Chapter 222.

Spacecraft A7102 .

I wasn’t sure what its official name was; nevertheless, I boarded the spacecraft with the said name along with my comrades . Horner asked me if I knew how to pilot, and I nodded with confidence .

I never learned how to drive anything like it, but I had a technique called [Lv . 6 Driving]—the maximum level of techniques was 10— so I could drive all kinds of vehicles with ease . But even without it, I could become one with any machine using my special skill [Algorithm] .

“If you are unaccustomed to flying, I’ll have someone accompany you . ”

“No, I’m okay . …Scan . ”

I whispered and checked the percentage .

[43]

43% consolidation .

My Gifts were mostly restored at this point . Once I cleared the 20th floor, my abilities inside and outside the Tower would be in sync .

[Lv . 5 Yggdrasil’s Blessing engulfs ‘Lv . 8 A7102’ warmly . ]

I even applied a blessing using the [Lv . 5 Yggdrasil Leaf] to the enhanced spaceship . This was the so-called ‘2-stage consolidation’ .

“Oh… This is…?”

Horner seemed half-confused and half-surprised at the spaceship’s sudden change .

“See? I’m good at anything that has to do with machines, so you don’t have to worry about me . You can focus on saving humanity or whatever it is that you wanted to do . ”

“Yes, I understand . ”

Horner left relieved as I sat on the driver’s seat .

I looked around, trying to figure out what I should do next, and then grabbed the yoke—the control wheel of the spaceship . Simultaneously, Aether flowed out from me . Aether moved like a tentacle and wrapped itself around the yoke, then spread throughout the spacecraft, connecting my body to the machine in an instant .

[Aether has been connected to the spacecraft . ]

[Algorithm activated . Performance and efficiency improved by 40% . ]

[‘Lv . 8 A7192’ will now move according to your will . ]

At the same time, my eyes widened . The image projected upon my retina changed . What lay ahead was the endless darkness of space occupied by faint specks of light .

I shouted in sync with the spaceship .

“We’re taking off . ”

The trio, who had been looking around the spaceship, shuddered .

“H-Hajin . You sure you know how to handle this~?”

“Of course . ”

“Hey . Hey . Um, you know, that dude who just left . Who was he again?”

I briefly answered Cheok Jungyeong’s question .

“Horner . ”

“Yes, him . Can’t we just ask him to do this?”

“No . ”

I refused flatly and started the engine .

Shoooong… .

The spacecraft was immediately launched from the hangar . The fuel erupted explosively from the lower section of the ship, and the energy from the eruption was extremely intense . Yet, unlike the outside, the inside of the ship was silent .

This was to be expected .

Currently, 3 types of reinforcements had been applied to this spacecraft .

My Gift: Random Consolidation System, my skill: Algorithm, and my item: Yggdrasil Leaf .

It had no doubt that it was stronger than most battleships .

“…Wow . Look outside~”

Once the shuttle entered the main orbit, the trio regained their calm . They looked out of the window of the spaceship .

An unrelentingly vast celestial body lay before our eyes .

“Oh… That circular thing over there is the 16th floor? This is cool . ”

“You’re right . The land is shaped differently . It’s definitely different from Earth . ”

“Ooh~ So beautiful~”

Cheok Jungyeong, Jin Yohan, and Jain stood side by side and expressed their admiration .

Suddenly, I asked .

“That’s right, Jain, how are things in Prestige?”

“Prestige~?”

The click-clack sound of Jain’s footsteps over the tiles of the spaceship resounded clearly . Jain sat right next to me in the passenger seat and continued .

“It’s basically a metropolis~”

“Ah, really?”

“Yup . There are pubs, restaurants, buildings, shopping malls, and other stuff . I heard there’s a Player who’s raising livestock there . They’re also in the process of driving the demons out~”

If that were true, then it was more than enough . The overwhelming progress couldn’t even be compared to the original story . If this was the original story, by now, everything other than the residential area would have been destroyed, and Prestige would have become the land of the dead .

—A hostile presence has appeared ahead .

