Chapter 16
The transfer was complete, accompanied by a swirl of light.
"Haaaah."
At the same time, my legs gave out, and I dropped to the floor.
I really thought I was going to die. If I'd said one wrong word, that would've been the end of me.
It was lucky my ridiculous bluff worked. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been surprising if I'd already become nourishment for the Tower.
Still...
"It seemed to recognize me."
More precisely, I should say it recognized my trait, Heavenly Demon.
The stone gate opened by the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, the name Heavenly Demon Cave, and the skeleton sitting cross-legged all alone inside.
It was far too optimistic to think that skeleton had nothing to do with the Heavenly Demon.
"Since it was a skeleton in the Heavenly Demon Cave, maybe I should call it the Heavenly Demon Bone (天魔骨)."
Since I was the Heavenly Demon, for convenience's sake, I'd decided to call that guy the Heavenly Demon Bone.
Anyway, the Heavenly Demon Bone. I never wanted to get involved again with that monster, whose very gaze made my knees tremble.
It had said we'd meet again when we parted, but I had absolutely no intention of doing so.
"Phew."
I gathered my scattered thoughts and got to my feet.
At any rate, I was alive, wasn't I? In fact, not only had I survived, I'd even brought back a pretty nice reward.
An oni mask. I had no idea why it had handed it over to me without complaint, but for now, checking its stats came first.
[Demon Emperor's Mask (魔皇面)]
[Grade: Unique]
[A mask for the absolute ruler of demons. Merely possessing it can blur other people's perception of you.]
[It is saturated with dense demonic energy (魔氣).]
"A Unique-grade item?"
The moment I checked the description, I was so shocked I nearly forgot how to breathe.
A Unique-grade item?
The grade that only rankers like Super, Blood Demon, or Maestro could freely wield, and that a middling Awakened person would struggle even to lay eyes on in their entire lifetime?
I was so surprised I was dumbfounded.
Even if I'd gotten it from a lunatic skeleton I met in a hidden piece, this was clearly not the kind of artifact that should turn up on Floor 5.
Just putting a Unique-grade item up for auction would send its price soaring into the hundreds of millions.
Of course, since it was a mask and not a weapon like a sword or spear, it would be hard to get its full value.
Besides...
"Blur other people's perception?"
On top of that, like the Tower's equipment descriptions usually were, the wording was oddly vague.
I couldn't even begin to guess exactly how blurring their perception was supposed to work.
"Does it make their perception of me weaker?"
If so, it was exactly the sort of item I'd been hoping for. The problem was...
"It feels ominous."
Just as the description said, this Demon Emperor's Mask gave off an unmistakably sinister aura.
Demonic energy.
It didn't pose much of a threat to me, but it was a nasty energy that could cause trouble for other people.
"I'll just carry it around."
I had a strong gut feeling that I shouldn't rashly put the mask on.
The Heavenly Demon Bone. That crazy skeleton must have had some ulterior motive for handing it over so readily.
The description said it worked just by carrying it, so for now, I could simply hang it from my waist.
"Let's open the chest."
Putting the mask out of my mind for a moment, it was time for the reward I'd been eagerly awaiting.
Still, after already getting a Unique-grade mask, my dopamine was through the roof. Whatever came out of this probably couldn't top that feeling.
Thinking idle thoughts, I walked up to the chest.
As always, it was a black chest with a crude design.
"You'd think the appearance would change a little, wouldn't you?"
That way, at least, there'd be some excitement before opening it.
Well, maybe it just came down to personal taste. There were probably people who hated having the grade spoiled before opening the chest, since it killed the suspense.
Whirr!
Just as I stepped closer to open the chest, something in my pocket began to vibrate.
"Huh?"
Obviously, my phone couldn't ring inside the Tower, so something else was reacting.
"This is..."
The Badge of Greed.
The item I'd made sure to carry around, thinking it might bring me good luck, was trembling like a café pager.
"Why?"
Why was it vibrating all of a sudden? Was something really good about to happen?
For now, I took the badge out of my pocket.
Whirr!
The closer I got to the chest, the more violently the badge vibrated.
"What is this?"
Was there going to be a jackpot in the chest, or was I supposed to do something to the chest with the badge?
Just as I stood there staring at it blankly, not knowing what to do...
Whirr!
"Whoa."
The vibrations became too much to handle, and I ended up dropping the badge.
The badge slipped from my palm and landed on top of the chest with a soft thud. At that moment...
Flash!
A brilliant light burst forth.
"Aah!"
The sudden flash nearly blinded me. It was like getting hit full-on by a flashbang while browsing an online gallery in dark mode in the middle of the night!
Even though I hurriedly shut my eyes, the afterimage of the light refused to fade.
"What the hell is going on?"
Only after quite a while was I finally able to open my eyes.
"...Nothing changed?"
The chest hadn't changed at all. It was still the same crude black chest.
"Where's my badge?"
It was gone. I searched all around, but couldn't find even a trace of it.
"Was that a consumable?"
If that was how it worked, it could've at least told me in advance. If I'd known it was a consumable, I would've saved it for a higher floor.
Well, there was no point regretting it now.
"I wonder what's inside."
Hoping for a jackpot in return for an entire item being devoured, I carefully opened the chest.
