Chapter 128 128: Change (3)
"…Did you bring me here?"
'...'
After being swallowed by Baekya, the space that unfolded was nothing but darkness.
There was nothing. I could see nothing.
In this strange world where sky and ground were all pitch black, the only things shining were me… and Baekya's soul standing before me.
As always, it simply stared at me in silence.
"…Is there something I'm supposed to do now?"
"...…"
Haah. I let out a faint sigh.
I knew it wouldn't answer, but it was still deflating.
Nothing's changed except the background—
'…Da…'
"Hmm?!"
I doubted my ears and looked at Baekya's soul.
That faint voice just now—it had to be hers. Who else would be here besides us?
I widened my eyes and stared at her.
Sure enough, the voice was Baekya's.
'…Don't…'
"Hmm… what did you say?"
She seemed to be trying hard to speak, but I couldn't make it out at all.
Should I give her a pen and notebook?
While rummaging through my pocket for something to write with, Baekya's form began to change.
Shrrrk—
The blurry, ghostlike silhouette grew clearer.
Where before I could only vaguely see a head and torso outline, now her limbs, upper and lower body, and face became distinct.
The transformation felt almost mystical, and without realizing it, I stepped closer and reached out.
Ting—
"Huh?"
Before my finger could touch her, something repelled it.
A ripple spread from the point of contact, traveling gently across an invisible surface.
Only then did I realize a transparent barrier stood between us.
A shinsu shield?
No…
"A mirror…?"
'Correct.'
"…!"
Baekya, now fully formed, answered my question.
She looked exactly like me—but I had already suspected as much the moment I realized it was a mirror.
Of course a mirror would reflect my appearance.
But…
"Why am I a girl?"
'Because I'm a girl!'
"…Ah, so you're female."
No wonder something felt off.
At first I thought it was just my reflection, but once the ripples settled and her form became clear, I understood.
She was my mirror image—except female.
Maybe it was more accurate to say she was the female version of me.
"My creator mixed into me a minuscule fragment of the 'Key,' unlike my thirteen siblings. A meaningless trace—mere leftovers after crafting the others. And yet, the Tower permitted my birth."
'Though outside I am nothing but an empty puppet soul with no will, here I exist as a soul with personality.'
With regal poise, Baekya gave her grand introduction.
'You may call me the hidden Fourteenth Month. Consider obtaining me your greatest fortune.'
"…You wouldn't even exist if it weren't for me."
'…Be quiet. Still, idle chatter aside, is there not something we must resolve?'
I nodded.
The original purpose was fusion—transcending my soul and extending my lifespan.
If I wanted to live happily with Mascheny for a long time, this fusion was essential.
She stepped closer.
Though the transparent mirror still separated us, we were close enough.
'Hoaquin, I like you. You possess more than enough qualification to wield me. From the Second Floor to the 128th, through countless weapons, you always chose me.'
Ting—
She tapped the mirror with her finger.
Ripples spread again—but unlike before, they did not simply fade.
Crack—
Crash!
The mirror shattered, and we stood face to face without obstruction.
'I cannot remain satisfied like this. I wish to manifest my will outside. I wish to move. To live. I am tired of spending eternity in this inner world.'
'So I will take your body as mine. I will consume your mind and replace it with my own.'
I gave a wry smile and stepped back.
"Well, I don't intend to be eaten so easily."
'I thought you'd say that.'
Snap—
She flicked her finger.
The space shifted.
The pitch-black void transformed into something more tangible.
Now we stood atop the surface of a rain-soaked river.
'Then prove your qualification. To obtain something, one must endure a trial equal to it or pay an equal price. That is the law of the Tower. It is inevitable.'
'The fusion has already begun. All that remains is who will become the master of this body.'
She looked at me.
'Tell me, my master Hoaquin.'
'Are you truly qualified?'
.....
"P-please spare me! I'll never step foot here again—!"
Bang!
Edwaru ignored the Ranker's pleas like the buzzing of a fly.
As before, he grabbed the Ranker, slammed him into the ground, and crushed his head with a hammer.
He had just repeated that simple process five times.
A crude, brutish fighting style.
Allow the first strike.
Grab.
Slam.
Crush.
After the fourth repetition, the remaining Rankers had tried to flee.
He caught one more and crushed his skull.
"…To let five escape. It seems I've grown rusty."
Brushing off his stained clothes, he surveyed the forge.
Shattered skull fragments, brain matter, blood, eyeballs—grotesquely scattered across the floor.
A nauseating sight for most.
But he merely wiped his hammer and body clean, then released his power.
