SSS-Class Suicide Hunter

Chapter 256. <The One who didn’t conquer the stage (2) >

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2.

[From now on, we will enter the 38th Floor.]

The Tower’s voice resounded.

A change occurred in the hologram that we were looking at.

“Ah, look over there!”

Smiling, the Heretic Questioner gestured with his face.

Since I was sitting on the sofa, the only place the Heretic Questioner could put his head was on the back of the sofa. While clinging to the back of the sofa like a child piggybacking on their dad, the Heretic Questioner stared straight ahead.

“Something is coming out of the sea on the right side of the continent!”

It was as the Heretic Questioner said.

In the holographic image, something huge could be seen rising from the depths of the sea.

“Ahaha! It’s really huge!”

The Heretic Questioner was like a brat watching a monster movie.

However, my other companions gathered in the waiting room for the eliminated were not as excited.

The Black Dragon Master muttered on behalf of all of us.

“What is that?”

[That] resembled a turtle with a long neck.

As it rose, the waves swept over its knees. When the monster raised its long skyscraper-like neck and roared, its howl alone was enough to cause tsunamis in every direction.

“It’s a dragon that has been hibernating since the beginning of time.”

The Lady Who Walks Through The Mirage said.

The Black Dragon Master hesitated.

“…a dragon? A dragon appeared on the 37th and it’s appearing again on this floor?”

“Mhm. And to be honest, this one is a genuine dragon… In your terms, you could call it a [Constellation].”

The Lady smiled brightly.

“You can think of the Red Dragon on the 37th Floor as a disciple that this dragon commanded!”

Roooooooaaaar-

A dragon roar erupted from the middle of the sea.

Thud!

Blue shell. Blue skin. Raising its paws, the blue eyed monster headed to the coast.

Thud!

Every step it took caused an earthquake. Thud! Thud! After just a few steps, the monster, which was in the middle of the sea, had already set foot on the sandy beach. Thud! With the final step the monster took, it crushed the dense forest trees like stalks of sorghum straw.

Roooooooaaaar-

The monster shook the seawater from its head. Each drop of water that fell formed its own pond as it landed. Screech! The fish that lived in the sea, the animals that walked along the beach, and those that lived in the dense forest ran away in fear. Roar! Screech! The world became chaotic as animals from the land and sea fled.

[The Constellation ‘The Energy* Dragon That Dwells In the Deep Sea’ roars!](*: Or ‘spirit’, or ‘force’)

Even though we were just looking at it through a screen.

“…”

“…”

We were all quiet.

When faced with a monster the size of the Korean Peninsula, it tended to be quiet.

“Um! That’s difficult.”

Let’s correct that.

Bambolina was the only one that had something to say.

“I just checked with my skill, Ten Thousand God Scripture… just how difficult it is!”

“It’s because it’s so big. That’s not something the people can handle with their power.”

Bambolina shook his head as if the Count had just said something absurd.

“Of course the size is a problem, but it’s not just the size! Instead, there is a problem with the nature of that Constellation.”

Right.

There were also many different types of Constellations, and they weren’t Constellations simply because they were strong. At least as far as I know.

Uburka didn’t become a Constellation simply because he lifted a lot of dumbbells. Uburka became a Constellation because he overcame himself again and again.

Due to being born with congenital albinism, he developed enmity towards the sun. However, Uburka learned to use aura and overcame the sun by covering his entire body in it. The limits of the body. The limits of life. Whenever an unavoidable limit was reached, Uburka overcame it by reconstructing his flesh and bones with aura.

An overcomer.

The one who rebelled against everything and eventually transcended everything, the world he was born in, the sun that nurtured that world, and the life he owed to the sun. Thus, the Constellation [The Musclehead Who Dreams of Sinning Against Heaven] proved his determination and qualification to become a shining Constellation in the night sky.

‘On the other hand.’

That monster was a different type of Constellation.

“If we had to classify it, that Constellation belongs to the ‘beginning’!”

The beginning.

Nature.

The Constellation that [composed] this world.

“That gigantic monster isn’t even the main body. It is a kind of terminal, nothing more than a puppet that it connects its consciousness to and controls!”

