Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Recharge Knows the Answer (5)
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Some might say something like this about my spending habits.
—You didn't save up any money beforehand?
Sure, I have some money saved, but when it's vanishing 25,000 won at a click to buy scraps of data made of 0s and 1s, even a rich person would hesitate.
And others might say:
—Isn't it a waste to spend on raising your summon?
Yeah.
Spot on.
That's why I'm recharging right now.
After getting wrecked by Elaine and doing full clears on full rerolls, I—who had only ever spent on 5,900-won daily login rewards in over eight mobile games—
am now dumping the second-largest sum of my life into a mobile gacha game.
To strengthen Elaine.
Just the amount I've paid so far easily tops 800,000 won.
Luckily, when I bought the top-tier pack for 119,000 won with the most pull currency, it came through quick, leaving me with about 50,000 won worth left over. But still, a quarter of my monthly salary melted away in under thirty minutes.
And someone else might chime in:
—Dude, Elaine's got 10 billion Tower Coins, and you're making a fuss? Lol.
They're right.
Those 10 billion Tower Coins are worth 10 billion won in real currency.
If someone with 10 billion won was whining about burning 800,000 on gacha pulls, anyone would want to punch them.
But there are two things I can say for sure.
First premise.
That I have Elaine's permission to use her Tower Coins freely.
Even if we establish that the 10 billion Tower Coins are fully mine since she's my summon, these two points still hold.
One.
'Tower Coins are Tower Coins, and you can't use them for gacha pulls.'
Tower Coins aren't real-world currency.
You could buy stuff with coins, sure, but gacha companies don't accept Tower Coins as payment.
Credit card, bank transfer, N-Pay, mobile billing.
That's it.
So, does that mean Tower Coins can't be traded for cash at all?
No.
Unlike the Towers bringing crisis to humanity, many Hunters climbing them are making a living off 'coin farming.'
Handing over Tower Coins inside the Tower and receiving equivalent cash in the real world.
Awakening doesn't discriminate—saving a homeless guy near Seoul Station, a salaryman passing by, or a kid riding first-class KTX with their parents.
A guy making less than 200k a month in reality being an A-Rank in the Tower? Or someone pulling 2 million post-tax outside being F-Rank inside? These aren't jokes; all sorts of economic chaos has happened in the Towers so far.
But at least the company behind Elaine's game hasn't set up a system for Tower Coin payments.
So in the end, I have no choice but to pour in my own cash.
No regrets.
Just watching Elaine fight now, I couldn't regret it.
💥 SCREECH!! 💥 Slash!
The blade Elaine swings severs the opposite wing.
The Tower's master—a colossal serpent-like beast—hides in the boiling lava on the floor, which begins melting away.
Flutter.
Wings unfurl from Elaine's back.
She's no angel, and her wings look less like those of a heavenly being and more like mechanical flight gear modeled after a bird.
'Who knew open-world mechanics would come in so handy.'
Elaine's game is an open-world title.
All characters share flight capabilities, and Elaine deploys her wings on her own in dangerous spots, scanning the situation.
'Is the recharge not enough?'
Maybe because it's an S-Rank Tower boss.
Or because Elaine's tackling it solo.
'Crits keep landing, but without support, the DPS just isn't popping off.'
On the screen showing Elaine, only her face glows in the party setup on the right.
Normally, three more faces would join hers, but sadly, 'summoning' isn't possible here.
'Should I do it?'
I recall.
[Summon (1/2)]
I still have one summon stack left.
If I summon another character besides Elaine, I don't know if they can appear simultaneously, but at least it'd support her.
[Elaine: I'm fine, Master. I can win this alone.]
Did my worry reach her somehow?
Or did Elaine herself sense it was a bit tough without backup, but figured 'tough' was still winnable?
[Elaine: Master. Leave the rest to me.]
Elaine glides down slowly, heading for a foothold not yet crumbled by lava.
"...Right."
Support?
Summon another being?
Elaine's already handling it plenty; no need.
