Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The Crisis Response Committee was busy again today, without even a moment to breathe.

“Team Leader! We received a response from the Central Plains Guild. They say they cannot cooperate regarding the official letter we sent before.”

“Ah, damn it. Cooperate? What cooperation? Do they think I sent that letter expecting cooperation? I was just trying to keep things civil because there might be trouble later if we skipped the procedure for no reason.”

“B-But the Central Plains Guild is taking a fairly hard-line stance too….”

“Honestly, the people who have everything are always worse. Talk to the Ministry of Justice and have it enforced. They do not have the authority to decide on this matter anyway.”

Overtime was standard, and they worked late as easily as they ate meals.

There was a good reason for that.

Every incident related to the Tower in the Republic of Korea fell under their jurisdiction.

Even.

“Team Leader, you know Lee Gil-young, the one selected a year ago? That bastard was booked for fraud today.”

“Fraud? What did he do this time?”

“Well, apparently he impersonated Pingkkyu Gyongdyu in Dongdaemun.”

“Tsk, I really do see all kinds of bastards. Of all people, why Pingkkyu Gyongdyu?”

“What should we do?”

“What do you think? If he gets cleared for no reason and Pingkkyu Gyongdyu themself flies into a colossal rage, can you handle the aftermath? I will tell you clearly. I cannot. Process it according to the law.”

Depending on the situation, they were even in charge of managing individuals’ personal affairs.

Not ordinary people, but Chosen.

Still, it was every bit as troublesome.

After all, Chosen were people drunk on their own authority and power, causing accidents every other day.

“Honestly, the saying that public servants have iron rice bowls is old news now. I might as well change jobs and— Hup.”

Kang Han-seok stopped mid-sentence, covered his own mouth, and looked around cautiously.

Huh… strange?

Every time he let out a complaint like this.

There was one troublemaker who would throw a fit and shout, “Do you even know who becomes the next team leader if you write your resignation, Team Leader?!”

Yet for some reason, it was quiet.

There was no way it should be this quiet.

“Come to think of it, where is that Han-sol? She isn’t holed up somewhere sleeping, is she?”

“Um… if you mean Deputy Director Han-sol, she left on a business trip early this morning.”

“A business trip?”

Ah, right.

That was true.

Recently, he had been forgetting things often.

Was it because he was not sleeping?

It might even be early-onset dementia.

Of course, he was a bit too old to be called young.

What was it again…. They said MZ counted up to forty-five these days.

It was easier on the heart to just think of himself as MZ.

“Should I contact her now?”

“Do not. The fate of our country rests in her hands. Do not disturb her.”

“……Pardon?”

“Forget it. If you know, you will get burned.”

He was just about to end the conversation there.

CRASH!

“T-Team Leader, I think you need to see this.”

“What is with all the fuss? If this turns out to be nothing, I will—”

Flip, flip-flip.

Kang Han-seok’s hands moved faster as he turned the pages.

At last.

Snap. He closed the file.

“Is this information true?”

“Yes. We confirmed it several times, so there should be no margin of error. The Boss Monster of this Dungeon is an Irregular.”

With the development of technology, analysis had become possible even without entering a Dungeon.

Although the analysis took a considerable amount of time, with luck, they could even identify the type and location of the Boss Monster.

However, they had been unlucky this time.

If an ordinary monster was an Irregular, they could simply raise the alert level.

But if the Boss Monster was an Irregular, things became slightly troublesome.

“This is driving me insane. You said the subjugation is already in progress, right? Is there anyone in the subjugation team who can handle it?”

“As of now….”

So there was no one.

He had roughly expected it, but hearing the report directly left a bitter taste in his mouth.

“Tsk, what are you all doing? Do you want to see a major accident like last time? Contact them right now and order the subjugation halted!”

This subjugation.

If things went wrong, it could produce mass casualties.

***

“It’s… it’s the Boss Monster, isn’t it? Why is that thing here…?”

“What are you all standing around for? Run! Run if you do not want to die!”

Chaos erupted.

At the appearance of an unannounced Boss Monster, everyone began running away without exception.

At the Chosen’s overdramatic reaction, the porters lost their heads too.

“What the hell, why is everyone running?”

“Didn’t we come in to defeat the Boss Monster and clear the Dungeon?”

“You’re Chosen… so why are you running away?!”

Thanks to that, a complete mess broke out.

Chosen or porter, it made no difference.

People rushing to flee tripped and fell.

Then others trampled over them and collapsed on top of them.

Even amid all that, there were some who judged the situation calmly.

“Get a hold of yourselves! There is only one enemy! If we work together, we can fight it!”

Someone shouted.

However, even that voice was buried in the noise.

On top of that.

“Damn it! It’s an ambush!”

Someone shouted.

From whitish protrusions jutting out like stones, green creatures suddenly sprang up.

They were Goblins.

“Kirik! Kiriririk!”

As expected of Goblins, they were cunning.

To think they had been lying in ambush inside piles of mud.

At the sudden ambush, the Chosen began being taken down one after another.

Originally, they had enough skill to deal with Goblins.

Even so, they were being helplessly slaughtered because they had fallen into panic.

CLANG! CLANG!

Chosen lost their lives without resistance.

It was no different from a massacre.

Barely three minutes after contact with the Boss Monster.

In less than even three minutes, more than half were dead.

The fishy smell of blood filled the air.

With the Boss Monster and the Goblins’ surprise attack added together, the situation turned urgent.

How urgent was it?

