My Assigned Hunters Climb the Tower - Chapter 34

========== CHAPTER 34 ==========

The elf’s eyebrow twitched at Go Gyeol’s cynical reaction. Seizing the momentum, Go Gyeol raised his voice toward the deep interior of the furnace.

“Stop hiding and show your face, Old Man Vargas.”

In an instant, the long ears of the elf holding the long-stemmed pipe visibly twitched. The elf finally lifted her head and stared intently at Go Gyeol. Her eyes were filled with both bewilderment and wariness.

“…Human, how do you know that name? There are barely any bastards in the black market who even know our master’s name.”

Go Gyeol let out a scoff and looked the elf straight in the eye.

“Is that all? I know your name too, Elin.”

When even her own name came out, the elf, Elin’s, complexion changed completely. She stopped the long-stemmed pipe she was holding and began to scan Go Gyeol’s entire body with narrowed eyes. It was a persistent gaze, as if she were trying not to miss even a single breath of Go Gyeol’s for a very long time.

“…Strange. I’ve definitely never seen that face before.”

Elin muttered in a low voice.

“I feel an indescribable sense of incongruity from you. Your appearance is unmistakably that of a greenhorn, but your eyes and aura are like those of an old geezer who has lived for hundreds of years. It’s like… you’re a being whose time has been twisted.”

Instead of answering, Go Gyeol gave a light shrug. Elin still looked full of suspicion, but she no longer seemed intent on chasing him away.

Elin tapped the long-stemmed pipe she was holding against the edge of the table to knock out the ash. As the rhythmic tapping sound broke the silence, she raised her voice toward the back.

“Master! Come out! A human who is unpleasantly interesting has arrived!”

Dull footsteps were heard from inside, and soon, a figure revealed themselves. A brown braided beard that grew long enough to drag on the floor, a short stature, and a muscular body that seemed to have condensed years of experience. It was an old man who looked like a typical Otherworld dwarf to anyone’s eyes.

The old man brandished an iron hammer and bellowed in a thick voice.

“Who is making a ruckus in this body’s forge! The orders are full, so get lost immediately!”

However, Go Gyeol looked at the old man with unimpressed eyes and let out a long sigh.

“Stop the acting, Duran-ssi. Tell the real master to come out, not you.”

In an instant, the face of the dwarf old man, Duran, who had been feigning a stern expression, went slack with stupidity. Just as he was about to open his mouth in panic, a hearty burst of laughter that seemed to shake the ceiling of the forge erupted from deep inside.

“Hahahaha! Look at this? Duran, I’m going to have to cut your daily wage today! You got busted in one go!”

Beyond the furnace, a man walked out from the thick heat. He looked completely different from Duran, who had appeared earlier. A tall stature of over 180cm, a sculpted muscular body, a handsome face with strong features, and cold gray eyes that seemed to pierce through everything. Holding a massive hammer lightly in one hand, he was the true master of this forge, Vargas.

Vargas stood in front of Go Gyeol, his gray eyes shining as if he were interested. An overwhelming pressure was felt, as if all the heat in the forge was rotating around him.

“I used the stereotype that humans think of dwarves when they think of a forge. Greenhorn, how on earth did you recognize me? This Duran is a real dwarf, you know.”

Despite Vargas’s heavy question, Go Gyeol didn’t even blink and got straight to the point.

“Is that important? Just tell me how long it will take if I place an order.”

Vargas twisted the corners of his mouth and slammed his hammer onto the floor. The floor of the forge vibrated slightly.

“Well, that depends on your answer. If I can be convinced of why you know my name and our true identities, I’ll pick up the hammer even tonight. But if your answer is unsatisfactory, it’ll be hard for you to leave this door alive.”

Go Gyeol bit his lip firmly. He couldn’t exactly say, “Because I’ve known you for decades before my regression.” It was obvious he’d be treated like a lunatic if he told the truth, and a clumsy lie wouldn’t be able to deceive Vargas’s sharp gray eyes.

Just at the moment his mind was getting complicated about how to explain it, a clear system window flashed before Go Gyeol’s vision.

【Show the White Jade.】

‘The White Jade?’

While puzzled, Go Gyeol took out the White Jade he had stored after activating his inventory.

