The city's form was different.
A city in ruins, similar yet different.
Looking at everything from the smallest to the largest, it was certainly different from the Earth of my previous life, but...
"Hmm."
The atmosphere was familiar.
Like the Earth of my previous life, I could feel the unique atmosphere of a world where no living creatures remained.
"......"
My previous life was shorter than my current one, but I remembered it vividly.
The eight years I spent with the Robot who taught me so many things.
And the two years I wandered a world where no one remained.
Recalling those two years made my body tremble, but the trembling soon stopped.
There are still many people watching over me from Earth.
Because Father, Mother, and Grandfather are all cheering me on.
Even if there's no one in this world who can communicate with me, I am not alone.
It's simply a matter of quickly clearing up to the 30th floor and moving on.
First, let me greet the viewers.
"Hello. I'm Han Yuyeon."
- Han Yuyeon is here!!!
- (dancing maid emote)
- (double peace maid emote)
- (hug me maid emote)
"Have you eaten? Have you gotten enough rest?"
- My heart's been thumping ever since Yuyeon-nim appeared, can't sleep
- Hearts normally go thump thump
- UwU Yuyeon mama... put me to sleep...
- About to eat now, dinner recs please
"For those who haven't eaten yet, may I suggest chicken?"
- You're really doing this?
- Okay, I'm dead over chicken
- (I'll kill you... swordsman emote)
- I'm a chicken restaurant owner, thanks for the shoutout
- Double peace please
"And this is today's broadcast-starting double peace. VV."
- What the, you'll do anything we ask...?
- Did you drop the concept of not seeing our chat?
"But everyone. I told you before too, but I can't see the chat, so I'm basically talking to myself."
- lol
- (dumbfounded wizard emote)
- I see~
- Yes then, tell us about the 21st floor trial
Having greeted them, I checked this trial.
「Tower of Trials 21st Floor - The Border Between Life and Death」
「This is a world where all life has died due to a certain power.」
「Main Objective: Accept or Reject 'Sword Transformation'.」
Reading the trial's synopsis, this part was different from the Earth of my previous life too.
Because all life had 'died' by an artificial power, not 'disappeared'.
"I don't know what this trial's theme is yet, but they say all life has died due to a certain power."
- Yes...?
- Why does it start by killing everything from the get-go
- Is death the theme?
"The main objective is to 'accept or reject Sword Transformation.' I wonder what Sword Transformation is?"
- Ah, that~
- Du... dunno...
- You useless jerks
What is Sword Transformation, and what is the power that killed all life in this world?
With insufficient information, I had to move to find out.
I walked along the road, scattering mana for detection.
"First, I'll walk a bit. If I walk to the city, something will turn up."
- Yesss
Walking slowly and looking around, what I could tell was that this trial's theme seemed to be related to 'swords.'
"Looking at it now, this world seems to have been destroyed by swords. The certain power that killed all life seems to be swords too."
- So is this trial themed around swordsmen?
- These crazy sword-freak bastards finally caused a disaster, huh?
- (It was I who slashed... swordsman emote)
- Not even denying it;;
On the road that hadn't been maintained for a long time, abandoned swords were stuck into the ground.
Buildings near the road and the large city visible in the distance looked to have been cut apart here and there by swords.
Because it had been a highly advanced civilization, the traces of destruction felt all the more miserable.
Since it had held a brilliant light, the feeling when that light was extinguished couldn't help but be immense.
Looking at the abandoned swords stuck in the road, I felt something strange.
It felt as if souls had settled in swords that should have no souls.
Just in case, I gave it a greeting.
"Hello. I'm Han Yuyeon."
- Yuyeon-nim, swords can't communicate
- Now you've resorted to greeting even swords...
No answer came. Guess it died. Oh well.
Since they said this is a world where all life died, it was only natural.
I wonder if there's no way to save it.
To check its structure, I examined the sword this way and that.
"Communicate with me..."
- Yuyeon-nim, swords... *sigh* never mind
- What, don't give up
If most swords are made by forging metal into the shape of a sword, these swords were made by complex mechanical devices interlocking.
Since I don't know much about machines, there was nothing I could tell even if I looked closely.
It didn't seem to be powered by electricity.
I tried infusing mana, and aura too, but the sword remained unresponsive.
Taking it apart once would be rude, right?
I was afraid a disaster would occur if I disassembled it for no reason and couldn't reassemble it.
I carefully stuck the sword back into the ground and moved on.
After walking for a while, another question arose. Isn't the trial too peaceful?
On the 1st floor, I had to face ghouls right from the start.
On the 11th floor, I had to find a path through bitter cold.
But on the 21st floor, I've just been walking peacefully until now.
The moment I harbored such doubt, I saw a flying object approaching at high speed from the front.
"!"
What I felt from the flying object slicing through the clouds was clear hostility.
Kwa-aaang-!!
The flying object landed before me, crushing the ground, and infused blue energy into the sword it held in its hand.
Its exterior was close to human form, but I could feel that all its internal organs were made of mechanical devices.
- Wow, robot swordsman!
- Sword-freaks are crazy, now they're pointing swords at even Yuyeon-nim
- Uwaaack, nooo
- (I didn't do it... swordsman emote)
- This one they're denying, lol
The robot swordsman gathered energy from his core that differed in nature from mana or aura, and pointed his sword at me.
