Chapter 296: That Bastard Is Legend (1)

Witness A.

The boy mage, whose face was half covered by his bangs, said, “S-Sword Emperor? Yeah, he’s famous. I was there when he brought down the sixth tower of the Magic Tower. It was amazing. All he did was swing his sword for the tower, covered in all kinds of magic, to come crumbling down.

Ah!

That was probably the first and last time the elder was so angry.

Hmm...

There were a lot of people in the sixth tower that I hated, but they all died, so it felt really good. Well, all my teammates were also killed, so I was left with no way to be promoted. After that, I was stuck in low-ranking roles. Several decades later, I ended up cleaning sewers for a hundred thirty-one years, which was a bit shitty...”

Witness B.

The librarian sighed. “I don’t know why you’re asking this. The Sword Constellation, commonly known as the Sword Emperor, is so famous that it’d be strange if someone

didn’t

know him. I guess he was ten times more famous than the Constellation Murderer currently is. Regardless of everything, the Sword Emperor is the only one who’s ever made it past the ninety-ninth floor. I honestly think he cleared the hundredth floor.

Huh?

You want to know why that psychopath is famous? What are you talking about? Why do you look like you’re about to throw up?”

Witness C.

The world’s greatest asshole spoke.

—I never really wanted to be a Constellation, you know. I don’t know when, but I started to receive Faith. Somehow, I became a Constellation. Well, that’s all a story for later. Anyway, the conclusion is that I’m a very talented guy. Zombie, a true savior is worshiped as a god even if they do nothing.

The testimonies so far were bullshit, so I didn’t bother taking any more.

“This world is fucked up!” I mumbled.

As the Assistant Writer watched me sink into despair in real-time, she frowned and asked, “What has gotten into you? What’s wrong?

Oh

, right, the Indoor Librarian personally chose you. Well then, of course you’re a little weird.”

This was the secret hideout of Hamustra’s believers. We reached this place after going down a long underground cave system. There were no fancy buildings or furniture, just some mats spread on the cave floor, along with some simple canned goods. However, simply coming here seemed to have reassured the believers. They were making quite a fuss.

“

Ah.

”

“I can finally relax.”

“Thanks to you, Mr. Messenger, we were able to come back from that hell alive!”

“Thank you so much! We owe you our lives, Mr. Messenger!”

“

Hahaha,

It’s nothing,” I said. Usually, I would have received their words of gratitude calmly, but now, a magnitude five earthquake was taking place in my mind.

So, the Sword Emperor Church. The knowledge that something like this existed shocked and terrified me to my core.

I barely managed to pull myself together and said, “Well, then, everyone can return to their worlds.”

Despite my perfectly normal statement, the believers exchanged glances.

“Excuse me, Mr. Messenger...”

“I’m sorry, but we have nowhere to return to,” the Assistant Writer said. “The Magic Tower invaded our worlds and made them their colonies. Long ago, rebels were organized and tried fighting back, but that was hundreds of years ago. Now, there are only traitors who cooperate with the Magic Tower for their glory and pleasure. Even if we wanted to go back, there is no place to go back to. We don’t want to go back either.”

“

Huh.

”

I was a bit surprised. I kind of expected it, but people from a Tower could actually conquer another world’s Tower.

The Assistant Writer put her hand on her forehead and sighed. “That’s why people like us have to stay on the fiftieth floor. We can’t escape to the lower floors because a lot of guys there want to capture us and bring us to the Magic Tower. But we can’t go higher either.”

“Why? If you complete the quest, you can go straight to the fifty-first floor, no?”

“You really

are

a newbie who just got here,” the Assistant Writer said, looking at me with curious eyes. “You don’t know anything. Or maybe your acting skills are amazing, who knows. Still, until just a moment ago, I thought you were a mysterious master martial artist who came down to the fiftieth floor after ending your seclusion.”

What was she talking about?

“M-Mr. Intruder,” Charumu said from the side with a troubled expression. “No one managed to clear the fiftieth floor for a hundred fifty years.”

That

really blew me away. What?

