Ranker's Return

Chapter 749

The ancestral tower—the tower Floyd mentioned didn’t have the same form as the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was a tower of a much more difficult form. Unlike when the tower was viewed from a distance, this was much more obvious when it was seen up close.

‘What the hell is this?\'

“Tang-E, is what I’m seeing real?” Hyeonu looked the ancestral tower up and down several times with an incredulous expression.

“I think so, Master dude.” Tang-E also had the same face as Hyeonu. He was just amazed when looking at the ancestral tower.

“How did they make it like this?” The more Hyeonu looked, the more admiration that he felt.

The ancestral tower was in the form of a huge pile of stones. To be exact, it was right to call it rocks rather than stones. The rocks were all of different sizes, each one measuring several meters in size. Such rocks were joined together and soared high as if they were touching the sky.

‘How does it not collapse?’

The tower had a really rough surface. It was like they made the tower by stacking up stones commonly found on hiking trails. Yet mysteriously, it didn’t collapse.

‘Where is the entrance?’ Hyeonu stopped admiring it and started moving around the ancestral tower. In the exact opposite direction of where Hyeonu was first standing, there was the huge entrance leading to the interior of the ancestral tower.

‘Is it here?’

Hyeonu stepped into the huge entrance where there was no light. It was an action he made because he was confident that no monsters would appear. Once inside the ancestral tower, Hyeonu frowned at the darkness and made a request of Tang-E: “Tang-E, turn on the light.”

“I was going to do that, Master dude.” Tang-E nodded and made a fireball in the air.

At first, it was just one. Then Tang-E continued to summon them as he realized that the small fireball wasn’t sufficient as lighting. It was only when ten fireballs were summoned that the inside of the tower was revealed little by little. The interior of the ancestral tower was very spacious. It was about as wide as a soccer field or baseball field. However, the ceiling rose so high that it couldn’t be seen.

‘I think this is the right place for the quest.’ Hyeonu looked around the ancestral tower and noticed that the quest’s clues were related to this ancestral tower.

“Master dude, there is text written on the wall.”

Writing covered the walls on all sides. It was crooked but not illegible because the letters were very large.

“Yes, I also see it,” Hyeonu replied to Tang-E before approaching the nearest wall. Then he raised his head and started reading the text on the wall.

-I regret my choice.I curse my choice to seal the holy relic with the commitment of killing him, which drove my clan to extinction.

The writing on the wall was eerie from the beginning. Floyd, the person believed to have left these words, was obviously feeling desperate at the time. This short paragraph gave many things to Hyeonu.

[The quest has been updated.]

[Complete Chroma’s Memories → Traces Left by Floyd]

[Collect Chroma’s Memory Fragments → Find the Traces Left by Floyd.]

[Observe Chroma’s Memories → Read the Traces Left by Floyd.]

The quest that Hyeonu received was changed. Everything had changed. It wasn’t just that. The information he learned from Chroma’s incomplete memories became a bit more accurate.

‘The mission holy relic that Chroma mentioned is what Floyd sealed.’

Hyeonu secured some clues about the whereabouts of the relic he was looking for. Then he immediately started reading the bottom part of what he was reading earlier.

-Chroma, an adult shaman, coveted the king’s position.It was excessive greed.If he were qualified to be king, then Chroma, not me, would’ve taken the throne.He brought the gods to take the throne.In addition, he tried to use a conspiracy to kill Akan who was appointed as the next king.

This was the end of the story on one wall, and it alone completed a pretty interesting story.

‘Akan, the first emperor of the Luos Empire. In addition, Akan the heir of the king of the giants.’

The relationship between the giants and the Luos Empire could be confirmed again. However, there was something more important than that. Hyeonu was extremely curious about the plot of the quest.

‘I should hurry and see the next content.’

He felt like he was reading an interesting novel and really wanted to see what was next.

-But I’m not an idiot.I knew Akan’s innocence.I took the relic from Chroma and handed it to Akan.Then I ordered him to go out to the continent.That was the only way out.Akan was too weak to deal with the gods of the divine world.After that, we fought against the gods of the divine world who were brought over by Chroma. As time passed, the situation became worse.In the end, it was the giants who died.Chroma also noticed it and started to backstab the gods of the divine world.He was a really clever and insidious person.It is to the point where I don’t know how he became a shaman.

Hyeonu swiftly read what was written on the next wall. He couldn’t take his eyes off it. From a third party’s perspective, this story was exciting.

‘It must be hell for those directly involved, but…’

Hyeonu acquired another piece of information by reading the writings left on the wall. It was information related to the divine world. There was a connection between the extinction of the giants and the divine world.

‘By the way, he said ‘gods’ and not ‘the god tribe’?’

His question was about why the word ‘gods’ was used instead of ‘the god tribe’. Usually when it came to the gods of Arena, it referred to the temple masters or the gods of different species.

