Mixed Novel Haha93.01%

100 - 109

Episode 100

Min Sung continued walking.

It was similar to when he kept walking in the white space in his dream.

Come to think of it, what was that dream about?

The dream was vivid as if it was real.

And who was the person that walked toward him in his dream?

It bothered him too much for him to consider it to be just an ordinary dream.

Min Sung knitted his brows and then erased his thoughts.

He couldn't have found the answer even if he tried.

He walked leisurely with his hands in his pocket as if he was in a museum, but the tower was covered with the devils' disgusting hobbies.

The walls were covered with drawings of devils.

There was even a statue of a devil.

Min Sung kicked that statue down with his feet.

As a result, it shattered to pieces in front of Min Sung.

Ho Sung Lee looked pale as he watched on.

"W-why are you doing that?"

Ho Sung asked him in fear.

"I don't like the sight of it."

Min Sung intensified his senses in order to find the devil again.

At that moment, something caught his attention.

He felt something coming toward him using the spider web he set up.

As soon as Min Sung stopped in his tracks, Ho Sung Lee looked around in confusion.

And then a minute later.

Swoosh!

The devil appeared with a sound that resembled paper being ripped.

"Gasp!"

Ho Sung Lee covered his mouth and walked backward.

He had met a devil before.

He was even kidnapped and interrogated.

Due to that trauma, Ho Sung Lee was unable to move.

He felt like he was going to pee his pants.

That was how terrifying the sight of the devil was to Ho Sung Lee.

He was so frozen still that he couldn't even hide behind Min Sung's back.

On the other hand, Min Sung quietly took out his Orichalcum Sword from his item window.

Thanks to the light inside the tower, the Orichalcum Sword sparkled.

"Let me ask you. Are you Black Slaughterer?"

Devil Borderer questioned Min Sung.

"Yeah," Min Sung answered honestly.

He figured, but as soon as it was confirmed, Devil Borderer's pupils shook intensely.

With the legendary Black Slaughterer in front of him, he had a hard time breathing.

"If you're done asking questions-"

"Black Slaughterer."

"…?"

Devil Borderer kneeled in front of Min Sung and lowered his head.

"I'll do as you wish, Black Borderer. If you want to go to the second floor, I'll open the door for you."

***

In response, Ho Sung Lee gulped.

The top hunters from all around the world entered the first floor, but many of them lost their lives.

And the one who killed them was Devil Borderer that was in front of him.

But for some reason, that strong monster kneeled in front of Min Sung.

Just because of Min Sung Kang's reputation alone, he offered to open the doors.

That was when he realized just how impressive a figure Min Sung Kang was.

Min Sung Kang was that kind of man.

'… This is crazy.'

At that moment.

Ho Sung Lee thought about stealing his money and running away to a foreign country and thinking that made him want to kill himself.

***

Ji Yoo Kim looked troubled as she looked at the tower.

She heard that Ho Sung Lee and another man went to the tower.

'It was probably Min Sung Kang.'

'Will they be okay…?'

She couldn't help but feel worried.

The Black Tower.

She witnessed herself just how dangerous that place was.

"Min Sung…"

Ji Yoo Kim looked at the tower and mumbled to herself.

She had many things she wanted to ask.

Ji Yoo Kim closed her eyes and prayed that they return safely.

***

"You're going to escort me to the second floor?"

Min Sung looked down at Devil Borderer with cold eyes.

"That's right. Please show me some mercy, Black Slaughterer."

"Okay. Lead the way."

In response, Devil Borderer immediately got up and started walking.

Min Sung stuck right behind Devil Borderer's back.

"If you try anything, I'll kill you cell by cell."

In response, Devil Borderer looked back at Min Sung and shook in fear.

"O-of course. I wouldn't dare disrespect you like that."

Min Sung smiled.

"I know what you're like."

In response, Devil Borderer looked ahead and started walking.

In pain from having Black Slaughterer right behind him, he led the way with a scared look on his face.

***

They walked for quite a while with Devil Borderer's lead.

At the end of a long hallway, Min Sung arrived at a set

of stairs.

"These are the stairs to the 2nd floor," Devil Borderer explained with a trembling voice.

Min Sung looked up at the stairs.

The stairs were quite long and high.

They were so high that the top of it was dark as the night sky.

As soon as he lowered his gaze, he saw the entrance to the stairs.

"Let me open it for you."

Devil Borderer reached in to grab his keys to the 2nd floor.

The keys had the magic language engraved into it.

As soon as he turned the key.

Bangggggg!

The door to the stairs opened with the sound of glass shattering.

Min Sung stared at Devil Borderer.

In response, Devil Borderer showed an anxious look on his face.

"You can go up now, Black Slaughterer."

He smiled awkwardly.

"Why did you make this anyway?"

"Pardon?"

"The Black Tower. Why did you make this and come into this world? It's so annoying."

"I-I don't know anything about it. I'm simply a puppet stationed at this tower."

"You don't' know anything?"

Min Sung questioned back.

"Y-yes, Sir."

Min Sung smiled.

Devil Borderer felt shivers after seeing that smile.

He stumbled backward.

"Please let me live. I'm really just a puppet. I don't have anything for you. Really!"

"Lies."

Min Sung spoke in a low face and stared at Devil Borderer with a straight face.

"G-gasp!"

Devil Borderer attempted to disappear with the sound of paper cutting, but Min Sung grabbed him by the throat and pushed him against the wall.

Bangggggg!

As the wall with drawings of devils shattered, he lost excessive blood in Min Sung's hands.

When he tightened his grip around his neck, his entire body trembled.

His red eyes swelled up and shed tears of blood.

"P-please don't kill me. Ugh! Please… I really don't…"

"I don't care if you're lying or telling the truth. You're going to die anyway."

"Y-you damned human…!"

Min Sung slowly took out his Orichalcum Sword from his item window.

Swish!

Devil Borderer cried as he saw Min Sung pull out the Orichalcum Sword.

"Cough! Ugh! Ughhhhhh. I opened the door…"

Min Sung stabbed him in the heart.

Slash!

Swoosh!

Bang, Bangggggg!

Magic came out of the Orichalcum Sword and burned Borderer's body.

Aghhhhhh!"

Devil Borderer screamed as his body melted into bloody water.

As his body melted like slime and disappeared, he dropped his item.

Min Sung put the two good items and one small item in his window and looked back at Ho Sung Lee.

"Give me something to wipe this with."

Ho Sung Lee came to his senses and brought him a towel.

"Why are you trembling?"

Min Sung frowned at Ho Sung Lee's shaking hands.

"Sir, I guess you don't know this, but you're really scary. You're normally scary, but when you fight, it gets hard for me to breathe."

Min Sung laughed as he wiped off the blood from his body and sword and handed the towel back to Ho Sung Lee.

He then proceeded to go up the stairs to the 2nd floor.

***

They finally arrived at the 2nd floor of Black Tower.

This floor also had wall murals like the 1st floor.

The 1st floor showcased the holy images of devils while this floor showed off the devils' horrible hobbies.

Pictures of devils killing and torturing humans were all over the walls and ceiling.

Ho Sung Lee appeared uncomfortable at the murals.

"Sir… Are you from this kind of world?"

"Don't remind me. This is already bad enough."

Min Sung threw Bowl onto the floor.

Bowl spun around in a circle and stood up with perfect posture.

Min Sung looked at Bowl in surprise and then looked elsewhere.

"Things will get annoying from now on, so you guys will need to level up. Get ready to earn some experience points."

In response, Ho Sung Lee gasped and danced with his fists clenched.

"Focus."

Ho Sung Lee and Bowl stopped their celebration and stood up straight.

"But Sir. Will our attacks work on the devil?"

"Do you expect me to feed the devil to you?"

Min Sung looked at Ho Sung Lee with cold eyes.

"N-no, Sir. I'll do the damage."

Ho Sung sweated buckets.

On the other hand, Bowel snickered.

Ho Sung Lee looked at Bowl scornfully, but Bowl didn't care and stuck right by Min Sung's side.

Ho Sung Lee also followed Min Sung while giving strength to his core.

***

"The lights turned on on the 2nd floor."

In response, the hunters at the assembly looked at the tower in shock.

The assembly soon bustled with noise.

The lights that were only on on the 1st floor were now on on the 2nd floor as well.

The hunters were fascinated.

It hadn't been long since the two men entered the tower.

And now, the lights were on on the second floor.

'Did they clear the floor?' They wondered this, but they figured it was ridiculous.

The top hunters from all around the world went in and got annihilated.

So how could two men go in there and clear the 1st floor and enter the 2nd?

The hunters assumed that the two hunters died and that the 2nd floor's lights turned on automatically.

As the hunters grew more anxious, their confidence lowered.

The terror in the tower still remained as a trauma and continued to mentally harass them.

They were hopeless.

Unless a miracle happened, mankind's future seemed bleak.

Episode 101

The countless rays of light out of the Orichalcum Sword went through the devil's body.

"Ughhhhhh!"

The devil let out a painful scream and fell over like a pole.

As soon as the devil fell, Ho Sung Lee and Bowl pounced like hungry lions.

Ho Sung Lee swung his sword on the almost dead devil and Bowl drowned it with his dark magic.

Meanwhile, Min Sung frowned at the devil.

Not all devils were the same.

They had different ranks.

The devils that they defeated on the 1st and 2nd floors were only beginner levels.

And aside from the fact that the devil on the 2nd floor was a little more aggressive, there wasn't much a difference between the two.

The devils that he last faced off against before leaving the demonic realm was not at this level.

Min Sung looked up at the ceiling.

If he went up, would he be able to see the devil from before?

He thought for a while and then saw Ho Sung Lee and Bowl.

"Huff! Huff! Huff! Why isn't he dying?"

Ho Sung Lee panted as he spoke while Bowl looked down at the devil with no more energy to spare.

"Move."

In response, Ho Sung Lee and Bowl moved aside.

The devil wasn't dying, but its body was being regenerated.

Min Sung looked down at the devil and then pulled out his Orichalcum Sword.

Slashhhhhh!

Blood spilled over the floor and the devil closed his eyes.

He was on the verge of death.

"Deal with it," Min Sung ordered.

Ho Sung Lee and Bowl began attacking in response.

