Chapter 60
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: A Deceptive Offer (3)
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Ji-han was currently hostile toward the members of the ‘Central Guild,’ the main power in the lobby.
At first, it was simple dislike, but recently, it had escalated to something closer to disgust.
[And the merchant escort? Is that okay?]
“I don't know.”
Ji-han answered dismissively, resting his chin on his hands, his elbows propped on the desk.
“Well… I was pissed when I first heard about it, but after cooling my head and thinking it over, there's not much I can do. It's a mission from the status window, right? Then I have to do it, whether I like it or not. Sorry, but I have no intention of dying.”
Ji-han gritted his teeth.
His will to survive was so overwhelming it was almost burdensome.
[What's this? Why the sudden diligence?]
“I don't know. And diligent? Don't make me laugh.”
[Nothing happened in the lobby?]
“Not really, aside from some psycho looking for me.”
A psycho was looking for him, and that’s *not* a big deal?
I was starting to wonder just how this guy's brain was wired.
This was all because of the Transcendent Yoo Ji-han I'd seen outside the Tower.
[Was it those Central Guild guys?]
“How should I know.”
Ji-han turned his head away as if he couldn't care less.
I could just picture him chasing them off, saying things like, "Get lost," or, "I don't listen to people weaker than me!"
“I just told them I'd think about it.”
So it wasn't that bad.
I felt a little embarrassed by my wrong assumption.
He was just unpredictable, not fundamentally a bad person.
Is this what it feels like to raise a child?
‘Maybe I can turn him around before he goes down a dark path?’
Hmm, I felt like I should give it some thought.
Fortunately, he didn't seem to have strong feelings about the 5th-floor escort mission.
Ji-han's refusal of the mysterious group's offer wasn't just due to simple caution.
“What I heard from you and what those guys said… something's different. I don't know how to explain it.”
[Are you doubting me right now?]
Ji-han turned his head toward the podium.
His gaze seemed to say, "Why shouldn't I?"
Doubting his savior, that's too much… yeah, right. My ass.
The Transcendent Yoo Ji-han had genuinely tried to kill me.
Compared to that, a little doubt was trivial.
[You said you like games, right?]
“What about it?”
[Do you pay close attention to the story?]
At my question, Ji-han averted his gaze as if I'd hit a nerve.
Wrong direction, buddy.
It’s an unwritten rule that nine out of ten Korean gamers hit the skip button first.
You only watch the game's story after you've done everything else and there's absolutely nothing left to do.
Actually paying attention to the story was proof that you were becoming a veteran.
Hearing my words, Ji-han relaxed the tension in his shoulders.
“I don't really watch the story… but what I mean is, the information those guys gave me has too many holes. It's sloppy.”
Most of the players in the lobby seemed to think it was a job where they just had to do what they were told.
That was exactly the part Ji-han didn't like.
There were currently about 8,000 people in the lobby.
Ji-han was a latecomer, and about two-thirds of them were players below the 10th floor.
The Central Guild players seemed to be funneling resources to new users they deemed useful, while pushing the rest into roles like production or support.
“They call it support, but those guys don't even see the rest as human. And yet they still have their justifications.”
Not everyone was going to enjoy risking their lives in battle.
There were surely those who believed that the climbers would ascend the Tower and save everyone else.
Ji-han didn't seem to sympathize, but he wasn't jumping to conclusions either.
[What do you want to do about the Central Guild?]
“I don't know, but… there's one guy I want to kill.”
Ji-han had mentioned the Central Guild a few times before, but this was the first time he'd openly said there was someone he wanted to kill.
[Someone you want to kill?]
“Yeah, Park Seung-hwan. That veteran bastard I told you about who cleared the 29th floor but won't graduate.”
Players who cleared the 30th floor could move from the lower lobby to the middle lobby.
After clearing the 30th floor, those who entered the middle lobby could not return to the lower floors.
No one knew what was happening in the middle floors, higher up in the Tower.
