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[Welcome to ‘The Clocktower’]
[ <Hidden Scenario - The Wheel of Time>
Category: Hidden
Difficulty: A
Clear Condition: Reach the 100th floor of the Clocktower and press the Final Button
Time Limit: -
Reward: Escaping the Clocktower, 10 000 coins
Penalty for failure: Death
*due to scenario restriction, you can only access 75% of your power ]
[You are the Runner of your group!
Number of runs achieved: 25/100]
Joonghyuk didn’t even read the scenario window, already opening the door to the first floor of ‘The Clocktower’. He didn’t need to read it, it never changed. Except for two tiny numbers.
“Wait, Yoo Joonghyuk!”
What was supposed to be a simple hidden scenario was slowly starting to look like a nightmare. It had seemed easy at first: a hundred floors, each filled with monsters and traps of increasing danger, but none were so bad that he couldn’t handle them.
He kicked the puppy that was supposed to be the monster of the first floor before pressing the button opening the door to the second floor. The stairs were only made of two steps.
“I said wait.”
Joonghyuk barely spared Kim Dokja a glance, striding in the at-first-glance empty second floor. He pressed the second button and the door opened.
“Don’t go off alone, we should stay t-waaaah!”
Ha, he must have found one of the hidden traps. Sure enough, when he turned around, Kim Dokja had one leg stuck in a waist-high hole. He used his arms to hoist himself up while warning the rest of the company.
“Mind your steps, everyone. Some of those tiles can fall off.”
“You’ll only be a hindrance if you follow me,” Joonghyuk stated as Kim Dokja managed to drag himself out of his hole. “Stay here and don’t get in my way. I can clear the scenario alone.”
“...You know something right? Have you already done it somehow?”
It was rare to know something that Kim Dokja didn’t. But contrary to what the man seemed to think, this was his first regression doing this scenario. The reason he already knew it by heart…
[Number of runs achieved: 25/100]
Was because of this damn scenario to begin with.
“I know more than you, so you just stay put.”
This was already the twenty-fourth time that he asked this question and he was growing tired of it. He didn’t take the time to savor the shocked face of Kim Dokja -this guy was convinced he always knew everything- and moved on to the third floor
When he arrived at the eleventh floor, he simply used ‘Red Phoenix Shunpo’ to cross the room,easily reaching the next door and leaving his companions to deal with the horde of lizards.
“Hey you, what do you think you’re doing?” Heewon shouted, but he was already climbing up the stairs toward the next scenario.
The faster he reached the top, the faster they could all get out of this damn tower.
It took him less than two hours to get to the 100th floor, sometimes fighting the monsters, sometimes just getting around them. His companions would deal with them if they were still trying to catch up to him. Unless they were all stuck in one of the trap rooms. He couldn’t care less.
He finally dealt a fatal blow to the final boss, and approached the 100th button. The one that started it all, really. In a way, he was almost glad that he was the one who reached it first during their initial run of ‘The Clocktower.’ They should have known it was way too easy for a scenario of difficulty A.
Yoo Joonghyuk sighed and pressed the button.
[Welcome to ‘The Clocktower’]
[ <Hidden Scenario - The Wheel of Time>
Category: Hidden
Difficulty: A
Clear Condition: Reach the 100th floor of the Clocktower and press the Final Button
Time Limit: -
Reward: Escaping the Clocktower, 10 000 coins
Penalty for failure: Death
*due to scenario restriction, you can only access 74% of your power ]
[You are the Runner of your group!
Number of runs achieved: 26/100]
Yoo Joonghyuk closed the scenario’s window and walked off.
“Wait, Yoo Joonghyuk!”
This was going to be a long scenario.
.
Each time he started a new run, the percentage of skills and stats that he could use decreased. He hadn’t really minded at first, but soon the tasks he had done in a blink during the first run were becoming impossible alone. It wasn't even the hardest ones, but the lack of stats was starting to make things unnecessarily complicated.
The first time Joonhyuk realized he might need his companion’s help was during the 49th run. The boss of the 100th floor was not particularly fearsome, but when he was sent flying into the wall, he realized how much speed and constitution he had lost. He still managed to defeat the final boss and pressed the button.
[Welcome to ‘The Clocktower’]
[ <Hidden Scenario - The Wheel of Time>
Category: Hidden
Difficulty: A
Clear Condition: Reach the 100th floor of the Clocktower and press the Final Button
Time Limit: -
Reward: Escaping the Clocktower, 10 000 coins
Penalty for failure: Death
*due to scenario restriction, you can only access 51% of your power ]
[You are the Runner of your group!
Number of runs achieved: 49/100]
“Wait, Yoo Joonghyuk!”
He opened the first door.
“What.”
“We don’t know what this dungeon is made of, we should stick together.”
He kicked the puppy, ignoring Shin Yoosung's dejected look, and opened the second door.
“...there is a trap to your right.”
“Wha-aaa?”
The tile dropped when Kim Dokja stepped on it, but he managed to avoid falling in the hole this time.
“...You know something right? Have you already done it somehow?”
Yoo Joonghyuk rolled his eyes, reconsidering his decision to let them help, before caving in.
“Yes.”
This time, he savored the flabbergasted look on his face.
“But how? Was it really from one of your past regression?”
This guy definitely knew too much.
“...No, it’s because this _ is a _”.
Tchtchtch
[Due to some restrictions, you can not disclose scenario information]
“...what did you say?”
[The Constellation ‘Master of the Clocktower’ is grinning]
They were not going to make his job easier, were they? So the words ‘scenario’ and ‘timeloop’ were censored then. He didn’t have the time to figure out what other words were restricted.
“Never mind.”
“What do you mean ‘never mind’, what were you trying to say?!”
Yoo Joonghyuk turned away, pressing the third button.
“To your left.”
“Waaaaaaaaah!”
Too late.
.
The first one to die was Kim Dokja.
This was the 68th run, and the loss of their powers was really starting to show. They were against a rhinoceros of grade 6, and a moment of inattention was all it took.
“Lee Hyunsung!!!”
Joonghyuk turned just in time to see Lee Hyunsung being shoved out of the way, and with a sickening crunch, Dokja was impaled on the rhino’s horn.
“Ngh!”
“DOKJA!”
“DOKJA-SSI!!”
Joonghyuk and Sangah killed the monster in two blows, but the harm was already done.
“Ahjussi!”
“Hyung!”
Everybody gathered around Kim Dokja, who was panting heavily. The damage was too severe: he had a gaping hole in the stomach, nobody could survive that, and they didn’t have Lee Seolhwa with them. Joonghyuk pressed the button of the 89th floor and Jung Heewon glared at him.
“Where are you going! Is clearing the scenario that important?!”
Han Sooyoung understood immediately and quickly caught up to him.
Jung Heewon was about to lash out but one hand of Kim Dokja silenced her. His eyebrows were furrowed in pain when he looked at him.
“Hurry up.”
Joonghyuk nodded and they ran toward the 89th floor. No matter how efficient they could be, considering their manpower and the difficulty of the floors awaiting them, they would take at least one hour to get to the top. Kim Dokja had fifteen minutes to live at best. Even if they managed to get out of here, by the time they would get him to Lee Seolhwa, it would be way too late. Nevermind the fact that they wouldn’t get out of here even when they reached the top. But this, Kim Dokja didn’t know.
Until now, Joonghyuk noticed that his injuries disappeared completely every time he started a new run, but he didn’t know if this also worked for people that were dead. So he ran.
At the 96th scenario, a notification popped up.