Ho Sung Lee's sword showed red and blue lights that fell upon the devil like fireworks.

Bowl drowned it with dark magic.

However, Min Sung simply sighed to the sight.

The devil didn't die and simply remained in the weak state right before death.

After around 10 minutes, Bowl's sword filled the devil's body with darkness.

Boom!

[Random damage explosion]

[Bowl has defeated the devil]

"Huff! Huff! Huff! Huff! Ugh!"

Ho Sung Lee fell over and panted.

Bowl also used up all of his energy and fell onto the floor.

But at that moment.

Boom!

A gold light shined from Bowl's body.

***

[Lich doll 'Bowl' will initialize in level, nickname, and skill.]

[Lich doll 'Bowl' has advanced in attack and magic power.]

[Lich doll 'Bowl' has advanced in reincarnation ability.]

[Additional special skill obtained.]

Ho Sung Lee looked at Bowl with his jaw dropped to the floor.

Bowl's level initialized and disappeared.

That meant that Bowl was now a miscellaneous type.

'I-I'm so jealous!'

Ho Sung Lee felt his insides tangled up.

He was already high in level, and now he was a miscellaneous type…

"Snicker!"

At the same time, Bowl regained all of his magic. Bowl, who was just dead on the floor, sprung up and started dancing.

While looking at Bowl radiate with gold light and unbelievable confidence, Ho Sung Lee felt a sense of deprivation.

'Was I unable to damage the devil?'

'Damn it!'

Ho Sung Lee pulled out his hair.

While Ho Sung Lee beat himself up, Min Sung kicked him in the butt.

In response, Ho Sung Lee looked up at Min Sung with a squid-like face.

"Eat this."

He threw him an item.

Ho Sung Lee accepted the item from Min Sung and looked down at it.

[The Blood of a Devil]

Level: God

Upon ingestion, a skill of a devil could be obtained.

Something suddenly began forming along with a nasty smell.

"Oh my god! God level?"

The level of the item was very high.

It was at the god level.

God. God. God.

An item containing the power of a god!

He felt like his heart was going to explode.

I just have to eat it, right?

Ho Sung Lee opened his mouth wide and chewed the Devil Blood given to him by Min Sung.

"Ugh…!"

The foul stench of the blood irritated his nose.

He wanted to spit it back out, but he swallowed it by plugging his nose and holding his breath.

Gulp!

As soon as he swallowed the Devil's Blood.

Bang!

[Player Ho Sung Lee's evolution will begin.]

Ho Sung Lee began radiating with gold light.

[Player Ho Sung Lee has obtained the skill, Berserker. In the case of suffering magic damage, he will evolve into Berserker.]

That meant he would get stronger the more he got hit.

But it was only temporary.

Ho Sung Lee was unable to hide his dissatisfaction.

'Fuck my life. Why this of all things…?'

'Sigh… I'm so unlucky.'

Ho Sung Lee looked at Bowl, who was shining with gold light, and smacked his lips.

'Is this what he would look like in battle?'

A gold skull bowl.

'That's so cool…'

On the other

hand, he was a berserker.

There was quite a contrast, but he should be thankful.

But he couldn't help but feel jealous.

While Ho Sung Lee looked at Bowl with envy, Min Sung focused on something else.

After killing the devil, the stairs to the 3rd floor opened, but Min Sung didn't go up and just stared at it with his hands on his hips.

Ho Sung Lee stood beside Min Sung.

"Sir, aren't you going to go…?"

Grumble

Ho Sung Lee stopped once he heard Min Sung's belly.

He then nodded.

"Let's go."

Min Sung also nodded and followed him.

***

As soon as they exited the tower, Min Sung pulled in the boat.

As a result, the boat defied gravity and flew right in.

Thanks to that, Min Sung and Ho Sung Lee were able to get on the boat safely.

Ho Sung Lee looked at both the boat and Min Sung in fascination.

"Start the engine."

He started the boat.

Min Sung and Ho Sung Lee's boat took off to land.

Rumble, boom, boom!

The thunder roared and the waves were high, but Min Sung's surroundings were serene.

"Ho Sung."

"Yes, Sir."

"You swim back."

"Pardon?"

Min Sung kicked Ho Sung Lee on his back.

"Ugh!"

Splash!

"Pfft! W-why, Sir?"

"When are you going to hold up your end?"

Min Sung looked at Ho Sung pathetically and took off in the boat.

***

While Ho Sung Lee swam with all his might, Min Sung continued to walk through the eyes of the hunters at the assembly.

And then he sat on a rock and waited for Ho Sung Lee.

He intended to go and have a meal once he arrived.

He had been asleep for a while, and after that, he used his energy to kill the devils.

Hurry.

Min Sung sent over his voice.

A message.

Min Sung's voice rang in Ho Sung Lee's head while he swam through the ocean.

***

As soon as he heard Min Sung's message, he felt enraged.

He clenched his teeth and swam harder.

"Huff! Huff! That son! Of! A! Bitch!"

Ho Sung Lee swam at high speed while cursing.

But on the other hand…

He felt impressed by Min Sung Kang even while swimming.

'How did he control that boat with Aura?'

'Is he even human?'

"Pfft! Pfft!"

Strangely, the more tired he got, the more strength he felt to keep going.

'Is this a trait of Berserker?'

'How fascinating.'

Whenever Ho Sung Lee grew tired, he felt a force bringing him back up.

And as soon as he got out of the ocean, he ran over to Min Sung.

"I'm here, Sir. Huff! Huff!"

"What do you recommend?"

Ho Sung Lee was squeezing out the water in his hair as he responded.

"Oh, food? Are you craving anything in particular?"

Min Sung looked up at the cloudy sky and went deep into thought.

He then made a decision and answered Ho Sung Lee.

"Korean food."

When Min Sung picked Korean food, Ho Sung Lee nodded.

"Then let's take the Warp Gate back to Korea. It's hard to find a restaurant that's open in Manhattan because of the dangerous zones."

"What's the menu?"

"Raw fish Bibimbap. One meal will fill you right up. Since there's also the stone pot raw fish Bibimbap, you can pick what you'd like."

Ho Sung Lee took out his phone.

All the phones nowadays were completely waterproof.

Despite having to swim across the ocean, his phone was still functional.

"I'll send you the address. Since the Warp Gate is in Seoul, shall I look for a place close by?"

"Sure."

"Okay."

Ho Sung Lee found a popular restaurant like a machine and sent the address to Min Sung's phone.

When Min Sung was asleep, Ho Sung Lee worked hard to search up all the popular restaurants.

"I sent you the address. I'll escort you to the Warp Gate and wait for you there."

"Let's go."

Min Sung got up from the rock.

"Min Sung!"

At that moment, Ji Yoo Kim ran over, screaming his name.

"You're back."

She looked up at Min Sung and smiled.

She truly looked delighted that Min Sung was awake.

Ji Yoo Kim's face from close up looked almost like a work of art.

The problem was that Min Sung only looked at women as if they were art and nothing more.

"I'm going to eat and then go back in there. So make sure nothing happens until then."

"The lights of the 3rd floor turned on. Did you actually get up there?"

"Yeah."

Min Sung gave her a short answer and headed out with Ho Sung Lee.

Ji Yoo Kim walked alongside Min Sung and looked right at him.

"Let's go together. I have a lot to tell you."

Min Sung ignored her as he walked toward the car.

***

Ho Sung Lee got in the driver's seat while Min Sung sat in the back.

As for Ji Yoo Kim, she sat beside Min Sung.

Min Sung looked out the window while Kim Ji Yoo's eyes stayed fixed on Min Sung.

Min Sung frowned and looked at Ji Yoo Kim.

In response to his glare, she smiled like an angel.

It was the smile of an innocent child.

"What?"

"Nothing."

In response, Min Sung shook his head. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

Episode 102

Ji Yoo Kim leaned over to Ho Sung Lee in the driver's seat.

"Ho Sung."

"Yes?"

"Tell me about the tower. I know this man won't tell me anything no matter how hard I try."

In response, Ho Sung looked over at Min Sung.

"I'm not sure if I can tell you…"

Ho Sung Lee trailed off.

"Is it okay?"

Ji Yoo Kim looked at Min Sung and then turned her eyes back on Ho Sung Lee.

"It must be okay. Tell me."

Ji Yoo Kim pressed him.

Ho Sung Lee minded him once more and then started his story about the tower.

As the story went on, Ji Yoo Kim's smile grew stiffer.

The top hunters from all around the world were annihilated except for those of China.

By one devil at that.

But Min Sung defeated that devil.

By himself.

In one go.

How strong was he?

Kim Ji Yoo looked back at Min Sung.

When she ran into him and realized he woke up, she smiled because of a sense of relief.

A dreadful tower came about in the world, but the fact that a man like Min Sung Kim existed gave her a sense of relief.

It was as if she was acknowledging him without realizing it.

There was no hunter that could replace him, and he was the man who would save the world.

"How much longer? Are we far?"

Min Sung asked while opening his eyes.

"We'll be there soon. Just wait 5 minutes. I'll speed up."

Ho Sung stepped on the accelerator.

The car sped down the empty road of New York, Manhattan.

***

"Is that true?"

"Yes, Sir."

He was shocked by his subordinate's report.

The two crazy men that went into the tower came out alive.

With the 3rd floor's light on at that.

And the general of the Korean Central Institute followed them out.

This was no simple matter.

When he tried contacting Ji Yoo Kim, her phone was turned off.

"Who are these people…?"

American hunter master, Ethan, tapped on the table with his fingers.

***

Min Sung took the Warp Gate to the restaurant that Ho Sung Lee recommended.

As soon as Min Sung sat down, Ji Yoo Kim sat across from Min Sung and Ho Sung Lee.

He picked up the menu and decided on the dish.

He was contemplating on what to eat ever since the car ride and the Warp Gate.

Min Sung rang the bell.

"A raw fish Bibimbap please."

The stone bowl Bibimbap looked delicious as well, but the hot bowl would only make the raw fish cook.

Because of that, it prevented the person from enjoying the taste of raw fish.

So he ordered the one without the stone bowl.

"Same here."

A part-timer took their orders and walked away

Ji Yoo Kim poured water for Min Sung and set up his spoon and chopsticks.

