Chapter 98: The Grey Temple (2)
A player with a sharp expression and a scar across his face, his waist adorned with a katana, and tattoos of various colors covering his body came into view.
Well, there’s no need to confirm.
It was too obvious where these guys came from.
‘The Samurai Guild…’
Jinhyuk’s brow furrowed unpleasantly.
He had a hunch why these guys were here and why Kim Gitae was angry.
Just then, voices rose between the two groups.
“This is a dungeon we own. Surely you haven’t forgotten?”
“We’re aware, but as you know, Manager Kim, Fighting Spirit has been failing repeatedly, haven’t they? Wouldn’t contributing to humanity mean handing over a dungeon that’s too much for you to a team that can actually conquer it?”
A man with a goatee and sunglasses spoke mockingly.
Despite his polite words, his message was clear as day.
Clench!
Kim Gitae ground his teeth.
But he had no rebuttal.
Indeed, they had been failing continuously, while the Samurai Guild had been showing impressive growth recently.
But then—
“Hmm, this is strange.”
Jinhyuk interjected, scratching his head.
All eyes turned to Jinhyuk.
“Who… is that man?”
“It’s, it’s Kang Jinhyuk. Korea’s ranker, Kang Jinhyuk!”
“Could it be he’s involved with Fighting Spirit?”
“This is bad…”
Even the Samurai Guild players drew in a breath.
The atmosphere grew tense before the man with sunglasses quickly stepped in.
“This is quite unexpected. What exactly do you find strange?”
“You said this group has been failing due to lack of strength, right?”
“Yes, I did say that. Of course, it must feel bad, but that’s the reality.”
“That’s what’s strange. From what I see, your strength seems rather lackluster too.”
I mean, they’ve scraped together something.
To face Medusa with that level of members?
Combined, they’re not even half of Cheon Yuseong or Teresa’s level. Their confidence is too high.
“Ah! If you aspire to become pretty stone statues, then I understand. That Medusa inside is really something. Quite the collector of statues.”
Jinhyuk smirked.
“Now, are you saying… we’re not up to par?”
“It’s not just lacking, it’s completely inadequate.”
Lacking implies a slight disappointment.
But even piling you all together wouldn’t cut it.
“Inadequate?!”
“Damn it, what are you babbling about?”
Jinhyuk’s words twisted the Samurai Guild players’ faces into frowns.
“Urgh.”
“Exactly!”
On the other hand, the Fighting Spirit Guild felt as if years of frustration had lifted.
“That comment, you’ll regret it. No matter how much you bluster in the lower floors. In Japan, we have players who have climbed up to the 30th floor of the Tower of Ordeal. Unlike you all, they’re ‘truly’ experienced.”
The man with sunglasses turned icy.
“A player who’s gone to the 30th floor?”
“Yes. Up to the middle levels of the Tower where no one else has ever reached. He’s experienced it. Based on his knowledge and experience, we will be the first in the world to conquer the tower. It’ll be Japan, not anyone else.”
Sunglasses puffed out his chest proudly.
Exclusive access to future information!
Excitement surged, and it was hard to contain the thrill.
However,
Jinhyuk clicked his tongue as if it were absurd.
‘Bullsh*t has its limits.’
Players haven’t even been seen on the 20th floor, and suddenly there’s an old hand who’s climbed the 30th?
And from Japan?
Impossible.
‘But seeing him so confident, at least he seems to believe it…’
Then it must mean someone is playing a cute trick with sunglasses.
Jinhyuk’s lips curled up.
‘To tell such a lie in front of me.’
He may have boiled Samurai Guild with some words,
‘You chose the wrong opponent.’
Terribly wrong.
Jinhyuk’s ‘Greed’s Eye’ scrutinized the players.
Multiple status windows blinked in sequence.
‘Not this one. This one’s a complete idiot…’
No one seemed noteworthy.
Just then,
Jinhyuk’s gaze stopped on one.
Name: Yamamoto Takeshi
Gender: Male
Age: 25
Level: 27
Strength 16, Dexterity 26, Stamina 23, Magic 32
Available Stat Points: 0
Coins: 25,853
Job: Onmyoji (陰陽師)
Unique Ability: Partial Foresight (未來視)
Skills: Lv6 ‘False Prophecy’, Lv5 ‘Slight Sympathy’, Lv5 ‘Onmyo Transformation (陰陽千變)’, Lv5 ‘Shikigami’
Indeed, this was it.
He now understood how they could tell such convincing lies.
‘Partial foresight…’
A power to glimpse the upper floors, depending on proficiency.
‘Partial’, though attached to the word, foresight is a relatively useful among unique abilities.
Whether the information is fragmentary or useless,
the charm of being able to predict a future unknown to others is undeniable.
But.
All that only applies to those who haven’t experienced the Tower’s upper levels.
Seeing unwanted fragments of the future,
and experiencing those floors for real are incomparable.
‘Things are getting interesting.’
Jinhyuk looked directly at Takeshi.
With a meaningful smile.
＊＊＊
Japan’s hope.
The hidden card newly recruited by the Samurai Guild.
One of the top 100 rankers in the world.
These were all titles that Takeshi would acquire in the future.
The power to see the future was crucial for ascending the Tower of Ordeal.
‘No one knows my power is incomplete.’
By providing plausible information and acting as an old hand who had seen the higher floors, he could grab the attention of the leading guilds.
Takeshi was confident in this.
And his confidence paid off.
The top guild in Japan, Samurai Guild, had approached him.