Seeing the White Jade in his hand, Vargas’s handsome face stiffened as if it had been carved out of stone. He looked back and forth between the White Jade and Go Gyeol dozens of times with eyes mixed with shock and despondency.

Finally, Vargas ran his rough hands through his long hair, messing it up, and shouted irritably.

“Ah, seriously! I thought we had finally settled down like a place where people live! Do we have to pack up and move again!”

Elin, who was standing next to him, also let out a deep sigh as soon as she saw the White Jade and put the long-stemmed pipe in her mouth. Her long ears drooped helplessly.

“This is exhausting. To think that thing would appear again.”

At the two’s incomprehensible reaction, Go Gyeol frowned and asked.

“…Moving, what do you mean by that? What on earth is this White Jade…”

However, Vargas waved his hand as if he didn’t even want to answer Go Gyeol’s question.

“Ah, don’t ask! It gives me a headache! Just stand there and don’t move!”

Vargas stomped into the deep warehouse inside the forge. A moment later, he came out carrying a long box covered in thick dust and tossed it into Go Gyeol’s arms. A heavy weight was transmitted through Go Gyeol’s arms.

“What is this?”

“Whether you open it or not is up to you. If it’s useful, use it, or if not, just go throw it in that field over there.”

Vargas spat out bluntly and threw a piece of paper that had been on the table to Go Gyeol. It was an order form.

“Write down the specifications you want on that and leave. I’ll have it all made by this time tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“The moment you brought that damn White Jade, the 6 months or whatever is all over! Ah, so annoying! Don’t touch me!”

Vargas went into the inner workshop with a loud bang, still holding his hammer.

In the absurd turn of events, Go Gyeol looked at Elin with a puzzled expression. However, Elin also seemed to have no intention of telling him anything, blowing pipe smoke toward Go Gyeol’s face and waving her hand.

“Is the master’s foul temper something you’ve only seen for a day or two? Don’t act like you know him, just write it quickly and get lost. I have to prepare to pack up too.”

Go Gyeol looked down at the order form in his hand and the long box in his arms, dumbfounded.

Although he had known Vargas for decades before his regression, this was his first time seeing such a reaction. He had only shown the White Jade as the system instructed, but the legendary artisans of the black market were sickened as if they had encountered a plague.

Go Gyeol bit his lip and began to move the pen tip over the order form.

However, as soon as he stopped the pen, Elin snatched the order form as if she had been waiting.

“If you’re done writing, get out now! We’re closed!”

Elin pushed Go Gyeol out the door, almost shoving him. Then, she roughly flipped the sign hanging on the forge door from OPEN to CLOSED and locked the heavy bolt from the inside.

Go Gyeol was left alone in front of the cold iron door, dumbfounded. Only the heavy touch of the old wooden box in his arms proved that the situation just now was reality.

‘…What on earth does the White Jade mean to them?’

Questions followed one after another, but there was no way to get an answer right now. First, Go Gyeol put the White Jade and the mysterious wooden box into his inventory. And since he had already set foot in the black market, he recalled his memories from before the regression, swept up necessary consumables and magic recovery potions, and only then turned his steps toward the surface.

When he returned to the office, the dawn air had already settled coolly. A soft light was leaking from inside the office, which he had thought would be empty since he had sent all the party members away.

When he opened the door and went in, he saw Lee Seong-ha drinking coffee with a tired face and messy hair.

“What are you doing here instead of sleeping?”

At Go Gyeol’s question, Lee Seong-ha lifted his head with hollow eyes.

“…Ah. You’re here. I lay down to sleep, but I woke up because of a phone call, and I just couldn’t fall back asleep.”

“A phone call at this hour?”

As Go Gyeol asked with a puzzled look, Lee Seong-ha swallowed a sip of bitter espresso and answered shortly.

“Family.”

At that one word, Go Gyeol roughly guessed the situation. After the Tower appeared, a system micro-drone called an Eyeball Camera followed every hunter, and since it was broadcast separately during team missions, it was only natural for their families to recognize them.

“What did your family say?”

“Don’t even ask. I got absolutely chewed out. They said I quit and left home saying I’d become a priest instead of a hunter, so why am I doing this dangerous thing again, and they were making a huge fuss telling me to quit immediately.”

As Seong-ha sighed and dropped his head, a faint smile spread across Go Gyeol’s lips.

“What’s funny?”