Climbing the Mythic Tower as a Cheating Administrator - Chapter 5

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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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The Administrator Using Cheats Climbs the Mythic Tower (5)
A serpent’s tongue, coiled tight as a whip.
The shed skin of a cobra, its hood expanded wide.
And fangs larger than a human palm.
It was easy enough to guess that the items dropped when the master of the 66th Floor fell were no ordinary objects.
Especially since the fangs were already smoking the moment they touched the stone floor.
Mu Saeng quickly pulled on Anti-poison Gloves from his bag and picked up the items.
〈Slayken’s Tongue (S)〉
The tongue of Slayken, master of all serpents. No snake can resist its tremor.
〈Slayken’s Shed Skin (S)〉
The skin of Slayken. The shed skin of the serpent’s master contains all the vitality one could need. Increases poison resistance. Instant detoxification effect.
〈Slayken’s Fang (S)〉
Slayken, master of serpents, does not secrete poison from poison sacs—the poison emanates from the fangs themselves. Be warned: even touching it can cause poisoning. The poisoning effect varies according to the quantity of venom.
‘All S-rank… huh.’
C-rank Anti-poison Gloves, which would have blocked poison at the 15th Floor level without difficulty, couldn’t withstand S-rank venom for even five seconds.
[You’re actually picking up loot some 66th Floor mob left behind?]
Wash grumbled, but Mu Saeng didn’t respond.
The 66th Floor, no big deal?
‘Geumsung cleared the 66th Floor just recently. South Korea’s top guild is challenging the 67th Floor now—’
And this—an Artifact dropped by that 66th Floor boss?!
How much could this be worth?
‘Plus, the moment I saw that snake’s head, I knew it was the 66th Floor.’
There are still many unconfirmed dungeons.
The highest floor humanity has climbed so far is the 71st.
In other words, there are still many dungeons with the potential for ‘beyond that’.
To clear them… well, not even to clear them.
‘Just to find out what floor they are.’
Before challenging a floor in the Tower, those seeking to gather advance information through dungeons would pay dearly just for knowing ‘what floor’ it is!
“You’re actually more useful than I thought—… huh?”
Mu Saeng, flushed with the thought that he’d struck gold, had to clamp his mouth shut.
He’d caught sight of Wash crackling even more intensely than before.
“You…”
[What?]
Wash frowned as if even Mu Saeng’s concern was an annoyance.
At the same moment, a System Message appeared in Mu Saeng’s vision.
[Disk Fragment Collection executing]
[1%]
.
.
[Don’t look at me with those eyes, as if you pity me. I’d rather die. My ability will be usable again once the time comes, so don’t.]
Our agreement is to do our best in good faith, and that applies only within the contract’s terms.
There’s no reason we’d suddenly grow close in a situation like this.
“Well, if you put it that way… okay.”
Having lived as a Dungeon Sherpa, Mu Saeng had worked with countless clients.
No matter how ill-tempered or difficult a client was, he’d always completed his assigned work.
Much less when dealing with the Tower’s administrator—and a capable one at that.
A fellow traveler he’d gained through his own Awakened Ability, which he’d thought long since rotted away—how could he not find that endearing?
‘But what about the Transmission? Is that all there is to it?’
It had been X when Transmission wasn’t complete.
Then changed to O once Transmission finished.
And then? That’s it?
Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble—
In that instant, the entire stone temple began to shake.
But Mu Saeng was not one to panic.
“It’s going to collapse. Let’s move.”
Mu Saeng quickly gathered up the Artifacts.
He tore up every scroll he’d brought with him.
There was no choice but to run out on foot before the structure came down.
Mu Saeng bolted forward at speed.
* * *
It took Mu Saeng several more hours to escape the dungeon.
The stone temple had been completely buried in sand, transforming the surrounding terrain in the process.
The moment he passed through the gate, Mu Saeng exhaled deeply.
“Phew… I’m alive.”
[So this is CX-. No, wait—Earth? Filthy. Absolutely filthy.]
Wash snorted derisively even as his eyes gleamed, scanning the surroundings.
Mu Saeng chuckled at the sight of him, then immediately pulled out his smartphone.
Eliminating the master of the 66th Floor. Acquiring three S-rank Artifacts.
