SSS-Class Suicide Hunter

1.

It’s been over three months since I returned to Babylon.

During those three months, I played with Raviel, established new diplomatic relations with the underground civilization, was surprised with Raviel, watched Kim Hwang-tae transfer to high school, played more with Raviel, and caught up on various overdue tasks.

It truly was a fruitful time, but.

At the 100-day mark, I suddenly looked up.

“I think it’s time to climb the tower again.”

A moment of silence passed.

At that time, I was lying on the sofa, reading a magazine. A magazine with my interview in it. 「What Kim Gong-ja thinks being a hunter is!?」 「Everything you need to know about the hunter industry! 100 Questions 100 Answers!」such cheesy mixed headlines were printed. Who would read this?

After the silence, a reaction came belatedly.

“? Why all of a sudden?”

It was the Black Dragon Master.

Anastasia was sitting in the opposite armchair, reading the same magazine. By the way, Anastasia was also the cover model of this magazine.

The cover of the magazine was as if all of human civilization had been mobilized to embody the concept of ‘nobility’, but at this very moment Anastasia was—– completely in Sunday evening slouching at home older sister mode.

She was chewing on squid legs, dressed in a maroon tracksuit that seemed like something high schoolers would wear.

It was a sight that made you want to make all sorts of snarky comments, like ‘Did they have maroon gym uniforms in Ukraine?’ or ‘Did Ukrainians also chew on squid legs?’

But all of Anastasia was perfect, preventing any comments. Her posture. Her expression. Even the crunchy sound of her teeth chewing on the squid legs.

A true Korean Unemployed Delinquent Lv.99.

Anastasia’s pose was so natural that I had no choice but to accept it as the order of nature.

“No… If I keep staying here, I feel like my body will rot. Shall I say I’m getting moldy? It’s like damp moisture is filling up my heart and mold is about to bloom in my head.”

At my words, one by one, my friends began to raise their heads.

This is the common living room of our dormitory.

In the evening when work was over, everyone gathered here in groups of three or five without any particular plans, and as a result, the Count, Venomous Snake, and Heretic Questioner all lifted their heads at the same time, creating a harmony.

“Moisture? Mold? I don’t understand what you are talking about. Liao Fan. Do you get it?”

“Well. It’s not the first or second time he’s talking nonsense, what about it?”

“Ah, Miss Sylvia! Could we please have another half plate of French fries here!”

By the way, friends were wearing yellow, navy, and blue tracksuits.

I’m not sure when Made in Korea tracksuits became the dress code for this shared accommodation.

Based on a vague memory, I recall being the first to roam around the lodging in a black tracksuit, which Anastasia saw and asked, ‘Oh, that looks very comfortable. What are those?’ and exactly the next day, the tragedy began. Yep. I’d rather bury this memory for the sake of my mental health.

“That’s exactly it! That’s the thing!”

I suddenly stood up and pointed accusingly at the Heretic Questioner.

Just then, Sylvia delivered the French fries with a ugly face, and the Heretic Questioner was happily picking up a fry end with a bright expression.

The Heretic Questioner blinked with ketchup around his mouth.

“Eh?”

“Not [Eh?], it’s [Yes?]! Damn it, Bambolina! You’re slurping up those potato fries with your bare hands, in a tracksuit, with ketchup smeared on your lips!”

“Ahahaha, Master. Normally, fries are indeed eaten with the hands. I would hate to think that my Master would use a fork or chopsticks just because he doesn’t want the salt on his fingers, a complete travesty!”

“Well, if I had to choose, I’m on team chopsticks though…”

“Oh my god.”

“Goodness gracious.”

“Are you crazy?”

“I’m really disappointed, Kim Gong-ja…….”

In order, the Heretic Questioner, the Count, Venomous Snake, and Black Dragon Master looked at me as if they were looking at trash.

And just at that moment, the Crusader walked past the living room with a towel around her neck.

“For the record, I’m on team plastic gloves.”

The Crusader nodded her head slightly and trudged past the living room.

We watched the Crusader’s retreating figure for a while, looking as if she was about to head to the mountain spring behind the house right at that moment.

“…Anyway, that’s not what’s important!”

I snapped back to my senses belatedly.

“You all! You’re rotten! Everything has gone rotten! Before, it felt like we were treading on the edge of a knife! Why have you all become so endlessly slack!?”

“Rotten, you say. That’s quite the rude thing to say.”

“If you’re going to talk like that, at least take off those triple-striped slippers!!”

“Eeeh, but they’re comfortable.”

Yes, Anastasia sitting in the armchair was indeed wearing triple-striped slippers on her bare feet.

Not just Anastasia, but all the friends here were the same. School tracksuits and triple-striped slippers – fashion terrorists that could only be found in South Korea had taken over the upper echelons of the tower.

Could this also be my influence? Huh? Seeing me wander around comfortably and then one by one they started imitating? My God. No one ever wished for a Hallyu wave like this.

“If I stay with you guys any longer, even my brain might turn weird! You should be working, working! The subordinates are probably dying because work’s piled up and here you are, lounging around!?”

“Well, we are not the subordinates, are we?”

“That’s right. We just work when we need to and leave the rest to the subordinates. Isn’t that what we pay them for?”

“Sometimes it’s very important to relax! Master!”

You’re wrong. These guys…… Their brains must have been infected with mitochondrianiterobactertetracyinfluenza bacteria. There’s no hope or dream left.

