Chapter 129: Nightmare, 10th Floor (2) |
I spent a moment sorting through the confusion in my head, then asked another question.
“What year is it right now?”
“Uh, um… 2033, I think?”
“What month and day?”
“That much, I’m not really sure…”
2033.
Currently, it was ’32.
It seemed this world ran about a year ahead of the true reality outside.
“How did Person123 come to obtain the Ark? Before clearing which floor did they receive the Tower’s Offer?”
The men looked at me as if to ask why on earth I’d bother asking something so obvious.
I paid it no mind and pressed them for a more detailed explanation.
To sum up what the man said, it went like this.
This world’s Person123, before entering the eighth floor, had received the Tower’s Offer, exactly as I had.
The penalty was one forbidden item.
What was gained in return was the Ark.
But unlike me, who had refused the offer, this world’s Person123 had apparently accepted it.
And so Person123 spread the Ark over Seoul and then entered the eighth floor, but…
In the end, they failed to clear the eighth floor within the twenty-day time limit, the Tower’s Curse activated, and 99% of humanity was wiped out.
In other words, this world was one where the Nightmare difficulty’s time limit had been exceeded.
Put another way, it was the route where I failed to clear the eighth floor in time.
‘A parallel world…?’
No, maybe I should call it a parallel future world.
Something roughly along those lines, I figured.
I was finally starting to grasp the situation, but…
[Kill ‘me’.]
The message that had been hovering at the edge of my vision like a quest this whole time.
I could understand what this phrase meant too.
This world’s Person123, the other me. Find them and kill them?
Was that the clear condition for Floor 10 this time?
I stared at the Ark again, then asked.
“But why are you people wandering around outside the Ark?”
“…Huh? Well, because we aren’t Ark Residents…”
Frustrated, I said,
“I don’t know anything. Fine, let’s say I’m someone who’s lost his memory.”
“What?”
“Please explain how the world ended up this way, starting from the moment Person123 spread the Ark, all the way through.”
The men seemed to fear me, so they went on explaining without complaint.
And I was a little shocked.
“…Person123 drove everyone out? Outside the Ark?”
When the eighth-floor clear was running late and the Nightmare time limit was bearing down on them.
The world had been utter chaos, they said.
Because Person123 had left the Ark completely open on entering the eighth floor, anyone could come inside.
People all over the world scrambled over one another to pour into Seoul’s Ark.
Those who made it into the Ark’s range survived, spared from the Tower’s Curse, but…
Afterward, when Person123 came back out having belatedly cleared the eighth floor, they killed or drove out every last one of them.
Everyone was cast out beyond the Ark, save for high-level Climbers, skilled technicians, and a tiny handful of others.
The Fallen within Seoul had mostly been dealt with by the Climbers by now, so the land outside the Ark wasn’t entirely unlivable, they said.
But with most of humanity annihilated, there was no way anyone could carry on a normal life like before.
Civilization had completely collapsed into an apocalyptic state.
It was for this very reason that the men’s sense of time had blurred and they couldn’t pin down the exact date.
Not understanding, I asked,
“So why on earth did Person123 drive everyone out?”
“That’s… we don’t really know either…”
The man trailed off, as if to say how would they even know something like that.
Why would I do something like that?
Was the me of a parallel world different in character too?
No, from what I’d heard, the me here had been no different right up until they cleared the eighth floor and came back out…
“Do you know where I’d have to go to meet Person123?”
The men answered, looking afraid.
“W-we don’t know anything. Wouldn’t they be inside the Ark?”
Either way, I had to meet this world’s Person123.
…Only then could I kill them, or do whatever it took.
I sent the two men off and moved toward the Ark.
‘Ah.’
Come to think of it, my face.
Did that mean this world’s me had a face that was known?
Just now the men hadn’t recognized me. Though maybe that was only because it was dark.
I pulled a mask and hat out of my Subspace and put them on.
For now, I’d better keep my face covered.
I approached the enormous Ark, treading on empty air with Air Walk.
Sure enough, just as the Demon King had said, Floor 10 really was strange.
The fact that people capable of holding a conversation were appearing, and the way the structure felt closer to clearing a hidden route.
The me of this world, who had become a tyrant instead of humanity’s savior.
Of course, at the end of the day this was just a floor to clear, but…
I couldn’t bring myself to treat this world as nothing more than a fake simulation the Tower had cooked up.
Because according to what the Sage had once said, the floors inside the Tower were worlds that had already perished and been swallowed by the Tower.
…If that was true, then didn’t it mean this parallel world had once truly existed as well?
– Intriguing. So this is how you go about it.
Just then I heard the Demon King’s voice.
I asked him,
“Demon King, what was the clear content of your Floor 10? Come on, tell me already.”
– Mine was the past.
“…The past?”
– In a world of the past, I had to slay my predecessor. Though, as the Tower always does, it laced the whole affair with all manner of filthy tricks.
Predecessor… did he mean his father?
“So did you kill him?”
– It was a fierce battle, but of course I emerged victorious.
Hmm.
That was the Demon King for you.
Of course, if killing myself was the only way to clear Floor 10, then I’d have no choice but to do the same, but…
‘This leaves a bad taste.’
Having to kill myself.
I reached the Ark.
I brought my hand close to the golden veil.
It blocked me; I couldn’t get inside.
The Ark could only be entered with its holder’s permission.
