My Assigned Hunters Climb the Tower - Chapter 41

========== CHAPTER 41 ==========

“Waaaaaah!”

“We survived! We actually survived!”

The hunters cheered, hugging each other. And in the center of it all was Hwang Tae-ja, wiping his massive greatsword with an arrogant smile.

“Haa…… haa……. Hyung, I really thought I was going to die.”

Kang Hoon approached Go Gyeol, avoiding the foam-covered floor. Lee Seong-ha also clicked his tongue while brushing the white powder off his staff.

“Hey, Go Gyeol. Are you sure you won’t get a dish soap commercial deal later? A holy Gravity Mage making bubbles like this…….”

Go Gyeol calmly turned off his tablet and replied indifferently.

“Thanks to that, we caught the boss without using a single drop of magic power. Where’s Ji-hyeon?”

When he turned his gaze, Kang Ji-hyun was stuck to the wall far away. True to her entomophobia, she was looking at the lobby littered with foam and fly carcasses with an expression like she had seen the most horrific thing in the world.

“……Hey, Go Gyeol. Clean this all up right now. Or at least take out some disinfectant from your subspace immediately!”

Go Gyeol chuckled as he watched Kang Ji-hyun scream.

As the clearing of the 1st and 2nd floors of the Republic of Korea sector finished at an overwhelming speed, domestic internet communities and streaming sites were filled with a fever mixed with national pride and astonishment.

[Community: HunterNet – Real-time Best Board]

Title: Summary of current top dungeon clearing status by country… Korea is just an ecosystem disruptor, lol.

Views: 5,102,931 | Recommendations: 182,401

It started being unusual from the 1st-floor Gorg, but the 2nd-floor Avatar of Beelzebub is truly a legend… Go check the US and Chinese broadcast channels right now. It’s hell over there. They poured magic into it without knowing any better, so the flies multiplied infinitely, pushing them back to the waiting room, and casualties are piling up. China has already had over 70 people drop out, and I heard over 20 elite hunters died in the US; but in our country, Hwang Tae-ja took the lead and cleared it with 0 casualties using vinegar and powder, lol. We really are the people of gaming. The brain structure for finding strategies seems to be on a different dimension from other countries.

[31,492 Comments]

– K-HunterBest: I got chills when Hwang Tae-ja emitted that golden sword energy… He’s truly worthy of being our country’s #1, his presence is insane.

– FactChecker: Honestly, I was already at a lethal dose of national pride when I saw Hwang Tae-ja solo the 1st-floor boss, but the 2nd floor was a truly intelligent strategy, it gave me goosebumps.

– LoveAngler: I heard the Japanese kids are being too cautious and are still fighting maggots near the 2nd-floor entrance, lol. Korea’s speed is currently #1 in the world by a landslide.

– RoeDeerButt: But what was up with that priest reciting Bible verses when they sprayed that powder earlier? ㅋㅋㅋ He shouted, “I shall purify you!” and threw a powder bomb; I thought I was watching an entertainment movie, lol.

[Real-time Streaming Channel: ‘Hunter Expert Analyst Dr. Kim’ Live]

(Viewer count: 2.8 million)

“Everyone, foreign media is also paying attention to Korea right now. ‘How does the Korean team find such bizarre yet perfect strategies in such a short time?’ is the hot topic in the global hunter academic community. The 2nd-floor boss was practically a death trap for magic hunters. But to use a neutralization reaction combining vinegar and baking soda there? This isn’t just good luck; it’s only possible because they have Hwang Tae-ja, who perfectly understands the Tower’s ecological system!”

[Real-time Chat Window]

– Do-geunDo-geun: It’s because Hwang Tae-ja-nim commanded it well! As expected, God-Tae-ja’s approval rating is skyrocketing, let’s go!

– Ji-hyeonEonniFan: When Ji-hyeon-eonni disinfected the larvae with flames earlier, I thought she was a real goddess… ㅠㅠㅠ She has both the visuals and the skills.

– HunterX: But those vinegar boxes… weren’t they taken out by that man in the suit earlier?

– OhMongLady: I heard Hwang Tae-ja ordered him to do it.

– AutoButler: Honestly, looking at these clears, it feels so scary, like they’re playing while looking at the answer key.

[Community: HunterHouse – Question Post]

Title: But, about Go Gyeol, the CEO of ‘Gyeol’ Management… am I the only one who thinks he’s weird? Writer: HunterAppraiser

Views: 1 | Recommendations: 0

Everyone is focused only on Hwang Tae-ja and the hunters’ performance, but I get goosebumps every time I see that guy in the suit, Go Gyeol. Even if he is an F-class Space Hunter, does it make sense that he’s the only one out of 10,000 people inside the Tower who doesn’t have an Eyeball Camera attached above his head? That means even the Tower’s system can’t film him or has excluded him from recognition entirely. And when he took out the vinegar earlier, did I see it alone, or did Go Gyeol make eye contact with Hwang Tae-ja and signal him with his chin before Hwang Tae-ja even ordered it? It was like he was signaling to Hwang Tae-ja that it was his turn… What is that person’s real identity? The atmosphere is too alien to be just a manager. It’s like he’s looking down on this whole situation from above.

[This post has been blinded by the administrator due to violation of operating principles and accumulated reports.]

The scorching sand desert of the 3rd floor collapsed in an instant, and the view flickered.

When they opened their eyes again, they were greeted by the smell of damp mold and the acrid smoke of burning torches. It was a narrow, dark stone wall with no end in sight—a typical underground labyrinth.