[The Constellation ‘Master of the Clocktower’ is smiling widely]
He tried not to think about what it meant. Since the beginning of the hidden scenario, he didn’t receive a single indirect message from the Constellations. Not one except for messages of this ‘Master of the Clocktower’. And it was never for a good reason.
They finished as quickly as possible the last floors, and Joonghyuk didn’t even wait for Han Sooyoung to kill the final boss before pressing the button.
[Welcome to ‘The Clocktower’]
[ <Hidden Scenario - The Wheel of Time>
Category: Hidden
Difficulty: A
Clear Condition: Reach the 100th floor of the Clocktower and press the Final Button
Time Limit: -
Reward: Escaping the Clocktower, 10 000 coins
Penalty for failure: Death
*due to scenario restriction, you can only access 32% of your power ]
[You are the Runner of your group!
Number of runs achieved: 68/100]
Joonghyuk’s head snapped to the left.
“Wha, Yoo Joonghyuk, don’t scare me like that!”
Joonghyuk stared at the man for a few seconds, his gaze lingering on his shirt, where no gaping hole could be seen. Not even a speck of blood. His face, too, had regained its usual color, no longer the sickly pallor of death.
“What?”
Joonghyuk looked away from Kim Dokja.
“Nothing.”
He heard Jung Huiwon ask “what, why 32%?” in the background and went to open the first door.
“Wait, Yoo Joonghyuk!”
.
[Number of runs achieved: 71/100]
“Come on, give me a leg up.”
Joonghyuk ignored Kim Dokja, staring at the smooth-walled cliff in front of him. In the background, Han Sooyoung tried to leap to the top, only to jump straight into the wall. She had tried that for the past twenty runs, each time reaching lower. Joonghyuk didn’t bother to try and stop her.
The cliff was less than 10 meters high but it looked higher and higher at each run. It had been so easy at first, they only had to jump. He hadn’t even needed his ‘Red Phoenix Shunpo’.
“There is a rope at the top,” he said calmly. He vaguely heard Han Sooyoung fall back to the ground with a yelp.
“Really?”
“Then only one of us has to reach the top, right?” Yoo Sangah surmised.
He always liked when she talked. It spared him the effort of explaining every time.
“Okay, so who climbs, and how?”
.
“Move your foot, Yoo Joonghyuk.”
“You, move your foot, Kim Dokja.”
“Stop fighting, below, you make the whole pyramid unsteady.”
Kim Dokja glared at him and Joonghyuk glared back. This was the most ridiculous situation he had ever been in. To his left was Lee Hyunsung, steady as a rock, and to his right Kim Dokja, who hadn’t stopped whining since the start of this fiasco. On their shoulders stood Jung Huiwon and Han Sooyoung, who were themselves supporting Shin Yoosung and Lee Gilyoung.
“Okay, I’m steady!”
At the very top stood Lee Jihye.
“I swear the god, Yoo Sangah, if you take more than three minutes to climb all the way-”
Han Sooyoung didn’t have time to finish complaining, Yoo Sangah was already gathering momentum. She jumped off, swiftly climbing the floors of their pathetic thing they called a pyramid, already gone before they noticed she was here. She arrived at the top in less than three seconds and gracefully leapt off Jihye’s shoulders. Joonghyuk didn’t see if she made it to the top: the whole pyramid crumbled as soon as she got off, and Jihye fell straight on him, knocking him off to the ground with a grunt. Jung Huiwon had fallen on Lee Hyunsung, Kim Dokja had broken the kids’ fall, and Han Sooyoung had dropped on her ass, but she should be used to it by now. Finally, they all looked up. A victorious hand shot out, holding a rope.
“I got it!”
Everybody sighed in relief.
“That’s good, I couldn’t have done it again,” Jung Huiwon muttered, and Joonghyuk could only agree. Never again.
The first thing he did during the next run was to purchase a rope with a grappling hook.
.
[Number of runs achieved: 75/100]
Yoo Joonghyuk was worried about the 72nd floor. At first, this story had no business being this high up in the list. The task was fairly simple: to push a boulder to the top of a small hill, and let it roll down to the other side. Simple, easy, no need to think twice about it. He did it alone the first half of the runs, and with the others, it had been feasible. But with their stats decreasing so quickly... They had barely managed it last time, and maybe this round would be okay too, but not the 25 runs remaining. They had to find a way.
Surprisingly, it was Shin Yoosung who found a solution.
“Oh, look, we’re so high!”
One moment she was talking with Kim Dokja, the next moment she had her face glued to this damn window. Everybody gathered around it, admiring the view from there, but Yoo Joonghyuk didn't even move.
They were at the 70th floor, and the city below looked absolutely minuscule. Joonghyuk had already tried getting out of the tower by this window, but even when he had managed to climb down the seventy floors, he had quickly understood that the city was just a fake. The best part had been to get back to the 70th floor with only a shabby rope, because of course, this damn tower only had two windows, and the other was at the 74th floor. He had almost given up and regressed on this one.
Wait.
Joonghyuk opened the window and stuck his head out of the aperture.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Yoo Joonghyuk, don’t be so tired of living,” Kim Dokja gasped, grabbing him by the loop of his belt.
Joonhyuk sent him an annoyed glare and he promptly let him go.
“We can go this way,” he said, pointing out the window, and this time, Kim Dokja was not the only one gaping.
“Are you crazy?” Jung Huiwon shouted, “Why would you go this way?”
Joonghyuk calmly stared at her.
“We can’t achieve the next floors with our current stats,” he stated, opening the Dokkaebi Bag.
His eyes lingered on an item.
[Item: Octopushoes
Price: 300 coins
Provider: The man from the Sniper Island]
He had sworn to himself never to wear those atrocities again, but they were cheap, and pretty efficient.
“What if someone slips and falls? From this high, we’re absolutely sure to die. Are you certain we cannot just clear the next floors?”
The complaint was justified, but he really had to test it. If one of the kids fell off, it wouldn't matter. As long as he reached the top and started the next round… if that was the case, he would know to find another way to bypass the 72nd floor.
“As long as I don’t die, it will be okay.”
“Uh sorry?! I think you meant “As long as I am the only one who dies, it will be okay”? We cannot regress, in case you forgot.”
This was Han Sooyoung.
Joonghyuk held back an annoyed sigh. He didn’t know how to convince those people to do it. After all, this would be his first time trying it like this. The last time he went outside, he had more than sixty percent of his powers. Honestly, he was fairly sure it would go well, but he had to test if it was feasible for everyone, even without their abilities.
Surprisingly, it was Kim Dokja who helped him.
“If you say we cannot clear the next floors, I’ll trust you.” Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t believe him. “So, how do you plan to do this?”
Joonghyuk stared at him for a few seconds, before finally confirming his purchase. Thirty-six ‘Octopushoes’ appeared out of thin air.
“...”
“Wear this.”
“...”
“...”
“...you’re just fucking with us, right.”
In the end, they all ended up on the outer wall of the Clocktower, with pink octopuses on their hands and feet, and wind in their face.
“Don’t lie to me, this is your first time doing this, right?” Kim Dokja shouted to his right. He wasn’t really far, but they had to scream in order to hear each other over the howling wind.
He could hear Jihye’s repeated ‘I don’t like this’ perfectly fine though.
“Don’t look at the ground!” he yelled, ignoring Kim Dokja entirely.
He was just under her in case she fell, but that wasn’t enough to reassure her.
She wasn’t the one to fall however.
“Gilyoung!!”
Joonghyuk whipped his head toward Dokja’s desperate cry, just in time to see him jump off and catch Gilyoung, both plummeting toward the ground. He closed his eyes, ignoring the screams of the others.
This isn’t real, they will be fine at the start of the next round.
