My Assigned Hunters Climb the Tower - Chapter 29

========== CHAPTER 29 ==========

“Team mission……?”

Lee Seong-ha narrowed his eyes. It was the exact opposite flow of what Hwang Tae-ja had been trying to do earlier, talking about unity and trying to bind all 10,000 people together. The Tower was now ordering them not to act as a whole, but to single out a definite, elite few.

“Hyung, isn’t this advantageous for us? We’re already a team.”

When Kang Hun asked with a hopeful voice, Go Gyeol put away his tablet and answered coldly.

“It won’t be a simple hunt. It’s a broadcast watched by humanity. The Tower wants to showcase not just your martial prowess, but the chemistry and strategy between team members to the whole world. And above all……”

Go Gyeol stared in the direction of Hwang Tae-ja beyond the tent.

“Who joins hands with whom, and who gets abandoned. It’s trying to show the viewers that cruel process of selection.”

Go Gyeol’s calm voice cut through the heavy air inside the tent. Outside the tent, it was already chaos. Hunters who had been sharing steamed buns and shouting for unity until just a moment ago were now starting a ruthless game of dice, calculating each other’s ranks and weighing their skills.

No sooner had his words fallen than a massive vibration was transmitted through the floor of the tent.

Uuuuuung—!

The white tiles on the lobby walls began to twist, making bizarre sounds.

Ppiiiii—!

Along with a massive buzzer sound that rang throughout the entire lobby, it became noisy outside the tent. As a new mission message appeared in the air, just as Go Gyeol had predicted, the 10,000 hunters were shocked. Those who had been fairly sharing food just as Hwang Tae-ja had said earlier now turned cold, calculating each other’s grades and abilities to form teams.

“Team Gyeol. Registration complete. Let’s go.”

With Go Gyeol’s declaration, the party members took down the tent and stood up. As they stepped into the center of the lobby, the gazes of countless hunters who hadn’t found a team yet were fixed on them.

“Hey, Kang Ji-hyeon-ssi! Join us…!”

“Father! Our team is short on a healer!”

Lee Seong-ha brushed off the pouring offers with a benevolent smile, and Kang Ji-hyun with cold indifference, as they moved. The place they arrived at was in front of a blue portal generated on the lobby wall.

[Team Gyeol entering.]

The moment they passed through the blue portal, what they felt was a chilling cold that seemed to pierce their lungs.

What unfolded before their eyes was a massive circular arena reminiscent of the Roman Colosseum. The spectator seats were empty, but hundreds of eyeball cameras in the air began to focus on this strange party, twitching their bizarre muscle tissues.

The number of viewers on the Republic of Korea Integrated Channel was just now surpassing several million. Team Gyeol was still perceived by the public as just a rookie team with decent visuals or nobodies who had been standing in the distribution line of the Rank 1 Hwang Tae-ja.

[Chat Room Reactions]

– Isn’t that the team that was setting up the tent earlier? lol

– The guy in the priest’s robe and the guy wearing the mask have good visuals.

– But what’s up with that guy in the suit? Why isn’t a camera attached to him?

– Probably just a porter. How are guys like that supposed to catch an S-rank guardian? Already feel sorry for them.

Amidst the skeptical reactions pouring in from viewers, the massive iron gate on the other side of the arena opened with a Kugugugung sound.

Walking out from within was a giant monster over 5 meters tall, the . Blue soul flames flickered between the black plate armor that covered its entire body, and white frost settled on the arena floor every time it took a step.

“Whoa…… shit, this is no joke?”

Lee Seong-ha gripped his Stigma Staff tighter and glanced at Go Gyeol. He kept his smile on because of the cameras, but his voice was deathly low.

“Hey, Go Gyeol. That’s not just some golem level. The pressure is insane, are you seriously okay with this?”

Go Gyeol replied nonchalantly without taking his eyes off the tablet screen.

“It’s fine. It’s simpler than the cartoon villains you and I watched in kindergarten. Just do as I say.”

“Easy for you to say, you scamming bastard.”

Lee Seong-ha grumbled, but as if he trusted Go Gyeol’s words, he immediately took a combat stance. On the other hand, Go Gyeol clearly recognized that he was in a manager position where he couldn’t attack directly. He took a step back and surveyed the battlefield.

“Do-geun-ssi, cast a water screen to create a blind spot. Ji-hyeon-ah, charge your arrows but don’t fire. Wait until the knight raises its shield.”

As soon as Go Gyeol’s order fell, Kwon Do-geun shot up a stream of water with flashy hand movements. To the viewers’ eyes, a dreamy atmosphere was created as mist spread thickly, but in reality, it was a high-level strategy to perfectly block the knight’s vision.

Kwaaaang-!

The knight swung its greatsword into the invisible mist. Along with the sound of air being torn, cold air rushed in like a storm.

“Seong-ha-ya, 3x gravity at 10 o’clock!”

“Got it! !”

As Lee Seong-ha slammed his staff down, the trajectory of the knight’s greatsword tilted slightly downward. Taking advantage of that split second, Kang Hun burrowed under the knight’s feet like a shadow.

“Hun-ah, now. Cast Weakening only on the leg joints. Don’t cast too much.”

“Huh? Okay!”

