Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Misguided Aspiration #2
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After the secret meeting with Hanaoka Miyu.
The exchange meeting's schedule flew by as if by magic.
It wasn't a matter of time so much as the sheer efficiency of it all.
Of course, the driving force behind it was none other than Hanaoka Miyu, one of the top-tier hunters, going out of her way to accommodate them.
"...Isn't there a serious lack of star power here?"
"...Do-yoon. This is reality."
Han Ji-hyeok replied to Do-yoon's question with a thoroughly dejected look on his face.
He wasn't even married yet, but he already carried the weight of a family man.
At the very least, whenever he talked about the reality of hunters in Korea, Han Ji-hyeok's face always looked a decade older.
"We only have you."
"That's a lot of pressure, hyung."
"Ji-hyeok ajusshi! Don't put that on Do-yoon oppa!"
Jeong A-hyeon, sitting next to Do-yoon, shot Han Ji-hyeok a glare.
"This is so unfair. Who raised you guys, anyway?"
"W-what are you saying...!"
"People always bet their lives on their lovers more than their parents, right?"
"S-sis...!"
Jeong A-hyeon's face turned beet red as she looked at the rest of the team.
The group lightly deflected her resentful glare by subtly turning their heads away.
'What the hell.'
Was there something going on that he didn't know about?
Or maybe it was because he'd gotten close to Jeong A-hyeon faster than the other hunters.
Do-yoon brushed it off without much thought and turned his attention to the bustling exchange meeting site.
"Our hunters are actively tackling the tower right now. That's why I could only come alone."
That was what Hanaoka Miyu had said.
She'd explained that all the top-class hunters, excluding herself, had been deployed with the goal of conquering the tower.
Curiously, the master of the tower that had appeared in Japan was said to be a knight clad in black iron.
It seemed like a being even the gallery hadn't seen before.
'One of the armbands that hasn't shown up yet.'
So far, four armbands had made appearances.
The Wine Lord, the Paper Enthusiast, the Short-Eared Goblin, and even the one called the War God with its unique concept.
Out of the six towers that had risen across the world, that left two spots empty.
'One of them.'
The tower master called the Black Knight hadn't appeared in the gallery yet.
"We'll know the results once they report back, but the odds of success are high. After all..."
The shrine maiden trailed off with a gentle smile.
"....."
The hunters picked up on the meaning behind that silent smile and wore subtle expressions.
Unlike Korea's hunters, whose tower conquests were progressing slowly, other countries' tower raids were already going smoothly.
In other words, it was subtly comparing Korea's hunter power to Japan's.
"It's a shame I couldn't join them personally, but not every hunter can leave the country unattended."
"I see."
"And coming here today, I've realized my previous assumptions were wrong."
"....?"
As the hunters showed their confusion at the remark, Hanaoka Miyu's gaze immediately turned to Do-yoon.
"I've never seen a hunter with such outstanding potential anywhere before. You'll surely become a towering figure who shakes the world someday."
'This woman.'
Do-yoon looked at Hanaoka Miyu with a troubled expression.
It was a statement dripping with blatant intent.
A few reporters in the room immediately swung their camera lenses toward Do-yoon's face.
At this point, getting attention wasn't doing him any favors.
Unwanted expectations only made him uncomfortable.
"That guy..."
"Did you hear? The shrine maiden herself pointed him out."
"Never seen his face before... A rookie hunter?"
"It hasn't been long since they announced the new ones. He's a beginner hunter for sure."
See?
People were already starting to take a huge interest in Do-yoon's existence.
Do-yoon barely suppressed his urge to bolt from the room and somehow managed to stay until the exchange meeting finally wrapped up.
Progress on Korea and Japan's towers.
Info on key hunters and their connections.
Even the possibility of direct force exchanges in the future.
More topics than he'd expected bubbled to the surface, and there were plenty of intriguing discussions as he listened in.
However, for Do-yoon, who still lacked experience, he didn't really qualify to join the conversation...
"What does Do-yoon think?"
Qualify...
"Do-yoon?"
Quali...
"Do-yoon, if you have any thoughts on this topic..."
'This crazy woman for real.'
Do-yoon shot Hanaoka Miyu a look like he was about to lose his mind.
This was some next-level trolling.
Why was she trying to drag a hunter like him into the spotlight?
