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SSS-Class Suicide Hunter (Web Novel) - Chapter 296: The Legend Himself (1)
Chapter 296: The Legend Himself (1)
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
Translator/Editor: Ryuu
Witness A.
First testimony.
“T-The Sword Emperor? He’s famous, of course…”
The mage boy, with his bangs covering half his face, stuttered.
“I personally witnessed the Sword Emperor demolishing the sixth spire... It was incredible. Just by swinging his sword, the tower, coated in all sorts of magic and thick armor, crumbled to pieces... Ah! It might have been the first and last time Elder was that enraged. Umm... I was really pleased because there were many detestable people in the 6th Branch who all died... Though as a result, my lineage got wiped out, blocking my path to promotion, and eventually, after several decades, I ended up cleaning sewers for 131 years, which was shitty…”
Witness B.
Second testimony.
“...I don’t know why you're asking this.”
The librarian with an irritable gaze sighed.
“The Sword Constellation... Commonly known as the Sword Emperor, is so famous it would be strange if someone didn’t know about him. He’s probably ten times more renowned than the current Constellation Killer. Anyway, he was the only person to have ascended beyond the 99th floor. Frankly, I think he cleared the 100th floor... Huh? Why was such a psychopath famous?...What are you talking about? Why have you been making a face like you've eaten shit?”
Witness C.
Third testimony.
-I never really wanted to be a constellation, you know.
The world's rascal rambled.
-I don’t know since when, but faith started gathering around me. And somehow, I ended up becoming a constellation. Well, that's a story for later. Anyway. The conclusion is that I’m an incredibly awesome guy. The true savior, you see, zombie. Even without trying, I’m worshiped as a god.
Since the witness is utterly useless, the above testimony is classified as bullshit.
“This world is rotten…!”
“Why have you been like this since a while ago?...Ah, but you were also personally chosen by the Librarian. It's natural you have some quirks.”
The [Assistant Writer] muttered as I plunged into despair in real-time.
This is the hideout of the Hamusutra disciples.
After descending the underground cave for quite a while, we reached the secret hideout. There were no decent buildings or furniture. Just some mats laid on the cave floor and simple canned food stocked.
But just being here seemed to reassure the disciples, as they exclaimed, “Ah...”, “Thank goodness,” “Thanks to the King of Death, we could survive that hell!” and so on.
“Thank you so much! Our lives are all indebted to the King of Death!”
“Ahaha… You’re too kind.”
Normally, I would have calmly accepted their gratitude. But now, an earthquake of magnitude 5 was happening at the corners of my mouth. The Sword Emperor Sect. The fact that a religion worshiping the Sword Emperor existed in this universe shocked and terrified me to the point of nearly losing my sanity.
I barely held onto my sanity and spoke.
“Well, then everyone can return to their own worlds now.”
"......."
The disciples looked at each other at my perfectly normal words.
“Um, King of Death. The thing is…”
“We have no world to return to,” said the Assistant Writer.
“The tower has colonized and turned it into a colony. In the old days, there were rebellions, but that’s a story from hundreds of years ago. Now, only traitors who collaborate with the tower to enjoy wealth and power remain. Even if we wanted to return... there’s nowhere to return to. Nor do we want to.”
“Wow.”
I was somewhat surprised. A colony.
I had suspected to some extent, but the tower really could conquer the towers of other worlds.
“That’s why people like us can only stay on the 50th floor.”
The Assistant Writer leaned her hand on her forehead and sighed.
“We can't escape to lower floors. There are plenty who would capture us and offer us to the tower. Nor can we advance to higher floors.”
“Why? If you clear the quest, you can go directly to the 51st floor, right?”
“...You really are a newbie who just arrived here.”
The Assistant Writer looked at me as if I was a marvel.
“You really don’t know anything. Well, you might just have remarkable acting skills. Until a moment ago, I thought you were a recluse who had concealed your identity and come down to the 50th floor.”
What is she talking about?
“Uh, intruder.”
The mage boy spoke from beside me, his face troubled.
Then the boy’s words completely exceeded my expectations.
“Since 150 years ago, there has been no hunter who cleared the 50th floor…”
What?
“Well, to be precise, no hunter not affiliated with the tower. To clear the 50th floor, you must either be a part of the tower or at least not be their enemy.”
