Chapter 217: Eternal Spire[R-18] (42)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 217: Eternal Spire[R-18] (42)
A day had passed since Mila left for the north.
Her mission was simple.
To stage a show of force by conquering dungeons near the Northern Alliance Guild's town.
This wasn't just a simple demonstration. It was a warning.
It was to pressure the Northern Alliance Guild out of getting any funny ideas. It was also a message for Kang Hyun-woo of the Moonless Guild.
‘It’s a town built by participants, so there’s no penalty for killing them… but there’s no need to give them a pretext.’
I had sent Mila as a warning after receiving intel that the Neutral Guild Alliance had been meeting frequently with Austin.
‘And I also sent her to provoke Mila’s father while she was at it.’
I was curious to see how he would react if he met Mila.
Imagining the father-daughter reunion, I looked at the map on my desk. It showed the guilds that currently held the most influence.
This show of force wasn't just for the Neutral Guild Alliance. It was also a warning to the other guilds that were watching from the sidelines.
‘My guild is overwhelmingly dominant for now… but I don’t know when they might catch up.’
While I was monopolizing the rewards from the boss battles, Austin was closing the gap by focusing intensely on clearing dungeons. The same went for other guilds besides the Holy Cross Knights.
If they managed to clear unknown dungeons not featured in the original story and obtain powerful rewards, they too could one day become a threat.
‘It’s not just the Holy Cross Knights. The other bastards are watching and waiting, too.’
To counter my solo dominance, other major guilds were absorbing smaller ones or forming their own alliances.
Currently, there were four major powers.
Night Bloom, the Holy Cross Knights, White Night, and the Neutral Alliance.
Excluding the Neutral Alliance, the three guilds—Night Bloom, the Holy Cross Knights, and White Night—wielded the most influence.
Among them, Night Bloom was the most powerful.
Most people wanted to join Night Bloom, but…
“I only accept women.”
That one statement had caused an eruption of complaints from the men. But their complaints were none of my concern.
I quietly rose from my seat and looked out the window.
‘I should start preparing for the boss battle soon.’
Now that I had entrusted the northern situation to Mila, it was time to get ready for the next boss.
‘This time, the boss is the Frost Ogre Lord, wasn’t it?’
Starting from the 6th floor, bosses began to possess special abilities in earnest. It wouldn't be a simple power struggle, but a fight that required understanding and countering specific mechanics.
I organized the boss’s traits in my head.
‘Frost Ogre… a boss with the frost attribute. When its health drops below a certain point, it forms Frost Armor, and physical attacks are halved. It has a powerful frost shockwave, summons Ogre Warriors, and enters a berserk state…’
A fire-attribute dealer with inherent frost immunity was an essential component for clearing it. However, my guild currently lacked a fire dealer with sufficient power.
‘Right now, we have about five members who can handle the fire attribute… The problem is their firepower isn’t enough.’
I had recruited and trained many mages, but they were still underdeveloped and lacked the necessary damage output.
‘Raising mages isn’t easy.’
Even with similar stats and levels, their effectiveness varied wildly depending on their unique abilities and talents.
‘This isn’t enough.’
A fire dealer was essential.
‘Should I recruit new members…?’
Recruiting from outside, nurturing talent from within the guild… and scouting the fire-attribute mage from the White Night guild.
There were three options.
‘Raise someone from within? That would take too much time.’
Then it had to be an external recruitment.
‘There was a guy in the White Night guild who used fire… but he’s a man, so he’s out.’
In that case, I had to find the most suitable candidate.
‘The most powerful among the fire mages is…’
Elena, the ‘Crimson Inferno.’
A future ranker who appeared in the original story. Recruiting her was the most ideal scenario.
However, there were a few problems.
First, I didn't know Elena's current location. And in the original story, she had little interest in clearing dungeons or climbing the floors.
‘In the latter half of the original story, her nickname was the magic-crazed bitch.’
Even if I brought her in through negotiation, I needed a way to convince her.
‘Recruiting Elena is the best option… but since I don’t know where she is, I’ll put that on hold.’
I couldn't think of a decent Plan B. Besides Elena, the other candidates were men, so I didn't even consider recruiting them.
‘Or I could just handle it alone again…’
I opened my status window.
[Name: Jin Seo-yun]
Level: 58
Gender: Male
Disposition: Evil, Chaos
Stats
Strength: 40 + 28
Stamina: 38 + 28
Agility: 43 + 28
Intelligence: 10 + 28
Internal Energy: 50 + 28
Luck: 50 + 28
[Unique Abilities]
Grace of Cheon-wol
Master of Swordsmanship
King's Dignity
Mark of Tiamat
[Titles]
Lonely Conqueror
With stats like these, I could still take on the boss by myself.
But…
‘I can’t fight alone forever. They need to build up experience in boss battles to make it easier to survive on the upper floors later.’
Until now, I had fought alone to monopolize the rewards, but from now on, I needed to let the guild members gain practical experience.
Especially after the 10th floor, the difficulty of regular dungeons would skyrocket, and raid-level bosses would start appearing. Considering this, I had to get them accustomed to boss battles.
‘First, I should talk to Tia.’
*
An endless golden palace.
A realm high in the sky, forever beyond the reach of mortals.
A domain of the gods, transcending time and space.
This was the place where the divine council convened.
In a vast, golden hall, beings clad in brilliant radiance sat in a semicircle.
Their forms resembled humans, but they were powerful enough to crush the world with their presence alone.
In the center of them all stood a figure in a black robe.
