Chapter 714: Eternal Spire (92)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 714: Eternal Spire (92)
Austin summoned every member of the Holy Cross Knights. Aside from those currently deployed outside, the entire guild had gathered in one place.
That bastard Austin, just how many people did he drag in here?
The vast guild hall was packed to the brim. At a glance, there were easily over a thousand people.
I stood in a corner with my arms crossed, scanning the room.
Seo Eun-ha and Han So-young were stuck to my side. Ryu Seol was… locked in her room, obviously. She couldn't exactly show up in public after being turned into a literal dog.
Where is Park Min-jun?
Shifting my gaze, I spotted him standing near the front with Jessica. He was scanning his surroundings with a dead-serious expression.
“Taeyang, what do you think is going on?” Seo Eun-ha whispered to me.
“Who knows,” I replied, looking toward the front.
If I had to guess, it’s probably because Night Bloom suddenly moved on to the next floor.
Right on cue, Austin stepped onto the podium. Unlike his usual self, his expression was grim.
“Everyone, quiet down.”
Austin’s voice boomed through the hall. The murmuring died down instantly.
“The reason I’ve called this emergency assembly is because… a significant change has occurred within the Tower’s system.”
Oh?
I narrowed my eyes.
Did Luna finally do something?
Austin raised his hand into the air, and a large, translucent window appeared.
[Emergency Notice]
- The Tower’s difficulty is being adjusted.
- Special quests will be issued to all participants.
- Rewards have been significantly increased.
“This is the message you all received a few days ago. As you can see, the system has announced a massive overhaul.”
Austin continued calmly.
“The problem is that this isn't everything. Reports are already coming in from various floors…”
He paused for a moment.
“Monster difficulty has spiked. Furthermore, new types of dungeons that have never been seen before are appearing.”
The hall erupted into murmurs again.
“We saw the notification a few days ago, but…”
“Why is this happening all of a sudden?”
“Did we do something wrong?”
Anxious voices broke out from all corners of the room.
Austin raised a hand to silence them.
“Calm down. This isn't just a simple increase in difficulty. It also means the rewards have improved accordingly.”
“But still…”
Someone tried to protest, but Austin cut them off.
“Several participants have already acquired rare items and skills through these new quests. Some have even received more than ten stat points at once.”
The hall buzzed at that revelation.
“Ten points?!”
“Is that for real?”
“How do you even get a quest like that?”
I let out a smirk.
Luna, you really went all out.
Just as she said, she was scattering opportunities to the other participants.
Austin continued his speech.
“Therefore, the Holy Cross Knights must respond proactively to these changes. For the next few days, we will focus intensely on performing new quests and conquering dungeons.”
“Then, what happens to the party compositions?” someone asked.
“We will maintain existing parties for now, but temporary reorganizations may occur as needed. Detailed instructions will be sent to each party leader individually.”
Austin’s explanation dragged on.
I let out a bored yawn.
Tsk, how dull. I wish this would end already.
I wanted to get back to the room and play with Ryu Seol some more.
“And… as you all well know, Night Bloom has forcibly cleared the gatekeeper boss and opened the path to the next floor.”
There it was—the topic I expected.
I wonder how they’ll react.
I narrowed my eyes, watching Austin.
The hall grew restless.
“Night Bloom…”
“Those lunatics again?”
“How the hell do you even force a boss clear?”
The whispering grew louder.
Austin raised his hand for silence once more.
“It is unclear exactly how they forced the gatekeeper boss’s defeat. However, if this continues, they may monopolize the most powerful rewards.”
His voice was laced with tension.
“The gatekeeper boss provides the best rewards on each floor. Rare equipment, skill books, massive amounts of gold… and if you’re lucky, even powerful unique abilities. This means Night Bloom could hoard all of it.”
The atmosphere in the hall grew increasingly heavy.
“Then what are we supposed to do?” someone shouted.
Austin looked around the room and spoke with a grave tone.
“Recently, we have secured some hints regarding the method Night Bloom used.”
So they found it.
I hadn't known either until I heard it directly from the Original Author, but once you knew, forcing the boss room open was surprisingly simple.
“On each floor, there are separate hints regarding the gatekeeper boss.”
“…Hints?”
Someone from the front row asked back. Austin nodded.
“Yes. The method varies by floor. Most of those hints can be obtained in special dungeons. Whether it’s a mural, a specific sacrifice… it’s said to take many forms. To find the exact details, we’ll have to investigate ourselves.”
The hall stirred again.
“A special dungeon…? Those are incredibly dangerous.”
“Who’s going to risk their life entering one of those?”
As the murmurs spread, Austin silenced them again.
“It is highly likely that Night Bloom, having already ascended to the 8th floor, has secured the special dungeon there first. Therefore, our primary objective must be to excavate the special dungeon on the 9th floor as soon as Night Bloom breaks through to it.”
He paused, looking around, then spoke with renewed force.
“Of course, it won't be easy. It’s true we are a step behind them. However—”
Austin’s eyes gleamed.
