SSS-Class Revival Hunter

Chapter 137: Survival (2)

I opened my eyes only to see a dark abyss. Everywhere I looked around was pitch black. It was the Underworld I returned to every time I died.

[It has been determined that your death met the requirement for the Skill’s activation.]

[Duplicating the Constellation Murderer’s Skills at random.]

I stood up, dazed from shock. Of course I knew that the story of the Constellation Murderer had taken place in the past. However, I had no idea that the director of my orphanage had also been there... The Constellation Murderer and the director had been classmates. They had gone to the same school, been in the same classroom, and took the same classes.

One of their lives was cut short. One watch broke, while the other would never work the same as it did before, its hour hand now forever stopped.

Why? Anger weighed down my heart. Why did the good ones always end up broken and ruined? The perpetrators were alive and well, so why did the victim have to die? Why did the world become hell only for those who felt guilty?

The anger made my heart infinitely heavier. My emotions subsided, but they didn’t go away. They were just building up from the bottom of my heart and filled my heart a little more. Someday, they would become an overflowing torrent and overflow.

As my spirit heated up, I heard the Guardian’s voice beside me.

—Haha. My best source of entertainment at the moment is to see you get killed when you get caught off guard. Since I became a ghost, I’ve seen all kinds of shit happen, but if there’s one good thing about my condition, it’s watching you lose, Kim Zombie! Hehehe! What do you think? The fiftieth floor and the Constellation Murderer aren’t easy, are they? Why did you even use an expedient to get to the fiftieth floor? Karma bit you in the ass, you punk!

He laughed boisterously, as if I had been fighting the Constellation Murderer just a moment before. Judging from his tone, I guessed that he really couldn’t join me during this trauma penalty.

So far, we had experienced traumas together. It started with the Infernal Mansion, Preta, Teacher, and then Raviel. The Guardian sometimes complained or remained silent about the trauma, but he had always been with me.

This time was different. I had watched the trauma on my own over the course of a month.

I had a nightmare.

The Guardian blinked.

—Huh? Nightmare? What nightmare?

I’m talking about my trauma penalty. It was a little strange this time. You weren’t with me, and the Constellation Murderer’s emotional state wasn’t fully recreated either, as if an error had occurred...

I talked and reviewed the trauma. Of course, I skipped the part about how the Guardian showed up as my father. If I didn’t, he would bring it up even after my hair turned white.

After listening to my story, the Guardian fell deep in thought.

—That’s strange. It doesn’t make sense that I didn’t get to be with you. I am called a ghost for convenience, but, to be more precise, I’m a Skill.

The Guardian was right.

Sword Constellation

Class: A+

Effect: He is from another world and managed to clear the ninety-ninth floor of the Tower in his world. However, he was brought to his knees right on the verge of reaching the Tower’s hundredth floor. Due to his regret, he failed to find eternal peace and became a Guardian instead. He can’t physically influence the world, but he is able to talk to you. He has abundant experience and is incredibly skilled, so ask him for advice!

※No one can perceive your Guardian except for you.

※The Skill has been copied from Hunter Marcus Carlenbery.

Although he had memories of before he died, he was technically stored in the Skill Card.

—In short, I depend on you. I’m like your mental tenant. As long as you don’t tear up the card, there’s no reason I can’t follow you in a trauma.

However, the Guardian didn’t get to join me this time.

You’re right. Something is strange. But what?

—Urmmm...

With the Guardian next to me, the two of us thought in the dark for quite a while. However, we didn’t have an answer. In the end, the Guardian got tired of everything and got angry.

—Ah, forget it! I don’t want to bother thinking about it! We noticed that something is strange, so we’ll have the answer someday. Just pick the Constellation Murderer’s Skill! I can’t even remember how long it has been since the demonic arts. That Goldencup or something only had her Constellation’s blessing. Her other abilities were as useful as a lint.

Maybe in response to the Guardian’s words, cards emerged from the darkness.

[Creating a Skill Card]

[Choose a Skill Card.]

In total, a row of ten silver and gold Skill Cards flew through the air as if they had wings.

—Let’s take a look at the list of the Constellation Murderer’s assets! Look at this little shit. He’s been hoarding all the good Skills. This is why Hunters who focus on getting Skills are full of themselves. Whoa, would you look at that?

The Guardian was so excited that he stole glimpses on the backs of the cards. Among them, two Skills caught my eye.

Puppet Master’s Parade

Class: S

Effect: An old puppeteer from a world. The puppeteer was afraid of being loved but wasn’t strong enough to endure eternal solitude, so they came up with an idea.

