Chapter 98

Chapter 98.

“Lost Honor is... a power I obtained after I was deferred by the Tower and thrown out.”

[So that is what happened...]

This was why I had deliberately avoided paying attention to ‘overly special’ things up until now, including the true identity of Lost Honor.

Because Lost Honor was an Authority of the Tower.

Information about things belonging to the Tower could only be obtained inside the Tower.

In other words, no matter how desperately I struggled outside the Tower, it would all be pointless.

If I wanted Snowy to dig into the truth behind Lost Honor, I had to take Snowy into the Tower.

But that was impossible right now.

Snowy was a ‘very outstanding tool’ created by humans, but it was not an Artifact.

Tools could not be brought into the Tower.

‘...Now I have one more reason to unlock Branch 13.’

If I unlocked the Creation Branch, I could upgrade Snowy to the point where it could be judged an Artifact.

The shining golden messages that had appeared every time I carried out a ‘conquest.’

Based on the circumstances, there was a high probability that those belonged to someone very high up in the Tower.

And considering the miracles Lost Honor had shown me so far...

Only an Authority granted by someone that high would make sense.

‘In the end, I will only learn the truth by climbing the Tower.’

Just then, footsteps approached from the corridor, and the door burst open.

The first member of the party I had summoned, Han Seol-ah, had arrived.

I showed Han Seol-ah Nopi’s screen as well.

“What do you see?”

“A black screen.”

Han Seol-ah made an “Ah!” sound, brought her fists to her eyes, and giggled.

“This is that joke, right? You make someone look at a pitch-black screen, then say, ‘What do you see?’ ‘I don’t see anything.’ ‘That is your future.’”

“....”

“I know all about it.”

“That is not it.”

Was it because she had laid down the burden on her heart?

Han Seol-ah seemed much brighter now.

‘That is nice to see.’

It was far better than her keeping her mouth tightly shut and wearing a cold face as if to say, ‘I am a person without emotions.’

That innocent brightness was Han Seol-ah’s true self too.

“Anyway, you cannot see anything, correct?”

“Yes.”

Snowy could at least see something like worms... but Han Seol-ah could see nothing.

What was the difference?

Lee A-un and Kim Cheol-su, who arrived afterward, also could not observe Lost Honor running on Nopi’s screen.

‘I do not know.’

...There was too little information to judge.

And I was too busy to sit down and think only about this.

For now, I pushed the complicated thoughts into a corner of my mind.

“Today, we are entering the Tower to ‘farm.’”

“Brother, what exactly do you do in that farming thing?”

The other Hunters did not seem to know very well either.

“Good question.”

Farming.

It was an activity that every country possessing a Tower carried out routinely.

Entering the Tower, mining rare materials that could not be obtained even for hundreds of millions, and clearing missions to obtain rewards...

It was, literally, mining the Hunter era’s golden mother lode.

Why did these people not know about such a routine activity even though ten years had passed since the Tower appeared?

...Because, of course, this was their first farming run.

This country really was an unbelievable mess.

‘Sorry.’

I apologized in my heart.

If I had died on the 2nd Floor, the Republic of Korea’s Tower would have started from the 2nd Floor too.

“The Tower is a kind of... Instant Dungeon.”

An Instant Dungeon.

It referred to a dungeon newly generated each time one entered.

Only the person entering and the party entering at the same time could enter that dungeon.

If another party entered the Tower, a new Instant Dungeon exclusive to that party would be created.

Suppose Kim Cheol-su’s party entered the 51st Floor, and five minutes later, Han Seol-ah’s party entered the same floor.

Although it was the same floor, the two parties could not meet.

Because they would be inside dungeons on different phases.

“Before entering, you choose a floor.”

When I tapped the Tower’s entrance, a message appeared before everyone’s eyes.

[Tower Floors Available for Entry]

[1st Floor]

[2nd Floor]

(...)

[90th Floor]

The Tower could only be entered up to the floor that had been cleared.

If we tried to enter India’s Tower, the list would probably only go up to the 73rd Floor.

Because Iranshu had died while attempting the 74th Floor.

“Because we have cleared up to the 94th Floor, we can enter up to the 90th Floor.”

“Huh? Lord Apostle, then shouldn’t we be able to enter the 94th Floor?”

