Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Upper Council
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It was a kind of game.
A fun game between a child who wielded blood energy and the man she adored most.
The toy was a massive lizard.
It had once dominated the floor as the pinnacle among the lizardmen boss monsters.
"Kraaaah!!"
It let out a scream of agony, flailing its body as if fleeing from the combined assault of Eira and Do-yoon.
Its wrist, still clutching the greatsword, shattered first.
The chains that had already overwhelmed it with just two now numbered over five, relentlessly pressuring the boss monster.
Any other hunter would call it unfair.
A monster mimicking the Tower's master was being forced to tackle the floor conquest itself.
Do-yoon, watching the scene, slowly made his way toward the staggering Lizardman Champion.
Beside him, Eira—the mastermind behind it all—supported him with her cute little gestures.
"Are you okay?"
She looked up at Do-yoon, her red eyes filled with worry.
"...Yeah."
In truth, he wasn't.
The price of summoning Eira's true form was still too much for him to bear.
Most of his mana.
His vision blurred as if he might collapse any moment, but he gritted his teeth and approached the Lizardman Champion with Eira's help.
'Not yet.'
He wasn't yet at a level to fight by Eira's side.
He fell far short.
'I need to get stronger.'
For conquering the Tower, and to understand it.
He had to comprehend the Tower. He had to uphold its will.
Salvation for the foolish sheep outside, divine punishment for those defying providence—
'What the hell.'
Suddenly, he flinched at an unfamiliar will surging within him.
'What's this.'
For a split second, he felt a sensation like some foreign intent seeping in.
Probably just a hallucination from his foggy mind.
But.
As if seeking an answer, Do-yoon naturally recalled one very suspicious figure: Hanaoka Miyu.
"Oppa."
"...?"
"You're okay."
He looked at the calmly reassuring Eira and nodded.
First things first: clear it.
"Kraaaah!!"
He turned toward the Lizardman Champion screeching in pain.
He could manage two more attacks if he pushed himself, even with Eira's support.
"Eira."
"Yeah."
As Do-yoon gently pushed away her supporting hand, Eira naturally stepped back.
Her gaze remained fixed on him.
Ready to rush back anytime, she kept him always in sight.
"Hoo."
He forced strength into his trembling knees and took a deep breath.
One step.
'It's fine.'
He flashed a light smile at Eira, who looked ready to cling to his side, and shook out his body in place.
In his right hand, the Goblin Warlord's curved sword gleamed coldly.
'If I can't even handle this...'
He'd left most of the fight to Eira, but she was part of his own power.
Could anyone criticize a hunter using every tool at their disposal to conquer the Tower?
'Survival comes first. By any means necessary.'
Recalling Han Ji-hyeok's solid advice, Do-yoon steeled his resolve.
"Time to end it."
"Yeah...!"
He aimed the curved sword at his target.
The bloodied Lizardman Champion.
It tried tearing off the chains wrapped around its left arm with its remaining one, but it was futile.
That arm had long been ragged.
-Sizzle...!
Using his remaining mana, he generated viscous slime that melted anything it touched, then coated the curved sword with it.
No matter how tough the beast's scales, they wouldn't withstand the Acidic Digestive Fluid (D) after the slash.
Target: the head.
'Finish it in one go.'
Seizing the moment while its attention was on Eira's chains, Do-yoon finally charged.
-Thud!
The massive bulk drew closer.
He marveled anew at challenging such a creature alone.
A few months ago, he would've fled without looking back.
The gulf between hunters and ordinary people.
Acknowledging that vast gap, Do-yoon moved his body even more fiercely.
'I won't die anyway.'
He muttered to himself like a self-hypnosis.
One more hit might kill him.
But hesitating out of worry would just mean following Eira's lead.
Then he'd truly be nothing.
-Whoooosh!!
"Krwoooor!!"
The Lizardman Champion belatedly spotted Do-yoon and roared in fury.
Loud enough to make his eardrums ring.
But he didn't falter, trusting what Eira had done.
"Uwaaaah!!"
Do-yoon shouted as he moved for the final strike.
#
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Floor 7 has been cleared. Level up! Failed to resonate with the target. Receiving clear rewards. Will you leave the Tower? Y/N Returning to Earth. In his blurring vision, he briefly thought of the black-haired barbarian woman.
'She'll handle it fine.'
Maybe because he still lacked Tower experience.
After just two floors together, thoughts of her before leaving surfaced.
Considering the Gallery's constant warnings to beware hunters, it felt a bit complacent.
"Hoo."
After successfully returning to Earth, Do-yoon—
"Do-yoon!"
"Do-yoon oppa!"
—smiled back at his senior hunters greeting him with worried faces, signaling his full return.
Rest first, absolute rest.
Alternating between the dorm and home for a vacation life, Do-yoon spent nearly a week recovering his strength.
Delicious food, a clean house.
Things he'd daydreamed about during those two floors' clears were now fully enjoyed.
"I thought you were dead, you punk."
"There were circumstances."
"Do-yoon oppa, what on earth..."
