Climbing the Mythic Tower as a Cheating Administrator - Chapter 102

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Climbing the Mythic Tower as a Cheating Administrator (102)
The capital of the Rosal Kingdom froze in an instant.
The reason no one could move with any clarity was obvious.
“D-defense? What about the capital’s protective barrier—?”
“The dragon broke it. No, nullified it…. Magic Nullification….”
The mages within the capital trembled and muttered, their voices quavering.
This was the capital of a nation.
It was not merely defended by physically towering walls.
It was not merely protected by an army meant to crush foreign invaders.
In a world where magic fundamentally existed, guerrilla mage terrorism was one of the threats that had to be addressed as a matter of course.
Naturally, a magical defense barrier against external attack had been erected.
Rumors abounded that it was strong enough to withstand even a hundred capable mages attacking simultaneously—and yet…….
[Where are you, Kim Moo-saeng! If you do not show yourself, I shall obliterate this contemptible place in a single breath—this pathetic warren where creatures like you fester──────!]
Lapis roared.
The reverberating Dragon’s Roar was so overwhelming that most of the ordinary citizens in the marketplace district collapsed unconscious.
“H-help! There are wounded—! This person isn’t breathing!”
“Damn it, what’s happening? What is Kim Moo-saeng? Is it something you eat? A treasure? An Artifact name?”
“H-home! Everyone cover your ears! The dragon’s voice carries a curse just by listening!”
It was actual threat that moved the frozen bodies.
The capital’s residents, having witnessed friends, colleagues, and neighbors struck down, scattered in panic.
The capital of the Rosal Kingdom descended into complete chaos.
The Royal Palace was no exception.
“All guards, assemble! Protect His Majesty and the royal family!”
That was why the palace’s surroundings had flashed brilliantly when the Dragon’s Roar echoed moments before.
The Royal Palace’s defense barrier—far more powerful than one protecting the entire capital—had nearly been shattered.
“Broadcast to all forces within the capital! Do not—absolutely do not—launch a preemptive strike until there is direct and unmistakable harm caused by the Blue Dragon! Th-the target is likely the Dragon Slayer! Move first and you die! Defensive posture only!”
“What are the mages doing!? Send Telepathy at once! To the Dragon Slayer—to Kim Moo-saeng!”
It was not a direct or intentional spell.
Indiscriminate, random, area-wide Dragon’s Roar.
Was the palace barrier threatened by the draconic utterance’s effect alone?!
At least Moo-saeng’s judgment was certain.
“……The Dragon Slayer. For the kingdom and for myself…. Is he a gain or a loss?”
Even if he had rushed directly to the Royal Palace and wielded some authority before the king, spoken some persuasive words.
Not at this moment would the king have sided with Moo-saeng.
By the time the capital was in complete upheaval, as was the Royal Palace.
Moo-saeng was breathing hard.
“Hah…… hah…… Ugh…… ah, you’re all gathered, aren’t you?”
Rampage had ended.
Of course, even now his stats were several times higher than they had been as a Dungeon Sherpa.
But the aching soreness that came from moving with elevated stats, now confined to a lower-stat body?
The burden when high-level muscular fatigue applied to a low-stat frame was more than a simple stat penalty—it was a compounding punishment…….
“Th-they’re all here, but now what? That thing looks bigger than the dragon from back then?”
Park Hyun-gu swallowed dryly and pointed at the sky.
He too was a former Dungeon Sherpa.
Despite the distance, he had the ability to gauge size by comparison with the Blue Dragon they’d faced before.
And Park Hyun-gu’s measurement was precise.
[It’s an Ancient Dragon, so. Bahahaha! The leader of the Blue Dragon Clan doesn’t seem to be one anymore, or is it? Has that changed?]
Only, Park Hyun-gu could not hear that answer.
Moo-saeng had intuited it as well.
Through Mage Maia’s Goggles, after all.
A frame so immense it could not be compared to Azulvibo, who had only recently graduated from the smallest stage to early adulthood.
And possessed of skills capable of disarming the formidable defensive preparations of the Rosal Kingdom’s capital in a mere moment.
“Everyone behind me, hah…… ahem, so—.”
Moo-saeng suppressed the urge to collapse and steeled his breathing.
Then, with the greatest volume he could manage.
“Blue Dragon Lapis! The Dragon Slayer Kim Moo-saeng is here!”
He shouted.
[There you are, worthless creature! An existence that could not repay its debt even through the most agonizing of deaths!]
Lapis charged.
