Chapter 28
Not parallel universes?
“Then does that mean gallery users can meet each other?”
The moment I thought that, comments began appearing.
ㅇㅇ(138F) : Huh? It is a parallel universe. How many people have met clones by now?
ㄴFenrir : No, obviously we're separate, too. I've killed dozens of gallery-user clones from the 700s alone.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(138F) : I thought you meant something else, lol. Phew~
ㄴㅇㅇ(360F) : Look at him getting nervous just because he's in the 100s, lolololol
ㄴㅇㅇ(645F) : Thought the newbie was going to climb up and chop you to pieces? lololololol
ㄴㅇㅇ(249F) : Even if that were true, there's a gap of over 70 floors between you, and you're sitting there scared shitless, lolololololololol
For now, just as I'd originally known, it seemed gallery users couldn't meet one another.
Then what did he mean by saying that the grand premise—that this was a parallel universe—had collapsed?
ㄴFenrir : To be precise, it is a parallel universe, but… it could be that each parallel universe has different initial Tower settings…
ㄴㅇㅇ(651F) : Hasn't everything matched so far? Have the monsters' levels or types ever been different?
ㄴFenrir : The ones who died after failing their promotion matches can't exactly tell us anything.
ㄴㅇㅇ(342F) : Aaaaaaaaagh.
ㄴㅇㅇ(349F) : You mean they failed their promotion matches because things differed from the strategy guide? ㄷㄷ
ㄴFenrir : That's a possibility—if, as Floor 574 said, Newbie alone was Level 1.
I understood what he was getting at.
‘The Tower's structure and the monsters' strength are perfectly identical.’
It meant that I could be the existence that introduced a flaw into this hypothesis.
And if the hypothesis everyone had firmly believed in collapsed because of me, all the information they'd accumulated so far could become completely useless—that was what he was saying.
After all, a rule cannot allow even a single counterexample.
They seemed to be afraid of that.
But then, as if to calm everyone down, Floor 574 spoke.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(574F) : No, no, no, no. We've verified things among ourselves up to now, so it's much more likely that only the Tower Newbie is in is an irregularity. And the Gatekeeper in our Tower might be Level 1 too… No one has gone down to Floor 1, after all.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(648F) : “Now that it's controversial, you're calling it a possibility?” lol
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(431F) : Why are you changing your story now that everyone's freaking out? lol
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(574F) : It's only a hypothesis… I was just spitballing.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(354F) : Whaaaaaaaaat???????
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(641F) : Breaking news: Floor 574 admits to spouting speculation for the first time, lolololol
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(432F) : Floor 574's influence has grown enough to make even a registered user chicken out, lololol
ㄴFenrir : Why did you confess to spouting speculation just because I finally agreed with you? What the fuck, lol.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(337F) : lololololololololol
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(463F) : Didn't we conclude at first that Newbie's registered username was attached symbolically because he was on Floor 1?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(574F) : That could be true, too… We can make multiple assumptions, but it doesn't seem very meaningful. We can't meet each other anyway.
The situation was being sorted out.
It looked as though the whole thing was about to end as a mere incident.
It seemed to have happened because, as one anonymous user said, Floor 574's words had been given too much weight.
That was when.
My Reaper master left me a comment.
ㄴCaptain Death Note : This kind of idle chatter is utterly meaningless. Do not let yourself be swept away by useless thoughts!
ㄴCaptain Death Note : Focus solely on climbing the Tower!
ㄴCaptain Death Note : And if your scythe is Voidside, you must devote yourself to the Reaper's black magic without looking aside! I will teach you the next step!
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(710F) : Captain Death Note, did you see the photos of the intruder corpses? It looks like Newbie used his instant-death skill in actual combat right away.
ㄴCaptain Death Note : What?! Is that really true? Right after returning from the Reaper realm?
The Reapers were marveling at something.
ㄴ DeathNoteTripitaka : I only saw that the fellow had defeated the intruders!
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(351F) : He didn't read a single post and came rushing in to stop Newbie from learning necromancy, lolololol
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(702F) : But he's already learned it, right? lol
Floor 710's Reaper explained further.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(710F) : Yes. It seems he skipped [Death Sentence - Draw (引)] and immediately awakened [Death Sentence - Engrave (刻)].
ㄴ DeathNoteTripitaka : Oh… I was the same. As expected, you possess talent from beyond the heavens like me.
But I was bewildered.
“Huh?”
Draw and Engrave.
Because those were techniques I'd never seen before.
“What? The Death Sentence I learned wasn't like that.”
Confused, I hurriedly typed a comment.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(61F)(Author) : Um… Master. I've never learned anything called Draw or Engrave…?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(431F) : ?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(375F) : Whaaat.
ㄴㅇㅇ(710F) : Huh? You mean that corpse wasn't hit by Engrave (刻)?
“……”
I typed another comment, still dazed.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(61F)(Author): The instant-death skill I used on the male swordsman was [Death Sentence - See (視)]. Before that, I also learned [Death Sentence - Slash (斬)].
Then silence.
