the world after the fall
9 days later.
Beastlain was lying on the ground, watching through hologram panel, cursing with all kinds of foul words. The panel displayed Jaehwan.
“Haha… f*ck.”
Jaehwan was still hammering on the sword.
“…that evil sh*t.”
Next to Beastlain was a pile of information that consisted of the <Great Lands> that Jaehwan requested. It did not contain anything about cultivation, the process of it, the [Product], or the Harvesters.
‘I hope he doesn’t recognize it.’
Demon Beastlain.
Ranked 8152nd among the Demons, or a middle-rank Demon.
His friends in the Material World called him the [Gentleman of Deception].
It was a shame for a Demon with such a name to have a hard time against a pitiful human. He would be teased for the next hundreds of years by his friends if they knew about it. Without the message he received from the harvester, it would have been easier.
[Do not kill the Product and have him face the real game. It is an amazing achievement to clear the 1st generation tower’s hellish difficulty alone. It is rare, even within the Great Lands. If the cultivation is successful, he will become an extra-special grade Product. If you damage his spirit due to your lack of attention, we will never make a deal with you in the future.]
‘I’m almost there… almost…’
Beastlain then called up another screen.
[Activating communication network: <Little Brother>]
‘Let’s see… what video should I upload this time? Oh, yes. I should upload the moment he killed the Frost Dragon.’
The Tower of Nightmares installed in World 294 had been a huge gamble for Beastlain, but it seemed like it had paid off this time. If he managed to finish harvesting, he would be allowed to go through the 4th mort and rank up to a middle-high rank Demon.
With that, [Big Brother] would notice him and he would be offered a job as a public cultivator and he’d be able to live lavishly afterward. He was almost certain of this. Even now, the communication network [Little Brother], which was under the control of [Big Brother] was receiving countless messages.
..
[‘Ziegfried’ the Lord of Destruction likes your video.]
[‘Ainix’ the Lord of Gold likes your video.]
[‘Abraxas’ the Lord of Undying likes your video.]
[‘Illiones’ the Lord of Forest likes your video.]
“HAHAHA! Those Lords are all over it!”
It wasn’t the Lords themselves that pressed on ‘Like’ button or sent the message. They were far more dignified beings to do that. It was probably their servants who did it under their names, but it still meant a lot. It was the same as receiving the message from the lords themselves. This meant that all the Lords were observing his cultivation.
This was one of the luckiest events that would happen in thousands of years.
When he found Earth, World 294, he knew he was lucky. World 294 had no threats that could pose a threat to his cultivation. It was far from the Angels, the other [Cultivator], and was a place where he can connect to [Big Brother], making it easier for him to gain approval to quickly start on the work. He gained the approval from [Big Brother] and he started seeking out [Creators] right away.
‘…makes me sick to think of them. Damn Nightmares.’
He would not have begged so hard under normal circumstances. He would have just rented the tower and returned it to them otherwise. Yet, this time it was different.
He had been spending modestly because he was only a middle-rank Demon, but he needed to prepare himself to reach the top ranks. He couldn’t keep borrowing the tower even after he reached one of the top ranks, which would be considered humiliating.
Owning a tower. That was the dream of all Demons.
Beastlain went out to do all sorts of biddings that those Nightmares asked of him so he could get the best tower possible at the best price. He thought he got the best tower in the end.
2nd creation of the [Master] level creator, Mulack.
It was a tower that was made when he wasn’t even a really old master yet, but it did prove to be a good tower.
‘If not counting the devices are archaic.’
Besides, the Lords would be glad that the [Product] had been cultivated within the [Master]’s tower.
But his luck ended there.
The race of World 294 were even better [Products] than he realized. They adapted quickly as if they had known such games for a long time. This adapting ability was the key to become strongest within the Great Lands. Beastlain had met various races of ‘Humans’ but had never seen them adapting to the game this fast.
‘Lords will love it.’
But his luck ended on the 77th floor. Something he could not understand happened. Most of the [Products] had failed by the trap at the 77th floor.
Beastlain could not believe what he saw.
‘How can this be!’
Most [Products] who he seemed to fetch a good price had failed. Beastlain had despaired.
‘Returning stone? Such a thing isn’t even listed in the tower’s manual!’
He spoke as if the [Returning Stone] was intended to Jaehwan, but he had not expected of such item. He was worried as the creator of this tower was famous for his madness but never thought such a strange trap would have existed.