“Never mind. I’m going to climb the tower.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, for real. I really am going to climb. Because if I stay with you guys, I think I’ll become weird too! If I stay holed up here any longer, I’ll lose all interest in conquering stages and end up a unemployed uncle, so I’m going to climb!”

My friends looked at me blankly.

“Hmm. Well…, go ahead then. Do as you wish.”

“Since all the urgent tasks are dealt with, live your life as you want.”

“Everything will proceed according to the Master’s will!”

“Wow, these French fries are freaking delicious. Hey, Gong-ja’s Chamberlain! What oil did you use to fry these? Give me the recipe to have my guys cook it too.”

Overall, it seemed like only about 0.5 people were paying attention to what I said.

Just as I was starting to doubt whether these guys were really my friends or comrades who had entrusted their lives to each other, the Crusader who had left the living room returned.

The Crusader, holding an electric toothbrush in one hand, glanced around at us.

“For the record, I think socks are better than bare feet with triple-striped slippers.”

And then she nodded her head and walked past the living room.

Everyone watched silently as the Crusader’s back receded, until the Count decided to throw her slipper at the back of the Crusader’s head with all her might.

“I’m really going… Okay? Going? I said I’m going. For real.”

There was no response.

Surprisingly, no one seemed interested in me as the Count and the Crusader began to tussle.

Feeling like an adult who had been alienated from his family, I headed towards the next stage with heavy, powerless steps.

[You are being transferred to the 80th floor.]

“—-So that’s how I ended up here. Aiya. As expected, a hunter should climb the tower. No, now I’m a Constellation, Or should I say I’m both a hunter and a Constellation? Anyway, one must climb to higher places. See? The air is already different when you reach the 80th floor, isn’t it?”

“You……”

[The Wand Of Ages] looked at me with an incredulous stare.

“I’m sorry, but have you ever been told you seem like an idiot?”

That’s a bit harsh.

2.

The administrator who greeted me on the eightieth floor was [The Wand Of Ages].

The mage looked at me with his unchanged silver blade-like eyes, and more than anything, with very sullen eyes.

“What. I was worried about when you would start climbing again. I thought you might not come for a while, but you’ve come at just the right time.”

“Yes, I’ve finished everything I needed to do on the first floor…… Huh?”

I suddenly noticed something different about [The Wand Of Ages]. The look in his eyes hadn’t changed. Neither had his face nor his clothes.

It was just his symbolic item, the wand.

A wand as thick as a pinky finger but very long, his trademark, was now cleanly snapped in half.

“Why is the wand like that? Did you fight with someone?”

“Fight with someone? Are you really asking because you don’t know?”

[The Wand Of Ages] let out a hollow laugh.

“I lost to you in a fight. Screaming Sky. After the control of the underworld was transferred to you, I’ve been like a broken wand.”

“Eek. But you are still managing the heavenly floors.”

“That’s true…. for now. Just for now.”

The mage sighed.

“If you fail to reach the 100th floor or give up midway, I will return to being a complete pillar. If you succeed in conquering the 100th floor, I’ll be gone for good. It’s really frustrating but right now, I am not in a position to [guide] you, but rather, a position to [serve] you like a superior.”

“Indeed.”

I nodded my head.

“Then, I’d like a vending machine barley tea now, could you get me one?”

“……First of all, yes. I understand trying to boss me around right after saying I’m in a position to serve you. Let’s say I concede that point. But why, of all things, vending machine barley tea?”

“Think about it, mage.”

“Do tell.”

“Imagine your boss isn’t asking for anything other than barley tea, and from a vending machine at that. Asking you to buy only that one thing. Then, how would you feel while putting money in the vending machine, pressing the button, and waiting?”

“It would probably feel like how I feel right now.”

“See. You know well. Why aren’t you hurrying to get it?”

“This damn…”

3 minutes passed.

I slurped the vending machine barley tea that the mage brought. The chaotic taste of barley powder and sugar merged, making it indistinguishable where the barley ended and the sugar began in my mouth.

“Hmm. This is the taste. This is exactly the nostalgic taste that the Director of Memorial Gourmet once talked about. I wonder if this could also be turned into a spin-off series.”

“You… won’t die peacefully…”

I couldn’t die anyway.

Now.

“Did the barley tea I illegally fetched taste good?”

“Yes. It’s delicious.”

“Then listen while drinking. From the 71st to the 80th floor was the stage for you to establish yourself as a Constellation. And you passed this course more perfectly than any other Constellation. Now, from the 81st to the 90th floor, it’s your turn to build [Your Own Kingdom].”

I tilted my head with the straw in my mouth.

“My own kingdom?”

“Yes. Also called a Sanctuary. Many also refer to it as a holy domain or dragon kingdom.”

The mage touched the air with his broken wand.

Then a white cube appeared and projected something on its surface. A familiar scenery appeared in that place.

“That’s the Universal Library.”

“Correct. The Universal Library is the Sanctuary of the [The Corner Librarian], specifically Hamustra’s domain.”

Huh.

Seeing the example, I get what they want me to create.

“[The Ox that Harvests Ruins], Mutia’s domain was a temple buried in the desert. [The Eye Living in the Labyrinth]… the domain of Hishmith Kritz, which you are currently wearing as a bracelet, was a doll exhibition hall. Even hunters who do not become Constellations are allowed their own space if they pass up to the 90th floor.”

“In short.”

I removed my lips from the straw.

“I’m about to have my own home from now on.”

“Yes.”

Tap.

The mage tapped the ground with his wand.

“A palace of your very own.”

[You are being transferred to the 81st floor.]

White light enveloped my vision.

*****