I Conquered the Tower with the EX-Class Character That I Raised - Chapter 72

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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 72
An unlimited monster wave will begin in two hours.
…It’s a difficult situation to accept.
Monster waves themselves are a calamity that any South Korean has grown weary of experiencing.
But what in the world does ‘unlimited’ even mean?
And the fact that it starts in two hours is absolutely absurd!
However, I don’t have time to panic and space out like Chul-soo.
I immediately sent whispered messages to Han Seol-ah and Lee Ah-woon, and had Whitey send an emergency message to Yereche as well.
Remaining time: 1 hour and 59 minutes.
Not even a moment of wasted time is permitted.
I gathered my resolve.
I grabbed Chul-soo and hoisted him onto my shoulder, then leaped out through the window.
Fortunately, Chul-soo neither objected nor pointlessly asked me what we should do.
“Call Min Ji-hee.”
Whitey immediately made the call.
Beep—
[Apostle!]
Min Ji-hee must have been waiting, picking up before the dial tone even finished its first ring.
“You understand the situation, right?”
[Yes. But this ‘unlimited’ monster wave is something I’ve never heard of before. The uncertainty is too…]
‘…Min Ji-hee.’
Given how grave the situation is, her normally sharp voice has grown unnaturally subdued.
Certainly… this is a case we never anticipated.
Who would have expected the Tower to launch such a ‘numerical assault’?
Everyone naturally assumed a ‘boss’ would appear.
But…
To be honest, the moment I checked the notification, I actually felt relieved.
‘Stupid Tower bastard.’
Since I kept defeating bosses it thought I couldn’t catch, it must have deemed bosses insufficient.
But it was wrong.
If one of the bosses I anticipated had appeared, I wouldn’t have achieved a no-death clear either.
This numerical assault instead of that boss?
Perfect.
Absolutely perfect.
It almost feels like the Tower is being considerate of me.
‘Though that’s unlikely.’
So from the start, this was a battle over whether South Korea could endure the time I needed.
And yet… where in the entire world is the best at stopping monster waves?
South Korea.
‘Monster waves? I’m familiar with them.’
Normally, a Break spawns hordes of common monsters with one or two quasi-boss-level creatures. That’s the standard.
And South Korea has endured this grueling cycle for ten years straight.
After a brief sigh, Min Ji-hee composed herself and began the briefing with measured calm.
[Following protocol, we’re activating emergency mobilization orders and constructing defensive lines immediately.]
Instant mobilization. And Hunters responding just as instantly.
Indeed, the entire nation has become a specialist in Wave defense itself.
South Korea’s monster Wave defense capability is unmatched globally.
And it was Min Ji-hee who engineered that defensive prowess.
To weather this hellish Wave, she had established a deceptively simple yet ironclad four-stage countermeasure.
1. Deploy the tank.
2. Heal with support.
Endure.
4. Han Seol-ah annihilates everything.
In essence: establish the line, hold it, counterattack, and obliterate.
Right now, we were in the process of mobilizing tanks for the first of these four stages.
[Especially now that Hunter Han Seol-ah has reached EX-rank…]
“That won’t work.”
I cut off Min Ji-hee’s briefing mid-sentence.
[Pardon?]
“Han Seol-ah cannot participate in this defensive operation.”
[…Excuse me?]
Min Ji-hee blinked in bewilderment.
“Min Ji-hee. This Wave will be different from anything we’ve faced before.”
[That may be true, but…]
It’s a monster Wave branded with the name ‘Unlimited.’
The Tower does not lie.
Literally, monsters will pour forth without end.
“Annihilation is impossible.”
We might hold back one or two Waves that way.
But no human strength can eternally withstand an infinite tide of monsters.
The moment we choose to defend, destruction becomes inevitable.
The only difference is whether we buy a day or a week.
[But surely the power of ‘Necromancy’ that the Apostle used when eliminating Resonar would suffice?]
I knew she would rely on my strength.
“Even that falls short.”
But unfortunately.
That answer too is wrong.
[Then…]
Min Ji-hee’s words trailed off.
Despair hung suspended at the end of that silence, transmitting through the airwaves.
“Yes.”
Given how things have unfolded.
There are only two options.
Conquer the 94th Floor of the Tower.
Or watch South Korea fall to ruin.
And no sane person would choose the latter.
From the beginning, we’ve only ever had one path forward.
[…Apostle.]
Min Ji-hee’s voice trembled.