The owner of the sword scars engraved everywhere seemed to be the robot swordsman before my eyes.
"How can one like you still be alive?"
"?"
"Halt your life activities immediately. Your life force is interfering with our goal."
"Huh?"
If I halt my life activities, won't I die?
That was not something I could comply with.
Especially if it's from the one who destroyed this world.
"I don't want to die, though."
"...I spoke strangely. You won't die. Discard your flesh and undergo 'Sword Transformation.' Someone of your caliber should be able to endure 'Full-body Sword Transformation' like me."
I had been curious about what Sword Transformation was, and now I thought I knew.
From the context, it seems Sword Transformation is what they call mechanizing your body like that, so I'll refuse.
There was no reason to discard my body, nor any reason to listen to him.
The main objective is to accept or reject Sword Transformation anyway, so it should be fine.
"I don't want that either."
"Then we have no choice but to force the Sword Transformation."
Hyper-acceleration. The swordsman thrust his sword toward my core, and I stepped back, touching the side of the blade and stored it in subspace.
[Kyle's Sword No.1 (A) has been stored in subspace.]
The swordsman instantly retreated when the sword suddenly disappeared.
A swordsman without a sword is like a maid without a maid uni-
"???"
—that's what I was about to think, when the swordsman's right wrist clattered open and another sword came out.
No wonder he didn't look flustered. He had a spare sword.
The swordsman, his momentum even sharper, accelerated once more.
He was so fast that my Agility had trouble keeping up.
"Give up. A human's flesh cannot keep up with the speed of one who has completed Full-body Sword Transformation."
"Hmm."
This is troublesome. I can predict and dodge all the sword strikes, but the difference in absolute reaction speed is severe.
I can't achieve an overwhelming victory like this, so I'll have to use the points I've been saving.
「Agility 30 -> 90 (Remaining Points: 30)」
My reflexes are maximized, and my senses grow sharper.
The swordsman's movements, which had been hard to follow, were now caught by my eyes.
"?!"
I grabbed the blade once more and stored it in subspace.
[Kyle's Sword No.2 (A) has been stored in subspace.]
Without retreating, the swordsman drew new swords from both knees, but I stored those in subspace too.
[Kyle's Sword No.3 (A) has been stored in subspace.]
[Kyle's Sword No.4 (A) has been stored in subspace.]
He came in diagonally and drew a sword from his left wrist, so I put it in subspace.
[Kyle's Sword No.5 (A) has been stored in subspace.]
As he fell back, he drew swords from his wings, so I stuffed those into subspace too.
[Kyle's Sword No.6 (A) has been stored in subspace.]
[Kyle's Sword No.7 (A) has been stored in subspace.]
- Poor thing...
- Yuyeon-nim has a knack for making enemies pitiful...
"Where will you draw the next one from?"
"What on earth are you?"
"I'm Han Yuyeon."
"I didn't ask for your name."
"I'm a maid."
"......"
Oh. This time he drew swords from both shoulders.
The swordsman gripping dual swords gathered his energy.
"How can a human's flesh surpass my speed?"
"VV."
"You must have had several chances to destroy me. Why didn't you?"
"Because I wanted to subdue you first and ask various things."
Destroying the swordsman is for later.
Gathering as much information as possible is the priority.
"...You intend to subdue me?"
"Yes."
A massive energy swirled in the swordsman's core. He seems angry.
Even though his whole body is a machine, he still has emotions.
Kiiiiiiing-!!!
The energy rotating in his core made the swordsman dozens of times stronger.
But it's limited power.
Power exceeding its limits overloaded his entire body, and his sharp bladework lost its form, becoming bladework that pushed through with brute force.
"Say you will undergo Sword Transformation!!! For one like you to reject Sword Transformation is a sin!!!"
"No. I don't want to. Please stop."
"Why do you refuse?!!"
"I like my body."
"For such a selfish reason...!"
- Preserving Yuyeon-nim's national-treasure-level body is a selfless reason, though?
Hmm. At this rate, it seems the swordsman will self-destruct before I even destroy him.
Let's put him in subspace for now and talk again later.
I still have a lot of information to get from him.
Pat-!
Since he's not a living being, the swordsman was stored in subspace as expected.
Curious, I checked the storage message too.
[Sword of Humanity - Kyle (S) has been stored in subspace.]
"?"
Sword of Humanity...?
I checked the detailed message.
「Sword of Humanity - Kyle (S): A swordsman who has completed Full-body Sword Transformation to kill the enemy of humanity.」
"???"
To kill the enemy of humanity...? Wasn't he the one who destroyed humanity?
While I was thinking, two other robot swordsmen flew in and landed before me.
"Arrived at the location of Commander Kyle's Arc Energy disappearance. Pure human not having undergone Sword Transformation discovered."
"Question: What happened here? And why have you still not undergone Sword Transformation?"
"Your powerful life force is interfering with our goal. Please undergo Sword Transformation immediately."
My life force interferes with their goal. So they're telling me to discard my flesh and undergo Sword Transformation.
Since the swordsmen all said the same thing, I asked as well.
"May I ask what that goal is?"
In response, a swordsman gripping his sword answered.
"Answer: It is to kill the enemy who dared threaten humanity."
It seemed I needed to talk with them for a bit.