My Assigned Hunters Climb the Tower - Chapter 36

========== CHAPTER 36 ==========

“This is a mask that will cover your entire face. It’s advantageous for our plan not to reveal your identity until we reach a certain floor, so let’s use a mask instead of a regular one.”

Kwon Do-geun’s eyes wavered. He carefully opened the lid of the box.

A subtle blue light leaked from inside the box. Resting within was a mask with strange yet beautiful patterns intricately carved into it. It was designed to cover the entire face, but uniquely, only the mouth area was precisely perforated, ensuring no hindrance to breathing or conversation.

As Kwon Do-geun carefully lifted it out, the mask’s cold, metallic luster emitted an indescribable sense of intimidation between his fingers.

“…It’s beautiful.”

“Stop staring and put it on. We’re out of time.”

Kwon Do-geun brought the mask to his face with cautious hands. The moment it touched him, the mask, which had looked like cold, hard metal, squirmed like a living organism and adhered smoothly to Kwon Do-geun’s skin.

The mask gently embraced the curves of Do-geun’s face, but from the outside, only a sleek, cool blue surface remained, making it impossible to discern his original features or facial structure at all.

“Wow, this is the real deal.”

Lee Seong-ha, who had been watching from the side, reached out and tapped the mask as if fascinated. At his fingertips, he felt the texture of hard metal, completely different from the softness of a moment ago.

“It was soft like jelly when it touched your face, but now it’s hard like armor plating on a tank. Is this that Variable Metal from Vargas I’ve only heard rumors about?”

At Lee Seong-ha’s exclamation, Go Gyeol checked on Kwon Do-geun’s condition and asked.

“How is it? Is it too tight or uncomfortable?”

Kwon Do-geun felt his own face as if he couldn’t believe it.

“…Not at all. I barely have the sensation of wearing a mask. It just feels like my own skin. My vision is actually even clearer than usual.”

“The performance is solid. As expected, that old man is worth the money.”

Lee Seong-ha clicked his tongue at Go Gyeol’s nonchalant reply.

Lee Seong-ha knew better than anyone how Vargas’s equipment was regarded in the hunter world. Because the price was astronomical and the old man had such a foul temper that he rarely made anything, whenever his gear appeared at black market auctions, it would easily fetch the price of an entire building—it was truly the luxury of luxuries, where the price was whatever the maker called.

Kwon Do-geun’s complexion turned pale after hearing Seong-ha’s words. A trembling voice flowed from behind the mask.

“…Sajang-nim, was this expensive? I-I’m so sorry for making you spend this much money on me. Something so undeserved…”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. Compared to the cost of our entire plan falling apart because Kwon Do-geun-ssi’s identity gets exposed, this is a very cheap investment.”

Go Gyeol firmly cut him off and patted Kwon Do-geun on the shoulder. Then, he scanned all the party members with a sharp gaze and gave his final instructions.

“30 seconds until the summon. Combat starts the moment we enter. Stay sharp, everyone.”

No sooner had Go Gyeol finished speaking than the magic circle engraved on the office floor began to emit a dazzling blue light. The magic of the summoning swallowed the party members’ bodies, making their forms blurry.

The moment the tablet’s clock hit 00:00, the presence of the five people that had filled the office vanished without a trace. The place they would step into now was not the flashy office in Seoul, but the lowest floor of the tower, ruled by the stench of blood and despair.

In an instant, the surroundings twisted, and the smell of damp moss and fishy soil assaulted their noses. The tidy lobby was nowhere to be found, and a dim cave, reliant on a few torches, swallowed them whole.

“Kuaaaak—!”

“Kikik, kikikik!”

Green-skinned goblins began to pour out from holes bored into the walls here and there. It was the true beginning of the 1st floor.

While Lee Seong-ha crushed the bastards with gravity and Kang Ji-hyun pierced their heads with sharp magic bullets, Kwon Do-geun’s water stream swept across the cave floor. As the party members skillfully hunted the goblins and advanced, only Go Gyeol did not participate in the combat. Holding the tablet, he obsessively scanned every single hole the goblins were popping out of, as if monitoring them.

‘It should be this timing.’

That was when it happened. Among the countless green heads, something particularly shiny popped out. A physique much smaller and more agile than a regular goblin, and on its head, a tiny golden crown like a toy was perched.

“Hun-a! 10 o’clock direction, cast a slowing curse on that little guy!”

“Yes? Ah, yes! !”

