SSS-Class Revival Hunter-Chapter 153: Shine (2)

“Ugh!”

The Sword Star lived up to his reputation. Even though he was bewildered, he continued to swing his sword. If I hadn’t shaken him up, the attack delivered using my new form would have been blocked, but my attack narrowly made it past his defense this time.

The old gentleman stopped moving, squinting at my sword that was only five centimeters away from his neck. He stopped struggling just as his sword was also fifteen centimeters away from my neck.

I chuckled sheepishly. “Phew. I won, sir.”

The Sword Star’s face scrunched. Hard. “W-what are you saying? This doesn’t count! Not at all!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. A win is a win. Even if you lose on the battlefield, are you still going to say that it doesn’t count? Really? I never thought you were that kind of person.”

“Still, this is... This is....”

“This is what?”

“Too dirty! You fought dirty!”

Dirty? What an awesome compliment!

“Hahahahaha! Thank you, sir. I never thought the day would come when the Sword Star would say I fight dirty! How should I put this... Life is very beautiful. I hope you live a long and healthy life.”

The Sword Star was so pissed off that he was shaking. The more he trembled, the more I was enjoying myself.

“You...I’ve also been holding back from wanting to talk about our sect! I’ve waited this long out of consideration for you. You can’t trample on an old gentleman’s heart like that! You’re being petty!”

“Anything you say doesn’t change the fact you’re a loser. ”

“L-loser? We’ve fought fifty-three times, and I’ve won fifty-two of our duels! Fifty-two wins in fifty-three matches definitely make me the winner!”

“The last victory is the most important one. You are familiar with Xiang Yu, the Hegemon King of Western Chu. Even if you win ninety-nine out of one hundred fights, one defeat is enough to make you a loser. You’re Xiang Yu, and I’m Liu Bang, the ruler of the world,” I said with a grin.

“That is why we should go for one more round!”

“No, no, I’m not going to fight you for the next six months. During this time, I’ll spread the word to everyone in the neighborhood that I defeated you. I’ll consider fighting again after that.”

“Huhhh... Ugh...Ugh...!”

The Sword Star was on the verge of fainting. How tragic. His meridians and vessels were as good as clogged and twisted, mentally putting him in qi deviation. I would have to pray for the Sword Star’s peace.

Swish!

“I see you two are getting along well,” someone said from nearby.

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The Black Witch appeared out of thin air, landing easily on the ground after using her teleportation Skill. The spectators gasped upon recognizing her. The top three High Rankers were together.

The Black Switch smiled softly and waved her hand upon noticing the spectators’ gaze on us.

Click! Click!

The Hunters were busy using their smartphones to take pictures of the three of us together. Only then did the Black Witch turn her head to look at us, but she had a very puzzled expression on her face.

“The Death King’s childish behavior isn’t anything new... but what’s wrong with you, Sword Star? Did your mental age decrease after hanging out with the Death King? Other than your lofty image, you’re nothing.”

The Sword Star snapped. “I don’t want to hear this from you, two-faced witch! Why are you smirking like that?”

“Oh, yes. If I think about it, you were a bit of a zealot when you first entered the Tower. I vaguely remember... Though I don’t really miss it.”

The Black Witch’s eyes narrowed as she reminisced, but she soon calmed down and got to business.

“It’s good to play like kids from time to time, but you need to act like the Rank 1 and 2 Hunters today. Except for you two, all the other High Rankers are gathered in the great library.”

I put the holy sword into the scabbard and asked, “What? What happened?”

“I actually hope people get tired of steering up troubles, but, unfortunately, every single day, something happens. Still... today is a bit of a big deal,” the Black Witch whispered. “Let’s unlock the thirty-first floor.”

***

It had already been fifty-six days since I cleared the great library, but things had been hectic for us. Maybe I deserved a break after clearing from the twenty-first to the thirtieth floors, but that only applied to average Hunters. High Rankers like the Black Witch and I were actually a lot busier. I was being dramatic, but I had almost died from overwork.

A month ago, a once successful warlord in Africa went completely broke, and about one thousand three hundred remnants of his army fled to the Tower. It almost drove me nuts, but such incidents happened quite often. A lot of people were already trying to enter the Tower, but the remnants of warlord factions made me busier than I was supposed to be.

When we arrived at the great library, the Inquisitor smiled and welcomed us.

