SSS-Class Hunter is Going to Rest - Chapter 88



Only Krnovel

Episode 88 Towards the 100th Floor (1)
2024.06.16.

Suji gritted her teeth and immediately turned around to climb onto the unicorn’s back. Elaine also sat behind her without hesitation, and the two flew straight into the tower’s entrance.

There was no need to guess which floor the crack had occurred on.

The crack had continued from the 50th floor, where the government officials were always present and the lights were always shining.

Even in that brief moment of hurriedly heading to the tower, her heart was beating like crazy.

It was a crack that she had wanted to see so badly but could not.

She had not expected it to appear so suddenly after not appearing for so long.

Still, she was lucky. It had appeared right when she arrived at the tower.

As soon as she reached the entrance of the tower controlled by the government officials, she jumped off the unicorn’s back.

“Daphne! If you are going to enter the tower now… … .”

“It seems that a crack has occurred. If possible, I would like to enter.”

Instead of Suzy, Elaine explained the situation in an urgent tone, and the officials hesitated and communicated through the terminal. After a brief delay, Saber stepped forward and answered.

“What you said is correct. However, they have already recognized the cracks on the 50th floor, and they say that everyone has safely evacuated thanks to the officials’ leadership. According to the communication from the 50th floor, the situation is not that serious, but we plan to completely control entry for the time being.”

Regarding the cracks, they always occurred in an instant, and there were only stories of casualties.

However, this time, it seemed that they had somehow noticed it early.

“It’s fortunate that there were no casualties.”

“So it seems that Daphne-sama doesn’t necessarily have to go in.”

Suzy shook her head. She

seemed to have misunderstood something, but she wasn’t going to rescue people.

It would have been better if there were no one else.

I had someone else to see.

“I have business beyond the cracks.”

Saber made an awkward face.

“… … I don’t have the authority to control entry.”

“Then I will go in.”

It was nice that they were worried about her, but she didn’t have time to explain everything from start to finish.

As Suzy stepped forward resolutely, Saber felt that she had no choice and pushed the people back to make room for her.

“You can go in, but don’t overdo it. You’re already having a hard time.”

Her worried face conveyed her sincerity.

Suzy smiled slightly.

“Thank you.”

“No. Take care.”

Suzy nodded and immediately connected to the tower. She

heard Elaine’s terminal ringing, and from afar, she could see Peace and Saint approaching the entrance, pushing through the crowd, but everything felt far away.

All she could think about was that she had to go to the 50th floor right now.

“I’ll go into the tower.”

[The challenge begins.

Which floor would you like to head to: the 1st floor, the 50th floor, or the 82nd floor?]

“50th floor.”

Ring!

[The challenge begins.

The 50th floor is a place of rest.

You can save and load, and use party items.]

With the sound of the notification window, the civil servants and people in line disappeared.

When her vision brightened again, what she saw was the rest area on the 50th floor, which was more familiar to her than her home. However, unlike usual, the civil servants who were stationed there and managing the floor were nowhere to be seen.

Instead, all she could see was a crack that seemed to have shattered into the air, as if a piece of glass the size of her palm had shattered.

It was as if a handful of mirrors had shattered, or as if a well-made filming set had cracked, revealing the real world outside.

“… … This is a crack?”

She felt the ‘emptiness’ that seemed to have been torn apart by a sickle that had just been swung, as if feeling it with her hand.

It was a strange feeling.

It felt like a real object to the touch, but if you were to describe its texture, you couldn’t.

It seemed like she could push her hand into the empty space if she wanted to.

Suzy stood there, clinging to the small crack, quietly watching it for a moment as if she was wary. But even after summoning the 〈(Incandescent) Shackles of the Dead〉 and wrapping it around her right hand and waiting for a long time, nothing happened. Rather, the crack slowly faded away.

“… … Are you kidding me?”

Soo-ji stared at the crack in astonishment.

‘There haven’t been many cracks that have appeared so far, but it’s never been like this.’

Every time it appeared, it created a victim and a monster that looked like a reaper or something appeared. But what is this tiny crack?

