A Mask of Madness
"Just kidding, just kidding."
I laughed, looking at Kang Mina, whose face had turned completely pale.
Actually, I wasn't kidding.
But if I said I was serious, she would end up having to take responsibility for all of it.
Anyway, I decided to handle this matter myself.
Kang Mina had helped me in so many ways up until now,
and she was an important person who would continue to assist me in the future.
On top of that, she belonged to the Hunter Administration Office and was highly competent at her job.
A favor of this scale was barely any trouble at all.
Besides...
'It's true that he caught my attention.'
Park Woojun.
Immune to mental status effects such as fear, confusion, and madness.
When climbing the tower, mental status effects are what most people struggle with the most.
Once you fall prey to fear, confusion, or madness, you lose all self-control.
While this issue could eventually be resolved with higher levels or specific items,
it was a massive headache in the early stages.
But since Park Woojun possessed the [Psychopath] trait,
he had apparently been flying through the tower instead.
In short, it meant the guy was completely devoid of fear...
'He must have been quite a handful.'
Thanks to his trait, clearing the tower floors surely hadn't been difficult for him.
However, that had likely turned into a poison instead.
From Park Woojun's perspective, the tower was essentially a stage where he could do whatever he wanted without consequence.
Just as Kang Mina said, if left alone, something was bound to happen sooner or later.
Especially since party play became mandatory the higher one climbed the tower...
Yet, the safety of his party members could not be guaranteed.
There were already suspicions that he had tried to kill a teammate before, all for the sake of a single gold chest.
If left unchecked, someone was going to end up dead.
"Hmm..."
So, what should I do?
A week passed.
Procrastinating wasn't going to conjure up a brilliant solution out of thin air,
so I immediately asked Kang Mina to schedule a run of the 19th floor with Park Woojun.
Even though Park Woojun still had two days left of his mandatory rest period, he accepted the proposal.
Which brought us to today.
"Hello."
A tall, well-built man greeted me politely the moment he spotted me.
It was Park Woojun.
On the surface, he looked perfectly normal.
His features were handsome, but his overall impression wasn't very pleasant.
Well, that might just have been my personal impression.
"Mr. Woojun? I look forward to working with you."
I offered him a handshake with a smile.
"Likewise. I look forward to it."
"The nineteenth floor is a bit tough because of the shaman, isn't it?"
"I realized I couldn't do it alone."
Park Woojun smiled genially.
Looking at him like this, he seemed like an ordinary guy.
'...Except for the fact that his eyes aren't smiling.'
Park Woojun had been sizing me up from the very beginning.
As if trying to gauge whether I was stronger than him or not.
Currently, Park Woojun was Level 20.
For someone climbing the higher floors, my level hadn't surpassed 30 yet either.
I was barely hanging on at Level 29 after collaborating with the Core Guild,
but either way, we were both in our twenties.
"I couldn't find any hunters around my level to party with, so I'm really glad you agreed to join me, Hunter Lee."
Park Woojun seemed well aware of that fact.
"If you are both ready, shall we head in?"
As Park Woojun tried to continue the conversation,
Kang Mina cut him off with a stiff expression.
And then,
"...Please be careful."
Just before we entered the gate chamber, Kang Mina whispered in a voice only I could hear.
"I will."
I gave her a smirk and took my seat.
'She even brought four suppression agents today.'
That was how worried Kang Mina was.
Though I felt the one who should be worried was Park Woojun.
"Pant, pant..."
"Are you alright, Mr. Woojun?"
"Just... give me a second to catch my breath..."
Tsk, tsk.
Park Woojun was already completely out of breath.
It was only natural.
The moment we entered, I had lured all the goblins and dumped them right onto him.
Unlike when he cleared floors alone,
he couldn't control the pace, and having to deal with a relentless flood of goblins seemed to be killing him.
Perhaps because of that,
Park Woojun didn't show any signs of trying to pull any tricks.
He was too busy desperately fending off the goblins rushing at him.
'Did I go too hard on him?'
No, I only did it because I heard he was quite skilled.
By my standards, how should I put it... he was just average.
His movements were fast,
but it was a stretch to call him strong based on that alone.
'He relies heavily on his weapon.'
The weapon Park Woojun held
was a rapier, and it seemed to be a pretty high-quality item.
A decent weapon paired with high speed.
On top of that, he lacked the greatest obstacle for any hunter: fear.
I could clearly see how he had managed to climb this far.
"Phew..."
Park Woojun chugged down a recovery potion.
He had been completely exhausted, but the potion quickly brought the spark back to his eyes.
"..."
Even after finishing the potion, Park Woojun sat there for a long time, lost in thought.
I didn't particularly feel like talking to him either, so I just left him alone.
A moment later.
"The shaman should be appearing soon. Let's get ready."
Right before the final wave began.
"Hunter Lee."
Park Woojun approached me with a gentle smile.
"You must be tired too, Hunter Lee. Why don't you drink this before we start?"
What Park Woojun handed me was a recovery potion identical to the one he had just consumed.
"Ah, I'm fine."
"...Pardon?"
"I'm not really in a state that requires recovery."
"Still, it would be better to drink it just in case..."
"Why bother? It's a waste. Keep it and drink it yourself later, Mr. Woojun."
"..."
Park Woojun put the potion away, his face souring as if he had just chewed on dirt.
'He definitely spiked it. No doubt about it.'
I was one hundred percent sure.
He must have laced that potion with poison or something similar.
'Such an obvious trick...'
I wondered if the comatose hunter had fallen victim to the same method.
For me, dealing with mere goblins didn't even make me winded, so I didn't need to drink it.
But if someone were truly exhausted, they might have accepted and drunk it without a second thought.
After all, facing a boss while fatigued was disadvantageous in many ways.
