I Conquered the Tower with the EX-Class Character That I Raised - Chapter 33

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

Chapter 33
“…Hah.”
Han Seol-ah exhaled a cold breath.
[Are you alright?]
“It’s rather cold.”
The tips of Han Seol-ah’s fingers had turned a pale blue.
The new spell, Frost Mist, was an indiscriminate magic that froze even Han Seol-ah’s own body—friend and foe alike.
‘This is difficult.’
I had overcome the mana capacity I once thought was a curse, and had become an EX-rank Hunter, yet…
Perhaps it was because I had achieved such rapid growth.
Or perhaps it was the aftermath of that sudden awakening.
Manipulating the mana of the ice-binding realm, which had once felt as natural as breathing, now felt awkward and difficult.
[You’ll grow accustomed to it.]
“…I suppose so.”
Han Seol-ah kneaded the hand warmer tucked in her pocket while searching through the terrorist’s belongings.
The reason I had concentrated so intensely that my fingertips froze.
It was solely to freeze only the terrorist’s body while preserving their possessions.
When a criminal dies, their belongings belong to the one who eliminated them.
That was the unspoken rule of this world…
And lunatics desperate enough to infiltrate South Korea and commit terrorism typically carried rare items.
This ‘looting’ was Han Seol-ah’s modest hobby.
The first thing discovered in the pocket was three glass vials containing a liquid that emanated a murky violet aura.
The ominous coloration made it immediately clear this was a deadly poison.
“I should bring this to Mother.”
I had heard this terrorist was a criminal who dealt in poisons.
Mother, Min Ji-hee, would surely find some use for it.
As frost settled on the surface and the contents began to freeze, Han Seol-ah quickly placed the poison vials into a portable pouch.
Besides that, there were only a few throwing needles.
“Pathetic.”
After collecting everything worthwhile, Han Seol-ah flicked her fingers lightly.
Crack—! Shatter!
With that single, effortless gesture, the frozen terrorist’s body shattered into countless fragments and crumbled away.
The last item to emerge was a red potion contained in a glass vial.
The potion’s color appeared quite exquisite…
But the glass vial containing it was the problem.
“…Orange juice?”
A cheap glass vial with a partially peeled orange juice sticker still attached.
‘What on earth is this?’
As I tilted and examined the vial this way and that, sloshing it about…
“Hello.”
From the darkness, a man emerged with a soft rustle of footsteps.
“Guardian Han Seol-ah, it’s been a while.”
It was Kang Hyo-jun, the head of the Black Market’s Korean branch and an unofficial S-rank powerhouse.
“….”
A familiar face.
Han Seol-ah lowered her guard and bowed her head slightly instead of answering.
“That item in your hand—it belongs to us.”
“?”
Han Seol-ah held up the potion she was clutching.
“Yes, that one.”
“…I see.”
A faint displeasure crossed Han Seol-ah’s face.
Kang Hyo-jun caught that expression and continued.
“I understand. It’s a reward for dealing with Race. However, it’s stolen goods.”
“Stolen goods…?”
“The principle of the Black Market is to return stolen goods. I’m sure you’re aware of that. However.”
Kang Hyo-jun set down the backpack he’d brought with a soft thud.
“I’m not asking for it for free.”
Carefully, Kang Hyo-jun pulled from the backpack a box filled with ‘low-grade stamina potions.’
“Twenty-four pieces. One box. I’ll give you this.”
“Hmm…”
Han Seol-ah’s mind worked rapidly.
Stolen goods were to be returned—that was one of the widely known principles of the Black Market.
But in a world where the nation, and indeed the entire globe, was half-ruined, how many stolen goods could there be?
Generally, even the Black Market turned a blind eye to most of it.
Yet why invoke the ‘stolen goods return’ principle now?
‘It must be too precious to overlook.’
If Han Seol-ah wished, she could simply pretend ignorance, slip it into her pocket, and vanish.
But choosing to make an enemy of the Black Market over a single item was a difficult decision.
The Korean Hunter Association was one of the Black Market’s regular clients, after all.
She nodded.
Having made her decision, Han Seol-ah extended the potion in her hand forward.
“Would you mind throwing it over here?”
“…?”
Displeasure crossed Han Seol-ah’s face once more.
An air of ‘you don’t trust me.’
“It’s not about trust.”
“….”
