Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Tower Dragon
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Not just Kim Su-ae was surprised.
Jeong Cheol-min felt the same.
‘S-Su-ho cleared the Tower of Challenge?’
He pinched his cheek, wondering if it was a dream.
But it wasn’t.
And that was why?
Jeong Cheol-min found his lips curving up to the sky without realizing it.
It made sense—Jeong Cheol-min had seen Jo Jin-hwi’s exclusive report too.
‘Maybe a once-in-a-lifetime talent really will join our association…!’
The thought alone was thrilling.
It was An Su-ho, no less.
If he joined the National Hunter Association, he’d truly be an SSS-Rank rookie.
But deep down, Jeong Cheol-min also worried the better Su-ho did, the worse it might get.
The association’s benefits were laughably inadequate for snagging a mega-talent like him.
Just then, Jeong Cheol-min’s phone rang.
The caller was the Vice President.
Seeing the name, Jeong Cheol-min narrowed his eyes briefly.
The Vice President, along with the President, was someone Jeong Cheol-min didn’t care for.
Still, personal feelings aside, it was his boss’s call, so he picked up.
“Yes, Vice President.”
The Vice President preferred “Vice President” over “Vice Association President.”
He said it just sounded better.
It was a trivial reason, but everyone called him that out of respect for his preference—including Jeong Cheol-min.
In response, the Vice President’s voice came through the receiver.
- Where are you right now?
“Pangyo.”
- Did you go out for the Tower of Challenge?
“Yes, that’s right.”
- You know An Su-ho, right?
How did he know that?
Jeong Cheol-min hesitated before answering.
“We’ve met, but we’re not personally close.”
- Doesn’t matter, you know him. Perfect. Take responsibility and bring him here for sure.
Jeong Cheol-min’s ears perked up at that.
“Yes?! You mean scout him for the National Hunter Association…!”
- What? No, just bring him so he can take a picture with the President.
“Ah…….”
Of course.
He wondered why the sudden call.
Jeong Cheol-min’s face crumpled.
But the Vice President pressed on regardless.
- Arrange a reason to bring him so he can snap a photo with the President. Any excuse will do for summoning him.
“……Yes.”
With that, the Vice President hung up.
Jeong Cheol-min felt an urge to hurl his phone but quickly calmed himself.
‘This is why all association executives should be hunters…’
As a government agency, the National Hunter Association’s top posts—like President and Vice President—were filled by appointed ex-lawmakers with clout.
The President was a five-term congressman; the Vice President, four-term.
Jeong Cheol-min had no issue with lawmakers in executive roles.
The problem was they were all non-awakened civilians, clueless about the industry, issuing nothing but desk-jockey orders.
That was a big reason the association struggled to recruit good hunters too.
- Hunters are amazing, we get it! But what? You think taxpayers’ money is for paying public servants top dollar?!
- Is this a company?
- You think national taxes exist to pad your salaries?!
- No hunters, country collapses? What’s a guild for? Are we collapsed now? Can’t recruit hunter civil servants?
It was always like that.
Jeong Cheol-min shook his head and headed back toward the Tower of Challenge.
Orders were orders—he needed a decent excuse now.
***
[You have cleared floor 48.]
[The Tower of Challenge’s top record has been updated.]
[For your great achievement, the system gifts you 5 bonus stats.]
[Challenging floor 49 will broadcast your achievements outside the tower continuously.]
How much time had passed?
Su-ho finally stood before the portal to the 49th floor—the supposed final one.
Before challenging it, Su-ho checked his status window.
“Status window.”
[An Su-ho]
- Lv: 39
- Class: Healer
- Strength: 95
- Vitality: 95
- Mana: 91
- Senses: 39
- Bonus Stats: 5
Level 39.
And stats ridiculously high by comparison.
Level-ups and the 5 bonus stats every 10 levels contributed, sure.
But the bonus stats from shattering the top record each time were the real game-changer.
‘That’s how Jang Pyeong-ho became a big shot—with these stat rewards.’
Did Jang Pyeong-ho become huge just with Subspace House?
No way.
He started smuggling way later.
His subspace alone wasn’t enough to dive into deep waters from the start.
So at first, he built his hunter career steadily on Tower stats.
Only after gaining name value did he jump into smuggling full throttle.
Su-ho invested all his new bonus stats into mana, then stepped toward the portal to the 49th floor—where Jang Pyeong-ho had failed.
[Player An Su-ho begins the 49th floor challenge.]
His vision shifted.
And then.
“Kraaaargh!!”
[The Tower Dragon uses Fear.]
