Chapter 59
Step. Step.
Murals lined the walls as I walked.
They seemed to depict the entire life of the Pharaoh.
[ These paintings are really weird, nya. Why do they all look so wobbly? Ugh, I'm getting dizzy just looking at them, nya.... ]
Apparently lightheaded, Leon slumped weakly onto my shoulder.
He rummaged through his pocket, pulled out a Churu, and squeezed it into his mouth like someone drinking a ginseng energy stick.
[ Khaa... now I finally feel alive, nya.... Nothing beats Churu when you need to recover your strength, nya. ]
I ignored him and kept walking.
After some time...
We're here.
I passed through a massive golden doorway.
Beyond it was a majestic chamber coated almost entirely in gold.
[Welcome to the Hidden Piece ‘Pharaoh's Tomb’.]
Whoa, this place is huge ㄷㄷ
They really went all out on this tomb lol
(suffering because the light is too bright) Uuugh! m;lk;asd!!
What the hell is he saying LMAO
Roughly means his eyes are getting blasted by the glare lol
Then how did he type the brackets perfectly? Seriously asking ;;
Shh.
LMAOOOO
LMAOOOOOOOOOO
I slowly walked farther into the tomb.
It looked even larger than the Order's building I'd seen on the 20th floor.
A massive golden coffin stood ahead.
As I approached, a hologram with a strangely familiar appearance appeared.
[ ...Huh? W-What is this, nya? ]
Leon stared in confusion.
Seong-a materialized as well, her eyes widening in surprise.
[Greetings. I am ‘Piyong,’ the Administrator guarding this tomb.]
A yellow cat wrapped in white cloth.
His face looked almost exactly like Leon's, yet something about him felt subtly different.
He was essentially a much calmer version of Leon.
"T-Two k-kitties...."
Even Seong-a, who had spent so much time with Leon, became confused enough for her eyes to spin.
Leon himself couldn't believe it.
He immediately began circling Piyong and questioning him.
[ A-Are you my cousin or something, nya? If not, how can we look this similar, nya...? ]
Despite Leon inspecting him from every angle, Piyong responded calmly as though nothing unusual was happening.
[ I do not know. I merely inherited the appearance of the one who created me. ]
...The one who created this place.
That meant Piyong's creator might have looked like this.
Perhaps even the true form of a Constellation.
But that didn't quite fit.
There were too many strange details.
The next major world was the 30th floor.
A world populated primarily by beastkin rather than humans.
And Piyong's appearance was unmistakably that of a cat beastkin.
"Was the being who created you a Climber?"
[Yes. In the distant past, he was called that as well.]
Another Climber.
Before my regression, I had never encountered another one besides Dolkin.
Even meeting Dolkin had been extremely unusual.
[Then let us proceed to the main matter.]
Piyong folded his paws neatly.
[Before choosing a treasure, you will undergo a trial.]
I paused.
"...A trial?"
This was new.
It was different from what I'd heard in my previous life.
What kind of trial was this?
[There is no need to worry. Consider it a simple verification of qualification reserved for a ‘True Guest’.]
Rrrrrrumble.
A golden block the size of a table rose from the floor.
A single mask rested on top of it.
"This is...."
[Legendary - No. 18 Anubis Mask]
Allows the user to convert the nature of one form of power into another. (Mana → Divine Power)
However, conversion efficiency is reduced to 20%.
A Numbers item.
Number 18.
It ranked even higher than the Mental Immunity Ring I already possessed.
And it could convert mana into Divine Power.
No matter how many Traits I stole, I couldn't take away things someone was naturally born with.
Spirit affinity was one example.
Which meant that with this mask...
I could finally use Divine Protection, the Trait I'd stolen from Fern.
...The problem is the efficiency.
Even Divine Power was useless if the conversion rate was too poor.
At twenty percent, it might be more harmful than helpful in many situations.
I looked at Piyong.
"What exactly is the trial?"
At that moment, a hammer floated into the air.
I froze.
[Unique - Hephaestus's Hammer (One-Time Use)]
A replica of the hammer wielded by Hephaestus, God of Blacksmiths.
Striking an item with this hammer allows you to enhance it.
However, if enhancement fails, both the hammer and the item will be permanently destroyed.
The hammer will break and disappear immediately after the enhancement process ends.
Enhancement....
A memory of Dolkin surfaced.
"Urgh, so you're curious what the others are doing?"
We had been drinking for quite some time when the topic of other Climbers came up.
"Those arrogant bastards? They all live drunk on their own greatness. Even now they're probably staring at whatever they made and admiring themselves. Hahaha!"
"You're no different."
"W-What? That's ridiculous! When have I ever done that?"
That would've sounded more convincing if he hadn't already spread his forged swords all over the floor while drunk.
He was even hugging one of them.
Realizing how ridiculous he looked, he quietly put the sword down and coughed.
"Ahem! Anyway! They're probably doing fine. Those guys value their lives more than anything."
He took another drink.
"Hic. Haaah... why are you suddenly asking about them?"
"I was simply wondering where the other Climbers were. If any are still around, I may be able to ask for their help."
"Hah! As if that'd work."
Dolkin waved me off.
Then he paused.
"Hm... actually, maybe that bastard would."
I looked at him.
"I'm the type who creates things. He's the type who enhances them."
Dolkin laughed.
"He's probably the first person in this Tower to ever develop equipment enhancement."
"He's even more eccentric than I am, in a way."
He grinned.
"If he sees you, he might actually take a liking to you. Hahaha!"
Right.
Now I was certain.
Piyong's appearance was probably modeled after the Climber Dolkin had mentioned back then.
I slowly looked around.
That strange feeling I'd had since entering hadn't disappeared.
Someone was definitely watching this.
It made sense.
I was probably the first person to ever reach this place.
Ding!
[Hidden Mission]
Objective: Enhance the item before you to at least +5.
Reward: At minimum, +5 Anubis Mask (Legendary), ???
Failure Penalty: Petrification for 1,000 years.
Piyong calmly adjusted his clothes.
Then he pointed toward the message.
[As you can see, you will enhance that mask.]
[The maximum enhancement level is +9.]
[You only need to reach +5 to pass.]
He paused.
[For reference, the probability of successfully reaching +9 consecutively is approximately 0.0001%.]
Leon immediately erupted.
[ W-What kind of ridiculous rule is that, nya?! That's completely unreasonable, nya! ]
[Unreasonable? Certainly not.]
Piyong answered without emotion.
[If one possesses sufficient skill, the probability can be increased as much as necessary.]
[ B-But still-! ]
"Leon. Enough."
[ Ugh.... ]
Piyong was right.
