Red flames fill my field of vision.
KABOOOOOM—!!
"Kuuwoooo!! Kuhahak...!!"
Engulfed by flames that burned its body, the thing writhed in agony, slamming the ground and tearing at its own skin.
"..."
I was in agony too.
The sensation of burning down to my bones stimulated my brain with vivid clarity.
The sickening stench of charred flesh crept into my nostrils.
Every sensation throughout my body was twisted by pain.
But—
"Kuuwoooooo!!!"
"Heh... heh..."
I laughed.
It was a situation where even speaking was difficult, and I was going to die soon too.
"What do you think? Fucking hot, isn't it?"
Its eyes rolled back.
Was it weak against fire?
No. Any ordinary living creature would go mad from this pain.
I've gone through this more than five times thanks to you.
It wasn't as if this moment did not hurt, but I had prepared myself in my own way.
I'd braced myself beforehand, knowing pain like this was coming.
Thud.
"Kuhuhk..."
"Heheheh... heh..."
I dragged my body along by force, desperately holding on to my slipping consciousness as I approached its face.
"Ghk, it hurts like hell... doesn't it...?"
Watching the drool streaming from its mouth ignite in an instant, I spoke right into its face.
"Kahaaaaaaa!!!!"
What a rush.
Fourteen times. I had repeated this fourteen times.
It felt like I was gradually ceasing to be myself, but now that I had finally seized the ending I wanted, my head felt as though it were on fire.
No, it really is on fire.
How long until I died?
One minute? Thirty seconds?
I didn't know. I was going to die either way.
I would probably die before this thing did.
Still, wouldn't it be better to die first?
It seemed better than suffering for longer.
"..."
Perhaps it had been pulled free while it thrashed around—the steel sword I had lodged in its calf lay nearby.
Making it suffer more wouldn't be so bad, but I wanted to finish it with my own hands.
What was the point of this thing suffering somewhere I couldn't see?
Swish.
I wasn't going to do this shit on the next try anyway.
I'd done enough, and I'd enjoyed enough.
I now knew what repeated death was like—how painful it was, and how deeply it consumed you.
I understood clearly just how broken the regression ability was.
The other gallery users must have climbed the tower by using their own deaths as material in much the same way.
Though I doubt anyone else does this kind of shit.
What I was doing had fuck-all to do with climbing the tower, but I let that slide.
"Kuuuhk... kuhuhhhk—!!!"
"That's why... why'd you have to sneer at me...?"
I picked up the steel sword and approached its head.
I couldn't even feel the sensation of gripping the sword, but I forced strength into my hand.
Looking at the thing, which could no longer even struggle and could only scream.
Meeting the eyes that had sneered at and looked down on me, I raised my sword.
...I don't have as much to say as I thought.
It wasn't really some sworn enemy I absolutely had to kill.
I was just a little pissed off, and a bunch of reasons had piled up until I tried it.
Stab—!
"Kuh... hhk..."
I drove the sword deep through its eye.
I didn't know where its heart was, so I aimed to pierce straight through its head.
Thud.
"Ah..."
Feeling my consciousness wear away, I collapsed atop its enormous body.
Blink... blink...
I couldn't feel pain anymore.
My vision wavered. My body would not move.
Next time... I'll just run straight for the exit....
I stared blankly at the crimson-stained night sky and waited briefly for the death to come—
Blink.
[Survive]
[00:00:00]
At the same time as the timer, which had remained stopped all this while, began counting down again, my consciousness cut out.
*
[You said you'd come back, fuck]
[Author: Anonymous]
Where the fuck did you go?
"..."
They had a point.
He had definitely said he would come back.
He had told us not to worry.
[In memory of the newbie's one-week death anniversary..]
[Author: Anonymous]
Please be happy outside the tower...
[Comments]
Anonymous: Why the hell are you commemorating it, idiot? lol
dd: One-week anniversary (it's only been one week), commemoration (not a commemoration).
It's already been a week....
A week had passed since Wiki disappeared again.
This time he had told us before vanishing, but he had still given no explanation, so I was worried.
[He probably realized he can die and is testing whether he actually dies or not]
[Author: Anonymous]
He's probably doing suicide runs himself to find out how long he keeps reviving;;
[Comments]
Philosopher's Stone: There was someone who went insane after dying over a hundred times in one week before.
┗ Anonymous (author): Holy fuck, that's scary;
┗ Philosopher's Stone: It's not something just anyone would think of doing, but that newbie seems more than capable of trying it.
┗ Anonymous (author): You might not get to drink cola if you keep saying that. You okay with that?
┗ Stone of Ttutta: Boohoo... no... newbie... newbie can't dieee...
"He really can't..."
Because I was honestly afraid he would do something like that.
I couldn't shake my worry that Wiki would surely get up to something bizarre again.
While everyone else could barely climb one floor a day.
While they climbed by dying, repeating things again and again, and gradually learning the patterns and strategies.
He climbed several floors at a time without dying.
Putting aside how that was even possible, I couldn't imagine how someone like that would act after realizing death was no longer a limitation.
He really shouldn't take his life so lightly....
The fact that death in the tower differed from real death was not necessarily a blessing.
Because even death could not free you from this hell.
Even when you could no longer endure it, even when you wanted to let go of everything, you could not escape through death.
All the people here could do was go mad day by day while waiting for the Apocalypse—the only end they could face.
