】
【Trait: 'I Alone Am The Honored One' activated.】
He could feel Ryu Haneul's traits, his powers, coexisting with his Law of Light under the same standard.
The jet-black mana of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art wriggled as if it was about to burst forth.
He 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.
He 'thrust' the standard into the air.
He felt the sensation of piercing through the exact gap, transmitted through his hand.
Crack!
A thick crack appeared in the endlessly falling void.
【Aitel Notification: Error Occurred】
【Executing simultaneous transfer.】
【Denied: This will cause critical damage to the floor's structure.】
【Retry】
【Denied】
【Retry】
【Denied】
.
.
.
【Forced Execution: Proceeding with forced execution to prevent further errors.】
Familiar notification windows appeared in his vision.
He couldn't help but smile, missing those days.
Ryu Haneul stared at him intently.
A moment later, the white light that should have come earlier enveloped them.
* * *
Baekya couldn't believe his eyes.
'I'm clearly inside the Tower, but...?'
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 heart of the city.
He was certain.
It was downtown Seoul, South Korea.
The same city he had been in just a few minutes ago.
But Seoul was slightly different from the scenery Baekya remembered.
Whoosh!
The entire city was ablaze.
Demons of the Flame Realm flew through the sky, flapping their fiery wings.
Buildings had crumbled, 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 it was a dire situation where his connection to his Constellation had been severed.
He could see the Han River Park in the distance.
A familiar figure stood there.
The purple halo, symbolizing the Eastern concept of "Heaven is Round, Earth is Square" glowed above his head, and his long, black hair swayed in 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 a hand on his shoulder.
Tap.
"What did you see that made you so... Oh."
And then he froze too.
He recognized it instantly.
Next to the Tower, the 100-story building built alongside it.
It was his building.
Four red pillars rose from the rooftop, gleaming, and a red dimensional gate was open in their center.
And from that gate, demons of the Flame Realm were pouring out endlessly.
"...Senior. No. Tell me it's not true."
Ryu Haneul's eyes were vacant.
Baekya let out a soft sigh.
It was time to use a traditional solution.
'This won't do.'
He stepped in front of Ryu Haneul and slapped him hard across the face.
"Snap out of it!"
Smack!
The Heavenly Demon's head snapped to the side.
Like a puppet with its strings cut, or the protagonist of a tragic melodrama, he collapsed onto the ground.
"Gasp! Gasp! Gasp!"
Ryu Haneul inhaled sharply, like someone who had nearly drowned.
"S-Senior? It's you, right, Senior? So that means time..."
His young face was covered in cold sweat.
Baekya grabbed both of Ryu Haneul's cheeks and looked him straight in the eyes.
"You succeeded in your regression, and I died once and returned. We entered the 50th floor of the Tower to avoid Lee Baejeong. Do you remember?"
"Y-Yes. Yes!"
He met Ryu Haneul's gaze, gently pulling his focus back from the distant past to the present moment.
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."
Baekya stared blankly at his hand.
"Never mind."
Ryu Haneul got up by himself, looking a bit dejected.
Baekya, watching the endless stream of demons, said—
"This has been repeating for a while now, 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 bad one."
"I understand."
Ryu Haneul looked straight ahead, with the composure befitting a Heavenly Demon.
He seemed to have fully recovered.
"You're right, Senior. It's keeping us trapped in our worst moments, making them last forever."
"Was this your worst moment?"
"Yes."
"What kind of moment?"
But his composure didn't last long.
Ryu Haneul turned his head slightly.
His slender fingers trembled.
"When... you abandoned me."
Baekya exhaled slowly, a heavy sigh escaping his lips.
He had been revered as a savior by countless people, but he had never encountered such intense devotion before.
"What was I to you?"
"That’s…"
"Forget it. Don't answer. It's good that you're back to your senses. You're here, and I'm here."
Ryu Haneul obediently closed his mouth.
Just as he said, Baekya was still standing beside him.
The red light of the burning sky cast a shadow over his entire face.
The colors and shades were familiar.
It was like the time when he proudly displayed the emblem of 'Sunny' without needing any handkerchief.
Baekya continued.
"I think I understand now. I see why it tried to separate us. This is the type of Epilogue Story that becomes ridiculously easy if even one person is by your side."
It was true.
Because Baekya was there, Ryu Haneul was able to quickly regain his senses.
"Will the rewards still be the same?"
"They might be adjusted slightly, but I don't think they'll change significantly. I've used Law of Light to manipulate the system's rules before, and I know it can't alter the rewards drastically on its own."
"Ah!"
"We never agreed to lesser rewards just because we made things easier for ourselves. This is great. I can easily reach A-Rank now."
Ryu Haneul clicked his tongue.
"Senior, isn't this totally cheating?"
Baekya nodded.
"Why are you talking like I did it alone? We did it together."
Ryu Haneul liked the word "together" in that answer.
The sunset dyed the world in monochrome.
Space distorted once more.
* * *
The scene before their eyes turned white.
At that moment, Ryu Haneul saw the Aitel System notification and Baekya's memories.
【Loading...】
【Selecting...】
【The selection process may take some time...】
'Senior?'
He didn't know if his senior had also seen his memories, but it was likely he hadn't.
Judging by the notification, this situation seemed to have arisen due to his senior's unique characteristics.
'He's so young.'
The 12-year-old Baekya was the first to catch his eye.
'He was ordinary back then?'
At that time, Baekya 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.
The 12-year-old Baekya was pulled into the Tutorial against his will on his way home from school.
After overcoming several near-death experiences and returning home, he found that his entire neighborhood had been consumed by a collapsed Gate and turned into a sea of lava.
'M-Mom? Dad?'
The next Baekya was 15 years old.
It was during the peak of chaos in the early days of Gate openings.
Gates were still erupting everywhere.
'Rank 1 Gate outbreak in Busan!'
The conflict between Awakened and Non-Awakened was intensifying.
'We oppose the forced conscription of Awakened!'
'Awakened are innocent, Non-Awakened are guilty? Punish Ranker misconduct severely!'
Conflicts with foreign 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 countless.
'Mister! Mister!'
It had been a long time since Baekya became the last survivor of the first generation, the final survivor of the first tutorial.
He saw a battle against a terrifyingly powerful ancient dragon.
■■ ■■■■ ■■■■■■
He also saw memories that were completely blacked out.
How much time had passed?
【Selection process complete.】
A system notification appeared.
【Constructing the world.】
Fwaaaaaah!
The next moment, the two of them 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, neither in the previous timeline nor in this one.
"S-Senior?"
The eyes that had been gazing at the top of the Tower rolled back, hiding within themselves.
Baekya… was afraid.
Baekya, who had fought ancient dragons, closed Rank 1 Gates, and wandered the other worlds within the Tower as if it were his own home, was afraid of this mere desert.
"Okay, this might be a bit tough."
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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