“For years, ever since that bastard took power in the Central Guild, not a single person has graduated unless they were a member.”
The lobby users called clearing the 29th floor and entering the 30th floor "graduating."
[Want some help?]
“How are you going to help?”
[They say two heads are better than one. In this case, it's not exactly an easy task, nor are we just lifting a piece of paper, but still. Have you ever lost anything by listening to me?]
I slowly started laying the groundwork.
Yoo Ji-han had already killed several members of the Central Guild.
Despite that, they had proposed that Ji-han join them.
That meant the card named Yoo Ji-han was just that threatening.
When you realize you're dealing with a sharp blade, there are two choices.
Break the blade.
Or wield it.
The fact that they made an offer likely meant they had judged the merits of wielding him to still be greater.
Yoo Ji-han would never join hands with the Central Guild.
The fight between Ji-han and the Central Guild was inevitable; it was only a matter of time.
Ji-han had the makings of a Transcendent.
‘And those people who approached Ji-han.’
Ji-han didn't seem very interested, but they were likely a group of people who opposed the Central Guild, just like him.
It was impossible to control nearly 8,000 people by force.
Those guys could become a valuable asset.
“That's true.”
After a long moment, Ji-han nodded as if he understood.
“But dealing with the Central Guild has nothing to do with you, does it?”
[It's my loss if you die in the lobby.]
“Still…”
Ji-han didn't seem too keen on the idea.
[Use everything you can. What's so wrong with that?]
“You're telling me to use you?”
[Yeah. Well, it's not like I'm offering to help for free. I plan on collecting a consulting fee.]
“Contribution Points? How much?”
[Not that. Besides, it's not like you have anything else to spend it on.]
“Then what do you want?”
[A promise. Ever heard of an Oath of Allegiance?]
“What's that? Never heard of it.”
Of course he hadn't.
I gave him a brief explanation of the Oath of Allegiance.
“So, make a promise with you? What are the terms?”
Deciding it would be more effective to show him than to tell him, I presented the Oath of Allegiance as if I'd been waiting for this moment.
Ji-han freaked out when he saw the contents.
“Hey, you shameless bastard.”
Ah, maybe I went a bit too far.
“Even a slave contract would be better than this! Are you a god or a piece of trash?”
A piece of trash? That's harsh!
I guess it was a mistake to make the terms so severe, what with my experience with the Transcendent Yoo Ji-han.
“You didn't really think I'd accept this, did you?”
[Ah, fine! Let's revise it.]
“Can I edit this too?”
Before I could even say anything, Ji-han touched the status window that appeared before him.
A moment later, a revised text flew over to me.
‘Guardian Yoo Ji-han’ shall obey the commands of the god Soter. However, the god Soter cannot kill Yoo Ji-han.
Reading that sentence sent a small shiver down my spine.
It was identical to the text I'd seen with the Transcendent Yoo Ji-han.
‘So he wrote that himself, huh?’
The '???' I saw back then must have meant Guardian.
Unlike me, who was trying to suppress a laugh, Yoo Ji-han had a brazen attitude, as if he'd done me a huge favor.
“Honestly, I don't like the word 'obey,' but I'm cutting you a lot of slack since you're a god. Not that you act like one.”
What's this punk saying?
[You're not going to regret this, are you?]
“It's not like I can find another god at this point, and the fact that you're going this far means you need me too, right?”
He hit the nail on the head.
The truth was, I had tried several times to find other players who had entered the Tower, but I had failed.
The dimensional damage was just too severe.
‘I don't know why it had to be Yoo Ji-han, of all people.’
At first, I really didn't think this guy would last this long.
Though I certainly never imagined he'd become a Transcendent and try to kill me.
I planned to take him as far as I could.
[So you're really sure you won't regret this?]
“I said I won't! God, you're frustrating!”
Annoyed by the repeated questions, Ji-han slammed his fist on the desk.
The desk split in half under his fist.
