Chapter 25: The Saintess laughs amidst a sea of blood.

What’s the problem with me holding onto the key?

“From the 4th floor onwards, multiplayer is recommended.”

It’s not like this is some kind of party-recommended game.

“Is that the rule?”

“Yes. The Tower of Destruction already has a set number of participants. If you want to proceed alone, you’ll need cooperation from a guild or higher-ranked hunters.”

“Really?”

Is this about fairness?

As far as I know, there weren’t any such rules.

“Yes.”

“Was it always like that?”

“The Guild Management Bureau decided that it was unfair for you to monopolize the 4th-floor key, so they changed the Tower of Destruction’s rules this year.”

Are they trying to control the hunter society that thrives on survival of the fittest?

It seems like they’re just trying to stop me.

I can’t imagine anyone going out of their way to target me, since I’ve only been active in the Tower of Destruction.

Maybe some high-ranking officials don’t want to see the Tower remain unconquered.

It looks like the Hunter Alliance is also taking advantage of this situation.

They’re all such bastards.

In short, the guy in front of me is saying that if I want to climb the tower, we should cooperate to everyone’s benefit.

In simpler terms, he’s asking me to quietly open the 4th floor in exchange for joining them.

The bastard in front of me nodded at my question.

“Yes.”

So that’s how you’re going to play this?

Well, I have my own ways of dealing with this.

Just as I was about to act…

“Wait a minute!”

A couple of women stepped in, stopping the other hunters rather than me.

“Uh, we’re close to the Saintess. We’ll persuade her.”

“Oh, you’re the Frost Queen, Si-yeon. Alright.”

What the heck?

Who are these crazy women acting like they know me?

Is this some new kind of scam?

If so, I should beat them up as well.

“Please follow us.”

The two women grabbed my hand and led me somewhere.

This is annoying.

Once we’re in a secluded area, I might as well swing my mace and teach them a lesson.

They seem to be full of evil intentions.

They led me to a corner of the 3rd floor.

Nearby, I could see some will-o’-the-wisps, likely weak monsters that had respawned after the Wraiths were cleared out.

“Who are you, and why do you claim to know me? You look annoying.”

How can they look like this?

Well, they’re pretty.

By Korean standards, they’re both attractive women, with sleek bobs and ponytails that suit them.

But what?

They’re still not as good-looking as me.

If you’re going to drag me off for a conversation, you should at least be on my level in terms of looks.

If not, you should at least do something that earns my favor.

The one with the bob looked at me seriously.

Does she want me to hit her?

“Uh, oppa.”

What did this brat just say?

“Is that an artificial eye in your head or something? What part of me looks like a man?”

Is she seriously that dumb?

The jealousy of women is really scary.

Is she calling me a man because she wants to bring me down that badly?

Either way, I’m getting irritated.

-This is exactly the moment to crack a skull open!

Even the goddess seems to be angry.

“Right? I should probably do that.”

Maybe it would be best to just take action now.

“Oppa, you’re Park Si-woo, right? I’m Yoo-jeong. And this is Si-yeon unnie.”

Ah, now I get it.

The pieces are falling into place.

“Oh, so you’re claiming to be my family or lovers from a past life?”

Now that I see their faces, I vaguely remember them.

No wonder I found them irritating.

“Ah, do you remember?”

“And so what?”

“Huh?”

What do you want from me?

“Let’s be clear. That’s my past life, and I’m Karina. Some returnees seem to have memories of their past lives, but I don’t.”

Though I have some memories, I don’t want to get involved with you two.

Now that I see you, I don’t even feel like hitting you anymore.

I don’t know what you’re expecting from me now, but…

Should I at least listen to what you have to say before deciding to break your skulls?

“Oppa, I’m sure you might not remember, but…”

“Excuse me. Stop acting like we’re close. That ‘oppa’ you’re talking about and I are different people. Got it? I’m not some pushover who threw away his grades for you, worked to make money for you, or was dumb enough to keep a cheating girlfriend.”

“But…”

“I’m not wrong, am I? I’m not even sure if I really was that dumb pushover in my past life. How could I, a follower of the goddess, have been such a fool?”

I said it nonchalantly, without much emotion.

It’s not that I’m not angry, but looking at them now, I feel absolutely nothing.

Cracking skulls is something I do simply because it needs to be done.

“Op… oppa.”

Don’t shed tears with that ugly face of yours.

It seems like they still don’t understand the situation.

“I may have accepted my past life just to settle on Earth, but I am Karina. Stop calling me oppa.”

Honestly, it’s a hassle.

It’s a nuisance.

You have nothing to offer me, yet you’re begging for forgiveness.

“Karina, even if Park Si-woo was your past life, we’re sorry. We just want to help you. At least, we hope we can be of some help in your life.”

Si-yeon, the Frost Queen, spoke with a sorrowful expression.

They want to help me?

“Really? And how exactly?”

“We’ll help you get through the tower.”

Look at that.

Are they trying to negotiate with me?

They’re offering to help me clear the 4th floor in exchange for acknowledging my past life and forgiving them?

They’re pushing it, but that’s probably what they mean.

“So you’re saying you’ll help me open the 4th floor in exchange for me acknowledging my past life and forgiving you?”

