Chapter 16 - Trial of Competition (5) (1/2)

Chapter 16: Trial of Competition (5)

To Lee Sunghoon, the tower meant a fresh start.

Compared to the promising novice he once was, the current Lee Sunghoon was a bird with a broken wing.

While the others were facing reality, Lee Sunghoon always looked to the past.

With a high-rank innate ability, even aiming to be an A-rank hunter wasn’t a pipe dream.

That was the peak of Lee Sunghoon’s mediocre life.

But that was a story from a couple of months ago.

He had stopped progressing after reaching the D-rank.

Of course, even a D-rank hunter earned much more than an average person but…

He’d lost all of the perks that came with being a sought-after newbie.

The rare mana resistance innate ability had amazing synergy with close combat.

However, Lee Sunghoon’s lack of talent for battle was his downfall.

Then one day, a strange hologram invited him to the tower.

「 ‘Tower of Trials’ has selected all suitable candidates from Earth. 」

「 Please select your difficulty. 」

Getting through the trials after all of your abilities had been reset.

Although he liked that everyone else’s abilities were reset as well, his favorite part was the rewards.

The rare innate ability combined with the resources the tower provided?

With those, he could get stronger than he ever was outside the tower.

Then after reaching 5th, no, the 8th floor, he could return to Earth safely.

The hard difficulty was strenuous, but the rewards were worth it.

When they said the 4th trial’s objective was competition, he didn’t think there would be anyone who could surpass him.

But…

“…”

What’s happening?

Lee Sunghoon sank his teeth into his lips as he stared at the man in front of him.

Fear, anger, embarrassment…

A whole mix of emotions swirled inside him.

‘Fuck. You’re just a trainee…!’

Contrary to his internal turmoil, Lee Sunghoon couldn’t act on anything.

It was obvious.

Unlike him, who struggled to deal with just 2 goblins, the man in front of him killed 8.

All without getting any support from Lee Hayeon in the back.

It crushed them with pure physical superiority.

Those armed goblins were at least E-ranked and at most D-ranked.

This man just told him that he’d kill him before finishing the trial unless he faced reality.

“Hopefully we can work well together for the rest of the trial.”

***

Lee Sunghoon may not be the sharpest tool in the shed but he wasn’t an idiot.

The more stubborn he was, the more he stood to lose.

He also couldn’t ask Lee Hayeon for any help.

She wasn’t really on anyone’s side.

Lee Hayeon was currently standing back and just looking at the two men back and forth.

It was clear that her non-partisan stance wouldn’t play favorably to Lee Sunghoon.

“…”

Lee Sunghoon wouldn’t waste their time any longer.

He closed his mouth and stayed back.

‘Well, he probably didn’t have much to say against that.’

That was the only reason I didn’t talk back to him in the beginning.

I thought he might act out if he had a big enough ego but…

‘I’m glad he’s not that stupid.’

In a timed trial, more conflict meant more time wasted.

Especially if that trial had your life on the line.

He probably also realized that this was a waste of time when he backed off.

It also wouldn’t make any logical sense for him to stand up against me after seeing our differences.

Now that I was the unofficial leader of the team, it was time to put it to use.

“I’ll go out and take care of the monsters, so just protect Lee Hayeon.”

He reluctantly opened his mouth.

“…Okay. Anything else?”

He had a disrespectful tone as if it was his ego’s final stand.

It didn’t matter though.

I’d probably never see him again after this trial.

“That’s it. It shouldn’t be too hard. And Miss Lee Hayeon…”

“You don’t have to be so formal.”

“Alright. All you have to do is tell us where to go and support us from the back.”

“Okay. I’ll resume examining the area.”

Hmm, I didn’t expect Lee Hayeon to be nervous as well.

It might be the fact that I just threatened to kill Lee Sunghoon.

Well, they’re probably only cooperating because I didn’t actually kill him.

They were at least warier of me now.

‘I didn’t mean to be so forceful.’

It left a bitter aftertaste in my mouth.

Although I didn’t regret anything I did.

If I kept dealing with his shit, it would have gotten out of hand fast.

We didn’t know where the other team was, but they probably weren’t having as much trouble as Lee Sunghoon.

We would have been at a disadvantage if I left him in charge.

At this point, Lee Hayeon raised her hand in a direction and spoke softly.

“I just used my ability and I think the boss is near the center of the city.”

“…You already found out where the boss is?”

“I think so. The goblin king is currently at the center of the citadel. As are all of the other bosses.”