Heavenly
"Already over?"
At the mouth of an alley, in some place where a wall had collapsed, Massacre, wearing a skull mask, clicked his tongue and asked.
Then the man, sprawled on the ground in a bloody mess, dropped to his knees and begged desperately.
"Sp, spare me. We're players like you. PK in reality is cheating, right······!"
"Cheating? Who decided that?"
"Gr, Gracia said it. That PK in reality should be avoided."
"So Gracia's words are the law?"
"It's not like that, but······!"
"Tsk."
Massacre made a slicing gesture across his own throat.
Thuk!
The man's head fell to the ground, his neck severed.
Massacre let out a sigh.
'Another dud.'
To catch Phantom, he'd set up a 'Phishing' trap with countless items at the secret auction house.
But all that got caught were little fry like this.
He'd killed the man in reality simply because the guy happened to be nearby. Using the Fragment of the Broken Golden Rule to "descend" had let him pinpoint the location.
But as expected, this one wasn't Phantom either.
If it were Phantom, a mere five-minute transformation wouldn't have ended the descended state.
Too weak, too.
Massacre pondered.
'Where do I go to catch Phantom?'
There were limits to catching him in reality.
Seeing how no one bought even after he'd hidden the Twin Talisman's options, it was enough to make him think Phantom didn't use the secret auction house at all.
The ones he caught through 'Phishing' were all pathetic, too.
Massacre rubbed his chin.
'The Tower.'
Main Quest 3 came to mind.
Climb the tower.
'Phantom isn't going to climb some ordinary tower.'
He wouldn't climb something as basic as a Basic Tower. To take first place, he'd need to climb a higher-order tower.
Like the "Tower of Tempest" that Massacre climbed, or the "Tower of the Immortal" that Gracia climbed.
'The problem is, if he levels first, he might clear it late······.'
Gracia had left Main Quest 2 cleared, then raised the level to 7 to climb the Tower of the Immortal.
He'd leveled like a brute to conquer it and score the highest points.
Even now, people still talk about the miracle of him reaching the end of a tower that normally required level 9, or even 10, by climbing it at level 7.
Could Phantom really surpass the score Gracia set?
'Towers higher than the Tower of the Immortal are hard even for me now.'
Massacre was strong. Level 10, and he prided himself on being close to one-star class.
But even for him, fully conquering the Tower of the Immortal wouldn't be easy. A tower beyond it? Even risking death, he might not make it.
Let alone Phantom, who had only just become a player, climbing those towers was impossible.
But looking at Phantom's movements, he was rushing everything "fast."
He wouldn't waste months leveling like Gracia.
'······ The Tower of Battle God. That's where he'll go.'
The only place where you could earn the highest score regardless of level was there.
The Tower of Battle God.
An arena for warriors who fight well, and who are crazy about fighting.
But the gap that appears when a gamer becomes a player is an insurmountable wall. No matter how good someone was at a game, they don't necessarily fight well after becoming a player.
Still, even so, it was Phantom.
A legend of Pangaenia.
'Judging by Main Quest 1's score, he clearly fights like a madman even as a player.'
When gamers become players, they all face extreme situations.
Scores are distributed based on how calmly they survive, how well they fight, and Randolph, presumed to be Phantom, had taken first place there too.
Meaning he hadn't panicked at all, had survived tenaciously, and on top of that, had mercilessly killed enemies as he went.
'More flexibly than even me······.'
Suddenly, Massacre recalled the moment he had become a player.
Main Quest 1, survival.
He woke up in a chimera laboratory.
As one of countless test subjects. He'd been a bit flustered, but adapted as quickly as possible, assassinated the doctor and guards, and escaped.
And even then he'd only scored 163 points.
To this day, he still couldn't even guess how Randolph had gotten 220.
Anyway, if it was that monstrous guy, going to the Tower of Battle God made perfect sense.
'Then I'll just wait there.'
With his destination decided, Massacre smiled brightly.
Phantom would die by his hand. He could never tolerate anyone else killing Phantom.
***
"Captain. We checked all the nearby CCTV too, but there's no trace at all?"
A union member searching every inch around the Cheongdam steak house let out a deep sigh.
The man called Captain shook his head.
"It's like a ghost played a trick. Looks like everyone who was in the building then says they don't know anything either."
They'd combed through every CCTV within a 1 km radius. They'd met people who had been inside at the time, but there wasn't a single clue about the man who killed Chid Mamba.
Even if he wasn't Phantom or an operator, he'd subdued Chid Mamba with artistry. With that kind of fighting skill, he more than deserved to be recruited.
But they couldn't find any lead.
Like he'd evaporated into thin air.
"Should we go see Jeong Jinwoo again?"
"No. He looked like he'd lost his mind."
Jeong Jinwoo was still in the hospital. The shock of having both arms cut off had driven him insane. Going back would be a waste of time.
The young member asked again.
"What about Kim Hana? Didn't she look like she knew something?"
"So you want to storm CK Broadcasting?"
"No, not that······ couldn't we just wait in front?"
"Don't mess with her. It'll be a headache."
"······? Does Kim Hana have some kind of backing?"