Jingle, jingle, jingle...
Chitter, chitter, chitter...
Along with the sound of bells, the final wave began.
The goblin army emerged.
And standing in their center was the red goblin shaman.
"Kyahaha!"
"Kieeeek!"
The triumphant screeches of the goblins echoed through the chamber.
"Mr. Woojun, you ready?"
"..."
"If it gets dangerous, just back off immediately. I'll handle it."
"..."
There was no response.
Then, after a brief silence.
"Hunter Lee."
"Yes?"
"When we finish a run like this, what kind of chest usually drops as a reward?"
Was this really the time to be asking that?
I couldn't tell if he was just relaxed or plain stupid.
"Who knows. At least a Gold one?"
"Is Platinum out of the question?"
"Unless you clear it solo, it's pretty hard to get one at this speed, isn't it?"
"I see."
Park Woojun flashed that characteristic smile of his again.
For some reason, I got a bad feeling.
"Well then, let's go."
"Sure."
With a cheerful reply, Park Woojun drew his rapier and dashed forward.
Slash!
I provided him with decent cover while
Slice!
focusing my attention on the goblin shaman to keep the aggro from shifting.
Jingle, jingle, jingle!!!
Chitter, chitter, chitter!!!
The sound of bells rang out as if to tear the sky apart.
"Kyahaha!!!"
Empowered by the shaman's buff, the goblin warriors shrieked.
'Should I sever their ankles?'
Goblins began to swarm to protect the shaman.
Thud!
Thwack! Thwack!
Whipped into a frenzy by the buff, the goblins swung their weapons wildly.
They didn't care whether their blades cut down their own allies or not.
"Argh!"
It seemed Park Woojun had been caught in the crossfire.
Hearing a scream nearby, I instantly drew Dan and Jeol.
And then,
Slash!
Slice!
"Kieeeek!!!"
Death Slash
Thanks to the skill, the goblin warriors fell in heaps.
After clearing out enough of them so that Park Woojun could focus on the shaman, I looked around.
'Park Woojun...?'
He was nowhere to be seen.
'...He's more annoying than the goblins.'
He hadn't died, had he?
That would be troublesome.
"Aaargh!!!"
It was then.
Hearing a scream from somewhere, I turned my head.
I saw Park Woojun, his eyes rolled back as he wailed.
'...Frenzy?'
Park Woojun began to swing his sword like a madman.
"Kyah!"
"Kieee!"
After hacking away at the limbs of the goblins,
Whoosh!
his sword suddenly flew straight toward me.
'Crazy bastard...!'
Fortunately, I was able to dodge his sword using the blink effect of the skill.
Echo Walker
As if it possessed an auto-return function, the sword was quickly drawn back into Park Woojun's hand.
Jingle!
Right on cue, the goblin shaman's staff shook.
In an instant, the aggro shifted entirely to me.
Jingle! Jingle!
A horde of goblins rushed at me in sync with the ringing bells.
And it wasn't just the goblins.
"Aaaaah!!!"
Park Woojun, his eyes wide and bloodshot, was also charging straight at me.
Slash!
"Kyahaha!"
I sliced through the goblins first,
Clang!!!
and then blocked the sword lunging at me immediately after.
Screeech...!
The crossed blades of Jeoldanchamgeuk shrieked sharply.
'Damn it, I don't have any status recovery potions...'
I didn't carry any.
Thanks to the accessory, I was completely immune to mental status effects anyway.
And even if I did get affected, Woo Jumin was always around, so I had never needed potions.
Clang!!
Park Woojun swung his sword like a maniac.
Cutting him down would be child's play if I wanted to,
but my opponent was a human, not a monster.
He was just in a state of madness...
"...!"
Wait.
There was no way he was in a state of madness.
Park Woojun's trait was [Psychopath].
He was completely immune to fear, confusion, and madness!
Was this bastard pretending to be driven mad right now?
Pretending to have fallen victim to the goblin shaman?!
Screeech!!!!
Park Woojun clashed his sword against mine with all his might.
Or rather, with all his intent to kill.
His physical strength was either slightly superior to mine or about equal.
However, my combat application was far superior.
Focusing on my dantian, I slowly pushed my blade forward.
As I did,
Park Woojun was gradually pushed back, revealing his face which had been hidden behind the blades.
"Ah, motherfucker..."
A curse immediately escaped my lips.
Because I had locked eyes with Park Woojun, who was wearing a chilling, creepy smile.
"Why don't you just die for me, Taepyeong?"
"...Do you think I'm crazy enough to die by the hands of a bastard like you?"
"Then, will you hand over the reward chest we get when we clear this floor?"
"Why the hell should I?"
"Then die."
Looking at the smirking Park Woojun, Kang Mina's words flashed through my mind.
That there were suspicions he had attacked his party members for the sake of 'items'...
'...So it really was this bastard.'
How much could those items even be worth?
This guy was truly worse than a beast.
Whoosh!
Unable to stand his face getting any closer,
I immediately deflected his sword.
Crash!!
Park Woojun tumbled across the floor.
"Kieeeek!"
"Kyah!"
Meanwhile, the goblins began rushing toward me once again.
"Ah, what a pain."
Thrust!
My blade pierced the crown of the head of the first goblin that reached me.
Thud!!
And then right between the eyes of the one charging from the opposite side.
Slash, slash, slash!
I began to slaughter the goblins at high speed.
Stabbing, slashing, and tearing them apart.
And finally,
"Kyah... aaargh...!!!"
I severed the spine of the goblin shaman.
But I didn't kill it.
"Phew..."
Why?
"Hey, you crazy bastard."
Because if I killed it, Park Woojun would be able to return to the real world.
"You and I need to have a little chat."