Chapter 36

Chapter 36. Tower - Convoy Escort (5)

I looked at the second Harpy flock, more than a hundred strong, swarming in from the sky and thought,

Flying bastards were far too annoying.

If we kept riding this slow-ass wagon and dealing with swarming Harpy flocks, we would never reach the city and would die.

I would not die, but no matter how much I rampaged, at least one person would absolutely die.

Looking at the map, the remaining distance was about two hours by cargo wagon.

Since the wagon was loaded with cargo and moving at seven or eight kilometers per hour, the remaining distance was only about fifteen kilometers at most.

“Honestly, I was a useless soldier.”

When I was in the army, my best record for the three-kilometer run was 14 minutes and 51 seconds, and whenever I took the physical fitness test, I was usually a useless soldier who came in around 15 minutes and 20 or 30 seconds. I never thought I would end up thinking like this.

I climbed onto the cargo wagon and picked up the bag containing the monster-growth spiritual medicine.

The bag, covered all over in seals like an attaché case, was fairly heavy.

It seemed to weigh at least three kilograms.

Since I could not put it into Inventory, naturally, I had to carry it.

“W-Wait! What are you trying to do?!”

Lororen asked in horror.

“The monsters are swarming because of this anyway. And as long as this gets delivered, you won’t go bankrupt. Not going bankrupt, that’s your wish, isn’t it?”

At my words, everyone looked at me in shock.

“I’ll see you all in the city.”

“Wait! Oppa!”

Leaving Lee Soo-young’s call behind, I ran toward the city with all my strength.

This was the best option.

If we stayed like this, we would not be able to protect the goods anyway.

Then was it not best to choose a method that had a chance of success and would not get anyone killed?

At the very least, even if the quest failed, if I alone, who would not die no matter how many times I died in my clone’s body, faced the monsters, there would be no casualties.

Although I had not learned a lightness skill, if I strengthened my leg muscles and heart-lung function, I could run at around twenty-five kilometers per hour like a marathon runner.

My instantaneous speed could probably reach thirty-five or forty kilometers per hour, but if I ran like that, I could not run for long.

Even with a rough calculation, I only had to run at full power for about thirty-five minutes.

Tsk, I feel like I won’t have enough internal energy. If I run short, I’ll have to drink a Mana Recovery Potion while running.

When I began running hard, the Harpy flock flying toward the cargo wagon seemed to sense something strange, hesitated in confusion, then began flying in my direction.

Still, since I was running quickly, they did not catch up immediately.

A group of Goblins that had smelled the spiritual medicine gathered in front of me.

I leaped high over the Goblins’ heads and kept running, ignoring them completely.

Naturally, the Goblins ran after me, but with their slow legs, catching up to me was impossible.

As the Goblins fell farther behind, an unexpectedly positive effect occurred.

Even though the Goblins had no chance of catching up to me, the Harpies seemed to consider them competitors, and some of them split off like a unit and attacked the Goblins.

Harpies, Goblins that flew in the sky, and Goblins, Harpies that crawled on the ground.

Naturally, the Goblins could not be a match for the Harpies.

If I did not have to run away, it would have been fun to hide and watch, so that was a little disappointing.

I ran like that for about fifteen minutes and encountered two monster groups. Just as I had done with the Goblins, I passed them without engaging.

Among those monsters, the Gnolls were quite fast on their feet, but they got caught in the Harpies’ competitor elimination and ended while fighting the Harpies.

After running for another five minutes that way, the flying Harpies finally caught up to me.

“Tsk. Nothing ever goes easily.”

However, after fighting the monster groups I had passed, the Harpy flock’s numbers had decreased quite a bit.

Many of the remaining Harpies were also exhausted and injured.

“Still, this is manageable.”

I stopped running and placed the bag containing the spiritual medicine on the ground.

Then I buried it deep underground with earth magic and bought a Low-Grade Mana Recovery Potion with Points, then drank it.

“Come at me, you flying Goblin bastards!”

Whether the Harpy flock understood my words or not, they all charged at me at once.

Five or six of them descended like a dive attack, thrusting out the blades attached to their legs.

