Chapter 357: A New Weapon (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 357: A New Weapon (2)
Rumble, rumble!
As the Gnome upturned the earth once more, the piles of dirt blocking the passage came pouring down.
In the spot that had been completely blocked just moments ago, a reddish door appeared.
"Whoa! Master!"
"A door really appeared, just like Master said!"
"How on earth did you know?"
The spirit trees bounced around in place.
'Good...'
Jinhyuk wore a satisfied smile.
Intuition built upon Uasis's map and his own experience.
These two sturdy pillars had brought about this result.
"You guys wait here and secure our retreat."
"Huh? Are you and that demon going in alone?"
"Yeah. The inside is a bit far from ordinary. It'll be a little too dangerous for you guys."
Jinhyuk used the word 'dangerous.'
The spirits themselves knew better than anyone what that meant.
"U-Uh-huh."
"W-We'll stay out here and work hard digging tunnels."
"Please go and die... I mean, make sure to come back safe and sound!"
The spirit trees offered their warm farewells.
"Well, shall we go?"
"Indeed. It has been a while since I roamed the ruins of the middle floors, but this isn't bad."
Perched on Jinhyuk's shoulder, Veliel nodded.
His pupils burned with fire.
It was a manifestation of his resolve to make his chosen Player strong, ensuring that neither Guntaper nor anyone else could interfere.
'I feel a bit bad, but...'
It couldn't be helped.
The Tower of Trials was originally a world of using and being used.
And as for Veliel, Jinhyuk planned to help him out once when he eventually went to the Demon World.
The reason why that guy wanted so badly to make such a strong Player his Black Apostle.
Jinhyuk knew it.
'Repaying grudges a hundredfold and favors only singlefold is my rule, but I still have to pay back that singlefold.'
At the very least, he had no intention of betraying a companion he deemed precious.
[Entering the Hidden Place of 'Felterhorn'.]
As the door opened, his vision was dyed pitch black.
And when he opened his eyes again, a completely new space unfolded before him, rather than a narrow, dark passage.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
The torches lined up on the left and right flared up all at once.
An abyss with no visible bottom and a narrow bridge spanning across it came into view.
The first trial.
The 'Bridge of the Unchosen'.
Quite literally, it was structured so that if one failed to bypass the traps, they would plunge straight down.
Step.
Jinhyuk carefully took a step forward.
"Can we really just walk across? Even a glance reveals an unusual flow of mana."
"It's fine. Just trust me."
He had already figured out all the patterns.
The most important thing was the center of gravity.
Stepping on the ground with a consistent weight was the key.
Because if the force wasn't distributed properly, countless traps would trigger instantly.
Of course,
Clack!
Avoiding triggering any traps was impossible.
Along with the sound of a cocking hammer, a chakram blended into the darkness flew toward them.
A circular boomerang of sorts, it was an assassination weapon whose trajectory could change freely in midair.
Swishhhhh!
Simultaneously, dozens of harpoons were fired from all directions.
Jinhyuk's gaze quickly darted downward.
Numerous characters were engraved on the bridge.
He had memorized the patterns here by utilizing the positions of these characters.
The left corner of the character resembling 'ㅂ'.
The intersection where the two lines of the character resembling 'y' met.
For the character resembling '&', he had to place his center of gravity right in the middle, then shift his body exactly 1 cm to the right.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
The harpoons sliced through the empty air.
Jinhyuk moved his body even faster, matching the incoming patterns.
With this... he had avoided all the basic ones.
As for the chakram approaching with its trajectory completely hidden...
To be honest, it was difficult to predict until the very last moment before impact.
But it didn't matter.
"Veliel."
Because he had brought a reliable shield just for this moment.
"Don't tell me..."
An earthquake shook Veliel's pupils.
"Go!"
Jinhyuk ruthlessly threw Veliel, who was sitting on his shoulder, forward.
Swish, swish!
The sound of the wind slicing changed.
This was because the chakram had a characteristic of flying toward the target furthest ahead.
"You piece of sh—"
Crash!
"Aaargh!"
Colliding head-on with the chakram, Veliel's body was sent flying.
As expected, his body was ridiculously sturdy.
Considering such a sound came from a body that should have been sliced through like a radish.
Still, fitting his reputation as a Demon King, he managed to raise his 'Dark Aura' in that split second to successfully defend himself.
"Nice. Perfect."
"Perfect, my foot! Were you trying to kill me?! How dare you use me as a shield! This is an open challenge to the Demon World!"
Veliel flew back, flapping his wings furiously.
"No, it's not like that. If you hadn't blocked it just now, I would've died. And instead of calling it a shield, shouldn't we call it proper teamwork?"
"What kind of teamwork is that?! If you truly think this great one will be swayed by such cheap tricks..."
"Your words hurt my feelings. I was simply trying to rely on someone far stronger than myself."
"A stronger being? Me?"
"Yeah. You're the most outstanding Demon King among all Demon Kings. I believe you have the potential to even ascend to the position of Demon God in the future. That's why I trusted and relied on you."
"Hoh. Indeed. A Demon King of my caliber is required to survive such traps."
"Exactly. Why else would I have left my other companions behind and chosen you?"
Jinhyuk piled on even more sweet-talk.
At this point, his sweet-talking was practically like gently brushing Veliel's throat with a paintbrush made of sweet green grapes.
Had the sweetness completely melted his cerebrum?
"Very well. Then, I shall clearly demonstrate my greatness to you. Witness with your own eyes what it truly means to become my apostle."
Veliel took the lead.
Crash!
