Chapter 23: The Saint of Amsterdam
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 23: The Saint of Amsterdam
The owner of the voice was the Saintess clad in white armor.
It was Teresa.
Judging by her heavy breathing, she seemed to have cleared out the Dullahans in the front and come to help with the rear.
Jinhyuk looked at Teresa with a slightly surprised expression.
The guild bastards were all scrambling just to save their own skins...
How unexpected.
It seemed she hadn't earned the title of "Saintess" for nothing.
"May I speak with him for a moment?"
Teresa asked Kim So-mi, who was staring with wide eyes.
"Huh? Oh, yes, yes! Of course."
Kim So-mi nodded vigorously.
She scrambled to her feet and quickly scurried away behind a boulder.
Once they were left alone, Teresa spoke.
"Did you... defeat all those Dullahans by yourself?"
Her tone was laced with wariness.
And understandably so.
The average rank of the players participating as porters was E to F.
Naturally, they were supposed to be completely useless in combat.
Yet, he had single-handedly defeated Dullahans, monsters that even B-rank combat classes struggled against?
It was far too absurd to write off as a mere fluke.
"Well, yes, I was the one who dealt with the Dullahans."
"Are you hiding your identity? Why?"
"Everyone has their own personal reasons. Just like me..."
Jinhyuk shrugged.
At the same time, he finished his sentence.
"...and just like you."
"...What do you mean by that?"
Teresa's eyes trembled slightly.
It was a tremor so minute that an ordinary person would never have noticed.
Right. If I were an ordinary person, that is.
With a faint smile, Jinhyuk continued.
"To be honest, I didn't understand at first. Why a ranker of your caliber would give up on the boss raid to come here. It didn't make sense to me."
Clearing the upper floors of the Tower guaranteed immense rewards and fame.
Yet, Teresa had cast aside that golden opportunity to choose these ruins.
The reason?
What else could it be?
Obviously, the rewards she could obtain here were far greater than what she would get from defeating the 3rd-floor boss.
And Jinhyuk already knew exactly what that reward was.
"Didn't you choose this place to complete your class advancement quest?"
"...?!"
This time, Teresa couldn't hide her reaction.
Her face flushed with shock, as if she had just been slapped.
Only a tiny handful of people know that these ruins are a quest location for the Paladin class advancement...
Under normal circumstances, the Paladin advancement quest takes place on the 6th floor.
However, wanting to stay ahead of everyone else, Teresa had purchased this information from the 'Black Market'—a place accessible only to those who had climbed past the 10th floor of the Tower of Trials.
Teresa's eyes narrowed.
Then, could he be...?
Was this man also a member of the Black Market?
She had to find out.
Was he just bluffing with some scraps of information he had picked up somewhere, or did he truly know everything?
"You're right. The reason I've kept it hidden until now is because I need to reach the location of the Covenant of Apostle John, but I haven't figured out exactly where it is yet."
Teresa confessed her goal and reasoning.
Of course, a slightly different status window was floating before Jinhyuk's eyes.
[‘Eye of Truth’ has been activated.]
[Teresa's statement is ‘False’.]
How cute.
She's trying to test me.
Jinhyuk chuckled.
"It's not John, but the Covenant of Apostle Peter. And saying you don't know the exact location is obviously a lie."
She must have already located the Covenant before even entering this place.
The only reason she was still hesitating was because the path leading to it was incredibly treacherous.
The thousands of traps didn't follow any specific pattern; they were closer to pure chaos.
On top of that, an army of over a thousand undead stood in the way.
"You really... do know everything."
Teresa finally admitted.
Good.
Time to move on to the next step.
"Actually, I also have business where the Covenant is located. Ah, of course, I'm after something else, not the Covenant itself."
"Are you asking me to go with you?"
"I'm saying I'll go with you."
Jinhyuk drew a clear line.
"I know the exact locations of the traps and how to disarm them perfectly. Well, you could still go with the players from Sion as you originally planned, but... even with the best of luck, everyone except you will probably die."
But she couldn't let that happen, could she?
For a noble hero known as the Saintess, surviving alone while losing all her comrades would drag her name through the mud.
Even if she successfully advanced her class, the public's reaction would be icy.
"...I'll think about it."
"Take all the time you need."
Ponder all day if you want.
The conclusion will be the same anyway.
I'll toss her the Covenant and sweep up everything else for myself.
While he had no interest in Peter's Covenant, which was only for the Paladin class advancement, the other items there were highly enticing.
The 'Frozen Tear' and the 'Demon Soul Pill'.
Yes. Obtaining those two was the best-case scenario.
In fact, he coveted them even more than the holy relic itself.
In particular, the 'Frozen Tear' was a crystal known as the essence of mana. Absorbing it would drastically increase one's absolute mana capacity.
Increasing my mana is one of the top priorities I must address.
Right now, the mana consumption of his frequently used skills wasn't that high.
However, as his skill levels rose and he fused higher-tier skills, the importance of his total mana pool could not be overstated.
Originally, I was going to give up on it because I had no way to lift the curse of cold...
But now that he had confirmed Teresa's presence, it was time for a change of plans.
Since Teresa could use holy magic, she would be able to neutralize the freezing cold of the Frozen Tear.
"Before I decide, may I ask just one thing?"
Teresa, who had been deep in thought, spoke up.
"Go ahead."
"Earlier... were you the one who killed the sentries and woke the Guardian?"
Oh?
So she's connecting the dots like this.
Well, from Teresa's perspective, I must be the most suspicious person in the raid right now.