“I’ll create another me. I’ll let the other me live with other people and be loved. And if the other me gets hurt... I’ll get rid of them,” the puppeteer whispered. “I’ll erase them forever.”

Countless puppets lived and were discarded.

This Skill is a wicked sorcery for the weak, giving them the right to choose which memories to keep and which to throw away.

You can create thirteen puppets with exactly the same appearance and abilities as you. When one dies, another will wake up. Broken puppets can be repaired.

You shall have imitated immortality and assembled eternity.

※The puppets do not share their memories.

This held the key to one of the Constellation Murderer’s secrets.

There are thirteen puppets in total.

What happened to the Constellation Murderer’s real body? Was it counted as one of the thirteen puppets? Or was his original self dormant somewhere else in this universe?

I overheard the Constellation Murderer’s next secret.

A Torn Goddess’s Salvation

Class: A+

Effect: There was a goddess who devoted herself to a certain hero. Even though the hero tore her apart, she still wanted to stand by his side. During her fall, she sealed herself in a Skill Card.

The goddess’s ability is to convert memories into power. You can enhance your abilities and combat prowess by offering memories to her. The more the offered memories matter to you, the more powerful the buff will be.

※However, the buff doesn’t last for a long time.

The goddess mentioned here was the Goddess of Protection, and the hero was the Constellation Murderer. I was sure of it. The Guardian Goddess was split into five: Idol, Sympathy, Prayer, Sacrifice, and Salvation. Among these, I had four pieces of the goddess with me. Salvation, the last piece, was with the Constellation Murderer in the form of a skill.

The Guardian snorted.

—Hmm. He really had to match his title of Constellation Murderer, huh? All of his Skills are eerie. They’re okay efficiency-wise, but I don’t have a good feeling about them. This is why the Constellations go wild for angsty people...

I nodded.

I made my choice.

The Guardian countered.

—Hmm. There are more disadvantages than the advantages. Just pass on this one. You don’t need the Puppet Master’s Parade or A Torn Goddess’ Salvation. I hate to admit it, but your Skill list is pretty good as it is. If you add some stupid Skill here, it’ll ruin the synergy.

Yes, I agree, but I have some use for one of them.

I had to defeat the Constellation Murderer. However, my victory didn’t mean killing the Constellation Murderer or overwhelming him in terms of power. I needed to do much better than that and make the Constellation Murderer admit that his method was wrong. That was what I considered a victory.

I reached for the card, thinking of a Hunter with multiple names. The Constellation Murderer. Lefanta Aegim. But I still didn’t know his first name.

[You have chosen a Skill Card.]

[Copying the Skill.]

[Rewinding twenty-four hours.]

■■. Let’s end our old nightmare.

When I went back in time one day, I hadn’t cleared the fairy tale world yet. I had spent a month in the Constellation Murderer’s trauma, but not even a day had passed in the Tower.

In the end, I had to clear the fairy tale world again. Since I knew that the Immortal Happiness Preacher was planning a surprise attack, we conquered the world more easily than before. However, it still drained me physically and mentally. I realized once again the importance of saving points.

Next time, I’ll take at least a day off to climb the Tower...

Immediately after conquering the fairy tale world and returning to the Great Library of all life, I said, “Miss Countess, I have a little favor to ask you.”

The Countess welcomed me more cheerfully than usual. “What? What is it? You’re the treasure of both our Tower and my MA. You can tell me anything! I’m listening.”

The shape of her mouth was like a cat’s[1]. It looked like she felt good because the fairy world didn’t cost her as much money as she had thought. Still, she tried to hide how she truly felt.

Although it was only a moment, the image of the Countess I had seen in the trauma came to mind.

“Did you see the text message he sent? Isn’t that really crazy?”

“Yeah. Now that I think about it, he was always a bit strange.”

I paused.

The Countess tilted her head. “What’s wrong? You look a little pale.”

I shook my head quickly to leave my thoughts behind. “It’s nothing. I was just dazed for a moment.”

The classmate in the trauma simply imitated the Countess’ appearance. How could I think the Countess was the same person as the student from the trauma, even for just for a moment? I was being very rude to her.

“Did you overexert yourself in the apocalyptic book just now? You should be careful when you’re young so your health doesn’t take a hit once you get older. Anyway, what did you want to ask me?”

“I want to send a letter to the outside world,” I said. “It doesn’t have to necessarily be a letter, but there is someone there I need to contact as soon as possible. And you have the ability to communicate with the outside world.”

