Chapter 39. Tower Floor 4
“Ugh…! Damn it.”
When Jeonghyeon opened his eyes, the familiar ceiling of Philip's house came into view. As soon as he stirred, Philip came rushing from the kitchen.
“You're awake, sir? How's your body feeling?”
“Like hell. Every bone in my body's throbbing like it's gonna kill me.”
The sight of him dashing over with a ladle in hand, looking just like some housewife, drew a snort of laughter from Jeonghyeon.
Oof. Laughing hurts my ribs…!
“That was incredible, sir.”
“What was?”
Philip's face lit up with genuine awe as he watched Jeonghyeon struggle to sit up.
“Even the Kingdom guild members were shocked. You're the first person to go full-on serious against Guild Master Serin for that long.”
“Figured as much.”
“Do you remember how long the fight lasted?”
“Not really. Long enough that I just wanted to end it quick and go home?”
“A full four hours. Around the two-hour mark, pretty much all the Kingdom guild members had gathered to watch.”
“Damn.”
I definitely lost, but at least it wasn't a total embarrassment.
Jeonghyeon shook his head.
“Gonna head out with some actual battle experience under my belt for once.”
“Battle experience? It was a draw, sir.”
“A draw?”
“Yeah. Double KO. Serin's attack and yours landed at the same time, and you both went down.”
Still hanging in there, huh, Kim Jeonghyeon.
A strange sense of relief washed over him as he sprawled on one end of the sofa, his entire body a map of bruises.
“I learned a ton. Kinda like last time… every one of your moves felt etched into my muscles?”
He'd been playing the doting mom earlier, but now Philip looked every bit the elementary kid proudly showing off what he'd learned, swinging the ladle through the air to mimic Jeonghyeon's fight.
“Like this! Catching Guild Master Serin's opening from her wide-area attack!”
Shadowboxing an imaginary whip-sword, Philip dodged low, surged to the side, then thrust the ladle forward with a whoosh.
“This one's a feint!”
Mid-thrust, he twisted the direction again, whipping it through the air with a swish.
Splash! Water from the ladle sprayed out like blood.
Hmm. Beef soup, probably.
Jeonghyeon tasted a stray drop and savored it.
The shadowboxing continued for several more rounds. It started off annoying, but soon Jeonghyeon watched intently.
Philip's imitation wasn't perfect, but seeing it made the mirror-learning effect from the fight clear as day.
Not bad, huh?
Jeonghyeon pulled up Philip's status window.
Philip Park
Rank: B-rank Hunter
Command Rank: Subordinate Rank
⋮
Current Awakening Level: Lv.3 (101/600) → Lv.3 (301/600)
Current Domination EXP: 410
Awakening EXP had gone up by about 200, but domination EXP stayed the same.
Definitely way less than grinding it out personally.
Those points would strengthen Philip somehow, but Jeonghyeon had no clue yet where to spend domination EXP best. For now, time for the next step.
“Got any elixirs?”
“Huh? Why elixirs?”
Philip froze mid-motion, nearly toppling over, his question basically screaming, 'What, you planning to go somewhere in that state?'
“What else? Gotta climb the Tower, kid.”
“The Tower? Right now?”
“Yeah.”
He wasn't about to let a B-rank Hunter slack off forever, was he? But then Jeonghyeon got curious about why Philip hunted in the first place.
“Anyway, why'd you become a hunter?”
“'Cause… I awakened?”
Digging through his bag's corners for an elixir, Philip mumbled awkwardly.
“Not that. Like, reason to grow stronger or whatever. You're Uldran's awakener—didn't you say you got a lot of crap and felt down about not improving?”
“Aw, c'mon, why bring up that embarrassing stuff?”
“Just answer.”
As Jeonghyeon's sharp gaze pierced him while taking the elixir and leaning back, Philip flinched and spoke carefully.
“Well… nothing, really! No point whining with people like you and Serin around. Just do your best in your spot, y'know? As an awakener! Haha!”
“So, wanna be the strongest hunter or something?”
“……”
“……”
“No way! Haha!”
Nailed it, this guy.
Jeonghyeon downed the elixir in one gulp, grimacing at the bitter taste as he wiped his mouth.
“Eh, gotta have some ambition to make dragging you around worthwhile.”
Feeling his external wounds knit slowly, he sprang up—no more delays.
“Let's go. Time to climb the Tower.”
“……Yes, sir!”
Philip's eyes burned with quiet resolve.
***
Floor 4.
It was a ridiculous number when you thought about it.
“Never really hit me before… We cleared floor 3 and bragged about hitting 20. What a joke.”
Philip scratched his head with an awkward grin, feeling it too.
“Eh, we'll just climb from here.”
As long as you end up in Seoul, right? They had to hit 20 for the quest anyway—no one to check.
The Tower-floor scanner won't be invented for another year or two.
Good thing it didn't exist yet.
From Jeonghyeon's memory, floors 4-10 were straightforward dungeons: monsters, then boss. From 11, they adapted to the hunter's level.
Back then, I wondered why the difficulty was such bullshit.
Jeonghyeon and Philip strolled casually now. Occasional monsters? Philip soloed them easy.
How easy? Like this…
“Huh? Done already?”
Philip poked the werewolf corpse at his feet—upper body smashed—with his mace. Its fangs hadn't even bared in a roar.
“This was the boss? This weak?”
It got clubbed dead before any dramatics, teeth shattered, stuck to the floor.
“Eh, works for us.”
They headed straight to floor 5.
The boss there was a poison slime: sticky, clung on, regenerated instantly from slashes.
“Annoying. You take it.”
“Gotta be me anyway!”
Philip charged with mace raised.
The slime flattened to the floor and slithered away.
Splorch!
But Philip had trained dodging Jeonghyeon's hair's-breadth strikes and Serin's winged onslaughts.
A slowpoke slime? Child's play.
“No you don't!!”
A sharp shout stunned it stiff, then thud-thud!—double ground-pound, smashing it flat.
Crunch! Like the werewolf, no real attack before getting squished like a pancake, fluids bursting out.
“Watch the poison. That goo’s toxic.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah—already dead?”
“Guess so. Next floor.”
The easy clears kept coming.
“Next floor.”
“Next floor.”
“Next floor.”
By floor 9, boredom set in—they even chatted idly.
“Man, why's it stupidly easy now? Did I…?”
“You got stronger, yeah.”
“Haha! Right? But 'got stronger' sounds like there's more?”
“Ever wonder from games or comics?”
“Wonder what?”
“Why not kill everyone from the start? Why weaklings first to power up the hero?”
Philip nodded vigorously.
“Totally! Could just wipe 'em early… but gotta grow the hero, right?”
“Exactly.”
“……?”
Jeonghyeon casually bisected a charging goblin with a lazy arm swing, pointing at the halves.
“Floors 1-3 filter the qualified. After that? Training wheels.”
“So… something after the Tower?”
Oho. Sharp one.
Jeonghyeon blinked, impressed by Philip's unexpected insight. Philip looked more shocked.
“Something after the Tower?!”
“Yeah.”
“What? How do you know? You regress or something? Last hero who fought the Demon King in a past life?”
What the hell, this guy?
Lucky guess like stepping on a rat while backing from a cow—but it hit too close. He'd joked about regression before, and Philip bought the precog excuse. Now this?
“N-No way.”
Flustered on excuses, a boss monster appeared right on cue.
A massive reptile like a turtle ship: Needle Shell, shell armored thick with sharp spines.
“Yo, boss time. Handle it.”
“R-Right!”
Whew, aged a decade there. Jeonghyeon sighed relief as Philip charged mace-first.
“Double strike, you punk!”
No matter the tough shell—even swords barely scratched it—raw mass and strength crushed it helpless.
Philip's double pulverized the shell; Needle Shell exploded blood everywhere, pinned dead.
“Phew. Nothing special again.”
“Means you've grown that much.”
Philip turned, staring at Jeonghyeon.
“What.”
Philip's Loyalty Level has increased.
Loyalty Level 8 → 9
Loyalty Levels 9+ for subordinates rise through proper praise and discipline, proof, and tasks.
Loyalty spiked out of nowhere.
Guy got emotional, huh.
Jeonghyeon chuckled, pleased.
To raise subordinate loyalty, rule well—tailor to their traits.
The Demon King's stingy tricks didn't surprise him anymore.
“C'mon. Floor 10 awaits.”
Philip nodded.
“Yes, sir!”
“But you're really not gonna spill how you know all this?”
“Hit Loyalty Level 10, and maybe.”
“Loyalty Level 10? What's that?”
“Keep yapping, and never.”
“Aww, c'mon, sir~!!”
Laughing and bantering like old pals, they headed to the next floor without a care for the Tower anymore.