Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: You Absolutely Can't Miss This
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[Newbie just entered the boss room?]
[What's the newbie's current floor progress?]
[Seriously, where do you think a newbie's growth limit is?]
[No armband, so I'm sprinting lololol]
[Yeah~ Don't hold onto false hope~ You'll never clear the floors anyway~]
[Cheetah's laughing... just laughing]
[So that's why the cheetah's called Ugly Green Guy?]
[Reason why Wine Lord's tower has shit efficiency.jpg]
[The world's gotten so much better lololol 2nd-floor scrub dreaming of graduation]
📰 Article Title: No Matter How Much the World Changes 💬 Comments — Anonymous How dare a low-floor scrub talk about graduating first in a place full of mid-to-high-floor bosses? — Reply Even if it's possible, just lay low like a dead rat and sneak out like a bitch. — Reply The hierarchy is collapsing lololol — Reply lololol What are you? Who are you to draw lines and give advice? — Reply Welcome to the low floors~ — Reply Fact) Low-floor scrubs have constantly changing faces, so they lack fundamentals lol — Reply OP, why sneakily lump mid-floors with high floors? — Reply Obvious mid-floor troll lololol — OP lololol~ Low-floor scrubs getting triggered and barking back is so cute — OP Jealous? Dox your real name and history, then mass report go go? 📰 Article Title: Watching idiots fight over floor ranks 💬 Comments — Anonymous Makes 'Ugly Green Guy', who met the newbie first and looks like he'll graduate, seem amazing all over again... — Reply For real lololololol — Reply No matter how much mid-floor scrubs scream, they can't hide their envy for graduation lololol — Reply Lol what good is playing good wife at home when you're in the gallery — Reply Getting NTR'd on graduation by low-rank Ugly Green Guy ㄷㄷ "Haha."
In the center of the ruins.
Someone browsing the gallery let out a laugh.
Eerie silver hair reflecting the moonlight accentuated her presence.
The tower's master, the true ancestor.
For her, who guarded the boss room alone, the gallery was precious emotional sustenance and her daily routine to endure the day.
She had helped an oblivious newbie, assisted with the awakener exam, and watched him climb to the 2nd floor.
This unfamiliar sensation of helping rather than just killing someone...
It stirred feelings in the true ancestor that were both strange and familiar.
Emotions stemming from her forgotten life, no doubt.
But she had long abandoned hope for graduation.
"...Newbie."
To the boss mobs in the mid-to-high floors, it might seem like hope—
But the armband wearers leading the gallery had forsaken hope ages ago.
Having discarded even their identities, they endured day by day with insane personas in the gallery.
The 'Wine Lord' concept had originated from one of them.
"Newbie."
The true ancestor parted her ruddy lips and uttered the name once.
The lingering echo at the end of her beautiful voice wasn't half bad.
Probably because she possessed a 'difference' from the other users.
The newbie was different.
More welcome than the monsters who chased graduation while forgetting their very identities.
Gazing toward tomorrow, living each day diligently—the newbie was far more appealing.
When you're stuck alone in this cursed room for hundreds of years, with no one coming...
"How far will you go?"
A pure curiosity about just how far he could climb tickled her heart.
She had witnessed countless hunters' despair.
The tower was their utopia and hell.
Having seen so many lose their identities amid these opposing values...
The true ancestor hoped the newbie would achieve as much as possible without losing his sanity.
Even if it was a fleeting hope or dream, she wanted even that sweet moment.
"I'll be waiting."
The tower's monsters filled with malice, hunters blinded by greed.
And beyond that, the 'theme stages' that would soon truly shake his identity.
The true ancestor melted back into the darkness once more, immersing herself in the Boss Mob Gallery.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ My level rose.
But more importantly, it was the reward from the hidden piece.
"...That."
"Yes. It was a hidden piece, so I just took it."
It was half-forced seizure, but the one to complain—no, the boss monster—had already graduated long ago.
'Right?'
Probably.
The tower's system had stamped it: graduation, hidden piece condition achieved.
Do-yoon's gaze turned to the curved sword in his hand.
「Goblin Warlord's Scimitar (S)」 Look at that shiny letter after the name.
It was an intense rank that stirred the owner's heartstrings.
Do-yoon might not know much else, but he knew an S-rank was good.
Uncle Kim had once beamed about pulling an S-rank gacha item.
"..."
The hunters eyed the item in Do-yoon's hand with inscrutable gazes.
For a moment, instinctive greed flickered in their eyes.
"Do-yoon."
Han Ji-hyeok called to him.
"Yes."
Do-yoon replied, unconsciously tensing.
What if they said it was too much for him and demanded he hand it over?
Logically, higher-level hunters could use a lowbie like him far better.
But.
'I don't want to.'
His honest reluctance won out.
It was his achievement, his reward.
No matter how much Korea pushed collectivism, Do-yoon wanted to claim this basic sense of accomplishment for himself.
"Looks amazing. Good job."
"..."
"Yeah. I like that look in your eyes."
"...?"
But the unexpected response left a puzzled expression on Do-yoon's face.
"To be a hunter, you have to know how to protect what's yours. Even from close allies."
