Chapter 6
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Entering Babel (1)
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An unusually peaceful orphanage, with no one waking despite the gunshots in the dead of night.
Gonghyeok entered the orphanage with a wry smile.
He tossed his bloodstained clothes into the incinerator.
After taking a cold shower, Gonghyeok emerged in light clothes and headed into the kitchen.
Ha Yeonsi, whom he had tucked in with a blanket before leaving the orphanage, was muttering in her sleep, drooling all over the ledger.
“Choco muffin, yummy. Tiramisu, yummy. Choco Land, I love it.”
Gonghyeok sat beside her and quietly took in Yeonsi’s neat, peaceful face.
He calmly reflected on Ha Yeonsi’s deaths.
‘I killed her twice with my own hands. And five times, I let her die without doing anything.’
The remaining six deaths had been horrific and beyond his ability to prevent.
Ju Gonghyeok remembered the countless things he had experienced while climbing Babel Tower thirteen times.
Demon King Bel Marduk, who possessed the ability to erase avatars, ‘Law Annihilation.’
The powerful Four Heavenly Kings and Thousand Knights under his command.
The brilliant heroes who burned through their lives fighting against them.
And the hideous traitors who sold their souls to devils in their madness.
‘I’m sick of it. So damn sick of it.’
How much longer would he have to keep doing this shit with his own two hands?
Gonghyeok felt the exhaustion of his worn-out soul weighing him down.
But as always...
When tomorrow came, Ju Gonghyeok would pick up his sword and set out to hunt the Demon King for the fourteenth time.
To save humanity completely and finally put an end to this goddamn regression.
After thirteen regressions, it was only natural that even this fucked-up cycle had become exhausting.
===
“Kee-yeeek! Spare me! Spare me!”
“Monster! It’s a monster!”
‘You’re the monsters, though.’
They were monsters, after all.
Gonghyeok swung the steel bat with all his strength, his expression impassive.
Savage blows echoed endlessly through the dim dungeon boss room.
The orcs’ screams grated on the ears, while sprays of blood and shards of bone painted a gruesome picture across the floor.
“Orc surrender! We were wrong!”
“We didn’t know! Now we know! Humans scary...”
Crack!
No matter what the monsters babbled, wherever the steel bat passed, teeth and fragments of skull went flying.
Dungeon 450 Boss: ‘Bavangaru Orc Warrior Squad’
A squad-type boss monster consisting of ten orc warriors who moved in perfect formation under the command of Chieftain Warrior Bavangaru.
They were famous among hunters, who avoided fighting them because of their unusually organized tactics and numerical advantage.
Yet now, those advantages meant nothing. The orcs lay scattered across the floor, their skulls cracked open and their bodies mangled beyond recognition.
The orc captain, Bavangaru, clutched his blood-soaked, swollen head and wailed.
“Human! Human! Orc was wrong! Bavangaru was stupid! Won’t touch human woman again!”
“Don’t act so pitiful. Just a moment ago, you were saying, ‘Human woman not bad! Even human asshole not bad!’ while trying to tear me apart, weren’t you?”
“B-Bavangaru...”
Gonghyeok ignored him and swung the bat into the orc captain’s temple like a golfer taking a full swing.
Crack!
The sound of a skull splitting echoed through the room, and one of the orc’s eyes popped out.
Blood spread across the floor, painting another grotesque picture, as the orc captain screamed and buried his face against the ground.
“Oh, your head’s pretty tough. I’ve hit it three times already, and it’s still holding together.”
“Spare me! Spare me! Spare me!”
The sight of the orc captain rubbing his face against the floor and throwing away every last shred of pride didn’t leave Gonghyeok completely unmoved.
‘Sigh. Damn bastard. Now I almost feel bad.’
Gonghyeok rested the bat on his shoulder and sighed.
“All right. I’ll give you a simple quiz. Get it right, and I’ll let you live.”
