The Luggage Shuttle Returns
Floor 56: Griffin.
Fastest clear recorded.
Floor 57: Skull Griffin.
Fastest clear recorded.
Whether it was a griffin or a skull griffin...
This is too easy...
Having stepped over harpies, insect monsters, and mantas one by one to get here, the griffins were honestly a walk in the park.
Of course, they were overwhelmingly faster than the previous flying monsters.
But perhaps because of my steady preparation, I got the hang of it after just one try.
Thanks to that, I secured the fastest clear record on my second attempt for both.
Now, if I just dealt with the Wyvern on the 58th floor and the Metal Wyvern on the 59th, the 60th floor was right in front of me.
From the 51st to the 57th floor in just one week.
On top of that, every single one was cleared in record time.
It was only natural that South Korea was in an uproar.
I had already shattered Choi Muryeong's records ages ago.
I even had records that surpassed those of the world's number one, Leo White.
Thanks to this, the media, drunk on national pride, was throwing a massive fuss, wondering if South Korea would soon become the nation to reach the highest floor in human history.
Of course, looking at my current pace, reaching the 59th floor wouldn't take long.
A week? No, three days would be plenty.
However, I had no intention of rushing straight into the 60th floor.
Even though the entire nation was holding its breath in anticipation, there was a problem I had to resolve before stepping into the 60s.
Finding the fragments of Imir.
They were bound to be somewhere in the 50s.
I needed to find them and feed them to Jjaby-mir before climbing any higher.
That way, dealing with the Demon of Frost, Imir, on the 69th floor would be much easier.
If I found and killed the Imir clone in the 50s, I wouldn't even need to climb all the way to the 70s.
The main body would recall the clones from the 70s.
And then?
I could finish them all off at once on the 69th floor, and turn Jjaby-mir into the real deal.
Ha.
I never imagined I'd put this much effort into raising a slave.
At any rate, I had to move diligently to make it happen.
Simply clearing up to the 59th floor wouldn't automatically grant me Imir's fragments.
It was more like a separate quest, and there was no telling how long it would take.
Still, I had a vague idea of where it might be...
The Abyss.
The nightmare deep sea of the 55th floor, where the Poison Mantas spawned.
It was highly likely hidden somewhere down there.
The problem was that quite a few Hunters had drowned in that place.
So, I planned to investigate it thoroughly from various angles before making a move.
It would be troublesome if I just dove in blindly and died.
Click.
As I opened the reward box,
Emergency Escape Ticket
Instantly escape the Tower upon use. You will forfeit all reward boxes and pending Contribution Points.
"...This again?"
The Emergency Escape Ticket.
It was an item I had already obtained twice while clearing the 56th and 57th floors.
"Sigh..."
Honestly, it felt like nothing more than a useless scrap of paper to me, but I tucked it away, figuring it might come in handy someday.
Even though I had opened a platinum box, I felt like I'd been ripped off...
Dammit.
I should just go back and eat.
"Bell!"
I called out to Bell, who was busy ripping out the heart core of the Skull Griffin.
"..."
"That's enough for today."
After transferring the piping hot heart core Bell brought over into my inventory,
"Let's head back."
we successfully returned.
The next day.
"...Manager Kang Mina, what is that?"
A familiar face caught my eye as soon as I arrived at the entry station.
"You mean... Hunter Choi Muryeong?"
"Yes. I'm pretty sure I registered for a solo run today?"
"Ha, haha... Y-yes, you did..."
Kang Mina laughed awkwardly.
"W-well, Hunter Choi Muryeong insisted that he needed to speak with you..."
"I told you I'm busy."
"Of course! You're very busy. That's why..."
It was then.
"...I won't take up much of your time."
Choi Muryeong cut in.
His voice was blunt as usual, but there was a faint trace of desperation in it.
"You're taking it up right now."
"I apologize for showing up without an appointment. But I had no other way to contact you..."
Naturally.
The closer I got to the 60th floor, the more obvious it was that Choi Muryeong would try to pester me.
I glanced at Kang Mina.
I couldn't exactly speak rudely with so many eyes watching us.
Did he plan this?
"So, what is it?"
"Floors 58 and 59 are completely different from the floors below them."
"..."
"The difficulty spikes so much that you'll wonder if they even belong in the same level range. Some even speculate that they are miniature versions of the 70s..."
The 70s.
The realm ruled by dragons.
The fact that dragons ruled the 70s was information Leo White had extracted from a demon.
Since humanity had yet to reach those floors, it couldn't be verified, but it was already treated as an established fact.
"And? So?"
"From the 58th floor onward, a solo clear is practically impossible—"
At that moment, Kang Mina cut in with an awkward laugh.
"Ahaha! What Hunter Choi means is!"
"What?"
"...He wants to help you, just like last time!"
Last time?
"As a luggage shuttle?"