[Notification: You have entered the 4th floor, Labyrinth of the Dead.]

[Task: Break through the dead wandering the labyrinth and find the stairs to the next floor.]

“Ugh, after the desert, now it’s a musty basement? The guy who designed the Tower has a really classic taste.”

Lee Seong-ha wrinkled his nose at the musty air and slung his staff over his shoulder.

Clatter, clatter—.

The ominous sound of bones colliding in the darkness echoed throughout the labyrinth. From between the shadows on the walls, skeleton soldiers wearing old armor and swarms of rotting ghouls began to pour out endlessly.

It was a typical mass-battle dungeon—the most common, the most boring, and at the same time, the type that whittles down hunters’ stamina with endless numbers.

“It’s a horde of undead! Form a formation! Hunters of the Light and Holy attribute, take the lead, and the rest of you support from the back!”

Hwang Tae-ja’s booming voice rang through the labyrinth. He took the lead and swung his golden greatsword. Every time his sword energy flashed, dozens of skeletons scattered into dust. It was overwhelming destructive power, a heroic performance perfect for drawing the viewers’ enthusiasm.

Hunters from other large guilds, not wanting to lose to Hwang Tae-ja, also unleashed flashy area-of-effect skills, competing to catch the camera’s attention.

Behind that noisy massacre, Go Gyeol’s party was facing a small group of skeletons in a secluded passage of the labyrinth.

“Brother, shall I deliver the Lord’s heavy judgment to these lost dead and put them to rest all at once? The sound of bones clattering is truly distracting to my prayers.”

As Lee Seong-ha, with a benevolent smile on his lips, was about to raise his staff with a murderous aura, Go Gyeol firmly grabbed his arm.

“No.”

“Ah, why? You brother-bastard?”

Go Gyeol replied to Lee Seong-ha, who was gritting his teeth and cursing in a low voice.

“I told you. It’s not our turn to step up yet.”

Go Gyeol checked the real-time broadcast feeds on his tablet. The Eyeball Cameras were mainly focused on Hwang Tae-ja, where flashy skills were exploding, and the camera filming Go Gyeol’s team was being broadcast in a very small corner. It was the safe indifference that Go Gyeol had perfectly intended.

“Do-geun-ssi, fire one water cannon and roll backward. Ji-hyeon-ah, shoot the arrows with only 1/10th of your usual power. Don’t kill them in one hit; make sure to hit them three times to take them down. Hun-ah, don’t use your curse, just pretend to be scared and defend behind Ji-hyeon.”

“……What? You want me to act like I’m struggling against these boneheads right now?”

Kang Ji-hyun retorted as if it were absurd. Kwon Do-geun also had a troubled expression behind his mask. It was an order to fight like an extra in a B-grade action movie.

“Yes. You have to look like ordinary hunters who are barely and persistently holding on. Flashy area-of-effect skills are strictly forbidden.”

At Go Gyeol’s cold instruction, the party members let out deep sighs and began their clumsy acting.

“Ugh! These boneheads are too tough!”

Kwon Do-geun fired a water cannon with an exaggerated gesture and rolled on the floor, barely dodging a skeleton’s rusted sword. Kang Ji-hyun bit her lip, suppressing her shame, and fired tiny arrows of light—pew, pew—pretending to struggle.

“Lord… please save me from these demons….”

Lee Seong-ha, instead of using gravity, swung his staff like a neighborhood baseball bat, engaging in a crude physical brawl with the skeletons.

– God-Tae-ja’s sword energy is insane. It’s undead cleaning day today.

– But that team that set up a tent in the corner, they seem to be reaching their limit, right?

– Look at that masked guy rolling on the floor, lol. I guess they got lucky on the 1st and 2nd floors.

– That team has weak combat power, but their survival instinct is cockroach-level. Still, they’re holding on well without dying.

The viewers’ reactions went exactly as Go Gyeol had expected. While praising the overwhelming hero, only faint pity and boring interest were thrown at the extra team struggling to survive behind him.

A perfect mid-tier position—not standing out enough to receive 100,000 dislikes, yet not forgotten enough to be pushed out of the top 100.

“Hyung, are we really going to keep catching them like this? We are getting experience points, but it’s so frustrating.”

Kang Hoon whispered, hiding behind Kang Ji-hyun and looking around. Go Gyeol took a magic recovery potion out of his subspace, slipped it into Lee Seong-ha’s pocket, and replied indifferently.

“Even if it’s frustrating, endure it. See those guys over there unleashing flashy skills? They’ll run out of magic power and be panting in less than an hour.”

Go Gyeol’s gaze was fixed on the feet of his party members who were silently moving forward. On the outside, they were pretending to fight with difficulty, but thanks to Lee Seong-ha and Kang Ji-hyun’s precise strikes and Kwon Do-geun’s movement without wasting a single step, the party’s actual stamina consumption was close to zero. On the other hand, their experience point efficiency was piling up steadily, not inferior to the large guilds moving ahead.

“Give all the glory and the spotlight to Hwang Tae-ja. We’ll save our stamina here and just sweetly eat up the skill points the system is handing out.”

At Go Gyeol’s words, Lee Seong-ha chuckled as he smashed a skeleton’s jawbone with his staff.

“You really are…… a wicked manager to the bone.”

“Thanks for the compliment. Now, the action is too loose. Ji-hyeon-ah, step back with a more desperate expression.”

The Labyrinth of the Dead, which seemed like it would never end, also began to show its end.