An Awakened Ability he’d thought useless, yet the Tower’s administrator had been Transmitted away.
Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep!
But above all else, what Mu Saeng felt was the sheer joy of survival.
And sharing that joy with the one person who mattered—that emotion alone filled his mind entirely.
“Hey, I was just about to call you—how did you—”
―Mu, is this Mu Saeng? Mu Saeng? Mu Saeng!?
Park Hyun Gu, representative director of Omgim Company.
He was calling out his name over and over, his voice trembling.
Mu Saeng realized the reason anew.
“Don’t even say it—that One Way punk got himself into an accident—”
―You! You! They said you died in the dungeon! I mean, damn it all… Yeah, you’re not the type to go down that easily, but Jesus……
Never mind that Mu Saeng was the one who’d actually suffered.
Park Hyun Gu, if anything, sounded like a man who’d died and come back to life.
Mu Saeng laughed softly.
“Come on, worry’s in the blood. You think I’d let myself get taken down so easy? Anyway, I’m going to squeeze that bastard for every won in damages. Here’s what happened—”
The question was how to handle the fallout from the dungeon incident.
What compensation could he extract from Lee Eun Woo—more precisely, from Korea One Way Group, the mid-tier guild he represented.
Mu Saeng had been about to discuss figures and collection methods with Park Hyun Gu when—
―Damages are coming from them! They’re the ones raising hell against us!
“What? What are you talking about?”
The fact that such a thought had even crossed Mu Saeng’s mind showed how little he knew of Lee Eun Woo.
Mu Saeng demanding damages from Lee Eun Woo?
Park Hyun Gu explained.
―That bastard grandson held an emergency press conference! He’s saying the Dungeon Sherpa gave him bad directions and he nearly died, and now he’s going live, demanding our company pay damages on air!
“… Live broadcast? I’ll check it. Hang up.”
―Yeah, yeah, okay. Jeez, my nerves are shot—no wait, they actually are shot, I think my lifespan just got shorter, I mean—
Click. Mu Saeng ended the call with Park Hyun Gu.
Simultaneously, he connected to the internet.
He didn’t have to search far.
From the main news feeds of major portals to the world’s largest video sites.
Everything was plastered with Lee Eun Woo’s emergency press conference.
[“Is it true that you encountered the ‘Master of Serpents’ in the 15 Dungeon?”]
[“The Master of Serpents? There are rumors it’s a monster on the level of the 60th Floor boss.”]
[“That’s exactly why this infuriates me! The 15th Floor, 15 Dungeon—it’s hardly a location where information is hidden! And for a so-called Dungeon Sherpa to lead someone there! If he’d thoroughly reviewed the exploration records and dungeon data for the 15th Floor! He should never have guided anyone to an unconfirmed location!”]
On screen, Lee Eun Woo wiped away tears as he spouted nonsense.
Mu Saeng’s expression hardened.
[“Indeed, the Dungeon Distortion Phenomenon is rare, and the existing records don’t actually show this particular pattern. Usually, when disparate Mana pressure from different floors suddenly manifests inside a building—”]
[“Are you suggesting I’m lying!? Look at these wounds. Could something like this occur in the 15 Dungeon? Do you think it’s possible to destroy S-rank Armor?”]
On screen, Lee Eun Woo held up his armor.
Dented and torn in claw marks.
Evidence that could never exist on someone who hadn’t been attacked by the Master of Serpents.
[“W-well, that’s true, but if the distortion phenomenon in the 15 Dungeon connected to the 14th or 16th—… Ah, w-we’ve just received the residual Mana analysis results! S-sixty-six! The 66th Floor! Cross-referencing with Mana signatures obtained by the United States confirms it matches the 66th Floor—”]
[“Insane, this is a scoop! There’s a passage from the 15 Dungeon to the 66 Dungeon!”]
[“R-relay this to headquarters! Priority one emergency! Hurry!”]
Not that Lee Eun Woo lacked intelligence.
After all, he’d experienced an overwhelmingly powerful Mana pressure firsthand, and he’d orchestrated this entire spectacle using the Mana residue left in his own body as proof.
Reporters from various news outlets, major guilds dispatching scouts—everything descended into chaos.