“Well now, everyone~ Thank you for gathering. It’s time to check the first round of report cards. Here are the results for the participants you each bet on!”
Loki gestured in the air, and a massive, transparent screen appeared.
On the screen, countless names were listed along with each participant’s ranking.
“As you can see, they’re just now preparing to tackle the 7th floor. It seems the participants some of you bet on are doing quite well~”
Various reactions erupted from among the gods.
“Hmm… my participant’s growth is slower than expected.”
“Mine is holding up quite well. But I’m not satisfied yet.”
“Just as I predicted. Didn’t I say the 6th floor would be a crucial turning point?”
“Dammit… Why are those guys still on the 1st floor!”
Each god whispered amongst themselves as they checked on their participants.
But among them all, one name drew the most attention.
The atmosphere in the hall grew strangely tense.
In the middle of the screen, a report card on a completely different level from the other participants was displayed.
[Jin Seo-yun]
- 1st Place
- Probability of Reaching the Top: 99.99%
- .........
- .........
The figure sent a ripple of tension through the gods.
“99.99%?”
“…Is this a joke?”
“This is impossible.”
The gods’ gazes all shot toward Loki.
But Loki simply chuckled, enjoying their reaction as he waved his hand.
“Hey now~ It’s no use getting mad at me. This was analyzed by the system, you know?”
“That number is absurd. Is this for real?”
The other gods began to murmur and stir.
“The other participants are barely struggling on the 6th floor…”
“How can he alone be so overwhelmingly dominant?”
Loki narrowed his eyes, looking amused.
“I know, right? I’m curious myself. How did such an unbelievable monster come to be~”
At his words, several gods gritted their teeth.
“Loki…”
“Doesn’t this go against fairness?” a heavy, authoritative voice echoed through the hall.
But Loki just shrugged playfully.
“Come on~ Even if you tell me, it’s not like it’s something I can do anything about, is it?”
His flippant attitude made the gods’ expressions turn even fouler.
“The gap is too large compared to the other participants!”
“That’s not just an irregular, that’s a monster.”
“Who secretly funneled their divine power to him?” someone shouted in anger.
Loki just giggled and said, “Nothing like that~ Jin Seo-yun received no additional support whatsoever.”
“Don’t lie, Loki!”
“It makes no sense for Jin Seo-yun to have had that kind of power from the beginning!”
“So what are you going to do about it?”
Loki said, picking his ear as if annoyed.
“The game has already started, hasn’t it? The fact that he’s strong is just his skill~ If you have a problem with it, you know what to do, right?”
Just then, a goddess with blue hair gracefully swept her hair back and looked down on the other gods.
“You all look like puppies desperate to take a shit.”
Her provocative words made several of the gods’ faces twist in anger.
“Cheon-wol… watch your mouth.”
A male god spoke in a warning tone, but Cheon-wol was not the least bit intimidated.
Instead, she snorted and smiled.
“Hmph, since when did we speak with such dignity? Weren’t you the ones who always threw a fit whenever a problem arose?”
“Quiet, Cheon-wol!”
“I’m not wrong, am I?”
At her words, the gods glared at her even more sharply.
Cheon-wol gestured leisurely.
“You should have invested more wisely. To think your eyes for talent are so poor.”
Her words made several of the gods’ expressions turn grim.
“Grr…”
“Cheon-wol… he is an irregular. This is not fair,” Ares said, clenching his fist.
“So? Are you going to go down there and kill him yourself?”
“If I could…”
Loki snickered.
“Ooh~ Is Lord Ares going to sacrifice himself to eliminate him?”
“That’s…”
“Tsk, what a coward.”
A goddess with long, jet-black hair spoke to Ares.
“Tiamat… what did you just say?”
“I called you a coward. Do you have a problem with that? Coward?”
In that instant, a chilling silence fell over the hall.
Ares shot up from his seat, weapon in hand. Tiamat scoffed at the sight and rose as well.
“Do you dare to fight me?”
The very space vibrated with the power emanating from Tiamat’s body.
“Tiamat, that’s enough~ You’ll make him piss himself.”
At Cheon-wol’s words, Ares’s face turned red. Other gods who agreed with Tiamat and Cheon-wol also joined in.
“Enough.”
A deep, authoritative voice resonated throughout the hall. All the gods turned their heads in unison.
“This is not a place for fighting.”
At his single statement, the atmosphere in the hall immediately settled. Ares reluctantly lowered his weapon, and Tiamat took a step back with a cynical smile.
“And the other gods are not wrong. Jin Seo-yun is certainly an irregular. He is surpassing everyone’s expectations.”
At Zeus’s words, Cheon-wol laughed lightly.
“Surpassing expectations? You’re just saying that because the divine power you invested is about to go up in smoke, aren’t you?”
“Cheon-wol, do not be arrogant,” Athena said calmly.
“Jin Seo-yun is an unbelievable irregular. He possessed great strength and abilities from the start, and he wielded an absurd energy called internal energy.”
“And what of it? He was formally invited and is a legitimate participant.”
Loki snickered.
“Lady Cheon-wol is right. He was simply stronger than any of you could have imagined~”
“So we’re just supposed to sit back and watch?”
At Athena’s words, Ares also stood up and shouted at Cheon-wol.
“All the participants I invested my divine power in were killed by Jin Seo-yun!”
“Oh my, you should have chosen your investments more carefully then.”
“Cheon-wol! This is not a fair game!”
“No, whether you feel it’s unfair or not is your problem.”
Ares trembled with rage at her mockery.
Cheon-wol
