Chapter 193: Unintentional (1)

The white light that shrouded the Black Witch, the Paladin, and I faded. The three of us were now in a blank white space.

The Black Witch stretched her arms out. “

Hmm.

This stage was a nice surprise!”

Her hands were clasped as she stretched left and right like those badminton club guys warming up right on the town’s outskirts.

“I want to quickly go down to Ascension City and establish the Black Paladin King...”

“Don’t think you have time for that. We have to go all the way up to the fortieth floor first.”

“I know...

Ah,

seriously! A lot of people would go nuts if they heard the news that the Night Sky Diva is back! Many people miss hearing you play the piano, Paladin.”

The Paladin smiled bitterly and tapped the Black Witch’s shoulder. “I haven’t decided to return to the stage yet.”

“

Oh

, why?”

“And didn’t I tell you not to call me by my old nickname? Anyway, my return to the stage hasn’t been confirmed. I have to ask for my lover’s understanding first.”

The Black Witch clicked her tongue. “You aren’t asking for her understanding. You’re asking for her permission. Speaking of your lover... She has issues. It’s ridiculous that she makes you wear a helmet all the time so others won’t see your face. That’s borderline controlling.”

“It’s not ridiculous. That only makes her more lovely in my eyes.”

The Black Witch sighed. “You’re hopeless.”

[The Viper, leading the Skians, has cleared the stage!]

[The Sword Star, leading the Purens, has cleared the stage!]

Our other colleagues joined us. It seemed like they had already cleared their quests and waited for the others to leave first.

The Viper, the OJP Sect Master, waved at us. “Hey, it’s been a while.”

At first glance, anyone would think that he was a cool martial artist who followed the codes of honor in the world of martial arts. However, as someone who had read the thoughts of His Majesty the Light Novel Emperor, I couldn’t accept his greeting with a pure heart. It was sad. I really didn’t want to know...

“You all left the stage together as if you planned it out ahead. Did you three secretly form an alliance?”

The Black Witch grinned. “Well, we did make something a lot more interesting than an alliance.”

“

Huh

? Really? What is it?”

“It’s a secret.”

The Viper pressed the Black Witch and the Paladin for an answer, but neither of them was willing to yield. If we held a poker-face contest at our Tower, those two would compete for the trophy. In the end, the Viper fumed without gaining any relevant information.

“Goddamnit. What? Why did you three suddenly become so close? The two of you especially always act like lone wolves. Shit, I feel left out.”

Meanwhile, the Sword Star looked at us with conflicting emotions in his eyes. Was there surprise there? Regret? So many emotions were mixed that even I found him difficult to read.

[The Mirage-Walking Princess has appeared.]

As always, the princess looked sleepy, as if she had just woken up from a nap.

“Is everyone here? No one is missing?”

We nodded.

She scratched the back of her head. “Okay, well done, everyone. Well, I’ll cut to the chase. No one has failed this stage. All of you cleared your individual quests. If possible, there should be at least one person eliminated from each floor, though...”

The princess continued muttering, “This is a bit of a problem. I hate worrying over little things, but mula[1]... The Tower’s master values formality highly. I’m sorry, but I’ll pick the person with the worst score and eliminate them. Let’s see. Of course it’s not the Death King... ”

The Paladin raised her hand. “Hold on. Are you saying that one of us must be eliminated on each stage?”

“Yup.”

“Please tell me why.”

“There are many reasons, and I really would like to tell you everything, but I’m under a restriction here. Let’s say I originally had security level 6. It now feels like I can only talk about information that is security level 3 at most.” The princess turned to me. “Actually, I don’t usually do this kind of work.”

Right. I remembered who the princess was. She was a Pillar of the Tower, a higher-class being than Constellations.

I had come face to face with the Pillars two times. The first time was when I took in Preta. The other time was when I obtained

A Certain Returner’s Love

for Raviel. It was a secret that not even the Guardian knew.

“The theme after the thirtieth floor is self-awareness,” the princess said.

The Black Witch, who loved the Tower more than anyone else, immediately responded, “Theme? Self-awareness?”

“Okay, I’ll only take one question from each one of you,” the princess replied with a grin. “This is your reward for clearing the thirty-fourth floor. You guys are really strange, so you prefer this type of reward to species points, don’t you?”

My fellow Hunters’ eyes sparkled. We lived in the Tower, but we didn’t know much about it. Why did the Tower suddenly show up in our world? Why was each floor different? Many curious Hunters craved answers, but couldn’t find them because no one gave any answers... Except now.

“The Hunter with the lowest rank among you should start.

Ah!

Discussing with each other beforehand is prohibited. If you ask something I can’t answer, I’ll be honest and tell you, so don’t worry. Now that we got that out of the way, you may go ahead and ask me stuff.”

Silence hung in the air as we exchanged glances.

The Paladin looked at us one by one, then nodded. “Why does the Tower exist?”

“The question is too broad. A Tower is a world. If you question the meaning of a world’s existence, that means I should have a philosophical answer at the ready. Is that what you want?”

“No.”

“Then please rephrase your question.”

After thinking deeply, the Paladin said, “I want to know how the Tower is built. There is a Tower in our world, but there are also worlds without Towers. The

Heavenly Demon Chronicle

and

Story of Sormwin Academy

were like that. How are Towers made?”

“Ah, you suddenly scored a bullseye. Can I tell you that?

Hmm

, I think I can.” The princess stretched out her hand to the white floor, from where she pulled out a pillow. “You just have to live the life of the most unfortunate person in the world.”

“What?”

