Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 007
Chapter Title: Competitors Vanish Without Me Lifting a Finger
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China.
The world's second-ranked hunter superpower.
The country with the second-most S-Rank hunters after the United States.
They were strong.
They had every right to call themselves a great power.
But not this time.
They'd been outdone by a small nation.
In locating the Tower of Despair.
In conquering it.
A puny neighboring landmass had beaten them to the punch on every front.
That fact rubbed a lot of Chinese people the wrong way.
The director of China's Hunter Management Bureau was one of them.
"Come in."
Director Wei Ling watched the man enter with a stony face.
"So, Jin Jin. How'd the raid go?"
Initials: GG.
A sturdy-built powerhouse, China's number one hunter.
Jin Jin answered the director's question.
"I think we can shave some time off the record."
"That's what I was hoping to hear!"
The director's face lit up.
He'd been under nonstop stress lately.
Thanks to this mess, they'd been forced to cough up a fortune to Korea.
Compensation for Monster Impact damages.
Even demands for Tower of Despair intel fees.
They'd complied with international laws.
Handed it all over.
From S-Rank caliber items.
To massive damage payouts.
The chairman was breathing down his neck because of it.
Bring back something to offset the losses.
"Great! What do you need? Name it. I'll back you with everything we've got."
China was still in the lead pack.
Falling behind Korea, sure, but second place nonetheless.
Jin Jin had just cleared -2 floor yesterday.
121 hours and 17 minutes.
A 1 hour and 30 minute gap behind the leader, JYS.
He spoke with conviction.
"Fire resistance gear and potions. And buff skills, specialized for mana recovery."
-2 floor was scorching hot.
Fire-attribute monsters kept spawning endlessly.
That was his plan to close the gap.
Wei Ling grabbed Jin Jin's shoulder.
"You got it! We'll prep immediately. Get ready for your redo, Jin Jin. This is our chance to snatch back the buffs from those damn Korean upstarts."
"All glory to the Chairman!"
"I'll let you know when it's ready. Hahaha!"
The director burst into good cheer.
His report done, Jin Jin left the bureau.
He was the head of a pro-China guild.
Innate Ability: Ice Magic.
He'd mastered magic right upon awakening.
The more he delved into it, the more he could wield.
He'd advanced smoothly, without a hitch.
Nothing was beyond his freezing grasp.
Until he challenged the Tower of Despair.
'Why won't it freeze! Ugh! Die!'
'Fire attributes should be my natural counter!'
The goblins wouldn't freeze.
Their elemental resistance was absurdly high.
-2 floor was the same story.
Fire-attribute monsters, his supposed counters.
They shrugged off his magic—or worse, ignited it.
He'd tasted all kinds of humiliation.
He hadn't let it show in front of the director, though.
'Damn it. Is it because I'm a fake number one? Tower of Despair... did you see through my weakness?!'
Jin Jin ground his teeth.
He was number one, but not really.
A truth the nation concealed.
A hidden secret the public didn't know.
Jin Jin was actually ranked eighth.
The seven above him had their info blacked out.
'They vanished at some point. The government's branded them hermits and keeps hunting them down.'
Now Jin Jin understood.
Why they'd disappeared.
He didn't show it, but the pressure weighed on him.
He always felt the government's eyes on his back.
And that was just the start.
One tiny slip-up, and over a billion people would be disappointed. Furious.
All eyes on him alone.
"Huff... huff!"
His breath grew ragged without him realizing.
Hyperventilating.
The hermits must've felt this too.
But he couldn't just bail.
Not after all the wealth and fame he'd built.
"Those goddamn Korean bastards!"
Bam! He slammed the armrest in the back seat.
Mana leaked out, flash-freezing it solid.
He rationalized it.
Blame it all on Korea.
If they'd just stayed in their lane as number one, wouldn't this be fine?
Why'd he have to suffer like this?
"Hoo... I'll take it back this time, no matter what."
A few days later.
All preparations complete, Jin Jin stood before the Tower of Despair.
From national brass to the Chairman himself.
Behind them, millions gathered.
All to cheer him on.
"We have high hopes for you."
Words from China's top leader, Mao Lung.
Jin Jin swallowed dryly and saluted.
"I'll bring great glory to the motherland!"
"Woooaaah!"
Signal from Chinese public security.
The crowd roared in perfect sync, like clockwork.
A mechanical, rigid spectacle.