“Kee-yeek? I-I’ll get it right, human!”
“Do you know what the red firework launching in three seconds is?”
“Kee-yeek?”
Three seconds passed as the orc struggled to solve the cryptic mystery of the question.
[One-Strike Firework (F) activated]
Crunch!
“Your head, asshole.”
Gonghyeok brought the bat down with all his strength, and the orc’s head burst apart.
A look of pure, innocent curiosity still lingered in the orc’s eyes.
[You excel at taking down multiple opponents. You could easily take on a hundred people.]
[Title ‘One Against Hundred’ acquired.]
[Your fights look more like massacres than battles.]
[Title ‘Merciless Butcher’ acquired.]
[Achievement ‘Tutorial Destroyer’ 10/10 completed.]
[Cleared 10 dungeons in 3 days (67 hours).]
[Achievement completion rate: 322%. A truly remarkable feat.]
[400 purple coins and 1 indigo coin awarded.]
[Overachievement bonus! All stats increase by 3!]
[3 indigo coins awarded!]
“W-Wow, oppa. Isn’t that a little too much?”
Yeonsi watched him slaughter the bosses with a slightly sickened expression.
Gonghyeok had seen monsters tear hunters’ limbs apart and torture them countless times.
He had also seen hunters toy with monsters like playthings, and when those monsters resisted, he had witnessed the horrific scenes that followed.
It wasn’t as though the two sides could simply call it even because they had both done terrible things.
But after seeing that kind of thing for hundreds of years, ordinary human sensibilities inevitably became numb.
And in a few years, Yeonsi would become accustomed to it as well.
“You’ll get used to it soon enough. Hurry up and grab the items and coins.”
Gonghyeok opened his status window.
[Titles]
「Horn Breaker」
「One Against Hundred」
「Merciless Butcher」
「Duelist on the Edge of Death」
「Horn Breaker」 deals 30% additional damage to Minotaur-type monsters and increases strength and endurance by 5 points.
「One Against Hundred」 increases all stats by 10% when facing multiple opponents.
「Merciless Butcher」 increases the chance of instant death by 50% against opponents in a state of fear.
「Duelist on the Edge of Death」 increases strength, agility, endurance, and will by 5 points.
‘Merciless Butcher should be useful.’
[Title 「Duelist on the Edge of Death」 unequipped.]
[Title 「Merciless Butcher」 equipped.]
Gonghyeok’s incomprehensible strength and skill were enough to instill fear in monsters with ease.
In the future, he would often find himself facing multiple opponents alone, even when they came in parties of three or four.
Gonghyeok had no intention of leading medium-sized strike teams of ten or more people.
At least not unless he made it past the 15th floor of Babel.
The more companions he had, the more likely they were to cause conflict and leak information about his combat methods.
‘Besides, they’re not really comrades.’
‘The ones who follow me around just hoping to profit from me...’
He could lead them around for a while, then throw them into the fire or use them as human shields when the time came.
With that thought, Gonghyeok moved his finger.
“Achievements.”
[Soul’s Match Dye (3) 44/40] Achievement completion rate: 110%
Reward - 240 purple coins, 1 indigo coin
Overachievement bonus - 1 indigo coin
[Bloodstained (3) 800/800] Achievement completion rate: 100%
Reward - 400 purple coins, 1 indigo coin
[Tutorial Destroyer 10/10] Achievement completion rate: 322%
Reward - 400 purple coins, 1 indigo coin
Overachievement bonus - 3 indigo coins, all stats +3
Current coin balance.
Indigo coins: 7.
Purple coins: 1,548.
These were the coins he had accumulated by relentlessly running dungeons for three days.
Gonghyeok took out an indigo coin and flicked it into the air.
The Observer behind him quickly snatched it out of the air.
After consuming five indigo coins, the Observer began glowing brightly like a neon sign, as if delighted.
“Observer. Awaken True Sight.”
[Unique skill Forced Awakening (SSS) applied.]
