Chapter 299: The Grand Campaign (1)

It was said that, on the day that the Sword Emperor appeared on the fiftieth floor, all the Constellations, from the most prestigious to the lesser level that decorated the sky at that time, whispered.

[The Eternal Plains Warhorse has invited you to join his side.]

[The Ruin-Harvesting Cow has recommended a long campaign to you.]

[The Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye has invited you to join their side.]

[The Incarnation of Love and Lust has offered you the seat of an apostle.]

[The Surface-Reflected Lotus has invited you to join their side.]

[The Lonely Seeker...]

They were all certain that, no matter what Constellation he decided to serve, he would shine! If he went through the quests that his Constellation wove together one by one, the Sword Emperor would achieve the most dramatic love, the most dramatic victory, or the most dramatic life in this universe.

“Hmm.”

It was evident from the Sword Emperor’s clear eyes that, if he was wounded, he would wholeheartedly accept the wound, regardless of how severe it was.

“This is funny.”

He didn’t think of himself as someone who was too precious to be hurt or someone who didn’t need to be hurt. The Sword Emperor simply strived to be strong all the time. A monstrous pride lurked in this man’s heart.

The Sword Emperor smiled brightly as he looked around at the starlight gathering around him. “But I refuse. I won’t choose any Constellation! I’ll go up to the hundredth floor, see what it’s like up there before anyone else, and then I won’t tell you anything!”

The emperor of the sword laughed, his hair redder than the sun.

“If you want to know what’s up there, stand up on your own two feet and follow me! Friendship isn’t shared between those who climb the mountain together. Only those who have climbed the same mountain are qualified to be friends!”

The Sword Emperor made it very far and became starlight on his own. The ninety-ninth floor, the place where he became a falling star, was just one step away from the heavenly origin[1]. People couldn’t find his remains because it was impossible to climb to the ninety-ninth floor. Even his self-proclaimed followers couldn’t.

Was he really dead? Or was he still on the ninety-ninth floor? Or maybe he reached the hundredth floor and disappeared without a trace. The Tower didn’t say anything. Only rumors spread. After the Sword Emperor, a witch stepped onto the ninetieth floor, the highest place that anyone ever got to after the Sword Emperor. However, as soon as his trace disappeared, the witch turned back.

“Idiot.”

That witch was the Magic Tower’s elder.

***

While climbing the Tower, I realized many things. Still, if I had to pick the most important lesson, it was that solving problems with words alone was challenging.

Claang!

The spear of the black-haired man, Mahos’ apostle, flew out with a sharp, metallic clank. A wave of my aura rushed toward him and threw the spear far away.

“Damn it!

Ugh!

”

I shrugged. “You’re strong.”

The match was over. Even so, the man tried to use his aura to somehow retrieve the spear. Still, it was difficult for him to beat me in aura mastery. My teacher had moved her muscles, internal organs, bones, and heart using Qi Telekinesis when the zombie virus ate her body away. I was her heir. The training I had undergone was very different from that of others.

Well, this isn’t our first time sparring, either.

I leisurely said, “I’m not just trying to make you feel better. You’re really strong. Even if you came to my world, you would probably be counted among the top five strongest people there.”

“How arrogant! I haven’t even used Lord Mahos’ power yet!”

“I haven’t used my full power either. In fact, I haven’t even summoned my clan army yet.” I put the holy sword back into the scabbard. “When I call them, that’s when you’ll see how awesome they are.”

“What?”

“Heaven and earth will be turned upside down. It sounds like I’m bluffing, right? But I’m not. If you ever find out who my clan’s shadow is, you’ll probably have a heart attack.”

Of course, I was talking about the Constellation Murderer.

“You’re probably lying. If that’s true, why don’t you call your great army?”

I shrugged. “To guard my home. People from different worlds might invade while I’m away, but because my people are keeping guard, I can stroll around the fiftieth floor without a worry. They’re all as strong as I am.”

Mahos’ apostle bit his lower lip.

[You have passed the test.]

[The order to track and hunt you has been lifted!]

[The Eternal Plains Warhorse has acknowledged you as a temporary follower!]

[From now on, you will share the main quest with the followers of the Eternal Plains Warhorse.]

