Episode 4 — The Tower of Arrogance

1

The towers of Mythos Academy symbolized human arrogance, defying the nature created by the gods.

The audacity that humans, with their magic, swords, and shields, could conquer everything.

Enraged by this hubris, the god of death cursed them and created the Ziggurat, a towering and treacherous structure.

The real game begins when demons start emerging from this place.

In this world, the two moons are said to symbolize the watchful eyes of the god of death.

Like the werewolf myth, the moons of the Rox Continent also held strange powers.

‘The atmosphere is definitely different.’

Manus gazed up at the tower from this entirely different world.

The shadow world.

A cesspool supporting the world, like the underside of a shadow.

All negative things gathered to form a solid foundation, and death settled there.

“Hmm…”

Upon entering, a lobby much larger than he had anticipated welcomed him.

A golden clock prominently occupied the center.

The clock, which had only six numbers, started to move.

In the early stages of the game, the time to explore the shadow world was limited to just six hours.

‘The time has already started ticking.’

Looking out the window, the drifting clouds and fluttering flags had all come to a halt.

Only the dense mana and the aura of death filled the space.

Even in this eerie and terrifying place, Manus moved forward without hesitation.

A normal person would be paralyzed with fear, but he remained unnaturally calm.

It must be thanks to ‘Caesar’s Mindset.’

‘I’ve memorized the path to the 5th floor perfectly-.’

The 5th floor.

The end of the tutorial zone and where the mini-boss resides.

It’s also a place to obtain a hidden piece crucial for averting future disasters.

“Let’s go.”

He walked towards the central staircase.

The god of death bestowed a semblance of life in this desolate world.

He placed his avatars in each zone, creating inhabitants from the accumulated negative energy.

The first zone is-.

“-The Labyrinth of Nightmares.”

These inhabitants were demons.

They are the main antagonists of this game, who despise humans living in the light.

Hiding in the shadows, these demons lurked to ambush players, and the labyrinth invoked curses.

The game was a classic with a well-designed time attack system.

The labyrinth was entirely random, but the route to the first five floors was fixed.

Manus had memorized all the paths.

‘Seeing it in person, it’s even more eerie.’

Since it included the horror genre, the interior of the Labyrinth of Nightmares was dark.

Thud-.

The sound of his footsteps echoed unusually loudly.

He imagined demons laughing wickedly.

Manus calmly checked his mana and the magic he could use.

Magic was categorized by class, and he could only use 1st-class magic for now.

The four elements: fire, wind, lightning, and ice.

Dark and holy magic, named shadow and light.

Physical magic that used mana to create physical impacts.

And the ancient magic that could be learned through hidden pieces.

The knowledge accumulated by the previous owner of this body naturally surfaced in Manus’s mind.

He confirmed that he could skillfully use this knowledge.

[Hmm?]

[Hmm-hmm?]

“There they are.”

The inhabitants of the tower revealed themselves.

Each zone was designed after tarot cards, with demons resembling playing cards.

The demons in each zone were influenced by the arcana within that zone.

[The Labyrinth of Nightmares] housed the zones of the magician, the chariot, temperance, and the hierophant.

They were praised for their intuitive and distinctive designs.

[Hmm!]

[Hmm-hmm-hmm!]

[Magician — 10]

[Specialty: Close combat using four arms]

[Attribute: Fire]

[Weakness: Ice]

In the game, it proceeds in turn-based combat, but here, the battles are real-time.

Manus tensed up to bridge the gap in this discrepancy.

This wasn’t a game where you just pressed buttons.

This was reality, where he had to move his body.

He recalled a spell.

An ice attribute 1st-class magic.

[Glacia]

Crunch-.

A white flower bloomed in his hand.

The feeling of mana draining out was strange, making him nauseous.

But he didn’t stop.

He was Caesar.

Heir to the great conquerors.

[Hmm-hmm-!]

[Hmm!]

It was eerie how these magicians made strange noises.

No matter how experienced, the first battle always made one nervous.

Contrary to his excited mind, his body moved calmly.

The coldly blossomed flower gently landed on the demon’s mask.

Like cherry blossoms scattering in the wind, the flower he held also fell apart.

Crack-.

The demon’s face cracked open.

“This is… nice.”

Although this demon was the weakest, needing about two turns for the protagonist to defeat, he killed it with minimal mana usage.

The result was highly satisfying.

At this rate, he might be starting at around 10 levels above the protagonist.

It meant his passive skill was exceptionally overpowered.

The mana within the demon crystallized and scattered.

Mana stones.

They were the source of growth and essential for leveling up the protagonist.

The system adopted from the popular soul-like games.

[Mana Stone Crystal S]

Strangely, the item name floated in a semi-transparent state.

This felt just like the game.

Manus chuckled.

Game and reality.

Which one should he take seriously-.

‘If this is reality, why don’t they get rid of these game elements?’

A game-like place in reality.

Maybe that’s why he could act without hesitation.

Manus continued to walk the path.

After all, this labyrinth would reset after a day.

There was no need to worry about stealing experience points from the protagonist.

Manus kept using magic.

The feeling of mana draining, the sensation of magic blooming from his fingertips.

The feeling of killing enemies.

‘To get used to this world, I need to experience everything.’

Caesar’s Mindset.

The vessel of a conqueror was large and grand.

To fill this vast vessel, he would need immense experience, knowledge, and power.

Manus moved without hesitation.

“Is the first floor already over?”

His pockets were full.

Only about 20 minutes had passed.

This was too easy.

Recalling his overwhelming speed, he chuckled.