Since I wasn’t someone who’d been granted permission, it seemed I couldn’t get in.
What a bind.
At this rate, how was I supposed to meet Person123?
If I couldn’t get inside the Ark, then there was only one other way.
To lure Person123 out of the Ark.
‘…Should I make a scene?’
If I raised enough of a ruckus outside, wouldn’t Person123 show themselves?
I mulled it over and decided to keep this method in my back pocket.
There was no telling how things might turn out, so I’d have to be careful.
If at all possible, it would be better to arrange a quiet, one-on-one meeting with Person123.
‘But why did this guy…’
put the Ark here, of all places?
If they were going to set it up, shouldn’t they have centered it on Yeongdeungpo-gu, where my house was?
This spot right now was over in Gangdong-gu, far away from there.
Then again, that house from earlier had seemed to belong to a completely different person too.
Since it was a parallel world, maybe even the house’s location was different.
In any case… for now, let me look around a bit more.
I took to the sky again, surveying here and there.
A pitch-black city without a single light.
The glow leaking from the Ark’s veil was the only source of light.
Of course, darkness was no problem for me.
Here and there, I could make out people.
There were some with the air of vagrants, like those men earlier, and there were others standing as though guarding buildings.
‘The Fallen.’
Farther out, away from the Ark, I could also see the Fallen roaming about.
I climbed onto the rooftop of a building and perched on the railing.
I was thinking I might approach a few of them and dig up more information, when…
A certain sight caught my eye.
A desperate chase playing out in an alley far below.
Two people were being pursued by one of the Fallen.
I moved at once.
Kicking off the empty air, I reached the ground in a single bound.
The two had hit a dead-end alley and were an instant from being set upon by the Fallen.
Crunch!
I came down stomping the Fallen’s head underfoot.
Its head burst, and it died on the spot.
A Stage 1 Fallen?
I didn’t know whether the Fallen here were divided into Stages 1 through 5 as well, but this one was extremely weak.
“E-eek…”
I turned my gaze to the two of them, slumped on the ground.
A boy and a girl, both around middle-school age.
They stared at me with eyes full of terror.
I took a step closer, and…
“P-please, spare us! Climber, sir!”
Suddenly they threw themselves flat on the ground, bowing.
Flustered, I said,
“Are you all right, kids?”
“Please spare us, I’m begging you…! We’re sorry!”
“Calm down. I took care of the Fallen.”
But now that I looked, the children were simply afraid of me.
I had to keep trying to calm them.
“Here, look at this.”
I pulled a chocolate snack out of my Subspace.
Both of their eyes locked onto the chocolate.
“Eat this and settle down a bit. I’m not a bad person, really.”
The two couldn’t tear their eyes from the chocolate I held out, and then, cautiously, they took it.
“C-can we really eat it…?”
When I nodded,
the boy peeled off the wrapper first and started wolfing down the chocolate bar.
And after glancing around to gauge the situation, the girl ate too.
Both of them looked ravenous, as if they hadn’t eaten in days.
‘Siblings?’
It didn’t sit well with me.
This was what happened when the world ended, I supposed.
They ate so eagerly that I took out more snacks and gave them water as well.
Only then did some of their fear of me start to fade.
I asked,
“What were you two doing out here?”
From what I’d seen looking around so far.
There didn’t seem to be any Fallen in the areas near the Ark; it was only far from the Ark that the Fallen appeared.
I wondered why these kids were wandering around out here, in danger.
The boy hesitated, then answered.
“Getting… food…”
“Food?”
“Yeah. If we search the buildings, sometimes we get lucky and find some.”
“There aren’t any Fallen near the Ark, though. Why risk it out here?”
“E-even if it’s dangerous, the outer areas are the only places that haven’t been picked clean yet…”
I tilted my head, then asked again,
“Do all the people outside the Ark live like this?”
“Huh? Y-yeah…”
The same look as those men earlier, like they were hearing a strange question.
I thought for a moment, then said,
“I came from far away, see. So I don’t really know how things work around here.”
“Oh…”
The boy glanced at me, then asked,
“A-are you a Climber, mister?”
“Yeah.”
A faint fear crossed both their faces once again.
Now that I thought about it, those men earlier had been the same.
For some reason, people seemed to fear Climbers excessively.
I asked,
“Do the Climbers around here throw their weight around a lot?”
“…Did you really come from far away? You weren’t living in Seoul?”
“That’s right. I really don’t know anything, so could you explain it to me?”
The boy went on.
“Around here, the Climbers rule over people.”
“…The Climbers inside the Ark?”
“Inside the Ark or outside, all of them.”
It wasn’t all that surprising.
In a world where civilization had all crumbled, there was no way anything like law could function.
Naturally, the Climbers, with their overwhelming power, would come out on top.
“The Climbers inside the Ark, the ones chosen by Person123, are at the very top, and I heard the Climbers outside the Ark are basically their underlings too. And the outside Climbers work people like slaves.”
“…Like slaves? How?”
“They make us farm, and if we don’t listen they beat us or kill us… they just force all kinds of grueling work on us.”
“…”
“W-we actually ran away from farming. The rations they gave were next to nothing, we had to starve half the time, and rather than die like that, we figured it was better to dodge the Fallen and scrounge for food…”
I let out a small sigh.
From what I’d heard, the people here in Seoul really were living no differently from slaves.
This was just…
It really had become a world where human dignity had hit rock bottom.
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