Tower Of God: Life As Hoaqin Chapter 96 96: Ball Game (2)

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BEEEP—

The mont the thirty minutes expired, a dull chi rang through everyone's Pockets.

So accepted it without reaction.

So scread or groaned.

Others grinned in relief, savoring the feeling of barely making it.

Clap, clap, clap.

Through the murmur of mixed emotions filling the dim cavern, applause cut sharply through the noise and drew every eye to the supervisor.

Once all attention was on him, he spoke.

"Very good. Anyone who successfully ford a team of three has passed. As for the rest… well, you'll just have to try again next year. Hahaha."

Clank—

At that mont a distant door opened, marked EXIT in large letters. Those who failed to form trios shuffled toward it in defeat, offering no resistance as they trudged out.

The supervisor waited until the last of them disappeared beyond the door.

"Now then, only you remain. So of you had stable teams from the start. Others lost teammates to our friend the Shinheuh and had to form new ones. And so were kicked out of their old teams and barely managed to join new ones in ti. All sorts of stories, hm?"

He smiled and snapped his fingers twice, as if calling for a waiter in an upscale restaurant.

At once, the subterranean chamber trembled.

Grrrrrrrrrk—

The wall behind him slid away, revealing another vast space—hidden in darkness until now.

And within that space—

A tank.

A completely absurd tank.

Calling it a tank felt wrong. The scale was enormous—depth, width, length—everything was on another level. Stretching my senses past the visible interior, I realized it was big enough to be called a river.

Of course, none of the other examinees knew that; from their perspective, they could only see the entrance.

They had no idea the darkness housed sothing unimaginably vast.

"Thank you for waiting. The final test is—Ball Ga."

My body twitched before my mind responded.

Ball Ga.

The very first test I ever took on the First Floor was a Ball Ga. Ball and Barracuda—both held mories from that ti. Not good ones.

"Ohhh. Ball Ga, huh. Haven't seen one in a while."

Yura, who had been quietly observing the tank beside us, closed her eyes for a brief mont like she was reminiscing.

She was right. Ball Ga was one of the most common test formats in the Tower. No one here needed an explanation of the rules.

"You will enter as teams. Sowhere at the deepest part of this tank lies the Ball. If even one mber of your team manages to burst it, the entire team passes. Even if you lose teammates along the way, as long as the Ball is burst, all surviving mbers qualify. In short, use any ans necessary to burst the Ball."

"Ah—one more thing. Anyone who leaves the tank after entering is imdiately disqualified."

With that warning, clunk, the entrance to the tank slid open.

The supervisor pointed toward it.

"There are only twenty available passes. First co, first serve. The first twenty teams to burst the Ball will advance."

Seventy-so teams had passed the trio phase.

Not even one-third would qualify now.

Naturally, examinees surged toward the entrance in a frantic rush.

But inside the tank, the Ball wasn't the only thing waiting.

Like predators in a horror film, multiple Shinheuh circled through the murky water—hungry, patient, awaiting fresh prey.

"Hoaquin? When are we going in?"

Yura looked at curiously.

Looking at her, I had to admit the resemblance—no wonder I said Yuri. Enough to make Yuri Zahard co to mind on reflex.

And Ha Yurin's granddaughter, at that. Co to think of it, Ha Jinsung was also her junior by lineage. Quite the teammate we'd picked up.

Then again, Maschenny and I were literal children of Family Heads, so by comparison…

Still, even the Ten Family heirs surrounding us hesitated to dive into the green-black abyss.

Even they balked at the silent Shinheuh flashing eyes from the depths.

Pitiful. Ten Families, yet not an ounce of courage on display.

"Maschenny. You know?"

Nod. Nod.

One—two—three!

Without a word spoken aloud, we exchanged signals and jumped toward the tank at the exact sa mont.

Yura had asked when we were going in—not if—so she clearly wasn't afraid of the tank.

Predictably:

"Hey—HEY! Wait! I'm coming too!"

She dove after us imdiately.

The surface rushed upward. The water was green. Then—

Splash—!

The murky liquid swallowed us and exploded upward in foam.

If the cavern was dark before, underwater was pitch-black. Beyond Lighthouse range even. Our surroundings collapsed into pure darkness. The Ball was black. In this state, we couldn't even tell if it was ten ters away or a hundred.