“The 90th Floor range is a single theme across the entire tier, so we can enter through the 90th Floor, the starting point.”

...Probably.

Why was I able to explain the Tower’s farming process in such detail?

Because I was the person who had climbed the Tower?

No.

I had only entered again for the first time recently after being deferred from the Tower, so how would I know about farming?

[The 1st Floor to the 10th Floor, the 11th Floor to the 20th Floor... Usually, sets of ten floors like these are called one tier.]

“The 1st Floor to the 10th Floor, the 11th Floor to the 20th Floor. Ten floors are called one tier.”

[They are not connected like the 90th Floor range, but the environments within a tier are usually similar.]

“...The environments within a tier are usually similar.”

Because Snowy was displaying a cheat sheet for me!

The explanation continued after that as well.

The three people’s eyes grew hazy.

It was a side effect of trying to cram too much information into them in a short time.

‘...These three are not the intellectual type.’

Right.

What kind of studying was I going to make them do?

“So the place we are going is...”

Practical experience is the best. Right?

I pressed the ‘79th Floor.’

“The Elf Forest.”

***

The 79th Floor waiting room was noticeably smaller than the 94th Floor waiting room.

“W-we are finally farming too...!”

An emotional Han Seol-ah closed her eyes and trembled.

Lee A-un swallowed dryly and clenched his fists, while Kim Cheol-su’s nostrils twitched as he tried to steady his surging breath.

‘It makes sense.’

“And on top of that, it is the 79th Floor.”

Cheol-su chimed in with perfect timing.

At present, the United States was still the only country on Earth capable of farming the 70th Floor range.

Even that United States was limited to the 70th Floor.

A place capable of farming the end of a tier, the 79th Floor?

Only the Republic of Korea.

“The floors whose last digit is 9 are special in every tier.”

“Ah, that is what you explained earlier! Because that is where the Boss appears, right?”

Han Seol-ah answered immediately.

It was only that Min Ji-hee, an outstanding brain, had always done everything for her, so she normally had no reason to use her head. Even if she could not keep up with the crash course in theory from just now, she seemed to instinctively absorb knowledge related to combat or practical action.

‘I will have to teach her a lot from now on.’

“Correct. They are the most difficult, but the value of the resources they drop is also on a completely different level.”

The core ingredient of the potion that would make the old geezer submit, the ‘Dew of the World Tree.’

As befitting its name, it was a rare material that had to be gathered from the actual ‘World Tree.’

The problem was that the Elves called this tree ‘Mother’ and worshiped it with extreme devotion.

Naturally, if one wanted to intrude upon that sanctuary, one had to break through a forest crawling with Elves.

And living closest to the World Tree was the strongest and most arrogant Elf...

That was the Boss appearing on the 79th Floor.

The Elf Queen.

“When we enter, combat with the 70th tier Boss will probably begin immediately.”

At my words, the three swallowed and looked at me with sparkling eyes that held not the slightest doubt.

It was obvious without even looking.

Those eyes.

They were completely convinced, thinking, ‘Lord Apostle will cut everything down anyway!’

“I will not participate in the battle.”

“...Pardon?”

Not a chance.

“Defeat the 70th tier Boss with only the strength of you three.”

I was the man who would clear the 95th Floor and prevent the crisis of Earth’s destruction.

The person who would ultimately clear the Tower and save Earth.

By analogy, I was the hero.

Then what were these three?

They could be called members of that great ‘hero’s party.’

If they stood in such a glorious position, it was only natural that they should possess strength befitting that status.

They could not become used to the hero carrying them alone.

‘Well, Cheol-su is an exception.’

He was something like the porter of the hero’s party.

Even if he was not necessarily strong, I could let him join.

Countless clichés had proven that.

If you kicked out the hero’s party porter, something terrible was guaranteed to happen...

‘Stories of hero parties that failed to recognize the value of the porter, abused their power, and disappeared are very common on the web...’

“Do not expect me to save you when you are in danger.”

“...Understood!”

A solemn resolve settled in Han Seol-ah’s eyes.

Lee A-un and Kim Cheol-su also nodded firmly, burning with fighting spirit.

“Ah, for reference, if you die while farming, you really die.”

“Yes?!”

“Whaaat?!”

I had thought they were accepting it too calmly for some reason.