“T-to be exact, the Hunters not affiliated with the Magic Tower never went past the fiftieth floor. To clear the fiftieth floor, you need to be affiliated with the Magic Tower... or at least not be a traitor.”

“Really? .A hundred fifty years? How is that possible?”

Charumu fidgeted with his staff. “Because the Magic Tower is monopolizing the quests. There must have been a Constellation in charge of each stage that you’ve passed through so far, Mr. Intruder. However, after the fiftieth floor, there are no such friendly guides. You have to find a Constellation yourself, serve them, gain their recognition, and clear the quest to get to the next floor.”

I frowned. “No, wait a minute. That’s weird. Then the Constellations can just give out quests, can’t they? As soon as I reached the fiftieth floor, I got countless messages from the Constellations, asking me to do quests with them. How can the Magic Tower monopolize quests?”

The boy mage pulled his hood down. His dramatic betrayal almost made me forget, but he had been a member of the Magic Tower until just a couple hours before.

“Those are trivial quests,” the Assistant Writer answered on his behalf. “Kill someone. Help someone. Constellations can give out as many quests like that as they want. They can even give rewards. However, to create a quest that can be acknowledged as clearing the fiftieth floor, you have to take the Magic Tower’s quests.”

I was at a loss for words.

The Assistant Writer scratched her cheek. “You look like you’re having a hard time understanding.

Hmm.

But you’re the Indoor Librarian’s messenger, so I can never tell what your deal is. First of all, like it or not, the Magic Tower rules the fiftieth floor. You got that, right?”

“Yes, roughly.”

“Then you can understand why it’s hard to come up with a quest that would be acknowledged as having cleared the fiftieth floor without involving this Magic Tower, right? It’s like a novel that’s been sprinkling foreshadowing about the final boss for the past four hundred ninety-seven pages and then spending the next three pages saying things like, ‘Actually, you don’t have to defeat that final boss,’ and ‘That’s right, that’s right. In fact, it’s okay to ignore it,’ and then just gloss over it with some banter and such. You can immediately tell that it’s trash.”

Her metaphor screamed that she was Hamustra’s believer. The Assistant Writer extended her fingers.

“So, from the Constellations’ perspective, they inevitably have to use the Magic Tower to create a quest to break through to the fiftieth floor. First of all, you need to be recognized by the Magic Tower. By serving or socializing with the Magic Tower for a long time, you become a member officially and honorarily. This way, you gain support from the faction that rules this fiftieth floor. This is the regular route of going up to the next floor. A couple of Hunters manage to go up the floors every year like this. The second way is to fight the Magic Tower and bring them down to their knees. This is considered the irregular route.

“And there hasn’t been a Hunter who succeeded in that department for the past one hundred fifty years,” I added.

The Assistant Writer nodded. “Yeah. It’s not easy.”

She snapped her fingers. Sheets of paper appeared out of thin air, each of them glowing like fireflies as they circled her.

“These pages are from my Skill

Rejected Work

. I didn’t name it. Don’t look at me like that. I’ll pluck your eyeballs.”

She surely had a temper.

“Anyway, I can use

Rejected Work

to steal other people’s failed quests. These are all traces of people who failed to clear the fiftieth floor using the irregular route.”

Swish.

The torn pages flapped as if they had wings. I grabbed the nearest piece of paper and read it.

Monopoly City Liberation War

Constellation: Eternal Plains Horse

Difficulty Level: SSS

Goal: Warriors! It’s time for you to rise. For the past twenty years, the demons of the Magic Tower have oppressed Monopoly City with insolence. Yes, the Sword Watchdog has disappeared, but there must be more than one hero in this world. It is time for you to pick up your sword.

Stand up and fight! Take down the Magic Tower’s remaining five fingers, free the Constellations suffering in their clutches, and march beyond Monopoly City!

Result: Failure

Reason: Allied forces suffered a crushing defeat. After most of the Eternal Plains Warhorse’s officers were killed, the Constellation publicly acknowledged the failure of the quest. A humiliating truce was signed on the condition that he wouldn’t give out any quests targeting the Magic Tower for the next one hundred years.

I snatched another piece of paper.

