We held a banquet. In one go, we cleared multiple floors and reached a new milestone. Also, the Viper had returned from his seclusion training more powerful than we could have ever imagined. There were more than enough reasons to hold a celebration. The Five Guild leaders were no longer wary or afraid of their colleagues’ rapid growth. Like good friends, they congratulated each other wholeheartedly. “I’ll make my special milk cocktail just for you, Sect Master.” “No, stop, Gramps Sword Star! You know less about cocktails than you do about crab shells! You want to enjoy the cocktail bar vibe, but you don’t really get the taste. So you just drink milk, you kitschy old man. Don’t you dare experiment on— Hah!” “Here you go, a cocktail from the combat power meter. I thought plain Kahlua milk was boring, so I mixed it with durian juice and espresso. Doesn’t this jungle feel like a seaside resort? Let me measure your romance level[1].” “Ugh, blar... Argh, blaaaaaargh! “Wow, romance level 10,000... 20,000... 50,000... 530,000... It keeps increasing. It’s good to be young. An old combat power meter like me should just die.” “Did the Medicine King get in your head, you crazy old man?” It was a disaster in the making. The Black Witch shook her head as she enjoyed a drink with the Paladin. “You guys are acting like teenagers... Is there something wrong with your brain development?” They were sitting on a square mat. It seemed that those with an intelligence below a certain level couldn’t join them. The Countess buried her nose in the mat and meowed, acting adorable in front of the two. Peace, class, elegance—the Black Witch seemed to show the true style of a drinking party. I smiled bitterly as I held my orange juice. “One side is hell, the other is paradise...” “No, I believe both are paradises!” a familiar voice said from beside me. [The Mirage-Walking Princess has appeared.] I turned my head to see blond hair cascading in the eyes of a person who seemed to have been perfectly chiseled to portray an ideal girl, or rather, an idol. “You always appear and disappear like a ghost, Princess.” The girl placed her hands on her waist. “Yeah, that’s my specialty!” She had been our guide from the thirtieth to the forty-ninth floor. While others knew her as just a Constellation, she was actually one of the Pillars, who had the highest authority in the Tower. Above all, she was the Tower master’s daughter. The princess sat down next to me, grinning brightly. “Wooooooow. This is amazing! I’ve already praised you numerous times for how incredible you are, but you continue to impress me! There is a good reason you’re the Ascender I’ve been keeping an eye on!” Wondering what she would say next, I gave her some space, but I still looked at her with shifty eyes. “What are you planning this time?” “Nothing! Nothing at all! There’s no scheming whatsoever! I just stopped by to praise you, Death King.” I sighed and took a sip of my orange juice. The princess giggled. “I just want to praise you. You, uh...all of you did really well. I’ve been to many Towers, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen these stages being cleared so unanimously like here.” “Yeah! Of all the Towers I’ve overseen, the best one only got one species bullied. This is a secret you can’t access with your current authorization level, but...” The princess stretched her legs. “Well, who cares. The Ascenders there chose six species. From the beginning, it was agreed that one species would be the scapegoat. Smart, right? If there’s floods, droughts, shitty life conditions, it was all because of that species. After all, it’s said that if you want to make allies, you first have to make enemies. The Ascenders of that Tower used this strategy. They all united against that one species.” “That is the best scenario you witnessed?” I asked. This Tower, like all Towers, was an inferno of the Tower master. She embraced all the screams, resentment, and death bubbling up in the Tower, feeling the pain on everyone’s behalf. “Best” wasn’t exactly the descriptor a child who had asked me to save her mother would use in this scenario. The princess picked up a rice cake snack and ate it slowly. “Yes. Because the witches defeated the other five species, and then also the challenger they believed to be their god before proceeding to kick the asses of the remaining challengers.” “Yes, you heard me. Once that was done and dusted, the witches brainwashed the other species into becoming their slave soldiers. With their help, they attacked the lower floors of the Tower. The witches’ army massacred all the humans who had trusted the challengers and were living comfortably in the Tower. Those humans were then used as test subjects for biological experiments. It’s a happy ending.” The princess smiled brightly. “Oh, by the way, the humans I’m talking about now are a bit different from your humans. They look like toads. Anyhow, in short, the roles were reversed. The humans in that world were treated like gods, but they became laboratory toads overnight.” “Oh my god. What the—” The princess continued to chew on the rice cake, her cheeks puffed out like a hamster’s. Despite this, her pronunciation was still incredibly accurate. “Isn’t it awesome? That happened about one thousand years ago.” The princess’s gaze shifted toward me. Her cheeks were full of honey rice cakes, so it was almost impossible to take her seriously. Nevertheless, her eyes were strangely sharp. “You share a surprisingly deep connection with them, Death King.” The princess’s eyes grew serious. “Think about it. You’ve met the witches before.” Playfulness was her middle name. It lingered in the corner of her eyes, but her pupils now shone like jewels. She was staring at me, but I still