ㄴㅇㅇ(710F) : ?
ㄴㅇㅇ(385F) : What now? What the hell did you do this time?
ㄴFenrir: Did Newbie cause another incident?
The answers that came back were as follows.
ㄴ DeathNoteTripitaka : …Are you mocking me?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(710F) : What the hell are you talking about? How did you suddenly learn See (視)?
ㄴ DeathNoteTripitaka : Are you saying you skipped even Draw (引), Engrave (刻), and Slash (斬), and awakened See (視) in one leap?! This is impossible…!
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(710F) : See (視) is a Stage 4 instant-death skill…
A Stage 4 instant-death skill?
Was that what I'd used on the man?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(710F) : No way, this is fake. Where did you hear about See and Slash?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(613F) : You think this is fake? lol
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(432F) : If you can't even believe a registered user, something's definitely weird.
They reacted as though they simply couldn't believe it.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(61F)(Author) : Should I prove it…?
I took a selfie and brought up the Status skill window.
[Death Sentence - Slash (斬)], [Death Sentence - See (視)].
I uploaded the two skills, clearly listed, to the gallery.
Then.
ㅇㅇ(710F) : ????????????
ㅇㅇ(710F) : Wait? Why are there two?????????
ㅇㅇ(710F) : Wait, See isn't even the problem… I mean, learning See is fucking insane too… But why do you have Slash as well???
ㅇㅇ(710F) : Why do you have Slash????????
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(461F) : You're just repeating yourself, lolololol
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(61F)(Author) : Aren't you normally supposed to get two?
ㄴㅇㅇ(546F) : Buy one, get one free ㄷㄷ
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(710F) : Registered-user teacher, what is this?? I've never seen anyone get two before. Is this even possible?
My master's answer that followed was quite shocking.
I never even imagined he would answer like this.
DeathNoteTripitaka : …I don't know.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(384F) : ? lololololololololol
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(431F) : What are we supposed to do if even you don't know? lolololol
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(247F) : Didn't you do this in the middle of things last time, too??
The comments began filling with question marks and hollow laughter.
Confused-sounding comments followed.
ㄴ DeathNoteTripitaka : If you erase your name from the Great Stone Tablet, you are supposed to receive only a single Death Sentence!
ㄴ DeathNoteTripitaka : But you possess two Death Sentences?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(461F) : Is this guy broken?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(351F) : What the hell? What happened?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(574F) : ??
It was a deeply confusing situation.
But a flash of intuition went off in a corner of my mind.
“…Ah.”
…I thought I knew why I'd obtained two.
I was anxious, but I had to confess.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(61F)(Author) : Well… I erased two names… because…
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(432F) : ?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(710F) : Huh?
This time, silence did not fall.
An enormous roar exploded.
ㄴ DeathNoteTripitaka : Katsu (喝)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Text that felt like a thousand bolts of lightning striking at once, even greater than before.
ㄴ DeathNoteTripitaka : Do you know what you've done!!!
His reaction was the most horrified yet, and cold sweat broke out on me.
It seemed something terrible had happened, so I quickly tapped out a reply.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(61F)(Author) : No… I couldn't read the characters, so I thought one of them was my name and erased it, but nothing happened, and the instant-death skill didn't activate.
ㄴㅇㅇ(356F) : Illiteracy issue, lololololololololol
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(61F)(Author) : So I thought I was in trouble and erased another one with a red light beside it, too. Was I not supposed to do that?
The gallery was thrown into an uproar once again.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(431F) : It obviously looked like a terrible idea, lolololol
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(621F) : A legendary incident has occurred, lolololol
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(710F) : Fuck, how could you erase someone else's? ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(432F) : Why are you such a disaster magnet? lololololololol
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(541F) : But isn't getting two a good thing? Why don't the other Reapers erase two as well?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(710F) : I didn't even know until now that erasing two would give you two instant-death skills ;;;;;;;;;;
ㄴ Fenrir : Stealing someone else's Circle, stealing someone else's name from the Great Stone Tablet… He's truly the Demon King's Army's ideal recruit.
A lighthearted atmosphere, a mix of mockery and admiration.
Just as I was about to relax for a moment, carried along by the mood,
my master's weighty comment came back.
DeathNoteTripitaka : You have caused irreversible confusion in the laws of the Great Stone Tablet.
He seemed more serious than ever.
DeathNoteTripitaka : Remember this well. You must never set foot in the Reaper realm again.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(61F)(Author) : What?
ㄴ DeathNoteTripitaka : Anyone who recklessly damages another's ledger will become a target of the other Reapers!!
ㄴ DeathNoteTripitaka : In other words, you must never use the Death Scripture again!!
“……”
The price of obtaining two instant-death skills.
Apparently, I was now wanted by the Reaper realm.
But I wasn't the type to regret spilled milk.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(61F)(Author) : Really? But surely one more time would be okay?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(710F) : You lunatic.
ㄴㅇㅇ(431F) : Just one more, lolololololololol
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(166F) : lololololololololol
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(431F) : Were you always this crazy? lololol