Suddenly, the mechanical voice of the spaceship issued a warning . What looked like fruit flies at first glance were flying at us . They were not spaceships but ‘gargoyles’, monsters controlled by demons .

“Huh? What’s that?”

“Don’t worry about them . ”

This was an event that occasionally popped up… I took out the ship’s hidden weapon . I didn’t know whether it was a laser, a cannon, or a machine gun . Whatever it was, the gargoyles were completely annihilated only after a few shots .

“Oh, they were nothing~”

“Yep . ”

As expected, even a basic vehicle could become very strong after mountains of reinforcements .

After that, we chatted with each other and admired the view of the Tower’s Void as we slowly headed to the 16th floor .

[Genkelope Zone], a circular disc shaped planet, was different from the Earth in that it was flat all around and that its soil was orange . I would imagine flattened Mars to look just like it .

Shuuuu… .

The spaceship moved swiftly and landed on a remote corner of Genkelope .

[16F — Demon Realm Colony, Genkelope]

[‘Team Chameleon Troupe’ has entered the 16th floor for the first time . ]

[The reward for the first entry is the ‘Special Skill Acquisition Book — Lv . 2 Atmospheric Whirlpool’ . ]

The door of the spaceship opened, and together we got off and set foot on Genkelope .

“… . ”

We were silent for a moment .

We stared ahead blankly, overwhelmed by the coercive scenery .

Cheok Jungyeong was the one who broke the silence .

“Well, this is one hell of a scenery . ”

Just as he said, the scenery on the 16th floor was frightening . To start with, the towers in the distance were not so much buildings as they were living things with beating pulses, and the tree right in front of us had a disgusting looking eye embedded in its trunk .

“Ugh, so creepy . ”

Jain shuddered at the grotesque view .

“You don’t mean to say we have to clean up everything here~? Right, Hajin~?”

“Right . It’ll take us at least 5 years to clean this place up completely . ”

The 16th floor was very different from [5F, Materialized Demon Realm] . There, demons at least looked like humans, but here, we were up against monsters in the literal sense of the word .

Cheok Jungeyong asked impatiently .

“…So what exactly do we have to do to go up?”

“Ask the system . ”

How can we reach the 17th floor?

I asked the system first .

This was what the reply said .

[Each demon on the 16th floor carries a ‘random map piece’ with them . Defeat them to collect those pieces, and put the pieces back together to form a map which shows the location of the tunnel that leads to the 17th floor . ]

**

[15F, Genkelope’s Abandoned Vessel]

“…Tsk . So even you guys don’t know when he’ll come back?”

Medea frowned viciously . Her voice and body language were full of discontent .

“Yes . He left without any promise of return . ”

Still Horner answered calmly even in the presence of administrators . Medea glared at Horner . Horner politely endured her gaze .

It wasn’t long before Medea heaved a deep sigh .

“Damn it, it’s just one thing after the other . I’m so annoyed… . ”

Athena flinched at her swearing . She laid her hands on Medea’s shoulder, which was shaking in irritation .

“You, watch your profanity . ”

“Well . You’re in the same situation as me . ”

“I can wait . ”

“Oh, really~? I feel like it was just yesterday that you refused to even talk to me because of your so-called divinity or divine state of existence, but now you’re willing to wait for a mere human~? Oh, how much you’ve changed!”

Medea taunted with all her might . Athena clenched her teeth but stayed put . She was also embarrassed by her past arrogant self, who couldn’t give up on her divinity . Athena’s unresponsiveness brought Medea back to her senses .

“…Sorry . I’ve been chasing after him for 2 months . Try to understand . ”

“It’s fine . ”

“Anyways… you guys . ”

Medea pointed her fingers at Horner and Erenner . She wanted to punish the cocky pair for keeping their eyes wide open in the presence of administrators, but Medea held her tongue just in case . If by any chance Extra7 was fond of these NPCs, then harming them would only make him despise her .

“…We can stay here until Extra7 comes back, right?”