struggled to remember who she was talking about. “You said this happened in one of the Towers one thousand years ago. How could I have possibly met them? The time difference is—” “If you’re talking about surviving for so long, you can use aura or magic to live for more than thousands of years. It’s actually common, at least on floors above the fiftieth. You can tell just by looking at the Constellation Murderer.” Suddenly, the hints the princess casually dropped began to piece together in my mind. You said that you knocked down one of the Magic Tower’s buildings one hundred and fifty years ago. That was the conversation I had with the Guardian when I reached the fiftieth floor after cheating just so I could meet the Constellation Murderer. The fiftieth floor was nothing like the other floors I had been to before. It was extremely dangerous. Most importantly, a terrifying faction had control of the entire floor. —Ah, right. They originally had six towers, but I knocked down one of them. The faction still had an unresolved grudge against my Guardian, the Sword Emperor. It was like they were each other’s nemesis. As soon as I mimicked him and shouted in the direction of the mages, they reacted immediately. The reaction was quite violent. “Sword Emperoooooooooooooor! You’re back! I knew you would come back someday! Even when all the Constellations said you were dead, we did not doubt that you were a son of a bitch who would never stay dead even if you did indeed die. Did you possess someone or get reincarnated? Oh, forget it! It doesn’t matter either way! We’ll kill you! We’ll kill you no matter what! We’ll tear your soul to pieces, scatter them all over the universe, and shit all over them! We’ll kill you! We’ll kill you!!! We’ll kill you right now! In the name and history of the Magic Tower, I swear we’ll chase you all the way to hell!” I still couldn’t forget seeing hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of mages charging toward me and the Constellation on broomsticks. I turned to look at the princess’s face, a slight shudder traveling down my spine at the memory. She offered me an innocent smile. Um, I see. Let’s try summarizing. “Are the mages I met on the fiftieth floor those witches?” I asked. The princess set off a birthday firecracker that she had brought with her. “Correct! Just as expected from you, Death King! You catch on quickly, so it’s easy to talk to you.” “The heck...” As I realized that all the ties and connections in my life were twisted as hell, it dawned on me that I had missed one important question. “Oh, wait a minute. Is it possible for the main residents of a Tower to change?” “Of course. If the Terras got pissed and slaughtered all the residents of your Tower, then they would become the new main residents of the Tower. Well, that will never happen as long as you’re alive. The citizens of the Aegim Empire and the people from the apocalyptic books, even the world where Raviel lives, can theoretically climb the Tower in your place. You just haven’t realized this yet because you guys are monopolizing the rankings right now.” Certainly, only those ranked up to seventh could head to the highest floor. “Well, if someone from among the cleared worlds entered the top seven instead of us... “Yeah, they can probably climb the Tower, too.” The princess shrugged. “Though it won’t be easy for them to join the rankings.” “Hmm? Well, they fight every day in their world for their survival. Those who have no reason to leave their land usually have no reason to reach the sky either. No matter how strong they are, the Tower doesn’t pay attention to people like them. Her words resonated strongly within my heart. The princess shrugged again. “But even if it’s not for that reason, there may be those who aim to ascend to the heavens. For example, the Terras... Should I call them Asuras now?” “The Asuras are strong. They know there is a higher world because they have a Constellation among them. That isn’t all. They have mastered the Demonic Heaven Arts, which are so powerful that they can be considered one’s trump card. They even know how to use the Demonic Heaven Formula Arts. These guys will be able to climb the rankings quickly, but... that will cause some problems.” Did this girl inherit not only her mother’s playfulness but also her venom? In the princess’s eyes, there was a hint of sarcasm that matched the mocking smile on her lips. “What problems?” I asked. “Death King, you’re confident that the Terras and your colleagues will never betray you, but what about the rest of the Tower residents who didn’t participate in this expedition? When you guys suddenly bring your ‘children’ to the Tower, will they welcome the new species?” The princess laughed. It was meant to sound playful, but there was an artificiality to it. “I wonder what they would do? Maybe you can tell them that there are no problems, so there is no need to worry, but will they believe that? You have a good reputation, so that might work. But what about your other colleagues? Only a handful of people know that the Black Dragon Master has changed. I wonder if you can count on both hands the amount of people who are aware that the Inquisitor has changed. Will people trust them even if they say, ‘Please believe us’? What about the Viper? The Sword Star? Will those residing on the lower floors of the Tower trust you and the children you brought into this world?” I glanced around the area, taking in the buzz from the lively drinking party. “It’s a shame, but I’ll end the durian course here,” the Sword Star announced gracefully. “I... I survived... Ugh. I survived... I survived...” “The next drink is a cocktail made from the finest salt mined directly from Slimepolis, mixed with the white liquor