[Please, tell me that’s not what you mean.]
I understand her fear.
Ten years ago, when the Tower consumed every S-rank and above Hunter in South Korea.
The day our nation’s future was devoured.
Min Ji-hee had been the chief architect of the Tower Ascension Plan.
[That… that place isn’t somewhere humans can conquer.]
As panic seized her, Min Ji-hee’s voice shook uncontrollably.
“No.”
She was wrong again.
“It can be conquered.”
If it’s me.
…And if I have the party I’ve assembled.
“I’ll explain the strategy.”
[…]
Min Ji-hee could only gasp, her breath coming in ragged bursts.
She couldn’t answer.
“First. Minimize the front line. The conventional approach stretches our defenses too thin. As exhaustion accumulates, one section will collapse, and then the entire line will crumble like a dam breaking.”
[…]
“Second. Abandon any thoughts of counterattack. Use Jin Cheon-jin as a firefighter to plug the gaps in our collapsing lines. Mobilize Jang Ho-hyun and the intelligence and special operations teams entirely. Don’t hold anything in reserve.”
[…Understood.]
Barely, Min Ji-hee managed to respond.
“…Third. Endure.”
[Until when must we hold?]
“Until I return.”
[Will you… will you definitely come back?]
Ha.
I found myself laughing without meaning to.
“It won’t take long.”
Rather than wait for her response, I ended the call.
Yes.
Today, I enter the 94th Floor.
If we fail, South Korea will perish.
But.
‘I can break through.’
I will conquer the Tower without fail.
For this single purpose, I have…
waited ten years.
* * *
Min Ji-hee’s phone slipped from her fingers.
Her legs gave out beneath her, and she could barely stand.
Jin Cheon-jin caught her gently as she began to collapse.
“From this moment, I will redraw the front lines.”
“Speak. I will relay it.”
Min Ji-hee traced the new strategy in her mind.
Monster waves, much like boss breaks, originate from Pyongyang.
Monster behavior patterns are simple.
They pursue living things. Then they kill them.
By exploiting that pattern, Min Ji-hee favored a strategy of drawing the front lines tight and narrow.
When living creatures are spread thin, the monsters’ attacks disperse widely as well.
That’s why other nations, facing lower-tier monster waves, spread their lines as wide as possible and attempt to pick off enemies individually.
But if South Korea employed such tactics, it would amount to nothing more than laying out bait across a wide area.
The quality of the monsters is different.
So Min Ji-hee compressed the front lines.
Funneling the monsters as tightly as possible.
And if the tanks endure—grinding away their bodies, sometimes their very lives…
Han Seol-ah clears them all in one strike.
That is how South Korea withstands the waves.
‘Even though I’ve refined the front lines to minimize casualties, the Apostle still said it was too wide.’
Snow White is an artificial intelligence specialized in information, containing as much historical data as possible.
The Apostle wearing her would surely know South Korea’s methods.
‘…I need to improve further.’
Min Ji-hee accepted this as encouragement to work harder.
The Apostle who declared he would enter the Tower’s 94th Floor to save South Korea.
I will no longer commit the foolish act of doubting his sincerity.
He is a man whose depths cannot be fathomed.
A superhuman whose end cannot be seen.
But that heart of his—the one that seeks to save the nation—was genuine.
‘The tanks’ equipment has… clearly been upgraded.’
With this, we can endure longer with fewer personnel.
“The existing tank team composition was 128 units… I’ll divide them further into 512 units. With better equipment, fewer members can hold the line. We’ll compress the front and shorten rotation cycles to run infinite rotations. I’ll prepare the roster immediately. On a laptop.”
“Understood.”
Jin Cheon-jin carefully seated Min Ji-hee on a cushion, then brought a laptop in front of her.
Min Ji-hee murmured the names and characteristics of the tanks aloud as she began typing at an astonishing speed.
Clack-clack-clack.
“Where will the battlefield be? Paju like before?”
“…No, that won’t work.”
Min Ji-hee answered without pausing her fingers.
“Seoul.”
“Seoul…? Suddenly?”
“More precisely, around the Tower…. I’ll establish our defensive line there. Between Geumamsan and Gaeksan, with Namsan—where the Tower stands—at our back…. In the valley between them.”
The location Min Ji-hee had identified was the closest point to the Tower while being flanked by mountains on both sides, allowing us to compress our defensive line to its maximum advantage.
It wasn’t a place she’d thought of on impulse.
