Crossroads
[A trap lies ahead.]
[This is the time to roll.]
[An attack is effective ahead.]
“Who even left these?”
Park Minsu tilted his head, staring at the words carved into the floor.
“Do you think we could leave some too?”
Signs were scattered all over the Dark Soul staircase.
It seemed to be a system that only applied in this section.
“They’re left so kindly everywhere we go. Makes things easier, I suppose.”
“Obviously it’s Jun, you idiot.”
There was no one faster than the four of them except Kim Jun.
Of course, some of the signs he’d left before the regression were still there, but he’d also carved new ones out of concern for those coming after him.
“Are you seriously that dumb?”
“Honestly, hyung. It’d be better if we all went together.”
“Are you ignoring me?!”
Park Minsu muttered in disappointment.
“Guild Leader probably has his reasons~. I just hope he hasn’t gotten himself hurt somewhere again.”
Of course, if all four of them were together, they could climb faster.
Ever since the Tower had begun appearing—no, to be exact, ever since around the time of the Red Gate known as the Lost Ruins—Kim Jun had changed into someone completely different.
Not only had his gaze grown strangely tender, unlike before, but it also felt as if he were more hounded by time than ever.
The relaxed air around him was gone. He seemed desperate to climb faster than anyone else and eliminate every possible risk.
Of course, the four members of the Han Guild knew why Kim Jun was so obsessed with clearing the Tower alone.
Even so, there were times when it stung.
“It always feels like he’s pushing himself right to the brink.”
Lee Seoyeon murmured softly.
It had been the same on the 11th floor, Heaven’s Realm.
The result had been good, but if things had gone slightly differently, he might have lost control of the enormous power sleeping inside him and become something entirely different.
“Come on, let’s catch up first. I’ll block everything! Let’s finish this quick!”
Park Minsu stepped forward with his shield raised before the soldiers.
Clang—!
A perfect parry landed.
As the soldier froze in place, Han Suin swiftly slipped behind him.
Slash—
One precise stab to a vital point, and it was over.
The same happened behind him.
“Wahahahahaha! I am the god of parrying! Wahahahaha!”
Clang—!
Clang—!
Clang—!
Park Minsu got so caught up in parrying that he went at it like a madman.
Thud—!
Slash—
Anyone left in a state of “stagger” was finished off by Han Suin’s Vital Strike.
Ever since awakening the hidden class Blade, Han Suin’s movements had become much faster than before.
“Hah, you two are having all the fun.”
Ryu Jia grumbled.
Her mana had been nerfed, so the magic bullets she could normally fire off in dozens were limited to only three or four.
So I’m supposed to just sit here and watch?
Ryu Jia had always liked charging at the front and wiping enemies out.
She knew she was the strongest, and she enjoyed showing that power off.
But now only Park Minsu and Han Suin were shining.
She couldn’t stand it.
“Should I have a little fun too?”
She pulled a mana potion from her subspace pouch.
Not just any potion, but a full 1,000 mana potions she’d bought with the coins Kim Jun had distributed during Tower Defense.
Maybe Oppa gave them to me for exactly this kind of moment.
Pop—!
She yanked off the cap and poured it down her throat.
Gulp, gulp—
“‘Thunder.’”
Crackle-crackle-crackle—!
Pop—!
Gulp, gulp—
“‘Inferno’!”
BOOOOOOM—!
“Hey! Save your mana! Use it on the boss, I said!”
“Shut up! I don’t want to just sit here and watch!”
“I said save it for the boss!”
“Shut up! I’m going to have fun too!”
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Ryu Jia began to go berserk.
She opened ten potions at once and poured them straight down her throat.
“You’re all dead.”
Creak—
Rumble-rumble-rumble—
The surrounding thickets trembled as if reacting to Ryu Jia’s mana, and the ground began to shake.
Rumble-rumble-rumble—
“‘Meteor’!”
“Th-that insane—!”
Park Minsu gaped in shock.
Ryu Jia was floating in midair. Terrifying mana swirled around her.
Whoooosh—
The sky turned red. A massive meteor began to form.
It was dozens of meters across.
“Noona! Shield! That little brat’s trying to kill us too!”
Park Minsu shouted.
“Got it!”
Lee Seoyeon hastily deployed a shield at maximum output.
KWA-AAAAAAANG—!
The meteor slammed into the earth.
Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble—!
The shockwave spread in all directions.
The ground split apart, rocks were flung through the air, and trees were torn up by the roots.
The soldiers in black armor vanished without leaving even a trace behind.
Rumble—
A giant crater so deep its bottom couldn’t be measured formed in the earth.
Its rim glowed red like molten lava.
But it still wasn’t over.
Roar-rumble-rumble—
The shockwave kept spreading.
All the way to the Lion King’s fortress in the distance.
Rumble—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The fortress’s enormous front gate collapsed under the impact, and part of the outer wall split apart as well.
“Th-this lunatic…!”
Park Minsu stared in a daze.
Thanks to the shield he had raised and Lee Seoyeon’s barrier, only the small area where the three of them were grouped remained intact.
Everything else had been reduced to wasteland.
For several kilometers, the land had been flattened.
The hills, trees, and buildings that had been there were all gone.
Whoooosh—
Ryu Jia slowly descended to the ground.
“Hah!”
She snorted.
This was the power of the newcomer who’d once drawn the most attention in Korea!
The youngest S-class hunter, Ryu Jia!
Even if her defenses were weaker than a D-class hunter’s body, her attack power alone was enough to rival Kim Jun.
“That’s me. Hahaha!”
Ryu Jia turned to her companions with a proud expression.