brewed from the Shellmount body fluids. Sect Master, it’s said that you need to drink this in one gulp to fully enjoy its flavor. Go ahead.” “Uh... isn’t that just jelly with salt in it?” the Viper asked, suspicious. Yes, regardless of age, gender, or species, everyone was laughing and mingling in their own ways. There was jealousy, admiration, friendship, half-baked hopes, and long-simmered sighs. Still, everyone was looking at each other straight in the eyes, just like the Viper and I had done. If we see each other as people, that’s enough. I nodded and looked straight into the princess’s smiling eyes. “Well, I can help the residents find a solution, to be precise.” I turned my attention back to the Black Witch. She was still drinking with the Paladin but didn’t talk much, just observing the area with a bored expression. Our eyes met. “What are you looking at?” Her lips moved. The palm leaves cast shadows on her face. Despite the distance between us, I received her Aura Transmission clearly. “Can you come over here for a moment?” “Don’t feel like it... Why?” “I have something important to discuss with you and the princess.” The Black Witch sighed and put down her cup.Before it touched the ground, she teleported right in front of me and asked, “What’s going on?” “Before we head up to the fiftieth floor, there’s an event we need to prepare for first.” The Black Witch tilted her head while the princess looked at me with intrigue. I paused for a moment before adding, “We’ll return to the first floor of the Tower tomorrow and start a vote.” “Vote? I thought that was over once the Skians had their say.” “No, there is still one last vote we should do. We haven’t yet received the votes of the people living in Babylon.” Anastasha fell silent. Yes, that was correct. The most important vote was left. The Five Guilds overcame their conflicts in the past and united. With the scars in their hearts, they decided to move forward. That was a good thing that deserved to be celebrated. But only we can celebrate genuinely at the moment. The residents of Babylon were going about their lives, unaware of all this. They were happy that the floors had been cleared at an unprecedented speed, so they were cheering and supporting the Five Guilds. However, unseen problems lingered everywhere. Perhaps, like the what-if scenario that the Tower master showed, a rebellion would erupt in the Pantheon. It was possible that the Black Dragon Master would get betrayed, and so, the Tower would collapse from within. If we disregard the lives of ordinary people, they would, in turn, disregard ours. We have to talk with one another. No, just talking wasn’t sufficient. We should show them what we have accomplished so they can grasp it. For that reason, doing this was essential. “Anastasha, please prepare a press conference. I’ll hold my second press conference since becoming the Death King.” “It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have such an event... It is a significant achievement to showcase to the outside world...” “Please allow not only reporters but also Tower residents to attend freely. The residents should also be able to ask questions, and I’ll not shy away from answering.” I stared into the Black Witch’s eyes. “I want all of you to be present, too. Let’s face and speak honestly to everyone living in Babylon.” This way, everyone would be able to climb the Tower together. The Black Witch remained silent. Her silence was long, not because she didn’t know what to say, but because of the overwhelming thoughts that filled her mind. Her silence was a way to endure the overwhelming rush. “It’ll be dangerous,” she said finally. Her words summarized quite a lot of her thoughts. “We can control a typical press conference. The reporters allowed in, the questions presented, the reactions from the audience, the seating arrangements... the Black Dragon Guild can carefully orchestrate everything, but if we allow residents to ask questions as well—” Anastasha fell silent again. After a few moments, she added, “Many people want to harm you.” “Some people think that you are a star that the Five Guilds have trained together. They say your achievements actually belong to the Five Guilds, but we intentionally gave you the credit to make you a star. The King of Death is merely a puppet, following the commands of the Five Guilds—” “You’re an orphan. Because of your background, some will dismiss you either knowingly or unknowingly. You also brought your orphanage director to the Tower. Some people already believe you’re favoring those around you as soon as you become—” “There are people who don’t deserve to harm you. Many of them. You don’t have to do something that will hurt you.” “I do have a reason. You know what that reason is, too. Yes, people want to hurt and criticize me. Some are just as petty as I used to be. But Anastasha, this is the cost the Five Guilds have to bear for maintaining the secrecy policy in the Tower for over a decade.” I placed my hand over hers. “These people aren’t just fabricating stories to hurt me. They’ve been treated like nobodies all this time, so they want to hurt anyone to make their presence known.” “They want to hurt you for no reason.” “Well, the world is full of irrationalities,” I said with a smile. “But leaders should weather this kind of irrationality. All of you made me a leader.” I took a deep breath. “Now, it’s my turn to be the Tower’s leader.” 1. Not actually related to romantic love or any of the sort. It’s more about enjoying the little things in life that seem romantic, like watching a beautiful sunset or experiencing the first snow of the year. Something poetic that sparks an emotional reaction. Or, at least, I assume this is what’s going on here, haha. ☜