Chapter 30
Chapter 30
[The clear record for the 10th floor has been changed.]
[The current first place is Ghost Face, and the record is 00:00:96 seconds.]
“…Brother, you succeeded.”
A message window appeared before my eyes.
Looking at that, the goblin girl lowered her sword toward the floor.
“…I need to work harder.”
Although it had only been a short time since they broke up, the girl had already decided what she had to do and was putting it into practice.
Pow-
-Kwaaeook!
The dangling sword digs into the back of the fallen orc’s neck.
The orc’s brief convulsions soon subsided, and she pulled out her sword. Leaving behind
the
red blood fountain and blood mist, she walked deep into the hunting ground on the 9th floor.
The hunting ground was filled with silence only by the sound of her shallow footsteps, and behind her, a thick red blood mist filled the forest
.
Additionally, the corpses of the orcs she cut down filled the forest floor, and the blood that flowed from the corpses soaked into the soil, making it shine red.
Just like that, another rumor spread on the 9th floor.
-A goblin lives in the forest.
There is a goblin living there who hunts, no, slaughters monsters.
“I am someone who is helpful to my brother… I will try my best. So that we can stand next to you, not behind you.”
In fact, she was continuing the battle to achieve her own goal, but there was no one on the 9th floor who knew that.
* * *
“What? “Is this a real message?”
“…Has the new Four Emperors started climbing?”
“No, but isn’t there one dragon in the village now? already?”
Jinhyeok, who cleared the 9th floor and climbed to the 10th floor with his goblin mask off, smiled as he looked at the climbers who were blooming with stories about him.
‘Of course, if you take off the mask, no one will recognize you.’
He spent most of his time wearing a mask until he reached the 10th floor, and thanks to his increased prestige while wearing a mask, no one knew his real face.
Jinhyeok, who was walking down the street without his mask for the first time in a long time, gave a short review.
“Whoa, it’s been a while since I’ve been here too.”
10th floor.
A short review by Jinhyeok, who set foot on the floor that is said to be the true beginning for climbers who climb the tower for the first time in a long time.
Balkan expressed his doubts about that.
“Long time no see? Anyway, in your actual sense, it wasn’t that long ago, right?”
This was something he could say because Jinhyeok’s memories can only be taken lightly.
However, despite Balkan’s words, Jinhyeok lightly shook his head.
“I didn’t really come to the 10th floor. There was no need to come. Because most life can be handled on the 100th floor.”
The 10th floor can be said to be the starting point for everyone, but it was also a downgrade from the 100th floor.
Everything on the 10th floor was also on the 100th floor, and most had better facilities.
For that reason, Jinhyeok also tried to solve the problem on the 100th floor as much as possible, but rarely came down to the 10th floor, and even before his death, he visited the 10th floor only a handful of times.
“Except for the first floor you visited to change your job as a Spirit Master, I guess you didn’t go there much?”
Even so, it’s enough to count on one hand, except that I stopped by to visit the first floor to change my job as a Spirit Master.
This was a clear example of how Jinhyeok was crazy about climbing the tower.
“You are amazing too. “Even I used to wander around the lower floors a few times in my past life and take a rest, but I never even did that… I’m like a self-absorbed guy.”
“Being ahead of others was refreshing to me. “There is no need to travel around the lower floors.”
“Yes, I was like that too. The pleasure you feel every time you clear a floor is like a drug. But keep in mind. “There is no growth without rest.”
“…Keep that in mind.”
Normally, he would have cursed and brushed it aside, but since he died while only pursuing growth and climbing the top without rest, Jinhyuk did not ignore those words and engraved them deep in his heart.
‘Defeat once is enough.’
A defeat called death.
Jinhyeok moved forward, engraving in his heart the name of a defeat he did not want to experience again, even though he gained one more coin.
“So where do we go now?”
This was Vulcan’s question after seeing his footsteps that seemed to move without a destination.
“Well, don’t you know that? “A destination that has already been decided.”
“…I think it might be a little early. They are climbers whose home base is the 100th floor. Even if you can’t do it, there may be a number of people living there who have cleared floors several times higher than you.”
Balkan swallowed his silence as he spoke about the destination as if it were obvious and tried to dissuade Jinhyeok.
White Swallow.
To be exact, that branch was the name of Jinhyeok’s destination.
Balkan was worried.
‘No matter how monstrous this guy is, it is difficult to control a monstrous army of necromancers within the city.’
He is heavily armed with fraudulent occupations such as Spirit Master and All Master, and his stats cannot be considered a 10th floor climber.
In addition, Jinhyeok’s strength, which even has a special stat called Magi, is not at a level that can be ignored, even if he is a 10th floor climber.
However, it is also true that the opponent is a formidable being by Jinhyeok’s standards.
Their home base was on the 100th floor, and even though it was that branch, it was obvious that climbers from at least the 20th floor were guarding various branches.
“If it comes up downstream, go together.”
Despite Balkan’s advice to go with a slightly larger number of players, Jinhyeok actually frowned.
“You’re going to push a kid into that shit? Vulcan, are you out of your mind?”
“…Then are you sane to attack that place by yourself, you crazy idiot?”
Even if you worry about me, if you come back, you’ll be treated like a crazy person.
