Chapter 18: Return (2)

A spiral tower stood in the center of the decrepit, partially-destroyed city.

Five boss-level monsters reigned over each of their own territories within the city.

This tower was special because it was where one of those boss monsters resided.

‘The 4th trial will end if I take out whatever’s in here.’

Former hunter, Lee Sieon, looked around with a scowl then started to speak.

“Hey, trash.”

A man standing behind Lee Sieon flinched at the phrase.

“…Y-yes?”

Another man with glasses grimaced at the slow response.

“Fucking trash even responds slowly. If you weren’t even a hunter you should at least know your place.”

The man who was being called trash, Lee Jinhoo, apologized while cowering.

“I-I’m sorry Sangyoon hyung-nim, It’s my mista—”

“A mistake? God damn. Do you even realize where you’re at right now?”

Im Sangyoon raised his glasses with a finger and glared at Lee Jinhoo.

It didn’t sit well with them that a civilian who was relying on the hunters to pass the trial was responding so slowly.

But the threatening atmosphere didn’t last long.

“Whatever, are you sure the goblin king is in here?”

Im Sangyoon stepped back at Lee Sieon’s question and Lee Jinhoo quietly answered him.

“W-when I used my question, it said one of the bosses lived here…”

“And you don’t know for sure it’s the goblin?”

“Yeah…”

“Tsk, can’t you think before you speak? If the only thing we fought on the way here were goblins, the boss would obviously be the goblin king.”

“I-I see.”

“So we’re sure the boss is here.”

After coming to that conclusion, Lee Sieon looked around the tower.

‘Wow, it’s pretty damn big.’

The city view was shocking enough but the interior design of the tower was also surprising.

An oil painting perfectly suiting the atmosphere…

Glowing rocks placed around the tower gave the place a dreamy aura.

Even Lee Sieon, who had been a C-rank hunter, had never experienced anything like this.

‘I don’t know how this tower works, but it sure is impressive.’

The scenes from dungeons couldn’t even compare to this tower.

Not only were the monsters in a league of their own, the equipment was interesting as well.

Also—

‘The rewards don’t even compare to what you can get from a dungeon.’

As strong as the monsters were, the rewards made it worth it.

If he could take this back into the outside world, it would be possible to get above a C-rank.

‘Actually, I probably wouldn’t even have to continue to be a hunter.’

The information Lee Sieon could provide would be priceless to the hunter association.

He could make enough from the just information to be set for life.

Whatever happened, things would work out for Lee Sieon.

He felt a little apprehensive when all his abilities reset, but looking back, this was a very good opportunity.

Of course, Lee Jinhoo couldn’t even dream of that.

‘Would keeping him alive complicate things later?’

If Lee Jinhoo went around spreading information, it would lower the value of his own information.

Logically, it would make the most sense to kill him and take his items.

Too bad he was such trash.

‘It would have been better if he was a novice hunter or something…”

Lee Sieon thought about what could have been, but he snapped out of it.

‘Whatever. At least we got here without any problems.’

The good news was that the other team wasn’t here yet.

They’d fail automatically once we killed the goblin king.

“Let’s take care of the boss and get out of here.”

“Sieon hyung-nim, what formation should we use?”

“What else? You and I can stand in the back and the trash can take aggro from the front.”

“You heard that? Lead the way.”

“Okay.”

Lee Jinhoo stared up at the giant door with a depressed look.

An all-encompassing eye was engraved onto the door, staring him down.

He could sense that the boss battle would start as soon as the door opened.

Lee Jinhoo feared another life-threatening battle but…

If he resisted, the two behind could kill him.

Lee Jinhoo shut his eyes and muttered.

“I’m opening it now.”

And as his trembling hands inched towards the door—

Krrrroong.

Lee Sieon and Im Sangyoon turned their heads at a sudden sound from the back.

「 The competing team has entered the goblin king’s spiral tower. 」

At that moment, a message they’ve never seen before appeared in front of their eyes.

「 Requirement fulfilled. 」

「 Special objective ‘competition’ is starting. 」

「 The boss battle cannot be begun until only one of the two teams is left. It is not possible to leave the current area. 」

「 Bonus rewards will be calculated at the completion of the special objective. 」

Beyond the holographic message, blurry figures emerged.

Lee Sieon squinted to get a clearer view of the man standing in the front.

A black hooded figure with a sword and a shield appeared to not be a goblin.

And the system had already told him who that figure was.

“Damn.’

Lee Sieon cursed under his breath and took out his crossbow.

He knew that it had been too easy to be true.

“Ha, fuck. Man, this is like the worst-case scenario.”

The other team had entered the tower.

***

「 Special objective ‘competition’ is starting. 」

A message appeared as soon as they entered the ashy spiral tower.

‘Special objective?’

It wasn’t a type of message anyone had previously experienced.

That means this was inherent to the tower of trials.

‘What is…’

I hesitated for a bit because I hadn’t seen anything like this, even after entering the tower.

But the objective of the trial was competition so it made sense.

‘I knew it wouldn’t be this straightforward.’

The tower blocked off all other options.

It was playing dirty, but this still wasn’t something I hadn’t expected from the tower.

‘There are three enemies and they… have a mage.’

The man with glasses was wearing a luxurious robe holding a staff embedded with a blue orb.

No matter how you looked at it, he was a mage.

Just the fact that they had a backline was nerve-wracking.

Mages were a rare resource after all.

There was also a small trembling swordsman and a man holding a crossbow.

They seemed to be more balanced than my team.

‘The center of their team must be the guy with the crossbow.’

He had a more refined stance than the other two and, overall, just looked like he knew what he was doing.

