The Tower of Babel

The raid strike team stepped across the threshold into the Legendary-grade ruin known as the Tower of Babel.

Given the nature of a tower-type ruin, their objective was clear: ascend floor by floor within the designated time limit, exterminating every single monster that blocked their path. Yet as Jeon Jaewoo examined the holographic notification floating before him, his brow furrowed in mild confusion.

A Legendary-grade ruin... and the monsters are goblins?

Goblins were the bottom of the food chain, the kind of pests typically relegated to Normal-grade ruins.

The count was undeniably high, but sheer numbers alone did not make a ruin worthy of the Legendary classification. Still, unlike Jaewoo, who was stepping into the tower for the first time, the Bureau hunters had conducted preliminary scouts and were strung tighter than bowstrings.

A few moments later, when Jaewoo laid eyes on the creatures firsthand, he understood why.

"Grrrrr..."

The sight of a creature hacking at the magic crystals embedded in the stone walls with a heavy pickaxe made the entire vanguard flinch.

...Is that really a goblin?

Calling it a goblin felt like an insult to taxonomy. It was the size of a hobgoblin—no, closer to a hulking orc. More importantly, its colossal frame radiated a dense, suffocating pressure of mana. To think they had to cull more than two thousand of these brutes.

Jaewoo lowered his gaze to the soft white bundle cradled in his arms.

"Novum. Once the battle begins, handle it right away."

Novum gave a polite, obedient bob of its gelatinous head. Seeing Jaewoo murmur into thin air, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hunters standing just ahead exchanged baffled glances.

...Who is he whispering to?

Is he talking to himself? That guy is definitely a little strange.

Bizarre companion or not, the monsters were upon them, and the hunters dropped into combat stances without hesitation.

"Engage!"

Seizing an opening, Kim Yumin sprang forward at the vanguard, unleashing a sweeping wave of sword energy that drove the hunters into the fray. The moment the clash erupted, Novum mobilized.

Squirming fluidly upward, the little spirit climbed Jaewoo's sleeve, slid across his shoulder, and settled atop his head.

"Hup!"

With a cute, diminutive shout, Novum activated its Transcendent trait, Natural Realm, merging its consciousness seamlessly with the fabric of the ruin.

Wuuuung—

Instantly, Novum channeled Nature's Grace across every allied hunter. A bizarre, invigorating surge of mana washed through their veins, catching them completely off guard.

"Wait... what is this?"

In the exact same breath, Novum cast Nature's Wrath over the entire pack of grave-robbing goblins.

"Krrk?!"

The goblins recoiled, tilting their brutish heads in bewilderment as their muscles seized and their momentum cratered. This was no psychological trick or slight shift in morale; both sides could physically feel the cosmic tilt in balance. The hunters felt as if they were soaring, while the monsters moved as though submerged in wet cement.

Kim Yumin paused mid-charge, casting a stunned glance back over her shoulder at Jaewoo. "What are you doing standing there?! The goblins are closing in!"

"Ah... right!"

The full-scale clash erupted in earnest.

Under Kim Yumin's leadership, the strike team utterly overwhelmed the vanguard of monsters, driving them back in a one-sided slaughter. Whenever a goblin managed to swing a pickaxe and graze an ally—

Wuuuung!

Novum triggered Creative Regeneration, knitting torn flesh and fractured bone back together in the blink of an eye.

"The wound... it vanished completely?!"

The struck hunter stared at his intact arm in absolute disbelief. The combat medics brought along to sustain the raid stood with their hands empty, entirely stripped of their purpose.

As the first wave subsided into silence, Kim Yumin hurried straight over to Jaewoo, her eyes wide with shock.

"Hunter Jeon. That lightness in our bodies just now, and the way everyone's wounds instantly healed... was that your doing?"

Jaewoo gave an unassuming nod. "Yes. It's a skill that applies buffs and healing to our allies while debilitating the goblins with debuffs. As I mentioned before entering, my role here is solely to support the strike team."

She knew he was here for support, but—

To cast wide-area buffs and heals remotely across dozens of people at once?