"I was really surprised. I was shocked that you slept for so long, and I'm even more shocked that you cleared the 2nd floor of the tower," she said with a smile.

"And I feel proud that you're a hunter from our country."

"Stop with the flattery and get to the point."

In response, Ji Yoo Kim smiled as if she saw that response coming.

"The truth is… I was scared. Although the top hunters from all around the world gathered, we felt hopeless after our first attempt. I really thought that was it for humanity."

Kim Ji Yoo swallowed her dry saliva.

"How many floors are there in that tower? Also… how strong are the monsters? I already know you're very strong, and I'll probably get a better look at it as time goes on, but I don't have much information…"

Min Sung smirked in response.

Ji Yoo Kim looked at Min Sung with a questionable look in her eyes.

At that moment, their food came out.

Two bowls of the raw fish Bibimbap came out on to their table.

"Why are you smiling?"

"Just because," Min Sung replied while picking up his spoon.

"Tell me. I'm curious."

"It's just funny seeing you kick up a fuss over nothing."

Kim Ji Yoo looked shocked.

"Over nothing?"

"Well, to me anyway. I'm going to eat now, so don't bother me."

Min Sung began his meal.

***

The bowl of the raw fish Bibimbap was of gold color.

The color of the bowl made the food look that much more delicious.

Min Sung picked up his spoon and mixed in hot pepper paste into the raw fish Bibimbap.

The raw fish, vegetables, and rice slowly turned red.

This was his first time eating Bibimbap upon his return.

Min Sung scooped up a big spoon and put it to his mouth.

Munch.

Min Sung was overcome with a

sweet and spicy taste.

The proportion of the hot pepper paste with the rest of the food was unbelievable.

It was a masterpiece.

On top of that, the fresh flavor of the raw fish made the meal that much more enjoyable.

The rice and vegetables gave the dish a soft texture.

This was the key trait of Bibimbap.

It was an explosion of flavor.

Bibimbap was a famous Korean food for a reason.

The traditional flavors of Korea danced around in his tastebuds.

When his mouth felt a little dry, he cleared it with some beansprout soup and Kimchi!

It was an unreal flavor.

One bite. Two bites.

He couldn't stop eating.

'Yeah, this is how Bibimbap should be.'

The bowl emptied in no time and Min Sung ended up taking his very last bite.

The sweet taste remained in his mouth even after finishing his meal.

He wanted to eat more, but Min Sung believed that one should stop eating a good Bibimbap while one still wanted more.

Just like that, he emptied his bowl and nodded.

It was nothing grand, but the raw fish Bibimbap satisfied his cravings.

Ho Sung Lee's recommendation hit the spot once again.

***

They headed back to the Warp Gate after the meal.

Ji Yoo Kim was strangely silent.

It seemed as though she was deep in thought.

Min Sung also looked out the window and enjoyed the scenery.

In response to the silence, the driver looked back at them through the mirror.

After a moment of silence.

Kim Ji Yoo looked at Min Sung and opened her mouth.

"You always just look out the window."

"…"

"Is there a reason for that?"

Min Sung continued to look out the window as he let out a deep sigh.

"It comforts me."

She tilted her head out of confusion, and Min Sung continued,

"I won't let this world disappear."

Ji Yoo Kim looked at Min Sung in surprise and then smiled awkwardly.

"I didn't expect you to say that."

"…"

"But then again, I feel like there's no one who wants to protect this world more than you, Min Sung."

The car arrived at the Warp Gate building.

Min Sung immediately got out and walked toward the building.

Ji Yoo Kim watched this while smiling sadly.

"He's… a very consistent man."

***

Ho Sung Lee drove them back to the assembly.

As soon as the car entered the assembly, the Hunters bustled with noise.

Some of them ran into the tent.

A moment later, the commanders came out of the tent and walked toward Min Sung, Ho Sung Lee, and Ji Yoo Kim.

Min Sung knitted his brows and stared at the commanders walking his way.

"They're going to ask what happened at the tower, who you are, and things like that," Ji Yoo Kim explained in anxiousness.

"I think you should talk it out…"

Clack!

Min Sung cut her off and got out of the car.

He closed the door and stared at the commanders approaching in a provocative way.

There were 7 of them in total.

They all had badges signifying their commander statuses.

Ho Sung Lee and Ji Yoo Kim also got out of the car.

Ji Yoo Kim stood next to Min Sung, and Ho Sung Lee stood in front of Min Sung.

"What on earth did you do in that tower?"

The American hunter master, Ethan, asked Min Sung.

That question was also targeted toward Ji Yoo Kim.

"I killed them," Min Sung shortly replied.

In response to the interpreter's interpretation, Ethan's eyes grew wide.

"How dare you trick us with your nonsense?"

After noticing Ethan's enraged face, Ji Yoo Kim stepped up.

"Calm down, Ethan. He's telling the truth."

In response, Ethan and the other commanders looked confused.

The big shock caused a moment of silence.

And then…

"Hahaha…!"

Ethan laughed loudly.

"So are you saying these two men entered the tower on their own and turned on the lights on the 3rd floor? Is that what you're saying, General Kim?"

"That's correct," Ji Yoo Kim calmly replied.

"Despite hundreds of worldly hunters going in, the fight didn't even begin. But these two hunters cleared 2 floors? You expect us to believe that?"

"Whether you believe it or not, that's the truth."

Countless hunters began crowding around Min Sung, Ho Sung Lee, and Ji Yoo Kim.

"What are you trying to do, General Kim? Why are you lying to us?"

Ji Yoo Kim sighed.

"I'm not lying. This hunter beside me is a Korean hunter, and he's powerful enough to clear the tower."

Hundreds of hunters focused on Min Sung.

"Hmph. Then shall we test it out?"

In response to Ethan's ridicule, Ji Yoo Kim looked back at Min Sung.

Min Sung, who was staring blatantly at Ethan, slowly walked toward him.

He then stood right in front of him and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Go ahead," Min Sung said in a low voice.

"But… your life will depend on that test."

In response to Min Sung's response, Ethan's face crinkled up.

It looked as though they were about to fight.

Ji Yoo Kim ran over.

"There's no need to do this," she continued while looking at Ethan.

"Ethan, if you want to check, dispatch an investigative team and check the tower yourself."

Ethan stared at Min Sung and then called upon his subordinate.

"If we do that…"

"No."

Min Sung cut off Ethan.

"Keep going."

As soon as Min Sung glared at Ethan, Ji Yoo Kim showed a troubled look on her face.

"Min Sung…"

"Shut up."

Min Sung got even closer to Ethan's face.

"Test me. But bet your life on it."

Min Sung's devilish power began to wrap around Ethan's body.

Episode 103

The ends of Ethan's hands shook like crazy, and it became harder for him to breathe properly.

With a bright red face, Ethan attempted to breathe.

He stared back at Min Sung, but his eyes slowly went down.

"I-I'm sorry."

In response, Min Sung hit Ethan on the shoulder and passed him.

Although it was just a shoulder bump, Ethan's face turned pale.

"Master, are you all right?"

His underling worried about Ethan's well-being.

While Min Sung walked toward the tower, hundreds of hunters split up.

Ethan watched Min Sung walk toward the tower as he gulped.

"Have the investigative team follow the Korean hunters and confirm their identities."

***

Ji Yoo Kim tried to follow Min Sung to the Black Tower, but Min Sung refused.

"Stop acting like a little kid. You'll just get in the way."

In response, Ji Yoo Kim stayed silent and dropped her head.

Ho Sung Lee was impressed by Min Sung.

A hunter dominating the entire world.

He made Ethan surrender with just a gaze.

Ho Sung Lee laughed bitterly.

'But then again… he's the guy who cleared the Black Tower all by himself.'

Ho Sung Lee clicked his tongue and followed Min Sung.

Would they be able to come out of the tower alive?

Unlike Ji Yoo Kim, who wanted to go, Ho Sung Lee worried about his death.

***

As for the captain of the investigative team, it was Mike, who first searched the tower in the beginning.

Since most of the American hunters had died, they needed help from other countries.

Captain Mike took the volunteer hunters and got in the boat headed back to the tower.

On the boat, Mike looked at Min Sung Kang and Ho Sung Lee in front of him and showed an expressed look on his face.

"Why is the boat completely fine?"

He looked at the boat that Min Sung and Ho Sung Lee were in and looked confused.

The waves became rougher as they got closer to the tower.

But strangely, the boat that Min Sung and Ho Sung Lee were in proceeded peacefully without any shaking.

They had already passed the point where they should have abandoned their boats.

But theirs was just fine.

On the other hand, the investigation team's boat shook like a Viking's.

"This is the place. Abandon the boat," Mike ordered.

The hunters looked at Min Sung and Ho Sung Lee's boat and then dove into the ocean.

In the meantime, Min Sung and Ho Sung Lee were already entering the tower.

While the investigation team swam, they stared at Min Sung and Ho Sung Lee blankly.

***

Since they had to swim, the hunters of other countries arrived much later than Min Sung and Ho Sung Lee.

For that reason, when they arrived at the first floor, they couldn't find Min Sung or Ho Sung Lee.

They had already strayed too far.

Since the 10 investigators had already experienced the horror of the tower, they cautiously conducted their investigation.

Each step they took was filled with fear.

Every time they took a step, they saw the bodies of a hunter.

The investigation team mustered up their courage and kept going.

But no matter how much they searched, they didn't see the monster.

The 1st floor was empty.

And as soon as they discovered that the entrance to the 2nd floor was empty, they felt a shiver up their spine.

"The door to the 2nd floor is really open…"

Mike looked at the entrance and gulped.

"Did they go upstairs through this entrance?"

He looked back at the other members and then went up to the 2nd floor together.

And as soon as they saw the sight, their faces turned pale.

The reason why they were shocked was because they saw a dead monster.

The remains were still there.

The walls and floors were covered in the monster's blood, and all sorts of body parts were scattered everywhere.

Just the thought of this being the result of that man's doing made their heads feel dizzy.

The hunter holding a camera filmed every single thing.

Mike looked at a place that Min Sung would have passed.

He looked behind him.

He heard the voices of the underlings he left behind.

He closed his eyes with a frown.

***

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud.