“Yes, we don’t mind, but—“

“We don’t mind either . Surely you heard this austere administrator Athena say she would wait for him?”

“…It’s as she said . ”

Athena also nodded .

Hearing this, Horner welcomed them . Rather, the word ‘welcome’ wasn’t even enough . The mere existence of administrators would keep alien creatures away from Area 3 .

“Then, I’ll show you to the best rooms in Area 3 . ”

Horner led the two to the most luxurious rooms they had .

**

…Team Chameleon Troupe began to climb the Tower seriously .

Day 1 and day 2 .

The enemies on the 16th floor were all bizarre in their appearances . There was one that looked like a lighthouse and another that looked like a water strider, a mantis, and a deep sea fish . We defeated those demons and put the map pieces back together .

Day 3 to day 6 .

We consulted the map and arrived at the tunnel . It was then that we realized that the tunnel itself was [the 17th floor] . We advanced through the tunnel .

The goal of the 17th floor was to dig through the clogged tunnel ourselves . The inside was filled with countless monsters and demons who were all pretty competent, but my comrades were more monster than them, so we easily overpowered them .

Day 6 to day 8 .

We dug through the tunnel and arrived on the 18th floor .

The 18th floor was a dense forest of the Demon Realm . As even a simple misstep would make us lose our way for all eternity in the Demon Realm’s illusions, I performed my best as the group’s pathfinder . I led my comrades with experience and familiarity .

Day 8 to day 10 .

We escaped the woods in just two days and arrived on the 19th floor . We could tell we were going deeper and deeper into the Demon Realm… .

…(Omitted)

…Just like that, we cleared the 16th~19th floors in a total of 2 weeks . Afterwards, I momentarily returned to Crevon as I had received notifications that the calamities were raging once again .

In disaster-stricken Crevon, I lived up to Fenrir’s reputation for the first time in a while . I spent half of the 2000 bullets I had collected thus far, destroying more than two thousand monsters with them .

The combination of [Random Consolidation System], [Algorithm], and [Aether] changed my gun to something that transcended a gun . The precise aim of the assault rifle annihilated the endless wave of monsters, and the name ‘Fenrir’ was once again exalted among the Players .

The said reputation was worth 350SP and 100,000TP .

And finally, today .

[20F The Hollow of Ordeal – Doppelgänger]

I was once again back on the 20th floor .

The 20th floor was remarkably different from the 16~19th floor, which were huge and extensive .

It was a hollow cave filled with several small rooms, each with a nameplate that had the word ‘conquer’ written across it .

“Oh, so you’re saying that in this room, there’s another guy just like me?”

Cheok Jungyeong was only half correct .

As was evident from the name of the 20th floor, a doppelgänger would be waiting for each Player beyond the door . The goal was, of course, to fight and win . The task was nothing short of a coming-of-age cliché, both simple and complex at the same time .

“But before we go in, how are we gonna split the skillbooks?”

Cheok Jungyeong asked, smacking his lips .

Incidentally, we were waiting for Boss to join us on the 20th floor . We cleared each floor not as separate individuals but as a team, so she could come to where we were if she wanted to .

“How many skillbooks are there?”

“Nine . Six are special skills, two are unique skills, and one is an ultimate skill . ”

“Hmm… Then if there’s anything you want, divide them among yourselves . ”

“Yeah? Then I’ll take this and this . ”

Cheok Jungyeong chose a unique skillbook and a special skillbook . Jain followed; she chose a special skillbook and the only ultimate skillbook, while Jin Yohan chose the remaining unique skillbook and a special skillbook . I didn’t know what they were exactly, but most of them were passive skills related to magic power or physical strength .

“Get ready if you’re finished . ”

Woong

At that moment, the crystal stele in the center of the 20th floor resonated . The crystal stele shook the cave and soon spat out a beauty .

It was Boss, with her long dark hair out loose and her eyes shut .

“Oh, Boss . You’re here . ”

“Boss~ I missed you~”

“…”

Boss examined us one by one in silence . Cheok Jungyeong, Jin Yohan, Jain… and me .

