Translator: WH Editor: Sasha
3.
We got through the crowd and finally managed to reach the café.
At the café, there were people with anticipating faces waiting for me.
“Hahaha, welcome!”
Heretic Questioner. The guild master of the Ten Thousand Temple shook my right arm.
“I never thought you’d actually clear the 20th floor in just five days! It’s the greatest feat that’s ever happened since the tower was built. I sincerely respect you, Hunter Kim Gong-ja! No. We’ll have to call you Death King from now on!”
“Right now, I still doubt whether this is a dream or not, but…”
Crusader sipped her iced coffee.
“Honestly, I thought that you three, Black Dragon Witch, Sword Saint, and you, would fail the raid and die. But you even cleared the 20th floor by yourself? Amazing. If you have a secret know-how, please let us know.”
“What secret?”
I sat on one side of the table.
“You just need to lead a good life though?”
“That’s very practical advice.”
Crusader smiled bitterly.
“Anyways, it’s nice to see you after such a long time. Everyone. How have you been?”
“Well, it’s only been five days since the last time we met.”
Puff. Holding a pipe, Count smoked some tobacco.
“At first, we stayed in the throne room just like we promised. A promise was a promise. But after a while, all of a sudden, the Empire’s NPCs started moving around. It took us by surprise!”
[T/N: Originally called Reception room.]
“Ah.”
It was when I defeated the Devil King on the 12th floor.
I defeated the Devil King and received a quest. It was then that the time that had been stopped began to flow again.
“I didn’t think that far. How’d it go?”
“The NPCs of the Empire thought we were intruders who invaded the Imperial Palace!”
The Heretic Questioner tottered.
“Someone in fancy clothes yelled, ‘Catch those intruders!’. Then the Knights of the Empire and the elite soldiers came to catch us. My my my, it sent a shiver down our spines!”
“But this kid had a lot of tricks.”
Venomous Snake, guild master of Chen Mu-mun.
A one-eyed Hunter ruffled Heretic Questioner’s head.
“First, we obediently surrendered and then we escaped from prison. Was what I meant. For real now.”
“Aha ha ha! Wasn’t it fun? How could we have known that such a secret passage was hidden in the underground prison! It felt like I went back to my childhood days!”
“Hmmm? I heard you were caught by a Bulgarian mafia when you were a kid.”
“Yes!”
Heretic Questioner giggled innocently.
“That’s why I recalled the fun times from my childhood. Prison! Underground! Escape! Ahhh, these were all ‘decorations’ that brightened my childhood beautifully! Everything has become a nostalgic memory for me now.”
“Crazy bastard…”
Venomous Snake sighed deeply.
While I was working hard to hack up the Devil King’s minions, the guild master’s party seemed to have been pretty active as well.
“Uhuh. I know all too well that we all had a wonderful life out there in the outside world.”
The witch shrugged and sat down at the table.
“The Count was born in a slum village in India. Venomous Snake, your parents were gang leaders. Crusader had suffered some hardships in Venezuela.”
“…….”
“So we were all garbage when we were in the outside world. Don’t you all agree?”
The mood at the cafe instantly turned gloomy
Only the sound of Crusader sipping her coffee flowed quietly.
“…That’s not something we should talk about here.”
Crusader quietly glanced over at me.
“Do you mean to treat Death King as a member of [Us] now?”
“Yes.”
Said the Witch.
“You guys probably don’t know, but Death King had made a decisive contribution to clearing the tower.”
“That’s something we also know.”
“No. You all don’t know.”
The Witch shook her head.
“In the raid this time, we didn’t have a single casualty. Even on the 11th floor, where a lot of Hunters participated together. This was all thanks to Death King who taught me the strategies and tactics to clearing the floors.”
All the Hunter’s eyes were on me.
Yes.
“It’s true.”
“I.”
The Witch opened her mouth.
“This man, I want to make him the hero who represents our tower.”
Silence hung over the cafe.
The Witch looked at the Hunters that were sitting around the table one by one.
“Count. You disclosed too much of your wealth.”
“It’s true, I can’t say otherwise.”
“Heretic Questioner. You’ve killed too many people.”