Love Saves The World

Constellation: Incarnation of Love and Lust

Difficulty level: SSS

𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Goal: How are you, dear romantics? I am at peace, but that isn’t the case for everyone in Monopoly City. (Sob) That’s because of the Magic Tower elder, the ruler. (Surprise!)

The elder has never opened her heart to another person in the past thousand years. Since she is also human, wouldn’t she feel lonely? (Curious) I’m sure that many beautiful flowers must be blooming on that frozen permafrost of her heart.

Anyone is welcome to share with the elder the beauty of love and the world! It’s such a difficult task, but I’m sure my wonderful romantics can do it! (Double thumbs up)

Result: Failure

Reason: All the followers of the Incarnation of Love and Lust who approached the Magic Tower elder were executed. Those who touched the elder’s shoulder had their fingers cut off into 230 pieces, and those who tried to kiss the elder had their lips split into 23 pieces. Afterward, the Constellation publicly acknowledged the failure of the quest.

I turned over the torn papers. The quests were written with different tones, sometimes thoughtfully or lightly. Regardless, one word was always included. Failure. The irregular route quests were given out until approximately one hundred years ago. Over time, they gradually decreased in number. A new quest would be given out once every ten years, then every twenty years. Suddenly, they all stopped.

The Assistant Writer snapped her fingers. The papers floating in the air disappeared. “It’s been thirty-one years since the last irregular route quest was given. We used to encourage others to participate in quests, but that no longer works. Since Mr. Indoor Librarian disappeared, we had to ensure our survival. Time seems to have stopped on the fiftieth floor.”

I couldn’t help but ask, “Why does the Magic Tower do this? What benefits can they gain from doing it?”

“A lot,” the Assistant Writer answered immediately. “By forcing the regular route like this, they fill the floors above the fiftieth with their allies. Each floor of the Tower is now out of the Constellations’ control. The Magic Tower took over everything. Monopolizing the floors leads to enormous profits.”

“But...”

It seemed that the Assistant Writer already knew what I was trying to say. She nodded.

“You’re right. It’s not fun. It’s so boring that it’s better to just die. It’s dull in every way possible.” She sighed. “Why in the world would such a thing as a regular route exist in the first place? Since the Magic Tower began to rule Monopoly City, it’s all been extremely boring, except for the brief period when the Sword Emperor ran rampant. That’s why we librarians resist the Magic Tower.”

The Assistant Writer looked around with a bitter smile. Fewer than ten believers were being treated for the injuries they sustained during their imprisonment. They didn’t look good, but they were relieved to have survived.

“That’s everyone. There's so few of us.”

I looked up. To others, it seemed like I was lamenting while staring off into the nothingness, but I was actually looking at the Guardian.

I get why you took the tower down. You didn’t mess with them just for fun.

The Guardian was lying down on his back, lounging as if he was on a bed. He nodded.

—Well, it was quite amusing to see the elder’s mug when I did that. I never thought that, after I disappeared, not a single newbie would be able to defeat the Magic Tower. Well, I guess I was a bit extraordinarily awesome.

Why didn’t you just tear down the whole Magic Tower?

—Why should I? I’m not a nanny who spoon-feeds babies. If the Magic Tower is a group of little shits, then what does that make the guys who can’t beat them? What about the guys who became these little shits’ puppies and wagged their tails to clear the fiftieth floor? Hey, Kim Zombie. You might not think this because you’re doing well on your own, but they’re all Hunters, too. Hunters who have made it to the fiftieth floor. They’re strong. Their beginner days are over, so they have to take care of themselves.

I did my duty by removing one of the Magic Towers.

The remark was very like him, so I just nodded. Maybe the Guardian and I weren’t all that different. The only difference between him and me was our final question. Would we let people take responsibility for themselves? Or would we help them?

That difference made me say, “Miss Assistant Writer.”

“Yeah?”

“I have a favor to ask. Please call at least one believer from each Constellation, including someone from the Sword Emperor Church.”

“I can arrange that, but why?”

“Hunters have one job. We’re going up to the next stage.”

I knew what I wanted to do.