Tower Of God: Life As Hoaqin

CRASH!!

The wall shattered in an instant, and my body flew far away, punching straight through it. The force was just...

"Cough, cough..."

After breaking through the wall and rolling across the marble floor several times, my body finally managed to stop, and sprawled out on the ground, I kept coughing up blood as I barely managed to get myself up. And in the distance, from the wall I'd smashed through, my senior approached me. The clanking of armor and hard footsteps gradually drew closer.

"Ugh... I surrender, I surrender."

"...If you say so. Hoaqin, still, you've improved a lot compared to yesterday."

Shing— Yuryeo, the second-in-command of the Arie Family and ranked 19th, sheathed her sword and extended her hand to me. My arm was completely wrecked at the moment so I didn't have the strength to grab that hand, but whoooosh, regeneration soon kicked in, and in an instant my arm returned to its original state.

I stretched out my now-intact arm and firmly grasped Yuryeo's outstretched hand, and as she helped me up, she gazed at the arm that had been broken and then regenerated.

"Interesting. Super regeneration... No matter how many times I see it, it's truly a fascinating thing you've gotten your hands on."

"Well, thanks to it I'm getting beaten around like this..."

"Well, you recover completely every time, so what does it matter? Thanks to that, your growth is accelerating too. This is all because you were the only one who had issues during the Ranker advancement process."

"...Haah."

The moment those words came out, a sigh escaped me on its own. That Administrator, that fraud. At first, I had thought my power had increased dramatically. It felt less like accepting new power and growing stronger, and more like digesting power that had been stockpiled all along—but either way, I was stronger, so I let it slide.

However, that was my mistake.

'Hmm...? He became a Ranker, yet why is he only at this level? In terms of raw power alone, I thought he would have easily surpassed even me.'

I properly recognized the problem during my first sparring session with Yuryeo. Right after fighting me, Yuryeo had been very puzzled. Back when I was a Regular, I was at a level where I could hold my own against High Rankers in the top 100, so according to Yuryeo, becoming a Ranker should have brought me to a level where I could compete with her on equal footing.

Only then did I realize that the power I gained from advancing to Ranker was severely lacking compared to what others received through the same process.

In the end, even when I went back to the 134th Floor and confronted the Administrator directly, the only answer I got was—

[I gave you sufficient power.]

Fine, I'll admit it. After advancing to Ranker, a truly vast amount of power had indeed accumulated within me. What I had digested was only a portion of the power I hadn't fully absorbed when I fused with Baek-ya, and the amount of stockpiled power was still at a tremendous level. To the point where I wondered if my mind could even withstand accepting it all at once.

But what good is it if it's just sitting there? I need to be able to use it. The very fact that power was stockpiled but couldn't be used was strange from the start. I thought if I went to my "power" itself and asked, I might learn something, so I entered my inner world too, but—

'Master. At some point, "Power's" form disappeared. I think it was roughly around the time you became a Ranker...'

Apparently it had suddenly gone somewhere. Only Heuk—no, Baekrin and Baek-ya remained in my inner world.

In the end, I decided to cleanly forget about what had already passed. It wasn't as if I had no power at all, and at this level I was plenty strong. Besides, Yuryeo had given me the harsh assessment that I couldn't even properly handle the power I currently possessed, so for the time being I planned to focus on solidifying my foundations. Just like now.

"Yuryeo. So, how do you think I'm doing now?"

"Still much better than the beginning. At your current level, you could fight evenly with the direct lineage class of the 10 Great Families. Though if they went all out, you'd have to go all out as well."

"Not bad."

Honestly speaking, the battle against Asinus hadn't been an ideal victory. He had poured most of his power into the sorcery formation to awaken Heuk-rin, and because of that, he had sustained critical injuries from me. Even after Heukrin's revival restored his power, he had still been in a state of critical injury, yet he relentlessly pushed me back and continued fighting. In the end, though I managed to land one more critical blow, I too lost an arm and an eye before being defeated.

Ultimately, I won by exploiting a moment of carelessness at the very end, but... if I had fought Asinus at his full strength from the start, or if he hadn't let his guard down and had simply cut off my head while I was unconscious, the result would obviously have been different. People say that in real combat, carelessness and external factors are all part of one's skill, but the fact remains that in terms of pure combat ability, I was outmatched by him.

