Chapter 257: The 15th Floor, the Wailing Witch (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 257: The 15th Floor, the Wailing Witch (1)
"There's a hot new ranker from India named Nirasha. She's a monster whose name has been spreading faster than anyone since Namgung Cheon."
Nirasha...
The name he expected had popped up.
"Rumor has it she had a clash with you in the Empire, Oppa?"
"We have a bit of history, yeah. What else?"
"Besides her, Dangun and Olympus have made their moves. Dangun sent their rookie ranker, Park Jung-jin, and Olympus has a mage named Maria leading their raid team. They're all prominent rankers."
Gandhara, Dangun, and Olympus.
An alliance of three massive guilds.
The information he received from Yu Yeon-hwa and Lee Tae-min was quite intriguing.
It meant those prideful bastards had finally had their noses bent out of shape.
I see. Since they can't do it alone, they're trying to band together as a trio.
The corner of Jinhyuk's mouth twitched upward in a subtle smirk.
Honestly, their logic was ridiculously simple.
The ruins where the Wailing Witch resided weren't the kind of place you could clear just by throwing numbers at it.
Still, the fact that they found this place meant they must have recruited a veteran who had played the Tower of Trials for a very long time.
"Anything else unusual?"
"Ah, there was one more thing. I found out through an acquaintance that they posted a subscriber-only notice saying they were going to conquer this place. But it seems they've been hitting a wall. Can you believe the notice was posted five days ago?"
"Yeon-hwa nuna is right. Their main forces are still waiting outside the ruins. The healers looked absolutely frantic trying to treat the wounded even now."
Yu Yeon-hwa and Lee Tae-min added their pieces.
An anxious raid team... continuous failures. And on top of that, the unique characteristics of the ruins where the Wailing Witch dwells.
Things were starting to get interesting.
Perhaps he could clear this place even more efficiently than he had originally planned.
"Listen carefully to what I'm about to say."
The risk would go up significantly, but...
It didn't matter.
Because he had some reliable friends right over there to take care of it.
* * *
Thud. Thud. Thud... Crash!
The rhythmic tapping sound soon erupted into a massive explosion.
The table shattered into dozens of pieces, scattering in all directions.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
Her face was flushed red with rage and humiliation.
This was Nirasha, the leader of Gandhara and the ranker hailed as the "ceiling" of India.
At the sudden uproar, a muscular man rushed into the tent.
"Master... are you alright?"
"Get out."
"But...!"
"Can't you see we're in the middle of a meeting? I said, get out!"
"U-understood."
Nirasha wasn't just in a bad mood; she was absolutely livid.
And she had every reason to be.
Ever since the arrival of the Tower of Trials, Nirasha had never tasted despair or frustration.
In fact, holding the dual reins of the still-customary Caste System and her family's massive conglomerate wealth, she had lived a life where success was guaranteed from the moment of her birth.
Yet now...
What on earth was this pathetic embarrassment?
Five days had already passed since they arrived, but far from entering the interior, they had repeatedly tasted bitter defeat right at the entrance.
For the allied raid team that had set out with such confidence, they had lost an immense amount of face.
"I understand your anger, but throwing a tantrum won't change anything. Besides, didn't we all know from the start that this wouldn't be easy?"
The man standing at the edge of the tent spoke up.
It was Park Jung-jin, the ranker leading the Dangun Guild's raid team.
Beside him stood Maria from Olympus.
"First, let's clean this up."
Maria let out a soft sigh and waved her staff.
Whirrr!
The shattered table restored itself to its original state.
"Player Park Jung-jin is right. What's important right now isn't raging over our failures, but finding the answer to how we can successfully complete this raid. Perhaps it would be better to take our time and conquer the front gate route as we originally planned..."
"The front gate? You're talking about the front gate? Surely you know, Maria, just how much time it will take if we go through there?"
Normally, the safest way to conquer the ruins was to use the path leading through the front gate.
However, the raid team had attempted to bypass the front and use a detour.
This was because their long-range detection magic scans showed that the path from the front gate to the boss room was far too long.
It would take at least a month.
No, perhaps even longer.
"We must defeat the Gate Guardian somehow and secure the shortest route. If we drag our feet this time too, the entire world will look at our giant guilds as complete idiots."
