Chapter 101
Chapter 101
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: Wrapping Up
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All business taken care of.
As I was about to head straight back to where I started, it hit me.
Unless the Tower system called me, I'd never have reason to return to this (self-dubbed) monitoring room again.
'In that case, maybe I should take one last look around.'
Each monitor displayed various summoners on different floors of the Tower.
I specified "different floors" because there were environments and items I'd never seen during my trial on the first floor.
On one monitor, an armored warrior was battling a minotaur. On another, a robed mage was locked in a desperate struggle to seal something that looked insanely powerful at first glance.
And that gross South American couple from earlier? Still rolling around in bed.
'Everyone's living their best lives.'
It would've been more entertaining with sound. But with just a fixed viewpoint screen, my interest waned quickly.
I scanned the monitors like hunting for the hottest highlight in a porn vid, until my eyes locked on one.
The feed showed an elegant Japanese tatami room.
Cherry blossom screens and scrolls adorned the walls, with a low wooden table in the center. Seated in seiza before it was a woman deep in meditation.
The background didn't matter much—what caught my eye was her.
Her hair was black as ebony, long and flowing, her skin white as snow. She was stunningly beautiful, no question.
Oddly, she wore a miko outfit blending red and white. Not your everyday attire.
The closest thing that came to mind was...
'Cosplay?'
But cosplay in the Tower? That meant she wasn't your average nutjob.
'She must be damn confident in her skills.'
If she were just a pretty face playing dress-up, I'd have glanced and moved on. But she wasn't.
'Whoa... fuck... what a body...'
Even though the miko robes were meant to conceal curves, her figure burst through, demanding attention.
The tight top accentuated her ample breasts, while the widely slit skirt teasingly exposed her smooth thighs.
Watching those massive tits rise and fall ever so slightly with each breath, I got the feeling there was more hidden beneath.
'In those raunchy Japanese animes, you sometimes see girls wrapping their chests in bandages. Wonder if she's doing that.'
A pure-looking face paired with a body screaming cheap thrills. The mismatch hooked me, and pathetically, I got hard.
'What's her name? Which floor?'
I checked the monitor info, but no summoner names or locations were shown. Disappointing.
But I had 【Third Eye C-】.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ 📛 Name: Yukishiro Yukie 🏗️ Current Floor: 2nd Floor 'Figures. She's Japanese.'
Sadly, Sex Emperor didn't trigger since it wasn't the real thing in front of me.
'What was the 2nd floor trial again?'
I invoked my Prophet perk for the first time in ages.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 2nd Floor Trial: 『King of Kings』 Description: Survivors from each country's 1st floor are divided into two factions, battling to eliminate the enemy faction's king. In this trial, points are lives, and lives are points. Details: Use points to bolster your faction or curse and weaken the enemy. The more points you hold, the exponentially higher your chances of victory. 'Ah, can't wait to hit the 2nd floor.'
Time compression would get me there fast, but I still had loose ends on the 1st.
Monster kill achievements, auto-point farming from living miners...
With that in mind, I figured I'd wrap up the laughably named Kim Joo-hyuk raid and claim my rewards.
"Send me back to my original spot."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ It was quiet.
Just minutes ago, gunfire and screams had shaken the battlefield. Now, they were gone, replaced only by the groans of a few surviving summoners.
Summoner Park Jin-tae had survived the barrage of grenades from the sky simply because he was far enough away.
His class 'Martial Artist's' passive 'Instinct' warned him instinctively that it wasn't over. Amid the chaos, as party members scrambled to flee, he ordered them to hit the dirt.
And that became his once-in-a-lifetime stroke of luck.
Soon after, machine guns roared deafeningly, mowing down dozens, hundreds of summoners prepping attacks in an instant.
"Jin-tae hyung. What do we do now? That guy's... no matter how you slice it, he's a monster in human skin. Can we really beat something like that?"
Warrior Lee Min-ho whined anxiously.
*I don't know either, asshole.*
Park Jin-tae wanted to say it but held his tongue.