To compare it, if we were to say that the main body of the Constellation was a giant sea anemone, then that monster was a single tentacle.

“That makes it almost impossible to fight and kill it! Nevertheless, if I had to come up with a method, hmm. Wouldn’t the only way be to seal the puppet instead of destroying it, trap the Constellation’s consciousness inside it, and make it crumble by causing it constant pain!”

Shiny shuddered. And I did too.

The method Bambolina mentioned was almost the same thing the Constellation Killer did to the Constellation in the world that Master lived in.

The Black Dragon Master, who was unaware of this, tapped her chin.

“Indeed. Some kind of curse.”

“Yes! In the first place, the puppet is the medium. That way, it wouldn’t have any chance to counter.”

“Right, that’s a way to deal with it… But can those kids there use that method?”

“The thought itself is easy. The fact that the puppet itself is the medium means that it is based on primitive sorcery!”

As the conversation between the Black Dragon Master and Heretic Questioner progressed, someone folded their arms.

It was the Crusader.

“However, the question still remains on whether it is necessary to use such a method.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“According to the Heretic Questioner’s words, that Constellation seems to be the creator of that world. In other words, the inhabitants of that world can only be born and live because of that Constellation, so unless there are lunatics who believe they should [absolutely kill the Constellation], there is no need for them to be hostile, is there?”

I shuddered. Shiny did too.

There was a person among my vassals with such a history.

However, apart from that, the Crusader’s point was sharp.

‘As expected of the Crusader.’

Before I regressed.

The Flame Emperor had cleared the 40th Floor.

And since it was a world quest instead of an individual race quest, I knew the contents of this floor.

“However, isn’t said creator about to destroy the world?”

“I can refute you with the same logic, Black Dragon Master. Unless it has suicidal tendencies, that Constellation has no reason to destroy the world. Unless it thinks the inhabitants of the world have made it a mess.”

As expected, that was correct.

‘Actually, even if it’s a mess, it won’t destroy it.’

Flame Emperor.

In the past, when Yoo Soo-ha climbed the tower, the continent was completely ruined compared to how it was now.

The fanatical elves worshiped the Flame Emperor as a god. Yoo Soo-ha ordered these elves to slaughter and conquer. Because the race and their god were so mad, they ended up annihilating all the other races or making them slaves.

‘Except for the goblins.’

However, we’ll talk about why those kids were able to survive later. For now, this fact was important.

‘That Constellation won’t destroy the world.’

It would just…

Just do something a bit more nasty.

[The Constellation ‘The Energy Dragon That Dwells In the Deep Sea’ roars!]

The dense forest, beach, and sea all shook.

The roar the Energy Dragon released was so magnificent, it could be heard on the opposite coastline.

-Things that live on my skin!

-Races that flowed from my lungs!

-I am the Great Flow! No current in the sky, land, or sea does not flow from me.

-I am the flow, the flow is me, those who can feel the flow are priests who feel me, and those who can use the flow, are warriors that use me.

People from all over the world turned their heads.

The goblins scrunched their noses, the snails shook their antennae, the elves perked their ears, the mermaids opened their gills, the vampires flapped their wings, the humans turned their eyes, and the oni turned their horns.

In a moment. An instant.

Noses, antennae, ears, gills, wings, eyes, and horns were turned to the same place, and at the other end of their attention, a gigantic monster lay face down. A step from its back foot caused the beach to be hit by a tsunami, and a step from its front foot caused the dense forest to be hit by a tsunami.

-…ridiculous.

Crossing his arms, Bae Hu-ryeong muttered.

-That turtle bastard over there. Did he just send a ‘voice transmission’ to ‘every race’ in that world with ‘aura’?

It was as Bae Hu-ryeong said.

The tremendous marvel instantly resounded across the entire continent.

[The humans tremble in fear at the mysterious voice!]

[The mermaids shed their scales at the mysterious voice!]

[The goblins become alert at the mysterious voice!]

[The elves are surprised by the mysterious voice!]

[The oni became displeased at the mysterious voice!]

[The vampires suddenly fell into a deep sleep at the mysterious voice!]

[The snails were surprised by the mysterious voice but finished their work.]