Already missing Luf's Lighthouse. If he were here—

In place of that, I drew Baekya and poured Shinsu through the blade.

Crystalline orbs of color devoured the darkness and converted it into light.

Soon, the sword flooded our surroundings with a bright glow—

Yet the darkness barely budged.

Still dark?

"Hoaquin!"

"GRRAAA—!"

With a bit more scanning, I spotted pale white fangs descending toward my head.

Teeth—?!

Before I could even think how it'd gotten that close, I raised Baekya with both hands and slashed upward.

The blade sank deep, splitting the Shinheuh's upper jaw clean in two, buying a narrow window to slip out.

Ugh. Nearly swallowed again. Once was more than enough for that experience.

Drawn by the sword's light, Maschenny and Yura converged on .

"Anyone know what species that Shinheuh is?"

I raised my hand to prompt answers, but neither of them recognized it.

Approaching another team to ask "what's that thing" felt pathetic, so that left only one option—push through.

So far, what we knew:

It moved silently

It attacked from darkness

And apparently it was extrely close-range without warning

Splash— splash—

anwhile, as we'd been the first to enter—and therefore the first to reveal the tank's contents—other teams started diving in after seeing the chaos.

Ti to get moving. But first—information.

I aid Baekya's light toward the Shinheuh.

Only then did its shape begin to resolve.

From the darkness of the water, the only thing clearly visible were the faint blue glints of its eyes.

Black scales blended perfectly into the void, a body built for speed and silence.

That was enough observation for now.

I had no intention of sitting here compiling a Shinheuh encyclopedia.

Sure, I could just brute-force the whole thing… but solving everything by raw power is how you develop bad habits.

Sotis you have to use your head.

Finding the most efficient, most interesting, or most difficult route through a test—and clearing it—that thrill was half the reason to climb.

Back when it was , Luf, and Hwarang climbing together, we used to joke that was the whole point.

"Maschenny. Yura. We're going down. The Ball's probably at the very bottom."

They nodded and fell in behind .

To scout it, I fired a small Shinwon-ryu spark downward. Soon it would detonate and flood the depths with light, just long enough to map out the tank.

Flash—!

As expected, the Shinwon-ryu exploded into a blinding white flare.

Now all we needed to do was analyze the tank's layout and…

"KYAAAA—"

"KIEEEEH—"

"GRRKK—"

"SKREEEE—!"

The bottom of the tank, montarily drowned in light, revealed what had been waiting there.

The Shinheuh we'd seen earlier, swimming lazily in the upper layers, were nothing but the tip of the iceberg.

The ones lurking below—where even light refused to go—numbered in the hundreds.

Against that white canvas, they splattered across our vision like thick strokes of black ink.

Huge.

Dozens of ters long, so of them. All circling, all weaving, forming a twisting vortex of black bodies and blue eyes.

A storm of Shinheuh.

We stared only a heartbeat before the flare faded—long enough to be impressed, short enough to regret it.

Then every one of those blue eyes pivoted toward .

Being glared at by an entire storm cloud of predators was not a pleasant sensation.

Well… I didn't think there'd be this many.

"...Tch. Screw it! I'll take point!"

The first to react was Yura.

Of course.

That fearless charge—so very Ha Family. Watching her now reminded of Ha Yurin's data on the Hidden Floor.

Good. With that montum we could push straight throu—

"Hoaquin! Maschenny! While I stall them—head for the bottom and burst the Ball!"

"Huh? No need to go that fa—"

Yes, the numbers were… impressive. But if it was a fight, the three of us could manage. More importantly, fighting together would be—

Too late.

Yura hurled herself toward the black hurricane before I could explain anything.

So that's how Ha Yurin's line behaves, huh.

"URAAAAAA!!"

"Hey—wait—!"

Hundreds of Shinheuh surged toward her, and she surged right back.

In the next instant—

"UAAAAAAAaaaaAAAA—!"

"SKRIEEEEK—!"

She was riding one.

Clinging to the back of a thrashing Shinheuh, bouncing like she was at a rodeo.

Next to , Maschenny stared, unimpressed.

"Idiot."

Whether Yura heard her or not, she flashed us a bright, reassuring grin and a thumbs-up.

"Don't worry! Everything is perfectly under controoOOO—"

The Shinheuh thrashed again, shaking her voice apart.

