Chapter 56
Performance report.
Almost entirely C–D-rank monsters.
And monsters caught outside Gates, not inside them.
But over roughly ten years, there had been a steady record of achievement.
Yumia had saved countless people and dealt with countless monsters.
“We’ve also secured statements from the team members who worked with Yumia back then. The notable point is...”
“The notable point?”
“They say the team fell strangely out of sync whenever Yumia wasn’t around.”
“What?”
There are people like that.
All-rounders who, simply by being there, make up for other people’s shortcomings and act as a lubricant.
No matter how outstanding someone’s awakened ability is, it means nothing if they lack an aptitude for this.
‘A recruit we can put to work right away?’
“We also have records of Yumia handling criminals. What’s amazing is that Yumia even has a record of taking down a C-rank criminal solo.”
“…What?”
Fighting people is different from fighting giant magical beasts.
You have to understand everything about a person’s habits, intelligence, personality, and so on, making it far more complicated than fighting giant magical beasts.
But conversely, if you can use all of that to create variables...
There’s nothing you can’t do.
In fact, how talented at combat would a non-Awakened person have to be to overcome the gap between them and an Awakened?
In other words, Yumia’s combat sense itself had reached its peak.
This was Yumia before awakening.
“…Then it’s settled.”
“Yes?”
“The guild Yumia joins will become Korea’s number one. No, it’ll be a guild capable of competing on the world stage.”
“…We’ll have to find Yumia, then. As it happens, we’ve found where Yumia sold the mana stones.”
An employee brought over another set of documents.
“If we trace this, shouldn’t we at least be able to determine Yumia’s place of residence?”
“I see.”
Once they located the residence, all they had to do was wait there.
Yumia would come eventually, after all.
“All right, get to work! We can’t let those Blue Wolves find Yumia first!”
The people in the situation room dispersed.
Only a direct subordinate remained.
“Haaah, what a hassle, all this trouble just to find one person.”
He took his subordinate out to the smoking room.
As he lit a cigarette, his subordinate began speaking.
“Apparently, there’s a B-rank criminal targeting young female Awakened. The criminal kidnaps them and hands them over to criminal organizations.”
What kind of incident was this now?
It seemed to be one of the cases he was handling.
“But why are you telling me this?”
“Well, that bastard just won’t get caught. Rumor has it they’re at least mid-B-rank. Could you do something about the bastard, senior?”
“Hey, I’m busy too. Handle your own work yourself.”
Come to think of it, Yumia, whom everyone was searching for, was still a newly awakened hunter.
‘The chances of Yumia being targeted... I have no idea.’
***
“I-is this... Yumia’s hometown!?”
“Hehe, impressive, isn’t it!”
“It’s amazing!! Steel carriages are rolling around even though there aren’t any horses! A-and what’s that flying chunk of metal!?”
I felt like some kind of big shot.
So, how had I crossed the Gate?
The secret lay in my Inventory.
“How was it inside the Inventory?”
“Hmm... it wasn’t bad, but I don’t really want to go in there often.”
The Inventory can store living creatures that aren’t hostile.
That was why I put Aris inside it to cross the Gate.
“W-what’s that? Amazing!! Buildings can be that tall!?”
No, the dormitory and central practice hall were tall too.
And the building she pointed at wasn’t even particularly tall.
Aris had been like that no matter what she saw from the moment we reached the city.
She probably would have been amazed even if a fallen leaf had blown past.
“W-what are these blades of grass? They’re piled up! Amazing!!”
“Let’s go now.”
For now, there were three objectives.
Climbing the Tower, farming mana stones, and sightseeing.
I especially planned to clear the Tower through the tenth floor.
“Let’s hurry and take care of what we came here to do.”
“…But if you said we were going to work, why are you holding that flat board?”
Aris looked at me strangely.
“Huh? I’m calling a taxi.”
“Pardon?”
Ah. Aris only knew it as some kind of arcade machine.
“This is what smartphones are actually for.”
I made a call.
[…What?]
The voice was curt, but sounded somehow pleased to hear from me.
“The foot of that mountain in Chuncheon. Pick up two people.”
[Sigh, I’ll come get you. But why two people?]
“It’s a long story.”
Thirty minutes later.
Lee Sera arrived in a supercar.
***
[Blessing of Language].
A ridiculously overpowered trait that guaranteed perfect translation between Imperial and Korean.
Today was the first time I learned that it applied to other people too.
More precisely, all “conversations” taking place near me were automatically translated and relayed.
As expected of an SSR trait.
Sera and Aris sat side by side in the driver’s and passenger’s seats.