"W-well, more like a late-stage supporter...?"
"That's literally a luggage shuttle."
At this point, Kang Mina's smile froze, seemingly at a loss for how to salvage the situation.
No matter how well I was doing lately, Choi Muryeong was still South Korea's number one Hunter, so she probably couldn't help it.
"You are correct. A luggage shuttle."
It was Choi Muryeong himself who stepped forward instead of the frozen Kang Mina.
"I want to accompany you as a luggage shuttle, just like last time."
Oh.
He's actually rolling with it?
"I don't really need a luggage shuttle, though..."
"I will do whatever you order me to do. Please let me accompany you."
Well, now.
You have to admire the dedication.
Staring at Choi Muryeong, who was talking about being a luggage shuttle with a deadpan, serious face, I shrugged my shoulders.
"Well, as long as you don't get in my way, I guess once wouldn't hurt..."
"T-that's great! Anything can happen on the 58th floor, so it's definitely better to have at least two people!"
Kang Mina clapped her hands from the side.
Was she actually worried deep down?
Well...
Very few Hunters had cleared the 60th floor.
Most of them ended up dropping out on the 58th or 59th floors.
That was probably why Emergency Escape Tickets were the main rewards on the floors below them.
Not that they're of any use to me.
After all, I had never once thought about running away from the Tower.
If anything, I wanted to play around in it more...
Well.
It was my first time facing a Wyvern too.
Having Choi Muryeong along would be helpful.
I was planning to look into the Abyss anyway.
Maybe Choi Muryeong knew something about it.
"Let's go, then."
"...Thank you, Hunter Lee."
Choi Muryeong bowed his head.
I really couldn't understand him.
Why did he humble himself to this extent?
Honestly, it wasn't like Choi Muryeong liked me either.
A spirit of self-sacrifice?
Or something like that.
He was a type of person I simply couldn't comprehend.
I walked past Choi Muryeong and sat down in the entry chair.
Choi Muryeong quietly took the seat next to me.
I whispered softly, making sure only Choi Muryeong could hear.
"Don't forget you're coming as a luggage shuttle, got it?"
[High-Risk Subject Detected.]
[Special Ev#nt Pro@#$ Impo$$ible?]
The moment I locked eyes with two blue pupils, the letters on the system window began to disintegrate.
A pure white hand swept across the system window.
And a moment later.
A Giant Wyvern is spawning in the field.
Time remaining until spawn: 10... 9... 8... 7...
"Fufufu..."
A soft laugh echoed from within the undulating darkness.
"Blegh!"
I thought I had gotten used to the entry process by now, but for some reason, my stomach churned, and I felt a sudden wave of nausea.
It felt as if someone was literally grabbing and twisting my intestines...
"Are you alright?"
Choi Muryeong supported me.
Wait, why was he perfectly fine?
Was it just me?
"Tsk..."
I wiped my mouth and stumbled as I forced myself upright.
"I'm fine."
Choi Muryeong nodded.
I took a couple of deep breaths and looked around.
A red wasteland surrounded by rocky mountains.
It seemed to be the widest floor I had climbed so far.
"What kind of flight item do you use?"
"Flight item?"
"I use the Quantum Leap."
Choi Muryeong showed me the boots he was wearing.
"It allows leaps of over ten meters, making it excellent for dealing with flying monsters."
"Ah."
"What about you, Hunter Lee...?"
"I don't use one."
"...Pardon?"
"I said I don't use one."
Choi Muryeong stared at me with a look of utter incomprehension.
I was wearing the Echo Walkers, sure. They allowed blink movement, but they weren't specialized for flight...
And they had a cooldown.
"Then how have you cleared them until now...?"
"...Just normally?"
Scratching the back of my head, I replied to his question.
"I just hijacked the ones flying at me and killed them."
"...You mean you actually rode the monsters?"
"Yeah."
The confusion in Choi Muryeong's eyes deepened.
"The moths on the 53rd floor and the mantas were pretty slow, right?"
"..."
"The Poison Mantas were a bit tricky because of the venom, though."
"..."
"Ah, the griffins were a bit fast. But once I got used to them, they were easy enough to ride."
"You rode... a griffin...?"
"So I didn't really need a flight item."
I grinned and looked at Choi Muryeong.
"Aren't wyverns basically a mix of mantas and griffins? I figure I can manage to ride them too."
"..."
"Well, we'll find out once we start."
*Crack, crack.*
I cracked my knuckles and looked up at the sky.
*Rumble...!!!*
Right on cue, the sound of distant, heavy wingbeats echoed.
And then...
*Whoosh...*
The sky began to darken.
Emerging from the edge of the gloom was...
"By the way."
"Yes?"
"Are wyverns normally that massive?"
To my absurd question, Choi Muryeong replied in a calm, steady voice.
"Absolutely not."
"...Ah, is that so?"
Then what the fuck is that?