by Road Warrior
“Hm? That is…?!” Bertelgia shook her body lightly. Sungchul looked at the massive piece of meat with disinterest. There was a faint trace of what appeared to be a face on this grotesquely swinging piece of meat.
“Welcome, guests. I don’t think I’ve met any of you before?” The slab of meat spoke in a soft voice. It was a low voice, but it held enough weight to fill the surroundings.
“I am the owner of this tower. I am Miriadora.”
The eyes embedded into the flesh of this meat discovered the red book in Elijah’s grasp and continued, “So you’ve brought the book. If you understood the hidden meaning buried within the book and still wish to undertake it, open the book before me.”
The Altar of Ten Thousand Demons that the book was referring to was this massive slab of meat that looked to weigh dozens of tons.
“I will warn you before you open the book before me. My quests are different from others where there are only rewards. This means there are consequences for failure as well,” said the massive blob. It shook as its arms moved to raise its stomach folds. A single maggot with a human head was revealed to be pressed within the folds of its stomach. The maggot worked hard to crawl out of the folds of the stomach after which he smiled toward Sungchul’s party.
“The Tome of the High Devils that you’ve brought is the entrance ticket to receive this quest! You all will have a single attempt at this opportunity, and for additional attempts, you’ll have to bring another Tome of the High Devils here again.”
The maggot blabbed on excitedly. Sungchul silently focused on the maggot’s explanation.
“Lord Miriadora has a total of ten quests, and one of them is an objective. Upon completion of the objective, you all will receive the privilege to become a High Devil like Lord Miriadora. This does not mean that the other quests can be overlooked! The authority within the tower will vary depending on how many of the ten quests you are able to complete!”
The maggot then began to laugh hysterically while rolling on the floor for some mysterious reason. Sungchul brought up a question. “What happens if none of the quests are completed?”
The maggot formed an eerie smile as he answered. “You’ll be turned into livestock without even achieving immortality.”
“…”
“However, do not fret! You’ll earn the privilege to become a resident of the Tower of Euphoria upon the completion of even a single quest!”
Sungchul had another question. “Will we receive the quests together?”
“Yes.” The maggot nodded his head and continued saying, “It is also fine if you take it alone. That is if you want to turn the others into livestock.”
As he heard this, he couldn’t help but think, It has been a while since I did a quest as a group.
They weren’t really reliable companions, but he turned toward Elijah and spoke in a composed voice. “Open the book.”
***
When the book was opened, glittering letters appeared before Sungchul’s party.
[Path to Euphoria #1]
Requirement – Exterminate the residents of the Tower of Idiocy.
Reward – Strength 5, Magic Power 5, Citizenship (Tower of Euphoria), Additional Reward can be chosen.
As the group read through the message, the maggot beside Miriadora began to squirm as he shouted, “The Tower of Idiocy is the blue tower standing directly next to the Tower of Euphoria. There is a path directly from the Floor of Sloth, but I recommend you enter from the first floor! There are a lot of powerful Guardians overlooking the entrance on the fourth floor, you know?”
Sungchul’s group started by retracing their path back down. The group passed through the floors filled with avarice and corruption before the desolation of the Demon Realm greeted them as they exited the tower. They had simply crossed through a single steel door, but it felt like a whole different world.
“…Are you perhaps trying to become a High Devil as well?” Elijah mustered up the courage to finally ask the question that was burning in his mind as he gazed at Sungchul’s back.
Sungchul immediately shot back his reply, “I refuse to become such utter garbage.”
“But then why…?” asked Elijah.
“I only need Magic Power.”
“Magic?!”
Curiosity rose in Elijah and Sophia’s eyes. Why would such a powerful man require magic?
Sungchul lifted his head to scan the blue tower standing next to the Tower of Euphoria. I better finish this quickly.
Sungchul turned his head slightly before asking a question. “I remember something about an additional reward. Do you know of its requirements?”
Elijah shuffled through the Tome of the High Devils and calmly replied to Sungchul’s question, “Murder 10 or more residents, or kill the Supervisor. These appear to be the conditions for receiving the selectable rewards.”
“A Supervisor…” Sungchul walked towards the tower. The bluish door of the tower was closed as tight as the Tower of Euphoria, but there was a faint cold light shining through the gap.
Sungchul stood before the doors and flung them open. A neatly decorated white and faint blue interior greeted him. The tower had a completely different atmosphere to that of the Tower of Euphoria.
Sungchul opened another door that stood in his path and a wide hallway filled with countless pillars appeared. The place was as still as death. Despite the sheer size of the open hall, not a single shadow of a person nor their movements could be seen. It felt like a space frozen in time.
Sungchul slowly looked around the hall and searched for where the residents of the tower might be. It didn’t take long for something to capture his attention. A single motionless man sat on a square stone chair next to a pillar.