Of course, if we fought now I'd win, but... regardless, because of all that, I reflected on my arrogance. Even if achieving this much at under 200 years old was absurd, I was no longer a Regular but a Ranker now. The excuse of age no longer applied. So I shouldn't stagnate, shouldn't be arrogant, and should keep moving forward. Because I can still grow stronger.

"Then let's end it here for today. You're gradually learning to handle your power properly, so the remaining issue is simply accumulating experience. That's something time will resolve, so there's no need to rush. And when that time comes—"

Beyond her mask, Yuryeo's eyes were stained with fighting spirit and excitement in that moment.

"Challenge me then. Formally, with this title of 'Arie's Sword' on the line."

I too bared my fangs and grinned a savage smile.

"You'll be retiring soon, then."

"Heh, even if I take over all the Elders' duties and set down this title, I still won't be able to retire."

Having said that, Yuryeo turned to leave. As she was gradually walking away, a sudden curiosity struck me and I asked her. I had a rough idea, but I was still curious. About what had become of them.

"...Come to think of it, what happened to the Elders?"

"That day, I killed them all. It wasn't an easy choice. Though they had lost their sharpness and grown rusty from long years of idle rest, all four of them were top-tier High Rankers ranked within the top 100. Meaning they were the Family's most critical fighting force."

I silently nodded. As one could tell from the fact that the minimum qualification to become a branch leader was being ranked within the top 300, High Rankers ranked within the top 300 and above were treated as a Family's core fighting power. Simple math showed that 300 people could only be distributed 30 per Family across the 10 Great Families. And since obviously not all 300 would belong to the 10 Great Families, the actual number would be far fewer.

Our Arie Family already had few direct lineage members to begin with, and more had died during the civil war, on top of which we had cut away the Elders—our most critical fighting force—by our own hand. Though it was an unavoidable measure for the Family's transformation and restructuring, the losses were enormous, and as a result, our standing as the strongest of the 10 Great Families had begun to waver. Thanks to that, relations with the Khun Family and the Ha Family had apparently worsened even further.

The only reason we still maintained the title of strongest among the 10 Great Families was, of course, Father's existence as the strongest of the 10 Family Heads, and Yuryeo as the Sword of Arie. On top of that, I happened to emerge as a rising star carrying the title of 'the first Regular in the Tower's history to defeat a High Ranker.'

It's embarrassing to say it myself, but perhaps it was only natural that the 10 Great Families would be on edge at the emergence of a powerful High Ranker.

"That's why Hoaqin, your father has placed great expectations on you. Well, it seems there are other factors I'm not aware of... In any case, I hope you'll live up to those expectations."

Yuryeo roughly stopped the bleeding on her chest, which had been deeply slashed by my Baekya, and then walked away as if it were nothing. She was probably heading back to Father.

After Yuryeo left, I plopped down on the spot and closed my eyes for a moment. Yuryeo's power was overwhelming. Even though it was sparring, Yuryeo had told me to come at her with the intent to kill, and I too had been mercilessly cut down by Yuryeo with the reasoning that my body would regenerate. Even though we both fought seriously (only holding back enough not to destroy the building), Yuryeo was so strong that I couldn't win even once.

That was precisely why Yuryeo was a wall I had to overcome. And to do that, I first needed to learn to properly handle the power I currently possessed.

The divine attribute of the sword, Arie swordsmanship, the various techniques learned from the Data 10 Family Heads, Shinwonryu, Baekya, and Baekrin's super regeneration ability. These were a rough categorization of the powers I currently possessed. Every single one was formidable, but there were too many. Watching Yuryeo overwhelm and cut through everything with just a single sword, I realized anew: rather than learning many things poorly, it was better to perfectly master one thing.

And so I was thinking... of merging everything into one. Setting aside Baekrin's super regeneration ability since it wasn't originally mine, everything else—the sword-attribute divine beast, Arie swordsmanship, the 10 Data Family Heads' techniques, Shinwonryu, and Baekya. Could I not combine all of these to give birth to something entirely new? If I could, I'd become even stronger. And if merging them into one proved impossible, then perhaps into two.

Regardless, the goals were strengthening my abilities, achieving harmony and synthesis between them, and reaching sufficient mastery. So then, for now, since I was already applying swordsmanship together with Shinwonryu... and on top of that...

Beep—

— Branch Leader Hoaqin, it's time.

"Ah, shoot. Sorry, Heron. I'll be right there."

It was time for a brief lesson on the dignity, rules, and administrative skills required of a branch leader and ruler, so I gathered my thoughts and moved on.

