The patrons of the bar panicked upon hearing the explosion. “W-what is it? What’s going on?” “Fuck. Here we go again!” The guests did not run away or hide under the tables. They just quickly grabbed the glasses and snacks on their table to prevent them from spilling. Here, on the fiftieth floor, explosions were daily occurrences. A voice came from above. Everyone, including me, looked in the direction from which the voice was coming. —Ah, ah. Mic test, mic test. I would like to express my apology for the commotion just now. The Magic Tower was one of the only two places I was familiar with on the fiftieth floor, the other being this street tavern. The witches of the tower had also participated in the battle when I had tried to take down the Constellation Murderer. The Magic Tower consisted of five towers that nearly reached the sky, and it resembled the five fingers of an earth giant in his attempt to grab the sky. The force that has ruled the fiftieth floor for over a thousand years... Was that what caused the explosion? I glanced at the Guardian. There’s bad blood between you and them, right? —No, no, I don’t have anything against them. They, however, hate my guts. Really. I feel very wronged. The Guardian’s claim was rather shameless. You said you destroyed one of their towers. Why would an innocent person do that? —Hey, look. You can tell just by looking at them that they’re gloomy and evil. They always coop themselves up in the Tower for research. I can almost smell mold from them. To provide them with some much needed occasional ventilation, I made some holes in one of their towers. Now that I think about it, they should be thanking me. I remodeled their home for free. They are the wealthiest people on the fiftieth floor, but they have no manners. Tsk, tsk. I think you have nothing whatsoever that is related to manners, ethics, or morals... The announcement from the Magic Tower echoed throughout the city. The people drinking outside, those selling goods at stalls, and those without a home playing dice in broad daylight all stopped and stared up at the five towers. —I’m the spokesperson of the Magic Tower. Well, I’m not here to talk about anything special. Today, some terrorists didn’t know their place and were harassing us, so that’s why I am making this announcement. The explosion that just struck your eardrums was the work of these terrorists... Hey, hey. Bring them here. No, not there. Ugh! Yes, here. Right here. There were some protests. —The Magic Tower is imprisoning our comrades! —W-we are followers of Lord Hamustra! Followers of Hamustra? —We are all librarians who have formally entered the Official Route! The Magic Tower has illegally oppressed and imprisoned us! —Everyone! If we don’t all join forces and rise now, one day, you too will also end up like us... The spokesperson sighed. —Ah, okay. That’s enough. Gosh, you guys are surely loud despite not having a master. Now, does everyone understand the situation? The commotion that happened this time was a terrorist attack solely committed by these loners abandoned by their Constellation. That’s what happened, so— —Shut up! Master Hamustra hasn’t abandoned us! —Do you know the difference between the strong and the weak? The strong only have to shut up when they want to, but the weak have to shut up even when they don’t really want to. After the spokesperson’s remark, a strange crackling sound erupted from beyond the sky. —Yes, as you can see, these guys are weak. It would be fine if they were just weak, but they’re also wicked. They even tried to destroy our Magic Tower’s security system, and the result is... the tooth I have in my hand right now. Do you get what I mean? Everyone, please don’t get on the Magic Tower’s nerves. The crowd around me buzzed, but the spokesperson continued nonetheless. —Huh? Why are you still giving me the stink eye? Hey, when someone tells you to shut up, that doesn’t just mean to shut your mouth. It also means to shut your eyes. Ominous sounds followed one after another in the hazy sky. Every time the sounds echoed, someone’s scream followed suit. Seven different voices groaned in the sky of the fiftieth floor. Meanwhile, silence descended on the open-air tavern. The Hunters tried to ignore the screams coming from the sky, instead looking around at others. Everyone knew that this was some kind of public execution. Only the tavern owner wiped the bar table as he grumbled, “Tch, they surely know how to ruin someone else’s business.” —Ah. One more mic test. If you see any of Hamustra’s old believers on the street or elsewhere, please report them. They are evil, I tell you. Well, there will be a small reward, but please consider it a contribution to the city’s order. Gosh, this is annoying. Anyway, you all got it all figured out, right? Right now, I have eight teeth—front teeth, canines, and premolars—rolling around in my hand. These teeth could be your friends’ or yours. Good luck. The voice suddenly stopped, and the sky turned silent once again. However, the silence seemed to weigh heavily on the people of the city. It took about ten seconds for the bustle of everyday life to finally return. “Those damn bastards are going after those rat followers again.” “I pity the librarians. Hey, where do you think Hamustra’s disappeared to?” “Well, it’s obvious. The Constellation Murderer must have killed him.” “Gosh, how many people did one guy kill?” It was a conversation I couldn’t help but be interested in. I turned to the table next to me. “Excuse me. I’d like to ask you something.” The older Hunter frowned. “What?” She had an Afro perm and an eye patch over her left eye. It wasn’t just her. All the Hunters sitting at the table, regardless of gender, had Afro perm hair and eye patches. I could guarantee that anyone would be at a loss for a moment upon seeing something . Despite some stammering, as politely as possible, I asked, “Um, I don’t know much about what goes on at the fiftieth floor these days... I think it’s been three months since I was last here. What happened? Why is the Magic Tower acting like that?” The Afro perm Hunters stared at me intently. It wasn’t an easy sight to endure. “Huh? Haven’t you heard that Hamustra disappeared?” I nodded. “I think I’ve heard that story before...” “The rumor going around is that the Constellation Murderer killed him!” It seemed that the Afro perm Hunters really wanted someone to listen to their