Leaving the Nest
“Hwaaah.”
“Finally, the warden.”
“Does this mean we can get out of here?”
Central Prison Tower.
The members standing before the massive iron gate showed no fear in their eyes. They had fought until they were worn down to the bone. In the process they had risen to the point where they could feel the energy in their lower dantians, and their stats had climbed considerably as well.
“Hoo.”
It was then that Baek Yeon-ho let out a short breath and stepped up in front of Hyun Si-woon.
“Si-woon.”
“Yeah?”
“Mind if I make a proposal?”
“……?”
Hyun Si-woon looked at him with puzzled eyes. After steadying his breath for a moment, Baek Yeon-ho spoke as if he had made up his mind.
“How about we take this boss ourselves—without you?”
“……!”
At his bombshell declaration, not only Hyun Si-woon but every other teammate’s eyes went wide.
“Hyung-nim? What the hell are you—”
“Just hear me out.”
Baek Yeon-ho raised a hand to stop him and began explaining calmly.
“I know the strategy for Watcher Argos too. It won’t be as groundbreaking as something Si-woon would come up with, but I’m confident we can take him down without too much trouble.”
Pride as a veteran player colored his voice. Hyun Si-woon was absurd, sure, but Baek Yeon-ho himself was the kind of monster who would easily rank in the top one percent under normal circumstances.
“After training for weeks, none of us missed it, right? We’ve gotten stronger… but Si-woon has been stuck to our sides the whole time, fixing everything. Lately I’ve been thinking—if we just keep safely following the path Si-woon cleared for us, will we ever get any stronger? At this rate, won’t we just become his burden later on…?”
Everyone fell silent at those words. It was a painful truth. They might have been walking an elite course compared to other Climbers, but in the end they were flowers in a greenhouse—growing inside the enormous fence that was Hyun Si-woon without ever truly facing wind and rain.
“Of course, that isn’t a bad thing. But if we’re a real team… I think we need to close the gap a little. When the leader is running alone up ahead, shouldn’t we at least thrash around trying to match his pace? Si-woon, be honest. You can solo Argos, can’t you?”
“…….”
Argos, huh…
Hyun Si-woon tilted his head back and sank into thought. The deliberation was short.
“Yeah.”
A brief affirmation.
“See?”
Baek Yeon-ho laughed hollowly. Mixed into that laugh were bitterness, the relief of I knew it, and awe all at once.
“This is the gap between us and our leader. Even the five of us ganging up on him still shocks us, but Si-woon says he can finish it alone.”
“……You’re right.”
That was when Kang Si-a took a step forward.
“I agree as well.”
The team’s ace. She, more than anyone, had felt Hyun Si-woon’s strength up close. She had also sensed it—that he was always looking farther, toward more dangerous places, with a gaze different from theirs. Someday… when he faced an enemy they could not handle, she wanted to become his strength. And for that?
She had to be able to handle something like what Baek Yeon-ho had proposed without breaking a sweat.
At Kang Si-a’s words, the eyes of Hwang Dae-un, Jang Cha-yul, and Baek Do-hee began to change as well. Yes. That was right. They were not beings to be protected—they were comrades who fought together.
Oh.
Hyun Si-woon marveled inwardly.
Unexpected.
He knew Baek Yeon-ho was not simply flaunting his pride as a veteran. As an older brother. He was seriously considering the true future of the team. The thrashing effort not to fall behind. The sense of responsibility not to become the leader’s burden.
Not bad.
No—rather, it was exactly what he had hoped for. Hyun Si-woon’s real goal was not simply climbing the tower. It was to reach the summit, become a Ranker, and confront whatever unknown enemies might lie beyond. He could not shoulder that harsh journey alone. Even with a rotting veteran’s knowledge and the privilege of regression, he ultimately needed powerful comrades he could entrust his back to.
Until now, Hyun Si-woon had been both master and architect. He had drawn up training plans, pioneered hidden routes, removed dangers in advance, and paved a safe path. But he could not hold the children’s hands and walk with them forever. Someday they would have to walk on their own, run, and get back up after falling.
