Chapter 20: Alpha Male vs. Coward
Tower of Fate, Floor 25.
Endless Desert.
Fist entered Floor 25 and crossed the desert.
He should be around here somewhere.
Then he noticed a massive scorpion in the distance.
A Boss. Haven't seen that one in a long time.
There was no reason to care.
His target was the mass killer.
Crimson Rain.
Still, the Boss was in his path.
He might as well kill it.
A Floor 25 Boss was nothing to Fist.
At least, that would've been true yesterday.
In Fist's opinion, the most dangerous enemies inside the Tower were monsters.
Under the new PvP system, dying to another Hunter destroyed some equipment.
But at least you survived.
If a monster killed you?
No mercy.
You simply died.
I'll warm up.
Fwoosh!
Fist wrapped his hand in blazing energy and approached the Boss.
I had no idea how long I'd been walking through the desert.
"I'm exhausted...!"
My feet were practically blistering.
Then I saw a massive silhouette beyond the horizon.
Is that it?
A giant scorpion-shaped monster.
Probably the Boss.
Finally.
This was the first time I'd seen a Tower Boss in person.
Actually...
It was the first time I'd seen a monster in person.
My hands trembled.
Shake, shake, shake.
I carefully approached while gripping Laser No. 1 with both hands.
At this distance... I should hit it, right?
I'd never learned how to shoot.
But if I sprayed enough lasers, it would eventually die.
I trusted Laser No. 1.
With trembling fingers, I pulled the trigger.
Pew-pew-pew-pew-pew!
Fsssssh!
The laser drilled straight through the scorpion's body.
Its enormous body collapsed into the sand, sending dust everywhere.
[High-Rank Soldier defeated.]
[Contribution Points x800 acquired.]
"Oh."
I was impressed.
"So the Boss here is a High-Rank Soldier."
I happily looked at the system message and continued toward my next objective.
Fist's house.
His eyes opened.
Familiar ceiling.
Familiar walls.
Familiar furniture.
"...I'm alive."
He sat up.
There were no injuries.
But one ring on his finger cracked and broke into pieces.
Clink. Clink.
It broke.
Fist stared at the fragments.
Then opened his inventory.
Gone.
The low-rank equipment he'd been wearing had disappeared.
One Tower Knights Squad Leader Ring.
A B-rank necklace.
Several pieces of casual armor.
Fortunately, he'd gone in as if he were just taking a walk and hadn't brought expensive gear.
I guess that's lucky.
Yet it didn't comfort him at all.
Maybe that had been the reason for his defeat.
If he'd worn his S-rank equipment...
He might have survived.
But there had been a simple reason he hadn't.
There was no reason to.
Until now.
I...
He didn't feel like he had truly lost.
Of course, by outcome, he had.
But he didn't want to call it a defeat.
He hadn't even had the chance to fight.
He could only admit one thing.
I let my guard down.
That was the correct description.
He had approached the Boss casually, thinking he'd warm up.
He hadn't even checked what might be hiding behind it.
I was arrogant.
Far too arrogant.
He had looked down on the enemy.
Crimson Rain.
Even the name had sounded ridiculous to him.
Someone who slaughtered hundreds was probably just specialized for groups.
In a one-on-one battle, Fist had assumed he'd win.
But...
I never even met his eyes.
No.
That wasn't quite right.
He had seen him.
At the final moment.
Just before the so-called Crimson Rain poured down.
For the briefest instant, beneath a pulled-down hood and mask...
Fist saw eyes like those of a murderous demon.
Did he see me?
He didn't know.
Fist replayed the moment in his head like reviewing a battle.
He remembered the instant he was about to punch the Scorpion Boss.
Pew-pew-pew-pew-pew!
The piercing sound had filled the air.
Fist had widened his eyes.
Red beams filled his entire vision.
Crimson Rain.
There had been no time to react.
More accurately, no room to dodge.
The red beams fell from every direction like desert sunlight without shade.
Then he woke up at home.
It wasn't even a fight.
It was one-sided annihilation.
"...Ridiculous."
Fist laughed quietly.
Not from anger.
Not even self-mockery.
It was laughter of acknowledgment.
For the price of underestimating someone, I got off cheap.
He was still alive.
Next time won't end this way.
Still, one thing bothered him.
Why couldn't I sense him?
Even if the other Hunter was S-rank, he shouldn't have been able to completely escape Fist's senses.
Unless...
An Assassin.
An Assassin specialized in hiding presence and stealth.
That could explain it.
An Assassin with massive area-of-effect attacks.
He had never encountered an enemy like that.
He had to admit it.
For now, the opponent was difficult and troublesome.
I'll postpone revenge.
Fist placed the broken ring fragment in his palm and stared at it.
Tower Knights Squad Leader Ring.
Twenty-five thousand Contribution Points.
The rest of his lost gear had been worth tens of millions of won too.
But none of it mattered.
Everything could be bought with money.
That meant nothing to Fist.
I can earn Contribution Points again.
Being twenty-five thousand points behind was still being behind.
If that meant falling behind, so be it.
At that moment, Crimson Rain occupied his thoughts.
But Sword's face appeared too.
