SSS-Class Revival Hunter-Chapter 341: Absolute Music (2)

A staff came between the Paladin and me. I turned to see the Primordial Staff staring at me. “Alright, that’s enough chitchat. Listen to the rest of the explanation before you leave for the seventy-first floor.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I answered quickly.

“Death King, the other Constellations are already ruling the worlds you’ll enter, but the worlds aren’t like any you have seen before. You won’t need to fight the Constellations.”

I tilted my head. “Why not? Are they good Constellations?”

“Well, to be exact, they have no means to fight you. Until now, you’ve only met Constellations with personalities. However, the seventy-first to seventy-ninth floors are ruled by Constellations without minds.”

“So are they like tools or plants?”

“Something like that. You can say they’re the laws of the world. The important part is that you can’t fight those Constellations unless you have reached the level where you can kill with only your mind, but you haven’t. The reason I called her among your peers is simple. The seventy-first floor is a world ruled by music. It’s called the Musical Heaven Realm.

Patricia was the first to react to the word “music.” She said, “Oh, then I’m indeed the best choice. I don’t mean to brag, but I’m one of the best musicians in our Tower. The tickets to my recent show were sold out. Choosing me was very wise.”

She crossed her arms and looked at the Primordial Staff with confidence. As to why she looked very confident, I didn’t know. Since she had started playing jazz again, she became much freer.

The Primordial Staff shrugged. “I don’t know why you’re bragging to me. Anyhow, yes. Death King, you’ll live as a musician in the Musical Heaven Realm.”

“Must I be a musician?”

“There’s no freedom of occupation in that realm. There, everyone is a musician. Please don’t think all the realms are as free and lively as yours.”

What a harsh world.

“Though I did learn to play the piano a little from Patricia, I’m still a beginner...” I grumbled.

“That’s true for most Hunters. Outside their specialties, they’re all amateurs.” The Primordial Staff looked puzzled, not understanding what the problem was. “That’s why many Hunters fail these floors.”

“That makes sense.”

Patricia patted me on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, Kim Gong-Ja. I told you, no matter how stupid you look, I’ll give you a pass no matter what. Unless it’s a Cavefire play, you can’t impress me with just music. Relax.”

“That sounds rude.”

“People should be humble about their skills. For example, Gong-Ja, you should be arrested by the fashion police. Your leather fixation is so bad that it’s almost a fetish.”

“I don’t want to hear that from someone who wears armor all year round! Besides, this is the style Anastasha chose for me! Don’t complain to me about it!”

The Primordial Staff nodded. “I see. Death King, you’re the type who will talk endlessly if left alone with a friend. I’ll have to send you in by force.”

The ground under my feet turned squishy and gave way. I looked down and saw my feet sink into the floor sloshing with yellow paint and squealed.

[The Primordial Staff is teleporting you away.]

“Hurry up and leave.”

Suddenly, I was buried in the floor all the way to my waist. Just before I sank completely, Patricia shouted, “Kim Gong-Ja! Even if your fashion sense sucks, that’s fine by me!”

“Patricia...”

“Because you also lack a face card, it perfectly matches your fashion sense.”

I frowned. “Let’s talk after I clear the seventy-first floor.”

“Be safe.”

I sank all the way down.

***

[You have entered the seventy-first floor.]

[You aren’t allowed here.]

[A small penalty has been given.]

I opened my eyes to see a town which resembled an elf kingdom from a fairy tale painted in watercolors, the sort of place one imagined when thinking of a fantasy paradise. However, it was deathly quiet.

[The Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye has activated their power.]

[Revealing basic information about the floor.]

Even though this was my first time in this world, I had no problem finding information about it. One of the high-level Constellations—Hishimit Kritz—had already pledged their loyalty to me. Before I could take a deep breath, words appeared before me.

—Musical Heaven Realm. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

—Floor: 71

—Constellation: Heaven-Singing Conductor

—Difficulty Level: B~A+

—Information (Lv. 1): This is a world where everything functions based on music. If you want to buy something, you must play a tune for the seller. Fine music earns a high price, while poor music earns lowly. The sole food the residents here consume is music. When they wake up in the morning, listening to music refills their energy. If they go a week without music, they’ll starve to death. Think of this as a world where everything—currency, food, power— is music.

It’s much easier now to process information.

Since I accepted Hishimit Kritz as my subordinate, I didn’t have any trouble gathering data. Was this why the Constellations feared losing their power? Even I, a newbie among them, was becoming stronger very quickly.

Now, how should I proceed? Hmm?

[The Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye has activated their power of exposure.]

Another message arrived, a slightly different one.

[You do not meet the prerequisites to get hidden information.]

[The Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye has fulfilled the prerequisites by force!]

[Revealing the hidden information!]

The letters that floated before my eyes soon fell apart before reassembling, writhing like black worms until they changed into new words.

—Musical Heaven Realm

—Floor: 71

—Constellation: Heaven-Singing Conductor.