Sungchul and his group drew closer. Their footsteps were loud enough to echo throughout the entire hall, and soon Sungchul could see the resident of this tower up close. It was a man that had a beautiful appearance and an imposing presence similar to the residents of the previous tower. The only difference between the inhabitants of the two towers was that the man of this tower was lost in deep contemplation.
Sungchul stood before him and addressed him, “Hey.”
The man’s eyes narrowed as he lifted his head at Sungchul’s calling. “You all look to be new here, but it is against the rules to speak within the Pallid Hall.”
He appeared disgusted as though he had witnessed something that he would have rather avoided before rising from his seat to leave. Sungchul did not lay a hand on the man.
Something is off. Sungchul lifted his head to survey his surroundings. He could see that there were people spread sporadically throughout the hall. They were dressed in the same blue and white colors of the hall and sat motionlessly, like inanimate objects. They were all sitting on a chair deep in contemplation without any indication of what they were thinking so deeply about.
Sungchul prodded another for conversation, but was given the same response as the first. He was told multiple times that speaking was forbidden or that it was against the rules.
“What should we do now?” Elijah asked in a quiet voice.
At this point, Sungchul began to pull out the Demonic Weapon Cassandra from his Soul Storage. He abruptly pulled out the whip and began to strike the marble floor of the hall fiercely.
SHRRACK!
The sharp noises reverberated through the entire hall. The residents who were contemplating in their chairs began to turn towards Sungchul. All of them looked at him with scorn and repulsion, but not a single one of them moved to restrict him. Sungchul continued to strike the floor.
Several marble tiles became shattered, sending fragments into the air, with each strike that Sungchul’s whip made across the floor. The continuous chain of bone-chilling sounds of impact filled the Hall.
Why is he doing this? Elijah and Sophia simply stared at each other with dumbstruck faces, but it didn’t take long before Sophia caught something in the corner of her eyes. Three large, dark beings approache
d the opposite end of the hall.
What are those? Sophia’s eyes grew wide. The huge dark figures turned out to be humans. The mere size of these figures reached three meters, and they had an impressive physique to match. They were wearing the mask of an executioner over their heads while holding a hangman’s noose and a metallic rake of unknown purpose. Their breathing was heavy enough to be heard across the other side of the hall.
“Who is it? Who dares to breach the rules?” Bloodshot eyes flared intensely through the holes on the black masks. “It must be YOU!”
Sungchul finally stopped whipping once they appeared and glared at them.
“…”
The giant holding the steel rake pointed the rake towards Sungchul and began to shout, “I announce a summary trial for the grave crime of violating the holy and preeminent laws of the Tower of Order!”
As the Giant shouted, the other two Giants began to surround Sungchul’s group. The Breggas siblings pulled out their weapons as the situation began to deteriorate, but Sungchul continued to simply glare at the Giants without any other particular movements.
Soon, the Giant in the center pointed toward Sungchul and shouted his sentence. “The sentence is… Death!”
The three Giants each threw out their hangman’s noose at the same time. Each of them was aimed accurately at the necks of Sungchul and his company, but before the nooses managed to catch their necks, Cassandra tangled all three of the nooses with one sharp movement.
“You bastard!”
The Giants roared in anger as they pulled at their hangman’s nooses. They each pulled on their rope with strength befitting their massive stature, but the whip and the man holding the whip didn’t budge. When terror filled the bloodshot eyes hidden behind the masks, Sungchul lightly moved his arm. The Giants were flying in the air within the next moment. Sungchul’s god-like strength had lifted them into the air, but it didn’t end there. After lifting the Giants, he pulled his whip taut to cause them to slam onto the ground with full force.
BOOM!
The ground was struck with a tremendous force that caused the entire tower to tremble. It goes without saying that the fallen Giants did not move any further.
But what was most unusual was the reaction of the residents. They had witnessed an incredible scene unfolding before them, but the residents of the tower didn’t show any sign of moving from their seats and simply looked onwards.
As expected. This is a strange place. Sungchul looked at the message that appeared before him with disinterest.
[Exemplary. You have gone beyond simply killing the dumb residents of the Blue Tower, and managed to take out their guard dogs.]
[Accordingly, you have been deemed worthy of S-grade rewards.]
Basic Rewards:
Strength: 5
Magic Power: 5
Citizenship (Tower of Euphoria)
Selective Rewards:
Certificate for Doctor Madd’s Plastic Surgery
Certificate for Doctor Psykko’s Gender Change
Meal Voucher for Chef Minamoto’s restaurant
“…”
The optional rewards were all complete garbage, and he couldn’t even receive one of the basic rewards.
[Your strength is exceedingly high, and thus a portion of the basic rewards cannot be received.]
All he managed to receive was 5 Magic Power and a citizenship with unknown purpose. Sungchul opted to choose none of the rewards, but Doctor Madd’s certificate for plastic surgery was automatically given to him. On the other hand, the Breggas siblings seemed to have chosen the meal Voucher for Chef Minamoto’s restaurant.
THUD.
A red identity tag dropped by Sungchul’s feet. It appeared to be the citizenship in question. Sungchul held the tag and carefully studied it.
