h.e.l.lo everyone, Chochocobo here.
Never did I ever imagine that I would have received the incredibly supportive reception that I did. I cannot thank you guys enough, your kind words and encouragement have really humbled me. Thank you all!
Ten days later.
While lying down on the ground of the 100th floor, the demon Beastrain was watching the hologram panels whilst swearing. The hologram panels were displaying Jae Hwan.
“Haha, f.u.c.k……”
Jae Hwan was still just hammering away. Tang - tang sounds resounded through the speakers.
“......that demon-like jerk.”
Sitting next to Beastrain was a pile of information about the《Great Lands》that Jae Hwan had requested. Of course, any references to cultivation, products, harvesting, and culturing were omitted. In other words, half-baked information.
‘Even if he"s clever, he shouldn"t have picked up on anything.’
The demon beastrain.
A middle-cla.s.s demon ranked 8152.
His friends in the real world called him the「Crafty Gentleman」. This demon with such a lofty nickname was currently suffering at the hands of a mere human. If his fellow demons were to hear about this, he would be a laughingstock for hundreds of years. If it weren"t for the message from the Harvester, he probably wouldn"t be so troubled.
[Don"t kill the product no matter what, just put it in the Main game. Even in the Great Lands, it is a rare and incredible achievement for someone to clear the h.e.l.lish tutorial of the 1st Generation towers on their own, which means that with proper grooming the product can reach an incredible level. However, if there is even the slightest damage to the product"s spirit due to your negligence, then this time or in the future, I will never have any dealings with you.]
‘I just need to be a little bit more patient. Just a little bit more, it"s almost over now."
Beastrain messed around with the panels and called forth a different panel than the one he was watching.
[Activating the Communications Network《Little Brother》.]
Beastrain laughed under his breath.
‘Let"s see, what video should I upload this time. That"s right, let"s show them the last video where he killed the Frost Dragon.’
Installing the《Nightmare Tower》on the 294th world was a huge gamble for Beastrain. And his gamble now felt like he had made a huge jackpot. If this operation succeeds, then after his fourth metamorphosis and greater demon status, he might even get noticed by someone through「Big Brother」and become an official, allowing him to eat and sleep without worries for the rest of his life.
Beastrain was almost certain. That was because he was receiving a flood of messages through the「Big Brother」affiliated communication network《Little Brother》.
[Sovereign of Destruction ‘Siegfried" likes your video.]
[Sovereign of Gold ‘Inix’ likes your video.]
[The Immortal Sovereign ‘Abraxas’ has sent you a message.]
[The Wood Sovereign ‘Illaenus’ has sent you a message.]
.
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.
.
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"Wahahahat, these sovereign brats sure are making a ruckus!"
It"s not like the sovereigns had just simply pressed "like" or had sent a message on a whim. No, sovereigns were not such careless people. Everything they did carried significance and weight.
It was almost certain that the minions under their respective sovereigns were moving on their behalf.
But that didn"t matter.
Their actions were the will of the sovereign.
It meant that all of the sovereigns from the Great Lands were paying attention to his cultivation.
It was a once in a lifetime opportunity for any demon.
When he found the peaceful Earth of the 294th world, Beastrain felt as though he were a main character coming across a tremendous stroke of fortune.
It was a safe world with nothing that could hinder his cultivation.
It was a world without the interference of the angels known as「Growers」that held a similar job, but most of all, he was still in contact with Big Brother and therefore received proper permissions to carry out his work.
He immediately went to Big Brother to receive permission before approaching the「Creators」of the tower known as the Nightmares.
‘Just thinking about them p.i.s.ses me off. Those d.a.m.n Nightmares."
The amount of flattery he had to give to the Nightmares wouldn"t have been necessary if things were the usual.
Normal「Cultivators」simply borrowed a tower and returned it when they were done.
But things were a little different this time around.