“Please try to understand even if my answer is vague. As I said, my security level has been lowered. Anyhow... There is a master who builds Towers. The master lives on behalf of the most unfortunate person in a world. The world where the Tower was built is a place where the master has already lived and left. The world without one has not been visited by the master yet.[2]”

“What?”

The Paladin tried to ask more, but the princess resolutely looked away.

“Next.”

Next was the Viper, the Rank 6 Hunter, who was frowning. “Most unfortunate person in the world? Who gets to decide something like that?”

“You’re right. It’s difficult. Misfortune is quite a relative concept. Sometimes, it’s unclear which candidate is more unfortunate.” The princess smiled. “So I guess it’ll need multiple lives. Next.”

The Countess and the Inquisitor were fifth and fourth respectively. However, they had been eliminated already, so the next person was the Black Witch.

After listening to a series of completely unexpected answers, the Black Witch glared sharply at the princess. “What is that theme you mentioned earlier? For someone like you, is the Tower an amusement park, and is our struggle your entertainment?”

“

Hahaha

!” The princess burst out laughing. “

Oh

, how great that would be if it were true! It would be so much easier for me. To answer your question, that is extremely far from the truth! It’s nothing like that! The theme I mentioned is similar to the goal of a test.”

“The goal of a test?”

“Yeah, people nurture themselves throughout their lives. They often say that they raise their children, but they’re nurturing themselves at the same time. It’s about getting to know oneself. In that sense, the theme after the thirtieth floor is self-awareness. That’s all.”

“Why are you giving us such a test?”

The princess turned to me. “Next. What would you like to ask me, Death King?”

There was no one like her before my regression.

To be exact, she had never shown up. No matter how hard I recollected on my strategy guide from before my regression, I could not remember the Mirage-Walking Princess at all. She wasn’t mentioned at all.

She’s here because Hamustra has fallen.

Hamustra was supposed to be a fairly high-ranking Constellation. Since he had now fallen, she was filling in for him.

And Hamustra has fallen because of me...

I decided on my question. “Why are you so favorable toward me?”

It was strange. The princess slept often and didn’t even seem like she liked working. In fact, she had said that she wasn’t supposed to do this kind of work, but she was doing it anyway because of me. She had every reason to dislike me, but she treated me with goodwill.

“

Umm.

” The princess seemed troubled, looking like she received a question she didn’t want to answer. “Too many eyes are watching right now, so I’ll answer your question in private later.”

“What?”

“Next.”

“

Uh

, wait a minute—”

“Neeeext!”

The princess was resolute. I had no choice but to be quiet.

The Sword Star stroked his chin. “What is at the top of this Tower?”

“

Ah

, the beautiful memories of your journey that will sparkle like treasure... Sorry, I was joking. Anyhow, I can’t answer that question. If I answer that, mula-gaga... Nail[3]!” The princess squeezed her pillow tightly. “For real?! Anyway, the Tower’s master will be furious at me.”

“I understand. Then, who is the strongest swordsman you know?”

For some reason, the Guardian stood up straight. Shiny also shook, trying to say something. Was she talking in Morse code? Le... fa... nt...

Despite their anticipation, the princess heartlessly gave the name of someone else entirely. She readily answered, “Absolute Sword Duchess. When it comes purely to the strength of a swordsman, no one can match her. Zaqu... Why am I being censored so heavily?

Ugh

. Anyway, she’s a duchess of a kingdom, and has the right to kill anyone except for people from the royal family. In other words, no one can match her.”

“How wide is the gap in skill between her and I?”

“It’s meaningless to compare,” the princess responded quickly. “The comparison is possible only when both of you are on similar levels of power.”

The Sword Star’s eyebrows twitched. “Are you saying it’s not even worth discussing this with me?”

“Yes.”

He stayed silent.

“Don’t let it hurt your pride. The Absolute Sword Duchess is the Primal Duchess, a monster who has lived for over two thousand years.

Ah

, I shouldn’t call her a monster... Anyway, she’s more like a natural disaster. Still, you don’t have to worry because you’ll probably never meet her in person.”

The Sword Star clenched his fists. Not only I but the other Hunters were also shocked.

It’s not even possible to compare the two.

The Sword Star had abandoned all his wealth and status in the outside world to enter the Tower. Although he had only been honing his sword all this time, his skill was dismissed right in front of his face. Despite his composure, it was clear his pride was hurt.

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

“Okay then. Guys, please wait a moment while I answer the Death King’s question.”

The princess clapped softly, causing light to engulf my colleagues in an instant as they were sent somewhere else. She looked at me with hesitant eyes. She was a Pillar, much stronger than a Constellation. I wasn’t sure why she was acting like this around me.

“What’s wrong? You’ve been acting strange for a while now.”

“

Uh, um...

” The princess put down her pillow and buried her face in it. “I’m sorry!”

I was shocked. “What are you doing right now?”

“I’m really sorry, Death King!” the princess yelled as she kept her forehead on the pillow and clasped her hands behind her back. “I’m the Pillar who gave the Fire Emperor his Skill long ago!”

I moved to try to help the princess stand up, but I froze the moment I heard those words leave her mouth.

What?

“Do you remember the golden Skill you took from him?” she asked.

No way.

“Are you talking about

Returner's Clockwork

?”

“Yeah, that one. It’s the Skill I gave him.”

What?

“So I’m somewhat responsible for how you burned to death from head to toe. I didn’t think giving him the Skill would kill you. I really didn’t. But, well, I’m really sorry...” she mumbled.

What the fuck.

“How did that even happen?”

1. Seems to be the Tower’s way of censoring the princess so she won’t reveal any sensitive information. ☜

2. Well, the novel was criticized even in Korea for being too vague with this concept. ☜

3. Once again, the princess is being censored by the Tower. ☜