Chapter 24
Chapter 24
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 024
Chapter Title: Savior of Seoul (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
As befitting a place that existed solely to sow despair, there were no rewards whatsoever. Not even plausible artifacts, let alone consumable items—it was worse than just passing stage 1.
However, Lee Sang-hyun had gained more from Despair than from stages 1 through 4 combined.
The 'Source of Water' handed over by Tethys—who had waited in hope until her once-vibrant body turned pitch-black and rotted away—had instantly elevated Lee Sang-hyun's body to grade 4.
It granted him special abilities like Super Sense and Super Regeneration, and even resolved the Berserker's greatest flaw: the curse of blood.
From the hero who clung to his chains until the bitter end without even dying, he inherited the 'Ailbern Swordsmanship'—a technique capable of slaying grotesque demons.
Even compared to the rewards received by the Strongest 7, no—not even if you combined them all—it was incomparable.
In truth, it was the greatest reward imaginable, beyond comparison to anything else.
Of course, it came with an equally heavy burden of duty, but for now, he had returned in his most ideal state.
'This is Namsan.'
Whoosh...
Lee Sang-hyun peered down at the dizzyingly distant ground from high in the sky, pinpointing his location. He then swiftly scanned all of Seoul.
'The situation's dire. I need to conquer the towers as fast as possible.'
Alice hadn't explained in detail, but anyone with a brain could figure it out.
The unidentified towers that had appeared on Earth needed to be conquered. With that in mind, Lee Sang-hyun decided to start with the nearest tower from Namsan.
But Nameless blocked his path.
Nameless spoke to him of black.
"Black...?"
The abstract words didn't click right away. But once he realized the towers were white and red, he understood.
"You mean conquer the black tower first."
He felt a nod from behind. It was certain.
"Then that's what I'll do."
Following Nameless's guidance, Lee Sang-hyun set his course for the black tower first.
Descending to the ground, Lee Sang-hyun recalled the black tower's location.
"Yeouido, right."
He hadn't examined it closely while quickly surveying the vast area, but he was sure it was Yeouido.
"Let's go."
Ignoring the white tower on Namsan, Lee Sang-hyun bolted straight for Yeouido.
The straight-line distance from Namsan to Yeouido was about 6.5 km. Considering his grade 4 enhanced speed, he could cover it in under a minute.
Kieek! Kieek!
But en route to Yeouido, goblins were attacking soldiers and civilians.
'...No helping it.'
As a fellow human, he couldn't just ignore it and pass by. He dove into the fray.
"Kyaaak?!"
Lee Sang-hyun first aided the woman in desperate need. Then, in an instant, he sliced through dozens of goblins scattered around.
Slash!!
"Wha... wh-what...?"
"Ugh?!"
"W-What the hell?!"
The people couldn't close their mouths at the events unfolding in the blink of an eye. The slow ones hadn't even registered what happened.
Crunch!
'These are nothing compared to the dungeon ones. Did they release only the weaklings on purpose...?'
Lee Sang-hyun questioned how weak the goblins were, but only briefly.
'Ignore the trivial stuff. Right now, saving as many people as fast as possible is what matters.'
He cleared his mind of stray thoughts and expanded his sensory 'domain' to its maximum.
Suddenly, the area within several hundred meters sharpened into focus.
'About 700 of them.'
The scattered goblins numbered roughly 700. Lee Sang-hyun prioritized targets and moved.
'I'll clean them up in 3 minutes.'
Bam!!
Jin So-hee had never even imagined being devoured by some unknown monster.
Honestly, who would entertain such idiotic fantasies? Nightmares aside—no one that stupid would.
"Ah... ugh..."
Her body trembled.
Yet here she was, facing exactly that. Suddenly assaulted by hideous, unidentified monsters.
Grrrowl...!
The front door lay shattered, unable to bar their entry. The flimsy interior doors tore like paper.
Kieek! Kiiiek!
Now, only being eaten remained. Jin So-hee screamed at the impending pain and death.
"No, no, noooo...!"
She who'd never believed in God once before was different now.
More desperately than anyone, Jin So-hee prayed and prayed. Sobbing, she begged for salvation.
Kik! Kiiiek!
But just as she hadn't believed in God, it seemed God had no intention of saving her.
"Please..."
The monsters' breaths closed in on her face. Jin So-hee felt death's chill to her bones.
She shuddered violently...
Yet no matter how much time passed, death didn't come. The breaths right at her nose vanished. Unable to bear the fear, Jin So-hee finally opened her eyes.
