SSS-Class Revival Hunter - Chapter 358

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈

Chapter 358: Return to the Origin (3)

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Let us talk about the old days for a moment.

Back when the director was a kid, the preferred pastime for children was staring blankly at the television instead of using smartphones.

On TV, you couldn't just pick whatever video you wanted to watch. You had to watch whatever the broadcasting station decided to air.

And since broadcasting stations were operated by people, nothing would be aired during the times when most were off to dreamland.

It was just like a restaurant that was not open twenty-four hours a day. Rest. Closed. A suspension: clearly there, but no longer performing its function.

Zzzzzt...

When the television rests, it shows a strange screen. Black and white dots mingle chaotically, buzzing away. Blink, blink. It's as if the machine AIs are playing their own version of Go at an incredible speed, with the black and white dots chaotically intermingling. Dizzily. Dizzily, and dizzily.

Zzzt, zzzt...

That was the scene before me now.

[The 76th floor stage has been forcibly terminated.]

The once blue sky had suddenly split open. From the crevices, like the proliferation of mold, black and white vomit spilled and overflowed. The sky was devoured first, then the humans wandering below, and finally, the horizon was consumed.

Zzzzzt!

[The Sixth Pillar, The Staff of Time Immemorial, intervenes.]

[The Staff of Time Immemorial seeks to maintain control of the stage.]

In the middle of a world where black and white churned together in chaotic confusion stood a mage leaning on a solitary staff.

One of the pillars operating this tower. It was the Staff of Time Immemorial.

"…Quite an interesting story you're telling, King of Death."

The mage looked at me.

"So, you're saying that my choice was a mistake? Who is suitable to be the judge of this heaven? Who willingly has the right to pass or fail you? Considering all that, I chose Yoo Soo-Ha as the judge, and you're saying my judgment, my decision, was wrong?"

"Yes."

"......"

The mage's eyes shimmered like silver water stained with a blade. I did not shy away from the silver blade-like gaze directed at me.

"Even if Yoo Soo-Ha were to face death, he would never wish to be reborn here."

The mage could not answer immediately. Only after a long silence did the mage tighten a hand around the staff.

"…Maybe there's some merit to your words. But then, what about this place?"

The mage raised the long staff high and slammed it against the floor with full force.

[The Staff of Time Immemorial manifests her authority.]

Whoosh!

Centered around the place where the staff struck, ripples emanated. The ripples were white. The white waves surged like torrents, driving away the blackness that had been devouring this world.

At the same time.

[The Staff of Time Immemorial is transporting you.]

The noisy world of static shifted.

[You have entered the 77th stage.]

[You are stepping into a place where you should not be.]

"This is Machine Heaven."

Was it magic cast by the Staff of Time Immemorial? We were floating in mid-air.

Far below our feet lay a dazzling city of the future. Skyscrapers rose smoothly without a single pillar or seam, and buildings were connected like neurons in the brain. The pathways draped like spider webs between the towers glowed ceaselessly.

"In this world, countless mechanical dolls live. In your terms, they are NPCs."

The futuristic city was bustling with numerous people.

If what the mage said was true, then the vast majority of these beings were NPCs. In other words, they were not hunters reborn with souls.

"This world's Constellation, [God of Machinery], controls hundreds of millions of mechanical dolls. Of course, the humans reincarnated here do not know that. They believe all the NPCs are humans just like themselves. Naturally. Every doll controlled by [God of Machinery] is as lifelike as a real person. And…"

"And?"

"The dolls always lose to humans at [life's decisive moments]."

A boxing-like match was being broadcasted on the city's screens.

"The humans reincarnated here always defeat the dolls. The dolls lose so artfully that the humans never realize they are being allowed to win. More precisely, they never realize that the people who lost to them were dolls in the first place."

Thud!

The boxer with red gloves knocked the opponent to the ground. Roars of cheers echoed from beyond the screen. The boxer with blue gloves staggered and was cornered, while the red boxer triumphantly pressed on.

"Those reborn here lead lives of unbroken success. Even when faced with seemingly insurmountable crises, they ultimately emerge victorious. The sweetness of victory, the confidence of having overcome life's challenges, all the joys are gifts prepared by [God of Machinery] solely for humans."

The red boxer's uppercut landed squarely.

Boom! The blue boxer couldn't withstand it and fell onto the ring. The referee rushed to separate the two, but the victorious gleam had already stained the red boxer's face, the joy of triumph glowing brightly.

"It's a game. A kind of play. A game where they're always treated to victory. But the suspicion that [I'm being treated] never arises. It's as if they believe they've earned every victory through their own merit."

"......"

"How about it, King of Death? Doesn't this place suit Yoo Soo-Ha as heaven?"

Woahhh!

The red boxer roared. The referee seized the boxer's wrist and raised it high. Drunk on victory, the boxer bellowed like a gorilla, and the crowd responded. Even louder cheers rewarded the victor.

"I acknowledge you know Yoo Soo-Ha well."

Amidst the cheers filling the sky, the mage spoke softly.

"Yes, perhaps I too made a mistake once. Sorry. It's the responsibility of an administrator. As an apology, I'll recognize that you've automatically cleared the 76th floor. So now, you should focus on conquering the 77th floor..."

"How long can you keep this up?"

"…What?"

I narrowed my eyes.

"Those who wish to abandon the outside world enter the tower. Those who wish to abandon the world of the tower head to one of the heavens arranged from the 71st to the 79th floor. Is that the end? What if the souls that arrive here wish to abandon the world once more?"

"......"

"Will you then create another heaven within heaven? Build a tower within the tower, and then another within that, stacking up to a hundred floors, a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand, or a million floors, building a tower that ascends eternally?"

