Free Web NovelAh... this is simple.
Chuckling quietly, I held out a hand toward Joo Seowon, who was staring at me with a dazed expression.
“Wh....”
“Get up.”
“A-are you okay?”
Before Joo Seowon could even finish fumbling the words out, Sung Uijae turned me around.
“Did you do it right?”
“Ah....”
“Hey, if what you said is true, then this structure should be gone by now—”
But Sung Uijae didn’t get to finish.
Sharp, isn’t he.
He was a high-rank awakened, sensitive to mana, so he must have realized what kind of situation this was without any further explanation. Clearing an S-rank Gate at the cost of a single S-rank awakened....
Though the two of them don’t know that.
Going back to the earlier situation.
From the start, I had intended to drive Chase into a corner. Chase Holt was going to die anyway after pulling some spectacular villain shit during the major upheaval that would erupt a few years from now.
Because of that bastard’s little hobby of hunting Hunters, the already limited number of high-rank awakened only became even more scarce.
Sure, thanks to that, Kwon Taehan ended up with one or two more episodes to shine in, but it wasn’t like I was obligated to fill the quota for that bastard’s screentime.
The only thing that gave me pause was plausibility, but even that... for some reason, I felt certain it wouldn’t be a problem.
And seeing as no warning window had popped up even now, it seemed his death really didn’t have much effect on plausibility after all.
A life that doesn’t affect plausibility....
Setting aside what an interesting phrase that was, the point was simple enough. From the beginning, I had rushed in planning to take the bastard out while I was at it.
Pushing him into the center of the Dungeon wasn’t difficult at all.
Even if Chase was the kind of bastard whose whole character could be summed up in a few paragraphs, I still knew exactly what sort of bastard he was.
The first thing I did was lie to Joo Seowon and Sung Uijae.
‘I’ll go into the tower.’
‘What? No.’
‘...You?’
Looking back and forth between Joo Seowon, who flatly refused right away, and Sung Uijae, who narrowed his eyes like he didn’t trust me, I kindly continued explaining.
‘I brought a Teleport Box. There aren’t many, so it’s a waste, but if there’s ever a time to use one, it’s now.’
‘A Teleport Box?’
‘I’ll activate it and go in. So I can move immediately.’
‘By yourself... fuck, quit with the reckless ideas already. Since when have you ever done anything this selfless...! Don’t tell me you’re trying to get your dopamine fix again....’
‘Hey, wait a second.’
The one who cut off Joo Seowon was Sung Uijae. Wearing a calm expression, Sung Uijae asked me,
‘Explain the plan in detail.’
‘I’m the only one who knows this structure anyway. If you ask how I know... I don’t exactly have an answer I can give you. I’m going to go install something like a bomb in there, and if it resonates with mana, the blast should be pretty strong. Of course, that alone won’t be enough to bring the tower itself down, so Hunter Sung will have to apply as much pressure as possible on top of that. The more, the better.’
‘.......’
‘Have you ever measured how many g’s you can apply with your gravity-related ability?’
Sung Uijae considered my question calmly, then gave me an answer full of confidence.
‘Let’s just say it won’t be lacking.’
‘Good. Then—’
‘What kind of bullshit is that, fuck. You’re seriously saying you’re going in there? Hey, are you insane?!’
‘Hey. I get that you’re worried about your friend, but this is urgent. We need to decide fast.’
‘When you make a decision, you’re supposed to consider multiple options and pick the best one. To begin with, Seo Jehyun is a B-rank Hunter, and this is....’
‘An S-rank Dungeon. Right, even I don’t feel great about putting this kind of burden on Hunter Seo. Then how about we think of another option, like our friend says? Preferably fast.’
I watched the two of them going back and forth with some amusement. I had known from the beginning they would never come to the same conclusion.
Joo Seowon was someone with trauma tied to Dungeons, so they would try to block me from danger in advance even if it meant breaking with logic. By contrast, Sung Uijae was....
No matter how positive a relationship he’d built, he was still the type with priorities.
