[ DING! ]
[ DING! ]
[ Namyangju Tower No. 2’s 75th floor has been cleared! ]
───────────────────
[ Floor: 75th floor ]
[ Climbers: Bae Hyeong-seok and 7 others ]
[ Clear Time: 32 minutes 18 seconds ]
───────────────────
[ Clear condition fulfilled ]
▶ Defeated 1 Immortal Calamitas (Final Boss)
[ Climb Ranking: Highest ] (Current 1st)
[ DING! ]
[ Clear time has achieved the shortest record in history! ]
“It was quite a difficult bloodbath.”
Bae Hyeong-seok wiped the sweat from his forehead as he spoke.
“Right. As expected of a tower where the Curse of Immortality appeared. Even the boss is designed around immortality.”
“The gimmick is absurdly difficult.”
“If we weren’t top-tier Hunters like us, clearing it would’ve been impossible. Even as a party.”
Immortal Calamitas.
Despite how fitting the name ‘Immortal’ sounded,
its body had become a skeleton and lay discarded on the floor.
“What about the whereabouts of the bearer of the Curse of Immortality?”
“Yoo Da-huin’s movement still remains on the 30th floor.”
Lee Cheol-heon brought up a transparent communication window and spoke.
Bae Hyeong-seok asked him again.
“The 30th floor. What appeared there?”
“Sylvatera. A giant man-eating tree.”
“…It was not a particularly unusual boss, but he is staying on that floor for an even longer time this time.”
Nearly two weeks had already passed since Yoo Da-huin had entered the 30th floor.
In that time, there had been great movement among the parties of top-ranking Hunters and advance parties under Bae Hyeong-seok’s command.
“Curse of Immortality or whatever, in the end he was born an ordinary person. I suppose he was only ever a common man.”
“True. Even now, two weeks later, he’s still stuck there.”
They had already finished breaking through to the 75th floor of Namyangju Tower No. 2, and now only one step remained until the 76th floor, which they believed to be the top floor.
After all, the party had seven SS-grade Hunters gathered together, each capable of clearing the top floor of a tower alone, and on top of that, one of the only three SSS-grade Hunters in South Korea was included in the party composition.
While Yoo Da-huin was repeatedly being digested and crushed inside Sylvatera’s body,
it was only natural, in a sense, that Bae Hyeong-seok’s party had not taken long to climb to the end of Namyangju Tower No. 2.
“In any case, now that we have taken down Immortal Calamitas, we are only one step from the end of this tower, the 76th floor.”
“…Are you sure the 76th floor is the end?”
At Lee Chae-rin’s question, Bae Hyeong-seok nodded.
“Is it not common knowledge that a final reward floor appears after the Final Boss? As for that final reward, the Hunters here will divide it among ourselves….”
“No, no. Common knowledge?”
Lee Chae-rin clutched her head and frowned as she spoke.
“By common standards, this is the first Final Boss of its kind. Like I said earlier, I probably couldn’t have taken it down alone.”
At those words, every party member fell silent.
It meant they all agreed.
“Have you ever heard of a Final Boss that an SS-grade Hunter can’t subjugate alone?”
“…I have not, but.”
“Bae Hyeong-seok. In other words, if we didn’t have an SSS-grade Hunter, honestly, even we would’ve taken far longer than this.”
An SSS-grade Hunter had only one more S attached before the same word Hunter as an SS-grade Hunter.
However, the order of strength itself was different, so Lee Chae-rin’s words were correct to some extent.
“This tower is definitely abnormal.”
“So there may be more floors?”
“I don’t know that either. I’m saying we should stay on guard.”
“…Shut up and climb already.”
Oh Yuk-il wiped the purple blood from his cheek as he spoke.
“I’m taking that Yoo Da-huin or whatever no matter what. Anyone who tries to steal him from me had better be ready.”
“Ha. He said that the entire climb, and now he’s saying it even at the end.”
Lee Chae-rin snorted.
“Get your head straight, idiot. We’re all doing this to catch that one bastard.”
Someone was doing it for revenge.
“…I will be the one to catch the bastard.”
Someone was doing it for the greater cause.
“That is true. I do not mind if an individual captures him. However, the end must certainly be a courtroom.”
Someone was doing it for money.
“And with 5 billion won on the line, of course there’s going to be competition.”
