Chapter 40
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Game Clear
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The black robe was instantly soaked with blood. Seeing that, I swung my hand to fling a star right away, but crunch—my brother straightened the head he had tilted back for a moment and crushed the spear lodged in his body.
The fish-shaped glass craft trembled as if startled, trying to rise high, but that effort was in vain as it was quickly seized by my brother's hand. Ethan, wedged in my brother's side, let out a scream that pierced my ears painfully.
“…Oh, right.”
Crunch. Cruuunch. The fish shape distorted in my brother’s grip. The fish bristled with spines and unleashed countless spears in a frenzy. But black smoke burst out at the same time, blocking most of the attacks. Blood dripped from my brother’s hand where the fish’s spines had pierced, but not before worse damage could occur.
Crash!
The fish shape vanished, and shards of glass rained down to the floor.
The glass fish couldn’t be hurt by attacks. It required pure physical force exceeding a certain threshold to shatter. That’s why I couldn’t deal with it. My strength just didn’t meet the mark.
In contrast, my brother—with both the novel’s memories and immense physical power—would find it relatively easy. In simple terms, it was like a max-level character who had memorized the entire攻略 guide.
That’s why my brother had let it stab him—to get close enough to touch the glass fish.
‘No need to worry after all.’
My brother shook off his hand and glanced around briefly before leaping toward the glass bear floating in the sky with a thud. The glass bear flinched back momentarily at his swift speed, then suddenly grew enormous and opened its mouth wide.
My brother, without the ability to fly, seemed headed straight into the glass bear’s maw, but clang—his sword cleaved the massive glass bear’s face in two.
Startled by my brother’s actions, the glass bear shrank small and tried to flee. But right in front of the escaping glass bear, black smoke formed like a net. As my brother made a pulling motion, the smoke contracted in an instant, enveloping and shattering the glass bear.
‘And probably…’
I looked down from the sky, scanning the ground below. Soon, something small and glittering caught my eye. I strode toward it, and as I drew near, a faint voice reached me.
—Uh, this, isn’t right. Why is it so strong? For now, I’ll drink the poison again…
“It’s all that experience under your belt.”
—Huh?
I stomped flat on the tiny glass bear looking up at me. It shattered with a small crunch.
‘He’s got natural strength, too.’
I rubbed my foot a few more times before turning back to check the remaining monsters.
‘S-Rank dungeon final bosses, one by one…’
There weren’t many left. The number had dwindled dramatically compared to the start—no need to even mention it. At this rate, it’d be over soon.
Normally, an S-Rank dungeon could be cleared by one or two S-Rank hunters plus a handful of A-Ranks. But right now, we had multiple S-Ranks and multiple A-Ranks… need I say more?
No powerful monsters remained. The hunters around buzzed with excitement, darting about and mowing down monsters. I watched the scene while occasionally grabbing monsters flying toward the village. Better to let them get at least minimal rest.
About 30 minutes passed like that.
“Last one!”
Yun-sia moved with flashy flair, slicing the final monster with her cutlass, beaming with excitement. Park Woo-yun, still short on real combat experience, struggled to keep up with her movements, but she paid it no mind.
Thud. As the last monster fell, upbeat music rang out. Soon, words appeared in the sky.
[GAME CLEAR]
A small tongue-click sounded, and the view shifted. Back to the colorful sky and vast white floor. The simple waiting area we’d returned to before.
—……
“Wah!”
One hunter startled and dodged to the side. The others gradually cleared out as well. In the now-empty space, the reason they’d scattered—the Tower Lord—stood muttering something.
The Tower Lord glared at my brother with bulging eyes, then strode forward step by step, opening his mouth.
—Why.
One step.
—No one.
Final step.
—Died?
Just like before, my brother and the Tower Lord faced off. My brother smirked in response to the Tower Lord’s words.
“Guess the things you sent were too weak.”
Weak might be an understatement—my brother had died to them multiple times. Indirectly my fault for not properly briefing him on them, though.
My brother sighed at the Tower Lord’s continued glare and spoke.
“So, the bet.”
—……
Whoosh! The people dangling from the sky vanished one by one. Until the last one was gone.
—There, everyone’s out of the tower. Happy? We’ve got the pact anyway.
My brother looked up at the sky briefly before nodding.
The moment the Tower Lord turned, exuding murderous intent and leaping back—
—Oh, right. Yeah.
With a snap of his fingers, the cord around my brother’s wrist vanished. Before I could even relax at that, the Tower Lord turned to Gel-tan and said,
—You, get back to your spot. Even if it’s from that one, there’s a limit to looking the other way.
Gel-tan paused, then nodded, placing a hand on my shoulder and muttering softly.
“See you later.”
I graciously flipped him the middle finger in return.
Rustle. Gel-tan’s body flipped like a cloth and vanished. The Tower Lord leaped back into the sky and spoke.
—No deaths this time… impressive. A few died on the first floor, though. So, I think some adjustments are needed. Rest for now. Oh.
He glared our way and continued.
—But no rewards this time.
Then whoosh—he was gone.
“I’m free at last! Liberation!”
Ethan raised both hands high, practically bouncing in joy at his freed wrists. How agonizing must it have been stuck with my brother?
