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SSS-Class Suicide Hunter (Web Novel) - Chapter 287: 50th Floor (1)
Chapter 287: 50th Floor (1)
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
Translator/Editor: Ryuu
The Black Knight's ambitiously prepared first performance was a colossal failure.
"Impossible…"
The Paladin covered her face with a gesture of despair.
Was it because she had practiced the blood fire drama too fervently over the past month? Every gesture, every movement was imbued with dramatic flair; the Paladin's current pose was an artwork titled 'Despair' itself. It was the kind of art that wouldn't sell for even a gold while the artist was alive, only to become wildly popular posthumously, a needless coffin-dweller.
“I wanted to return to music but... Maybe it was my greed.”
The Paladin laughed hollowly.
At her feet lay letters, discarded like autumn leaves.
"I'm disappointed, that was the worst, I don't know what sin my ears committed in a past life to have to endure a performance like yesterday's", etc. A salad of curses and contempt was laid out before her.
“I shall retire now. Kim Gong-Ja. No, not as a musician. As a hunter. As a human, I want to retire from life…”
Oh no.
“Yes. The ignorant masses cannot understand us after all.”
The Black Dragon Witch?
“Humans are all trash. They don't even remember what they've done. Living like beasts, devouring their own pasts like flesh... Haha. Do we need to sacrifice ourselves for such beasts? Kim Gong-Ja?”
Her eyes dangerously twinkled.
Was she truly corrupted as her alias, the Black Dragon Witch, suggests? Anastasia, the ultimate boss, laughed ominously. Haha. It was a laugh only permitted to the true mastermind, sending shivers down my spine.
“King of Death! You are no longer my master!”
The Heretic Inquisitor laughed brightly.
No, that's not it.
Upon closer inspection, it wasn't the Heretic Inquisitor but a blond Welsh Corgi styled like the Inquisitor's hair, a literal son of a bitch.
A dog was panting heavily, incessantly drooling on my pants.
“I was born with a mission to guide the lowly humanity! Woof! Now I understand why the gods of the universe have been whispering to me. I am the promised savior! Don't worry, woof! You will be specially placed in an exclusive iron cell and provided with high-quality jerky three times a day! Woof woof!”
What kind of dogshit...
No, it's literally a dog, right?
“Hey, King of Death.”
What is it, Liǎofàn?
Wait a moment. Why are you holding my Shiny?
Why are you blushing and acting shy?
“This is really embarrassing to say, but…”
[Shiny declares it will speak for itself.]
Shiny shimmered intensely.
I must admit I named this sword very well.
[Shiny says it and Viper have decided to date.]
What?
[Shiny sings. It says seeing its previous master safe and its current master finding happiness with a partner, it too desires to find its own happiness. Seeing the woeful warrior wandering day by day, it felt that his side must be graced with a sword like itself.]
“I too thought the same, perhaps? The genre of a heroine residing in a sword has a long and storied history. It’s regrettable that this sword isn’t the sharpest 【Japanese Katana】 known for its “sharpness”, but that's an everyday ordeal I must endure.”
Insane.
Viper was spouting some typical Viper nonsense, and the adolescently sparkling Shiny, at least 10000 years old in actual age and... a sword by appearance.
Among these, I couldn't decide who was the real son of a bitch.
Was it possible that neither of them were, and I, who harbored such thoughts, was the real son of a bitch?
Or perhaps the whole world was, and I was the only one who wasn't?
At the very least, wasn't it clear that the Welsh Corgi Heretic Inquisitor, still rubbing its face against my trouser leg and wagging its tail fervently while barking "Woof! Woof!", was indeed a son of a bitch?
Is my life over?
-Damn it.
I turned my head.
Guardian Spirit was making a face like a bone soup of pork back-bone stew.
-Hey. Hey! No matter how much I have to die and see unsightly things, why do I have to join you in watching your dog dream? Huh? Wake up, you zombie son of a bitch! Wake up already! Open your eyes!
Why?
It's entertaining to watch.
If you don't like my dog dreams, then give me something.
-You devil... Wait. Sorry, I was wrong. My apologies, zombie. No, Gong-Ja. Sir Gong-Ja. I was wrong. So please, don't include me in your dog dreams! Stop it! I won't dance to that! Damn it, stop! Stop it!!
