Chapter 390

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 390: Tower of Trials (4)

“...Open it?”

Fran asked in front of the iron door on the 10th floor.

Judging by how he kept swallowing nervously, he seemed extremely tense.

“Yeah.”

“You’re really opening it?”

“Open it.”

At the firm response, Fran, who had been about to weakly open the door, turned back around.

“You say that way too easily, you know? What if there’s some weird monster inside, or flames burst out or something—.”

“If you don’t open it right now, I’m flicking your forehead.”

“C-crgh, not that. Your hands hurt.”

Hating pain, Fran made a tearful face and carefully pushed the iron door open.

“...Huh?”

The moment he saw the completely empty interior, he blinked several times before stepping inside.

“What the heck, I got scared for nothing? How did you know this?”

“Just a feeling.”

Compared to the last time he came here, nothing about the 10th floor had changed.

As Fran looked around the place, he suddenly realized something.

“Wait, but this isn’t something to be happy about just because nothing changed.”

If they failed to fulfill the condition [Reach it], then all the suffering they had gone through until now would have been meaningless.

Fran asked with an anxious expression.

“So what are we supposed to do now?”

“Are you stupid? Why are you asking me that?”

Oscar sat down while leaning his back against a nearby wall.

“You already know the answer.”

“Can’t you just tell me clearly? You helped Becky and Killian like that.”

“I did. But not you.”

In the cases of those two, even he himself hadn’t been certain of the right answer.

At most, he had only given advice based on long experience, but this time was a little different.

Because somehow, what he was thinking felt like the correct answer itself.

“I could tell you the method I’m thinking of and help you clear this dungeon easily. But then nothing would remain for you afterward. Are you okay with that?”

“...No.”

Fran shook his head.

In the first place, the reason he had suffered in this place for several months wasn’t simply to escape.

It was to grow as a mage and find the direction he should move toward in the future.

He couldn’t destroy the tower he had painstakingly built up all this time just because he wanted temporary comfort right now.

“Good decision. And think carefully. If you two think it through together, it shouldn’t take too long.”

“That’s way too vague. Mu, what about you?”

-...I don’t know.

Letting out a faint sigh, Fran looked toward Oscar.

The guy had already closed his eyes while leaning against the wall.

‘He says I already know the answer?’

Looking around the surroundings, Fran asked,

“Mu, do you see anything edible on this floor by any chance?”

It was the safest approach possible.

Everything that existed from the 2nd through 9th floors had consisted of ‘attributes’ Mu could eat, after all.

Then perhaps even on the 10th floor, there might be some kind of attribute invisible to human eyes.

But Mu shook his head.

-There’s nothing. First of all, I don’t smell anything tasty.

“Think carefully. Ultraviolet rays or something... Ah! Or maybe we have to eat the dust on the floor?”

-You eat it, contractor.

After wandering around for a long while, Fran sank into thought.

‘Do I need to release the attributes we ate on the lower floors here? Like filling an empty warehouse?’

After thinking briefly, he shook his head.

‘No. That can’t be it. If it worked like that, the attributes you could bring to the 10th floor would be limited.’

The attributes consumed on the lower floors were all digested before they reached this point.

As Fran continued agonizing over it for a long time, he started biting his nails from anxiety.

Watching that, Mu apologized in a thoroughly intimidated voice.

-Contractor, I’m sorry.

“...Sorry? For what?”

-If the amount of attributes I could eat had been larger, or if I could maintain them longer, perhaps we could have cleared this tower easily.

Mu’s round, ball-like body drooped together with his eyes.

-Or perhaps if I had specialized in one field like the other spirits, I could have been more helpful. I’m sorry for having such an ambiguous ability.

“Mu....”

As though comforting Mu, who was blaming himself, Fran gently stroked him.

“It’s okay. I’ve never once thought you were ambiguous.”

-Really?

“Yeah. If we’re judging by that logic, then I’m the most ambiguous one of all. I can’t even clearly say whether I’m a mage or a spirit contractor.”