"Aaargh!"
Boom!
"Guaaargh!"
Thud!
"Urgh!"
Though explosions and screams alternated, Veliel stubbornly pressed forward without showing any signs of struggle, all to protect his pride.
Thanks to that, Jinhyuk was able to pass the first trial with extreme ease.
Since all he had to do was cross his arms and leisurely stroll behind him.
Having cleared the first trial in an instant, Jinhyuk and Veliel reached the end of the passage.
There, a long staircase leading downward was situated.
[The second trial, 'Cave of Deadly Poison', is opening.]
* * *
"Hiss!"
"Hiss!"
As soon as they descended, a cave teeming with venomous snakes appeared.
There were enough of them to completely fill an area the size of Jamsil Stadium.
If there was any saving grace, it was that they weren't aggressive-on-sight traps.
They would only attack once intruders entered a certain range of the venomous snakes.
'Though considering their numbers, that's not much of a relief...'
In any case, he didn't need to go through that hell again.
Normally, one would have to take about three days to slowly find a path out of this area.
But now, he had a precious tank who could bypass that entire process.
"You're not afraid of snakes, are you?"
"Haha... Hahaha. As if this great one would fear mere venomous snakes! I drink a cup of black mamba venom whenever I can't sleep...! I am Veliel, one who remains unfazed even when showering in the most lethal poison!"
Oh, really?
"Then you can go first. I don't have any poison resistance, so I feel like I'd die if one even brushed past me. As expected, an inferior human like me can't even be compared to the great Demon King."
Jinhyuk wrapped his arms around his shoulders, pretending to be fragile.
"Hu... Huhuhu."
With a pale face, Veliel walked into the midst of the venomous snakes.
Wow.
The saying that he was nothing without his pride was truly spot on.
Jinhyuk never imagined he would actually walk right into the middle of them.
Especially while in his minimal avatar form, not his true body.
Chomp!
Chomp!
Ah. That looks like it hurts a lot.
A fang sank into a highly unfortunate spot.
"Aaaaaargh!"
Soon after, a horrific scream echoed through the cave.
* * *
"Whew..."
Hastings massaged his throbbing temples.
He couldn't help it.
It had been about 30,000 years since he first became an Administrator of the Tower.
And he had been active as a High Manager for about 10,000 years.
Because he had handled his duties perfectly without a single mistake over those long years, he had earned the recognition of the beings on the 50th Floor.
All of those achievements had accumulated to bring him to where he was today.
But just recently...
...cracks were forming in the Tower he had so painstakingly built.
All because of a single Player.
"Are you saying he is currently in the 19th Floor ruins?"
"Yes. I tried to tail him as you ordered, but strangely, the entire ruins are enveloped in an unfamiliar mana wavelength, making it impossible to peer inside."
A Low Manager with the appearance of a hamster quickly bowed his head.
Panem, of the 'Pearl' species.
He was a being who had only recently become a Low Manager and was currently working as an intern.
Perhaps because a rookie who knew nothing yet had been summoned by a High Manager, Panem could not hide his constant anxiety.
At Panem's words, Hastings's eyebrows furrowed deeply.
"An area that an Administrator cannot peer into? Do you think that makes any sense?"
"I-It is absolutely true. Just in case, I even used the 'Administrator's Robe' you gave me, Lord Hastings, but the force field remained unchanged."
"...!"
The fact that it couldn't be seen even with the Administrator's Robe, which could directly interfere with the system, meant that something of equal power had intervened.
There was only one kind of being capable of such a feat.
The 50th Floor.
The ancient beings had moved personally.
'Since there are no traces of manifestation... then could it be?'
In an instant, a realization flashed through Hastings's mind.
The Old Guard.
Nyarlathotep's hounds had been deployed.
'Without a word to me... they summoned them directly?'
Hastings grit his teeth so hard they nearly shattered.
Was this retaliation for his previous mistake?
Or had they cut ties with him, deciding he could no longer be trusted?
He couldn't know the answer to that right now.
No, there was no need to even know.
Because as long as the Old Guard had been deployed, there was zero chance of Jinhyuk's survival.
But right then,
[Urgent Reply]
A purple message flew in front of Hastings.
An urgent update sent directly from the 50th Floor.
Its contents were...
"How can this be..."
...shocking.
The death of a high-ranking Hound and the retreat of the Old Guard.
And even an order to clean up the aftermath of this incident.
Everything was completely unexpected.
'...This is an opportunity.'
A golden opportunity to make up for his past mistakes had appeared right before his eyes.
He had to seize this no matter what.
The Dunes of the Sun, the Dunes of the Sun...
Hastings's mind spun rapidly.
The void created by sacrificing 'Pentagris's Fang'.
The reason he still remained in the dunes, searching for something.
Clues and evidence came together.
It didn't take long to grasp what Jinhyuk wanted right now, where he was heading, and what his goal was.
'He plans to go to the Hidden Place to clear the 19th Floor and acquire another weapon all at once.'
Indeed, there was absolutely no waste in his movements.
Every single step led to the optimal route for climbing the Tower.
But conversely, that meant he was just as predictable.
'I will never let things go the way he wants.'
The problem was...
...whom to send.
He needed someone who possessed outstanding skills while also holding a wild card that could catch the opponent off guard.
'The dragons aren't ready yet.'
Although the deal with the Dragon Race had been finalized, more time was still needed for the plan to be realized.
Meaning they weren't a card he could play right this instant.
At that very moment,
Hummmmm!
Someone approached Hastings's domain.
"May I enter, High Manager?"