“Welcome! I’ve been waiting for you guys!”

He seemed innocent, as if he was an angel, but he’d had the exact same smile when interrogating thirty-three people from the warlord’s dismantled band. Now that I remembered that, his smile seemed less angelic.

“I heard that we’re going to open the thirty-first floor,” I mentioned.

“Yes! The urgent tasks have been completed to some extent. There is still a lot of work to be done, but the guild executives should be able to handle it. Meanwhile, we have to fulfill our duties!”

I nodded. High Rankers existed to conquer the Tower. We had to go to higher floors, raise our flag, and show those following us that there was still a road ahead of us. When one knew which direction to go, they were automatically inspired with hope. In return, we held power. The duty that came with this power was us putting our lives on the line.

“Mr. Death King, what happened during this morning’s sparring? The Sword Star behind you seems to be fuming!”

“Maybe he has to go to the restroom. Let’s be considerate of the elderly and end the meeting quickly.”

“Oh my! Mr. Sword Star, it’s okay to go to the bathroom first. The thirty-first floor won’t run away just because we wait a few more minutes! Oh, are you constipated by any chance? That’s a bit tricky.”

The Sword Star gritted his teeth. “You guys...”

The Paladin cleared her throat before turning to look at Hamustra. “Now that everyone is here, let’s proceed.”

Hamustra was waiting by the table in silence, wearing a cafe employee’s uniform. He was no longer the librarian of this great library, but a part-time worker at Planetarium, the library cafe.

“Please call the head librarian.”

“Okay.” Hamustra smiled and walked out of the library cafe using the back door, where the Staff Only sign was hung. After a while, a child wearing loose pajamas appeared, walking behind Hamustra.

Had she been sleeping? The child was even hugging a pillow with a colorful pattern of peaches in her arms. In every way, she looked like a kid.

The child yawned loudly. “You called me...? Ah, it’s you. It’s been a while, Death King.”

[The Mirage-Walking Princess greets you.]

She was no child, but the newly appointed head librarian on the thirtieth floor, filling in for Hamustra. On top of that, she was a Pillar, not an ordinary Constellation.

I bowed. “Yes, it’s been a while since I met you, Princess.”

There would be an opportunity to talk more with the Constellation later. What was important now was that the Mirage-Walking Princess was in charge of the library and apocalyptic books. In other words, she was the guide and helper of Hunters in conquering the Tower.

The princess looked around the cafe tables with sleepy eyes. “All the High Rankers are here... Oh, are you going to start today?”

“That’s right,” the Black Witch answered on our behalf. “You said two months ago that you’ll unlock the next stage whenever we want. Now that we’ve sorted out our internal affairs, we’ll resume clearing floors.”

“Heh, you guys are really fast...” the princess said, rubbing her eyes. “I’m telling you this in case you misunderstood—there is no time limit to clear the Tower. It doesn’t matter whether you clear it in six hundred or twelve hundred years. It’s actually okay if you don’t clear it at all. Are you really going to unlock the thirty-first floor today?”

“Yes, we...”

The princess shook her head. “Oh, sorry. I wasn’t asking you, Witchy Something like this should be decided by the Rank 1 Hunter. Those are the rules. It’s the same for any Tower. You are third in line, so you have no power to make decisions.”

The Black Witch closed her mouth.

“Sorry, I know I sound like a dictator, but the Tower has their reasons. Things can be really good or bad depending on who is the Rank 1 Hunter, but now, you’re lucky. In the past...”

“Princess,” Hamustra whispered from beside her. “I’m aware that I’m in no position to point this out, but you’re talking too much.”

“Oh, sorry. Ever since I descended to this place, I’ve been feeling sleepy... Anyway, Swordy, are you really going to unlock the thirty-first floor?”

The person the princess was looking at was the Rank 1 Hunter in this Tower—the Sword Star.

He slowly looked around. Hunters who made eye contact with the old gentleman nodded one after another. When the Paladin, the last one to meet his eyes, nodded, the Sword Star finally said, “Please unlock the floor.”

“Okay.” The pillow the princess held fell to the floor when she spread her arms. “I, the Mirage-Walking Princess, acknowledge your journey of ascension as your temporary guide in this Tower.”

The Tower’s voice rang out.

[Announcement.]

[The next stage has been unlocked today.]