He had lived frugally as a middle cla.s.s demon, but now that he was about to become a greater demon and become a「Specialized Cultivator」, his pride just wouldn"t let him run around borrowing a tower whenever he needed one.
Owning a tower.
That was every demon"s dream.
In order to purchase a tower with a good cost to effectiveness ratio, he listened to the Nightmare"s ridiculous requests and even ended up paying an absolute fortune. At first, he had thought that he finally had a pretty good tower to his name.
It was the second tower ever created by the Nightmare crafter that had created the「Master」cla.s.s Tower, Mullock.
The tower was so old that the year it was created was unknown and the tower itself was created when Mullock had yet to be a master craftsman, but the performance wasn"t bad.
‘Everything is fine except the obsolete control device."
Above all, if the sovereigns saw that a product was groomed in a「Master」Tower, then they would be extremely satisfied.
But his good fortune didn"t end there.
The race living on the 294th world was an incredibly outstanding product.
They displayed a tremendous "adaptation" and would act as though they were natural born for the game. ‘Adaptation’ was a core talent necessary to become a strong figure and step into the 《Great Lands》.
Beastrain had seen many products belonging to the "human" race, but this was the first time he had seen humans that could so easily adapt to the game.
‘The sovereigns are gonna drool.’
But his good fortune only lasted until the 77th floor. Something that he had completely not expected happened on the 77th floor. Many of the products fell for the trap on the 77th floor and were eliminated.
Beastrain was astounded.
‘No, just what the h.e.l.l?!’
Many of the products that he had already a.s.signed prices to were suddenly all eliminated by the trap on the 77th floor. Beastrain was desperate.
‘[Stone of Regression], this kind of? Such an a.s.shole item wasn"t in the tower manual!’
When he spoke to Jae Hwan, he had acted as though it was all part of his plan, but to be honest, the [Stone of Regression] was not a part of the tower that he was even aware of.
He was a bit concerned since the Nightmare Mullock was a bit of an eccentric, but he didn"t think that there would be something like this!
He wanted to get rid of that item right away, but since he was someone who was in contract with the 《Akas.h.i.+c Records》, once his actions of clearing obstacles that made it easier for products to clear the tower were exposed, his reliability as a Cultivator would drop to the ground.
A race that abandons the "present", falling for the temptation of the past.
The sovereigns of the《Great Lands》wouldn"t accept such cowards. There wouldn"t be a past nor a future for such people when living in the《Great Lands》, a land drenched in blood.
They idolized the present.
Watching the humans go back to the past one at a time through the [Nightmare Stone], Beastrain couldn"t help but think.
His life, no his demon life was over.
The moment he had purchased the tower was the moment he no longer had the means to pay back his debts.
He just wanted to quit with the cultivating and go to sleep somewhere.
There were still some Products left, but it was too late for them to clear the tower.
The desperate Beastrain set the time dilation at the top of the tower to the maximum setting possible and guzzled down some spirit wine. He was only going to take a break for a day or two, but he ended up drinking too much wine and ended up being knocked out for a few weeks.
‘This, f.u.c.k?!’
It may have only been a few weeks in the《Great Lands》, but it was a decade in the tower.
It was clear that n.o.body would be able to survive in the tower now.
But how exactly did this happen?
The cultivation process wasn"t over yet!
Dragging his hangover-stricken body, Beastrain quickly pulled up the images displayed on the hologram panels.
One day.. Two days.. One week.. One year.. Ten years.. 30 Years.
And in the end there was one surviving human.
Beastrain was astounded.
An average product couldn"t last more than 10 years in the Nightmare Tower. He felt like his psyche was collapsing. This product hadn"t just survived in the Nightmare Tower for 30 years, but had even cleared the 99th floor on his own. Even his soul was exceptionally clear.
Beastrain trembled at the realization.
‘It happened! It happened! This is him! This guy is the one I say!’
He had cleared the last floor of the Nightmare Tower by himself, a floor that was h.e.l.l itself.