Alright.
Another day begins with the refreshing screams of Guardian Spirit.
-You just wait till you get to the 50th floor. Ah, just, ah, I won't give you any advice,I’ll just watch you fail! You're so arrogant because you managed to get the Constellation Killer, but that was just luck. The 50th floor is a damn brutal place. Huh? Even if you come later crying and clinging to my trouser leg, I won't give you a single piece of advice.
"Ah. A grown adult, getting sulky. What a sight."
-Just look back at your dog dreams! Hell, it’s not even occasionally, but always! I’m tired of that bullshit!
I ignored Guardian Spirit’s complaints and descended the stairs.
“Oh. Are you awake, Gong-Ja?”
The Paladin was sitting in the basement.
She was fully armored except for her gauntlets, which were removed as she fiddled with her smartphone.
“Yes. Good morning, Patricia.”
“Good timing.”
The Paladin smiled and held up her phone.
“I was waiting for you to come down. Look. It’s a sensation.”
“What is it?”
“What else? The blood fire drama, the blood fire drama. The responses to our last performance are starting to come in.”
“Ah…”
I suddenly remembered the dream I had today.
The fantasy of the Paladin retiring after the failed performance resurfaced, and I felt uneasy.
“How is it? Are the reactions good?”
I approached and looked at the smartphone screen. Swipe swipe. As the Paladin moved her finger, headlines flashed across the screen.
“It's amazing! The internet is buzzing!”
The Paladin couldn't contain her excitement.
“People in the outside world are astonished by our new stage. Can you believe it? Renowned directors are constantly contacting me by email.”
“Heh.”
That's a relief.
It seems the dream I had last night was really just a dog dream.
I felt a sense of relief and started reading the headlines.
『Blood Fire Drama: A Dance Genre That Transcends the Limits of the Body.』
『Dancers, directors, musicians not separated!』
『Germany's Maestro says, 'This is the jazz of the dance world.'』
『A feast of Aura that changes dramatically with every performance.』
『Is the Tower now attempting to surpass the Old World in art?』
The response was overwhelmingly positive.
A satisfied smile overflowed on the Paladin's lips.
“We even got a feature article about us. Really, they didn't care a bit when I was doing jazz, and now they're making a fuss. It’s bittersweet…”
That’s when it happened.
-Aaaahhhh!
A scream came from the other side of the basement.
The Paladin glanced briefly at the source of the sound, and I followed her gaze. There stood a prison gate made of iron bars.
But that was short-lived. The scream soon stopped.
We nonchalantly turned our heads back and dived into our phones again.
“Wow. I expected it, but the reaction is really amazing. What's this, The Post? The Times? These are famous newspapers, aren’t they?”
“They’re not just famous. Kim Gong-Ja, aren't you too disinterested in worldly affairs? Not just Anastasia, but I too stayed up all night checking the reactions online.”
“I realized how vain that is… Be careful. Watching others’ reactions is a kind of addiction, an addiction.”
“Hmm. Of course, I know… But as an artist, not just the deputy leader of the Vigilante Corps, it’s hard to resist. Look. Each of these comments, every line of criticism, is like a drug…”
“Get used to it from now on, renowned director. This will be your daily life.”
“Ha. Our Black Knight Guild Master is becoming quite the flatterer…”
Once again, screams filled the air.
-Aaaaahhhhh!
We kept exchanging pleasantries, ignoring the screams. This time, however, the screams persisted longer than before, continuing without a break.
-Save me, please save me!
-Stop it! Aaaah! Please, no more! I can’t take it there anymore…
-I'll spill everything! Yes, I'll tell you everything! Just don’t leave me alone!
-Do you know who I am!? Huh! Just you wait, once I get out of here…
We ignored them and continued our chat.
After about five minutes, the screams subsided. In the meantime, we greedily devoured our egos from anonymous journalists and critics on the internet.
Our egos were so inflated they were about to burst, and just when the Paladin and I were starting to realize how stupid we were to entrust our self-esteem to this tiny smartphone, click.
The iron door of the basement cell opened.
“Good morning…”
The one who came out was the Black Dragon Witch.
"...Huh? What? Kim Gong-Ja is here too?”
