Chapter 47
Chapter 47 – How to Stand Against the World (1)
Translator: HH Editor: ShaSha
Silence .
Silence descended in the emptiness . No one opened their mouth . It was quiet . The sounds of beings that were licking at my brain… . stopped . Only then could I breathe .
‘They’re not beings in the Tower itself!’
I got a grasp on myself .
‘The language of beings in the tower are translated so I can understand it… . but they’re different . They’re beings that live outside of the tower . They’re beings that can’t even be compared to the Devil King of Fall Rain!’
They might be the people who made the tower .
People who lived somewhere that I couldn’t imagine .
After a long silence,
[The voting regarding the agenda item is beginning . ]
A familiar voice rang out .
After hearing the voice, I felt more comfortable .
[The 6th Constellation . ‘The Author of All Operas’ votes against it . ]
[The 5th Constellation . ‘The Lady Who Walks the Mirage’ votes for it . ]
[The 4th Constellation . ‘The Moon That Observes Blindness’ votes for it . ]
[The 3rd Constellation . ‘One Who Created Bonsan’ votes against it . ]
[The 2nd Constellation . ‘The God Who Dances in Emptiness’ gives up their vote . ]
Two for, two against, and one give up .
“······ . ”
I paused .
I couldn’t know who they were or where they were from . However, they had the authority to decide about my skill [Hundred Ghosts Reincarnation] . That much was clear . But their votes resulted in something that wasn’t for, or against it .
Why?
What did they expect from me?
‘…Wait . ’
I looked around me, the sound of snakes hissing, gone .
‘There’s… . . still a being that didn’t vote . ’
Yes .
I had clearly heard it when I entered this place .
[The tower requests a majority conference to the Six Constellations of Ten Thousand Lives . ]
And that wasn’t the end .
[Confirming participants . ]
[Confirmed that the Six Constellations of Ten Thousand Lives are participating . ]
‘Yeah . They said there was 6!’
The tower had definitely said there were 6 beings here . Then, the vote that just happened now was strange . Two votes for, two against, and one that didn’t count . There were only 5 in total .
Then where was the last 1 vote?
And,
-······ . ”
-······ . ”
Just what was the remaining being like, for everyone to remain so respectfully quiet?
‘······ . ’
It was someone who didn’t have to participate in this space .
It was someone who didn’t have to come here, because they were already here from the beginning .
The person who knew everything while in here .
The owner of the tower .
‘… . . I . ’
I looked straight at the dark area in front of me .
The most powerful being was right there .
‘I think voting for it is right . ’
I thought as calmly as I could .
I quietly spoke about what I had been contemplating .
‘Let’s say NPCs don’t count . Then how was the Devil Kill able to summon so many monsters? All the people who were massacred by the Devil King must’ve been NPCs . ’
The gazes silently looked at me .
‘Of course, I know what you’re all worried about . You’re concerned that I’ll just kill any NPCs in sight to summon them…But, I think I showed you what kind of person I was . ’
A dark area .
I looked at each of the directions where I felt the beings were .
And I spoke .
‘I’m not that kind of person . ’
-······ .
‘And I won’t live like that in the future . ;
In the end, it was the same .
No matter how strong my opponent was, there were already methods that were chosen for me . It was always just two .
Fight, or convince them .
‘The Devil King can kill NPCs and summon them, and I can’t? That’s unfair . ’
-Not bad .
Something opened their mouth .
A voice .
It sounded like it was whispering right in my ear, and also like it came from far away . It caused shivers down my back every time it spoke .
-But it’s complicated .
The voice was laughing .
-Death King . Speak with your heart, and not your head .
‘······ . ’
I was silent for a moment .
And I spoke .
‘That Devil King is a game that I caught . ’
I said what I could .
‘—It’s mine, so please don’t touch it . ’
The voice burst out in laughter .
[The 1st Constellation . ]
[‘The Owner of Ten Thousand Lives’ votes for it . ]
The sound of the laughter pierced through the darkness .
[The voting is finished . ]
[3 votes for . 2 votes against . 1 vote given up . ]
[NPCs are included in Death King’s skill, ‘Hundred Ghosts Reincarnation . ]
Clang, shatter!
The darkness cracked like glass due to the laughter . In the empty prison, another empty space had opened up . From there, white light flowed .
[The temporary apostle authority of the Death King is being taken away . ]
I realized while I was being surrounded by the blinding light .
[The conference is being ended . ]
That I succeeded in convincing the tower .
[May luck be with you . ]
-Zombie . Hey, zombie?
Blink .
When I opened my eyes again, I saw the Acacia flowers . Bae Hu-ryeong . And the Fallen Constellation that was once called the Devil King of Fall Rain . There wasn’t any sound from the Acacia flowers, and the Fallen Constellation didn’t dare make a sound .
Only Bae Hu-ryeong spoke floating in the air .