Thanks to the trait, they were able to chat comfortably.
But...
“Right? Yumia’s so self-centered.”
“You’re unbelievable. I dropped everything at work and came all the way here today, and I didn’t even get a single word of thanks.”
I really had no idea how the conversation had turned into them badmouthing me.
Sera and Aris became close surprisingly quickly.
“Here’s the entrance to the Tower.”
Sera had business to attend to, so she left after giving us membership passes for the White Tiger Guild’s exclusive lodging.
Well, I wasn’t about to complain about a good thing.
“The mana is rippling. I’m a little scared to go in...”
Since the regular entrance was crowded at this hour, we came to the VIP entrance.
“Hmm, if I think of it as a hidden ruin... I might manage somehow.”
For now, I decided to tackle the Tower first.
Before that, I needed to confirm whether Aris could climb the Tower too.
[!! Outsiders cannot climb the Tower!]
“…What?”
Then was this not possible either?
[Would you like to register a party?]
[Users: Yumia, Aris]
[Y/N]
This seemed to work.
[User Aris has been registered in your party!]
[Checking whether user Aris is suitable for Hell difficulty...]
[User Aris is suitable for Hell difficulty! Entry permitted!]
As expected.
With Aris’s talent, I’d figured Hell difficulty would be among her available options.
If so, Linia and Robert should be able to enter too.
“Shall we try playing as a party first?”
“Y-yes!?”
“Let’s go, Aris.”
It was unfortunate that she’d been dragged here and put to work without warning.
But it had been a while since I’d fought with a healer, so I wanted to give it a try.
[Entering Floor 8, the Floor of the Skeleton Army!]
[This floor consists of a single room!]
[Hell Difficulty Special! Enemies are strengthened!]
We were standing atop a palisade that looked ready to collapse at any moment.
And we were surrounded by what looked like a thousand skeletons!
“E-eeek!??? There are this many magical beasts!?”
Aris screamed in shock.
But she quickly pulled herself together.
“…I’ll hear the explanation later. Casting, Shield, Wide!”
A defensive spell spread out over a wide area.
The arrows flying toward us were stopped by the defensive spell.
I activated the trait [Observer (SR)].
Only the voice-chat function.
“Aris, I’ll clear a path, so back me up.”
“Yes!”
I planned to train Aris to be a healer and supporter.
Having a healer would massively expand what I could do.
First, I had to cut down the one commanding those skeletons.
‘That bastard has deployed a barrier too.’
An enormous amount of mana leaked from that bastard’s staff.
That guy had to be the key!
“Casting, Bullet, Penta!!”
I heard Aris’s voice, and the spot where I was going to land opened up.
I advanced rapidly, cutting through the great horde of skeletons.
—KZZZT!!
Wounds didn’t matter.
And so, I cut the guy down with my aura.
“Good, now for a barrage...!”
[Floor 8, Floor of the Skeleton Army cleared! Rewards will be granted!]
[Party Play Bonus! Reward for User: Aris Script: Stat Selection Ticket (R)!]
[Hell Difficulty Special! Choose an Arcana!]
Ah.
So that must have been the clear condition.
“D-did we do it!!”
“That was anticlimactic.”
I’d thought I’d get to enjoy the exhilaration of mowing down a thousand skeletons all at once.
But if I had, the staff wouldn’t have survived.
Let’s look at the rewards first.
[Stat Enhancement Selection Ticket (SR, 8th Floor), Priest’s Earrings (SR)]
…?
“A healing item dropped?”
“Yumia! What’s this!?”
Aris’s Stat Selection Ticket had appeared as well.
“We’ll deal with that later.”
I put the Priest’s Earrings on Aris.
“C-can I really accept something like this?”
“They’re useless to me.”
[Priest’s Earrings (SR)]
An item once used by an ancient priest.
Increases healing efficiency.
Of course, I wasn’t the one using them, so I didn’t know how potent the effect was.
But Aris was grinning from ear to ear, so it was fine.
***
Floors 9 and 10 were cleared incredibly quickly.
Part of it was that Aris had gotten the hang of fighting magical beasts, but her raw stats were also quite high.
Floor 9 featured a large number of undead mages that applied a slow debuff.
“In Code, Cleanse!”
Her unique magic handled it with a simple click.
A Lich appeared on Floor 10, but...
“Leokan.”
[Yes.]
When Leokan swung the Needle Sword,
the Lich split in half with a sound like the air tearing apart.
[Kraaaagh!! How dare you, how dare you do this to meeeeee!!!]
It seemed Leokan’s attack had a holy attribute.
The Lich launched a magical attack and injured Leokan, but Aris healed even that.
