Ex-level Player With the Greatest Civilization of All Time - 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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Episode 102

‘This is actually pretty good.’
No movement between the waiting area and the next floor meant I didn’t need to rush the drone retrieval process like before.
Since it had been a rather tedious element up until now, this advantage pleased me considerably.

[Clearance Rank SSS Achieved!]
[This record will be inscribed in the Hall of Fame.]

– SSS, huh.
– Wow
– He did waste quite a bit of time though.

Reading the comments in the chat, I had to agree.
True enough—since it was my first time in the Outer Tower, I did squander some time.
In that sense, it was fortunate I’d managed to keep the SSS rank at all.

[Rewards have been increased.]
[Rewards have been increased.]
[Experience Points awarded.]

The remaining rewards held nothing particularly remarkable.
The Outer Tower was fundamentally a high-difficulty Gate.
It seemed they awarded slightly more Experience Points because of it.
Still, I didn’t manage a Level Up.
‘My level is already quite high compared to the difficulty.’
And the only real difference worth noting was this:

[31-35 Floors (Outer Tower) S-Rank Reward Box]

The Reward Box now carried the keyword “Outer Tower” attached to it.
But I’d already confirmed that detail in the elevator earlier, so it didn’t feel particularly special.
Honestly, pretty unremarkable.
After finishing my review, I signaled to Baek Jin-seong.
“Jin-seong.”
“Yes.”
Quick to call, quick to answer.
After spending time together like this, our teamwork had grown seamless.
“Closing the stream.”

– Huh? Out of the blue?
– Again? We just barely broke through the queue earlier…
– There has to be a reason he keeps doing this!

The viewers’ voices, which had sounded busy, cut off abruptly, replaced by silence as I ended the broadcast.
I spoke to him once the stream was closed.
“Shall we move on?”
“Yes, let’s do that.”
We pushed through the undergrowth back to the elevator, retrieved the drone, and boarded again.
This time I pressed the button for the 35th Floor.
The elevator lurched into motion with a rattling tremor.

[Entering 35th Floor (Outer Tower).]
[Quest assignment in progress. -(13%)]

The moment we stepped out, the quest assignment began.
That was the feeling I got.
Today, I sensed, I’d be able to climb record-breaking numbers of floors.

* * *

Yu Se-ra was wound tight as a spring, her nerves frayed to their limit.
The guild had fallen into a toxic atmosphere both within its walls and beyond them.
Ever since the Trial, public perception had shifted dramatically.
And now the Nakwa Guild faced its worst crisis since its founding.
“Well then, thank you for your service all this time.”
“You worked hard. Thank you, Director Jeong.”
The moment Director Jeong Him-chan closed the door behind him, Yu Se-ra crumpled his resignation letter and hurled it into the trash.
That made three.
Only four days had passed since the Trial, and already three of the guild’s core officers had walked out.
The smaller fry—team leads and below—hardly warranted mention.
But as the mid-tier veterans, the backbone of the guild’s strength, defected one after another, her irritability had reached a fever pitch.
“This was supposed to end with the Chungwol Guild!!!”
She gripped her head, lost in anguish.
How had things spiraled into this mess?
Before the Trial, she hadn’t been cornered like this at all.
Back then, it had merely been a matter of competing to poach talent from the collapsing Chungwol Guild after Kang Min-hyeok’s departure.
But now, not only had recruitment dried up entirely—she was scrambling just to keep her own people from being picked clean.
“Neia! Neia! Neia!”
What did she expect Yu Se-ra to do about it?
She wanted to weep.
Was it too cruel that the price of her own mediocre performance was the path to ruin?
There were guilds managing to survive this cruel tide, of course.
Guilds with a connection to Neia.
The Gangseong Guild was the prime example.
It seemed all her own defectors were being drawn there instead.
“It’s O Sang-sik, ma’am.”
“Come in.”
Yu Se-ra steadied her breathing and greeted him.
As her Vice-Director O Sang-sik entered, she asked him a question.
“What brings you by? It’s almost quitting time.”
O Sang-sik answered her question.
“I’m resigning.”
He placed his letter of resignation on her desk, and Yu Se-ra echoed back in disbelief.
“Resigning?”
This was the worst possible development.
It was different from Jeong Him-chan just now.
O Sang-sik was a founding member from the earliest days.
He carried enormous symbolic weight.
For the Vice-Director himself to defect in the midst of this chaos?
It was as good as advertising that the ship was sinking.
A perfect death sentence.
Yu Se-ra fought to maintain her composure and spoke carefully.
“Why don’t you think it over once more?”
“Aren’t you aware of the current situation?”
“That’s exactly why I’m asking for time.”
Yu Se-ra knew she had to stop O Sang-sik’s departure at all costs.
It was the only way the Nakwa Guild could avoid being swept away entirely.
“Still, all the years we’ve shared—you know the full picture. I don’t think you’d be so callous.”
Of course, Yu Se-ra’s insides were burning.
All she could do was appeal to sentiment now.
In any other circumstance, she would never have stooped to this.
‘This is all your fault, Neia….’
In truth, even after the Trial, she’d made efforts to try to sway public opinion.
But when an overwhelming sun rises, a torch loses its light.
That was exactly what the Nakwa Guild had become.
The one who had stolen her light—she despised him, felt nothing but hatred.
“I have a condition.”
“What condition?”
Yu Se-ra’s expression brightened slightly.
If she could capture him right now, what couldn’t she accomplish?
“What if you collaborated with Neia?”
Her face went rigid.
Collaboration—such a pretty word.
What it really meant was surrender.
And the proposal stung all the more because it came from someone she’d resented just moments before.
So Yu Se-ra’s true feelings broke through to the surface for the first time.
O Sang-sik spoke.
“Have you checked the Mir Guild’s stock price today?”
“What would be different about them?”
Every guild except Gangseong had been in steady decline since the Trial.
It wasn’t just the Nakwa Guild suffering from the exodus of veteran members.
Though the Mir Guild, somehow, showed no signs of attrition and seemed to be weathering it better than most.
Still, they hadn’t escaped the same downward trend…or so she’d thought.
“Upper limit lock…?”
Yu Se-ra doubted her own eyes.
When she checked again, the price was indeed locked in place at the daily ceiling.
Curious about the reason, she pulled up the internet.
“A collaboration?”
She didn’t even need to dig through websites.
The news was splashed across every portal homepage.

