Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 015
Chapter Title: The Mystery is Too Good
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Vroooom!
A sports car rocketed down the highway.
A man and a woman sat inside.
“Woooah!”
“This speed is insane!”
They cheered, savoring the rush of cool wind.
The two were from Daitoro Guild.
They'd been enjoying a company romance.
Lately, every day felt like a dopamine party.
“Did you buy this with your incentive bonus too?”
“Yeah, told you! You got one, right?”
“Hell yeah! A hundred million yen!”
The incentive bonus alone was a whopping hundred million yen.
Every guild member had received it.
The guild was overflowing with cash.
So much, it was spilling over.
“Feels like joining Daitoro was the best call. Who'd have thought the Elbrek regs would make us this huge?”
“Right? Let's save up a bit more and quit real life for good!”
The dream of financial independence.
They planned to achieve it in their early twenties.
The current situation made it feel totally doable.
So the man had mustered his courage and prepared.
Though their time together had been short, he was thinking marriage.
A ring box sat in his pocket.
It was all bought with the life of an incurably ill patient as collateral.
The ring, the sports car—everything.
Built on a deal with death, he spoke up.
“Um, Shizuka.”
He pulled the car over briefly.
A fierce wind whipped past the open-top sports car.
Even so, his words rang clear.
The woman looked at him.
She brushed her wind-tossed hair back.
Her cheeks flushed as she sensed the mood.
“Yeah? What is it, Yuto?”
Right as he was about to make his cool proposal.
Whoosh! A gale blew in.
Their hair scattered wildly.
The woman's hair she was brushing back—her bangs—fell out.
Shiiiick!
It shed like autumn leaves.
The man suffered the same fate.
The debuff spared no hair.
“......”
“......”
The woman stared at the man's vanished eyebrow.
He'd gone asymmetrical. The left one had cleanly vanished.
And not just that—a coin-sized bald patch on his sideburns.
A hundred-yen coin size.
The man eyed the woman's head.
A five-hundred-yen masterpiece bald spot asserted its presence.
Her beauty plummeted.
Love cooled in an instant.
“What the hell is this?!”
“Kyaaah!”
They checked the debuff.
Then glanced in the rearview mirror.
The guild members' screams echoed like wails.
Chaos erupted everywhere.
Even guild members mid-nocturnal fun.
Hair from their heads rained onto their partner's face.
Shocks and screams on the verge of fainting exploded.
“Kyaaak!”
“Gasp! Why... why is my hair...!”
Even those celebrating with friends.
They spat out their beer-filled mugs.
A mouthful of foreign texture.
“Hey! You, you!”
“What happened to your head?!”
Friends witnessed it.
The man spat hair from his mouth too.
Nearly a full clump.
He spotted the debuff late.
And screamed as well.
Confusion swelled across the guild.
Daitoro's guild leader, Haruo.
He clutched his head, gulping.
“Gasp! Heuk! What... what the hell...!”
A horrific debuff.
It crushed his strengths.
Who sent it?
Speculation was pointless.
Waves crashed relentlessly.
If the first wave was personal change.
The second was mass guild exits.
[Ren has left Daitoro Guild!]
[Souta has left Daitoro Guild!]
[Takumi has left Daitoro Guild!]
...and more!
A frenzy of exits blurred Haruo's vision!
His world shook wildly.
Key guild members were among them.
“Ren! Hey! Why aren't you picking up?!”
Desperate calls went unanswered.
Texts revealed their minds.
[Guild Leader Haruo. What we've been doing was wrong. This must be divine punishment. I can't stick it out to the end. Don't look for me anymore.]
Similar messages poured in.
Haruo was going mad.
Disband the guild?
That was it. Game over.
Guilds could only be created once.
Membership was lifetime, once only.
System rules.
To prevent hopping guilds for buffs.
Guild choice was crucial.
A lifelong commitment.
Couldn't decide lightly.
Yet they quit.
No one wanted a lifetime bald—for men or women.
Plenty of money mattered, but so did a full head of hair.
Life without any hair...
Haruo couldn't imagine it.
“Aaaah... uwaaaah!”
He panicked, tearing at his hair.
Already shedding daily.
More came out in his grip.
“Huu, huuu... I... I need to decide.”
The decision was singular.
