Chapter 56: Choi Ji-Won is Too Strong (7)

 

“...What did I just see?”

 

“...I can’t believe my eyes.”

 

Players who had maintained consciousness were now, one by one, struggling to their feet.

 

Amidst the many players who had fainted, lying scattered on the ground like discarded luggage—

 

“...This actually worked.”

 

—I was internally revisiting the events that had just unfolded.

 

The initial idea came to me when I saw the city’s master pull a diamond token from her belt pouch and toss it to me.

 

The other residents were being manipulated by the mark-creation box. So, maybe... the city’s master was too? That’s where the plan began.

 

The master’s personality, too childish and arrogant to befit ‘the master of the city’, also played a part in this. Honestly, for a ‘master’, she was quite immature.

 

Of course, I wasn’t entirely sure about what I was doing. The odds I gave it were about fifty-fifty.

 

If there really was a diamond box, simply snatching the pouch would do the trick.

 

If there was only a lone diamond token inside, I had planned to nonchalantly slip in a bronze box and toss it back to her, all cool and indifferent.

 

I had imagined the city’s master turning into a beggar in an instant, and me standing in front of her saying, “Congratulations, you’re now a beggar,” as I smugly teabagged her...

 

“...Thank you.”

 

My reverie was broken by the city’s master, who approached, looking defeated and forlorn - Well, the person acting as the city’s master... I’m not sure what to call her now.

 

“Truly... thank you.”

 

The former city master no longer emanated the same imposing aura. It was hard to believe that she was the same woman who once boasted such an overwhelming presence.

 

She seemed like just an ordinary village maiden, awkwardly donned in armor that didn’t suit her.

 

“...So.”

 

After seeing the diamond box, I finally voiced the question that had been lingering in my mind.

 

“Who are you?”

 

“...”

 

The hesitant former city master finally spoke.

 

“...The real city master died. Half a year ago.”

 

“...”

 

“About one year ago…”

 

…Weary of the endless strife among the classes, the true city master—a young noble who inherited the city at a tender age due to his parents’ untimely deaths—had offered this city to the gods.

 

This spirited young man, pursuing ideals in a harsh reality, had a clear goal to make this city a perfect utopia and the determination to achieve it.

 

However... what the naive city master hadn’t anticipated was the excruciating pain involved in forcibly ‘understanding’ others.

 

By now, most people had adapted in some way, but when the city’s rules first changed, it was utter chaos.

 

Actions were forced. Personalities twisted. Struggling with their identities, many couldn’t accept who they had become, what they were now.

 

Initially, the city master tried to be optimistic.

 

‘It’s just a process of adaptation. Eventually, after a long time, the residents will be grateful to me.’

 

However, despite continuous self-brainwashing, the reality remained unchanged.

 

He had set out to create a better, perfect city.

 

Yet, the city before his eyes was a cruel drama, where everyone was a puppet on stage, manipulated and weeping tears of blood.

 

It was too late to reverse everything. The situation was, literally, heading toward a disaster.

 

The young master of the city agonized and agonized again.

 

Until he reached the conclusion that someone needed to take responsibility.

 

“...And so, he made a decision.”

 

The second floor, this city, needed to be normalized.

 

Acknowledged for his sacrifice in offering the city, he was appointed as the ‘temporary administrator.’

 

Thanks to this, he fully understood the new rules of the transformed city. The key was his own existence.

 

Excluding physically enforced rules like ‘cannot leave the city’, any violation of other rules required the city master himself to administer punishment.

 

In other words, for the second floor to continue as the second floor, his very existence was essential.

 

Which means...

 

“He died like that. Blew up his own heart. ‘I’m sorry,’ These were his last words. He had thought…”

 

Without me.

 

The second floor would cease to function as it does.

 

It would fail to serve as the trial that the gods intended.

 

If that happened... the gods might create a new second floor.

 

The city residents might be freed.

 

Thinking this, the city master took his own life.