How long had I waited for this moment, only to find a crack that appeared and disappeared like a joke?

She raised her sword and thrust it into the slowly closing crack. Then she turned the sword to one side and swung it sideways.

The (incandescent) Shackle of the Dead dug into the crack and stopped dead in its tracks.

She gripped the handle of the sword with both hands and stood firmly against the crack, applying force.

The crack didn’t widen any further, but it didn’t seem to narrow any further either.

The other side was dimly visible through the crack.

Suji squinted her eyes and examined the scene.

A huge marble table caught her eye. A necklace with feather decorations was placed on it, but it was too dark to see clearly.

And around the table, an enormous black shadow was circling at a constant speed.

Even though there was no confrontation, she could feel some kind of energy.

As her spine tingled, she felt as if she would be dragged somewhere at any moment.

It was an angle looking up from below, and it was so huge that she couldn’t see the shape of the shadow in detail. However, it wasn’t hard to confirm that it was the monster Nature had spoken of.

“You’d better step back.”

Elaine’s voice whispered from behind her.

It was a voice that seemed to be quite wary of something, as if holding her breath.

“Why?”

The moment Daphne turned her head as she said that, something red looked this way through a small crack.

The moment she thought she saw something like a star, Elaine hugged her tightly and jumped to one side.

The scythe cut through the air, cutting off the spot where Suzy had been. The black, huge scythe passed by, creating a new large crack near the crack.

A few strands of purple hair flew around.

Perhaps if she had been even a little later, she would have lost her neck or an arm.

There was no warning.

They said they had noticed her presence, but their reaction speed was much faster than that of a normal monster.

‘How?’

Rather than feeling relieved that she was alive, the first question that came to mind was how Elaine knew and was able to avoid it.

Her breathing became ragged due to the sense of alertness that her head was almost blown off, and her heart raced as endorphins rushed through her.

Thump! Thump!

The monster beyond the crack seemed excited and swung its scythe wildly. The entire 50th floor shook. The crack was slowly widening.

Elaine lowered her to the floor and spoke urgently.

“Let’s get out, Daphne. Evacuation is the priority right now.”

Suzy tried to shake off his grip on her arm, but he held on tightly to her.

She turned around and snapped back without realizing it.

“Did you follow me to stop me?”

Elaine looked around with eyes full of caution and spoke firmly once more.

“Daphne. Think calmly. This isn’t an opponent that you two can fight. Let’s go back now.”

“Elaine! Let go of this.”

“You’ll meet them anyway as you climb the tower. It’s not too late to prepare and fight.”

“But… …!”

He was right.

Since it was absolutely certain that the crack was connected to the upper level, there was no need to rush.

Boom, Boom!

The monster swung its scythe here and there, and the space collapsed, causing boulders to fall.

This was also just an illusion that would be restored when you re-enter, but it was obvious that you would die if you got crushed by it.

Soo-ji ground her teeth.

Her mother’s enemy was right in front of her.

The enemy she had wanted to meet so badly.

She had been waiting for this moment so long that she couldn’t make a cool-headed judgment. She didn’t want to make a cool-headed judgment.

“… … Even if I die, I shouldn’t try to catch this guy, right?”

“Daphne.”

There was a hint of urgency in the voice that called me softly as if it was convincing her.

Soo-ji had no choice but to grit her teeth and nodded.

– Listen to your friend. It would be bad if the number of party members decreased.

At that moment, her head buzzed and the owner of the ring spoke.

The number of party members decreased.

It was a strange sound, a warning that she was going to die.

Instead of answering, Suzy spoke to the status window first.

“Let me out.”

A huge scythe slashed through the space, and the ground beneath her feet flashed blue.

For a split second, a man wearing solid black armor with no major features was visible through the cracks the reaper had torn apart.

It was only a moment so I couldn’t be sure, but it was someone so familiar that I knew who it was just from the silhouette.

‘… Elaine?’

She returned to the first floor of the tower, opened her eyes, and looked back at him standing behind her.