The Countess fanned herself. “Oh? That’s easy. If it doesn’t have to be a letter, we should use a simpler method. Which country is the person from? It’s a bit of a problem to send a letter to a country where the government has collapsed.”

“It’s okay. I’ll send it to the country where I was born.”

“Your country... Ah, that’ll be okay. An ambassador resides in that country, so you should be able to contact the person you’re looking for right away. Let’s see. Where has that woman gone?”

The Countess looked around. Not only us, but also all Hunters with different titles were gathered in the great library. She pointed at someone with the tip of her fan. “Communicator! Lady Communicator! Come over here for a second.”

“What is it?”

A middle-aged Hunter approached. It was the Broadband Communicator, the Rank 7 Hunter. She was wearing a sari, a traditional Indian attire. Perhaps because she was on a bad term with the Countess, she maintained a frown as she approached us.

“Let me introduce you to the Broadband Communicator. We’re from the same country. Hahaha. Even so, our social classes couldn’t be more different!”

“If you called me over to talk nonsense, I’ll get going,” the Broadband Communicator grumbled.

“Whoa, whoa. Calm down, Lady Brahmin. I’m going to designate this place as a holy ground leading to the outside world, so please establish a connection for a moment. It won’t be too much of a hassle since it’s a country with an ambassador.”

“Why would I...”

“This isn’t for me. It’s for the Death King over here.”

The Broadband Communicator looked at me.

I clasped my hands over my chest and bowed politely. “Please.”

The Broadband Communicator also put her hands together to greet me. She looked at me and then at the Countess before sighing in resignation. “If this were a request from a frivolous person like you, I would definitely refuse it, Countess. But I have seen how much the Death King devotes himself to the Tower. Dedication must be rewarded. I’ll help you, Death King.”

“Yeaaaaah. I knew we could talk it out with you, noble lady. Good. Very good.”

“If you spout nonsense one more time, I’ll just leave.”

“Oh my, that shouldn’t happen. You’re too strict. Alright, alright. Yeah, I got it. Let’s just get this done quickly!”

The Countess smiled. She took out her small pouch and took out a handful of purple sparkling powder, scattering it in a circle on the library floor.

“I pray to the Great Mother. I pray to you. A prayer is a wish. Please do not let the wish tear up in a scream. I am right by your side, so please allow me to remain there. Your Leading Cat asks for a little bit of your holy ground.”

Wooooosh!

Purple light emanated from the powder, dying an area that was the size of a public phone booth.

This time, the Broadband Communicator said, “Give me your smartphone.”

“Oh, okay.”

I handed her my phone. She tapped the screen three times, drawing a triangle with her fingertips.

“Go through. Connect. When noise reaches a person, it becomes sound. When there are people around, the forest will sing, and all life will chant in harmony.”

Once my smartphone was enveloped in blue light, the Broadband Communicator nodded.

“Take it.”

I did.

“Please enter the holy ground, Death King.”

The Countess smiled brightly, but the Broadband Communicator frowned.

“If you call or send an email, the person will reply.”

“The fee for a call is charged separately, but I can pay that for you! It’s no big deal,” the Countess joyfully offered.

“However, according to the treaty with the outside world, all communications must be conducted within the scope of international laws. I highly doubt you’ll do this, but please do not try to talk about crimes during your call,” the Broadband Communicator told me.

“Well, if this is a communication that must be kept secret, then you can give me a heads-up. There is always a way.”

The two said they were speaking so casually. However, I was receiving help from the Rank 5 and 7 Hunters. Only a handful of people could enjoy this privilege.

“Yes, thank you.”

I entered the holy ground with my smartphone in hand. I dialed the first phone number I memorized in my life. I had not called this number in many years.

Human memory is strange. No matter how long it had been, I still remembered it clearly.

Brrrr... Brrrr...

The call-connecting sound continued for a while. If he changed his number, all of this was in vain. But he had said that he would never change his number, so he told me to call the number at any time.

Brrrr...

That wasn’t a lie.

—Hello?

My mind went blank.

—Hello? Who is this?

The voice sounded a little older than the wailing voice from the trauma rooftop. A bit more exhausted. But the man behind the voice hadn’t changed.

I regretted not calling him until now. I should have contacted him sooner. Even though I had abandoned the outside world and entered the Tower, that didn’t mean I also had to abandon the people I knew there.

“Director. It’s me. Gong-Ja. Kim Gong-Ja.”

Silence continued on the other end of the phone before the orphanage director, the oldest voice in my memories, answered.

—It’s been a while, Gong-Ja.

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