My Assigned Hunters Climb the Tower - Chapter 37

========== CHAPTER 37 ==========

Kugugugugu—!

Fist-sized rocks poured down like rain from the cave ceiling. Beyond the red mist that erupted with a massive tremor, it finally took its place.

A monster over 10 meters tall, its entire body covered in tattered scars.

As Gorg opened its mouth, a pressure washed over them, creating the illusion that all the oxygen in the cave was being sucked away.

“Keu, keuheok……!”

The first to take a hit was none other than Hwang Tae-ja. He was struck head-on by the summoning shockwave that erupted as the price for killing the Golden Goblin, flying dozens of meters until he hit the cave wall. A clear crack appeared on the flashy golden armor he was wearing.

“Kieeeeeeeek—!!!”

Gorg’s roar echoed as if it would tear their eardrums apart. Red eyes, devoid of any intelligence and filled only with a desire for destruction and murder, scanned the hunters who had entered from the lobby.

“Everyone, get a grip! Are you guys who made it into the top 100 really going to be scared by just some screaming?”

“Form ranks! Tanks to the front! Mages, focus your firepower from the back!”

Even amidst the chaos, the surviving elite hunters began to move, shouting. A significant portion of the 100 strongest people in South Korea were gathered here.

They were individuals treated like heroes in their respective guilds, and they had the confidence that they could overcome a crisis of this level.

However, Go Gyeol’s thoughts were different. He maintained the hand signal for his party members to stick to the wall, not moving a single step.

“Hey, Go Gyeol! If we just leave that thing alone, those people are all going to die!”

Lee Seong-ha gripped his Stigma Staff tightly and poked Go Gyeol in the side. A faint wave of gravity rippled from the tip of the staff. It was an instinctive cry, wanting to jump out right now and break that giant’s knees.

“Go Gyeol-hyung, shouldn’t I…… cast a curse or something too? The atmosphere is too grim.”

Black haze rose from Kang Hoon’s fingertips as well. Kwon Do-geun and Kang Ji-hyun also tightened their grips on their weapons, waiting only for Go Gyeol’s command. Their eyes were filled with a mix of guilt for their dying comrades and impatience at the situation where the Rank 1 Hwang Tae-ja was collapsing.

But Go Gyeol firmly shook his head.

“Wait. Not yet.”

“What do you mean ‘not yet’! Look over there, three people have already been blown away!”

Where Kang Ji-hyun pointed, tanks from an unknown mid-sized guild were being swatted away like flies by a single swing of Gorg’s massive club. No matter how elite they were, it was impossible to withstand the violent mass swung by a 10-meter giant with their bare bodies.

“Go Gyeol, answer me. Why aren’t we going out? We could catch it much more easily if we went out. Are you just going to watch those people die?”

Lee Seong-ha’s question was sharp. As a friend of the same age, and as a hunter, it was a bystander’s attitude he couldn’t possibly understand. However, Go Gyeol stared at his tablet and answered in a coldly sunken voice.

“Seong-ha. We shouldn’t be the ones fighting that King.”

“What? What is that supposed to mean?”

“That King was summoned by Hwang Tae-ja. He’s paying the price for his arrogance. And right now, viewers all over the world are watching how the protagonist, Hwang Tae-ja, overcomes this trial.”

Go Gyeol slightly showed the tablet screen to Lee Seong-ha. Real-time public opinion from 7 billion viewers was pouring down like a waterfall.

[What is Hwang Tae-ja doing? I thought he was #1, can’t he handle that one thing?]

[Don’t insult Hwang Tae-ja oppa! Can’t you see Hwang Tae-ja oppa is hurt?!]

[No, still, #1 is #1. Hwang Tae-ja will catch it. Just wait.]

“What do you think will happen if we step in now and kill that monster in one go? People will cheer for us, but at the same time, they’ll mock Hwang Tae-ja. And Hwang Tae-ja, along with the massive capital supporting him and the Hunter Bureau, will turn us into enemies.”

Go Gyeol’s eyes narrowed.

“Now is not the time for us to be the protagonists. We must remain as mere spectators of a drama where Hwang Tae-ja falls to the bottom and barely survives. Only then can we be free from their interference while we climb to the 100th floor.”

“……You really only think about the broadcast until the end.”

Lee Seong-ha muttered as if he were fed up, but the strength in his hand gripping the staff loosened slightly. Go Gyeol’s words were right. In this Tower where the fate of humanity hangs, the most terrifying thing was not the monster’s fangs, but human jealousy and envy.

A hell where humans eat humans. That was exactly what the Tower was.

