“...What did I just see?”
“...I can’t believe my eyes.”
Players who had maintained consciousness were now, one by one, struggling to their feet.
Amidst the many players who had fainted, lying scattered on the ground like discarded luggage—
“...This actually worked.”
—I was internally revisiting the events that had just unfolded.
The initial idea ca to when I saw the city’s master pull a diamond token from her belt pouch and toss it to .
The other residents were being manipulated by the mark-creation box. So, maybe... the city’s master was too? That’s where the plan began.
The master’s personality, too childish and arrogant to befit ‘the master of the city’, also played a part in this. Honestly, for a ‘master’, she was quite immature.
Of course, I wasn’t entirely sure about what I was doing. The odds I gave it were about fifty-fifty.
If there really was a diamond box, simply snatching the pouch would do the trick.
If there was only a lone diamond token inside, I had planned to nonchalantly slip in a bronze box and toss it back to her, all cool and indifferent.
I had imagined the city’s master turning into a beggar in an instant, and standing in front of her saying, “Congratulations, you’re now a beggar,” as I smugly teabagged her...
“...Thank you.”
My reverie was broken by the city’s master, who approached, looking defeated and forlorn - Well, the person acting as the city’s master... I’m not sure what to call her now.
“Truly... thank you.”
The forr city master no longer emanated the sa imposing aura. It was hard to believe that she was the sa woman who once boasted such an overwhelming presence.
She seed like just an ordinary village maiden, awkwardly donned in armor that didn’t suit her.
“...So.”
After seeing the diamond box, I finally voiced the question that had been lingering in my mind.
“Who are you?”
“...”
The hesitant forr city master finally spoke.
“...The real city master died. Half a year ago.”
“...”
“About one year ago…”
…Weary of the endless strife among the classes, the true city master—a young noble who inherited the city at a tender age due to his parents’ untily deaths—had offered this city to the gods.
This spirited young man, pursuing ideals in a harsh reality, had a clear goal to make this city a perfect utopia and the determination to achieve it.
However... what the naive city master hadn’t anticipated was the excruciating pain involved in forcibly ‘understanding’ others.
By now, most people had adapted in so way, but when the city’s rules first changed, it was utter chaos.
Actions were forced. Personalities twisted. Struggling with their identities, many couldn’t accept who they had beco, what they were now.
Initially, the city master tried to be optimistic.
‘It’s just a process of adaptation. Eventually, after a long ti, the residents will be grateful to .’
However, despite continuous self-brainwashing, the reality remained unchanged.
He had set out to create a better, perfect city.
Yet, the city before his eyes was a cruel drama, where everyone was a puppet on stage, manipulated and weeping tears of blood.
It was too late to reverse everything. The situation was, literally, heading toward a disaster.
The young master of the city agonized and agonized again.
Until he reached the conclusion that soone needed to take responsibility.
“...And so, he made a decision.”
The second floor, this city, needed to be normalized.
Acknowledged for his sacrifice in offering the city, he was appointed as the ‘temporary administrator.’
Thanks to this, he fully understood the new rules of the transford city. The key was his own existence.
Excluding physically enforced rules like ‘cannot leave the city’, any violation of other rules required the city master himself to administer punishnt.
In other words, for the second floor to continue as the second floor, his very existence was essential.
Which ans...
“He died like that. Blew up his own heart. ‘I’m sorry,’ These were his last words. He had thought…”
Without .
The second floor would cease to function as it does.
It would fail to serve as the trial that the gods intended.
If that happened... the gods might create a new second floor.
The city residents might be freed.
Thinking this, the city master took his own life.
“...Never imagining there was a token box that forced people to act like him...”
Watching the death in horror, a maid stood by, and beside her, an angel appeared, holding sothing shiny.
That day, a second city master was created.
She neither agonized nor reflected like her predecessor, and above all, she was arrogant.
Self-reflection and introspection are processes that allow humans to evolve into better intellectual beings, but such qualities were not bestowed upon the new city master.
Such things were deed unnecessary in this tower.
“...The angels imposed restrictions on other residents to prevent them from discussing this matter... but for so reason, they didn’t think it necessary to silence the parties involved, so no restrictions were placed on them...”
“...”
I opened my mouth to speak, but no sound ca out.
I felt that everyone, except for the original city master who had caused such a ss, was a victim.
“...What do you want?”
I couldn’t fathom what the god who created this tower wanted.
I couldn’t understand the motive behind a being who would do such things, supposedly to judge humanity for its sins.
Was it like, ‘I’m such a bad guy, grow strong and co to chop off my head’?
Or perhaps, ‘Rember what humanity did during the colonial era? This is nothing compared to that’?
It might be surprisingly aningless. Maybe it’s just done for ‘...fun.’
Seeing the angels blatantly committing evil acts made my head spin.
“Sigh...”
From my experience on the zeroth floor, I knew that at tis like this, I needed to keep looking forward.
I shouldn’t dwell on questions with no answers. What mattered was the current situation.
“So... are you free from the box’s curse now?”
“...Yes.”
“Hmm...”
I glanced once at the diamond-like box in my hand, then at the large sack placed at the entrance of the alleyway. It was filled with boxes of all grades.
Now there was no city master. There was no one to enforce the rules.
And there was no way to obtain a mark of acknowledgnt either, as all the boxes were stuffed in that sack.
Second Floor -Clearance Condition: Earn the recognition of the city residents and bring the mark of acknowledgnt to clear the floor. However, you cannot leave the city area. Climbers, please get along with each other!
-Clearance Reward: Varies depending on the grade of the mark.
Excluding the rule ‘can not leave the city area’, all other rules had beco aningless.
Just as the forr city master had wished, the second floor could no longer fulfill its intended role.
“Now what...”
What should I do? As I pondered this,
“Congratulations!”
Suddenly, a sweet, lodious voice rang out.
Simultaneously, a brilliant pillar of light appeared at the center of the plaza, and cherubs, materializing from nowhere, blew trumpets and smiled broadly.
Marvelous Achievent Alert! -You have successfully neutralized the ‘Master of the City’, the hidden boss!
-A special reward is granted to [Kim Jun-ho] for his significant contribution!
Even a ssage window, a sight I hadn’t seen in a while, popped up before , celebrating my achievent.
It felt like a triumphant return of a divine warrior, welcod back after completing his mission.
As the sound of victory trumpets filled the air,
“...Huh?”
I realized that I was the only one awake in this plaza.
Park Cheol-jin, the firefighter who had just been exchanging glances with …
The other players who were panting heavily…
Even the forr city master, with swollen eyes, who had been sharing her past stories…
All were collapsed on the ground.
“I healed them. There’s no need to worry.”
Their breathing was steady, and their expressions were peaceful, suggesting they were simply asleep.
Glancing over at Choi Ji-Won, I noticed that all her wounds, large and small, from the battle were healed.
He wasn’t lying, then.
I lifted my gaze again, looking towards the source of the voice, the pillar of light.
“Nice to et you.”
A sharp nose. Smooth skin. Large eyes and bright red lips. Long, curly auburn hair cascading down the back.
Were the humans awkwardly created in imitation of this angel?
Or was this angel, in front of , the most ticulously crafted creation of God?
The androgynous angel, with a warm smile, slowly walked out from the light pillar.
Though there were no pure white wings spread out behind…
Nor a radiant halo floating above the head…
It was still a divine entrance, a holy sight - All the more striking against the backdrop of a plaza marked by the sll of burns and dust.
“I am Archangel Raphael.”
The archangel, known to oversee everything from the first to the fifth floors, had descended.
– – – End of Chapter – – -
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