Chapter 43
45th floor.
The floor of the Tower they had reached in just one day.
Usually, the difficulty spiked every 10 floors.
That’s why adventurers climbing the Tower usually got stuck on floors like the 29th, 39th, 49th, and so on.
They’d typically hit a wall on the floors ending in 9, and once they broke through to the next set of 10, their clearing speed would inevitably drop significantly.
But Hyuk-min’s party, far from slowing down, had actually picked up the pace even more since No Death joined them.
“It’s all thanks to me. As you know, I’m clearing the late 70s floors, you know? It’s just that I don’t do it consistently. If I did, getting to the 100th floor would be a piece of cake.”
It seemed the undying Revenant’s abilities also included his mouth.
‘Was No Death always this talkative?’
He was learning a lot in this life.
In his past life, after Black Label disappeared, No Death had gone through all sorts of hardships and become a man of few words.
But now, Hyuk-min realized that No Death was originally a talkative and rather cheerful person.
‘Park Chung-ho, Jang Han-bit… and Park Jae-hyun.’
The more he saw how different people were from their past-life selves, the more he realized just how many lives they had ruined.
And the more he learned, the more the feeling of vengeance boiled within him, gradually hastening his steps.
‘I have to be patient.’
But he knew full well that he himself would be the one to lose out if he rushed and grew anxious.
No Death’s sudden addition to the party was also part of Hyuk-min’s plan.
Since No Death was someone who had to join eventually, Hyuk-min revised his mental plan, breaking it down into smaller, more detailed steps.
And so, they arrived in front of the Rogue Guild.
He gazed at the darkening sky, as if it were marking the end of the day, and spoke.
“Tomorrow, we’re going a little far to find a Hidden.”
“A Hidden?”
As No Death tilted his head, Hyun-jung spoke up.
“Yes, what time should we be here?”
“A Hidden, you say?”
“Be here by 8 AM. We need to catch a train around 9.”
“Where are we going? Do you have info on a Hidden?”
“I’ll see you then. Um, Uncle… is it okay if I run some Dungeons in my spare time?”
“Hey, are you ignoring me? A Hidden? Where are we going?”
No Death kept chiming in, full of curiosity, but Hyuk-min and Hyun-jung treated him as if he wasn’t there.
Hyuk-min took out 50 bullets from his Inventory and handed them to Hyun-jung.
“I asked where we’re going!”
“Here. Don’t overdo it.”
“Awesome! See you tomorrow~”
Hyun-jung disappeared without even a goodbye to No Death.
Once the two of them were alone, No Death grabbed Hyuk-min’s shoulder with a serious expression.
“What’s this. You… you have this too?”
“The Inventory? Did you think you were the only one?”
“Wait, that’s one thing, but what do you mean, a Hidden?”
“It’s just as I said. We’re going to find a Hidden tomorrow.”
“Did you get the info from Black Label?”
As No Death’s eyebrows twitched, the answer to his question came from a different direction.
“No, we didn’t give him any.”
No Death shot an irritated look behind him, his brow furrowing.
“Guild Master?”
It was Hwang Ji-young, the Guild Master of Black Label.
“It’s been a while, not even a hello?”
“Been a while… no. There’s no need for greetings anymore. I left Black Label, remember?”
“I know that. But let’s at least say hi. I think we’ll be seeing each other often.”
“You and me, Guild Master? Why?”
“Because I’m very close with this guy, of course.”
Hwang Ji-young tried to sling an arm around Hyuk-min’s shoulders as if to show off.
But Hyuk-min simply swatted her arm away and shook his head.
“Doesn’t seem like it.”
“Anyway, that’s how it is. More importantly, Hyuk-min, you noticed, right? That the executive meeting and target selection were much faster than expected.”
“Eh, that can happen if someone higher up gives the order. That’s that, but how would a regular person know that… Huh? What’s with that look. You… you knew?”
No Death looked baffled at Hyuk-min’s calm expression, as if he had already known.
Then Hyuk-min spoke.
“Who was it? Someone from Black Label?”
“It’s Right Wing.”
“Is that so? Is it because I’m someone with no information? Or was it a strategy born from her fierce loyalty to Black Label?”
“Looks like you know what kind of person Right Wing is. There’s that, but it could also be because she doesn’t fully trust me yet. Anyway, thanks for helping with the bomb this time. What can I do for you?”
“I’ll text you. I have something to do now.”
Hyuk-min turned to head inside the Rogue Guild.
“He’s always busy. In a way, he seems busier than me, and I’m running a guild and a company.”
Grumbling, Hwang Ji-young turned, only to notice the unusual expression on No Death’s face as she glanced past him.