Okay. The apostle still seemed unconvinced, but the Constellation he served accepted that I won. By making me a temporary follower, Mahos allowed me to participate in his quest, even though I wasn’t officially serving him. It was quite an unusual case.

“Stop embarrassing yourself and move aside quickly.” Another Hunter walked in, pushing away Mahos’ apostle. “Hello! I’m the Jester, one of the Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye’s apostles.”

The Hunter was a woman dressed in a clown costume. As her name suggested, her face was covered in a mixture of red and white powder. The heavy makeup concealed her expression, making it difficult to read her emotions.

“I heard that you have decided to become a follower of all the Constellations that exist on the fiftieth floor.”

“It’s just a temporary measure,” I answered.

“

Haha

. That’s funny!”

Despite what she said, the Jester looked like she didn’t find it funny at all. There were more than ten Hunters behind her. All of them, regardless of how strong they were, were apostles of a Constellation, and they were here to test me on behalf of their Constellations.

With a smile, the Jester brought a table and placed thirteen cups on it. “Mahos has tested your strength, so I’ll test your luck! A labyrinth is ultimately about wandering around looking for the right answer! No matter how difficult the labyrinth is or how evil the traps are in the dungeon, if you boil everything down to a nutshell, it’s all the same as these thirteen cups. Come on, come on, Death King! There’s only one cup that has the candy you can eat first.”

She tapped on the clear glass cups. Each cup contained a piece of candy that children would love. “In other words—”

“The remaining twelve glasses have candies that I shouldn’t eat?” I speculated.

“

Haha!

That’s right! You guessed right!” the Jester replied with a pleasant smile that she thought was refreshing like a lemon, but everyone else found it sour. “The other candies are all lethally poisonous! The cups may look like pathetic, ordinary glass goblets, but they’re holy relics bestowed upon me by the Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye. My Constellation has a high opinion of my jesting! You can’t see through it with aura, and no Skill can be used to scan the contents inside, either!”

Yeah, I know that very well,

I thought sourly.

“Come on, come on! Death King, you’re a challenger who dares to gain the favor of all Constellations. Although this is nothing more than a show of my insignificant talents, will you play along with my little prank—”

I immediately picked up the fourth cup and ate the candy inside. “Thank you.”

“

Eh?

”

Regardless, I munched on the candy without any expression and swallowed it. “It’s mint-flavored. I like yogurt-flavored candies. You know those yogurt candies? They’re sweet but have a slightly milky taste, so they taste really good. When you go to a Korean barbecue restaurant, they sometimes have those candies at the ready. They’re really good.”

Silence fell. The Jester slowly covered her cheeks with her hands, looking extremely shocked. “T-this can’t be happening! Holy crap! Oh my god! How in the world?”

I let out a hollow laugh. “Did I pass the test?”

“I-I don’t know! I don’t know! How can a mere jester judge someone who was born with such great luck? It’s scary, so scary.”

“So it’s not over yet.”

The Jester froze. “I-I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You told me there’s a candy I have to eat first among these.” I removed the sixth cup. “That means there’s more than one.”

Without hesitation, I ate the candy in the sixth cup. “Okay, that’s two. How many are left?”

“... Just one.”

“Okay.” I looked around at the remaining glass cups, deliberately beaming.

Why is this harder than defeating Mahos’ apostle?

I thought.

This wasn’t my first time taking this test. Well, it was the apostles’ first time seeing me take it.

I had to die nine times to figure out the order.

Yes, this was my tenth time taking the test. If this were a battle of skill, then things would have been different, but this test was purely based on luck. Even

I

couldn’t do anything about it.

The first few tries, I had died screaming after eating a lethally poisonous candy. After a few more tries, I had excitedly yelled, “I got it right!” but then died an hour later. The candy I could eat first also contained poison, so if I didn’t eat the other candies in the right order, I ended up on the highway to hell.

“Which one of these is delicious? Is it this one? Or this one?

Hmm

. This is difficult. They all look delicious, so this is a big problem...” I mumbled.

The Jester, unaware that I had regressed, just stared at me.

“H-how? You can’t use your Skills or aura—”

I lifted the first cup. “

Ah

, this must be it. This candy is begging me to eat it. It’s screaming that it’s really harmless to the human body. Wow, it’s screaming so desperately, so I have no choice but to eat it.”

