Chapter 138: Episode 138

Na Daeyong closed his eyes and thrust both hands forward. Using Deva’s Eye, I examined the circles of mana around his body. ’Two circles?’

“Hyaa!”

A small spark of flame erupted from the magic circle that materialized before his palms. It was, without a doubt, a Fire Cannon.

“You did it, Daeyong!” I exclaimed.

“Hahahaha! It’s all thanks to you, Master!”

In the end, Na Daeyong was the first of the five members of the Fourth Floor Team to reach the Second Circle. That meant the administrator of the Fourth Floor Team had been decided.

“Congratulations.”

“Congratulations, Daeyong!”

Everyone celebrated as if it were their own achievement. Daeyong scratched his head awkwardly, laughing heartily.

-Tower Master.

’What is it, Ea?’

-Mr. Jeong has arrived. Could you and the Fourth Floor Team please come down to the first floor?

’Yeah. On our way.’

I relayed the message. “Ea is calling. Let’s all head down to the first floor.”

“Yes!”

When we took the magic circle elevator down, we were all stunned by the scene that awaited us. Jeong Seojin and Jin Bora were pulling bottles of ’makgeolli’ from an icebox. Spread across the table was a massive seafood and green onion pancake, served in a case that looked like a pizza box.

“Wow! Seojin, what is all this?” I asked.

“You said you wanted this, so I got takeout from a restaurant famous for its pancakes,” Seojin explained. “I heard everyone was still here, so I bought extra.”

“Ooooooh!”

“Mr. Jeong is the best!”

That was Seojin for you, perfect even in the small things.

“I’ll get plates!”

“Bring glasses, too! Are there any cups?”

“There are paper cups in this bag! The owner was thoughtful.”

We quickly set everything up, pouring makgeolli into paper cups and setting out plates.

“Alright, before we drink, let’s take care of one important matter,” I announced.

Everyone looked at me, puzzled.

“Daeyong. From now on…”

“Ah!”

The realization dawned on them, and they burst into cheers and applause. Daeyong stood before me, looking flustered. I opened the domain window.

<Magic Tower of Erendel>

Lord: Kim Yusin.

Development: Medium.

Total Personnel: 9.

Mana Reserves: 13,705,604.

1st Floor: Potion Brewing Bureau / [Potion Brewer: Jin Bora]

2nd Floor: Great Library / [Librarian: Jeong Seojin]

3rd Floor: Golem Workshop / [Chief Engineer: Eunsol]

4th Floor: Weather Design Bureau / [Bureau Chief: None] – ’Please assign a position.’

5th Floor: Dimension Hall / [Dimension Keeper: None] – ’Please assign a position.’

6th Floor: ???

7th Floor: ???

8th Floor: ???

9th Floor: Master of the Magic Tower’s Room / [Tower Master: Kim Yusin]

I pressed my finger on the words ’Please assign a position’ next to the 4th Floor.

[Please select the target to be appointed as Bureau Chief.]

[Privileges: Bureau Chief Lv.10, Mana Design Lv.10, Field Construction Lv.10.]

Then, once again, I engraved the administrator’s seal onto Na Daeyong’s hairy leg. The crest glowed with a soft, blue light.

[The 4th Floor administrator has been registered.]

“I-It’s real…!” Daeyong’s eyes widened as he turned to his colleagues. “I really got Lv.10 traits! Three of them…!”

“Whoa!”

“Congratulations!”

Tears of joy began to stream down Daeyong’s face. Wary that he might charge at me again, I subtly stepped back. “I’m counting on you to take care of the fourth floor, Daeyong.”

“Hng! How can I ever repay your never-ending grace…!” he wept. “I, Na Daeyong, will grind his very bones to dust in service to you, Master…!”

“Alright, a round of applause!” Bora cut in at the perfect moment, prompting the others.

“Woooooah!”

A storm of applause erupted. I raised my cup, and the others followed suit. “Now, a toast to our new administrator.”

