SSS-Class Revival Hunter-Chapter 215: Someone’s Master (2)

I groaned and pressed a palm to my forehead. When I applied some pressure, my headache disappeared, and I slowly regained my sanity.

Yes, I’m reliving a trauma right now.

This was a different world—no, it was a play that imitated and reassembled a specific world, to be exact. The actors and props didn’t know who and what they were. However, all the people who came and went were part-time workers hired for the play.

This is the trauma of the Tower master, Amethyst.

For a while, I took a peek into Amethyst’s life. She had been born with an incredible gift and used outrageous methods to break through her political obstacles. By making allies, she gained power. I also learned how she took away the dragons’ power too.

The Tower was created using the dragons’ power.

I could say this with confidence.

It wasn’t built by a single dragon’s power, either. The power to handle the essence of life, the power to control memories, and the power to manipulate time. Maybe more dragon emperors were involved. It’s a comprehensive system made by layering the abilities of numerous dragon emperors...

Badump.

The rhythm of the foreign heart beating in my chest was most familiar to me.

I am the first person to uncover the Tower’s structure!

Even though I was in the trauma world, the Tower readily responded to my discovery.

[Congratulations!]

[You are the first to discover the Tower’s structure!]

[If you accurately describe the Authorities (Skills) that make up the Tower’s structure, an additional bonus will be given.]

[Can you find out what the four fundamental Skills that make up the Tower are?]

I wiped the sweat from my forehead, trying to recall everything I had seen up until now.

Amethyst captured and mesmerized three dragons. One of them is the Earthbone Dragon, a dragon emperor. When someone approaches her, that person’s memories are placed in a Box. The size of that Box isn’t definite.

Earthbone Dragon’s Skull

Class: SSS+

Class: SSS+

Effect: You can store memories of the living in a Box.

This Box can only be destroyed by you, the person who possesses the Skill. As long as the Box is not destroyed, you can create a vessel carrying the same memories over and over again.

This new vessel can travel around the universe, form new memories, and update those in the Box. Of course, they need your permission to do so. Even if the vessel perishes, the Box will not take any damage.

Grant the privilege of immortality to those around you.

※The memories of the perished vessel cannot be updated in the Box.

People can enter the Tower at any time.

But they had to leave all of their belongings behind before entering the Tower. I, Mr. Marcus Carlenbery, the orphanage director, and everyone else had to do that.

The only thing we can bring into the Tower is ourselves. What if the Tower is one giant Box? And we are living inside it?

The moment a person entered the Tower, their memories were stored in the giant Box that made up the Tower. After entrusting their memories to the Box, they wandered around the worlds within the Tower.

With this, the Tower has the complete information of everyone who enters!

The more I thought about it, the more confident I became.

Then it makes sense why I could go back in time over four thousand days!

Every time I regressed a day, the Tower returned to a data save file from twenty-four hours ago. Because I did that over four thousand times, the Tower also reloaded that save file just as many times. However, in the process, only my data was updated in the Tower thanks to my Skill.

—Reload the data from over four thousand days ago.

—(Additional requirements for the Skill’s validity) Maintain the continuity of Kim Gong-Ja.

These were why I was able to regress without losing my memories.

Okay. The Tower is one huge memory Box. Our memories aren’t stored in our brains but in the Tower. It’s a grand library that stores memories! Actually, the Tower is the Great Library of Soul. I think this is one of the Tower’s identities. Am I correct, Tower?

[Correct.]

[You have passed the first threshold.]

[The Earthbone Dragon’s Box makes up the Tower’s exterior.]

Okay. The way Hunters cross from world to world should be based on a similar mechanism.

I was able to travel to The Story of Sormwin Academy and the Heavenly Demon Chronicle. Strictly speaking, it was more like teleportation.

But the question is how the two worlds ended up becoming part of the Tower, like the Hunters...

I pinched the skin between my eyebrows with a frown. Marchioness Snowhite Rabbit and Viscountess Pure Sacrednoir were chatting away, continuing to distract me.

“O-Once Viscountess Amethyst receives her title of duchess, would we have to call her Your Grace? That makes me feel like she grew a little more distant...”