"A-Agh...?"
Incredibly, the monsters were gone. Vanished cleanly, not a single one left.
What happened?
What's going on?
"Ah..."
Only after a long while did Jin So-hee realize. The monsters were all dead.
But she didn't know who or when it happened.
And she never would.
Having truly wiped out over 700 goblins in 3 minutes flat, Lee Sang-hyun headed straight for Yeouido.
There stood the black tower, coiled atop the ruins of the 63 Building.
'That's it.'
The black tower was ceaselessly spewing goblins. Players formed a defensive line against them.
"These damn goblins!"
"Annoying pests!"
"I'll kill you all!!"
"This is a summoner's power!!"
The black tower's goblins were far stronger than those from the white and red towers.
Even players who'd passed stage 2 of the final trial struggled to suppress them. Lee Sang-hyun charged without stopping, slashing over a hundred goblins in one go.
Slash!!
"What the...?!"
"One hit? He cleaved them?"
"I-Insane...!!"
The players were genuinely flustered. After all, he'd swept away 'black goblins'—which they could barely push back—in a mere 2 seconds.
"No way..."
A player who'd advanced past stage 2 into genius territory at stage 3 froze stiff in shock.
'This should be enough.'
Lee Sang-hyun ignored the players' reactions and entered the black tower.
"How much of humanity can you cull?"
The one addressing the 6th-rank constellation Ark of Death was another 6th-rank: the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, in the familiar form of Sun Wukong known to humans.
Ark of Death replied to his question.
"20%."
"Only 20%? Isn't that too low?"
Ark of Death shook its head at the complaint.
"It's not a small number. It means 1.6 billion humans vanish from Earth."
"Conversely, over 6 billion remain."
"I think we should cut it down to 50% from the start. What do you think?"
Playful as Sun Wukong's voice was, its content and gaze were anything but.
Ark of Death fell silent at the Great Sage's question, exhaled softly, then answered.
"You know as well as I that we can't, even if we wanted to. 20% is the maximum intervention possible."
"True, we're not omnipotent gods ourselves. That must be the best we can do."
The Great Sage shrugged in understanding, then grinned slyly as something occurred to him.
"One more question?"
"Go ahead."
Ark of Death nodded indifferently.
"At this point, is there any chance the black tower gets conquered?"
"Only with absurd luck."
The reason for the Great Sage's question? Players had already entered the black tower.
[I'll be the first!!]
[Together, we can conquer it!]
[The tower matters more than outside!!]
Idiots clueless about the tower had rushed in blindly, but the Great Sage was curious.
Whether anyone could conquer the black tower—one of the Seven Deadly Sins—before it fully manifested.
Ark of Death gave a firm answer.
"Impossible."
"Not even 0.000001%?"
"None."
"Oh ho ho!"
The Great Sage smirked smugly at the denial of even 0.000001%.
"I like the sound of that."
For Kang Mu-hyuk, aspiring to the pinnacle of the chosen—the 'Overlord'—the monster wave was an unparalleled opportunity.
Kieeek!!
"Hold the line!!"
"Don't fall back! Fight!!"
"We got this!!"
Yet Kang Mu-hyuk didn't stop the wave. Because he needed to be the first player to conquer a tower.
'There it is!'
He'd received tower intel from the 6th-rank constellation Edge of the Sword.
「Climb the white tower.」
「No one at your level can conquer the black or red towers yet.」
「You can conquer the white one.」
Unlike ordinary players, he knew he had to target the white tower—the only one conquerable at present.
'Found it!!'
Luckily, the white tower wasn't far. Quite close to his landing spot.
Kieeek!!
Hundreds of goblins poured from the tower, shrieking. But Kang Mu-hyuk felt no fear.
Instead, being alone sparked a petty thrill.
'I'm the first!!'
To be the pioneering conqueror, Kang Mu-hyuk charged through the goblins.
Slash! Swoosh!
Hundreds of goblins couldn't halt Kang Mu-hyuk, blinded by first-conquer glory.
He broke through and entered the tower boldly.
'I'm... I'm the first!!'
Needless to say, not just Kang Mu-hyuk—the other Strongest 7 had also entered white towers.
Their goal, naturally: 'First tower conquest.'
'...I'm number one.'
'This time, I'll show you. Who the true strongest is.'
'All as you will it.'
'This'll be fun.'
'Gotta wrap it up quick~!'
'For everyone's sake.'