Takeshi was not nervous.
He declared confidently that he had been to the 30th floor, pouring out stories of the Tower that no one knew.
Of course, while some were wrong, Takeshi had managed to gain the Samurai Guild’s trust by hitting the mark on significant details.
‘Even if the lies are uncovered, that’ll be in the far future.’
And if so, what then?
Turn the falsehood into truth.
With the guild’s support, growing stronger wouldn’t be difficult. His half-baked ability would improve, and he’d become a ranker with true foresight.
‘Being a ranker isn’t that special, right? They all started weak too.’
With the full backing from the Samurai Guild, what was there to fear?
Items. Experience points. Rankers.
All he had to do was ask.
But. His meteoric rise halted—right here and now—upon meeting Kang Jinhyuk.
‘…What is this?’
Takeshi swallowed nervously.
There were dozens of players around him, excluding himself.
But Jinhyuk’s glance didn’t waver elsewhere.
Moreover, that twisted corner of the mouth.
A smile as if he knew everything.
Dangerous.
Despite his perfect disguise up until now, at this moment, an inexplicable anxiety wrapped around Takeshi.
Then, just then—
“Oh ho. An old hand who’s climbed the 30th floor, impressive. Various media and communities have hardly released information about the Tower’s 10th floor and above.”
Jinhyuk spoke.
“You catch on fast. Getting the grasp of the situation now?”
Sunglasses smirked even more triumphantly.
“Yeah. I‘m beginning to understand. If you have such an old hand, it makes perfect sense to offer him the world’s support.”
“Puahaha! Even among Koreans, there’s one who gets it.”
“Don’t mention it. Please go ahead. We’ll follow.”
Jinhyuk stepped back.
“This is going too smoothly.”
“So much for the buzzed ranker. Can’t even squeak in front of real veterans.”
“Indeed, Korea is just the shadow of Japan from a decade ago.”
Thirty Japanese players led the way.
Just one.
“…”
Takeshi hesitated as if something was holding him back.
But it lasted only a moment.
Soon after, all the players from the Samurai Guild entered the labyrinth.
The panicked ones were from the Fighting Spirit Guild.
“Pl-player Kang Jinhyuk?”
“You’re not suggesting we go with them, are you?”
Kim Gitae and Lee Yeonggwon cried out in unison.
“Of course, we’ll go together.”
Jinhyuk nodded.
While throwing a meaningful question.
“If we didn’t yield, would you, Mr. Kim Gitae, have stopped these people from entering the labyrinth?”
“Of, of course. We would have stopped them somehow.”
“Then those people would continue to breathe and live, right? That’s unacceptable.”
“Eh?”
“Are you serious…?”
The pair’s pupils shook as they grasped Jinhyuk’s meaning.
“As I mentioned. With skills like that, they won’t ever make it out alive.”
With just fake foresight, how would such posers handle Medusa?
Without even mastering the proper tactics?
Takeshi trusted in nothing but the Samurai Guild’s might,
while the Samurai depended solely on Takeshi’s half-baked ability.
Both clung to rotten lifelines, leaping into hell.
We’ll just watch the fire from a step behind.
Let those prideful fools deal with all the traps and monsters.
“I was initially planning to gently shoo them away with some ‘kind’ words.”
He didn’t want to push them into a deadly corner.
Regardless of his dislike, that wasn’t reason enough for them to die.
But,
“If you don’t know your place and stick your spoon in someone else’s bowl… then you must be prepared to pay the price.”
His tone turned cold.
Gone was the amicable and obliging demeanor.
＊＊＊
Fighting Sprit and Samurai.
A raid group of 62 members entered the labyrinth.
[You have entered the labyrinth ‘Grey Temple (Medusa’s Hideout)’.]
As the warning sounded, the darkness lifted from their vision.
Flames erupted between cracks, and various buildings and columns reminiscent of the Greek era stood plentifully.
Of course, most eye-catching were the statues of people turned to stone.
“These are players… who tried before us.”
“Damn. That’s savagely brutal. Is there no way for them to come back?”
“None. Think of it as the end if you catch her eye.”
Once enacted, the ‘petrification’ with absolute judgment was irreversible.
There’s a reason why so many players ended up as decorations in this labyrinth.
“Don’t worry. I have already prepared a countermeasure.”
Sunglasses lifted the shield he was holding.
The critical item for conquering this labyrinth, the relic ‘Shield of Perseus.’
Indeed.
This is why Samurai Guild had come in so boldly; they believed they could reenact the mythological battle.
However, Jinhyuk held back a snort.
‘To think they trusted that to enter.’
People always think they can become someone famous by acquisition, whether that’s a program used by Bill Gates to start Microsoft, or an apple with a bite taken out to spawn an iPhone.
‘No matter how good the relic, if the person wielding it is incompetent, it’s useless.’
Of course, ‘item power’ could be a factor at a mediocre level.
But in the high-difficulty labyrinths or ruins of the Tower of Ordeal, such talk doesn’t apply. Items merely assist; they are not the fundamental solution.
‘You all just run around up front. I’ll leisurely work out the labyrinth from behind.’
Jinhyuk began to map out the overall strategy.
That was when—
VRRR!
Suddenly, his spatial inventory vibrated violently.
‘What is this?’
He swiftly investigated inside.
The black scroll he’d received from the priest was reacting to something.
At the same time.
[You have satisfied the conditions.]
[The second privilege for ‘The First Conqueror of the Tower’ has arrived.]
The golden status window appeared before his eyes.