“Well, Amethyst allows anyone to call her however they like as long as she likes it, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to come up with a pet name and share it with her.”

“Pet name?”

“Haven’t you heard a lot of them already, Marchioness? Amethyst calls the Heartseer Viscountess ‘my princess.’ The Ultimate Sword Duchess is called Amethyst’s dear. Those pet names belong to them only. I think you can also create one with Amethyst yourself, Marchioness.”

“If anyone else would find out my pet name, that would embarrass me a little...”

“But Amethyst will adore you.”

“I’m torn...”

Even if I wanted to stop listening to the conversation, it was difficult to do so because every remark was related to the Tower master. These two kept spilling information about her. Even if it was trivia, I couldn’t help but be intrigued.

I need time to organize my thoughts.

I suddenly realized that I had such an ability in my arsenal. Mana was coursing through me. Actually, my whole body was made from mana. I didn’t know what I looked like right now because I couldn’t find a mirror. Still, my brain, flesh, blood, bones, limbs, and everything else had been created using mana.

“Consciousness—Acceleration—Time.”

The nerves in my brain transformed as I channeled mana into them. I could alter the speed of my cognitive ability to my heart’s desire. If I wished, it would be possible to make it so I didn’t need to breathe. Whoever the person I was possessing was, they had to be monstrously talented.

Hmm. Good.

Time slowed down. Snowhite Rabbit and Pure Sacrednoir moved as if they were in a video being played at 0.1 speed. I was moving just as slowly as them, but my cognitive ability wasn’t affected. I continued my deduction at a much more leisurely pace.

Whether it’s the Heavenly Demon Chronicle or the Story of Sormwin Academy, a world itself cannot walk into the Tower on its own feet. It doesn’t abide by the same rules as us humans. How did the Tower master bring an entire world into the Tower?

I racked my brain, but I still couldn’t figure it out.

How are you really supposed to move a world into the Tower? It’ll be easier to replicate it.

I frowned.

Replicate it?

My heart pounded hard.

Yeah, is there really a need to shove an entire world into the Tower? Wouldn’t it be enough to create a world that is exactly the same as the Heavenly Demon Chronicle? To begin with, my memories are also recorded in the Tower. A world can leave a record of its time in the Tower, too.

It was possible and much easier to imagine this scenario than considering an actual world being crammed into the Tower.

But...

Two questions remained unsolved. First, the description of The Earthbone Dragon’s Box said that it was used to store the memories of the living. Whether the world itself was alive or dead was a whole different question, but it would be a bit difficult to call a world a living person. A world wouldn’t decide on its own to enter the Tower.

The second question was about the Tower master’s personality.

Amethyst turned her head and looked at me. Youthful mischievousness lingered in her bright smile. The purple in her eyes was too dark of a color to reflect anything. However, when one looked at her in the eye, one needed to peel away her thin veils and step beyond them to meet her jewel-like eyes.

The moment I met her gaze, it felt like a snake had opened its mouth and swallowed me.

Impossible.

The nobles and I were quite far from the throne. Despite the distance, I felt like Amethyst was looking at me from up close.

“I could smell something interesting from all the way over here,” Amethyst mouthed in my direction.

My ears picked up on her words. They made my head spin. I swallowed.

Aura Transmission.

After somehow figuring out that I had set time to move at 0.1 speed, Amethyst sent out her aura accordingly. The person I was possessing was a genius when it came to magic, but Amethyst was far more intimidating than me.

“What are you trying to show me, my second advisor? You’re funny even when you’re not trying to be. You’re one of the few joys that console my boring life. Is there anything you find particularly intriguing, Advisor River Eternal?”

“I was thinking about the Tower’s structure, Viscountess.”

[The ego of the subject under the Skill penalty is resisting.]

[Resuming the trauma recreation!]

I tried to speak like Kim Gong-Ja, but my lips and tongue moved and spun as they pleased. I became a polite noble and placed my hands neatly in front of me. Amethyst was still showing off her affection with the queen but tilted her head in confusion.

“Are you talking about the structure of Platinum Tower? Ah, well. The structure here is definitely interesting. A monarch of darkness used this building way before the kingdom was founded. Because of that, it was designed to be very tall so that even dragons could pass through...”

“I’m not talking about this tower.”

