—In a way, you trust everyone in this universe. If not me, then Mr. Sword Star. If he also fails, then Anastasha or the Gray Spider will take on the mantle. When they also fail, then someone no one knows because they haven’t discovered their true potential yet will take over. In any case, you believe that someday, someone will reach the ninety-ninth floor.
The Sword Emperor finally broke his silence.
—Everyone has potential.
It had been some time since the Sword Emperor and I passed Estelle. During that time, we walked swiftly through the fields, mountains, and seas in the Garden of Withered Flowers.
—Those who are meant to succeed, succeed; those who are not, fail. People never change… These words come only from those who live short-sightedly and cannot see far ahead.
That was how we faced the faraway land where red rain fell.
—If “That person can do it, but you can’t’ doesn’t make sense, then the other way around—“I can do it, but others can’t”— is nonsense, too.
Yes, the two of us circled the world.
—Only then is it fair.
Raindrops pounded the ground, piercing me and the Sword Emperor.
—That proves it, then.
I gazed upon the crimson landscape, a memorial to nameless deaths. Now that I had a true understanding of what it meant to see, the sight coming into view was so clear. The rain felt less like it was falling from above and more like it was rising from below.
—Gong-Ja, you sometimes recall and talk about those days spent in that cramped, old studio of yours.
“How did I get here?”
—If others had seen you trimming newspaper clips, like that man, Yoo Soo-Ha, they would have clicked their tongue and said, “What a loser.” “That guy is hopeless.” “I shouldn’t become like him.”
It felt less like walking through the rain and more like stepping into water. Air and water had swapped places. Endless red bubbles rose around us.
—And yet, here you are now.
My heart pounded.
—People change. Even the smallest opportunity can make a change. That’s what you’ve proven each time you went back a day.
It was like when my orphanage director complimented me for the first time.
—That isn’t all. The Gray Spider didn’t change for a thousand years, but she did change in the end. Was it because of you? Yes, of course. But was it only possible because it was you?
His words couldn’t purely be seen as a compliment. I could take them the wrong way, like an old-fashioned criticism of why I couldn’t be like him. At the same time, it could be seen as a claim that only he was special. But I knew that wasn’t the Sword Emperor’s intent.
—That’s probably why this was the first Skill I got after I entered the Tower.
When there was no malice and no hidden agenda, and words worked purely as words, that was when his words held true meaning.
—Unlock the Skill Card.
The Sword Emperor raised his hand. A Skill Card slipped out from beneath the tattered sleeves of his robe.
You Can Be Like Me
Class: F
Effect: You can see all the Skills another person possesses.
※An enemy you have defeated can copy one of your Skills and make it their own.
※This Skill does not affect foes you have already defeated once.
※The copied Skill is picked at random.
As if spellbound, I raised my hand, pulled out the first Skill I got and read it.
—Unlock the Skill Card.
I Want To Be Like You
Class: S+
Effect: Will automatically activate after an enemy kills you. You will be able to copy and turn one of their Skills into yours. The Skill you copy will be chosen at random, but you can’t copy your enemies’ Skills more than once.
※ However, you will die!
The cards touched. One was a Class F Skill, and the other was Class S+. The two Skills mirrored each other like opposing reflections. In the space between them, the Sword Emperor and I stood facing each other.
—Sword Emperor.
—Yeah.
—What is your holy ground like? Even the Constellation Murderer had one. The fact that you’re on the ninety-ninth floor now means that you’ve made one too. I… I’m curious what your holy ground is like.”
—Hmm.
The Sword Emperor raised one hand. The hem of his robe fluttered and swayed.
—Ah.
A world opened before my eyes.
■. In a dim forest, morning glories stretched their necks. Half their usual size, they bowed deeper and deeper.
As the flowers bowed, dawn turned to morning, which soon turned to noon. When evening fell, the sun set and died from fatigue. The night fell like a coffin being lowered in a grave, and the sunflowers opened their petals wider in the dry season of that dim place.
Flowers of those who died without blooming. People of flowers. Ten million flowers meant to be held. Ten million flowers to hold. Morning glories, dianthuses, frost flowers, peonies, roses, and hydrangeas.
In this world, a man wearing a tattered robe sat in the lotus position. Beside him, a sword as tall as him was embedded in the field with hundreds of millions of flowers. I knew that man very well; I had seen him countless times, but this was the first time I had ever seen him not translucent.
I hadn’t stepped foot in that world yet. That was probably why I couldn’t call the man by his name—the Sword Emperor.
Nevertheless, I could see him. This was possible only because he was letting me. Without opening his eyes, the Sword Emperor said, “Come, Kim Gong-Ja.”
That was the first time I heard his actual voice.
“I’ll be waiting for you here."
He was waiting for me on the ninety-ninth floor.
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Translator's Thoughts