Bound for America (1)
The twelve members of the Cheongryong Guild and me.
A party of thirteen in total swept through the zombies like a storm.
The Unicorn's Protection had already worn off, but it didn’t matter.
The zombies themselves weren’t particularly strong, so we could clean them up without much trouble.
After clearing out the horde gathered on the 48th floor, we sat down facing the Cheongryong Guild.
Yi Cheongryong, now looking like Shanks, along with the C-rank hunters of the Cheongryong Guild.
They stared at me with expressions that practically screamed, ‘How the hell are we still alive? Just an hour ago we were being brutally tortured by those Haetae Guild bastards…’
I understood completely.
My own heart was still pounding like a drum, so I could more than empathize with how they felt.
Lucky break.
It was just like when I’d gone to the 1st-floor Skeleton Labyrinth in the Tower.
Back then, we’d suddenly been thrown into a crisis as well.
The appearance of a Dark Knight—a disaster for any F-rank hunter.
In that moment, my desperate desire to protect Han Ara had resonated with Unicorn's Protection.
Her name was Yun Jeonghui, right?
It was a relief that Yun Jeonghui was a virgin.
If she hadn’t been, the path ahead would have been far more difficult.
This is as far as our connection goes, Jeonghui.
After smashing the Haetae Guild, we had parted ways.
I’d confessed alone. I’d said goodbye alone.
All inside my head.
It was too sad.
My chest ached with cold emptiness.
I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
So this is what it feels like to break up with someone you love.
I was learning it for the first time in my life.
Now she was my ex-girlfriend. My former lover.
I stole a quick glance at Yun Jeonghui.
She looked like she was still in shock from our “breakup.”
Her face was completely blank.
She must have cried her eyes out—her swollen face and puffy body looked painful to even glance at.
My heart stung.
I’m sorry, Jeonghui. I’m a greedy man.
I’m not the kind of guy who can be satisfied with just one woman.
Human trash.
That’s why I’m letting her go, wishing for her happiness.
She would probably live the rest of her life never knowing how I truly felt…
“I have a lot of questions, but… let’s start with the obvious.”
“Yes, go ahead.”
Yi Cheongryong’s voice pulled me out of the sea of melancholy I’d been drowning in.
When I opened my eyes, it wasn’t Shanks standing in front of me—it was Yi Cheongryong.
He looked at me with deadly serious eyes and asked,
“It’s probably a skill, right? When you work as a hunter long enough, you learn to keep at least one trump card hidden… You must have been hiding that skill too. Am I wrong?”
“Something like that.”
“…Hah. Just answer one thing for me. And I need you to be completely honest. Our friendship isn’t deep enough to demand the truth, but…”
Yi Cheongryong’s voice cracked with emotion, as if he were on the verge of tears.
“You’ll probably become a father someday too. So please… tell me.”
“……”
“That ability, that power—couldn’t you have used it from the very beginning?”
What Yi Cheongryong wanted to know was whether I could have prevented his daughter from suffering that kind of horror.
I answered firmly.
There was a lot I could say about this.
And I had nothing to be ashamed of.
I suppose it’s fine to tell them the skill conditions.
I had already proven that Unicorn's Protection was real.
Han Sora, an S-rank hunter, had confirmed it.
The Cheongryong Guild members would have no choice but to believe me once they heard her name.
“Yes, those are the skill conditions.”
I explained in detail.
It was a skill that activated when a virgin in the party was in mortal danger.
Yi Cheongryong frowned, clearly skeptical.
Han Ara and Han Sora had reacted the same way.
I immediately dropped Han Sora’s name.
“I know it’s hard to believe. But it’s true. I possess that skill. I already reported it to Hunter Han Sora. Once we leave the Tower, you can meet with her and verify it yourselves. I’ll arrange the meeting.”
“…Hunter Han Sora knows about this skill as well?”
The moment I mentioned Han Sora, the doubt vanished from Yi Cheongryong’s eyes.
He was starting to believe the ridiculous skill conditions.
That was how much credibility she carried.
I wonder how big a loan I could get from the bank.
I’d heard that certain specialized professions could secure loans in the hundreds of millions with just their license.
I was suddenly curious whether Korea’s top S-rank hunters could buy an apartment in Gangnam with nothing but their hunter license.
I’ll ask her later.
The Cheongryong Guild members seemed to have decided to trust my words. They didn’t ask about what had happened with the Haetae Guild.
Instead, they asked something else.
“…Then are we supposed to clear the rest of the floors with just us?”
The Cheongryong Guild hunters looked at one another.
The Third Attack Squad that had once numbered twenty-five had been reduced to a mere thirteen.
They were clearly worried about whether this small group could conquer the 20th floor of the Tower.
“Well, it’ll be a bit tough, but we’ll manage somehow, won’t we?”
Yi Cheongryong comforted his guild members in a refreshed, lighter tone.
“It’s a hell of a lot better than dying at the hands of those trash bastards, right?”
“…That’s true, Master.”
The Cheongryong Guild hunters glanced at the Haetae Guild corpses sprawled behind us.
Looking at the bodies with their throats torn open, they let out sighs of relief.
They hadn’t died. They had survived.