It was perhaps natural for the Balkans to be thrilled.
“You can’t even use most of the undead in the city. You son of a bitch, you can’t use the demonic soldiers who have risen to the main level. So, do you think it makes sense to say that we have to deal with only soul bottles and demon soul bottles?”
Jinhyeok covered his ears as Vulcan’s nagging poured out like a rapid fire, as if he was trying to relieve his frustration.
“Damn, I’m saying that because I can do it all.”
“number? How on earth can you and I destroy the guild branch located on the 100th floor and steal information from their mouths?”
“I know it when I see it.”
“…I’m so frustrated I’m going to die.”
“Can the soul die?”
“Yeah, you bastard. “Can you show me?”
“When you die, I will at least use you as a soul dan. Or, I will chew down your knowledge and eat it as a feast.”
“Damn you. “I can’t tell a joke.”
In a situation where it seemed like he would become a victim of predation alive if he made a mistake, Balkan eventually kept quiet.
Jinhyuk made fun of him with a sly smile upon seeing him with his lips poking out in a half-baked state.
“Wouldn’t it be embarrassing to pout even though you’re hundreds of years old?”
“…I’m not going to talk to you.”
“Okay, I’ll tell you. “What is your plan?”
“…It’s a solid plan, right?”
Jinhyeok, who was holding his stomach and giggling at the sight of Vulcan slowly approaching with a sallow face and asking, nodded, shaking away his tears with his fingers.
“of course. “Your role is important, Balkan.”
“…also! You can’t do it without me! “Okay, I wish I knew my usefulness by now.”
Jinhyeok smiled as he looked at Balkan, who had crossed his arms and had an arrogant face when he told him that he was not only needed but important.
‘Simple bastard.’
The Balkans were deceived again today.
* * *
“…Are we really going to stick to that plan?”
“why? Are you dissatisfied? Honestly, it’s a good plan. is not it?”
“Yes, I admit that. But why do you have to do that…!”
“What if we just go in and fight like you said? What about the city guard? No, I assumed from the beginning that I might be harmed by them, so why are you doing that?”
“…Sigh, I was fooled again.”
“I wish I knew.”
“You’re not even denying it anymore, you damn bastard.”
After hearing the entire plan from Jinhyuk, Balkan gritted his teeth and scolded him, but Jinhyuk was not the type to listen to that.
Jinhyeok chuckled as he looked at Balkan, who eventually reached the stage of recognition after going through a situation similar to the 5 stages of death.
“So are you going straight away?”
“no? “I have to go buy clothes.”
“…clothes? “What clothes?”
Balkan, who had heard the entire plan and thought the only thing left to do was execute it, tilted his head, but Jinhyeok paid no attention to him and walked toward the shopping district with great strides.
“…Let’s go together, you damn bastard!”
Leave the Balkans alone.
Of course, he wasn’t a Vulcan who would miss Jinhyeok, who abandoned him and walked alone, so he ran after him right away.
Just like that, the two people disappeared beyond the shopping street.
* * *
“Ha, I’m bored.”
“Just be patient. “It’s shift season soon.”
White Swallow.
It may look like a shabby guild with a guild sign called White Sparrow, but it is still a guild.
The members who filled it were by no means shabby.
Among climbers, only those who are somewhat talented and have climbed a fairly high level can establish a guild.
The guild leader wants a reasonable level of talent, if not the best talent.
This means that only those who pass a certain selection criteria are accepted into the guild.
“Ha, I’ll be on the 30th floor soon. What are you doing in a place like this?…”
“Are you going to accept guild support as requested and not do any duties? “Hey you bastard.”
It goes without saying, but attracting new guild members is more important than anything else.
If blind talent comes in, the guild’s very character will change.
Therefore, each guild sends its members down to branches located on the 10th or 20th floor for a certain period of time.
Of course, it is very cumbersome for climbers to attract new guild members while guarding a guild branch on a floor much lower than their own.
“Damn, but they said they would give me a new weapon at the end of this season, so I’ll bear with it.”
“Yes, it’s something I have to do anyway, but they give me a proper compensation, right? “It goes without saying that the weapons you receive directly from the guild’s blacksmith.”
“They said they would give me a strategy book, and that’s why I can’t leave the guild. “It’s a pestilence.”
“Even if I tell you to leave, I won’t leave.”
“…That’s right.”
The privileges that guilds provide are beyond imagination.
A strategy book containing various supports and guild-specific know-how needed to climb the tower.
Because there were indescribable benefits, I couldn’t leave the guild as a climber, so I had to spend the annoying life of a branch.
Jingling~
Grumbling, saying, “It’s annoying,” “It’s hard,” “I want to go hunting,” etc.
The sound of the bell disturbing the ears of White Swallow’s guild members who were complaining brought a smile to their lips.
‘I’m new!’
‘Okay, this will fulfill my performance!’
Since the essential reason for running a branch is recruiting new guild members, if you make an effort to recruit new guild members, your ‘performance’ will be recognized and you will receive better rewards.
That’s why all of White Swallow’s guild members welcomed the newcomer who knocked on their branch door with a bright smile.
“Ah… Hello… I came here after hearing about you… Can I get some advice?”
As they welcomed the new recruit, only one shy, ordinary-looking man entered their gaze.