chatter as they ate naan-like bread snacks. “Recently, the Indoor Librarian’s Faith has stopped completely. Well, he was always known to be indifferent to his followers and never really answered, no matter how many times they tried speaking to him. But his followers can’t even sense his presence anymore. Here. This guy was a believer of Hamustra.” Afro Perm A tapped Afro Perm B on the side. B frowned and bit into his bread, looking really uncomfortable with this topic. He murmured, “Be quiet. I’m not his follower anymore.” “Hehehe. Even though Hamustra didn’t have many followers, they were really loyal, but then he suddenly disappeared. It’s understandable why the librarians started despairing.” I had a bad feeling about this. This seemed very important, yet I had no idea this was happening because Hamustra had lost his power as a Constellation. “Has the... Indoor Librarian always been popular?” I asked. “Hmm? Not really,” Afro Perm A said firmly. “The Indoor Librarian is too unfriendly to Hunters. You know, the other Constellations help you clear small quests one by one before naturally moving on to the final quest, right?” “Ah, yes.” I murmured. Was that how it worked? I had no idea because I had never worshiped a Constellation, but Afro Perm A seemed unable to imagine that I didn’t serve one. She passed the explanation off as if it were a given. “But the Indoor Librarian was different. He just gave you one objective, like save this world from destruction, and told you to figure out the rest. Tsk, tsk. He was so irresponsible that he drove you crazy. There were no rewards during the quest, no hints. Even when the Hunter was in danger, he could have offered some help, but he just left them to die! If I put it nicely, the Constellation was very free-spirited, but he neglected his followers. How could he be popular?” “His liberty is exactly what was nice about him.” B pouted, eating his snacks. “Ordinary Constellations just give us quests, and that’s it. But Lord Hamustra gave us a world where we could go adventuring. Do you understand? He prepared everything and then didn’t interfere with us at all. How can you not get how amazing that is?” A laughed. “Look. Most of his stans are guy. But it’s over now. As I said, he stopped answering completely!” “These followers are really stubborn. With their master dead, they could have quickly chosen another Constellation and served them. Still, they’re so loyal that they didn’t change their Faith and stuck together to survive... There is no way that the Spiders of the Magic Tower will just leave them alone. These Hunters don’t have a Constellation’s protection, so they become the Spiders’ perfect slaves.” “Shut up! Lord Hamustra isn’t dead! He just went into hiding for a while to avoid the Constellation Murderer’s pursuit!” I suppressed my groan. “Oh my, I’m scared. Do I have to be quiet just because you tell me to? As the Magic Tower Spiders said, the strong don’t have to be quiet. I’m a Hunter who has been serving the Lonely Seeker for over twenty years now. I’m about to become an apostle. What about you? Aren’t you the loser who lost the master you loved so much and changed your Faith?” I furtively intervened in the two Hunters’ argument. “Umm... What if it wasn’t the Constellation Murderer who killed Hamustra?” The Hunters seemed to have no idea what I was talking about. In their eyes, I was a newbie who didn’t know anything, but I couldn’t tell them the truth. Cautiously, I added, “I mean, no one knows why Hamustra disappeared, right? Maybe it wasn’t the Constellation Murderer who killed him, but someone else. Or, maybe... Maybe he isn’t dead at all.” “How can he not be dead?” Afro Perm A asked mockingly. “The Constellation’s presence has completely disappeared. No matter how many times the followers call him, they get no reply. If he didn’t die, did he run away or something?” I shrugged. “Maybe... he fell and became a human.” “What? He fell? And became a human?” A laughed out loud. B, who had been arguing with A just a moment ago, also looked dumbfounded. In fact, all the Afro-permed Hunters who had been listening to our conversation chuckled. “Hah! This guy is definitely a newbie.” “I’ve never heard anyone say that before.” “Hey, young man. A Constellation is a Constellation, and a human is a human. And Hamustra is famous for being the Constellation of Constellations. Where did you hear this urban legend?” It’s true. Hamustra is working part-time at a cafe. He’s so popular that he gets a lot of tips from customers. “Of course, it’s possible that it wasn’t the Constellation Murderer. Maybe another Constellation killed him, but that’s highly unlikely! Not a single Constellation has declared that they killed Hamustra. Killing him is an incredible feat, so there is no way they would hide it.” “Yeah. Even Hunters wouldn’t miss a chance to show off.” “The Constellation Murderer killed him. That’s it. That maniac did it.” One last time, I asked, “Um... What if the Constellation Murderer isn’t the culprit? What would happen then?” B’s eyes gleamed eerily. “We have to find and kill them!” Unable to control his anger, B slammed the table. “How dare they! How dare a bastard who isn’t even the Constellation Murderer harm our Heavenly Master Librarian! I’ll tear them to pieces and throw them to the monsters of the void! That bastard! I’ll tear their limbs apart and stab giant needles into them from head to toe!” B’s eyes burned with murderous rage. It was impressive. Some of the other Hunters patted his back. “Stans of Hamustra are unbelievable. They truly love their master. Tsk tsk. I don’t know for sure, but if a real culprit is found, Hamustra’s followers will come from all across the universe and kill them.” “True. There will be thousands of them at least!” “Everyone is keeping quiet because the Constellation Murderer is a cosmic-level psycho. But if someone else is the culprit... Wow, that will be a real mess. I don’t even want to think about it.” “There will be a bloodbath!” The Hunters, except for B, laughed as if they just heard a funny joke. Of course, I didn’t find it funny at all. I was sweating profusely. The Guardian smirked at me. —Zombie, do you understand now? Everything I said was the absolute truth. You’re really an evil mastermind, you psycho cult leader lich. I suppressed my groan. Yeah... At least I now know that there’s one thing I have to take care of on the fiftieth floor...