Was this the true caliber of a hunter who conquered Legendary and Ancient ruins all on his own? Despite having just cleared a brutal frontline engagement, the raid team had suffered virtually zero attrition. If anything, boundless energy hummed through their limbs, leaving them itching to take on ten more waves.

A faint, breathless smile touched Kim Yumin's lips. With Jeon Jaewoo backing them, she was utterly convinced that conquering this ruin was an absolute certainty.

"Incredible. Shall we advance to the next floor?"

Led by Kim Yumin, the strike team pressed relentlessly upward, purging every grave-robbing goblin that dared to lift a pickaxe.

Though each grave-robbing goblin possessed brute martial prowess exceeding that of hobgoblins and rivaling full-blooded orcs, they melted like butter beneath the weapons of the supercharged hunters.

Throughout the climb, Jaewoo strictly refrained from revealing any summoned beasts other than Novum. He had deliberately left the Ego Sword and the Lich King back at his apartment.

There's no reason to parade all my cards in front of the Hunter Bureau.

Besides, this was merely a Legendary ruin; Novum's solitary support was more than enough to tip the scales. While Novum wasn't built for direct frontline combat, its raw specifications already far exceeded the parameters of a Legendary-grade environment.

The party cut a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠swath through the monsters, climbing higher and higher until they finally arrived at the precipice of the topmost chamber where the boss awaited.

"Grrrrrr..."

Through the heavy gap in the stone doors loomed a monstrous goblin whose colossal mass brought to mind a mountain troll.

...Weaker than I expected.

Jaewoo's mental appraisal was decidedly lukewarm. It fell well short of the Skeleton Knight King that Myeolgeop had battled inside the Altar of the Apostle of Death. Then again, the Knight King had concentrated the entire difficulty of a Legendary ruin into a single apex entity, whereas the Tower of Babel dispersed its challenge across thousands of minions scattered across dozens of floors. Naturally, its boss would be somewhat less oppressive.

Even so, the beast still far outmatched an ordinary S-rank hunter like Kim Yumin. Before the final confrontation, the air among the hunters grew thick with tension.

Kim Yumin turned to Jaewoo once more, her brow furrowed in concern. "Hunter Jeon Jaewoo. Are you sure you're alright to proceed?"

"Why? Did something happen?"

"I mean... can you really continue sustaining these buffs for all of us?"

To be frank, Jaewoo had carried the heaviest burden throughout the entire raid. Though no one had said it aloud, every member of the strike team was keenly aware of the fact. He had unleashed absurd tiers of area-wide buffs and regenerative healing during every single skirmish without pause. Thanks to his relentless support, they had strolled up the tower with effortless ease—to the point where they found themselves questioning if this was truly the Legendary-grade nightmare they had feared.

Under normal circumstances, sustaining that volume of output would have left any support-type hunter utterly drained of mana and teetering on the verge of collapse.

"I'm completely fine, so please don't worry about me. Let's finish this."

"......"

Jaewoo waved his hand with a breezy, nonchalant smile, leaving Kim Yumin and the surrounding hunters in dumbfounded awe. No matter how extraordinary a hunter was, performing such feats should have worn them to the bone.

Of course, Jaewoo wasn't tired in the slightest because he hadn't spent a single drop of his own energy. Novum had handled every single buff, debuff, and heal from start to finish. And since Novum drew directly from planetary nature via the Natural Realm, its mana reserves were effectively infinite. Exhaustion was literally impossible.

My little spirit really is the ultimate lucky charm.

Jaewoo fondly patted the soft white slime resting comfortably on his crown.

With that, the final battle of the Tower of Babel commenced.

"KRAAAAH!"

Sensing the human intruders, the goblin boss roared and swung its colossal stone club with earth-shattering fury, living up to its station as a ruin lord. But—

Wuuuung—

"Krrk? K-Krrrk?!"

Under the suffocating weight of Novum's debuff, the boss's massive limbs dragged as if bound in lead. Stripped of its speed and coordination, it couldn't keep up, and before long, Kim Yumin's blazing sword arc cleaved cleanly through its thick neck.