“YEAAAAAAH!”

“To—!”

’Ding!’

The chime from my pocket cut through the celebration. With an awkward expression, I excused myself and turned away to check the message. It was from Hong Yeon. I had several missed calls from her, too.

—Hong Yeon: Yusin! Where on earth are you?! The rebels have launched a surprise attack on the city!

* * *

Warping back to Tanzania, I rushed out to the terrace.

“…Shit!”

Mtwara was on fire. Beneath the pitch-black night sky, the entire city was engulfed in a sea of flames, with columns of fire and acrid smoke rising toward the heavens.

’A night raid.’

I hurried back to my room, put on my suit, gathered my gear, and leaped from the terrace. I cast a few cushioning shields, landing on the ground without impact.

“Rebels over there!”

“The fire! Put out the fire first!”

“Waaaaah! Waaaaah!”

Grim-faced soldiers rushed toward the flames, a stark contrast to the barefoot mother clutching her crying child as she fled.

’Why would the rebels launch a night raid at a time like this?’

It didn’t seem like they had brought their entire force to attack Mtwara. If an army of that size had arrived, we would have known. This meant it was a small, elite squad. And a night raid would have a specific objective—destroying the armory, perhaps, or assassinating a key figure.

I activated my earpiece and tuned it to Hong Yeon’s channel. “Yeon, it’s me! Can you hear me?”

Her voice crackled through the static, breathless. “Yusin! You weren’t answering your phone! Where have you been?”

“Sorry. Where are you now?”

“I spotted one of the attackers, and I’m chasing him!”

“Causing a commotion and setting fire to a residential area like this… They must have a specific objective! Check the armory or any place where military intelligence is stored!”

“Okay!”

After ending the call, I activated my wing golem, and my body shot into the sky.

The moment I was airborne, bullets rained down on me from an unknown direction. Shields materialized around me just in time, courtesy of Ea, but they cracked instantly under the barrage of mana rifles.

’They’re really laying it on thick.’

Ascending would only make me a target for concentrated fire, so I lowered the wing golem’s altitude and descended.

The moment I landed, a bullet flew toward my temple. Blocked by a shield, it spun in place before losing momentum and clattering to the ground. I glanced up just as the shooter on the third floor ducked back inside.

<Light Devastar>

I launched myself to the third floor with a pulse of Devastar. As I pushed aside the curtain and entered the house, the man’s mana rifle spat fire. I deployed a shield and fired a single, precisely controlled Rapid Arrow, embedding it in his leg.

“Aaargh!”

He collapsed, scrambling into the next room. As I strode toward him, a grenade came rolling down the hallway.

’Ha, this crazy bastard. He’s really going for broke, trying to take us all down with him.’

<Wind Fort>

<Round Shield>

With a flick of my fingers, I enveloped the grenade in a third-order wind barrier, then layered it with Round Shields before extending my arm toward the window. The shield-encased grenade flew straight outside. I then dispelled the shields, and a fierce explosion erupted out of sight. So much for his desperate suicide attack.

“You monster! Stay away from me!”

Just then, the man spotted a civilian hiding in a wardrobe. He grabbed the woman, pulled her in front of him, and pressed the muzzle of his gun to her head. She trembled, tears streaming down her face, as her children rushed out screaming, “Mommy!” only to be sent flying with a single kick.

“H-Hands up!”

For someone taking a hostage, he sure was shaking. What a loser.

“Alright, alright.”

I obediently raised both my arms. My compliance seemed to surprise him; he let out a ragged, relieved breath.

“Now turn around and get on the flo—.”

With the sound of shattering glass, a Guide Arrow shot through the window and embedded itself in the back of his head. His eyes went vacant as he slumped to the floor.

“Are you okay?” I asked the woman as I kicked the gun away.

She nodded, her face still etched with fear. It seemed I was just as frightening to her as he was. I should probably get out of here.