[“Don’t forget, everyone! The passage to the 66 Dungeon! What happened there! How he survived! How he conquered the 66th Floor boss, identical to the 66 Dungeon’s master! I, Lee Eun Woo of Korea One Way Group, know these things!”]
In the midst of the uproar, Lee Eun Woo presented himself with supreme confidence, flushed with excitement.
It was undoubtedly the perfect method for building recognition as One Way Group ascended from mid-tier to major status, and for asserting the presence of its heir apparent.
“Huh… This guy’s absolutely contemptible.”
For Mu Saeng, who had simply done his duty in silence, it was the perfect method to set his blood on fire.
Mu Saeng glanced at the screen.
“I’ve worked as a Dungeon Sherpa, tasting every bitter herb and indignity to keep clients happy…….”
[Live] Korea One Way Group Emergency Press Conference—Yeouido Headquarters Main Hall
“But I’m not so much of a fool as to swallow this.”
With that, he immediately got behind the wheel and drove.
Fire kindled in Mu Saeng’s eyes.
* * *
Lee Eun Woo’s “little show” wasn’t being watched by Mu Saeng alone.
As evening fell and the sun began its descent, those who hadn’t yet clocked out were gathering in small clusters to observe this spectacle.
It was no different for Geumsung, the guild headquartered on Eulji-ro that stood without peer as the finest in all of Korea.
A bespectacled secretary asked a question.
“Is it really true, Sub-Director? That the 66th Floor is connected to it and they claim to know how to clear it……?”
“Lee Eun Woo of Korea One Way Group. Eighteen years old. They say all his Tower Climbing has been solo runs with a best record of the 14th Floor. Even the people he brought along as escorts only made it to the 30s, apparently.”
A woman sitting in an executive chair, legs crossed, spoke.
Barely in her mid-to-late twenties?
Yet in Geumsung, where merit reigns supreme, she held the second position in the Strategy Division.
Geum Su A, Sub-Director of Strategy.
“Yes. According to their claims—”
“Then they won’t make it out alive. Absolutely not. You know this as well as we do, don’t you? We ourselves…… made a sacrificial offering. There’s no way those idiots would know how to clear it.”
Geum Su A’s teeth ground together audibly.
It was humiliation. In the end, they had failed to clear Slayken.
No proper attack had even penetrated its outer hide.
She knew the common weakness of serpent-type monsters—the mouth, the soft flesh within.
But there was no way to target it. That endless tongue, the overwhelming potency of its venom…….
In the ever-shifting, distorting temple space, only the number of those struck by poison grew.
The 66th Floor—a nightmare where progress was impossible without choosing a sacrificial offering.
She could never forget that moment when she had to make the decision to sacrifice one person.
“So then…….”
“But that System Message those idiots saw—it was real. Real, word for word identical to what we saw. It’s probably true that the 66th Floor is distorted into the 15th Floor.”
Still, there was no chance that scrubs like Korea One Way Group, much less even their elite, would know the method of clearing it.
But the Dungeon Distortion Phenomenon itself was likely genuine.
If so, Geum Su A’s next move was clear.
Geumsung prioritizes ability, pursuing strategies that are efficient and rational.
“We couldn’t kill them in the tower……. But we’ll kill them outside. To honor our sacrificed employee.”
Yet those who fall in pursuit of conquest are never forgotten by Geumsung.
Never abandoned.
Geum Su A knew well that this was the philosophy of Geumsung’s founder and her own father, Geum Byung Chul.
“Secretary Choi. Contact everyone in the Strategy Division for me. I’m heading to the Director now to report—……. Hm?”
Geum Su A, half-risen from her seat, froze mid-motion.
A subtle commotion had erupted in the press conference hall shown on the large monitor.
[“Who are you?”]
[“Stop him! Block the way! Don’t let him through!”]
Urgent voices rang out several times, and all eyes turned.
The camera’s lens pivoted smoothly to follow.
Geum Su A saw it.
A man rushing into the press conference hall.
“Who is that? What’s happening?”
“Appears to be a Dungeon Sherpa, Sub-Director. The one nicknamed Ace Sherpa—”
“Ah, Park Hyun Gu, is it?”
“No, it’s Kim Mu Saeng.”
On the screen, Mu Saeng was rushing toward Lee Eun Woo.

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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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