In the midst of the chaotic battle, a flustered Kang Hoon reached out, but the Golden Goblin twisted its body lightly as if to mock him and dodged the curse. The bastard’s speed was beyond imagination.

“Seong-ha, gravity!”

“Got it! !”

Lee Seong-ha swung his staff and crushed the space around the Golden Goblin. However, just before the gravity could reach it, the bastard slipped away as if reading the gaps in space. Lee Seong-ha’s brow twitched.

“What the hell is that bastard? Why is he so fast!”

At that moment, Kwon Do-geun stepped up.

“!”

The stream of water pooling on the floor shot out like an arrow, blocking the Golden Goblin’s path of retreat. The moment the bastard leaped into the air to avoid the water stream, Go Gyeol shouted.

“Now!”

As if they had promised, Lee Seong-ha’s gravity and Kang Hoon’s curse poured onto the bastard floating in the air.

Kwaaang!

Crushed by gravity and bound by the curse, the Golden Goblin struggled, flattened against the floor. It was the moment Go Gyeol was about to step forward to claim the result.

Paaat-!

A golden sword energy that threatened to blind them cut through the air.

The one who had suddenly appeared was the Republic of Korea’s Rank 1, Hwang Tae-ja. He rushed in with overwhelming momentum and swung a massive greatsword toward the Golden Goblin lying on the floor.

“……Shit.”

From the mouth of Go Gyeol, who was usually as cool-headed as his name suggested, a short and harsh curse burst out. Just before Hwang Tae-ja’s blade could reach, he threw his body with insane speed.

0.1 seconds before the sword split the floor, Go Gyeol’s fingers grazed the tiny crown on the Golden Goblin’s head.

[Notification: Hidden item ‘Proof of the Desiring King’ has been stored in your inventory.]

As if to confirm this was the tower, a notification appeared as the crown was stored in the space.

At the same time, Hwang Tae-ja’s greatsword split the crownless and defenseless Golden Goblin’s skull wide open.

Pueok—!

Green blood mixed with gold dust splattered in all directions, and the Golden Goblin didn’t even manage to let out a death rattle before it was crushed against the floor and breathed its last. Hwang Tae-ja wore an arrogant smile, satisfied with the clear indicator of a kill transmitted to his sword, and moved to sheath it. However, Go Gyeol’s eyes, having confirmed the bastard’s death, were trembling uncontrollably.

‘I should have only taken the crown…!’

Memories from before his regression flashed through his mind.

That Golden Goblin was a type of trap. If you only took the crown and left the bastard alive, it would run away quietly and leave a reward, but if it met its end while having the crown stolen, it became the worst kind of summoning catalyst.

Clenching his fists, Go Gyeol sent an urgent hand signal to his party members to throw themselves toward the wall.

‘Stick to the wall! Now!’

Lee Seong-ha, Kang Ji-hyun, Kwon Do-geun, and Kang Hoon, who unconditionally followed Go Gyeol’s instructions, threw themselves toward the nearest cave wall and pressed against it without a moment’s hesitation.

Immediately after.

Kwaaaaaaaang—!

A massive explosion that paralyzed their eardrums occurred where the Golden Goblin had died. It wasn’t a simple explosion of magic. A black-red shockwave, emitted as space itself twisted, swept through the entire cave.

“Keuhuk!”

When the violently spewing smoke and dust cleared, something stood there, emitting an overwhelming presence that even made Hwang Tae-ja recoil.

A giant that looked 100 times larger than the Golden Goblin that had just died. The monster, which looked at least 10 meters tall, had hideous skin with green blood oozing stickily from it. Its entire body was covered in deep scars as if slashed by someone, and newly burst boils, and from between its protruding molars, saliva reeking of rotting flesh dripped down.

Most chilling of all were the monster’s eyes. Red glares filled with nothing but primal destructive desire toward those who had killed the king, devoid of any trace of intelligence.

[Boss Monster: Angry Goblin King – Gorg]

In the aftermath of the explosion, stone dust poured like rain from the cave ceiling. Lee Seong-ha, who had stuck to the wall and avoided disaster by a hair’s breadth, gulped and muttered blankly toward the unrealistic monster in front of him.

“……Hey, Go Gyeol. What is that? Is that the king?”

Go Gyeol replied, grinding his teeth.

“Yeah. If Hwang Tae-ja hadn’t killed it, it wouldn’t have appeared. It’s the ‘real disaster’ of the 1st floor.”

Go Gyeol’s gaze turned toward Hwang Tae-ja, who was rolling on the floor and getting up in an unsightly manner.