The entire continent fell into chaos…

“The responses for saying that chaos ensued are very diverse….”(TL:…at the mysterious voice)

What was going on?

Why didn’t anyone panic and run away, fall to the ground, or break down in tears?

‘That’s what happened when the Flame Emperor climbed the Tower…’

Especially the vampires and the snails. Why did the vampires fall asleep all of a sudden, and why did the snails just go back to what they were doing?

“…”

I looked at the Black Dragon Master and Heretic Questioner, who were on either side of me, alternately. Neither of them avoided my gaze, instead, they met it confidently.

“Didn’t I tell you? The vampires merged with the dream demons. They probably went to have a race level strategy meeting. It’s reeeeaaally important for them to unite their minds before they act.”

Anastasia spoke casually, as if she was reciting the truth.

“I taught them to keep working as long as they didn’t think they would die right away! It’s better to swing their hammer one more time in their life!”

Bambolina spoke with a wide smile.

“I see…”

I couldn’t help but lament.

“This is my best friend and subordinate….”

As I questioned my relationships, I heard the ‘tsk-tsk-tsk’ of a clicking tongue.

-Birds of a feather really do flock together. Peas in a pod. They were meant to be together.

Bae Hu-ryeong cleaned his ear with his finger and looked at the hologram.

-So what exactly is the ‘flow’ that turtle is talking about?

Ah.

That.

‘It’s coming.’

-Huh?

‘It was revealed in the name of the Constellation. It’s called the Energy Dragon. All of the aura that flows into the world comes from the breath of that Constellation.’

-Hoh.

If the Amazon Rainforest was the lungs of the Earth, then that Constellation could be called the lungs of aura.

Bae Hu-ryeong furrowed his thick eyebrows.

-I see. I see. So that’s why the kids in that world learned how to use aura so well? And why there is so much aura in the air compared to other worlds?

‘That’s right.’

-Makes sense.

Bae Hu-ryeong nodded as if he now understood everything.

-After all, no matter how smart they are, the speed that the goblins learned aura is freaking ridiculous. Now that I think about it, those guys are just a bunch of world suckers. I’ve heard of gold spoons and silver spoons, but I’ve never heard of aura spoons.

‘…well. I’m not sure if it’s that good of a spoon.’

-Huh? Why? If aura is easy to learn then it should be a good thing no matter what, no?

‘…’

I didn’t respond to Bae Hu-ryeongs words.

-Let me congratulate you on your achievements!

In the hologram, the Energy Dragon roared once more.

-You are indeed my priests and warriors!

It was an acknowledgment of the living.

-However, it is unfortunate! Things that are not my priests or warriors still walk on my body!

At the same time, it was a denial.

-Despite it being such a long time, there are still many ‘worthless people’ here!

Worthless people.

‘Those who don’t know how to use aura’

The ones that made up the majority of the population were expressed in such a way by the Constellation that formed the nature of the world.

“…”

Anastasia’s expression darkened.

The [use of words] was very familiar to her, who had fled from Ukraine.

-It is no longer acceptable for the worthless, who cannot accept or feel my breath, to use up the resources that belong to the worthy.

As the air in the waiting room became tenser, the blue Energy Dragon shouted.

-I will begin [sorting*]!(*: Or ‘selection’)

Suddenly.

A voice rang in our heads.

[The 38th Floor Quest will be shown.]

It was probably the consideration of the Lady Who Walked Through The Mirage.

The quest contents for the 38th Floor appeared in the minds of us, who had already been eliminated and had no right to participate in the quest.

+

[The Great Sorting)

Difficulty: EX

Mission Objective: The Constellation who shaped the world from the beginning has awakened. The Energy Dragon That Dwells In the Deep Sea is a being made of aura, which is why the aura in this world is richer than in other worlds.

Now, the Energy Dragon will collect the cost of prosperous times.

Those who cannot feel his breath. Those who cannot sense or use aura. The Energy Dragon treats them as ‘worthless beings’ and wants to wipe them out of the world.

Among the races inhabiting the continent, only those who can use aura can survive.

Those who can’t will all die.

Save as many lives as you can!

+

Then silence flowed.

~~~