Schlick!
A chilling pain shot through my abdomen. Bright red blood splattered before my eyes, and the blade protruding from my stomach came into view.
"Kuhk!"
BOOM!
Immediately after, an explosion from somewhere engulfed my entire body. The shock sent me flying dozens of meters, and I smashed my head into the half-destroyed asphalt.
"Nngh…"
As I barely managed to pull my battered body upright, the surrounding scenery came into focus.
A city center reduced to rubble and ash from the 72nd-floor boss battle.
The dark, ashen clouds parted, and brilliant sunlight streamed down.
Bathed in that radiant light, my comrades approached.
The top rankers in every field, the guild masters of Korea's 7 Great Guilds, and their elite members. With the light at their backs, they appeared like heroes of justice.
And then,
As if delivering a righteous judgment, they declared to me.
"Lee Do-hyun! We hereby sentence you to eternal death!"
"Deploy Resonance Combination Magic!"
[Mana Drain]
[Bind]
A massive magic circle formed on the ground, rooting my feet to the spot. The last handful of mana I had left after the boss battle vanished completely.
'What in the world is happening...?'
Everything unfolded so smoothly, as if they had planned this for a long time and rehearsed it countless times.
I can't believe this...
Since when were they plotting this?
What reason could they possibly have to kill me?
It wasn't long ago that we were united, filled with pride as the world's best raid team...
Even as I thought, the last of my mana was sucked out of my body, leaving me completely empty.
Mana Drain is a garbage skill with less than 10% efficiency, but when hundreds of top-tier rankers cast it at once, its power far surpasses that of any individual.
"His mana is sealed! Everyone, attack!"
"Kuk...! Why?!"
Ignoring my words, my comrades charged, intent on killing me.
I don't know the reason, but I can't just die here like this.
The hole in my abdomen healed in an instant, and I faced them.
The problem was, without mana, there was no way I could fight them properly.
I'm a magic swordsman who fights by buffing my body with mana. I even need Subspace Magic just to summon my weapon, and now even that is impossible.
Still.
Even with my bare hands.
I will fight!
WHAM!
I dodged a right hook from the burly man leading the charge by tilting my head and torso, then immediately knocked him down with a right counter-punch.
In that instant, an icicle flew in and tore a large hole through my thigh.
The man who had been our reliable top tanker brought his massive shield down on me.
I shattered his shield with my fist, then reached out and struck his solar plexus, sending him flying.
Arrows from somewhere embedded themselves in my body, and magic of every element rained down, burning and breaking me.
The blade of the man known as the Sword Saint lunged for my neck.
As his sword sliced halfway through my neck, I grabbed his face with both hands and gouged out his eyeballs with my thumbs.
SQUELCH!
His eyeballs burst.
"Gaaahhh! You crazy monster bastard!"
Immediately after, intense blue flames erupted from beneath my feet, engulfing and incinerating my entire body.
The searing flames seeped through my open wounds, penetrating deep inside me and roasting my organs and brain.
"Kill him! Kill him completely!"
"Is he finished now...?"
I met my end without a chance to defend myself, let alone leave any last words.
'No, this isn't the end.'
The SSS-class trait I received as a reward for solo-clearing the 50th floor and enhanced to its maximum level: [Blessing of the Immortal].
Crack...
When the flames died down, my severed and burnt head reattached to my body, and my wounds began to heal.
"He's... resurrecting!"
"Dammit, what kind of broken trait is that?!"
"Don't panic. This is all part of the plan."
As if they had anticipated this, they cut off my head again and set my body ablaze.
They had taken considerable damage over our repeated clashes, but their numbers were just too great.
'Aah... and I believed they were my comrades...'
My mistake was truly believing they were my allies and telling them everything.
My body was being destroyed faster than it could regenerate.
"You fool. Fights aren't won on willpower alone."
From the very back of the enemy lines, Baek Do-hyun, the head of a major guild, stood aloof, a sneer playing on his lips.
'So he's the ringleader...'
I had my suspicions ever since we had that disagreement, but I never imagined he would incite everyone from behind the scenes like this.
