Chapter 34: How to Grow a High-Level Veteran (1)
The vibration of the phone resounded.
A terse summon had been issued, devoid of any context or backstory.
“Damn it, I’m in the middle of something important, why a sudden emergency call?”
“Don’t even start. I was right in the middle of a raid.”
“*Spit* Sure, if they say jump, we ask how high, but isn’t it getting a bit too frequent these days?”
Players belonging to the Black Crow Guild grumbled but still gathered at the high-rise building.
The silence inside.
Small fragments of glass remained on the floor.
Something was different than usual.
Everyone tilted their heads in confusion.
“What’s going on today?”
“This is our building, right?”
An intense sense of dissonance arose.
Instinctively, they all felt something was terribly amiss.
With a loud noise, they opened the door and stepped inside.
The ominous premonition turned into certainty.
“What in the world happened here?”
“Guild Master!”
“Healer… Heal him, quick!”
The person sprawled on the floor, bathed in blood, was none other than the guild master, Sin Geon-su.
“It’s too late. He’s been dead for at least a few hours…”
A healer who had been examining Sin Geon-su shook his head.
While healing injuries might be within a healer’s capabilities, bringing the dead back to life was not.
The guild leader was dead.
So, who called for this urgent assembly?
All eyes turned to another person in the room.
It was the guild’s secretary, Kim Hee-woong.
With an anxious face, he readjusted his glasses amid the rising tide of anger.
“Kim Hee-woong!”
One of the players pulled out a weapon.
Whoosh!
From an interdimensional inventory, a spear over two meters long was drawn.
Its sharp blade was aimed straight at Kim Hee-woong’s throat.
“Explain exactly what happened without missing a single detail! Right now!”
“Ha… Ha… About that…”
Kim Hee-woong glanced to the side, awkwardly.
More accurately, he looked under the table.
Was there someone else there? As everyone had that thought…
Footsteps.
A silver-haired girl with strikingly red eyes emerged from beneath the table, her youthful appearance contrasting with the tense atmosphere.
“Haa.”
She scratched her head as if annoyed.
Though surrounded by various weapons and palpable murderous intent, she seemed utterly unconcerned.
Was this imperturbable demeanor the reason for their astonishment?
“This is ridiculous. We’re trusting a kid with these matters now?”
The spear-wielder clicked his tongue.
Just then, a vein popped on the forehead of the girl named Ellis.
“Kid…? Did you call me a kid?”
A red aura began to flood the room.
[Lv?? ‘Blood Domain’ is activated!]
The murderous aura that had pervasively filled the room vanished in an instant.
A chill so intense it felt as if every blood vessel in one’s body might freeze on the spot.
There were players present who had participated in the first-floor boss raid…
…but this was incomparable.
A different dimension entirely.
“Good heavens…”
“What kind of power is this?”
“It’s a monster.”
The players were trembling, frozen in place, incapable of even contemplating escape.
“Wah! Y-you need to calm down. The… the president said, if possible, not to kill!”
Kim Hee-woong was equally flustered.
For the guild’s operations, core members were essential.
Jinhyuk had instructed to preserve the rankers whenever possible.
However…
“What do I care? Didn’t you just hear what they said to me?”
Ellis had long lost her composure.
As if venting the stress built up over time…
A massive wave of power erupted.
Boom!
The windows of the building shattered all at once.
***
At the Awakeners Association in Seocho-gu.
To prove that he had passed the second test, Jinhyuk first went there.
1 PM.
Right on the agreed time.
Checking his smartphone, Jinhyuk looked around.
“It’s about time…”
Just as he was thinking that…
“Brother!”
“Oppa! Over here! Here!”
Two people approached from beside the entrance, waving their hands.
It was Lee Tae-min and Yu Yeon-hwa.
It hadn’t been that long since they’d last met, but for some reason…
Jinhyuk was genuinely happy to see them.
“Right on time. How have you been?”
“We’ve been good. We even successfully conquered a B-rank labyrinth on the second floor!”
Lee Tae-min puffed out his chest in pride.
“I’ve leveled up a lot too. We hunted day and night without sleep.”
Yu Yeon-hwa’s expression seemed to seek applause.
Indeed, the aura of magic around them had changed.
It was not only about the overall increase but the density of their mana had intensified as well.
“You’ve been keeping yourselves impressively busy.”
“Ah, but nothing compared to you, Oppa.”
“Eh?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know. The video uploaded to the ‘Hall of Honor’ yesterday, that’s you, right?”
Yu Yeon-hwa nudged Jinhyuk’s side with her elbow.
Lee Tae-min added his own bit.
“Hyung, why did you wear a mask though? Don’t tell me, you’re having a bout of adolescence again… Right?”
“That was due to personal circumstances. But… was it that obvious?”
To infer it all from a mere mask…
Or was it because they associated his identity with the signs of a so-called ‘second adolescence’?
Sure, he had those tendencies once, but it felt somewhat sad.
“Because you’re the only high-level loner around, Oppa. I caught on immediately.”
“The minute I saw the news, I knew it was you, Hyung.”
“Oh…! Is that so?”
Jinhyuk’s expression brightened, a mixture of relief for several reasons.
