Antagonist Protection Service-Chapter 174 - The Augury Tower (1)
174: The Augury Tower (1)
174: The Augury Tower (1)
Contract Details
[The Path To Freedom]
Live Action
Protagonist: John Charleston Pierce | Chosen One
Tags: #Fantasy #Action #Adventure #MaleProtagonist #BraveProtagonist #ConfidentProtagonist #Tower #ModernDay #WeakToStrong
Difficulty: ★★★★☆
Innumerable questions arose when I laid eyes on the Contract Details before me.
Things like ‘how is this possible’, ‘why now’, and perhaps most importantly, ‘what the hell am I supposed to do’, just to name a few.
Of course, they were valid questions.
Undoubtedly, the most confusing part was how the publication was listed as Live Action, but the only explanation was that it was because there was no fictional media to replicate.
This was the real world―no Illusory World copy would be fabricated, and there would be real consequences if it wasn’t stopped in time.
Even the question of ‘why now’ could be answered with decent confidence if I just assume that it’s because he cleared the Tenth Floor just a short while ago.
As for ‘what to do’, well…
Even if I did ask, that was something I already knew the answer to.
“Librarian…
What happens if you send me over?”
“Certainly!
When you travel to a Contract’s Illusory World, in order to safely and efficiently transport you back we need to anchor your ‘home’ to the Library so that the magic remembers where you came from!
And then, if it’s decided that completing the Contract is impossible, we can set another anchor in the Illusory World so that we can easily transport you back to the same space!”
“Oh, and that’s the same when I go to and from the Library too right?
And that’d work the same even though this is in the same world?”
“Certainly, fret not!
There’s no reason why it wouldn’t work!”
“I see…”
That was a lifesaver.
If I couldn’t teleport quickly between home and the Tower, it would be extremely tough to be able to act fast in an emergency, or return home quickly if it was needed.
But, hearing the Librarian’s explanation, it was a huge relief.
To put it simply, it was like this:
Whenever I travelled to and from the Library, a ‘location anchor’ was placed in the exact spot I departed from.
Using these anchors, the locations are saved in whatever magic is used to transport me, and I can travel freely between them without requiring as many resources, be it magic energy or World Stability.
‘In a way, it’s like a waypoint I can use to fast travel, right…?’
Either way, it was a safer, more efficient method of transporting between places I frequented, such as my room at home and the Library.
“That’s right!
But, we can only set up to three anchors at a time, so you have to be careful!”
“Isn’t three enough?
One for home, one for the Library, and then the third will be set for the Tower, letting me travel freely between any of the three whenever I’m on Earth, right?”
That sounded like all I’d need, especially since I wasn’t planning on ever exiting a Contract halfway through anyway.
“Besides, if I did do that without an anchor, what would happen?”
“Certainly!
You could still return to the Library, but if you wanted to go back to the Contract, it would take a lot more World Stability!”
“So it’s something like an emergency button…
If I were to exit a Contract without completing it, I wouldn’t get the reward, so we’d be down by a lot of World Stability…
I understand.”
‘I don’t think there’ll be a need for that anyway, but at least it’s good to know.’
In any case, I didn’t have many preparations to make.
I wasn’t that tired, either, despite those witches and being hit by a massive explosion. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
Although, I felt that even if I was exhausted and my eyes felt like lead, I’d still have a hard time falling asleep with the stress of protecting the Tower…
“…Whatever.
Just send me over.
I’ll clear as much as I can until the day’s over.”
“Roger~!”
Summoning my smartphone, I quickly checked the time.
‘April 25th…
Ella’s birthday is May 30th, so I have just about one month to clear as many Floors as possible.’
I would have to apologise to her for being missing for so long, and I did feel bad, but this was something I couldn’t simply ignore.
Dismissing the smartphone, I watched the Librarian give a small bunnyhop on her chair.
“Let’s go~!
Tower Time~!”
Feeling the air around me begin to shift, a sensation I had grown all-too-familiar with, I cast a single glance at the Contract Details before closing my eyes.
‘John Pierce…’
Your time draws near.
❖─────★★★★☆─────❖
[Transporting~!]
A few seconds after I closed my eyes, I felt a drastic change in the surrounding atmosphere.
“…”
Opening my eyes, I was immediately hit with a tremendous, sharp gust of wind.
All around me, was white.
‘So this is Antarctica…’
Looking around, all I could see was snow, thicker and denser than any I had ever seen in my life, unbelievably powerful blizzards bashing into people and buildings set up in the surrounding area, and grey clouds of snow and hail that blotted out the sun.
With the Heightened Senses Trait I had just purchased, the piercing cold biting at my skin was amplified many times, but it was nothing I wasn’t already used to.
I also felt like I could sense small changes in the atmosphere, such as how long the blizzard would last and if it was going to get any stronger, but it was just an instinct.
“…Feels just as shit as I thought.”
In any case, there was no need for the Librarian to tell me where I was transporting, because I already knew for one, and secondly, because it wasn’t an Illusory World.
She also didn’t need to tell me who the target was, because I already knew.
As for a disguise…
‘Still wearing the Draconic Shadow.
I guess that’s fine.
Although…’
Lifting my hand, I looked at the small, round badge that had appeared there almost without me noticing.
It was a fake Challenger ID.
‘Guess there’s no need to get registered after all.
That saves me some time and hassle.’
Fortunately, the way Challenger IDs worked is that it was a simple badge that matched with your magic energy print, pattern or frequency or whatever, since everyone who Awakened supposedly had a unique one, like a fingerprint.
There were a lot of Challengers who wished not to reveal their identity to the public or to maintain their anonymity for whatever reason, so although a standard Awakener ID functioned like a regular ID and did require your real name, a Challenger ID was different.
It was all a bit complicated for no reason, but that was just how it worked.
‘Anyway, with this, I don’t have to worry about all that.’
You only needed to carry your Challenger ID to travel to and from Antarctica, so if I couldn’t return via the Library for whatever reason, I could still get back without causing suspicion and without exposing myself.
Placing the ID into Storage, I replaced it with the latest item purchase.
A sheer black mask appeared in my hand, exceedingly simple in design that gave nothing away, leaving just two holes for eyes.
‘It’s even more fucking creepy in real life…’
I had already seen the image of the item in the Shop, but now that I was holding it myself, it emitted an incredibly ominous feeling I couldn’t quite lower my guard around.
Still, I wasn’t going to stop now.
Reaching up, I held the Villain’s Vizard to my face, letting it fit perfectly without discomfort, perhaps using magic to attach itself to my body.
Looking up before me, there was a vast, circular platform in the middle of the endless expanse of the snowfield.
That was the “Tower’s Entrance” I had seen so many times on television.
There was no illusion of the Tower in any horizon from where I stood right now, but when I went over there, I should start to see it all around me.
Ever since it appeared, I fantasised about what it would be like to clear the Tower myself.
“…”
Today, even if it was for a completely different purpose, I’d find that out for real.
