Climbing the Mythic Tower as a Cheating Administrator - Chapter 72

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

A Mythic-Rank Tower Climber Using Cheats as an Administrator (72)
He wasn’t an employee of Metal Rhine.
Yet the fact that he knew of this place and came here meant there was only one possible explanation.
Eyes.
“Quite the pair causing trouble. Hildegard…where are you?”
“What do you mean?”
“That was fast.”
Kim Moo-saeng, about to check on Hildegard, immediately noticed her appearance had changed.
Compared to the full armor she’d worn when considering that a tower administrator might arrive.
Now she looked casual enough to pass for a university student.
“Once things get this complicated, this is better anyway. Oh, Kim Moo-saeng, here—take this. If anything goes wrong, just press it.”
What she handed over, practically unarmed as she was, resembled a small electronic device—something like a vape machine.
[Kshh-kshh-kshh, a spatial displacement unit.]
“…Whoa. Like an escape scroll?”
“Mm, a bit better than that? You’ll be transported to another hideout, so don’t worry. Though ideally, you won’t need to use it.”
Spatial displacement class—among the highest tier of Artifacts.
And not a one-time consumable like a scroll, but a mechanical device….
‘Impressive stuff. More impressive that she didn’t pull it out sooner.’
In a situation where another administrator besides Wash might show up, where he likely would’ve faced death had they, she hadn’t even considered it.
Anew, Kim Moo-saeng admired Hildegard’s curiosity and nerve.
And right then.
“I should’ve hidden this more carefully. I think we’ve been spotted. If things go this way—.”
“Let’s just go on offense. Better to strike first ourselves.”
Three silhouettes had discovered the Underground Space.
Two choices. And Kim Moo-saeng wasn’t one to wait.
Hildegard agreed with his call as well….
Whoooosh—————….
The Underground Space opened up.
‘Who are they? Which side…. Hmm?’
Three people entered cautiously through the opening space, but it was only a moment before.
Kim Moo-saeng spotted another silhouette being added.
Or more precisely, it wasn’t a silhouette at all.
A woman in a white business suit.
Someone wearing dress pants for ease of movement, who’d followed them down into the Underground.
Seeing one of the four people now in the Underground, Kim Moo-saeng spoke.
“Geum Soo-ah?”
Geum Soo-ah answered with slightly widened eyes and a satisfied expression.
“Kim Moo-saeng. That’s right.”
That’s right.
From just those words, Kim Moo-saeng could piece together the broad situation.
That’s right—to what?
Probably to the guess: ‘They detected an Anomalous Reaction, and wherever there’s an Anomalous Reaction, Kim Moo-saeng will be there.’
“Let me introduce you. These people are—.”
“World Awakeners Association personnel, I take it.”
“—…Yes, that’s correct.”
In other words, what had detected Wash’s signal just moments ago was the Five-Ring Eye.
“They’re the ones who received contact about something being detected via the Five-Ring Eye, about this location.”
And the fact that she was with Geum Soo-ah meant those other three were likely the World Awakeners Association operatives dispatched to Korea.
“H-how did you….”
“Impressive…. It was a top-priority matter worthy of the Association’s direct involvement.”
The eyes of the three Association members widened.
The shock of those who’d been outmaneuvered before they could even move.
* * *
“Who’s the person beside you?”
The first thing Geum Soo-ah asked was about Hildegard.
Since Kim Moo-saeng had already mentioned the Five-Ring Eye, a person sharing information at that level would naturally be flagged as a person of interest.
Kim Moo-saeng couldn’t say she was the representative of Metal Rhine, so in the moment he tried to brush past it lightly.
“So, a friend—.”
“I’m also an Awakener registered with the Awakers Association! I was just practicing to see if I could run dungeons with Kim Moo-saeng. Hehe.”
Hildegard spoke up first, introducing herself.
Geum Soo-ah’s eyes flickered for a moment.
“……Really? To a Dungeon with Kim Moo-saeng?”
Kim Moo-saeng and a Dungeon expedition.
She herself had brought up that Dungeon 67 before but hadn’t managed to go yet—and this foreign woman she’d never seen in her life had?
