Climbing the Mythic Tower as a Cheating Administrator - Chapter 6

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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 Admin Who Cheats: Climbing the Mythic Tower (6)
Mu Saeng’s expression hadn’t changed much from moments before.
But Wash could tell.
His eyes were different.
And Wash was no fool—he knew exactly what fire burned in those eyes.
[You won’t be able to take revenge on that savage beast with your own strength.]
……
Revenge.
Wash had heard what the man in the video was saying.
He didn’t understand primitive human speech perfectly, but one thing was unmistakable from the situation itself.
‘That human left this one behind—no, *abandoned* him and ran.’
If he’d simply been left, those eyes wouldn’t burn like this.
Clear betrayal.
Unmistakable betrayal.
‘Just like those bastards at the top…….’
Wash glided through empty air and caught Mu Saeng’s gaze.
Mu Saeng didn’t spare him a single glance.
Just a quick check of the navigation, otherwise fixed on the road ahead and sweeping the sides and rear mirror.
It wasn’t intentional neglect.
Intentional neglect meant the opposite—he was acutely aware.
In that sense, Mu Saeng was in a state of perfect concentration.
And that too was startling to Wash.
Heading toward his target of revenge.
With a being of tremendous power at his side.
And he ignores that presence?
[Look, if you’re counting on trusting me and running your mouth, think again. The dungeon was fine enough, but—.]
A warning that he couldn’t use his power outside spaces connected to the tower.
That was what he’d meant to convey, but it was also why Mu Saeng had shown little interest in Wash from the start.
“I never expected anything from you anyway, Wash.”
He’d never had any intention of relying on him.
Wash tilted his head in confusion.
[Then what are you trying to do? Even at a glance, you seem to have quite a gap in ability compared to that one.]
“Using Awakened Abilities outside the tower or dungeons violates the Nevada Treaty anyway. A guild like Geum Sung won’t recklessly break it, so Onewave can’t either.”
[Nevada?]
At that question, Mu Saeng swiftly manipulated his smartphone.
What appeared was a video.
Shot from very far away, it seemed.
Beyond the Great Desert Gorge, a city was visible.
A sudden explosion erupted in that dazzlingly opulent metropolis.
As a sphere of light expanded outward, a mushroom-shaped cloud rose into the sky.
The city of endless entertainment, operating day and night, vanished entirely.
[……That’s the power of a Red Dwarf.]
“In the early days of awakening, Apollo’s Apostle lost his temper during a gambling session and unleashed full power. All of Las Vegas went up in smoke. Man, I would’ve liked to see it.”
The moment the danger of SSR Awakened Abilities was confirmed, there was no way all personnel on Earth hadn’t cooperated.
The Nevada Treaty: outside the tower or dungeons, any use of Awakened Ability—no matter how low its grade—once detected, triggers the harshest measures under international law.
That covenant includes [summary execution] depending on circumstance and necessity.
[Hmm~ even so, there are still savages guarding the perimeter……. And even accounting for raw physical prowess, your chances of succeeding in revenge are extremely low—.]
Whoooosh—!
[—Gwack!?]
The vehicle suddenly accelerated, and the floating Wash struck the passenger headrest with a thud.
He couldn’t have missed it.
And yet Mu Saeng drove on.
“That’s exactly why I’m going now. Everyone will be thinking like that.”
Their carelessness.
A method newly discovered.
Mu Saeng pulled something from his travel bag and consumed it.
“Ugh, that’s bitter.”
Then he gulped down water, again and again.
* * *
He exhaled deeply.
“You’ve had a trying time, sir.”
“You’ve had a trying time!”
As Lee Eun Woo emerged from behind the press conference stage wiping sweat from his brow, the entire secretarial staff of Onewave Group, along with all security personnel, bowed their heads in deference.
The eighteen-year-old boy took this protocol entirely in stride, collapsing into a prepared chair as if boneless.
“Is it a five-minute break?”
“Yes. You had already hinted to the media that you would be releasing more information regarding the serpent’s master. No one will be leaving their seats.”
“Mm… Good. My father or grandfather have said nothing?”
“The chairman made no special contact, but the president expressed considerable satisfaction. We’ve also received word that aircraft carrying Awakened Ones have departed from Philippines Onewave and Cambodia Onewave.”
“Heh, those bastards are all scrambling for scraps of my information… I like that.”
Lee Eun Woo wore a look of satisfaction.
His personal secretary approached cautiously and spoke.
