I Conquered the Tower with the EX-Class Character That I Raised - Chapter 36
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 36
“Of course, hyung! I’ll do anything as long as I draw breath!”
Lee Ah-woon looked ready to swear a blood oath on the spot.
I gave his shoulder a casual pat, told him to wait at home with peace of mind, and hurried back.
My heart pounded as I sat down in front of the monitor.
“Alright, Quest resolved. Done?”
[Sub Quest: Make a Friend]
[Quest Objective: Become friends with S-rank Hunter Lee Ah-woon]
[Quest Reward]
[Lee Ah-woon’s Codex has been unlocked]
‘Done.’
The Quest was complete.
And below that, another message.
[Hidden Quest: ‘Not Satisfied With Just Being Friends’ has been completed]
[Quest rewards have been upgraded]
‘As expected, there was a Hidden Quest.’
After checking Lee Ah-woon’s status, I had predicted two Hidden Quest objectives.
One was to heal Lee Ah-woon.
The other was to establish a relationship beyond friendship with him.
‘So I’ve achieved both.’
It wasn’t a complete cure, but I had saved him from the brink of death nonetheless.
And I’d established a senior-junior bond that transcended mere friendship.
Perfect.
[Perfect Clear! Lee Ah-woon’s emotion has reached the ‘Faith’ stage]
‘…Huh? Faith stage?’
That much?
‘So all that “angel” talk was genuine?’
[Quest rewards have been significantly increased]
[Quest Reward]
[Codex: Lee Ah-woon Unlocked]
[Whisper] (new!)
‘Whisper? What’s this?’
Lost Honor is a single-player game.
There’s no one to send whispers to.
And as far as I know… I’m the only person on this entire Earth playing Lost Honor.
‘Why would they give me a reward like this? It’s useless.’
This doesn’t feel like Lost Honor at all.
Rather than disappointment at receiving a useless reward, I felt something else: unease.
Lost Honor always delivers on Hidden Quest rewards—that’s how it works.
‘Ah.’
What if.
This… isn’t something I awakened in reality as a Quest reward, but something I can actually use in the real world?
Something usable in reality?
Click.
I immediately refilled the synchronization time.
Tap.
I pressed Enter.
A text box appeared at the bottom of the screen, and the cursor blinked as if prompting me to type.
Lost Honor was a single-player game, yet it oddly had a chat function.
And it possessed most of the special chat features that other games offered.
I simply had never had reason to use them until now.
/n for general chat.
/p for party chat.
/w for…
[/w “Who is the target?”]
‘….’
There was someone I could conveniently call on in a moment like this.
[/w “Han Seol-ah”]
I pressed Enter.
Normally, the window would close pathetically with a message saying “Target not found.”
But.
[What would you like to say?]
[ ]
‘!’
It went through.
[What would you like to say?]
Below, the cursor blinked, waiting for me to input my message.
“Is this real?”
I had played a single-player game my entire life and remained a solo player in reality, yet now I finally had a function to communicate with another person.
‘Wait. Isn’t this an absolutely broken feature?’
No phone number needed. No communication network required.
Just by thinking of someone’s name, the system would deliver the message directly.
Wiretapping? Tracking? There’s no way such things could happen.
[Hello, Hunter Han Seol-ah. Thank you for your tireless efforts for South Korea’s safety. This is a whisper]
[Character limit exceeded.]
“What. It’s incredibly short.”
It seemed the limit was 50 characters.
[Hey there]
“This is way too insincere.”
[Bow down, mortals]
“….”
That’s not it either.
“This is a problem.”
How do you normally start a conversation with a whisper message anyway?
“Ah, forget it.”
Deliberating would only waste time.
“Next time.”
I’d explore the whisper function again later.
‘Besides, I have no way to verify if it’s even being sent properly right now.’
And the most critical issue.
‘…Who will appear as the sender? That’s the real problem.’
If it’s determined to be sent by a game character, would it show up as Nebula?
Or would it be Apostle, the codename I somehow ended up with?
Or my original name, Ha Sung-woon?
It wouldn’t be something like Alchemist or Special One, the names I use at the Black Market.
‘Looking at it this way, why do I have so many identities?’
Depending on which name it sends under, the way I use the whisper function would differ significantly.
‘I’ll have to call Lee Ah-woon over and test it out later.’
