Chapter 54: The Ultimate Fan (2)

Chapter 54: The Ultimate Fan (2)

The Black Witch sighed, concerned. “Don’t go too far. I can cover up most of your mistakes, but if you go too far, I have no way to control the media.”

“You won’t find anyone as peaceful as me. Besides, you know that I’m a clairvoyant. I know what the best answer is.”

“...Can I really count on you?”

“Of course.”

I took the microphone from the Black Witch. She still looked concerned, but it really was fine. I had the ultimate trick up my sleeve.

I cleared my throat a couple of times before I spoke into the microphone. “Hello, everyone. I’m the Hunter who received the title of Death King. It’s nice to meet you all for the first time.”

The speakers carried my voice into the crowd.

The flashing of cameras that replied turned into one big wave of light. It didn’t really faze me. Perhaps the experience of being surrounded by the crowd of cameras yesterday had inured me because it was considerably easier to put up with the constant bombardment of lights.

“Your name is... Mr. John Evans, yes?” I asked.

“That’s right.” The young reporter looked straight into my eyes; his eyes were burning with the spirit of a true reporter. He wasn’t going to miss any of my movements and was determined to expose me.

It was quite stressful, but only one thought occupied my mind as I faced him: to never become like the Fire Emperor.

“I believe that all of the concerns are raised because of my inadequacy.”

“Pardon?” The reporter blinked, the microphone he held momentarily forgotten. He probably hadn’t expected that answer.

I remembered the cocky Fire Emperor.

“I’ll say it again: I believe that all of the concerns are raised because of my inadequacy.”

My ultimate trick was very simple: always say the opposite of what the Fire Emperor would say. I was no expert at interviews. I was certainly not the Black Witch. I didn’t have the abilities, the gifts, or the experience to captivate a crowd with my speech.

However, I knew what others didn’t: the interviews of the world’s cockiest Hunter!

If I act the opposite of the Fire Emperor, I’ll at least make it halfway.

I had been the Fire Emperor’s fanboy for almost ten years, so I had a library of all the Fire Emperor’s outrageous acts and words tucked away in my head. If the Fire Emperor had taken the microphone now, he would have said, “I cleared the twentieth floor because I’m great, you dimwits. So what? I worked my ass off to clear those floors, so of course the items and experience points from the floors are mine. Hey, Mr. Media Jackal. If I don’t get them, then who do you think I should give them to? Your daddy?”

I didn’t make this up. He had actually said that at the conference before my regression!

The Black Witch’s face was so pale back then...

It had later been dubbed the “Your Daddy” incident. Of course, all hell had broken loose. The Black Witch had quickly ended the conference, but it was too late; the reporters’ swearing had already been aired live. It had been an absolute disaster.

And even though the broadcast had been stopped, the tragedy didn’t end. Yoo Soo-Ha had decided to fight fire with fire and spew all the curses in the world at the reporters, their parents, their in-laws, and the rest of their families. And the streamers had aired the entirety of it.

He was called the Fucker for a reason.

According to the rumors, the Black Witch had been bedridden for a week. The Your Daddy incident was almost certainly why she had grown sick of Yoo Soo-Ha and he had grown apart from the major guilds.

The Fire Emperor messed up the conference miserably. In other words, I just have to say the opposite of the Fucker.

The opposite of the worst was the best! I kept Yoo Soo-Ha’s outrageous remarks in mind, and adjusted my grip on the microphone.

“I cleared the twentieth floor because I’m great, you dimwit.”

“I know how much attention is on me right now, but you’re giving me too much credit. If I didn’t have help from the Black Dragon Master and Sword Star over here, I would have never gotten to the twentieth floor so that I could clear it on my own.”

“So what? I worked my ass off to clear the floors.”

“Of course, I’m confident that I gave it everything I had. To achieve my goal of preventing any casualties, I made an excruciating effort, but I don’t necessarily think I sacrificed anything. That is something I should do as a human and a Hunter. All else aside... I did it because I wanted to.”

“Of course the items and experience points from the floors are mine. Hey, Mr. Media Jackal. If I don’t get them, then who do you think I should give them to?”

