“...Huh?”
The description for 「Memoir」 was quite different from every other Skill.
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「Memoir」(???)
■■■■■. ■■■ ■■. ■■■■. ■■■.
■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■ ■■ Skill.
■ ■■ ■■■■ ■ ■■■ ■■■ ■ ■.
■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■.
■■ ■■ ■■■ ■ ■■■■ ■■ ■ ■■ ■■■ ■ ■■ ■■■.
This Skill cannot currently be used.
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I had possessed and seen quite a few Skills by now.
But I had never seen or even heard of a Skill like this.
Even its description was blocked.
‘Is this even possible?’
Of course, I planned to die cleanly once the tenth Gate was over, so it did not really matter whether I had this Skill or not. Still, it bothered me.
It would help if there were someone I could ask about it... Ah, perhaps.
“Kang Seon!”
“Yeah?”
Hwa Yejin rushed over, interrupting my thoughts.
She came at tremendous speed, grabbed my throat, and began shaking me violently.
Forget the Skill. I was going to die like this.
“Haa... Haa... I told you I would deal with you afterward, did I not?”
After shaking me for a while, Hwa Yejin stopped and glared at me with wide eyes.
“I feel like pulling out every hair on your head right now.”
I would appreciate it if she did not.
“Still, you worked the hardest in this Gate. Both in terms of clearing it and in terms of ethics.”
“Did I?”
“Of course you did.”
Hwa Yejin snapped her fingers.
A Quest window appeared before us.
=====
<Required Gate: No. 9 MidNight (C+)>
Midnight has passed, and dawn has arrived.
The Demon who embraced the deep, dense darkness has perished.
And the human who created a hell disguised as goodwill has died as well.
Does only slaughter and destruction constitute ruin?
Destroying the foundation that sustains prosperity is also a path to ruin.
Now, dawn has come.
Tomorrow has come.
Let us rise again from the ruins of destruction.
◆ MidNight: Cleared
◆ Reward Recipients: All surviving Hunters
◆ Additional Reward Recipients: ‘Labyrinth Dollmaker,’ ‘Goddess Leia’
◆ Clear Ranking
: 1st Place — Labyrinth Dollmaker
2nd Place — Goddess Leia
3rd Place — Empress of Fire Wings
4th Place — [ Unnamed ]
◆ Reward: Choose one of the following.
: One C-Rank Skill of your choice, or 100,000 Coins.
=====
A separate window, visible only to me, had also appeared.
It was a dry notification that the hidden Quest had been completed, with no explanation attached, along with a single A++-Rank Skill prepared as my reward.
Well, killing that being’s Apostle alone was probably enough to offend Him. I should be grateful that He had given me a Skill at all.
“What a relief. I spent a long time wondering whether this could really be called ‘ruin.’ You said it would be better than a method that killed many people, but still.”
“Well, ruin is ruin. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Leporia Kingdom had been sustained by the Princess’s power alone.”
The Princess’s nearly infinite Mana, and all the citizens who had consumed it.
That had been the secret to Leporia’s prosperity, and also its weakness.
The Mana they were given guaranteed long lives and preserved their strength.
How long could people who had become lazy, leaving everything to that pouring Mana as though they were livestock being fed, truly endure?
Now that no more Mana would be granted to them, only a gradual decline remained.
Perhaps it was a more cruel form of destruction than simply killing them all.
“Anyway! This is the first time I have seen a Gate’s clear condition suddenly change, but you handled even that unexpected situation well. Your judgment, planning ability, and even leadership. Besides, you are probably the only person who can control Sa Ujin to any extent.”
She was right. Even I had been forced to avoid Sa Ujin simply to stay alive until I passed my hundredth iteration.
“If it had not been for you, the difficulty of the ninth Gate would certainly have increased severalfold. It would have taken far longer to clear, too. As the Guild Master of the All Magic Tower and as a Hunter—”
“Ah, wait.”
“Yeah?”
“I almost forgot. The time.”
“The time?”
Click.
- “Good. The bet is on, Kang Seon! You will not be able to take it back, so remember that!”
The corners of Hwa Yejin’s mouth began to tremble.
“Let us see, the clear time was... seven hours and twenty-four minutes. Wow, that was close. But the Master of the All Magic Tower would not take back her word, would she?”
“...”
“What was that? I could not hear you.”
“Multiplier adjustment. Target fixation. Configuration complete...”
“Ah, wait! Wait a moment! This is not fair!”
Watching Hwa Yejin tremble was so amusing that I teased her too much.
As a result, I had no choice but to run for my life for around ten minutes.
***
Click, click.
April approached slowly with graceful steps.
“You came, Princess?”
“Yes, I came to thank you once more—”
“No, that is all right. I am hardly in a position to accept your gratitude.”
If she were going to thank anyone, it should have been the Sa Ujins from my other iterations who had killed April.
I was no different from an enemy who had failed to remove her blessing of immortality and ultimately made her live forever.
“Then...why did you call for me?”
That was why this, too, was my own form of atonement.
“There is no grand reason. I just thought it would be best to speak with him directly.”