Maybe now is the perfect timing for that first step.
The fourth floor, Asphodel. Surviving this hellish environment, the teammates seemed to have grown remarkably—both physically and mentally.
“All right.”
Hyun Si-woon nodded.
“I’ll sit this boss fight out. I won’t interfere with command or strategy at all.”
This time he would check. Whether their team was truly strong even without him. Go on and show me.
Heh heh heh.
Watching the scene, Ha-wol laughed as well.
Not bad. So hanging around a beast cub has taught them how to sharpen their own claws?
What are you even…
That was praise, you rascal. It’s about time you made a decision yourself. Do you plan to keep wet-nursing those brats forever? Even a grown hawk chick is shoved off the cliff so it can learn to flap its wings. Believing in their potential and driving them out of the nest is also a master’s role. With your skill, stepping in at the last second to save their lives if they’re about to die would be child’s play, wouldn’t it?
Krrrrrng!
The massive iron gate opened with a thunderous roar. Beyond it, a pair of crimson eyes rose in the darkness.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
At last it revealed itself. A one-eyed giant that easily stood ten meters tall! Its entire body was covered in twisted muscle and tumors.
KRAAAAAAAAH!
Watcher Argos.
Even back when he had played the Tower of Despair, the bastard had been infamous for its extreme difficulty!
“Everyone hold formation! Dae-un goes first!”
“Yessir!”
At Baek Yeon-ho’s shout, Hwang Dae-un charged forward with his blunt weapon raised. But his target was not Argos.
Kaaaaang!
Hwang Dae-un smashed the giant alarm bell sitting alone in the center of the tower with his mace. It was Baek Yeon-ho’s order.
“That thing is extremely sensitive to sound! Hit the bell, draw its gaze, and we hide behind the pillars in that opening! Until the ringing stops, it’ll only attack the bell!”
That was the veteran strategy Baek Yeon-ho knew. Instead of facing Argos’s overwhelming power head-on, they would use an environmental gimmick to buy free damage time.
KWORRRRR!
At the deafening noise, Argos’s huge single eye snapped toward the alarm bell. Roaring with rage, it began slamming its massive club down on the bell instead of Hwang Dae-un.
Kwang! Kwaang! Kwaaaang!
“Now! Pour on the damage!”
At Baek Yeon-ho’s cry, Jang Cha-yul and Kang Si-a burst out from behind the pillars. Jang Cha-yul’s spear danced like a butterfly and bit into Argos’s Achilles tendon, while Kang Si-a’s arrows became silver flashes that relentlessly targeted the joints.
The limit of this strategy is clear.
That alarm bell’s durability was extremely low! It could take five or six hits at most. Once shattered, it took a full minute to regenerate. Meaning for one minute they would have to endure Argos’s fury with their bare bodies!
Kwaaaaang!
Sure enough, Argos’s club smashed the alarm bell to pieces.
“Damn it! I’ll hold! Noona, stick behind me and just keep the heals coming!”
“Got it!”
Gulp.
Baek Yeon-ho swallowed hard. The one silver lining was that their specs were better than when he had cleared the fourth floor back in the game. And he had a new skill.
Guardian’s Barrier!
Guardian’s Barrier
Wooooong!
At his shout, blue mana particles condensed like a storm in front of his shield. In an instant a translucent energy barrier unfurled before him.
Kwaaaaang!
Argos’s club mercilessly smashed into the barrier. A eardrum-splitting roar erupted as the shockwave spread in every direction, cracking the floor.
“Kh… krrrgh!”
A groan tore from Baek Yeon-ho’s mouth. The pressure transmitted through the barrier was beyond imagination. His legs trembled, and the bones in the arm gripping the shield seemed to scream. Spiderweb cracks rapidly spread across the barrier.
Already breaking?
But in that fleeting moment—
Fusususuk!
Kang Si-a’s arrows slammed one after another into the one-eyed giant’s eye.