But someone else was moving because of the pride of having been eliminated on the 25th floor, or because of some unknowable greed.
“Fuck off.”
Oh Yuk-il spun a knife around in his hand with a murderous gaze as he spoke.
“Figure it out yourselves if you don’t want to make an enemy of me. I don’t give a fuck about 5 billion won or any of that shit.”
“…Haa. I am no longer certain whether clearing the tower like this is the right choice.”
Bae Hyeong-seok clutched his aching head.
[ Continue climbing to the next floor? ]
[ Yes / No ]
-PRESS.
He pressed the button to climb toward the tower’s final floor.
***
And what they faced there was.
“…What is this…?”
A scene far too antique and elegant to be called the inside of a tower.
White marble floors, walls, and ceiling.
Golden chandeliers.
A fragrant scent of herbs and a somewhat narrow garden.
“…What the hell is this?”
“Is this really the reward floor? Strange.”
At the very moment everyone tilted their heads.
And.
“…Oh my.”
A black-and-white Gothic-style dress.
A girl whose silver-white hair was neatly tied with a ribbon.
As if she were holding a tea party, she sat at a table and chair that matched the floor, elegantly holding a teacup in hands as pale as ash.
She was a little too mysterious to call cute, and too excessively artificial to call beautiful.
How should one put it?
“Guests who weren’t invited.”
A girl who did not seem human opened her mouth and spoke to Bae Hyeong-seok’s group.
And at that moment.
[ DING! ]
[ You have reached Namyangju Tower No. 2’s 76th floor! ]
“…?”
[ Error! ]
“This is it, this!”
Oh Yuk-il shouted as if cheering at the message that appeared before everyone.
[ Tower Master ■■ is ■■■■ …]
“?”
Along with the broken language.
[ Subjugation begins! ]
“!”
A notification window announced that subjugation had begun.
At those words, everyone raised their weapons and entered battle stance.
“Everyone! Attack immediately!”
At Bae Hyeong-seok’s command, a golden aura wrapped around everyone, and they leapt into the air and charged across the ground.
“Freezing: Spear of the Azure Star!”
A spear of blue light formed in Lee Chae-rin’s hand as she flew into the air, then stabbed down toward the girl.
-CRACK—!
“Hup!”
Then Lee Cheol-heon, who had charged in, clenched his fist and pulled.
-CRUNCH, CRACK…!
A pressure so strong it even distorted space bloomed in the air of the floor.
-CRASH—!
A powerful impact slammed into the girl.
And Oh Yuk-il, who had appeared behind the girl before anyone knew it.
“Deadly Poison!”
He slashed across with the knives in both hands, crossed them around that slender white neck, and burst it open.
As Lee Cheol-heon and Oh Yuk-il retreated in an instant, a man holding a greatsword as large as his own torso swung the greatsword down.
“Gravity Sword: Heavy Strike!”
-CRACK—!
From far away, the marble floor flipped over completely, and a shockwave flew forward, smashing the girl’s tea party apart.
But there were still four more Hunters left.
Another male Hunter came in from far away while brilliantly swinging a crescent spear with a blue blade.
“Spatial Slash!”
-SLASH—!
He cut the girl down, and the sliced space itself was torn away, revealing a black void.
And in the distance, a black-haired woman clasped her hands together.
She focused with her eyes closed.
-Hmm-hmm-hmm…!
A continuous vibration rang from her hands.
Then she opened her eyes with a flash.
“Vacuum Destruction!”
When she thrust out her clasped hands,
a great noise erupted.
-BZZZZT—!! KABOOM—!
Once again, the marble floor was completely shattered, and a vacuum wave burst out with the girl at its center.
And finally, one Hunter extended both hands, wrapped in black flames.
“Haaaap!”
When he shouted, the black flames in both hands poured over the shattered remains of the tea party.
-WHOOSH—!
Then the black flames rose until they touched the high ceiling.
“Hup!”
Finally, Bae Hyeong-seok, who had been holding his hands together, drew them out long and horizontal.
-BZZZT!
“Holy Spear!”
A straight spear made of golden light formed, sharp and sacred.
-GRAB!
Gripping the spear created in the air, Bae Hyeong-seok spun once and hurled it toward the girl with all his strength.
“Greanor!!!!!”
-PIERCE…!