“Yes! It was a necessary sacrifice!”
“Crusader. You don’t like receiving attention from other people at all.”
“It’s just how my character is.”
“And Venomous Snake. You…”
“Huh? What?”
“…I’m sorry. You’re too ugly.”
“……..”
Venomous Snake pouted. A dejected expression. But he soon bowed his head.
It was a portrait of a sorrowful middle-aged man.
“Sword Saint, as we all know, is an old man that is only crazy for the sword.”
“Mmhmmm.”
“And me, I have to constantly act behind the scenes so it can’t be me.”
After looking at those sitting at the table one by one, the Witch finally looked back at me.
“On the other hand, Death King doesn’t have any impression on the public yet. If we try hard enough, we can make it so that he becomes a perfect hero however much we want. This is an opportunity. An opportunity to revamp the tower’s previous image.”
“Would that really be the case?”
Heretic Questioner stroked his chin.
“We’re all people that have been around for a long time, so it’s true our presence has grown a little weaker! We’ve continued to print out magazines that contain updates on the activities of Hunters, but in the outside world, the sales volume is steadily decreasing!”
“Yes. That’s what I mean.”
“Then we’ll have to start ‘making’ our image from today onwards!”
Heretic Questioner stood up.
And just like a puppy, he began to circle around me.
“Hmm. You’re a little short. But that’s fine! As you can see from my example, the photos will be able to cover all that!”
“Uh…”
No. Wasn’t he just emphasizing that his height was his charming point?
There was a big smile on the short Hunter’s small face.
“[A short but passionate man, Death King]. If you use a catchphrase like this, it’ll work!”
Without having the chance to say anything, the Hunters gathered around me.
Witch. Count. Venomous Snake. Crusader.
Regardless of which guild they were from, all of them came close to me, and carefully examined my whole body.
“I’m asking just in case, but are you seeing anyone now?”
“Uh… No, I’m not.”
“What about since you entered the tower? Any ex-lovers?”
“Nope.”
“That means, there’s no need to worry about a scandal. This is the best!”
I didn’t know what was best about it.
The top-ranking Hunters began to chatter among themselves.
“I’ve been watching him from the side, but this man, when he smiles, he gives off a cunning impression. So I’m thinking of going ahead with the mysticism concept. Anything else, wouldn’t matter since he would just have to put up a good poker face.”
“But we’re in a pinch, he has never dated anyone before.”
Said the Crusader.
“We need to create a scandal that doesn’t exist here. Otherwise, the people out there are just going to spread false rumors….”
“No worries. I’ll take care of it.”
“Ohhh! Will it be a scenario where love blossomed as you stood side by side fighting together for five days? Hahaha, I like it! I can make a story that people would definitely dig!”
“What about a scenario where he donated the majority of the money he earned so far to an orphanage? In case something like this might happen, I made regular donations anonymously(無名). Let’s just say the donations were actually from Death King.”
“Mmhmm. I’ll leave it to you, Count.”
What’s this?
What’s going on here?
“For starters, let’s call a photographer! Let’s take some pictures!”
Heretic Questioner smiled brightly.
“Call all the designers, too. We’re going to have to at least give a picture to the press by the end of the day anyway. We’ve already taken a video of the battle on the 11th floor, so we’ll upload it on the internet when the right time comes!”
No.
Wait.
“Hey, guys….”
“Don’t worry.”
The Witch stopped me and smiled.
It was a smile that told me about her numerous profound experiences.
“Death King. You won’t have to do anything. We’ll take care of everything. You… that’s right. You just have to do what you’ve always done till now.”
“No, you said it was a mysticism concept. I thought we didn’t need someone like a designer?”
“It’s just today, please.”
The Witch gently put her hands together.
“Everyone in the world wants to know about you. One picture. Let’s just take one picture and show it to the people. Huh? Don’t worry, Death King. The designers who signed an exclusive contract with us are amazing.”
I came to a realization 30 minutes later, that it was never going to be just one picture.
“Look here!”
Snap!
Up to ten designers came and dressed me up. They styled my hair. Whenever I was dressed and my hair was styled, the photographer’s camera flashes started to go off.