“Fireball!”

Urgent enough for the deadweight mage to act impulsively.

“I told you not to use fire magic. You crazy bast…!”

Someone hurriedly tried to stop him, but the trigger had already been pulled.

Fwoosh. A fireball the size of a compact car surged toward the Boss Monster.

The attempt was good.

The problem was.

The Boss Monster’s skill was beyond expectation.

“Shiruriryarok—”

When the Boss Monster spat out a string of incomprehensible words.

SPLAAAAASH!

A torrent poured down from the ceiling.

Hiss— The moment the Fireball and the torrent made contact.

They canceled each other out, producing an enormous amount of steam.

How much steam?

Enough for a thick fog to swallow the entire area in an instant.

In a scene where they could not see an inch ahead, pandemonium unfolded.

“Mage! Mage!! Answer me!”

“Damn it! I cannot see a thing… Gaaah!”

“S-Save me! I got stabbed in the stomach…. Cough!”

A one-sided massacre began.

As time passed, the thick fog was dyed red with blood.

There was only one person who could maintain his composure amid the terror and panic.

***

Good grief, this much Water Release in a place without water…!

The porters might not know.

But I could see it clearly.

The Boss Monster’s identity.

[Goblin General]

Originally, Goblin Generals could not use magic.

And yet, this thing had used magic.

‘As if that could be a coincidence.’

Unless it was using a Wand through a loophole like me, it should have been impossible.

I looked over its equipment, but I did not see anything like a Wand.

I got the feeling.

‘That bastard is an Irregular.’

A Goblin General was already among the highest-ranking Goblins.

On top of that, it was an Irregular.

Considering the subjugation team’s combat power, this would not be an easy fight.

Would the situation have changed if the Chosen had gotten a hold of themselves and used all their strength?

No. They could not win anyway.

I was certain.

I could not even clean up what had happened.

This incident was the same as a twenty-five-ton dump truck slamming into us.

Did they think I was crazy enough to stop that?

Ever since the incident began.

I asked Seo-rin, who had been stuck firmly to my side.

“How long are you planning to stay glued to me?”

“Well, because the safest place in this Dungeon is right here. Is it not….?”

Seo-rin pointed at my side.

For a moment, I almost burst out laughing.

Was she sharp, or was she shameless?

I had felt it before, but she was strangely lucky.

‘No.’

Luck was undeniably a skill too.

But leaving that aside.

“Sss, this is difficult.”

If I thought about it, this was blatant freeloading.

When I tilted my head, Seo-rin’s face turned pale.

“If we survive and get back, I will give you all my pay from this porter job. Ah… no! One million won! If you save me, I will include the incentive and give all of it to you!”

“Deal.”

Dear passenger, I will escort you safely from this point onward.

As it turned out, she was holding a bundle of cash.

Then it was not freeloading.

That was when it happened.

Whoosh!

An arrow flew from beyond the fog.

By the time I realized it, it was already far too late to respond.

Right before the arrow buried itself in the nape of my neck.

Seo-rin threw herself forward, and the arrow sank into her upper shoulder.

“Ugh!”

From the impact, she rolled across the ground.

At that sight, my body froze for an instant.

How in the world had she known?

If she were a Chosen with physical abilities pushed to the extreme, that might be one thing, but an ordinary person would be too late if they moved after seeing an arrow rushing in.

That meant she had realized an arrow was coming and took the hit in my place.

Impossible.

Do you know how fast an arrow is?

Just as I was about to ask how in the world she had done it, Seo-rin beat me to it.

“Urgh… I may not look like it, but I have good ears. There is a unique sound when a bowstring releases an arrow. I did archery when I was younger, so I know it well. Hehe.”

“What were you thinking, taking an arrow? It is fortunate it hit your shoulder. If it had hit somewhere else….”

“I owed you a debt, did I not? With this, we are even in debt from our first meeting, right?”

She remembered that.

I was rather shocked.

Who took an arrow for someone else just to settle a debt? If it had landed wrong, she might have died instantly.

It was impossible to do in one’s right mind.

Even dead drunk, most people would hesitate.

Fine, Seo-rin.

I have seen your resolve.

At least you, I will take responsibility for and bring back alive.

“…Um, are we going to be alright like this? There were so many Goblins we saw earlier, and on top of that, because the fog is so thick, we cannot even tell where the Boss Monster is.”

“……….”

“The situation is too unfavorable, is it not…. Ah!”

After blurting it out, she seemed to realize her mistake.

It looked like she had suddenly remembered the identity of the person standing beside her.

The man who set an unprecedented world record by climbing seven Tower floors in a row and swept every MVP on the floors he climbed.

America was stunned.

Japan was shocked.

The whole world was startled by that name, Pingkk—no, let’s stop there.

Any more would be unsightly.

“Well. What you see is not everything.”

I understood.

Considering the situation unfolding before her, it was a worry she could reasonably have.

However, this time, it was also a meaningless worry.

[Imbuing Wand with Lightning.]

Normally, I used a combination of Lightning and Amplification magic.

Since Lightning was Grade 1 magic, its output was too weak to use on its own.

But it seemed I could spare myself that trouble this time.

“Lightning.”

The moment a single line of electricity touched the blood mist heavy with moisture.

Something unprecedented happened.

Crackle-crackle-crackle!

***

[You have defeated the Goblin General.]

[You have cleared the Dungeon.]

[You have achieved first place in Contribution.]

[Congratulations. You have achieved MVP!]