Climbing the Mythic Tower as a Cheating Administrator - Chapter 63

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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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A Cheat-Using Administrator Climbing the Mythic Tower (63)
“I didn’t expect much, but I thought you’d at least prepare some refreshments. Not that I’m desperate to eat anything, but I’m curious, you know? Do the Giant Race eat everything in oversized portions? Are their coffee cups the size of children’s wading pools or something like that?”
“Humans can tear into it and consume it whole. It serves as both food and water intake. Do you want some?”
“—No, I’ll stay quiet.”
Moo-saeng, who had been trying to lighten the mood with a bit of ice-breaking, clamped his mouth shut the moment Muromechi responded.
His half-hearted act of pretending to sleep didn’t last long either.
The moment he actually woke up, the first thing Moo-saeng did was check on his party members’ well-being.
He’d already heard that they were safe and waiting on separate floors in separate spaces, and after receiving their promise to tell them he was fine and that nothing was amiss, he’d opened with the very words he’d just spoken.
[Kekeke, so that uncouth habit of cracking jokes at any moment never changes, does it.]
“Ice-breaking, you say. Even if we’re negotiating, shouldn’t we be able to open our hearts to each other a little?”
Moo-saeng spoke his true feelings to Wash, who was chuckling away.
It was essentially a message directed at Muromechi as well.
A proposal to deal with each other in earnest.
Muromechi understood Moo-saeng’s intention, and gently moved his hand in a sweeping gesture.
Flap… flap…
That was Muromechi’s answer.
Show sincerity? Talk to each other?
“You understand, don’t you, human Kim Moo-saeng.”
There’s no need to put it into words.
Because what’s being written here is the very truth of it.
Moo-saeng swallowed dryly and nodded.
“The Contract of the Abyss… it still looks like a monitor with a hole punched through it, completely black.”
A single sheet of paper that looked so pitch black it seemed as if a hole had been torn through the space itself fluttered in mid-air.
Wash stared at it quietly before asking.
[Muromechi, how did you even get your hands on this thing?]
“Do I have to answer?”
Muromechi countered.
Wash let out a sharp sound and vented his frustration.
[Hmph, management’s such a mess that anything goes these days.]
It was also a remark that Moo-saeng could roughly piece together.
‘Something only an administrator could obtain, or perhaps something related to understanding the tower? Something that requires knowledge of the tower’s structure? Those kinds of conditions must be attached.’
If he understood it as something Muromechi—who should have been “reset” and unable to know such things—had managed to acquire by holding out without being “reset,” then there’d be no immediate problem with that interpretation.
“Human Kim Moo-saeng. Your condition is a stay of execution. Correct?”
“Before that, let’s confirm your conditions first, Muromechi. To whom, how far, and what exactly do you need to do? Or actually, is there even a specific target to begin with? Or does it end with the completion or fulfillment of some action, without any particular target?”
Moo-saeng naturally threw back a counter-question.
A conversational tactic that subtly changed the subject without confirming his own condition as a fact.
Moreover, because there were clear requirements, Muromechi had no choice but to pay attention to what Moo-saeng had just said.
“I don’t know.”
Muromechi answered.
He wasn’t hiding his condition. He was genuinely admitting it.
That he didn’t know how to accomplish it.
Moo-saeng asked again.
“When you don’t know the method, it’s easier to work things out if you first establish a clear purpose. So let’s start by confirming what you want, Muromechi. Through this contract, what is the ultimate goal you wish to achieve?”
Muromechi stared directly at Moo-saeng.
What he ultimately desired.
It was an unexpectedly difficult question to answer.
Muromechi too carefully chose his words before speaking.
“I want to leave the tower.”
It wasn’t revenge.
It wasn’t about flipping everything upside down and causing chaos.
The phrase was simply: to leave the tower.
Moo-saeng turned his head.
To begin with, Moo-saeng had no way of knowing if such a thing was even possible.
But there was someone who could answer him.
[It’s not impossible.]
“Not just me, but all of us want to leave the tower.”
Muromechi spoke again, looking at Moo-saeng.
After hearing this, Moo-saeng turned to look at Wash once more.
Wash spoke.
