Chapter 714
From above…
…to below.
A Sword Aura came crashing down vertically, aimed straight at the crown of Jang Bo-kyung’s head.
“You…”
Jang Bo-kyung swung her wooden needle upward.
Baaang!
The moment the sword and the wooden needle collided, Chun Yoosung’s blade was knocked aside just like that.
With a constraint placed on cold weapons, even a Sword Saint could not escape the penalty.
“…!?”
Chun Yoosung’s brow twitched.
The recoil was far stronger than expected for something blocked by nothing more than a wooden needle.
“How foolish! That pitiful sword is useless!”
Jang Bo-kyung smiled in triumph.
However.
[White Night Monolith Record – ‘White Frost’ activates!]
Crackle…
A raging blizzard swept across the blade.
A realm that was a sword, yet not a sword.
A world dyed white with snow unfolded.
Baaang!
The sword moved again. A flash drawing an arc struck Jang Bo-kyung head-on.
“Kuhk!”
This time, Jang Bo-kyung stepped back.
This heterogeneous power, completely different from a cold weapon, was the kind that transcended the category of constraints.
Ohh!
Jinhyuk grinned broadly.
“My, my, how lovely. Our Sword Saint. Did you come to help me?”
“I just wanted to see you struggle in a tight spot.”
“Did you catch some disease that kills you if you speak nicely? You’re prickly like a hedgehog. A hedgehog with a rotten personality, at that.”
“Enough. Is that woman the mastermind?”
“Yes. She’s a very wicked one. So persistent that it’s been no small hardship.”
Jinhyuk let out a groan.
“To the point that even you can’t handle it?”
“It’s a bit tough.”
“Hmph. Well, it seems there’s a constraint preventing the use of bladed weapons, so naturally even you’d have a hard time.”
Chun Yoosung’s shoulder rose slightly.
It was only about 0.1 centimeters, but Jinhyuk accurately sensed the buoyant mood that seemed to be floating above the clouds.
“Phew. You said it. If we keep fighting like this, things will only go the way that woman wants. Unless a master who transcends the sword steps in, we’re finished.”
“Hmph. At least you understand reality properly. Good. That role, which is too much for you to bear… I shall take it on.”
“Sniff. What a relief. Thank goodness you exist.”
Jinhyuk wiped away a tear.
An easy pawn to handle.
A temperamental Sword Saint who soared to the heavens with just a little praise!
Before, he had been a stalker who only gave him headaches, but after learning how to handle him, he had become surprisingly cute.
“Then, I’ll leave it to you!”
Jinhyuk quickly cleared out of the way.
“Stop!”
Jang Bo-kyung gathered the water droplets.
Splash splash splash splash splash splash…!
Crack crack crack crack!
The flying droplets were blocked by the snowflakes scattering through the air and froze solid on the spot.
Perfectly formed crystals beautifully blurred the field of vision.
Chun Yoosung stood in the way with the imposing presence of Mount Tai itself.
“Your opponent is me. Unlike that guy, provocations won’t work on me, so stop the petty wordplay and with skill…”
“Hah? What are you talking about? For a second-in-command.”
“…I’ll kill you.”
The leisurely smile vanished in an instant.
In its place remained only a second-in-command who had lost all reason to anger.
And thanks to that, the shortest path to the Stigmata was secured.
[The Stigmata is disappearing.]
The Stigmata was almost gone.
Now there was really only about a second left.
Jinhyuk threw himself forward with all his might.
Baaang!
A full sprint with even the [Crown of Swiftness] equipped.
A streak of light shot toward the place where the letters were engraved.
Crack!
0.5 seconds.
The letters of the Stigmata began to completely evaporate.
It was trying to relocate to another place.
Jinhyuk swung his dagger wide.
The blades extended, taking the form of the [Serpent Sword].
0.2 seconds.
The extended blade reached the surface engraved with the letters.
And at that moment.
“Hahaha! Got you!”
Jang Bo-kyung’s laughter echoed out.
Then something happened that overturned all expectations.
[The Stigmata has been destroyed.]