Ssssss—
His shinsu attribute—
Heat.
The forge was engulfed in it.
As the temperature rose, the filth that had dirtied the forge ignited, burned, and evaporated.
In the blink of an eye, the forge was spotless once more.
As if nothing had happened.
He returned to sit near the furnace and looked at Hoaquin submerged within.
The boy's appearance was slowly changing.
"…He's being consumed."
He had meant to help, yet things were twisting instead.
Should he pull him out?
No. If he intervened now, there would be no second chance. Baekya would reject the boy.
Everything rested on the boy.
"Remember what you intend to become… white rice cake."
That was surely the essence of Baekya's trial.
.....
"Think about what you wish to become."
"…You?"
Just as I was struggling with proving my qualification, someone suddenly appeared, draping an arm over my shoulder.
A familiar voice. A familiar face.
Ah. Right. You.
"It has been a while, 'me.' I recall saying we would meet again soon… and yet here we are, twenty years later."
"Haha… twenty years isn't that long in the Tower. Still, it's good to see you."
The inner 'me' I created through Revolution—my power.
Twenty years ago, when my soul was nearing its end, he had shown me a way to survive.
He stood beside me now, grinning.
Surprisingly, Baekya didn't stop him.
She looked on calmly, as if his appearance were only natural.
My inner self, my true self, and Baekya in her female form.
The three of us standing together felt strangely surreal.
"You already possess more than enough qualification."
"You just haven't realized it."
"Hmmm…"
After thinking endlessly, I suddenly dropped down and sat on the surface of the water.
This place was a vast river under the rain.
Even though I sat upon its surface, I did not sink. The water itself supported me like solid ground.
Yes. This place was a river.
Baekya's inner world.
Countless streams branched out to every corner of the world, yet in the end, they all led to a single destination.
A predetermined arrival. A predetermined ending.
That was this "river." That was Baekya's inner world.
I closed my eyes and fell into meditation.
If this river was Baekya's inner world, then what about me?
I recalled an old memory.
Not twenty years ago.
One hundred and fifty years ago.
The Revolution I received from the God of Guardians on the Hell Train.
I remembered entering the rice cooker and confronting my own inner world.
A dark place, with no visible end to its depth.
Before I knew it, I stood once more within my own inner world.
I sank endlessly downward.
It grew endlessly darker.
This was the place where I had formed "myself." My inner world.
Then what was this place, truly?
Pitch-black darkness where I couldn't see an inch ahead.
Was this "night"?
A place with no visible bottom.
Was this the "abyss"?
Or perhaps darkness as a concept itself?
What was this profoundly dark and deep place—this inner world of mine?
Yes. Dark. Endless descent.
This place was the deep sea.
My inner world had been the deep sea—
But something felt wrong.
My heart was not at ease with that simple conclusion.
It couldn't be just the deep sea.
What I was seeing was only a part of "me."
Flap—
I spread my white wings wide and soared upward.
Up.
Up again.
Using my fully extended wings, I shot upward at comet-like speed.
All this time, I had only descended.
Now, I was ascending.
Gradually, I felt the density of darkness thin.
That confirmed it.
The higher I went, the brighter it became.
This place was not merely the deep sea.
I cut through the currents and continued rising endlessly.
Passing warm places. Cold places.
Dark places. Bright places.
Dangerous places. Safe places.
Places still unknown.
After crossing countless layers, I kept climbing.
Splash—!
At last, I reached the end.
A massive spray erupted as my body pierced through the surface.
Only after flying even higher did I look down upon the place I had ascended from.
"…So this was it. Haha… why did I only ever think of going downward?"
If I had simply risen, I would have seen this vast ocean.
Crash—
Waves roared and swallowed other waves.
A scale beyond comparison with any mere river.
Restless and turbulent.
And above it, the moon cast its pale white light.
Yes.
Until now, I had been nothing more than a frog in a well, buried in the deep sea, thinking that was everything.
The ocean.
The ocean was my true inner world.
To some, infinitely gentle and warm.
To others, infinitely dangerous and cold.
To some, devotion.
To others, death.
A place with tens of thousands of faces.
A place that does not get swept away by waves—
But creates them.
That was the ocean.
That was my inner self.
After calming my inner sea, I returned once more to Baekya's inner world.
Even without opening my eyes, I could feel my surroundings.
Compared to the ocean I had just felt, this place was pitifully small.
"Too narrow."
With that thought, I raised my inner world—the one I had momentarily calmed.
This time, I brought it here directly.
Rumble—
I could clearly feel the power of Baekya and myself begin to tremble.
