The Counterpart
Nothing happened.
"What the...?"
I had definitely felt the curse hit me dead-on.
Yet, astonishingly, I felt absolutely nothing.
And then,
Sssss...
Dan was faintly glowing.
"Ah."
Only then did it click.
Dan was a useless piece of junk with no stats or special effects.
It was embarrassing to even call it a 'sword.'
I had half a mind to just call it a club instead.
Who would've thought it'd be useful for this...?
Nullification.
Just as buffs didn't work on it,
debuffs didn't work either.
Damn.
Why hadn't I realized this sooner?
It was a club, a shield, and now this.
Who dared call this thing useless?
Swallowing debuffs whole was an absolute steal!
"Sucks to be you, doesn't it?"
"K-Kieee...!"
"Your trump card didn't work."
They must have been preparing that curse for quite a while, ever since I started wiping out the goblin riders.
To think it would be neutralized so easily.
The two low-level shamans looked at each other, as if sensing their impending doom.
"Who wants to go first?"
"Ki-Kik!"
One of the low-level shamans pointed at his partner with lightning speed.
"Tsk, tsk."
I drove Dan straight into that bastard's head.
Crack!
Without even a chance to scream, the low-level shaman collapsed, his skull split wide open.
And then,
"Kiiit!"
The other one shrieked at the sight.
The survivor shuddered at the fact that his comrade had betrayed him, then trembled with joy that I had punished the traitor.
"Kieek! Kiik!"
He raised both hands high,
"...What are you doing?"
and prostrated himself before me.
Was he seriously thanking me for executing the traitor, even though we were enemies?
Well, well.
Too bad for him.
Thud!
I had no intention of letting him live either.
Dan embedded itself directly into the bowing shaman's head.
By now, it wasn't just a knack; it was pure technique. The skull didn't shatter messily like before.
It split open with a clean, precise crack.
Ah.
My skills were insane!
I was practically a master craftsman now! A master!
And just like that, the 17th-floor solo run was cleared with ease.
"Easy peasy."
I wiped the brain matter and blood off Dan.
"Hmm, now if only I could get my hands on 'Jeol', it would be perfect."
Humming a tune, I made my return.
The hellish training continued after that.
To be fair, it wasn't hellish for me—only for Cha Yerin and Woo Jumin.
Regardless,
Cha Yerin broke through to level 22, and Woo Jumin reached level 20.
We ran the tower like our lives depended on it, so of course their levels shot up.
Granted, pushing past the dreaded 'nines' was a bit of a struggle.
But nothing beats raw, unadulterated grinding.
"Let's go get some beef to celebrate."
"Really?"
"My treat today."
"Hyung, you're the best!"
Sizzle.
The sound was music to my ears.
The smell was divine.
The taste was heavenly.
Man, I couldn't pass up on soju today.
"Excuse me, one bottle of soju and one bottle of cola, please!"
"Coming right up!"
Pop!
Pour, pour, pour...
"Ahhh!"
As expected, alcohol tasted the sweetest right after clearing a tower run!
I emptied my glass and turned to Cha Yerin.
"Hunter Cha, are you still getting a lot of calls?"
"Haha, yes. I don't even know how they got my number..."
As Cha Yerin approached level 20, she was amazed by the flood of calls coming from God knows where.
Corporations, guilds.
She had received some incredibly lucrative offers, but she said she turned them all down.
"I only made it this far because of you, Taepyeong-ssi."
"Come on, you're the one who worked hard, Hunter Cha."
"I'm staying loyal to the end."
Damn.
A woman who valued loyalty!
Respect.
I gave her a thumbs-up and went back to grilling the meat.
Sizzle.
Sizzle.
"Woo Jumin, you need to eat up."
"Okay, Hyung."
"You have to eat well to grow tall."
"I feel like I'm just gaining weight because I've been eating too much lately..."
"Hey, baby fat turns into height later. Eat up, kid!"
Eat, you punk!
I gave Jumin a playful flick on the forehead and piled beef onto his plate.
"Want me to order some rice and soybean paste stew too?"
"I'm already full..."
"No excuses. Eat more."
"Ugh..."
"Excuse me, we'll take a soybean paste stew and rice as well!"
While Jumin diligently shoveled down the stew and rice, Yerin and I discussed our future plans.
Both of them had raised their levels significantly, and I had reached level 23 while carrying them.
This meant we were finally ready to tackle the 20s.
The 20s were populated by Orcs and Trolls.
Unlike the other races we occasionally encountered on random maps, these guys were soulless puppets.
Which actually made them scarier.
You know how in games, there are moments when the AI is far more terrifying than actual players?
But on the flip side, it also made things simpler.
There was already plenty of data on how Orcs and Trolls moved.
As long as we studied the data and prepared thoroughly beforehand, clearing the floors wouldn't be too difficult.
Of course, we would need a supporter first...
I'll have to ask them to find us a temporary one.
Since we had Jumin for heals and buffs, a mage-type supporter would be ideal.
But mages weren't exactly common.
We'd likely have to take whoever they assigned us.
Or I could hire one personally.
