Jun walked slowly toward Karokan's lifeless body.
On the ground still warm from the aftermath of battle, he bent down and picked up one of the Orc Champion's massive axes. Its blade still emitted faint traces of red aura that had yet to completely fade—a remnant of the will of a warrior who had fallen at the peak of his strength.
Jun turned his gaze toward the red portal in the distance, which had begun to tremble, its cracks spreading wider, a sign that its path would soon close.
Without saying much, he threw the axe with a smooth, effortless motion.
The axe spun through the air, then vanished into the portal just before the dimensional rift sealed completely.
"For you… or for your tribe," Jun murmured softly. "Whether as a keepsake, or as a weapon—that's none of my concern."
He did not treat the second axe the same way.
Jun touched its handle, and in an instant the weapon disappeared, neatly stored inside his personal inventory. A weapon of an Orc Champion's caliber was not something he would casually discard, even if he did not yet know when it might be useful.
After that, he looked back at Karokan's body.
There was no complicated ritual. No grand ceremony.
Jun channeled a small amount of energy, moving his hand as the ring on his finger shimmered. Flames from the fire demon Ifrit flowed out, enveloping the Orc Champion's corpse. The fire burned silently, consuming the massive body until only ash remained— a clean end, one that did not allow a warrior's honor to be tainted by decay.
When the flames died out, a familiar mechanical voice echoed in his mind.
[Congratulations!]
[You have defeated Orc Champion Karokan.]
[Quest – Defeat Orc Champion: Karokan]
[Completed]
[Rewards will be automatically stored in your inventory.]
Jun let out a slow breath.
He opened the list of rewards he had received. Several items appeared—rare materials, minor artifacts, and a few materials that were… not particularly useful at the moment. Not bad, but not impressive either.
What made him frown slightly was something else.
"It's been a long time…" he muttered.
Universal item gacha ticket.
An item that was random and unpredictable, yet almost always produced something of outstanding quality and utility. Even throughout his journey so far, Jun had never once received an item below Rank B from that system.
The crescent-moon necklace now hanging around his neck—a Rank B artifact—was still the lowest-ranked item he possessed.
"Either I'm lucky," he said half-jokingly, "or this system spoils me too much."
But before he could think further, another notification appeared, this time without any delay.
[Floor has been cleared.]
[You will be automatically ejected from the Tower.]
"Huh?"
Jun had just opened his mouth to protest when the world around him cracked. Blinding white light engulfed his vision, and the sensation of gravity vanished instantly.
"You've got to be—!"
The sentence never finished.
In an instant, his body felt as if it had been kicked out of reality itself.
The light vanished.
And when his vision focused again, Jun was already standing on familiar ground—
Earth, in the middle of the simple camp he had built himself inside the forest.
The night wind blew gently. The sound of insects rang out as usual.
As if what had just happened—
the life-and-death battle, the city saved, and the fall of an Orc Champion—
had all been nothing more than a dream.
Jun looked at his hands, then at his injured shoulder.
The pain was real.
"Haah…"
He let out a long sigh.
"Damn Tower. At least give a warning before throwing someone out."
Yet despite his complaint, the corner of his lips lifted slightly.
'That was fun, Karokan,' he thought, then entered the camp, preparing to tend to his wounds.
...
After that incident, one thing became increasingly clear to me.
The next floor will no longer be an ordinary challenge.
At first, it was just monster subjugation. Then surviving thousands of deadly traps. After that, a quest directly from the Tower itself.
The more I think about it, the more it feels like all of this keeps straying further from my expectations. The pattern is inconsistent, the rules keep changing, as if the Tower itself is… testing me in a different way every time.
Or worse—
someone is moving me from behind the scenes.
That possibility makes me uncomfortable.
This Akashic system is strange as well. It's not that I reject it—the power I've gained is clearly real and has helped me survive—but in this world, nothing is truly free.
If something granted me this system, then there's a high chance there is a purpose behind it.
Guiding me to climb the Tower.
Forcing me to keep ascending to higher floors.
And at the very top… supposedly lies the Akashic truth.
The Akashic Record.
Judging from the name alone, the top of the Tower might not be a throne, nor absolute power, but a library—a place that stores knowledge of the past, present, and future.
That's just speculation, and it doesn't mean it's true. But it's also… not entirely wrong.
I let out a long breath.
I'm not an ambitious person. I never wanted godlike power, much less something on a universal scale. Everything I've done so far has been for one simple reason.
Survival.
'For now, my top priority remains the same… surviving in this DxD world,' I thought.
'My goals can change later, depending on what happens after I reach this level of power.'
At the moment, I had just finished a meditation session beneath one of the maple trees growing around the camp. Its leaves swayed gently, filtering the warm afternoon sunlight.
My body was slightly sweaty.
"I'll take a bath…"
I walked toward the nearby river, its water clear and cold. As soon as my body touched the water, the fatigue slowly faded away.
'Luckily, they didn't find my camp,' I thought.
'Even though I went out like that… the familiar that had been monitoring me also disappeared after confirming things for a full three days.'
Over the past few days, I had truly isolated myself in the forest. I didn't go into the city like I usually did when bored. I spent my time training in seclusion and reading books I hadn't had the chance to touch before.
Quiet and peaceful, far from supernatural intrigue—even though just fifty kilometers from here lay the center of major conflict.
After finishing my bath, I stepped back onto the riverbank. With a bit of focus, Ifrit's fire flowed out from the ring on my finger, drying my body without burning my skin. The heat was perfectly controlled.
I put on a new set of clothes, simple yet comfortable.
For daily necessities, I usually handled everything myself. Hunting, cooking, maintaining the camp. Only occasionally did I go into the city—when there was something urgent, or when laziness overcame logic.
I returned to the camp and brewed matcha tea. Warm steam slowly rose from the cup, its aroma gentle and calming. I sat down and sipped it quietly.
The sounds of night birds and insects echoed back and forth, creating a natural rhythm that was hard to find in the city.
Living in a supernatural world—amid massive conflicts between devils, angels, dragons, and other incomprehensible entities—was exhausting for someone like me, who only wanted to live safely.
I let out a soft breath.
Stretched my body.
Then lay down.
Maw slept carelessly nearby. To tell whether the slime was sleeping or not, all one had to do was look at the small bubbles rising and falling inside its transparent body. Right now, those bubbles moved slowly.
Sound asleep.
I gently picked it up and moved it to its place—a small basket lined with thick cloth and warm wolf fur.
"Sleep well," I murmured.
I closed my eyes.
//--//
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