“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”
“Guild Master.”
No Death looked at Hwang Ji-young with a grave expression.
“You said it was Right Wing, right? The one who moved the executive council.”
“And?”
Then, he said something completely unexpected.
“No. The reason I tried to kill this guy, Bang Hyuk-min, wasn’t because of Right Wing. The order that came from Right Wing through the executive council was just to show him how terrifying Black Label is.”
“…What?”
Both Hyuk-min’s and Hwang Ji-young’s expressions turned serious.
No Death continued.
“A warning and a hit are completely different, you know. So I was making simple preparations to leave when another revised order came through in the name of the executive council. An order changing it from a simple threatening warning to a contract killing.”
In that moment, the first thought that came to mind was:
It wasn’t Right Wing’s fault…?
After Right Wing’s order, an order in the name of the executive council had changed it to a kill order.
This was the first he was hearing of it.
According to what Hwang Ji-young had found out separately, the executive council had only given No Death one order.
But a revised order was sent in addition?
Who on earth…
Why?
“Is there anyone besides the Guild Master or Right Wing who can move the executive council?”
“No.”
“Then it can only be one thing. Someone used the executive council’s name to manipulate No Death.”
*Ggrriind.*
The sound of Hwang Ji-young grinding her teeth could be heard.
Her face was twisted into a savage scowl, like she had seen the face of a witch.
“Bang Hyuk-min.”
Hyuk-min, who had been about to leave for the Rogue Guild, was standing there with his arms crossed. Who knew how long he’d been there.
“Yeah.”
“Can I borrow No Death for a bit?”
“Ask No Death. He’s my party member, not an object.”
Furious, Hwang Ji-young stared at No Death without a word. No Death, with an equally serious expression, nodded his head.
“I’ll be back.”
“We have to go find the Hidden tomorrow. Don’t be late.”
“Got it.”
No Death immediately used Spirit Materialization, taking Hwang Ji-young with him and vanishing from the spot.
“This time, too…”
A group audacious enough to plant a spy within Black Label.
There was only one place like that.
The guild that would, in the future, bring down Black Label and become the number one Information Guild.
“The Land Cleaning Guild, is it…”
Hyuk-min’s tongue clicked in his mouth.
“To think they could go this far against Black Label… More importantly…”
A frown flickered across Hyuk-min’s brow and then vanished.
“Why would they burn a spy just to get me? Don’t tell me… they’ve found me.”
= = =
Arriving at the Rogue Guild, he sold off the Magic Stones.
As his Level rose and he cleared higher-difficulty Towers and Dungeons, the value of the Magic Stones he sold had nearly doubled.
“Here you are. You’re getting stronger and stronger. It’s incomparable to when you first started.”
The Rogue Guild employee, with whom he had become quite friendly, handed him the money.
“You’re getting faster too.”
The number and quality of the Magic Stones were steadily increasing.
Perhaps the employee’s skills were improving along with it, because despite the increased workload, her calculation speed only got faster, never slower.
“I have to improve too. You’ve become my responsibility.”
“Responsibility?”
“You’re number one in sales at our Wolgok branch. The quality is so good that the branch manager assigned you to me personally.”
“I guess you’ve done well thanks to me.”
“It is thanks to you. That’s why I do it quickly for you.”
“And that’s why I’m paying you well.”
The tips he used to give, 100,000 or 200,000 won each time, had now surpassed 500,000 won.
Given the effort and time the employee saved him, paying 500,000 won didn’t feel like a waste at all.
“I’ll work even harder!”
“If you’re my designated contact, does that mean the information I want will arrive faster too?”
“It’s already here. I even got viewing privileges.”
As she had said before, there was no place better than the Rogue Guild for obtaining Dungeon-related information.
Even Black Label couldn’t keep up with the Rogue Guild when it came to Dungeons.
“Here you go.”
Receiving the information he had been waiting for, Hyuk-min gave a satisfied smile.
“Did my rank go up? This is more detailed than what I got before.”
“Your rank actually did go up. It’s only natural that it’s more detailed.”
He nodded and quietly crumpled the information sheet.
“Well then, thanks for your hard work.”
“Ah! And…”
The employee, after glancing around for a moment, gestured for him to come closer.
Wondering what it was, Hyuk-min leaned his ear toward the employee, who spoke in a secretive whisper.
“Some new people have started coming here recently. I think they might be targeting you, Hyuk-min-nim.”
Hyuk-min started to look toward a corner, following the employee’s gaze.
But the employee grabbed Hyuk-min’s cheeks and said,
“Don’t look right away. They’ve been staring at you ever since you came in.”
