Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: First Boss (1)
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[✪ Title: Chit-chat) In this harsh world... somehow had a heartbreaking day... ^^]
Everyone, you all worked hard today~
The world these days is so cutthroat and tough, right? I'm just hanging in there day by day, thinking of my daughter waiting at home.. Heh heh..;;
Had a deal today, so I met up with this friend of mine,,,, and lo and behold, when I opened the door, there stood this completely young girl?..;;;
She looked kinda familiar,, standing there all cocky and trying to act tough,,, lol~~~
That sight was just so pitiful and cute,,, ㅠㅠ
Honestly, at first... with how dangerous the world is these days... I wondered if she'd gotten mixed up with bad adults and was doing something shady, so I had some folks check around and confirm,,,,,
Thankfully, it didn't seem like that.
Looks like she went into the tower all by herself(?) and mined some mana stones..
Took a closer look,,, and one of her hands that she kept stuffing in her pocket was missing. Seemed like a few fingers were gone too,,,
Ah...
Hit me right in the feels for a second.
Five years ago, on that day,,, as a dad raising my daughter alone after losing her mom,,,,,
If even I wasn't around, would my girl have been thrown out into the world like that too,,,, my heart just sank. ㅠ_ㅠ
Not sure if she stole them or actually went into the tower,, but in my eyes, she just looked like a kid I wanted to protect,,,
Hoping she'd stop doing these dangerous things,,
I paid her a bit over market price for the mana stones—20 million won,,,
And just in case, sent a little extra to make sure it actually went into her account..;;
Gotta knock on even stone bridges these days.. Heh heh. Just an old man's overprotectiveness~~^*
But even after sending her home,, something still felt heavy and aching in my chest,,
Couldn't hold back in the end... thought of it as allowance from Uncle, rest up good~ and threw in another cool 30 million! ^^;;;
I'm no big shot or anything..
But in this harsh world, shouldn't we adults at least embrace and protect the young ones? lol
Feelin' all sentimental tonight for no reason,,,
(Sentimental, heh heh~~)
Have a peaceful night everyone, take care of yourselves always..!! Alright, I'm off,,
ㄴ This is what a real adult looks like. As a dad with a daughter, I get it. You're awesome!
ㄴ OP has such a warm heart... Leaving a kimbap roll behind. Bye~
ㄴ Fuck, even the comments are pure gold.
ㄴ Fact) Average age on Hunter Gal is 40s.
ㄴㄴ For real?
“Aaaah!”
Shame crashed over me.
I tore at my hair and screamed.
No way I could keep looking at the comments anymore.
I closed the gallery and immediately opened Telegram.
[Hey you crazy old man, what's with that post on Hunter Gal?]
[Take it down right now????]
[Heh heh… So our little miss saw the post…^^;;]
[Did anyone leave any nasty comments?]
[Don't mind them~ Lots of weirdos on the internet.]
[If it's bothering you though, Uncle will take it down~]
“Aaack! He won't listen!”
I hurled my phone across the room.
Okay, deep breaths. Deep breaths.
Find that inner peace honed through meditation.
“Hoo, haa…. Hoo, haa….”
Slowly breathing in and out, I finally calmed down.
“Think positive. Positive.”
At any rate, my immediate living expenses worries were completely gone.
Could even say I'd secured a mana stone sales route. If I could just stomach the disgust.
Plus, I hadn't revealed I was a mage, so pretty much the best outcome possible.
Now I could focus purely on the tower for a good while.
I got up from the bed.
Time to tackle the postponed 5th floor.
***
Next day. Before heading into the tower, I habitually logged into the Mage Gallery.
To gather info on today's goal: the 5th floor.
[Title: Off to take down the first boss today.]
Just that was enough, and the Mage Gal folks were already chiming in like they knew.
First reply came from Fridge.
ㄴ Fridge: 5th floor's the first wall.
That's when the mobs start coming at you in formation.
ㄴ Fridge: Goblin warriors up front with shields tanking, throwers and shamans supporting from behind.
ㄴ Fridge: Boss is the goblin shaman in the middle. Take him out, you're clear.
“They were forming up and charging from the 3rd floor for me. Difficulty gap for real?”
I lamented my fate and left a reply.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ: Hard mode benchmark, right?
ㄴ Fridge: Yeah... No one's done Extreme, so who knows…. Probably just more numbers, like always.
Exactly what I'd expected deep down.
But how many goblins there were didn't matter much to me now.
With the sand bog, dozens rushing in would end the same.
What worried me was something else.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ: No chance of elite goblins?
ㄴ Beetle: Odds are low.
Elite goblin lords are impossible solo.
Mid-layers difficulty at least. Not for now.
ㄴ pClearSoo: They always pop up right when you say that though~
ㄴ Beetle: Tower ain't that unfair.
