Chapter 63 - Arena (1)

Chapter 63: Arena (1)

「 Administrator ‘Glutton’ approved the power transfer. 」

「 ‘Wings of Steel’ is added to the ‘Category: Power’ of your exclusive store. 」

I couldn’t help but let a smile slip.

‘To get another power already…’

The purpose of this trip was to interact with other challengers but…

I didn’t realize I’d get something so quickly.

And according to the man’s explanations, this “Wings of Steel” power would definitely come in handy.

The ability to summon a steel wing imbued with levitation using mana.

Hence, it opened me up for aerial combat…

‘I’ll have a way to deal with any monsters or challengers that have a similar ability.’

Of course, he did say that the mana cost was pretty high but…

I could take care of that when the time came.

‘Not bad.’

I’d already achieved like half of the things I came into the public area for.

But…

「 Administrator ‘White Crane Sword Saint’ tells him to back off the challenger he’s eying. 」

「 Administrator ‘Glutton’ is enraged at how ungrateful he is. 」

「 Administrator ‘Iron-blooded Monarch’ is not pleased with all the administrators around her contractor. 」

「 Administrator ‘Black Devil’ watches these three in excitement. 」

All the administrators seemed to be dissatisfied with something.

Looking at these administrators fighting put a thought in my head…

They definitely had something to gain from sponsoring these challengers.

Especially because the Sword Saint mentioned something about ‘eyeing me.’

‘That must mean he’s expecting something from me.’

Was I going to be meeting them anytime soon?

Well, there was no way to check that now.

More importantly…

“…So, can I take these corpses and their items?”

The man carefully asked for my permission after confirming that the deal was complete.

“Yes. Go ahead.”

“Gluttony.”

The corpses disappeared into dust and the male challenger’s hand glowed softly.

‘Is it a power?’

Probably something to do with his administrator ‘Glutton.’

“Now no one will know something happened here.”

I didn’t think it would have been a problem even if people did find out, but I guess it’s one less problem to think about.

“I see.”

“Ah, I forgot to even introduce myself.”

“…?”

“I’m an A-rank hunter, Lee Sungjin.”

“Ah, okay.”

I thought we’d be off on our merry ways but he introduced himself out of nowhere.

I was considering telling him my name but I decided against it.

“Well, I’m off to the public area now so… it was nice to meet you.”

I started to back out of the conversation.

But…

“W-wait…!”

“…?”

“I can show you around the area since we’re both going there.”

“Isn’t it everyone’s first time in the public area right now?”

“Yeah, but I used a bunch of my questions so I know a couple of extra things.”

“…”

“Just a few minutes is fine. I’m sure it’ll be useful.”

‘Should I?’

I mean, there’s nothing to lose…

But I didn’t really want to accompany a total stranger that I’d just met.

I was about to decline politely when…

“A-and, I’ll tell you about the other worlds as well.”

「 Administrator ‘Glutton’ is shocked at his contractor’s generosity. 」

「 Administrator ‘Iron-blooded Monarch’ starts to smile. 」

「 Administrator ‘White Crane Sword Saint’ tilts his head. 」

After seeing the flurry of messages, I quickly adjusted my reply.

“Sure. I’ll accompany you.”

Nothing to lose right?

***

Lee Sungjin talked the entire time we walked over to the public area.

“The public area is centered around a huge plaza. The areas are largely divided up to be the arena, the auction house, and the casino.”

Of course, there were a bunch of other buildings and facilities that we had access to but…

Those three were the only places to go if you actually wanted to do something.

I suppose I could rest in the public area if I was too cheap to buy a return stone but…

I didn’t really want to do that.

There were things I wanted to ask Lee Hayeon about anyway.

「 Administrator ‘White Crane Sword Saint’ regrets not having formed a contract with you. 」

「 Administrator ‘Iron-blooded Monarch’ tells him to stay away from her contractor. 」

「 Administrator ‘Glutton’ slips the two administrators a look. 」

「 Administrator ‘Black Devil’ is enjoying this love triangle. 」

Maybe it was also because I was tired of seeing all these messages non-stop.

‘And the administrators must really want something from challengers from the looks of it…’

Powerful ones at that.

But I didn’t have the mental capacity to think about that and listen to Lee Sungjin’s explanation at the same time.

“The arena is where challengers can battle with one another. The victor takes whatever the loser put on the table, whether it be an item or a skill. And the loser loses whatever they bet on the battle.”

