Solo Max –Level Newbie – Chapter 657

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“Manager, from now on, operate this place on a membership basis. Be selective about who you accept.”

A middle-aged woman with an unmistakably luxurious air spoke in a commanding tone.

“It seems you’re new here.”

“Well, if she knew, she wouldn’t act so recklessly.”

The bodyguards behind her chimed in one after another, as if echoing her verdict.

All of them could handle Mana.

No—more precisely, they were players who handled it quite well.

‘That woman must be one of those recently notorious types who go around calling themselves nobility.’

The so-called new nobles.

Those who learned how to properly exploit the Tower of Trials’ massive treasure trove quickly carved out a new class for themselves.

They rose to a position beyond second- or third-generation chaebols—untouchable even by the government or guilds.

They monopolized Mana Stones and colored Sacred Relics obtainable only from the Tower.

With that as a foundation, they formed tight alliances with residents inside the Tower, amassing wealth, fame, and power.

Under the pretext of saving humanity, they even secured a status from the government higher than diplomats.

When the cat’s away, the mice will play.

That was exactly what was happening.

“Did you hear what I said?”

The woman pressed again.

The manager bowed at a perfect ninety degrees, stammering.

“Yes, Madam. I will warn the guests.”

“While you’re at it, make sure they don’t bring pets either. How can you let in that black mutt without knowing what diseases it might have?”

“Mogiii? Mogiiii!!!”

Goguma, who had been crunching Mana Stones at Jinhyuk’s feet, bared his teeth.

He could endure almost anything, but being called a mutt was not one of them.

Jinhyuk struggled to calm Goguma as he flailed in his arms.

Probably…

Anyone who remembered Alice von Ataraxia from before the memory manipulation wouldn’t have said something like that.

The Yeongdeungpo JaeShin incident had been a hot topic even among the chaebols.

‘How many of those pillars were owned by Alice?’

The sight of Alice sweeping up everything she touched with her golden hands had been famous on social media for a while.

But that was the past.

Now, to an outsider, a girl in cosplay talking about acquiring companies was naturally going to look absurd.

Teresa of the Rosenberg family should have been recognizable too, but it seemed the other party didn’t properly recognize her either.

Normally, the right move here would be to apologize and back off.

The problem was—

None of that mattered to Alice. She was a proud True Ancestor who considered herself the world’s order and law.

So anything that bothered Alice was simply something to remove.

There was a reason she was called the high and mighty queen.

And with her antipathy toward the newly emerged nobles reaching its peak over the last six months, her remaining patience vanished in an instant.

A twitch.

Mana began to gather at Alice’s fingertips.

“Hey!”

Jinhyuk shouted urgently.

If this went wrong, an entire hotel could disappear from Seoul’s map.

“How dare you to the head of the family….”

Ophelia, a former member of Decasus, bared her fangs.

“Tsk, tsk. They must be desperate to die. Why pick a fight with this side of all people?”

“Hahaha. Everyone’s like that at first. Didn’t we pick a fight with the CEO at the museum too?”

Yuri Lee and Min Jungwoo clicked their tongues, watching moths fly straight into the flames.

“Thank goodness my memories weren’t erased. Otherwise, I might’ve done something like that without knowing any better.”

“I agree.”

Melena and Tristan let out relieved breaths.

They all had it carved into their bones how terrifying Jinhyuk and his people were.

Then—

The new members drew their blades in Alice’s stead.

“Hyung, can we kill these guys? They look like bad people.”

“Yeah, yeah. They’ve got faces that would slice up real nice. Especially that middle-aged woman—she’d look prettier without a nose and ears.”

Pleasure killers.

Casey and Judro asked Jinhyuk with innocent faces.

They held knives meant for carving meat.

“Are these little brats insane? What are kids doing butting into adult conversations?”

One bodyguard immediately released Mana.

As expected of an A-class expert, his Mana materialized in an instant.

But—

“Huh…?”

Before he could even blink, the girl in front of him vanished.

Stab.

Barely 0.1cm.

Something sharp slipped through his blazer and kissed flesh.

A bead of blood surfaced.

Casey smiled brightly and looked up.

Her eyes, filled with madness, locked onto him.

Close enough to feel her breath, she whispered in a sweet voice.

“Mister, what do you look like on the inside? Are you red like everyone else? Or maybe you’re a different color?”

“I’ve been looking really hard for someone with a different color. But so far, everyone’s only been red.”

Stab!

The blade went in a little deeper.

“W-wait…!”

The bodyguard’s voice cracked.

His body recognized death before his mind could.

“Can I kill him? Oppa said it’s okay to kill bad people.”

