An Unexpected Destination
“No way.”
Go Juhee smiled brightly.
She looked absolutely delighted.
“Look right here. Choi. Mu. ry eong. See?”
“No, I'm not asking because I can't read.”
Sigh.
I let out a deep sigh.
What on earth was going on now?
“Why would Choi Muryeong suddenly apply to our guild out of nowhere...?”
“Maybe he saw the vision of the Typhoon Guild.”
“...Do you really think that's it?”
The Typhoon Guild didn't have a vision!
I only made this guild to make my own life easier!
Becoming South Korea's top guild? Becoming the world's best? I didn't have any grand visions like that!
“I don't get it.”
Choi Muryeong had to know that too.
And besides, why did the Association even approve this?
Ever since he awakened, Choi Muryeong had been affiliated strictly with the Association...
“Ugh, my head.”
I wasn't joking; my head was actually throbbing.
“He doesn't seem like the type to play jokes with things like this.”
“That's exactly why it's a problem.”
Whether I tore my hair out or not, Go Juhee just giggled.
Well, of course she would.
From her perspective, a goldmine—no, an entire mountain of gold—had just rolled right into her lap.
“Rejecting him will probably cause just as much of a headache, you know?”
Ah.
How incredibly annoying.
“...Let's put it on hold for now.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes.”
“I don't think accepting him would be a problem, though...”
“It will be.”
Sure, the Typhoon Guild's reputation would skyrocket. But it was bound to cause all kinds of headaches.
I mean, yes, I did tell Leo White to join my guild if he wanted to so badly. But that was just a bluff because I knew he wouldn't. Why was Choi Muryeong suddenly throwing himself at my guild?
Is he actually going to act as my support or something? Ugh. Maybe I should just drag him along as a support and work him to the bone?
“Hmm, using this for publicity would help in so many ways...” Go Juhee prodded, testing the waters.
“No.”
I shook my head.
“I'm sick and tired of articles. I'm already suffering enough because of Leo White.”
It was true.
Ever since my meeting with Leo White, the media had been in a complete frenzy.
The world's number one American hunter coming all the way to South Korea just to meet a Korean hunter who wasn't even ranked yet? It was prime clickbait.
The internet was flooded with photos of Leo White warmly hugging me, and online communities were rife with conspiracy theories that I was about to naturalize as a US citizen.
I was already drawing all this attention. And now adding Choi Muryeong to the mix? That was basically asking to be buried alive.
What a lunatic...
Of course, just as Go Juhee said, we had nothing to lose. In fact, it was a massive gain.
South Korea's number one. World number three. The Choi Muryeong was offering to join on his own two feet. Any other guild would welcome him with open arms.
But not me.
“What should we do about the interview requests? There's a lot of talk regarding Leo White. Even in the US...”
“Decline them.”
I cut Go Juhee off.
“In a situation like this, I'll get criticized no matter what I say in an interview.”
“Well, that's true.”
As expected of a woman raised as the only daughter of a chaebol family, Go Juhee understood immediately.
“Still, I'm sure you could easily handle the reporters, Hunter Lee.”
I smirked at her comment.
“I can, but I just don't want to.”
“Ah.”
“Well, I'll be going now.”
“I thought you came to look around the guild today.”
“A company always runs better when the boss isn't around.”
“Says the person who has never worked a corporate job in his life?”
“I've overheard a lot of things.”
I stood up and threw on my jacket.
“I plan to train for a while to challenge the 50th floor.”
“The 50th floor already?”
“Yes. So, please give some plausible excuse to the trashy rep—reporters asking for interviews.”
“'The Guild Leader is currently focusing on conquering the tower for the safety of South Korea'... how's that?”
“Sounds perfect.”
She really had a knack for media play. It was definitely much easier to leave these things to Go Juhee. That was the whole reason I partnered with her in the first place.
With Go Juhee seeing me off, I headed out of the guild building. Since reporters were camping out at the main entrance, I slipped out the back.
A black car was waiting for me at the back exit.
“Please get in,” Do Sangjin said.
I climbed in and took off the cap I had pulled down low.
“Are you alright?”
“I'm tired.”
“Shall we head to the residence, then?”
“No. To the Association.”
Do Sangjin glanced at my face through the rearview mirror.
“The Association...?”
“Yeah. I'm going to run the tower.”
“...Didn't you say you were tired?”
“That's why I'm going.”
To relieve some stress.
Do Sangjin drove toward the Association without another word.
Screech.
“Well, I'll be back.”
I headed toward the gate station.
If I wanted to relieve stress, a random floor was the way to go. I hoped I'd run into some dark elves like last time.
I felt like beating the crap out of arrogant bastards suited me much better than dealing with monsters that just mindlessly charged at me screaming.
—...So, alongside my grandmother's homeland, South Korea...
—...There are many excellent hunters in South Korea...
—...If our two nations cooperate and climb the tower together in the future...
—...I am certain we will see great results...