And when the spear struck the girl.
-KWAAAAAAAAANG!!
It caused a massive golden explosion, returning everything that existed to nothingness.
“Haa, haa, haa.”
This was the combination of first-rate fighters, and among them, the strongest of the strong, SS-grade and SSS-grade Hunters.
-Crack, crackle…
At the traces of the tea party, where only the black flames remained unextinguished.
“Hoo.”
When the sound of the girl’s breath was heard.
“…!”
The flames faded as if they had been a lie, and the girl still sat in her chair, carefully bringing the teacup she held to her lips as she closed her eyes.
“The, the flames that never go out…!”
The SS-grade Hunter who had unleashed the black flames, Kim Tae-un.
He stared at the girl with eyes stained in shock.
“What rough greetings you guests have.”
-Clink.
The girl carefully set the cup down on the table.
“…Even though you weren’t invited.”
-THUD—!
A single word.
“!”
It was only a single word.
“…Wh, what is this…!”
With that single word.
The eight strongest Hunters in South Korea.
“…What… the hell…!”
All of them knelt.
“Wh, what is this… fuck…!”
Oh Yuk-il spat out a curse.
-Twitch.
The girl frowned.
“…I dislike foul-mouthed guests.”
She gave a small sideways flick of her finger through the air.
-CRACK—!
“…!”
One corner of Oh Yuk-il’s mouth tore all the way to his ear, and blood burst out.
“Ugh, ugh, mmph…!”
But Oh Yuk-il knelt there,
his hands on the ground, unable even to cover the wound.
He only trembled in pain, his head shaking violently.
It seemed his hands could not come off the ground.
“…Well, getting any angrier than this would be ridiculous, so I’ll forgive you. You probably don’t know what any of this is either.”
The girl drank her tea in an old-fashioned manner as she spoke.
“Wh, who… are you…?”
Bae Hyeong-seok asked while trembling all over.
“By the way, this is unexpected. He couldn’t reach the end of the floors even after gaining Immortality’s power? At this rate, there was no point in going out of my way to build the tower.”
The girl did not answer him.
Instead, she tilted her head and asked the empty air.
“You… know Immortality…?!”
At those words, Lee Cheol-heon asked, veins bulging across his face.
“Immortality? I know.”
The girl closed her eyes and nodded.
“Immortality is my eternal friend. Of course I know.”
“Speak! What exactly is the curse…!”
“Ah. Noisy.”
-WHOOSH.
This time, the girl drew her finger downward.
-KWAAAAANG!!
With a massive roar, Lee Cheol-heon’s head was driven into the floor, and blood gushed out in thick spurts.
“…!”
Every Hunter barely glanced at that sight from the corners of their eyes as their entire bodies trembled.
The girl sighed and spoke.
“Enough. If you aren’t Immortality, I have no business with you. However….”
-Clink.
She set down her teacup.
“When you meet him next, tell him this. ‘Infinity was waiting for you.’”
“…Infinity?”
Bae Hyeong-seok asked back, but the girl shifted the teacup aside as if she had no interest.
-Clink.
“Then farewell. Take care, all of you.”
She waved those thin white fingers elegantly in parting.
“Wait…!”
But when everyone closed and opened their eyes.
“…Huh?”
[ DING! ]
[ Namyangju Tower No. 2’s 76th floor has been cleared! ]
[ The tower is collapsing! ]
[ All participants will be moved outside the tower! ]
They were already outside the tower, and only then did they lift their kneeling bodies and rise one by one.
“…What on earth…?”
“Did we dream or something? What the hell?”
While everyone looked around in confusion and checked their own bodies.
“…Infinity… Then that is….”
Bae Hyeong-seok remained on his knees, muttering to himself.
“Ugh, ghk… fuck…!”
Only then did Oh Yuk-il clutch the wound on his cheek and tremble in pain.
“…Krgh… cough….”
Lee Cheol-heon trembled as he pulled his head from the ground, then began wiping his blood-soaked face as if washing it.
And.
Lee Cheol-heon lifted his head, widened his eyes, and spoke.
“…Who are you?”
At that single sentence, everyone’s attention gathered.
“No, that’s… what I should be asking….”
Before those eight Hunters, Yoo Da-huin stood with both arms spread wide.
“…Who are all of you…?”
He appeared after being flung out of the tower.