Tower Floor 3: Goblin Zone – Nakama's Explosive Debut
On the third floor of the Tower, in the goblin zone, a petite silver-haired girl missing her left arm smirked arrogantly at the horde of goblins.
Kirik?
"Dodge this."
Before the goblins could even let out their stupid screams, their upper bodies were diced into chunks and turned into bloody mist.
The girl shouted at the floating display in the air, her voice brimming with hyped-up energy like a kid begging for praise.
"Super cool, right?!"
As the chat exploded with [As expected of Gyuham!], [Swag level: nuked!], Gyu-yeon's lips twitched up to her ears, her dopamine levels maxing out.
The remaining dozens of goblins in the darkness caught the metallic tang of blood and charged with guttural shrieks, but to Gyu-yeon, they were just perfect reaction-fodder sandbags.
"Ahem! Great reactions, so here's an encore performance as a special treat! This time, let's burn it up hot—"
Gyu-yeon struck a dramatic pose and raised her remaining right hand.
Clank—!Slash!
A thick chain scythe sliced through the air from the darkness with a chilling metallic ring.
The chain snaked around the necks of the three lead goblins leaping toward Gyu-yeon, then yanked hard, mercilessly ripping their heads off mid-air.
Thud. Roll roll roll.
Someone had stolen her perfect chuuni spotlight in that split-second moment.
Gyu-yeon froze mid-finger-snap, staring at the goblin head that had rolled to her feet.
"Eek..."
Gyu-yeon pouted and turned resentfully, just as a woman stepped out from the dark shadows, reeling in the chain.
Muscles compressed to their limit like steel wires, writhing like serpents. And a chilling scar at the corner of her sharply slanted eyes.
It was Paeng Ji-woo, who had endured hellish training in the Murim Alliance's underground dojo for a month under Gyu-yeon—training that felt like her bones and flesh were being torn apart.
But her twitching eyes, shaking off the blood, were clouded not with murderous intent, but thick shame and irritation.
Ji-woo recalled the bratty face of her evil pint-sized master, who had thrown a tantrum before entering the Tower: 'You have to say the line I told you when you make your entrance! Otherwise, I'll bill you for house repairs plus interest!'
"Haa..."
Completely subdued by the slave contract of capitalism and the sponsors' ruthless power trips, Ji-woo slung the bloody chain scythe over her shoulder and forced her lips to move in her signature hollow, husky voice. She even had to lazily wave her right hand in that gesture.
"Kaisan~ Kaisan~"
Normally, with her beastly nature, she would've swung the chain and charged the next target like a rabid dog without a word—but she'd spat out that chuuni line with her own mouth.
Self-loathing twisted her brow fiercely.
The viewers watching the stream recoiled in shock at her incongruous entrance and the bizarre line that didn't suit her looks at all, flooding the chat.
Gyu-yeon, sulky from the stolen timing, switched to a sly nonchalance as the chat blew up over Ji-woo's intense, humiliating debut.
She ducked behind Ji-woo's back, flashed a V-sign at the camera, and beamed brightly.
"Alright, degenerates! Today's content isn't my chuuni skills. It's a live Tower clear with my exclusive nakama, whom I've beaten through hell for a month—big sis Paeng Ji-woo!"
"Who the hell's your nakama, you damn brat. Hand over the weapons already."
As Ji-woo ground her teeth in embarrassment and growled, Gyu-yeon giggled.
Heavy, ominous weapons floated up behind Gyu-yeon: a black-iron greatsword as tall as a person, sharp twin short swords, and even the chain scythe Ji-woo had just been wielding.
"Okay! Bio-inventory support incoming!"
Kieeeek—!
The goblin horde, frenzied by the scent of their allies' blood, swarmed from all sides—scrambling up walls, crawling on the floor, red eyes flashing.
It was a ridiculous number that could overwhelm even a standard C-rank hunter party if they didn't form up properly.
Worries and jeers mixed in the viewers' chat.
But Ji-woo grinned savagely at the onrushing goblins.
Her suppressed battle lust from the past month boiled in her veins.
Ji-woo kicked off the ground.
Krunch—!
The floor shattered like it'd taken a bomb.
The moment her form vanished from sight, the black-iron greatsword in the air shot toward her trajectory at Gyu-yeon's gesture.
"Catch!"
Snagging the greatsword's hilt mid-air, Ji-woo spun her falling momentum and slammed it down into the goblin horde's center.
BOOM—!!
The massive hunk of metal cratered the floor, unleashing a colossal shockwave.
The clustered goblins burst open, innards spraying as they flew everywhere.
No sword qi or mana blast—not even 1%—just pure physical devastation from overwhelming strength and mass.
"Next!"
As Ji-woo called out and discarded the greatsword, silver twin short swords flew into her hands.
The goblins tightened their encirclement, thrusting poisoned spears—but Ji-woo's footwork was perfected through Gyu-yeon's bone-crushing beatings.
Deflecting spear tips by a paper's width like a dance, she slithered low like a beast into their midst.
Slash! Stab!
Silver arcs flashed, and blood fountained from goblin necks.
For those pulling back, the chain scythe whipped in to snag ankles and drag them close.
Gyu-yeon lounged behind like she was munching popcorn, swapping weapons at perfect timings to match Ji-woo's moves.
A living, breathing inventory spirit. Perfect support.
Ji-woo turned the goblins into ground meat in seconds.
But the enemy numbers showed no sign of thinning. They trampled their dead comrades, piling on in human-wave assaults to crush her.
Ji-woo's eyes went ice-cold.
Her unquenched thirst, plus the searing shame and rage from that chuuni line, surged to her head.
"Quit sticking to me, you pests..."
Ji-woo casually tossed the twin short swords into the air.
The goblin horde shrieked grotesquely and pounced on the now-unarmed woman.
But Ji-woo didn't dodge.
Her entire body swelled with muscles to the bursting point, radiating scorching heat.
A trance state blocking even the goblins' howls. All kinetic energy from her compressed Heavenly Gang Body—bones and muscles densified to the max—focused into her right fist.
The technique from the last day of training. Usable only when forcibly twisting the body's limits: Silent Layer.
Ji-woo unleashed her bare fist mercilessly into the heart of the densest goblin wave.
The instant of impact.
Transcendent speed and power shoved the air aside, creating a perfect vacuum along her fist's path.
Pop—!
As her fist struck empty space, the overwhelming force warped spacetime, black lightning exploding like thunder from the impact point.
A massive dark flash seeped in, as if devouring light and sound along the transparent vacuum layer.
A beat later.
BOOM—!!!
A deafening roar shredded the air, nearly bursting eardrums. Storm-like winds and tangled black lightning swept in a fan shape, tearing dozens of goblins to shreds.
No qi or mana—not even 1%—just a catastrophe from breaking pure physical limits.
Her fist bore black scorch marks from that one punch.
Rumble—!
Massive boulders collapsed, thick dust and horrific blood reek rising.
The few surviving goblins in the rear dropped weapons and fled in pants-wetting animal terror, shrieking.
Gyu-yeon's skyrocketing stream chat froze like a lie. Dead silence, as if the system lagged—no single line appeared.
Three seconds later.
Amid the dopamine explosion and viewers' awestruck praise, Gyu-yeon grinned mischievously at the camera.
"See? What'd I tell ya? My nakama I raised is totally badass, right?!"