“Really?...For 150 years? How is that possible?”
“The tower is blocking the quests.”
The mage boy fiddled with his wand anxiously.
“Until now, there was a responsible person for each stage you passed through. The responsible constellation... But beyond the 50th floor, there’s no such helpful guide. You have to find a constellation on your own, serve it, gain its recognition, and bring its quest... only then can you pass.”
“No, wait. That’s strange.”
I furrowed my brows.
“Then constellations just need to give out quests, right? I received countless whispers from constellations as soon as I arrived on the 50th floor. They all wanted to run quests with me. How can the tower monopolize the quests?”
"......."
The mage boy pulled his hood further over his head. I almost forgot about his dramatic betrayal, but he was also a part of the tower, until just two hours ago.
“Those are minor quests.”
The Assistant Writer answered in place of the mage boy.
“Kill this person. Help that person. Such quests can be given out anytime. Rewards can also be given. But to compose a quest that can be recognized as [Clearing the 50th floor], it's complicated to go around the tower.”
“It's a bit hard to understand, isn't it? Hmm. But you're also a messenger of the Librarian, right?”
The Assistant Writer scratched her cheek.
“First off, whether you like it or not, the tower is the force that rules the 50th floor. You know that, right?”
“Yes. More or less…”
“Then you can understand that it’s tricky to compose a quest that allows bypassing the tower and claiming to have passed the 50th floor, right? It’s like if a novel threw in lots of foreshadowing about the final boss for 497 pages, only to casually dismiss it in the next 3 pages with ‘Actually, it’s not necessary to defeat the final boss’ ‘Yeah, yeah, it's okay to ignore it’ like a comedy sketch. The novel would be trash, right?”
A typical metaphor from a disciple of Hamusutra...
“So, even from the constellations' perspective, to create a 50th floor breakthrough quest, they inevitably have to use the [tower] as a material.”
The Assistant Writer spread her fingers.
“Firstly, you get recognized by the tower. You serve the tower for a long time or maintain a consistent camaraderie to become [a member of the tower] or [an honorary member of the tower]. Thus, you build achievements like [You have gained solid support from the force ruling the 50th floor]....This is the current [regular route]. Hunters who climb up this route steadily appear one or two per year.”
"......."
“Secondly, you directly fight the tower and subdue it....This is the [irregular route]."
“And there hasn’t been a hunter who cleared the irregular route in the last 150 years... That’s what you mean.”
I stated, understanding.
The Assistant Writer nodded.
“Yep. It’s not an easy task.”
The Assistant Writer snapped her fingers.
Then, pages appeared out of thin air, rustling. Each page, glowing faintly like fireflies, circled around the Assistant Writer.
“These pages are my skill. [Rejected Contest Entries]."
"......."
“It’s not a name I came up with. Don’t look at me like that. I’ll gouge out your eyes.”
This lady was quite a character.
“...Anyway, I can peek at [failed quests] of others with [Rejected Contest Entries]. And these are all traces of those who failed to break the 50th floor through that [irregular route].”
Rustle.
The torn pages fluttered as if they had wings.
I grabbed one of the closest pages and looked at it.
+
[Liberation War of the Monopolized Poisonous City]
Constellation: Warhorse of the Eternal Plains
Difficulty: SSS
Objective: Warriors! The moment of uprising has finally arrived. For the past 20 years, the demons of the tower have oppressively ruled Monopolized Poisonous City. The guardian of the sword may have disappeared, but how can there be only one hero in this world? Now, it's time for you to wield the sword.
Stand up. Fight! Topple the remaining five fingers of the tower, rescue the constellations groaning in their grasp, and walk proudly beyond Monopolized Poisonous City!
Result: Failure
Reason for Rejection: Decisive defeat of the allied forces. Most of the [Warhorse of the Eternal Plains] executives were massacred. The constellation subsequently acknowledged the failure of the quest publicly. A humiliating truce was made, agreeing not to issue quests targeting the tower for the next 100 years.
+
Plop.
I caught another piece of paper.
+
[Love Saves the World]
Constellation: The Incarnation of Love and Lust
Difficulty: SSS
Objective: Are you at peace, beloved lovers? I am at peace. But there are those in Monopolized Poisonous City who are not at peace. (Dramatic)
It's the ruler of the tower, the Tower Lord, the Elder. (Surprise!)