When Joonghyuk looked down, he saw that Kim Dokja had surprisingly managed to cling back onto the wall with one hand and one foot, the other tightly secured around Gilyoung’s middle.
His shoulder looked dislocated even from there, but except for that, they seemed mostly fine. Lee Hyunsung quickly went down to the rescue, and they managed to reach the 74th story’s window more or less in one piece.
“This was one of your worst ideas,” Kim Dokja panted once they had all reached the 74th floor.
Joonghyuk said nothing, thinking about how they would have to do it again. He had to find a way to adjust it a bit more so they could do it safely by the last 100th round.
.
When Gilyoung fell during the next run, Dokja didn’t manage to get back on the wall.
.
[Number of runs achieved: 78/100]
From all the floors, Yoo Joonghyuk came to hate the 99th the most.
“Red Light!”
Everyone stopped, not moving an inch. A drop of sweat rolled down his neck, and he didn’t even dare blink.
“Green Light!”
Everyone sprung into action. They had to reach this hideous doll before the moving wall caught up to the kids.
“Red L-”
Yoo Jooghyuk was close enough to slash the doll’s neck before it could turn around.
“Everyone’s all right?” he asked, sheathing his sword.
The reason why he hated this floor so much was because of its unpredictability. This was a simple “Green Light, Red Light” game like they played when they were little. The problem was that unlike the other floors, the time between each Green Light and Red Light changed with each run. If they took too long, the slowly moving wall behind them would catch up and make them move. And if they moved during the ‘Red Light’ phase, the doll would shoot them. When they still had their abilities, moving fast enough was not a problem. And even if they were caught moving during the ‘Red Light’, they could avoid the bullets. Now they couldn’t anymore.
Lee Jihye was the first one to be killed like this.
At some point, Joonghyuk managed to find a way to bypass the censorship of the scenario. He still couldn’t say that this was a time loop, but he somehow managed to convince them that their death would be canceled if he cleared the scenario. Now that was one of the first things he told them at the beginning of each run, otherwise it was too hard to convince them to keep going when one of them died. Plus he was getting bored of the screams and the cries.
[Number of runs achieved: 79/100]
“Red Light!”
Everyone held their breath. Then that fool Kim Dokja stumbled on nothing.
“What th-”
PA-PA-PA.
Kim Dokja collapsed to the ground with a strangled cry.
“AHJUSSI!”
Shin Yoosung quickly followed.
Joonghyuk closed his eyes, waiting. Nobody else dared moving, but he knew they all wanted to scream.
“Green Light!”
He threw the dagger he had purchased right in the neck of the doll. It wouldn’t be able to turn around like this. Five seconds later, he had reached the door button, effectively deactivating the doll that was still trying to turn around, repeating the same word like a broken record.
“Red Li- RRed Li- RRed Li- RRed Li-”
Everyone was gathered at the same place. Joonghyuk looked down at the two corpses. Like this, it almost looked like Yoosung was sleeping peacefully with her parent. If it wasn’t for the pool of blood.
This isn’t real, they will be fine at the start of the next round.
[The Constellation ‘Master of The Clocktower’ is laughing]
“You!” Huiwon grabbed his collar, “you better not be lying when you say their death isn’t real.”
Joonghyuk made her let go with a glare. Was this real? He didn’t know.
He only knew they would be here at the start of the next round. But did that mean their death wasn’t real?
Joonghyuk climbed the stairs alone. He just had to get around the Final Boss and hit the Final Button.
.
[Number of runs achieved: 82/100]
“Red Light!”
Kim Dokja had been killed here the last two times as well. Joonghyuk didn’t understand how the man could be so clumsy. Everything would be going well, and then he would stumble for no reason, getting himself killed just like that. He didn’t look that inept before. Did that man really have nothing besides his stats?
“What th-”
PA-PA-PA
Again . This time, Kim Dokja was right next to him when he fell.
“Yoo… Joonghyuk…”
A whisper made him open his eyes. He couldn’t look but he was listening.
“It’s…It’s the Mast…the Master of The… Clock-”
“Green Light!”
Joonghyuk kneeled to his side.
“What about him?” he urgently asked.
Kim Dokja had been shot straight in the lungs. He struggled to breath, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
“The Tower… the tower moves.”
What?
The expression of Kim Dokja changed.
“Move. The wall.”
Joonghyuk looked up where he was pointing and sure enough, the wall had almost caught up to them.
“Yoo Joonghyuk, move!” Han Sooyoung snapped and he grabbed Kim Dokja by the waist, dragging him across the floor, ignoring his pained cry.
“What about the tower?”
“Red Light!”
“The Master will kill y-”
PA-PA-PA
Blood splattered on his cheek and Kim Dokja’s whole body went limp. The Doll had seen him talk.
“Green Light!”
Huiwon stopped the wall just before it could touch them.
.
[Number of runs achieved: 83/100]
“Green Light!”
They ran. Was the wall moving faster, or were they just slower? He could really feel himself weakening with each new run now.
“Red Light!”
Kim Dokja died.
“Green Light!”
They ran.
“Red Light!”
Lee Gilyoung died.
“Green Light!”
The more runs passed, the longer they took to reach the Doll, the more they died.
“Red Light!”
Joonghyuk did not stumble. That was a rule. He always had sure footing, not once had he stumbled in this scenario. But when the tile under his right foot moved, for the first time since a very long time, Yoo Joonghyuk lost balance.
So, this was what Kim Dokja meant when he said the tower was moving.
He was going to die here, and with him, all his companions. If he didn’t get to the top, they would all…
“MASTER!”
PA-PA-PA!
Jihye took the three bullets in her back, shielding him with her body. His heart stopped as she screamed, blood streaming down her body. Red, red, so bloody red. Joonghyuk moved without thinking, catching her before she could hit the ground, and she let out a shaky breath.
“Master… it’s my turn to protect you…”
“Protect Yoo Joonghyuk!” somebody shouted, but he could only cradle Jihye’s face in his bloodied hand.
She was a fool. And she was his disciple.
“It’s not the disciple’s role,” he struggled to let the words out, “to protect their Master.”
He was vaguely aware of people moving, even though he was pretty sure it was still a ‘Red Light’.
PA-PA-PA!
PA-PA-PA!
PA- !
Han Sooyoung was dead. Jung Huiwon was dead. Yoo Sangah was breathless, retrieving her dagger from the Doll’s eyes. How did she know the sensor was there?
“Joonghyuk-ssi, please get up. We still have to complete the 100th floor.”
How could he stay sane through this?
.
[Number of runs achieved: 84/100]
Shlack. Shlack. Shlack.
“What are you doing?” Kim Dokja asked curiously.
Joonghyuk spared him a glance before aiming again.
Shlack .
The knife lodged directly into the center of the cross he had drawn on the wall.
“I didn’t know you knew how to throw knives.”
Shlack .
The knife missed the mark, and he let out an annoyed sigh.
“Don’t you have to be a fool somewhere else?”
“Not until four,” the man replied easily, following when he went to retrieve his knives.
“ What do you want .”
He ripped a knife from the wall with a bit more strength than necessary.
“Can I know why we are staying here?”
They were currently in the first floor’s room. Most people were training. Han Sooyoung was lazing off. Yoo Sangah was sparring with Jung Huiwon, but he could feel her curious glances from time to time. She was the one who taught him how to throw knives, even if she couldn’t remember it.
“We only have 16% of our usual power,” he replied, weighing a knife in his hand. He vaguely noticed Shin Yoosung playing with the puppy. “It’s good to become familiar with our current strength.”
“Hm, that’s not like you to be so wis-”
“You too, you should practice your balance.”
