Chapter 5
Part 4
But not anymore.
Clack.
Before long, both stone bowls were completely empty.
“H-Haha... I guess I ate a little too desperately.”
“Order more if you're still hungry.”
“No, this is enough.”
Cha Mincheol waved his hands.
Then his expression turned serious.
He looked directly at Yugeon.
“May I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Why did you help me? We didn't even know each other...”
“There are two reasons.”
“Two?”
“First, I was planning to deal with the Guseong Gang anyway.”
“Ah...”
“Awakeners like you and me can never stay far away from death. We kill monsters. Sometimes we kill Awakeners who attack us.”
“That's true...”
“But even if we spend our lives climbing the Tower, there are still lines that shouldn't be crossed.”
“I agree.”
Cha Mincheol nodded.
He had reached Level 50 after countless battles.
He had fought many Awakeners.
But not even once...
Had he abandoned his humanity.
“The second reason is that I want to recruit you.”
“Me...?”
Cha Mincheol flinched.
Only a few hours earlier, Lee Hyeoksu had committed all those crimes because he wanted to recruit him.
“You...”
“Han Yugeon.”
“Excuse me?”
“My name is Han Yugeon.”
“Ah... Right. I'm Cha Mincheol. You're older than me, aren't you?”
Yugeon nodded.
“Then, Yugeon hyung, why do you want to recruit me?”
Cha Mincheol already knew this man was different from Lee Hyeoksu.
Even so...
Yugeon had killed Lee Hyeoksu and several Level 30 Awakeners in an instant.
Why would someone that strong want Cha Mincheol?
“To save the world.”
“...What?”
“I'm going to clear the 100th Floor of the Tower and remove every Tower and monster from this world. That's my goal.”
Cha Mincheol stared at him.
“And I can't accomplish that goal by myself.”
Of course, if Yugeon activated Heaven-Annihilating One Sword, he believed he could cut down any enemy.
[Nothing and no one can stop your sword.]
[Not even an immortal, undying, endlessly regenerating god.]
But that alone won't stop the world's destruction.
Saving the world required more than simply defeating enemies.
That was why he needed companions he could trust.
“And if you help me, I'll grant your wish.”
“My wish...?”
“The reason you're climbing the Tower. It's because of your mother, isn't it?”
“How did you know that...?”
“When I was gathering information to deal with Lee Hyeoksu, I heard about you too.”
“Ah... But how can you grant my wish?”
Yugeon looked directly at him.
“Your mother's illness. I can cure it.”
Mana Poisoning.
An illness that affected ordinary people who were not Awakeners.
Even now, there was no proper cure.
Doctors could only slow the disease's progression.
The reason Cha Mincheol climbed the Tower was to find a way to cure his mother's Mana Poisoning.
And a cure will eventually be discovered.
But by then, less than half of humanity would remain alive.
And Cha Mincheol's mother would already be dead.
“You can... really cure her?”
Cha Mincheol stared at Yugeon in disbelief.
The best doctors and Awakeners in the world had failed to find a treatment.
Yet this man claimed he could cure it?
“Don't worry. I don't lie about things like this.”
Yugeon continued.
“And there is another benefit.”
“?”
“Your growth. You're currently stuck at Level 50, aren't you?”
“...”
“I can help you break through that wall.”
Level 50.
The infamous wall faced by Awakeners.
Cha Mincheol was currently stuck exactly there.
Step.
Step.
An empty park.
Yugeon walked for a while before suddenly stopping and looking toward one side.
After exchanging contact information with Cha Mincheol, they had separated.
Yugeon was heading somewhere else to take care of another matter.
“Why don't you come out already?”
“...”
A man stepped out from behind a public restroom.
He had long black hair that reached his shoulders.
He appeared to be in his late twenties.
Hwang Mungi walked toward Yugeon while brushing dust from his shoulders.
“Hmm... My Stealth skill is supposed to be pretty good. You found me that easily?”
He stopped in front of Yugeon.
“Nice to meet you. My name is...”
“Hwang Mungi. Guild Master of the Shadow Guild.”
“...”
Hwang Mungi narrowed his eyes.
The fact that he was the Master of the Shadow Guild had not yet been revealed publicly.
Even among the guild members, very few people knew their Guild Master's face.
Yet this stranger knew exactly who he was.
“I suppose asking how you know would be pointless... since you probably won't tell me.”
“You're quick.”
Yugeon gave a faint smile.
Hwang Mungi.
An Awakener who had fought alongside him in his previous life.
Calling him a comrade would be slightly inaccurate.
They had been closer to business partners.
Hwang Mungi always followed contracts to the letter.
If he received the promised payment, he always completed the job.
And if he noticed signs that someone planned to betray him, he betrayed them first.
Yugeon remembered his voice from the past.
Damn it. I don't even know why I'm doing something that doesn't pay... Fine. I'll save you people, so if we survive, each of you better give me one item.
Floor 81.
[Boiling Lava River.]
In Yugeon's previous life, Hwang Mungi had taken an attack meant for the others.
He had died saving them.
