Chapter 505
[‘Top-Grade Mana Crystal’ has been consumed.]
[The sacred relic ‘Vow of the Nine-Tailed Fox’ has been destroyed.]
What crossed over wasn’t the main body, but a projection.
Even for a thought-form, there are severe restrictions when leaving the Tower.
Just sending a projection was enough to consume a sacred relic and a top-grade mana crystal.
“C-Contractor!”
“Mr. Jinhyuk, come here immediately!”
Alice and Teresa, who were the first to spot Andrea, urgently called for Jinhyuk.
“What is it? I was just enjoying—huh?”
Jinhyuk’s face changed instantly as he approached.
His instincts told him something was seriously wrong.
“Andrea?”
The ‘Vow of the Nine-Tailed Fox’ had been given specifically for emergency situations.
If she had used it, then something massive had occurred in the Psychiatric Ward.
“Andrea…”
Andrea stumbled forward—then collapsed.
For a projection to be this damaged meant the main body couldn’t be unharmed either.
No way… did the Psychiatric Ward get breached?
However, there was no message from the Tower’s community or main status window stating that it had been cleared.
⁕ ⁕ ⁕
Floor 5 of the Tower of Trials: ‘Psychiatric Ward.’
This place was quite the anomaly compared to other conquered floors.
Below the 10th floor, most dungeons and labyrinths had been cleared—except for the rare, high-difficulty ruins.
But the Psychiatric Ward was unique in that it was not a ruin or a labyrinth, yet remained unconquered.
“La la la~”
Andrea hummed as she made her usual patrol through the Psychiatric Ward.
“Grrr…”
“Kruoooh!”
The ‘Judges,’ clad in triangular iron helmets, bowed their heads upon seeing her.
“Good, good. No abnormalities, right?”
“Kruooh!”
Seeing them nod so fervently, it seemed peaceful today as well.
‘I really have changed a lot. Who would’ve thought I’d be in a position like this?’
Yes.
From the hellish life of a sacrificial pawn.
From being a fly that could be swatted dead at any moment.
It was Jinhyuk who changed her life.
He killed the cult leader no one dared approach and subdued countless fanatics.
Thanks to that, she was now living a life she could have never even dreamed of.
And then—
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Notification windows rapidly appeared in front of Andrea.
A unique alarm sound reserved only for boss monsters.
[New intruders have entered the Psychiatric Ward.]
[Defend the dungeon and eliminate enemies to survive.]
[Due to the emergency, communication with bosses in nearby dungeons has been activated.]
Players.
About twenty of them.
They had just stepped through the entrance, so their strength was still unknown.
However, Andrea, who had faced countless intruders before, showed no signs of tension.
Rather, she was calmly analyzing how to neutralize them with minimal damage.
‘Mr. Jinhyuk said not to kill anyone recklessly.’
Andrea’s eyes narrowed.
The focus was on defending the base.
Subduing, not killing, was the priority.
“It’s a small assault squad, and the group has a high ratio of magic-type players. Considering there’s only one tank, I believe formation C-7 would be suitable. What do you think?”
A young male Dark Elf approached.
He was ‘Ademan,’ Andrea’s adjutant and administrative officer of the Psychiatric Ward.
Having proven himself many times over, Andrea trusted him as her closest subordinate.
“Activate the traps and position the Judges at key points. Use formation C-7 like you said. But just in case… wake up the Exterminator.”
“The Exterminator… isn’t that a bit excessive?”
The Exterminator was a higher-tier version of the Judge.
They possessed the strength to wipe out one of the 27 sections of the Psychiatric Ward on their own.
Deploying something like that against 20 people seemed like overkill.
However—
Andrea felt something off just by looking at their formation.
‘Why would experienced players bring such an aggressive setup?’
There was only one tank.
And even their main healer was just a sub-healer, not a proper priest.
In contrast, most of the group were attack-oriented DPS.
They were either complete idiots…
Or monsters who didn’t need tanks or healers.
It had to be one or the other.
“You’re very thorough, Lady Andrea.”
“You always get hit when you let your guard down with a little overconfidence.”
“Hmm. Is that something you heard from other dungeon bosses?”
“Uh, n-not exactly… I read it in a book.”
‘Dungeon Power Defense,’ ‘Underlord.’
Books Jinhyuk had once recommended for dungeon defense strategy.
She had read them repeatedly and learned invaluable lessons from others’ experiences.
“Understood. Personally, I still believe it’s excessive, but with this, we can minimize unexpected variables.”
Ademan respectfully bowed.
But—
Soon, everything collapsed.
Predictions shattered, damage skyrocketed—
And the dungeon teetered on the brink of defeat.
The result was this.
Andrea barely managed to send out a projection to the outside world.
In the Tower of Trials, where everyone devours and is devoured, she had to call upon the only one she could rely on.
[Damage has exceeded the threshold.]
[The projection has been destroyed.]
Fssshhh…
Andrea’s body disintegrated into dust.
“……”
Jinhyuk slowly stood up.
Now that even the projection was gone, Andrea didn’t have much time left.
The silence was broken by Chun Yoosung.
“What are you going to do?”
“I can’t abandon Andrea.”