“Yes, that’s good. This time, hold the dagger! Like a wolf in a thicket waiting to hunt its prey!”
“No… wait….”
“Very good!”
Snap!
The Hunters huddled behind the photographer. They whispered as they examined my pose with hawk-like gazes.
“Dressing up in a suit unexpectedly fits him well.”
“Maybe we should go with a somewhat playful vibe.”
“No can do! Because the playful concept is mine first!”
“That’s true. Then what should we… Then how about a flaming youth with an adventurous spirit?”
“Let’s go with that.”
Snap!
“Very good!”
Very good, my ass.
-Poohahahahahahha! Pooha, poohahaa! Keuhahahahahahhahah!!
Bae Hu-ryeong was rolling about in the air since a while ago.
1 hour passed, and then 2 hours went by, but the photo shoot didn’t seem like it would end anytime soon, so my patience reached a limit.
“I’m not doing it! Let’s stop all this!”
I stripped off the suit I was wearing and threw it on the floor.
“Hunters just have to climb the tower diligently! What media image?! What photoshoot?! Because all these useless things are always on your mind, for several years, the lot of you couldn’t even clear the 10th floor!”
Silence.
Did my heartfelt words work? The air became awkward. All the Hunters, including the Witch, stared at my face.
And nodded.
“…Wasn’t that a pretty good speech?”
“Mmhmm. It felt like you really are a flaming youth with an adventurous spirit!”
“The headline of this time’s magazine will be [The Hunter Who Climbed the Tower].”
“We also had that passion in our twenties….”
It didn’t work at all.
“Ahhh, no thanks! I came here to talk about the 20th floor. I’ll give you all the rights from the 10th to the 19th floor, so make sure the 20th floor is mine!”
The Hunters nodded again.
“I like your greedless concept, too.”
“How about this for tomorrow’s newspaper headline? [Death King, Shocking Announcement. Declares to distribute the rights of the 10th to 19th floors to all the other Hunters. Declares that he’s satisfied with being able to clear the tower.]
“Agreed!”
“It will be appropriate to write an article on the second page like this, [Death King, known to have regularly donated to an orphanage].”
“Yeah. Let’s just say that we’re giving him the 20th floor as a sign of gratitude and respect to Death King.”
“Perfect! Ahhh, what a beautiful finish!”
Wrong.
They didn’t listen to a single thing I said.
These people were too preoccupied right now by the idea of making me a hero.
“Just give up, young man.”
The Sword Saint spoke bluntly.
The old swordsman stood with his back against the pillar of the building.
“The same thing happened when I was ranked number 1. Something like being old would make a favourable impression on the world, and asking me to grow my beard differently. I heard all sorts of things then.”
Oh my God.
“This was what they wanted to show the outside world. [We’re living an honorable life too] It’s kind of an inferiority complex.”
The old man murmured.
“They abandoned everything in the outside world and came to the tower anyway. What’s so pathetic about it….”
The Sword Saint stepped away.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes?”
“If you stay here, it’ll be endless. After you finish the photo shoot, they’ll tell you to take a video and then after that, they’ll tell you to prepare for a press conference. They’re that kind of people. If you don’t run away now, the whole day will go by just like that.”
It sounded horrible.
Without the need to even think about it, I said.
“Let’s run away quickly!”
“Good decision.”
Focusing aura on the tip of our toes, we ran. A cry could be heard from behind us, “Ahhh!” but we didn’t stop.
“Death King!”
Cried the Witch.
“I’m holding a press conference tomorrow, so come back in the morning if you can! You shouldn’t be seen by others, so go around secretly! Even if you want to run away, get on the roof and run! Be careful!”
Bae Hu-ryeong laughed hysterically.
-Hey. That person isn’t an angel, nor is she a Goddess. Isn’t she more like a mom?
That really was the case.
And I didn’t even know what kind of existence a Mother was.
4.
Before I knew it, the sun had set.
Following what the Witch advised us, we went towards the roof and ran. Looking down from above, there were still hundreds of people crowding in front of the cafe. A swarm of reporters from the broadcasting station was there too.
‘We could’ve been in trouble if we went out from the front door!’
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login