Hildegard Schmidt met that sharp gaze with an even more confident attitude, producing a card that resembled a business card.
“Yes. Oh, and since there are people from the Association here, feel free to verify it. Here’s my registration badge.”
The World Awakeners Association members didn’t voice the thought that such verification was unnecessary.
For them too, identifying the woman’s true identity was essential.
‘A spy sent by China’s Central Committee, perhaps—’
‘If she’s connected to the Thousand-Li Eye side, that would be problematic. They said they were also monitoring the Anomalous Reactions…….’
‘We need to confirm.’
Kim Moo-saeng watched the three of them move with careful attention.
And soon enough he understood why Hildegard Schmidt was so self-assured.
[Emma Gears, 20 years old, United States]
[Awakening Ability: Nitro (B)]
‘Of course. Naturally that would be the case.’
She’d registered under an alias with a false ability at the Awakeners Association?
How had she managed to deceive them?
At this point, rather than surprise, the first thing he felt was admiration, pure and simple.
“Ahem, thank you for your cooperation, Miss Gears.”
“Call me Emma. But what exactly is going on with you all? You seem like important people……. What are you planning to do with Kim Moo-saeng?”
Now confident, Hildegard pressed for answers immediately.
Moo-saeng realized she’d gathered a fair understanding of the situation from his brief exchange with Geum Soo-ah.
He’d encountered evidence of her intellect more than once already.
In a way, she was scratching an itch he himself had been reluctant to address directly.
The Association members’ faces grew uncomfortable at her question.
“Ah, that’s a bit difficult to explain…….”
And that was the opening Moo-saeng needed.
“Then let me ask you all something first. You came here to speak with me anyway, after all.”
“Yes, what would you like to know?”
“Did the Five-Ring Eye observe the Tower yesterday? Ah, that might be a delicate question to answer. Can you at least tell me if you observed the lower levels?”
Moo-saeng already knew why they’d come here in the first place.
There was no need to beat around the bush.
More than anything, if they’d sought him out because they needed something from him—
the right approach was to ask directly, boldly, rather than fish for information while treading carefully.
The three exchanged glances for a moment.
The one with the highest rank managed to answer at last.
“……No, not that I’m aware of.”
“I see.”
At this point, Moo-saeng had confirmed another piece of intelligence.
These were people dispatched to Korea—
individuals who had rushed to a specific location immediately after receiving contact from the Five-Ring Eye just moments before.
If people like that didn’t know, then they truly didn’t know.
‘So it was the Thousand-Li Eye side that scanned the Tower yesterday. And……. That left eye Wash calls the Thousand-Li Eye.’
The left eye, the Thousand-Li Eye.
The right eye, the Five-Ring Eye.
From a single question, Moo-saeng had verified two critical facts.
The conversation was jumping at an extraordinary pace, yet no one here could follow the logic and flow of reasoning.
“……We’re not exactly at ease. Apparently several individuals from China’s Central Committee entered on tourist visas. Unfortunately, we haven’t managed to identify their names or exact numbers.”
Geum Soo-ah was the same way.
The Five-Ring Eye and its faction.
The Thousand-Li Eye and its faction.
And Moo-saeng’s ability to perceive all of this.
Rather than dwell on unanswered questions—questions that would only yield hollow responses if posed directly—she was the kind of person who brushed such things aside and focused on practical advantage.
Moo-saeng’s expression grew serious for a moment.
“Hmm, but that……. The premise itself is a bit strange, isn’t it?”
Then he laughed quietly, almost to himself.
Geum Soo-ah tilted her head in confusion.
“What? What do you mean?”
The premise is strange?
Kim Moo-saeng met the eyes of each of the three World Awakeners Association members in turn as he spoke.
“There’s an underlying premise here, isn’t there? If you hadn’t cooperated with them, I’d be kidnapped or something like that. But you came here to *prevent* that from happening, didn’t you?”
He still didn’t know why the Association had come.
But he knew what they wanted from him.
So then?
“That’s correct. Actually, regarding that matter, we from the Association would like to request something of you, Awakener Kim Moo-saeng—”
“Before that, would you mind hearing my proposal first?”