’I was going to interrogate this one, but he’s out cold.’

I levitated the man’s body with a Wind Fort and moved to the terrace. Spotting some regular soldiers below, I sent him floating down.

“He’s a rebel! I caught him, so you should interrogate him!”

The soldiers looked up at me with surprised eyes before giving me an okay sign. Nearby officers were also rushing toward the rebel I’d captured. It was better to leave the interrogation to the experts. I was about to leave when…

“Thank you!” a child called out, waving at me.

“Huh? Oh, sure.”

“Your name! Please tell me your name!”

Wait a minute. This scene… it was like something straight out of a movie. The child whose life I saved would grow up to become a great hunter, inspired by me…

-Tower Master.

’Sorry.’

This damn Over-immersion. I looked at the child and said, “It’s Kim Yusin.”

“Okay, thank you! Kim Yusin! I’ll never forget you!”

I waved back and leaped off the terrace.

’There are more enemies than I expected. Ea, where’s the nearest military facility?’

-The barracks where you had the meeting.

’If their goal is data, they might hit the barracks. Okay, let’s head there.’

We moved swiftly toward the allied barracks. The building looked like it had been bombed, with noxious smoke pouring from its center.

Just then, two soldiers ran into the barracks. I quickly hid behind a wall and observed their attire. They were dressed as Tanzanian regulars, but according to a recent radio transmission, some rebels were disguised in regular army uniforms.

’For guys entering their own base, their movements are a little suspicious.’

-I concur.

After they went inside, I stealthily followed them into the building. The hallway was empty, but bullet holes riddled the walls. A fight had clearly taken place here.

’Rat-tat-tat-tat! Tat-tat! Tat!’

I was spotted. Ea threw up a shield in front of me, blocking the bullets.

“Stop him! Don’t let him through!”

“Keep firing!”

’Oh, right. So they have to defend this corridor?’ They continued to fire their rifles indiscriminately, trying to prevent my approach. Waiting for them to run out of ammo was a pain.

Protected by the shield, I held out my palm. A magic circle opened, and a spinning arrow materialized.

<Spin Guide Arrow>

The arrows left my hand, flying in unpredictable trajectories. As the panicked men turned their guns toward the arrows…

“……Ack!”

I was right in front of them. I grabbed both their faces and slammed them together.

The two soldiers crumpled to the ground.

’What the, that was eas—.’

My Deva’s Eye flared open. A dagger was lunging at me from the darkness. I calmly raised my arm to knock the dagger-wielding hand upward and kicked the attacker’s knee with my right leg. The man’s knee buckled, but the muzzle of the gun in his left hand turned toward me.

A gunshot rang out. The surprise bullet struck the blue barrier in front of my chest, and I spun my body.

’WHACK!’

A roundhouse kick. The man I kicked flew back and slammed into the wall. But I didn’t feel the solid impact of a clean hit. The force field of the suit he was wearing must have protected him, but the suit’s light flickered out. Its protective function was spent.

’Wearing a suit like that, he’s definitely a hunter.’

The attacker pushed himself up and charged at me like a madman. As he thrust his dagger, I shifted my center of gravity like flowing water, pulling my left shoulder back. His dagger cut through empty air. I leisurely grabbed his fist, pulled him in, and struck with my elbow.

With the sound of breaking bone, his arm bent backward. The man let out a scream-like roar and swung at my face with his other hand.

’POW!’

I took the hit, my head snapping to the side, but I turned back to the attacker with a smile. His face was a mask of terror. A punch thrown from such an awkward position wouldn’t carry any power.

“This is how you throw a punch.”

I stepped forward with my left leg and threw a straight punch with perfect form.

’CRUNCH!’

The man’s face rippled grotesquely upon impact, and a chunk of teeth flew into the air. He sprayed blood as he spun three times in mid-air before crashing to the middle of the hallway. I straightened my posture and shook out my arm.

’These guys are playing for keeps.’

* * *

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