Chapter 163
The boss of the 48th floor, a giant turtle with a volcano on its back.
I was searching its corpse after taking it down.
Something was wrapped around the turtle's foot.
“What is this?”
At the end of the chain was a massive anchor.
When I touched it, it glowed and shrank down to the size of a necklace.
Then the turtle's corpse also turned into a handful of light and seeped into the anchor.
At the same time, a status window appeared.
[Turtle King's Grudge]
[Grade: Legendary]
[Type: Talisman]
[A concentration of the Turtle King's lingering resentment.]
[Automatically protects the wearer from a fatal attack.]
[One use only.]
“It's an item?”
A similar effect to the attack-reflecting mirror I'd taken from Japan last time, but also different.
A slightly ambiguous option compared to the mirror that even reflected the effect.
But unlike a rare fighting force like an S-rank mage, it didn't need charging and activated automatically.
“So it's like I got one more life coin?”
Honestly, I'd never felt death, let alone the brink of death.
I had almost collapsed from shortness of breath when my featured post got stolen, though....
Still, more insurance is always better. I carefully tucked the necklace I had just obtained into my pocket.
Since it was an automatically activating talisman, just carrying it around should be enough for it to go off.
Right after pocketing the item, I was thrown back outside the Tower in a familiar white light.
[Congratulations on clearing the 48th floor on EXTREME difficulty.]
[First-clear bonus applied!]
[Rank No. 1 bonus applied!]
…
[Rare achievement obtained: All Deep-Sea Lords have been slain.]
[Mana: +100]
[The curse of the Deep-Sea Lords follows you.]
[Effect: Unknown for now.]
“?”
A curse?
No, I tore them all to pieces, so why is a curse following me?
And what do you mean, still unknown?
The wording was ominous as hell. I unconsciously took out the talisman I had just gotten and clutched it again.
“No, come to think of it, a curse is something you’re supposed to ward off.”
The leaf from the World Tree hanging around my neck purifies all curses.
But this time it didn't even activate.
There were two possibilities: either the curse hadn't activated yet, or it was powerful enough to break through even the World Tree.
“So that's why they gave me an instant-death-prevention item....”
It felt like I'd wake up tomorrow and find the item had already activated overnight.
I went home unable to hide my uneasy feeling.
Then Sandworm spoke to me.
[Sandworm advises that, if it's a curse, it'd be best to ask that freeloader over there.]
“Freeloader?”
I turned my head in the direction Sandworm pointed.
There, I saw the black mage sticking long tentacles out of the fish tank and scanning the surroundings.
[Hm, indeed, quite alien.]
“What are you doing?”
[Ah, you're back? Since I have a body now, I was looking for a few books.]
“Why?”
[I've become a bit more curious about this world.... But there isn't a single book here. Do me a favor and move this body to a library, would you?]
A library? Isn't that something only chaebols or professors have?
Actually, I don't have a single book.
Of course. This is the age of e-books in the 21st century.
Ah, now that I think about it, I do have one. That thing I got from Tich.
In the end, there isn't a single Earth book in my house.
[Good heavens.... Are books that rare in this world?]
“...You're mocking me right now, aren't you?”
[Sandworm advises that the parasite troubling its master should be dealt with immediately.]
Normally, he would have been groveling by now, but this time the black mage raised his voice.
[No, even if I die, I have to say this. Are you really a mage?]
“...I'm more of a practical type than a theory type.”
[Oh my, could it be that you can't read.... No, surely not, even you can't be that bad....]
“Now that I let him loose, he's getting cocky?”
I grabbed his tentacle with practiced ease and spun him around.
The black mage flew through the air like a yo-yo.
[Hwaaaagh-!]
“Ah, damn, this isn't the time for that.”
Remembering that I had something to ask, I let him go again.
“You know a lot about curses, right? You cursed me the first time you met me and all that.”
[Hah, hoho. It seems you need this body's help. Then wouldn't it be proper to apologize first?]
The black mage, sounding like he was on his last legs, was still putting on airs.
It was absurd.
“One more spin?”
[W-wait! A favor, just grant me one favor! You can do that much, can't you!]
“I'll hear you out first.”
[I want to know this world better. Bring me some books. A variety of subjects.]
“You can just look it up on the internet.”
[You mean that thing from last time, ChatGPT or whatever? No, I simply can't adapt to it. Just get me an encyclopedia.... And this is something a mage should naturally have in his home. What kind of mage doesn't even have a single book at home? Reflect on yourself!]
As he spoke, perhaps his emotions suddenly welled up, and he started yelling.
“Seriously, who even uses paper encyclopedias these days.... Ugh, fine, I get it.”
Come to think of it, this might actually be safer than letting him learn the infinite knowledge of the internet.
If he searched the internet and made some super-AI black mage robot with 21st-century technology, that would be disastrous.
I felt like I'd been too careless.
“Internet is banned for you from now on.”
[Even if you told me to use it, I wouldn't. It's inconvenient.]
“Anyway, I'll buy them, so take a look at my body. See whether I'm cursed or not.”
[Hmm....]