“My bal-? My balance works just fine, thank you.”
The fool even started hopping on one foot to prove his point.
Joonghyuk went back to the mark on the ground. This was the exact distance between the starting line and the Doll. He gestured for Kim Dokja to back off if he didn’t want to get a new haircut, and the other man quickly complied. He aimed. Yoo Sangah’s gaze on his nape was back.
This time, he wouldn’t miss.
.
[Number of runs achieved: 85/100]
The last run had been perfect. Everything had gone so smoothly. They had gone through the window without any problem. He had nailed the Doll straight in the neck from the starting line. No one had died. They hadn’t even been injured, save for a few shallow cuts. It had really been the perfect run.
So why?
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”
“LEE GILYOUNG!”
“SHIN YOOSUNG, DON’T LOOK!!!”
…Why was this one such a disaster?!
They were only on the 18th floor. This one was easy if you knew what to do: the task was only to cross the room, without looking in ‘The Eye’ embedded in the wall. If you did, you would be burned. During the first runs, when he didn’t know how this floor worked, the burn was just a stinging sensation. It took him quite a few tries to even figure out what he was supposed to do in this room, except from suffering from a slight itch. With their current constitution however…
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”
Joonghyuk closed his eyes.
…the burn was fatal.
Kim Dokja gently cradled the kids' charred remains in his arms, and Joonghyuk left the room. He stopped in the poorly-lit stairs, punching the wall in frustration. It didn't make a dent.
Why? Why was this happening?? This floor had never been a problem before!
He only had fifteen runs left to make it perfect, and he thought he had managed to finally get it. But he had been wrong. If every floor could be this dreadful, how could they finish all of this alive? They couldn't.
“The ‘Master of The Clocktower’ is acting.”
Joonghyuk hadn’t noticed Kim Dokja had joined him in the stairs. He had never seen him so shaken.
“What do you mean?”
“Lee Gilyoung didn’t look up for no reason. The ground moved under his feet .”
Joonghyuk looked at Han Sooyoung and Yoo Sangah talking softly a few steps above them. All the others had perished on the 18th floor. Every one of them. In one single floor.
“Yoo Joonghyuk.” Something in Kim Dokja’s voice made him look up. “When you say they will be back… Are you really telling the truth?”
His eyes were grieving. For some reason, Joonghyuk couldn’t look away. He knew this pain.
“Listen to me Kim Dokja. I’m not like you. I don’t do reassurance. If I say they will be back, they will be back.”
Kim Dokja looked like he desperately wanted to believe him, but couldn't quite entirely. He looked a bit insane.
“You’re right,” Kim Dokja hid his face under his hair, and Joonghyuk knew he was trying to hide his tears. He looked away. “you don't do reassurance.” His voice wobbled. “What next?”
“The goal hasn’t changed. I have to reach the top.”
A few seconds passed. Joonghyuk could feel Yoo Sangah and Han Sooyoung's gaze on the back of his head. Kim Dokja’s voice was steady again when he spoke.
“I’ll help you.”
.
Yoo Sangah was sliced in half on the 46th floor and Han Sooyoung's spine was severed when a wooden mannequin crushed her in the wall on the 58th. And now it was only Kim Dokja and him. They still had 42 floors to clear. They had a real chance of not making it this time.
“You think too much.”
Kim Dokja was waiting for him at the top of the stairs, ready to enter the 59th floor.
“I told you, didn’t I? ” For someone who had looked utterly broken not even two hours ago, he was looking way too confident. “We can change the world.”
Joonghyuk caught up to his level, readying his sword.
“Let’s go.”
.
“Ah!”
Yoo Joonghyuk acted instinctively, catching his arm. Kim Dokja managed to stick back to the wall, breathing fast.
Joonghyuk knew he should not have done this. If he had lost his footing trying to help him, they would have both fallen, and that would have been the end. He didn’t say it aloud however, and neither did Kim Dokja.
“Thank you.”
Joonghyuk nodded, and they resumed climbing.
.
Yoo Joonghyuk’s mental barriers had never been too good. He had gotten some useful skills over time, but they had been the first to crumble as the scenario had progressed.
Joonghyuk pushed the 84th floor’s door open, bracing himself for the usual vision of Mia chained to a rock, begging him to save her. But he knew that the closer he stepped to her, the farther she would seem. He had stayed trapped in this room for what felt like hours once, until the others forcibly shoved him out of the floor.
The room was dark, and Kim Dokja looked around with a frown. Yoo Joonghyuk grabbed his arm and forced him to walk, keeping his eyes trained on the floor.
“Joonghyuk-ah…”
Yoo Joonghyuk froze. It was not Yoo Mia.
“Joonghyuk-ah, why do you keep going?”
He didn’t want to look up. He didn’t want to look up, because it wasn’t real.
Pale hands gently cupped his face, tilting his chin up. This was not Lee Seolhwa. Lee Seolhwa had not come with them in this scenario. Lee Seolhwa of the 3rd regression didn’t look at him like this, because she had forgotten their life together.
“Why do you keep going?” she repeated softly, meeting his eyes with such compassion that he couldn’t avoid her gaze. “It’s too painful. You should stay here with me.”
“What’s too painful?” Kim Dokja asked, and he had almost forgotten that he was here as well.
“Losing them, Dokja-ssi.”
Laughter in the distance drew their attention to a small group of persons. They could see the children playing, Yoo Sangah chatting with them, while the other adults were laughing. Shin Yoosung waved at them.
“Don’t you want to stay here with them? You’re safe here.”
“No thanks.”
Kim Dokja didn’t even hesitate, a small smile on his lips. If Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t know him, he would say he didn’t look hurt in the slightest. The group in the distance started to look hazy.
“Come on, Yoo Joonghyuk, we’re getting out of here.”
“You really think they will come back?” Lee Seolhwa said, and Dokja stopped in his tracks. “The dead won’t come back to life at the end of this scenario, Dokja-ssi, and you know it.”
“I trust Yoo Joonghyuk,” he answered, and it would be touching if he looked like he meant it, if he didn’t avoid his gaze. “And what I know doesn’t seem to be accurate anymore. Let’s go.”
The group behind them had disappeared.
Lee Seolhwa grabbed Dokja’s arm, and he looked ready to just push her away when she spoke:
“Joonghyuk-ah,” she whispered, a hand snaking on Kim Dokja’s torso, “I know you don’t want to keep going. I know you don’t want to see him die in your arms again. Do you?”
Kim Dokja raised surprised eyes toward him, but he could only see the same empty, lifeless eyes staring up at him as blood continued to flow on his hands. The same body torn apart, so, so heavy in his arms.
He didn’t want to experience that again.
“I…”
“We're going.”
Kim Dokja shook off the woman on his shoulder and grabbed him by the arm, a bit more tightly than needed.
“You'll die, Kim Dokja,” Seolhwa warned behind them, but Dokja didn’t slow down.
“Don't listen to them, Yoo Joonghyuk,” he maintained, dragging him toward the door with a closed face. Joonhyuk didn't know why this man always seemed so impervious to this kind of thing. “It's not real.”
Yoo Jonghyuk glanced back at the blurred figure of Lee Seolhwa without a word.
Was it not?
.
“Hey, Yoo Joonghyuk. What does ‘Runner’ mean?”
Joonghyuk paused at the 79th step of the stairs. That was the first time Kim Dokja asked.
“Why are you asking me this.”
Kim Dokja shrugged, but he didn't look casual at all.
“Forget it.”
Yoo Joonghyuk had long stopped wondering how this man knew all of this.
.