Thud,

thud, thud, thud!

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!

The floors shook like crazy.

And then dozens of devils appeared from the dark hallway.

"Gasp!"

Both Ho Sung Lee and Bowl gasped at each other.

"Finally."

Min Sung looked at the devils and opened his eyes wide.

Min Sung lifted his Orichalcum Sword.

Swooshhhhhh!

Along with the sound of the thunder, a white light came out of it.

The magic bent out of shape and wriggled as if it discovered its nature.

In response, Ho Sung Lee and Bowl were unable to breathe properly.

In the meantime, they charged toward Min Sung as if they were given an order.

The light from the Orichalcum Sword hit the devils while the dark magic of the devils poured upon Min Sung.

Bangggggg, bangggggg!

The tower shook along with the sound of dynamite exploding.

Meanwhile, Ho Sung Lee and Bowl cowered and waited for the battle to end.

***

"… What was that sound?"

In response to the loud sound, the hunters looked up and paused.

The sound stopped for a while and then a stronger sound penetrated through the wall.

"I think the fight has begun," one underling said.

Mike gulped at the sound he heard from above.

The members looked at him and waited for his response.

"Shall we go up?"

One of the underlings asked Mike.

Mike continued to look up and knitted his brows.

"Our duty is to check if he really cleared the floors. Find the stairs to the 3rd floor. I'm sure the 2nd floor is cleared just like the 1st floor. We need to get up to the 3rd floor as soon as possible!"

Captain Mike shouted at his team.

In response to the command, the members split up.

***

The devil opened his mouth.

And from his mouth poured out smoke.

A black spoke that was capable of melting human flesh.

Min Sung went through that smoke and stabbed the devil with his Orchalcum Sword.

Slash!

As soon as he slashed him in the head, the devil's head exploded.

Min Sung proceeded to his next devil target.

The Orichalcum Sword showed off more light, and that light cut the devil's body in two.

Its blood poured all over the floor.

Min Sung stared at the devils with zombie-like eyes and hit the Orichalcum Sword on the ground.

Crackkkkkk!

As the floor cracked, the magic flowed to the devils and shot them like arrows.

The magic light went right through the devils' heads and bodies.

As a result, the other devils stopped in their tracks and backed off.

***

"… W-what's going on here?"

Mike's lips trembled at the sight of the 3rd floor.

Same went for the shocked hunters.

Once they saw the amount of blood on the 3rd floor, they were at a loss for words.

They weren't sure if this was reality or a dream.

The hunters felt oppressed in the blood-filled place.

"Shouldn't we go back?"

The vice-captain of the investigation team asked.

In response, Mike went into deep thought and then shook his head.

"We have to finish checking. We have yet to fully confirm if those two men really cleared the tower. Let's go."

In response, the hunters followed him with nervous looks on their faces.

***

They thought they could catch up to them since they were probably in the middle of battle.

But they were unable to find the two hunters.

However, they were able to clearly hear a fight going on.

The investigation team slowly traced that sound.

But they didn't rush.

After all, if a monster happened to pop out, they were as good as dead.

They were more careful than ever before.

And after around 10 minutes, the team was able to spot Min Sung Kang and Ho Sung Lee.

As soon as they spotted them, they froze in place.

Although they were seeing it with their own eyes, they couldn't believe it.

All the hunters almost got killed because of one devil.

But the man in front of them fought the devils… killed them, or more like annihilated them.

"Roarrrrrrrrr!"

The devils screeched as they died.

Just the sound of it gave them goosebumps.

The sight of Min Sung pulling out a sword and moving at high speed to strike every single devil was a spectacle.

The hunters looked on as if it was a dream with their jaws dropped.

They were at a loss for words.

The way he ripped out their hearts, made them explode and cut the devils as if they were tofu made it hard to believe he was human.

The investigation team knew just how strong the devils were.

For that reason, they shivered at Min Sung Kang's power.

***

Min Sung took out a towel from his item window and wiped off the blood.

The smell of devil blood was strong and prudent.

And it was sticky as well.

In the Demonic Realm, he had no time to wipe off the blood, so this made him realize that he really was back in the human world.

He threw away his bloody towel and looked behind him.

There were around 10 foreigners staring blankly at him.

Among them were Ho Sung Lee and Bowl.

When Min Sung glared at them, Ho Sung Lee and Min Sung ran over. They picked up the items, and Bowl ran back into his pocket.

Min Sung glanced at the hunters for just a moment and then proceeded to walk forward.

Episode 104

"Captain."

In response to the underling's calling, Mike came to his senses.

He looked around with widened eyes.

All the hunters were looking at him.

He was the one who had to give a command, and he had to choose whether they were going to enter the tower or return.

Mike scanned around him with a heavy face and opened his mouth.

"Our duty is complete. We're going back."

In response to Mike's lowered voice, the hunters all looked in the direction of Min Sung as if they all had an agreement.

The gazes of the hunters all looked confused.

Mike also looked in the direction of where Min Sung disappeared and turned back.

His face was full of darkness.

While they walked away, the hunters behind Mike had a conversation.

"I heard he's a Korean hunter. He's so strong."

"How could a hunter like that come from such a small country…?"

"No way… Not even the world hunters could take on one monster. Is he even human?"

"I can't believe it."

Mike laughed without realizing it.

He was unable to protect or save his colleagues.

And despite having combined forces with the powers from all over the world, there was no hope to be seen at this tower.

However… one hunter from Korea was solving it once and for all.

All by himself at that.

What would happen once he reported this to American hunter master, Ethan?

The jurisdiction of the tower would solely belong to Korea.

No one saw this coming, and the country that everyone thought was a burden ended up taking the highest position in the hunter world.

'I know you can never know what will happen next… but this is unbelievable.'

While Mike laughed bitterly, he heard footsteps.

…?

He lifted his head and looked in front of him.

Since the interior fo the tower was dark, he could only hear clear footsteps.

'A monster?'

In response, Mike and the other hunters froze in place.

If it was a devil, they were not going to survive.

Their pupils dilated, and their bodies stiffened up.

In the midst of breathing becoming increasingly difficult, the one with the footsteps approached and showed himself.

He was a man wearing a robe.

His long robe was grey, and his right hand was holding a podao.

'It's a hunter.'

Luckily, it wasn't a monster.

The hunters sighed out of relief after realizing it wasn't a monster.

Mike looked at the man in a robe and walked toward him.

'I'm glad he's not a monster, but who is he?'

"Are you a hunter from the assembly?"

Mike approached him while asking him respectfully.

In response, the man in a robe lifted his head.

And then his face appeared from the robe.

One of his eyes was closed from an injury.

And the other eye appeared sharp.

He felt his heart sink.

It was instinctual.

'He's not a hunter from the assembly!'

While Mike flinched, the man in a robe was the first to react.

The robed man's podao sliced through Mike's chest.

It was so fast that he didn't even have time to blink.

As a result, Mike poured out blood.

"Ah…!"

Mike screamed without much energy. He stared at the man in a robe and then plopped down on his knees.

His blood began to spill all over the floor.

The hunters blankly stared at the sight and then looked at the face of the robed man.

"Captain!"

The American hunters ran over and tried to treat him, but he had already died.

The American hunters teared up while the foreign hunters stared at the robed man with rage and took out their weapons.

"Who are you?"

One of the hunters screamed while the others prepared to pounce.

However,

the robed man simply walked toward them with a straight face.

He was a hunter who sliced Mike in one go.

The hunters stepped back in response to the robed man's approach.

With Mike gone, there were just nine of them left.

But they were still unable to fight the robed man in question without knowing who he was.

Meanwhile, an underling of Mike furiously ran toward the robed man.

Right before he threw his sword.

Slash!

The podao in the robed man's hand sliced the American hunter's neck before anyone could take another breath.

The body of the sliced neck fell over like a pole, and the head fell on the ground and rolled away.

The robed man didn't even have a ready stance.

That was a testament to how relaxed he was, and the other hunters were terrified.

But they were in a tower.

Since they had nowhere else to run, rather than being killed one by one, it was wiser to attack him as a group.

The remaining 8 hunters all thought that way.

After exchanging glances, the hunters took their weapons and attacked him all at once.

Swords with skills shined as they swarmed toward the man.

But the robed man wasn't disturbed one bit.

He didn't even move.

Right before getting stabbed.

Swoosh!

The robed man disappeared into thin air.

"…!?"

While the hunters glanced around in panic.

Slash! Slash!

The sound of bones and flesh getting sliced could be heard.

The robed man was quiet and fast, and he even broke down the shielding skills with no difficulty.

The man in front of the hunters was no different from the other monsters in the tower.

"D-damn it."

"Shit!"

The hunters began to tear up.

Their tears were simply out of fear of dying.

There was no point in the hunters' attack.

It was simply the robed man who was one-sidedly taking out the hunters.

The robed man killed the remaining hunters with not much motion.

The robed man's weapon, the padao killed the hunters one by one.

The robed man scanned the hunters as they died.

He then lifted his head and looked in the direction of Min Sung.

He then put his bloody padao away.

He dragged the bodies through the halls.

It left bloodstains on the floor, and the sound of bodies sweeping the floor rang through the empty space.

***

"We're already on the 7th floor."

Ho Sung looked up at the entrance to the 7th floor and remarked blankly.

They defeated devils and monsters all the way to the entrance of the 7th floor.

"Ho Sung."

"Yes, Sir."

When Ho Sung Lee looked over at Min Sung, he had gone up the stairs and sat.

"…?"

Ho Sung Lee stared at Min Sung in confusion.

"Bring me a lunch."

"Pardon…? What are you talking about?"

Ho Sung Lee couldn't understand this and blinked multiple times.

"I don't want to go back down and come back up again. So you deliver it."

He felt as though he was struck by lightning.

Min Sung comfortably laid on the stairs as if he had just ordered chicken.

Ho Sung Lee gulped with a serious look on his face.

"What if I run into a devil or a monster on my way down?"

"I don't know," Min Sung replied as he closed his eyes.

'Hey, you son of a bitch. Don't treat me like you don't care!'

That was what he thought, but he was unable to vocalize it.

"Um, Sir… I'm okay with dying and all… but if I die on my way there, you won't get your food and starve."

