Chapter 182: Nightmare Floor 17 (3)

The scales supposedly worked only with the mass of my own body.

It was a gimmick similar to the one on Floor 11.

That fucking gimmick where I'd had to fill an enormous vessel entirely with my own blood.

The idea was to keep cutting off parts of my body and regenerating them to increase the weight.

All I had to do was make the left pan heavier than the iron ball on the other side.

The problem was, I had no idea how many times I'd have to repeat the process.

...Well, what choice did I have?

If this was the only way, I had no choice but to do it. Fuck.

Schk-

I drew the Gatekeeper of Heaven's Sword and cut off my left arm without hesitation.

My severed arm dropped onto the pan, blood pouring out of it.

I waited for my left arm to regenerate through the sharp, tingling pain.

A few minutes later, my arm had fully grown back.

Now that I was over level 200, my body's regenerative ability was far greater than it had been on Floor 11.

If one arm weighed roughly four or five kilograms... that added about five kilos to my side.

I glanced at the demon.

The demon merely watched, as if it had no intention of interfering no matter what method I used.

‘Maybe a thousand times will do it.’

All right, time to get serious.

I cut off my left arm again.

Then I cut off both legs too.

I kept amputating my limbs over and over, pacing myself so I wouldn't pass out from blood loss.

Cut, regenerate, cut, regenerate, cut, regenerate...

Time passed.

The left pan was filled with pooled blood, with my arms and legs piled high on top of it. It was pretty grotesque.

Even so, it still wasn't heavy enough.

I kept hacking off my limbs until the scales finally began to move.

Nearly two days passed like that.

Creeeeak-

“Oh...!”

I let out an exclamation.

At last, the scales began to tip to the left.

The left pan sank lower and lower until it finally came level with the right.

The condition for success was either to make both sides equal in weight or to make the originally lighter side heavier and tip the scales in the opposite direction.

I looked at the demon, and it spoke.

- Success.

I let out a sigh.

That's only one down.

There were still two more left.

I had to succeed with all three sets of scales.

The demon waved a hand, and the Red Scales disappeared.

A new set appeared in their place.

This time, they were blue.

As before, the left pan was empty, while on the right pan sat... what the hell was that?

A mass of blue smoke that looked like cotton candy rested on it.

The demon explained the rules of the second set of scales.

- The Blue Scales operate only on the weight of your memories.

“...Memories?”

- Step onto the left pan, and you may offer as many of your memories as you wish.

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

It wanted me to offer up my memories?

“What exactly does it mean to offer a memory? Do I lose whatever memories I give up?”

- Yes. Any memories offered to the scales will be lost forever.

You fucking...

Now there was something I hadn't seen coming.

The second set of scales actually demanded memories as the price for tipping them.

Messing with my memories during a Nightmare clear was a whole new kind of bullshit.

I asked again.

“...How many memories am I supposed to give up? At least tell me that much.”

The demon didn't answer.

Cursing, I stared at the blue mass on the right pan.

‘...Huh?’

No, wait a second...

Hadn't I actually lived for an incredibly long time? Mentally speaking, anyway.

Then couldn't I just throw those memories away?

The memories of all the time I'd spent while time was stopped.

I stepped onto the left pan.

For example, all the time I'd spent with the world frozen while recharging my Willpower...

Whoooosh.

The moment I decided to offer up the months I'd once spent charging the Warp Device, blue smoke flowed out of my head.

The smoke gathered into a mass and settled onto the left pan.

It was still far smaller than the mass on the right. Maybe about a tenth the size?

Once I'd given up the memory, it really was gone.

I couldn't even remember which memory I'd just given up.

That was when the Demon King told me.

- It was the memory of the time you spent with time stopped while charging the Warp Device.

Ah, right.

Of course, even after he told me, I could only register it as a fact. The memory itself didn't come back. It had been completely erased.

Hmm, if this was how it worked...

I'd probably have to offer several years' worth of memories before the scales tipped.

‘If I scrape together all the useless ones, that should be more than enough, right?’

Obviously, I couldn't offer important memories, like meeting Seri or all the training I'd done in the Mental World.

One by one, I pulled out only the memories of all those stretches of time I'd spent sitting blankly while recharging my Willpower and offered them up.

Here, take them! Take all these worthless memories!