It's said that the Elder has never opened her heart to another in a thousand years. As a human, wouldn't she feel loneliness? (Curious) I believe that beneath that frozen ground lies a stunningly beautiful flower.
Someone, please show the Elder the greatness of love, the beauty of the world! It's an extremely difficult task, but I believe our wonderful lovers can do it! (Thumbs up!)
Result: Failure
Reason for Rejection: All disciples of [The Incarnation of Love and Lust] who approached the Elder were executed. Those who touched the Elder’s shoulder had their fingers chopped off 230 times, and those who attempted to kiss the Elder had their lips split into 23 pieces. The constellation subsequently acknowledged the failure of the quest publicly.
+
"......."
I flipped through the torn papers.
Some quests were written seriously, others lightly, each with the unique tone and taste of the constellations. But each one invariably contained one word.
Failure.
"......."
[Failure], [Failure], [Failure].
The [Irregular Route Quests], which were actively conducted until 100 years ago, gradually decreased from a certain point. Rather, they drastically decreased. Eventually, they were updated once in 10 years, once in 20 years...
And then they disappeared.
“The last Irregular Route Quest was issued 31 years ago.”
The Assistant Writer snapped her fingers.
Like a lie, the floating pages disappeared into thin air.
“We actively encouraged participation in the quests, but now even that doesn’t work. Since our Librarian disappeared, we've been too busy taking care of our own lives... Now, this city, the 50th stage, is literally a place where time has stagnated.”
“...Why?”
I had to ask.
“Why would the tower do such a thing? What profit do they gain from this?”
“A lot.”
The Assistant Writer replied immediately.
“By enforcing this [Regular Route], they fill the floors beyond the 50th with their loyal forces. This way, the tower monopolizes the progress of the tower, not the constellations. And permanent monopoly always brings immense profits.”
“But..."
“You’re right."
Did she understand what I was about to say?
The Assistant Writer nodded silently in agreement.
“It’s boring.”
"......."
“Deadly boring. Boring to death. Tedious. Stale and suffocating.”
Complaining about the so-called regular route, the Assistant Writer sighed.
“Ever since the tower began ruling Monopolized Poisonous City, apart from the brief time when the Sword Emperor wreaked havoc, there’s hardly been any fun. That’s why we librarians resist the tower.”
The Assistant Writer looked around with a bitter smile.
Less than ten disciples were healing their bodies injured from their imprisonment. All of them looked shabby. Their expressions conveyed just surviving.
“...Now ‘we’ is just this much.”
Is that so.
‘I understand.’
I looked up.
To others, it might seem like I’m lamenting at the empty air, but I saw the Guardian Spirit.
‘Why you destroyed the tower.’
-Hmm.
‘It wasn't just for fun to create chaos.’
-Well, seeing the Elder’s face contort was quite fun.
The Guardian Spirit lay horizontally in the air as if the sky was his bed.
-I didn't expect that after I disappeared, not a single new talent capable of defeating the tower would emerge. Well, I was a bit extraordinary.
‘Why didn’t you destroy everything instead of just one spire?’
-Of course because I'm not a nanny spoon-feeding kids.
The Guardian Spirit spoke nonchalantly.
-If the tower guys are bastards, what are those who can’t defeat those bastards? And what about those who wag their tails as dogs of the tower to pass the 50th floor?
"......."
-You might not feel it because you’re doing well, but these guys are hunters. Hunters who climbed up to the 50th floor. Strong people. They’re long past their beginner days; they should take care of themselves.
"......."
-I’ve done my duty by just taking down one spire.
Indeed.
That was a very Guardian Spirit-like statement, so I nodded. Perhaps the Guardian Spirit and I were not that different.
Whether to leave them to be responsible for themselves or to help them stand up and take responsibility.
Only that last attitude might be the difference between him and me.
“Assistant Writer.”
"Hmm?"
“I have a favor to ask.”
That one difference made me speak.
“Please summon one disciple of each constellation, including the Sword Emperor Sect.”
“...That’s something I can do, but why?”
“I am a hunter. A hunter has certain things to do.”
I knew what I wanted to do.
“I will ascend to the next stage.”