If you don't protect it, it'll be taken.
Especially here, in the 'tower'.
Villains swarmed who treated others' lives as less than roadside pebbles for their own gain.
'Good.'
Han Ji-hyeok felt relieved by Do-yoon's fierce gaze instead.
"Keep that attitude. That's how you'll protect your own life in the end."
"Uh... yes."
"Okay, then. Perfect timing. An S-rank weapon makes me feel a lot more secure."
Han Ji-hyeok shared his honest thoughts.
In his hunter career, he'd seen A-rank gear, but this was his first S-rank ever.
'Boss mob's unique weapon.'
That was likely the source of its value.
Weapons from within the tower vastly outclassed outside equipment in quality.
"Do-yoon-ssi."
Now Jo Ha-rin stepped forward.
"Did anything else come out? Like a 'mana stone'?"
"Ah, yes."
Do-yoon pulled a small stone from his pocket.
A sinister, dark-red stone swirling with eerie energy.
The hunters facing it swallowed involuntarily.
"Nice. That's super valuable."
"This stone?"
"Yes. Mana stones are precious resources in the industry. Used for new material development and hold astronomical value in many ways."
"Oh."
"So if you turn it in, the association will pay a hefty sum."
No exaggeration on the amount.
Happy thoughts flooded Do-yoon's mind.
'This is why people hunt.'
"..."
Jo Ha-rin watched Do-yoon's blissful achievement-high face with an odd expression.
"You look great with it, Do-yoon oppa!"
Jeong A-hyeon chimed in perfectly, eyeing Do-yoon with the scimitar.
"Thanks."
"Heehee."
"Then, shall we head back?"
With the 2nd floor cleared and rewards checked.
The hunters decided to exit the tower and return to the association.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Great work...!"
Entering the association, Manager Choi Geon-woo greeted Do-yoon's party with a bright smile.
"Manager."
"Do-yoon-nim! I heard already. You soloed the 2nd-floor boss monster..."
"The hunters had my back, so the chance came up."
Do-yoon stated the facts plainly.
The 2nd-floor boss room was impossible solo.
Combat structure with goblin guards and mobs swarming the challenger.
Without hunters covering his rear, Do-yoon would've been in mortal danger multiple times.
'Kerruk! A fair and square fight!'
The Goblin Warlord 'Ugly Green Guy's' cry still echoed in his head.
'What was fair about it?'
Sending guards first for numerical superiority, only mentioning hidden piece at the end.
Ridiculous, but Ugly Green Guy was long gone.
"Oh, and Manager."
Do-yoon shared important news face-to-face.
"I got a hidden piece clearing the 2nd floor. Because of this..."
"...Yes."
Manager Choi Geon-woo had already been briefed on Do-yoon acquiring the hidden piece.
When he first heard, his legs nearly gave out in shock.
A rookie who just cleared the 2nd floor snagging a hidden piece.
In Korea, it was unprecedented.
"Hunter Han Ji-hyeok."
Receiving the manager's gaze, Han Ji-hyeok nodded gravely and sent Do-yoon and the others to the break room first.
"Like Do-yoon said earlier, there's something I want to tell you."
Alone, Han Ji-hyeok slowly recounted his experience.
Adaptability, combat sense, aggression that stunned even veterans, and info acquisition via the 'Helper' skill.
"You absolutely can't miss this."
Han Ji-hyeok emphasized the entire situation around Do-yoon.
"..."
Manager Choi Geon-woo nodded in full agreement.
The signs were already extraordinary.
What exactly was unfolding around him?
Even more shocking: Do-yoon was still 'immature'.
What took other rookies years to adapt—
Do-yoon achieved in mere months.
'And next?'
Hidden piece jumped him two levels from Lv 2.
This from mere low floors—what awaited in the high floors with bigger rewards...
Han Ji-hyeok and Choi Geon-woo exchanged glances as if scripted.
"Will Do-yoon-ssi keep showing interest in raiding?"
"The kid's insane. He straight-up enjoys it."
Han Ji-hyeok answered Do-yoon's hunter qualities with a hollow laugh.
"Looks like things'll get crazy busy for a while."
Choi Geon-woo smiled wryly, recalling internal association matters.
"When they hear a rookie snagged a hidden piece after years..."
"The old fogeys upstairs will flip out again."
"..."
Han Ji-hyeok knew their situation well enough.
Korea was obsessed with results. Especially in the hunt business.
Other nations' hunters rose daily, but Korea lagged.
No one felt it more keenly than Han Ji-hyeok and Korea's hunters.
"Can Do-yoon-nim pull it off?"
Choi Geon-woo dared gauge their future.
"No idea. But Do-yoon's really different."
He'd seen countless hunters die or retire.
Yet Kim Do-yoon stood out.
That's why expectations crept in unbidden.
About his future, that is.
'Can't miss him.'
Soon, the international exchange meeting where hunters from all nations gathered.
A major event to discuss tower raids and talents.
And a dangerous time when vulnerable hunters could be poached.
"Until then, we have to keep Do-yoon-nim's heart here somehow."
"Absolutely."
Han Ji-hyeok firmly agreed with the manager's meaningful words.