More startling than any roar was what happened as it accelerated and flew across the scant distance: every water vapor in the air ignited in an explosion.
The sonic boom alone toppled several buildings below, and a colossal Ancient Blue Dragon materialized before Kim Moo-saeng and his party.
* * *
The dragon’s body was so massive that all of Kim Moo-saeng’s group could fit in the shadow it cast beneath the sunlight.
Shin Hyun-dong, Kim Ji-yoon, Jo Sang-gyu—none of it mattered.
The moment everyone instinctively sensed that Kim Moo-saeng’s condition was abnormal, no amount of trust in him could banish the creeping dread.
What good was a Metal Rhine A-Rank Artifact, no matter how prestigious?
That immense Blue Dragon would pierce such armor as though it were gauze.
“Did you come to capture me? Then let’s talk just between us—”
[Do humans converse with insects? I have nothing for you but death. Your worthless life I would trample underfoot this very instant, yet… to honor Azulvibo, I grant you a choice.]
Lapis did not wait for Kim Moo-saeng to finish speaking.
It was something he’d anticipated to some degree.
The constraint that he could no longer speak with the Blue Dragon was explicitly stated in the special conditions of the Blue Dragon Clan’s Enmity.
[Make amends for the grievous harm inflicted upon the Blue Dragon Clan. Declare that all you have done was mere chance, that a wretched creature like you could only harm our treasure Azulvibo through the meddling of that accursed god’s play. And should you slit your own belly and perish by your own hand, then perhaps I shall withdraw at this point.]
At words so savage they seemed to have weight, Park Hyun-gu nearly collapsed to his knees.
Kim Moo-saeng, too, looked up at Lapis with a trembling frame.
Only one thing differed from the others—he was smirking.
“But didn’t you just say earlier, *cough*, that if I showed myself of my own volition you’d execute me painlessly? And now your story changes? That’s pretty queer… Blue Dragons really do love their lies, don’t they—”
[You insolent insect────────!]
“Kyaaaaaack!”
“Kgh, I—I’m flying!”
“No, it’s Confusion, Fear, and Paralysis debuffs!”
“My… my ears are bleeding…… Aaah, my eardrums!”
Sound is the tremor of air.
Before a dragon of overwhelming volume, even debuffs against which some Resistance had been acquired proved unavoidable.
Hwang Jun-seo and several others bled freely from their ear canals.
Kim Moo-saeng quickly distributed potions to them while never taking his eyes off Lapis.
[Dare you mock the Clan? Do you wish for your very soul to be burned and torn asunder, human Kim Moo-saeng!]
“Yes, I do. I absolutely do. God, I wish you Blue Dragons would just come after me alone and put me out of my misery already.”
Kim Moo-saeng was grinning widely.
In coarse terms, he was cracking up entirely.
And his tone—what of it?
[……What?]
Even the Ancient Blue Dragon Lapis was left momentarily bewildered by such an attitude.
Even a man mad with longing for death had his limits, but what in the world was this?
Kim Moo-saeng squared his shoulders with even greater boldness and surveyed his surroundings.
Most people had fled, yet a handful—those whose curiosity had overcome their fear—remained.
Not ordinary folk, of course, but adventurers of near S-Rank caliber or high mages and the like……
“If you don’t chase me down, I’m spreading the word. ‘The Blue Dragons are liars! They backtrack on everything they say! Some big shot named Lapis goes on and on about executions and grandstanding, but then he can’t even follow through…!’ That’s what I’ll be telling everyone.”
Kim Moo-saeng shouted these words toward the onlookers.
The corners of Lapis’s eyes crinkled.
[Far from repenting, you resort to pathetic tricks even now. Truly, you are filth of the lowest order. From this moment forward, not only you, but this very place upon which you have set foot shall be razed to ash as an example—]
“Still running your mouth at a time like this…… Listen, if I see you again later, you’re dead. I’ll have you killed by Azulvibo’s own fangs and claws.”
Kim Moo-saeng drew out the Blue Warning and deliberately provoked Lapis with it.
[-What!? You worm—]
Lapis drew in a sharp breath.
Watching that gesture, unmistakable in its resolve to indulge patience no longer.
Kim Moo-saeng spun around and cried out behind him.
* * *
Immediately after Lapis revealed herself.
“Wash!”
[……I cannot help you this time, Kim Moo-saeng. I have no power to lend. Your clever head—]
“That’s exactly why just answer my question! If I were to—”
Kim Moo-saeng posed it.
“—go to the next floor? What happens to this place?”
What would happen if he ascended to Floor 28?