"Do you know Gracia is visiting Korea?"
"Yes. All the players in Korea are going crazy over it."
"He's doing a private 1-on-1 interview with Kim Hana."
"Huh? Why? Did he fall for her at first sight or something?"
"How should I know, you punk. Anyway, don't poke a beehive."
Gracia.
The undisputed strongest player.
A true hero all players respected beyond measure!
And he suddenly announced a visit to Korea.
There were even rumors that he'd secretly conduct a 1-on-1 interview with Kim Hana.
The whole world was in chaos from invasion and erosion. Even taking care of his own country wasn't enough, yet Gracia was coming to Korea.
Despite the U.S. government trying to dissuade him.
'Something big is tangled up here.'
Kim Hana was a beehive.
Honestly, he was curious, but if Gracia was involved, the right move was to stay as far away as possible.
If they offended him even a little, the union itself would get crushed.
The Captain was rank 4 in the union. Level 10, a powerhouse who could transcend as soon as he found a "star." Even he had no confidence he could last three seconds against Gracia.
Sword of Stars who had transcended by eating stars.
No one knew how many stars he had.
There were even rumors he was a match for Wilhelm, the five-star transcendence.
"Still, if Gracia and Wilhelm fought, who would win?"
"Wilhelm is dead. That comparison is meaningless now."
"Even so, aren't you curious? They're both 'Eight Heroes,' after all."
He was curious too.
Wilhelm. The character Phantom had raised with devotion the longest.
Fed five stars, wrapped head-to-toe in unique items, a legend and myth never to be repeated in Pangaenia's history.
And Gracia?
He was still writing legends as a player.
He had no limits, so much so that people wondered if he was using bugs or cheat keys.
No one truly knew how strong he was, because no enemy had ever forced him to show a limit.
'They say he ate another star recently?'
Just a rumor, but if true, it meant he'd grown even stronger.
How strong, how much stronger?
'Still, for now, Wilhelm would be stronger.'
The Captain judged coolly.
Wilhelm was a freakishly powerful warrior, hard to find any precedent for.
Most of all, the Captain had seen Wilhelm fight.
He'd participated in the great expedition to the Demon Realm too.
The overwhelming martial might with which he carved through the demon race.
If there were a god of war, would it feel like that?
He still couldn't forget the shiver from back then.
Also, Gracia had clearly tried to avoid meeting Wilhelm as much as possible, which said enough.
But Wilhelm was dead.
And Gracia was alive, still getting stronger.
'Then why is Gracia even mentioned as one of the Eight Heroes? He didn't participate in the expedition at all······.'
***
The moment I entered the Spirit Tower, Isabella and Hudson, who'd entered with me, disappeared.
From here, it was a solo run.
We were each being guided to a Spirit Gate suited to us.
The Spirit Tower answers only those who are desperate. If Hudson truly has something he wants and longs for, he'll achieve it as he climbs.
Isabella, too.
At the tower's entrance, a gigantic stone gate had a face jutting out from above.
One of the stone gate's spirits, and an administrator. It also served as an assessor that opened the appropriate gate for climbers.
-Amazing. To have affinity with every attribute.
Its mouth moved, reading my talents and expressing surprise. Sure enough, affinity with every attribute was part of my talent.
The gate measures the most suitable attribute affinity and opens a related gate.
If you had the water attribute, it opened the gate of the water spirit, if you had the fire attribute, it opened the gate of the fire spirit.
But if you had affinity with every attribute, it became difficult to open just one gate.
-Even opposing attributes together. The attribute of emptiness······, and yet it's too much to call emptiness.
The stone gate spirit hesitated.
By nature, no being can possess opposing attributes.
Like fire and water cannot coexist.
There was, however, one exception, those with the attribute of emptiness. Emptiness allows opposing attributes to coexist.
But even with emptiness, this was too much.
Because I had affinity with literally every attribute.
Even a "Gate of Emptiness" didn't fit me.
-When everything mixes, that is chaos. But the gate of chaos has never been opened······.
The stone gate spirit frowned.
The Gate of Chaos was a gate that had never once been opened since the Spirit Tower was built.
"Open it."
Another mystery.
There was no reason for me to hesitate.
The moment I chose, the stone gate spirit stopped pondering.
-······ An arrogant druid. Fine, I'll open it. You seem to have the qualifications.
Kiiiiiik!
The stone gate spirit opened its body.
-But be careful. If chaos devours you, you will never return.
Hearing the warning, I shrugged, and strode in proudly.
***
The Tower of Chaos.
A place where a curse that twists the mind runs rampant.
It was pitch-black, pure jet darkness.
"'Heart of the Iron-Blooded Monarch' supports your mind."
"'Giant's Magic Resistance' neutralizes the curse."
"Because of 'Mutation,' the path of chaos is revealed."
I can see it.
The hidden path the Tower of Chaos kept concealed.
The stone gate spirit probably didn't know I possessed thirteen hidden traits.
Thanks to those hidden traits, I could walk through even the domain of chaos just fine.
-Chaos doesn't work on him?
-What is that guy? No, is he a druid?
-Contract with me!
