SSS-Class Revival Hunter

Chapter 129: The Compatriots (2)

Of course, the Constellations weren’t the only ones who were shocked by the Constellation Murderer’s death.

“What?”

“What? Wait, what...? The Constellation Murderer is dead? Seriously?” a shocked voice asked from the gray sky. It belonged to the Magic Tower Master, the leader of the wizards who’d had an intense battle against the Constellation Murderer not too long before.

Upon hearing that, Hunters slowly gathered in the wasteland after fleeing from the battle between the Constellation Murderer and the Magic Tower.

“That’s impossible. The Constellation Murderer is dead?”

“Who is this guy?”

“Who the hell is the Sword Emperor supposed to be?”

“Fuck, that crazy motherfucker has reincarnated...”

Despite their shock, the Hunters were hesitant to come closer, wary of a strange Hunter who had suddenly appeared and hunted the Constellation Murderer.

I steadied my breath, which was ragged from my fight.

This is dangerous. I need to disappear before I attract more attention. If they find out that my combat prowess is actually not as high as they think, they won’t hesitate to hunt me down.

I was able to hunt the Constellation Murderer because of the trap I had set. If we had fought each other head-on, if both of us had been fully prepared, I would have lost no matter what. The other Hunters didn’t know this yet... and it was fortunate that they didn’t.

Let’s hurry.

“Send me back,” I muttered after carrying the Constellation Murderer’s body on my back.

I pictured the majestic lobby of the great library. Soon I was going to be teleported there, carrying the Constellation Murderer’s body, and then I would persuade the Indoor Librarian according to my plan.

“...?”

But nothing happened.

“Send me back,” I said again, but still nothing. I was still in the desolate wasteland. The Constellation Murderer’s sticky blood drenched my back. Hundreds of Hunters were looking at me in confusion.

Suddenly, I had an ominous realization.

The stage clear message hasn’t appeared yet.

The Constellation Murderer was definitely dead. However, I wasn’t told that the stage was cleared.

Why? What am I missing?

I hurriedly reviewed everything I had done to find out what was amiss. Perhaps just killing the Constellation Murderer wasn’t enough since he wasn’t the ruler of the fiftieth floor.

“What’s wrong with him? He’s just standing there.”

“Wait a sec. My evaluation Skill says that his Class is B.”

“B?”

While I was desperately searching for an answer by racking through my memories, the Hunters were chatting away. The initial shock slowly gave way to waves of wariness and then doubt.

“Don’t bullshit me.”

“Well, maybe he has a Skill that camouflages his level. The Constellation Murderer is estimated to be at least Class S, so there’s no way a Class B Hunter could just kill him.”

“Hey! Somebody talk to that guy!”

“Are there any Hunters among you who were around when the Sword Emperor was alive?”

Cold sweat ran down my spine.

Not good.

The atmosphere was becoming uneasy. It wasn’t just because the Hunters were trying to approach me. Each and every one of those Hunters was dangerous and probably of a higher Class than me. My hunter instincts were telling me that I was missing something.

I instinctively looked to the side. The Guardian was there, grinning.

—What are you looking at?

Be honest with me. You know something I don’t, isn’t that right?

—I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’ve already given you all the advice I can give you.

Even as he said that, the Guardian couldn’t erase the smirk off his face. A hint of playfulness lay in the corners of his mouth.

Shit. I cursed, hurriedly recalling the Guardian’s advice from before.

—Gong-Ja, don’t fall for it. He’s talking to you to buy as much time as possible. Don’t see that guy as a human being. He’s no different from a walking weapon that operates strictly based on the information he has.

That was what the Guardian had told me earlier. I quickly analyzed the Constellation Murderer.

Lefanta Aegim obsessively calculated everything. Of course, even if it were just a small possibility, wouldn’t he have assumed that he might die? The Constellation Murderer has even met the Sword Emperor before. What would I have done if I were him?