Without even knowing what the Apocalypse was.
Of course, dying and coming back to life might be a blessing when it came to climbing the tower, but...
"Haa..."
In the end, the more accustomed you became to death, the more broken you became.
I had seen plenty of people go mad that way.
There are even people who enjoy dying....
In this confined space, people who could not endure even with the gallery as their sole means of communication began to pursue death for pleasure.
I didn't think Wiki would become like that, but... I was just a little worried.
Swipe.
Not an Eraser🔸: Wiki, please don't overdo it...!!
┗ Not an Eraser🔸: Keep fighting today too!
Like always, I left a comment on Wiki's last post.
Maybe he was looking at it. Maybe seeing this would cheer him up, even a little.
[What if he suddenly comes back after hitting floor 100 in every tower??] (32)
[128-Year Newbie Analyst: He's probably doing something our minds can't even imagine] (18)
[A week of cola withdrawal, fuck] (6)
[He said he'd bring back something awesome. What do you think it is?] (43)
[Newbie Meta: Day 2 of successfully climbing the tower without dying lol] (23)
"...I should get back to climbing the tower too."
I looked over the gallery posts for a moment, then rose to my feet.
I left a comment on the usual announcement post saying I was going to climb the tower, and just as I was about to slowly leave the hideout—
Kuuuuung—!!
"...!"
The thunderous sound I had heard several times froze my body in place.
My eyes widened. I swallowed hard and quickly ran toward the cavern.
"Wiki...?"
The delicious scent of food filling the cavern made me blink blankly.
Rustle—
As though entranced, I sniffed and checked inside the bag. There was a box I had seen once before.
"..."
For some reason, my hands trembled as I slowly opened it, and I sank to the ground at the sight of the food inside.
"Chicken...?"
The food I had seen on the gallery around two months ago.
The chicken Wiki had described so vividly was now glistening right before my eyes.
"Thank goodness.... Really...."
Fortunately, it seemed Wiki was still doing okay.
*
"Nngh..."
I stretched my stiff body and raised my head.
-1-
[Apocalypse 295:20:34:51]
[Section 0:20:34:51]
[199 / 70]
So I really did clear it.
After defeating Behemoth and passing out, I was back in the hideout when I opened my eyes again.
As I thought this must be my fifteenth try, a TP notification from Starpang appeared.
[Tower of Trials Floor 50 Cleared - TP +5,000]
The message from the tower I had seen as I collapsed onto Behemoth's body at the end.
[Survive]
[00:00:00]
I had thought I was seeing things, that I had simply seen it wrong, but I realized I had not been mistaken.
I decided to think that the event had ended the moment the Forest Master died, and thus the floor had been cleared.
There was no way to enter Floor 50 again, and nothing turned up no matter where I searched.
I spent a fucking fortune of TP on Floor 50 of the Tower of Trials, so even getting five thousand TP didn't feel like much....
Then another, somewhat strange notification appeared immediately.
[(Restricted)'s #`@&# access caused a data error; Behemoth defeated - TP +100,000]
"...So it really was an anomaly after all."
That was probably why Wiki's guide, or more precisely only the final fourth event, kept getting cleared.
I still didn't know what this data error was, or what (Restricted), which presumably meant me, had accessed, but...
What a fucking jackpot.
Either way, there was absolutely no downside for me.
I cleared Floor 50 of the Tower of Trials without any additional tries.
I had even gained enough TP to have more than I could use for the time being.
My steel sword was already battered to hell, too.
I had definitely received a reward greater than the effort I put in.
"Data error. Anomaly."
I had also obtained more information about the towers.
It had become certain that the anomalies I experienced were related to something in these towers.
It had also become certain that these towers were not simply places for grinding, or something out of a fantasy world, but artificial spaces created by someone.
There are beings who manage these towers.
They were probably the people I had seen on Floor 50 of the Tower of Fate.
Central Administration and all that... it was surely connected to what I had learned this time.
Swipe—
[???]
-The feature is currently restricted. Once the conditions are met, '???' will become available.
[Tower of Trials 50/50]
[Tower of Wisdom 50/50]
[Tower of Mindscape 49/50]
[Tower of Fate 50/50]
Only the Mindscape Tower remains.
Maybe I could get information there too.
The Tower of Trials, Tower of Wisdom, and Tower of Fate.
I had learned something on Floor 50 of every one of them.
It was not guaranteed to appear, but there seemed to be no need to organize the information already.
There was only one floor left, so it would be better to clear that and organize everything afterward.
Maybe it was related to the new feature I would gain, too.
I'm curious about ???, and I'm curious about what's on Floor 50 of the Mindscape Tower, but—
Swipe.
[TP Held: 103,056]
"Now this is the real sex."
Couldn't I enjoy this moment, at least for now?
My body, which should have been fine, was exhausted to the bone, but just seeing my TP made me smile.
It was the first time in my life I had ever held this much money. In cash, it was worth around ten million won.
Tap.
I had sent chicken to the head mod who worried about me every day, so it was fine for me to relax and enjoy myself a little too, right?
[The prodigal newbie is back.. Celebrating clearing Floor 50 of the Tower of Trials with a hot FLEX~]
[Author: Monster Hunter Wiki]
I'll throw in beer with the chicken this time, just for you guys.
They had waited a long time, so I would let them feel some real dopamine too.
Too bad for anyone who didn't win~.
Ding ding ding ding—
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