At that moment, he suddenly remembered why he had rejected even the two Spirit Kings and been drawn to this guy instead.

‘This guy resembles me.’

A vague and clumsy being who didn’t even properly know what he himself could do.

Maybe that was why he felt this guy wouldn’t arbitrarily paint him in another color.

Whenever he looked at him, it somehow felt like looking into a mirror, so his heart lingered on him once more, and his gaze followed him once more.

“Hm? Wouldn’t arbitrarily paint me in another color...?”

At that moment, a small spark flashed through his mind.

Because the thought he had just reached contained an unexplainable contradiction.

Fran stared blankly down at Mu.

‘But this guy did color me in other colors.’

On every floor, Mu consumed attributes, and with those attributes he colored Fran.

Then why had Fran never felt any rejection toward that part?

Feeling like he was just on the verge of grasping something, Fran opened his mouth.

“Mu, what kind of spirit are you right now?”

-I am a colorless spirit.

“But... you ate other attributes.”

Fire and wind. Ice and lightning.

He had even consumed darkness on the 9th floor right before arriving here.

That was why his body was still slightly black even now.

-And yet I am a colorless spirit. That has not changed.

“...Has not changed.”

Fran’s eyes widened slightly.

Eating fire didn’t make him a fire spirit, and eating light didn’t make him a light spirit.

No matter what he consumed, Mu was ultimately still a colorless spirit.

“Ah.”

As though he had realized something, Fran’s gaze swept across the entirety of the 10th floor.

A clean, empty space.

Until just moments ago, this place had felt empty, as though something needed to forcibly fill it.

But not anymore.

“...Maybe what this place represents is our true selves.”

Both Mu and himself.

Because their origins were ambiguous, they could contain countless changes.

Like chameleons, they could momentarily imitate many different appearances.

But that state would never last forever.

When time passed, what ultimately remained was only one’s original self.

-I see.

Mu, who seemed to have realized something as well, nodded along.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

-I may continue eating new attributes.

“And I may continue wrapping myself in those attributes over and over again.”

But Mu was Mu, and he himself was himself.

“Hm.”

Oscar, who had been leaning against the wall, slowly opened his eyes halfway.

“You realized it faster than I expected.”

“So this is right? ‘Reach it’ wasn’t about reaching some place, but recognizing your true self?”

“If my guess was correct, then yes.”

Of course, if he had been the one designing the dungeon, he wouldn’t have made it so roundabout.

But perhaps because the designer’s personality was twisted, they had intentionally tangled things up in a complicated way.

Wooooong!

At that moment, the entire 10th floor began vibrating.

[Reach Success]

[Theme Dungeon Cleared]

The now-familiar voice echoed out, and as always, the guide appeared.

Without even glancing at Fran, he snapped his fingers.

“Oh, it’s a door.”

“Congratulations sincerely on clearing the challenge. If the challenger exits through that door, you shall receive your reward.”

“...Oscar, is something dangerous happening right now by any chance?”

“No. It’s fine, so head out first.”

Fran glanced between the guide and Oscar, sensing the strange atmosphere between them, before nodding.

“Got it. Then I’ll see you at the tower.”

“Yeah.”

Once Fran and Mu stepped through the door, the guide let out a faint sigh.

“Personally, I quite enjoy solving difficult problems... but this one is far too difficult.”

“What exactly is so difficult?”

“Heheh, I am pondering what I ought to do with you.”

Beneath that gentle voice lay an undercurrent of coldness.

Oscar shrugged.

“And why is that?”

“Every person possesses some form of deficiency. I read those deficiencies, then present trials to overcome them or directions to move forward. However....”

The guide’s gaze stabbed toward him like a dagger.

“I cannot see anything of the sort in you whatsoever.”

“That’s because I live without lacking anything.”

“No, this is not that sort of concept. In all my life, I have only seen one person as completely devoid of deficiency as you.”

After pausing briefly, the guide’s voice lowered.

“The Great Emperor.”

“......”

