Chapter 491
A situation where they were completely surrounded.
Jinhyuk’s gaze turned to ‘Napoleon’s Coronation.’
He could grab it if he just moved about 10 meters, but of all things, these troublesome ones were standing in his way.
‘I do have one last card, but it’s too much of a gamble…’
A ball that could bounce anywhere.
If it went in the intended direction, great. If not, he’d be facing hell, not a 3:1 but a 4:1 situation.
However—
‘I have no choice.’
Whether it turned out well or not, this was the time to move forward.
Now that even Chun Yoosung had failed, there was no going back anyway.
[The subspace inventory is now open!]
Jinhyuk played his final card.
Step.
A blue-haired girl.
The homunculus, [Frey], walked out.
“Mm. I was waiting.”
Frey murmured with a flat expression.
No—Frey, who always lacked expression, slightly flinched when she saw Teresa and Alice.
“…Those clothes are strange.”
It seemed the dress really caught her eye.
‘She’s not the type to show interest in that kind of stuff.’
Jinhyuk instinctively sensed danger.
For some reason, he realized that Frey had changed subtly since the Demon Realm.
“Frey!”
“Mm?”
“Do you want that dress?”
At Jinhyuk’s words, Frey tilted her head slightly.
“I’ve never had a desire to own things.”
But…
“Mm. Still, I feel like I’d like to try it on at least once.”
“If you just block those guys up ahead, I’ll buy you that dress you want. Every type. Every color.”
“…Really?”
“As soon as we get out of the Tower, we’ll go straight to the department store.”
Jinhyuk smiled brightly.
And at the same time, thought to himself—
It was a relief Frey was still innocent.
If by any chance she had joined that group too, forget Napoleon’s painting—he’d have had to start planning a honeymoon course right then and there.
“I’ll… definitely get it. Yes. With my own strength.”
Two spears crossed.
Frey stood in front of Jinhyuk and faced everyone.
[Frey activates the Unique Holy Spear – Immortal Puppeteer!]
Rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble!
The roof split open…
Blinding beams of light poured down.
Puppets identical to Frey were summoned.
“Don’t get in my way, stupid puppet!”
Alice instantly summoned her skewers.
“To do something like this even after coming this far…! Come on, just line up properly! Don’t you know you’re worse off sticking with that side?”
Teresa also shouted in frustration.
But Frey didn’t waver at their words.
She still hadn’t been fully tainted, and just the promise of something from Jinhyuk was enough to satisfy her.
“You idiotttt!”
With Alice’s scream, bam.
Jinhyuk flung his body forward.
[The amount of mana supplied to each contractor is now limited to the minimum!]
He could feel Alice’s power weakening.
Of course, Frey couldn’t take on everyone by herself…
But she could buy a little time.
And that was more than enough.
“Ah! I missed him!”
Jinhyuk, who had closed the distance in an instant, shook off Andrea’s tails.
“Click!”
“Ahhh…!”
Next was Alice… then Teresa.
Now, not a single obstacle remained.
“Finally…!”
Jinhyuk reached out his hand.
[You have obtained ‘Napoleon’s Coronation’!]
The blue system window signaled the end of everything.
⁕ ⁕ ⁕
Five days had passed since the vacation at the Rosenberg family ended.
‘A lot really happened during that time.’
The biggest event, of course, was Teresa’s engagement.
Thanks to secretly sticking Chun Yoosung’s fake sticker on Teresa, there had been quite a commotion.
Once she returned to her original self, Teresa turned beet red and clammed up. Chun Yoosung also strongly denied any involvement.
Of course, everyone knew who the true culprit was, but due to the one-week slave contract, no one could reveal the truth.
Thanks to that, the issue of Napoleon’s Coronation going missing was pushed to second place.
‘Soothing Alice and Andrea wasn’t easy either.’
To appease a furious Alice, he had to spend 30 million won on snacks alone.
He bought every dessert imaginable from all over the country, and to be honest, he was now sick of sweets for life.
As for Andrea, he barely managed to calm her down by promising a trip to the psychiatric ward on the 5th floor.
“Sigh, people with kind hearts like me have it the hardest—always thinking of others and trying to accommodate them.”
Jinhyuk covered his face with his palm.
“Isn’t that right, Dolsoe?”
Naturally, he didn’t forget to toss a comment at the slave beside him.
Grit…
Chun Yoosung ground his teeth to the point of cracking them.
“What’s wrong? Why the sour face?”
“What’s wrong…? What’s wrong!? You’re seriously asking me that!!!”
Boom!
Chun Yoosung kicked the table with mana-charged strength.
The table shattered in half and flew high into the air.
“Are you insane!? Just out of nowhere!?”
“Because of you, for the past five days, I wished I were dead. You made me parade around Hongdae and Gangnam in disgusting outfits. You forced me to collab with some wannabe ViewTuber and rake in star balloons. You made me slave away at some so-called swordsmanship academy for 24 hours straight, and all the money went straight into your pocket.”
Chun Yoosung’s chest heaved violently.
“Fine, I could take all of that. But coming to my school and playing doctor? Don’t you think that’s going too far!?”
Words pouring down like a waterfall.
The glistening corners of his eyes showed just how much he had suffered.
Hmm. Maybe he was pushed a bit too far?
Still, Jinhyuk had considered it just a light warm-up.
