Chapter 110
Lancelot.
It was a name he had heard many times. The new master of The Round Table Guild.
He had climbed the Tower together with Arthur, and about a hundred years ago, he became a High-Ranker who raised The Round Table to the threshold of being a big guild. But for that Lancelot to be a traitor…
“…You are not surprised?”
As YuWon didn’t give a reaction to this shocking news, Arthur thought something was weird, so he said, “Looks like you don’t know who Lancelot is. Well, The Round Table has probably disappeared by now.”
“The Round Table hasn’t disappeared. Rather, it has become much larger than before.”
“Really?”
Hearing such unexpected news after thousands of years, Arthur’s tone became a little brighter. However, that was also only for a moment.
“Then Lancelot must still be there.”
“Yes.”
“…I’ll need to hurry even more.” A liveliness returned to Arthur’s voice. “Will you accept my request?”
“Even if you ask me that…” YuWon let out an awkward sigh. “I’m not a necromancer.”
“What?”
“The reason I can hear you right now is probably due to an effect of this item. I don’t have the ability to raise you as an Undead like a necromancer can.”
“Impossible…” Arthur’s voice faltered a little, seemingly having lost all hope.
After thinking over Arthur’s reaction a little, YuWon nodded. “But I can still try my best. It’s not like there are no other methods.”
“Methods?”
“There is a way. I was thinking of obtaining a skill like this since I had collected a bunch of souls recently anyway, so it’s not that bad for me.”
He was already planning to meet Merlin at some point, and now, there wasn’t even a need to take a detour, and if Arthur became his ally, it would only be a great boon for YuWon.
‘I did need to deal with Lancelot at some point.’
More than that, it wasn’t just for Arthur’s sake. YuWon couldn’t bear to leave The Round Table and Britain to be corrupted, and if he was able to lure out Lancelot, a bigger fish might follow as well.
‘It’s good timing.’
YuWon nodded. “I’ll accept your request.”
“Thank you.”
[You have accepted Arthur’s request.]
[Starting ‘Purification of Britain.’]
[Upon completion, you will receive the full submission of the King of Knights, Arthur.]
[You have obtained the soul of the King of Knights.]
A message appeared, and quite an unexpected one at that. YuWon thought it was just a simple request, but for a system message to be created for it…
‘Is this a type of hidden piece as well?’
It had already been over a thousand years since Arthur died. He had probably become a part of the system after existing for so long inside Susanoo’s dungeon.
The Purification of Britain was probably a quest related to the traitor, Lancelot.
‘His full submission…’
It might have sounded like an odd reward, but YuWon was satisfied with it.
‘It’s not bad.’
The two things required to control an Undead were a strong body and a strong soul. However, just those two weren’t enough to completely control an Undead.
For an Undead to use 100% of the power it had when it was alive, the Undead must willingly choose a master and fully submit to them. In that sense, the reward for this quest had considerable meaning.
Shwoo—
As he removed the hand blocking the eye, Arthur’s soul was sucked into 「Kyneē.」 This was the first soul YuWon had obtained.
As the fight had ended, YuWon picked up Arthur’s sword, 「Excalibur,」 from the floor.
‘Merlin… What will that grandpa think about this?’
He had an odd feeling. If he was lucky enough to obtain a skill related to necromancy, he might be able to reunite Arthur and Merlin. But if that were to happen, what would Merlin think of Arthur who had become an Undead?
‘But I can’t not let them meet because of something like that.’
Merlin had always wanted to reunite with Arthur, no matter what. He had searched all over the Tower for many spirit masters to see Arthur again.
Arthur also had some things he needed to say to Merlin, and so not letting the two meet wasn’t a good choice at all.
“> It was less intense than I expected.”
Susanoo mumbled to himself after observing the fight from the back.
“> I thought he would be a more useful fellow.”
“Was it a coincidence when you killed Arthur?”
Hearing YuWon’s question, a smirk appeared on Susanoo’s face.
Arthur’s death and disappearance left many unsolved questions, especially the fact that Susanoo had killed Arthur, which was news even to YuWon.
Susanoo was an aggressive Ranker. He didn’t shy away from murder, and his personality was violent. It wasn’t too strange to assume that Susanoo happened to meet Arthur, killed him, and turned him into an Undead…
But to call it a coincidence was still too weird considering the time period.
“> Who knows?” Susanoo didn’t answer YuWon.
Both YuWon and Susanoo were individuals who wouldn’t give out answers for free.
“> After you reach the very top, I’ll answer that question as well.”
Just what was at the top of this tower?
‘Will I figure it out as I climb?’
After YuWon put Arthur’s legacy, 「Excalibur,」 into his inventory, he continued to climb the tower again.
* * *
Translator – Jreaming
Proofreader – BringTheRayn
* * *
Time passed.
It had already been three months since YuWon stopped doing the outside tests and all other activities.
At the Ranking Management Bureau on the 50th Floor, the managers working there had become unusually terrified.
This was because of the appearance of a Ranker who had suddenly barged in.
“D-Do you have any other questions?”