[Dollification Remaining Time: 00:01]
The dollified King lay slumped against the wall where I pointed my thumb.
Then, with a tick—
[Dollification Remaining Time: 00:00]
The faintly shimmering thread on the King’s forehead snapped. As though he had regained his senses, he jerked upright.
“H-Huff! Wh-What...?!”
“You remember everything from when you were a doll. Stop pretending you do not remember anything and look in front of you.”
The King’s eyes wavered briefly as he tried to escape the situation by pretending he could not remember anything. In the end, however, he gave up.
“W-What do you want from me?”
“You should be asking her, not me.”
The King’s gaze shifted to April.
April shut her eyes tightly and said nothing.
At the sight of her, the King beamed and spread his arms wide.
“Ah, ah, Princess, my daughter has come! Come here. You have come for your father, have you not?”
“Your Majesty, Father...”
April slowly approached the King and bowed.
Then, as though he had been waiting for it, the King seized April’s throat with both hands.
“F-Father...!”
His grip tightened as though he did not care in the slightest whether she lived or died. Yet there was not even a trace of guilt on the King’s face.
He was simply too accustomed to doing this.
“Thank you, my daughter. April. Because of you, this father of yours—this kingdom—walks a path filled with light!”
“Ghk...!”
Even as April struck and clawed at the King’s hands several times, his expression did not change in the slightest.
I watched the King in silence before speaking.
“As expected, you are rotten to the very end.”
“Agreed.”
Hwa Yejin, who had agreed with me from beside me, strode over and kicked the King’s arm.
CRACK!
“Guaaaaaah!”
“How can you still treat your own family like this... You are trash.”
Hwa Yejin might have been a mage, but first and foremost, she was an S-Rank Hunter.
With an A-Rank Physical Rank, she was a powerful mage. Breaking the King’s arm was effortless for her.
“Princess, are you all right?”
“Cough, cough... I-I am all right...”
April waved her hands as though to say she did not need help, then stood again.
She approached the King.
“Your Majesty, Father. This girl never wished for much.”
“Ghk, aaagh! Princess, Princess, April! Please, give me Mana! My arm, my arrrrrm!”
“Just one word telling me I had done well. One question asking whether I was in pain. One moment of pity for my suffering... That would have been enough.”
April drew a dagger.
Hwa Yejin flinched slightly, but I reached out and stopped her.
“I thought that perhaps you might change now. So much has changed, and I no longer have to suffer or bleed.”
SLASH.
April cut her own palm with the dagger.
Her blood, filled with Mana, flowed down onto the King’s body.
With a faint glow, I watched the King’s fractured arm heal in real time. The immense Mana even affected recovery.
“But Your Majesty, Father, never looked at this girl until the very end. What you saw was never this girl. It was only the Mana born from this girl’s pain.”
April politely prostrated herself before the writhing King.
“Your Majesty, Father, this girl wishes to make a request of you for the first and last time.”
“Ghk... Hngh! It hurts! It huuuurts!”
“This girl wishes to leave this kingdom with those who sincerely care for her. Since it is the right of relocation granted by Your Majesty, I believe I may use it willingly. And...”
April’s back trembled slightly as she bowed.
“This girl wishes to sever the bond between father and daughter. It seems that this girl’s existence has cast mud over the heart and sight of Your Majesty, who was once wise and benevolent.”
The King continued to struggle in pain.
“May Your Majesty always remain at peace.”
Until the very end.
His gaze never reached April.
***
“Will you really be all right with this?”
“Yes, of course.”
April stood with us alongside Harmon and the Lust Demons.
She had decided to pass through the Gate into our world with us and live there.
“All right. Then... Mister.”
“You called?”
Park Seok-hwan came striding over at my call.
“You said you would grant my request, right?”
“I did. It was not a difficult request, either.”
“Then, when you leave, could you take those people with you as well?”
Park Seok-hwan answered without a moment’s hesitation.
“That is not difficult either. Is there anything else you need?”
“That will be enough.”
“Understood.”
He started to walk away, then paused and patted my shoulder twice.
Ah, that hurt a little.
“You did well. I would like to apologize once again for dismissing you. Will you accept it?”
“There is nothing to apologize for.”
“Ha ha. Let us share a drink sometime.”
Park Seok-hwan laughed heartily and left with the Lust Demons and April.
Sa Ujin and the other Hunters had already exited the Gate, having no further business there.
The only ones standing before the Gate now were Leia, Hwa Yejin, and me.
“Did everyone choose their reward?”
“Yeah.”
“I did too!”
“Good. Then, now—”
“Wait.”
Hwa Yejin interrupted me.
“Why?”
“Were you serious about what you said earlier?”
“Huh? About what?”
Now that I looked, Hwa Yejin’s face seemed a little red.
“What you said earlier! A-A-About the wish! About what you wished for!”
“Yeah, I was serious.”
“Th-Then you really mean you are staying over at my house tonight?! Just you?!”
“That is what I said.”
Hwa Yejin stamped her feet several times, clutched her head, and writhed in place.
I had cleared the ninth Gate this way quite a few times, but I never understood it.
Why did this woman act like that every time she heard the contents of a wish?