Conquering the Tower Even Regressors Couldn't-Chapter 388: Eighty-Seventh Floor, Mystical Beast Treatment (8)

Chapter 388: Eighty-Seventh Floor, Mystical Beast Treatment (8)

[Heal the mystical beast under the alchemist’s protection. Time remaining: 92 hours 36 minutes.]

Even after my first step back in the lake, I could tell it had changed drastically.

My instincts blared, sending a chilling warning down my spine.

The black water had become impossibly viscous, far worse than before. Every part of me that touched it, from the soles of my feet to my ankles, felt as if it were being seized and held in place.

Then, with the next step, a strange kind of pain shot through me. It wasn’t physical, but something far deeper. It seemed as though a fragment of my soul had been torn away.

No, it wasn’t just a feeling. A piece of my very existence had truly seeped into the water. The crumbling forest was pulling me in, drawing my being into itself.

What is this?

I had never experienced anything like it. Soul, essence... I didn’t even know what to call it. Whatever it was, though, the forest had undeniably absorbed part of me.

The next step was no different. With each footfall, more of my existence slipped away. I wasn’t losing memories, but something inside me was becoming hollow.

Now, I understood why the mystical beasts I had met in this eerie forest had ended up the way they had.

Right. Saving the mystical beast and saving the forest aren’t the same thing, are they?

A crooked smile tugged at my lips. Something was testing me.

The lake, the forest... no. To be precise, is it the tower?

Whatever it was, I gritted my teeth and summoned my divinity. Still, by the time I had taken just five steps, even a single step forward became a struggle.

The pressure mounted, the black water clinging to my feet and ankles as it pulled hard at my very existence. My head spun. Even without any mist, the space ahead felt completely closed off. However, I wasn’t entirely immobilized.

Grrrr.

Clenching my jaw, I forced myself forward.

What will happen if it absorbs my entire existence?

The thought filled me with unease, but I shook it off. Every trial could be overcome. Even if this was a hidden mission, the same rule applied.

Nothing is impossible.

With my will reinforced, a new question popped into my mind.

Is the hidden mission on the eighty-seventh floor a test of mental strength?

Perhaps the tower was telling me to keep moving forward and saving others, even if it meant losing myself.

I didn’t know for certain, but the moment I chose to believe I could endure it, my heart felt a little lighter.

Even if my body doesn’t.

Separate from all that, a familiar emotion began to rise.

This is seriously pissing me off.

I understood that the tower wanted to test me and perhaps communicate through the forest.

Still. Who the hell does this tower think it is? Why? What gives it the right to try and teach me anything?

A surge of rebellious intent exploded from deep inside my chest.

That was fine. It had always been one of the main forces driving me forward. I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. My mind grew a little clearer.

I don’t know what kind of trial this is, but I will clear it. Every last bit of it. And I will do it my way.

Honestly, I still hadn’t come to terms with becoming Earth’s god. Getting to do whatever I wanted could be what being a god meant, though. That was how I had been climbing the tower so far, after all.

I didn’t believe that doing things my way made me a bad person. Compared to the lunatic gods I had encountered, I was firmly on the side of good.

Yeah. So what if I do it my way?

It felt as though a mental block had been lifted. It was a minor realization, but for some reason, it granted me surprising clarity.

Whatever message the tower was trying to send didn’t matter. I just had to keep doing what I had always done.

My way.

First, I planned to save the mystical beast and the forest. Then, I would find out what had really happened. If some bastard was behind all this, I would make them pay. Either way, once the forest had been saved, I would find an answer. I had a feeling it was connected to the land imbued with my divinity.

Fwoosh—!

In that instant, the Savior skill activated. Energy surged through my weary body, and the last remnants of my divinity burst forth intensely. The blue-gold light surrounding me deepened.

One step. Then another.

Bathed in golden light, I stepped through the black water toward the lotus. With each step I took, the water deepened slightly and continued to strip away fragments of my being. However, my mind had never been clearer. That clarity only made the passage of time feel more vivid.

I didn’t stop; I just kept walking. When I took that final step and stood before the lotus, I knew exactly what I had to do.

The lotus, now fully in bloom, demanded my soul and my very existence.

If you can, then feel free to try.

If it wanted my existence, it could try to take it. I wasn’t going to back down.

My instincts were still sending a sharp chill down my spine, but they weren’t always right. I believed in myself.

Doppy, Ryun, Angelina, Ha Hee-Jeong, and me. Together, we made it possible for me to be here now. If it weren’t for the trust we had built, I couldn’t have come this far.

I reached forward. Unleashing divine energy through my fingertips, I poured my being into the searing blue-gold light. All the cold warnings and the water’s clinging weight vanished completely.

I released my crystallized divinity into the lotus.

Fwoosh—

A powerful wave rocked me. It felt as if I had become one with the forest.

Strangely, in that moment, it seemed as though I had returned to a distant homeland. The lake rippled violently. Divine energy was surging through my entire body, whirling fiercely and intensely.

Even though I had already gathered and manifested the last of my remaining divinity, a blue-gold light began to shine from the center of my chest.

In that instant, two realizations struck me.

First, everything I had just experienced was part of a trial that the forest had created for me. Second, I understood what needed to be done.

I let out a quiet, incredulous laugh. The key had been far closer than I expected.

The Essence of Decay.

I had forgotten about it after Ha Hee-Jeong suggested saving it for the future. On my command, Mung-chi spat the Essence of Decay out. After all this time, it still retained its familiar violet hue.

I couldn’t make sense of it.

