Mynovel Chapter 171: Emotional Consciousness
Chapter 171: Emotional Consciousness
[The Floor Boss has given up their will to fight.]
[Alternative Objective Completed.]
[The Seventh Floor has been Cleared.]
A long silence followed.
Then someone laughed triumphantly.
It was the laugh of someone who had just realized they was still alive.
Another person dropped to their knees while a few simply sat down where they stood, staring blankly at the notifications before them.
"We... actually cleared it?"
"No way."
"That monster really gave up?"
"Check the system message again."
"I’m checking..."
Across the islands, exhausted conversations began spreading.
Many of the Stream Hunters were too tired to celebrate while some had lost companions during the battle.
The healers were still treating the wounded as well.
Yet beneath the exhaustion, relief was undeniable.
The pressure that had weighed on everyone’s shoulders slowly disappeared.
Far below them, Adam remained hovering over the dark waters, taking one last look at Zephiron’s crumbling body.
Adam could not help but furrow his brows before eventually flying back up.
[Experienced Old Knight is applauding.]
[Bird Hunter admits the Streamer exceeded expectations.]
[Jurik_Joriksson has donated 4 Soul Cores.]
[Numerous viewers are discussing the battle.]
[The reputation of The Chosen Conduit has greatly increased.]
Adam slowly ascended onto one of the islands.
The moment his feet touched the ground, a strange silence formed around him.
They were not silent because they were afraid, but because nobody quite knew what to say.
The man before them had just stood against a Floor Boss.
Several Stream Hunters were still treating the wounded nearby.
Others were checking supplies, repairing damaged defensive formations, and helping transport the dead.
The battle might have ended, but there was still work to do.
A middle-aged man carrying a broken shield walked up to Adam.
For a moment, he seemed hesitant. Then he gave a short bow.
"Thanks."
Adam simply glanced at him in silence.
The man scratched the back of his head.
"For saving my life."
Before Adam could reply, another person spoke.
"And mine."
A woman with burn marks across her arms raised a hand.
"Mine too."
Soon, more voices joined in.
A few nodded toward him while some offered brief thanks.
Others simply met his eyes before returning to their duties.
Adam found himself strangely uncomfortable.
He had never been particularly good at receiving gratitude.
Commanding soldiers was easy but being thanked by them was much harder.
Fortunately, a system notification interrupted the awkward atmosphere.
[The Seventh Floor rewards are being calculated.]
[Alternative Objective completion bonus detected.]
[Contribution rankings are being evaluated.]
[An Analysis will be conducted...]
The moment the final line appeared, everything froze.
It was a different kind of time freeze from [Absolute Zero Environment].
That item froze movement through overwhelming cold.
This was something entirely different, it felt as though reality itself had been paused!
From the cheering Stream Hunters, to the wildly blowing winds between the islands.
Even the waves beneath the floating landmasses had frozen in time completely.
Everything stopped as though someone had clicked a "pause" button to ensure that nothing would continue.
"...What?"
Adam instinctively looked around as confusion affected his mind.
Then his vision suddenly expanded.
His sight stretched in countless directions. It went "forward" then "backwards" then "up and down".
For a brief moment, it felt as though he was viewing the Seventh Floor from every possible angle simultaneously.
The sensation only lasted an instant before everything vanished.
A blank whiteness swallowed his surroundings. No... Whiteness was not the correct word.
It was emptiness.
An endless emptiness without walls, without a floor, without a sky.
There was nothing here but an infinite void pretending to be white.
Adam immediately became vigilant.
Then he saw someone.
A child stood nearby.
He looked no older than ten. His clothes were plain and ordinary, yet above his head floated a strange crown. A perfect circle of a serpent devouring its own tail... Beginning and ending simultaneously.
"Consciousness of the Tower..."
Adam’s expression hardened.
A dangerous thought surfaced.
’Has he finally come to settle things with me because I received power from an unknown entity...? or because I returned to the past...’?
Then, as though the child knew what Adam was thinking about, he immediately burst into laughter.
"Hahahahaha!"
He pointed directly at Adam.
"Look at your face!"
Adam remained silent.
The child continued laughing.
"Relax! I already told you before that I don’t care about things like that!"
The boy wiped imaginary tears from his eyes.
"Though..."
He suddenly tilted his head.
"The others might!"
Adam narrowed his eyes.
"The others?"
"The other Tower Consciousnesses!"
The boy shrugged.
"The main consciousness especially."
"Some of them are really annoying... they’re like grumpy old men constantly talking about things that should be and should not be allowed!"