How would this situation, this scene, be handled?
[……Kekekeke! So that’s it. When did you grow clever enough to think in such directions, Kim Moo—]
“Hurry, just answer me!”
[-Stupid wretch! Answer? What’s there to answer? Have you forgotten how the Tower is structured?]
In response to Kim Moo-saeng’s urging, Wash merely grew exasperated.
What kind of structure does the tower have.
And what kind of structure does a dungeon identical to the tower have.
“An Instance. Then that’s it? The moment I leave here? A reset? No, not even a reset—what should I call it. Anyway, it ends!?”
It’s an Instance.
Even now, how many Awakeners across the world are challenging Floor 27.
They and Moo-saeng don’t mix.
They don’t mix with each other either.
Unless they form a party to challenge it, they never overlap.
They have their own Rosal Kingdom, their own Royal Guard, their own fortress in Bottleneck Canyon, their own Royal Palace mage chambers.
Having heard Wash’s confirmation, Moo-saeng had already devised a plan.
First was to gather everyone together.
An absolutely necessary step.
And the second?
To attempt a few things that seemed pointless at first glance.
One was attempting conversation—a guaranteed failure.
Another was ability verification.
Hwang Jun-seo’s eardrums ruptured and most of the party members took on Debuffs.
[Resisted Confusion.]
[Resisted Fear.]
[Resisted Paralysis.]
[Attack power decreased.]
[Accuracy decreased.]
Even Moo-saeng’s attack power and accuracy had fallen—such was the potency…….
‘It casually damaged an A-Rank Artifact and then unleashed this much force……. I’ve heard Ancient Dragons are monstrously powerful, but this exceeds my information. Lapis must have the 15-Person Difficulty Adjustment applied to it as well.’
When hostile to a Living Being unrelated to the quest, what judgment would be rendered.
What kind of influence would it have.
Because Moo-saeng wanted to confirm this more definitively than Wash’s answer.
And now, having completed all verification?
There was no more business to conduct.
All that remained was to draw out the Blue Warning.
That was the maximum counterattack Moo-saeng could manage right now.
“Acting impressive even now……. Listen, if I see you again next time, you’re dead. I’ll kill you with those teeth and claws of Azulvibo that you treasure so much.”
[-What!? You wretch-.]
And judging by how quickly Lapis reacted, Moo-saeng had managed to inflict some psychological damage.
That was enough.
Snap, crackle, pop-pop-pop……!
As white electrical energy gathered at Lapis’s chest and mouth as the dragon drew breath.
Moo-saeng spun around and shouted.
“Challenge!”
───────────……!!!!
Kim Moo-saeng, Park Hyun-gu, Shin Hyun-dong, Kim Ji-yoon, Noh Ye-rang, Hwang Jun-seo, Lee Ha-eun, Lee Jin-won, Cha Jin-pyo, Kim Woo-min, Jo Sang-gyu, Park Min-joo.
All twelve members were transferred to Floor 28.
That was the end of it.
Lapis never released that breath.
Or rather, even if it had, it would have had no effect on Moo-saeng’s world.
[Floor 28]
“Phew…… Is everyone alright?”
Moo-saeng asked.
The sight of everyone completely drained, slumped to the ground or collapsed entirely—that was answer enough.
“Ugh, alright!? I thought we’d be going right back up, so why did you waste time like that—.”
Park Hyun-gu alone, recalling that harrowing moment, pressed Moo-saeng for an answer.
“I needed to verify its abilities. Ah, the ringing won’t stop. My head’s ringing.”
Moo-saeng replied matter-of-factly.
There had been a need to verify those abilities.
Of all things, on this one point—Moo-saeng was utterly sincere.
“Verify? But why?”
“Why? Obviously to kill it.”
Until now, it had no physical form, so I ignored it.
But now that it’s revealed itself, it’s different.
To move while leaving a threat at your back?
“Lapis or whatever. By the time we meet again… I need to find a way.”
That’s not something an Ace Dungeon Sherpa does.
Resolve it. Or prepare a solution that can be executed at any moment and act on it.
Moo-saeng’s eyes gleamed.
Park Hyun-gu swallowed hard.
That look in Moo-saeng’s eyes—he’d seen it since their days at the orphanage.
When his pupils took on that quality, what followed was always…
“Anyway, ugh, I’m exhausted… And since we’ve got time here on Floor 28! Let’s get some rest. I’ll set up tents for everyone, so just lie down, okay?”
“Huh?”
Moo-saeng flopped onto his back without a word.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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