Chapter 84

Chapter 84: Dimension Invasion (3)

The moment I heard that the Sword Dragon of Blue Sky, Namgung Hyuk, appeared in Shinjuku Ward by traveling through the dimension…

I took the items I could use right away from the items scattered on the floor.

「The Vampire Count’s Old Tailcoat 」 

「 Grade: A- 」

「 Movement speed: +8%. 」

「 Mana regeneration: +10% 」 

「 A special tailcoat worn by one of the vampires of Callian when he was young.」 

「 When the user is attacked, the user can arbitrarily consume their stamina or blood to create a bloody barrier. 」 

「 The level of shield is determined according to the amount of stamina and blood consumed at this time. 」

「 Heavenly Blood Demonic Dword 」 

「 Grade: B+ 」

「 Reaction speed +7% 」 

「 Attack speed +10% 」 

「 A fine sword that was once one of the treasures that had been passed down from the Blood Demonic Cult of Murim .」 

「 When used by someone with swordsmanship skill, blood ki flows around the blade, and the flow of magical power through the blood sword becomes smoother. 」

In addition, instead of the Thunder Blade, like The Vampire Count’s Old Tailcoat, I also held the sword called the Heavenly Blood Demonic Sword, which I obtained from Kim Seungjun.

To be honest, if it was to face a typical challenger, this would’ve been quite an unnecessary preparation, but—

Right now, I wasn’t going to face an ordinary challenger.

‘Honestly, even this isn’t enough.’

The Iron-blooded Monarch said that there was no chance of surviving if I met Namgung Hyuk.

Namgung Hyuk had been accustomed to killing people since he was young and trained the sword to the extent that he used such a grand nickname as Sword Dragon of Blue Sky.

And as one of the most talented in the Murim dimension, he also expanded his position as an expert swordsman with a knack for swords.

So even if he was weakened by the penalty of floor intrusion, Iron-blooded Monarch was sure that I’d hopelessly get killed without being able to do anything if I met Namgung Hyuk.

That was the Sword Dragon of Blue Sky, Namgung Hyuk.

But moreover, he appeared in Shinjuku ward, Tokyo, Japan, not in the Tower.

It’s just my wild guess, but there was a possibility that Namgung Hyuk wasn’t weakened.

‘He mustn’t be receiving any penalties for floor intrusion since he appeared in Shinjuku ward of Tokyo.’

Not just because it’s a fight taking place outside the Tower, but…

It was because of the news that Namgung Hyuk killed six A-rank hunters within seconds.

To be honest, it might be possible for me to fight and win against six A-rank hunters right now.

However, it was impossible to completely kill strong hunters in a matter of seconds.

In other words, it was safe to say that he had the strength of at least an S-rank hunter.

After finishing my preparation in the blink of an eye, I was able to draw one conclusion.

“It’s not something I can handle by myself.”

That is, there was no way to deal with Namgung Hyuk alone.

It was beyond the scale I could handle to ignore the Hunter Association’s call for challengers and go straight to Japan.

So—

For now, I should go to the Hunter Association so that I can come up with the correct way to deal with him.

Having concluded that, I immediately went outside and departed to the Hunter Association.

***

As soon as I got out of the studio apartment, I went to the roadside and tried to grab a taxi, but…

For some reason, no people and cars were passing by.

So I had no choice but to call a taxi with my smartphone and got in the back seat of the taxi that arrived.

“To the Seoul Hunter Association, please.”

Where I was heading was none other than the Hunter Association located in Seoul.

The taxi driver looked at me like a crazy person in a tailcoat from broad daylight but—

He soon changed the way of looking at me after hearing where I was heading and replied okay.

While on the way to the Seoul Hunter Association, which was designated as the destination for the Challenger’s summons, I could immediately see that there were strangely no people on the street. 

Noticing that there was no one on the side of the road since a while ago, I asked the taxi driver, feeling bizarre.

“Why are there no people on the street? Did something happen?”

Then the taxi driver glanced at me and said with a face that he couldn’t understand me.”

“Looking at you going to the Seoul Hunter Association, aren’t you a hunter summoned to the association?”

“You’re right.”