The mass formed from my memories grew larger and larger.

Then, once it finally swelled to roughly the same size as the mass on the right pan...

‘There.’

The scales tipped to the left.

The left pan had become heavier than the right.

I looked at the demon.

- Success.

The second set of scales was cleared too.

Only one remained.

...Which probably meant the last one would be the most fucked-up of the lot, right?

I tensed myself even further.

The Blue Scales disappeared, and the third set appeared.

Gray Scales.

“...?”

What?

This one was different from the others.

Because this time, both the left and right pans already had something sitting on them.

On the right was a white sphere even larger than the pan itself.

On the left sat a black sphere tiny by comparison.

And naturally, the scales were tilted toward the white sphere.

- The Gray Scales operate on Good Karma and Bad Karma.

The demon explained.

- The white sphere represents the Good Karma you have accumulated thus far, while the black sphere represents your Bad Karma. The condition for success is the same. Balance the scales or tip them in the opposite direction.

...My accumulated Good Karma and Bad Karma?

I looked back and forth between the white and black spheres.

Naturally, the white sphere was overwhelmingly larger than the black one.

Which meant that if I wanted to succeed...

I had to make the black sphere, which represented my Bad Karma, heavier than the white sphere representing my Good Karma.

‘...What the hell.’

I couldn't help but be completely dumbfounded.

Fuck, what was this?

That was impossible.

It wanted me to accumulate as much Bad Karma as Good Karma?

That enormous white sphere had to represent all the Good Karma I'd accumulated from saving the world several times over.

To build up even more Bad Karma than that, wouldn't I have to destroy the whole damn world or something?

...It was absurd.

I stopped time and thought.

More importantly... how the hell was I supposed to accumulate Bad Karma in here in the first place?

I was inside the Tower.

The only ones here were me and the demon in front of me.

There was absolutely nothing in this space that would let me accumulate either Good Karma or Bad Karma.

If I couldn't change the size of the spheres, then naturally, there was no way to move the scales either.

I released Time Stop and spoke to the demon.

“Are you kidding me? You said this was a fair wager.”

- The wager is fair.

“How the hell is this fair? There's literally no way to move the scales!”

Unless I'd entered Floor 17 with my Good Karma and Bad Karma already perfectly equal, there was no way to succeed.

No matter how much I protested, the demon said nothing more.

Just as frustration threatened to boil over, I heard the Demon King's voice.

- Those things you call Good Karma and Bad Karma are likely based on your own perception.

...My own perception?

‘What do you mean?’

- What standard defines good and evil? Such things never existed in the first place. Neither did Good Karma or Bad Karma.

He wasn't exactly wrong, but there was still something I didn't understand.

‘But Seri had an ability that let her see through someone's Good Karma and Bad Karma, didn't she? And the duration of my Armor of Karma increases depending on how much Good Karma I have.’

- That, too, would merely be her own perception. Or perhaps the perception of the being that bestowed its Blessing upon her.

...So that was how it worked.

I looked at the two spheres again.

If the Demon King was right, then those spheres simply represented Good Karma and Bad Karma according to my own perception.

...But even if that was true, so what?

I still had no way to change their sizes, did I?

I knew full well that I was humanity's savior and had saved the world several times.

And naturally, I considered those deeds an enormous amount of Good Karma. What could possibly be a greater good deed than saving the world?

Was it even possible to consciously change that perception?

‘I didn't do anything. I never saved the world...’

I tried repeating it forcefully to myself.

The white sphere didn't shrink in the slightest.

...Of course something that simple wouldn't work.

Not unless I could somehow deceive myself completely.

“...”

Deceive... myself?

An idea suddenly flashed through my mind.

Could it be?

I spoke to the demon.

“...Bring the Blue Scales back out.”

If the Tower's intention was what I had just realized...

The demon wouldn't refuse.

- Why? You have already succeeded with the Blue Scales.

I answered the demon's question.

“I want to offer more memories. It only matters that my side is heavier, so adding more shouldn't be a problem, right?”

At my shameless reply, the demon seemed to chuckle.

- Very well.

The Blue Scales appeared again beside the Gray Scales.

I spoke to the Demon King.

‘Demon King, if Good Karma and Bad Karma are nothing more than my own perception, then they're ultimately no different from memories, right?’

