Chapter 156: Nightmare Floor 12 (3)

‘Kill them.’

Right now, I’ll finish the challenge and get out.

Then I’ll kill every last one of those eyesores. With my power, I can do it, can’t I?

- You’ve completely lost it. Can’t you come to your senses?

The Demon King said something, but I ignored him.

I reached the location of the Exit in an instant.

Filled with nothing but murderous intent, I was about to open the Exit door and step inside right away...

My body froze.

The tiny shred of reason I had left barely managed to stop me.

What are you doing? Why aren’t you getting out there and killing them all right now?

The hand gripping the doorknob trembled violently.

Scorching rage dominated my entire body.

No, I can’t control it at all.

“Uuuugh...”

I almost handed my body over to the Demon King, but barely stopped myself.

If the Demon King was also affected by the sins, it would become an irreversible disaster.

But at this rate, I was going to be completely consumed by Wrath too.

Grinding my teeth as I glared at the Exit...

I let out a beastlike roar and swung the Sword of Heaven’s Gatekeeper in my hand.

Slaaaash!

Heavenly Aura Blade split the Exit in half.

I didn’t stop and continued swinging my sword. I completely chopped the door into pieces.

“Aaaaaaagh...!”

With no way to vent the rage boiling inside me like lava, I stood there helplessly for a moment before cutting down every tree around me that I could reach.

Then I took out Pankera’s Crown and put it on. I entered the Mental World.

I recreated the situation from the Joint Battle exactly as it had been.

“Isn’t all of this for the sake of the world? We chose Round 6 for the survival of humanity!”

“That’s right! Hahaha...!”

Climbers laughed while spouting bullshit.

I launched myself at them and started beating them to death.

Their laughter turned into horrific screams.

I killed everything I could see. I even killed Section Chief Shin when she tried to stop me.

The scenery changed.

This time, it was the mask auction.

“Here! A bid of one thousand...!”

A masked Climber enthusiastically raised a hand to bid.

I blew their head apart and killed them in an instant.

I killed the host too, then killed the Climbers scattering in every direction like insects one by one.

The scenery changed again.

It was the parallel world from Floor 10.

The scene that my parallel-world self had told me about unfolded before my eyes exactly as he had described it.

I returned home, and there were the intruders who had killed my family.

I tore off their arms and legs one by one and killed them as painfully as possible.

I went outside. People swarmed through the Ark like insects.

I started killing all of them.

The people running away, the people begging me to spare them, the Climbers trying to stop me, all of them.

Trash who clung to their miserable lives by relying solely on my sacrifices. They had no right to live.

The city was stained with blood.

I repeated it again and again.

Whenever I killed everyone, I brought them back to life and continued the massacre.

I wanted to kill more. Die. Just die, all of you.

After killing and killing for who knew how long with my eyes completely gone mad...

I finally collapsed in the middle of a mountain of corpses and sea of blood, drenched from head to toe.

“...”

Only then did I finally feel a little better.

The rage that had felt as though it would burn my entire body had subsided enough for me to breathe again.

- Have you finally come to your senses?

The Demon King, who had appeared beside me at some point, spoke.

I stared blankly at him, then looked around.

...What the hell had I done?

There wasn’t even time to sink into self-loathing.

The moment my sanity returned, I immediately left the Mental World.

The shattered remains of the Exit came into view.

I had done that.

It seemed to have stopped functioning completely. When I approached and touched it, no item information appeared anymore.

...I hurried back to the fountain.

I activated the music box I had thrown aside.

Before the rage that had temporarily subsided could burn away my reason again, I needed to regain my composure.

“Ugh...”

I groaned and collapsed to the ground. I buried my head against the dirt.

What the hell... was that?

Pride and Greed had at least been manageable enough for me to somehow maintain my reason.

Wrath was on a completely different level.

The instant I drank it, my reason had been blown away. Even the music box had been useless.

That made no sense. It was this powerful? Why?

‘Why only Wrath?’

The thought suddenly occurred to me.

Could it be that these sins... became more powerful the more strongly I already possessed those emotions to begin with?

I had resolved that I wouldn’t keep forcing myself to feel disappointed by humanity’s ugliness anymore.

But maybe, somewhere in my subconscious, anger had still been piling up.

I couldn’t deny it myself.

“...Fuck.”

I cursed and stood up.

Stab!

I drove the Sword of Heaven’s Gatekeeper into my forearm. Blood burst out.

I ground the blade through the flesh, then even activated Scorching Zone and seared the wound.

Blinding agony crashed through me.

Even as I screamed, I didn’t stop. I wanted to use the pain to divert even a little of my attention away from the rage.

...Could I really endure all of these sins?

Had I perhaps made an irreversible mistake?

But regretting it now was pointless.

I had destroyed the Exit with my own hands.

...There was no choice. I had needed to do that.

What would have happened if I had been even a little slower earlier, and I had cleared Floor 12 and gone outside?

What I had done inside the Mental World would have become reality.

If I went outside in my current state, I would destroy the world with my own hands.

I was certain of it.

I had already crossed the point of no return.

Now I really had no choice except to absorb all the remaining sins...

“Haaaah...”

I stopped hurting myself, threw the sword aside, and picked up the cup.

Before Wrath could make me completely lose my mind again, I immediately absorbed the next sin.

Snake, green.

[Envy(O)]

It was the sin of Envy.

Jealousy and envy slowly began creeping up inside me.

“...Demon King.”

- Hmm?

“Must be nice. Being that strong.”

If I could freely use powerful magic like the Demon King.

If I could use that kind of power without restriction, if it were truly my own power, clearing Nightmare would be so much easier...

