Translator: HH
Bae Hu-ryeong frantically spoke when the light poured down.
-Hey, wait. If only the 10 ten are summoned, wouldn’t grandpops Marcus be there? What are you going to do when he sees you and tries to get you?’
‘Nah, you worry too much. It’s ok. The worst I can do is die, right?’
-Kim Zombie you…
Bae Hu-ryeong’s lips twitched like he was about to nag about me. Sheesh. I quickly added on.
‘It’s ok because I have plans. Don’t you know? I’m Kim Gong-ja. The weak ass that the Sword Emperor acknowledged! Trust me.’
-You have plans?
‘Of course! I have definite plans. I’ll show you them soon.’
-Ahem.
He crossed his arms with a doubtful look.
But it was already too late. The summoning had been started, and the white night completely covered us.
The only thing we could do was meet Sword Saint.
I closed my eyes and,
[The transmission is complete.]
When I opened my eyes, I was already on the 12th floor.
It was completely different from the 11th floor. Like the exact opposite. If the 11th floor was a dirty and intense battlefield, the 12th floor was an extravagant palace. It was the Imperial Palace of the Aegim Empire.
‘…no.’
I looked around.
‘Since the politics in the palace are as dirty and intense.’
In the reception room, other high challengers were summoned. There were people I saw for the first time, but most of them were hunters I met already, like Witch and Count. Of course. They weren’t the leaders of the large Guildss for nothing.
I met the eyes of the other hunters.
“Oh?”
“Mm.”
All of their reactions were different. There were some hunters who were smiling brightly at me like they knew I would be here, and there were some with grimaces like they never would’ve expected me here.
“Hunter Kim Gong-ja! You were amazing!”
The Heretic Questioner was the former.
“I saw what you did on the 11th floor! To use the NPCs that way. I was touched!”
He ran over to me. Because he was so short, he seemed like a tiny puppy.
“Is the sword on your waist a special item? The NPCs seemed to follow you right away after seeing you had this sword. Did you get this as a reward for clearing the 10th floor?
“Well. I guess…”
“As expected!”
He was all smiles looking up at me.
“You used the 10th floor reward to clear the 11th floor. Your application skills are amazing!”
“No, well. Not that…”
“From now, a lot of hunters will be jealous of you. They might even treat you as a lucky parvenu. Ignore them! It’s all thanks to your skills!”
Uh.
What was this person?
An angel?
Bae Hu-ryeong shouted.
It was different from his usual teasing tone. He was frantic.
-Be careful! Behind you…!
Then. Before Bae Hu-ryeong could finish, everything ended.
“Hm.”
The first person to react was the Heretic Questioner in front of me.
His jolly eyes were gone, and they were replaced with narrowed ones. He pulled my wrist back. I toppled over, not being able to catch my balance. One step. The Heretic Questioner pulled me back and stepped up instead.
“-Holy Technique, Inner God(肉神).”
He quietly muttered to himself. Then the sound of iron crashing against something else rang out. It was simple iron.
It was an attack with clear murderous intent.
“Ha.”
The Heretic Questioner laughed.
His eyes weren’t laughing.
“That’s surprising, Sword Saint. When did you become an assassin?”
“Move.”
An old man dressed in a suit. Sword Saint spoke coldy.
His sword was raised at us.
No.
Never mind.
“I’m going to kill that guy.”
It wasn’t raised at us, but at me.
Silence descended on the reception room.
Like there was electricity in the air, my body felt sparked.
“Mm.”
Only Heretic Questioner spoke in an attitude that wasn’t much different than before.
“Excuse me. But by ‘that guy’ are you talking about Kim Gong-ja hunter?”
“Of course.”
Sword Saint replied.
“If you don’t move from there, one of your arms will be cut off as well.”
The Heretic Questioner had a beaming smile.
“That’s a bit difficult! I can’t move for you. Hunter Kim Gong-ja has received the acknowledgement of the Five Large Guilds, including the Ten Thousand Temple. If I let him die, the reputation of the Five Large Guilds will be hurt!”
“You want to lose an arm I see. Youngster.”
“Ah, that’s a bit difficult as well! My arms are still useful to me.’
The Heretic Questioner tilted his head, still smiling.
“Can you tell me why you’re targeting hunter Kim Gong-ja?”
“I don’t have to tell you.”
“Are you saying you won’t give him up?”
“Move and stop the nonsense.”
Sword Saint firmly refused.
Yeah. In his eyes, I was a slaughterer who killed over 4000 people. Since he didn’t know my skill, he would react like that.
“I’ll say it again, but I’m going to kill that guy.”
“Mm! Then you’ve left me with no choice.”
The Heretic Questioner gathered his hands.
“I’ll control you here. Holy Technique, Transmission God.”
Suddenly, light exploded behind Sword Saint. Two hunters appeared from the tight. Chen-mu Master Venomous Snake. Civil Milita’s Vice Guild Leader Crusader. The two hunters shouted. Both of their weapons were pointed at the Sword Saint.
“Haaaaaaa!”
Sword Saint furrowed his eyebrows.
“These pricks…”
He clicked his tongue. During the span of one click, he swung his sword once. His blue Aura split the air and spilt blood. Two slashes. With just two attacks, the Crusader’s cheek was hurt. The Venomous Snake’s arm was bleeding.
“This, monstrous geezer!”
It happened in an instant.
“What does that oldie eat to be that energetic! Please, age! Retire! Because of you, young people can’t move up.”
Venomous Snake gritted his teeth and shouted.