KRAAAAAAAAGH!
A scream of pain on a completely different level burst from Argos’s mouth. Kang Si-a’s hands circling the pillar moved so fast they blurred. Insane rapid fire!
Kigik, ping! Kigik, ping! Kigik, ping!
The sequence of nocking, drawing, and releasing flowed like a single motion. And since each shot received the unique bow’s attack power judgment, Argos’s blood was being shaved away at a terrifying rate.
Crazy.
Baek Yeon-ho was dumbstruck. He had thought only Hyun Si-woon was a monster, but here was another one. Predicting Argos’s movements and planting arrows in advance was practically in the realm of foresight, wasn’t it?
Kang Si-a’s goal was simple.
Keep it from moving.
Pushuk!
Achilles tendon.
Pushuk!
Knee joint.
Pushuk!
Elbow tendon.
Every thrashing limb Argos swung in agony was interrupted half a beat by her arrows.
The problem is… I only have twenty arrows left.
“Si-a!”
Baek Yeon-ho suddenly shouted.
“Left leg! Seal only the left leg! When the next bell drops we have to bring it down for sure!”
They needed to improvise. Originally in the Tower of Despair, if you saw the alarm bell more than five times… But right now their damage output felt high enough that they might finish it after only two.
“Understood!”
Kang Si-a’s strategy shifted instantly. Every one of her arrows began concentrating solely on Argos’s left leg.
Pushuk! Pushushuk!
Knee, ankle, thigh. Silver arrows mercilessly burrowed into every place that had bone and tendon.
“I’m almost out of arrows!”
“Just use them all! I’ll recover them during the next bell!”
“Yes!”
And then—
Kuung!
At last the long-awaited alarm bell dropped once more.
“Dae-un! Cha-yul noona!”
“Okay!”
“Let’s gooooo!”
Hwang Dae-un put everything into smashing the bell. With a clear clang, Argos’s gaze turned toward the bell once more. That was their final chance. The instant Argos raised its club to smash the bell again, Hwang Dae-un and Jang Cha-yul charged ferociously into its left leg.
“Shatter!”
Hwang Dae-un’s mace crashed into the arrow-studded knee joint.
“Pierce!”
Jang Cha-yul’s spear stabbed the exposed Achilles tendon. Meanwhile Baek Yeon-ho and Baek Do-hee focused on yanking out the embedded arrows. Arrows in the Tower of Despair had no durability concept—they never broke—so this recovery method worked.
KRAA?!
Argos, still destroying the bell, belatedly registered the tremendous pain in its leg. But it was already too late. Everyone held their breath and prayed. Please, please!
Just as the alarm bell was about to shatter and Argos tried to turn its head back toward the teammates—
Pudeudeudeuk!
With a horrific tearing sound, Argos’s left leg bone twisted at a grotesque angle and snapped.
“Now!”
“Just wreck the eye!”
Everyone rushed in. The fallen Argos swung its club in a final desperate thrash, but—
“I’ll block it!”
Baek Yeon-ho tossed the recovered arrows toward Kang Si-a and raised his shield.
Kwaaaaang!
He took that ferocious attack head-on…
“Khuhk!”
An impact that felt like every bone in his body was being crushed. Rock-Solid Body Art or whatever—when a club that size came down on you, it simply hurt on a physical level.
But I hold.
Baek Yeon-ho clenched his teeth. Kwang! Kwaaaang! After weathering three such blows—
Crack!
Baek Yeon-ho’s shield finally exhausted its durability and shattered into pieces.
“……!”
His eyes filled with horror. Whooooosh! Argos’s final club swing came crashing down on his now-defenseless form. An unavoidable deathblow.
“Shit.”
The moment he involuntarily squeezed his eyes shut—
Kwang!
The club never touched his body. Explosive light burst from Baek Yeon-ho’s chest and repelled Argos’s weapon!
Heart of the Strong!
Heart of the Strong
Nullifies one critical hit
The one-time fatal strike nullification effect had activated.