章節 57: Horae (9)
[Ara~ it looks like the challenge ended sooner than expected...]
A soft delicate voice resounded through the whole place.
All the players were now back in the massive main chamber, the same place they had been before they were transported to the 'open world.'
Floating high above them was the same angelic figure as before. She wore a white hoodie that hid most of her features, but her golden eyes and long, golden hair still shone brightly, giving her an otherworldly beauty.
Her faint smile was as mysterious as ever.
[It's surprising to see that it only lasted a few hours... I didn't expect a player to actually destroy the entire 'open world'...]
She spoke faintly, turning her head towards Matthew. Her eyes shone mysteriously as she took a good look at him.
But instead, she only got a cold look from him.
[Anyways... here's the ranking!]
[Ranking—
1st Place - [666]
2nd Place - [921]
3rd Place - [555]
4th Place - [124]
...]
[OOOOHHHOOOOO!]
The angelic figure clapped her hands, and beams of light shone down on Matthew and Stella.
All eyes in the chamber turned to Matthew and Stella.
Whispers and murmurs spread quickly, but the attention was mainly on Matthew, who was now bathed in an even brighter light.
[And a special congratulations to Matthew for destroying the entire map!]
Another light enveloped Matthew, attracting everyone's attention. They glared at him, furious and clenching their fists.
Well, Matthew didn't care about their gazes.
"Stop yapping, and give me the rewards already," he turned to the angelic figure and demanded coldly.
[...Are you sure you want to retrieve the rewards already?]
The figure asked, tilting her head curiously.
"What do you mean?" he replied impatiently.
[You, Matthew, are a player who surpassed the highest record of points during the first ten floors of the tower.]
[You can use that right to challenge one of the players of the hall of fame, and steal their ranking on there.]
[By winning against them, you can get even greater rewards!]
"Really...?" he raised an eyebrow.
[Yes! It's a one-of-a-kind opportun—]
"Then, I gladly refuse," he interrupted, shaking his head with a faint smirk.
[Yeah, of course you would agr—Wait, what?!]
The angelic figure's eyes widened, staring at Matthew while being genuinely surprised.
"Hah..."
"You heard me," Matthew said with a mocking laugh.
"You've already made everyone here my enemy, and now you want me to go and challenge someone even stronger? Why would I make things worse for myself?" He scoffed.
"Are you stupid?"
Hearing his words, the angelic figure maintained a neutral expression, not as mischievous as the one she had before.
[Very well. Then, would you like to receive your rewards?]
"Not here, at least," he replied, his eyes narrowing as he glanced around, seeing countless greedy stares from the other players.
"I'd rather not deal with everyone trying to take what's mine."
[As you wish...]
The angelic figure nodded her head with a small sigh. And then, with a snap of her fingers, the light enveloping Matthew and Stella disappeared.
The attention in the hall shifted slightly, but there were still many eyes watching him, mostly rage and envy lingering in their gazes.
[The rewards will be sent to your storage. You can retrieve them whenever you want.]
A voice appeared in his head.
Matthew simply crossed his arms after hearing the angelic figure's words, keeping a nonchalant expression.
Finally, Stella took the opportunity and instantly grabbed Matthew by his the collar of his shirt.
"You fucker...! What the fuck did you think you were doing?!" she shouted aloud, looking at Matthew with rage deep in her eyes.
Matthew only glanced back at her.
"You could've killed us!" she added, shaking his collar.
But to her words, his lips curled into a faint smirk.
"That was the plan." he gripped her wrist, before taking it off his collar.
"Besides... you still don't have your entire strength back, so... I should quickly take the opportunity to kill you..." his eyes started glowing ominously.
However, he was quickly stopped...
[Don't forget that you cannot kill anyone in the gathering point!]
The angelic voice resounded through the area, with her eyes kept on Matthew's figure that looked like he was about to kill Stella.
"Tsk..." Matthew turned away and sat down in a corner.
'Retrieve rewards...'
[Congratulations!]
[You have received a 50% Discount Ticket (Single Use)!]
[You have received 30.000 Star Coins!]
[You have received a Floor Skipping Ticket (Single Use)!]
[You have received a Heroic-level skill of choice!]