I opened the Codex.
It was time to check Lee Ah-woon’s entry, which had been unlocked as a reward.
[Lee Ah-woon]
[Awakened Ability: Circulation (?)]
[Current Ability: C]
[Latent Ability: -]
“?”
What is this?
Why is Circulation’s rank a question mark?
And why is the latent ability marked with a dash?
I scrolled the wheel with a flick.
The stats were… all F.
Pathetically low, so I skimmed past them quickly.
[Traits]
“The answer must be here.”
The moment I examined the contents with anticipation.
[Unique Trait: —] (Sealed)
“Seriously… this is sealed too?”
I couldn’t fathom why everything was hidden away so tightly.
“Hm?”
But then.
Unlike other Hunters I’d reviewed in the Codex, such as Han Seol-ah, Lee Ah-woon had an additional line under his unique trait.
[Unique Trait: Child of the Outer God] (-)
“Hmm…”
So this was the root of the problem.
‘Child of the Outer God, then.’
Typically, when people spoke of Outer Gods, they meant those grotesque entities from beyond the cosmos.
‘I saw them often enough in Lost Honor… but could they actually exist in reality?’
How ominous.
In Lost Honor, Outer Gods were treated as event bosses that dropped materials used in crafting Genesis-tier items.
Before character progression reached its end, they appeared as formidable adversaries that inspired genuine dread each time.
If such entities existed in reality as well…
‘…I’d rather not contemplate that right now.’
I’d bury that thought.
My mind was already complicated enough.
I examined the traits attached to the second unique trait, ‘Child of the Outer God.’
└[Heavenly Curse: Mark of the Outer God] (-)
└[Heavenly Curse: Sacrifice of the Outer God] (-)
└[Heavenly Curse: Vessel of the Outer God] (-)
└[Heavenly Curse: Twisted Fate] (-)
└[Heavenly Curse: Misfortune] (-)
└[Heavenly Curse: Corruption] (-)
└[Heavenly Curse: Short-lived] (-)
“…Ugh.”
Why were there so many heavenly curses?
Heavenly curses were traits I’d seen in Han Seol-ah’s codex entry—she possessed the unique trait Nine Yin Meridian.
In Han Seol-ah’s case, she had ‘Heavenly Curse: Numbness’ and ‘Heavenly Curse: Short-lived’ attached to her.
According to what I’d learned about the Nine Yin Meridian through Whitey, those with this constitution became extraordinarily intelligent but suffered from dulled senses and a shortened lifespan.
It seemed such ‘severe debuffs’ manifested as ‘heavenly curses’…
Yet this one had six of them plastered on like patches.
Moreover, Han Seol-ah had ‘Cured’ attached to her numbness and ‘Overcome’ attached to her short-lived curse—band-aid solutions of sorts—but this one had nothing like that.
[General Traits]
[Loyalty] (S)
[Ambition] (A)
[Perseverance] (A)
[Avenger] (B)
Four general traits in total.
‘Both Min Ji-hee and Han Seol-ah had exactly four general traits as well.’
It seemed the general traits section showed only four specific aspects that defined what made the codex subject special.
‘This is actually quite impressive?’
Overflowing with loyalty, brimming with ambition, excellent perseverance.
As for Avenger—that likely meant harboring a bitter, consuming vendetta against someone in their heart.
My favorability toward Lee Ah-woon increased by one.
‘But even checking the compendium, I can’t tell how much potential he has. What if I use a possession ticket recklessly and it’s a dud?’
Ding!
[The compendium entry for ‘Lee Ah-woon’ has been enhanced as a Hidden Quest reward.]
‘Enhanced compendium?’
[Lee Ah-woon]
[Awakened Ability: Circulation(?)] → [Awakened Ability: None]
“…!”
The hidden sections were revealed.
“Look at this?”
The first thing I focused on was his awakened ability.
Lee Ah-woon had definitely awakened ‘Circulation’.
But for ‘some reason’, he no longer possessed an awakened ability.
That reason was probably related to some foreign god or something.
Having no awakened ability meant…
‘It’s basically a death sentence for Hunters.’
There are certainly cases where people lose their awakened abilities due to accidents acquired later in life.
If an awakened person who could turn their arm into steel had that arm severed in an accident?
Then that awakened person would lose their ability.
