SSS-Class Revival Hunter
Chapter 229: Hatred (2)

Chapter 229: Hatred (2)

[Choose a Skill Card.]

The moment I stretched out my hand to snatch a card, fingers much shorter than mine intertwined with my own, stopping me.

“You can’t do that, Mr. Gong-Ja.”

“What?”

“That’s no fun. You’ve provoked me this far, so you can’t embarrass yourself like this.”

Goosebumps crawled down my spine. Her fingers felt weightless, just like air. A warm, cool, fog-like sensation gnawed at my hand.

“What do you mean?”

“Haha.”

Amethyst’s breath was just as weightless as her fingers. Every time she came closer to whisper, her breath gently nibbled on my ear.

“You showed me your first Skill Card and told me to give you a reward. But see, it says right there on the card.”

Amethyst tapped the card in my hand with her fingernails. The golden card trembled as if electrified by her.

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!

Amethyst giggled like a girl playing a naughty prank. “Look, Mr. Gong-Ja. It’s written here pretty clearly, isn’t it? Here... No, not there. Here. At the very end, it clearly says, ‘The Skill you copy will be chosen at random.’ Mr. Gong-Ja, you told me to give you my Skill according to the Tower’s rules.”

Perhaps this was the most innocent side of Amethyst she could show.

“Please follow the rules.”

She snapped her fingers. LIke fireflies startled by the sound of firecrackers, the golden cards scattered, then blended into flames. Amethyst leaned onto my arm and whispered, “Random. I don’t mind if you take a piece of my flesh, but please follow the Tower’s fair laws and randomly decide which part of my flesh you’re going to take.”

I looked up. In the night sky, nine golden fireflies were constantly flying around. Now that the star sign was gone, each card became a comet as it flew across the night sky, leaving behind long trails.

“It’s been smooth sailing until now, hasn’t it? You met Mr. Sword Emperor, and he read you all the cards, telling you which Skill Cards you should pick. All you did was choose one as if you were asked by an ice cream vendor what flavor you wanted. But all good moments must come to an end someday.”

Her purple eyes stared back at me. No mirror was probably as clear as her eyes. I could only see the veils of her purple eyes at best.

Beyond them, there were endless reflections of her eyes. A mirror reflected another mirror, which reflected the mirror in the first mirror. The mirror reflected in the first mirror reflected back the second mirror... Purple mirrors...

“Now let’s leave it up to your luck.”

Before I knew it, I was stuck staring. Once I faced Amethyst’s eyes, it became impossible to turn my head anywhere else, as if I had been caught in a cleverly set trap. The purple eyes reflected my eyes, and my eyes reflected those purple eyes, which once again reflected my eyes back at me...

Snap out of it!

If I stayed like this, I would become like a statue who could only stare into Amethyst’s eyes indefinitely.

I nodded. “All right. I’ll do as you say, but I’ll choose whatever Skill I want.”

“Hahaha.”

“But let’s set the rules first.”

“What are they going to be?” Amethyst inquired.

“First of all, I’ll never look at the front of the cards unless you show them to me.”

“Yes, well. That’s a given but commendable.”

I stared at Amethyst as I strengthened my vision with my aura. “But, when I grab a card, please don’t treat it like I chose it.”

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“I would like you to allow me time to look at the back of the card, touch it, and examine it a bit. Oh, I’ll never see the front anyway. Still, if I turn the card over and see the description, you can just cancel this whole thing.”

Amethyst smiled coquettishly. “Hmm... I’m curious. What are you planning to do? Alright, Mr. Gong-Ja, I can wait for you to make a choice as long as you want. If needed, I’ll use Icewater Dragon’s Breath to stop time.”

“There is no need to go that far.”

“Okay. Then let’s give it a try!”

First, I collected all the nine golden cards. They were bouncing around like that golden ball from the sports game of a very famous fantasy novel.

But kids, I use aura. You’re nothing more than fireflies.

I took a deep breath and drew the cards from the deck one by one very carefully. Then, I looked at Amethyst, who was sitting across from me. We exchanged glances, the stack of cards spread out between us.

Amethyst tilted her head, confused. I made a decision right away and put down the first card.

No, this isn’t the Skill I want.

Amethyst’s laugh was mixed with ridicule. “Huh? Are you trying to guess the card by looking at my facial expression? Do you think you’re playing poker, Mr. Gong-Ja? No one can read my facial expressions. The only thing you’ll get from paying attention to my face is admiration for my perfect beauty, astonishment for my noble elegance, and infinite joy for my very existence.”

“Tower Master.”

“Yes?”

“Do people never tell you to stop spouting bullshit?”

“My vassals usually do. Aren’t they cruel? There is no better matriarch that loves and cares for her vassals as much as I do.”