I thought I saw her shoulder tremble slightly when she looked at me, but I was probably mistaken .

Boss nodded .

“ So this is the 20th floor?”

“Yes, this is the 20th floor . ”

“You climbed a lot in such a short period of time . ”

I gave a small smile . Personally, I was curious what Boss had been doing for the last two weeks, but I decided not to dig into it .

“A week would have been enough if you were around . Well then, shall we go?”

I said as I disbanded the party .

[Team Chameleon Troupe has been disbanded . ]

[You may challenge the 20th floor only as an individual . ]

We then stood in front of a door . Although there were ten doors, they all had the same function . The number was only there to limit the number of Players who could take this trial at the same time .

Out of the ten doors, Cheok Jungyeong took the last one, Jin Yohan was next to him, and Jain was in the middle .

Boss wandered around aimlessly before she hesitantly stood next to me .

“Be careful . Just remember that the doppelgängers aren’t very experienced with skills while we are . ”

“Okay . ”

“See you alive—!”

With Cheok Jungyeong’s loud yell, I grabbed the doorknob .

Kiiik—

I opened the door slowly amidst the heart-tightening tension .

This was the real deal . The doppelgängers were only the first in the series of challenges on the 20th floor . This was a test, and things would only get more and more difficult from here… .

[Warning! Please be extra careful!]

[From the 20th floor, death will be eternal!]

[You only have one life!]

“…What?”

‘The heck is this?’

I glared at the system but realized that this was real when the smart watch vibrated a moment .

“Haa… . ”

I felt shitty, but I was used to this kind of situation . A rewritten setting wouldn’t be changed back no matter how much I complained . At least I could resurrect up to 2 times thanks to my unique skill .

…I was more worried about the others than myself .

Anyhow, I stepped into the hollow space and closed the door .

I looked at the man who had suddenly appeared . He was staring into space with his back turned against me .

His appearance from behind looked like mine .

No, he was me .

“…Hi . ”

He turned halfway around . His sideways appearance was unfamiliar . The face I had only seen in mirrors up until now was standing there . Surprisingly, I wasn’t too ugly . My body looked quite sturdy, too .

“What’s up?”

I shrugged my shoulder .

But the other me responded in an unexpected way .

—Who are you?

Who are you .

I frowned at the somewhat stern remark .

Was that really what I sounded like? The doppelgänger was supposed to imitate my way of talking, way of acting, and even my habits .

Was this also another changed setting?

I spoke to my doppelgänger .

“Who am I? You should already know . After all, you’re me, and I’m you . ”

—… .

The other me didn’t answer . He looked at me with an expression that I would never wear .

Only then did I feel a sense of uneasiness .

Something was wrong .

I wasn’t the type to be so serious .

…Don’t tell me .

Suddenly, a terrifying thought crossed my mind .

“Hey . ”

—… .

The other me didn’t answer .

Firmly sealed lips, gloomy eyes filled with determination, and a frown that made his eyes appear even sharper . All of these characteristics combined gave off a somber, melancholic vibe .

As I looked at him, my head slowly started to hurt .

We were both silent .

Time flowed in stillness while a dark fog surrounded me . The unsettling suspicion became a clear intuition which overtook my entire body .

The other me asked only after a long time .

—You are me?

Hearing this question that questioned the fundamental existence of my being, I was convinced of my intuition .

The doppelgänger, too, must have realized this .

That we could be ‘different people’ .

I firmly clenched my teeth .

“You… . ”

Uneasiness ascended like a puff of smoke as I agonized over whether or not to ask this question .

But I had no choice but to ask .

Because he was the only person who could prove and define who ‘I’ was in this world .

“What’s your name?”

The doppelgänger didn’t answer and only stared at me . I was reflected in his eyes . He and I looked exactly alike .

“I said, what’s your name?”

I asked again .

The doppelgänger let out a small of sigh .

Then he spoke of a familiar name .

—Kim Chundong .

“…What?”

—My name is… Kim Chundong .

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