I blocked the two Harpies flying in from the left with the bracer on my left arm and cut down the two Harpies that flew in through the center. However, I failed to dodge the blades of the Harpies flying in from behind, and my back was cut.

“Tsk, this is a stab-resistant combat uniform!”

To be precise, it was a combat uniform sold in 50th-century Galactic Murim that was both bulletproof and stab-resistant.

I quickly turned around and cut down the two Harpies that had struck my back in one breath.

My back had not been wounded, but the combat uniform had been cut.

It would not immediately lose its stab-resistant function, but if I kept getting hit like this, at some point it would become no different from ordinary clothing.

But it did not matter.

Even if my whole body was shredded like this, even if I died at the end of it, if I killed every enemy, that was my victory.

The Harpies grouped themselves in teams of five or six and attacked me.

I dodged and cut with footwork, and while being cut in return, I cut down three or four of the ones attacking at once.

I was cut and cut, and I cut and cut again.

Before I knew it, my combat uniform had completely lost its function and was nothing but tattered clothing.

“Come on! You chicken-pigeon bastards!”

My entire body was soaked through, to the point I could not tell whether it was Harpy blood or my own, and Harpy corpses piled up on the ground.

My face was also smeared as if I had washed it in blood, so I wiped it down with my left hand.

My cheek stung terribly, as if it had been cut at some point.

However, perhaps because adrenaline had surged, I entered a trance and swung my sword.

The number of Harpies that reached me after dealing with the monster groups chasing behind me was about seventy.

But the number still flying in the sky now was only around twenty.

As I swung my sword, I staggered.

I had lost too much blood. My vision blurred.

I felt death step close to my side.

It felt like I had been fighting for a long time, but when I looked at the electronic wristwatch I had used in the army, I had only been fighting for a little over ten minutes at most.

Perhaps thinking I was nearly dead, a large Harpy that seemed to be the leader, which had been watching from behind, stepped forward.

It was an individual two and a half times larger than the other Harpies, which were only about one head taller than Goblins.

“Ptooey! Fine, so I’m prey that’s about to die, is that it? Come at me, birdbrain.”

I spat out the blood that had entered my mouth and provoked it.

Whether my provocation worked or not, the Harpy cried, “Kiiiiii-!” and flew at me.

Even though it was large and the leader of the flock, it attacked in a way not much different from ordinary Harpies.

It was an attack pattern I had become far too familiar with over the past ten minutes.

I smiled broadly and absorbed and regenerated the clone.

My combat uniform was still drenched in blood and reduced to rags, but my clone returned to normal condition.

I dodged the leader Harpy’s blade kick and used all my strength to cut its chest in half with my sword.

“Mm?”

A strange tingling sensation remained in my hand.

Should I say the feeling of cutting was better?

Was it a misconception because my adrenaline was going wild?

Inside the corpse of the leader Harpy, whose chest had been split diagonally in half, a blue magic stone glittered.

“No ability stone?”

Well, I had obtained an ability stone on the 13th floor too, so wishing for one here without knowing the probability would be shameless. Still, shouldn’t a leader individual have one?

Separate from my disappointment, once their leader was taken down, the Harpies fell into panic and moved away from me.

Is this the end?

If it was going to end at this level, would it have been fine to fight together with the others at the wagon? Did I show off for nothing?

The moment I thought that, I faintly saw, far away in the direction the Harpies had flown off as if fleeing, a third Harpy flock flying toward me like specks.

“Goddamn it! Of course!”

Before the Harpies arrived, I quickly ran toward the city.

The one I had cut down was the leader of a flock, not the chieftain of the whole tribe.

At the very least, if I could reach the city gate, no matter how stupid the Harpies were, they would not chase me.

Since the distance was quite far, it should not be difficult to reach the city before that flock arrived.

By the way, how far behind were the others following me?

Some scent had probably soaked into the wagon, so completely avoiding monster groups would be impossible even then.

I used water magic to harvest only the Harpies’ magic stones, took the bag I had buried with earth magic back out, and ran toward the city.

After running about ten more minutes, I could faintly see the city beyond the mountains.

As I expected, when I neared the city, the Harpies, which had closed the distance quite a bit, stopped.

They had probably learned because the city periodically cleared out the surrounding area.

In that way, as I approached the city, the Harpies withdrew, and I saw a line leading into the city gate.