[… It’s not impossible.]
Muromechi and Wash were not having a conversation between the two of them.
They didn’t converse that way.
This was the dynamic between Muromechi and Kim Moo-saeng, and between Kim Moo-saeng and Wash.
Therefore, Kim Moo-saeng looked toward Wash.
Wash adjusted his black-rimmed glasses.
Then he nodded.
Kim Moo-saeng read what that gesture meant.
‘Wash’s contract terms and Muromechi’s contract terms don’t conflict with each other…… Wash’s revenge and Muromechi’s escape? They’re related, but it’s not a situation where I have to choose one or the other. That’s what it means.’
It was a signal that it was acceptable to agree.
Of course, Kim Moo-saeng still didn’t know how to achieve it.
But if Wash was putting up some kind of guarantee……!?
“Well then, I suppose I ought to weigh my conditions against his first? Just climbing to the top of the tower seems like it should be considerably more difficult than all that, and I’m sure Muromechi understands that quite well. So let’s see…….”
Kim Moo-saeng spoke with a wry smile.
Muromechi threw out his response as though he’d expected this.
“I’ll change your reprieve to a cancellation. I’ll change it to an acquittal.”
It wasn’t a reprieve of execution.
A cancellation of execution. Acquittal.
Muromechi was far from ordinary.
He simply hadn’t known.
“No, that’s not what I want, though?”
Kim Moo-saeng was even less ordinary than that.
For the first time, Muromechi couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
“What, huh? What—what do you mean, human Kim Moo-saeng?”
“A contract, a deal, it’s supposed to be on terms that both sides want, right? Cancellation of execution? Acquittal? That’s not what I want, so…… I’m sorry, but I can’t make a contract on those terms.”
“Wait—wait a minute. What did you say?”
Watching Kim Moo-saeng come at him with such brazen, unrelenting force, Muromechi himself was now confused as to whether he was even comprehending things correctly!
Only Wash, observing this sight, burst into uncontrollable laughter.
[Kyak-kyak-kyak-kyak! Just like me, exactly like me!]
As someone who even the tower’s administrator couldn’t outmaneuver in matters of contracts, negotiation, and trade—
It meant that even Muromechi, who reigned above the pinnacle of all giants, above the sovereign of the entire Giant Race, couldn’t outmaneuver Kim Moo-saeng.
* * *
“I wonder how this all turns out for us?”
“There should be a Clear message or something, at least.”
“We should probably count Floor 21 as Clear……?”
The anxiety of the party members who had been with Kim Moo-saeng for just over a day remained unshaken.
Though they occupied a cozy space with not a single Giant Race member in sight, unease about the abnormal situation was unavoidable.
Yet the expressions of the existing party members who had received word from Kim Moo-saeng were quite different.
“Once the representative arrives, we’ll know for sure.”
“And you all saw how impossibly Kim Moo-saeng was fighting a while ago.”
“What about the Blue Dragon, for that matter.”
When they’d been surrounded by the Giant Race, a kind of mental debuff had made them anxious, confused, and trembling with fear, but now?
Trust in Kim Moo-saeng had solidified once more.
Of course, Park Hyun-gu stood at the very front of that conviction.
“If Moo-saeng sent word that he’s safe, then everything’s going fine, so don’t worry too much. We’ve made it this far just fine, so there’s not much to fret about. Hmm? If you get bored, just munch on some peanuts.”
“……Did you really bring peanuts with you, Park?”
At the sight of Park Hyun-gu rustling out a bag of peanuts, several party members looked exasperated.
But Park Hyun-gu wasn’t the type to lose his spirits either.
“We just do whatever Moo-saeng tells us to do, holed up in a corner. Snacks are essential, of course. I even brought cards.”
Watching Park Hyun-gu chuckle and pull out entertainment options, one could only laugh now.
In the somewhat relaxed atmosphere, Park Hyun-gu added one more remark.
“I was debating whether to bring Hal’s Game too~.”
“If you had, wouldn’t it have gone down in the tower’s history? You really are a remarkable human.”
“-Wait, Moo-saeng!”
At that moment, Kim Moo-saeng arrived.