[Final seal ‘True Sight’ unlocked.]
A strange lens sprouted from the Observer’s forehead.
True Sight itself didn’t provide any overwhelming power or new skills.
At most, it allowed him to see the previously hidden stats of enemies more clearly or increased the accuracy of the ‘Prediction Path (U.S)’ skill.
But True Sight, which allowed its user to perceive the essence of the world, had effects that went far beyond ordinary system abilities.
In the past, Gonghyeok had used it to uncover the true nature of dungeons and acquire the powers of boss monsters.
“Oppa, I got everything. Let’s go home.”
Yeonsi smiled brightly and handed him 60 coins.
Gonghyeok gave 20 of them back to her.
He always gave Ha Yeonsi one-third of the coins they earned.
Her contribution to actual combat was still minimal, but at her level, simply watching battles was enough to build experience.
Once they entered Babel, ranged attack skill coins would drop as well. If Yeonsi learned ranged attacks, her high mana and spirit stats would allow her to crush most enemies from a distance.
And as he had mentioned before, Babel...
The time of the summoning was already right in front of them.
“No. We’re not going home today.”
“Why not, oppa?”
“Didn’t you notice that we had more luggage than usual today, Yeonsi?”
“It’s just a few days’ worth of food and supplies. But you told me to prepare them...”
Gonghyeok pulled out the pipe tobacco he had acquired in advance.
Rolling paper cigarettes would be difficult to make in Babel. A pipe that could be smoked using substitute tobacco leaves would be more practical.
He carefully filled the pipe, named ‘Ivonne,’ with tobacco and lit it.
He ran his fingers over the elegant shape of the pipe, finished with brown lacquer, before drawing in a mouthful of smoke.
As Gonghyeok savored the aroma filling his nose and mouth, Yeonsi cautiously asked:
“Are we going somewhere like this?”
That was when it happened.
An ominous red magic circle appeared beneath Ha Yeonsi’s feet.
“O-Oppa, what is this?!”
The same magic circle appeared beneath Gonghyeok.
Yeonsi knew exactly what the magic circle meant.
The beginning of Babel’s 7th Great Summoning.
Right now, Babel’s shadow would be reflected across the skies of the entire world like a mirror.
Gonghyeok slowly exhaled a plume of smoke, perhaps his last cigarette on Earth.
“Yeonsi. Listen carefully. In Babel’s dungeons, there is no good or evil. You simply make your choices according to your goals.”
“What do you mean...?”
“I’m going to clear Babel and save the world. I’ll do whatever it takes to accomplish that. Don’t forget it.”
With those words, Gonghyeok stepped toward Yeonsi and brought their magic circles together.
The light of the magic circle soon swallowed the two of them.
===
“So this is the 7th Summoning.”
Metatron, a blond archangel wearing a Greek-style toga that hung loosely from his body, spoke in a worried tone.
“This is the limit. Aside from children who are simply too young, we’ve finished summoning everyone who shows genuine potential.”
“Lord Metatron! Don’t worry! I, Azazel, will train these humans into the ultimate weapons capable of defeating the Demon King!”
A small angel named Azazel fluttered energetically beside him, dozens of weapons strapped to her back.
Azazel was the Archangel of Weapons and the angel responsible for training the people summoned during the 7th Summoning.
As the angel who governed weapons, the other archangels were all eager to see just how strong she could make the summoned humans.
“I certainly hope so, but... hm?”
Metatron suddenly felt a strange sensation, accompanied by a dull throbbing in her head.
“Have I... heard something like this before?”
As an angel, she possessed no biological organs or functions such as a brain or electrical signals.
And yet, an inexplicable sense of déjà vu refused to leave her.
〈 Chapter 6 - Entering Babel (1) 〉 End
Author’s Note
When you regress once, you return to life again. In other words, you are living your second life.
And if you have regressed thirteen times, that means you are living your fourteenth life.