Ambush on the 68th Floor
The 67th floor was the same difficulty as the 66th, so we cleared it quickly.
Assuming the 68th would be the same, I headed up—and froze at the sight before me.
"That's... other players, right?"
Running into another party in Babel Tower happened occasionally.
But this situation didn't look good. Ever since the rules changed to allow PVP between players, it had become all too common.
"They don't look Korean. That red armor—probably Chinese."
"Yeah."
The more populous a country, the more players it had.
But Babel's constellations didn't want Chinese or Indian players invading other nations for massacres. So they'd severely restricted access to the tower entrances.
China could only enter from tier-one cities like Beijing and Shanghai. India was limited to two or three major cities as well.
Maybe that's why most of their hundreds of millions of players never exceeded LV10.
"Chinese players are infamous for being vicious—cutthroat competition breeds monsters like that."
If they suddenly attacked, we'd be in trouble. We had six people. They had twenty. Factor in summons, and the gap widened even more.
"Their party leader's LV71. Looks like a real powerhouse..."
"Yeah."
Suddenly, they spotted us and turned. Should I have ambushed them right then? Sigh...
"I speak a bit of Chinese. I'll go talk to them."
"Okay."
Thankfully, our party leader Chae-young spoke it fluently, so communication wasn't an issue. I would've preferred to avoid a fight altogether.
"Those bitches... they want us to leave?"
But it didn't look like talking would work. Of course not.
"Why?"
"They say they got here first, so we should fuck off."
"What the hell? No one's claiming squatters' rights in Babel."
"From what I know, higher floors have tighter spaces, so a 'spot culture' has developed. With China's numbers, it's probably worse."
Cultural differences or not, who acts like this? They needed to be wiped out.
"Tell them that's bullshit. We can just split the area and clear it."
"I did, but they said it risks triggering party limits and getting us all in danger..."
"...This won't work."
No matter how I looked at it, they were baiting us. The moment we snapped, they'd attack.
Obvious as day. Like Master said—players are all trash.
"Let's back off. Fighting them gains us nothing."
"Right. No need to escalate."
That's when one of the Chinese players eyed me and spat something weird.
"What? That's the pretty boy."
The accent was off, but the Korean was clear enough.
They were dead set on this. The constant provocations meant they wanted a fight—better for them if we struck first.
"Those fuckers...!"
"They've got no intention of letting us go."
Then we'd kill them. All of them.
"Chae-young, teleport me to their rear when I signal... Now!"
First strike wins. Chae-young's teleport trait activated, and I was instantly behind the enemy lines.
"One of them vanished...!"
Someone whipped around nimbly, but my foot was already slamming into their Achilles.
Thud! Even players crumpled when kicked there. He did too.
As his body bent, I grabbed his head, yanked it back, and pressed it to my blade.
"Surrender. Or this one's dead."
Then someone who spoke Korean replied.
"You surrender!"
Oh, playing it that way? Fine. No more mercy.
I slashed the scythe across his throat. Shlick—! His head tumbled off.
"Kill them all."
They outnumbered us, but our average skill crushed theirs. We were all LV60+. They were LV50s.
Advantage: us. Just a trait or two made all the difference.
"Chae-young!"
Teleport again. I vanished into their blind spot. Amodius's Scythe reaped through them in a wide arc, guzzling the blood spraying from their spines to heal my minor scratches.
"Ugh, you cowardly stingray-looking fucks—"
Rapid revival. One of their priests started resurrecting my first kill.
Gotcha—priest identified.
"Valhalla."
I teleported straight to him. Bursting his skull was effortless.
"Fuck—!"
There was another priest, but our archer nailed her head with an arrow. Healers down.
"You fucking flying squirrel bastards."
Their counterattack began. The LV70+ player finally swung.
"Kill everyone but the healers!"
The LV70+ swung his axe at Se-eun's shield.
But her shield had the Moonlight Fury trait. Frost countered, freezing him in place.
"Gotcha!"
But in that gap, a mage mezzed Chae-young. Damage focused, and she went down. They prioritized the raid leader.
No matter. I'd already summoned two valkyries.
"What the hell is that...?"
The LV66 valkyries rocketed forward, spears piercing two players' guts.
Humans die from gut wounds. So did they.
As entrails spilled, the obsidian-axe valkyrie raised her hand. The whirling axe, powered by monstrous strength, created a scene too grotesque to describe.
"We're still ahead in numbers..."
"Think numbers will save you?"
The Necromancer King's Helmet revived the dead. Even players weren't exempt.
The players I'd slain twitched and rose, freed from death.
"Kill them all."
Zombies couldn't use their old traits, but they kept their strength and were damn hard to kill.
Chunks of rotting flesh slapped the floor as they lunged at the living.
"Hmm, thought it'd be tougher. Nah, they're nothing."
"...!"
"Oh? Chae-young. Sorry for asking the guy who just revived, but could you translate what he's saying?"
As things wrapped up, I approached their still-mezzed leader to finish him.
"Nothing good comes from this shit."
"Tell him to go to hell."
I didn't know if he understood, but his face twisted.
Ah, probably uglier from the pain. Stab... The blade sank into his throat, blood erupting.
Players gave fat EXP. I could see why Babel's rulers allowed it. Fucking trash.
"Loot's way better than monsters too. We can just sell it all."
I shouldn't think like that.
But damn, I hoped more idiots picked fights like this.
After hearing my report, Master gaped in shock.
"You're really my disciple, huh? You took out over twenty players?"
"Yeah."
"Whoa... Even without evidence, investigations reveal killers quick. China'll protest by tomorrow. Denying it won't fly."
She said that, but I wasn't scared. What could they do?
"I know. That's why I said articles would pop up. But I've got you, Master. What's to worry?"
"Killing foreign players is bad optics, but whatever. Our Hyunwoo's too cute to care."
Calling me cute, she slyly peeled off my clothes.
"It's the 1st today, right? One month left till raw creampie sex."
"Ah!"
Master lunged at me like lightning.