“······ . ”
-Kim Zombie? Hey, Zombie King . Can you hear me?
I felt strange .
It seemed like only a few seconds had passed by…but at the same time, it felt like forever had passed . It was really strange . And the memory of what had just happened became faint, so I didn’t know exactly what went on .
“Sword Emperor…”
-Wow . You finally responded . Your brain must be turning into an actual zombie’s because I keep calling you a zombie .
“Didn’t you hear it? You didn’t see it?”
-What?
“The tower summoned me to the nether world…and something about ten thousand lives and constellations…and someone like the owner of the tower appeared and laughed…you don’t know?”
Bae Hu-ryeong frowned .
His face looked as if he had seen a dog with rabies .
In other words, he looked like he was looking at a crazy person .
-Sorry, Zombie . I teased you too much . I’ve never been sorry my entire life, but I suddenly feel really sorry…I won’t tease you as much, so get a grip .
Sponsored Content
“······ . ”
He didn’t know .
The Sword Emperor, who climbed up to the 99th floor . Bae Hu-ryeong, the legend who had earned the name of ‘Sword Constellation’… even he didn’t know what I was talking about .
The back of my neck felt cold .
‘Who did I just meet now?’
The cold feeling wrapped around my neck and spread to my shoulder and back .
‘Just…’
Grip .
I tightened my grip on the sword .
‘…No . Let’s be calm . Kim Gong-ja . ’
I swallowed and looked in front of me .
The path I had to take was still in front of me .
‘Although there’s still a lot of things I don’t know . ’
I slowly raised my sword .
‘Now, I am going to strike the final blow on my game . ’
When I reached the 100th floor, I would be able to know something .
Bae Hu-ryeong tilted his head .
-Huh? Gong-ja? You’re just going to kill it? Don’t you have to ask the tower first?
“It’s okay . ”
I answered .
“I already found my answer . ”
The Fallen Constellation stretched out its hand .
“W, Wait…! Save……!!”
I flung my sword .
This sword was my reward from the 10th floor . It was what moved the hearts of the soldiers on the 11th floor stage . Tens of times . Hundreds of times . Thousands of times . It was the sword that was always in my hand when I was trapped on the 12th stage .
It was a sword that proved my time because it was always with me .
With that sword, I cut the Fallen Constellation .
“······!”
There was a small scream .
As the screaming sound cut off, the Fallen Constellation collapsed .
Blood poured out .
The blood flowed and stained another Acacia flower . Looking at the white and the red, I slowly opened my mouth .
“Ghost, wake up . ”
Squirm .
My shadow shook .
A black hand shot out from my shadow . The hand that looked like it was escaping from hell didn’t seem to want to leave . But it was a futile act .
“Stand up . ”
The shadow couldn’t refuse my orders . Its head lifted from the shade . Then, it was his chest, legs, and feet .
“You…heuk, ah…ahh…”
Its arms and legs shook like a newborn baby . Even though it had the body of an adult, it was nothing more than a newly born being .
And .
“Estelle is nothing more than the name you stole . It’s not a name you can have . ”
There was always a responsibility to those who gave life in this world .
And the first of those responsibilities was giving a name .
“Preta . ”
It looked at me through its wavy black hair .
“From now on, your name is Preta . ”
“Serve me as a master . ”
It was celebrated as the rural saintess .
And the being that used to be respected as the Devil King of Fall Rain had his shoulders shaking .
“Yes, sir… . . ”
The one that didn’t deserve to have a name received a name from me, and bowed . The white Acacia flowers fell, and landed on its head .
“I’ll obey your orders . ”
It was the last day of the promised 5 .
“… . . My lord . ”
Death King and Devil King .
One of the two kings fell .
Sponsored Content
1 .
And in that place where a king and his servant were left, the first person to open their mouth wasn’t either of them .
-Technically speaking, an emperor, not a king or a servant opened their mouth…
“…Sword Emperor, do you have to do that now?”
He was such a party pooper .
He twisted his body like a baguette with anguish .
-Yeah…I have to…I don’t want to do it either… . honestly, I want to get away from the two of you and pretend like I don’t know you, sheesh, but I’m the only person who can say this .
“Geez, what are you going to say?”
-What are you guys doing?
I didn’t know what he was saying, but it seemed like he wanted to be the one giving the name .
“What am I doing? As you can see……”
-Sure . So you killed the Devil King and saved him with your skill . You even gave it a name……sheesh, that name . What kind of name is ‘Preta’ for a girl? If you wanted to call it a preta, you should’ve named her Green Preta and call her Greenie for short .
“You’re even complaining about the name now?”
-No, let’s just say the name’s fine . Next… . . why are you suddenly establishing a hierarchy?
The Sword Emperor looked at Preta and me like we were the strangest things in this world .