I removed the candy wrapper and began to chew. The poison from the first candy had been neutralized by the second candy, whose poison was detoxified entirely by the third candy.

Before, the Jester would watch me slowly succumb to poison. She would shout, “

Hahaha!

Isn’t it painful? It must be! Come on, come on! Choose quickly! You did this to yourself! You did this with your own hands!”

Now, the Jester was just gaping in amazement at the sight of me clearing the test in less than a minute.

“Is it over now?” I asked with a bright smile. “I often hear that I’m very lucky.”

[You have passed the test.]

[The Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye has accepted you as a temporary follower!]

[From now on, you will share the main quest with the followers of the Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye.]

Yes, that was right.

[You have passed the test.]

[The Lonely Seeker has accepted you as a temporary follower!]

[From now on, you will share the main quest with the followers of the Lonely Seeker.]

The Guardian had refused all the Constellations’ offers. He had climbed the tower alone, honestly, proudly, but lonely. In the end, he failed.

[You have passed the test.]

[The Last Sword in the Wilderness has accepted you as a temporary follower!]

[From now on, you will share the main quest with the followers of the Last Sword in the Wilderness.]

I didn’t know why he failed, but one thing was clear. Even Hunters as powerful as him failed when climbing the Tower alone. If so, then the path was just a road with a dead end. I wanted to believe that he failed because he chose the wrong method, not because he was weak and inadequate.

[You have passed the test.]

[The Tear-Bringing Bell of the Dead has accepted you as a temporary follower!]

[From now on, you will share the main quest with the followers of the Tear-Bringing Bell of the Dead.]

Therefore, I was going to walk the opposite path to the one he had chosen. If the Guardian walked the path of the righteous, I was going to walk the demonic path. He had stayed high and lofty without building a faction of his own. Therefore, I would gain favor with the residents of the Tower, unite the major guilds, accept my lover’s affection, embrace the loyalty of my vassals, and create a clan. I was also going to build a family.

[You have passed the test.]

[You have passed the test.]

[You have passed the test.]

The Guardian didn’t worship any Constellations, so I was going to serve all of them.

“Good.”

The sun had set, and evening had already arrived. More than ten apostles had been defeated one by one, with only one left in the waiting line.

“I’ll admit that I—no,

we

underestimated you.”

The last remaining apostle was wearing a cloak redder than the sunset; the girl was the apostle of Babbit, the Incarnation of Love and Lust. She glared at me, her expression serious.

“You’ve proven that you’re strong and that luck is on your side. Even if you didn’t survive purely thanks to luck, at least you have the power to make your success look like luck.” The girl took off her cloak, which crumbled to the floor as she took out a bottle of water. “But do you know love?”

Splash!

The apostle of Babbit poured water on her head, letting it flow down her bright, blond hair. The sunset that made the sky burn red also smeared into the water droplets falling on the girl’s face, quietly flushing her cheeks.

“This is a contest to see who can make the other person’s heart flutter first. You or me.”

The surrounding area was covered in a pink glow. The girl used Babbit’s ability. She smiled plaintively as if she was used to it, like she had never been impassive in her life. The corners of her eyes drooped, and the arrogance and pride disappeared from her lips. The apostle’s smile, slow gestures, and eyes were saying, “Come here.” The sun was setting just for her.

“I’ll tell you in advance. I’m sorry. You will like me.”

I see.

I nodded and slowly approached Babbit’s apostle. “I have multiple identities, just like everyone else. I’m the leader of a cult. The patriarch of a clan. The master of a troupe. Someone’s father. A friend of a certain species. Now, there will be many names added to this list, such as Mahos’s temporary follower, Babbit’s, and so on. The higher I climb the Tower, the more names I’ll be given.”

I stood tall in front of the girl, the apostle who was soaked in watercolor light. She looked up at me.

“But my first identity will never change. I’m the husband of the most beautiful woman in the universe. She didn’t have a heart, so I gave her mine.”

Before I was a Hunter, I was a lover. And...

[You have passed the test.]

[The Incarnation of Love and Lust has accepted you as a temporary follower!]

[From now on, you will share the main quest with the followers of the Incarnation of Love and Lust.]

That day, I made contracts with numerous Constellations.

1. The hundredth floor. ☜