—Explanation (Lv. 2): Not all Hunters live for hundreds of years. Many of them die. Have you ever wondered where the souls of those who die in the Tower go? This is the underworld of the Tower where the souls arrive after death.

I blinked.

What? The underworld?

A gasp of horror rose to my lips, but my tongue was frozen. Despite my shock, Hishimit Kritz kept embroidering words in the air. The snake wrapped around my wrist and wagged their tail. The flow of information did not stop.

—There are nine floors of the underworld in the Tower, earning the name of Nine Heavens. When the humans of the Tower die, they may choose to linger behind rather than just disappear. For those who roam the Nine Heavens, the heaven they roam is based on the Hunter’s last wish. This is the seventy-first floor, the first of the Nine Heavens, known as the Musical Heaven Realm.

“■■■■!”

The letters started shaking. The snake flicked their tongue, looked up and stared into the void. Hishimit Kritz looked stressed. I wondered why they were suddenly trying to bite off the empty air, but the reason was soon revealed.

[You do not meet the prerequisites to get hidden information.]

[The Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye has fulfilled the prerequisites by force!]

[The Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye has fulfilled the prerequisites by force!]

I understood what was going on. An unseen force was blocking Hishimit Kritz’s power. I didn’t know if the system or the Constellation that ruled this floor was the cause, but that didn’t discourage me.

“■■! ■■!” The snake bared their teeth and threatened the foreign power.

[The Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye has fulfilled the prerequisites by force!]

[You have won the right to see the hidden information.]

[Revealing the hidden information!]

At last, the letters’ turmoil ended. Hishimit Kritz scoffed, as if asking “How dare you try to stop me?” Then they wrote more letters, as if they were trying to prove that they were much more valuable than the Goddess of Protection.

—Name: Musical Heaven Realm

—Floor: 71

—Constellation: Heaven-Singing Conductor.

—Difficulty Level: B

—Information (Level 3): Musical Heaven. Here, souls tired of life and words come. They no longer trust words shared between them, nor do they try to get near anyone. If they do, it’s only through music.

—All the lives here have a soul. The dandelions span across the sky, the narcissus have their heads bowed, and the minnows bathe their feet in the shade of the stream’s rocks. All that lives here is made out of reincarnated souls who have forgotten their past lives. At times—or maybe at all times—when they dream, old memories rise like thin mist, and the souls swim in those memories. In the sky, where the music echoes, tired souls will rest. Forever, if they so desire.

I looked around. It was oddly quiet. Under the calm sky, birds didn’t form flocks, but flew alone, each in its own way. According to the information from the Labyrinth-Dwelling Eye, they were also reincarnated souls. My head hurt.

The Tower also made an afterlife for its people?

I saw reincarnated souls everywhere. Flowers lay on both sides of the dirt path to the town. Bright white hydrangeas and snowball tree flowers bloomed in lines, quietly chanting mantras.

The Tower master isn’t going to leave even one person ignored. Not a single person.

There were many white flowers. White didn’t discriminate by seasons. Snowball tree flowers folded their petals in prayer, and acacia trees bowed behind them. White lilies reached to the sky. Cherry blossom trees scattered their petals in the air. Everything that wished to lose their color had erased its past lives.

I calmed my beating heart and thought of something else.

But I can’t hear any music. Isn’t it too quiet?

I hadn’t heard a single sound since I came to the seventy-first floor. It was oddly quiet. Even when Hishimit Kritz screamed earlier, I only felt a soft vibration.

The Guardian tilted his head.

—Huh? Quiet? What are you talking about? I feel like my eardrums are going to burst.

What?

I stepped onto the dirt path. The world was quiet, but I knew where I had to go. On the other side of the path, a tree as tall as the sky stood in the center of a dim town. It resembled a world tree from the stories. Villages clung to its big trunk, looking like layers of lingzhi mushrooms growing on each other.

After sharpening my vision with aura, I could see people walking up and down a big wooden staircase around the tree. Not only people, but also animals, like deer and giraffes walked with ease. Not all souls had been reborn as plants.

—The birds’ chirping is one thing, but even the flowers are singing here.

What?

—Now that I pay closer attention, even the bugs are humming softly. I admit that they make a great choir. I feel relaxed if I listen to them, but this type of challenge is really... not my style. Wait, Kim Zombie, can you not hear anything at all?

I opened my mouth and tried to sing a high note. I heard nothing. I used my aura to boost my hearing. I wrapped my ears in aura again, making sure to leave no gaps. I then tried to make a sound. Still, I heard nothing. My hearing wasn’t broken; it was as if the sense itself had been erased.

Shit.

When I had arrived at the seventy-first floor, a message had popped up, saying that a small penalty had been given to me. There was a good reason Hishimit Kritz’s shout sounded like ■ to me. I now understood it all.

I can’t hear anything!

This world was made of music, and Patricia, the examiner, was a musician. I had to win her heart to make her my follower. Clearing this world without being able to hear anything was my penalty.