Chapter 175: [175] Return To Hell

Ark stared at the paper that had slipped out of the skill tome, immediately remembering that he had noticed it earlier.

He picked it up, only to realize that it was not just a single paper, but a bunch of them. Three sheets of paper folded together.

"I don’t think that is supposed to be inside a skill tome," Olivia muttered. She was already peeking over his shoulder, her eyes narrowed as she stared at it.

"Did the salesman accidentally leave it in?" Thalia asked.

Ark shook his head as he flipped the paper open. "It’s unlikely."

The first paper had six simple words, and they were enough to confirm his suspicions. It was Soo-jin who left the papers for him.

— I heard you were having trouble.

Olivia read out the words with a confused expression on her face. "Who wrote this?"

Her handwriting was just as one would expect it to be. Cursive in an elegant way, but bold. Almost as though she wanted to make her presence known, even on paper.

"Soo-jin. But I don’t know what she is talking about." He switched to the next paper only to be assaulted by a long string of words.

The paper seemed to be of better quality than the first one, and the document itself bore an official seal of the association.

’What did Soo-jin do?’

Ark’s orbs quickly scanned through it, trying to find out just what the paper was. It took just a few seconds before he realized what he was holding.

"Is she serious?!" Ark’s grip on the paper tightened. "This woman... she acted offended that he had formed a guild, and yet she had prepared this beforehand." Ark couldn’t help but laugh.

"What does it say? What does it sayyy?" Olivia asked, dying of curiosity.

"What do you mean, weren’t you reading with me?"

She gave him a deadpan stare and stepped back. "I am not reading all that."

"Can I see?" Thalia slithered forward and stretched out her hand. When Ark handed her the paper, and her eyes landed on the seal, they widened.

"Is this..."

"Yes," Ark said with mirth in his voice.

"Wow..." Thalia smiled. "This is a lot."

"A lot of what? What is it?" Olivia seemed on the verge of crashing out. Her cheeks had turned red with rage, and the feathers of her wings were rising.

Ark folded his hands across his chest. "Soo-jin has bought us a guild house..."

Olivia paused. "Like a full guildhouse?" It seemed even she was unable to believe her ears.

Thalia nodded, confirming Ark’s statement. "Yes, and it’s not a small property, the land around it... it is massive."

Even Thalia still seemed skeptical about the whole thing. She read through the document again, trying to confirm that she had not read wrong.

"I understand that she is from one of the top guilds, but a land this large, it would cost tens of millions..." It shouldn’t have been something she would be able to afford.

For the past few weeks, Thalia had struggled to get a piece of land for the guild, it had gotten to the point of almost begging the salesmen to offer them land.

She had tried repeatedly, and yet, Soo-jin had been able to get it with ease. That was the power of the top guilds, the power of influence.

"Thalia, while I am in the tower, can you and Olivia inspect the place? I think we’ve spent enough time in this inn..."

Thalia nodded with a smile. "Of course, you can count on us."

"Clear the tower quickly, don’t take your sweet time there," Olivia added with a frown.

"I will." Ark turned around to the ripple in space, took in a breath, feeling the air rush past his ribs and out of his body, then stepped into the fissure—

For a moment, he was surrounded by a blue-black darkness. There was a sound abundant in the space, a slight buzz that would come and go like a passing breeze.

And then a screen appeared in front of him.

[For the sake of mortal’s heretical nature, the towers were formed. For by rising, one may yet fall, and by falling one may yet rise.]

[Do you wish to ascend the tower?]

"Yes."

The moment he accepted, the world shifted, and Ark was back to that place, the room that had claimed the lives of dozens of his classmates.

The throne room.

It was just like he remembered. The space stank of despair and grief. The bodies were gone, but the signs of battle were still very much present, the burned patches of earth, fissures that wrought through the ground...

Every mark or scar reminded Ark of just how much they had struggled for their lives in this damned place.

The majestic throne sat at the corner of the room, cracked from top to bottom, unattended. And just by the floor in front of it was the King’s crown. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

A new portal appeared in front of Ark. It was made out of white light and had glowing sparks filtering out of it, before fizzling away like a dying star.

Above the portal were the words, "Floor 2," written atop it.

"Alright, let’s get to it." Ark summoned his skill tome as well as his shadows. He did not want to spend more time than he needed to in this dreary place.

Once they appeared, Ark pulled out the SAMICA, or rather, the fancy camera from his inventory and handed it to Jenna.

Jenna was smart, most mages were smart... so it didn’t take long for him to teach her how to use it.

"Record the entire place as well as anything that looks mildly interesting." She would be their camera woman for the day.

Jenna nodded. She looked rather pleased for someone who was doing grunt work.

Ark then glanced at Sumo. From the moment he had summoned him, his eyes had not left the broken throne, nor the crown that lay at its feet.

’Does he still have memories about his past life?’ Ark wondered.

"You can go with her."

Sumo tore his eyes away from the throne and bowed, before following closely behind Jenna, all while Inquisitor watched from the side.

Next, Ark summoned his Kinetic Armor, feeling a little more comfortable as his entire body was shielded in the cold alloy.

And then finally, he pulled out the skill tome from his inventory.

[Harvest successful! You have successfully received...]