I Conquered the Tower with the EX-Class Character That I Raised - Chapter 104

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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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Chapter 104
Of course, one could argue it was all for nothing.
Once we left the Tower and returned to Layer 79, those memories would evaporate anyway.
But this method was the most certain way to break the Elf Queen’s will to fight.
Without doing this, she’d cling to me like a mosquito the entire time I mined World Tree materials, pestering me endlessly.
[Mirror Dimension: Layer 79 cleared.]
[Escape Gate activated.]
‘Good.’
When I killed her repeatedly, the clear notification never appeared.
Only after shattering her faith did the clear register.
A portal leading outside the Tower materialized at the point where we’d first entered.
I set the Elf Queen aside for a moment—her body motionless, her mind utterly vacant.
Then I gathered my party members.
“Everyone, sit down.”
The practical exam was over.
Now came the grading.
“It was a disaster.”
For the record, your score is zero.
“A party with two EX-rank Hunters—you clearly don’t understand what that means or the weight it carries.”
“….”
Han Seol-ah and Lee Ah-woon hung their heads low.
First, the good parts.
“In this battle, B-rank Kim Chul-soo performed most brilliantly. Landing effective hits on the World Tree with Reverse Divine Blessing, then breaking through the earth to take command—both were excellent.”
“Thank you.”
“You can consider yourself to have done your absolute best. For Kim Chul-soo, who did that… I’ll give you this.”
Reward and punishment must be clear.
I handed Kim Chul-soo, the MVP of this battle, a bow I’d taken from the Elf Queen as his prize.
“You know how to use a bow, right?”
“Yes, I’m reasonably competent with one.”
‘So he can handle it at a B-rank level.’
Classic Kim Chul-soo.
A true B-rank male Hunter.
“If I’m not mistaken, you should be able to fire wind arrows by channeling mana into it even without physical arrows. For the exact details, we’ll get Kang Hyo-jun’s assessment once we’re outside.”
“Thank you.”
The reward was done.
“Lee Ah-woon.”
Now for the punishment.
“Yes!”
“I’ll give you credit for steeling yourself and crossing that line. That much, at least, deserves praise.”
“Thank you.”
“Everything else was a failing grade.”
The Elf Queen’s spirit magic surpassed what Lee Ah-woon possessed.
Therefore, Lee Ah-woon’s abilities as a spirit mage were sealed in the presence of the Elf Queen.
That’s why Lee Ah-woon hastily attempted tanking with skeleton summoning, but…
It wasn’t a good choice.
Had it not been for the Elf Queen’s characteristic arrogance, Lee Ah-woon would have been crushed instantly and turned to blood.
“What kind of tanker relies on mercy or carelessness instead of absorbing the enemy’s attacks?”
“…I apologize!”
It was evidence of negligence in ability development.
More precisely, rather than developing the Necromancer Lord’s potential, I had grown complacent and satisfied with the abilities I already possessed.
“The Necromancer Lord’s abilities don’t end at simply summoning skeletons and detonating them. You must have felt it somewhat while using them this time.”
“Yes.”
Lee Ah-woon’s eyes had settled into a calm composure.
That guy who always used to sparkle his eyes like a large dog whenever I said anything, exclaiming “You’re right, Older Brother!”…
Now he finally seemed to truly understand my words.
“You’re truly amazing, Older Brother.”
An obvious statement.
“You’ve crossed the line and glimpsed the path. This time, that should suffice. However…”
“Yes. I won’t stop moving forward from now on.”
“Mm.”
Above all, Lee Ah-woon’s ‘Necromancer Lord Mode’ carried one extreme penalty.
Namely, Lee Ah-woon’s speech pattern transformed into that of a chuunibyou teenage boy.
Especially that one phrase… “How tedious” had the power to make even my face flush from watching from a distance.
‘…Wait.’
My speech pattern doesn’t come across like that, does it?
‘It doesn’t, right?’
Just as I was about to conclude Lee Ah-woon’s evaluation meeting, Rat-dol stepped forward and, with a sharp salute, spoke.
[My Lord, might you transfer my allegiance to Ah-woon?]
“Mm, Rat-dol. What’s your reason?”
[Through this battle, I understand that Ah-woon has taken his first step as a true Necromancer Lord. It’s a crucial time. I wish to stand by his side, guide his path, and watch over him.]
“Splendid.”
Rat-dol.
That small Death Knight was created by my whim.