“We have numbers. Night Bloom is a small elite group, but we can deploy over a thousand people simultaneously.”
Exclamations of awe broke out across the hall.
Amidst the rising fervor, I just let out another disinterested yawn.
Classic Austin the Big Mouth. Always making things sound so grand…
The rest of the meeting was just more fluff and instructions that weren't worth listening to. I was getting bored; I felt it was about time to drop the Geum Taeyang act and return to being Jin Seo-yun.
*
Fortunately, Ryu Seol’s condition slowly returned to normal after about a day. That didn't mean there were no lingering effects, though.
“…I, I… did that…?”
As her memories trickled back, Ryu Seol’s face turned bright red in an instant.
She was curled up on the bed, clutching the blanket, her fingers trembling.
“Crawling on all fours… barking… and, and…”
Her voice grew smaller and smaller until she was just mumbling under her breath.
“Asking him to… sp-spray his cum… on my food… hic…”
Eventually, she buried her face completely under the covers.
I sat on the edge of the bed, smirking as I enjoyed the show.
“Why? Are you embarrassed?”
“Just kill me…”
A groan of pure despair leaked from under the blanket.
“It was fun. You liked it, too.”
“No, I didn't!!!”
The blanket flew up as her face popped out. Her eyes were rimmed with red and brimming with tears.
“…Th-that… my body just moved on its own…”
“More importantly, why did you suddenly change like that?”
Ryu Seol bit her lip and looked down.
“I don't know. Just… while we were having sex… a system message suddenly popped up in front of my eyes… and after that, my memory is a blur…”
“A system message?”
“Yeah… wait, I only saw some text flash by for a second…”
Ryu Seol’s face flushed red again. She gripped the blanket tighter, her eyes shaking.
Hearing that, I was certain.
Luna did something.
But a new question immediately followed.
Why did she do this?
Was it a prank, or did she just set up an 'event' for me?
The Tower’s system is supposed to be an entity that doesn't interfere with or take sides among participants. It has to maintain neutrality, but Luna’s adherence to those rules was already starting to crumble.
As expected, giving her a name had a definite effect.
From the moment I gave her the name ‘Luna,’ the Tower’s system ceased to be a mere system. And if the fallout was enough to turn a pink-haired girl into a dog, this was only the beginning.
*
A few more days passed, and a short note arrived from Jessica.
[End]
That was all it said.
And then, Park Min-jun and Jessica quietly vanished. They probably ran away, thinking I was going to kill them.
Did they get scared for nothing?
Ryu Seol had been so busy clinging to me for sex every day that she didn't even seem to notice Park Min-jun was gone.
Seo Eun-ha was the first to sense something was off, but when I brushed it off as nothing, she didn't push further and decided to just watch the situation for now.
Then, in the dark of the early morning.
I led the three women to a place where almost no one passed by.
Han So-young.
Seo Eun-ha.
Ryu Seol.
The first to speak was, of course, Seo Eun-ha.
“Taeyang, what is it you wanted to talk about… that you had to bring us all the way out to the outskirts?”
The gazes of all three women were fixed on me.
I uncrossed my arms and gave a light chuckle.
“I figured it was about time I told you three my true identity.”
Seo Eun-ha’s eyes narrowed.
“Identity?”
“Yeah.”
I slowly looked around. There really was no one else. This was an abandoned warehouse district on the outskirts of the 1st-floor town.
“Actually, my name isn't Geum Taeyang.”
“…What?”
Ryu Seol looked at me as if I were talking nonsense.
“What are you talking about? Why are you suddenly acting like some edgy teenager…”
“It’s the truth,” I said with a serious expression.
“Geum Taeyang is just a persona I was acting out. My real name is Jin Seo-yun.”
“Jin Seo-yun…?”
Han So-young tilted her head.
“You’ve probably heard of it, right? The Guild Master of Night Bloom.”
“…Huh?”
“The… Guild Master of Night Bloom?”
Han So-young and Ryu Seol still looked like they couldn't process the situation, but Seo Eun-ha spoke with a calm face.
“I knew something was off. Your strength… and how you knew things that aren't taught in the training center… it was all strange.”
Seo Eun-ha crossed her arms and looked me straight in the eye.
“So? Why did you hide your identity?”
I shrugged.
“I wanted to play around as Geum Taeyang, pretending to be an ordinary participant.”
“Play around…?”
The light in Seo Eun-ha’s eyes turned cold.
“So, everything you’ve done to us until now was just a joke?”
“It wasn't a joke.”
I shook my head.
“I kept you by my side because I genuinely liked you. I just hid who I really was.”
Ryu Seol asked in a trembling voice.
“Then… what you did to me… was that all part of the plan, too?”
“Rather than a plan…”
I looked at her and smirked.
“I just fucked you because I was horny. Besides, you’re the one who tried to hypnotize me first.”
Han So-young asked with an anxious expression.
“Oppa… what do you think of us?”
“What do I think of you?”
I let out a short laugh.
“You’re my women, obviously. That’s why I’m revealing the truth.”