 

“...Never imagining there was a token box that forced people to act like him...”

 

Watching the death in horror, a maid stood by, and beside her, an angel appeared, holding something shiny.

 

That day, a second city master was created.

 

She neither agonized nor reflected like her predecessor, and above all, she was arrogant.

 

Self-reflection and introspection are processes that allow humans to evolve into better intellectual beings, but such qualities were not bestowed upon the new city master.

 

Such things were deemed unnecessary in this tower.

 

“...The angels imposed restrictions on other residents to prevent them from discussing this matter... but for some reason, they didn’t think it necessary to silence the parties involved, so no restrictions were placed on them...”

 

“...”

 

I opened my mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

 

I felt that everyone, except for the original city master who had caused such a mess, was a victim.

 

“...What do you want?”

 

I couldn’t fathom what the god who created this tower wanted.

 

I couldn’t understand the motive behind a being who would do such things, supposedly to judge humanity for its sins.

 

Was it like, ‘I’m such a bad guy, grow strong and come to chop off my head’?

 

Or perhaps, ‘Remember what humanity did during the colonial era? This is nothing compared to that’?

 

It might be surprisingly meaningless. Maybe it’s just done for ‘...fun.’

 

Seeing the angels blatantly committing evil acts made my head spin.

 

“Sigh...”

 

From my experience on the zeroth floor, I knew that at times like this, I needed to keep looking forward.

 

I shouldn’t dwell on questions with no answers. What mattered was the current situation.

 

“So... are you free from the box’s curse now?”

 

“...Yes.”

 

“Hmm...”

 

I glanced once at the diamond-like box in my hand, then at the large sack placed at the entrance of the alleyway. It was filled with boxes of all grades.

 

Now there was no city master. There was no one to enforce the rules.

 

And there was no way to obtain a mark of acknowledgment either, as all the boxes were stuffed in that sack.

 

 

Excluding the rule ‘can not leave the city area’, all other rules had become meaningless.

 

Just as the former city master had wished, the second floor could no longer fulfill its intended role.

 

“Now what...”

 

What should I do? As I pondered this,

 

“Congratulations!”

 

Suddenly, a sweet, melodious voice rang out.

 

Simultaneously, a brilliant pillar of light appeared at the center of the plaza, and cherubs, materializing from nowhere, blew trumpets and smiled broadly.

 

 

Even a message window, a sight I hadn’t seen in a while, popped up before me, celebrating my achievement.

 

It felt like a triumphant return of a divine warrior, welcomed back after completing his mission.

 

As the sound of victory trumpets filled the air,

 

“...Huh?”

 

I realized that I was the only one awake in this plaza.

 

Park Cheol-jin, the firefighter who had just been exchanging glances with me…

 

The other players who were panting heavily…

 

Even the former city master, with swollen eyes, who had been sharing her past stories…

 

All were collapsed on the ground.

 

“I healed them. There’s no need to worry.”

 

Their breathing was steady, and their expressions were peaceful, suggesting they were simply asleep.

 

Glancing over at Choi Ji-Won, I noticed that all her wounds, large and small, from the battle were healed.

 

He wasn’t lying, then.

 

I lifted my gaze again, looking towards the source of the voice, the pillar of light.

 

“Nice to meet you.”

 

A sharp nose. Smooth skin. Large eyes and bright red lips. Long, curly auburn hair cascading down the back.

 

Were the humans awkwardly created in imitation of this angel?

 

Or was this angel, in front of me, the most meticulously crafted creation of God?

 

The androgynous angel, with a warm smile, slowly walked out from the light pillar.

 

Though there were no pure white wings spread out behind…

 

Nor a radiant halo floating above the head…

 

It was still a divine entrance, a holy sight - All the more striking against the backdrop of a plaza marked by the smell of burns and dust.

 

“I am Archangel Raphael.”

 

The archangel, known to oversee everything from the first to the fifth floors, had descended.

– – – End of Chapter – – -

 

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