Chapter 33 : Yeah… well, I’ll take it for now (2)

Today, I planned to strengthen the security of the Tower.

With the Spirit Girl on my back—clinging tightly so she wouldn’t fall—I continued patrolling the Tower.

Maybe I’d gotten stronger, because she didn’t feel heavy at all.

“…Um… but is there really a part of our Tower where the security needs to be strengthened?”

“That’s a good question.”

You might ask, how can you even strengthen security in a Tower that has an S-rank monster like Death Knight on the very first floor?

But that’s precisely where the weakness lies.

S-rank monster Death Knight is indeed a powerful ally.

He commands nearly limitless forces, and he has the ability to revive the enemies killed by those forces and add them to his army.

But that’s not all.

Death Knight himself is as powerful as his minions.

He possesses combat ability and intelligence strong enough to easily take on two S-rank hunters at once.

Right now, he’s even stronger because I gave him Tower Coins.

So, what’s the problem then?

You might wonder.

Death Knight has a fatal weakness—he’s particularly vulnerable to what’s called holy magic, or light magic.

In the previous battle, she easily blocked or deflected Hanyul’s spells with her sword.

But against Chanseok’s attacks, she clenched her teeth and dodged desperately.

It ended there only because Chanseok didn’t have a high proficiency in light magic.

If an enemy who could wield large-scale holy magic were to invade?

“…Then the 28th floor would get breached with no resistance…?”

“Exactly.”

The Spirit Girl got the answer right.

Our Tower has 30 floors in total.

Among them, the floors guarded by mid-bosses are the 1st and 29th.

The top floor has me, so excluding that, there’s not a single monster in the rest of the Tower.

It’s practically a free pass.

Any invaders that made it up would reach Hwarang before they got to me.

Hwarang is still a formidable opponent.

After all, the infamous Hwarang Tower was cleared by all the S-rank hunters in the country teaming up.

However, now that the Tower has been cleared, Hwarang can’t exert as much power.

Because it was the very first Tower to appear in South Korea, it’s probably been studied more than any other monster.

In other words, all his weaknesses have been completely exposed.

They only cleared Hwarang Tower after I died, but if I had still been alive back then, even an F-rank hunter would have had access to those strategies.

Anyway, our Tower’s security is more fragile than I thought.

If a real strike force—not just scouts like last time—kicked down the door and came in for real, I’d have no choice but to just watch as they reached me.

There are still quite a few people like Chanseok who harbor hostility toward me.

There’s a high possibility that they’ll come—possibly with support from another country.

And if that happens, whether I like it or not, countless lives will be lost in vain.

Be it Death Knight or Hwarang, they are both S-rank monsters at their core.

The hunters will take heavy losses too.

I care about the hunters’ lives, yes, But I’ve grown fond of Death Knight and Hwarang as well.

That meant even I would be pained by the loss of their lives.

‘…And if they’re breached.’

In a deeply melancholic mood, it meant I’d have to kill people with my own hands.

The Sword Demon was still weaker than those two monsters, so it would be unreasonable to expect her to face all the incoming hunters alone.

If we assumed that after countless sacrifices even the Sword Demon was defeated.

‘Then I’d have to stain my own hands with blood.’

The law of the strong devouring the weak.

That was the absolute rule of the tower.

And in battle, I had accepted that and slashed through goblins.

Surely, if the hunters came, I would transform into the same person who killed goblins—and kill them just the same.

‘…That must never happen.’

To avoid causing any more sacrifices with my own hands, I had to make our tower fearsome.

So terrifying that people would give up entering altogether.

To achieve peace with overwhelming power they could feel.

People didn’t fully understand my strength yet.

And since the Sword Demon, Death Knight, and Hwarang had already been conquered, they likely thought it was still possible and thus showed hostility.

I knew well that peace comes from overwhelming power.

“That’s why I have no choice but to strengthen security.”

I had to show that Death Knight and Hwarang weren’t the end.

Just as I was saying that and thinking with the Spirit about what kinds of monsters should guard each floor.

[That’s an interesting idea.]

[I agree with your thinking.]

[Peace is never free, after all.]

A status window popped up in front of me and started speaking.

“…Status window? Why are you here?”

[That one cannot come out carelessly.]

As if it wasn’t the status window speaking, I tilted my head in confusion.

[…Is that all the reaction you have to your mother?]

I had just learned a secret about my birth.

No way—I was the child of the status window?

“…Who are you?”

When I asked again more politely, the status window displayed the following text as if satisfied:

[I’m the one who crafted your body—Cheonho. So that makes me your mother.]

[I was the one who helped you last time too. What on earth did ??? do to make my child so downcast?]