At least, he wasn’t afraid to fight.

Then—

“Ha, fuck. Man, this is like the worst-case scenario.”

The man with the crossbow muttered under his breath and opened his eyes.

The eyes couldn’t be described as anything but those of a reptile.

“Yo, trash. Take care of the one that looks like an assassin. Just stall for time and don’t do anything else.”

The man who was called trash didn’t even have time to respond.

That was because as soon as he finished speaking, the challenger with the crossbow took off.

Koong.

A low-pitched echo rang out as the man with the crossbow moved rapidly.

Shik!

‘A throwing knife?’

He pulled a knife from his thigh and threw it as if he didn’t want to use the crossbow from the start.

He must have had a weapons skill because the knife cut through the air with the sound of a hissing snake.

However, my stats were at their peak from absorbing all kinds of goblins.

I wouldn’t get hit by this even if I wanted to.

Ting!

A petite swordsman closed in on me as I tilted my shield to block the knife.

“A-aaaaah!”

His clearly scared eyes were rejecting any form of combat but…

That didn’t stop him from running at me.

No, he swung even more wildly in his tunnel vision.

Chang!

I didn’t block it with a shield this time and instead deflected it with my sword.

‘I guess that was just a distraction to let him get close to me.’

I had no intention of letting things go the way he planned.

Using the recoil from the deflection, I planned to kill the swordsman and go after the crossbow dude.

But his blade flowed smoothly to almost forbid that from happening.

Contrary to the fear-ridden eyes and trembling hands, his sword made a sharp and clean arc.

He definitely had a sword-related skill.

‘Damn, this complicates things.’

I couldn’t be delayed with him any longer.

“Lee Hayeon, now!”

“Okay!”

「 You have received ‘Wind’s Blessing. 」

「 While your agility is below 50, there is an extra status bonus. 」

「 Agility is temporarily increased by +3. 」

「 Time left – 00:09:59 」

For an instant, my body blended into the wind and my vision faltered.

Combined with all the stats I’ve been absorbing, I felt almost omnipotent.

What the fuck… Lee Sunghoon couldn’t fight off the goblins with this?

The swordsman shouldn’t be able to follow my movements anymore.

When I was sure, I lightly swung my obsidian dagger.

But the enemy blocked my swing as if it was laughing at my assurance.

Chang!

“…”

The swordsman who couldn’t even keep his hands steady somehow read and blocked my attack.

Initially, I thought he was hiding his skill but quickly realized that wasn’t the case.

“Innate ability!’

That was it.

Like how I acquired Necromancy, this man also acquired something.

I forgot about it because I’d been oppressing monsters with my stats, but innate abilities could change the tide of the battle.

I had to figure out what it was.

I withdrew my sword and took a step back.

Then I felt slightly relieved looking at Lee Sunghoon and Lee Hayeon fight.

Seeing that he could block the arrows from the crossbow, it looks like Lee Sunghoon’s ‘mana resistance’ innate ability wasn’t just for show.

Of course, he’s using his greatsword and not a shield…

But he was doing better than I thought.

The crossbow challenger also couldn’t get in close because he was being wary of Lee Hayeon.

‘Good thing the other team’s mage is also a support.’

The man had an increased reload speed, shot speed, and agility.

But Lee Sunghoon’s ‘mana resistance’ was able to nullify some of the effects of the skills.

He’d been moving fast and kiting from distance, but it didn’t seem to be very effective.

They’d come right in if they realized how weak he was but…

‘They can’t press forward that strongly now.’

There are a lot of elements that could change the tide of the battle and I had the ability to change it.

So I turned to the swordsman and focused my attention on him.

Chang!

‘He definitely doesn’t have a buff that lets him keep up with my movements.’

Their mage didn’t cast a single buff to their fragile swordsman.

Maybe he was a decoy and they were going all-in on the crossbowman.

Then the only thing keeping him alive was his innate ability.

Ch-chang! Chang!

Once I released a barrage of slashes, he started fumbling.

This would be the most effective way to figure out what his ability was.

His moves would get simpler if he didn’t get a chance to think about his moves.

As I predicted, the swordsman’s eyes moved before my sword did.

‘…?’

That’s when I was able to figure out this man’s innate ability.

Damn, that’s why he’s able to block my attacks.

‘He can see where I’ll attack.’

He’s able to see the trajectory of my blade and can swing his blade even before I start attacking.

After figuring out his innate ability, figuring out a way to get around it was instant.

If his ability relies on ‘sight’ then all I have to do is block his ‘sight.’

Whoosh!

I swung my shield like a frisbee and threw it at the swordsman.

‘It’s a little risky but it’s the only way…!’

Flustered, the swordsman flailed to hit the shield away and.

“…!”

A ‘hole’ in his innate ability was exposed.

With his line of vision blocked, I stepped in close and took another swing.

Shuak!

Blood splattered everywhere and in an instant, the entire hall froze.

Everyone froze for a second and all stared at me.

“W-wha… I don…”

“Wait, he couldn’t even stall…?”

They were wondering what I did to kill him that quickly.

Enemies and allies alike looked at me in shock.

And amongst the center of it all, I was horrified.

It wasn’t that I killed someone for the first time.

I had already made the decision to do it and the enemy was also trying to do the same.

The most shocking part was the message that appeared in front of me.

「 Would you like to absorb the soul of the player ‘Lee Jinhoo’? 」

The black fog over the falling corpse and the message above it was telling me.

‘Holy…’

Necromancy could absorb human souls.

____

Hyung-nim is a formal way for a Korean male to address another Korean male.

Also, I think the story is starting to pick up eyyy

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