Tower of God: Sequence Strength

At that point, two years had already passed since the fall of Bam. Winston barely cared about what happened on the 2nd floor. But after realizing Headon and Hansung Yu were in on the conspiracy, it brought a displeasing taste to his mouth.

Did the life of that naive and innocent boy hold no regard to these people? Well, he certainly wasn't one to talk. Nor could he give any opinion about it or express displeasure. He too had alienated the fates of hundreds of thousands of people when he raided the ship, solely for the sake of enhancing his digestion.

But now that he looked back at it, it felt... weird.

He didn't regret his actions. At least not yet. But now, there was a certain... doubt. Was all of that really necessary when he could have simply digested the potion through travelling and documenting different places?

Was it necessary to destroy so many people?

Winston, truthfully, had no idea. Morality had always eluded him. He was someone that would have fought to the death over a can of bear in his youth. And now, he was someone that would alienate countless people for a momentary boost. In a way, he felt he had grown. Just, not in the right way.

And so, he decided to take a break.

From everything.

"We're not gonna tell Khun?" Asked Bruce.

"Tell what?"

"About Bam." It was Amon who replied. Though the smile on his face suggested he was more than happy not to. It made Winston think that perhaps he had made the avatar too much like the one it was based off of.

"No." Said Charlotte, commenting in place of Winston.

"Why?"

"Because."

Winston did not know why he talked with himself like this. Perhaps it provided a bit of solace. Or maybe it was just his developing schizophrenia acting up. All things considered, he did not deem it right to tell Khun about it now. After all, he had always known of Bam being alive, didn't he? And dint he refrain from revealing it because of the mysterious backer?

Now that I think about it, is there any possibility of the backer being Headon? His eyes narrowed dangerously. But she said Headon does not side with FUG. There was no lie in her words. Then who could it be?

Winston arrived at a conclusion. He would not worry about it.

Turning to his avatars, he delivered the final declaration.

"Let's get to the 25th floor and chill out for a bit there. I wanna take a break."

The avatars agreed readily.

~~~

~~~

Time passed by. And before long, another year and a half passed. Winston sat on a window sill of a small house by the beach. In his hands was a coffee mug, of which he took small sips of periodically.

Of all his avatars, four were still on the lower floors, documenting various places and their customs. It had bore great results, making his digestion get boosted to 96%.

Even with all of his avatars doing the job, the digestion was slow. But it would eventually reach the next sequence. He had all the time in the world.

He looked outside to the sand where the 3 of his avatars were training. Knowledge and experience was shared across the hive mind, so having them practise constantly on shinsu manipulation and experimentation was effective. All while he could relax and think about life.

As of now, any one of his avatars could make 50 baangs each, a number that would only grow larger the closer he went to godhood.

He inhaled a large breath of air. Despite his initial judgement to stay put for a small time, he had ended up going from the 25th floor all the way to the 30th, just at the edge of becoming a D rank regular. Their team was plenty successful as much as it was famous.

They were practically celebrities in the regular community. Their team was widely recognized as the strongest e ranked team, closely followed by Shibisu and Co.

I suppose it's about time I visit them. He thought, remembering Khun and his team.

It ought to be interesting...

~~~

Hansung Yu calmly sipped the coffee from the cup. It was already his 37th cup for the day.

He stared at the one before him with silent foreboding. Jinsung Ha, the slaughterer of the Ha family and a High Ranker.

"You should be glad Master Evankhell is still absent from the floor. Otherwise, you would have been in for quite the trouble."

Jinsung laughter lightly, pulling the cigarette from his mouth and releasing a puff of smoke.

"I doubt that. Although Rulers are required to confront a High Ranker, it doesn't mean they are required to fight. Besides, Evankhell would have liked to avoid a fight as much as me."

"I suppose that is true." The coffee addict shook his head with a light chuckle. His yellow eyes looked at Jinsung, "How is his training going?"

"Oh? It's going quite well. The boy learns frieghteningly fast. Although I was skeptical at first, his progress is astonishing."

"Irregulars are born to defy common sense. Their very existence stands as an opposition to the rules of the tower." Thd coffee addict shook his head.

Jinsung released another puff of smoke.

"Then would you be so kind to tell me why you're here?" He asked, eyeing the high ranker.

Jinsung chuckled.

"Nothing. Just wanted to ask you a few things."

"Ask?"

"Not too long ago, Hellam saw something. About the other irregular, Winston Heath. He discussed it with you, right?" He asked.

Hansung could not help but narrowe his eyes, his smile widening ever so slightly.

"He might have."

Jinsung leaned back, throwing his head up to look at the ceiling.

"Let's just say, Hwaryun saw something. Something at the end of his path. She's locked herself in a room ever since and would not come out." He looked at Hansung again, a dangerous glint shining through.

"I suspect it might be something Hellam has also seen. Tell me. What did he see?"

The coffee addict remained still, seemingly unperturbed by this ancient monster before him.

"Would it not be better to ask Lord Hellam directly?"

"He wouldn't open his mouth, I know it. That's why I came to you."

"And why do you think he absolutely shared it with me?"

"One. Hwaryun told me so some time ago. Two. You literally admitted to it."

Handung tilted his head.

"Yeah... fair enough."

"Spill it then."

He took another sip of his coffee and plopped the cup onto the table. Then, wiping his mouth with a tissue, he said, "Might I ask. Do you know what lies beyond the 134th floor?"

"No."

"Most rankers say godhood. They have plenty of reason to believe so." He continued. "But there is no godhood for the regulars. For the guardians are the ones that hold the true power over the floors and the tower itself. Even at the 'top of the tower' where any wish can be gained, who's to say it can even be reached?

"The true Gods are the Guardians. And beyond them, it is the irregulars."

Jinsung stayed quiet, listening to his rambling.

"The irregulars are the ones that stand above us all. So high up above that they can kill even the Guardians, as Enryu did so on the 43rd floor."

"And?" Jinsung asked, not seeing the significance of the yap session.

Hansung's face turned dead serious. Any expression was voided and what remained was an inert face.

"What Lord Hellam saw was another aspect of such power. A storm that eclipses all, hidden behind a layer of grey fog. He didn't explain what it was. But he did say a peculiar word."

"What word?"

Hansung smiled enigmatically.

"Mysteries."

"Mysteries?"

"That's right."

"That doesn't explain why Hwaryun would lock herself away behind a door."

"Glimpses of power are not in anyone's capacity to witness. And for a Red Witch, vistas of Fate that hold such significance to the tower as a whole should be seen in caution. There have been many witches driven to insanity from glimpses from the beyond."

Jinsung was quiet.

"And what does that mean for the King?"

"Who knows? Lord Hellam has yet to tell me anything about that. He certainly didn't see anything related to it."

"That's convenient."

"Indeed it is."

An awkward silent followed before Jimsung Ha got up.

"Well, then I'll be on my merry way."

"Goodbye." Hansung smiled and waved him off.

After he left, he took another bag of instant coffee from under the table and begun to prepare another cup.

~~~

A/N: very short chapter.

I realized a fact, due to how slow everything is going, the story seems like it's not moving at all. There was the issue of his potion digestion so I thought of making some content up myself to fill in the time gap and refer to his potion digestion, but then I decided to fuck it and do a time skip.

There would be just two or three more chapters before another big timeskip and where the main plot will kick off again.

I still realize I need to keep up the engagement throughout the chapters and it's not a very easy fix. Any tips?

Anyway, might do another one today. Might not. Who's to say? Cheers~