I heard things got considerably harder starting from Floor 11, so I was looking forward to it.
“As expected, you really can clear through Floor 10 quickly.”
Actually, I’d heard the other difficulties could also be cleared quickly up to Floor 10.
If anything, we were a little late.
If only that bastard Leokan hadn’t shown up, we could have pushed through quickly without breaking the staff.
“By the way, I didn’t know you could even use summoning magic.”
The rewards from Floors 9 and 10 were SR- and SSR-rank Stat Enhancement Selection Tickets, along with various minor artifacts.
And the Hell Difficulty Special.
Two Arcanas each dropped from Floors 8 and 9.
[Holy Sword Manifestation (SSR)]
Summons a sword of holy attribute by consuming a very large amount of mana.
The summoned holy sword exists as a physical object and does not disappear unless it takes damage above a certain threshold.
It is impossible to summon two or more holy swords in one world.
[Ability, Overclock (R), has been enhanced!]
Overclock has been upgraded to SR rank!
You may choose between a one-stage stat boost for two minutes and a two-stage stat boost for thirty seconds!
‘Hmm...’
Both were extremely good.
In the end, my mana would definitely surpass A-rank at this rate.
Overclock... carried too much risk.
For now, I chose Holy Sword Manifestation.
[Ability, [Holy Sword Manifestation (SSR)], has been added to your abilities!]
And the Arcana from Floor 9.
[Artemis’s Golden Rule (SR)]
Of every three ranged attacks fired, one is guaranteed to hit.
However, it may be impeded by the opponent’s magic defense.
[Holy Brooch (SSR)]
Grants the wearer’s magic a holy attribute.
Increases the effects of healing magic.
‘Could it be that priest gear is dropping too because Aris is here?’
Both were decent, but I had something else I’d originally come here for, so I passed.
[Natural Affinity (SSR) has been enhanced to Natural Affinity (SSR+)!]
It was the option from last time: a magical beast-taming option with a 30-day cooldown added to Natural Affinity.
That came first.
Since I now had more than seven cards, I discarded the unnecessary card [Flame Demon Orb (R)].
And then came the long-awaited Floor 10.
[The Hell Difficulty Special ends on Floor 10!]
[No more Arcanas will appear from this floor onward!]
“What?”
[You may choose three of the remaining Arcanas!]
“Hmm... not bad, but...”
The ability- and trait-copying event had come to an end.
But honestly, what had happened up to now had been absurd.
“What’s wrong?”
“There are three.”
Of the Arcanas available now, the useful ones were...
The Red Moon Grimoire (SSR) and the Overclock enhancement.
I didn’t need a wand either...
So it would be either the Red Moon Earrings or the Holy Brooch.
I looked at Aris.
Then I took the Red Moon Grimoire, the Overclock enhancement, and the Holy Brooch.
And I handed the brooch to Aris.
“Huh? You’re giving me something again?”
I gave all the other minor artifacts to Aris as well.
Thanks to that, Aris ended up holding a whole armful of artifacts.
“Shall we head out soon?”
I wanted to check Floor 11 too, but clearing the floors and checking the rewards had taken longer than expected.
We should go to the guild and have dinner.
***
“Ugh, that was still kind of anticlimactic.”
We left the guild lodging after dinner.
Aris fell asleep the moment she lay down on the bed, probably because she was tired.
“It would’ve been nice to have at least one somewhat tough opponent.”
In the end, not one of the monsters below Floor 10 was even B-rank individually.
Leokan had taken care of all the boss monsters too.
The Lich had so many lives that I used a few potions, but it wasn’t enough to be a burden.
The dopamine just wasn’t flowing.
It would be nice to have someone I could fight at full power.
‘Should I pick a fight with Sera?’
“That would be pointless.”
Sera’s strength was S-rank, and her agility was close to A-rank.
No matter what I did, winning would be difficult.
Maybe I should find a good tavern for a change.
With that thought, I entered an alley.
And then.
“Agh. I’m lost.”
I’d taken a completely wrong turn.
This neighborhood is incredibly confusing.
Just then.
My pupils automatically contracted, filling with red mana.
—KAKAKANG!!
The daggers were all deflected by the sword I swung instinctively.
“Kheh, you’ve got good instincts.”
Someone’s voice rang out.
“I took you for a magic-type because I could sense mana, but your reaction speed is impressive too.”
“Huh?”
They were even evaluating me.
They clearly thought they were superior.
Was this a kidnapping attempt?
I looked up and smiled.
“You picked the wrong target.”
“I’ll go easy on you. Hyung will.”
Ah, I guess I’m a noona now.