“I—pardon?”
You’d better listen to my conditions.
Geum Soo-ah and Hildegard laughed at the same moment, watching the corner of Kim Moo-saeng’s mouth lift into a smile.
Of course. Exactly as expected. They were reminded once again of the kind of person he was.
Facing the bewildered Association members, Kim Moo-saeng laid out his terms.
He didn’t know what they were planning.
But whatever they intended to do, there was something he needed to accomplish.
“First, the investigation of Floor 58 will proceed with me. Second, regarding that investigation, you will follow my command structure absolutely and unconditionally. If even one of you deviates from those orders in the slightest, my cooperation with the Association ends on the spot.”
Absolute obedience to the search for Ju Ye-rin.
That was precisely what Kim Moo-saeng was insisting on now.
“Ah, no, that’s—well, that is…”
“What exactly is happening on Floor 58? Or rather, I mean to say—”
The World Awakeners Association members had lost their composure entirely.
What on earth was going on?
All three of them turned their gaze simultaneously toward Geum Soo-ah.
How much had she told him?
Geum Soo-ah shook her head firmly.
“I don’t know specifically why you came here either, even now…but I suppose I could say something?”
She hadn’t been lying, either.
When she learned about the Five-Ring Eye’s counter-surveillance, all she’d told Kim Moo-saeng was that the Thousand-Li Eye was watching Floor 58.
“Ahem, well then… Regarding the original request, I should first… contact headquarters. Please wait a moment.”
Everything else was information she and Wash had obtained in the 58 Dungeon—which left both Geum Soo-ah and especially the Association members thoroughly flustered.
What actually caught Kim Moo-saeng off guard wasn’t the Association’s request for time.
“Kim Moo-saeng, can I go too?”
“H-Hildegard? You can go?”
Hadn’t Hildegard already reached beyond Floor 70?
Was she really suggesting she could lower her floor level?
[That female creature… Is she planning to send that toy?]
There was no way Hildegard could do something like that.
Because Wash knew that such a thing would be impossible—it violated what was called Administrator Authority—he could immediately predict what method Hildegard would employ.
If she sent a remotely controlled artifact armor unbound by floor restrictions, wouldn’t that be the same as her being there alongside them?
“Well, though she’s your friend, the matter of traveling together is a bit different.”
It was Geum Soo-ah who cut in at that moment.
She who had made it her resolve to squeeze in members however she could, as far as her position allowed.
But as long as the party size wasn’t fixed, having more trustworthy people couldn’t be a bad thing…
While the Association members still hadn’t answered, an odd thought suddenly occurred to Kim Moo-saeng.
“…By the way, has Geum Soo-ah been calling me ‘Moo-saeng’ this whole time?”
“Y-yes? What? She’s always done that, hasn’t she?”
Geum Soo-ah panicked.
Her words stumbled, and she fell silent, and at the same time,
while the Association members were still awaiting their superiors’ response,
“Oh, by the way—are you three the only ones here from the Association?”
Hildegard asked.
Geum Soo-ah and the three Association members all nodded at once.
Their business was to make contact in secret with the “Brain” as the Five-Ring Eye had called them, and uncover that secret while seeking cooperation.
There was no need for a large crowd, so naturally the team was kept to the absolute minimum.
Hildegard was perceptive enough to understand that much, which is why she’d asked.
“Then we have uninvited guests. Right now. On Floor 1. Eleven of them.”
Someone else had arrived.
The number was eleven.
“…Ah? The CCTV…?”
Geum Soo-ah looked toward the holographic window that had suddenly materialized before her.
Her face tightened.
“Lee Jeong-gi!? Coming down—”
Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap—!
Footsteps rang out without hesitation.
Eleven members of One-Way, Lee Jeong-gi at their head, materialized into the Underground Space in a single fluid motion.
Armed with Taser Guns, Rubber Bullet Guns, Three-Section Staffs, and several Cameras, they advanced in formation.
“Got you, you little rats.”
Lee Jeong-gi’s eyes gleamed with a crimson light.

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