[You fall into Fear status.]
[Your body stiffens.]
The 49th floor gatekeeper—the being Jang Pyeong-ho could never topple—the Tower of Challenge’s master and final boss, the ‘Tower Dragon,’ appeared.
Seeing the Tower Dragon, Su-ho couldn’t help but smile.
He’d personally wanted to see it at least once.
‘Finally.’
Su-ho checked the info above the Tower Dragon’s head.
- Tower Dragon Lv.49
A level 49 Tower Dragon.
The only one in the level 20 cap Tower that only Jang Pyeong-ho had faced.
For Su-ho, who once chased martial prowess, his blood boiled.
Of course, he knew how to beat the Tower Dragon.
Jang Pyeong-ho in prison had spilled more than expected.
Shaking off sentiment, Su-ho used Cure to escape Fear.
[Cure is used.]
[Fear status is released.]
Luckily, it worked.
Probably thanks to his skill level rising with his own.
Su-ho’s Cure was now C-Rank.
Player base class skills leveled up one step—and granted a new job skill—every 10 levels.
Su-ho slowly circled the stairs’ edge.
The battlefield had changed with the floor.
The open 49th floor, like a coliseum, had a massive stone tower in the center, with the Western dragon-shaped Tower Dragon clinging lizard-like to it.
Seeing Su-ho move unscathed, the enraged Tower Dragon roared again.
“Kraaaargh!!”
But Fear’s terror effect didn’t apply this time.
Fear built slight resistance after one exposure, with low odds of overcoming it.
‘Let’s see how strong it is that even Jang Pyeong-ho couldn’t take it down.’
Su-ho advanced slowly, then broke into a run toward the Tower Dragon.
At that moment, the Tower Dragon swiped its foreleg, smashing the stone tower. Su-ho leaped high at the thud.
Sharp stone pillars erupted from where he’d stood.
The Tower Dragon’s ‘Earth Claw’ technique—familiar from Jang Pyeong-ho’s tales.
‘As expected.’
The Tower Dragon used Earth Claw several more times, but Su-ho, knowing the dodge condition, evaded easily.
Closing the gap, he leaped again.
Ta-dah—fwoosh!
Su-ho kicked off the tower’s rough surface, launching into the air.
With strength over 90, his leap power was insane.
At the peak, he matched the Tower Dragon’s eye level.
The excited beast lunged its maw, but Su-ho twisted aside, dodging by a paper-thin margin.
Crunch!
The missed jaws snapped empty air, teeth clashing.
Su-ho used the opening, stepping on a canine and leaping once more.
Then.
[Your understanding of Leap is exceptionally high.]
[The system begins evaluating your talent.]
[Congratulations! You have acquired Leap (B).]
He’d mastered Leap as a skill.
Not surprising.
This was routine for Su-ho.
If anything, he was puzzled.
‘I hadn’t formalized Leap yet?’
No matter.
He had it now.
With Leap skilled up, his jump height soared.
Su-ho rebounded off the tower and leaped again, finally rising high enough to look down on the Tower Dragon.
‘Its reverse scale is on top of its head, right?’
He’d climbed without attacking to find the dragon-type’s classic weak point: the ‘reverse scale.’
Jang Pyeong-ho’s tip—and Su-ho’s common knowledge.
There, amid cobalt scales, one turquoise one gleamed.
‘That’s it.’
Reverse scale found.
Meaning, just hit that spot.
Hovering briefly, Su-ho felt gravity pull and flipped, diving headfirst.
He hurled himself at the Tower Dragon.
Kra-crunch!
The accelerated blade struck its scales.
But worthy of a Tower Dragon.
The scales’ durability was no joke.
He’d tried on a hunch, but it barely scratched—Su-ho retreated instantly.
Even his Beginner’s Sword was wrecked, teeth all gone.
Then.
[The Tower Dragon, struck on its reverse scale, enters Berserk.]
[The Tower Dragon uses Dragon Fear.]
“Kraaaargh!!”
Hit on the reverse scale, the Tower Dragon went berserk, roaring madly.
No dodging a roar’s effect—it hit fast.
Dragon Fear was leagues beyond regular monster Fear.
[Fear status applied.]
[Body stiffens.]
[Hallucination status applied.]
[You cannot hear sounds.]
Debuffs piled on.
Vision blurred hazy, tinnitus rang—Su-ho raised his hand and shouted.
“Enter!”
[Entering Subspace House.]
Shooo!
With the system alert, Su-ho’s left hand flashed—and he vanished.
Left alone, the Tower Dragon rampaged wildly.