The managers all had the same thought of turning this man away after doing the work he requested.
Although the Ranking Bureau was defined as a non-aggression zone for all guilds, this man wasn’t someone who cared about that.
His eyes showed his curiosity about something.
He turned and flicked his head and asked, “This guy, where is he from? Where is he right now?”
In an instant, the members in the Bureau became stiff with fright.
They were curious if he had come down to check the lower rankings for the first time in a while, but he was asking for this information.
The authority to browse a player’s private information wasn’t given to anyone, even the big guilds.
“We can’t tell you that.”
Creak—
Someone entered the room through a door. He had a young face, like a child who had just turned ten, but the other managers bowed their heads to him.
“Hey, errand boy.”
“I’m the Director now. Where’s your respect?”
The Director of the Ranking Management Bureau and also the right hand of the Administrators who governed over an entire floor. He was someone even Rankers would be fearful of.
However, the man wasn’t afraid and even increased his energy.
Rumble—
A heavy air filled the room.
The managers all held their breaths and controlled themselves because they felt that if they let in even a single breath, the air would squeeze into their lungs and break them from the inside out.
The ground subtly shook, and as the man increased his energy, so did the Director to match him.
“Are you trying to fight the Management Bureau with just a clone?”
“…”
The man, Son OhGong, glared at the Director for a moment, but he soon turned away and left the Bureau. He knew it was an impossible request from the start. Asking to check a player’s personal information was a special privilege of the Administrators.
Step, step—
“Puah—”
“Cough, hoo—”
After Son OhGong left, the managers could finally stop holding their breaths.
“Th-That was a clone?”
“It wasn’t his real body?”
Son OhGong.
As one of the highest ranked High-Rankers, it was known that he could create hundreds of clones at a time. But although they knew their strengths would be decreased proportionally, the Son OhGong just then was a weakened clone version of him.
“If that guy was in his real body, it wouldn’t be me but the Administrator who would’ve needed to come.”
Saying that the Administrator would’ve needed to come meant that not even the Director of the Bureau would have been able to do anything if Son OhGong had gone there personally.
It also meant that if someone wished to stop him, they needed to have power at least equal to an Administrator.
“I-Is he that strong?”
“In any case, other than information about rankings, other information must not be revealed. Even if that information may be minor.”
The Ranking Management Bureau didn’t just determine the ranks of Rankers, but it also had the job of recording the test results of each floor. That information was used to determine ranks, and that was why the Ranking Management Bureau had information about all the players.
This was also why all the big guilds always paid attention to what the Management Bureau said and did as they were known to have all the information in the Tower.
However, the Director’s eyes were glued to the individual that was on the screen.
“Of course, we don’t particularly have anything to tell them either.”
[Name: Kim YuWon]
[Origin: ?]
[Organization: – -]
[Ranking: – -]
[Grade: E]
[Potential: S]
Other than his name and appearance, all other basic information about him wasn’t properly known, not even to the Bureau.
Since grade was determined by the floor he was on, it was meaningless, and since he wasn’t a Ranker, his ranking wasn’t set either. There weren’t any known organizations he was a part of, which was understandable up to this point.
‘But for us to not know his origin…’
The director thought back to all the other ranks.
‘This is a first.’
He had lived as an errand boy for many thousands of years already. He had worked under an Administrator, and after coming into the Bureau, he had seen many Rankers. Among those, he had seen the highest High-Rankers who deemed themselves the masters of the Tower, and he had seen low Rankers who were only barely Rankers.
However, there wasn’t a single player among them he couldn’t find the origin for.
‘From our research, he seems to have come to the Tower from a world called Earth, but why isn’t information about his origin registered?’
There was no way the system could produce an error because it was an ever-unchanging and omnipotent power.
“There is a reason the Administrators are interested in this guy.”
He wasn’t just a player with outstanding test results. He was an existence even the system couldn’t determine the origin of.
‘He fought the test examiner to a draw on the 11th Floor. He obtained the Stone of the Sea on the 20th Floor and disappeared.’
The outcomes of his tests weren’t just high. Kim YuWon’s path of dominance through the Tower had never been seen before.
‘Now that I think about it, he’s been stopped on the 21st Floor for about three months now.’
Until then, news about Kim YuWon had arrived daily.
Maybe he had stopped his climb, but after YuWon advanced to the 21st Floor, he hadn’t shown himself for a long time.
‘It’s not unusual to stop there after being satisfied with the results…’
Most players would give up in the middle somewhere before becoming a Ranker because taking the test meant risking one’s life. So it wasn’t unprecedented for YuWon to stop now.
‘But I can’t say it’s not a shame.’
YuWon looked unstoppable only three months ago.
Shwip—
The director pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and held it in his mouth.
There had never been a player who had won a fight with a Ranker on the 10th Floor or lower. Even the “Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal,” Son OhGong, had only defeated the Chimera Creator on the 50th Floor, and he was the one who had become a High-Ranker only a few years after becoming a Ranker.
Maybe as a side effect of working this job for a long time, a question came to the director’s mind, ‘If a guy like this were to become a Ranker, what rank would he be?’
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