“The aura around you is too cold. It’s difficult to approach.”
“Ah.”
I understood.
Han Seol-ah flicked the potion bottle toward me.
‘?’
And I witnessed it.
Kang Hyo-jun’s face contorted into extreme tension.
Boom—!
A shockwave erupted, the kind that appears when an S-rank Awakener channels mana at full power.
“Uh, ah. Ugh!”
Making primate-like sounds, fussing over every conceivable precaution lest it shatter.
Kang Hyo-jun caught the cheap orange juice bottle with trembling hands.
The way he cradled it in his arms with such care, as if holding a newborn infant, was unmistakably that of a primate.
“….”
“….”
Silence descended afterward.
Kang Hyo-jun scratched his head awkwardly.
“Ahem. It is quite precious, you see. I’m afraid I’ve shown you an unseemly display.”
Kang Hyo-jun bowed his head and vanished into the shadows.
‘….’
I waited until Kang Hyo-jun’s presence completely faded, then retrieved the lower-grade potion box.
“Ah.”
Crack!
The moment my hand touched the box.
Clink! Clink!
The cold emanating from my hand froze several potion bottles, shattering them.
‘…Now that I think about it.’
The poison bottle. These lower-grade potions as well.
None could withstand the cold radiating from my body.
But that cheap orange juice bottle.
Even when I held it bare-handed and examined it thoroughly, it remained completely unaffected by the cold.
‘…How curious.’
Was it treated with something special?
The orange juice bottle was certainly cheap.
Then the liquid inside must be what’s special.
‘Kang Hyo-jun is the director of the Korean branch. I’ve heard he rarely leaves the establishment for ordinary matters…’
An item significant enough to compel someone of Kang Hyo-jun’s stature to move personally, invoking the Black Market’s principles.
Intriguing.
Certainly so…
‘But I have no idea.’
I abandoned any further contemplation.
I would report this as valuable intelligence to Min Ji-hee and then forget about it.
Tsk.
Han Seol-ah leaped lightly into the air.
Following the method the Apostle had demonstrated, I created ice platforms in mid-air and vanished in an instant.
* * *
After the incident within the Auction House concluded.
“Kufufu.”
As a reward for taking the lead in resolving the incident, Yereche was able to claim one of the two “Red Elixirs” that had been put up for auction—the one that hadn’t been stolen.
Thinking of the enormous points she’d paid just to see this elixir in person, and the points invested to win the bid, she felt tears welling up.
‘But I got it, so that’s what matters, right?’
With this, the Religious Order’s future was secured…
Yereche felt like toasting herself for acting so boldly.
‘I’ll make sure it never appears in this world again.’
The fact that the Golden Mine had taken one did bother her somewhat…
‘But one is acceptable.’
As long as such a miraculous item didn’t flood the market all at once.
She was willing to overlook one.
“Saint, here is today’s winning bid…”
“Give it to me right now!”
Whoosh!
Yereche snatched the elegant box.
With a racing heart, I opened it.
“Ahhh…”
Inside lay a tomato juice bottle wrapped in luxurious red velvet.
A brilliant red liquid with an elegant shimmer sloshed inside the bottle.
‘Huh?’
But beside the Red Elixir, a black card had been placed.
“What is this?”
“Ah, the consignor asked me to pass along their thanks.”
“Hmm. So they’re aware they sold it at a high price?”
I thought they were an idiot who’d gotten cocky from luckily obtaining one miraculous item.
But it seemed they had some sense after all.
Yereche revised her evaluation of Numbers 1 slightly upward.
Yereche opened the card.
[I’m glad the Red Elixir pleased you.]
‘…It pleased me alright. Pleased me enough to never let it see the light of day.’
[Should you need more, please feel free to contact me anytime.]
‘…Need more?’
What an odd… message to write?
[Currently, I only possess eighteen bottles of Red Elixir]
“Eh?”
[I can produce as many as you desire.]
Tap.
Yereche didn’t even finish reading before she covered the card.
“You’re lying… right?”
“Pardon?”
“Do you know how much of the Religious Order’s budget I’ve spent trying to keep even this one from circulating in the world? And you’re telling me there are 18 more? How am I supposed to acquire all of them!”
Yereche’s pupils trembled uncontrollably.
“What? You’re lying, aren’t you?”
The Black Market employee answered with a bewildered expression.
“No, ma’am?”