The Demon King seemed to understand where I was going with this.

- ...You intend to erase your memories to reduce the size of your Good Karma?

‘I think that's probably what the Tower wants me to do.’

I had saved the world multiple times.

But what if those memories disappeared from my mind?

Naturally, the size of my Good Karma would shrink too.

As far as my own perception was concerned, I would never have saved the world at all.

But this method...

- Absurd. You would no longer be yourself.

He was right.

Erasing all those memories would mean losing all the memories that made up my life as Person123.

I would probably become a completely different person.

I wasn't even sure whether I'd be capable of continuing to climb the Tower in that state.

‘And that's probably exactly what the Tower wants...’

It wanted a sacrifice.

If I wanted to clear Floor 17, I had to sacrifice most of my memories.

This floor was especially brutal for anyone whose karma leaned heavily toward one side.

Because they'd have to lose that many more memories.

The Tower's viciousness made me shudder.

...First, I needed to test whether the Demon King's theory was actually correct.

Did Good Karma and Bad Karma really depend entirely on my own perception?

‘Let's see...’

I looked at the white sphere.

...That thing was so enormous that removing some minor memory probably wouldn't make any visible difference.

I shifted my gaze to the black sphere.

Yeah, that would be better.

Something seriously bad I'd done in my life... a memory that had traumatized me as a child.

The time I'd accidentally killed a chick I'd lovingly raised by lying on top of it and crushing it.

Keeping my eyes on the black sphere, I stepped onto the Blue Scales and removed that memory.

Then...

“...!”

The black sphere shrank slightly.

Huh?

What memory had I just removed?

‘Demon King.’

- You accidentally killed a chick you were raising when you were young. Something that trivial made it shrink that much?

The Demon King sounded baffled.

Oh, so I'd killed a chick I'd been raising.

The black sphere was still fairly large.

It had gone from about the size of a watermelon to a somewhat smaller watermelon.

I'd lived a reasonably decent life, trying not to hurt other people and following the rules I was supposed to follow.

I couldn't really think of anything else I'd done that would count as major Bad Karma... so what was it?

‘...Ah.’

I knew.

Was it Kanyuk?

I carried guilt over Kanyuk's world.

Maybe I subconsciously considered that Bad Karma.

Or perhaps it was the memories of people I'd killed, even when I'd had no choice.

Either way, the Demon King's claim had been proven. My Good Karma and Bad Karma were based on my own perception.

With time stopped, I sank deep into thought.

‘...Is that really the only way?’

The white sphere was enormous, almost like a sun.

I'd have to erase every memory I had of saving the world just to shrink it below the size of the black sphere.

No matter how I thought about it, that was insane.

But it wasn't as if I had any way to make the black sphere bigger either...

‘...Make the black sphere bigger?’

Wait.

I felt like I was on the verge of figuring something out.

By deceiving myself.

Make my Bad Karma bigger.

“...”

After thinking for a long while...

I came up with one utterly ridiculous method.

‘How about this, Demon King?’

Right now, the only thing I could do was erase memories.

That alone gave me no way to increase my Bad Karma.

I couldn't exactly create memories that had never existed.

But what if I took it a step further?

The plan I came up with was this.

First, I'd erase every memory from the moment I entered Floor 17 up to the present.

At the same time, I'd hand control of my body over to the Demon King and enter the Mental World.

Then the Demon King would immediately recreate the real world exactly as it was.

From my perspective, it would feel as though I'd tried to enter Floor 17 but never actually made it inside.

From that point on, it would be up to the Demon King.

If I wanted to build up as much Bad Karma as that ridiculous amount of Good Karma I'd accumulated from saving the world over and over...

There was only one answer.

Destroy the world instead.

The Demon King would rampage through the Mental World, where he'd recreated reality exactly, and destroy Earth.

Even if I used my Time Stop Ability inside the Mental World, it would only freeze the reality outside, so I wouldn't have any way to stop him.

He'd make me believe that the Demon King had truly stolen my body and destroyed Earth with it.

Then the black sphere outside would respond to my perception and grow enormous...

And while controlling my body, the Demon King would also be able to use my items, so he could leave the Mental World himself and win the wager.

- You madman... I will admit, it is novel.

After hearing the entire plan, the Demon King let out an incredulous laugh.