[Citizenship (Tower of Euphoria)]
Grade: Common – Mid grade
Type: Held Item
Effects: None
Note: It is possible to receive an eternal body when holding the citizenship before the Altar of Ten Thousand Demons. However, it must be noted that the current body is offered as a sacrifice and cannot be recovered.
It looks like a ticket to turn into those maggots, thought Sungchul and didn’t hesitate to throw the citizenship to the ground and crush it with his military boots.
Elijah carefully opened his mouth to speak. “Excuse me. I have something to tell you.”
Sungchul turned slightly to respond. “Speak.”
“The second quest has been revealed in the book.” Elijah opened the Tome of the High Devils in front of Sungchul. Another message appeared before Sungchul’s eyes.
[The Path to Euphoria #2]
Proof – Break one of the scales that can be found anywhere on the second floor.
Reward – Magic Resistance 10, Intuition 10, Standard Body, Additional Reward can be chosen.
Sungchul who had watched until here realized that his expectation was proving to be correct. This quest. There is something more to this.
It wasn’t explicitly written anywhere, but Sungchul believed that the Tower of Euphoria, the tower he first stepped into, had a hostile relationship to the blue tower where he currently stood. More than anything, it was strongly implied within the contents of the quest itself.
Let’s just go along with it for now, Sungchul thought, as he continued toward the second floor.
The second floor of the blue tower was a space filled entirely of pure white. The walls, the floors, the ceilings, and even the decorations attached to each surface were entirely white. Sungchul who felt his eyes beginning to strain pulled something from his Soul Storage. An item brought over from the Modern World. It was an old and faded pair of sunglasses.
Bertelgia saw the item and shook her body to ask a question. “What’s with the colored glasses?”
“It’s an item called sunglasses,” answered Sungchul.
It was an item given by an old friend that had become a Returnee. He had said that he was a bus driver with 20 years of experience without a single accident on his record before he was brought over to the Other World. He had a problem with his temper, but more importantly, he had been rather kind-hearted and dependable. Sungchul continued to walk forward while reminiscing about his old friend.
A door appeared not before long.
When he went through the door, a large space similar to a courtroom appeared. In this courtroom, there were Giants lined up along the judge’s stand whose end could only be seen through straining your neck, and there was a haggard human sitting on a plain chair beneath them. The judges looked down at the accused with magnanimous expressions and spoke. “According to article number 284 of Sharique Law… the accused is sentenced to be executed.”
The moment the words were spoken, the gigantic executioners put a noose around the haggard human and began to spin it around. The accused that was being spun around like a tied balloon lost consciousness before reverting to his maggot form. The executioners pierced the maggot through with their metal rakes and disappeared somewhere.
Soon, another accused was sitting on the plain chair. The judges spoke again in their magnanimous voice. “According to article 53 of Sharique Law… the accused is sentenced to be executed.”
The same scene began to replay itself. The executioners put nooses around the neck of the accused and stuck the now-maggot corpse with the rakes before disappearing from sight.
There were a lot of insane things gathered at the Tower of Euphoria, but this place also seems to be on a similar level, thought Sungchul as he observed the court session. He discovered an object shining in a golden light on top of the judge’s stand. It was a pair of scales. Sungchul suddenly held a hammer in his grip. He addressed the judge’s stand that was high up in the air.
“According to Article 1 of Sungchul’s Law… I’m going to break everything here.”
***
Sungchul’s hammer swung towards the Judges’ stand.
BOOM!
The
stand was smashed to pieces following a powerful sound of impact. The judges sitting on the stand fell onto the floor along with a shower of splinters.
“Get that bastard!”
The executioners swung their noose as they rushed towards Sungchul, but they just weren’t able to keep up with him.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
With every refreshing sound of impact, an executioner slumped to the ground like a frog struck by lightning as their heads were smashed to pieces. The slaughter didn’t take long, and the entire courtroom was completely overtaken after a single minute.
A dense Book of Laws that had fallen beside Sungchul’s feet was opened up to the middle. The pages were filled to the brim with articles of law written in tiny letters, and Sungchul chose a few of them to read.
[Section 234: Those that aren’t sincere in their contemplation will be put to death.]
[Section 235: Those who do not diligently fulfill the assigned roles in the tower will be executed.]
[Section 236: Those that graffiti the walls will be put to death.]
There were countless references to questionable crimes listed within the Book of Laws, and every punishment was death without exception. There was no classification, standard, or fundamental basis.
Sungchul gazed towards a judge that was groaning on the floor.
“Krrrrr…”
There was no longer any trace of the magnanimous of expression he had been wearing, leaving behind only a hideous face filled with nothing but stubbornness and sadism. The scale was lying on the floor before the judge. Sungchul stood in front of the scale before turning around for a question. “What was the requirement for the optional reward?”
Elijah frantically scoured through the book upon Sungchul’s question and made his reply. “It’s to kill a judge.”