In response, Min Sung threw him Bowl from his pocket.

Bowl spun around in circles and then hugged Ho Sung Lee.

"Go together. You have an hour."

Ho Sung Lee's face turned yellow.

'1 hour…?'

Ho Sung Lee looked down at Bowl in his arms.

Bowl was also nervous seeing how his eyes were shaking.

A mission to be completed in 1 hour.

The order had already been given.

They couldn't go against Min Sung's orders.

That was the one thing he had learned until now.

'Damn it.'

Ho Sung Lee held Bowl in one hand and began to run like crazy.

On the other hand, Min Sung laid on the stairs comfortably as if he was in his own bed.

A light shined upon Min Sung.

The sight of Min Sung laying on the stairs with his eyes closed inside the Black Tower was almost like a painting.

Episode 105

"Huff! Huff! Huff!"

He was only on the 5th floor, but he was already out of breath.

While he ran with all his might.

"Ugh, I'm dizzy."

Bowl in Ho Sung Lee's hands expressed his dizziness.

Ho Sung Lee took a break and caught his breath.

"Huff! Huff! You can run, too, right?"

He put down Bowl as he asked the question.

Bowl wobbled side to side and then glared at Ho Sung Lee.

"Just do as master said and run! I'm having a hard time, too because of you, you dumb son of a bitch!"

"What? Son of a bitch? You little!"

Ho Sung Lee was about to kick Bowl when he suddenly knitted his brows.

"Hey, we don't have time for this right now. We have to bring back lunch in an hour."

Ho Sung Lee left Bowl behind and started running.

A moment later, Bowl got ahead of Ho Sung Lee.

"Huff, huff! What the heck? Hey, Bowl, How are you so fast?"

Ho Sung Lee looked at Bowl in front of him and dropped his jaw in shock.

Whether it was Bowl's new skill or something else, he was sliding ahead as if he was on ice.

"Ugh, I'm so jealous. I'm out of breath!"

As Ho Sung Lee looked at Bowl with jealous eyes-

Slip!

"Ugh!?"

He slipped and flew into the air.

Thud!

He landed on his waist in a painful way.

"Ugh, what the heck? Why is it so slippery?"

Ho Sung Lee got up with a frown.

And then he realized that the wet surface was blood.

"Oh, it's blood. Blood…?"

He brushed the blood off his body while tilting his head.

"But why is there so much blood here?"

It had been a while since they passed the 4th floor.

So why was the blood still wet?

Was that a characteristic of a devil's blood?

"Meh, whatever."

There was no time for this.

'Damn it! I don't have time.'

Not having Bowl by his side felt weird.

He felt like something was going to pop out.

So in order to catch up to Bowl, Ho Sung Lee ran as fast as he could.

***

"Snicker!"

Bowl stood at the entrance of the 1st floor and put his hands on his hips like a winner as he laughed.

"Huff…! Huff! Huff! Huff!"

Ho Sung Lee glared at Bowl while grimacing.

"What's so great about using skill to go faster?"

"Snicker! You're so slow! Snicker!"

Bowl grabbed his belly and laughed his head off.

"Is this funny to you? Huh? Well, you've never been in the water before, have you?"

It was Ho Sung Lee's turn to laugh this time.

Bowl stopped laughing and dropped his jaw while looking at Ho Sung Lee.

"Do you know how to swim, you skeleton? You'll probably just drown. You probably don't have the skill to fly around."

"I'll just stick with you."

"Who said I'll let you? As if."

"You're so mean!"

"Skeletons don't need to breathe anyway. Do your best in there and die, snicker!"

Ho Sung Lee smiled and dove in first.

Bowl flinched and followed Ho Sung Lee in.

***

Splash! Splash!

In order to bring Min Sung Kang his lunch in time, he swam as fast as he could through the waves.

Of course, he didn't go as fast as he wanted, but just the thought of Bowl struggling gave him more strength.

'But… What if he really sinks and dies?'

But Ho Sung Lee was worrying for nothing.

"Snicker!"

The familiar laugh made Ho Sung Lee flinch in surprise.

Splash!

He saw Bowl riding a boat and cruising by.

"Snicker!"

Bowl laughed as he spun around Ho Sung Lee as he swam.

The water splashed onto Ho Sung Lee's face

"Damn it!"

Ho Sung Lee clenched his teeth as he saw Bowl cruising along the waters.

"Bye, son of a bitch."

Bowl grew distant.

Ho Sung Lee stopped swimming for a moment and stared at Bowl blankly.

***

"That Bowl bastard should've brought the boat."

Ho Sung Lee grumbled as he squeezed out water from his clothes.

While he squeezed water out of his hair, Bowl just stood by snickering.

Ho Sung Lee suppressed his urge to kick Bowl and began walking to the car.

At that moment.

"Wait."

Someone stopped Ho Sung Lee's footsteps.

Ho Sung Lee saw a man standing there while wiping the water off his face.

He looked like an American hunter of high rank.

"Did you just came

from the tower?"

The man asked.

Ho Sung Lee activated his language watch.

Compared to Min Sung Kang's language watch, his was not up to par, but there was no problem interpreting languages properly.

"Yes?"

Ho Sung Lee responded in English.

"The investigation team followed you in. Have you seen them?"

Ho Sung Lee nodded.

"I did. They went down first."

The man looked confused.

"They went down first…? The team hasn't returned yet."

Ho Sung Lee knitted his brows.

"Are you suspecting us?"

"No."

But in contrast to his words, the man scanned Ho Sung Lee's body.

"Then what about the other man that entered the tower? Is he still there? Why did he stay there?"

Ho Sung Lee wasn't pleased about the interrogation.

"Because I have to bring him his lunch."

Ho Sung Lee replied with a displeased look on his face.

In response, the man showed a blank look on his face.

"… His lunch?"

"Yeah, I have to hurry, so don't waste my time. I'm in a rush."

Ho Sung Lee rushed to the car.

The man watched Ho Sung Lee and Bowl grow distant and then went back to the tent at the assembly.

***

The commanders were speechless after hearing their subordinate's report.

Ho Sung Lee came out of the tower.

But he said the investigation team went down first, but they had yet to return.

They couldn't understand that.

On top of that, it was absurd that Ho Sung Lee was delivering lunch to the scary tower.

"What the heck…?"

The American hunter master, Ethan knitted his brows and clenched his fists.

He didn't understand how a Korean hunter was clearing such a difficult tower, and he was confused that the investigation team disappeared, and that man was delivering lunch to the tower.

Ethan glared at the subordinate.

"Once that Ho Sung Lee comes back, ask him about the details of the tower."

The subordinate saluted and left the tent.

The commanders began to speak.

"Ethan, shouldn't we just go into the tower ourselves?"

"The only one who can conquer the tower is that Korean hunter, Min Sung Kang. It's hard to believe, but it's best that we just obtain more information about that tower."

"There's no use just staying out here. If we just sit back and watch, we could lose all of our hunters. We should support them…"

In response, Ethan appeared frustrated.

"If that happens, the jurisdiction will be handed over to Korea."

In response to Ethan's remark, everyone grew silent.

However, that silence didn't last long.

"It's foolish to handle such a dangerous tower for our benefit."

"I agree. Doesn't China hold the power right now?"

"We must support him in the tower."

"There's no answer without that Min Sung Kang anyway."

In response to the commanders' opinions, Ethan stopped them with his hand.

"Let's think about this."

Ethan sighed at the commanders' opinion that they should let Korea lead.

If they ended up supporting Min Sung Kang in that tower, they were bound to lose their power to the country of Korea.

And the country that would pay the highest price would be America.

Although in their current state, they had no other choice, but they wanted to buy time.

They need more time to turn things around so that America could hold power over Korea again.

They needed time.

Ethan bit down on his lip.

***

He arrived at a shop near the Warp Gate.

Ho Sung Lee was the only customer there, but since the country was supporting it, there were quite a few shops around the Warp Gate, and among them was a place selling lunch boxes.

"Here you go. Enjoy."

A part-timer handed him a bag containing a lunch box.

Ho Sung Lee accepted the bag and got back to his car.

He turned on music to alleviate his stress and looked over at Bowl who was dancing and grabbed his aching head.

Ho Sung Lee turned off the music and stared at Bowl.

Although the music stopped, Bowl was still dancing.

"Are you that excited? Are you here on a field trip?"

Bowl plopped down on his butt in response.

"Let's go, son of a bitch."

"Seriously… Sigh, I'm aging so fast these days. I'm only letting this go because we don't have time."

"If we face-off, you'll die."

Bowl turned his head and stared at Ho Sung Lee with flaming eyes.

In response, Ho Sung Lee broke out in cold sweat and handed the bagged lunch to Bowl.

"Just hold onto this. We can't be late."

Since Bowl also agreed on the importance of the lunch delivery, he held onto the bag tightly.

He then looked at Ho Sung Lee.

"But can't you just put this in the item window?"

"Oh."

"You dumb son of a bitch. Where's your mind been?"

"Shut up."

Ho Sung Lee put the lunch in his item window and checked the time.

Too much time had passed.

Ho Sung Lee stepped on the accelerator in fear that he would be late.

The car took off and Bowl enjoyed the shaking of the car.

Episode 106

Ho Sung Lee's car arrived at the assembly.

On his way to the boat from his car, the hunter who talked to him before stopped him in his tracks.

"I'm busy. Move," Ho Sung Lee said while waving his hand.

"I just have a few questions."

"I don't have time! If you really have to, talk on my way to the tower," Ho Sung Lee shouted as he got on the boat.

The hunter was shocked, but he looked around and decided to get on the boat with Ho Sung Lee.

Vroom!

The engine started, and they both took off.

***

On the boat, the hunter asked Ho Sung Lee his questions.

"On what floor is he on right now? The 7th floor's lights are on. Is he really all the way up there?"

In response, Ho Sung Lee nodded.

The hunter gulped.

The 7th floor.

He couldn't believe that number.

"How did he get all the way up there? What's his secret? Does he have something special?"

Ho Sung Lee sighed and then looked at the hunter.

"Hey, American Hunter."

"…"

"There's no reason. There's no secret either. Min Sung Kang is just super strong, and that's how he's clearing the tower."