Kang Hun’s black curse climbed up the knight’s knees. The knight’s movements became noticeably sluggish. In a normal party, they would have poured all their firepower at this moment to destroy the core, but Go Gyeol’s thoughts were different.

“Ji-hyeon-ah, fire one shot only at the right shoulder armor plate. Don’t break it, just crack it.”

“……What? Why are you telling me to fight so inefficiently?”

Kang Ji-hyun gripped her staff tightly as if she couldn’t understand. However, Go Gyeol’s eyes were still fixed on the tablet’s real-time viewership and interest graph.

“Becoming famous right now is poison. We need to look like an average team until we make it into the top 100.”

At Go Gyeol’s firm words, Lee Seong-ha let out a dry laugh and gripped his staff again. He leaned in close to Go Gyeol at an angle not caught by the camera and whispered lowly.

“Hey, Go Gyeol. Are you seriously in your right mind? You want us to hold back against that monster? We could all die, friend.”

“We won’t die. I’ve finished the calculations.”

Go Gyeol tapped the tablet screen and added coldly.

“If we show overwhelming skill now, guys like Hwang Tae-ja will immediately keep us in check. Viewers also quickly lose interest in a perfect team from the start, and out of jealousy, they’ll put their hands on the ‘dislike’ button. A rookie team that luckily wins while struggling. That’s the role we need right now.”

Lee Seong-ha, who read Go Gyeol’s intentions, shook his head.

“You’re a guy who’d make even Satan cry. Alright, let’s try acting like we’re having a hell of a time then.”

The battle proceeded strangely. Every time the Knight of Pitch Black swung its massive greatsword, instead of using gravity to collapse the knight’s stance, Lee Seong-ha used it to push the party members’ bodies back ever so slightly. To the viewers’ eyes, it looked like the party members were barely surviving the knight’s attacks by a hair’s breadth.

Kwaaaang-!

As the knight’s greatsword cleaved the ground, debris scattered. Instead of spraying water to create a barrier, Kwon Do-geun laid a thin water film on the floor to induce the knight to slip.

“Argh! It’s dangerous!”

Kwon Do-geun shouted loudly on purpose and rolled on the floor. Thanks to his passionate acting as a former actor, the viewers were on the edge of their seats.

[Chat Room Reactions]

Wow, that team is really on the edge.

Didn’t the guy in the mask almost die just now?

That priest from earlier is sweating a ton, too. Guess an S-rank boss is definitely too much for them.

Still, it’s nice to see them not giving up until the end. I’m rooting for you.

The viewers’ sympathy votes began to pile up little by little. Go Gyeol seemed satisfied as he checked the graph and gave the next instruction.

“Ji-hyeon-ah, fire the arrow. But choose the thickest part of the armor. We need the effect of it bouncing off.”

“……You’re really annoying.”

Kang Ji-hyun grumbled, but she accurately fired a light arrow at the center of the knight’s chest, the most solid plate armor.

Kkang!

Along with a dazzling flash, the arrow helplessly bounced off.

“No! Magic isn’t working at all!”

Kang Hun shouted with a terrified expression and sprayed black haze. But that curse, too, barely touched the knight’s forearm before disappearing quickly. Go Gyeol watched the tablet and stalled for time. Before the knight went berserk, they had to sufficiently imprint the image of hunters who were struggling.

15 minutes after the start of the battle. It was a time when the outcome would have already been decided for other teams, but Team Gyeol was still facing the knight and panting for breath.

“Seong-ha-ya, in 30 seconds, the knight is going to stomp. Everyone fall backward at that time.”

“You really make me do everything, seriously.”

Lee Seong-ha grumbled and slammed his staff down.

Kugugugung!

As the knight stepped hard on the floor, a powerful cold wave spread out. On Go Gyeol’s signal, the party members fell over in all directions in an unseemly manner, as if they had promised to do so.

“Haa…… haa…… Hyung, can’t we finish it now? I’m seriously tired to death.”

Kang Hun mumbled while lying on the floor. Go Gyeol finally confirmed that the viewership ratings and the number of viewers watching were in the perfect safety zone.

“Good. Finish it now. But you have to finish it as desperately as possible.”

As soon as Go Gyeol’s words fell, Lee Seong-ha and Kang Ji-hyun’s eyes sharpened simultaneously.

“This must be the Lord’s final test……!”

Lee Seong-ha held his staff high with a desperate expression. In fact, he had enough magic power left to break the knight’s legs, but he feigned trembling hands and bound the knight’s movements for only 1 second.

“Now! Ji-hyeon-ah!”

Kang Ji-hyun swung her staff and spewed out thorny vines. But instead of wrapping around the knight’s body, the vines precisely dug into the gap in the neck joint, which she had been making cracks in by firing dozens of arrows since earlier.

“Die……!”

Kang Ji-hyun screamed, pretending to squeeze out her last bit of strength. As the vines pulled at the knight’s internal circuits, blue flames backflowed, and the knight’s armor heaved.

At that moment, Kwon Do-geun and Kang Hun rushed in. Kwon Do-geun blocked the knight’s vision with a massive stream of water, and Kang Hun drove the final wedge of the curse into the knight’s chest.

-Kwaaaaang!!!

The knight’s body slowly collapsed and turned into a massive lump of scrap metal.