-Like you guys…what kind of bond do you have? Okay fine! Let’s say you have it . Since it’s the game you caught, hm? You can do that old ‘I got u under my skin~’ trend . [TN: reference to TVXQ’s song Mirotic, the lyrics before this section are ‘You’re my slave . ’]
“You listen to popular songs too?”
-One of the hobbies of that Marcus guy is… . . anyway . So you’re you, but I don’t understand why she’s going ‘Yes my lord . ’
I was able to learn one of the Sword Saint’s hobbies .
I would’ve been better off if I didn’t know that, but… . that wasn’t important .
Hm .
“So you’re asking why Preta is serving me as I’m her lord, right?”
-Yeah . Zombie? I’ll list all the things that you did to her .
I nodded my head .
-You blocked her way while laughing and saying she wouldn’t win, right?
“That’s how it started . ”
–And you erased everything she stacked up . After that, you even blew her mind away with everything you said .
“That’s what happened . ”
-And you even killed her . Whew, you forced a kid that didn’t want to come out with Hundred Ghosts Reincarnation .
“That’s how it ended I guess . ”
The Sword Emperor clicked his tongue .
-Haaa, you indifferent bastard . Is your heart made of stone?
“There might even be a cobra in there . You forgot to talk about the fact that I ‘closed the curtains to the one who doesn’t even know how to use a sword’ like someone told me to . ”
-That was necessary, and that preta is probably thankful for that deep inside her heart . If she has the passion of a sword user still left inside her .
The Sword Emperor spoke in a serious tone .
I thought this ghost was just good at nagging, but it seemed like he was also good at talking about bullshit .
-Anyways, so I think it would be normal for her to be angry at you . But why is she bowing her head and asking for you to command her? Was the disaster that swallowed up a whole world actually a masochist of the century?
“Wow……”
The Sword Emperor said that he wanted to get away from us, but the same went for me . I took a step back .
Seriously, that gorilla’s imagination… .
“Sword Emperor… . the reason why Petra is obeying me…”
-The reason is?
“Because Petra knows . ”
I looked at Petra .
“You’ll know soon enough too . ”
Sounds of sobbing rang out in the Acacia field .
“Heuk… . ah…heuk……”
Petra was crying . They were tears of sadness and fury . Her despair dripped down .
It was true .
Petra knew well .
[Searching for the existence of the Devil King on the 20th floor . ]
What kind of tragedy would happen from now on .
[Search impossible . ]
Petra’s shoulders flinched .
[Confirming the absence of the Devil King . ]
Drops of light soared up from around us . They came from the ground and flowed from the Acacia trees . The 20th floor stage was small anyway, so it was quickly surrounded by light .
In the middle of the white light…
Sponsored Content
“No… . please . No… . . ”
Petra trembled with a moan .
But what did that all matter for anyways?
[Historical change . ]
A strict sounding voice came from the sky .
Like a judgement against the guilty in court .
[The 20th floor is being revised . ]
Slowly .
History started to move backwards .
“Ah… . ”
Petra looked far off into the distance with wet eyes . Something came from the entrance of the Acacia forest path .
Chulkuk! Chulkeduk!
Every time they moved, their armor bumped around . Above them, there were flags of various colors .
“Please… . ”
They were a countless number of soldiers .
There were the footsteps of soldiers and the sound of wings flapping .
“Again, the village… . burn the village…”
To turn back history .
To burn up paradise .
Forces from all around the world were allied together and entered the Acacia forest path .
“No, please… . ut, ahh… . . ”
Petra collapsed to the floor and bowed .
Her bowed head and hands were directed at me .
“Lord… . . ”
Like what the Sword Emperor said, Petra should’ve been trying to tear me to shreds .
But the fact that she was bowing desperately towards me probably meant that she was that much furious and hurt .
“My lord……!”
However, she did it .
She had to .
“I won’t have any grudges… . . I won’t take revenge… . . ”
Preta didn’t have any choice other than accepting to become bound to me and serving me as her master .
But when a helpless person had something to protect, they would do anything .
“I’ll do whatever you ask me to… . servant, slave… . . I don’t care about what happens to me, so please,”
It made people beg .
“Please, my village… . ”
“Alright . ”
I .
Not Saying too much .
I began to walk .
The Sword Emperor followed me . He, who had been looking at us with a silly face, had a more serious face than ever .
-So that’s how it was .
“Yes, this is how it is . ”
Step .
-A servant has to follow their master .
“And a lord has the responsibility to take care of their people . ”
Step .
-Sorry I twisted it .
“You lost the bet too, right? Please just think of the consequences for that . ”
I walked past him .
I took a deep breath and included Aura in my voice .
I shouted .
“All legions stop!”
The Acacia flowers fluttered in the air as if an invisible force shook them .
The sound of the dragons flapping and armor bumping against each other stopped . The sound of the horses’ footsteps and the banging of the spear stopped .
Stood alone in the Acacia field .
There were only flowers between me and the army .