Chapter 11
Calming magic.
As the name suggests, it's a second-tier spell that calms your emotions.
It's commonly used to subdue rampaging monsters, especially orcs, which start appearing on the fifth floor and above.
Apparently, it's surprisingly effective.
Of course, it can't completely erase their fighting spirit. It's more like splashing an overexcited guy with cold water to cool him off.
If it could manipulate emotions themselves, it would've been classified as hypnosis magic long ago. It would be a higher tier, too.
'All that sounds good, but.'
There's just one thing bothering me.
[Comments]
Heavenly Demon: But can you use that on people?
I wondered if it was safe to use on people.
It was a spell devised to suppress monsters that rampaged without reason. Even if it was only second-tier, its power couldn't possibly be trivial.
Roombound Archmage: You can use it. But it works a little too well on people.
ㄴ Heavenly Demon: Too well? How much?
What did he mean by too effective? What was the standard for 'too much'?
Roombound Archmage: Apparently, it works so well that sometimes people start acting like they've suddenly fallen into depression.
"You little..."
Getting depressed in the middle of a fight?
Getting too excited was a problem, but the opposite—being too calm—was dangerous, too.
A reasonable amount of dopamine in combat helped you forget your fear.
Heavenly Demon: So you're telling me to die?
ㄴ Roombound Archmage: You asked how to calm yourself down, so I told you.
So, in short, I had to choose between getting excited and dying, or getting depressed from calming magic and dying.
'Strictly speaking, I don't get excited, though.'
It's just that my way of thinking gets a little twisted.
Heavenly Demon: Strictly speaking, I don't get excited.
ㄴ Roombound Archmage: Then what is it?
ㄴ Heavenly Demon: My way of thinking just changes a tiny bit.
Right. Whenever I entered the Tower—or even just got close to it—I simply turned into a girl who loved killing monsters.
It wasn't like I lost my mind and went berserk like a beast, oblivious to everything around me.
Roombound Archmage: ? What the hell are you talking about? Weren't you saying you were struggling because your trait made it hard to control your emotions?
ㄴ Heavenly Demon: I mean, my way of thinking changes, and I think it's because of my trait.
ㄴ Roombound Archmage: What kind of nonsense is that? How does your way of thinking even change;;
A comment came in immediately.
It seemed like they had no idea what I was talking about.
"Can't be helped."
If I wanted these guys' help, I'd have to explain my situation in more detail, even if they thought I was a bit of a weirdo.
ㄴ Heavenly Demon: I just enjoy killing monsters, and find it fun to twist their necks and stuff.
I honestly wrote down the feelings I'd had a little while ago.
Of course, I filtered it a little. I left out minor details like 'the monsters were so weak I only used one hand so I could enjoy myself longer.'
The more I thought about it, the more that sounded like something a crazy bitch who belonged in a psych ward would say.
ㄴ Roombound Archmage: ???
ㄴ Warrior Main: (frog emoticon with question marks over its head)
ㄴ Loves Magic: What the hell is this?
ㄴ MageSsi: What the fuck did I just read?
ㄴ Allah's Magic Wand: National Awakened Psychiatric Hospital number 15XX - XXXX
An absolutely explosive reaction poured in.
"Ah."
I thought I'd toned it down, but this still made me sound crazy enough.
My way of thinking had definitely gotten somewhat twisted from my experiences in the Tower.
"First, I should explain that I just misspoke..."
The moment I refreshed the gallery to clean up the mess.
New posts started flooding in at an absolutely explosive rate.
[Title: Aaaagh!]
[Title: I'm more scared of our Heavenly Demon than that Heavenly Demon]
[Posted by: Allah's Magic Wand]
I'll never run into that Heavenly Demon in my life, but I feel like I might bump into our Heavenly Demon on the street....
[Title: Get the fuck out of my gallery!]
[Title: Won't you get reported to the Association for posting shit like that?]
In real time, my image was turning into that of a fucking psychopath who loved killing monsters too much.
At this rate, every time I posted in the gallery, people might just scream "Aaaagh!"
I hurriedly wrote a new comment.
Heavenly Demon: Everyone calm down. I'm not that kind of person.
ㄴ Warrior Main: Aaaagh!
ㄴ Loves Magic: (frog emoticon screaming)
It was already too late. Every comment was either a scream or an emoticon screaming.
For the sake of my comfortable gallery browsing, I had to clear things up properly before it was too late.
I frantically tapped at my phone screen.
[Title: I misspoke a little, but that's not what I meant]
[Posted by: Heavenly Demon]
I'm a decent citizen who can't even kill a bug.
It's all because of my trait. Seriously. Believe me.
[Comments]
Roombound Archmage: There's a theory that traits reflect an Awakened person's desires, so if your trait's weird... (nervous mage emoticon)
ㄴ Heavenly Demon: No, I'm telling you I don't have any such desires?
MageSsi: Feeling like killing monsters is a job <<< normal; finding it fun <<< abnormal
ㄴ Heavenly Demon: No.
Warrior Main: ...Disciple, I've never seen a trait that twists someone's way of thinking in my life.
ㄴ Heavenly Demon: You can't say it doesn't exist just because you haven't seen it;;
ㄴ Warrior Main: I'd find it more believable that you're a lunatic than believe your claim.
ㄴ Heavenly Demon: No
"I'm serious."