…
Yereche’s eyes welled with tears.
“Damn it…”
Yereche’s grip loosened, and the card fluttered to the floor.
[I can produce as many as you desire.]
[Whether higher-grade elixirs of the Red Elixir or other types of spiritual medicines, I can craft them if you simply provide the materials.]
* * *
Whitey’s navigation function proved remarkably useful.
Until now, I’d only been able to set a destination and sprint at full speed in that direction.
But Whitey displays a massive arrow before my eyes and guides me along the shortest route with perfect precision.
The benefits I gained from the Frost Mage EX privilege are quite tangible.
Thanks to that, I could move about with a carefree spirit.
The moment I thought that.
[Huh?]
“Ugh, seriously!”
There are two things I absolutely despise.
One is “huh?”
That magical word that invariably pops up whenever things seem to be going smoothly, whenever I think I can relax.
Whenever that appears, something infuriating inevitably follows.
The second is…
You know what that is?
There are two ways to frustrate someone—one is to start talking and then stop mid-sentence, and…
[Lee Ah-woon’s vital signs have grown faint.]
“What are you saying, Whitey?”
[It appears he is on the verge of death.]
“…Damn it. Nothing ever goes smoothly.”
Whoosh!
I surged forward at maximum speed.
I dash forth like a streak of light, treading on ice platforms.
Matching my suddenly accelerated pace, Whitey’s guidance becomes equally intense.
Fortunately, Lee Ah-woon’s trace wasn’t far away.
Thud.
I descended to where Lee Ah-woon was.
It was the School Courtyard where I had killed that infuriating Scathach.
On one side of the courtyard, inside a freshly formed deep crater.
Lee Ah-woon lay within it.
Blood flowed from his entire body.
It looked as though a bomb had detonated from the inside—a complete mess.
Surveying the surroundings, a crimson trail extended from far away to this crater.
A path made of blood.
[It appears that mana backflow and mana reversal syndrome erupted simultaneously.]
Even so, his physical condition is horrific.
Like a thoughtless child had carelessly splattered bright red paint all over a sleeping person—an absolute disaster.
Whitey’s diagnosis continued.
[It seems he forcibly drew the mana storm into his body. If he hadn’t, this entire area would have vanished.]
“….”
Perhaps it was because he couldn’t take his medicine in time.
Lee Ah-woon must have sensed the danger—’Wait, this is about to burst?’
And enduring the tearing pain, he crawled with difficulty to a place devoid of people and minimal property damage…
The moment he found such a place, he relaxed and exploded.
Even so, he suppressed the explosion within his body to prevent collateral damage?
“Impressive, this guy.”
Extraordinary concentration.
I descended into the crater.
I pried open Lee Ah-woon’s mouth, inserted the crimson elixir, and gently massaged his throat.
Gulp.
Most of it spilled out, but he definitely swallowed some.
Flash!
A red light flickered across Lee Ah-woon’s body.
The blood scattered on the ground didn’t crawl back together.
Instead, the torn and gaping skin was mending in an instant.
A faint wisp of smoke rose from the wound sites.
It was the effect from when I’d consumed stamina recovery potions in Lost Honor.
‘…Strangely game-like.’
His body began to regain life.
‘Remarkable.’
The healing ability exceeded my expectations.
In the game, it was an emergency potion that instantly restored a certain multiple of HP.
The sensation is similar in reality.
Recovery continued to a certain level, then the wound healing stopped.
Just about thirty percent recovery.
‘Even this gets reflected in the system.’
Hmm. Truly game-like.
With the immediate crisis extinguished, I examined my surroundings.
Beside me, a note that appeared to be a farewell letter fluttered in the breeze.
Even amid such agony, he had desperately wanted to leave these words behind—so much so that he’d placed a stone atop the paper to keep it from blowing away.
‘I’m curious.’
I read it immediately.
The first few lines expressed gratitude toward “that man.”
‘That must be the golden mine—that man.’
What followed were lines lamenting his circumstances and regretting that he couldn’t avenge his younger sister.
‘He carried quite a burden.’
The text continued with passages mocking the meaninglessness of life.
It ended with a single line: ‘Absurdly, even now I still pray for a miracle.’
‘…A miracle, then.’
I placed my hand on Lee Ah-woon’s crumbling shoulder.
“Yes. Today, I shall become that ridiculous miracle of yours.”

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