“You’re going to help her, then.”
“I have to. The Psychiatric Ward—no, Andrea—is a precious comrade.”
Owning a base on any floor carried immense weight.
Considering the likely presence of ‘Major Themes’ on the Tower’s upper floors, conquering unconquered dungeons was essential.
No matter what, the ward had to be protected.
‘I thought the major guilds all saw the Psychiatric Ward as dead weight, and none would bother touching it…’
Never imagined powerhouses like this would be dispatched.
If it were just for fame, there were far better ruins and labyrinths than this place.
But now that it had happened, prediction was irrelevant. It was time to respond.
“What about the rest of you?”
At the very least, he had to ask.
The Veteran Corporation prided itself on being a shareholder-respecting enterprise, after all.
“There’s still about nine hours until the administrator meeting.”
“Well, helping the weak is a noble vampire’s noblesse oblige.”
Teresa and Alice voiced their agreement to join.
⁕ ⁕ ⁕
Wuuuung!
[A Gate has been activated.]
The familiar smell of mildew mixed with the occasional scent of blood.
And the nostalgic scenery that stirred old memories.
It had been a long time since they came to the fifth floor.
As expected, they were immediately greeted by a field of corpses.
The fanatics, their bodies shredded and scattered, were so wretched it was difficult to describe.
“Horrifying.”
Even Chun Yoosung, who rarely flinched at gruesome scenes, furrowed his brow.
That’s how thoroughly the storm had swept through—nothing remained.
“We better hurry.”
“Yeah. Judging from the one-sided slaughter, the attackers are probably deep inside. Maybe even already at Andrea’s boss room…”
The situation was worse than expected.
Just from the dungeon’s entrance, they could already guess the conclusion.
Traps were half-broken and sparking everywhere.
Tap!
…Thud!
In an instant, four shadows dashed ahead.
As they entered the Psychiatric Ward, the stench of blood grew stronger.
Now, not only were there corpses of fanatics, but also of Judges with triangular iron helmets, and large monsters.
…They had to hurry.
Before the worst happened.
“I’m going ahead.”
“What?”
“Follow slowly.”
KWAANG!
Jinhyuk kicked off the ground and vanished forward.
Now that [Black Heaven Demon Emperor Step] was nearing its peak, he moved faster than the wind.
But just then—
Ssssshhhhh…
A strange chill slid down his spine.
“…!?”
Danger. Jinhyuk swung his dagger diagonally.
KWAANG!
A thunderous roar erupted as red and blue lines slashed across the air.
But it hadn’t completely negated the force—he was flung across the ground.
“Man, I aimed to blow off your whole arm. You’re even stronger than the rumors say.”
A white-haired man chuckled.
Slender frame. Mischievous face.
And the pentagram etched into his eyes was clearly different from the Eye of Gluttony.
There’s no way someone with that power was a mere player.
A resident—one with strength comparable to a deity.
[‘Eye of Gluttony’ attempts to analyze the target!]
But—
Sting!
“…Khk!?”
[Target’s ? is ???, therefore ?? is ???.]
It felt like a razor blade had sliced through his optic nerves.
The sting echoed through his brain.
He had failed to read someone’s status before, either due to level gap or interference—but never had the system message itself been distorted.
“Who are you…?”
“You don’t know me. So don’t bother fishing for info. Waste of time.”
The white-haired man shrugged.
Still, despite his words, his playful tone and mischievous expression left plenty of openings.
With a personality like that…
“If Nyarlathotep sent you, then you must be one of the Old Guards. But that’s weird. I’ve heard of most of them, but I’ve never seen your face before.”
“Old… Guard? Me?”
“Yeah, the errand boys the ancient ones use to handle trash below. You one of those?”
Jinhyuk shrugged this time.
Suddenly—
Chill!
A bone-freezing aura spread with his breath.
[??? activates Lv??? ‘Glacial Judgment’!]
“Ha. Wow. You’re really putting me on the same level as those mortals shackled by the Tower’s rules? Maybe I should just toss this mission and rip you apart.”
As expected.
Even a light provocation set him off.
[Glacial Judgment]—one of the highest-ranked ice spells in the Tower.
‘So he’s mastered the advanced version of Glacial Sculpting, huh…’
He didn’t know exactly who this man was yet, but he could narrow it down to a few high-likelihood candidates.
The only thing he lost was the mana he had to spend protecting himself from that chilling attack.
Not a bad trade.
“You’re smiling?”
The white-haired man’s brows arched sharply.
“No, it’s just… you’re a new kind of stimulant. I find that exciting.”
“Then let me show you something really exciting. I’m not here alone, you see. Things are about to get very fun.”
⁕ ⁕ ⁕
At the same time.
Not far behind, Alice came to a halt as she spotted two figures approaching.
“You must be the little lady called Alice?”
The Sin of Envy.
Long black hair cascading down to her thighs—her seductive figure alone could make anyone swallow hard.
And beside her—
Stood a man who looked exactly like Jinhyuk.
His arm was wrapped tightly around Envy’s waist.
* * * * * *
(T/N: Im back! Lol, kidding. I had a free time so I’m trying to do some TL work. Mind you, we are still not on the regular upload schedule!)
