Chapter 32
Chapter 32
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Manners Make the Man #6
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A world ruled by the Beastkin Federation.
The hunter with fox ears hailed from there.
'What is this? What am I even looking at?'
Even so, he'd lived a full life up to adulthood, seeing all sorts of things, and now he was even a hunter.
He could confidently say he'd witnessed both the sights worth seeing and the ones that weren't.
But compared to the scene unfolding before his eyes right now, all of that was just child's play.
The Object.
A monster from the 5th-floor theme that no one should ever tangle with—an entity utterly beyond specs.
You must never consider it a living being like yourself.
From the start, you had to doubt whether it even had a heartbeat.
It was like a doll set in motion solely for the trials of the theme stage.
He wasn't the weird one. That was the average gaze of any hunter looking upon the Object.
"Hic."
"There, there."
Facing Do-yoon, who was patting its back as casually as if handling a young child—
The fox beastkin felt an indescribable emotion.
"What am I looking at right now?"
"...He's soothing the Object."
"It's not the tower's mana driving me mad, then. Or are we both losing it?"
The hunter beside the fox beastkin let out a hollow laugh, as if he'd lost his mind.
The beastkin hunter couldn't believe what was happening right in front of him.
Do-yoon had already kidnapped several more hunters and brought them here, he said.
The Object was already activated and on the move; the trial had begun.
They had to track down the surviving fanatics and somehow restrain that child-like monster.
Running into the Object at this point might spell utter disaster.
'No.'
Everything had been a misfortune from the very start.
The Object never should have made it this far in the first place.
'What the hell is going on here?'
Two novice hunters who had only just climbed to the 5th floor had no way to make sense of the situation.
"Those mean people kept bullying me, and even when I said no, they hurt me so bad... Sniff."
The Object, who had been sobbing pitifully for a while, let out a childish whine through its sniffles.
"They're real bad guys."
"Those fanatic people kept blocking me and tormenting me..."
-Pat, pat.
Before he knew it, Do-yoon had freed his arm and was gently stroking the young Object's hair.
The soft texture, just like real human hair, brushed between his fingers.
Even as he comforted the young Object, he slowly replayed the earlier events in his mind.
'Tower Lord.'
There had definitely been someone's intervention.
It had been chaos, making it hard to judge properly, but her help was certain.
"Hic, waa..."
'How?'
How had she interfered with his status window?
In this place where everything ran on mana, meddling with a mere novice hunter's privileges was that easy for her?
The fact was, the dire situation had turned around for the better.
"One down."
"Huh...?"
"Nothing. Let's go punish those fanatics."
"Yeah..!"
The young Object, brimming with eager anticipation, tightly gripped Do-yoon's hand.
Its face was a mess of bloodstains, and its body was far from normal after forcing its way to reach him.
But its mind was sharper than ever.
'This'll work.'
In this condition, it could handle the battles ahead without issue.
"Hold on a sec."
Seeing Do-yoon about to move off hand-in-hand with the young Object, the hunter couldn't hold back and called out to him.
"What."
"Y-You're going like that? With the Object...?"
"We need it to clear this place anyway."
"No. Even so, that monster's kidnapped how many hunters..."
The fox beastkin clamped a hand over the hunter's mouth before he could finish.
"...."
The young Object was staring right at them, blankly.
Not the warm gaze it gave Do-yoon, but a dry, emotionless look that saw them as less than living beings.
-A chill ran down their spines.
Their fur stood on end, signaling danger.
Only then did the fox beastkin grasp their true position.
Without Do-yoon, they were still just prey for that Object.
"Let's go."
-Whoosh..!
But at Do-yoon's single word, the young Object looked up at him with innocent eyes as if nothing had happened.
"Yeah!"
"Hah...!"
The hunters exhaled the breath they'd been holding without realizing it, trembling as they watched Do-yoon and the Object.
"W-We’ll split off here."
"What?"
Do-yoon glanced at the fox hunter and the cowardly hunter, who were already putting distance between them.
"What're you talking about all of a sudden?"
"...We need to link up with other hunters in another sector—"
"If you're gonna move anyway, come with us. What if you wander off alone and die?"
"Even so, monsters in the forbidden zone are—"
"Quit talking nonsense and follow."
"Do-yoon."
This time, the fox beastkin spoke up.
"What now."
"This situation's deviated way too far from the manual we knew."
-Gulp.
The pressure from the Object nearby was intense, but the fox beastkin swallowed hard and pressed on.
"We should head back and consult the other hunters."
"Because of that trial or whatever?"
"...Yeah. If it's following the trial details we saw when we entered the forbidden zone..."
The fox beastkin opened their status window with confident conviction.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 「Theme Stage Trial」 - Help the surviving fanatics restrain the Object.」 "Even if you check right now, it's way too off from what you caused...!"
Just as they tried to point out how strangely things were unfolding, a clear chime rang in their ears.
-Ding!
"Too off...?"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 「Hidden Piece Achieved!」 「The trial has been updated due to Challenger 'Kim Do-yoon' discovering a Hidden Piece.」 ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 「Trial」 - Help the Object eliminate all remaining fanatics.」 "Wha...?"