It was a location Min Ji-hee had already marked as the place where she would make her ‘final stand’.
Hanam Fortress.
A fortress built with various defensive installations and physical barriers constructed across the mountains to minimize the movement of monsters, and equipped with diverse structures along the defensive line.
But it was insufficient.
The last fortress built by scraping together and conserving South Korea’s resources… or so it was called.
With so little to work with, it was far too shameful to even be called a fortress.
‘…If only South Korea had even one Hunter skilled in earth-attribute magic remaining, we could have erected barriers to minimize casualties….’
Without such talent, ultimately the Hunters would have to absorb the onslaught of monsters with their bare bodies.
It would be a brutally difficult battle.
Ring-ring—
Just as I was thinking that.
Kang Hyo-jun called.
‘Why is the Market calling?’
“Hello.”
[I’m coming.]
“I’m busy right now.”
[…I understand. I’m busy too. Sigh.]
“Just state your business briefly.”
[Will you be fighting at that fortress in Hanam?]
“There’s nowhere else.”
[…This is a message from the person I serve.]
‘The person he serves?’
Kang Hyo-jun was the manager of the Black Market’s South Korea branch.
He wasn’t in a position to serve anyone…
[I’ll dispatch an S-rank physical enhancement Hunter for you.]
“…That’s you!”
Min Ji-hee’s eyes widened.
The Black Market maintained absolute neutrality.
It never lent its strength to any nation or individual.
The case of the Indian branch, which refused to help even as India fell, proves this point.
But now, Kang Hyo-jun’s statement was…
S-rank Hunter Kang Hyo-jun himself was coming directly to assist in defending the wave.
‘This is insane! Could it be…?’
Who would pull off something this absurd?
Only the Apostle.
‘Special One…! Using that identity here? Could it be Numbers 1’s authority?’
With Kang Hyo-jun’s assistance, I could alternate deploying Jin Cheon-jin and Kang Hyo-jun.
Just this alone multiplies my strategic options infinitely!
But Kang Hyo-jun’s words didn’t end there.
[…One S-rank earth-attribute Hunter.]
“!”
Among those affiliated with the Black Market, there’s only one S-rank earth-attribute Hunter.
The Italy Market Branch manager.
The serpent wielding sacred water—Happy!
‘This can’t be real!’
Min Ji-hee’s mind began simulating the wave defense from the very beginning.
‘If Happy helps… I can reinforce the fortress sufficiently!’
Then the difficulty of the defense would plummet dramatically.
‘Such a gift…!’
You must be so busy focusing on conquering the Tower, yet in that brief moment, when did you prepare such contingencies?
Just how many moves ahead into the future can you see?
[And…]
“There’s more?”
[Last time, I prepared a tank-class artifact for you.]
“Yes!”
[…This time, I’m bringing a healer-class artifact.]
“The source is…?”
[Golden Mine. That man pulled some strings.]
‘Golden Mine? Brother…?’
Then, a thick male voice cut through the phone.
[Hey there. Ji-hee. It’s been a while.]
“Sir! Are you… are you okay now?”
[…Yeah. I’ve decided to stop living like a coward, hiding away waiting for death.]
“….”
[Originally, I had those points reserved for something else… but Special One said to use them all without worry. Ha.]
Despair. And with a touch of resignation, it felt like walking into the jaws of death—that was the defense I faced.
But now, hope had emerged.
Min Ji-hee’s expression hardened with cold resolve.
“Come quickly. All three of you.”
I will hold the line no matter what.
Until the Apostle returns…!
* * *
The Tower comes into view.
“….”
‘It’s been a while.’
I turned to look back at them.
“Apostle!”
White hair streaming in the wind—an EX-rank ice mage.
Debuffer Han Seol-ah.
“Big brother!”
Wrapped in bandages from head to toe—an EX-rank Necromancer and A-rank Spirit Master.
Tank Lee Ah-woon.
“I’m here.”
The strongest cleric on earth. S-rank Holy Maiden.
Healer Yereche.
“…Hello?”
B-rank Kim Chul-soo.
My party for the 94th Floor ascent.
“Let’s go.”
I placed my hand on the Tower’s entrance.
[Welcome back]
[94th Floor Climber, Ha Sung-woon]
I gazed at the Tower’s status window—familiar yet strange after so long away.
[Will you resume your ascent?]
[1. Yes] [2. No]
…I pressed ‘Yes’.
Now then.
…It’s time to return as Ha Sung-woon, the First Climber.

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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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