“But you still haven’t heard the news?”

“…?”

“There’s an uproar because a gate has been opened in Tokyo.”

“…”

“Weren’t you summoned for that too?”

“You’re right, but what does that have to do with no one in the street?”

To that, the taxi driver responded with a bit of annoyance, kicking his tongue.

“Rumors are spreading that the Tower of Trials caused the gates in the Shinjuku ward of Tokyo these days.”

“What do you…”

“They say that the gate that appeared in Tokyo was not a normal gate, but was caused by the Tower of Trials.”

“…”

“This isn’t an officially confirmed matter, but seeing them gathering the challengers of Tower and hunters, I don’t think it’s entirely wrong either.”

“So that’s why there are no people on the street. It can be dangerous if the gate opens unexpectedly like in Shinjuku ward.”

So in short, it meant that the taxi driver driving a taxi like this right now was the weird one.

And most of the citizens currently didn’t even walk around the streets in fear of gates opening up like Shinjuku ward.

I mean, who wouldn’t be afraid when there are rumors that even ordinary people were also being dragged to the Tower, and the Tower was the cause of opening a terrible gate?

‘I thought the challenger from another world who appeared in Shinjuku Ward of Tokyo was top secret.’

Although it’s top secret, there seemed to be some information leaking to the public.

Even the taxi driver casually used the term Tower of Trials.

It meant that quite a bit of information about the Tower was revealed.

‘Did the ordinary people find out about the Tower of Trials in the meantime?’

While I was climbing up to the 11th floor, society seemed to have undergone many changes.

As if to prove it, the taxi driver poured out his words to me as though he was complaining.

“Let’s say that normal people are being dragged to the Tower of Trials. That’s still understandable, but to think that it’s now affecting even the real world… Tsk, the world is coming to an end.”

***

[Translator – Ramen ]

[Proofreader – DVN-L ]

***

Hearing those words, I looked outside the window without showing any reaction.

I smiled bitterly at the words the taxi driver said, about the world falling apart and all.

‘The world was already ending since the gates and monsters began to appear.’

Since when was it a normal world if people without talent could never become strong even if they risked their lives?

Just because you didn’t have any aptitudes, you couldn’t acquire even a single skill even if you risked everything and trained.

Despite losing my entire family, there was nothing I could do.

I lived in such a world.

I survived 7 years in such a world.

I finally began to see the light in such a world

So…

Just because the world was a little more twisted didn’t mean it was declining.

In the end, I always knew the kind that survived in such a turbulent world.

Survival of the fittest.

Those who couldn’t adapt to the new world were slaughtered.

And those who adapted to the new world… ruled as top predators.

“…”

Recalling that fact calmly, I thought of Namgung Hyuk, who appeared in Shinjuku, Tokyo.

I was just confused and scared right now, but I decided to consider that I’d be able to get over it soon.

Just like when I was summoned to the Tower in the past.

Now, it was time for me to adapt again.

***

Upon arriving at the Seoul Hunter Association, I immediately contacted Lee Hayeon.

Under the current circumstances of the challengers’ summons, she was also included in the call.

As a result, she was also in the Seoul Hunter Association in advance, so she came to pick me up.

Lee Hayeon, who ran to the entrance of the Seoul Hunter Association, saw me and ran up to me with a smile, but…

“…Sungyeun-ssi, what’s that outfit?”

Soon after, she looked at the clothes I was wearing and asked a question as though she couldn’t understand them.

“We don’t have much time, so let’s talk while going in.”

Lee Hayeon immediately asked for an answer while guiding me to the inside of the Hunter Association, and I responded briefly.

“It’s a useful piece of equipment that I recently acquired from the Tower.”

“No, I’m asking why you’re wearing it…”

“I heard that the gathering order for challengers has been dropped, but isn’t it because they wanted to support the Japanese Hunter Association?”

“…”

“The Japanese Hunter Association also said that the challenger from another world mentioned the name of a Korean challenger, so we wouldn’t be able to ignore the call for help.”

Looks like they don’t know the details, as though they didn’t hear the name of the Korean Challenger properly, though.