“First an elephant, and now this!!” Kim Dokja yelled, running as quickly as he could, a charging rhinoceros after him. The one that had caused his first death.
Well, they wouldn’t be in this situation if this fool hadn’t waved his coat around like a flag. If they died because of this…
“Open the door!”
Joonghyuk pressed the button and the door opened.
“Ruuun!”
“Wha-?”
Kim Dokja grabbed his arm without slowing down, and they raced up the stairs. The rhino was still chasing them.
“Can it do that?”
That was the first time he saw one element of a floor getting out of said floor.
“Obviously it can!” Kim Dokja screamed, slamming open the door to the 89th floor. He pulled him at his side at the last moment. Carried by its momentum, the rhinoceros didn’t manage to stop, triggering most of the traps of the floor. A chainsaw even bounced off its thick skin. The charging animal only stopped when it fell into a deep pit full of spikes.
They both stared at the collection of weapons dangling from the ceiling or the walls, now useless.
“Well, I guess that makes it easier for this floor.”
Yoo Joonghyuk could only stare. At this rate, it would be pure luck if they reached the 100th floor.
.
“What are those ??”
A couple more crap-looking items appeared above them, falling on their faces, one even landed in his hair. They stunk .
“Lyngbya of the Deepest Sea.”
That didn’t even mean anythi-
“They produce a lot of gas so let’s be quick.”
Kim Dokja kicked open the door to the 94th floor, tossed his hundreds of rotten-egg-smelling, crap-looking seaweed in the room and then closed the door.
“ What are you doing ?”
“You told me it was a hydra behind this door,” he replied as if it explained everything. It explained nothing.
He had also told him they had to cut off all its heads then to cut off all its heads and then cauterize each neck to stop them from growing back. And he definitely remembered also telling him that they obviously couldn’t do that with just the two of them, and 15% of power left.
“We don’t have to cut its heads. We can directly burn it,” Kim Dokja explained, “hydra aren't fire resistant as far as I know.”
…Maybe it could work.
However, there was a major flaw in this plan: even if the room was full of flammable gas, they still needed a spark.
Some of his skills and attributes resisted the restriction of his capacities better than others. The ones that were there from the start were faring fairly well. The others… not so much.
“My power is too weakened to light a fire,” he reluctantly admitted.
Kim Dokja stared at him for a few seconds, before raising a box of matches with a deadpan expression.
“...”
“...”
“Right.”
Kim Dokja lit the match and threw it into the room, quickly closing the door again.
.
“Green Light!”
They had reached the 99th floor.
Joonghyuk ran a few meters before stopping, and prepared his knife. He was far enough from the moving wall, and close enough to the Doll to hit the target.
“Red Light!”
Yoo Joonghyuk waited with bated breath, never taking his eyes off his target. Kim Dokja was holding still on his left, slightly ahead. The only source of sound was the moving wall slowly creeping toward them.
“Green Light!”
Now .
His arm moved on its own, thr-
“Red Light!”
Wha-?!
“YOO JOONGHYUK!!!”
PA-PA-PA!
Everything happened too quickly. One moment, the Doll had just started the Green period, the next, Kim Dokja was falling in a flurry of blood. They both crashed on the ground, Kim Dokja landing on top of him.
“Y-”
“ Don't move .”
Yoo Joonghyuk could only stare at the ceiling without seeing it. This had never happened. He had cleared this floor 85 times, but this hadn't happened even once. The Doll always left at least four seconds between each ‘Green Light’ and ‘Red Light’. This time it hadn't even been one.
This was too fast for him to aim properly, let alone still his arm. But not fast enough to stop Kim Dokja from shielding him with his body.
He could feel his ragged breath, feel his warm blood seeping onto his chest. Too much, way too much blood.
Joonghyuk felt his eyes sting. He wasn't capable of saving any of his companions.
Even him, he-
“Green Light!”
His knife flew the moment the Doll had its back turned. Despite his blurry vision, he didn’t miss this time.
“Our companions… you’ll bring them back, right?…” a faint voice said, and Joonghyuk carefully turned Kim Dokja over in his arms.
“I told you. I don’t lie.”
His blood was everywhere. On the floor, staining his white coat and cheeks, on Joonghyuk’s hands.
“Our lives are in your hands then…”
Stop…
“Stop doing this.”
Stop…
Kim Dokja closed his eyes, furrowing his brows in pain, but a small smile was on his lips. Joonghyuk hated that expression.
“Had to, didn't I? You are the one who needs to reach the top.”
Stop…
Joonghyuk closed his eyes, biting his lips until he could taste blood.
Stop dying in my arms…
Burning tears escaped his closed eyelids, gently rolling down his cheeks.
“Yoo Joonghyuk, are you… are you crying?”
Kim Dokja still had the strength to sound baffled. Joonghyuk hated him. He hated him so much.
His arms cradled Dokja closer, holding him tighter. Maybe he was hurting him. He didn’t care.
“Shut up.”
When he dared to open his eyes, Dokja was looking at him with surprised softness. A faint smile formed on his lips, but his last words weren't above a whisper.
“… Is this …even real?”
Life slowly seeped out of Dokja’s eyes. The wall was still edging closer in their back. Joonghyuk gently moved a few bloodied strands away from his forehead, before carefully lowering his body on the ground.
“You’re right.” He laughed through the tears. He was losing his mind. “None of this is real.”
Joonghyuk climbed the stairs alone. He just had to get around the Final Boss and hit the Final Button.
.
[Welcome to ‘The Clocktower’]
[ <Hidden Scenario - The Wheel of Time>
Category: Hidden
Difficulty: A
Clear Condition: Reach the 100th floor of the Clocktower and press the Final Button
Time Limit: -
Reward: Escaping the Clocktower, 10 000 coins
Penalty for failure: Death
*due to scenario restriction, you can only access 14% of your power ]
[You are the Runner of your group!
Number of runs achieved: 86/100]
This time, Yoo Joonghyuk made a decision. He wouldn’t tell anyone that they would be back if they died. He wouldn’t tell anyone he was the one that had to reach the top. Because no one would die on this round. Especially not sacrificing themselves for him. Kim Dokja would never understand this choice, but he wasn’t Kim Dokja.
For once, he didn't lead the group. Until now, he made sure to warn everyone of the next danger, telling them how to avoid them and what awaited them at each floor. But now, he wasn’t sure he actually knew the right way to do. There were still some things he imposed on the group for some floors (“Are blindfolds really necessary?” “Yes. Shut up, Kim Dokja”), but most of the time, his companions came up with solutions on their own.
“Why don't we use the rope we had on the 43th floor?”
“I can't throw the grappling hook so far away.”
The “yes, we have to go through this window and climb this wall that is so high up you can barely see the ground, using these disgusting shoes” moment was always a delicate one. But if he didn’t convince them now, they would have to go to the 72nd floor, realize by themselves they couldn’t do it, then come all the way back here. If they managed to reach the 72nd floor in the first place.
“We don't have to throw it. We just need one of us to climb using your nice-looking shoes and the rope, while the others secure them from here. Then we all climb one by one, secured by the rope . Have you never been rock-climbing before?”
Jung Heewon talked like he was stupid, and he was about to retort something when it dawned on him that he was, in fact, stupid.
In the end, it was Lee Hyunsung that went first. Climbing this damn tower had never been so easy.
.
“What are you doing.”
The 77th floor was not too bad. There was a boulder coming straight toward them, and you just had to avoid getting crushed. After a few turns, the boulder would eventually crash into a wall and stop moving - Yoo Joonghyuk suspected the rock to be the same one as the 72nd floor ( [The constellation ‘Master of the Clocktower’ says that it’s called recycling]).