Even while Amethyst was talking nonsense, I carefully and calmly took out the cards one by one. No, it wasn’t this one, neither was it this one.

Next, next, next, next... When the nine cards were reduced to three, Amethyst noticed something was off.

“Mr. Gong-Ja, you....”

It seemed the suspicion belatedly crossed her mind that perhaps I wasn’t just guessing the cards from her facial expression. I probably had a clear method of distinguishing the cards.

“What are you doing? How are you doing that?”

I looked at her. “Well, I might be resorting to some kind of Skill again.”

“You don’t have a Skill that gives you X-ray vision. Even if you do, it would be impossible to see through the Skill Cards. A spell was used to create a truly special material for these cards. How in the world can you...”

Amethyst narrowed her eyes. I discarded one more card. Now, I was down to my last two cards.

Once again, I looked up at her. “I’ve got some interesting cards left.”

I was still only looking at the back of the golden cards. They had some sort of a pattern. What that pattern meant had been a subject of controversy among Hunters for a long time. I didn’t know if it was a dice or something, but there was a polyhedron in the center with two snakes wrapped around it. Leaves and flowers of an unknown plant brightly decorated the edges.

Hunters had argued on this countless times.

—Why are these symbols engraved on a Skill Card?

—The polyhedron represents the Holy Grail. The two snakes refer to Satan. The Tower is telling us that demons are surrounding the Holy Grail!

—So what are the leaves and flowers?

—Does this mean the demons are interested in environmental issues?

—You guys are smoking some wild crack.

However, no Hunter could give a clear answer. The most popular guess was that there would be a hint if they went up to the hundredth floor. This rumor prevailed for eleven years.

I suddenly couldn’t help but laugh.

Amethyst tilted her head. “What’s so funny?”

“The pattern on the back of the cards reminded me of the guys at my Tower. They keep having these nonsensical theories about it.”

But...

“... this is just your family crest.”

Amethyst blinked. “Yes. So?”

“Hahahaha.”

In the kingdom, a snake symbolized magic and wizards. This was because snakes were thought to have inherited draconic blood. Dragons were also the ones who had developed magic, which was treated as the miracle they gave out.

It was only natural for snakes to symbolize magic and wizards. Therefore, when the family’s ancestor was a wizard, or the family’s ancestor killed a wizard, the family crest always included a snake. Amethyst’s distant ancestor was said to have killed a fairly famous wizard. That was why the wizard’s corpse had been placed in her family crest.

The place where the great wizard lived was a very vast forest known as the Crystal Forest. A few pieces of leaves and petals of flowers were part of the pattern because the archwizard had been killed in this forest.

Amethyst’s ancestor then devoured the archwizard’s territory, so that was how her family name became Crystal. The unknown polyhedron drawn in the center of a Skill Card was a crystal.

—The ancestor of this family found a wizard who lived in a forest and tore them apart. In recognition of their deed, the family was given nobility and the name Crystal.

This was the meaning behind the pattern engraved on the back of the card. That was it. The end.

“Tower Master, you really are a psycho. Why would you slap your family crest on the back of the card?”

“I don’t get why you’re suddenly insulting me. Why not? I created the Tower and I’m a noble of the kingdom. I signed my own work. Do you have a problem with that?”

“Hundreds of thousands of priests in the outside world are on a wild goose chase about this pattern, saying it’s God’s will, a warning, blah, blah, blah...”

“Since I’m also a god, isn’t my will also that of a god?”

Everyone I had ever met was somehow a psycho. “Well, this isn’t the card either. This one is out.”

I discarded one of the last two cards.

Amethyst narrowed her eyebrows. “Do you know what card you just discarded?”

“Yes. It’s an incredibly good Skill.”

“Tell me.”

Amethyst asked me for proof, so I readily went along.

“Dice’s Loved One. The class is SSS, and the effect is simple.”

This Skill was explained with only one sentence.

Dice’s Loved One.

Class: SSS

Effect: Heavenly Luck.

“In short, it’s a Skill that makes you lucky. We can forget about Gold Dragon’s Gaze and all that. This is the most OP Skill you have. When you’re lucky, it doesn’t matter how difficult a floor’s quest is. Who cares? Your luck will solve it somehow.”

That was why I mulled over the last two cards.

“I thought a lot about it.”

“How did you...?”

“I really thought a lot about whether to take this one or the other one. If you hadn’t provoked me, Manager Ja Su-Jeong... ah, let’s forget the manager bit. Anyhow, if you hadn’t provoked me, I would have gone all-in with Dice’s Loved One.”

The longtime belief in the Tower was that a Hunter’s Skills decided their class. In that case, Dice’s Loved One was one of the strongest Skills.

“But I won’t take Dice’s Loved One. I’m going to choose something else.”

From beginning to end as I sorted through the cards, I stared straight into Amethyst’s purple eyes.