These idiots.

I knew they were thinking of it like dying and coming back to life in Lost Honor.

“Do not let your guard down.”

I had frightened them thoroughly, but honestly, the odds of victory were high enough.

There were no fewer than two EX-rank Hunters, the pinnacle of Hunters.

On top of that, there was also one unique existence called the strongest B-rank on Earth.

In terms of combat power, they were absolutely not lacking.

There were exactly two risk factors.

The first was that Lee A-un had not yet obtained power befitting an EX-rank.

The other was that Yeriche, the Healer who could restore Lee A-un’s condition as he fought by burning his life force, had run away from home.

However, after watching Kang Hyo-jun, I had realized something.

People grow stronger the more you work them...!

“Then, shall we go?”

***

FLASH—!

When we crossed the 79th Floor Portal, an endless forest unfolded before us, with dense old trees covering the sky.

And at its center.

I saw the ‘World Tree,’ a massive silver tree rising with an overwhelming majesty that made it hard to breathe just by looking at it.

‘Wow, seeing it in person, it is really fucking huge.’

It was majestic enough to make even someone as kind as me, who normally did not swear, reflexively curse.

‘As expected, the World Tree is a big tree.’

Because the tree was that large, the Elves must have worshiped it while calling it ‘Mother.’

“This is the 79th Floor...?”

“It is definitely hard to breathe. The Mana concentration is on a completely different level from outside...”

Lee A-un and Kim Cheol-su broke into cold sweats.

The Tower’s Mana concentration originally grew denser as one climbed to higher floors.

Of course, the 90th Floor range where I had been was a special environment where it had rapidly decreased as destruction progressed.

Because of the existence of the ‘World Tree,’ the Mana concentration on the 79th Floor was particularly dense.

‘That is also why I chose this as their training ground.’

The denser the external Mana, the greater the burden placed on drawing the Mana inside one’s body outward and controlling it.

It was somewhat similar to running deep underwater, where even breathing was difficult.

If they forced out Mana and accumulated combat experience in this sandbag-like environment, their Mana operation ability could grow explosively.

‘Training is supposed to be done while wearing sandbags, right?’

I could farm materials from the World Tree.

It was also suitable for sandbag training.

And more than anything.

The Boss’s level was just right.

If they let their guard down, they would really die.

But if they ‘worked hard,’ they could win!

At that moment.

Something emitting a heavy presence that seemed to crush the surrounding air swooped down from the sky.

WHOOOOSH—!

As a violent gale raged.

RUMBLE RUMBLE—!

The ground began to shake.

Gracefully flowing golden hair and fresh green eyes. A noble bearing and even an arrogant jawline!

...Originally, she looked as pure and graceful as a forest fairy.

But now, she was a little different.

Her snow-white skin was dyed bright red with rage, and her elegant hair, which looked as though it had been made from melted gold, was shooting out in all directions under the force of Mana surging so fiercely that even she could not control it, as if it might pierce the sky.

A blue gleam flashed in her eyes.

In short, she was in ‘pissed-as-hell’ Elf Queen mode.

“Lowly humans, you dare set foot in Mother’s sanctuary...!”

RUMBLE—!

WHOOSH—!

With a single gesture, the surrounding Spirits went berserk and swept around like a violent storm.

It was truly a majesty befitting the ruler of the forest and the pinnacle of an entire race...

Or so it should have been.

‘Ugh, look at her posing.’

From my perspective, having tormented the Elf Queen for ten years in Lost Honor... it made me snort.

‘I want to smack her hard and make her say, “The World Tree is just a big tree.”’

What annoyed me even more was this.

She looked exactly the same as the Elf Queen I had seen in Lost Honor.

That made her ‘arrogant’ appearance twist my stomach even further.

“Lord Apostle, we will begin combat!”

Han Seol-ah turned back and briefed me.

“Huh? L-Lord Apostle is gone!”

Of course.

As soon as we entered, I had quickly climbed up and settled on a thick branch of the World Tree.

‘Oh, this is a prime spot. Perfect for watching it live.’

I leaned comfortably against the branch and looked down below.

‘Now, fight.’

“You insects dare look away before Mother’s altar. Atone with death.”

The Queen pronounced coldly and snapped her fingers elegantly.