My body radiated exhaustion. Thinking I should release the activation, I did so, and my brother asked me,
“Ji-eon-ah. You okay?”
“Yeah… no big, deal.”
“……?”
Annoying residual coughs interrupted my words constantly. I took a deep breath and swallowed, finally quelling them.
Seeing my coughs, my brother asked,
“Something wrong?”
“No, I’m fine—”
But before I could finish, something surged up my throat. Dark red blood soon trickled from my mouth, dripping onto the floor.
“Ah.”
I clamped my hand over my mouth. But everyone around had already seen, and all sorts of clamoring voices filled my ears.
‘Ah, should’ve just kept it activated. Gonna ruin my clothes.’
In the activated state, I’d forgotten the poison in my body. Pattern Activation drastically slowed the poison’s spread.
My trembling hands fumbled for the antidote, but the lid wouldn’t open. Then thud, roll roll—the antidote fell to the floor.
‘Ah. This.’
I’m screwed.
My vision tilted, then snap—consciousness cut out.
♧♣♧
Ethan Taylor, A-Rank hunter from Freesia Guild. American hunter known as a support specialist. Yeah. That’s me.
‘But why am I here?’
Short on manpower, I’d teamed up temporarily with a Korean S-Rank hunter. At first, my heart raced at the thought of boosting an already powerful hunter even further, but it ended before I could use my support skills—treated like dead weight.
‘Of course! Better than dying. Maybe it was an easy clear. But…’
It’s scary! He’s radiating killing intent while handling monsters, and it reaches me too! I’m more scared of people than monsters! Monsters are scary too, sure… anyway!
‘Seriously…’
I let out a deep sigh. Coming into the tower, I felt like a hero, heart pounding. But inside, things looked pretty pathetic… Well, what can a support do?
Even as an A-Rank, I’d only gotten in thanks to my strong support abilities. My overall stats barely scraped A-Rank. Still, grateful just to be here on support skills alone. Yeah.
‘Anyway…’
I glanced sideways at the person lying on a blanket spread on the floor. Name was… uh, hmm. Nah, name doesn’t matter.
‘The younger brother of the hunter I was paired with, right?’
S-Rank brothers. Rare, but not impossible. First time seeing it, though.
‘But… he doesn’t look great.’
The hunter lying there had collapsed from severe poisoning. Must be hell for his family.
‘If poison can take down an S-Rank… wonder if he’ll pull through.’
The hunter hadn’t realized he was poisoned until he released his activation—then it spread through his body. His internals twisted completely; even antidote didn’t stop the bleeding. Recovery potions failed too. So we ended up using the infamous blue potion.
‘I haven’t even tried one yet.’
No surprise there. Its creator, famed S-Rank healer Yoo A-han, is Korean. For an American A-Rank like me, her blue potion is an unattainable treasure…
‘Huh? But…’
A sudden doubt hit me, and I looked around. Then I approached the S-Rank hunter I was close with, Hanna.
“Hanna.”
“Yeah?”
“Even S-Ranks feel minimal pain from poison?”
I spoke carefully, lest the hunter I’d paired with overhear. Simple reason—scary face!
“Why?”
“Well, he got poisoned but didn’t notice until he collapsed like that. So maybe no pain?”
“Depends on the poison, but most can sense them. Feels like a foreign substance in the body.”
“Huh? Then why this hunter?”
“Hmm…”
“Probably because he’s new to being a hunter.”
The voice from behind made my body jolt like it short-circuited. I stiffly turned to see the hunter—Hanna’s friend I’d kept glancing at—answering my question.
“He probably sensed the poison spreading… but ignored it since no immediate effect. Or maybe one of his abilities numbs pain.”
“Ooh… that’s harsh.”
“You saw it earlier. Covered head to toe in blood, yet facing us calmly. No hunter three months post-Pattern manifestation acts like that. Has to be constitution or ability.”
“True. Back in the day, I’d cry thinking I was dying from bad wounds.”
Listening to them, my eyes met the Korean hunter’s—she gave a bright smile.
I’d already noted her stunning face from glimpses, but eye contact and that smile? Jaw-dropping. The kind you’d keep thinking about. Hanna was a clear beauty, but this hunter had undeniable charm. Simply put, gorgeous.
“Speaking of, Ethan’s been a hunter just over two years, but you screamed your head off earlier?”
“Hanna?!”
“Nah, like a kid at an amusement park for the first time—no, no, no, stop! All that.”
“When did I…!”
Heat flooded my face, and my eyes met the Korean hunter’s again. I whipped around and fled elsewhere.
‘Hanna, I hate you! Why bring that up!’
I strode to where my familiar guildmates were. Some jerk teased how red I was, but I ignored him and turned—there stood the Korean hunter, looking even younger in deep sleep.
‘Said he hasn’t been a hunter long.’
Yet he came here, felt pain or not, knew he was hurt but didn’t care. Seemed more seasoned than me at a glance.
‘…Even someone that young pushes through the pain.’
While I just screamed. Sure! Not entirely my fault.
‘I should’ve moved more.’
Even if unneeded, properly fulfill the support role!
‘…Alright. Let’s do this!’
Learning Han Ji-eon was older than me would come much later.