Disband the guild.
The only way to remove the permanent debuff.
One debuff alone.
It dragged Daitoro to ruin in moments.
Into an inescapable pit of doom.
Shoving it mercilessly.
Days later.
Akane finished her report.
Daitoro Guild's downfall.
JYS was pleased.
He'd showcased his mystery again.
She stared blankly at the scene.
Still a mystery.
Impossible to analyze.
Spheres zipped between barriers.
Monsters melted without touching them.
Pure slaughter.
'What is the source of JYS's power?'
Weeks of observation.
Findings severely limited.
A force that annihilated nearby life.
Concentratable or dispersible.
But not mana, so undetectable.
That was the scariest part.
Freely wielding silent annihilation.
Nothing more terrifying.
'Radiation books. Uranium. Is JYS handling radiation?'
A reasonable guess.
He wouldn't answer questions.
Akane felt frustrated but held back.
Never upset him.
She'd nearly lost the chance forever once.
She couldn't risk that.
Akane wanted to fight him.
Understand and analyze everything.
Seize power at the end.
Untouchable might.
Her goal since that past incident.
“Oh, already the finale.”
He murmured in admiration, blank-faced.
Akane asked cautiously.
“Could I hear the mystery's name?”
Mission's end was near.
JYS answered.
“Sphere of Self-Assimilation, I think? Too long, so Dong-gu. Or Auto-sphere.”
“Dong-gu... I see.”
No wonder it matched his power.
But the name was cute.
A faint smile touched Akane's lips.
“Whoa, you smiled.”
“I didn't smile.”
Sudden attention embarrassed her.
Denying only made her grin more.
“Come on, you're always so expressionless. Any change stands out.”
She touched her face at his point.
Did it really show?
Damn, emotion control was key in battle.
She'd be more careful.
Akane thanked him for the lesson.
“I learn so much from you, JYS.”
“Huh? Suddenly? Well, today's the last anyway. Not bummed?”
She was.
Nothing figured out yet.
Now an indefinite wait?
“I am disappointed.”
“Yeah? Then wanna chat more? Five minutes? Too short?”
“I want a spar.”
She knew it was impossible from their first meeting.
But disappointment slipped out.
No taking it back.
A mistake. Shouldn't have said it.
“That was a slip. Sorry......”
“Hm, a spar. Shall we?”
An unexpected reply.
JYS smiled kindly.
“You've helped a ton, and showed debuff targets. Sure, let's spar.”
“But this barrier. Doesn't it vanish only after clearing?”
“No biggie. Not fighting you myself.”
Dong-gu. Calling the mystery.
The orbiting sphere moved.
Easily passed the barrier, stopped before her.
“What do you think? Manageable?”
Akane's heart pounded.
Finally. A chance.
The mystery sphere mimicked his power.
She calmed her excitement and asked.
“I won't melt, right?”
“Don't worry. I can control the sphere.”
So he couldn't control his own body?
Sphere and self had different specs?
Safe, anyway.
And he'd use a new ability.
Thrilling.
“Plain fight's boring. Wanna bet?”
“A bet... on words?”
“Yeah. You neutralize the sphere. I neutralize you. Done.”
“Sounds good. What do you want from me?”
Hand on heart, she asked.
JYS pondered, then answered.
“Just help if Korea gets tough. ...Too much?”
A tentative condition.
The world's strongest, yet so pure here.
Unlike other powerhouses.
Akane smiled unwittingly.
She nodded.
“Sure. If I win, more spars?”
“How many?”
“Ten...?”
“......”
“Or five?”
JYS nodded then.
Relieved, Akane gripped her hilt.
“Then... begin.”
Mana surged.
Her innate: Karate.
Strike-focused martial art.
Awakener emergence changed it entirely.
Now with passives, abilities, skills.
Black spheres floated around her.
“Oh.”
JYS admired softly.
Akane wasted no time.
End it quick, full power.
As always!
“Hah!”
No afterimage speed.
Bam-bam-bam! The straight punch hit.
Black spheres targeted Dong-gu.
Impacted, dust billowed.
Hundreds of strikes in a blink.
Results invisible.
“Got it!”
“Better not say that.”
What? Akane turned.
Dong-gu burst from the dust.
Movement changed.
Not the slow melt pace.
