Chapter 25
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Delicious Park Eun-hye (1)
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"Heavenly Slash—!"
"Kraaak—"
With a single strike from a sword infused with holy power,
the gremlin was cleaved in half.
"Fire Blast—!"
"Kuek—"
Bodies exploding amid a blast of flames—
this was the unique skill of the mage Park Seo-rin.
They were currently on the 136th floor.
Hunting by splitting up the party was the most efficient method here.
Kim Suhyeon's party was composed of one swordsman and three mages,
formed solely for rapid clearing.
Kim Suhyeon and Park Seo-rin made up Group 1,
while Park Eun-hye and Kim Bit-na formed Group 2,
each hunting in separate zones.
"Hmm... This pace isn't bad at all."
"Yeah. I don't have much to do either."
Park Sung-gi and Kim Ah-yoon were
starting to feel bored from the unexpectedly easy difficulty.
"Sung-gi, the mother gremlin should appear soon."
"The mother?"
"Yes, the main threat on these 130s floors is the gremlin mother."
"I see."
"Stick close to me, Ah-yoon."
"Oh, sure."
Gremlins were less than a meter tall,
with large ears and big eyes.
People often let their guard down because of their small, cute appearance,
but they were genuine demonkin.
One moment of carelessness, and you'd end up dismembered.
"Kraaa—! Krung, krrung—!"
Sure enough,
a gremlin mother burst out from the trees,
furious at the sight of her dead offspring.
"Be careful, everyone! The mother's strong!"
The creature stood about three meters tall.
Its massive ears and huge eyes filled with pitch-black pupils
gave off a truly terrifying visage.
"Kuwaak—"
Every swing of its enormous hand whipped up a vortex of wind.
Those winds gradually sucked in the surrounding air,
forming tornadoes.
Several tornadoes raged with deafening roars.
Screee—
Kim Suhyeon dodged the tornadoes,
waiting for an opening.
Bam, bam—
Booom—
Frustrated that attacks weren't landing, the mother pounded her chest like a gorilla,
rampaging in place out of rage.
An opening appeared for a brief moment.
"Light that cleaves the darkness, annihilate the wicked horde—Guardian Sword—!"
Kim Suhyeon didn't miss it,
chanting his spell.
"Light that cleaves the darkness, annihilate the wicked horde—Guardian Sword—!"
Rumble rumble—
Boom—!!!
The sky split open,
and a sword the size of a house plunged into the ground.
The gremlin mother vanished without a trace under the massive area attack.
"Whew... It's over."
'Guardian Sword' was an S-rank skill Kim Suhyeon had acquired while conquering boss floors.
It summoned a gigantic sword
to deliver devastating damage to the target.
"That's incredible, Suhyeon."
"Thank you. But Sung-gi, you've got the 'Binding' skill too."
"Well, yeah. Haha."
"Are you making good use of that SSS-rank gear, Sung-gi?"
Kim Suhyeon seemed very curious about the unusual-looking item.
"I've been wondering since last time—what does it do?"
"Oh? Haha... Well, you see..."
As Park Sung-gi faltered at the awkward question,
"I've seen Sung-gi's skills. They provide support to the enemy."
Kim Ah-yoon jumped in to bail him out,
sensing his predicament.
"I see. Like a kind of buff, then."
"Ah, yeah, you could say that."
Kim Suhyeon looked somewhat unsatisfied.
"What about your SSS-rank gear, Ah-yoon?"
"Oh? Mine removes all status ailments."
"That's impressive too."
"I haven't needed it much yet, so I'm not sure."
"Alright. Let's wrap this up and head to the 137th floor."
With Kim Suhyeon's words ending the conversation,
they hunted a bit longer before taking a break.
"At this rate, we might try the 140th floor by the end of the month?"
"Yeah, things are going smoothly."
Park Eun-hye and Kim Suhyeon's conversation.
They had settled in a circle in the now-cleared hunting ground.
"By the way, wasn't the Saintess in the hospital due to mana depletion?"
Park Eun-hye said, glancing at Kim Ah-yoon.
"Ah, fortunately, a benefactor helped me recover my mana."
"Really? No way..."
The atmosphere was one of disbelief.
People could understand her absurd healing power given her terminal condition,
but the penalty gone?
Now, no one could even guess how far her status would rise.
"Hey, I need to take a quick bathroom break. Mind if I go?"
"Ah, we've cleared the monsters around here, so it should be safe. Go ahead."