According to Lororen’s map, this city was a gateway crossing the mountain range, and on the opposite side from the road I came from, I could see wide open plains.

The guards discovered me walking slowly toward the city gate while covered in blood, pointed their spears at me, and stopped me.

“Stop! Who are you?!”

I raised both hands and answered,

“I’m a Climber! I’m not going inside the city. I’ll wait here for my party!”

At the word Climber, not only the guards but also the people lined up to enter the city looked at me.

“A Climber?”

“My party should arrive in about an hour. I’m tired from breaking through the mountain-range canyon, so may I sit and rest?”

Without even waiting for an answer, I sat down at the end of the drawbridge and rested.

Even if I had created a new clone, running still had to be exhausting.

One of the people waiting in line showed interest in me and asked,

“Are you really a Climber? You broke through that canyon that is currently forbidden to enter?”

“Yes, well.”

Too tired to care, I answered roughly, took a water bottle from Inventory, moistened my throat, and used the cleaning magic tool I had received today to wash off the blood.

This is more convenient than I expected.

When I suddenly became clean and took items out of the air, everyone made a fuss and marveled, saying I really was a Climber.

As I waited like that, I eventually saw the familiar cargo wagon in the distance.

Seeing as they arrived around fifteen minutes earlier than I expected, I could tell how much they had hurried.

“Oppa! Are you safe?! Goodness! Are these all cuts? You’ve been shredded!”

Lee Soo-young was the first to run to me, and as she checked my condition, tears welled slightly in her eyes.

“Ah, only my clothes were cut. I healed all my wounds with potions while waiting.”

William and Le Thi Hoa, who ran after Lee Soo-young, also looked at me with concern.

“Han Ji-woo! You were far too reckless! No matter how dangerous the situation was, treating your own life so lightly!”

“That is right. You were too reckless.”

William and Le Thi Hoa worried about my safety more than whether the quest had succeeded, and scolded me for my unilateral action.

On the Community, Climbers cursed one another like they had a case of self-hatred, saying Climbers were all scammers. But it seemed I had been lucky enough to meet good people.

“Haha, I apologize. I was a little hasty back then too.”

William told me how they had moved after I left first.

He stopped Lee Soo-young from trying to follow me, then left Lee Soo-young and Le Thi Hoa to guard Lororen, who was practically the client, while William ran after me to support me. However, he could not possibly keep up with my speed.

Seeing the monster groups lying dead along the road, it seemed he had worried about what kind of battle I had fought.

But most of those monsters had been handled by the Harpies.

“The goods! Are the goods safe?!”

Lororen, who belatedly jumped down from the cargo wagon and waddled over, had to receive cold gazes.

I held out the bag, covered in dirt and blood, to him as he flinched and shrank back.

“The goods are safe.”

“Ohhhh! Thank you! Truly, thank you! You are all my benefactors!”

I had developed a habit of unconsciously looking at Le Thi Hoa whenever Lororen spoke.

Le Thi Hoa nodded, saying it was sincere.

Right. If he’s a decent human being, he should be grateful.

“Now, then, let’s return to the 10th floor.”

The sun was setting.

Perhaps because we had climbed three floors, I felt like even breathing circulation would not easily relieve my fatigue.

“It is a shame. I met good people, so it would have been nice if we could have formed a party.”

At my words, William smiled gently and said,

“Apparently, people one meets while climbing the 10th-floor range arrive in the same city on the 20th floor, so let us think about forming a party after we meet on the 20th floor. And if the timing works out, we may meet again while climbing.”

“Then I hope we meet again.”

Everyone nodded.

The meeting had not been long, but parting was still regretful.

We used one of the functions of the Tower Community, friendship registration.

If someone was registered as a friend, they could be invited to individual chat or group chat at any time.

“Ah, just in case, this is my contact outside the Tower. I will not forget your dedication, Han Ji-woo.”

“Mine as well.”

Before leaving for the 10th floor, William and Le Thi Hoa wrote down their email addresses for me and Lee Soo-young.

Since we were all from different countries, email would be more convenient than phone numbers.

Lee Soo-young and I also exchanged email addresses.

After that, we immediately returned to the 10th floor.