The princess waved her hand. “I’ll skip the welcome greeting since I’m here.”

A list appeared before us.

1. Puren

2. Skian

3. Shellmount

4. Fingill

5. Archaen

...

No matter how much I scrolled, there seemed to be no end to this list. There seemed to be at least hundreds of names listed here.

I’m finally here.

I held back my pounding heart. However, the other colleagues seemed more curious than excited. They narrowed their eyes and looked through the list.

In times like this, the first person to ask a question was, of course, the Inquisitor. “What is this?”

“Good question.” The princess chuckled. Perhaps she was the type who took pleasure in answering questions. “Click on any of them and you’ll find out.”

The Inquisitor listened to the princess and pressed on Puren. A description window instantly showed up.

Puren

Extinction risk level: F

Motto: “We decide what the world will be like.”

Description: A species whose abilities are all average. Depending on the world, Purens are sometimes enslaved by other species; other times, they reign as masters of the world.

“We represent all intelligent beings.”

Purens claim that they are people of purity. It’s their belief that average is normal and further establish it as the standard.

Traits: Quick Stance Switch, Legacy of Records, Square Enthusiast

Evolved Form: None

Other names: Human, Hume, Humankind, etc.

An image was kindly displayed next to the window. Anyone would say that it showed a human that looked just like us. My heart started pounding even harder.

If I remembered correctly, the stages from now on were...

“It’s time for a species war! Choose one species, and that species will worship you like a god. They’ll build their civilization based on your orders, oracles, and prophecies.”

The Fire Emperor, who had been the Rank 1 Hunter in the past, had chosen the species commonly known as elves, manipulating them in his usual manner, but the extent of what he did to them was so terrible that I didn’t even want to recall it. However, that was how I discovered that elves could be quite violent.

The elves had slaughtered other species, shouting, “For the Fire God!” This was the prime example of what kind of disaster could occur if the wrong person was the Rank 1 Hunter.

The Inquisitor tilted his head. “What do you mean by building a civilization?”

“I mean it literally. Build a civilization in any way you want. You can create a civilization of warmongers, or a civilization of scholars who revere knowledge. It’s up to you. Oh, maybe it’ll be easier to understand if I word it differently.”

The princess bent down and picked up her peach pillow from the floor, smiling when she hugged it to her chest.

“You’re going to experience what it’s like to be a Constellation!”

My colleagues murmured amongst each other. I was still going through the list, trying to figure out which species would be the best.

Subdracons sound ferocious because of the “dracon” part, but they’re like wyverns... I think? The Sylvans... Although I liked elves before the regression, the Fire Emperor seems to have deeply scarred my delicate heart...

The Guardian clicked his tongue.

—You nuthead. Just pick Puren. Make an ordinary choice. You’re also a Puren. Those who have tasted meat know which is the best steak, so a Puren would know Purens the best.

No, I answered.

It was obvious which species to choose.

103. Terra

I silently tapped the name.

Terra

Extinction risk level: A

...

Other names: Goblin, etc.

Goblin. The word struck me like a lightning bolt. How could I express this lightning-like sensation? Love? Fate? No, I was a regressor who returned from my original world eleven years later.

This is meant to be.

I took out the card from my pocket. It was the trump card that I had been cherishing for a moment like this. No one would have dared to guess what it was.

The time has come.

On the poop-colored card, something was neatly written.

High Society of Goblins

Class: F

Effects: A problem greatly troubled the Goblin King: "Goblin culture is too uncivilized. Every sentence ends with ‘kerr-kerr’. I cannot show my dignity like this!" Just then, a stroke of genius struck the Goblin King. "That's right! From now on, I shall end my sentences with gorrr. Gorrr! It suits my elegance, gorr."

※However, it will intensify the conflict within the species.

※The Skill has been copied from Monster: Goblin King.

The Guardian’s complexion changed after sensing that something was amiss.

—Huh? Hey. wait. Wait, you’re kidding, right? I’m sure you’re not gonna do what I think you are. Gong-Ja, even if you are the universe’s biggest lunatic, you wouldn’t do something like that, right??

I steeled myself and declared, Goblins. It’s goblins.

The Guardian was silent for a moment before he lost it.

—Hey, didn’t I tell you that it’s about damn time you hold onto your screws?!

Now, it was my time to shine.