There is no learning more enjoyable than one where your progress is clearly visible. And I was relishing every moment of that process, changing with each passing day.

And before long, I had become a full-fledged branch leader and ruler, standing as one of the pillars of the Arie Family.

.....

10 Years Later

78th Floor, ruled by Arie Hoaqin, commonly known as 'The Sea of White Whales' / 'White Whale Floor'

"Branch Leader Hoaqin, this is the latest agenda sent down from the main house. There aren't many pages, but each one contains a matter of great importance."

Current ranking 78th, a top-tier High Ranker, the White Whale—Arie Hoaqin.

He lifted the still-warm cup of tea, downed what remained in one gulp, and accepted the report from Heron. Heron, originally a veteran butler sent from the main house, had by now become one of Hoaqin's reliable aides.

Hoaqin read the report and sighed from the very first sentence.

"Haah... Why is the Lo Po Bia Family setting foot on the 78th Floor again?"

"Same as last time. It appears they're sniffing around the rare resources on the 78th Floor. This time it seems they concealed their identities and took great care not to be discovered by you, Branch Leader."

"Those pathetic fools, making a nuisance of themselves..."

"Since it's an unauthorized intrusion that even the main house cannot simply overlook, they're hoping you'll step in personally to drive them out, just as you did before."

"Send a request to the main house. Tell them to formally establish a mine there so they can never come lurking around again. For now, I'll go myself."

"Understood."

After issuing the order to Heron and resolving the first item on the agenda, Hoaqin promptly turned to the next page. And once again, he let out a deep sigh.

"...Orca noona."

"What."

"You wrote this, didn't you."

"Yep."

Arie Orca—who had joined Hoaqin's branch of her own accord, a fellow native of the Floating Castle on the 99th Floor—smiled demurely and nodded. To others, it would have been praised as an elegant smile befitting a direct lineage member of the Arie High Rankers, but in Hoaqin's eyes, it was nothing more than the mischievous grin of a playful older sister.

Unable to hold back any longer, Hoaqin shouted at her.

"I told you I'm not taking concubines! I don't need any! Why do you keep inserting matchmaking profiles into the reports?!"

"Hey! If a branch leader doesn't take concubines, how are you going to produce heirs and grow your forces?!"

"I'll just accept people who come of their own will, like you did, noona!"

"Honestly, the nerve. At that rate, it'll take 100,000 years to build a proper branch! Why won't you take concubines?! I know plenty of good women, you know? Unlike me, they all have great personalities, and they're just as pretty as I am!"

"I said I don't need any!"

Orca paused briefly at Hoaqin's fierce intensity, then soon broke into a silly grin and perched herself on the edge of Hoaqin's desk.

"Aha, you already have someone you like, don't you? Then just marry that person. With your bloodline, no matter who you marry and have children with, the offspring would have at least direct-lineage-level talent."

"...I'm fine."

"Why? Is their status really low or something? It doesn't matter—you're the branch leader, so who cares? This noona will give you permission to marry and have kids, so bring whoever it is, even if they're a slave or whatever. As long as you like them, what does status matter?"

"I said I'm fine! Please leave now, Heron!"

"Seriously! Hey! Do you have any idea how hard this noona is trying to get you out of your forever-alone life?! If you take lots of concubines, you'll have lots of children, and the branch's power will grow rapidly! You've got a handsome face, so why are you so dense...!"

"Now, now, Lady Orca. Please show the Branch Leader proper decorum. And for now, let's step out together."

Thud—

In the room that had suddenly emptied, Hoaqin clutched his head.

Low status, my foot—it's too high, that's the problem... Ah, now that I'm thinking about her, I miss her. It feels like it's been quite a while since I last saw her.

For now, I'll deal with those pathetic Lo Po Bia bastards who dare to eye the rare resources in my sea, and then I'll think about it slowly.

Just as Hoaqin was about to stand, the call button rang.

Beep, beep—

"Who is it?"

— Ah, it's me. Heron.

— Hey! Is your blood royal Zahard blood or something?! Why are you so precious about it! Just get married alread— mmph mmph!

— Ahem, ahem. Branch Leader. Your younger sister has arrived.

"Ah, understood. I'll be out shortly."

It's been a while since I've seen her too. I wonder if she's grown a lot.

Hoaqin turned off the lights in the branch leader's office, put on his coat, and stepped out the door.