Looking at the rewards, Matthew was pretty surprised.
'Turn the last reward to coins.'
[You have received 250.000 Star Coins!]
'Ah... it's that valuable?' he thought.
Then, he opened the shop and took a quick look...
[Talent Shop—
Swordsmanship - 250.000 Star Coins...
Elemental Magic - 300.000 Star Coins...
Deviant Magic - 750.000 Star Coins...
...]
"Damn... it's really expensive." Matthew muttered and quickly switched to another shop.
He spent fifteen minutes searching for something he would need until he found something interesting.
[Manifestation of Killing Intent—
Cost: 1.000.000 Star Coins
Grade: Legendary~???
Description: Just like its name suggests. It can manifest your killing intent, and it grows exponentially with the host. The higher your killing intent, the stronger this skill will be.]
Looking at this, Matthew had already made his decision.
He activated his 50% discount coupon and, thanks to his 'platinum' level status, he got an extra 25% off.
[- 250.000 Star Coins!]
'I should test this new skill on the tenth floor...' he thought, a small smirk forming on his lips.
[Well... the rest time is over!]
The angelic figure reappeared in the sky, her soft smile glowing once again.
— THRRUUUM!
She quickly waved her hand, and a huge portal came out from the ground.
[This is the portal to the tenth floor.]
[Good luck, everyone!]
"Finally!" one player exclaimed, fists clenched with excitement.
"Yeah, that last challenge ended so quickly, I barely broke a sweat!"
"I know, right? After this, we'll be one step closer to getting back to Earth."
"Ugh, I'm starving... let's finish this quickly!" another player muttered, rubbing his stomach as they all stepped toward the portal.
After a few minutes, every player had already stepped through the portal, leaving only Matthew behind.
He stood still for a moment, taking in the silence of the hall, and then let out a frustrated sigh.
"When are you coming out?"
".........."
To his words, nothing replied, keeping a deep silence in the giant hall.
"So annoying..." Matthew formed a scythe on his hand...
— Swoop!
He sent a small beam of energy in the form of an arc towards his right...
[Nihihihi!]
The angelic figure appeared once again, effortlessly dissipating his attack with a casual wave of her hand.
Matthew's eyes narrowed, glaring at her coldly, while she responded with a soft, almost playful smile.
[Ara~,... as expected of Seshat's Chosen...]
She giggled, covering her mouth with her hand, and then floated around him in lazy circles before finally landing in front of him.
"So, what's your deal?" he asked with an annoyed face.
[Mhm~, I'm just here to make a deal with you.]
"A deal...?"
[Yup! You see, I was very close to Seshat before she passed away. When she died, she asked me to do her a favor. And since I owed her one, I agreed.]
"And what does any of that have to do with me?" Matthew asked bluntly.
[Well… I'm supposed to be your guardian, in a way.]
[Oh, by the way, that skill you used against the boss earlier was quite fascinating. It's Nyx's unique authority, isn't it?]
"......."
[Ara~, you can't hide your power from these eyes...]
She pointed to her eyes, and Matthew noticed something different. Her left eye now had a small clock embedded in it, while the right eye had a vertical slit, like a snake's.
"Horae..." Matthew muttered.
[Oh~, that's right! It's me!]
She smiled, beaming with some kind of pride.
"But... how the fu—"
[Language!]
She snapped, cutting him off.
[I'll explain...]
"...Sure."
[This is my avatar, you see. I used a bit of my divine power to create it so I could come down from God's Realm…]
[It wasn't easy, so I took a shortcut and made my avatar one of the tower's floor masters!]
[And here I am! Just to protect you! You should be grateful that Seshat asked me to be your guardian!]
[But before you get any ideas, I can't just hand you coins or cheat the system for you…]
[My only job is to make sure you don't die and to help you grow as quickly as possible.]
[So yeah… we'll meet again soon. There are… some problems I need to handle.]
And just like that, she ended her speech before Matthew could utter a single fucking word, and then vanished into thin air.
"Alas... forget it." rubbing his eyebrows, Matthew entered the giant portal...
.
.
.
.
.
"Ah... these damned outer gods," Horae muttered softly.
"Well... another batch to kill..."
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票