Amethyst finally realized what I did and laughed. “Aha. I see, Mr. Gong-Ja.”

“You do?”

“You looked into my eyes.”

“That’s right.”

It was simple.

“I just looked at the reflections in your eyes.”

Amethyst smiled as she watched me for a while.

“You could see the reflection that clearly?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

Her eyes were so transparent. Even though purple was probably the last color one would expect to reflect something, her eyes were like mirrors that endlessly reflected each other.

“Can you read the Skill to me?”

I looked into her eyes. Amethyst beckoned.

“Look a little closer.”

We were already close enough. I picked up the remaining card and peered into her eyes until my aura-enhanced vision became trapped in her maze of mirrors.

“Read it out loud,” Amethyst whispered.

There was a considerable gap between my vision and hearing. Due to the misalignment between my two senses, I took a deep breath and then read what would soon become my trophy.

“Earthbone Dragon’s Skull.”

“That’s right.”

“Class SSS+.”

“Yes, that’s how I rated it.”

“Effect: You can store memories of the living in a Box. This Box can only be destroyed by you, the person who possesses the Skill...”

“Keep talking.”

Amethyst got closer, but maybe I was mistaken. Because of my abnormally enhanced vision, all I could see were the round purple letters on the mirrors.

I went on. “As long as the Box is not destroyed, you can create a vessel carrying the same memories over and over again.

“In short, if you put the original memory in a Box, you can create a vessel to contain these memories as many times as you want. It can be done hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of times. However, you can’t create multiple vessels at once. Only one vessel can be made for one Box of memories. Only when the vessel is destroyed can you create the next one.”

I paused.

“What are you doing, Mr. Gong-Ja? Go on,” Amethyst urged me.

“This new vessel can travel the universe, form new memories, and update those in the Box. Of course, they need your permission to do so.”

“Think of that game with those famous Italian plumbers,” Amethyst said with a giggle. Her laughter sounded closer than before. “Even if they die in the game, they come back. They don’t stay dead. Their lives are game coins, and the Boxes are save points. When you die, you simply return to that save point. Of course, your progress after the save point will be gone, but... you still need to return so that you can save again at the save point.

“How many people would want to have save points throughout their lives? The answer would probably be ‘as many as people who wish for life regression.’ When people learned about the Earthbone Dragon’s existence, they crossed the desert, swam across the Great Sea, and traversed the jungle crawling with monsters.”

This story couldn’t be summarized into just a Skill.

“Many died in the process. But a hundred and seventy-eight people made it to her lair.”

Those humans now had save points. They successfully converted their lives into coins, without having to worry about premature death or the inevitable end of their time.

“Thus, the scariest army was created.”

The army made up of one hundred and seventy-eight people traveled the world.

“They wore flags on their backs to show where they belonged before they had their save point. That was how they earned the name of Fallen Flag Soldiers.

“A thousand years ago, Foundation Archer was praised as the strongest archer. The Seventh Conchline Sect Master led the strongest assassin unit of the Mountain Tribe. The Great Thief turned the entire capital into a sea of ​​fire and then escaped leisurely. The Master Pirate from six hundred years ago controlled half of the kingdom’s rivers and commanded dozens of warships. There was also a promising wizard who was expected to become the best wizard in the kingdom a thousand and three hundred years ago.”

In the long history of the kingdom, each of the Fallen Flag Soldiers was a prominent figure of an era, just like Teacher, who dominated the last era of her murim.

“They became an immortal army. When the army approached from across the desert, dozens of their flags waving, everyone fell to the ground in fear. Children cried, and soldiers lost their morale and fled. Fallen Flag Soldiers were no different from human disasters.”

Still trapped in the mirror maze, I asked, “What happened to them?”

Amethyst laughed. “They became my private soldiers. You’ll immediately understand why the nobles of the kingdom don’t declare a war against my family, despite seeing me as a bitch. If they do, they’ll get their asses kicked.”

The card in my hand melted, shining brightly.

[You have chosen a Skill Card.]

[Copying the Skill.]

Since the purple mirrors no longer had any cards to show, I was released from the mirror maze. Amethyst’s eyes became normal again. Once again, I was facing the maze of mirrors.

“Death King, what you’ve acquired is very powerful. It has caused many deaths and left many scars. What do you plan to do with the card, Mr. Gong-Ja?”

I could feel her breath on my skin. This was the best distance for a viper to bite off their prey’s neck.

“I’m curious. Very curious. No matter how great it is, the Skill belongs to a dragon emperor and her army that I have already defeated.”

The noble who had a snake killer for an ancestor grinned at me.

“How are you going to beat me with that?”

I grinned back. “Get ready to cry, Tower Master.”

I had drawn the strongest card. There was no doubt about it.