"What the hell is this."
The hunters reeled in confusion at the trial's content flipping in real time.
It was the moment the 5th-floor manual, drilled into their ears by their senior hunters, was turned on its head.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ 「Clearing the trial will increase the rewards obtained.」 "....."
"Carry me!"
"Sure."
Do-yoon hoisted the beaming, adorable girl onto his back and set off to deal with the remaining fanatics.
"D-Do-yoon."
Feeling annoyed by the hunter still calling out to him meaningfully, Do-yoon glanced back.
"You got more to say? You saw the trial update."
"Not that—rescuing the captured hunters first would make it easier to track down the scattered fanatics."
The sharp-minded fox beastkin quickly matched pace to assist Do-yoon.
#
"...Ugh, ah."
One hunter bound at the altar's center regained consciousness.
"You're awake."
Turning toward the voice that noticed his stirring, he saw another hunter bound in blood-red mana.
"...You."
"Rakiya Bells. You got caught by the Object too, huh."
"...."
At those words, the black-haired woman recalled the situation just before her consciousness faded.
She hadn't been able to do a thing.
She'd been effortlessly subdued, fragile as could be, like facing an oncoming disaster.
-Crunch.
A wave of bitter defeat and humiliation crashed over her, but there was nothing she could do.
She could only remain bound here, biding time as a loser until the trial ended.
"Things are going sideways."
There were seven hunters subdued in total.
All of them were well-trained for trials.
One or two could be chalked up to bad luck, but this was too suspicious.
"Fuck, what the hell's happening."
The hunter beside her spat curses at the unresolved mess.
The others wore equally grim expressions.
Months of waiting time had already passed.
And now, failure to clear on top of that?
What kind of ridicule awaited them back in their home world?
A bleak future weighed them down.
"...Huh?"
Then, one hunter noticed something and made a sound.
"What is it?"
"Th-The trial info changed."
"...What?"
"No way. For real?"
"Help the Object... take out the fanatics...?"
One by one.
Confusion spread through the group as more noticed the anomaly.
"H-Hidden Piece? Hidden Piece? Am I seeing this wrong?"
"...Wait. Does that mean we still have a shot?"
The trial content had completely overturned the established manual.
And the name at the top was.
"Kim Do-yoon..."
"That hunter from Earth."
Several gazes naturally turned to Rakiya Bells.
Because it was the name of the hunter involved in her personal debacle.
"What in the world is this?"
"...I never heard of a Hidden Piece specific to the theme stage."
"Yeah. And this isn't even the boss room—how could—"
One of the bound hunters thought of the Object and paled in fear.
"H-Help the Object? What does that even—"
"We only ended up like this because that monster got us...!"
"...."
Rakiya Bells's head slowly drooped as she watched them.
She'd been brimming with confidence, charging through the forbidden zone.
But now?
'Me, beaten by that guy. By some Earthling.'
No more excuses.
It was a defeat so utterly complete by comparison.
No one had noticed the matchup between Do-yoon and Rakiya Bells—
But the hunters from her homeland lived and died by such pride.
"Ugh."
Her blurry vision wavered.
She wanted to wipe away the tears with her hand, but the bindings wouldn't allow even that.
-Rustle.
"....?"
As she wallowed in defeat for a while longer.
A man emerged from the shadowed underbrush.
"Th-That's."
"Do-yoon. Kim Do-yoon. He's here...!"
"Damn, I knew it!"
The hunters, spotting his face, excitedly chanted his name.
"What the hell with these lunatics."
Wonder if I should've bothered coming to free them.
The stark shift in their expressions felt strangely off-putting.
"Want me to shut 'em up?"
At the innocent voice in his ear, Do-yoon snapped to and shook his head.
"Nah, it's fine."
"Okay!"
"Can you free these guys now?"
"'Cause they're oppa's friends?"
"...."
Do-yoon hesitated for a moment.
Friends? Their relationship was too iffy for that label.
But for a smoother situation ahead, he swallowed the feeling.
"Yeah."
"Got it~."
With a cheerful voice, the blood-red mana binding the hunters dissolved.
"Gah!"
Freedom came to those dangling in the air and pinned to walls alike.
They hit the ground rolling, numb bodies protesting.
Regaining their senses, they finally took in Do-yoon's arrival properly.
More precisely, their eyes locked onto the being clinging to his back.
Pale skin, white hair.
And bloodshot red eyes.
Though their encounter had been brief, no one present had forgotten that face.
"...Hic."
"It's real. He's really with the Object."
"Hee hee hee."
Shock, terror, awe.
All those emotions stabbed toward Do-yoon at once.
"H-How...?"
"Stories later."
Brushing off the questioning hunter, Do-yoon got straight to business.
"You've all seen the trial change."
With extra hands secured to help him, it was time to face the rest.
He met the hunters' dazed stares head-on.
"Time to claim our rewards."
"Or they'll get a spanking!"
Do-yoon's unilateral declaration was backed by ironclad logic.