“Ah.”
He looked surprised, as if he hadn't expected the desk to break.
Unless they were players lingering on the 1st or 2nd floors, players generally didn't have the bodies of ordinary people.
And Ji-han's current Strength stat was a whopping A-.
He had enough power to smash through the outer wall of a building with his fist if he put his mind to it.
It made me realize just how much control the Transcendent Yoo Ji-han must have had.
Ji-han stared blankly at the broken desk.
“This is, ah… Whatever! Just do it quickly before I change my mind!”
[Initiating the Oath of Allegiance.]
[Initiator: Soter]
I was worried my real name would appear, but thankfully, that didn't happen.
“A status window popped up. What am I supposed to do?”
[You just have to say you agree.]
“Ah, really? I agree to the Oath of Allegiance.”
As soon as Ji-han finished speaking, a red thread tied itself to each of our fingers.
This was my second oath, after the one with Randolph Carter.
[You have received a donation of 200,000 Contribution Points from ‘Guardian Yoo Ji-han’.]
A donation of 200,000 points came in from Yoo Ji-han.
The mission I'd told Yoo Ji-han about was worth 130,000 Contribution Points.
I hadn't had the chance to check what happened on the 4th floor yet.
Why does this kid have so many points?
As I stood there speechless in surprise, Ji-han explained the situation.
“I was trying to do the dungeon-related mission you told me about, but things got a little complicated. So, I kind of killed two birds with one stone.”
[Killed two birds with one stone?]
“Turns out you can do two at once.”
The system said to complete the mission, not *a* mission.
Since he had finished two missions almost simultaneously, he received the Contribution Points for both.
I'd felt this back on the train, but I just couldn't understand why this guy always chose the hard path even when I showed him the standard strategy.
They say people who do weird things even after reading a guide are definitely perverts.
[Can't you just clear things quietly?]
“Those bastards started it… ah.”
Ji-han, who had raised his fist again, flinched.
You were going to hit the desk again, weren't you? Huh?
That habit of his is terrible.
[The god Soter’s Lv has increased.]
[You have acquired the trait ‘Executioner’s Sword’.]
Including Yoo Ji-han's previous donations, Kang Han-gyeol's 60,000 Contribution Points, and Eun-young's, the total was well over 300,000.
Level 2 at 300,000... leveling up was a real pain.
[Soter]
Divine Name: ＊＊＊＊＊
Level: 2
Attribute: Darkness
Ranking: 15400
Dimension: Tower of Trials
Accumulated Contribution Points: 375,540P
Followers: 2
Traits [Blessing of the God Soter] [Executioner’s Sword]
I checked my status window for the first time in a while.
I could see that a new trait had been added.
“Huh? What's this?”
The same notification went to Ji-han, who was now under my domain.
It was highly likely that Eun-young received the notification as well.
[You know how to use traits, I mean, talents, right?]
“No? I've been wondering about it. What is it?”
[I didn't tell you?]
“Yeah.”
[So you've never used it before?]
“I thought it was a passive skill.”
In other words, he thought it would just work on its own if he left it alone.
[It is a passive, but it's a skill you can turn on and off.]
“You're telling me that…”
[…]
“…now? You wanna die?”
Just as I expected, Ji-han shot up from his seat and threw a fit.
Ji-han grumbled as he went to the front of the podium.
Man, if he could see my face, he'd probably grab me by the collar!
Sorry, but I saw that coming and backed away.
Ji-han whipped around, pointing toward the back of the classroom.
“Hey! I know you're there! Come out!”
Not the left, the right.
He pointed in the wrong direction, but I was reminded once again that his sense for locating me was getting better by the day.
Ji-han plopped himself down on the podium.
Hey, that's my spot!
Ji-han urged me to hurry up and explain the talent.
Looking at the new talent, he muttered.
“Executioner's Sword? What's that? Sounds like some kinda 'Judge's Sword' or something.”
What is he talking about?