Chapter 18 - Return (2) (1/2)

Chapter 18: Return (2)

A spiral tower stood in the center of the decrepit, partially-destroyed city.

Five boss-level monsters reigned over each of their own territories within the city.

This tower was special because it was where one of those boss monsters resided.

‘The 4th trial will end if I take out whatever’s in here.’

Former hunter, Lee Sieon, looked around with a scowl then started to speak.

“Hey, trash.”

A man standing behind Lee Sieon flinched at the phrase.

“…Y-yes?”

Another man with glasses grimaced at the slow response.

“Fucking trash even responds slowly. If you weren’t even a hunter you should at least know your place.”

The man who was being called trash, Lee Jinhoo, apologized while cowering.

“I-I’m sorry Sangyoon hyung-nim, It’s my mista—”

“A mistake? God damn. Do you even realize where you’re at right now?”

Im Sangyoon raised his glasses with a finger and glared at Lee Jinhoo.

It didn’t sit well with them that a civilian who was relying on the hunters to pass the trial was responding so slowly.

But the threatening atmosphere didn’t last long.

“Whatever, are you sure the goblin king is in here?”

Im Sangyoon stepped back at Lee Sieon’s question and Lee Jinhoo quietly answered him.

“W-when I used my question, it said one of the bosses lived here…”

“And you don’t know for sure it’s the goblin?”

“Yeah…”

“Tsk, can’t you think before you speak? If the only thing we fought on the way here were goblins, the boss would obviously be the goblin king.”

“I-I see.”

“So we’re sure the boss is here.”

After coming to that conclusion, Lee Sieon looked around the tower.

‘Wow, it’s pretty damn big.’

The city view was shocking enough but the interior design of the tower was also surprising.

An oil painting perfectly suiting the atmosphere…

Glowing rocks placed around the tower gave the place a dreamy aura.

Even Lee Sieon, who had been a C-rank hunter, had never experienced anything like this.

‘I don’t know how this tower works, but it sure is impressive.’

The scenes from dungeons couldn’t even compare to this tower.

Not only were the monsters in a league of their own, the equipment was interesting as well.

Also—

‘The rewards don’t even compare to what you can get from a dungeon.’

As strong as the monsters were, the rewards made it worth it.

If he could take this back into the outside world, it would be possible to get above a C-rank.

‘Actually, I probably wouldn’t even have to continue to be a hunter.’

The information Lee Sieon could provide would be priceless to the hunter association.

He could make enough from the just information to be set for life.

Whatever happened, things would work out for Lee Sieon.

He felt a little apprehensive when all his abilities reset, but looking back, this was a very good opportunity.

Of course, Lee Jinhoo couldn’t even dream of that.

‘Would keeping him alive complicate things later?’

If Lee Jinhoo went around spreading information, it would lower the value of his own information.

Logically, it would make the most sense to kill him and take his items.

Too bad he was such trash.

‘It would have been better if he was a novice hunter or something…”

Lee Sieon thought about what could have been, but he snapped out of it.

‘Whatever. At least we got here without any problems.’

The good news was that the other team wasn’t here yet.

They’d fail automatically once we killed the goblin king.

“Let’s take care of the boss and get out of here.”

“Sieon hyung-nim, what formation should we use?”

“What else? You and I can stand in the back and the trash can take aggro from the front.”

“You heard that? Lead the way.”

“Okay.”

Lee Jinhoo stared up at the giant door with a depressed look.

An all-encompassing eye was engraved onto the door, staring him down.

He could sense that the boss battle would start as soon as the door opened.

Lee Jinhoo feared another life-threatening battle but…

If he resisted, the two behind could kill him.

Lee Jinhoo shut his eyes and muttered.

“I’m opening it now.”

And as his trembling hands inched towards the door—

Krrrroong.

Lee Sieon and Im Sangyoon turned their heads at a sudden sound from the back.

「 The competing team has entered the goblin king’s spiral tower. 」

At that moment, a message they’ve never seen before appeared in front of their eyes.

「 Requirement fulfilled. 」

「 Special objective ‘competition’ is starting. 」

「 The boss battle cannot be begun until only one of the two teams is left. It is not possible to leave the current area. 」

「 Bonus rewards will be calculated at the completion of the special objective. 」

Beyond the holographic message, blurry figures emerged.

Lee Sieon squinted to get a clearer view of the man standing in the front.

A black hooded figure with a sword and a shield appeared to not be a goblin.

And the system had already told him who that figure was.

“Damn.’

Lee Sieon cursed under his breath and took out his crossbow.

He knew that it had been too easy to be true.

“Ha, fuck. Man, this is like the worst-case scenario.”

The other team had entered the tower.

***

「 Special objective ‘competition’ is starting. 」

A message appeared as soon as they entered the ashy spiral tower.

‘Special objective?’

It wasn’t a type of message anyone had previously experienced.

That means this was inherent to the tower of trials.

‘What is…’

I hesitated for a bit because I hadn’t seen anything like this, even after entering the tower.

But the objective of the trial was competition so it made sense.

‘I knew it wouldn’t be this straightforward.’

The tower blocked off all other options.

It was playing dirty, but this still wasn’t something I hadn’t expected from the tower.

‘There are three enemies and they… have a mage.’

The man with glasses was wearing a luxurious robe holding a staff embedded with a blue orb.

No matter how you looked at it, he was a mage.

Just the fact that they had a backline was nerve-wracking.

Mages were a rare resource after all.

There was also a small trembling swordsman and a man holding a crossbow.

They seemed to be more balanced than my team.

‘The center of their team must be the guy with the crossbow.’

He had a more refined stance than the other two and, overall, just looked like he knew what he was doing.

At least, he wasn’t afraid to fight.

Then—

“Ha, fuck. Man, this is like the worst-case scenario.”