『Neia Announces Collaboration with Mir Guild, Stock Price Soars!』
『Netizens Take Notice: The Secret of the Outer Tower Lies in Mir Guild’s Hands…』
『After Gangseong, Now Mir? The Midas Touch of Neia Strikes Again!』

She learned that Neia had mentioned the Mir Guild during a broadcast.
He’d made remarks about having connections and that the Mir Guild was preparing something substantial.
The stock price had skyrocketed as a result.
‘One word…and he pulled them out of that current?’
At the same time, she finally understood why the Mir Guild had remained so steady while all the others were being battered by the waves.
Inside the Mir Guild, this information must have been circulating, allowing them to maintain their roster without losing people.
O Sang-sik spoke with finality.
“In truth, I hadn’t decided definitively to resign. I simply wanted to hear your decision, Director.”
“And how long do I have to show you this decision?”
“One week. No longer than that.”
O Sang-sik left.
Yu Se-ra let the poker face she’d been maintaining slip away and fell into thought.
“Is that really the only way to survive?”
She still resented him.
But having witnessed this transformation with her own eyes…
…she found herself unable to cling to such ill will toward Neia.
The Gangseong Guild.
The Mir Guild.
She’d already witnessed the miracles both had wrought.
“What advantage does the Nakwa Guild have over them?”
Simply by joining hands with Neia first, they were reaping these rewards.
It felt unjust.
“Yes…this is stubbornness.”
Times have changed. It’s time to accept it.
She picked up her phone and scrolled to Cha Seong-hun’s number, then locked it again.
She’d been about to call him outright and ask for an opportunity, but…
…reality struck her just in time.
“He’d never help.”
He wasn’t soft enough to aid a competitor.
This crisis was hers alone to navigate.
“So the answer is…”
Baek Jin-seong’s broadcast.
Putting aside all shame and seeking her out.
Of course, this would not be an easy path.
In fact, Neia was notoriously callous when it came to such approaches.
If she were to be stubborn about it, it might have been better not to attempt this at all from the start.
But pride had already been set aside.
“One week, you said….”
The timeframe O Sang-sik had thrown down.
Within that span, she would prove why she deserved to be the representative of this guild.
Yu Se-ra steeled her resolve and rose from the desk.

* * *

Mizuki’s eyes snapped open.
‘Where is this?’
Darkness surrounded him.
Had they blindfolded him?
He tried to lift his hand to remove it, but…
Clang.
His hand wouldn’t budge.
He was bound, without question.
A Player’s strength should have made short work of ordinary restraints, yet there was no give whatsoever.
‘Why am I even here?’
Memory eluded him.
So he concentrated, forcing each brain cell awake.
Then, one by one, fragments returned.
Receiving a mission from Association Chairman Masashi.
Slipping into Neia’s Gate to begin the investigation.
Finding the warehouse and securing the valuables.
After that…
“Ngh….”
A pounding headache brought the memory crashing down.
Neia…!
That expressionless face, those cold, emotionless eyes fixed on him.
The moment he’d encountered her, energy lashing around him.
‘I’ve been captured.’
If that were true, this was the worst case.
This was inside Neia’s personal Gate.
No one would ever know if he died here….
Gulp.
He shook his head sharply, trying to push away the dark thoughts.
‘No, but if she kept me alive like this….’
Perhaps she didn’t intend to kill him?
Without forcing such positive thoughts, he felt he might lose his mind.
Mizuki had heard rumors of mysterious deaths among those who had harbored ill will toward Neia.
Common sense that he would never have questioned elsewhere became difficult to trust in these circumstances.
Screeeek.
The door opened with a sound.
Footsteps entered the room.
“You’re awake, it seems.”

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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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