“Park Do Hyeon and the other friends have all synchronized their stories, so there shouldn’t be any issue, sir. We’ve also sent formal notice to the Sherpa Company.”
“Of course we have. When you make a show of something, you do it thoroughly. Isn’t that right, Jang?”
Secretary Jang Ha Guk bobbed his head enthusiastically in agreement with Lee Eun Woo’s words.
Then he opened his mouth cautiously.
“From that perspective… wouldn’t it also be a way to boost staff morale to provide bonuses to Park Do Hyeon and the security personnel who accompanied you, sir?”
“Me?”
Lee Eun Woo’s expression hardened slightly.
Secretary Jang Ha Guk also spoke with a hint of tension.
“Yes. Considering they all returned with you from the 66th Floor Dungeon-.”
“That’s precisely what employees are paid to do, Jang. Isn’t that why they receive a salary?”
Lee Eun Woo’s logic wasn’t wrong.
And yet, as his dedicated secretary,
it was also Jang’s role to reinforce Lee Eun Woo’s showmanship and solidify his standing—which was why he had offered the suggestion in the first place.
“B-But sir, of course your point is absolutely right, yet if the company always operated in only such a manner, from the perspective of employee morale-.”
“Remarkable that my secretary is so well-versed in management principles. I had no idea. Perhaps you should tell my father—or shall I mention it to my grandfather instead? That Secretary Jang believes the staff should receive generous compensation because it aids company operations. I’m certain both my father and grandfather will take such wisdom very much to heart-.”
“Ah, no! I’ve misspoken! Sir! What I meant to say was—that wasn’t—I was absolutely not overstepping my authority!”
All that resulted was Jang Ha Guk, now thirty-seven years old, bowing his head repeatedly in contrition.
Only then did Lee Eun Woo’s face soften with satisfaction.
“When it comes to giving, I’ll decide what to give. When it comes to doing, I’ll handle it myself. Don’t interfere without cause. Do you understand?”
Even if your words are right, don’t upset me with them.
Jang Ha Guk replied while still bent at the waist.
“Yes, I’ll remember that.”
“Good. I’m heading back on stage, so make sure the prompter is ready.”
Tap, tap, tap…
As Lee Eun Woo climbed back onto the platform and gazed out at the gathered crowd,
“Hm?”
he caught the sound of a commotion.
Noise beginning to stir from the distant entrance.
Though this was an open press conference with no restrictions on entry, staff had been positioned to maintain order.
They were security personnel who had climbed the ranks and raised their stats reasonably well.
Yet they could not stop a single person.
“—Who the hell are you?”
“—Damn, you son of a—.”
“—Grab him! Block him! Don’t let him through!”
Voices growing louder, dull thuds echoing.
Eventually even the reporters and personnel dispatched from other guilds had no choice but to turn their heads.
“Goodness!”
“What—what is this?”
His speed wasn’t particularly remarkable.
But there was a man weaving through the crowded mass as if he knew every pathway by heart, running with absolute precision.
Security personnel reached out as if chasing the afterimage he left behind—the difference was that stark.
An overwhelming Route Navigation Ability.
“Stop him!”
“Where the hell does this bastard think he’s going—.”
Assessing the situation in an instant.
Calculating the optimal path.
“Wait—is that a Dungeon Sherpa—.”
That was Mu Saeng’s specialty.
By the time Lee Eun Woo fully recognized Mu Saeng, the latter had already reached the platform.
Standing before Lee Eun Woo were Park Do Hyeon and a single security escort.
Though their role was to rush toward Mu Saeng and stop his intrusion immediately.
“Ki, Kim Mu Saeng—.”
Park Do Hyeon froze the moment he saw that face.
He had no choice but to.
A man who should have been dead.
A sacrificial offering left in the place of the master of the 66th Floor Dungeon!
“How, how could—.”
The security escort beside him was no different.
They had been inside that temple.
Mu Saeng brushed past them—men frozen, unable to move their bodies or even lift a hand.
“Wait, just a moment—.”
“Damn bastard.”
Mu Saeng drove his fist toward the chin of Lee Eun Woo, who had cowered and bowed his head.
With a sharp crack, Lee Eun Woo went flying backward.
Park Do Hyeon and the other security escorts too.
The remaining staff responsible for venue security threw themselves at Mu Saeng.
“Sir, Director!”
“Grab him! Where the hell did you come from!?”
“Restrain him! Get the rope!”
“Who sent him? Who is he!?”
Of course, Mu Saeng could not shake off the situation by force alone.