Whenever I enter the Tower, my personality does a complete 180. What am I supposed to do?
Before I could even feel wronged, another comment appeared.
Loves Magic: What the hell do you have to do to enjoy killing monsters?
Loves Magic.
As expected of a pro gallery addict, this guy was at least asking a normal question.
I gave him a sincere answer.
ㄴ Heavenly Demon: Those monsters piss me off;;
ㄴ Loves Magic: Like what?
ㄴ Heavenly Demon: They dare to make eye contact with this sovereign;;
ㄴ Loves Magic: You psycho.
Hmm, I'd completely screwed up.
You could say I'd just sent the last person on my side packing with my own hands.
It seemed like the day my image recovered on Wizard Gallery was still a long, long way off.
"Ah, I'm screwed."
At this point, I didn't care anymore.
I flung my phone away and flopped onto the bed.
By tomorrow morning, things would probably die down on their own.
Galleries were places where the hot topic changed completely every other day, after all.
But contrary to my expectations, these guys were still happily chatting about me the next day.
[Title: Upvote if there's a lunatic living in our gallery]
[Title: I saw it with my own two eyes!]
[Title: Awakened. Is this level of violence acceptable?]
These guys must've really had nothing better to do.
As always, I made breakfast, took a picture, and uploaded it to the gallery.
[Title: Fucking morning]
[Heavenly Demon]
Means 'good morning,' hehe
(roughly a picture of breakfast)
How's this breakfast looking today?
[Comments]
Loves Magic: (roughly a screaming pointy-hat character emoticon)
Warrior Main: Aaaagh!
Black Mage: Mod!
"Hmm."
As expected, not a single proper comment.
"Sigh, whatever."
Fine, you guys have your fun.
I roughly shoved breakfast down, then geared up.
Whoosh!
"Body feels good."
If I had to name one good thing about this body, it was definitely its inexhaustible stamina and recovery.
After one night's sleep, that day's fatigue vanished as if it had been washed away.
It almost made me wonder if this was what people meant by kids having boundless energy.
"Since things have turned out this way, should I head straight for the Tower?"
Originally, I planned to have a productive day, gathering information on the gallery and selling the mana stones I'd gotten.
But with the gallery like that, there was nothing I could do. My plans had gotten hopelessly tangled from the very first step.
Since things had turned out this way, it wouldn't be a bad idea to climb the Tower and test the calming magic, too.
"I'll test the calming magic, try out the saber a bit, and take a proof shot."
It was a chance to repair my ruined image while raising the prestige of the username 'Heavenly Demon' even further.
A truly flawless plan.
"Taxi!"
I went outside without delay and hailed a taxi.
***
[NIGHTMARE difficulty has been selected.]
[May glory be with the challenger.]
Nightmare difficulty, Tower Floor 3.
"Calm."
As soon as I entered, I cast calming magic on myself.
I feel a little calmer, maybe.
Soon, as the swirl of light faded, familiar figures appeared.
Goblins. Ten of them again.
Are there always exactly ten goblins on Nightmare difficulty?
However, there was one difference this time.
"Their colors are a little different this time."
A few red-skinned ones were mixed into the group.
Were those hobgoblins? Like goblin shamans, they were a type of mutant.
"Well, I might be able to enjoy myself a little longer."
Snap!
I lightly snapped my fingers.
Shing!
The saber strapped to my back floated up naturally, cut through the air, and stopped in front of my hand.
"I'm using you today, so please hold out for a good long while."
I gripped the hilt floating in midair tightly.
Now then, let's see how well this toy holds up.
***
Slice!
"Keuruk!"
I cut down the last hobgoblin as it tried to flee, severing its neck in one stroke.
"Hmm."
I lightly shook the blood off the black sword.
I think the goblin shaman had been more fun to fight, since it had a greater variety of tactics than these guys.
[You have cleared Floor 3 on Nightmare difficulty!]
[Clear Time] 3 minutes 1 second
[Clear Rank] SSS
[The Tower remembers the challenger's name.]
"Isn't it about time you stopped asking? I'm the Heavenly Demon."
[Challenger Rankings]
[1st ; Heavenly Demon (天魔) SSS]
[2nd : -SUPER- S]
[3rd ; Blood Demon S-]
The familiar window appeared in midair.
[You will be transferred to the Reward Room shortly.]
Before long, I was enveloped in a swirl of light and transported to another space.
A cramped room with the same crude black chest I'd seen so many times.
"Tch."
At this point, wasn't it about time they changed the room's scenery, too?
I reflexively started to throw open the chest, but stopped when a thought suddenly occurred to me.
"Ah, I can't forget this."
Click!
I remembered and took a picture of the reward chest.
"Hmm?"
Inside the chest, I found one kilogram of B-rank mana stones and a mysterious badge.
"What's this?"
I'd cleared a higher floor, but the amount of mana stones had actually gone down.
And what was with this random badge?
[Badge of Greed]
[A badge belonging to someone filled with greed. It seems like good things will happen if you have it.]
This damn Tower's item descriptions are all so inadequate.
Still, since it said it was good to have, I shoved it into my pocket for now.
”Exit…."
Just as I was about to leave the Tower, having finished everything I needed to do—
"Ah."
I came back to my senses earlier than usual today.
"Damn it."
Today's conclusion.
Calming magic isn't much help to me.