Once.
I had thought about my own death.
Anyone who wielded a sword would.
All the more so for someone climbing toward the summit of the Tower, where such thoughts inevitably ended.
It was only natural to wonder what waited at the end.
'Life and death turn in an endless cycle.'
The principle of the world lingered in my ears like a Buddhist scripture chanted by an enlightened monk.
And so.
If there was another life awaiting me.
A stage befitting my Soul Rank surely awaited me.
My journey through life had not been smooth.
I had shed a great deal of blood, and shouldered an equally heavy responsibility.
Desperate brushes with death, hells where everyone had declared that no one could survive.
Even so, I had survived every last one and proved my worth.
Well, I might have said all that.
But I had absolutely no intention of dying yet.
Because I was the strongest Hunter.
***
An S-Grade Hunter.
The man with the greatest talent in history.
They were all names people used for me.
So, who was I?
My name was Han Yuri.
Only, at that very moment, I was dying.
My vision was blurring.
Betrayal by trusted comrades always dragged a human soul into the deepest abyss.
The stage was the 50th floor of the Black Tower.
[Entering the Black Tower's 50th floor, 'Requiem of the Fallen Ancient Empire.']
[The World Event is beginning.]
The sky was stained red, and ashen snow fell upon the earth.
At last, a large-scale World Event had begun.
The reeking stench of sulfur stabbed at my nose.
Countless skeletons of demonic beasts lay scattered beneath my feet.
I was carrying out the mission alongside Chinese and Japanese rankers.
Its vicious difficulty demanded the cooperation of the highest-ranked players in the world.
We came from different countries, but we had only one objective.
To subjugate 「Asmodeus, Lord of Calamity」.
How I had ended up joining a party with them was laughable.
This raid had not originally been a three-nation alliance.
When the event first occurred, China and Japan had excluded Korea completely.
They had intended to monopolize the enormous rewards for themselves.
The result was disastrous.
[The World Event assault has failed.]
[A punitive penalty will be imposed. The two countries' Tower occupancy has decreased by 10%.]
Their painful annihilation had been broadcast live across the world.
The media of every country condemned their arrogance, while an enraged public seethed.
The longer the delay, the more frighteningly the penalties accumulated.
Backed into a corner at last, they had clung to me for help.
It happened in the plaza before the Tower entrance, with the eyes of the entire world upon us.
"Yuri-san! Please forget the bad blood between us and help us!"
Kenji, the Japanese representative and the man known as the Sword Saint, dropped to his knees.
The proud descendant of samurai struck his forehead against the dirt as he begged for mercy.
"The fate of our guild rests on this event. We can never break through without you, Yuri-san!"
Desperation filled his eyes.
It was a frantic plea from a man who looked ready to rip out his own liver and gallbladder and hand them over.
"Our continent's Mage Corps also awaits Great Hero Yuri's judgment."
Chen, China's Mage King, approached with his ornate robes billowing.
Going a step further, he placed an inventory bag containing a nation's worth of wealth at my feet.
[You have received 3 Legendary Armament Exchange Vouchers.]
[You have received 100 Supreme-Grade Elixirs.]
Tribute of an unimaginable scale.
Sweating profusely, Chen bent 90 degrees at the waist.
"We shall meet any conditions the great hero desires. Please, lead us through this crisis!"
"We shall transfer not only command of the main force, but ownership of every spoil obtained in the raid to the great hero."
"We swear in the name of the Northeast Asian Alliance! We will fight solely as your sword!"
The two leaders representing the continent and the island nation prostrated themselves after casting aside every shred of pride.
It was a tense moment, with even hundreds of elite Hunters holding their breath as they awaited my decision.
Good grief.
They were bowing so desperately that I had no reason to reject them coldly.
The reward aside, I thought it was finally an opportunity for our countries to cooperate.
"Haa. In that case......"
I scratched my chin.
I presented the reasonable compensation and conditions I wanted.
Without even a second of hesitation, they signed the contract I offered.
[The party 'Northeast Asian Alliance' has been formed.]
[Party Leader: Han Yuri (Korea)]
[Loot Distribution Rule: Party leader takes all]
They revered me sincerely.
They even swore blood oaths, pledging to throw away their lives wherever my sword pointed.
"Yuri-san, the success or failure of this raid rests on your sword."
A neat hakama and sharp eyes.
A bitter chill flowed from the famed blade at his waist.
"Our continent's Mage Corps will also support Great Hero Yuri with all our strength."
Chen, China's Mage King, chimed in with his ornate robes billowing.
Hundreds of elite Hunters stood in formation behind me.
It was a well-coordinated party. At least, it appeared to be.
The trumpet signaling the advance rang out.
An endless army began moving toward the walls of the black empire.
Thousands of gargoyles took flight from atop the walls.
A demon army blackened the sky.
"Maintain formation! Raise the barrier!"
At Chen's command, the mages began their incantations.
A translucent defensive barrier spread through the air.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—!
The gargoyles' breath struck the barrier and exploded.
The earth shook, and a deafening roar threatened to tear my eardrums apart.
Weblike cracks spread across the barrier.
But I neither dodged nor retreated.
I immediately drew my sword and kicked hard off the ground.
WHOOSH—!
I shot into the air in defiance of gravity.
Blue lightning wrapped around my blade and writhed violently.
CRACKLE—! BOOM—!
