Chapter 100

Chapter 100

I had encountered the Highest-Level Administrator once again.

He hadn't shown himself since the Constellations' Banquet.

So why had he suddenly appeared now?

No.

More accurately, I probably came here exactly as he intended.

I looked around the cave.

It really was the same place from before my regression.

Water containers.

Bowls.

Blankets.

Even my body wasn't my current one.

It was exactly as it had been before I regressed.

Just like when we'd spoken privately at the Banquet, this was probably another virtual space he had created.

I watched his expression as he slowly walked through the cave.

...Still impossible to read.

My Rank had risen considerably since our first meeting.

I'd thought that might make some difference.

But the message that appeared was exactly the same.

[Warning! Trait Plunder cannot be used on this target.]

"You're staring rather intensely."

The Highest-Level Administrator smiled.

"Even I get embarrassed when someone looks at me that closely."

"Shut up."

"I don't need your pointless chatter."

"Tell me why you brought me here."

"Still impatient, I see."

He smiled faintly.

"Though I suppose that's one of the things I like about you."

Ding!

[Simulation cannot be used in this area.]

"...!"

Even Simulation was disabled.

As though he'd already known what I would try, he calmly continued.

"Of course it doesn't work."

"I created this place so no one can interfere with it."

"Unfortunately, you won't be able to use the Apostle's powers here either."

His eyes curved into thin lines.

The corners of his lips rose softly.

He probably thought I was dancing in the palm of his hand.

As always...

He was irritating to look at.

"Ah."

"Of course, this restriction doesn't apply only to you, Lee Suhyeok."

He spread his hands.

"I am also here in my ‘true body.’"

"You could say I've accepted a penalty of my own."

"...What do you mean by your true body?"

"Are you saying the version I met before was some sort of avatar?"

"Hmm."

"To be precise, both then and now were my true body."

He tilted his head.

"The difference is that right now, neither you nor I are bound by the System's ‘restrictions.’"

"The System's restrictions...."

That reminded me of the message I'd seen immediately before arriving here.

It had clearly said that I'd temporarily escaped the System's ‘surveillance.’

Perhaps that surveillance and the restrictions he was talking about were the same thing.

Come to think of it...

The System had said something similar when I first met it.

It only presented countless choices.

The one who chose between them was me.

There was one conclusion I could draw.

The choices offered by the System themselves acted as a kind of restriction.

They forced you to choose only from among the options it presented.

If that theory was correct...

Then the Highest-Level Administrator standing in front of me was probably bound by the same thing.

"Aren't you curious?"

He stopped walking.

"Between me and the System of this Tower..."

"Which one of us dragged you back inside?"

Then he lowered his head slightly.

A gentle smile appeared as he whispered beside my ear.

"Or perhaps..."

"We're actually working together."

"Which do you think it is?"

His red eyes slowly revealed themselves.

The instant I saw them, I felt such deep rage that even my fingertips trembled.

That confirmed one thing.

He wants to destroy the System.

And he intends to use me to do it.

I answered coldly.

"...Enough with the pointless question games."

"I told you to get to the point."

Silence followed.

He raised his head.

Then gently rested one hand on my shoulder.

After looking toward the cave entrance as if considering something, he finally spoke.

"Player Lee Suhyeok."

"Will you become the final piece of my puzzle?"

I froze.

"Our goals may differ."

"But the direction we must travel is the same."

He looked directly at me.

"Destroy the System of this Tower completely."

"And beyond that..."

"Erase every existence known as a Constellation."

[Skill ‘Lie Detection (A)’ activates.]

[Everything the target said is ‘true’.]

For a moment, I was surprised by the result.

Then I knocked his hand off my shoulder.

"All I'm hearing is that you want to use me as a pawn to achieve your goal."

"If we're heading toward the same destination, then isn't it reasonable to stay in the same boat until we get there?"

He still had no intention of revealing whatever he was hiding.

There was definitely something more.

"If you want, we can use an Absolute Contract."

He answered immediately, as though he'd already predicted my thoughts.

"Until the System is destroyed, neither of us will betray the other."

Using an Absolute Contract would mean placing another restriction on himself.

There was no way he didn't understand that.

So what exactly was he thinking?

"There's no need to overcomplicate it."

"Just as you want revenge against them..."

"And against me."

He smiled.

"I want revenge too."

I remembered Taeo's diary from the 40th floor.

The Administrators might once have been Players.

Perhaps that had something to do with his reason for wanting revenge.

After thinking for a moment, I pulled an Absolute Contract from my inventory.

"After they're all gone..."

"What will you do then?"

"As you just admitted yourself, you're included among the targets of my revenge."

"Afterward...?"

He smiled.

"Then only one thing will remain."

"You and I will fight over this Tower."

[Using Mythic ‘Absolute Contract’.]

I had no intention of letting him use me without consequence.

Just as he planned to exploit me while hiding his intentions...

I would exploit him just as thoroughly.

[Contract established.]

Hummm.

It felt as though some kind of shackle had fastened around my heart.

"Ah."

The Highest-Level Administrator suddenly smiled.

"I also heard you did something amusing recently."

"You disguised the Primordial God as Lower Administrator Leon."

"Is there a problem?"

I answered shamelessly.

Technically, I hadn't broken the rule that required me to choose a Constellation.

"Well..."

"It was certainly a loophole."

"But you didn't violate the rules."

"So I'll overlook it this time."

His smile faded slightly.

"However..."

"If you do something like that again, even you may be subject to disposal."

It was a warning.

Don't take another risk like that.

"That aside..."

"Now that we're allies, I'll give you a gift."

He snapped his fingers.

Light flashed near the cave entrance.

Two figures appeared.