This was the first time he noticed Kim Dokja trying to break the boulder with his sword.
“This is not any rock, you know,” Kim Dokja showed him the small rock he had extracted. “It comes straight from Tartarus. I bet I can sell it when we finish this tower.”
[Name: Rock from Tartarus!
Category: E
Description: this is really just a rock
(but from Tartarus).]
Yoo Joonghyuk doubted it, but Kim Dokja always did as he liked. There was no use trying to stop him. This rock wouldn't be in his pocket the next run anyway.
.
“Fuck this rhino!”
“Language!”
Han Sooyoung was the one chased this time, and she was doing a stellar job. A few seconds later, the rhinoceros was in the spiked pit of the 89th floor, and most of the traps had been activated.
“See? It wasn't that hard.”
“Fuck you, Kim Dokja.”
.
“Green Light!”
Yoo Joonghyuk threw a knife. Again. And again the floor moved under his feet. The knife lodged itself in the back of the Doll. At this point, it was getting really frustrating, Yoo Sangah would reach the Doll before he managed to nail its neck with a knife.
There had been five ‘Red Lights’ already, but none of them had been eliminated yet. The Master of the Clocktower was just messing with him, moving the floor under his feet each time he aimed a knife, but otherwise remaining silent.
“Yah, Yoo Joonghyuk! I thought you knew what you were doing!”
“Red Light!”
Next time, he wouldn’t miss.
Seconds ticked by, and soon one minute had passed. Then two. It was starting to get really long. Yoo Joonghyuk kept his focus on the neck of the Doll, feeling the knife in his hands. He was worried: the Master of the Clocktower hadn't really intervened in this run yet. Sure, he liked to move the floor under his feet, but never during a Red Light. Never had he put them in danger yet, and that was just not in character. If he wanted to act, he had to do it now, because Yoo Sangah would reach the Doll next round.
Yoo Joonghyuk was aware of Kim Dokja to his left. If the Master of the Clocktower tried to kill someone, it would be him. Among all his companions, the Master of the Clocktower would almost always go after Kim Dokja.
Almost right on cue, Yoo Joonghyuk heard the subtle sound of the floor moving on his left.
“Wh-”
Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t know whether he threw the knife first or dragged Kim Dokja to the floor. He heard the ‘PA-PA-PA’ but after that, his ears were ringing. Only the feeling of Kim Dokja alive and breathing under him counted. A quick glance confirmed that the knife had reached the Doll's neck. Yoo Sangah had pushed the button and everybody was now gathering in their direction.
Yoo Joonghyuk turned his attention back toward Kim Dokja.
“Are you hurt?!?”
His hands were hovering over his body, not quite daring to touch, afraid of finding blood staining the man's dark shirt.
“I'm fine.”
His eyes kept roaming on his figure, but he didn't seem to be lying. None of the bullets had reached him. It had been so close, what if he had-
He didn’t even register when Kim Dokja grabbed his wrist.
“Yoo Joonghyuk, I'm fine,” he repeated in a soft voice.
Joonghyuk raised his head, meeting Dokja’s concerned gaze, and he didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know how to justify his behavior.
By then, all of their companions had joined them, but it was Jung Huiwon who noticed first.
“Yoo Joonghyuk, your leg…”
He had barely felt it at first, but now that he knew that Kim Dokja was safe, it fucking hurt. The bullet hadn’t passed through; it remained in his thigh, throbbing with each movement.
“Master! You've been shot!!!” Lee Jihye exclaimed, as if he didn’t know , and Kim Dokja whipped his head toward his leg with a bewildered expression.
“I can walk,” he said, getting up. His leg wobbled slightly, but he managed to stay upright.
To his annoyance, both Kim Dokja and Lee Jihye grabbed one of his arms to pass it over their shoulder. It was unnecessary really. Not to say his leg would be perfectly fine once he pressed the button on the next floor.
“Let us help,” Kim Dokja said before he could complain, looking straight ahead. He knew this expression, it was one of guilt. Yoo Joonghyuk sighed and let them.
.
“Here, don’t move, we’ll take care of it.”
“Wait, Kim Dokja-hgh!”
Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t have time to complain before he was unceremoniously dropped on his ass. He would have thought Lee Jihye at least would have shown more compassion for his wounded leg.
The final boss spawned and everybody surrounded him of common accord. Everybody but Kim Dokja who was rushing to the side. His heart stopped beating when he saw him activating his weakened ‘Ways of the Wind’ toward…
“Kim Dokja, don’t press this button!!!” he shouted, but the bastard completely ignored him, remaining unnoticed by the final boss. At this rate, he…
“Don’t move Master, we only have to stall until Ahjussi makes it!”
Yoo Joonhyuk didn’t reply to Jihye, trying to get up, leaning heavily against the wall. If he didn’t stop this fool…
"For once in your life, Kim Dokja!" he shouted, and his leg gave out under him, making him crash onto the floor. When he raised his head, he saw Kim Dokja's hands hovering over the button, but he hadn't pressed it yet. "Just for once, listen to me. Do not press this button."
From the other side of the room, Kim Dokja’s eyes were locked on his.
Please don’t do this. We are so close.
If Kim Dokja pressed this button, he would become the new ‘Runner’ and have to start everything from the beginning.
Don’t sacrifice yourself again, I only have thirteen runs left, but you… You’ll have to watch us die again and again. Don’t do this.
He could read the hesitation in his eyes, the hesitation of someone who always thinks he knows best, realizing that maybe, just maybe, he doesn’t. Somewhere to his right, Jung Huiwon barely avoided the huge axe of the final boss.
Finally, Kim Dokja made his decision and retracted his hand.
"So what then? What do we do?"
Yoo Joonghyuk was up again, his leg shaking but holding on.
“Help me.”
The final boss tried to swing his axe toward him, and Lee Jihye and Lee Hyungsung blocked it in time.
"Is it because you're the 'Runner'?"
Han Sooyoung sent a clone his way, and he arrived in front of the final button in less than a minute.
“I’ll get us out of this hell,” he promised and Kim Dokja deflected a rock that was sent flying toward them.
“We’re counting on you.”
He pressed the button.
[Welcome to ‘The Clocktower’]
[ <Hidden Scenario - The Wheel of Time>
Category: Hidden
Difficulty: A
Clear Condition: Reach the 100th floor of the Clocktower and press the Final Button
Time Limit: -
Reward: Escaping the Clocktower, 10 000 coins
Penalty for failure: Death
*due to scenario restriction, you can only access 1% of your power ]
[You are the Runner of your group!
Number of runs achieved: 99/100]
That was it. This had to be the perfect run.
One
They stayed for a long time on the first floor. One percent of power wasn’t a lot but Yoo Joonghyuk was persuaded they could make it. He had spent the last ten runs perfecting a strategy that required the least power possible, and the last four runs had been nearly perfect. No, the problem wasn’t whether they had the capacity to complete the 100 floors, because they did. The problem was whether or not the Master of the Clocktower would act up.
Two
Nobody fell into any traps. Yoo Joonghyuk could walk through this floor in his sleep.
Three
They let Lee Gilyoung score the goal, even if he had to try four times. Yoo Joonghyuk had to remind himself not to seem too stressed. If they wanted to have fun, he should let them; after all, they would keep their memories of this run. That didn’t mean he stopped the ball rolling at his feet when Gilyoung sent it flying into the ceiling on his third try.
.
.
.
Eleven
The lizards were just bothersome at this point. He let Shin Yoosung take the laser and aim it at the wall, but not without warning her to keep it safe as they would need it quite a few times during their ascent. He ignored Lee Gilyoung “see hyung, they think it’s an insect!” and pressed the button.