"I'm a Summoner and your Master, but before that, there's one more thing."
I gripped my smartphone horizontally with both hands.
"Believe me?"
[Elaine: Yes, I believe you.] Thud!
Elaine folds her wings and lands.
A bit mismatched with her image, but wielding her best sword, she assumes a 'wait' stance, steadying her breath.
💥 SCREECH!! 💥
The serpent reemerges.
Wing severed, body covered in wounds from Elaine's solo fight, slathered in lava as it bursts out.
The scene unfolds just like a game screen.
"......."
I get it now.
This is 'filtering.'
Reality plays out inside that Tower, but it's being rendered as a 'game' through my smartphone screen.
"...Here I go?"
I push my left hand forward lightly, gripping the phone, focusing every nerve on the screen.
From here on, not auto—manual.
Thud!
Elaine charges ahead, and the Tower's master gapes wide, lunging to devour her whole.
Split-second timing.
'Now!'
I tap the button with my thumb.
And in that instant—just a fleeting moment—the world freezes.
In the halted black-and-white world, Elaine slides sideways like a beam of light, mana glowing from her body.
Just Dodge.
Boss of the Tower or whatever—no matter the foe—if you evade their attack on a razor's edge—
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Just Dodge Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
DPS time.
Elaine's sword assaults the Tower's master like a storm, unleashing countless blade winds, shredding it in one breath.
'I can do this.'
My control hasn't rusted yet.
'Should've brought a laptop if I knew.'
The only downside is smartphone controls, but it's no big deal.
Full clears and rerolls aren't for show.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
💥 SCREECH!! 💥
The Tower's master—self-proclaimed Infinite Purgatory's Ouroboros—couldn't comprehend the scene before it, no matter how hard it thought.
Attack.
Spit flames, swing tail, gape jaws to bite and tear.
But the opponent disgustingly evades every time, sparkling just before impact and shifting position.
High-speed movement?
It's moving, sure.
But even with mana, this defies logic.
What being dodges an attack by a paper's width with no warning, no muscle twitch, no prep?
"Heh."
The black-haired, golden-eyed maid smirks.
The moment she dodges, she swings, shaving off scales.
The scales take no visible damage.
Outwardly.
But the Tower's master sensed it.
Those strikes chip away at its very 'existence.'
If prior attacks wounded the physical form, these special ones slice soul, essence, being.
A numeric value ticking down, '0' meaning mental annihilation.
💥 SCREECH!! 💥
No way.
It didn't build power in this purgatory to lose this ridiculously to one person.
Not when it aimed to spread the name Ouroboros beyond the Tower and conquer the world outside to claim as its domain—
Flash.
Something flips its vision.
For some reason, the direction its eyes face and the image on its retinas completely change.
"Filth."
Its view fills solely with the black-haired, golden-eyed maid.
"Disinfect."
As if tiny familiars swarmed around her, fixating on her face and chest—like the world spotlighted her for a split second.
That's how it appeared.
Before it could register the change, the maid vanished.
Slash.
Something that shouldn't be severed is.
Neck intact, scales not fully destroyed, but instinct screamed.
[What was that just now?] Its existence was slashed.
[This is forbidden external power. Mana...] "My Master."
Now behind it, the maid holds her sword sideways, leisurely curtsying—not to it, but beyond.
"Said the finisher comes via bow."
[I can't understand.] It didn't know what, but it saw.
Flash.
Black trajectory.
Innumerable sword strikes pouring in an instant, as if cleaving it into trillions of pieces.
[What made you so strong...?]
"Master..."
[Ah, I see.]
The Tower's master's consciousness fades.
[Master... difference...]
Thud.
The Tower's master could think no more.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"...Whoa."
It worked.
"Full clear and reroll life."
[Elaine: Thanks to Master's control.]
S-Rank Tower.
"...Cleared it. For real."
✅ CLEAR COMPLETE ✅
"...Korea had multiple S-Rank Towers vanish before, but never a solo clear."
🎯 SOLO CLEAR SUCCESS 🎯
It's over.