On my way to the gate station, Leo White's interview played on a massive electronic screen installed inside the building.
Look at him go...
He sure knew how to talk.
The panelists' reactions were highly favorable. Of course they were. Leo White, the world's number one hunter—a guy who usually didn't even treat countries other than the US as actual nations—was shining his eyes and talking about wanting to cooperate with South Korea. How could they not be favorable? The panelists were already enthusiastically chanting about a joint US-Korea climb.
Tsk, tsk. They had no idea he was just sucking up because he wanted to survive.
I looked away from the screen and continued toward the gate station.
“You're alone today?”
“Yes. Just a light run.”
“Haha, you're probably the only hunter who talks about entering the tower like it's a casual stroll.”
The employee, whom I had seen every time I came to the gate station and was now familiar with, spoke with a smile.
“The number of hunters climbing the tower keeps decreasing, so I can't tell you how glad we are to have you, Hunter Lee.”
“Oh, come on. What difference can one person make?”
“But you go to random floors so often. Do you know how many Contribution Points you bring back each time?”
It was true that random floors yielded a lot of Contribution Points. Since you never knew what would appear, the rewards felt proportionately larger.
I grinned and said to the employee,
“I'm planning to go to a random floor today too.”
“R-Really? I feel like you just went to one not too long ago...!”
“Yeah. When I'm in a party, we always run the same places, so when I'm solo, I find myself drawn to random floors.”
“You really are amazing. Still, please don't push yourself too hard!”
“Haha. I'll keep that in mind.”
Once the settings for the random floor entry were complete, I leaned back comfortably in the chair and spoke.
“Enter Babel Tower.”
Whoosh! ...Normally, I should have been teleported into the tower.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
But out of nowhere, a loading bar of some sort was spinning in front of my eyes.
What the? Was there normally a delay when entering the Babel Tower?
“Huh?!”
I wasn't the only one bewildered; the employee was staring at me with a startled expression.
“W-Would you like to try again?”
“Sure.”
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
I took a brief breath, then spoke again.
“Enter Babel Tower.”
“...”
The loading bar was still spinning.
“H-Hold on a second. Is it a machine malfunction?”
“A machine malfunction... is that even possible?”
“There are studies showing that electromagnetic waves might affect it...”
The moment the employee took a step closer to inspect the chair.
Beep-beep-beep.
The slowly spinning loading bar ground to a halt. And then,
Fzzzt... Crackle... Bzzzzzt...
“Wh-What?!”
The employee stared at me in sheer horror.
And for good reason.
...My hand is gone.
Parts of my body were repeatedly vanishing and reappearing. First my hand, then an ear, then a leg. When my eyes vanished, everything went pitch black.
Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.
“H-Hunter Lee!”
The employee grabbed my hand, which had just reappeared.
“Wait—”
The moment I tried to tell him not to,
“...!!!”
My mouth vanished.
The speed at which my body parts disappeared and reappeared was accelerating. No, they weren't reappearing anymore. The rate of disappearance was just getting faster!
And then,
Fzzzt!
At the same time my hand vanished, the employee's hand holding mine vanished along with it.
“Aaaaargh!”
His hand vanished as if it had been cleanly torn away, never to reappear.
“...!!!”
What the hell was happening?
Fzzzt!
The brief instant my mouth returned,
“G-Get away!”
I screamed at the employee with all my might.
The employee rushed outside, bleeding from where his hand had been severed.
Slam!
Then I heard the door slam shut. Only the sound. Yes, my eyes hadn't returned yet, so I couldn't see a thing.
Fzzzzzt... Bzzzzzzzt...
Next came static, sounding like a broken television.
Elf's Sword – Possession Confirmed
Quiet Eira Forest's Earring – Possession Confirmed
Clean Core – Scan Complete
■■■ Result – Suitable
What was this now?
It was an unrecognizable script. Not Arabic or Vietnamese or anything like that. It was a language that didn't exist on Earth at all.
Whoosh!
Before I could even process what it was, I felt my body being completely sucked into somewhere.
Wait, this is...
It was familiar. This was the exact feeling of entering the tower. Except it was a bit slower and much more disorienting. But otherwise, it was very similar.
“Cough...!”
Ever since I got used to entering the tower, I had never collapsed or fallen flat on my face upon arrival. But this time, when I regained my senses, I was sprawled on the floor, dry-heaving.
What the? I didn't even react like this my very first time.
“Cough... Pui!”
I spat the sour saliva onto the ground and forced my trembling body upright.
Fortunately or unfortunately,
Bleeegh!
Ugh!
Heave!
I wasn't the only one; the sounds of others retching echoed all around me.
My level was currently past 30. There was no way a simple entry could make me feel this sick. The entry itself had been bizarre. What on earth was going on?
Sigh.
After catching my breath, I looked around. The moment I did, I felt another wave of nausea wash over me.
“Fuck...”
What is this? Why are there only elves here?