Ho Sung Lee rested his arm on the hunter's shoulder and continued,

"And let me warn you. Don't bother him, and let everyone else know that, too. Don't get in his way or try anything funny. I'm only warning you because of your well-being. Okay? Deliver that message for me."

The American hunter's face stiffened as he stared at Ho Sung Lee.

"That Korean hunter, Min Sung Kang. He wasn't wearing a badge from the Central Institute of Korea. Where is he from?"

"I thought you were an elite. Hey, American hunter."

"…"

"You all gathered and got destroyed on the first floor. But the man I'm with got up to the 7th floor. So what makes you think he'd work for anyone?"

The American hunter nodded.

"I guess you're right."

"As long as you leave him alone, nothing will happen. So deliver that message. If you mess with him, you'll die."

Ho Sung Lee shook his head.

"That mustn't happen. What if all the hunters died? Then who would protect this world? This world is screwed up as it is."

The waves became fiercer.

"Let's go."

Ho Sung Lee jumped out of the boat.

Splash!

Bowl made another shadow and slid across the water as if he was on a surfboard.

The American hunter was unable to look away from Ho Sung Lee and Bowl as they headed to the tower.

Roar!

"…?"

At that moment, the American hunter heard a strange sound from below, which led him to look down.

There was a sound, but he didn't sense anything strange.

The American hunter tilted his head.

'Did I hear it wrong?'

As soon as he concluded that it must have been thunder.

Swooshhhhhh!

Something came from within the water.

"…!"

The American hunter reached into his item window out of shock, but the thing that came out of the water already sliced the American hunter's neck.

The man in the dark robe.

He flew out of the water. He sliced the American hunter's neck and then dove back in.

The American hunter spilled blood and died on the boat.

Soon after, a hole formed in the boat.

Bubble, bubble, bubble.

As the boat was being filled with water, it began to sink.

***

"Oh! I only have 15 minutes left. Hey, Bowl. Do you think we'll make it?"

"Don't worry, son of a bitch."

Bowl made a circle with his bone fingers.

"We can do it."

Bowl was spinning round and round around Ho Sung Lee in a shadow boat as he swam in the water.

"Let's just get going."

Ho Sung Lee caught his breath and got ready to run 100 meters ahead of him.

Pow!

He hit the ground and started running.

Since he used a skill to run, his body sped ahead at an incredible speed.

He definitely became faster after leveling up.

That was when he realized the value of levels.

However.

"I'll meet you there, son of a bitch."

When Ho Sung Lee saw Bowl sped ahead of him on a shadow board, he clenched down on his teeth.

***

'That damned Bowl. If only I had a skill like that.'

As soon as they passed the 4th floor and got to the 5th, his stamina suffered more than when he came down.

The tower was wide and long, and

the stairs to the next floor were especially long.

Countless monsters appeared on the stairs, but Min Sung Kang destroyed them as if they were tofu and kept going.

'Shit.'

His legs were shaking now.

Only 5 minutes remained.

Would he be able to get to Min Sung Kang near the 6th or 7th floor in under 5 minutes?

If he failed the mission, Min Sung Kang would put him through pain.

"Hurry up, son of a bitch!"

Bowl's voice rang from above.

'Damn it.'

He was reaching his limit, but compared to the pain he endured from the devils, this was nothing…!

Ho Sung Lee sped up with all his might.

He reached the 6th floor.

"Huff! Huff! Huff!"

While Ho Sung Lee caught his breath with a yellow face, Bowl got off his shadow board and kicked him.

"Pow!"

"Agh! That hurt! You crazy skull bowl!"

"This won't do. I'm going to go without you. If I wait for you, I'll get cussed out by Master, too. Pass me the lunch."

Ho Sung Lee took out the lunch from his item window and handed it to Bowl.

Bowl got right back on the shadow board and sped ahead.

If Bowl got him the lunch on time, wouldn't that be mission cleared?

Maybe it was a relief.

As long as they could calm Min Sung Kang down with lunch, he considered it a success.

"Sigh."

Ho Sung Lee was relieved, but when he saw Bowl coming back toward him, he got confused.

"Huh? Why are you coming back?"

Bowl dropped his jaw and trembled.

"A-a monster!"

Bowl screamed loudly.

Ho Sung Lee stopped running and stared at Bowl with big eyes.

"A monster? Really?"

Ho Sung Lee looked at Bowl and asked with shocked eyes.

Bowl pointed in front of him with shaking fingers.

And then at that moment.

Just as Bowl said, a monster with a human upper body and a snake lower body was slithering toward them.

This monster was different from the ones they ran into in the labyrinth.

Its presence was different, and it had the hair of Medusa and moved like a snake.

'Why is there a monster here? He must have wiped them out already? What is this?'

Ho Sung Lee looked back once and saw the Monster once more.

'That snake human is way too fast.'

Considering the monster's speed, running away was not a good idea.

'Damn it. We'll have to fight.'

"Hey, Bowl. We have to fight," Ho Sung Lee said with a determined voice.

"We don't have time to run, and it's not like we can get away from him either. Let's catch him together."

Bowl was flustered, but he agreed with Ho Sung Lee.

"Okay."

"Pass me the lunch."

Bowl handed it back to him.

Ho Sung Lee put the lunch in his item window and gulped while Bowl tapped on Ho Sung Lee's legs.

"I'll try to put him down with magic, so attack him when you can."

Ho Sung Lee nodded.

"Great. Since he's not a devil, we might be able to beat him."

The monster was not far from them.

Bowl cast a magic spell on him.

A dark smoke came from the ground and wrapped around the monster's body.

As soon as the dark poison went through the Monster's skin, the monster screamed of rage.

After that. Bowl used another skill.

'Dark Breath.'

A flame flew from the darkness and toward the monster.

Pow!

After seeing the Dark Breath work, Ho Sung Lee's face brightened up.

Ho Sung Lee found some hope. He took out his Death Knight Sword and charged toward him.

"Aghhhhhh!"

He ran toward the monster with a scream and with the Death Knight Sword in his hands.

But before he reached the monster's shoulder, the monster's nails scratched Ho Sung Lee's body.

Scratch!

As a result, Ho Sung Lee's body bled all over.

"Gasp…!"

Ho Sung Lee gasped. He took a step back and then looked down at his body.

The battle suit with magic cast on it was ripped, and the skin underneath was bleeding.

He was bleeding as if he was stabbed by a sword.

While he wondered if this was the end.

"Wake up, son of a bitch!"

Bowl screamed at him.

Ho Sung Lee caught his breath and looked over at Bowl.

Bowl was using all his strength to pour out his dark magic.

Ho Sung Lee drank a potion from his item window and then got back to it.

He couldn't die just yet.

He was determined to kill him.

This time, Ho Sung Lee kept a fair distance before charging at him once more.

A blue Aura radiated from Ho Sung Lee's Death Knight Sword.

Stab!

As soon as he struck, he saw words that confirmed its damage.

"Agh!"

The monster shrieked in pain and shook his body.

Blood poured out from his side, and Bowl's dark magic penetrated through that wound.

'Good.'

'We can catch him.'

Ho Sung Lee used another skill on the monster with much confidence.

Crackkk!

The Aura from the Death Knight Sword split into two, and it pierced through the monster's body.

The monster's skin looked strong at first, but it ripped up like paper.

The monster was covered with rips, and blood came pouring out of them.

They believed this was the end.

The monster opened his eyes wide and gold light shined from it.

At that moment.

Episode 107

Gold light shined in all directions, and once Ho Sung Lee and Bowl saw that, they froze.

"I-I can't move…"

Ho Sung Lee mumbled in surprise.

Words wouldn't come out of his mouth.

The monster escaped the restraint. The monster crawled over to Ho Sung Lee and then stretched out his nails.

After getting struck, Ho Sung Lee had no choice but to just watch.

Pow!

The monster's hand went right through Ho Sung Lee's upper body.

"Huh…?"

His stiff body began to loosen up.

Ho Sung Lee looked down at the monster's arm through his stomach with a blank look on his face

In response, the human faces of the monster smiled.

The smiling face of a bloody monster.

He looked like a demon, but that wasn't the scariest part.

'Am I going to die…?'

The pain followed shortly afterward.

"Uh…"

Ho Sung Lee's stiff face slowly turned around.

'S-Sir.'

He tried to have some hope, but it didn't change anything.

Great pain overcame his brain.

Swoosh!

As soon as the monster pulled out his hand from Ho Sung Lee's stomach, blood poured out.

His vision turned hazy

His sight shook.

"Cough…!"

Ho Sung Lee coughed up a lot of blood and plopped onto the floor.

His body temperature began rapidly declining.

His head went to a huge shock.

If he wasn't' a hunter, he would have passed out right there.

As a high-level hunter, he had high stamina which meant he died at a slower speed, so he was in so much pain that he couldn't scream.

He could feel himself dying away.

Bowl looked at Ho Sung Lee in surprise and wondered what to do.

Past memories passed through Ho Sung Lee's head at high speed.

The times when he became a hunter and created a clan at a young age. And his memories after meeting Min Sung Kang passed through his head quickly but clearly.

'Ah… I've never even been on a proper date…'

His eyes slowly closed and lost focus.

"Wake up, you son of a bitch!"

Bowl screamed out of sadness that he couldn't use magic to revive him.

However, Ho Sung Lee could barely hear Bowl's calling.

He was already half gone.

The monster stared down at Ho Sung Lee and licked his lips.

At that moment, Bowl used all his powers to spill out his magic.

A dark sword went right through the monster's body.

Slashhhhhh!

"Aghhhhhh!"

The monster flipped his head back while his waist belt out of shape and let out a loud scream.

Gold light shined in all four directions once more which made Bowl's body freeze up again.

And the monster looked at his feed in front of him.

He opened his mouth in front of Ho Sung Lee's dying body.

He showed his sharp teeth.

Bowl, who was frozen in place, had no choice but to watch.

Chomp!

The monster bit onto Ho Sung Lee's neck.

And then.

Crack!

The monster's teeth penetrated into Ho Sung Lee's flesh.

Swooshhh!

The blood exploded from his neck.

Swooshhh!

It was like a fountain of blood.

Ho Sung Lee completely lost his strength and fell onto the ground.

The monster, covered in blood, laughed.

