Tutorial 71st Floor (2)
“Are you thinking of making another wish?”
“Not at all.”
“Do you have any intention of taking back your wish?” Kirikiri asked.
Of course, I have no such intention.
“I could give you more power than what you have right now. I could give you the means to win the gods’ support, or I could bring your friends here from different stages, or I could call them to Earth.”
Kirikiri’s proposals would be of great help to me: power and support of the gods, even reuniting me with people I’d met in the past. But that wasn’t what I wanted right now.
“I just want this Tutorial to stop. Don’t let the stages that are currently repeating continue to repeat over and over again.”
I could achieve my goals and keep my promises on my own. What I wanted from Kirikiri was to put a stop to the stages that were repeating at this moment, so that one day, they flowed along to a new present, and not a recurring past.
That was all.
“Ugh…” Kirikiri pretended to groan for a long time, but I had no intention of changing my wish. Of course, I knew that stopping the Tutorial stage was meaningless as a result.
Nevertheless, I wanted it.
“Promise me one thing!” exclaimed Kirikiri, raising one hand.
“What promise?”
“You’ll be sure to clear all the Tutorial stages before you go out.”
Uhh…
Kirikiri stressed that I had to clear all the stages. The biggest reason why I’d remained in the Tutorial was to think about the wish I’d ask from her. Of course, I could wish for information on the stage and clear compensation, but honestly, they weren’t that appealing. Likewise, there was no reason to rush to Earth.
“If you promise me that, I’ll stop all stages right now except the ones you’re going to target. All the challengers will be sent to the waiting room or a nearby residential area.”
I couldn’t help shout out, “Cool, sounds good.”
I never thought this wish would come true so easily. I was a little dumbfounded, but Kirikiri accepted my wish without a hitch.
I had no choice but to question the smooth acceptance. “Are you okay with that?” It was strange to ask if it was okay after saying that it was my wish, but I still asked.
Kirikiri nodded. “It’s alright,” was what Kirikiri said, but I wondered how it was possible to stop the Tutorial at her disposal.
“The Tutorial’s management is entirely in the hands of managers. Of course, we have to pay for it, but it’s possible to shut it down temporarily.”
The control was in the hands of the managers. It didn’t make any sense.
“The system accepts that?”
Kirikiri grinned at my question. She displayed a mischievous smile. “I have no choice but to be forgiven. The system just regulates us when we act beyond the constraints. With our power…”
“Anything is possible.”
Just how the gods usually do within their sphere of influence. So far, the system was faithful to its role as a constraint. However, it was not understandable that the Tutorial’s halting was possible just because all the managers agreed.
“And the Hundred Gods Temple?”
“The selection of the manager was with all the Hundred Gods Temple. It’s them who set our authority along with responsibilities by majority vote. As always, they can’t change what had already been decided at that time. If they’re going to overturn our decision, they would lose all of us and vote for re-election as a manager. Pick up candidates, drop someone, put someone up. Then they’ll adjust the responsibilities and authority given to the manager. By majority vote on top of all that. It’ll probably take a year. Even if you don’t like it, you’ll have to be satisfied, because that’s how much we had to pay.”
After hearing Kirikiri’s explanation, I thought she still had too much authority as a manager. If managers came together, they could monopolize the Tutorial. What had the Hundred Gods Temple’ planned by giving managers such authority?
“In fact, in general cases, the managers’ opinions are not unified.”
“Why?”
“We’re at odds with each other.”
I could understand that a little. I had seen many times when the Hundred Gods Temple were unable to unify their opinions. Even if something was decided through voting, there was always a dissenting vote. Unity was indeed a rare sight.
The reason was obvious. Gods cannot compromise since their egos were huge. That’s what all the gods did. Maybe that’s why they were gods.
The God of Light does not prefer dark over light. It would go against his identity to choose dark. The God of Duel does not tolerate cowardice. The God of Devotion does not feel joy in the sight of someone suffering. It was not a matter of preference, but a matter of feasibility.
Moreover, apart from the issue of voting, relations between the gods would significantly affect the vote. The manager would, too. It would be impossible for them to unify their opinions if they had collected the opposites. If there was a condition that the opinions must be unified to give authority to the manager, the authority becomes virtually ineffective.
They had once already handed over the responsibilities and authority to the managers. It would be difficult for the gods to re-decide new ones.
It was a convincing process.
“But this time it’s different. We all know your goal. And I hope you achieve your goal. Each of us has a slightly different wish, but we all agreed to grant your wish for it anyway. Some oppose, and some agree with our decision, but they can’t argue with our final decision.”
Kirikiri had made it clear that she supported my goal, and so did other managers. I remembered what the God of Hope once told me. I felt uncomfortable as I recalled what the God of Hope had said.
* * *
As Kirikiri said, I had decided to clear the Tutorial stages to the end, but questions still remained. Why had she recommended me to clear the stages so much?
“First, information points. Second, clearing rewards. I told you last time,” Kirikiri answered grumpily, possibly because I had questioned her advice. Clearing rewards was manageable. But was there still any more information I needed to gather?