He made a disgusted face.
"They’re boring people! Not even the main consciousness cares much about these things anymore!"
Then he pointed at Adam.
"Anyway, you are basically an unexplained phenomenon so they might try killing you."
Adam’s gaze was as cold as always as he heard that.
The boy immediately froze.
Then his expression became devastated.
"Oh... Oh no!"
His eyes watered.
"That’s actually really sad."
Adam raised an eyebrow.
"Sad?"
"Of course it’s sad!"
The boy sniffled.
"You’re my [Second Angel Candidate]!"
"What if they kill you?"
"What if you explode?"
"What if you die horribly?"
The child looked genuinely upset.
"A-ah! But I’m not like them!"
His mood changed instantly.
"I am young and open-minded! I don’t immediately assume every unknown thing is hostile!"
He proudly puffed out his chest.
"Besides! Other universes are so unfair!"
Adam remained silent.
The boy continued complaining.
"One universe gets ancient gods, another gets immortal cultivators, Ah, there’s also those bastards who have primordial demons and cosmic dragons... Ugh!!!"
The child pointed accusingly at the empty space.
"And what do I get? Humans! Just humans!"
Adam stared at him.
The boy pointed at Adam.
"So why can’t I have one special human like you? Hmph!"
Silence followed.
Adam found himself wondering how a being responsible for managing an entire Tower could act like this.
It felt like he was not speaking to a cosmic existence and more like speaking to an emotional child...
Finally, Adam spoke.
"Are you saying the Tower Consciousnesses from different universes all think differently?"
The boy looked offended.
"Obviously! We’re born in different universes you know! It’s like having different bodies! So why would we be the same?"
Then he suddenly frowned.
"And stop calling me ’Consciousness of the Tower.’ I have a name! My name is O-3!"
Adam silently memorized it.
O-3 crossed his arms.
"Hmph. Much better."
Adam considered everything he had heard.
It seemed each universe possessed its own Tower Consciousness.
They shared a purpose but not personalities?
Fortunately, this one seemed relatively harmless...
Adam looked at him.
"So you brought me here just to complain about the others?"
O-3’s eyes widened.
"What?! Of course not!"
He looked deeply offended.
Then his expression suddenly became serious.
The childishness vanished.
"Killing a being with [Divinity] has consequences."
Adam immediately focused.
O-3 pointed at him.
"You almost died."
Adam frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean exactly what I said."
The child rolled his eyes.
"Zephiron reached the Ninety-Ninth Floor. Do you think [Divinity] from a being like that is harmless?"
Adam immediately remembered something.
In his previous life, the group that defeated Zephiron’s [True Body] had died shortly afterward.
Every single one of them just vanished. At the time, nobody understood why.
Now he finally did.
"I saved you."
O-3 proudly pointed at himself.
"If I hadn’t interfered, you would’ve died the moment the battle ended."
Adam lowered his head slightly.
"I see. Thank you."
The boy immediately froze.
Then his face turned red.
"H-hmph! You better thank me! I’m much nicer than the others! Much nicer!"
"At least ten times nicer...! No, a million times nicer!"
Adam almost smiled.
"Will this affect you since you interfered with the consequences I was supposed to receive?"
The boy waved dismissively.
"Nope! This is still the tutorial stage. The Tower is basically my body right now so I can interfere a lot."
Then his expression softened.
"B-but later..."
His voice became quieter.
"I won’t be able to help you much..."
Adam noticed the change immediately.
"Why?"
"Because after the Tenth Floor, things change. The universes will begin connecting and the other Tower Consciousnesses start paying attention..."
Adam nodded slowly.
"So they really are separate individuals."
"Yup."
O-3 nodded.
"We all compete."
Adam raised an eyebrow.
"Compete?"
The boy suddenly looked embarrassed.
"W-we compare achievements and..."
His voice became quieter.
"We compare who reaches the Summit first..."
The child coughed.
"A-anyway!"
He quickly changed topics.
"I won’t be able to interfere much after the Tenth Floor."
Then he suddenly froze.
His expression changed.
The childishness vanished completely as his eyes became hollow and emotionless.
With that expression of his, Adam felt as though he was truly standing before something intimidatingly strong.
"Speaking of the Tenth Floor..."
The empty space trembled as Adam’s instincts immediately screamed danger.
O-3 slowly raised his head.
"Climb faster."
Adam frowned.
"What do you mean?"
For several seconds, O-3 said nothing.
Then he quietly answered.
"A catastrophic event is going to occur on the Tenth Floor."
Adam’s expression changed.