- But do you truly think that will work? You are hardly the sort to be fooled.

He was right.

There were several problems with the plan.

For one thing, I didn't think I'd be fooled that easily.

The Demon King's ability to recreate things within the Mental World was practically indistinguishable from reality, but if I noticed even the slightest inconsistency, I'd catch on immediately.

‘Then we'll just have to come up with a convincing setup. How about this? On Floor 17, the Tower made you an offer. If you revealed the secret behind my ability, it would let you take over my body.’

- You think something that flimsy would fool you?

‘...What if you keep me so overwhelmed that I don't have any time to think?’

I released Time Stop.

Then I put on Pankera's Crown and entered the Mental World.

“First of all, can you actually do it? Can you control my body inside the Mental World so completely that I can't do anything?”

The Demon King's control over the Mental World was on a completely different level from mine.

When he'd helped train Taylor and Ye Tianwei in the Mental World before, he'd been able to force their actions. Couldn't he do the same thing to me?

“Do you even have to ask? Of course I can.”

We tested it, and he could.

The moment the Demon King entered my body and took control, I became completely unable to act of my own will.

Hmm... if it was this convincing, maybe I really wouldn't realize I was inside the Mental World.

I returned to reality.

‘Let's do it.’

The only other option was erasing all my memories of saving the world.

And even if I caught on and the attempt failed, that was fine.

The Demon King could explain everything to me, erase my memories again, and we could try once more. As many times as it took.

The Demon King spoke.

- Setting everything else aside, will you not realize the truth the moment you sense my emotions?

The Demon King's soul and mine were intertwined, which meant we could feel each other's emotions directly.

That was why I could usually tell when he was lying.

‘Then you'll just have to put on the performance of your life. If you're radiating bloodlust while killing everyone, maybe even I'll get confused.’

- ...Even if you fail to notice until the very end, time outside will still be frozen. What will you do about that?

‘You'll have to guide me into releasing Time Stop without realizing it.’

- Damn you. You are foisting every last part of this onto me.

What choice did I have?

For this plan to work, the Demon King genuinely had to do everything.

‘Please, I'm counting on you. Let's give it a shot. It's not like I can erase all my memories of saving the world. I'd basically turn into an idiot.’

Part of me wondered whether all the erased memories might return after I cleared Floor 17.

But considering the Tower's malice and what had happened on Floor 12, that seemed unlikely. Any memories I offered up would probably be gone forever, even after I cleared the floor.

All right... let's see if this works.

Still wearing Pankera's Crown, I stepped onto the Blue Scales again.

The memories I would offer were everything from the moment I entered Floor 17 until now.

At the same moment I offered up those memories, I handed control of my body over to the Demon King.

Operation Kim Seo-hyeon: Truman Show, begin.

*

- ...And that is what happened.

After hearing the Demon King's entire explanation, my mouth fell open.

“Holy shit...”

So that was why I couldn't remember anything about Floor 17?

Even I had to admit I'd done something completely insane.

I tried to gather my thoughts, torn between confusion and relief.

Still... the memory of killing my own family and destroying the world with my own hands was far too vivid.

Until just moments ago, I'd believed every bit of it was real.

“But did you really have to take it that far?”

- What, you mean killing your family?

The Demon King snorted.

- That was your idea too.

“...That was my idea?”

- Yes. Do you have any idea how many times we tried because you simply refused to be fooled? Dozens and dozens of times!

That many?

Naturally, I remembered none of it.

- So you were the one who suggested killing your family first to shock you so badly that you could not think straight. And that attempt succeeded immediately. You kept catching on even when I slaughtered people indiscriminately, but once we began by killing your family, you completely lost your head.

...So that was what happened.

Come to think of it, there had been plenty of things that should have struck me as strange.

I just hadn't noticed because seeing my family die right in front of me had shattered me completely.

The Demon King, who had been grumbling as though thoroughly fed up with the whole ordeal, sneered.

- Well, in any case, I got quite the show out of your groveling. It was enough to bring tears to my eyes. You ought to show this king that sort of deference all the time.

“...You enjoyed that, didn't you?”

Ugh.

Completely drained, I flopped down in the Reward Room.

“Thanks for going through all that, Demon King.”

That fucking Floor 17.

It was horrible.

Absolutely horrible.

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