The victory announcement flashed before the eyes of every hunter present, immediately followed by the breakdown of individual contribution rates.

Jaewoo looked at his percentage and blinked in genuine surprise.

Whoa, seventy percent?

He hadn't swung a single weapon, merely providing rear support the entire time, yet the system had credited him with seventy percent of the raid's total achievement. Then again, Novum's support had practically trivialized the entire expedition. In all honesty, had the Hunter Bureau attempted to conquer the Tower of Babel on their own, disaster would have been inevitable.

Having conquered the ruin, the hunters were enveloped in light and returned to Earth.

The instant they materialized inside the Hunter Bureau headquarters, Commissioner Yoo Jeongtae shot out of his chair. His eyes bulged as he sprinted toward the returned expedition.

"What happened?! How did the raid go?!"

Kim Yumin flashed a brilliant, white-toothed grin. "Complete success."

"What? Already?!"

Yoo Jeongtae's eyes went as round as saucers. His disbelief was entirely justified; not only was the clear time impossibly fast, but every single hunter stood before him in pristine condition. While emerging unscathed was ideal, to conquer a Legendary-grade ruin without a single scratch seemed like an absurd fairy tale. The waiting medical staff, standing by with stretchers and emergency potions, looked just as bewildered.

Kim Yumin tilted her head toward Jaewoo, who was casually stepping out at the rear of the group.

"It was a breeze thanks entirely to Hunter Jeon Jaewoo."

"Ah... ahh..."

Yoo Jeongtae turned toward Jaewoo with eyes filled with profound reverence, looking at him not merely as a hunter, but as a national savior and a living god.

"Thank you... Thank you so very much, Hunter Jeon!"

Meanwhile, there was the matter of practical reality: Jaewoo held an overwhelming seventy percent contribution rate over the Legendary ruin. Yoo Jeongtae cleared his throat and broached the delicate subject with immense care.

"Um, Hunter Jeon... Regarding the magic stones harvested from the ruin, how do you wish to handle them...?"

With a seventy percent stake, Jaewoo was for all intents and purposes the sovereign owner of the Tower of Babel. If he chose to, he could legally kick the Bureau out and monopolize the entire extraction site.

"The Hunter Bureau is free to excavate and utilize the magic stones as you see fit," Jaewoo replied smoothly. "Just transfer me the monetary equivalent of my seventy percent share ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the sales revenue."

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Commissioner Yoo Jeongtae bowed repeatedly, his administrative dignity entirely evaporating as tears of relief pricked at the corners of his eyes. After pocketing the promised Extra Clear Ticket as his guaranteed raid compensation, Jaewoo turned and headed home.

Shortly thereafter, news of South Korea's conquest of the Tower of Babel rocked the nation's airwaves and digital forums.

Across the sea, the phrase "humiliated once again" could not have fit Japan's predicament more perfectly.

They had been certain that by outmaneuvering South Korea at the negotiating table, they could leisurely claim the Legendary ruin for themselves. Yet the Korean Hunter Bureau had pulled off the unthinkable by bringing the reclusive Jeon Jaewoo into the fold, snatching the prize straight out from under their noses.

The Japanese authorities were beside themselves with fury, but they lacked even the energy to lodge a formal diplomatic protest. When an overwhelmingly powerful hunter simply strode in and conquered a ruin before anyone else could touch it, what could they possibly do? They possessed neither the martial might to contest him nor any legal mechanism to restrain him.

The Japanese delegates who had sat across the negotiating table with Korea just days prior sat in stunned, hollow-eyed silence.

We should have just accepted Korea's terms back then and stamped the paperwork...

Had they done so, they would have walked away with at least half the Legendary ruin's yield. Now, they had walked away with nothing.

Following the successful raid on the Tower of Babel, Jeon Jaewoo quietly paused all hunter activities, indulging in a period of peaceful rest.

And finally, one month later, the Heavenly Box clicked open, and Myeolgeom stepped out, fully repaired and restored to absolute perfection.