It was something never before seen in the real world.
He even acquiesced to all of the bully-like product"s demands.
It was such a precious product, that he wasn"t even sure how much to price him at.
It would be difficult if there were even a scratch.
[Ignis, the G.o.d of Flames wishes to have a one-on-one conversation with you. Do you wish to reply?]
"Huh? Ignis?"
Beastrain snapped to attention.
"d.a.m.n it, even the G.o.ds as well?"
Just as sovereigns needed products to increase the strength of their own factions, G.o.ds needed products in order to allow their incarnations to be born.
It"s just that G.o.ds would usually nurture their own avatar bodies一 they already had covenants with the「Angels」in the material world.
The sovereigns would generally deal with「Demons」while the G.o.ds would deal with the「Angels」.
It was an implicit industry rule.
But this rule was now being ignored.
[You have accepted Ignis-nim"s call request.]
Ignis : Hey why was your reply so late. Do you wanna get beat up?
Beastrain : ... what rude fellow did you choose as your avatar this time?
Beastrain was not in a good mood. Even if you borrowed a G.o.d"s ident.i.ty and became a proxy, there"s still a basic etiquette that you need to follow.
Ignis : f.u.c.k, it"s me you punk
Beastrain : who is this...
Ignis : Did you go blind? Can"t you tell by looking at the ID?
You don"t say!
Beastrain : Perhaps, are you Ignis-nim himsel?!
Ignis : Oh now this b.i.t.c.h little demon is finally crawling to this G.o.d. Are you ignoring me right now?
Beastrain : No, definitely not. I would never dare.
Ignis : I saw the video you uploaded.
Beastrain : Y-you saw that?!
Ignis : f.u.c.k, just tell me the truth.
Beastrain : ..yes sir..
Ignis : That tower is operated by you, right? Are you playing a joke? How can a human runt clear a 1st Generation Tower on his own?
Beastrain : ..It"s not a fabrication.
Ignis : Hey, there"s no need for that is there? Just tell me the truth. I won"t disclose what you tell me.
Beastrain : I said it"s not a lie.
Ignis : Alright, come look at this will you? How much are you gonna sell for?
Beastrain : I-I"m not selling.
Ignis : f.u.c.k, I asked how much you were going to sell for, so tell me how much you"re going to sell for! Just name a price, anything goes!
[The conversation has ended.]
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.
.
[Ignis, the G.o.d of Flames, has sent you a message.]
[Ignis, the G.o.d of Flames, has sent you a message.]
[Ignis, the G.o.d of Flames, has sent you a message.]
[Ignis, the G.o.d of Flames, has sent you a message.]
.
.
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[You have disconnected from the communications network 《Little Brother》]
Beastrain"s heart did a flip.
‘I freaked out, even the G.o.ds are interested in this runt. Even a G.o.d like Ignis at that....."
Ignis was a top G.o.d amongst G.o.ds. It was just a testament to how valuable the product is.
A special product? No, a super special product.
Thinking about reaching his 4th metamorphosis and become a greater demon, Beastrain"s heart began to calm down.
‘It"s finally about to become a new day.’
Nightmare Tower 100th floor, the following day.
Jae Hwan meticulously a.n.a.lyzed the information that Beastrain had provided him. Beastrain couldn"t help but ask a question.
"Did you finish?"
"Yeah. Thanks I guess."
His lips constantly rising, Beastrain couldn"t help but talk.
"Huhu, since you"ve memorized everything, are you going to be...?"
"Might as well."
Beastrain typed something into the air. A familiar window appeared before Jae Hwan.
[The Gamemaster desires to end the Tutorial Quest. You will be sent back to your home planet of the 294th world with your memories intact. Would you like to accept?]
[Yes / No]
Jae Hwan raised his Suppression Dragon Sword.
"……What are you doing?”
"You should know just by looking.”
—Your request has been denied.
"From now on, I will be hunting you.