Ah, but this doesn’t mean he becomes like me—someone unable to awaken.
Mana still remains in his body, so he’s still superhuman, just no longer ‘special’.
How uniquely tragic an inability to awaken truly is.
[Unique Trait: —] (Sealed)
→
[Unique Trait: Pure Soul] (EX)
Unique trait: Pure Soul.
I still don’t know what that means.
I read through Lee Ah-woon’s entire compendium entry from beginning to end again.
Now I understood why Lee Ah-woon’s condition was in such a state. Understanding the current situation, a solution came to mind, and at the end of that, I could even predict the result awaiting me.
[Current Ability: C]
[Latent Ability: -] → [Latent Ability: C~EX]
Lee Ah-woon’s potential was a variable figure ranging from C to EX.
But when I calculated everything—the curse he was under, the combination of his hidden traits, and all the variables I could introduce—
The complete picture was already drawn in my mind.
“EX is guaranteed.”
A brilliant future awaited.
Now, let’s go with possession.
* * *
“Whitey. Call ‘Lee Ah-woon’ for me.”
[…You don’t have to speak so bluntly, you know.]
“Isn’t that how you’re supposed to give commands to an AI? I heard they can’t understand unless you speak clearly and precisely.”
[Well, that’s how it was programmed. Though we’re talking about early 2020.]
“You’re not going to mishear my muttering and send a message to some random person, are you?”
[…Agent, there are no contacts saved on your phone or watch at all.]
Right, that’s true.
[Then I shall place a call to Lee Ah-woon.]
“But I don’t have his number.”
[I am capable of doing so.]
Beep—
The dial tone echoed from my watch.
—Hello?
“It’s me.”
—Oh, uh. B-boss. No. Sir.
The rustling of him straightening up was so pronounced I could hear it clearly through the receiver.
“Save this number—it’s mine.”
—…Um, the caller ID is blocked, so I can’t see the number, sir.
“Is that so?”
Whitey added sheepishly.
[Security is paramount, after all.]
“Then write this down. My number is…”
—Yes, sir.
“….”
—….
‘Wait… what’s my number again?’
[Agent, your original number has been deactivated for quite some time.]
“Ah.”
[…Hmm? That’s strange. Why haven’t you obtained a new number?]
“….”
Back then, I was an unawakened individual—not even recognized as a citizen.
—Sir?
“Hold on.”
[Your current number is 001-0001-0001.]
I relayed it as is.
—…001? Sir, you’re with the Hunter Association… and such a prestigious number at that… You’re truly remarkable.
“….”
—Even the Association Chairman couldn’t use a number like that…
[Ha, you recognize something remarkable. Impressive for a foolish organic creature. That number is my exclusive private line, specially issued. It’s completely untraceable, unmonitorable—a line boasting perfect security.]
If I just hand over such a prestigious line to Lee Ah-woon like this, he’ll be just as shocked as he is now, won’t he, Whitey.
“An AI truly doesn’t understand the human heart…”
And where did you even learn to say such terrible things.
“I’m going to send you a whisper right now, okay? Tell me how it sounds.”
-Huh? A whisper?
“Such a thing exists.”
I typed immediately.
[/w “Lee Ah-woon” Microphone test one two one two]
Click.
I pressed enter.
[Message sent]
[Remaining uses today (2/3)]
The log appeared in the chat window.
‘Looks like I can only use it three times a day.’
-Eek!
Lee Ah-woon let out a startled shriek.
“How was it?”
-I heard a voice saying “Microphone test one two one two.”
A voice. So that’s how it comes across.
“Why did you get so scared?”
-It felt like someone was whispering right in my ear… I got goosebumps all over. I thought it was a ghost.
“Did you get any sense of who was speaking?”
-No. It’s just… um, like a mechanical sound? An artificial voice, so I couldn’t even tell if it was a woman or a man.
“Hmm.”
Okay.
Confirmed.
‘Better than I expected… no, even better than I’d hoped.’
My original voice doesn’t bleed through at all.
An inorganic, genderless, ageless voice.
Which means I can, if I want to, plant messages directly into someone’s mind disguised as system notifications.
I’ve obtained a free speaker for covert operations that can’t be traced by radio.
‘This is insane.’
Next.
“There are some additional details I need to explain.”
I spent time laying out the operation in meticulous detail.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————