He explained the minor(?) mishap in the Tower to his senior hunters.
He also shared his level status and new perks.
"Come to think of it, you're level 10 now too."
"Your leveling's so fast I forgot. Should've mentioned it from level 9."
"That perk name though..."
True Ancestor's Contractor. An ominous EX-grade attached no less.
"...It's so out of left field, I don't even know how to advise you."
"At this point... maybe the best is just to support whatever direction Do-yoon oppa chooses."
Interference between senior hunters and juniors worked best when professions aligned somewhat.
But Do-yoon's talents spanned too broadly.
Frontline aptitude plus rear-guard mana prowess—
"He's growing noticeably, so our meddling might just hold him back."
"I agree."
Jo Ha-rin backed Han Ji-hyeok's speculation.
"Fact is, Do-yoon, Korea might finally get a standout hunter after ages. Or maybe already has."
"Real fact: Korea's never had a standout hunter."
"Gotta pour cold water, huh."
Jo Ha-rin couldn't resist dropping the icy reality check.
As Han Ji-hyeok shot her a resentful glare, she finally averted her eyes slyly.
Watching them, Do-yoon shrugged it off and dove back into rest mode.
He didn't forget to log into the Gallery occasionally, engaging with other boss mobs.
After some time, with the Association's approval, he re-entered the Tower.
Goal: conquer floor 8.
More precisely: bolster Do-yoon's solo abilities and combat experience.
Bidding farewell to his senior hunters, who sent him off like a precious child to the water's edge, Do-yoon stepped back inside.
Entering Floor 8. The moment he passed the non-combat zone and stepped forward—
-Whoosh!
An unknown force made Do-yoon's consciousness flicker instantly.
"Huh?"
When he opened his eyes again.
He was in the middle of a hillock with a vast plain stretching out.
Similar to the 8th floor he'd first seen.
But dismissing it as such felt wrong—the experience was too vivid and suspicious.
"I had no intention of interfering further."
"...?"
A voice laced with displeasure.
Do-yoon turned at the following presence.
All black.
A being made entirely of blurry black mosaic-like substance, as if censored.
It sat leisurely at a table, gazing at Do-yoon.
「...Upp...er... Coun...cil...!」
"Ugh."
A throbbing headache.
Even stronger than when resonating with a floor boss, it assaulted Do-yoon.
"No need to worry. I won't approach you further."
"What the hell are—"
"Might as well seal your mouth too. No one must know we're chatting leisurely here."
With those words, Do-yoon's mouth was eerily silenced.
As if he'd forgotten how to speak, he could only glare wide-eyed at the mosaic being.
"Don't bully oppa, you jerk!"
Thud thud thud!
Eira dashed in from somewhere, landing in Do-yoon's arms and glaring at the being.
'You too?'
How was she even here.
Her true form, no less.
Yet Do-yoon felt no backlash, plunging him into massive confusion.
"Thanks to those fools using petty tricks, I could pull off my own workaround."
Petty tricks?
Do-yoon panicked at events unfolding beyond his knowledge.
"..."
"You have no clue, do you? Natural enough. Upper-floor hunters always defy predictions."
Its tone dripped with thick displeasure.
"Soon. You just entered floor 8, so the waiting upper-floor hunters will make contact."
Contact.
Was meeting other hunters in the Tower weird?
But it had said "upper floors."
'Why me all of a sudden.'
Upper-floor hunters seeking him out.
And this being dragging him to this virtual space.
The chain of abrupt events oddly calmed him.
"Hmph!"
He stroked the still-wary Eira while listening intently.
Truth be told, he had a hunch who this was by now.
"I'd love to squash those bugs myself, but alas, I can't."
'The bracelet?'
He didn't know why it hid its identity, but it seemed helpful, so he listened quietly.
"That's why I set this up for some light advice."
'Oh.'
"I'll protect oppa myself?!"
"...Put that monkey aside for now."
-Poof.
Eira, growling warily beside him, vanished instantly.
Whoever's fragment she was, control was impressive.
"Lower-floor hunters are busy competing among themselves, but once skills peak—mid-to-upper floors and above—they start checking each other."
Council.
That was the word from the being.
'That's...'
"Yes. Those targeting you hail from there. That pathetic group's called the Hunter Council. Where top hunters from each world gather."
The more he heard, the less sense it made.
At this point, barely entering floor 8.
Why did they want to meet him?
"You look baffled."
Noticing Do-yoon's confusion, the being spoke up.
"You. Despite my words, you still underestimate hunters."
Hunters.
Folk who'd betray even in a boss room for their world's gain.
"From their view, would they leave your astonishing potential alone? If I were a hunter, I'd contact you ASAP to calculate if you're a threat."
"..."
True enough.
Listening to the being's eerily insightful hunter knowledge, questions brewed.
Then.
Why set up this separate space beforehand?
"Ahh!"
Instead of an answer—
Eira plummeting from the sky.
"...?"
He hastily caught her tiny form as the being rose.
"So from now on, to keep you from falling easily to them. I'll lend a hand."
The unexpected training with Eira was just beginning.