“But Hyung, is it true you quit ‘Tower of Trials’ around the same time we did?”
“The patterns in the video weren’t just memorized; it was like you made a mockery of the ‘Tower of Trials’ creators…”
The two cast a mixture of suspicion and awe at Jinhyuk.
It was an almost oppressive level of scrutiny.
But it made sense.
The ‘Tower of Trials’ community was exploding over the video uploaded the previous day.
The failures of the third-floor boss and the conquering of an impenetrable relic.
These two incidents had caught the attention of countless people, fixated on the masked player.
Who he was.
How high he had ascended the tower.
Which guild he belonged to.
From favorite foods and hobbies to even the color of underwear he wore that day.
‘Reactions are quite intense.’
Jinhyuk smirked slightly.
Although he had some expectation, this was beyond it.
‘Good.’
With such conditions set, acting going forward should be much easier.
Himself with a mask.
And himself without one.
To lead two lives…
‘Let’s rank both at the top.’
World ranking number one and two.
At first glance, they might seem like different people, but in reality, both were him.
‘I’ll use those two statuses to reap every possible benefit.’
His heart began to pound at the thought of numerous plans he had in mind.
That’s when…
“Hyung? Can you answer me? How high did you really go?”
“Hey, that’s not how you ask. Be honest. Oppa, are you one of the game’s administrators?”
“Noona, isn’t that stretching it too far?”
“No, it isn’t. If that’s not the case, then how do you explain these godlike movements?”
“…Now that you mention it, it does make sense.”
How did the conversation drift here?
While it might be entertaining to watch them let their imaginations run wild…
“Sorry.”
Jinhyuk smiled slightly.
At the same time, he showed them the screen of his smartphone.
[Please come by 1:15 PM to collect your confirmation of passing the second test.]
***
The day was free from awakening tests, so the association was relatively quiet.
Arriving at the reception desk, Jinhyuk pulled out his ID.
“I’ve come to collect my verification of passing the second test.”
“Yes, one moment, please.”
The receptionist took Jinhyuk’s ID.
But then…
“Uh… Kang Jinhyuk-ssi?”
With a startled expression like a rabbit caught in headlights, the receptionist alternated looks between the ID and Jinhyuk, then suddenly stood up.
“Could you please wait a moment?”
“Yes?”
“Just wait here. Please don’t go anywhere.”
She hurried off somewhere after leaving that instruction, so swiftly that Jinhyuk couldn’t get a word in.
Shortly after, she returned with a middle-aged man with a sharp countenance.
‘This is rather unexpected.’
Jinhyuk’s eyes narrowed.
How could he not recognize him?
Awakeners Association Chairman, Han Sangjin.
The figure head overseeing all players within Korea.
[Lv2 ‘Eye of Truth’ has been activated.]
The Eye of Truth penetrated the status window of the person before him.
Ding!
Name: Han Sangjin
Gender: Male
Age: 45
Level: 15
Strength: 19 Agility: 17 Stamina: 15 Magic: 15
Available Stat Points: 0
Coins: 0
Occupation: Administrator
Unique Ability: Mass Command
Skills: Lv4 ‘Bureaucracy’, Lv4 ‘Solidarity’, Lv3 ‘Mediation’, Lv3 ‘Thought Screening’
[Copy Conditions: Error prevents the update of copy conditions.]
Jinhyuk had just finished reading the status window and copy conditions when…
“We have been waiting for your arrival, player Kang Jinhyuk.”
Han Sangjin approached and offered a handshake.
‘Damn.’
That irritating feeling… accepting that hand seemed like it would only complicate things.
But refusing it might mark him as the notorious ill-mannered in the very mannered East.
Sigh.
There was no choice, but as Jinhyuk was about to extend his hand, he hesitated.
He mulled over Han Sangjin’s words.
Something felt off.
There was a strange disparity in the conversation…
Hold on.
Wait a minute.
‘He was waiting for me to come?’
Only one examiner knew the true measurement from the first test.
To everyone else, he was just an F-rank player, a common sight on the streets.
‘Why would the chairman personally attend to the lowest-level player?’
It made no sense.
Nor was there any chance the examiner would divulge anything, with ‘Soul Branding’ burning them to ash if they spilled the truth.
…Interesting.
So, this time someone prepared to deceive even ‘the eyes’?
Jinhyuk smiled faintly.
“Hey.”
“Yes? Why do you suddenly…?”
Han Sangjin’s face was painted with bewilderment.
Bluntly switching to informal speech caught him off guard.
But Jinhyuk’s expression remained icy.
“Cut the crappy act and drop the barrier. Now.”
“Barrier? What on earth…”
“Player Kang Jinhyuk. What are you doing to the chairman?”
“Are you going to pretend you don’t understand even if I put it this way?”
Jinhyuk’s smirk grew even more pronounced.
If they wanted to pick the embarrassing path rather than the easy one…
Quickly drawing a dagger, Jinhyuk pulled back his shoulder and hurled it upwards.
Shing!
The dagger cut through the air and lodged into the ceiling.
Or rather, what ‘appeared’ to be the ceiling.
That instant…
Fzzzt!
The space distorted, and ripples spread across a transparent barrier.
