Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Agna
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#76
‘Agna?’
So who the hell is that?
“Come in.”
Her blunt command came perfectly naturally.
But Seo Woojin wasn’t focused on her tone. Something else caught his attention.
‘She’s strong.’
Incredibly, the woman before him was a powerhouse.
One far above his own level!
‘On par with Ban Slaine or Dariel?’
He probed her aura as he stepped inside the room.
But at his current level, Seo Woojin still couldn’t gauge Agna’s realm.
“You live up to the rumors.”
Agna exhaled a puff of cigarette smoke and eyed Seo Woojin.
“Can you get a read on me?”
He flinched.
She had noticed that he’d been sizing her up in that brief moment.
‘This woman’s a monster too.’
Just like his first impression, she was a master who had reached the absolute pinnacle.
“Tell me your thoughts.”
Agna spoke to Seo Woojin with eager anticipation on her face.
“Hmm, not really sure.”
It wasn’t a lie.
He knew she was strong, but pinning down how strong was beyond him.
Agna let out a smirk.
“You’ve got good instincts.”
She stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray and nodded toward a chair.
“Sit.”
Seo Woojin sat on the stiff chair and racked his brain.
‘Who is she?’
One of the Empire’s five superhumans, the guardians?
If Agna was truly on Dariel’s level, she had to be one of them.
But Seo Woojin had never heard her name before.
Sword Sage Dariel.
Magic Duke Martes.
Fist Sage Karon.
Shadow Duke Steroin.
And finally, Grand Duke Briana.
Those were the Empire’s guardians.
Agna’s name wasn’t among them.
That was when she spoke.
“First off, congratulations on winning the sparring tournament.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Seo Woojin dipped his head slightly in thanks.
He didn’t know who she was, but she was congratulating him, so manners mattered.
“I never imagined you’d beat Baek Siu, that kid.”
“I got lucky, I guess.”
“Lucky...”
Agna smirked again.
“You beat an SSS-rank hero with just luck? The highest, strongest rank in continental history?”
It wasn’t just Baek Siu.
He’d also triumphed over Goo Dong-hwan, another hero the Empire had high hopes for.
Easily, in a display so overwhelming no other word fit.
On top of that, word was some of the heroes had been training with Seo Woojin every morning.
And they’d posted solid results in the tournament too.
‘And yet he’s D-rank?’
Ridiculous.
Agna couldn’t help feeling intense curiosity about this Seo Woojin.
But she couldn’t pry too hard.
‘Plenty of time to dig later.’
For now, she’d summoned him for a different reason.
“Anyway, you picked that sword as your prize?”
Agna pointed at Seo Woojin’s waist.
“Hoh, ‘Rune Dea’.”
She named the pure white sword at a glance.
“Rune Dea?”
“The sword the hero used in the Fifth Descent War.”
Seo Woojin looked at his new blade with fresh eyes.
He’d known it was no ordinary sword, but he hadn’t realized it once belonged to a past hero.
“Was he strong?”
Seo Woojin asked with a hint of hope.
“Hmm...”
Agna thought back for a moment and shook her head.
“Died in the war. Killed by one of the Demon King’s kin, I think?”
Seo Woojin’s face fell.
A hero’s sword, killed not by the Demon King himself but by his underling...
The excitement he’d felt moments ago drained away in an instant.
It left a bad taste, like buying a used car with a crash history or a house where a murder happened.
Agna chuckled at his expression.
“You’re messing with me?”
Seo Woojin asked with an awkward laugh.
“Think what you want.”
The sword had a more complicated history, but she had no intention of explaining it.
“Anyway... who are you?”
Irked at being teased, Seo Woojin asked.
But Agna refused to answer.
“You don’t need to know who I am. You shouldn’t know.”
Then why the hell did you call me here?
Seo Woojin pouted inwardly but kept it to himself.
She seemed far too strong to mouth off to.
‘I’ll just hear her out and go.’
It wasn’t entirely out of left field.
Nobles in the Empire only met heroes for one reason, right?
‘Was it Uther?’
The noble who’d proposed recruitment over dinner before.
A count or a marquis—he couldn’t recall the exact title...
But he’d definitely urged Seo Woojin to join him after the Descent War.
Said most heroes were already on board.
Seo Woojin figured Agna was one of those nobles too.
“I have a proposal for you.”
He made a face like, *Of course.*
But what came out of Agna’s mouth was a bit different from what he expected.
“Do you know of the Sky Tower?”
“...The Sky Tower?”
Of course he did.
The mana engineer Barsik, who deciphered the patterns from *Records of the Otherworld Demon King*, was from there.
“If you do, this’ll be quick.”
Agna put a cigarette in her mouth and snapped her fingers.
Pop—
A spark from her fingertip lit it.