Was this what they meant by killing the goldfish out of pure curiosity?
Feeling everyone's expressions turn subtly awkward, Do-yoon couldn't help but tense up so much he forgot how to breathe.
Hed rather face monsters in the tower.
Operating among people who staked their lives on public opinion was a huge mental burden.
"Argh!"
Once the exchange meeting finally ended and he returned to his lodging, Do-yoon thought of one woman amid his frustration.
'What do I do about this?'
"What do we dooo?!"
Eira cheerily mimicked him, reading his mood.
Hearing her voice calmed his anger a bit, and he took a moment to think.
Top priority.
He needed to keep an eye on heavyweights like that shrine maiden and wherever they were operating.
But with his current power, charging in would just be suicide.
In the end, he was in a position where he had to aim for a certain level through the tower.
"Just one more reason."
With that sentiment, he logged back into the gallery.
📰 Boss Mob Gallery (My Post) Title: Newbie's Super Recent Update - Exchange meeting schedule almost over Can probably resume tower raid as early as tomorrow or the day after One more thing I'm curious about regarding those tower floor holders, Are there any raid points that are immediately dangerous right now? 💬 Comments — Anonymous Mid-to-upper floor guys are mostly hanging by a thread. — Anonymous Success rate from our floors up isn't great, so yeah, it's risky every time the hunters get knocked down once. — Anonymous The tower lords are the only ones living it up lololol — Me (My Post) Why? Can't tower lords adjust raid points just as hard? — Fact At tower lord level, hunters challenging them are so rare it's countable by era. Mid-to-upper guys have been ejected multiple times and the lords haven't changed once lololol — Me (My Post) ㄷㄷㄷ ⭐ Top Comment — Aged Wine is... Hawawa...! For the newbie to worry about us instead, it's so moving...! — Anonymous Pathetic;;; "That's about it."
Come to think of it, Do-yoon had never heard of any tower being conquered in his lifetime either.
Not in other worlds, but no tower on Earth had ever collapsed.
-Zzzt!
"Ugh."
Thinking idly about the towers' fates led him down to his own past.
His heart pounded, and a sudden urge to rampage welled up.
It was the pent-up rage from the brutal Gate Break he'd endured.
Until now, he'd lived without blaming anyone.
He had to think that way just to keep going.
But now even that mindset was tainted by some group's machinations and schemes.
"Oppa."
"Yeah."
"I'm on your side, oppa."
"Thanks."
Eira's comfort echoed in his mind.
Do-yoon sincerely thanked her and thought of Hanaoka Miyu and the other hunters.
How deep did their roots go?
If not just her but other heavyweight hunters were involved too—
This world might truly have no answers.
When all the truth came out someday,
He might have to brace for a massive war.
"My head hurts."
Do-yoon decided not to dwell on solutions he couldn't act on right now and just face tomorrow first.
#
"Hehehe."
Moonlight filtered into the serene room.
At its center sat a woman gracefully, her form trembling faintly.
Today had been a meaningful day.
Her gaze had been fixed on one man the entire time.
The auras of the riffraff filling the room meant nothing to her.
She and Do-yoon had definitely connected.
Under the guise of the exchange meeting, she'd posed questions, and Do-yoon had met them.
Recalling that intense gaze, Hanaoka Miyu felt her body subtly heat up.
"...How impressive he is."
Calming her fluttering heart, the shrine maiden anticipated his future.
-Prrrrng!
A horse-shaped shikigami had manifested and licked the back of her hand.
A shikigami with power rivaling monsters from the mid-to-upper floors of the tower or beyond.
And she had five such beings under her command.
For a top-tier hunter pushing past level 70 toward 80, such might was only natural.
"Ahh, I want to see him again."
The tower's love swirling around him lingered in her mind.
Enough to make her jealous without thinking.
She was clearly bewitched by his talent.
"Someday, I hope he'll join our cause."
It was already foreseen, as good as set in stone.
Beyond Earth, comrades across other worlds all eyed a single point.
The towers' madness—no, love.
The heroes who had reached that mystery,
Forgetting even their true purpose, they only envisioned the hell of Gate Breaks.
"May their love blanket this world."
And those who desperately wished to remake the world from within the towers.
In the shrine maiden's aspiration,
Do-yoon's existence was undoubtedly a talent she absolutely had to acquire.
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