During one of my previous trauma penalties, I had seen the Constellation Murderer for the first time. The Guardian was also with me at that time and immediately recognized the Constellation Murderer.

—Huh? I’ve seen that bastard before. He’s the Constellation Murderer. I’m sure of it. Yeah. I was wondering where that psycho was born. Wow, I didn’t know he was from Aegim.

When I asked how the Guardian knew the Constellation Murderer, he had just shrugged.

—What do you mean, how? We went at it. He’s strong, but he can’t compete with me.

In other words, the Guardian had defeated the Constellation Murderer before. Strange. Very strange.

I looked at the Guardian, feeling the Constellation Murderer’s blood flowing down my back. No...

—Yeah.

There’s no way someone like you would let the Constellation Murderer live.

The Sword Emperor was one hell of a psychopath, but he was very respectful and valued honor when it came to the sword and martial arts.

The Guardian had killed my teacher in a fair match of words. Teacher had been as beautiful as she had been kind. However, the Guardian had firmly stated that her words abided by the wicked principles of a demonic cult and slew her.

—Hehe.

The Constellation Murderer was incomparably more wicked than Teacher.

—You smart rascal.

So... there was no way the Guardian wouldn’t have killed the Constellation Murderer after defeating him.

—This is why I like you. To be a proper Hunter, you have to be smart, bold, and capable. Those are the three qualities that a Hunter should have. They should be able to think of ways to win, have the guts to carry out their plan, and have the skill to execute it successfully.

The only possible conclusion was that the Guardian had killed the Constellation Murderer before. It was just that he didn’t stay dead.

—The Constellation Murderer is a Hunter just like you.

The sky split.

“Attack enhancement. I give up the memories of the white flower that I caught a glimpse of on the way here.”

I was only able to avoid that blow because I was extremely tense and alert of my surroundings. My aura was enhancing all my five senses to the limit. That was how I could sense the sword brutally cut through the air.

I abandoned Lefanta Aegim’s body and pathetically rolled on the ground using Lazy Donkey Roll. The only goal was to make it out of that spot. The movement art I used would have made the martial artists from murim sneer at me, but I did it without any shame.

In return, I lived.

Thuuuudd!

The wasteland was destroyed. The blow swept out the crowd that gathered to watch me. Unlike me, the Hunters hadn’t been vigilant of their surroundings. Because of their slight carelessness, more than twenty of them were slaughtered in the blink of an eye.

“On the way here, I saw an old man tending to his flower pot.”

Footsteps echoed through the wasteland, which was now echoing with screams and moans.

“The flower pot was small. The man’s life was also nearing its end; a single flower pot could hold all that was left. I briefly looked at the flower pot that held the old man’s life. Regardless of its size, life can be beautiful if it can be preserved.”

The man was wearing a worn-out hood over his head.

“Attack Enhancement,” the man said under the hood. “I give up my memories of the old man and the flower pot.”

A storm blew.

[The Lonely Seeker rejoices.]

[The Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye is waiting for more information to be revealed.]

[The Eternal Plains Warhorse has completely given up on attacking you.]

The casualties quickly doubled. Except for quick Hunters, everyone else was caught up in the storm.

A brave soul threw himself at the hooded man, but his limbs were soon blown away, showing everyone the difference between courage and arrogance.

“I heard people whispering in the alleys.”

The gale took the man’s hood off.

“I couldn’t understand their whisperings, but I didn’t want to dismiss them as mere noises. It made me want to understand them. I wondered if that was what beauty is all about. I thought the murmurs in the alleys were beautiful.”

His hair was silver.

“I walked. Stepping on solid ground felt invigorating and pleasant. I wondered if people would be a little better when they walked barefoot. After imagining that, I felt like they would probably step on a piece of glass and hurt themselves. People who walk barefoot in this world are good people, but they will always be in a lot of pain.”

His eyes were blue.

“I deduced that my killer is among you. The most likely suspect is... the one carrying my corpse.”

He was holding an old notebook.