Then, MagicIsFirepower dropped a cryptic comment.
ㄴ MagicIsFirepower: There's a hidden piece on 5th floor.
ㄴ pClearSoo: ? Never heard of that~
ㄴ MagicIsFirepower: Kill the goblin shaman at a specific spot in the cave, take his staff, and a hidden door opens.
ㄴ MagicIsFirepower: Go in, and you get a guaranteed skillbook.
The gallery buzzed at his comment.
Seemed new info to the other Mage Gals too.
ㄴ Fridge: What? How do you know that?
ㄴ Beetle: First time hearing this. Where's it from?
To the questions, MagicIsFirepower left a smug reply.
ㄴ MagicIsFirepower: Ahh— so you don't know. This place is full of half-baked humans—
A chuckle escaped at his posing.
But the bravado didn't last.
ㄴ pClearSoo: Stuck on 5th floor, spent days running like a maniac, stumbled on it by accident, right~?
pClearSoo's sharp guess.
After that, MagicIsFirepower went silent.
ㄴ pClearSoo: Oh? Nailed it lol. Total scrub~
No reply again.
Probably hit the mark.
Giggling, I shut down the computer.
Got all the info I needed now.
***
[Entering Tower 5th Floor (EXTREME).]
[Time Limit: 30 minutes]
[Defeat the boss monster, Goblin Shaman, within the time limit.]
The boss room had a different structure from previous floors.
Clear within a set time.
But failure just meant retry—no expulsion.
I'd braced for dozens, maybe hundreds of goblins pouring out.
My expectations were way off.
What appeared was a pack of about ten goblins.
Front row: three or four warriors with shields.
Behind: stone-throwers mixed in, and at the very back, one shaman with a crude skull staff.
Exact match for Fridge's Hard mode description.
“No way this is it…?”
I tilted my head in confusion.
Extreme had always boasted several times the Hard mode numbers so far.
Boss room the exception?
No chance.
“Whatever. Gotta do what I gotta do.”
Pushed the questions aside for now.
Deal with the enemies in front of me first.
Without hesitation, I cast Sand Bog.
In an instant, the cave floor turned into a sand pit.
Shield-bearing goblin warriors charging ahead sank right in, flailing.
Formation collapsed immediately.
Leisurely, I formed sand bullets and popped their heads one by one.
Less than 10 minutes, and every monster, shaman included, was a corpse.
[Tower 5th Floor (EXTREME) cleared.]
[Exit the tower? Y/N]
[Time Remaining: 20 minutes 17 seconds]
An item dropped where the boss fell.
Picked it up, and a clear status window appeared.
Meant I could take it outside.
[Goblin Shaman's Skull Staff]
[Grade: Common]
[Magic Power +5]
“Design's too ugly.”
Animal skull ornamentation wasn't my taste.
Plus, walking around with this would draw aggro like crazy.
Would make stealth climbing twice as hard.
“Still, it's a staff… tempting.”
Come to think of it, I'd been casting bare-handed till now.
Smashed S-rank hunter records without a single staff.
Extreme difficulty felt ridiculously OP all over again.
“Gotta gear up once I make bank later.”
Just recently, millions hit my account, but hunter gear was way pricier.
Mage stuff especially—hundreds of millions easy.
No spec issues yet, but it'd be needed eventually.
I tucked the crude skull staff into my waistband for now.
Then set out to find the hidden piece MagicIsFirepower mentioned.
[Exit the tower? Y/N]
[Time Remaining: 18 minutes 56 seconds]
Still over 15 minutes on the clear timer.
Could leave anytime anyway.
Basically serving up the hidden piece on a platter.
I backtracked up the cave where the monsters had vanished.
Cave was damp and uncomfortable.
Nearly slipped several times en route.
“Makes sense no one knew about this place.”
Post-battle, exhausted hunters wouldn't reverse through a cave like this.
Most bet their lives just on clearing.
Situations with spare time like mine? Nonexistent.
MagicIsFirepower's blind luck was insane.
How long had I walked?
A weird incongruity hit from one cave wall.
Turned my head: a faintly glowing red ritual circle, like it'd been painted in blood.
Screaming 'something's here' to anyone who saw.
As instructed, I pulled the skull staff from my waist and pressed it to the circle's center.
The magic circle flared bright, and the wall split open like massive doors.
“Now, just grab the gold skillbook inside and…”
Brimming with anticipation, I stepped into the dark space.
But what awaited wasn't a glowing skillbook.
“Hmm? And who might you be?”
Something that shouldn't be there.
Something absolutely impossible was right in front of me.
“No answer? Hmm…. Shall I dispose of you?”
Deep in the hidden space sat a person.
Looked dangerous as hell at a glance.