Ranker Who Lives Twice

Team: HH, thursdays, Yahiko (4/10)

“Today, there was a commotion in the village because of Sesha.”

Brahm chuckled as he sat down next to the bed where Ananta was sitting.

During this time, he always sat next to his daughter and made small talk with her. He hadn’t been able to stay with her for a long time, so he wanted to be next to her now.

“Three boys got into a fistfight about who was going to be Sesha’s boyfriend. Haha. Who does she take after to be so popular?”

Brahm glanced at his daughter from the fruits he was cutting. Ananta was looking out the window with blank eyes. For a moment, sadness filled Brahm’s face, but he didn’t express it.

“In these cases, usually, the parents would defuse the fight. But here, the parents cheered them on in the background to win. I’ve been here for over a year now, but there are so many interesting people here. Anyways, after that ruckus, what happened after was a sight to see.”

After he finished cutting the fruit, Brahm stabbed it with a fork and placed it in Ananta’s hand.

But the fork fell out of her hand and into the blanket. Knowing she still had a long recovery ahead of her, Brahm carefully fed his daughter the piece of fruit.

Ananta opened her mouth slightly and began to nibble at the fruit. It was an extremely slow process. It was a wonder how she was able to swallow it.

“So one of them barely won and tried to confess to Sesha, but Sesha rejected him, saying he was ugly. She did the same thing to the other two. The three boys were left crying….. it was a mess. They didn’t cry after losing the fight. Goodness. Love is pretty amazing, isn’t it? Our Sesha is so outspoken. I think she’s popular because she takes after you. Ah, is that too far?”

Even though he was talking about Sesha, Ananta continued to stare blankly out the window. She had cherished Sesha so much, but she couldn’t say anything. She was like a doll.

Her appearance frustrated Brahm.

He could no longer see his daughter, who used to shout at him in a rebellious voice in that weak body of hers.

What was making his daughter suffer so much? It would be nice if she could speak her mind.

He had once been a god, but there was nothing he could do right now. This was one of the reasons he hated his godly status.

Brahm was constantly feeling apologetic because he thought he was a bad father.

Then, Brahm thought of the flower cookies Yeon-woo had coincidentally obtained. He had said there was a diluted amount of Nectar within it. Brahm remembered enjoying it back in the heavenly world. It was a gift Persephone frequently gave to her acquaintances.

“I don’t know if it’ll go well with coffee.”

He began to think of new food to feed his daughter. That was all he could do.

* * *

“Huh? Uh no! Aw. Not here.”

Sesha entered the garden, chasing after her rolling ball. She had accidentally kicked it here.

Her pure face turned into one of sadness.

This was a flower garden that Grandfather especially cherished. Brahm was always kind, but when she took a step inside, Brahm scolded her harshly. She was scared of that side of him.

But she had made a mistake while playing nearby. Thinking that she would get in trouble, she quickly looked around for the ball before Brahm saw.

However, the ball must’ve been buried under flowers because she couldn’t find it. Sesha ended up walking deep into the garden.

She shouldn’t have been doing this. She couldn’t. Tears brimmed in Sesha’s eyes as the flowers were hurt with every step she took.

Then, Sesha came across a window. The window that had been too high for her to see when she first came here was at her eye-level so that she could look inside.

That was where….. her mom was. The mom who used to visit her first thing in the morning and read her stories at night. However, her mom didn’t smile at Sesha anymore.

Brahm told her that her mom was still in a deep sleep and couldn’t meet Sesha yet. He said when she came back, she would give Sesha as much love as she had given before.

He earnestly told Sesha that she shouldn’t cry and grow up with maturity so her mom could be happy when she finally woke up.

However, Sesha was no longer a young child, and she knew her mom wasn’t dreaming but hurt instead.

Still, Sesha was actively making friends and working hard with her studies so her mom could smile when she opened her eyes.

She dreamt of making the medicine to heal her mom someday.

‘I wonder what Mom’s doing?’

She suddenly became curious about what her mom was doing since she was already here. She tiptoed and lifted her face above the window.

Her mom was staring blankly ahead, leaning against the wall as usual.

She looked feeble but still beautiful. Sesha always thought her mom was quite pretty whenever she looked at her, and she wanted to be that pretty when she grew up.

Brahm said Sesha looked exactly like her mom from when she was young. Sesha believed firmly in what he said.

‘Mom, you can do it!’

Sesha adorably clenched her fists with an encouraging look.

Just then.

“Sesha! I said not to go into the garden!”

She could hear Brahm shouting. Sesha jumped in surprise and scurried away to avoid Brahm. Thankfully, the ball was nearby.

After the brief commotion in the middle of the quiet garden,

Flinch.

Ananta’s right thumb moved. No one saw.

* * *

[This is the 34th floor, the ‘Gate of Mirrors.’]

[The trial of the 34th floor is beginning.]

[Trial: Since long ago, many have checked their appearance through mirrors, and mirrors have received the limelight as a holy artifact that could reflect the entire world.

It was created as a pathway to another world. Sometimes, it was considered a demon’s artifact that swallowed up what was real.

Here, tens of thousands of such mirrors have been placed. Each mirror reflects each other, and it becomes harder to tell which is real and which is fake.

You are the one being reflected by them right now.

From now, look for the ‘real one’ and safely clear this trial.]

After quickly passing through the 31st floor to the 33rd floor, what greeted Yeon-woo was a dizzying amount of mirrors.

The entire world was made of mirrors.

In the ground, in the air, and in the sky. Every time he turned his head, he saw himself, and his appearances were reflected in another mirror and created more of him.