“Huh? Which one, then? The Tower of Petition? Ah, are you talking about the Netherworld River Pavilion Tower I conquered?”

“I’m thinking about the structure of the Tower you will build.”

Amethyst lifted her cheek from the queen’s lap and stood up. Confused, the queen looked up at her. “Viscountess Amethyst?”

“My deepest apologies, Your Majesty. I have a matter to discuss with my faction comrade.”

“Hmm. Okay. Take your time.”

“I’m extremely grateful for your generosity. For every second I didn’t get to spend with you, I shall lengthen it to ten seconds in my heart. When I return, you’ll see my heart has been churning from how much I’ve been missing you.”

Amethyst turned around and headed in my direction. Her dress had long slits on both sides, the long fabric at the back dragging behind her on the floor as she made her way to me. It wasn’t to show that she was a noble or the soon-to-be duchess. Her dress solely symbolized being the queen’s mistress.

Amethyst had enough power and connections to force people to turn a blind eye to her attire in the holy assembly hall.

In this assembly hall, where all the nobles were gathered, she was the one with the most power. She was my master, and I was her vassal. While other nobles called me by the kingdom’s official title, only Amethyst called me advisor, my title within the faction.

“Now, Advisor River Eternal. Unless someone skewered my brain, I think you were talking about the Tower. Oh, Marchioness Snowhite Rabbit and Viscountess Pure Sacrednoir, can you give us a moment, please?”

“Oh, okay, Viscountess...”

“Of course, Faction Leader.”

Amethyst bent down and kissed the marchioness, whose face turned red, but she laughed sheepishly before quickly getting out of her seat. Then, Amethyst offered her left hand to Pure Sacrednoir. As if it was the most natural thing in the world, Pure Sacrednoir got down on her knees and kissed Amethyst’s fingers one by one before licking them. Satisfied, Pure Sacrednoir also left, looking more calm.

Amethyst covered her mouth with her sleeve and chuckled. “They’re cute. So, you were asking about the Tower. Advisor, as far as I remember, I’ve never told you about the Tower I have in mind. In fact, I told barely anyone, so I’m a little confused now. Could it be that you have an ability to see the future?”

“No, Viscountess. I have no such ability.”

“I would guess so. There is only one person in the kingdom who can do that, and that is Mr. Divine Insight, who wandered into the desert to ensure he would maintain his chastity throughout the course of his training. I don’t know why that guy is so desperate to protect his virginity. ‘If I stop being a virgin, this world will be destroyed,’ he told me with a very serious face the last time we met. Does that make sense, Advisor? Don’t you think he was just bullshiting me to make me leave?”

I folded my hands neatly and listened to Amethyst. She was talkative, so once she started yapping, the conversation could be sidetracked to a thousand topics. In those moments, it was best to just wait for her to come back to the main topic on her own. At least, this was what the person I was possessing knew.

“Ah, anyway, yes, the Tower.”

Like now.

“If this isn’t precognition, then is it mind reading? No, that is more unlikely than precognition. As you already know, I have at least four layers of defense around my mind. The region where I’m planning about the Tower is behind the deepest layer, the innermost region of my mind. Even Zai wouldn’t be able to know.”

Zai was the Innerbound Duchess’ real name. There was only one person in this kingdom who could call the duchess by her real name, and that was Amethyst. She was the only person who wouldn’t lose her head when she called the duchess by her real name.

The Innerbound Duchess had the ability to read people’s minds, so it made sense why Amethyst was so suspicious of me, considering even the Innerbound Duchess didn’t know about the Tower.

“Viscountess.”

“Yes, my advisor. I do call you my advisor, but you’re technically my second advisor. So you hope to smack your senior in the back of your head and become my one and only advisor. You’re fascinating.”

“How about you think the other way around? ”

“Oh? The other way around?”

“It’s not that I had the foresight about the Tower. The Tower has already been completed, and we are experiencing this moment after its completion under the Tower’s guide.”

Her purple eyes widened. She looked around, then tapped her lips with her index and middle fingers. That was exactly how long it took Amethyst to organize her thoughts and say, “Wow. That’s awesome.”

I looked at her intently.