.
.
.
Sixteen
“Are blindfolds really necessary?”
“Yes. Shut up, Kim Dokja.”
.
.
.
Twenty-three
One thing Yoo Joonghyuk had noticed during this run, was that Kim Dokja looked more confident than during all the previous ones. The more runs passed, the more everybody was dumbfounded when they read the scenario window, and in particular the percentage of power they could use. Jung Huiwon would ask “why this number” each time it wasn’t a multiple of five, and Kim Dokja would have this confused expression. But not this time. This time he looked…normal. He had been more reserved lastly, but now he was back to his usual self: confident and annoying. Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t care enough to say something about it.
.
.
.
Twenty-nine
They all heard the loud crash, followed by deafening alarms, and then Kim Dokja’s voice.
“I’M OKAY! ”
Someone give him strength.
.
.
.
Thirty-six
The Master of the Clocktower still hadn’t acted up. Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t know if it was good news.
.
.
.
Forty-three
“Ouch-”
“Han Sooyoung, you didn’t just try to jump on top of this cliff did you?”
“Shut up.”
“Maybe we could climb on each other and make a pyram-”
“I have a rope with a grappling hook.”
.
.
.
Forty-six
“Careful with the axe!”
The Master of the Clocktower was still silent.
.
.
.
Fifty-eight
“What’s with these wooden mannequins? Creeeepy… Oh fuck they move!”
.
.
.
Sixty-five
Kim Dokja still looked at his phone as much as during every other run, but not like it had personally offended him anymore.
.
.
.
Seventy
The thirty-six octopushoes fell on the floor, and Yoo Joonghyuk swore he'd never use them again once they were out.
.
.
.
Seventy-four
Lee Jihye's shaking legs finally touched the ground and she slumped on the floor.
“Never again.”
Yoo Joonghyuk agreed.
.
.
.
Seventy-seven
“This is not any rock, it comes from Tartarus. I think it could sell w-”
“No.”
.
.
.
Eighty-one
“An elephant? …seriously? The wooden mannequins were scarie- Ok, never mind.”
.
.
.
Eighty-four
“Kim Dokja, you go first.”
“... why?”
.
.
.
Eighty-eight
“First an elephant, and now this !!!”
.
.
.
Ninety-one
The Master of the Clocktower still hadn’t made a move. Yoo Joonghyuk was feeling uneasy.
.
.
.
Ninety-five
“What are those ?? It stinks !!”
.
.
.
Ninety-eight
Yoo Joonghyuk tried not to think about the next floor.
.
.
.
Ninety-nine
“Green Light!”
Schlack
The knife reached the Doll’s neck on the first try. And it bounced back.
“..what?”
He still had four knives in his other hand. He threw a second, and then a third. He was absolutely sure they all hit their target, but in the end they all ended up on the floor.
“Red Light!”
[The Constellation ‘Master of the Clocktower’ is asking if you really thought it would be this easy]
No one moved. They could all hear the wall edging closer behind them, but Yoo Joonghyuk tried to think. The Master of the Clocktower didn’t make him miss. He hadn’t been completely sure the first time, but the problem wasn’t his aim or his strength. The Doll had been reinforced. Which meant they had to reach the button to deactivate, and this, Yoo Joonghyuk wasn’t sure they could do. With their current stats, if the Master of the Clocktower didn’t intervene, one of them would reach this button eventually. But not before one of the kids was caught by the wall. The Master of the Clocktower actually didn’t need to do anything.
“Green Light!”
Then they had to run and hope that the kids would survive long enough.
“Fuck!”
Joonghyuk’s feet faltered when he heard Lee Jihye’s cry.
“Master, don’t stop!”
She had twisted her ankle on the 86th floor but had insisted she was fine, but now it had come back to bite her in the ass. The wall would reach her at the next ‘Red Light’. Yoo Joonghyuk thought about the 84th run with horror, except that this time she wouldn’t come back. He saw Yoo Sangah running with all she had, but she wouldn’t make it in time. He turned around and rushed toward her. He wouldn’t make it.
“Red Ligh-”
Yoo Joonghyuk threw a knife but didn’t stop to see if it had reached its target, shielding Lee Jihye with his body. It was the master’s role to protect their disciple.
The pain didn’t come. When he dared to look up, he saw his knife lodged in the button. He breathed a sigh of relief.
One hundred
Yoo Joonghyuk opened the last door. Everything was quiet on this floor, but he knew the final boss would spawn as soon as they set foot in the room. He checked everyone was ready, with Lee Jihye in the back, and they went in.
(The Master of the Clocktower still hadn’t made his move.)
Nothing happened. Nothing spawned in the middle of the room like the ninety-nine other times, but Kim Dokja knew where to look. He followed his gaze to a place in the shadows, until an old man calmly emerged. He had never seen this man. He didn’t seem particularly fearsome, but Yoo Joonghyuk tensed. This last run had to be perfect. He had trained for these one hundred floors a hundred times, and had planned for every possibility. What he hadn't planned however, was for a floor to change completely.
“Yoo Joonghyuk, you should step back.”
He grasped his sword tighter as the old man started to speak.
“Welcome everyone! Welcome to my tower! I hope you liked it…” he sang, his eyes turned to him as he said the last sentence.
Yoo Joonghyuk didn't hesitate and rushed toward him, his sword ready to strike.
“Wait, Yoo Joonghyuk-!”
The old man grinned as his head was about to be chopped off and suddenly unleashed his status. Yoo Joonghyuk felt himself flying before his back crashed into a wall, knocking the breath out of him. A sharp pain in his stomach made him cry out.
…what?
What was that?
He felt what must be blood dripping on his forehead, and his vision blurred.
They couldn't… with their current stats, they couldn't defeat him, and it was the first time he fought this Constellation: he didn’t know his weakness.
The Master of the Clocktower slowly made his way toward him, still smiling with his bone-chilling grin.
“You really thought you could cheat death with no consequences?” he asked with a cheerful face, “you and that Demon King of Salvation… You like to cheat death so easily… I was like you at first.”
Han Sooyoung went for his neck, but with a single move of the arm, the old man sent her flying.
“You cannot cheat death. You have to be punished.”
If this was his reasoning, it was no wonder he kept targeting Kim Dokja. The man had cheated death too many times to count. As for him, the smile on the Constellation's face told him he had just waited his last run to make him pay. They were trapped.
“Sisyphus.”
The old man’s smile widened as he faced Kim Dokja.
“Oh? So you know who I am?”
This fool, what was he trying to achieve? They couldn’t beat him like this. Not him, not Kim Dokja, not even their whole company together. They had had trouble facing a rhinoceros for hell sake, a Constellation of this caliber could crush them. Now he only had to reach this button by miracle.
“I heard you didn’t like me,” this arrogant fool said, and he could see the company ready to attack around Kim Dokja, “then why don’t we fight one on one?”
Yoo Joonghyuk wanted to punch him.
“Kim Dokja,” he rasped, but he knew the man could hear him, “what are you trying to do, you can’t take him…”
“Yoo Joonghyuk, you can rest now. You’ve done your part, now I can do mine,” he assured, and the Master of the Clocktower laughed.
“You didn’t hear him?” he said to Kim Dokja, “I am Sisyphus , I rolled a boulder up a mountain in Tartarus again and again, for thousands of years. You cannot beat me.”
Kim Dokja had the audacity to smile in Joonghyuk’s direction. When he talked, he was not addressing Sisyphus.