I ignored it and continued.
"Power" laughed wildly, shouting at me as if it found this amusing.
"Hahaha! How interesting! You're going to summon the ocean into this place?!"
"Yes. From now on, this is my world."
The river sank.
The river was submerged.
The ocean pouring out from my inner self swallowed the river in an instant and made it part of itself.
As I looked upon this space where the river had been drowned and turned into sea, I spoke to Baekya.
"My inner world is this ocean. Vast and immense. It can embrace everything, and it can kill everything. A place with countless faces. A place that does not merely ride the waves or get swept away—but creates them."
"But this is only my inner world. It is not 'me.' Baekya, I want to hear from you first. What are you? What do you seek to become?"
"…Very well. I will tell you."
Baekya revealed her inner self.
The river—now submerged and made part of the sea. I had thought it completely devoured, but I was mistaken.
Even swallowed by the ocean, the river still flowed.
As if reaching its destination was inevitable.
Baekya watched that river briefly, then spoke.
"My thirteen siblings and I—we were made from the 'Key.' And within that Key lies a 'prophecy.'"
"A prophecy that will change this Tower. An inevitability that no one can stop. The thirteen siblings are part of that prophecy, and among those destined to fulfill it."
"I intend to become the one who fulfills that prophecy."
As she spoke, the spiritual mass forming her body began to transform into something else.
It became the shape of an object.
Something metaphysical and incomprehensible at first glance—impossible to tell what it was used for.
But instinctively, I understood.
That was the "Key" she spoke of. The same Key that formed the Thirteen Months.
The key to opening the 135th floor.
That was her. And that was what she sought to become.
Soon, she cried out as if in anguish.
"I want to act outside with my own will! I'm tired of being treated as a hollow shell without a soul! The prophecy binds me, yet I'm not even included in it!"
"In this feeble state, I can do nothing! I will have a body! I will have a mind! Not merely a weapon housing a spirit like my siblings—but a body like a living being! With that body and power, I will personally fulfill the prophecy!"
Hearing the near-desperate cry of the weapon I had casually cherished, ignited, and wielded all this time, I felt momentarily stunned.
"Power," who had heard her wish alongside me, gave a brief comment.
"She is rather pitiful. All she could do was watch your achievements from within her inner world. The shackles of prophecy tightening around her throat, yet she could do nothing."
"Shackles of prophecy?"
"The Thirteen Months are fine simply existing; it is their destiny. But Baekya is different. If she acts against predetermined fate, she suffers restraint or pain as a warning. From the beginning, she is an irregular born because of you. Her very existence violates fate. So even if she does nothing, her throat tightens endlessly. Perhaps because she was made of the same material as the Thirteen."
"…."
After hearing that, I approached Baekya.
She had returned to her human form.
Having poured out her frustration, she looked at me and said:
"Now I will ask you. What are you? What do you seek to become? Do you possess greater qualification than I?"
To me now, it was a question that had already been answered long ago.
I smiled and stepped closer.
"My worry about who I am ended 150 years ago in that rice cooker. I am Hoaquin, direct descendant of Arie Hon—and (in soul only) an irregular."
There were other titles I could add—provisional branch leader of the Arie family, ruler of the 78th floor, half-looter of the Arie treasury, Maschenny's husband, and so on—but I left those out.
What mattered was something else.
I had a proposal for Baekya.
"Baekya, come with me. I won't hand over control of my mind, but my inner world is as vast as the sea. I can grant you residency."
"That's ridiculous—!"
"You want to become one with me to escape the shackles and pain. Isn't that right?"
"…Yes."
"If you're freed from those shackles and that pain, do you still need to follow the prophecy?"
"…?"
It was such an obvious thought.
Yet it was something Baekya had never considered.
Like the Thirteen Months, she had simply assumed that following the prophecy was natural.
But unlike them, Baekya was an irregular—like me.
A being that should not exist.
A violation of fate itself.
"If you were never meant to exist in the first place, you don't need to force yourself into it. Once you're free from the shackles and pain, let's just travel comfortably. Maybe take part in a piece of the prophecy once in a while."
"Eh…?"
"Isn't that more fun? Rather than running around desperately trying to fulfill destiny like some hero—living free from everything."
Baekya looked deeply confused.
There was still hesitation in her—perhaps responsibility toward the prophecy.
"I… I was born for the prophecy…"
"No."
"…."
"You're a gift my father made for me. You have nothing to do with some grand prophecy."
"After we fuse, come live inside my inner world. Come with me. We can figure out what you want to do later."
I extended my hand to her in invitation.
"So?"
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