“So I have no intention of claiming rights over those floors. That’s why I let the guild leaders have all the rights to the eleventh through the nineteenth floors. Earlier, you said that I have exclusive rights to the twentieth floor, but no. The twentieth floor will serve as a sort of greenbelt area. The original residents will continue to live there. I’m satisfied with just the role of managing the floor.”

“Your daddy?”

“That would be my answer, Mr. Evans. Do you have another question?”

The young, eager reporter was left stammering, “N-no, I don’t.”

Good. I quickly thought about what the Fire Emperor’s response would be.

“Alright. If you have nothing else to say, get lost, you American pig.”

I had no problem imagining it. He would also show how long and thick his middle finger was.

Let’s see. The opposite of that would be...

“Thank you,” I said. “Oh, if anyone else has questions, I’ll be happy to answer them.”

A very brief silence hung over the plaza.

“Me! It’s the Retrospective Newspaper!”

“Please take my question, Mr. Death King! I’m from Youtower News!”

“Yeah; even if it isn’t true, the media will be all over your so-called romance scandal. It’ll damage your image, so it’s better to put up a smokescreen and draw attention to you and me.”

“Is that so...?” I wasn’t sure if that was true because of my lack of experience in handling the media.

The Black Witch chuckled. “Don’t worry, Death King. I’ve been handling the media on my own for years, so you can trust me on this one. Leave the expert in charge. Do you understand?”

“Ah, okay.”

It felt weird for some reason... Yes, I felt like a mysterious monster was out to get me, but I was in Babylon, not a hunting ground. There was no monster. Was I imagining things?

—Tsk, tsk, tsk. The Guardian clicked his tongue. You’re pathetic, Zombie. You have a head, but not a brain. So how can I not call you Zombie? You call yourself a Hunter and yet you don’t know you’re walking to your death. Gosh.

What the heck are you on about?

—You’re pathetic! Pathetic! The Guardian pounded his chest in frustration. He already looked ape-like, so pounding his chest really made him look like a gorilla.

Just then, loud shouts erupted from the opposite side of the stage. They were a little different from the cheers meant for us.

“Ten!”

“Nine!”

“Eight!”

They were counting down together. I stopped talking to the Guardian and looked up at the sky.

[00:00:05]

The time for the twenty-first floor’s opening was approaching.

“Three!”

“Two!”

“One!”

[00:00:00]

The countdown burst into a shower of light, making the crowd cheer wildly. As if answering their excitement, the particles of light gathered again, taking the form of a goddess.

[Greetings to the warriors who climb the Tower.]

[Congratulations for breaking through the Demon King’s shadow of resentment.]

It was the opening of a new stage. Perhaps because the people had seen the goddess before, they just chattered joyfully.

—Zombie, the Guardian said in a concerned voice.

I nodded. Yes. It’s okay. I won’t let my guard down.

However, I had experienced the Tower in the past, so I knew that the twenty-first floor was entirely different from the twentieth floor; it was just as drastic as the transition between the first ten tutorial stages and the whole new stage that had greeted us on the eleventh floor.

[This is a shelter for the outcast.]

[You could have given up on challenging the Tower’s stages.]

[You could have chosen to stay on the first floor of the Tower forever.]

[However, you made a choice when you cleared the tenth and twentieth floors.]

Her voice reverberated in the vast sky.

[You have decided to see the Tower’s top.]

[Therefore, it is only right to answer your determination.]

Without a warning, white light enveloped us. It wasn’t just me and the Black Witch—I could hear panicked voices coming from the plaza.

“W-what?!”

“I-I didn’t say anything...”

The biggest difference from the last time was that the white light took us even though no one said “Send me.”

Bewildered, the Black Witch looked at her feet. “...Wait, the Tower is teleporting us by force?”

She was right.

[Those of you who decided to climb up the Tower..]

[Those of you who climb up the Tower.]

[Those of you who readily received your new names and became the Tower’s warriors.]

The goddess held her hands together against her chest as if she were praying for someone.

[Only you, the chosen warriors, shall carry out the honorable mission.]

The white light covered my vision.