“Did you forget who I was?” he said as he took something out of his pocket. It was a small rock. Yoo Joonghyuk recognized the part of the boulder of the 77th floor that this fool always took. He watched while trying to suppress his pain, as Kim Dokja lifted the rock toward the Master of the Clocktower with a grin. “ I am the heir of the Underworld .”
[‘Stage transformation’ is activating!]
.
I watched as the scenery around us changed, plunging us into Tartarus. Well, a very realistic rendition of Tartarus. It was only me and Sisyphus, I couldn't see the others and I wondered if they could still see us. Sisyphus didn't look so good.
“You! You can't send me back there.”
“I can, and I am,” I answered confidently.
Yoo Joonghyuk entered the scenario ‘Wheel Of Time’ only once in TWSA, and it coincidentally was a regression where he also was the heir of the Underworld. I only had to take his place.
I rolled the small rock between my fingers.
“How many times?”
Sisyphus looked more and more sick, looking around him in unease.
“How many times what?”
I broke a small piece of the rock and sent it flying toward the other constellation. Thanks to ‘Stage transformation’, it was as if I had regained all my stats, and the leg of Sisyphus was crushed by the impact. He fell on the ground with a loud cry and I stepped closer.
“How many times did Yoo Joonghyuk have to clear your god forsaken tower?”
Despite his crushed leg, Sisyphus still had the audacity to grin at me, but I was pretty pissed. Another tiny piece of the rock tore his left arm off.
“You figured it out then?
To be honest, I didn't understand at first. Why Yoo Joonghyuk seemed so changed when we entered the tower, not physically but mentally . How he knew everything, and this term on his character description: the ‘Runner’.
In the version of Twsa, this scenario was a tower full of small traps and low-grade monsters. The trick was that you could only use 1% of your powers given by the Star Stream. Yoo Joonghyuk cleared the scenario with only his mentor Namgung Minyoung and Breaking the Sky Sword Master. His mentor being a half giant, she easily carried the scenario, possessing amazing stats to begin with. They relied on her, and sometimes on clever tricks. Yoo Joonghyuk used ‘Stage transformation’ to beat the Master of the Clocktower on the last floor, and that was it.
But this constellation was Sisyphus, condemned to repeat the same task infinitely, and the name of the scenario was “The Wheel of Time ''. This couldn't be a coincidence, there had to be more to this scenario than what appeared in Twsa. And the more he observed Yoo Joonghyuk's behavior, the more he was convinced this scenario was a time loop. A time loop only Yoo Joonghyuk had memories of. For someone who had a regression stigma, he didn’t look like he handled it very well.
Sisyphus chuckled and I broke the rock into three new pieces.
“This was supposed to be the last, the hundredth.”
I stayed my hand.
“Supposed?” I echoed and the old man grinned once more.
I blew up his other leg.
“Didn't you notice?” Sisyphus chuckled. He was obviously in intense pain but the pure glee on his face made him look manic. “Your Runner is dying…”
I snapped my head toward where I thought Yoo Joonghyuk was, but the ‘Stage Transformation’ stopped us from seeing anything.
…
Obviously this bastard was messing with me.
“Don't make me laugh, he is not someone that can die that easily.”
“Maybe not with his usual constitution, but he is not exactly in great shape right now, is he?” he said, and I felt cold sweat in my back.
Could it be that I overlooked what I thought was a small injury? With only 1% of his constitution…
I grabbed the old man by the collar.
“Tell me how to get out of this tower! Now!”
The Master of the Clocktower grinned and I had the sinking feeling everything went according to his plans.
“If your Runner presses the button, you will all get out.”
[The exclusive skill 'Lie Detection Lv. 1' is activated.]
[You have confirmed that the statement is true.]
I didn’t want to waste more time and was about to cancel ‘Stage transformation’ but Sisyphus stopped me.
“Even if you get out of this tower and his stats are restored, it is too late. He won't survive.”
What kind of bullshit was that?! Was he basically telling me nothing could be done? He didn’t know Yoo Joonghyuk. He didn’t know him like I do. The bastard would definitely survive. We just had to hurry.
“You won’t get what you want like that, Demon King of Salvation. But do you know there is a way to save him?”
…
“How?” I asked. Maybe he was just trying to stall for some time, but if he really had a way…
“If you create a new loop, the dead come back to life. This is your Runner last chance, but if you change the Runner of your group, then you'll get back to the first run… with everyone alive. You just have to be the one pressing the button.”
[The exclusive skill 'Lie Detection Lv. 1' is activated.]
[You have confirmed that the statement is true.]
The Master of the Clocktower laughed out loud in front of my conflicted expression.
With one flick of the wrist, I sent the last piece of rock in his face and his laugh turned into his dying breath. As the ‘Stage transformation’ disappeared, I couldn't stop seeing his last look in my direction. The look of someone who knew he had won.
I only needed one glance toward Yoo Joonghyuk to know that Sisyphus was telling the truth. He was dying. I went for the last button.
.
The blood didn't stop. It was on his hands, on his shirt, everywhere. Yoo Joonghyuk had thought it would be alright at first, but he had to admit this wasn't looking good.
Dokja and the Master of the Clocktower had disappeared inside a black mist, and he was sitting there, useless. The rest of the company was not too far, ready to attack should Sisyphus reappear, but Yoo Joonghyuk only thought about reaching the final button.
“Master, don't move, we'll take care of this,” Lee Jihye assured with confidence.
She didn't know that he couldn’t feel his lower body at all. She didn't know his organs were shutting down and everything below his shoulders hurt like hell. He missed his normal stats.
When Kim Dokja emerged from the dissolving mist, Sisyphus’s head and limbs were blown off. Their eyes met for a few seconds before Kim Dokja turned around, and he realized what the other man was about to do.
“Don't…” he tried, but the sound of his voice was too weak to reach anyone.
This was over. He couldn’t stop Kim Dokja from pressing the button. Even if his voice reached him, Kim Dokja wouldn't listen. This sacrificial bastard. He was so sure he could handle this scenario a hundred times over, but he couldn't.
Kim Dokja, you can’t handle this. You’ll have to see us die again and again. Don’t do it.
Was it because he knew Yoo Joonghyuk wouldn’t remember this moment once he had gotten his hands on this damn button? Kim Dokja stopped and looked at him with a sad smile.
“I can handle it.”
Then he turned around.
Yoo Joonghyuk felt his eyes prickle because of the pain, and of another emotion he couldn’t quite describe. He lowered his eyes on his bloody hands. His useless bloody hands still holding a knife. In the end, he really had done all of this for nothing.
…his useless bloody hands still holding a knife.
Kim Dokja was about to press that damn button, and Joonghyuk didn’t pause to think.
“YOO JOONGHYUK NO!”
Maybe this was the real reason he had to learn how to throw knives. Yoo Joonghyuk just had the time to see his knife reach the button before blacking out.
.
.
.
“Get him to Lee Seolhwa!”
“Hurry!”
“He's losing too much blood!”
“You have to open your eyes! Lee Hyunsung, help me lift him!”
He could recognize this voice anywhere.
“Please, open your eyes, you’re important to me, you piece of shit!”
…
“Don’t die now.”
.
.
.
Yoo Joonghyuk slowly opened his eyes. The window of the infirmary was open, the curtains gently billowing with the breeze. He could hear people talking somewhere, and birds outside.
Everything hurt. Everything hurt, but he had to check.
His attribute window popped open and his eyes went directly to the line at the bottom. The line that wasn’t here anymore.
Yoo Joonghyuk leaned back in his pillows, and he must have made too much noise because he heard Yoo Sangah’s voice saying he was awake. He closed his eyes as the door opened, but he didn’t hide his smile.
He was no longer the ‘Runner’. They had made it.
They had gotten out.