After all, he was the reason they'd joined the Kim Joo-hyuk raid quest.
'Numbers-wise, it's one against hundreds, fuck... I just wanted to tag along with the party and snag an Nth share... ha...'
"Um... guys... what if we just surrender? He said earlier—if we surrender, he'll kill us painlessly..."
Shim Ji-won, the party's sole non-combatant and 'Cook', piped up quietly.
"Don't talk crazy! We got dragged into this Tower shit unwillingly enough—now you're saying we just offer our lives to that bastard? No way in hell! I'll do anything to survive!"
Kim Hye-young, the party's only ranged attacker, snapped back, drawing her bowstring taut. Her eyes fixed on the massive crater that had reshaped the terrain.
Jin-tae said nothing. Hye-young was right. But he got Ji-won's point too.
'Maybe it'd be better to offer our necks ourselves than tremble here waiting for death...'
As Jin-tae and his party whispered in despair, it happened.
A massive system message appeared before all four—no, every surviving summoner on the battlefield.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ To all summoners who participated in the Kim Joo-hyuk Raid. "...!"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ All penalties applied to Summoner Kim Joo-hyuk are now lifted, effective immediately. "...What?"
Min-ho blurted out dumbly.
Cold sweat poured down Park Jin-tae's back like a waterfall. "Penalty lifted." It didn't take long to grasp what that meant.
The "No Recovery" penalty.
The slim hope that had kept survivors going.
The faint belief that wounding the monster would eventually bring him down.
The system had just officially crushed that.
"What? What just happened? Penalty? The penalty's gone?"
"It's over... everything's fucking over..."
Lee Min-ho muttered again. This time, Jin-tae felt the same.
Were they really doomed to die like this?
Right then.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Summoner Kim Joo-hyuk receives 10,000 pt per survivor of the 'Kim Joo-hyuk Raid' as quest reward. "...?"
The four stared blankly at the message in unison silence.
Shim Ji-won broke it first.
"What does this mean...?"
"Dunno exactly... but doesn't it mean he gets points if we don't die?"
"Hold up. That... makes sense? It's a raid, right? The quest started with us supposed to kill that bastard. Why does he get rewards for us staying alive?"
Kim Hye-young shot back incredulously.
"Well..."
"But at least he's not planning to kill us right now."
"Yeah. I was just thinking that."
'Huh? All my party members are lying nearby—why's the voice coming from behind?'
That instant, Jin-tae's flawless Instinct screamed wildly: Get out now!
'What, what is it?'
He whipped around. There stood the raid target, Kim Joo-hyuk.
"Hey. You guys are seriously lucky. How'd all four of you make it without a scratch?"
"Gah!"
Kim Joo-hyuk approached casually, like greeting an old pal on the street.
Jin-tae jumped up to attack, but meeting those eyes froze him solid. He couldn't move.
'Dead! Dead! Dead! One twitch and I'm dead right here!!'
"Ugh, fucker. Piss yourself like a damn baby."
Kim Joo-hyuk stepped back in disgust. Only then did Jin-tae realize his pants were soaked with fear-piss.
'Fuck... I almost died just now, right?'
"Hey, piss-pants."
"Y-yes?"
Even insulted, Jin-tae stiffly replied without protest.
"Lead the way and round up those survivors scattered around."
"...Pardon? W-why?"
Caught off guard, Jin-tae stammered.
What was this monster thinking, tasking him with that? Gather them for a mass execution?
Or some new twisted torture? Dark thoughts raced through his mind.
"Gotta heal the living ones, dumbass."
Irritation laced his voice.
"Looks like your group's got some healers. Have the wounded patch each other up or whatever. Got it?"
"Ah... Yes, sir!"
Finally grasping it, Jin-tae nodded frantically.
Sure enough, survivors included healers and supports.
Useless in direct combat but essential. They'd hung back at the start, so many should still be alive.
'But why heal now? Was that message real? He's really sparing us?'