“It has been 153 years, 7 months, and 2 days since I died. The Hunter who killed me, the Sword Emperor, was certainly more skilled than me, so I added the rule on page 2 to run away if a stronger opponent killed me. This is the lesson I gained after fighting the Sword Emperor and dying three times.”

After scanning through the old notebook with his blue eyes, the silver-haired man looked at me.

“You dodged my two strikes. If you were a warrior at the Sword Emperor’s level, you would have counterattacked immediately after dodging. The Sword Emperor called his level Eternal Dawn Sword, but you don’t have the skills to be at that level.”

The holy sword hanging on my belt trembled.

“It’s hard to tell why I was killed by a Hunter like you, but it means that you are clever enough to come up with a method that I can’t surmise. Hunters smarter than me are dangerous. If you become more powerful than you are now, you may become a Hunter comparable to the Sword Emperor.”

The man was a human weapon who killed Constellations. He even considered the possibility of his own death in advance and thus created a copy of himself. It could have been a clone, a doll, or something made from some Constellations’ borrowed power.

The Constellation Murderer, Lefanta Aegim, was looking straight at me.

—Don’t think of that guy as a human. He’s a Hunter just like you, Gong-Ja, the Guardian whispered.

Just like how I never stayed dead, the Constellation Murderer had also prepared for his death.

“I deduced that you’re a dangerous person who should be eliminated immediately.” The Constellation Murderer took out a yellow rubber band from his pocket and slowly tied his silver hair. “I’ll fight you.”

The world was split apart.

The Guardian laughed boisterously and the moth-eaten hem of his robe fluttered.

—Welcome to the world after the forty-ninth floor, Gong-Ja!

***

I drew as much of my aura as possible. “Shit! A clone? He’s really no different from a machine!”

The Constellation Murderer looked at the diary and then at me. It would have been better if he just looked at me, but he continued to attack as his eyes scanned the pages. I did my best to dodge his barrage of strikes.

“Only one Constellation was present in the battles against the Sword Emperor. The Sword Emperor himself considered duels sacred. But there are too many witnesses to my death this time. It’s difficult to eliminate all of them as of now.”

“Crazy shit...” the Magic Tower Master murmured absentmindedly in the sky.

Regardless, the Constellation Murderer moved mechanically, as if he had programmed his behavior beforehand.

“Therefore, I’ll choose threat over elimination. I’ll tell this to my current and future antagonists. Listen to me carefully. I achieved immortality in an artificial way, so I’ll stand before you again even if you murder me this time as well.”

“...”

“And, I’ll make sure to kill whoever caused my death. If a group is behind it, I’ll destroy them all.”

Thuuuuuud!

I barely managed to avoid the attack the Constellation Murderer threw, slashing his corpse instead. The body was immediately cut in half at the waist. It was crazy, considering that the corpse looked exactly like him.

“This isn’t an empty threat. I’ll kill you right here to prove it.” He looked emotionless. It seemed that his own body didn’t mean anything to him.

He approached me. “Attack Enhancement. I give up the memories of all the beauty in the world.”

I was caught in the illusion that time stopped as a single sword strike tore through the air and the ground. I looked into the Constellation Murderer’s eyes. They only carried madness. He didn’t seem afraid to sacrifice anything to carry out his beliefs.

The Guardian was correct. The Constellation was a Hunter just like me.

He’s like me, but he didn’t get to meet his Raviel... I lamented as I watched death stalk me. Although I gave up on defending myself, it didn’t mean that I was going to throw my life away.

“Don’t commit suicide without my permission. Don’t die even when death is your easiest escape. You’re my lover, so you can’t just throw away your life. Even if death seems inevitable, struggle to survive until the end.”

I swung my sword instead. If I couldn’t block the attack and was going to die anyway, I should make one attack that landed on him somehow. This was my promise to Raviel.

Slaaaashh!