His eyebrows twitched instinctively, causing the guide to grow uncertain once more.

“That fierce hostility you displayed at the words ‘Great Emperor.’ And conversely, that strange familiarity I sense from your soul. I do not know how I ought to interpret this.”

After pondering for a moment, the guide asked,

“Let me ask just one thing. Are you a demon?”

“No.”

“Hm, then do you perhaps support demons? I hear there’s some insane group called the Black Fingers in this era.”

“The person that insane group wants to kill the most is me.”

“Tch.”

The guide frowned unlike someone his age and roughly scratched his chin.

“Ah, this is confusing. Well, perhaps it doesn’t matter.”

Narrowing his eyes, he muttered,

“No matter what you are hiding, you will inevitably reveal it eventually.”

“I’m not a bad person.”

“We shall learn that soon enough. Remember well that I am continuing to watch you.”

‘Looks like I really got marked.’

Receiving that piercing stare, Oscar stepped through the newly created door.

“Oscar!”

Tesila, who had been waiting in front of the door, waved happily.

“This one took quite a while. I thought my neck would break from waiting.”

“It was the trickiest one yet.”

“But now you’ve rescued all your friends, right?”

“You could say that.”

Oscar gave her the answer she wanted to hear.

“There’s no need to waste time, so let’s head to my dungeon.”

“Really? Works for me! I even checked where your door was already.”

Having already completed two invasions, Tesila looked relaxed.

“Come to think of it, not just me, but Oscar, you could probably aim for Level 8 this time too.”

“I think it’s still a bit early for me.”

He hadn’t even fully absorbed the things he had learned recently yet.

More than anything, thanks to his inexhaustible mana, there wasn’t much reason to desperately cling to the realm known as Level 8.

Of course, if the opportunity presented itself, he had no intention of refusing it.

“Really? Personally, I’m looking forward to it a lot.”

“...Was it helpful? Watching other people’s dungeons.”

He himself had succeeded in three invasions, but even then, those had merely been the dungeons of troublesome Level 5~6 brats.

Meanwhile, Tesila had witnessed two dungeons above Level 7.

One of them even belonged to the new Yellow Tower Master, Tony Havertz.

“Helpful, huh....”

Tesila became slightly more serious and shrugged.

“There are some things I’ve started thinking about, but I still don’t know for sure. Honestly speaking, I feel like jumping into my dungeon right this second. My body’s itching for it. In that sense, Oscar, I hope you clear yours as quickly as possible.”

“I’ll try.”

“Now then, the place where your door was located is right here... Hm?”

After arriving in front of a certain door, Tesila blinked repeatedly.

After checking the nameplate, Oscar also turned his gaze.

“I think you found the wrong place. This is someone named Lennon’s door.”

“Huh? No, that can’t be... Wait? I’m sure this was the right place.”

“Um....”

At that moment, a man carefully approached them and spoke.

“Excuse me, but this is my door... would it be alright if I entered?”

“G-go ahead.”

As the two stepped aside slightly, the man presumed to be Lennon opened the door and entered.

Oscar asked in a disinterested voice,

“Are you certain this was the right place?”

“It was! The same thing happened when I guided you to your friends’ doors, but because of my class traits, I never mistake a place or path once I’ve memorized it.”

Well, it would make no sense for a top-class adventurer to fail at finding a route like this.

Which left only one possibility.

“...The original door disappeared, and a new one appeared.”

“What? Why all of a sudden?”

“How would I know? We’ll find out once we enter, won’t we?”

Since the guide seemed suspicious of him, the most likely possibility was that the dungeon originally prepared for him had been changed.

After wandering around for quite some time, the two finally found the door.

<Oscar Crucian, <3>, 00:00:00>

“Let’s go in.”

“...Ah, okay.”

“If you want, you don’t have to come in with me.”

“W-what are you talking about? Who said I was scared? Just hurry up and go in already. I’ll invade right after.”

At those words, Oscar nodded and opened the door.

The very instant he stepped inside—

“......”

A familiar village landscape entered his view.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]