“We have some influence.”

Judging by their appearance, that seems plausible.

They certainly look like they could be named characters.

The long-haired one, Si-yeon, was called the Frost Queen, right?

I’ve seen her mentioned online.

She’s one of the few S-rank hunters in Korea, nicknamed the Frost Queen for her ice abilities.

So she’s an S-rank hunter from Korea?

Wow, what a villain who made it big.

She’s trying to use her current status against me.

“Isn’t this a bit too petty? You toyed with Park Si-woo, and now you’re blackmailing me, his reincarnation? Wow. Even Satan would need to find a new job because you’re too evil.”

Wow, these women tormented both my past self and my current self. You’re incredible.

“We’re… we’re not like that! We just want to be by your side… no, by Karina’s side, even if only as helpers.”

“Since you kept avoiding us, this was the only way we could talk to you.”

I get it now.

Since I had asked the management to keep them away, this was their way of forcing a meeting.

I understand what they’re thinking.

Even if I’m not Park Si-woo anymore, they probably see me as someone they need to atone to.

But so what?

Does that really matter to me?

“You seem to be mistaken. I can handle this on my own.”

Even if I were to accept these women’s help…

“What do you mean?”

“I’m saying that Park Si-woo and I are different.”

While Park Si-woo might have let those who tormented him off the hook, I’m not like that.

We’re complete opposites.

I don’t have any siblings or lovers to bother me.

And I don’t forgive those who annoy me.

“So, you’re saying you have a solution without our help?”

“Of course.”

I turned away from the women and headed towards the group of hunters guarding the door.

“Understood.”

“See? It works when Lady Si-yeon steps up. That’s more like it. Now, if you’ve smoothed things over, let’s get going.”

“We should have done this from the start.”

[Respawn Field]

[Holy Barrier]

It would be a problem to leave here now, and it wouldn’t do to make this known.

So, I set up a barrier.

I installed the respawn field for one reason only.

“Uhh?”

CRACK!

I smashed the head of a hunter who had been laughing mockingly.

Maybe the higher-ups in Korea’s hunter society backed off because they didn’t want to clash with me.

That makes sense.

Even Yoo Ji-ho avoided contact with me.

Yoo Ji-ho, the guild leader of a top guild, likely has his reasons.

If he has any sense, he’d want to avoid bringing trouble to his guild.

He knows I’m a crazy woman, so there’s no reason for him to poke the hornet’s nest.

There’s probably another guild behind this hunter alliance too.

In other words, those guys are scapegoats.

I don’t even need to see it to know.

I’ve spent years in the warrior world.

“Did you… kill someone?”

“You’re a deranged murderer!”

“Don’t worry. You’re not truly dead until I say you are.”

Dragging my bloodied mace, I walked toward the hunters still standing.

The hunter I killed revived right in front of me.

“EEK!”

CRACK!

I killed him a second time.

Grinning wickedly, I looked around at the other hunters.

Roughly dozens of them.

Honestly, dealing with them is a hassle.

“At this point, it qualifies as self-defense! What are you waiting for? Kill her now!”

Grabbing the mace with both hands, I raised it high and smashed it down onto the ground.

KRRRRACK!

The ground split open in an instant, and the hunters charging at me fell into the cracks or were buried under debris.

“Of course. Only idiots like this would come here.”

-Why’s that?

“Even Yoo Ji-ho backed out, didn’t he? If they had any sense, they would step back from this situation. Just the fact that I cleared the Wraith-filled 3rd floor should’ve shown them how strong I am. They wouldn’t want their guild to take a hit.”

They have responsibilities, and they know the consequences.

So the ones here…

-Ah, I see. So these people…

“These guys aren’t the type to think that far ahead. That’s why they’re trying to pull off something here. And now they’ll just end up getting their heads bashed in.”

In short, the fools here today will leave with a bit more intelligence.

And those who didn’t show up are probably planning to stop me in some other way.

A big guild wouldn’t let a single returnee monopolize the Tower.

I’ve already considered that possibility.

For now…

“Pl-Please spare me!”

“In the name of the Goddess.”

CRACK!

I smashed the head of a hunter who had managed to crawl out of the debris.

I cracked their skulls without mercy.

So none of these dozens of hunters would dare stand against me.

Crack and crack again.

CRACK!

SMASH!

Soon, the barrier was filled with the blood of the hunters.

“How many did I take down?”

-You’ve gotten through hundreds.

“These empty-headed fools don’t even stand a chance in a fight.”

Is the top guild still not planning to show up?

Just making an example out of one of them would be enough to scare off the rest.

But this won’t be enough.

“You crazy psycho! Die already!”

A man suddenly emerged from beneath the collapsed Wraith graves.

Too predictable.

I swung my mace even faster than he charged.

CRACK!

“And that’s why none of you should step out of line.”

The Tower of Destruction is often visited by streamers.

I’ve checked out many Tower streamers over the past few days, but not a single one of the hunters I saw today was among them.

In other words, the popular hunters—the so-called ‘insiders’—had already coordinated and backed out.

To reiterate, these guys are just disposable pawns.

And all they’ll get in return is…

CRACK!

…their skulls smashed.