Ah, the Demon King had it so good.

I was jealous.

- At last, you have learned how to properly envy Us.

Ignoring the Demon King’s satisfied voice, the dark emotions continued.

Why was I even climbing the Tower in the first place?

I didn’t want to do this either.

I wished someone else would clear Nightmare instead of me, overcome every filthy trick the Tower threw at us.

Then I could have lived an ordinary, comfortable life like everyone else.

There would have been no reason for me to suffer like this here.

I was jealous of everyone in the world.

You don’t have to do anything, you don’t have to think about anything, you just have to cheer for me, don’t you?

Must be nice.

It must be so fucking nice...

I shook my head hard.

Clinging to my sanity, I immediately absorbed the {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} next sin.

Fly, yellow.

[Gluttony(O)]

It was the sin of Gluttony.

This time, my mind became stained with every kind of desire.

I chewed my lip until it bled, then lifted the Sword of Heaven’s Gatekeeper again.

I stabbed my arm with the blade and burned the wound with fire, ignoring the sticky emotions writhing inside me.

Gluttony and Envy were somehow manageable, just like I had endured Pride and Greed.

But the unexpected danger was Lust.

[Lust(O)]

The instant I pressed the goat button and drank a full cup of pink water.

A strange tingling sensation spread through my entire body.

I groaned and collapsed to the ground again.

“Ugh...”

What the fuck is this.

My body was hot.

My head was hot.

I was burning up so intensely that I couldn’t control myself at all.

Trembling, I tried to lift the Sword of Heaven’s Gatekeeper, but it slipped from my hand.

The thread of reason I had barely been balancing on snapped again.

My eyes rolled back, and I entered the Mental World.

I summoned beautiful women.

I rolled around in pleasure and ecstasy so overwhelming that my mind became hazy.

I was practically an emperor.

But why was I doing this again?

I didn’t know.

How much time passed while I surrendered myself entirely to desire?

When I barely managed to regain my reason again, I returned to reality.

As I sat there drowning in self-loathing for a moment, I heard the Demon King’s voice.

- We truly are witnessing every possible disgrace from you today.

...I had shown the Demon King things no one should ever have to see.

The effect Lust had on my mind was every bit as powerful as Wrath.

Why the hell was this one so strong too?

Because it was an animal instinct engraved into me at the genetic level?

If I hadn’t had Pankera’s Crown, I might genuinely have gone insane.

I realized it painfully clearly.

Just how ridiculous and fleeting human willpower could be...

[Pride(O)]

[Greed(O)]

[Envy(O)]

[Wrath(O)]

[Lust(O)]

[Gluttony(O)]

[Sloth(X)]

After absorbing six sins, my mind had been worn down to its absolute limit.

My mind was pure chaos now.

I couldn’t endure any more.

I was right on the verge of going insane.

Still... this was the last one.

The sin of Sloth.

I just needed to absorb Sloth and find the Holy Water of Purification.

Once I consumed the Holy Water of Purification, everything would return to normal.

Surely.

I squeezed out the last of my willpower and picked up the cup.

I pressed the donkey button and drank a full cup of blue water.

[Sloth(O)]

[‘Holy Water of Purification’ has appeared somewhere in the forest.]

The messages appeared.

“...”

I stared at them.

Right, now I only needed to find it.

...But why did that feel like such a pain in the ass?

My body felt as heavy as lead.

I leaned my back against the basin and sat down.

There was no need to hurry, was there?

At this point, I only had to find it and the challenge would be over anyway.

- What are you doing? Why are you not going to find it?

“Just let me rest for a little while...”

The Demon King said.

- Come to your senses, you fool. You are being affected by Sloth.

Was I?

But that was strange.

Why did everything feel like such a hassle...

The influence of Sloth was far stronger than I had imagined.

Strong enough to gently press down even Wrath, Lust, and the other sins.

Had I always been this lazy?

Was this my true nature?

Ah, I see.

I understood.

I was exhausted.

Clearing Nightmare, training inside the Mental World, stopping the Tower’s schemes... and then there were all those impossible problems with no answers, like my lifespan.

I had kept running all this time without ever getting a proper chance to rest.

I hadn’t noticed it, but somewhere inside me, the desire to rest must have been piling up without me realizing it.

So it should be okay to rest a little.

Just for a moment.

I’d rest for just a little while, then go find the Holy Water of Purification.

I lay down completely and closed my eyes.

I could hear the Demon King saying something, but I ignored him.

‘This is comfortable...’

It was so comfortable that I wondered what the hell I had been doing all this time.

People needed rest like this too.

That way, after resting, they could work hard again.

“...”

Work hard?

Once I cleared Floor 12 and went outside... right, I’d have to go right back to working hard again.

Just thinking about it was exhausting.

Clearing Nightmare was a pain. Uploading information to the Communication Channel was a pain. Training was a pain. Solving the every-other-floor rules was a pain. Thinking about this and that and worrying about everything was a pain.

Everything was just a pain.

How long did I have to keep climbing this Tower?

Was there even an end?

But if I stopped, the world would be destroyed.

Things like duty and responsibility jabbed uncomfortably at my heart.

Annoying.

If I could just forget all of it and keep resting like this forever...

I opened my eyes.

As though entranced, I turned my head toward the basin.

If I drank more of that... wouldn’t even this tiny lingering irritation disappear?

Then I think I’d feel really fucking comfortable.

I grabbed the basin and barely pulled my upper body upright.

The blue surface of the water sparkled as it reflected the sunlight.

Beautiful.

- You insane bastard...! Stop!

The Demon King screamed in horror inside my head.

I plunged my head into the basin and gulped down the blue water.