“Hold it. It’ll be hard to clean up if we spill blood here. Too many witnesses.”

“Then should we kill them all?”

“Yeah, yeah. He said it’s a locked-room murder if there are no witnesses! Or we can chop them into pieces so they can’t be identified. Right?”

Judro chimed in cheerfully.

The bodyguard’s face turned paper-white at the casual horror of it.

Thud!

“Heeek! S-save me!”

In the end, he couldn’t overcome the fear. He collapsed—and even wet himself.

“Tch.”

“These guys….”

The remaining bodyguards reached for weapons in their Subspace.

But—

Slash!

Clang!

Chun Yoosung moved like lightning.

With [Song of the Sword] active, the weapons that had only half emerged were severed where they stood.

[The special effect ‘Survival of the Fittest’ of the Sacred Relic ‘Claiomh Solais’ is activated!]

[Items of a lower grade than yours can be destroyed.]

“W-what…?”

“What did you do?”

An item cutting another item—this was beyond anything they’d heard of.

Some kind of trick, surely.

So they tried to activate their Unique Abilities instead—

“If you use your abilities….”

Chun Yoosung’s voice, cold as ice, rang out.

“I’ll kill you.”

Not a threat. Not even a warning.

Just a calm statement of fact.

Rumble!

Immense pressure crushed the entire first floor.

Under the Sword Saint’s aura, they couldn’t even twitch a finger.

Only the classy middle-aged woman remained unshaken.

“Do you even know who I am? You clearly don’t know this place, but if you knew who I was, you wouldn’t even think of doing this. How dare you, you lowly things!”

She screamed, face flushed crimson with rage.

No one had ever dared charge at her like this.

Losing her memories had made that painfully inconvenient.

Jinhyuk smiled, amused by the novelty.

He was irritated by the antics of the new nobles, but they were useful.

‘Like cleaning up the minor floors of the Tower.’

And gathering useful items—Mana Stones included—in one place.

Treasures and information stored with ant-like diligence.

All he had to do was wait until it ripened, then swallow it whole at the right moment.

It saved him the trouble of combing through every corner of the Tower himself.

“If Madam knew who we were… she would have proofread every word she uttered.”

Leaving the woman glaring after him, Jinhyuk walked out of the hotel.

He’d rested enough. He’d laid out his plans.

It was time to move to the next stage.

—

The 26th floor of the Tower of Trials.

Alliance members who had finished restoring the floors devastated by the Covenant gathered one by one.

“You’ve come.”

“It’s been a while. Anything happen in the meantime?”

“Thanks to your concern, I’m fine.”

Different floors. Different races. Different ranks.

But they were bound by a deep bond—people who had fought with their lives on the line for a single purpose.

“Thanks to you, we overcame a great crisis. My entire tribe survived.”

Karakal of the Frost Blade Tribe bowed to Jinhyuk.

“We also consider it an honor to have fought on the same side as you.”

Abraham and Pesis, the Empire’s Grand Sword Masters, paid their respects as well.

“Kuhahaha! My disciple wouldn’t get beaten up anywhere.”

“Yoosung, you’ve worked hard too.”

Dark Emperor and Chuhon Sayoung.

Those from the Orthodox Faction were present too.

“Is the Heavenly Demon all right?”

“Hm. The Supreme One suffered severe internal injuries in the last battle. He’s recovered a lot, but he still can’t engage in outside activities.”

After his one-on-one with Tulcha, the Heavenly Demon had pushed himself too far. Facing an ancient being alone was bound to leave consequences.

Deities from various forces—Olympus, Norse, Egyptian, Netherworld—also gathered.

“It’s been a while since we visited other floors for sightseeing and friendship instead of war.”

“It’s suspicious that that stingy human paid the floor transfer fee for once….”

“Let’s not assume the worst. Surely he wouldn’t try to rip us off after we fought so hard for him.”

They each tossed in a remark.

None of them saw Jinhyuk’s strange smile.

‘One slave… two slaves… three slaves….’

Written in 0.01mm print on the invitation were various costs—admission, floor transfer, food and beverage labor, value-added tax—packed in dense lines.

There was even a toxic clause: if payment wasn’t made by the due date, they’d have to grant a wish.

Since he’d had Rick create a coercive invitation, some very interesting situations would unfold.

Of course, only interesting situations for him.

Then—

Step.

“You’re as mischievous as ever.”

A familiar, nostalgic voice echoed.

A precious viewer who had gone through thick and thin with him—climbing to the top of the Tower of Trials together.

It was Sleeper Owl.

“It’s been a long time.”

Sleeper Owl greeted him with one arm raised.

Chapter 657

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