“I do regret the doctor thing. Ahem. But the nurse ladies liked that they got to practice treating you, remember?”
“What’s there to like about getting injections in my butt, you bastard!”
He was making 100,000 won per shot, so it wasn’t half bad.
…Not that he could say that out loud if he wanted to live.
Chun Yoosung, unable to suppress his rage, drew his sword.
Shing!
A terrifying killing intent surged out.
It was such overwhelming mana that every student on the Korean university campus would’ve fainted on the spot.
“Whoa, Dolsoe. You’ve still got time left on your contract. After all that you’ve endured, do you really want to end up in the Hall of Dishonor? Move that sword away from my neck. I’m bleeding. Seriously, I’m bleeding here.”
“Dishonor my ass. I’ll just kill you and die with you. Then none of this will matter anymore. Hahaha. Yeah, none of it will matter. We’re just specks of dust in the universe anyway.”
“Y-Yoosung?”
Why did his eyes look completely unhinged?
Even that giggling coming from his mouth made the situation look seriously dangerous.
So this is why people say you need to offer a carrot along with the stick.
Jinhyuk quickly tried to smooth things over.
“Just two more days. Two. And everything hard is already over. What more could I possibly make you do?”
“…Are you saying the rest of the contract will pass peacefully?”
“Maybe not peacefully… but anyway, we’ve got to head to the 32nd floor in a few hours. We’ll be too busy trying to clear it to pull any weird stunts. That’s what I’m saying.”
“….”
Chun Yoosung’s blade trembled slightly.
Jinhyuk’s words must’ve had some merit, as even his madness-fueled eyes returned to normal.
“Say it with your own mouth. That the worst is already over.”
“Of course. I promise. The worst is already behind us.”
Though the ‘worst’ might be over, extreme hardship and hellish raids were still waiting.
“Tch. So what about the 32nd floor? I heard even the ‘Eagle Eyes’ had a rough time there.”
As players began to climb past the 30th floor, several specialized professions had emerged.
Due to the extreme dangers and difficulty, more systematic and efficient role divisions were necessary.
Among them, the ‘Eagle Eyes’ were a class solely focused on [information gathering].
Minimally armed but specialized in mobility and survivability, these players explored new floors and ruins.
If even such professionals were struggling, it was clear the difficulty was immense.
‘Well, yeah. That place is dangerous from the moment you step in.’
Jinhyuk recalled the 32nd floor.
The worst weather. Treacherous terrain.
And unique monsters that only lived there.
This was where the real 30th-floor difficulty began in earnest.
It was also the domain where many heroes and divine beings roamed.
“Don’t get too scared just because of what the Eagle Eyes say. Let’s just take it on ourselves. That’s the most straightforward way, right?”
The strategy was already in place.
Now that he had [Napoleon’s Coronation], a far easier and more efficient shortcut could be prepared.
And with Alice and Teresa agreeing to join later with a time gap, it was the perfect setup to relive some of their bickering “memories” from the past.
“You have a point. Fine. Let’s get ready.”
Chun Yoosung nodded.
⁕ ⁕ ⁕
The entrance to the 32nd floor.
A crowd of players had gathered here.
Most were either ‘Eagle Eyes’ and middlemen trying to sell intel from within the 32nd floor at a high price, or rankers from various guilds and ViewTubers.
“…So there’s no way at all?”
A woman with short brown hair spoke cautiously.
The guild ‘Prime Service,’ formed by popular ViewTubers.
They were a group willing to do anything to get trending content.
As their notoriety grew, they became recognized anywhere they went—but they still lacked a major breakthrough.
Then, the opportunity to explore the 32nd floor of the Tower had come knocking.
The title of “first ascent” carried immense value.
The term “cyber paparazzi” wasn’t just for show—fast delivery of information was worth its weight in gold.
However—
The world doesn’t always go your way.
“Sorry, but it’s impossible. Everyone who goes in comes back half-dead. It’s hopeless.”
“But we had a contract…”
“That’s why I said we’d return the down payment. It’s not that we don’t want to do it. Our people are getting torn apart for nothing. Lightning falls from the sky nonstop. In short—there’s no answer. None. Ptooey!”
Despite pouring in an enormous amount of money to hire top-tier Eagle Eyes, they kept making excuses. Even the high-ranking guild members hired as bodyguards weren’t willing to enter unknown territory unprepared.
And going in alone was basically suicide.
‘I absolutely can’t give up…’
Kang Sua kept nervously fiddling with her brown hair.
But just then—
“Wow, looks like more people are willing to challenge this than I thought.”
A familiar voice rang out.
“Ah…”
“I-Is that…?”
“That’s Kang Jinhyuk!”
“Chun Yoosung’s here too!”
“Oooh! Are they about to start the raid together?”
All eyes focused on one spot.
The master of Veteran Corporation, Kang Jinhyuk, and Sword Saint Chun Yoosung.
Just their appearance alone was a massive event.
Moreover—
‘If we could join them…’
Gulp!
Dry saliva slid down Kang Sua’s throat.
It would be a jackpot.
All of the world’s attention would turn to them.
‘I heard he’s a really considerate leader with great leadership… Raiding with him would be such a joy.’
With that thought, all other concerns vanished from her mind.
“Let’s join them.”
Kang Sua made the proposal to her four companions.