Sword Saint lightly snorted.
“Aren’t you over 40 now? Looking at the real young ones, you’re also old.”
“Funny! 40s are still young! That’s when your real life begi…”
“Chen-mu Master! You are old! You are almost blind!”
“That damned zealot is on my side, right?”
“Sigh.”
Crusader sighed.
“Focus on the opponent at hand. We’re at a disadvantage.”
Even while sighing, Crusader didn’t let down her guard. No, she seemed even more nervous. The Heretic Questioner, Venomous Snake, and Crusader. The highest 3 hunters were fighting together, but the Sword Saint was still gging. [TN: gg as in go go.]
“Mm. We’re definitely at a disadvantage like this.”
Did the Heretic Questioner feel it too?
He smiled brightly and requested for help.
“Count!”
“What.”
“Please give me some money!”
“How much?”
“Thankfully the Sword Saint hasn’t lost his mind yet. It’ll be enough to control him for some time. 10,000 Gold please!”
“15% interest.”
Count unfolded her fan while quietly watching the fight.
“3 months time. Is this good?”
“Haha! You’ve misunderstood me! I didn’t ask to borrow money. I said to give me money.”
“Huh. Are you asking a merchant to donate?”
“Yes! That’s it! Isn’t it money you got from dirty deeds anyway? I’ll use it a good place, so repent at the temple and go to heaven!”
“You’re a worse thief than me…”
Count shook her head and pulled something out.
It was a pouch with a snail pattern on it.
Count untied the gold string at its entrance.
“Withdraw, 10,000 Gold.”
The pouch opened its mouth. A bunch of coins fell out. The pouch itself was probably a rare item. As gold coins formed a small mountain, Count took her pouch back.
“There. Take it, priest. It’s exactly 10,000 Gold.”
“I’ll take it well!”
The Heretic Questioner smiled exuberantly and gathered his two hands.
“Holy Technique, Devotion!”
The gold on the floor emitted a light. A golden light filled the reception room. IN the middle of it, Heretic Quesioner muttered, moving his hands rapidly.
“Holy transfer, physique strengthening. Receiver, Crusader and Venomous Snake. Time, 300 times. Gold will grab our hands. Technique complete!”
“Mm.”
“Humph…”
And something strange happened. All the gold on the floor disappeared like it had never been there.
Instead, the light from the coins landed on the Crusader and the Venomous Snake. It was like Aura. The Heretic Questioner spread his arms apart, saying, “Here we go.”
“For 300 seconds, Crusader and Chen-mu Master will become noticeably different. Sword saint! Even if you’re strong, you can’t bear the attack of the four of us! Me, Count, Crusader, and Chen-mu Master!”
“…”
“And the Count’s treasury isn’t empty. Haha. I don’t know if it ever will! If you want to test whether the Count will become bankrupt first, or if your neck will be cut off first, go ahead!”
Count pouted from far away.
“Why are you pulling my treasury into this test! I just donated because that zealot told me to. Whew. Being a merchant is hard both inside and outside the tower.”
“…and if I added something to that.”
A cold voice spoke. It was the Witch. The Rank 2 hunter broke her silence.
She looked at Sword Saint with an expressionless face.
“It won’t end with the four. I’ll show my intent to participate in the fight right now. Because hunter Kim Gong-ja has made a deal with the Five Large Guilds.
Sword Saint frowned.
“A deal?”
“Yeah. A deal.”
The Witch nodded.
“Hunter Kim Gong-ja isn’t bound to a single place but applied to all Five Large Guilds. In return, we promised to treat him as an equal. Sword saint. If you pull your sword towards Kim Gong-Ja, that means you’re attacking all of us.”
“….”
“Of course, by ‘us,’ I’m talking about the Five Large Guilds.”
She pulled out some mirrors.
“Black Dragon. Sangryun. Ten Thousand Temple. Chen-mu Mun. Civil Militia.”
The mirrors floated up by themselves. And they started to spin around. One. Two. Three. In total, the six mirrors spun around the Witch like they were hunting dogs protecting her.
“Can you really deal with all of us, Sword Saint?”
Swish.
The five hunters all pulled out their weapons towards Sword Saint.
“…”
The old sword wielder was quiet.
Yes.
‘Even if the Sword Saint is freakishly strong.’
In this moment-
‘He’s not strong enough to have all of the Five Large Clans as his enemies.’
This was why I made a deal with the Guild Masters.
A day when I was stronger than Sword Saint coule come. No, it would. But it wasn’t today or tomorrow. So until that day came, I had to have a safety net.
I inwardly smiled.
‘Do you remember what I said on the 11th floor?’
-What?
‘That there are two ways to deal with a powerful opponent.’
Be a one man army strong enough to chew your enemy up.
Or, make my own army and fight back.
‘The Sword Saint is nothing more than a solo player.’
But I was different.
‘I already have allies.’
So if Sword Saint and I fought, it would be my victory.
‘See? This is my plan. Go ahead, be awed.’
-Tsk tsk. What a weak ass…
Bae Hu-ryeong sighed.
But his face didn’t look too bad. He seemed pretty satisfied that I came up to the 12th floor with a strategy. That ghost, although he didn’t show it, worried about a lot of things.
I took a step forward.
“Sword Saint-nim.”
The hunters all looked at me. And Sword Saint was amongst them. I smiled on purpose to seem relaxed.
And I looked Sword Saint in the eye.
“Can we talk?”
Listen well. Because sir Gong-ja is speaking.