No matter how close Sung Uijae might think I was, in the end he would move toward the side that served the greater good. Because he’d think that was more “good.” He’d force himself to feel bad about it for me, sure... but being an S-rank Hunter, even that wouldn’t last very long.
I let the smile fade from my face and continued explaining.
‘I’m going to designate a target. I’ll send you the exact location through the pager, so apply gravity to that point.’
‘...All right.’
I took the pager from my pocket and looked at it for a moment, then turned my gaze toward the tower.
And then, for the first time in a while, my heart gave a strange jolt.
Ah, shit.
‘N-no... I can’t....’
I immediately cut off the conversation with Sung Uijae and turned toward Joo Seowon. They were standing there staring this way with their face drained white.
‘Seo Jehyun... th-think about this again.’
‘.......’
‘I... don’t like this, I really don’t, okay? The Gate Rank here is too high, and if something goes wrong, you could die. Think about it again. It’s not like you absolutely have to go in there yourself... we could ask the other Hunters to do it instead. You’re B-rank, aren’t you?’
Their voice trembled even though they were trying to stay calm. I walked over to them, studied their expression quietly, then turned my back to Sung Uijae and whispered in a low voice.
‘Seowon.’
‘.......’
‘Do I look like I’m going in there to sacrifice myself?’
‘I know you’re not, then why are you doing this?!’
‘I’m sure I won’t die... so why can’t you trust me? That’s weird.’
The more Joo Seowon’s anxiety intensified, the stronger the effect of the covenant became. My heart tightened with a pain that was almost like anxiety.
I took hold of their shoulders and met their eyes calmly.
‘Seowon.’
‘.......’
‘Joo Seowon.’
‘...What?’
‘Get ahold of yourself.’
As I said that, I lowered my hand and gripped their wrist tightly. Rubbing the guard underneath with my thumb, I added,
‘That covenant I made with you is more dangerous than some Dungeon boss like this.’
‘.......’
‘You know what that means, right? If you stay fine, then I stay safe too. So calm down.’
‘...Okay.’
They definitely didn’t understand a single word of that.
Still, at least they’d become obedient, so it counted as progress. Leaving Joo Seowon there, I walked back over to Sung Uijae and continued.
‘If it’s a Skill you can use from long range anyway, keep your distance. Take them with you.’
‘...All right.’
‘Check the pager on time.’
‘Got it, Hunter Seo.’
Then that should do it, right? I gave Joo Seowon one brief look, then started walking.
Just then, Sung Uijae slung an arm over my shoulder and lowered his voice in a whisper.
‘If possible, come back out in one piece.’
‘That’s a weird thing to worry about.’
‘By the way, what exactly are you with that friend of yours? I heard you’re dating the head of Haeseong.’
‘I’ve always had a lot of men around me.’
‘This is probably rude, but I’m going to ask anyway. Are you gay?’
‘Judging by how often I’ve had sex lately, pretty much, yeah.’
‘...I don’t want to ask any more. In a lot of ways, you seem wildly unqualified to be anyone’s partner.’
What the fuck was that supposed to mean?
Ignoring the last thing Sung Uijae said, I lightly shrugged off the arm.
On my way to the tower, I came up with a pretty interesting idea.
There was one Skill I used consistently, sure, but I actually had other Skills too. And among them... there was one I hadn’t gotten to use nearly as much as I’d expected.
Agitation (A).
I had thought it was a useful Skill, but oddly enough, there had never really been a place to use it.
But what I was curious about was this.
If a Skill was ultimately something that operated through mana, then thinking of it simply... could that Skill resonate with mana?
And the answer to that was yes.
All right, all right. Everyone line up in a row!
Agitation (A) is activated.
I gathered up the mana-driven Automatons and shoved them in one after another from the top of the tower downward. Not because I was under the illusion that Chase wouldn’t be able to burn them, but so that even if he did burn them, they would still serve as an excellent obstacle.
Everything moved forward at breakneck speed.
After finishing all the preparations, I sent Sung Uijae my location through the pager, and at the same time... I called Chase.
So that bastard could willingly become a sacrifice for A Brilliant Tomb.
Ah, seriously... how could this possibly be so simple?