The Constellation Murderer’s strike and my sword crossed paths. I tore through the diary in the Constellation Murderer’s left hand and saw his silver eyebrows twitch slightly before his sword pierced me.

“...”

I’ll admit it.

Blood crawled up my throat, and the world around me turned white. Even while I felt my whole body boiling in pain, I glared at the Constellation Murderer until the end.

You are a monster who is stronger than me. You’re also very cautious, like me. However, you are not the only one who can wait for the next chance, Lefanta Aegim.

[The Indoor Librarian sighs in lament.]

Alright, kill me. I’ll die now. Kill me over and over. Let’s kill each other! Your hell can compete with mine, but the last person standing will be me because you are in the wrong!

[The Indoor Librarian is experiencing delighted despair]

I’ll beat you.

[You have died.]

Just you wait.

[Your Hunter Class is B.]

[Due to the doubled penalty effect, the order of the Skill activation has changed.]

No matter what... I will...

[Warning.]

[Recreating your killer's trauma.]

[Extracting the required data for recreation from your memory.]

The white world around me turned red.

[The penalty's intensity level is high.]

[The penalty's theme is the Tiryagyoni[1] Realm.]

As my consciousness faded away and I crossed to the otherworld, I heard a melody.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

It was a very familiar melody of bells I had heard somewhere a long time before.

Where have I heard that before... Oh, where... Where was it?

I tried to open my eyes, but my eyelids were as heavy as metal. I felt numb, as if I was under the effects of sleep paralysis. I could only hear the unrefined, vague melody of bells occasionally.

Ding, ding, ding.

At some point, I heard a different sound.

—This is an announcement from the broadcasting club to all students on campus.

Campus?

— Please return home if you aren’t attending the night self-study session. There have recently been multiple reports of students remaining on campus even after school hours. Again, those who have not signed up for the night self-study session should return home.

Ding, ding, ding, ding.

The bell rang again and the voice died out. What in the world was that about?

I struggled to break free from the paralysis, but it didn’t work. Instead, I drew a dot in my mind and focused on it. I felt my body shaking. When I was about to focus a little harder and lift my fingers, something hit my head.

“Sunbae, wake up! They’re telling us to go home!”

Only then could I move as if freed from a binding spell. I exhaled sharply, gradually feeling the outline of my body, and then my senses came back. My hearing came back first, followed by my sight.

“Haha.”

The familiar sound of laughter made me raise my head.

“Sleeping face down on your desk is bad for your health, especially your back. More than anything, you can’t get a good night’s sleep like this. Midterm season is coming up soon, so I understand that you need to study hard, but it’s better to go home and sleep!”

The Inquisitor was looking down at me with a smile, but something about him was different.

“Mr. Inquisitor?”

The Inquisitor was wearing a school uniform.

“What? Inquisitor?” He tilted his head. “Who is that supposed to be?”

“Is that you, Goldencup? Did you possess the Inquisitor this time?”

“Possess? Oh, were you dreaming? Hahahaha, you read a lot, Sunbae, so I guess that's why you had such an interesting dream!”

“...”

I slowly looked around. The two of us were... in a library, but it was shabby compared to the Great Library of All Life. If the great library was a magnificent mansion, this was a cramped doghouse. When I looked outside the window, I saw a large schoolyard like those in any school.

Mr. Sword Emperor, I muttered in my mind as I felt my mouth turning dry, we’re in big trouble. It seems that the penalty became weird when my Hunter Class increased. In the past, I watched the trauma like I was dreaming, but this is like... Mr. Sword Emperor?

I didn’t get a reply, so I looked around again.

Hello?

Silence.

Hey, idiot.

Still nothing.

“Come on, Sunbae. Hurry up and go home. The student council president will probably be waiting at the school gate today as well. You shouldn’t make your girlfriend angry! I’ll put back the books, so you leave first, Sunbae!” @@novelbin@@

And then I realized that I had entered a new phase of the trauma penalty.

1. The word for nonhuman animals in Buddhism. ☜