Dozens of lightning bolts erupted from the tip of my sword.
The swarm of gargoyles covering the sky was reduced to charcoal in an instant and plummeted.
My sword cleaved the air, and a monster's wing dropped to the ground with a thump.
Fearsome destructive power.
The formation of demonic beasts firing magic from the walls collapsed all at once.
It was an unrestrained massacre, martial prowess bordering on art.
The path opened.
I charged ferociously toward the black castle's main gate.
Dozens of Death Knights blocked the way before the massive gate.
Ordinary Hunters could not so much as scratch them.
With shields raised, they pushed forward in a wedge formation.
But before my sword, they were all no different from straw.
SLASH.
A single sword stroke.
The head of the one in front fell cleanly away.
I immediately spun around and used the centrifugal force to cut through the waist of the pursuing enemy.
A blue arc drew a beautiful line through the air.
Steel armor tore like paper as mana scattered.
"Good! Now!"
"Push through!"
The main force led by Kenji and Chen broke through the gate.
Brilliant magic and razor-sharp sword energy swept across the battlefield.
Whenever I opened a path, they dealt with the stragglers and secured our rear.
The battlefield, where a fierce will to survive mingled with bloodlust, was like a song.
「Ah, Goddess—sing of my rage—. 」
The battle continued for three full days.
Beyond the walls lay an inner city tangled like a maze.
Assassin-type demonic beasts hidden throughout the buildings ambushed us from the shadows.
"Tighten the formation! Maintain the rear barrier!"
Poisoned arrows and curse spells poured in from every direction.
Several Hunters fell screaming, but we advanced without pause.
When I opened the path at the head of the formation, the Japanese swordsmen defended our blind spots.
"We will defend Yuri-san's back with our lives!"
Kenji even used his own adjutants as shields to ensure my safety.
The Chinese healers focused their healing magic on me even when their mana ran dry and they coughed up blood.
The army moved like a living, breathing organism.
At its center, I looked only forward and swung my sword.
Black blood soaked my entire body, and my lungs felt ready to burst.
My stamina had reached its limit.
But I could not stop.
At last, we reached the lofty throne room.
CREEEAK.
The gray-skinned Demon King opened his eyes atop the high throne.
The Lord of Calamity.
Pressure that seemed to bear down upon a mountain range.
Merely meeting his gaze scorched my soul with pain.
"I'll draw his attention, so prepare a pincer attack from both sides!"
"Yuri-san! You are a true hero!"
"Great Hero Yuri! We shall follow, trusting in your back alone!"
The Japanese and Chinese rankers lauded me.
I shrugged lightly at their praise.
'Now that we've made it this far, it's practically over.'
How infinitely naive I had been.
The battle against the boss was fierce.
Each time Asmodeus launched a furious assault with his heavy axe, a storm erupted.
I used my sword as a shield and deflected his attacks.
CLAAANG—!
The impact threatened to tear my hand apart.
The blade shrieked as though it might break, and my knees threatened to buckle on their own.
The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.
But peerless skill and human tenacity were nothing short of a miracle in themselves.
Instead of evading, I closed the distance.
I slipped into the brief opening in the axe's short arc as it cleaved the air.
Drenched in blood, I finally tore open a gap in the Demon King's defenses.
The boss's red heart pounded violently.
His final struggle.
A savage mana storm threatened to devour everything around us.
Crimson breath began gathering in the boss's mouth.
I poured every last trace of my mana into my sword.
Sword energy powerful enough to warp spacetime gathered at its tip.
BOOOOM—!
A blue flash pierced straight through the boss's chest.
I had destroyed his core with perfect accuracy just before he released his breath.
It was the decisive blow.
The boss's massive body staggered and dropped to its knees.
The floor caved in deeply, and a dense cloud of dust billowed upward.
All that remained was to finish him off.
Behind me, Kenji's and Chen's energies swelled as they prepared their pincer attack.
STAB—!
A sudden, chilling sensation surged in from behind.
Horrific pain pierced my lungs.
When I lowered my gaze, I saw two blades protruding through my chest.
In the end, I had suffered a devastating ambush and been abandoned on the cold floor.
While I recklessly held the boss's attention, they had plotted their treacherous scheme behind my back.
"All of you......."
"Haha! You really are an idiot!"
"You fool! You let your guard down at the last moment. Once you die and lose your position as party leader, every reward will belong to us!"
The Japanese and Chinese rankers mocked me.
That was roughly how the situation had unfolded.
Suddenly, I recalled a story I had once heard from someone.
A man asked a fairy to give him the most trustworthy friend.
The fairy tossed him a mirror and then vanished into a lamp.
Right.
Trusting anyone inside the Tower had been foolish from the outset.
I felt slightly regretful that I had trusted them so completely.
But I was not particularly worried.
Death inside the Black Tower was merely a concept, after all.
Dying here did not cost you your life in reality.
You were simply expelled from the Black Tower. Your rank might drop slightly, but you could recover it easily enough by climbing the Tower again.
That was the rational conclusion I reached.
My eyes slowly began to close.
Yes, I had been rather tired lately from agonizing over my item loadout.
'Why don't I take a little nap......?'
But when I opened my eyes again, what awaited me was.
A mysterious energy gently enveloping my surroundings.
Pure energy pressing deep into my lungs with every breath.
A place filled with an unbelievable amount of mana.
It was a cave.