In an instant, the spirits of chaos swarmed in.
I passed them by.
As I climbed, larger spirits of chaos appeared.
-Arrogant wretch, you dare climb here?
-I'll make you chaos too.
Compared to the lower floor spirits, they were far more aggressive.
They suddenly grew like giants and tried to crush me.
But they were illusions. Mere mental constructs that press down on the minds of the fearful.
Whoosh!
When I boldly reached out, they vanished like smoke.
-Have you come to reclaim past glory, can that even be done?
Climbing another floor, Wilhelm was there.
Shhrrng.
I drew Michella's sword.
And faced the spirit of chaos wearing Wilhelm's form.
Clang! Chwaang! Chiiik!
It was the same as me. It cut, thrust, and stabbed exactly like me.
But I didn't yield. If it were the real Wilhelm, I'd have been killed in a single blow, but this was a "me" wearing Wilhelm's shape. Same strength, same skill, same movements.
How many hours did we fight?
Long enough that a full day seemed to have passed.
After that, time continued to fly by.
Two days, three days, ten days.
Maybe even more than that.
-Disgusting bastard!
Whoosh!
The spirit of chaos spat smoke again and disappeared.
Breathing hard, I climbed the stairs.
-To come this far, your qualifications are sufficient.
-Contract with us.
-You have the qualifications.
There were ones far larger than the chaos before.
There were no stairs.
Was this the top floor?
"Not a single one of you appeals to me."
The spirits of chaos before me were certainly powerful, stronger than any spirit I'd ever seen.
But none appealed to me.
What dignity could there be in those begging for a contract just because I'd climbed this far?
-If you contract with me, you'll gain an effect equal to obtaining a star.
-Contract with me. I'll tell you the location of a 'unique' piece of gear in the world.
-How about skills? I'll gift you the highest-tier chaos skills.
Seems they really liked me.
Judging by the conditions they were piling on.
Unique items and top-tier chaos skills were tempting, but why would I trust chaos enough to contract?
They were unreliable liars who'd pretended to be giants, pretended to be me, and spun nonsense. The contract terms could easily be lies as well.
A contract must be chosen carefully.
You can't contract with multiple spirits.
-Where are you going?
-There's nothing if you go down.
-Stupid choice.
-You'll come back up anyway.
Ignoring their pleas, I descended.
Each floor down, harsher trials awaited, as if urging me to climb again.
But if it doesn't appeal, it doesn't appeal.
Thus began a long ordeal, a long battle.
I fought two versions of "me."
Going down further, four versions waited.
Then eight, sixteen.
My body didn't feel tired, but my mind was wearing down under time.
Even the Heart of the Iron-Blooded Monarch doesn't protect your will endlessly. Even a superhuman mind becomes useless before time.
The thought of going back up and contracting with any chaos spirit did cross my mind.
But each time, I shook my head.
I couldn't make a forced contract like that.
The choice of a contract had to be wholly mine. If I yielded to coercion once, I would keep yielding forever.
Time drifted without meaning.
Ten days.
Twenty days.
Thirty······.
So many days that counting became pointless, I fought chaos.
-Damn disgusting bastard!
-Get out! Get out!
At last, the spirits of chaos waved a white flag.
They opened the exit gate.
Most people would have dashed outside in excitement.
But I didn't leave.
Rather, this was exactly when one should stay on guard.
Skuk-!
As expected, chaos was lunging at me from behind.
'Slimy bastards.'
They meant to cling to me to the end.
When I cut down the shadow-like chaos, a bright light appeared through the gap.
A spirit.
Could it be a spirit of light?
Spirits of Light were also rare, classified as top-tier spirits.
But why would a spirit of light be in the domain of chaos?
'That isn't a spirit of light.'
Yet it was subtly different from what you'd call light.
I brushed away chaos and walked not toward the exit, but toward the light.
-That isn't the exit.
-You plan to go back?
-Fool, fine, fight until you die!
The spirits of chaos tried to stop me.
Their attitude was clearly different from how they'd mocked and toyed with me so far.
Which made me want to go even more.
The exit gate was shrinking.
If I didn't leave now, I might lose the chance.
But that light kept calling me.
Something clearly different from chaos.
-Stop! Halt!
-If you go further, you can't turn back.
-Do you want to remain in chaos forever?
Chaos was so noisy my ears hurt.
I kept pushing chaos aside, kept walking.
And the moment I reached the light.
"You have reached the top of the tower!"
"Main Quest 3 has been completed."
"Calculating results."
····· This was the real summit.
Climbing up, going down, and refusing the path chaos made, that had been the correct answer.
"Some Constellations in the Pantheon show interest."
"'The Masters of the Spirit Tower' begin to pay attention to you."
In an instant, countless beings suddenly focused on me with interest.
Even the arrogant Constellations, even the masters of the tower.
And if they were masters of the Spirit Tower, that meant the Spirit Kings.
Was it because I'd climbed the Tower of Chaos to the summit?
Maybe, but that wasn't all.
There was a bigger reason, and I could guess what it was.
This thing in front of me, still shining.
"You have discovered the 'Heavenly Spirit.'"