"What is this?"
Inside the chest was a skill book.
But it looked different from the ones I'd gotten before.
If the previous skill books had been plain paperbacks with no title printed on them, the one before me was a hardcover with an ornate cover and its name embossed in stylish lettering.
There was only one possibility.
"A designated skill book?"
A skill book that let you learn a specific skill for certain, rather than a random one.
"Hah."
I take back what I said about not getting any more dopamine from opening the chest.
I struck gold.
***
"Heh heh heh."
Blood Demon (血魔).
Chao Feilong had been enjoying every single day lately.
The reason was, of course, Heavenly Demon. A new Awakened had appeared, smashing records at breakneck speed and trampling Super—the thorn in his side—for all to see.
Beep!
He turned on the TV to pass the time, and as it happened, Super was being interviewed.
[Super, Josh Richards, says he harbors no ill will toward Heavenly Demon and is instead wishing a promising junior well...]
"Bwahahaha!"
Wasn't this news absolutely hilarious?
Feilong's liquor tasted especially sweet today.
To Blood Demon, Super—Josh Richards—was an enormous wall.
He'd tried every possible thing to surpass him.
He'd decked himself out in Unique-grade items, scrounged up every skill book he could find to expand his arsenal, and used every available means: performance-enhancing drugs, buff magic, even a priest's miracles.
But what had the result been?
Feilong had never once beaten that muscular blond Yankee bastard.
Not even once!
The pride and future of a billion people.
Blood Demon, Chao Feilong, who bore the destiny of leading the ignorant masses as the elite of the elite!
He hadn't managed to win even once against some Yankee bastard who'd crawled out of who knew where.
"Those were shitty days."
Back then, even just breathing made his irritation flare.
He could put up with the uncivilized masses insulting him as a loser who couldn't even beat Super. But he couldn't stand even his own parents bringing up Super and calling Feilong a half-wit.
Of course, those days were over now.
Heavenly Demon (天魔).
A newly emerged Awakened was breaking Super's records and climbing the Tower at a truly breakneck pace!
'Heavenly Demon. They probably named themselves after me.'
Feilong, too, had wanted to use the nickname Heavenly Demon at first.
But his ability to manipulate blood and create weapons didn't fit the name Heavenly Demon at all, so he'd had no choice but to settle for Blood Demon as his second choice.
In any case, with Blood Demon's prestige so high, choosing the name Heavenly Demon—when it was bound to invite comparisons—made it obvious that this person was one of his die-hard fans.
"Heh heh heh."
Wasn't that just adorable?
If they respected him, they should've said so in words. To show their feelings with a Tower nickname that couldn't be changed once chosen...
There was just one thing that bothered him.
"It's obvious they're one of our people, but they won't show themselves."
It had already been nearly a week since Heavenly Demon started climbing the Tower.
For such a promising Awakened, it was about time they showed their face to the world, but Heavenly Demon remained silent.
"Are they the type who doesn't care about money or fame?"
The bottom-tier Awakened might crawl into the Tower to make money, but rankers were different.
Wealth was something you raked in outside; the Tower was a stage where you upheld your fame and reputation.
A place to prove that you were still a worthwhile investment.
In fact, the earnings from inside the Tower couldn't even compare to the wealth you could rake in outside, except for the occasional Unique-grade item.
"Or could it be that they're being swayed by the media's nonsense?"
Feilong had an idea why Heavenly Demon was keeping themselves so thoroughly hidden.
People were saying that Blood Demon must be cursing Heavenly Demon in private because he'd been pushed down to third place.
Maybe they were afraid of running into Blood Demon himself.
"That's not what I have in mind at all."
If they met in person, he'd rather give them a big hug and burst into a hearty laugh. He'd tell them how grateful he was and that he hoped they'd get along well from now on.
He'd even put out an uncharacteristically conciliatory statement with that sentiment behind it.
"I guess I'll have to apply more pressure."
The media, which was supposed to convey the will of the people, had dared to distort Blood Demon's true feelings however they pleased.
He'd have to make it very clear that if they didn't issue a correction, they wouldn't be allowed to write a single line about Awakened people from now on...
Ring-ring!
The phone rang.
"It's me."
"L-Lord Feilong!"
The moment he answered, a subordinate shouted in a breathless, frantic voice.
"What is it?"
"Heavenly Demon, Heavenly Demon has—!"
"Heavenly Demon?"
He'd just been thinking about Heavenly Demon. What an incredible coincidence.
"Did Heavenly Demon cause some kind of trouble?"
"Heavenly Demon has finally shown themselves!"
After hiding away all this time, they'd finally started making a move.
"Heavenly Demon!"
Unable to contain his excitement, Feilong sprang to his feet.
"Where? Shanghai? Beijing? Hangzhou? Or some countryside town?"
"W-well..."
His subordinate stammered.
"Spit it out!"
Feilong barked.
He was never the sort of person considerate enough to take his underlings' feelings into account in the first place.
"W-well, it's Korea."
His subordinate spoke in a trembling voice.
"What?"
Had he heard wrong?
"Where did you say?"
"T-the Republic of Korea."
Crack!
Blood Demon Chao Feilong's face twisted.