‘There are many types of gods in novels…’

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand this. After all, there could be a god for every concept—for example, things like fire, death, life, and so on.

“Let’s just read the next part.”

Hyeonu thought his questions would be resolved if he kept reading, so he moved on and read the text on the wall.

-The gods of the divine world weren’t that easy to deal with.The moment they noticed Chroma backstabbing them, they focused on killing the giants.I became furious when I confirmed there were fewer than 1,000 giants left.Then I made a judgment that should’ve never been made.A holy relic that was passed down only to the kings was offered as a sacrifice to the Heavenly Father.The Heavenly Father knew everything and was furious like me.He took the magic from Chroma and took courage and wisdom from the clan.I was the only one who remained the same.No, a ban was given to me as well.I was unable to leave the area of the ancestral tower, where ancestral rites were held, for the rest of my life.

Most of the words on this wall were what Hyeonu already knew. There was no new information. If he had to pick one thing, it was that the giants changed because of Floyd. Still, it was meaningless at this time. There were no giants left.

-Perhaps due to the influence of the curse, Chroma and I escaped the passage of time.It was the same for some of the surviving clan members.Time seemed to have stopped like it was cursed.Over the years, my anger toward Chroma faded.To be precise, every time I saw my people wandering around while being deprived of their courage and wisdom, I started to feel disgusted with myself.I felt ashamed for not being able to control my emotions in the moment and making a choice I shouldn’t have made as king.If anyone comes to this place, I hope they will break the curse that has lasted for a long time.

‘Is this the end?’

It was the end. There were no more writings left on the wall. Hyeonu finished reading all the texts and turned his head to look around.

‘Where is the relic?’

He was looking for the relic that had been offered. It was the very relic that was called the medium of the curse.

‘Please let an epic item come out.’

This was not greed for epic items but a desire to resolve Floyd’s wish.

“Tang-E, have you seen anything that looks good here?” Hyeonu couldn’t find the relic no matter how much he looked around and decided to ask Tang-E since the latter was also wandering around.

“Let’s see… I don’t know, Master dude. Is there anything that looks good?” Tang-E asked Hyeonu in return. Tang-E didn’t read the writing on the wall, so he had no idea that Hyeonu was referring to the relic. It was normal for him to answer that he didn’t know when Hyeonu asked.

“Really? Do you want to look for it together? I heard there is something similar to the item on your arm here,” Hyeonu briefly explained the situation to Tang-E, who knew nothing.

In fact, it wasn’t even at the level of ‘briefly.’ He only informed Tang-E about the existence of an epic item. This was enough.

Tang-E heard Hyeonu’s words and started urging Hyeonu, “Do you mean there is such a good treasure? Then we have to hurry and find it. What are you doing? Master dude.”

Tang-E also knew the value of the bracelet on his arm.

“Let’s find it together. Two is better than one. Please make some more fireballs. It is easier to find if it is bright.” Hyeonu ordered Tang-E to make more fireballs. The ancestral tower was so wide that all the fireballs Tang-E made earlier were barely enough to read the writings on one wall. The rest were blurred, and the exact form of the words couldn’t be seen.

“Understood, Master dude. Just wait.” Tang-E agreed and raised his magic power to make more fireballs.

The fireballs started to line up vertically side by side based on the center point of the tower. Then their vision naturally brightened. The much brighter view meant Hyeonu was able to take a closer look at the inside of the ancestral tower. Previously, it was like he relied on torches to look around. Now it was as bright as fluorescent lamps being turned on.

‘Relic… Relic…’ Hyeonu was speculating on the shape of the relic. First of all, there was the ring Hyeonu was wearing and the bracelet Tang-E was wearing. Then the most likely thing was a crown or a necklace. Usually, things that symbolized something often took different forms.

‘I think it is definitely here somewhere…’

Hyeonu had wandered all over the ancestral tower to read the words written on the walls. Yet he didn’t remember seeing anything that could be the relic during the process.

‘Is it on the ceiling, not the floor?’ This thought suddenly came to Hyeonu’s mind.

Hyeonu jumped high up into the air to check it. In order to satisfy the reuse conditions of the skill, he repeatedly kicked the wall inside the tower and continued climbing toward the ceiling. Hyeonu jumped repeatedly on air for nearly 30 minutes before approaching the ceiling.

“Uwah!!!” a scream emerged from Hyeonu’s mouth as he inadvertently looked down at the ground. He reflexively kicked at the air and jumped up further, colliding the top of his head with the ceiling. While rubbing the back of his throbbing head, Hyeonu opened his eyes, which he shut just a moment ago.

“Eh?”

In front of him, a glowing bracelet floated like the sun. Hyeonu instinctively reached out to grab the bracelet. He would’ve surely caught it if he hadn’t heard someone’s voice.

“It has been a while.”

It was the appearance of Floyd, a man carrying a huge spear.