Jin Jin took it in, then turned.
Gear, potions, buffs—wrapped in it all.
He plunged into the depths without hesitation.
The flip side of the Tower of Trials.
The entrance to the Tower of Despair at rock bottom.
He opened the door and stepped in.
Passed floors let him skip straight there.
In a blink, he was back at -2 floor.
Before retrying, he used everything.
Glug glug glug. Splaaash!
Potions dumped straight on his head one after another.
Buff scrolls torn in rapid succession.
"Hoo!"
Prepped to the max, he checked the leaderboard.
Confirming the final wall to topple.
But what was this?
"Huh?"
A dumb noise slipped out.
Am I seeing this wrong? No?
He rubbed his eyes.
Closed and reopened them.
Nothing changed.
Hic! A hiccup escaped unbidden.
The close record had blown wide open.
An utterly untouchable gap.
Not even 1 hour 36 minutes—it was 1 minute 36 seconds.
How the hell do you beat that?!
"Ugh!"
Jin Jin felt hyperventilation hitting again.
This wouldn't do.
But he had to keep going anyway.
Or they'd be disappointed. Furious.
And brand him a failure.
'Ugh, the hermits were right.'
Climbing to the top spot made it all too clear.
He felt it in his bones.
An unclimbable mountain. An unbreakable wall.
That's what faced him.
Jin Jin gave up.
'A monster's appeared in Korea.'
He turned to leave.
"Yeah. I forfeit."
The eighth hermit had emerged.
Only the top brass learned of it.
The Chinese public got different news.
Jin Jin had been gravely injured mid-raid.
So they'd select a new powerhouse.
"Dispatch S-Rank stealth specialists to Korea immediately! Right now!"
China's Hunter Management Bureau Director Wei Ling flew into a rage.
News of Jin Jin's disappearance.
They needed a new powerhouse.
And intel on this.
"That JYS in Korea—that mongrel—who the hell is he?! Dig up every related contact! Find their weaknesses, by any means necessary!"
"Yes, sir!"
A great power couldn't yield an inch.
Even if it meant dirty tricks to stay on top.
That was the right path. The result mattered.
Wei Ling fumed for a good while.
"Okay, I get it completely."
I nodded, arms crossed.
Learned it while setting the -2 floor record.
My new Ability: Rapid Digestion.
It had a hard limit.
"10 calories is the cap until my body toughens up."
Of course, even 100k was dicey.
My body wouldn't explode.
But muscles tore, bones cracked.
For me, wounds that healed in a flash.
The pain lingered, though.
"Sigh. No passive for pain reduction anywhere?"
Elastic enough to punch down the tower.
It'd work on things immune to radiation.
Still a brutally painful ability.
Pain kept slamming the brakes on my body.
"Tch. Guess I'll just grit my teeth and use it."
Time to head down.
-3 floor. Still after the same two goals.
'A clearer way to communicate. And total control over this body.'
Messages were too one-sided.
I had zero updates on the outside.
Geon-gon Guild's leader, Lee Ha-rin.
Would be nice if she'd covered my hospital bills.
She's a donation angel, right? She had to have.
"Hoo. Soon as I get a comms method, I'll reach out."
No telling when this body would stabilize.
Or even if control was possible.
"Radiation now coats my whole arm."
Focus, and a bit of radiation shifts.
A scoop from a vast lake.
Control amount still tiny compared to my reserves.
'And my body is still weak.'
Side effect of Innate Ability hypergrowth.
Hunters had gates or the Tower of Trials.
Standard to grow slowly: ability matching innate, skills, passives.
Not me.
Innate already at level 173.
Body weaker than an F-Rank sidekick hunter.
Without Predation, I'd have blown up ages ago.
'Gotta love this. Or hate it.'
I shook my head and stepped forward.
Either way, I needed strength ASAP.
Fastest path to my family.
"-3 floor feels different."
Not the usual pure white space.
Like stepping into a massive library.
Vast expanse.
Bookshelves lining every wall.
Soaring heights beyond measure.
Packed floor to ceiling with books.
"Hm. Blank pages."
Grabbed a standout one.
White pages flipped through.
Slid it back, headed to the center.
The tower reacted.
Explore what?
I looked up.
A heavy wind blew from above.
Ceiling swallowed by fathomless dark.
Something massive plummeted from it.
KABOOM!
Lights flared around its crash.
More like, the countless books in the shelves.