“Let me confirm this. Advisor, are you from the future? From the future where I’ve already created the Tower and am successfully running it?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“But that’s impossible. Even if the Tower will be created, you shouldn’t know its existence. You never will. The only people in this world who know about the Tower are the Gold Dragon, the Earthbone Dragon, the Icewater Dragon, the Blackflame Dragon Duchess, and the Heartseer Viscountess. Other than them, nobody has a way to kn... Oh?” Amethyst stroked her chin, the ends of her mouth slowly curling upward. “I see. You aren’t Advisor River Eternal, are you?”

I didn’t reply.

“You possessed the advisor. Hehe. Huh, so things like this can happen.”

“Yes, I’m not the advisor. My name is Kim Gong-Ja.”

“You’re not from this world either, are you? I can stake my gut and intestines on this one[1].”

“Yes, that’s right. I... I’m a Hunter from the Tower named Ascension City.”

“Hunter? Ah, I guess I decided to go with that name after all. Ascension City... Does the outside world have a name for the Tower too?”

“Uh, um. I’ve heard a Constellation calling it the Spire Realm...”

When she heard the words “Spire Realm,” her purple eyes narrowed for some reason. She said, “I guess it wasn’t a complete coincidence.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Oh, when I say it’s nothing, I don’t really mean it’s nothing. I just say it because I want to upset you. Curiosity took over your right and left atriums and is making your heart flutter, right? A heart is healthy when it’s pounding. I’ve made you healthy as a gift, so be grateful to me.”

I understood now. She really talked a lot. Well, it wasn’t just that. She had a knack for getting on people’s nerves.

“But how did someone from the Tower come all the way to the past? So interesting. Being able to do this should be borderline impossible, so it’s very hard for me to believe that’s what happened.”

“I didn’t come back to the past, Viscountess.”

“Meow?”

This was new. The Tower master sometimes meowed like a cat. This was really, really useless information.

“This isn’t your world nor mine.”

“Then what is this?”

“A recreation of memories. Viscountess, I’m now in your trauma.”

Amethyst blinked. “How?”

“I have a Skill. If anyone kills me, I can see their trauma.”

“That... is a Skill that sounds interesting as heck. If someone had suggested creating such a Skill, I would have welcomed it with open arms. However, Mr. Kim Gong-Ja, if we’re inside my trauma, does that mean that I killed you?” she asked, her head slightly tilted to the side. “That’s almost impossible. Unless you’re a stain on the world like those evil gods from different worlds, I’m not planning on killing anyone from other worlds. I would rather let them kill me.”

I told her the name of the world where the orphanage director, Kim Yul, and a middle school student named Ja Su-Jeong lived.

“There is a person there just like you, Viscountess. I asked her to kill me so I can meet you.”

Amethyst looked up at me, her face devoid of emotion. She let out a hmph alongside a small chuckle. After a while, she nodded and reached out for my cheek to stroke it. “I see. Interesting. Very, very interesting.”

She flashed a bright smile. “I wouldn’t really be able to know how many almost impossible coincidences and errors it took you to get here. No, it’ll be more accurate to say you brought me here, but you have my compliments, Mr. Kim Gong-Ja. You’ve achieved a miracle.”

I didn’t say anything.

“I see. This is my trauma. Well, that’s quite possible.” Amethyst leaned in closer. I could hear her breathing. “So? Warrior who weaved together a miracle, what do you want to do?”

“I... I want to know what kind of person you are.” I paused. “You built the Tower. I want to know what kind of person did that and what kind of life you were living before. That’s why I came this far.”

Amethyst’s eyes turned into crescents. “Haha, you’re adorable.”

She slowly let go of my cheek.

“Okay. Please watch me until you are satisfied. The person you possessed happened to be River Eternal, my advisor. It’s the advisor’s job to follow me wherever I go, so you won’t raise any suspicion even if you stay by my side.”

Amethyst looked back and held out her hand. “Come on, follow me. Mr. Kim Gong-Ja. Let me introduce you to my world.”

1. This is a Korean wordplay on guarantee(장담하다). 장 alone can also mean intestines, and 담 alone can also mean gut. This is the author's way of saying that Amethyst is so sure of her assumption that she is willing to bet her life on it. ☜