But he could speak his name.
“Kim Mu Saeng.”
That was enough.
Though the people here were bewildered about what had happened, every person in this place was deeply versed in the Tower and Dungeons, quick with information.
“Kim Mu Saeng…… Dungeon Sherpa……? Isn’t that the person?”
“…… That’s right! Sherpa, ace! Kim Mu Saeng!”
And they were people who loved to create stories, gossip, and spread them.
Dungeon Sherpa, Kim Mu Saeng.
The moment they heard those two words, realization dawned.
“Why would Kim Mu Saeng—. Huh? Wh-what? Onewave! We have a question! Earlier you mentioned something about a Dungeon Sherpa guiding someone into the 66th Floor Dungeon—.”
“What really happened!? Kim Mu Saeng is synonymous with absolute safety, zero incidents! He would never have suggested going to some unverified building in the first place, would he?”
“Didn’t something actually occur? Was there a client’s instruction or something? Lee Eun Woo! Please answer us!”
Could there have been lies mixed into Lee Eun Woo’s interview?
Could there be secrets he hadn’t yet revealed, truths hidden away?
“Uh, w, well—. That is…….”
Lee Eun Woo, clutching at his cheek where Mu Saeng’s fist had landed, didn’t know what to do with himself.
At least in moments like this, he was unmistakably just an eighteen-year-old boy.
“Quiet! Everyone, please! One at a time! Questions are being taken only from designated individuals! Everyone, quiet—.”
Secretary General Jang Ha Guk quickly stepped forward to attempt control, but there was nothing he could do against a wildfire already aflame.
As the voices demanding truth from Mu Saeng grew louder, the staff could no longer pin and suppress him.
A sharp breath.
Mu Saeng slipped away in the moment their grip loosened and bolted for the exit.
“He’s, he’s running!”
“What…… should we do?”
The Onewave Group’s staff were thrown into confusion.
They were not alone.
“What? Where are you going?”
“Wasn’t that why you came here—to say something?”
Those who had expected Mu Saeng to come and expose some great truth were equally at a loss.
Mu Saeng was already racing out of the grand hall toward the parked vehicles.
[Hehehehehehe, fun, isn’t it? That’ll do the job.]
And Wash, who had witnessed all of this, was laughing.
Mu Saeng spoke.
“That’s enough.”
From his fist, a single drop fell.
Not sweat, nor blood.
When it touched the ground, there came a sharp hiss—.
For a moment, smoke billowed up from the paving stone.
〈Slraken’s Venom Fang (S)〉
The master of serpents, Slraken does not secrete venom from a venom sac but from the teeth themselves. Mere contact can cause poisoning—exercise caution. The poisoning effect varies depending on the amount of venom.
* * *
Geum Su Ah’s eyes widened in shock.
“A Sacrificial Offering… it must have been offered as a Sacrificial Offering. Yes, that’s why someone like Lee Eun Woo managed to escape. But—”
Having already cleared the 66th Floor, Geum Su Ah could piece together the entire puzzle.
Lee Eun Woo, Onewave Group, and Mu Saeng.
She’d reconstructed what happened among them almost perfectly.
Which made it impossible to believe.
“The Sacrificial Offering… it was supposed to be exactly that, wasn’t it, Deputy Director?”
“Right. How did this happen? How could—”
Geum Sung had given up trying to explain it.
One person had to be sacrificed.
But the man on the screen now—
How had the designated Sacrificial Offering escaped?
How had he dealt with Slraken, the boss of the 66th Floor Dungeon?
“Perhaps because it was a Dungeon rather than the Tower, the mechanics were different—”
“Since the Tower and Dungeons came into existence, that’s never happened once. The only structural difference is this: the Tower issues quests, but Dungeons don’t. The terrain, geography, monster distribution by region, even the boss—they’re completely identical.”
“Yes, but…”
“There’s nothing for it but to ask.”
Debating the unimaginable served no purpose.
Especially when someone who knew the answer was readily available.
“Secretary Choi, please contact Park Mu Sik of Sherpa Company. Tell him I’d like to meet. Time and place—whatever suits him best.”
Geum Su Ah spoke.
A polite and courteous meeting request, as measured as she could make it.
“Understood, Deputy Director. And that…”
“What is it?”
“It’s Mu Saeng of Sherpa Company.”
Only the name was wrong.
Geum Su Ah found herself clearing her throat repeatedly.
Around Mu Saeng, both Onewave Group and Geum Sung began to move.

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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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