Glowing in every color.
Clear condition appeared before me.
Not a horde this time.
A grotesque, writhing mass of flesh right in front.
Take it down, and done.
Glurk. Glurglurk.
It squirmed disgustingly, flesh swelling.
Clothes mismatched for its dozens-of-meters bulk.
A massive cylindrical suit of armor.
Sprouting twig-like arms from it?
Gripping all sorts of weapons.
One launched my way.
Crunch!
The arm swelled and melted before it reached me.
But the weapon kept its momentum.
"Kgh."
I brushed my cheek.
Blood welling from the graze clotted instantly.
The longsword that nicked me was embedded behind.
Glurglurk!
Not immune to radiation either.
Body bursting, melting.
Regenerating just as fast.
"Oho."
Pretty tough.
Its sweeping weapons threatened me meanwhile.
Or... did they?
Slash! Thunk!
Sliced. Stabbed.
That was it.
I winced in pain, but didn't die.
Regen outpacing the wounds even.
"Explore despair, huh."
I approached a glowing bookshelf amid its antics.
Pulled a curiosity-sparking lit book.
Unlit ones were blank.
Lit ones had content—but faded fast.
I caught it.
[Green dot.]
Simple sentence.
Checked the thing.
Green dot. Under the armor, on a tentacle.
One of many acting as legs.
Explore despair meant this?
'Read the glowing books to pinpoint weaknesses and strategize...'
Did I need to?
Its elastic, tough skin? Melts.
Endless weapon barrage? I tank it fine.
Huge body? Perfect target.
"Stressed to the max, and you walk right into it."
I clenched my fist.
First one not dropping to radiation.
Wonder how long it'd last.
Fist packed with 100k calories.
'Innate control makes distributing power easy.'
Target specific body parts.
Credit to the ring.
Ring of Death and Circulation.
The gluttonous thing from -2 floor cadavers.
Current grade: D.
Simple effect.
Insane efficiency.
Precise calorie allocation.
Let me do stuff like this.
Thud!
One foot stomp.
Instantly before it.
Snap punch connects with flesh.
BOOM!
Leather drum burst echoing.
It reeled back.
Human shoving a building, size-wise.
My arm creaked in payment.
All bones shattered.
Back to normal quick, though.
"Breathless Reinforcement, go."
Face twisted, I hammered another fist.
Pain exploding nonstop.
Its flesh detonating in response.
Bathed in falling chunks.
My assault didn't stop.
Pummeling beyond regen limits.
Cratering its body.
Diving in, no pause.
Glurrrrrrk!
Arms elongating like "stop."
Blades probing from inside targeting me.
I welcomed them.
No dodging room anyway.
"Kgh... khahaha!"
Cold steel piercing, slashing my body.
Brain going haywire from agony.
Cackling, I kicked out.
Look at that. Slower than me.
Regen like this can't keep up.
But I endured.
Yanked a dagger snagged in my joint.
Burned calories to ram it back into it.
Swinging its own ejected weapons too.
Glurk...
Its cries weakening.
Its packed arsenal shredded and burst.
That's when it froze.
"Hoo, worked up a sweat."
Wiped my brow.
Climbed out of its now-cavernous body.
Notifications finally popped.
Ignored the intended method for brute-force beatdown.
Regen vs. regen. Blows vs. blows.
Victory mine.
"Hm? Item?"
Different from Tower of Trials.
First time seeing this.
Item instead of guild buff.
So two rewards for me?
I eyed the boxes.
One silver. One rainbow.
Looked premium at a glance.
Silver first.
Passive, ability, now skill.
Hunter basics, all covered as wished.
Save this for later.
Opened the 1st place box.
'Lose 1st, and the item goes too?'
Possible structure.
Peered past the dazzling light.
A colorless, transparent orb inside.
Pulled it out.
Some insane item just landed in my hands.
Ideas flooded my mind instantly.
'Use this right, and...'
I could safeguard my family!
Each nation had hunters challenging their Tower of Despair.
Surely S-Rank elites.
Chance to win one over.
Ultimate bodyguard recruitment.
"Jackpot."
And so, I began plotting.
Need to be careful. 30-day cooldown.
One shot, then a month twiddling thumbs.
Pro-Korea nation, nearby.
And a decent S-Rank hunter...
"Okay. I've decided."
After agonizing deliberation.
I could choose the nation to intervene in.