What do you think? Surprised? You didn’t know I was this strong, did you?
She waited for their reactions with sparkling eyes.
But—
“Hey! I almost died for real!”
“Jia…;”
“…;”
All three of them looked utterly stunned.
“Ah, sorry. Hehe…”
Realizing the situation only belatedly, Ryu Jia laughed awkwardly.
*
PA-AAAAAAANG—!
“That scared me.”
“W-what was that, Master?”
With a thunderous explosion, a mushroom-shaped cloud of fire shot into the sky.
Judging by the location, it was near the First Land.
“No need to guess…”
Kim Jun let out a sigh.
In this place, the special laws of Dark Soul drastically lowered hunters’ abilities.
To burn through that much mana, she’d need an enormous supply of potions. And she’d also need the money to buy them.
Someone who possessed both that level of firepower and that much money could only be...
“Jia.”
Kim Jun murmured.
No one else came to mind.
“She’s already that far? She really is fast.”
Normally, getting to the Lion King’s fortress meant cutting through countless soldier encampments and undead monsters along the way.
It was a journey that should take at least three days.
At that speed, they might meet up before long.
“Should we pick up the pace?”
“Wouldn’t it be better if we all went together?”
Andras asked with a puzzled expression.
“It would, but…”
The first rule of the Tower of Trials.
One, the boss of a staircase did not respawn.
Once it was dead, that was the end of it. It would never rise again.
That was why Kim Jun was pushing the pace of the clear.
Even in his past life, many hunters had lost their lives for all sorts of reasons.
But the most common cause of death was, naturally, the boss monsters that represented each staircase.
Those powerful bosses had become the graves of countless hunters.
But if Kim Jun took them out in advance?
His companions would be able to climb far more safely.
A staircase without a boss was nothing more than a monster hunting ground.
Of course, they would still need enough leveling, but at the very least, the risk of death would be drastically reduced.
“Let’s go.”
“Good.”
With no special restrictions like those imposed by the Scepter of Retrograde, there was no one on this staircase who could stop Kim Jun and Andras.
They slashed, cleaved, and pierced.
Slash—
Swish—
Thrust—
It didn’t matter whether it was a wolf, a wraith, or a soldier.
Everything was dealt with in a single blow.
Countless corpses piled up in the wake of Kim Jun and Andras as they moved on.
Blood streaked the road, as if they had passed through drawing a red line behind them.
Clank, clank, clank—
Now and then, a huge procession of soldiers carrying supplies blocked their way.
They stood in formation by the dozens.
But—
───!
One slash from Kim Jun ended everything.
Only fragments of armor were left in the path of his sword qi.
Clatter-clatter-clatter—
Andras finished the cleanup with complete neatness.
Thanks to the Talisman of the Blue Abyss, there was no need to worry about mana.
They were hurrying toward the [Sanctuary of Rest], where the girls were located, when—
['Magnifier Pendek' has invaded.]
[Eliminate the intruder.]
Before Kim Jun could even look up, red mist billowed into the air.
A figure in shabby clothes, wielding a massive axe, emerged before them.
“So you’re another intruder.”
Kim Jun let out a short sigh.
“Kahahaha! I came to kill you!”
The man called Pendek roared and swung his axe.
Slash—
His head flew off. The moment Kim Jun’s greatsword cut through the air, it was over.
[Intruder 'Magnifier Pendek' has been eliminated.]
Three seconds. No more than that.
“What a waste of time.”
Kim Jun clicked his tongue.
But less than five minutes later—
['Beredo the Eater of Shit' has invaded.]
[Eliminate the intruder.]
A hideous man with a club.
“I’ll make sure you—”
Before he could even finish.
Slash—
Andras’s Shisan Hyeolhae split his body clean in two.
[Intruder 'Beredo the Eater of Shit' has been eliminated.]
This time, two seconds.
“...Master, that name’s weird.”
“I think so too.”
Five minutes later, again—
['Mad Knight Byke' has invaded.]
An armored knight appeared, covered head to toe in steel.
“In the name of justice—”
Thrust—
Kim Jun’s sword pierced straight through his heart.
[Intruder 'Mad Knight Byke' has been eliminated.]
One second. That was all.
Kim Jun frowned.
“What the hell is this supposed to be?”
And then came the next ones.
['Christ, the Wizard of Despair' has invaded.]
['Brook the Bloodthirsty' has invaded.]
['Black Knight Dave' has invaded.]
“Is there no end to this?”
The intruders that kept appearing followed a strict five-minute interval.
Almost like an alarm.
But none of them could hold Kim Jun and Andras back.
Where the blade passed, they vanished; where blood flew, it scattered like air.
“Master, isn’t this a little too blatant?”
Andras muttered, flicking blood off his dagger.
It was obvious at a glance that this was intentional.
They were nothing but scarecrows sent out blindly to block Kim Jun’s path.
It was as if someone were saying, Slow down. You can’t go that fast.
Kim Jun clenched his teeth.
If time kept being stolen from him, there was no telling what might happen to the children in the sanctuary.
“We’re going faster.”
“Understood, Master.”
Before the red mist could rise again, Kim Jun and Andras accelerated.
Swamp water sprayed underfoot, and dark crimson trails carved through the road.
*
[Marshland - Sanctuary of Rest]
The sanctuary was reached in just thirty minutes.
What should have taken hours.
Kim Jun pushed open the sanctuary door and stepped inside.
But what he saw was—
“Dragon-Eye uncle…”
“Pasia?”
Only one girl, crouched in the corner.
There was no sign of Fresentia or Petra.
At that moment, Kim Jun’s heart sank cold.
Something’s wrong.
47