That was enough.
Even if they had to stay up all night hunting monsters for the remaining time…
It was good. There was nothing bad about it.
“Really…”
Yi Cheongryong stared at me intently.
He shook off the heavy emotions weighing on him and bowed his head.
“Thank you. Truly, Hunter Park Seonwoo. Thank you for saving us.”
“…It’s nothing. I did it to survive too, you know.”
“No. Something like this needs to be said with sincerity. As for the rudeness I showed you earlier… I hope you can understand it with a generous heart. As a father with a daughter, I had no choice.”
“I understand.”
I had no intention of blaming Yi Cheongryong.
I didn’t resent him at all.
From an outsider’s perspective, it would have been perfectly reasonable to feel wronged.
Yi Cheongryong had returned to his original energetic demeanor.
The same spirit he’d had when we first entered the 20th floor of the Tower.
“Our numbers have decreased. But strangely, doesn’t it feel safer now? Or is it just me?”
Yi Cheongryong grinned.
The Cheongryong Guild members burst into laughter along with him.
“You’re right. When I think about how those Haetae Guild bastards were plotting all that crap while looking at us… honestly, this feels a lot more reassuring.”
“Exactly. I like that it’s just our guild now. Hunter Park Seonwoo is the exception, of course.”
Yi Cheongryong led the Cheongryong Guild members in preparing to conquer the Tower.
The 20th-floor raid without the Haetae Guild.
We had simply been lucky to survive against them.
The zombies on the 20th floor were still crawling upward.
There was no time to relax.
“Let’s work hard for the remaining time. Only after we leave the Tower… can we say we’ve truly survived.”
“Yes!”
“And once we’re out, we’ll have to figure out what to do about…”
The fight with the Haetae Guild wasn’t over yet.
Yi Cheongryong was already looking that far ahead.
Whether they had any chance against the Haetae Guild or not, it seemed he was determined to struggle with everything he had just to survive.
I decided to join forces with the Cheongryong Guild to clear the 20th floor.
There was no way I could do it alone.
…I wonder if Han Sora finished safely.
I’d have to summon her later when I had some time alone.
While I was at it, I could ask her how big a loan I could get.
Shk—!
A pure white spear of light pierced straight through Brainwashed Rebel Leader Haperion.
Han Sora, fully recovered to peak condition, finished off the 50th-floor boss monster that had been on the brink of death.
“Hoo…”
A reward notification for defeating the boss appeared in Han Sora’s vision.
You have defeated the 50th-floor boss monster Brainwashed Rebel Leader Haperion.
You have acquired the skill Language of Pandora.
Several of her stats had increased.
Because she had delivered the finishing blow, she received more rewards than the other hunters.
“Huh?”
While checking the System Interface log, Han Sora discovered something she had never seen before.
Ding—!
Judgment of Radiance has removed the status ailment from Brainwashed Rebel Leader Haperion!
Brainwashed Rebel Leader Haperion dies as Pandora Resistance Captain Haperion.
— U-ugh…
Haperion’s eyes cleared.
Right before death, the brainwashing that had been cast on him was lifted, and his sanity returned.
His body was collapsing.
Haperion searched for the hunter who had killed him.
He saw Han Sora standing relatively unharmed, though her equipment was damaged.
— ‘J-Judgment of Radiance’…!
“……?”
Han Sora understood what Haperion was saying.
The meaning translated itself inside her mind.
“You know my skill?”
— Aah, there’s no time for a long explanation. My ego is already melting away…
Haperion spoke urgently.
— You are probably trying to conquer the Tower. Am I wrong?
“…How do you know that?”
Han Sora couldn’t hide her shock.
It was as if her pet cat had suddenly started speaking Korean.
She had never imagined a boss monster of the Tower would mention the Tower itself.
— The sweet temptation that clearing the Tower to the 100th floor will grant any wish.
Haperion shook his head firmly.
— That is a lie. The Tower does not grant wishes. The Tower is not such a convenient tool.
“…What?”
Han Sora couldn’t understand what Haperion was saying.
It was difficult to even process the information right now.
Hunters climbed the Tower.
The surface reason was to obtain transcendent power.
But the real reason they climbed was the belief that reaching the top would allow them to fulfill any wish.
You’ll find out the moment you clear the 20th floor.
From the 20th floor onward, the Tower itself informed climbers that they had earned the right to truly challenge it.
Hunters had kept this fact hidden among themselves.
There was nothing to gain by revealing it.
Haperion glanced at his crumbling body and continued.
— The Tower is the Empress’s aquarium. It is a fish tank containing the planets she has invaded.
“……”
— The moment the 100th floor is cleared, the Empress’s invasion begins. Her army will descend upon your planet…
Haperion’s body turned to dust and vanished in an instant.
Those were his final words. His strength had run out.
Han Sora stared down at the spot where he had fallen with a somewhat dazed expression.
The S-rank hunters who had followed her confirmed the portal that had appeared in front of her and called out to their comrades.
“Sora cleared it! Hurry, hurry and get out…!”
Fewer than ten people struggled toward the portal.
Yi Haewan was among them.
Han Sora stepped into the portal, still turning over the words she had just heard in her mind.