Of course, this statement was a bit of an exaggeration.
It wasn't as if the giant guilds had just been sitting around doing nothing until now.
They had desperately clung to climbing the tower, exploring labyrinths and ruins, all to build up their reputation.
As a result...
They had succeeded in conquering some fairly significant areas on the 12th, 13th, and 14th floors.
Even so...
...it wasn't enough.
Even the achievements they risked their lives to accomplish were not enough to capture the viewers' attention.
Because compared to the time and effort they invested, the results they obtained were far too meager.
"Do you see this? Do you see how the things we've achieved are being evaluated?"
Nirasha pointed to a large screen set up in the center of the tent.
It displayed the raid videos posted by the large guilds on the Tower of Trials community and ViewTube...
...and the reactions to them.
-yeo: Ah, the 13th-floor labyrinth 'Sun Jungle'. Is this the place Dangun Guild was bragging about clearing?
-cho: This is just a B-Rank Labyrinth. Wow. So they deployed all their main raid team rankers just to barely clear this?
-Lee Si-young: It's so-so, but kind of disappointing. It's so different from what I expected. Lately, I don't find these videos interesting at all. Is it just me?
-Sh: Want me to tell you why? It's because of Kang Jinhyuk. Sure, Dangun isn't living up to its name, but your standards have just been raised.
-jyeon: Ah, true. No wonder. Shiver.
-Lee Hwi-min: Lmao, so it wasn't just me. After watching veteran videos, watching these newbies makes me feel so frustrated, like eating a million dry sweet potatoes.
-Gdd: Can't help but agree with this.
-marijuana: Even though the 90-day countdown was just renewed, I'm already starting to feel anxious.
Thousands of other comments were posted, but they were all along the same lines.
"There certainly are a lot of painful truths here. Since views translate directly into Coins, having these kinds of negative comments take over the top spots deals a heavy blow."
"The response to the videos we uploaded wasn't great either. It's an undeniable fact that we need a stable supply of Coins to fuel our rapid growth..."
Park Jung-jin and Maria smacked their lips bitterly.
All of this...
Yes.
Kang Jinhyuk...
It was all because of that single human.
Rage seeped into Nirasha's eyes.
She had never imagined that a mere player with no background or capital could bring her such immense humiliation.
In fact, wasn't all of the world's attention currently focused on Jinhyuk?
His detestable face, snickering during his recent live broadcast, lingered vividly in her mind.
—That guy is different. If possible, do not cross him.
Shiva, the chief deity of India who sponsored her, along with the other deities, had warned her not to get involved with Jinhyuk.
Of course...
...she could not accept that.
Just because I was pushed back once by mistake, they talk as if I'm beneath him.
She hadn't achieved her second awakening back then, but...
...the situation was completely different now.
She had already reached a new realm and obtained a new Mandala.
This time, I will definitely assert my dominance.
The key to that lay in slaying the Wailing Witch on the 15th floor and claiming the title of the world's first clear.
Nirasha slowly rose from her seat.
Now that she had formed this alliance—even if her heart wasn't in it—she would succeed by any means necessary.
And on the day the 15th floor fell and the 16th floor opened...
...people would remember the name Nirasha.
But it was right at that moment.
"Master!"
The man who had entered earlier rushed back in, his face pale as a sheet.
"Didn't I make myself clear? I told you not to come in. Surely those of a lowly caste don't dare to take my words lightly?"
"I apologize. But there is an urgent matter I must report, which is why I had to intrude."
"...Speak. Let's hear what this damn urgent matter is."
"Well... there are players who have approached the Gate Guardian without our permission."
"W-what?"
Nirasha cried out in shock.
An idiot acting independently, ignoring the orders of the grand raid commander.
Who was the fool heading toward the Gate Guardian, an opponent that hundreds of players couldn't even scratch?
But at the words that followed...
"...It's... Kang... Jinhyuk."
The expressions of everyone in the tent collapsed.
* * *
Step.
Jinhyuk, Yu Yeon-hwa, and Lee Tae-min entered the detour path of the ruins.
"Kreee..."
Naturally, the path was not empty.
A slender figure standing four meters tall.
A guardian clad in thin plate armor and wielding a long scythe blocked the entrance.
Although its eyes were covered by a blindfold, black smoke drifted from between its sharp teeth.