Still, our trio didn't feel lacking right now, so it wouldn't hurt to try it ourselves first before looking for someone.
After discussing those details,
we planned to take a week-long break before starting our assault on the 20s.
Later, smelling strongly of grilled meat, we headed back.
"Sangjin-ssi, we're ho—"
"Welcome back."
Huh?
"...Why is Kang Mina here?"
I blinked.
I rubbed my eyes, looking back and forth between Kang Mina and Do Sangjin, who stood behind her.
Do Sangjin let out a heavy sigh.
"I told her to come back later, but she insisted on waiting here..."
"Excuse me?"
I stared at Kang Mina, dumbfounded.
"I have something incredibly important to discuss, Hunter-nim!"
She cried out desperately, pleading for me to understand her urgency.
"Man, you should've come tomorrow. I've been drinking."
"That's perfectly fine!"
Well, she certainly was energetic.
Since she had already waited this long, I might as well hear what she had to say.
Sip.
I sipped the warm chamomile tea Do Sangjin had brewed for me and waited for her to speak.
"So, the thing is..."
Her voice carried a hint of excitement.
What was this about?
"Everything I'm about to tell you is classified."
She lowered her voice.
Classified all of a sudden?
I glanced around. Sensing the mood, Do Sangjin and Woo Jumin quietly excused themselves.
With them gone, Kang Mina got straight to the point.
"Right now, a special floor has appeared in the Macau Tower."
A special floor?
"I've never heard of such a thing."
"Yes, because the existence of special floors hasn't been made public yet."
"Really?"
"Do you remember the Demonic Outbreak in Vladivostok last winter?"
Ah, I remembered that.
Russia was usually pretty good at managing their tower, so the sudden Demonic Outbreak had made major headlines.
Didn't they barely manage to stop it by deploying every single hunter they had?
"The prevailing theory is that it happened because they failed to clear a special floor."
"I see..."
"It wasn't publicized, but special floors have appeared in the US a few times as well. Same for Europe. The US handled it on their own, and Europe resolved it through their coalition."
"Then China..."
"They've requested external support."
"China did?"
"They know their own hunters can't handle it."
That made sense.
China was famous for having an abysmal number of high-level hunters relative to its massive population.
Their method of gathering Contribution Points was completely different from Korea's.
Unlike Korea, where top-tier hunters generated most of the points,
China relied on an endless swarm of low-level hunters grinding low-level floors to pool their coins and meet the quota.
You could say Korea went for quality, while China went for quantity.
But still...
"Why are you telling me this?"
If it was a special floor they couldn't handle themselves, they'd be recruiting elite foreign hunters.
Why was Kang Mina sharing this classified information with me, someone who had barely crossed level 20?
"The maximum party size for this raid is ten."
Considering the usual party limit in the tower was four, ten was a massive number. More than double.
"Normally, they would have requested two, maybe three hunters from our country at most."
"And this time?"
"Four."
"Isn't that almost half the party?"
"Yes. Honestly, they probably should have asked the US for help, but as you know, relations between the two countries are quite tense right now."
"So they asked Korea for four instead?"
"Yes. And one from Japan."
Apparently, a top-tier Japanese healer was joining.
"Normally, Japan would have declined, but it seems there was some backroom deal involved."
"I see..."
"The hunters Korea is sending are Choi Muryeong, Ban Haeyeong, Han Sion..."
All three names made perfect sense. They were South Korea's absolute finest.
"...and Lee Taepyeong."
Spit!
I spat out the chamomile tea I was drinking.
"..."
"Oh, uh, sorry. You startled me!"
I pulled out some tissues and handed them to her.
I mean, seriously, why did my name suddenly pop up there?
"You do know I'm only level 23, right?"
Choi Muryeong, Ban Haeyeong, and Han Sion were all over level 60.
In the first place, there were only four hunters in the entire country who had surpassed level 60.
Shouldn't those level 60s be the ones going? Or at least someone in their 50s!
Level 23 made absolutely no sense. It wasn't even half their level!
"Park Geumja-ssi's position overlaps with the Japanese healer..."
Park Geumja. South Korea's top healer.
They were leaving her behind to take me?
"Are they out of their minds?"
"Well..."
"Whose bright idea was this anyway?"
At my question, Kang Mina hesitated before answering.
"Hunter Choi Muryeong personally requested you."
Choi Muryeong.
Now that was unexpected.
I would have believed they drew straws before believing this.
Wow... Was this revenge?
Revenge for me turning down his party invitation?
"Honestly, I thought it was absurd too, but since Hunter Choi Muryeong was the one who requested you..."
"Since he requested me, what?"
"Maybe he recognized your brilliant talent, Hunter-nim...!"
"There's no way."
My cold reply instantly deflated her.
"I'm not going. No, I can't go."
I cut her off flatly and pointedly turned my head away.
It was a clear sign for her to leave.
However...
"But, Hunter-nim..."
"..."
"You don't think I would have brought this offer to you without a good reason, do you?"
What was she playing at now?
I glanced at her.
Before I knew it, a confident smile had returned to her face.
"What if this mission is your chance to obtain 'Jeol', the counterpart to 'Dan'?"