The world really is wide.
There were probably unknown masters and Rankers hidden throughout the Tower too.
Fist closed his hand around the ring fragments.
Tower of Fate, Floor 25.
Endless Desert.
[Tower of Fate Floor 25, "Endless Desert," cleared.]
[Resources from this floor may now be collected.]
"Yes!"
I clenched my fist.
Finally cleared.
With this, I had effectively secured the oil buried beneath Floor 25.
More precisely, the extraction rights.
I looked down at the sand beneath my feet.
Nobody has any idea that fifteen billion barrels of oil are buried under here.
It wasn't as if normal people could bring drilling rigs and exploration equipment into the Tower.
What faces would they make if they found out?
Probably the same face I had right now.
"Hehehehe. Kekeke."
Anyway!
Am I really going to become a citizen of an oil-producing country?
A citizen?
No.
The owner of the oil.
Oil tycoon!
Oil money!
I'd even considered whether I should prepare an escape route overseas in case I failed to clear the floor.
But...
Looks like I won't need that.
Relief flooded me.
I immediately returned home and called CEO Park.
"Hello?"
·
What's up?
·
"I forgot to ask something."
·
What?
·
"When does the exploration begin?"
There was a brief pause.
·
The contractor hasn't fixed the exact schedule yet.
·
"Really?"
·
It won't take long. Earliest, we could begin this week.
·
"Oh, that's fast."
·
So prepare properly. What about the money? They won't start work until payment is made.
·
"I'm transferring it now."
I opened my banking app.
Corporate account transfer.
I was tired of counting all the zeros.
But if another zero gets added later...
That might become fun again.
Right. No taking back a move.
I pressed the button.
[F&C Oil Corporate Account]
[Balance: 105,000,000,000 won]
"One hundred five billion...!"
I had just poured in my entire seventy-five billion won.
I still need to pay taxes.
A thought that came far too late.
Wait.
If this business fails...
Could I go to prison for tax evasion?
No way.
You go to prison because a business fails?
A kind, law-abiding citizen worth four billion won an hour like me?
If that happened, the world would be wrong.
More importantly...
There's no way this fails.
Oil would come out of the East Sea.
It'll gush out like crazy.
I smiled happily.
What should I do until then?
First... I should earn more Contribution Points.
When I'd entered Floor 25 and met the Boss...
I had been scared.
My hands and feet were shaking.
I had only one thought.
Complete the entire Squad Leader armor set.
If I had money, I could buy decent equipment from the exchange.
Unfortunately, I'd already invested seventy-five billion into the oil business.
It was ridiculous.
Even after earning tens of billions, I was broke again.
Still, there was no problem.
As long as I have Laser No. 1.
[Opening Tower of Fate Floor 26.]
I pushed the barrels through the Gate like always.
"Time to hunt."
Pew-pew-pew-pew!
Hunter Association Headquarters.
Special Situation Room.
"The same pattern has been confirmed throughout the entire Floor 20 region."
The employee changed the briefing slide.
"Red flashes. Wide-area extermination. Exactly the same characteristics as the previous Floor 20 incident."
"Scale?"
"Estimated at over one thousand victims. The number continues increasing even while we're counting, so an exact total is difficult."
"First Floor 20, then 21, 22. We know exactly where he'll appear next, yet we still can't catch him?"
"He moves so unpredictably..."
The Association Chairman groaned.
If only Sword were free to move.
But Sword was busy fighting to reach the top of the new hierarchy.
From one perspective, the Association had practically ordered Sword to kill people and gather Contribution Points.
But if the system couldn't be stopped...
Then shouldn't the Association hold the handle of the blade that ruled it?
"You're certain this is all the same person?"
"We cannot say with absolute certainty. However, the attack pattern is nearly identical to the Gatling Laser."
Someone raised a hand.
"Isn't that strange? According to our records, every Gatling Laser we recovered was transferred to the United States."
The chairman's face hardened.
Just as he opened his mouth...
Ring.
The Special Situation Room phone rang.
It was the chairman's direct line.
"Yes. Hunter Association Chairman Han Sangho speaking."
·
Chairman.
·
"Yes."
- We will conceal this matter.
The voice on the other end was firm.
"...Excuse me?"
- Whatever the person's identity, it does not matter. Quietly investigate the subject, but make sure no one else finds out.
"But..."
- What happens if the United States learns about this?
"...!"
- Won't they suspect that we did not actually transfer every weapon? Or that we secretly kept one? If it was accidentally leaked, that would be even worse.
"...That's true."
Whatever the reason...
If this became public, the United States would likely see South Korea as untrustworthy.
- The entire Korean Peninsula is standing in the eye of a storm right now. If America turns against us over this, our claim over North Korea and everything else could disappear overnight.
The chairman had nothing to say.
"Understood."
He could only obey.
- I'm counting on you, Chairman Han Sangho.
After lowering the receiver, the chairman spoke.
"Control media coverage. All witness statements go through Association channels only. Suppress HunVen posts before they spread."
"Yes. But... is that even possible?"
"Sword isn't the only S-rank Hunter connected to the Association."
The reporting employee's eyes widened.
Then he nodded.
"Understood."