Yeon-woo realized he was trapped between an innumerable amount of doppelgangers.

He couldn’t even tell the path in front of him and thought it was better to close his eyes and scatter his Consciousness.

‘I’m so dizzy.’

He knew he would be in danger if he began moving without any plan, so he plopped down on the ground.

‘Creutz should probably be somewhere nearby.’

He thought of spreading his Consciousness to find him, but he decided not to. He was the one following him, not the other way around.

He could’ve gone ahead to the 35th floor. He had already cleared through this place a long time ago, so it was probably better for him to wait ahead than stay here on this dizzy floor.

Yeon-woo didn’t plan on staying for a long time, either.

The clock was ticking even now.

Still, he had something to check before he could get on with the stage mission.

“Atran.”

The ground shook, and Atran jumped out from a portal frivolously.

“Have you called for me, push….. I mean, customer!”

The corners of Atran’s mouth were raised. He looked gleeful to hit the jackpot after a while. All the items Yeon-woo had requested of him were priceless. They were items you couldn’t buy easily in the market, no matter how much money you gave.

‘Materials to make Kynee.’

Yeon-woo opened his mouth.

“The items you obtained?”

“For now, this is it, sir. Please check.”

Yeon-woo quickly opened the quest window.

[Materials to create ‘Kynee’]

• • • • Apodis Scales (45/45)

• • • • Kathran Liquid (5/5)

……

• • • • Magic Sword Stone (1/2)

• • • • Jamshid’s Liquor (2/5)

• • • • Adamantine Nova (0/1)

『Huk……! No way.』

『He gathered this much in that short amount of time?』

Brontes, who had appeared beside him, dropped his mouth after seeing the items that Yeon-woo collected. The most logical out of the three, Steropes, also seemed to be taken aback.

That was how hard it was to obtain the materials to make Kynee. They were materials that Hades didn’t have enough of and called commodities.

But in a few days, Atran had gathered most of them.

Yeon-woo, who knew the abilities of By the Table, wasn’t all that surprised. Rather, he acted like this was to be expected.

“The Magic Sword Stone, three Jamshid’s Liquors, and the Adamantine Nova aren’t here. And there are some I still need more of.”

“I can get them if more time is given. However, don’t you know how incredible it is just to have attained that much of the last three, sir?”

Yeon-woo clicked his tongue. He knew he was being unreasonable. The materials in the list were meant for nothing more than to shape Kynee or support its functions.

However, the last three were on a completely different level.

The Magic Sword Stone, Jamshid’s Liquor, and Adamantine Nova.

They were difficult items to obtain in the lower world, and it was already impressive that he had gathered that much.

‘Especially since Jamshid’s Liquor and Adamantine Nova are pretty much considered holy artifacts.’

Over 7 items that were nearly holy artifacts went into making Kynee. That was how priceless Kynee was.

‘And just by getting this much, I’m in an incredible amount of debt to By the Table.’

He had used nearly all of the Summer Queen’s wealth while cleaning up the Outer Space. He was contracted with By the Table on the receiving end of a sponsorship, but Yeon-woo still considered it a debt.

Yeon-woo looked like a clump of money to Atran.

“Do I have to get the rest myself?”

“We tried asking owners of the other items and did everything we could to make a deal with them. Fortunately, we’re currently negotiating the price for the Adamantine Nova, so there’ll be good news soon.”

“Adamantine Nova?”

Yeon-woo seemed surprised. So did the Cyclops Brontes and Steropes.

『There’s someone in the lower world who still has it?』

『How surprising.』

Adamantine Nova was a mystical stone created with the legendary material, adamantium. The name was given to it because it looked like a shining star.

It was trickier to handle than adamantium, and it was categorized as a rare mineral, so only a few gods used it to make their holy artifacts.

But a mortal was in possession of it?

“The owner’s not known to the public, so I apologize for the fact that we cannot share the owner’s name.”

Yeon-woo nodded and clicked his tongue.

‘The Tower sure is vast.’

The Tower was where countless players challenged floors. There would definitely be hidden, skilled players.

“Still, it’s a relief that you can obtain the remaining Magic Sword Stone on this floor.”

Yeon-woo smirked coldly at what Atran said.

“You didn’t leave it out because you wanted to confirm my abilities?”

“Ha, haha! O, Of course not. Why would I do something like that?”

Atran took a step back. Seeing that he didn’t have anywhere to escape, Yeon-woo snorted.

That attitude of By the Table was obvious anyway.

As sponsors, if the one they sponsored didn’t grow, their investment would have been for naught. Also, because Yeon-woo needed Karma, he didn’t plan on clearing this floor normally.

“Oh, right, and while you were in Tartarus, a letter arrived for you.”

Atran clasped his hands together at the good news, having been scared because he didn’t know what Yeon-woo was going to do.

“A letter?”

“Who is it?”

Through By the Table?

“Yes, sir. We were surprised at first, too, but the sender was the son of someone who works with us.”

“He’s the son of the Iron Lion. It’s been a while since he went off the grid, but he was once famous as Blood Sword.”

“Kahn?”

Yeon-woo’s eyes widened. Kahn suddenly sent a letter? He was about to check its contents.

Only

“However, I think it’ll be better for you to….. open the letter after this trial is finished. There are many watchful eyes.”

Atran took another step back. He quickly scanned his surroundings. Like Creutz, he didn’t enjoy the 34th floor either.

Through the forest of mirrors.

Different Yeon-woos who had the same appearance as Yeon-woo began to appear.

Multiple Yeon-woos. Atran’s eyes looked like the sparks of a nuclear bomb fading away.

“…..I have to know the real you to give you the letter.”