He wanted to remove the item at once, but if the [Harvester] found out through <Akashic Records> that Cultivator had interfered in cultivating [Products] to create better [Products]
illegally, his credit will be crushed.
The race that threw away the present to have a chance to go back into the future.
Lords of Great Lands did not like those kinds of losers. The great beings living in a bloodbath of the war did not care about the past or the future. They only existed for the presence.
Beastlain thought his life was over, as he watched humans trying to return to the past.
He had no way to repay his debt he made to purchase to tower now. He thought about going into hiding for a long time. There were some Products remaining, but the number was not enough to clear the tower. Beastlain then increased the tower’s speed of the time to its maximum and left the tower to have a Spirit Beer. He had planned on going out for one or two days, but he drank so much that he slept through a few weeks straight.
‘DAMMIT!’
It was only a few weeks at the <Great Lands>, but it meant tens of years at the tower. It was definite that no [Product] was remaining within.
But the unexpected happened. Cultivation was still in progress.
Beastlain quickly examined the recorded video on a hologram.
There was one human that still remained. Beastlain was in shock.
Most [Products] barely managed 10 years within the tower because their mental state couldn’t handle the stress. But the [Product] had managed to survive for 30 years and was at the brink of clearing the 99th floor. His spirit was unhinged. Beastlain was shocked. And overjoyed.
‘THIS IS IT! IT’S HIM!’
Clearing the infamous difficulty of 1st Generation tower alone. It was unheard of in the entire material world. It was why Beastlain had to accept every nonsense that the [Product] was doing until now. There was no telling how high of a price the [Product] might fetch him. He could not dare to damage it.
[Ignis the God of Fire, wants to send you a message. Do you accept?]
“Huh? Ignis?”
Beastlain was shocked.
“Gods too?”
Like the Lords who wanted the [Product] to increase their forces, Gods needed [Products] to become their avatars. But most Gods were in contact with beings that were called [Angels] in the Material World. Lords talked with Demons and Gods talked with Angels. That was the unmentioned rule. But it had been broken now.
[Agreed to receive a message from Ignis]
Ignis: You bastard, why do you accept it so slowly? You wanna die?
Beastlain: …Aren’t you a bit rude for an avatar? Who’re you?
Beastlain became annoyed. Even if the avatar borrowed the name of the God, manner was important.
Ignis: It’s me, you f*ck.
Beastlain: I don’t know who you are if you don’t say…
Ignis: You f*cking blind? Don’t you know when you see the ID?
Beastlain: Wait… are you God Ignis himself?
Ignis: You f*cking little Demon. Do you want a piece of me for real?
Beastlain: N-no! Not at all. I am so sorry, O’ Great One.
Ignis: I saw your video.
Beastlain: D-did you see it?
Ignis: Tell me straight up. Don’t even think about lying.
Beastlain: …Yes, Great one.
Ignis: You f*cked around with the mechanism, right? Or how can a f*cking human clear the 1st gen tower alone? Huh?
Beastlain: I didn’t do anything.
Ignis: Don’t f*cking lie to me. …C’mon. I won’t tell anyone.
Beastlain: I’m telling you the truth.
Ignis: F*ck? Okay, how much are you going to sell for it then?
Beastlain: I-I’m not selling it!
Ignis: F*CK! How much! Tell me! F*cking tell me now!
[Terminating the chat room]
[Ignis the God of Fire has sent you a message]
[Ignis the God of Fire has sent you a message]
[Ignis the God of Fire has sent you a message]
[Ignis the God of Fire has sent you a message]
[Aborting <Little Brother>]
Beastlain was shocked.
‘Dammit. Even the gods are interested in him… Ignis…’
Ignis was a top-ranking god. This meant the [Product] surely was gathering a lot of attention. It made Beastlain become happy with the thoughts.
‘It’s tomorrow now.’
Next day, on the 100th floor of the tower.
Jaehwan read through the information provided by Beastlain and memorized it carefully. Beastlain asked, “Are you done?”
“Yeah. Thank you.”
Beastlain almost shouted in joy.
‘DAMMIT! FINALLY!’
Beastlain barely managed to hold back his grin.
“If you’re done, shall we start?”
“Sure.”
Beastlain punched something in mid-air and a familiar window popped up.
[Gamemaster is trying to terminate the Tutorial Game. You can return back to your World 294 and join the real game with your memory intact. Do you accept the offer?]
[Yes / No]
Jaehwan then pulled out his Dragon Sword.
“…What are you doing?”
“You know what it is.”
-Offer rejected.
“I’m hunting you down now.”