[‘Iob’s Unstable Dice’ – ‘Seed of Lingering Resentment’ activates!]
Riiip!
A giant mouth appeared where the Stigmata had been.
Pitch-black.
An abyss where nothing could be seen opened itself toward Jinhyuk.
“What…?”
Jinhyuk narrowed his eyes.
A bewitching sensation melted his brain into mush.
But only for an instant.
Chomp!
The giant mouth swallowed Jinhyuk whole.
===
It’s dark.
Normally, eyes adjust to darkness over time, but not even the faintest glimmer of light was permitted here.
Whoosh!
[‘Primordial Flame’ activates!]
Several flames lit up the surroundings.
Even the brightest light barely pushed back the darkness.
At most, he could see a few meters ahead.
‘Is this a rift in another dimension, like the Arrogant Assembly?’
He didn’t know what trick Jang Bo-kyung had pulled, but she had prepared far more thoroughly than expected.
Right then.
Thud.
Footsteps echoed from the darkness.
“How is it? Quite cozy, isn’t it?”
Jang Bo-kyung approached with a bright smile.
And beside her…
“…”
Hastings stood there.
The Senior Manager responsible for one axis of the vast world known as the [Tower of Trials], whom he had vaguely assumed was dead.
“You were alive…”
Jinhyuk muttered, looking genuinely caught off guard.
Because he had never imagined that he would meet Hastings here.
“You’re acquainted with Hastings? Impressive. To know someone that important. As for me… until I made a contract with them, I couldn’t even dream of meeting a Senior Manager.”
“I will handle things from here. You make sure no one interferes from the outside.”
“There’s Dominic and the other Rankers. Guarding the entrance is something they can handle.”
“Does my current state, having lost an arm because of such complacent measures, not show you otherwise? The forces you brought won’t even serve to buy time against that man’s companions.”
“Hey! Aren’t you underestimating our side a bit too much? Even knowing what I planted in them?”
“You don’t seem to understand just how dangerous beings like Chun Yoosung or the Saintess are. Moreover, if things drag on, the Family Head of Ataraxia or the Homunculus may intervene.”
“Uh-huh. Let them come all they want.”
“Sigh. It’s utterly impossible to reason with you. Fine. In any case, they delegated authority over this space to me. At least here, listen to what I say.”
“Is that how you’re going to be?”
Jang Bo-kyung shrugged.
She looked somewhat annoyed, but once Hastings clearly drew the line between their roles, she did not push any further.
“Alright. If the great former Senior Manager commands it, then I have no choice but to obey.”
Jang Bo-kyung turned around without hesitation and disappeared back into the darkness she had come from.
Now, only Jinhyuk and Hastings remained at the center of the abyss.
“You visited my residence.”
Hastings spoke first.
His question about that fact was delivered calmly.
“I did.”
Jinhyuk nodded.
“And you found my glasses there.”
“Right. I also found the glasses you always wore.”
Up until now, while climbing the [Tower of Trials], he had experienced all kinds of hardships, but the number of times he had been truly shocked could be counted on one hand.
Like when he had first met Sae Yeongeonhwan.
Or when he learned that Velus was an Operator on the opposing side.
…And so on.
And this time, the memory he saw through Hastings’ glasses was no less shocking than any of those.
Jinhyuk recalled what had happened in the Arrogant Assembly.
Hastings’ old study.
There, a grotesquely smiling stone statue and countless tentacles writhed in place.
Rumble!
The study shook violently.
Not because of the pressure from the stone statue.
Not because of the dense concentration of Mana.
Simply because everything beneath his feet was declaring its own end.
-Once again, you failed to stop the destruction, Hastings.
-In this iteration, you even rose to the position of Senior Manager.
-But that is all.
-With your efforts…
-And your power…
-It is impossible.
Various voices flowed from the statue’s many faces.
It was the exact same voice one of the statues had spoken with when he found the ‘Book of Darkness’.
Three purple pupils stared intently down at Hastings.
That’s right.
This was not Hastings’ first iteration.
Constraint Regression.
The one trapped in the shackles of this world’s fate, forced to witness the beginning and end of the [Tower of Trials] over and over again, was Hastings.