The dark mana I drew from Lost Honor was close to primordial, pure and densely concentrated energy.
Born while absorbing that in abundance, and being a ‘Named Death Knight’ to whom I had personally given a name, he was strong enough to cut down most hunters within three seconds.
With such a being watching over Lee Ah-woon’s side, at least there wouldn’t be any risk of a meaningless death.
‘That guy.’
Somehow, it felt like watching a grown son leave home.
Though I’ve never raised a son before.
“I grant it.”
I immediately summoned Nopi and changed my job class to Necromancer Lord, then released Rat-dol from his contract.
This time, Rat-dol saluted sharply upon seeing Lee Ah-woon.
As Lee Ah-woon extended his hand and summoned dark mana, a link formed between Rat-dol and Lee Ah-woon.
[Hmm.]
“How does it feel?”
[It’s very small and pathetic dark mana.]
“I-Instructor!”
[…But it’s very warm.]
Rat-dol’s ears curved into a crescent moon shape.
He was smiling.
Rat-dol leaped up and dove into Lee Ah-woon’s pocket.
[Once we return, it’s hellish training.]
“Yes, sir!”
That settled Lee Ah-woon.
Next.
“….”
Now it was Han Seol-ah’s turn—she stared at me with a deathly pale face.
‘…This should be fine, right?’
She looked like she might collapse if I so much as poked her.
“…Han Seol-ah.”
“…Y-yes.”
Thump.
The moment she answered, Han Seol-ah collapsed.
More precisely, she collapsed while stammering out her response.
“…Sigh.”
She was the same way as a child.
Whenever she thought she was about to be scolded, she’d panic completely—nothing had changed.
I laid Han Seol-ah down on her side.
On Layer 79, I sensed no other hostile presence besides the Elf Queen.
Since I’d already neutralized her, it should be safe to leave Han Seol-ah here.
“Rat-dol.”
[Yes, my lord.]
Still, just in case, I assigned Rat-dol as her guard.
“Now then.”
I turned to face Kim Chul-soo and Lee Ah-woon.
“Time to loot.”
The farming phase begins…!
* * *
“We cleaned up well.”
“Yes!”
“Heh heh.”
I led the grinning fools out of the Tower.
I tallied the results.
Only a portion of the World Tree materials I’d stashed in my spatial expansion backpack survived.
Everything I’d carried out in regular pouches and bags—gone without a trace.
But the artifacts I’d stripped from the Elf Queen remained intact.
‘Though there were only two to begin with.’
In any case, I now grasped the farming mechanics.
No matter how much I farmed, I could only extract a limited quantity when leaving the Tower.
This amount varied based on the rarity of the materials, the absolute volume collected, and various other criteria known only to the Tower.
‘Unfair, really.’
But that’s the Tower for you.
What I’d obtained from this farming run was:
[World Tree Branch x20]
[World Tree Leaf x8]
[World Tree Dew x1 Bottle]
[World Tree Fruit x4]
These World Tree materials, and:
[Elf Queen Wind Force Hydra Bow]
The bow I’d given to Kim Chul-soo.
‘The elders would probably love a name like that.’
“Huh?”
“Where’d it go! My ginseng!”
What those two had picked up was nothing but weeds that didn’t qualify as artifacts.
They’d brought nothing of value out.
‘Sigh.’
That was because they weren’t accustomed to farming yet.
What you could extract through farming was actually predetermined.
On Layer 79, it was World Tree materials and the Elf Queen’s equipment.
And perhaps the Tower’s medicinal herbs that counted as elixirs even when consumed raw.
Though even that much was thanks to Whitey’s guidance.
I’d focused on the former, while they’d gone for the latter.
But because they’d collected ‘famous things from Earth’—ginseng, schisandra berries—they didn’t qualify as artifacts.
‘Since I plan to clear Layer 79 repeatedly, they’ll get the hang of it eventually.’
But I felt no regret whatsoever.
[Spirit Core]
This delectable peach was the reason why.
To put it simply:
…because of this one item, this farming run was a jackpot.
* * *
I instructed Kim Chul-soo to repeatedly challenge Layer 79 as training.
As long as Chul-soo possessed his reverse divinity, he wouldn’t die to the Elf Queen at minimum.
The spirit core could wait.
First, I needed to go to Italy and coax The Old Master into coming with me.
The first step toward that goal—material gathering—was complete.