I was just about to go pull her off when the Shinheuh she was mounted on launched itself upward—straight out of the water.

…Out of the water?

— Examinee Ha Yura: Tank exit. Arena disqualification.

"…She's an idiot," Maschenny declared.

That was the last we saw of Yura.

Ha Yurin's granddaughter—amusing while she lasted. Hard to believe she was technically Ha Jinsung's junior by lineage.

Grrr…

With Yura gone, the Shinheuh's attention returned to us.

Plenty of teams were in the water now, but sohow they all fixated on us.

Right. The light flare… probably pissed them off.

"So? What now?"

Maschenny frowned at , full of bla.

Hey, I didn't exactly plan for this.

But fair is fair—this ss was mine to handle.

"How was I supposed to know they hate light…? Anyway—Plan B."

"There's a Plan B?"

"Of course."

She stared with the expression of soone profoundly unconvinced.

In truth, Plan B existed… theoretically.

I'd never actually tried it before.

I channeled my voice through the Shinsu in the water, letting it ripple through the entire tank.

"If you want to live—leave the tank."

Fair warning given.

Plenty of ti to act.

Whatever happened now was their choice.

Baekya flared again—brighter than before.

Irritated, the Shinheuh gathered tighter, frantic and rabid.

Good. Closer makes cleanup easier.

"SKREEEE!"

THUD—

One lunged, jaws snapping wide—only to smash into the barrier I'd pre-set.

Not the only one.

Within seconds, dozens slamd against the Shinsu barrier, unable to breach it.

Perfect. Setup nearly complete.

Baekya's light condensed—growing sharper, denser, hotter.

"When the ga breaks—flip the board."

"Maschenny. Eyes closed. It's bright."

Baekya: White Nova.

White-hot threads of energy exploded from the blade—tens of thousands—woven into a massive sphere.

From afar one might mistake it for a star.

It grew rapidly—too fast for the tank to contain, too bright for eyes to endure.

"GRRKRKR—! KIEEE!"

Sensing catastrophe, the Shinheuh tried to flee, thrashing deeper into the tank—

But there was nowhere to go.

When the star could grow no more, it collapsed inward—then detonated outward, flooding the tank with annihilating white light.

GGRRRRRRRRRRRR—!

Light harsh enough to blind a Ranker swallowed everything—all that existed within the tank except for the two of us.

Not a single Shinheuh survived the ultra-high output blast.

When everything finally settled, the tank looked as if nothing had ever been there—

Well, not quite nothing.

Chunks of pulverized at and shattered scales floated everywhere, drifting like confetti.

Honestly, the leftovers only made it more satisfying.

The Ball—the actual target of the exam—had been obliterated as well.

Fortunately, it wasn't one of those specially reinforced Balls like that ti.

Just a normal one. Perfectly breakable.

"Ahhh—refreshing."

When the body works, the brain rests.

Why spend hours weaving so clever route dodging hundreds of Shinheuh just to maybe pop the Ball?

Sotis the cleanest solution is the fastest one.

Too bad Yura got eliminated so anticlimactically.

A little unfortunate. A little guilty.

But… who could've guessed she'd try to rodeo-ride a Shinheuh?

"E-Examinee… that just now… what in the world was…?"

The test proctor had crept up without noticing and was stuttering through his shock.

"Haha. The Ten Great Families are full of secrets."

A gentle warning, the kind that says: Don't poke deeper unless you want trouble.

It worked.

Realizing I was far above him, the proctor bowed and imdiately offered to send us up to the next floor.

Oh—right, Yura. I didn't even get to—

Flash—!

"…Impatient guy."

I grumbled at the proctor's overreaction, and beside Maschenny let out a quiet laugh.

"You kind of threatened him. Maybe learn how to handle subordinates more gently?"

"Quit it. 'Subordinates'… that's such a dated mindset."

We chatted lightly as we approached the warp gate leading upward—to the 99th Floor.

The proctor's teleport had dropped us right in front of it.

99F.

The floor I'd avoided.

The place where that happened.

The place layered with mories and ghosts and echoes I hadn't wanted to face.

"Arie Hoaquin. Khun Maschenny Zahard. Exam clear confird. 99th Floor warp gate activating shortly."

The attendant's voice was flat and professional.

A few seconds later, the machinery began powering on.

99F.

The floor that took my family from .

The floor my mories are stuck in.