The mage bit down on a lip.

[The Staff of Time Immemorial is transporting you.]

The staff gripped by the mage trembled.

[You have entered the 78th stage.]

[You are stepping into a place where you should not be.]

"…How about this place?"

The world changed again. A tranquil yet abundant seaside village unfolded. People were paired up, peacefully engaging in conversations or enjoying meals.

"This is Paired Heaven. Everyone can find the partner destined to be their perfect match. Even those who never met their destined partner in their previous life are certain to meet them here and remain together forever…"

"There's no end to it."

I stated, deflecting the blade in the mage's eyes with the blade in my voice.

"Staff of Time Immemorial, I now understand your true nature. You are probably a judge of the underworld, similar to the King of the Underworld, deciding which heaven the souls that die in this tower should go to."

"......"

"The difference might be that you never sentence anyone to hell."

The tower's voice echoed in my head.

[You have discerned the true nature of The Staff of Time Immemorial!]

[The Staff of Time Immemorial's privileged rights as a pillar have been activated.]

[Your memories related to the pillar are being distorted.]

[Failure.]

[All actions attempting to distort your memories are unsuccessful!]

The goddess was wrapping around my neck like a scarf. I nodded and continued to glare at the mage before me, the judge who distributes all the souls that die within the tower.

"You've made two mistakes."

"…Mistakes, what do you mean?"

"The tower never forces people from the outside world to come here. That's a decision for individuals to make. Whether the world of the tower suits them... Whether they really want to abandon the outside world once and for all. The hunters living here made that decision on their own."

I emphasized my words.

"But you never asked what they wanted. You did not ask the Paladin whether this was the heaven she would choose if she died. You simply decided by yourself that the heaven best suited to the Paladin must be the Heaven of Music. You did the same to the Countess, Viper, the Heretic Inquisitor, the Master Alchemist, and Yoo Soo-Ha. You summoned them without [asking them anything]."

"......"

"But the worst mistake is something else."

That is,

"The people who go to the heavens you manage lose all memories of their previous lives."

"…So what? They are souls who abandoned the world and went to a heaven that would make them happy. They don't need to remember the unpleasant memories, the things related to the world they have left behind."

"We didn't choose to be born into the outside world."

However,

"But the tower is a world we chose."

"......"

"A world we decided to be born into. A world we resolved to come to. Unlike the outside world where we just happened to fall into without knowing anything, we chose this place. That's what gives the tower its meaning!"

I took a step forward.

Did the mage's magic wear off?

Suddenly, I lost my footing in the air and nearly fell. But I quickly mobilized my aura to create invisible stepping stones. I used the Aerial Movement Technique. The sky could no longer signify a fall for me.

"And you made them lose the [memories they chose for themselves]!"

"......ugh."

"You've obliterated the meaning the tower barely managed to establish. It's the same. You've just recreated a world identical to the outside world within the tower."

Standing in the sky, I declared,

"You are not fit to be the judge of heaven."

The Staff of Time Immemorial ground her teeth.

"Just because you have a mouth, doesn't mean you can spout nonsense...!"

"Yeah, and it's not over yet."

I looked up at the heavens.

"Yoo Soo-Ha!"

Zzzt...

"You must be listening! You decide! Whether among the 76th, 77th, and 78th floors, there exists a heaven that you willingly wish to enter, as judged by [The Staff of Time Immemorial]! And thus, whether [The Staff of Time Immemorial] is qualified to be a judge! Or…"

The sky zzzted and split open.

"Or tell it to fuck off! Tell us whether the place where you live, where I live, the Lion World, is the only world that is truly yours! If you die, tell us whether it is the place where you would want to be born again even after death! Then decide which of us is right, [The Staff of Time Immemorial] or me!"

『What's in it for me?』

Through the gap in the sky, the same noise as before peeked through. The white and black dots flickered noisily. From there, Yoo Soo-Ha's voice flowed out.

『It's a bit unreasonable to ask me to choose without offering anything. I'm not sure, but it seems you're competing with that pillar or whatever. You're asking me to side with you, right? Then this is a transaction. Tell me, what will you give me?』

"You pragmatic-to-the-bone bastard…"

『After getting killed by some son of a bitch, I started looking out for practical concerns too.』

I clenched my teeth, but instead of a grinding sound, laughter seeped through the spaces between my teeth.

"Crazy bastard."

I laughed.

"You've been like this even before you died to me, you bastard."

Yoo Soo-Ha, that's the kind of man you are.

A man who prefers the living world even if he rolls in a pile of shit, and even if the living world is shit, as long as his memories remain intact, he's the kind of man who'd flip the world off. A man who wouldn't go to heaven even if he could. A man who would tell the afterlife or whatever to fuck off if it doesn't bring him the pleasures that make his current life joyful.

"I'll dance the Cossack dance for you!"

I let out a cursed laugh and shouted.

"It doesn't matter if it's for a day, two days, or a week! I'll show you my dance moves until you tell me to stop! I'll dance 10, 20 times longer than the time you danced, you shitty bastard! Tell heaven to fuck off and keep living in my world!"

『Hmm...』

The sky fell silent for a moment.

『That doesn’t sound like a bad world to be in, huh?』

Before the Staff of Time Immemorial could contort her expression, the judge raised a hand in my favor.

『Deal.』

Warning tones embroidered my consciousness.

[The 76th stage is being forcibly terminated.]

[The 77th stage is being forcibly terminated.]

[The 78th stage is being forcibly terminated.]

"Seriously,"

As the Staff of Time Immemorial cursed while holding her forehead,

"These damn brats..."