The Essence of Decay was something I had obtained on the fifty-fourth floor. Its inhabitants had followed Glorious Decay, a god hostile to Kalain.

If only it came from Kalain’s worshippers.

Then it wouldn’t be crazy to think that he had stolen it from here. Considering we were both challengers, it wasn’t impossible that he had reached this floor, too.

However, I had found it in an opposing city, not his followers’.

There was no clear answer, only endless possibilities.

Perhaps the conflict back then had been orchestrated between Kalain and Glorious Decay. It could just as well be entirely unrelated, though.

Well, I will just ask later.

For now, I had to return the Essence of Decay to the forest. I hoped to get some answers afterward.

I imbued the essence with my divinity. The moment it came into contact with the blue-gold light, its color began to shift to a soft, pale violet.

Its name changed.

[Core of Decay]

I didn’t bother reading the description that followed since the job wasn't done yet. I poured in even more of my divinity.

Despite the sacredness of the moment, I found myself mentally grumbling.

Really? Couldn’t the tower have just told me this from the start?

If I hadn’t connected with the forest, I never would have realized what the essence was for, even if I had pulled it out later.

The forest had tormented me just to test me, though I still didn’t know what had led to those thoughts or intentions.

Once I had poured in every last drop of my divinity, the essence began to shift again. After a radiant flash, it transformed into a luminous gemstone of soft, clear green.

[Core of ■ Life]

- The Primordial ■■...

The system message was partially obscured, as if something were hiding part of the text. But it didn’t matter; I couldn’t focus on it anyway. I had already poured all of my divine energy, mana, and frankly, stamina into purifying the essence. That wasn’t even counting the toll offering my existence had taken.

My eyelids grew heavy. A few moments later, my consciousness began to fade. I tilted to the side and fell unconscious before I even hit the ground.

***

[Heal the mystical beast under the alchemist’s protection. Time remaining: 82 hours 26 minutes.]

As my awareness gradually returned, I heard flowing water and birdsong rising gently above it.

How long was I out?

In a panic, I opened my eyes and tried to move, but my body wouldn’t respond.

Before I could even move, a sharp pain flared through me, forcing me to collapse back into the water with a soft splash.

I realized I was lying in the same lake as before. My head was resting against the lotus, though thankfully, I had no trouble breathing.

What the fuck?

I had no idea how much time had passed, but the once-dark forest now shimmered with radiant life. The previous sense of oppression and suffocating heaviness had vanished completely. Moreover, the lake was now crystal clear.

Just then, I heard another splash behind me. I thankfully didn’t sense any hostility.

Turning my head slightly, I spotted a fairy.

Still completely undetectable to my senses, huh.

The fairy, no bigger than a five-year-old child, had an adorable face and translucent wings. It looked completely different from what I remembered.

Smiling gently, it fluttered over and landed beside my head. “You’re awake.”

It sounded childlike, yet very refined and elegant.

“Wh-what exactly happened here?”

“We have regained our existence thanks to you, Su-Hyeok.”

“You know my name?”

“You offered your existence to the forest. That was when we saw you.”

Right.

I finally remembered. I hadn’t been sure at the time if I was visible to the fairies as well, though.

“So that’s it? I saved the forest, and now you’ve all returned? Did that heal the mystical beast, too?”

“Poong-Wol hasn't recovered yet. Though he managed to endure the loss of his existence, his core remains in your possession. Even after it is returned, he will need time to recover.”

“Oh, right.” I looked down at the blue orb I had been clutching in my left hand.

Thankfully, it had remained unscathed through everything.

“And to answer your earlier question, it's quite complicated.”

“Hmm? You mean about saving the forest and you all returning?”

“Yes. You asked if that was the end.”

“I did, didn’t I?”

“Unfortunately, there's more work to be done. Now that the forest recognizes you, you have become its new master.”

“The forest’s master?”

The fairy nodded. “Yes.”

I still couldn’t quite grasp what she meant.

The forest’s master? Just like that?

I had saved the forest, yes, but ownership of it seemed far too grand a role to be handed over so easily.

“What does that even mean?”

“The forest’s master is simply the one in charge. You may act as you wish. No specific obligations are imposed.”

“Uh, sure.”

It didn’t make much sense to me.

I still felt weak. Perhaps because I had just woken up after losing consciousness, my mind was also a little hazy. Still, becoming the forest’s master didn’t seem like a bad thing.

The fairy added, “We kept the others away while you were recovering, but they’ve all been eager to see you. May I call them over?”

“The others? Who? I don’t really mind.”

The fairy nodded, and creatures began emerging from every part of the forest. Most were fairies, though many were mystical beasts with strange and wondrous appearances.

They gathered and stopped along the edge of the lake. After a brief silence, they all bowed their heads in unison.

I kept finding myself face-to-face with surprise after surprise. The scene was magnificent, and their expressions of gratitude felt sincere and touching. However, I didn't expect to receive this kind of reception for saving the forest. “Everyone else has reverted to normal, too?”

“Yes. They reclaimed their existences along with the forest.”

“I’ve got a question.”

“What is it?”

“That mystical beast, umm, Poong-Wol. Why was he still okay? Was it because of the orb?”

“He received the Primordial God’s power through Seorden.”

The Primordial God?

Now that my mind was beginning to clear, questions flooded in.

“Wait. What is Seorden’s connection to this place? Why did the forest end up like this? Was it because of the Primordial God?”

“I will explain everything in order. Neither Seorden nor the Primordial God put the forest in this state.” The fairy’s brow furrowed slightly, as if recalling a painful memory. “Kalain is to blame.”