‘It was absurd.’
Jinhyuk clicked his tongue as he recalled the scene.
One of the questions that had lingered in his mind.
Most beings who became Senior Managers either possessed extraordinary bloodlines from birth or had Mana overwhelming enough to crush everyone else.
But Hastings belonged to neither category.
Wasn’t the goblin race one of the lowest-tier races in the [Tower of Trials]?
At best, they lived in dungeons on the first or second floor, or if they were lucky, they could rise to the rank of Junior Operator.
And yet the reason Hastings had become one of the seven pinnacles was because he had lived through countless repeated iterations.
Jinhyuk replayed the memory he had seen in the Arrogant Assembly.
-The Tower collapses…
-…The Ancient Race will dominate all dimensions.
-For those who refuse, there is no future.
-In the next one. And the one after that. The result will not change.
The Apocalypse ‘Covenant’ had occurred again and again.
Not just once, but so many times that the entire field of vision was drowned in Status Windows.
There was no hope there.
No future.
Only endless abyss and fear.
Not only the Upper Echelon Powers, but even the Chief Deities of every faction and the Senior Managers were staring blankly at the approaching end.
And in the midst of it, the owner of the voice made Hastings another proposal.
-To you… I will give the final chance, Hastings.
-With the appearance of that ‘man’, the Tower’s final iteration has begun.
-Joining hands with the Ancient Beings may also be one method.
-And…
-Watch the human named Kang Jinhyuk. He will become the key that may be both the beginning and the end of everything.
That was where the memory in the glasses ended.
‘…So that’s why he had no choice but to side with the Ancient Beings.’
Effectively, it was the last chance.
Hastings had absolutely no way to refuse the lifeline that could derail the Hell Train that was always rushing toward a Bad Ending.
There were still many questions left, but now that he had met the man in person, he could resolve quite a few of them.
And he would also find out why Hastings wanted a private meeting.
Hastings looked at Jinhyuk with unreadable eyes.
Then he continued.
“If you’ve already seen it, then there’s no need for me to explain it again. As you saw in my memory, I have lived inside the shackles of previous Constraint Regression in order to prevent the collapse of the Tower.”
He endured in the Lowest Floor Labyrinth.
He entered under other high-ranking monsters as a steward and clung desperately to survival.
After repeating countless iterations, he became a Ruin Boss and joined one of the Upper Echelon Powers as a member.
And finally, he rose all the way to the position of Senior Manager, reaching a place where he could oversee the major and minor affairs of the Tower.
Thinking that this time, he could change many things.
But.
No matter what he did, the result never changed.
Probably not even if he tried hundreds of times more.
“In the midst of that, I was informed of the final chance.”
He could not go back.
This truly was the last time.
That kind of pressure weighed on Hastings’ entire body.
“I was interested in you from the beginning. Since I had been told specifically that the man named Kang Jinhyuk would become the core of everything, I couldn’t help but pay attention.”
He approached at the Night Masquerade, built a connection, offered help, and watched how Jinhyuk would guide the fate of the Tower.
“You were remarkable. Far beyond my expectations. You gave me no small number of headaches as well. I tried to understand you, but in the end, every day passed with me only becoming more lost.”
A course of action no single individual should have been able to achieve.
However.
As the saying goes, even an uncut gem will shine when polished.
Those overwhelmingly brilliant achievements stimulated the Ancient Beings far too quickly.
Enough to shatter Hastings’ plans completely.
“If you had grown while maintaining a certain line, I would have chosen to join hands with you and find a way to save the Tower. By pulling at the various powers and finding a proper point of balance.”
“I did go a little wild.”
“Haha. That’s right. In the end, there was only one method left for me.”
‘Remove the Troublesome Climber and appease the Ancient Existence.’
That was the only way Hastings could think of to prevent the Tower’s destruction.
After all, even the owner of that voice had said that going under the Ancient Beings was one possible method.
“So. You came here to eliminate me and prevent the Tower’s destruction?”
Jinhyuk looked straight into Hastings’ face.
Instead of answering, a red spark flared at Hastings’ fingertip.