The black mage narrowed his one eye. With a tentacle, he stroked something like a chin.
[There's nothing.]
“Are you sure?”
[I'm sure. There are curses I can't dispel, but a curse that I can't even notice exists? Such a thing doesn't exist.]
“Damn, then what is it?”
I scratched my head in confusion.
My mind was full of worry.
Suddenly, the black mage smiled as if something had come to him and said,
[Looking at you, one thing does come to mind. Back when I was at the height of my fame, I cursed a cocky brat just like you.]
“What kind of curse?”
[I cursed him with 'You will meet the worst, most horrifying death imaginable.']
“....”
[It was a complete mess. He turned the whole house into a fortress, had more than ten doctors stay in the house, and before drinking water he had servants check whether it had been poisoned. Every night he slept with a knife beside him, afraid an assassin might come in.]
“So did he really die horribly?”
[Of course, he died a most miserable death.]
For some reason, the guy was laughing heartily while telling a story about killing someone with a curse.
He really was a black mage.
“You’re laughing? Then doesn’t that mean I'm cursed with something like that too?”
[Heh, keep listening.... That guy lived for another year after that, and then died.]
“A year? Why would the incubation period be that long? Maybe the curse didn't take?”
[In a sense, it worked just fine. He never slept a peaceful night until the day he died. Not knowing when death would come, he couldn't enjoy fine liquor, pleasant games, or even the woman he loved at all. Thanks to that, he died early.]
“What the....”
[Isn't he just absurdly foolish? A man who lived like a corpse even though he was still breathing.]
“Hey, cut the roundabout stuff and get to the point.”
[… You ignorant fool. I was even trying to give you a lesson. It means there isn't any curse on you, so stop worrying for nothing.]
“You should've said that sooner.”
[Haa, at this rate my intelligence will drop too.]
Anyway, it really did seem like there was no curse.
Only then did I feel at ease and flop onto the sofa before turning on the TV.
Demigod should probably have gone back to the U.S. by now, too.
Soon Chairman Park would probably ask about the 48th-floor clear.
But when I turned on the TV, I realized that wouldn't happen.
[Breaking news: Japan, China... a new Legendary is just around the corner]
[The governments of both countries discover a new floor!]
Chairman Park would be busier than anyone in Korea right now.
“A new floor? What is this about?”
I shifted my posture and focused on the broadcast.
Soon, a familiar face appeared.
“Huh? That's Kim Suho.”
Kim Suho sat beside the commentators in a neat suit.
Below him was a sign that read, 'S-rank Hunter Advisory Committee Member Kim Suho.'
[Yes, they just released clear videos of Floors 45 and 46 from China. Let's take a look!]
Along with the host's comment, the footage came on.
A giant whale filled the screen.
[That's absurdly huge, isn't it?]
[My goodness.... It looks bigger than an aircraft carrier.]
I could hear the panelists exclaiming in shock.
Kim Suho's expression was twitching oddly.
Of course it was. I had already uploaded a Floor 45 clear video to the Mage Gallery.
“...It looks kind of small.”
It was obvious.
Of course, that thing was big enough to swallow a small boat whole.
But the Floor 45 boss I had faced, that white whale that could have swallowed a whole sailboat and still had room to spare, had a totally different presence.
“Could it be a calf?”
Looking closer, its eyes did seem a bit similar?
What a pity. A parent and child, hunted by humans one after the other.
[Hunter Kim Suho? Could you please explain?]
[… Ah, yes. That monster is a completely new species. When I cleared Floor 45, I never encountered anything like that.]
[You mean the Tower's structure has changed?]
[Yes. Come to think of it, changes have already been observed on the 20th and 30th floors as well.]
The host nodded at Kim Suho's words.
[That's right! Dwarves and elves!]
[Of course, we don't know exactly what changes occurred. Whether every hunter meets that thing, or whether certain conditions have to be met.... China hasn't released the detailed conditions either.]
[Ah, so it could be the result of some hidden piece...?]
[That's possible.]
The screen changed.
A damp, dark cave.
The walls twitched unpleasantly every so often.
Most irritating of all was the unidentified liquid that kept dripping from the ceiling.
Ssszzzt!
The moment it touched anything, the equipment melted away with a noxious cloud of smoke.
[Damn it! It's an acidic solution! Watch out so it doesn't touch bare skin! Protect the healer!]
[Monster ahead! Tank, move up!]
At the same time, monsters resembling parasites burst out through the walls.
It didn't take long for everyone to realize where they were.
[That... isn't that inside the whale's belly?]
[Looks like it. It seems the raid is continuing after they were swallowed into the whale's belly. Probably once they kill a few monsters, it'll count as a clear.]
“So that's what they meant by saying they found the conditions.”
I finally understood why they had made the announcement.
Now that they'd encountered such a bizarre place, it made sense they'd think an item was waiting there.
Even to me, that seemed like a reasonable assumption.
“...So maybe I was supposed to catch it that way too?”
Suddenly, I remembered how I'd suffered like hell trying to catch that whale.
Could this be the proper method?
“No way....”
I shook my head, tossed aside my stray thoughts, and focused on the broadcast again.