But at least, since my name was mentioned, the Japanese Hunter Association would say that Korea was responsible for this.

Then it was obvious that at least the Korean Hunter Association would have to support the Japanese Hunter Association by sorting the challengers, even in all conscience.

“…You sure you were in the tower without knowing anything until now?”

Lee Hayeon said so as if she couldn’t believe it after hearing what I was saying.

It was easy to guess since I knew a lot of things, but I really didn’t know.

“If I did, I wouldn’t have been in the tower so relaxed.”

If I had known that Namgung Hyuk had actually appeared in Shinjuku ward, Tokyo, I’d have looked for a solution right away.

Anyhow, if you looked at the reason why he appeared in Tokyo’s Shinjuku ward, it was because I killed Baek Sunhak in the Tower.

“As you speculated, Sungyeun-ssi. The Korean Hunter Association seems to be planning to assign a few challengers and support the Japanese side.”

“Are there no objections?”

“Of course there is. There are quite a few coming out such as why we should apply to help Japan just because a Korean challenger was mentioned.”

“…”

“Someone also insists that we need to find the exact Korean Challenger that was mentioned, find out the truth, and hold them accountable… It’s pretty troublesome.”

“So currently, they aren’t sure about that Korean challenger mentioned by the challenger from another world?”

“Apparently, yeah. They said that the A-rank hunter that survived at the time didn’t hear the name of the Korean challenger properly.”

While I was feeling a sense of bitterness at the news, that was a happy feature of a misfortune.

Before I realized it, I found myself in the meeting room of the Seoul Hunter Association.

“…”

Inside the meeting room, about ten people were seated in their respective seats.

Perhaps because my sense of Ki also improved as the skill level of my mana circuit went up…

I noticed that those sitting inside the meeting room were quite skilled challengers.

I sat down next to Lee Hayeon and told her the questions that came to my mind.

“Lee Hayeon-ssi, isn’t the summoning order for challengers given to all challengers on hard difficulty?”

“Yeah. So every challenger with difficulty stopped by the Hunter Association at least once.”

“But why are there only a few challengers in this meeting room?”

“That’s because, in this meeting room, only the top 40 of the Evaluation Rankings were gathered.”

As I tilted my head at those words, Lee Hayeon opened her mouth as if she would explain to me.

“The challenger on the hard difficulty who’s below the 7th floor didn’t even get to pass by the meeting room.”

“They don’t count as a combat power, and they don’t have much information, so we only gathered top-ranked challengers who have encountered challengers from another world.”

“I see.”

I mean, what’s the benefit of summoning even the lower-ranking challengers to the meeting room?

However, when I looked around, Kim Seunghoon and Oh Choonsuk were nowhere to be seen.

Of course, there was a possibility that they hadn’t returned from the Tower yet, but that was unlikely.

Because they told me that they were planning to return to Earth after finishing the trial on the 10th floor.

They probably wouldn’t have spent time training like me to raise the skill level and even implement Sword Ki.

And they should’ve already returned to Earth, even if they were late because they had to sign an additional contract with another administrator.

“Are there any challengers at the top of the Evaluation Rankings who didn’t attend here?”

“To some extent, there are people who couldn’t be reached or have already moved.”

“What do you mean by moved?”

“It’s simple. Those who said they have no intention of supporting the Japanese Hunter Association and only provided information, or those who already went to Japan.”

Went to Japan?

I stared at Lee Hayeon as I wondered what that meant, and soon her explanation followed up.

“As you know, the Japanese Hunter Association requested help from the Hunter Associations of other countries.”

“…”

“At that request, one of the hunters, who became a challenger in the United States, said that they would go directly, and two people from Korea also went to Japan in advance.”

“Could you please tell me who those two challengers from Korea are?”

At that, Lee Hayeon nodded her head and revealed who those two were.

“I’m pretty sure it was Kim Seunghoon and Oh Choonsuk? The 1st and 2nd place in the Evaluation ranking went to Japan together.”

As soon as I heard her words that followed, I felt that a glimmer of possibility had entered my hand.

It was none other than the possibility of breaking through Namgung Hyuk through the cooperation of Kim Seunghoon and Oh Choonsuk.

——