A thorough plan and preparation. An overwhelming difference in power.
There's no way even the foolish and naive ones among them would have willingly joined this plan. He must have used some other means...
'I'll never forgive you... I'll come back one day and have my revenge!'
But contrary to my wish, my consciousness began to fade.
'N-no...!'
"Did you really think we'd attack you without a way to counter that trait?"
CRUNCH!
Someone with a greatsword hacked my reattaching body into pieces.
But even then, my cells slowly began to regenerate.
Splattered blood gathered in mid-air, forming veins, which were then surrounded by nerve bundles, muscles, and bones.
These tissues then clumped together, slowly forming arms, legs, and a head.
"Dammit, we were right to kill him now."
"Fucking monster..."
"Seeing it in person leaves me speechless... Is this really the same person?"
Following their plan, they then chopped my regenerating body into pieces, froze them, and placed them inside special containers.
"This should be enough to keep him from reviving."
'Aah... Is this how it ends?'
The price of my trust was a betrayal I couldn't even understand the reason for.
As my body parts were divided into seven pieces and sealed in the containers, my vision blurred, and my consciousness sank into a deep darkness.
*
How much time had passed?
I felt like I was left all alone in a dark universe.
I couldn't see a thing.
No matter how much I ran, this dark space that filled my surroundings never changed.
No matter how long I waited, this dark space never changed.
A space like an endless black universe.
But still, I ran.
I struggled to grasp even the faintest sliver of hope.
Revenge. The end of the Tower.
There's still so much I haven't done! I can't let it end like this!
And then, I saw a small light in the distance.
A tiny, precarious light, so faint it seemed it would vanish in an instant if I lost focus.
There it is. I have to reach it.
I sprinted madly through the dark space.
How long did I run? A minute? A year? I ran endlessly in that black space where time and space twisted, expanding and contracting.
The small light grew larger, emitting a pink glow.
Motes of light from the crack flew past me.
Up close, I saw that the source of the pink light was a small hole, just big enough for my hand to barely fit through.
There was no way I could pass through it like this.
But I couldn't give up here.
I grabbed the hole with both hands and roughly pulled it open.
Squish...
It felt like I was touching a strange wall of flesh.
Despite some unidentifiable wet fluid leaking out, I pushed my head in and used my arms to widen the space.
And finally, my body slipped through the sufficiently widened, sticky pink hole.
Shluuuck!
*
"Gahk!"
The first things I felt upon regaining consciousness were a constricting pressure on my body and a lack of air.
Something like plastic was wrapped tightly around me.
"Mmmph!"
Instinctively, I raised my arms to my head and tore at the plastic wrapping.
One layer, two layers... I peeled away the multiple layers of plastic.
'Nngh, I can't... breathe...'
Before, I could have torn through this plastic with a single finger, but it seemed my current body was in bad shape.
Rrrrip... Tear!
And just when I couldn't hold my breath any longer.
"Haaah!"
I finally tore through all the plastic and emerged into the bright world outside.
I took a deep breath of the sweet oxygen, a sensation I hadn't felt in a long time, and opened my eyes.
A clear, blue sky. Dazzling sunlight, illuminating the world, poured down from above.
"Haha! I'm back... huh?"
Hmm? 'But something's... strange...?'
The fact that I was in the middle of a junkyard, I could chalk up to my body having been dumped somewhere.
'Why is my voice so high-pitched...?'
No way, it can't be... I looked down.
"Eek?"
There, hanging tantalizingly, were two voluptuous mounds of flesh I could have never imagined.
'Why... are these on my body?'
Wondering if something had been attached incorrectly, I grabbed them with both hands and gave them a feel, but...
Squish~ Squish~
The soft, plump breasts, so full they spilled out of my hands, jiggled.
"Heh?"
My mouth fell open without me realizing, and a stupid sound of astonishment escaped my lips.
"No way... Ah, my dick, no... Is my dick gone?"
I quickly moved my hand down to search for my precious rod, but as expected, it wasn't there.
'Aah...'
I died today.