And then he looked at Bowl with an evil look on his face.

When the monster began to crawl toward Bowl.

Crackkkkkk!

The sound of flesh and bone cracking could be heard.

The monster stopped and looked at where the sound was coming from.

Ho Sung Lee, who was on the verge of death, began convulsing all over.

Ho Sung Lee's blood vessels swelled up and turned red.

On top of that, even his hair turned red.

Bowl started trembling out of shock.

Ho Sung Lee, whom he thought was dead, was coming back to life.

Ho Sung Lee's muscles swelled up and allowed him to get up like a zombie, and the hole in his stomach quickly repatched itself.

His eyes were filled with blood, and his mouth drooled excessively.

Even the drool dropped onto the floor and created smoke.

Due to the swollen muscles, he was now twice

his original size, and the heat of his Aura radiated from his entire body.

"Roarrrrrr!"

Ho Sung Lee screamed like a beast.

The monster was taken aback and collected his magic in order to attack before he fully returned.

In order to buy more time, Bowl cast his dark magic on him.

While the monster was within Bowl's grasp, Ho Sung Lee ran toward the monster at high speed.

Ho Sung's weapon possessed a white energy.

The Death Knight Sword.

That sword turned red and lava dripped from it.

"Roarrrrrr!"

The Death Knight Sword in Ho Sung's hands sliced the monster from his right shoulder to his side.

Slash!

Along with the sound of flesh cutting, fireworks went off from the monster's wound.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The monster flew into the air and plopped back onto the ground.

Ho Sung Lee ran over to him once more and stabbed the Death Knight Sword into his body.

Slash!

[Hell Fire Activated]

Kaboommmmmm!

A huge explosion went off.

Smoke and sparks of fire flew in all four directions.

Once the smoke disappeared, Bowl saw the aftermath of the battle.

The Monster was in pieces, and fragments of it dispersed.

And in that spot was an item.

"Wow… You're so strong, son of a bitch."

Bowl was genuinely impressed.

Ho Sung Lee, who was entirely red with big muscles, looked back at Bowl.

Although he defeated the monster, Ho Sung Lee's eyes were still red like that of a devil.

"Huh…?"

Bowl shook in fear.

"Roarrrrrr!"

Ho Sung Lee screamed like a monster and ran toward Bowl with the Death Knight Sword.

"Agh! He's crazy!"

Bowl fled on his shadow board.

And Ho Sung Lee chased from behind him.

Right before Ho Sung Lee lowered the Death Knight Sword upon Bowl.

Plop!

He closed his eyes and fell right on his face

Bowl looked back at Ho Sung Lee with a startled look in his eyes.

***

Blink, blink.

Ho Sung Lee blinked over and over.

He saw a mural on the ceiling.

'Didn't I die?'

Ho Sung Lee slowly got up.

His body felt better than he expected.

Through the rips in his clothing, he saw his abdomen.

And on his abdomen was a large scar caused by the wound from the monster.

However, from what he remembered, his abdomen got ripped apart by the monster.

So how did it heal so quickly and only leave a scar?

Ho Sung Lee thought about it and then looked beside him.

He saw Bowl against the wall with his guard up.

"Hey, Bowl. What happened? Why am I alive?"

Bowl looked at Ho Sung Lee with fear in his eyes.

"Son of a bitch. Are you good now?"

"What do you mean?"

Bowl explained everything that happened before Ho Sung Lee came to his senses.

Ho Sung Lee flared his nostrils and dropped his jaw in response.

"What? I did that? And I tried to attack you?"

Ho Sung Lee spoke as if he didn't remember any of it, and Bowl just shook his head.

"Oh… so that's what a Berserker does."

"Then son of a bitch. Did you get rabies? You become a crazy dog?"

"Stop the nonsense, you skull bowl."

Ho Sung Lee finally realized what had happened.

And then something suddenly crossed his mind.

"Wait! What time is it?"

Ho Sung Lee desperately checked the time.

It was way past the agreed upon time.

"Hey! You should've gone to him first!"

Bowl looked at Ho Sung Lee and sighed.

"You put the lunch in your item window!"

"Oh…!"

Ho Sung Lee gulped.

"I-I see… A-anyway, let's get going."

Ho Sung Lee sprung up from the ground.

Despite having almost died, Ho Sung Lee was simply afraid that he wouldn't be able to deliver the lunch to Min Sung Kang in time.

***

Min Sung Kang was sleeping.

How could anyone sleep in the Black Tower?

He was a human that no one could understand.

"Sir?"

In response, Min Sung slowly opened his eyes.

Min Sung got up and gestured for Bowl to hand him the lunch in his hands.

Bowl skipped over and gave it to him.

"I think you're late," Min Sung remarked.

While Ho Sung Lee watched on while sweating, Bowl explained everything about what happened.

"I'm sorry, Sir."

Ho Sung Lee bowed.

Min Sung ignored him and took out the lunch from the plastic bag.

The contents of the lunch box were nicely aligned.

And the lunch they rushed to bring back was impressive.

Actually, the lunch was near perfection.

Episode 108

"I got it at a building near the Warp Gate. They were selling pretty decent lunch boxes. Since I've never tried that place before, I was worried. But you should try it."

In response to Ho Sung Lee's response, Min Sung checked its contents.

On top of the white rice was a row of eel.

And around it was fried shrimp, Bulgogi, two chicken wings, and various side dishes and fruits.

It was a lunch box that was capable of filling him up.

He liked it.

It felt as though his belly was banging on drums for the lunch to be ingested.

Min Sung took out the wooden chopsticks and started with the rice.

Since it was a lunch box, it was cold.

But he accepted it and started eating.

After eating some dry rice, he tried the eel on top.

Om nom-

Min Sung nodded.

Despite the side dishes being cold, it was still delicious.

It tasted like an eel that was sold at a large supermarket.

But it was still fresh.

It was different from lunch boxes from convenience stores.

He had no choice but to acknowledge it as a top-notch lunch.

He then remembered his childhood.

He remembered eating lunch on top of a picnic blanket with his grandmother when he was at a sports event.

Of course, it wasn't a fancy lunch by any means.

It was just Kimbap.

That was all.

Min Sung smiled.

'I'd better try Kimbap next time,' he thought as he continued to eat.

After seeing Min Sung enjoying his lunch, Ho Sung Lee finally relaxed and sat in a corner.

As for Bowl, he crawled back into Min Sung's pocket.

Min Sung got a spoonful of rice. He put an anchovy on top and ate it with a fried shrimp.

The shrimp was cold, but it was still delicious.

If it wasn't fried food, it wouldn't have been delicious even after it had gone cold.

And for some reason, this lunch had a different charm from all the other foods he had eaten.

There were times like that.

When instant food was unbelievably delicious.

And that was what was happening now.

He didn't want to eat it all the time, but there was nothing better than a lunch box when he wanted a simple meal.

Min Sung then looked at the marinated chicken and tilted his head.

'Would this go well with rice?'

'I'll try it.'

He ate the rice followed by the chicken wings.

'Huh?' It was better than he expected.

He thought it would be weird, but the combination was quite delicious.

He decided that he would try eating chicken with rice again sometime.

Chicken and rice.

'Chi-rice.'

Min Sung didn't know that Chi-rice was already a thing and ate happily at the thought of coming up with a new invention.

After clearing out the eel and side dishes, he looked at the fruits.

The fruits consisted of strawberries, kiwi, and oranges.

The fruits were only in small amounts since it was a lunch box.

However, it was an appropriate amount.

'Good thing I don't eat too much,' Min Sung thought as he bit into a strawberry.

The strawberry crunched down softly as its sweet flavor spread all over his mouth.

The strawberry in his lunch box was a very delicious strawberry.

It was so delicious that he felt like it was the main attraction.

On the other hand, the kiwi and oranges were just so-so.

However, in terms of balance, it wasn't so bad. Actually, it was quite spectacular.

Despite some time having passed, the fact that the lunch box still provided such quality meant that it needed to be praised.

After sleeping and eating, he felt as though he was born again.

Min Sung threw away his lunch box and got up with the water bottle in the plastic bag.

It was time to move onto the next floor.

"Let's go."

Min Sung led the way and began to walk up the stairs.

***

The robed man appeared at the assembly.

The hunters, who were talking about Min Sung Kang and Ho Sung Lee, stared weirdly at the man in a robe.

Some of the hunters even approached the robed man.

"This area is prohibited to outsiders."

"I came to meet Master Ethan. Lead the way."

In response to the robed man's dry response, the hunters laughed.

"Who do you think

you are…?"

The robed man lifted his head and stared at the hunter.

The hunter's body stiffened in response.

He instinctively felt as though death was near.

"Tell him I'm here," the robed man repeated.

The hunter trembled and immediately went into the tent with clenched teeth to report to Ethan.

A moment later, American hunter master, Ethan, came out of the tent.

The robed man took out a nameplate and threw it at Ethan who was coming his way.

Ethan caught the nameplate and stared at the robed man with surprised eyes.

"Tell the commanders to leave the meeting room."

In response to Ethan's order, the subordinate immediately ran into the tent.

***

Inside the empty tent was the robed man and Ethan.

The robed man sat down without a word.

Ethan held the nameplate and sat next to him

The nameplate that the robed man threw to him.

The nameplate represented the large Chinese Clan, 'Samchunkyo'.

"I predicted that China would make a move. I didn't think it would be Samchunkyo."

Ethan spoke in a way that was more modest than usual.

China.

The place where the strongest hunters of the world existed.

That place was deemed a completely different world.

On top of that, Samchunkyo was known as the most powerful group within China.

Ethan had no choice but to back down in front of them.

"Are you here because of the tower that appeared here?"

Ethan waited with great anticipation.

The robed man took out a small bagged item and put it on the table.

Ethan knitted his brow and stared at it.

"What's this?"

"This will advance your abilities. Samchunkyo doesn't deal with people who consider monsters their main opponents. So instead of stepping up themselves, they decided to give you more power."

Ethan stared at the item and the robed man with suspicious eyes.

"Make your decision," the robed man urged.

When Ethan hesitated to speak, the robed man continued,

"If you refuse the offer, this item will go to the next commander."

Ethan grew anxious.

"… How effective is it?"