Besides that, the arena would only match you with someone who bet something of equal value…

And dying in the arena just meant that you’d be revived with a couple of penalties.

“Most of the challengers there would be from the ‘strategy’ divergence. People who chose that divergence are the ones who go against other challengers the most often. And that also means there are some nasty people there.”

And then the explanation of the auction house.

“As the name implies, it’s a place to auction something off. You can buy and sell items and all transactions are made through points. Everything you get through the tower is pretty high quality, so you can consider it to be at the same level as the VIP hunter market.”

After that…

“Lastly, there’s the casino… but I heard it was a vulgar place. You can exchange all kinds of skills, points, or whatever into ‘coins’ and gamble with them. I heard you get not only points but also the ability to strengthen skills and items.”

That seemed to be all.

“I have heard that the casino isn’t a good choice for most people. According to my administrator, you can end up losing everything.”

Most of these things were common sense but it was still nice to know.

‘I guess I won’t have to waste any time researching this place.’

Since the explanation about the public area was done, he moved on to an explanation about the other worlds.

“So you can separate otherworldly challengers into three broad categories.”

“From what I know, the three worlds intruders will come from are ‘Ares,’ ‘Murim,’ and ‘Kallian.’ When I asked my administrator, he said that those are the only worlds we’ll be intruded from.”

「 Administrator ‘Glutton’ nods reluctantly. 」

‘My administrator didn’t say anything about that…’

No, maybe it was because I never asked her about it.

‘Maybe they’re also being restricted by the tower.’

“…Challengers from Ares are mostly knights and place a lot of importance on chivalry. They seem to be receiving their orders from a huge kingdom. Challengers from Murim are similar, but they belong to a lot of different factions and all have different beliefs.”

Two challengers came to mind after hearing this explanation.

‘The black knight and Baek Sunhak were from Ares and Murim respectively…’

“There isn’t much known about Kallian but… I heard those challengers are something like elves, fairies, or beastmen. Well, I haven’t met one, but that’s what I’ve heard. And apparently, they usually operate within their species.”

That’s also something I had no information about.

‘Kallian…?’

Beastmen seemed interesting but…

Everyone I’d meet would be my enemy.

“The hardest to deal with are Murim challengers. They usually belong to three factions: the righteous Murim Alliance, the shrewd Dark Society, and the evil Heavenly Demon Cult.”

The Murim Alliance.

‘Baek Sunhak said that he was an elder there.’

“Have you ever met anyone from Murim?”

“No, the only one I’ve met was someone from Ares.”

I wanted to ask some follow-up questions but…

「 You’ve entered the public area. 」

「 All injuries and status ailments are healed and fights between challengers are forbidden.」

I was interrupted by a message and…

“Ah, we’re finally here.”

I could see a bunch of people walking around the plaza behind the large gate.

People from all over the world, walking somewhere with a purpose.

Some of them were even talking to each other with a smile on their face.

Was the fight with those Chinese challengers even real?

I felt out of place that no one was fighting with bloodshot eyes.

I just couldn’t tell because I’ve been meeting scumbags.

“…I think my role as a guide ends here. How was it?”

I turned to face him.

“It was quite nice. I think it’ll be helpful.”

“Haha, I’m glad you liked it.”

Lee Sungjin dug through his pockets with a smile and…

“It ain’t much, but here’s my business card.”

I took a glance at it and…

“You’re the Challenger Management team lead at the Hunter Association.”

“Haha, yeah, it’s embarrassing, but that’s my position right now.”

“Sorry if you’re trying to recruit me but…”

“No, no. It’s not like that.”

“…?”

“Our team just collects information on events that happen within the tower.”

“Ah, okay.”

“Feel free to contact me if you ever have questions.”

“Okay. But it’s not free, right?”

“Money might be fine but… Ideally, it would be stories about the tower.”

“Is that why you were looking into the other worlds?”

“Well, I guess so. I have to report it up to the association.”

“I’ll come to you if I ever need something.”

“Thank you for even considering it.”

He smiled and continued to speak.

“Well, I’m planning on heading to the auction house from here…”

“Ah, yeah. I also have a place I want to check out.”

“That’s great. Where are you headed now?”

I satisfied his curiosity with an honest answer.

“The arena.”

I’m going to bleed them dry.

——