'Fast!'
Insanely fast.
Erratic trajectory: front, back, left, right.
She spread a mana veil.
Punched the detected path.
But Dong-gu curved in victorious.
Crack!
“Guh!”
Slammed her gut hard.
Heavy physics flung her body.
Smashed into the wall.
“Not... yet!”
Not over.
She prepped a skill.
Black spheres merged.
Ready to blast.
Lifted her head, eyes sharp.
Battle lust burned.
“I'll win!”
A bold cry.
But Dong-gu struck first.
What passed? Unknown.
Red flash, skill scattered.
Late heat hit; Akane recoiled.
Beside her prepping skill.
Face and shoulder burned.
Red, blistered.
“Ow!”
Unwittingly clutched.
Her mana-protected body—why?
Eyes gleaming with questions fixed on Dong-gu.
It loomed, shaking before her nose.
Unscathed sphere vs. wounded her.
Akane's utter defeat.
“I... lost.”
Accepting defeat was familiar.
She wasn't born Japan's top.
Realm built on countless losses.
So she conceded.
“Good fight.”
“I did nothing. No counter, no response. If you'd used full annihilation... I'd be melted already.”
Akane intuited.
JYS used less than half.
Just Dong-gu did this.
Add himself? Unthinkable.
'Dead before one attack.'
Chills ran.
He was the strongest.
Thus, her longing grew.
Collide more, learn more.
“Can I seek lessons again?”
“If we meet again. Of course.”
Positive.
Akane relaxed.
“Then we're done.”
“Yes. JYS, thanks for everything. I'll honor the bet.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“More than words...”
She murmured low, unheard.
Last condition cleared easily.
Rechallenge ended; she returned.
Tower of Despair, Japan –4th Floor.
“Won't see him anymore?”
JYS was descending now.
Regret. Should've asked his name.
But ties remained.
Knew his face, shared much.
That bond would aid this bet.
Akane texted immediately.
-Ha-rin. It's me, Kamiya Akane. Want to apply for Korean naturalization. Can you help? Language school too.
Just "help if tough"—but Akane went all-in.
No love for her homeland anyway.
Firmly helping him: naturalization!
That day, Japan lost Daitoro Guild and its #1 hunter.
Even Akane monopolized the tower.
They could only shed bloody tears.
“Phew, finally done.”
Today marked the end of his –5th Floor stay.
A new –4th Floor conqueror appeared.
His parting criterion.
No guarantee it'd be just Akane.
Time to descend.
No desire to be summoned by the next –5th conqueror.
Whirr. Whiz.
Dong-gu circled, as if saying good job.
The mystery item bestowed.
Performance needless to mention.
Simple effect.
Far from simple in practice.
Felt like having a double.
One downside.
Powers Dong-gu absorbed, I couldn't use.
Calories too—Dong-gu tapped them.
A flaw, if any.
'Still, versatile in combat.'
Example: Absorb radiation control.
Dong-gu spreads radiation.
I focus on rapid digestion.
Role division.
Like a partner for this tower.
Not bad.
“Whew, tons to carry.”
Akane left heaps.
All packed: three backpacks' worth.
Hands full, one on back.
Time to bid farewell to this fond place.
“Wonder what's on –6.”
Universal key like a necklace.
Still pointed down.
Rattling: hurry.
Grabbed it lightly, descended.
Step. Step.
Arrived at the next floor.
Pitch black around.
Only a faint path ahead.
Change hit then.
“What?”
Started before reaching center.
Darkness lifted, revealing –6th Floor stage.
“Walls on both sides?”
[Escape the Despair.]
Escape this time.
So he knew the setup.
“Maze hunt?”
Grrraaak!
Kek! Keeek!
Not just any maze.
Hazards everywhere.
Tough for records.
“Hm, left-hand rule? Or right?”
Follow one wall blindly.
Exit eventually.
Mid-thought.
“Hm?”
Neck felt empty oddly.
Looked down at the key.
Always floor-gazing, now different.
“Huh?”
Pointing ahead.
Slightly left?
Anyway, the universal key spoke.
Door to paradise.
Seemed here.
“Let's see what sweet reward awaits.”
Backpacks here first.
Monsters or traps might blow them.
Record chase aside, he dashed.
Toward the key's direction.