‘Magic?’
Seo Woojin stared in wonder, but Agna opened her mouth with a serious gaze.
“They’ve requested you be dispatched there.”
“Whew—”
Cigarette smoke billowed out, filling the room.
“Seo Woojin, Seo Woojin.”
Agna tapped her fingers on the desk as she repeated his name.
It hadn’t been a long conversation.
But in that time, she’d gathered plenty of info on him.
‘He’s definitely hiding something.’
From the moment he first saw her, Seo Woojin had been guarded.
Probably without realizing it himself.
‘Not just wariness of a stranger.’
That wasn’t all.
“He’s no D-rank.”
Seo Woojin’s current level was 23.
Considering he’d been level 10 when he arrived at the academy, it was astonishingly fast growth.
But compared to the other heroes, he was still at the bottom.
‘And yet his aura...’
It surpassed Baek Siu.
The SSS-rank ‘Sword God’ over level 55.
It defied her common sense.
Sure, he’d trained directly under Ban Slaine, so she got that he was strong in real combat.
But there were limits.
Between Seo Woojin and Baek Siu loomed a massive wall no amount of combat experience could bridge.
“What’s he hiding?”
Tap— tap—
She kept drumming the desk, deep in thought.
‘Faked his rank?’
She shook her head.
No reason to claim a higher one, let alone lower it.
That would only hurt him.
‘His level then?’
No.
Agna had sent her Massive Guardian subordinates to investigate him thoroughly.
Seo Woojin had leveled up exactly nine times.
Meaning he’d only reached level 10 from his start? Wait, from 1 to 10? Wait, text says 아홉 번, from 10? Anyway.
The soldiers who’d fought alongside him in subjugations all testified the same.
So that was fact.
Same after arriving at the academy.
The number of level-ups matched his current level, give or take 1-2.
She figured those came from solo hunting in ruins.
It fit within the margin of error.
‘If not rank or level, then only one thing left...’
Job.
He called himself a ‘Sword Soldier,’ but to Agna, that was nonsense.
A ‘Sword Soldier’ beating a ‘Sword God’?
What a joke.
“Then why?”
Had he faked his job?
Info was still too thin.
Agna ran through possible reasons he’d hide his job and shook her head.
“Pointless.”
She headed the intelligence bureau.
Basing assumptions on shaky info could derail future analysis.
What she needed now were facts.
“Time to raise his rank.”
Currently, Seo Woojin was a ‘Class 5 surveillance target.’
Top tier among heroes.
But that wouldn’t cut it anymore.
‘At least Baek Siu’s level.’
After some deliberation, Agna picked up her seal and stamped his file.
[Class 2 Surveillance Target].
From now on, Seo Woojin would be monitored with all of Crusiel’s resources.
Of course, he had no clue.
* * *
“...No end in sight.”
The tallest building Seo Woojin had ever seen back home was the Lotte World Tower in Jamsil.
Even that skyscraper reaching for the heavens had awed him.
But this was on another level.
“It’s actually touching the sky?”
It pierced far beyond the clouds.
He couldn’t fathom how such a structure could exist.
“Magic, probably?”
No other explanation.
Though honestly, even magic didn’t make it any more believable.
Seo Woojin swallowed dryly and approached the Sky Tower slowly.
‘Like a space elevator.’
Its surreal majesty was starting to intimidate him.
“Seo Woojin-ssi?”
Then a young-looking boy approached and called his name.
“Yes, that’s me.”
The boy beamed as Seo Woojin nodded.
“Hello. I’m a mana technician from the Sky Tower.”
Seo Woojin blinked at the unfamiliar term, but the boy didn’t elaborate.
“They’re waiting inside. This way.”
Up close, the Sky Tower’s scale was even more immense.
People looked like ants below it.
Seo Woojin followed the boy through one of countless doors.
Swish—
Some alien energy brushed past his body.
‘Not mana?’
Seo Woojin hesitated briefly, but the boy urged him on.
“No time. Hurry.”
“Ah, got it.”
Seo Woojin hurried after him.
‘Kid’s fast.’
He seemed to walk casually, but his pace was insanely quick.
Soon Seo Woojin had to jog to keep up.
“This way.”
How long had they gone?
The boy pointed to an ornate door on one side.
“Go in here.”
“Okay.”
With that, the boy vanished.
Truly vanished.
“Whoa...”
Seo Woojin was startled for a second but chalked it up to magic and moved on.
Right now, meeting whoever awaited inside mattered more.
As he raised a hand to knock, the door slid open on its own.
“Huh?”
He peered inside from his awkward half-knock pose.
Inside sat Barsik, whom he’d met once before, and a young girl he didn’t recognize.
“Come in. We’ve been waiting.”