Chapter 200
The moment Suhyeok spoke...
System thought it had misheard him.
Beg?
He was telling System to beg?
And with that arrogant look in his eyes?
"Why?"
"Does it piss you off?"
Suhyeok looked down at him coldly.
"Everything you've wanted for so long..."
"Collapsed in an instant."
"And it happened because of a Player..."
"Someone you looked down on as nothing more than entertainment."
System flinched.
Suhyeok's words denied everything System believed itself to be.
Yet...
It couldn't tear him apart.
Couldn't lash out.
Couldn't do anything at all.
Rustle.
System slowly raised one arm and stared at it.
...I really can't feel anything.
Every Trait it possessed had been stolen.
And with them...
The Rank that had formed its body had vanished too.
Even the Rank it obtained after fusing with the Tower was gone.
Still...
Even considering that...
It made no sense for its Rank to disappear this completely.
Most likely...
It was because Suhyeok had interfered with System's contract with the Outer Gods before...
And now that contract had finally been broken.
All System had left was its Administrator Authority.
And even that had become nearly useless without enough Rank to operate most of its functions.
The realization struck all at once.
In a single moment...
System had become nothing.
Grind.
It clenched its teeth.
And Suhyeok's words kept echoing in its head.
Tormenting it.
"...This is all because of you."
"If you hadn't existed..."
"If you hadn't existed, none of this would've happened."
The manic smile System once wore while watching others struggle before it...
Was gone.
Its face was now twisted beyond recognition.
"Why..."
"Why, why, why...!!!!"
"Why does some worthless human get to look at me like that...?!"
Inside the Tower it created...
System had always viewed Players as gears.
Existences that simply accepted the destiny System gave them.
They lived for the Tower.
For System.
That meant System was their god.
Their idol.
An existence they were supposed to obey.
But Suhyeok's empty gaze...
Destroyed that belief entirely.
Because he wasn't looking at System with fear.
Or hatred.
He was looking at it...
As though it were pitiful.
...Right.
That old man looked at me the same way.
Long ago...
System had met the Primordial God.
He too had looked at System much like Suhyeok did now.
No.
It had been more than pity.
That gaze had unmistakably been...
Compassion.
System couldn't understand it.
It enraged him.
The Primordial God had enjoyed everything within the Tower System created...
And yet dared to look at System that way.
So System destroyed him.
It made the people the Primordial God loved and trusted...
Betray him.
And now...
The exact same thing was happening again.
The difference was...
Unlike the Primordial God...
System had never even considered Lee Suhyeok a true threat.
Suhyeok stared at him for a moment longer.
Then...
As though even pointing Seong-a at him felt like a waste...
He returned the sword to its sheath.
His voice was ice cold.
"You should know the answer better than anyone."
"Look at yourself."
"...!"
"The moment things stopped going your way..."
"You blamed everyone else."
"And now..."
"You're even denying the reality in front of you."
Suhyeok's eyes narrowed.
"Why?"
"Because you never imagined this when you sent me back?"
System had no answer.
Suhyeok gave a faint, mocking smile.
"Now I understand."
"Why the Tower betrayed you..."
"And began acting on its own."
"It's because..."
"You're nothing."
"...What?"
System stared at him.
"I'm... nothing?"
"You got drunk on the power you were given."
"You became convinced you could control and dominate everything."
Suhyeok's gaze remained cold.
"But other than that arrogance..."
"What do you actually have?"
"Nothing."
"Just what you're doing now."
"Blaming others."
"Denying reality."
Suhyeok turned away from System.
He looked toward his companions...
Who were being treated by Leon and watching him with relieved smiles.
"I was the same as you before I regressed."
"Back then..."
"I denied reality too."
"I felt betrayed."
"So I blamed this world..."
"The world that dragged us into this place."
And that wasn't all.
"Even immediately after regressing..."
"I still thought the same way."
"I convinced myself that all of this was a burden only I could carry."
"That whether others helped me or not..."
"It didn't matter."
Then...
Suhyeok's expression softened slightly.
"But as time passed..."
"I realized something."
"All of it..."
"Everything that happened..."
"Made me who I am now."
His gaze returned briefly to System.
"That's why I pity you."
"Even I..."
"Someone you treated as nothing more than entertainment..."
"Learned that."
"And even now..."
"You still haven't."
That was all.
Suhyeok turned his back completely...
As though System was no longer worth addressing.
Step.
Step.
His footsteps slowly moved farther away.
System stared blankly after him.
There was nothing left.
Even the humiliation that had filled its mind...
Had long since vanished.
"..."
Then...
Something inside System snapped.
Ding!
[System possessing Trait ‘Tower Domination (EX)’ begins to run rampant.]
[Unauthorized program activates.]
[According to the program, the Tower begins collapsing.]
[The destruction of each floor-world accelerates.]
[Warning! Trait is being extinguished.]
[The collapse can no longer be stopped!]
[As the Trait is extinguished, Trait Plunder becomes impossible.]
RUMMMMMMBLE!!
The entire space shook.
No.
The entire Tower shook.
Leon immediately cried out in horror and brought up a screen.
"T-This is bad, nyaaang...!!"
"It's worse than before, nya!!"
"A-At this rate, everyone is going to die, nya!!!"
Beyond the screen...
The worlds inside the Tower were being swallowed by black matter at an even faster pace than before.
Land.
Buildings.
People.
Monsters.
Everything.
This place wasn't safe either.
Soon...
The same black matter would reach them.
If nothing was done...
They would all be consumed.
And the message from moments earlier made things worse.
Normally...
Suhyeok would've Plundered System's remaining Trait and forcibly stopped the collapse.
But the Trait had already extinguished itself.
That option was gone.
Yet Suhyeok moved immediately...
As though he'd known this situation would happen.
He walked toward someone else.
Ruzian.
Ruzian looked up at him...
And forced a weak smile.
"Finally..."
"It's my turn...."
[Target is eligible for Trait Plunder.]
[Most other Traits are too corrupted or have already been completely extinguished to be Plundered.]
[Traits - Ruzian]
Tower Administration (EX)
[Condition: Restore Ruzian's memories.]
"Can you move?"
Suhyeok asked.
Ruzian struggled to focus his fading vision.
Then looked up at him.
"Unfortunately..."
"I can't move...."
"I'm barely conscious as it is...."
"Wait a little."
Suhyeok said calmly.
"It'll be over soon."
While trapped inside Ruzian's Memory Space...
Suhyeok had climbed this Tower countless times.
And countless times...
He had faced this exact situation.
The solution was simple.
Restore Ruzian's memories.
Then combine Ruzian's Trait with Suhyeok's Rank...
And return the Tower to its original state.
So first──
"Cough."
"No."
"There's no need...."
[Highest-Level Tower Administrator Ruzian transfers all of his Authority to Constellation ‘Player’ Lee Suhyeok.]
[Trait ‘Tower Administration (EX)’ is granted.]
[Trait Plunder is canceled.]
Suhyeok stared at the message.
Then glanced down at Ruzian.
"Are you trying to die?"
"Yes."
Ruzian smiled faintly.
"Someone has to take responsibility...."
"Even if you restored my memories..."