We had to clear the stage.
“There still is,” Kirikiri said with a grim look.
I couldn’t understand it right away, and I couldn’t ask more because of the lack of information points, but I decided to move on. The advice Kirikiri gave had always been beneficial and would continue to be.
“You’re going to go now, right?”
“No, I’m planning to stay a little longer.”
When Kirikiri asked if I was going to leave, I answered no. Kirikiri sounded surprised at my answer.
“Huh?”
Typically, I moved on to the next stage as soon as I heard all the advice, so Kirikiri had a strange look on her face when I said I would leave a little later.
I pointed to the side where Seregia and Yong-yong were. Seregia was lying still on the bed. Yong-yong had been playing by himself. As soon as Kirikiri and I began to talk seriously, he wandered around and dozed off next to Seregia. Once they both lay down, they didn’t get up easily, so I decided to let them take a little rest and then start off.
“I see you still have a soft spot,” Kirikiri remarked.
Of course. How could I have survived this long if I didn’t? Of course, there’d been many crises.
“It’s all thanks to me.” Hochi chimed in with self-praise.
I was going to say something to him, but Kirikiri spoke to Hochi first. “That’s right, Hochi deog-iyang.”
(T/N: I’m not quite sure what the author was trying to imply…Either way, Deog/Deok refers to virtue/moral, and yang meaning sheep..)
Kirikiri’s smile and her answer left me with a bad feeling. It was not because of her actions, but because of Hochi’s name, which had been pronounced by Kirikiri.
“How did you just pronounce his name?”
“Huh?”
She pronounced my name as Hoo-ouh-woo, stretching it out, unlike when she called Hochi. Somehow I felt disappointed.
“Oh, right. Kirikiri, I have a question.”
Hochi had met Kirikiri for the first time after leaving the 61st floor, but he was comfortable with Kirikiri. Perhaps it was because of his memories.
Kirikiri treated Hochi as if she knew him for a long time. To be fair, Kirikiri would do that no matter whom she met.
“What on earth does Ho-jae mean? Why does everyone laugh when they hear it?”
At Hochi’s question, Kirikiri tilted her head. “I’ve answered this before.”
“Really? Why don’t I remember?”
Why? Because I didn’t put it in.
“No way, what do you mean? You even touched my memories?” asked Hochi, glancing at me.
That’s right. I didn’t think I needed to put all my memories into Hochi. If I had put all the shameful memories in, neither Hochi nor I would have felt comfortable.
“Heng, do you want me to tell you?”
“Oh, tell me. What does it mean?”
Kirikiri and Hochi whispered softly as if they were plotting something dangerous. It was necessary to stop them.
“Oh, you shouldn’t try to invade other people’s privacy.”
The meaning of my name was strictly personal. This had been confirmed long ago.
“You know, that privacy may or may not apply to Hochi. Ahahaha!”
“Right! I’m your clone. I’m you in a way. Privacy’s nothing. Hurry up and tell me what it means.”
Hochi tried to find my name’s meaning, arguing that he and I were the same person, having thrown away his identity. Extra measures needed to be taken and quick.
“Kirikiri, would you like another cake?”
* * *
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[The 80th-floor stage begins.]
Explanation: A source has been drifting in outer space on a planet whose name is unknown. It recently crashed onto it. The source quickly devoured everything in the area, and the planet was destroyed.
The Hundred Gods Temple’s investigator reported something dubious about the source, unlike the usual ones. The Hundred Gods Temple wants to send you to retrieve the source and find out what is unique about the source.
-Clear Conditions:
1. Eliminate the Source.
2. Investigate the source.
╚═══════════════╝
When Seregia and Yong-yong woke up, I headed for the 80th floor with my party. The 80th-floor stage was set in a plain wasteland. I could see the source in front of the summoned place.
“It’s a different stage than usual,” Hochi mumbled.
I thought the same. It was easy to see the strength of that centipede-like creature from its strange appearance.
The clear condition was the killing and investigation of the source. Perhaps after killing the source, something worth investigating would come out.
“I’ll do it!” Yong-yong stepped up with enthusiasm.
In fact, there was no one but Yong-yong ready to deal with the source. The old man and the old lady had little interest in the stages. The same went for Seregia. Actually, I was the same as well.
After leaving the 61st floor, Hochi and Yong-yong took charge of the stages, and I rarely did anything. All I did was give advice from time to time. It was the same this time.
So even when Yong-yong stepped up, I just told him to do what he felt was right. The problem occurred shortly after Yong-yong fired his mana at the source.
A bright energy barrier was wriggling near the source. It was an energy barrier made to protect itself.
And the mana that Yong-yong had fired destroyed the source’s protective layer, and the body of the source was reduced to powders.
╔═══════════════╗
[Stage failed.]
[Returning to the waiting room.]
╚═══════════════╝
…What the heck, man? They told me to kill the source, so I killed it. Why did I fail?
Tutorial 71st Floor (2) End