At that moment, as if something suddenly occurred to him, Lee Seong-ha turned to look at Go Gyeol and asked.

“Hey, but that’s a King. The rewards and experience points for catching it would be huge, are you just going to give all of that to that Hwang Tae-ja guy? We need to grow too. Isn’t it a loss if we miss out on the experience points?”

It was a question asked because he knew Go Gyeol’s calculating side. Go Gyeol, without taking his eyes off the tablet screen, answered with a cold smile on his lips.

“When did I say I was giving it to him?”

“Huh?”

“We should obviously get what we’re owed. The share of the final hit that cuts off the monster’s breath, and the share of the actual damage dealing. The System isn’t fooled by appearances like the Eyeball Cameras. It calculates exactly who truly contributed.”

As Go Gyeol tapped the tablet, the magic circuits intertwined throughout Gorg’s body were highlighted in red.

“While Hwang Tae-ja dances flashily, we will attack the vital points from where we can’t be seen. The world will believe Hwang Tae-ja won, but the System’s skill points will come to us.”

Lee Seong-ha clicked his tongue at Go Gyeol’s confident voice.

“You’re a truly scary bastard…. Alright, then let’s start that invisible theft.”

A miserable struggle was continuing in the middle of the cave. Gorg’s massive hand snatched a mage and slammed them into the floor. The unpleasant tearing sound of a human body hitting the marble floor echoed through the cave. Fortunately, this was still an extension of the Selection Match where complete death didn’t apply yet, but the pain was gnawing at their nerves in real-time.

“Ugh, keuheok……!”

Screams ran rampant through the miserably collapsed ranks. In front of Gorg’s overwhelming martial power, the elite hunters were nothing more than paper dolls easy to tear.

Just then, a dazzling golden flame soared through the dust clouds.

“Everyone, don’t retreat! Hunter Bureau, maintain the formation!”

Hwang Tae-ja, who had been rolling on the floor, had regained his senses and stood up again. Without even a moment to wipe away the blood flowing down through his helmet, he gripped his massive greatsword and exploded with magic power. The approval rating of the 7 billion viewers began to wriggle again, and they started chanting Hwang Tae-ja’s name.

“I will hold the front! Ranged dealers, aim for Gorg’s chest, the gaps in the broken armor, on my signal!”

Life began to return to the eyes of the terrified hunters at Hwang Tae-ja’s shout. Go Gyeol was watching the prelude to that majestic birth of a hero from the darkness behind the wall.

“Hyung, that guy really looks like a protagonist!”

Kang Hoon whispered. Go Gyeol scanned Gorg’s remaining HP on the screen and gave a low instruction.

“Good timing. Now, let’s complete that protagonist’s stage. Without anyone knowing.”

Go Gyeol’s eyes flashed.

“Kwon Do-geun-ssi, deploy fog. Very thin, but precise enough to paralyze Gorg’s senses.”

Kwon Do-geun waved his hand indifferently. Amidst the noise and flashes as Hwang Tae-ja violently clashed swords with Gorg, a thread-like water mist crawled up from under Gorg’s feet. People just thought it was the aftermath caused by Hwang Tae-ja’s magic power.

“Hoon-ah, now is the time. Minimize the concentration of the curse. Burn only the internal organs so it doesn’t show on the outside.”

“…….”

The black energy emitted from Kang Hoon’s fingertips rode Kwon Do-geun’s water mist and seeped deep into Gorg’s skin. Although no changes were visible from the outside,

inside Gorg, a hell where muscles melted away began. Even Hwang Tae-ja himself did not know the reason why every time his sword struck, it dealt more than twice the usual critical damage.

“Ji-hyeon-ah, this is the last part. Match your magic power to the color of that Hwang Tae-ja’s sword energy and fire it. Pierce the heart.”

“You’re so fussy.”

Kang Ji-hyeon grumbled, but she condensed an ultra-thin magic needle disguised in gold at the tip of her staff.

At that moment, Hwang Tae-ja roared and leaped into the air. His greatsword poured down over Gorg’s head, emitting a light as dazzling as the sun.

“This is the will of humanity! Die!”

At the split second Hwang Tae-ja’s greatsword struck Gorg’s neck, Kang Ji-hyeon’s golden magic needle hid in the light of the greatsword and accurately pierced Gorg’s heart.

At the same time, Kang Hoon’s curse exploded from within, snatching away Gorg’s last remaining life force.

-Kwaaaaaang!!!

With a massive explosion, Gorg’s giant body fell backward. As the mountain-like monster collapsed, shaking the floor, the entire cave vibrated.

Silence.

Soon, the lobby was covered in insane cheers.