Everyone’s eyes went wide as they rushed toward him—it was only natural.
They had mountains of questions to ask.
And Kim Moo-saeng had anticipated just that…….
Snap!
He flicked his finger.
Every person rushing toward him froze in place.
It was because of the system message that appeared before their eyes.
[Congratulations!]
[You have achieved the Clear condition.]
[Contribution Rate will not be calculated.]
[Individual rewards will be given to all participants.]
[You have consulted with ■■■■.]
[Good. I accept this much.]
The Contribution Rate will not be calculated.
Individual rewards will be given to all participants.
“Clear…….”
“Uh, uh, wait, no, no, this—”
An entity whose name was obscured. Consulted?
They soon understood what that meant.
[Stat Points +50]
[Movement Speed +5%]
[Person Known by Kim Moo-saeng]
[Acquired Confusion Resistance]
[Acquired Fear Resistance]
“Fifty stat points!”
“This is—. What is this?”
“Person Known by Kim Moo-saeng……?”
[Person Known by Kim Moo-saeng]
An acquaintance of humanity recognized by ■■■■.
The Giant Race, possessing an absolute hierarchical order, does not forget ■■■■’s command. Should you demonstrate an attitude proving yourself to be an acquaintance of the human Kim Moo-saeng, no Giant will initiate an attack. Furthermore, you may persuade the Giants as needed to withdraw from the battlefield. (However, withdrawal is determined by individual negotiation ability. Withdrawing the Giants counts as meeting the condition same as subjugation. Upon initiating an attack on the Giants, they will counterattack.)
“……What is this—? This insane effect!? Avoiding the Giants’ first strike!?”
“That’s not all! We can make them withdraw from the battlefield too? Wait, does that mean for fortress defense quests, that kind of thing, we can just pull all the Giants back?”
“What the hell, goodness, my apologies.”
Setting aside that oddly subtle title name, what on earth is this effect?
It’s a function never heard of or seen before.
Considering that the monster type Awakeners feared most during tower climbs up through the 30s was especially the Giants!
Moo-saeng let out a soft laugh.
“It’s a reward for following my instructions so well…… but, not bad, right?”
“Not bad is an understatement, Director!”
“Frankly speaking, the points we just received are more than the total stats I’ve accumulated so far!”
Of course, 50 stat points were also a reward that made their eyes bulge out.
No, would even ordinary party play from Floor 11 to Floor 20 net 50 points per person?
There was a huge chance of not obtaining them depending on Contribution Rate.
Moo-saeng saw their gleaming eyes fixed on him.
And among them, there was even someone whose eyes were truly streaming with tears…….
“Ah, there they go crying again, looking like a mess.”
“Man, you wait till you get older too. Your tear ducts weaken—. Anyway, this guy, I knew you could pull it off…….”
“No, sir. Don’t hug me. Ugh, anyway.”
And there was Park Hyun-gu, clinging to Moo-saeng and patting him.
Though Moo-saeng frowned as if finding it dreadful, he didn’t push Park Hyun-gu away.
“Huff, so. With 50 stat points now, we head to Floor 22—”
“Ah, that’s not all I have, hyung.”
“—Huh?”
From the start, no one—not even Park Hyun-gu—knew what rewards Moo-saeng had received coming up to Floor 21.
Only Moo-saeng knew.
So this level of reward?
“Well, anyway, that’s how it turned out.”
Moo-saeng could never be satisfied with something like this.
He’d obtained such a reward ‘for his hard-working party members’?
‘Now that I’ve got Confusion and Fear Resistance, I’ll stay composed in just about any situation.’
With Stat Points in hand, people would have no choice but to listen to what Moo-saeng said even more.
He’d even created a title with his name embedded in it from scratch.
Muromechi was a monster with that level of authority.
So naturally…….
[Muromechi’s Final Proposal]
[……Nothing more is possible.]
[Additional rewards have been granted.]
Rewards meant only for him, earned only by him.
“Everyone… shall we head up to Floor 22?”
[Kyakkyakkyakkyakya, I should’ve recorded that dazed expression on Muromechi’s face! Too bad, Kim Moo-saeng!]
Such an overwhelming reward was only fitting.

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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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