It was surprisingly kind and affectionate.

Seemed like this was my mother in this life.

“Was it you who smoked using my body last time…?”

[Yes, that was me.]

Apparently, my new mom was kind of a nutcase.

Who would’ve thought she’d possess her child’s body to smoke?

When I didn’t respond, she brought up a question mark in front of me and started muttering to herself.

[Is it uncomfortable to speak through just text? Why are you so quiet?]

[My daughter?]

Daughter? I mean, I’m a guy.

I was about to say “call me son,” but then remembered the state I was in.

“…Please don’t call me daughter…”

Trying to salvage my last shred of dignity.

But.

[What does it matter that you were a man in a past life?]

She responded with slight irritation.

But wait a minute.

“…You knew I was a man?”

[Of course. I’ve been watching you your whole life.]

“Th-Then why did you make me a woman…?”

[Because I prefer daughters.]

I was speechless.

She was a total lunatic auntie.

***

Meanwhile, Chanseok and Hanseong were having a very serious debate in the meeting room.

“…Master, obviously it should be raw beef and liver. What do you take the gumiho for?”

Chanseok insisted they should offer a gift suited to the gumiho’s taste.

“You’re the one treating the gumiho like a wild beast! Didn’t she say she liked tea and stuff? How about instant coffee?”

Hanseong argued they should treat her like a civilized being and give a more cultured gift.

Caught between the two, Hanyul was too tired to keep up and was browsing gifts online by herself.

‘…Would the gumiho unni like this? This fox keyring is cute.’

‘Oh, it looks just like her too.’

Most of the gifts Hanyul was looking at were feminine.

Anyway, their intense meeting continued for over 30 minutes.

The three ended up blowing the issue out of proportion to the point of calling the chairman.

“…President, seriously, raw beef and liver? Do you really think she’ll be happy with that?”

[…Yeah, that definitely doesn’t sound right.]

Even in his confusion, Sung Myungho helped choose a gift.

[But instant coffee is a bit much too… It’d be better to bring her a coffee machine and some beans.]

“That sounds good, right?”

Confident in his victory, Hanseong smiled at Chanseok, while Chanseok tasted bitter defeat.

And caught between the two was Hanyul.

“…Oh shit, fuck, I’m screwed.”

“…?”

“…?”

[…Was that Miss Hanyul just now? Please tell her to watch her language.]

Hanyul had been thoughtlessly buying up gumiho-related merchandise and ended up spending nearly 500,000 won.

Without realizing it, she frowned and cursed out loud.

“Ch-Chairman?! Wh-When did you call…? N-No, I mean…”

[…Sigh… Please be more careful, Hunter Jang Hanyul.]

“I’m so sorryyyyy…….”

[Please act like a proper Ranker. You’re one of Korea’s representative hunters, you know.]

“Yessir…….”

Chanseok sneered as he looked at Hanyul, who was completely deflated under the scolding.

“Please get home safe, Chairman.”

[…If only Miss Hanyul were half as reliable as Hunter Hanseong. I’ll take my leave.]

“Yes, sir.”

Once the call ended, Hanyul sat down with a pout.

“What are you pouting for like you did something right?”

“…No, I didn’t even mean to.”

As Chanseok chuckled, Hanyul snapped, claiming it was unintentional.

Hanseong hit her with a brutal remark.

“Isn’t that worse? You curse without even realizing it?”

“…Ugh.”

Leaving behind Hanyul, who looked like she’d been punched in the gut, Hanseong walked off to buy the coffee machine, basking in the joy of victory.

‘She gave me a good sword, and since I’m going to apologize anyway, I should give her the best beans and the best coffee machine.’

‘…I wonder if the Sword Demon knows how to use it?’

He briefly worried it might get broken but shook off the thought.

‘Well, I’m sure they’ll figure it out.’

While Hanseong went out to find the coffee machine.

“…Now’s the time. Hey, I’m gonna buy the liver and raw beef, so don’t tell the master.”

“Oppa, I seriously don’t think that’s a good gift.”

“She’s a gumiho. She’ll like it.”

Saying that, Chanseok snuck out of the guild and headed to a raw meat restaurant.

At the same time, Yubin.

“…Mother, why are you putting me through this trial?!!!”

[…I saved your life! Why are you being so picky?! Are you going through puberty already?!]

“Aaaargh! What puberty?! You’re driving me crazy!”

Was committing actual verbal blasphemy by yelling at her new mother for not making her a man.

“B-Boss-nim…?”

“A-Are you okay…?”

Only the Spirit, who couldn’t see the status window messages, trembled in fear at Yubin’s bizarre behavior.

***

Cheonho ( Yubin’s real – life mother)