Jinhyuk's gaze drifted slightly downward.
Drip. Drip.
Steam was still rising from the drops of blood dripping along the scythe.
Just how many players had fallen to that scythe?
Unless they figured out the strategy, the victims would only continue to pile up.
After staring at the guardian for a moment, Jinhyuk shook his head.
At the same time...
[The Broadcasting System has been activated.]
...he opened his personal stream.
"Oppa, is doing a live raid broadcast really a good idea?"
"You're going to draw a massive amount of aggro, you know?"
Yu Yeon-hwa and Lee Tae-min seemed quite anxious about the situation.
After all, barging into someone else's hunting ground and boldly broadcasting it wouldn't exactly earn them a warm welcome.
It was only natural for the two of them to worry.
However...
"Don't worry. They won't be able to do a thing. In fact, this way, we'll be the ones holding all the cards."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I've turned on a live stream and shown up at a place where the giant guilds keep failing. What do you think will happen then?"
Expectations, which had hit rock bottom, would soar, and the entire world's attention would focus right here.
And the giant guilds are going to stop that?
Or reject a helping hand when they don't even have the skill to clear it themselves?
They wouldn't just face public backlash; they would be completely buried.
In the end, whether it's Nirasha, Dangun, or Olympus, they'll have to cling to our pant legs and beg us to work with them.
At least, they'll have to act that way on the surface.
If only for the sake of their own survival.
Right then...
-Cow: Ohhhhh? What's this? Is this real?
-Jinn: Whoa. It's real. Wow, and it's the Wailing Witch ruins.
-Oh Seo-jun: The place those three major guilds announced they were going to conquer?
-Choi Geon: Yeah. The exact place where they only posted a notice and will probably never clear.
-bluesky: I thought they had at least made it halfway in, but they haven't even broken through the entrance yet? I had my doubts since there was no news, but this is worse than I thought.
-Cookie Baking Master: Looks like Jinhyuk got frustrated and went there himself.
-Chocolate Syrup: Wait! Does turning on the stream now mean he's going to show us the raid live?
Viewers flooded in.
Even though he hadn't posted a notice this time, within thirty seconds of starting the stream, the chat window was buzzing with hundreds of messages.
"Hello, everyone. I'm really sorry for dropping in unannounced. The reason I've turned on the stream like this is... well, because I've decided to participate in the Wailing Witch raid as well."
He bit his lower lip slightly to put on a remorseful expression.
"I didn't want to interfere in another guild's hunting ground, but I couldn't just stand by and watch them suffer continuous failures. I will help them break through the first Gate Guardian, and after that, I'll proceed only with the raid team's permission."
He maintained a humble posture, adding a touch of modesty.
The pitch of his voice, his eye contact, and even the micro-movements of his facial muscles...
...everything was absolutely perfect.
"Just in case there's any misunderstanding, I'd like to say in advance that this live broadcast will only run until we defeat the guardian. After that, it will be replaced by an edited video, as always."
Jinhyuk continued.
Having honed his speaking skills during his days as a BJ, smoothly taking control of the situation was child's play.
-Gtg4: Damn. As expected of Jinhyuk's character.
-Lpr: Honestly, what's with 'your territory' or 'my territory' in the Tower of Trials? First to clear wins.
-Yoo Yeon-jun: I mean, they can't even clear it anyway, and Jinhyuk is offering to help. Isn't he an angel?
-lsi0: He's definitely a big-hearted guy. His caliber is on another level. It's really hard to find a player who has both skill and character.
-OUY: Everyone run! You're being deceived by a demon!
-Kim Gi-tae: Looks like the big guilds planted a paid troll. Busted!
-Chae Hyeong-seok: Gotcha, you punk!
-999e: Officer, over here!
-doh: Out of all the people to doubt, you doubt someone so kind and wonderful?
Although there were a few sharp-witted viewers, most fell hook, line, and sinker for his acting.
This was when his carefully built public image truly paid off.
Good.
Now that the stage was set, it was time to make a move.
Jinhyuk pulled Fang out of his subspace inventory.
Crackle!
Black Demonic Qi began to condense along the blue blade.
And...
"Kreee!"
Reacting to the killing intent, the Gate Guardian let out a long, drawn-out howl.
The broadcast... had begun.