Now only the main task remained: potion crafting.
I returned to my Alchemy Workshop.
In other words, I came home.
Here I planned to create the Universal Harmony Solution—or “Harmony Elixir” for short—but…
“It’s shabby.”
When crafting low-grade potions like red elixir, it didn’t matter, but for mid-tier potions like the Harmony Elixir, this place was inadequate.
In situations like this, I had a good solution.
“It’s me.”
Help me out, Hyo-jun!
[…What is it, sir?]
Kang Hyo-jun’s voice, heavy with exhaustion, came through the phone.
It translated to something like: what task are you trying to dump on me now?
“I need an Alchemy Workshop.”
But I wasn’t the type of man to be swayed by such subtle hints.
[What level of specifications would suffice?]
“Figure it out yourself.”
[…]
“Well.”
[Yes. Until when do you need…]
“Now.”
[…]
I heard Kang Hyo-jun swallow hard.
It sounded like he was choking down a flood of curses rising to his throat.
But I knew better.
The more you pushed Kang Hyo-jun, the stronger he became.
Give him an impossible task, and he’d grow stronger until he could actually accomplish it.
That was Kang Hyo-jun.
‘This is all a trial for your sake….’
It wasn’t harassment.
It was my consideration for Kang Hyo-jun’s future.
[Contact Vice President Min Ji-hee. I’ll reach out to her separately.]
“Min Ji-hee? What’s the difference?”
[If you need the highest-performance Alchemy Workshop immediately, you have no choice but to rent or purchase an already-established facility.]
“That makes sense.”
[In our country, there’s only one workshop of that caliber. It belongs to Hunter Jang Ho-hyun…]
“Who is that?”
[…There is only one Alchemy Workshop belonging to the Hunter known as the Silent Assassin, Jang Ho-hyun.]
Ah, that person.
[Contacting them directly would be overstepping my authority, so you would need to go through Min Ji-hee, the Vice-Chairman.]
“Understood. Then…”
[Ah, Apostle. Just a moment.]
“?”
Rustle, rustle.
Kang Hyo-jun hurriedly organized his desk, and the sound of his footsteps echoed as he walked.
He was moving locations in a rush.
‘What is he trying to say?’
[…That ‘Core’ you gave me, you remember?]
The black sphere that had emerged from within Iransu’s mud body after I sliced it apart.
He was definitely referring to that.
[I asked the Market to appraise it.]
“They do that kind of work too?”
[Yes, the Market is a Dimensional Merchant… a transcendent being who deals in items from other dimensions as well, so there is far more they know than don’t know.]
“And?”
[They know what it is.]
‘Why is he dragging this out like this?’
This wasn’t like Kang Hyo-jun at all.
I could sense he had something important to say but was dancing around it instead of getting to the point.
“Stop beating around the bush and speak.”
[…In exchange for the Market revealing the Core’s identity, they have requested a one-on-one meeting with you, Apostle.]
“Hmm.”
The Market. In other words, the Dimensional Merchant.
Another identity: the merchant who purchases items created by Nebula through the Lost Honor Auction House.
From what I additionally knew, they were an obsessive fool infatuated with the Nameless… roughly speaking.
I was curious about how they utilized the Lost Honor Auction House, and equally curious about the nature of that ability which allowed them to operate such a colossal organization as the Black Market.
Meeting them was certainly feasible.
“Very well.”
[Yes, I shall await your word.]
I hung up and sat before my PC.
I opened the Auction House and registered the Nameless.
“Come now, make your bid. Little fish.”
Ding!
The moment I pressed the registration button, a bid price was entered.
[Offered Price: 10 Billion Points]
The previous offer had been 5 billion, so the price had skyrocketed to double.
Of course, I had no intention of selling.
I raised Nameless, then lowered it.
I repeatedly raised and lowered the goblin dung I’d renamed to ‘Nameless’, then did the same with other items.
I kept listing and delisting trash items with names like Nameless, Memmu, and 武名—just different names on the same garbage—watching the price climb with each action.
“You dare attempt to haggle with me?”
This insolence couldn’t be forgiven by merely selling a single piece of goblin dung.
“Should I approve the transaction~ or not?”
Ding!
Ding!
“I won’t, you bastard.”
In the end, the Market purchased all of it—the goblin dung renamed to Nameless, along with Nameless, Memmu, and 武名—each for one hundred thousand points.
“Kneel. This is the gap between you and me.”

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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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