“Do you know who they are?”
“I don’t know exactly. But the rumor is… I think I heard they’re a guild under Baeksan.”
Baeksan.
That truly persistent name had come up once again.
‘He knows I come here often and has people lying in wait.’
Sometimes, the rumors circulating within the Rogue Guild were more accurate than Black Label’s intelligence network.
“Now this is some very good information you’ve given me.”
He opened the money bag he was about to put away, intending to pay for the valuable tip.
But the employee forced the money bag shut and suddenly licked her lips with her tongue.
“Can’t you give me something other than money?”
“Something else?”
“Buy me a meal sometime later.”
“Well, that’s not a problem. But I’m busy, so it has to be somewhere around here.”
The employee’s face lit up in a bright smile.
“I don’t mind! I’ll take that as a yes, let’s set a date next time!”
“I was planning to buy you a meal someday anyway. Thanks for everything.”
He put the money bag into his Inventory.
Then he handed the crumpled Dungeon information sheet to the employee.
“Burn this for me.”
“Okay~ This will be useless information then. By tomorrow.”
“I’m leaving.”
“Okay~”
Seeing the employee’s cheerful demeanor, Hyuk-min let out a small chuckle.
He turned and was on his way out of the Rogue Guild.
Hyuk-min, wearing the Death Knight’s Helmet, raised his left hand.
(T/N : Im changing this employee’s gender to a female. It was unclear from the earlier chapters but from this context alone I think we can agree that she is a woman and this novel doesnt have any BL tags. )
= = =
A group of men, all wearing identical hoods, rushed out of the Rogue Guild.
“What the. Where’d he go.”
Not even 20 seconds had passed since Hyuk-min left.
But when Hyuk-min was nowhere to be seen, the hooded men looked all over the place.
“Don’t you think that bitch told him?”
“We were being too obvious. Just sitting around doing nothing, there’s no way the gossip-loving Rogues wouldn’t notice.”
“That’s why I told you to watch your mouth. What’s with all the ‘Baeksan’ talk? We have nothing to do with Baeksan.”
One of them, as if annoyed, threw his hood onto the ground.
It revealed a bald head and a strangely twisted gait that made him limp with every step.
They were none other than the monks from the Temple of Healing, with whom Hyuk-min had had trouble.
“We’ll wait here longer.”
“What? How do we know when he’ll show up?”
“Seeing as he was talking about something tomorrow, he’ll probably come again then.”
“And if he does… what are you going to do?”
“We have to challenge him to a PVP to be sure.”
“Who’s going to PVP that… that monster…”
“Someone has to do it! We have to be sure to get the bounty, don’t we! Don’t you want revenge on that bastard!?”
The monks from the Temple of Healing were so violent that the Rogues went out of their way to avoid them.
Just as they were venting their anger,
*Thump, thump, thump.*
A crowd of men in blue shirts began to pour into the outer entrance of the Rogue Guild.
Even for the monks of the Temple of Healing, who usually vented their anger without a care in the world, this was an exception.
They quietly picked up the dropped hood and made way for the men in blue shirts to pass.
However.
*Thud.*
Instead of walking down the path the monks had cleared, the men in blue shirts stopped right in front of them.
Up close, the grim faces of the blue-shirted men made the monks of the Temple of Healing even more nervous.
“Is there… some kind of… problem…”
Unlike before, he spoke as gently as possible, like a meek lamb, no, like a monk practicing asceticism.
Then came the voice of a man in a blue shirt.
“It’s these bastards, Hyung-nim!”
“Wh-what…”
From among the blue shirts, a man with a huge build, wearing sunglasses, walked out.
“Hey, you bald monks.”
“Ye… Yes…?”
“Alright, as per the order, you guys are gonna get the shit beaten out of you here and then leave.”
“What!? Wh-why?”
“Why are you asking me? You should ask the person you were following.”
One person came to the minds of the Temple of Healing monks.
“About that… we were supposed to get a bounty… We’ll share it. That guy really has a Legendary…”
“You’re healers, so heal well. If you don’t want to die. Alright! Begin!”
The men in blue shirts swarmed and surrounded the monks of the Temple of Healing.
And then they began to beat the monks mercilessly.
*Thwack! Thwack-thwack!*
“He-Heal!”
“Heal! Gweeeehk! Heal!”
“Guhk… Heal!! Heal!!”
Late at night.
The monks of the Temple of Healing were beaten for a good two hours without knowing why.
“HEAL!!!!!”
Their cries for the heal they were so proud of echoed, loud enough to shake the Rogue Guild.
“Heeeeeeal!! Gweeeehk!”