Ethan asked with some suspicion and anticipation.

"If you ingest this, the American hunters will be able to conquer the tower on their own. Once you confirm its effects, give it to your subordinates as well."

Ethan stared at the small item and gulped.

He had no other choice.

At this rate, the Koreans would obtain the jurisdiction, and for America, that was the worst-case scenario.

"If I ingest this, I'll be more skilled, and if I want, you'll give us more for our team?"

The robed man nodded.

"What is it that you want?"

"First, confirm its effects, and if you make up your mind, contact this number."

The robed man passed him a business card and got up.

He left the tent and Ethan, who remained by himself, staring at the item on the table.

At that moment, someone called him from outside the tent.

"Master!"

Ethan quickly put the item in his pocket.

"Come in."

In response, the subordinate ran inside.

"The investigation team hasn't come back yet, and on top of that… a team leader who followed Ho Sung Lee to obtain more information was found dead."

Ethan sprung up with a stiffened face.

***

Slashhhhhh!

Min Sung's Orichalcum Sword ripped three devils to shreds.

As the devils died, they also dropped items at the same time.

Ho Sung Lee's item window was already full, and Min Sung's item window was about to be full as well.

He only had enough room to put in 3 more items.

After only picking up the best 3 items, Min Sung knitted his brows.

"How many floors are there?"

He clicked his tongue and turned around.

"Let's go back."

When Min Sung said that, Ho Sung Lee was relieved.

He was so rushed earlier, that he only brought one lunch box.

If they happened to keep going and asked for another lunch box, that would have meant he would have had to repeat that process all over again.

But since he decided to leave the tower in order to deal with the items first, Ho Sung Lee couldn't be happier.

And it was a bonus that he could get away from the evils.

He then saw Bowl who looked out of energy.

He seemed the saddest now out of all the times he had seen Bowl up until this point.

***

"Bowl. Why do you look so out of it?"

In response, Bowl just walked with his head down without a word.

At that moment, Min Sung received a message.

Ding!

[Lich Doll, "Bowl" is sad.]

[Due to sunlight exposure, his stamina has suffered.]

[Lich Doll, "Bowl" cannot endure it any longer.]

[Warning: Lich Doll requires care.]

[Would you like to seal the Lich Doll temporarily?]

[Accept / Reject]

It asked if he wanted to seal Bowl.

Min Sung pressed "reject" without a single thought.

He then looked at Bowl.

Bowl's original state was a lich.

He was used to living in the dark.

Since he was exposed to a lot of sunlight, he became very exhausted.

He was going to resolve the issue eventually, but the only thing he could do at the moment was to give Bowl some comfort.

"Seeing how the devils keep going up in rank, we might see some high-level devils soon. Then I'll make it so that you can be an undead. Then you'll be quite powerful."

Bowl's dying eyes suddenly brightened up.

Episode 109

"Really? Do you mean that, Master?"

"Yeah."

"Wowww!"

Bowl was excited as if his parents offered to take him to the amusement park and ran over to Min Sung while dancing from side to side.

Ho Sung Lee gulped and stared at Min Sung.

He was hoping something would be given to him as well.

However.

"What?"

Min Sung looked at him in a different way from how he looked at Bowl.

'… Damn it.'

***

They left the Black Tower and stepped on land.

Ho Sung Lee was swimming with all his might to keep up with Min Sung just like last time.

In the meantime, Min Sung sat on a rock and looked at the Black Tower.

So far, its lights were on up until the 8th floor.

But even above that floor, there were many more floors.

He didn't know when he would clear all of those floors, but since he could get new items in exchange for killing devils, it was like killing two birds with one stone.

Unlike in the Demonic Realm, he could just continue to go up the stairs as if it was a game.

And he was planning to help Bowl grow.

If he could make Bowl into an undead, it was possible that he didn't have to do anything on the floors to come.

After all, the devils didn't keep on coming like in the Demonic Realm.

Of course, it was likely that more devils of higher levels could be found on the upper floors, but as long as he stepped up as needed, there wasn't much of a problem.

While he waited for Ho Sung Lee, Min Sung felt many people staring at him.

Among the gazes were suspicions surrounding the investigation team's disappearance, and on top of that, they were just curious.

They were staring at him as if he was a monster.

Min Sung looked back at them with a gaze that was a combination of unhappiness and annoyance.

A huge Aura came from within Min Sung's body.

Hunters, who instinctively sensed the danger from the strong Aura, quickly looked away.

As the hunters went away one by one, Min Sung looked at Ho Sung Lee, who was swimming on the shore.

At that moment, Ji Yoo Kim approached Min Sung.

"There's an investigation team that chased after you and Ho Sung. They're missing at the moment, and the American hunter who spoke with Ho Sung was found dead. So the American side is suspicious of you, Min Sung."

Min Sung didn't answer and just stared at Ho Sung Lee, who was slowly approaching.

Ji Yoo Kim stared at Min Sung.

"Min Sung, America will definitely do something. They won't just sit back. They will do anything to keep their rank."

"So?"

"It doesn't hurt to be careful. Who knows what they're capable of?"

"Ji Yoo Kim."

Min Sung called her name and looked around at her.

In response to Min Sung's gaze, she was a little nervous, but she looked back at him anyway.

Min Sung slowly opened his lips.

"The power of a miscellaneous hunter."

He sighed and continued,

"It seems like you were quite adored for that power, but you're completely incapable."

In response to Min Sung's cold words, Ji Yoo Kim's face grew pale.

"Get a hold of yourself, Ji Yoo."

"… What do you mean by that?"

"You're trying to use justice as an excuse to obtain power for Korea."

"That's not true," Ji Yoo Kim immediately refuted.

"If that's not the case, don't mess around. You just look pathetic."

"…"

Ji Yoo Kim looked at Min Sung with widened eyes.

"The only reason why I left you alone is because you're a Miscellaneous hunter and a part of the Central Institute. You're incapable, but you still have power over the organization, and

you do your job as the only person fit for the role. That's why I left you alone."

Min Sung stared at Ji Yoo Kim with cold eyes and continued,

"Don't even think about saying nonsense about being a weak country and relying on anyone. You're not just pathetic now, but you're tiring me out."

Ji Yoo Kim couldn't speak anymore.

In order to hide her shaken expression, she turned away.

It appeared that she was blaming herself for her lack of power.

And Min Sung saw that as Ji Yoo Kim's pathetic nature.

At that moment, Ho Sung Lee squeezed out water from his clothes and stood in front of Min Sung.

"Huff! Huff! Sir! Huff! Huff! Let's go."

As Ho Sung Lee panted and dried his face off, he sensed a heavy feeling between him, Min Sung and Ji Yoo Kim.

Min Sung got up from the rock and began walking, and Ho Sung Lee simply followed with a confused look on his face.

***

While driving, Ho Sung Lee continued to mind Min Sung.

It almost seemed like Ji Yoo Kim was crying.

It was surprising that a capable woman of the Central Institute was crying, and he wondered what happened.

Bowl crawled out of Min Sung's pocket and sat on top of his lap.

"Ugh… Ugh…"

Bowl made sounds as if he was in pain.

Ho Sung Lee glanced at Bowl and asked,

"Bowl, what's wrong with you?"

Even Min Sung looked down at Bowl on his lap.

"Ugh, I hate the sunlight… Ugh…"

Bowl squirmed on top of Min Sung's thighs as if he was uncomfortable.

"He's miserable because he got too much sunlight. I think he was holding it in until now."

"You mean Bowl?"

"Yeah. While I eat, look for a defense item store. Look into protecting him from the sunlight and make him something that he can wear. As soon as possible."

"Yes, Sir."

Ho Sung Lee minded him but then built up his courage.

"But Sir. The general of Central Institute doesn't look so good. Did something happen?"

Ho Sung Lee used all his courage to ask the question.

"I just told her she's incapable, that's all."

Ho Sung Lee dripped in cold sweat.

'Is that what happened?'

An insult using facts.

It was very Min Sung Kang to say that to her face.

He was an impressive character.

How could he say such a thing to such a beautiful woman?

Ho Sung Lee couldn't understand it.

He really lives in his own world.

In some ways, he was jealous.

'Maybe he's living his best life…'

"Let's eat."

"Where would you like to go?"

"The most expensive beef place in Korea," Min Sung replied while looking out the window.

"Sure. Ho Sung Lee's Hochelin Guide! Off we go!"

"Just shut up and keep driving."

"… Yes, Sir."

***

Bowl started acting cute in front of Min Sung as if he was no longer in pain.

He acted like a typical pet.

It was a relief that he felt better, but Min Sung still thought that he had to make him a shield.

Min Sung and Ho Sung Lee arrived in Korea through the Warp Gate. And then they arrived at the beef restaurant with the most expensive prices in Korea.

Since he already tried pork, it was time to eat beef.

And while he was at it, he wanted to try the best kind in order to relieve some stress.

If it was expensive, it was bound to be of top-notch quality.

His heart fluttered with excitement.

The place that Ho Sung Lee reserved was a store that looked like a high-class traditional house.

[Hwarang Ribs]

Just like the front sign, the place looked vibrant and fancy.

As soon as they entered, a dressed-up manager led them to their room.

"Enjoy."

Ho Sung Lee gave a 90-degree bow.

Min Sung didn't even look at him and entered the room before opening the menu.

Hwarang Raw Ribs (Korean beef) 94,000 won

Hwarang Raw Ribs, marinated (Korean beef) 96,000 won

Hwarang Rib Eye (Korean beef) 95,000 won

Korean Special Sirloin (Korean beef) 67,000 won

Min Sung ordered two orders of the rib eye and one order of the raw ribs.

The manager smiled warmly. The manager took back the menus and left the room.

While Min Sung wiped his hands with a wet towel.

Rattle.

The door opened, and an employee set up the table with the basics.

The basic side dishes were simple.

The first thing he saw was the watery kimchi.

He tried it with a spoon, and it had a refreshing flavor.

The next side dish was the grilled deodeok roots.

It was marinated well, and the scent was very pleasant to the nostrils.

As he enjoyed the grilled deodeok roots, the brazier's flame came in.

At the same time, another employee brought in the raw ribs.

The meat showed off perfect cuts as well as a sensational marbling texture.

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