Without interfering with the original characters, he could leisurely learn skills and live comfortably.

Though he doubted this world and that letter would let him live in peace.

Awaiting the peace that would eventually come, he ascended the stairs.

2

Alano stood in the enormous lobby, rooted to the spot.

She didn’t even realize how she had gotten there.

The world had flipped, and the flowing air had stopped.

Following as if enchanted, she found herself in a world she didn’t know.

She only felt confused for a moment before she started exploring the place.

‘Why is a place like this… This doesn’t seem like the world I know.’

She needed to find out why such a world existed in Mythos Academy and whether there were any dangers.

She was the student council president for the second year.

If there was an anomaly inside the academy, it was her duty to report it.

‘How did Manus know about this place?’

“Could it be… Caesar knew?”

No, that couldn’t be.

Manus was also a student like her.

They would have secretly sent a skilled agent, not an immature student like Manus.

The concentration of mana was so thick that it was hard to breathe.

It would be like depleting their forces to throw a direct descendant into such a dangerous place alone.

Alano looked at the space at the top of the stairs, which gaped open like the entrance to the abyss.

It looked like the gate to hell had opened.

There was no sign of any presence in the lobby.

Did Manus go in alone?

Anxiety and curiosity surged within her.

‘Should I call for backup?’

She wanted to go in alone, but she couldn’t bring herself to move.

Entering this place alone was madness, she knew that.

But why?

She kept stepping forward, turning back repeatedly.

Over the past year, Manus had become a tyrant.

Reverence, fear, respect… He might have enjoyed such emotions.

But beneath those eyes lay deep sadness.

The difference between the Manus she remembered from childhood and the one she reunited with now was so vast that she couldn’t approach him easily.

It was as if he had become a different person, which made her a bit scared.

Manus had an unusual desire to dominate others.

Even Manus himself seemed aware of this, as he often walked the campus alone.

Why-?

Thinking about it now, maybe he was the only one that knew about a place like this.

‘If he’s rejecting love… then it makes sense he’d try to be alone.’

Alano had watched him from afar for a long time.

As the second top student and the student council president, her peers were precious to her.

And she was curious.

Why had he changed so much from when they were children?

Thinking deeply about it in this space, she began to understand his actions vaguely.

Some people bear all burdens alone.

Despite the loneliness and hardship, they stubbornly shoulder their burdens alone.

Could Manus be such a person?

“Maybe it’s better to help.”

Such people are often alone.

No one wants to stay beside someone who rejects love and attention.

In the end, humans want to be reciprocated.

“We’re childhood friends, right? I can’t leave him alone.”

She was the eldest daughter of a family comparable to the Caesars.

Her talent in magic was unparalleled, and she was trained to defeat any monster.

Gulp-.

Stepping into an abyss where she couldn’t see a step ahead was daunting.

But Manus must have walked in here confidently.

“You’re the eldest daughter of the Harrison family. There’s no need to be scared in a place like this.”

Repeating this to herself like a mantra, she boldly stepped into the Ziggurat.

The abyss swallowed her.

3

5th Floor.

Manus had reached here, absorbing mana stones along the way.

Although this was originally the zone where the first boss appeared, today’s goal wasn’t to face the boss.

He turned in a direction that led to the remaining space of the original school.

A place known as the ‘resting area.’

An intact part of the school untouched by arrogance and curses.

The randomness of which area would be selected was an element of luck.

Multipurpose room, laundry room, dining hall, kitchen, bedroom, laboratory, teacher’s office.

“Hmm… it’s the multipurpose room this time.”

Each of the seven rooms provided unique buffs.

The multipurpose room acted as a temporary shop.

The laundry room repaired the durability of armor and weapons.

The dining hall restored health, the kitchen provided attack and defense buffs, the bedroom restored mana, the laboratory allowed item synthesis, and the teacher’s office facilitated member changes.

‘Perfect timing.’

Creak-.

Inside the opened door was a long table and various items.

Inserting mana stones would unlock them.

But today, he wasn’t here for that.

“Is it here?”

Inside the multipurpose room.

He rummaged through the dusty corner and found a small iron chain.

Thin and cold to the touch.

Someone would discover this in the future and awaken it into a very powerful item.

“The game was quite kind to explain this.”

Whether the villains were stupid or kind, it was a standard for them to spill everything before dying.

An old pendant left neglected for a long time.

An ancient item imbued with someone’s resentment.

[Orca’s Necklace]

[An old necklace with an unknown symbol.]

The description was simple.

The unknown symbol represented 13 of the 21 tarot cards.

The secret of Orca’s Necklace lay in those 13 tarot cards.

By defeating named demons associated with the tarot, one could harvest their souls with this pendant.

‘With this, I can twist the possibilities.’

Manus put the pendant around his neck.

This action set the gears of change in motion.

Where the clock hands would stop due to these gears, no one knew.

But if he could prevent the original tragic events, he was ready to accept any unpredictable direction.

Manus himself was an extra.

A person who shapes the world in places where the main character does not act.

In that case, he had to do what suited his role.

“This is the right thing to do.”

He muttered as he left the multipurpose room.

No one answered or confirmed his words.

The one who seeks the answer must find it within themselves.

Manus quietly left the Ziggurat.

Unaware.

That the butterflies had already begun to flutter because of him.

Just one day.

The massive storm that 24 hours had created was approaching.

―――――――!!

A sound came from below.

A voice that shouldn’t be heard.

As expected, she hadn’t listened and followed him.

Manus quickened his pace.

–TL Notes–
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/MattReading

Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt