Chapter 27
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Angel's Tear
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“X... I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m Maria from the first floor.”
Gonghyeok remembered her clearly. The survivor from the first floor who had never made it past the fifth floor no matter when or how, always dying.
Maria approached him with five companions in tow.
“If it’s all right with you, why not form a team with us? We may be lacking, but we cleared all three dungeons on the first floor...”
Crack.
The black axe-spear split the floor.
The ‘Cloud Sandals’ Maria wore. Her beautiful toes, exposed by the stylish sandals, rolled across the ground like maggots.
“Huh? Ah—aaah!”
“Maria!? Everyone, fall back now!”
“My feet! My feeeet!”
“We’re sorry! We overstepped—we’ll leave now!”
Her companions clamped a hand over the screaming Maria’s mouth and fled in a panic.
The chaotic atmosphere around them chilled in an instant.
There were no hunters here who had laughed and chatted their way smoothly up to the second floor.
But the sight of the red-shadowed killer wordlessly chopping a woman’s toes sent chills down everyone’s spines.
‘Sorry, Maria. Can’t talk, so had to let my actions speak.’
From Gonghyeok’s perspective, until he got his voice modulator item, he had no choice but to minimize speaking.
Of course, that didn’t make his astonishing method of communication—swinging an axe instead of just shaking his head—any more correct.
He felt Soma’s gaze from afar.
The gaze said, ‘Shall I step in?’
Gonghyeok waved him off a few times, and Soma bowed his head and turned away.
An unspoken wall formed between X and the other hunters, and party matching began.
“Isn’t that guy too dangerous? He’s pitch-black red.”
“But a guy who’s killed a ton of people has to be good in a fight.”
“Mind showing your avatar? Me and this guy are D-rank...”
“Any chance we could see your stats?”
Shadows, stats, avatars—various pieces of information were exchanged, and teams formed one by one based on compatible temperaments.
Some teams took in the weak, claiming they’d get angel rewards too, but sharp-eyed hunters sneered.
‘Purple coins, 100? 200? Sure, that’s great. But I’m not betting my life on a few coins.’
‘Take in the weak and the team loses? Then you’ve got to fight in the losers’ bracket again—nightmare fuel.’
Short-sighted decisions that didn’t consider the future.
By the time they realized the mood and weighed the pros and cons, it was too late.
In an instant, a vibe formed among the hunters of shunning the weak.
Gonghyeok had already distanced himself from the group.
A flapping of wings sounded beside him as he sat.
“Um, hunter sir?”
Compared to Azazel’s sniveling, this was far more polite. It was the dispatched angel, Nariel.
Gonghyeok looked up at Nariel wordlessly.
At her slight gesture, a golden ring appeared above Gonghyeok’s head.
“Wow~! You really are the one who got the Spirit Summoning Scroll! And you’ve already filled the first slot this much. As expected of someone Senior Azazel acknowledged!”
“......”
“If you’re worried about sound leaking or someone seeing, don’t be. I’ve applied soundproofing authority and gaze deflection authority.”
“Why’d you come all the way here?”
Truth be told, Gonghyeok was a bit dumbfounded. He knew there was an angel named Nariel.
But she was a reserve angel who didn’t oversee any floors. So this was his first mission with her.
“Um, well, you see. Mr. Gonghyeok?”
Nariel fidgeted with her fingers as she spoke.
“Mr. Gonghyeok, could you please help out the weak ones?”
“You’ve got to be...”
Gonghyeok narrowed his eyes in disbelief.
The request itself wasn’t weird. Angels wanted people to live, and being half-hearted humanitarians, they’d think something like this deep down.
The problem was...
Right now, Nariel was blatantly ‘inducing human behavior.’
Urging him to save people.
‘What kind of bullshit...’
It was a rule violation that could draw complaints from the demons.
Her mission announcement had already seemed unhinged, teetering on inciting people, but this level of crazy?
‘No way...’
Gonghyeok glanced at the demon Mastema.
She wasn’t even watching Nariel, having summoned a TV and munching on potato chips.
“There’s a demon right here. You sure it’s okay to be this blatant?”
“Oh, her? It’s fine. Totally fine.”
Nariel peeked at Mastema and beamed.
“Senior Mastema... I mean, Ms. Mastema is a fallen angel, so we’re close! Even now, she and I... Oopsie. Hehe, anyway, she’ll turn a blind eye!”
‘Connections, huh... The pinnacle of bullshit.’
Gonghyeok’s head throbbed for a moment, but he pulled himself together.
As long as there were no issues and the rewards were solid, it wasn’t bad for him.
“So, what exactly do you want me to do?”
“Yes! Then please team up with the nine weakest people here!”
Gonghyeok was genuinely shocked inside.
She had pinpointed exactly what he planned to do.
“Wait, think I misheard. Say that again.”
“So, out of the 1,000 people here, team up with the nine weakest!”
At that point, Gonghyeok was certain.
‘This bitch doesn’t know the second floor’s fine print.’
Azazel had subbed her in like this... Gonghyeok quietly looked up at the sky, recalling an old thought.
‘This is why humans suffer—because angels are this clueless.’
Gonghyeok pretended to mull it over. It was easy acting since he was truly reluctant.
“Fine, I’ll do it. Payment upfront, though.”
“Yay! Hold on a sec. For payment, something drill-worthy...”
“No fixed rewards, right? Then give me ‘Angel's Tear.’”
“Angel's Tear? No, that’s a bit...”
Nariel looked troubled.
Angel's Tear was a higher-grade holy water, several tiers above things like divine beast tears or papal blessings.
In item ranking terms, about SS-grade value.
“Second-floor limited is fine. Activation limit of 4 seconds—no, 3 is enough. Just two drops.”
“Mm... Second-floor limited...”
After 30 seconds of deliberation, Nariel’s eyes sparkled.
“Okay! Second floor only should be fine. Quest time!”
[Quest from Angel Nariel: ‘Love and Care for the Lowliest.’]
[Form a team with the nine most forsaken on the second floor.]
“Hold on!”
Nariel turned away and yawned.
Not satisfied, she suddenly made a sad face, as if recalling something sorrowful.
“Here are two Angel's Tears...”
Moments later, she handed Gonghyeok two transparent gems.
Her voice sounded a bit choked for some reason, but he didn’t care to ask why.
While the two talked, the hunter groups’ movements slowed.
Team decisions were wrapping up.
“Good luck!”
“......”
Gonghyeok returned silently to the hunter throng.
990 people formed 99 teams.
The strong teamed with the strong for overwhelming wins.
The weaker ones matched at their level.
Some hunters aimed for more wins or guardian rewards, but in a state where they didn’t know opponents’ strength and had no solid strategy, few gambled their lives.
And at the very last, the nine shunned by all.
A man whose severed arm hadn’t healed, a limping cripple, an F-rank avatar hunter with nothing to show, a man with a bluish face from poison, and others muttering like lunatics or seeming mentally broken.
The final rejects, abandoned.
Gonghyeok approached them, huddled together as if pushed aside by the crowd.
At the approach of the masked killer with axe-spear in hand, a few backed away.
Gonghyeok went to the intellectual disability case sobbing uncontrollably, unafraid of the killer.
“Waaah! Where’s big bro! Find big bro!”
Gonghyeok tapped his head with a finger.
[Team invite received. Accept?]
He sent invites mainly to those who didn’t flee, and even the wary injured quietly accepted.
Some hunters were too broken to even decide on accept or decline, but it didn’t matter.
Once team decision time ended, they’d default to the last inviter—Gonghyeok.
“Mask man, thanks for adding us to your team.”
“Thanks for considering us. If my arm was fine, I could’ve taken down a few... My arm, actually...”
The one-armed hunter started spilling how he lost his arm.
His daughter’s age-mate fell into a trap, and buying time against monsters...
Didn’t matter.
The noisy ‘Sato Yuta’ bawling for big bro—his brother had landed elsewhere on the second floor, leaving him alone.
The poisoned ‘Siahei Karenilka’ got blitzed because his comfy morning soup was secretly laced by teammates, who stripped his gear.
Truth was, the one-armed hunter got his arm hacked off trying to rape a girl his daughter’s age? Irrelevant.
[All 100 teams formed.]
[The team member with the highest total stats becomes ‘Leader.’]
[‘Leader’ is placed last in order and can set team members’ match orders.]
Everyone here would die anyway.
A hundred lights descended. Golden ‘Leader’ text appeared over 100 heads.
‘Leader’ floated above Gonghyeok’s head too.
“Huh, wait. Senior Mastema, where was this!?”
“Not in the main rules—sub-rule 4-2. No announcement required. Like first-floor village access hours.”
“Then... those people...”
Tears welled in Nariel’s eyes.
Mastema sighed at her weeping.
“If that human’s clever, even as leader of the weakest, there’s a way to save all nine.
It’s definitely tied to the second floor’s core. Let’s see how he plays it.”
Nariel and Mastema’s gazes locked on one group.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Cough, cough. We were doomed to die no matter what.”
The poisoned Siahei’s eyes sharpened.
“What! We all die like this! Change leader, let’s change!”
The one-armed hunter rampaged.
Not just losing reason—subtle incitement.
How much support would changing leader get?
Gonghyeok looked around.
The rejects were on the fringe of the hunter mass.
Nearby hunters were busy bickering over their new leaders.
“Dissatisfied?”
His eerie, metal-scraping voice came with a golden halo bursting behind him.
The figure radiating the halo was an Egyptian god—muscular torso bare, blue bird head. His avatar’s presence overwhelmed even hunters who’d summoned theirs to intimidate.
“That’s at least A+, no, S-grade.”
“Even if we match, gotta avoid that guy.”
Hunters’ eyes swarmed to the SS-grade avatar, Ra-Djehuty’s radiance.
The one-armed hunter, cowed by the avatar, swallowed and looked away.
“No, I mean...”
“I know what you expect from me.”
Carrot after the stick.
“I’ll kill 10. You all forfeit.”
Everyone but him forfeits—salvation in sight. Their eyes lit up.
“Me! I’ll go dead last!”
“Shut it, one-arm. I joined first! My turn first!”
“Going first might be better...”
“Set your order yourselves. Talk to me before matches, and I’ll make you shit coins.”
Gonghyeok turned away as they squabbled, curtailing talk.
He walked farther and eyed Nariel hovering above.
Relief tinged Nariel’s face; Mastema looked intrigued.
Gonghyeok moved his lips silently behind the mask.
‘Nariel. Quit sniveling and look here.’
Nariel’s gaze shifted to the lone-standing Gonghyeok.
‘I’ll do the job for the pay. Put me in the first match.’
- First match?
Her voice reached his ear.
‘Yeah. Additional quest. Note it.’
Nariel paled at the additional quest Gonghyeok demanded.
Mastema, watching, grinned.
“Fun human, isn’t he, Nariel? To verify his claimed results, we’ll need the causality calculator.”
“B-but will this really save people?”
“Depends on how monstrous he is. Impressed by Azazel’s eye—giving a Spirit Summoning Scroll to that one.”
[Additional Quest ‘Example’ generated.]
[Angel Nariel promises extra rewards based on completion rate. Demon Mastema prepares ‘Causality Calculator’ for precise reward calculation.]
Rumble.
No sooner the quest accepted than things moved. A 300-pyeong plot sank 15 meters.
The dueling arena.
[First match begins.]
[Blue Team and Red Team, please descend to the arena.]
Blue light appeared over Gonghyeok’s head. Blue Team.