Seong-a.

And Leon.

"Lee Suhyeooooook...!!!"

"I missed you, nyaaa!"

"Dad!!"

Leon immediately launched himself onto my face.

Seong-a threw her arms around me.

The Highest-Level Administrator watched us for a moment before turning deeper into the cave.

"What a pleasant sight."

"I have matters to deal with, so I'll take my leave first."

With only those words, he disappeared.

A little later, after the two of them calmed down, I heard what had happened.

"...So you've both been trapped inside your own space this entire time?"

"That's right, nya."

"They blocked everything so I couldn't even start the broadcast, nya."

"And more importantly...!"

Leon suddenly pulled out a container filled with empty Churu wrappers.

His entire body shook with outrage.

"All the new Churu we made last time ran out, nyaaa!!"

"Do you have any idea how much I suffered because of that, nya?!"

"..."

When I simply stared at him, he seemed to realize how ridiculous he sounded.

Then he hurriedly began making excuses.

I pulled the rambling Leon off my face and looked at Seong-a.

"So."

"Nothing happened while I was gone?"

"No."

"If I'd been alone, I probably would've been lonely."

She smiled.

"But Kitty was with me, so it wasn't too bad."

"Good."

I casually patted her head.

She gave me a pleased little smile.

[ By the way, what's with your appearance, nya? ]

Leon looked me up and down.

[ And where even is this place? ]

[ You look a little different from what I remember... No, actually, really different, nya. ]

"Of course."

"This is what I looked like more than twenty years ago."

The Tower had kept my appearance relatively young.

But Leon probably saw things differently.

Administrators could perceive not only someone's physical appearance, but the aura carried by their soul itself.

That was probably why the image of my middle-aged self overlapped with what he saw.

Seong-a was probably the same.

Then a message appeared.

Ding!

[Hidden Piece reward granted.]

[Reward ‘Heuk Mujin's Lost Memory (?)’ obtained.]

Memories flooded into my mind.

The missing piece of the puzzle finally returned.

...So that's what happened.

Now that I had the full memory, I understood.

Why Cheon Soyeon had always treated Heuk Mujin so kindly.

I had never known what she'd been like as a child.

I'd assumed she'd always been cold and ruthless, just like the woman I knew.

But it was the exact opposite.

Who would've thought Cheon Soyeon used to be timid as a child.

Now I finally understand why she kept saying Heuk Mujin had saved her.

While I was reviewing the memories, Leon, who had been fiddling with something beside me, sighed heavily.

"Haa..."

"I'm trying to access the Administrator-only System, but I don't think I can turn the broadcast back on, nya."

"No matter what I try, everything is blocked, nya."

"So they can't watch at all?"

"Looks like it, nya."

"I think my IP has been completely blocked, nya."

It didn't matter.

Getting Seong-a and Leon back was more important for now.

Another message appeared.

[You will return to the real world shortly.]

Flash!

My eyes snapped open.

The scenery changed in an instant.

I had returned to the underground section of the Shadowless Divine Thief's hidden treasury.

Naturally, the first thing I saw was Cheon Soyeon's worried face.

"Are you all right?!"

"You suddenly collapsed! Do you know how startled this lady was?!"

There was one problem.

My head was resting on her lap.

And for some reason...

My upper clothes had been removed.

"...I must've fainted because I've been pushing myself too hard lately."

I looked down.

"But..."

"Why did you take off my clothes?"

"Ahem."

"I removed them just in case."

She answered with complete confidence.

"If my husband collapses, isn't it this lady's duty to prepare for any possibility?"

She was so shamelessly confident that I couldn't even argue.

Leon watched from nearby and whistled.

[ Wheeew! Look at you, nya! ]

[ Did you get yourself a girlfriend while we were gone? Kyahaha! ]

Beside him, Seong-a muttered to herself in confusion.

[ Then is that woman Mom? ]

[ But wasn't Mom someone else...? Huh? ]

I ignored both of them and started getting up.

Then I noticed something.

The wall that had blocked the passage was now open.

"After you collapsed, the wall crumbled."

Cheon Soyeon glanced toward the passage.

"I suspect it happened because you touched that stone."

After dressing again, I walked toward the broken wall.

We continued down the newly revealed passage for some time.

Eventually, we reached a massive door.

"It seems this may be the Shadowless Divine Thief's true hidden treasury."

Creeeeeeak.

We opened the door and stepped inside.

Unlike the outer chamber piled high with mountains of gold...

Only a single skeleton sat cross-legged inside.

It was probably the Shadowless Divine Thief himself.

He must've suffered a fatal wound and eventually died here.

"This is...."

The skeleton held a mysterious wooden box in its hands.

I carefully removed it.

Then opened the lid.

Click.

"...!"

Inside was a dark ebony-colored pill about the size of a coin.

Its surface glistened faintly.

And the instant the box opened, an incredibly rich fragrance filled the room.

[Legendary ‘Great Restoration Pill’ obtained.]

So he really had stolen even Shaolin's supreme treasure in the end.

That explained why he'd hidden here while mortally wounded, clutching this one box.

Cheon Soyeon looked at the pill, then smiled.

"You should take it."

"This lady has no need for such a medicinal treasure anyway."

"Are you sure?"

"You gave this lady a ring."

She smiled gently.

"Consider this my betrothal gift to you."

"Instead..."

"Would you call this lady by my true name just once?"

"...Soyeon."

It was only a short name.

Yet her lips curved into a soft smile.

"Sit in meditation."

"This lady will personally stand guard for you."

I sat cross-legged.

Then removed the Great Restoration Pill from the wooden box and placed it in my mouth.

Crunch.

[You consume the ‘Great Restoration Pill’.]