The floor I am—terrified of.

— I… I don't think I can. If I go back there… if I stand in that place again… if even a trace of those children remains… I won't endure it. —

A year ago, I'd confessed that to Maschenny in a voice like a child whining.

Compared to that —how much have I changed?

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

My already defective heart hamred violently.

For a hundred years I'd run from this place—down into the deep Outer Tower, anywhere but here.

And now I was standing on the gate.

If the mories returned—

If that scar on my wrist began to ache—

If grief surged—

Would I survive it?

My heartbeat spiked into panic.

"I… Maschenny… maybe we should wait—"

"It's okay."

Her voice cut through cleanly, and naturally.

Her hand closed over mine—cold skin that always felt warm.

"Breathe, Hoaquin. It's just the next floor."

"…Right."

Just the next floor.

From 98 to 99.

That's all.

For others, her words would an nothing.

But for , Maschenny's voice had always been like a cup of warm tea—quiet, calming, fragrant.

Every ti she spoke gently, my heart settled.

This ti was no different.

I closed my eyes, let my breath even out, and waited quietly for the gate to carry us.

Crackle—

Bzzzzz—

The device charged, and then—

A red flash swallowed us whole.

Flash—!

.....

99th Floor —

Arie Main Estate, Floating Castle

Nightfall. Weather dim.

"…What is it?"

A white-haired man spoke without opening his eyes.

He lay back in a chair inside his office, a book covering his face—clearly awakened from a nap.

From beyond the door, a reply ca:

"Master Dickel. Preparations are complete. We estimate departure for the 100th Floor within the week."

"...I see."

Dickel pulled the book from his face and rose.

It had been so ti since the Rulers' Council had summoned all major forces to the 100th Floor.

Plenty of ti for preparations.

"Once we ascend, I may remain administrator of this floating citadel…but the position of 99th Floor Ruler will have to pass to another."

He downed the last of his coffee, lost in idle thoughts—until he noticed the servant still standing there.

"…Sothing else?"

The servant answered imdiately, as if waiting.

"A visitor, sir."

"…Visitor?"

"Yes. Waiting at the Sword Altar."

Even for an honored guest, the Sword Altar was peculiar—access restricted unless personally authorized by the Family Head.

Which ant…

"…!"

A face flashed in Dicel's mind.

A boy who used to slip into the Sword Altar so often that other elders complained about it.

No—surely not—

....

At the Sword Altar, children sward around a young man, peppering him with questions.

"Is the young master still strong, oppa?"

"He's still the strongest among Arie's Regulars, right?"

"How do we get strong like you?"

"Eat broccoli and brush your teeth."

"Teach swordsmanship!"

"Haha, when you're older."

"Oppa…!"

"Hm?"

A shy girl approached, offering a pair of jewel earrings.

"Haha, thank you. Then here, one for you too."

The young man produced a shimring object from his coat.

Curious, Dickel leaned in—recognizing it as an expensive Shinheuh scale.

He placed it in the girl's bangs like a hairpin and smiled.

"…Looks like her."

The other children pouted with envy, and the young man simply laughed and continued chatting with them.

Dickel watched—nostalgic despite himself.

Once, there were four children who made this place loud and chaotic.

Now one stood here as the adult among new kids.

Dickel didn't want to break the mont.

But there was too much to say.

So he cleared his throat deliberately.

"Ahem."

The young man froze instantly.

The children froze a beat later.

"Ah! The Administrator!!"

"Good evening, sir!"

Dickel smiled gently.

"Yes, good evening. Would you give us a mont?"

"Yeeees—!!"

The children scampered off.

Only Dickel and the young man remained.

"Earning favor with children again?"

The boy's tone was playful.

"You're ruining my montum, Dickel."

Dickel chuckled.

"My apologies, Hoaquin."

His gaze lowered—cool and calm, but thick with emotions unnad.

"It has been a long ti."

"Yes. It has."

"I saw what you did earlier. Hard not to feel sentintal. One of the four brats who used to terrorize this altar… now grown and entertaining brats of his own."

Dickel's eyes softened with mories—Monts of four small figures darting through the altar like ghosts, laughing, arguing, training.

"So. I imagine there is much to discuss."

"There is."

Hoaquin nodded, and Dickel nodded back.

"Then co inside. I have much to say as well—about you…and about that day."