“Yep. Good morning.”
I waved my hand.
“Any progress?”
“Well... it’s so-so. It feels like all the information that could come out has already come out.”
The Black Dragon Witch yawned and staggered towards a pantry shelf in the corner of the basement that looked like a small pantry. Her hand clumsily searched for a coffee filter.
“Ah, just sit down. I’ll make it for you.”
“Okay… Thanks.”
The Black Dragon Witch looked visibly tired, with dark circles under her eyes suggesting she had stayed up all night. She took the offered seat from me with a sigh of relief.
“This is why I like married men. They have consideration and manners ingrained in them.”
“That's a biased statement, Anastasia. It's not because I'm a married man, but because I'm me that I can show such consideration.”
“Ugh. What? That's annoying…”
“For example, I know your coffee preference is a hazelnut latte. You like it hot with an extra shot. So now, I'm going to make you a hazelnut latte, not an Americano. Come on, be amazed.”
“...Huh? An annoying angel…?”
The Black Dragon Witch sipped the coffee. "Damn, this is really good…” she muttered begrudgingly, then opened her lips.
“Your prediction was correct.”
I nodded.
“So there were traitors after all.”
“...Yes. In the Black Dragon and Temple of All Gods, there were secret societies.”
Anastasia pulled out a worn notebook from her pocket.
“Their official name is the ‘Seta Learning Society’.”
"......"
“A secret society that believes the Tower is a reincarnation of the fallen Tower of Babel, a miracle granted by God for humanity to reach the heavens once again. They argue that the outside world, already tainted, should be abandoned, and a new kingdom built inside the Tower, that we should devoutly make this place blessed.”
“And what does 'blessed' mean?”
“It’s just a fancier term for terrorism. Crazy kids. Two executive members and eleven regular guild members.It wasn’t a large number, but if we hadn’t noticed now, they might have grown bigger later.”
That’s right.
I took the notebook from Anastasia and flipped through it.
『The Tower is the second coming of the fallen Tower of Babel, a miracle given by God for us to reach the heavens once again...』
『We must abandon the tainted outside world and build a new kingdom within the Tower, as commanded by the Lord, devoutly making this place blessed.』
『The current rulers of the Tower are deluded, and driving out these false rulers is...』
They were whispers of fanaticism.
The hastily scribbled words, looking like doodles, were smudged with fingerprints at the end of each sentence, showing how often the owner had treasured and read them.
“I see.”
I swallowed.
In the world shown to me by the Tower Master, Anastasia and the Heretic Inquisitor died because of this secret society. Perhaps they had been active since this time, which prompted me to secretly gather information...
“It’s good that we found them now.”
Is a bad hunch always right?
People dissatisfied with the current regime controlled by the 5 great guilds were everywhere, and a combination of cultism and fanaticism lurked inside the guilds like malignant tumors.
-Stop! I can’t take it anymore! Don't send me there! Don’t leave me alone!
And now, the fanatics were screaming in the dungeons below.
The Black Dragon Witch grimaced slightly.
“Thanks to the Dream Demons helping with the interrogations, it was easier. No need for bloodshed... If it were the old days, a head or two would have flown already.”
“How scary were the dreams that made them scream like that?”
“Nothing special? Just dropped them onto a blank white horizon and left them alone for about 30 days in dream time.”
What? That's hell.
Looking around, even the Paladin was shaking her head. Among our members, there was no one lacking in the talent of tormenting others, but the Black Dragon Witch was in a league of her own.
“Anyway, thanks to you, we cleaned house. Truly, thank you.”
Anastasia nonchalantly set down her coffee cup.
“I want to ask how you found out, but… it's not important, so I won't. What matters is that we managed to eliminate a potential threat.”
“That's accurate.”
“Good. Our leader.”
From beyond the iron door, more screams were heard.
The Black Dragon Witch linked her fingers, propping her chin up, and stared at me intently.
“We've dealt with the traitors and heretics. Everyone is distracted by the blood fire drama performance, so no one noticed. After such a perfect cover-up, I wonder what our leader is planning to do next?”
Thud.
I closed the notebook.
“There’s only one thing to do.”
And I declared.
“Tomorrow, I will ascend to the 50th floor.”