He was hiding too much and knew far too much.
Of course, he could give a long, detailed explanation here.
But that wasn't his style.
Above all, it was too much of a hassle.
Jinhyuk chose a much simpler and more direct approach.
"I understand why you'd suspect me given the circumstances, but I'm not the culprit."
"Are you asking me to just take your word for it?"
"Yes. Because the most definitive proof is right in front of you."
"Proof? What do you mean by that?"
"If I were indeed the culprit who killed the sentries and woke the Guardian..."
Think about it.
"...I would have just killed you instead of having this tedious conversation."
Sometimes, there was a much simpler way than making plausible excuses.
* * *
As expected, Teresa's decision to act independently met with fierce opposition.
Song Cheon-hwa, the raid leader, opposed it in sheer horror.
"Absolutely not! We need to regroup our forces and move forward now. Independent action is out of the question!"
Anyone else might be fine, but not Teresa, who was the core of the raid team.
However, Teresa had no intention of backing down easily either.
"We have a map up to the 20-kilometer mark of the ruins, and everyone knows the strategy. My absence won't change much."
From the days when the Tower of Trials was just a game to now, when it had become reality.
Through countless attempts, players had managed to map out the ruins.
At least up to the 20-kilometer mark from the entrance, they could advance without facing major danger.
"Above all, didn't our contract state that the raid leaders of each guild would maintain equal authority until the boss battle?"
"T-That's..."
Faced with her logical points, Song Cheon-hwa stammered.
She wasn't wrong about a single thing.
Ultimately, with a long sigh, Song Cheon-hwa permitted Teresa's independent action.
"Whew. Fine. But you must return before we reach the end of the mapped area."
"Yes. I will rejoin you before then."
Teresa nodded.
"Ah! And... may I take one of the porters to help me?"
"Do whatever you want with that."
Exhausted from the argument, Song Cheon-hwa waved his hand dismissively.
His face was listless, as if such minor details didn't matter to him anymore.
Feeling Teresa's gaze, the porters trembled slightly.
Accompanying a ranker.
This was neither good fortune nor a lucky break.
If anything, it was a first-class ticket to hell.
She's probably going to drag whoever she picks to some incredibly dangerous place. Damn it. People like us will never make it back.
Please, please, not me.
Don't make eye contact. If you lock eyes, you're absolutely fucked.
I have a wife and kids at home to feed.
Everyone prayed desperately in their hearts, hoping it wouldn't be them.
Right then, Teresa's finger pointed into the crowd of porters.
* * *
The one she pointed at was Jinhyuk.
And Jinhyuk, of course, agreed to go with her.
"I don't know what you're thinking... but as someone who's lived nearly fifty years, let me tell you: love? Sure, it's great. But it's not more important than your life."
"Yeah. Listen to Foreman Kim."
"No matter how pretty the Saintess is, this is too much. Whew. Youth is the problem, youth. It makes people lose their minds."
The porters tried to hold Jinhyuk back.
They seemed to be under a massive misunderstanding.
I'd rather climb another floor of the Tower than waste time on romance. What on earth are they thinking?
"It's not like th—"
Jinhyuk started to protest but trailed off.
Wait, hold on.
A half-hearted excuse wouldn't work in this atmosphere.
They looked ready to stop him at all costs.
Since it had come to this, he might as well...
"Actually, Teresa and I have known each other since we were children."
Time to set the genre.
Let's see. A bit of romance mixed with childhood memories...
"There is an item in these ruins that can cure Teresa's family back in Europe. She said she would go alone at first, but I couldn't possibly let her go by herself."
And finally, add a pinch of tears.
He pinched his thigh, but unfortunately, not a single tear came out.
Damn it, am I too emotionally dry?
"Even if my skills are lacking, and even if I lose my life because of it... I will protect her until the very end."
Love, tragedy, and heroism.
With this, the holy trinity of box-office success—proven over centuries by the likes of Romeo and Juliet and Wuthering Heights—was complete.
The porters stared blankly at Jinhyuk.
It was as if they had just realized something they had long forgotten.
"Kang Jinhyuk, you..."
"What a real man. Damn it. A true, hot-blooded man of Goguryeo."
"Yeah. Go. What kind of man can't even protect his childhood friend?"
"Ah, youth is a beautiful thing. Truly beautiful."
Everyone patted Jinhyuk on the back.
* * *
After packing light, Jinhyuk and Teresa immediately headed deep into the ruins along the tangled paths.
About five hours later, having separated from the raid team, the two finally arrived at their destination.
As expected, it's heavily guarded.
Jinhyuk slowly scanned the monsters' formation.
Most of the creatures in the pit were Ghouls and Skeletons, but high-ranking undead were mixed in here and there.
Dullahans... and even magic-wielding Liches.
Judging by the weak mana they emitted, their circles probably weren't very high.
Still, Liches were never to be taken lightly.
If one got hit by their debuffs or curses, even the most skilled veteran would likely suffer fatal damage.
Teresa poked Jinhyuk in the ribs.
"Look! The Covenant is right in the middle."
"I see it too."
The center of the circle.
That was where the Covenant of Apostle Peter, the Frozen Tear, and the Subspace Inventory Crafting Recipe would be.
Since killing the monsters would grant experience to level up...
He should leave that part to Teresa.
"Get ready."
Jinhyuk prepared to move.
The dagger tucked inside his coat began to radiate a crimson light.
"Understood."
Teresa also drew her sword and shield, channeling her mana.
But right at that moment—
Tring!
A crimson status window suddenly popped up in front of them.