Park Sung-gi spoke up,
breaking the focus on Kim Ah-yoon.
He felt like he was going crazy from frustration.
It was like upgrading from 5Gbps internet to 10Mbps.
"Call of the Undead—!"
In a secluded spot out of sight,
he hid behind a massive boulder and chanted.
Call of the Undead
A chilling mist rose,
and Ariana appeared.
She knelt,
bowing her head to the king's authority.
"Yes. You'll need to clear this floor quickly."
"As you command, my king."
As the 130th floor boss, Ariana
could clear the tower far faster than they could.
"Whew—how long until the 200th floor? At this rate, it'll take a full year."
A beginner hunting ground
with a top-tier powerhouse mixed in.
She could one-shot the 200th boss,
so how boring must the 130s be?
He thirsted for a worthy opponent.
Just then,
("No, just do as I say.")
("Still, that's a bit...")
two women's voices drifted from behind the rock.
( "Hey, opportunities like this don't come often.")
( "What if Suhyeon finds out?")
( "I've got a plan. I'll bring it up when we start hunting.")
( "I'm not sure. I want out.")
A shady-sounding conversation—
they didn't know he was there.
'What the hell was that about?'
The content was unclear,
but he recognized the voices as Park Eun-hye and Kim Bit-na.
"Hmm?"
Feeling uneasy,
he mulled over their words briefly before returning to the group.
"Sung-gi, the warp to the 137th floor just opened."
"Oh, really?"
Kim Ah-yoon's cheerful voice.
In that short time, Ariana had cleared the 136th floor.
"Hey, Suhyeon."
Park Eun-hye approached Kim Suhyeon.
"Ah, what's up?"
"Can we switch groups starting from the 137th?"
"Why all of a sudden?"
"My skills are area attacks, so they're not efficient against the mothers."
"Ah, okay."
"So, I was thinking of borrowing Sung-gi."
A pretext about wide area but weak single-target damage.
A plausible proposal to use his Binding as crowd control.
"Bit-na can watch our backs, so could you lend us Sung-gi?"
Kim Suhyeon pondered at Park Eun-hye's words.
"Sure. Let's do it! If I can help, of course."
Park Sung-gi spoke up
to ease his dilemma.
He couldn't contain his curiosity about what they'd discussed earlier.
"Oh, really? Then Ah-yoon can join too—"
"No, let's just split 3:3."
"What if Sung-gi gets in danger?"
"What's there to worry about? We're right here."
They definitely had something up their sleeves.
"Alright, then. I'm fine with it."
Just when boredom was setting in, entertainment arrived.
"If anything happens, fire a signal flare right away."
"Got it."
Since signals didn't work inside the tower,
they had to use flares for communication.
"Let's go, Sung-gi~"
Park Eun-hye suddenly smiled warmly and grabbed his arm.
"Ah, uh, sure. Let's go."
.
.
.
The 137th floor was much the same as before.
Except the gremlins' skin had deepened from light green to full green.
"Cyan Blast—!"
Park Eun-hye and Kim Bit-na made a great combo.
Kim Bit-na's unique skill 'Cyan Blast' condensed energy
to explode from within the target.
The damage wasn't overwhelming,
but the stun effect made it highly versatile.
Stun the targets with Kim Bit-na, then finish with Park Eun-hye's skills.
Once the area was somewhat cleared,
"Uh, I need to step away for a bathroom break."
Kim Bit-na awkwardly excused herself.
Her expression looked uncomfortable.
'Hmm... What's going on?'
Their behavior felt off.
"Then I'll go too."
It was a test thrown at Park Eun-hye's reaction.
"No, Sung-gi! You can't."
"Why not?"
"It's still dangerous. Wait till Bit-na's back."
As expected, they wouldn't let him go.
Just then,
"Kurrrrung"
the gremlin mother appeared.
"Hee-hee—"
Park Eun-hye flashed a mysterious smile.
Kuwaa, kuwaaaang—!!!!!!!!
The gremlin mother, clearly enraged,
attacked the moment she spotted them.
But
Park Eun-hye merely dodged, offering no counterattack.
"Eun-hye, this is dangerous! H-Hurry and attack!"
"Hee-hee... Hee-hee-hee."
Park Eun-hye just kept laughing.
"Eun-hye, if you're pulling aggro, I can—"
"No, Sung-gi. Haven't you figured it out yet?"
"Figured what out...?"
She approached him,
and suddenly began stripping his clothes.
"W-What are you doing all of a sudden...?"
"Sung-gi, you see..."