I Conquered the Tower with the EX-Class Character That I Raised - Chapter 98

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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 98
“Lost Honor is… the power I gained after I set aside the Tower and was cast out.”
[I see…]
This was precisely why I had deliberately avoided paying attention to Lost Honor’s true nature and other ‘excessively peculiar’ matters up until now.
Lost Honor was a power of the Tower, after all.
Information about the Tower’s domain could only be obtained from within the Tower itself.
No matter how hard one struggled outside the Tower, it would all be futile effort.
To have Whitey uncover the truth about Lost Honor, I would need to bring Whitey into the Tower.
But that was impossible right now.
Though Whitey was a ‘remarkably superior tool’ created by humans, it was not an artifact.
Tools could not be brought into the Tower.
‘…Another reason to unlock the 13th series has emerged.’
If I unlocked the Creation series, I could upgrade Whitey to the point where it would receive artifact classification.
Those brilliant golden messages that appeared whenever I ‘conquered’ a floor.
Based on the circumstances, there was a high probability they came from someone very high up in the Tower.
And considering the miracles Lost Honor had demonstrated so far…
It only made sense that such authority would come from someone of that caliber.
‘In the end, I’ll have to climb the Tower to learn the truth.’
Just then, footsteps echoed from the corridor, and the door swung open.
The first member of the party I had summoned—Han Seol-ah—had arrived.
I showed Han Seol-ah Nopi’s screen as well.
“What do you see?”
“A black screen.”
Han Seol-ah let out a small exclamation and brought her fists to her eyes, giggling.
“Is this that thing? Where you show someone a dark screen and then say ‘What do you see?’, ‘I see nothing’, ‘That’s your future’ as a joke.”
“….”
“I know all about it.”
“That’s not it.”
Perhaps because she had set down the burden weighing on her heart.
Han Seol-ah seemed much brighter now.
‘It’s a pleasant sight.’
Far better than keeping her lips sealed and maintaining a cold expression as if to say ‘I am a person without emotions.’
That cheerful demeanor was Han Seol-ah’s true nature after all.
“Anyway, the point is that nothing can be seen.”
“Yes.”
Whitey could see something like worms, yet Han Seol-ah could see nothing at all.
What could account for the difference?
Lee Ah-woon and Kim Chul-soo, who arrived afterward, were also unable to observe Lost Honor operating on Nopi’s screen.
‘I’m at a loss.’
…I had far too little data to make a judgment.
I couldn’t afford to sit here brooding over this single matter—I had far too much to do.
For now, I pushed the tangled thoughts to the back of my mind.
“Today we’re going into the Tower to do some farming.”
“Sir, what exactly does this farming entail?”
The other hunters clearly had no idea either.
“An excellent question.”
Farming.
It’s something every nation that possesses a Tower does on a daily basis.
You enter the Tower, extract rare materials that no amount of money could procure, clear missions, and emerge victorious—
Quite literally, mining the golden lode of the Hunter era.
The Tower has existed for ten years, so why don’t these people know about this everyday activity?
…Well, obviously because this is their first time farming.
This country is genuinely, catastrophically incompetent.
‘My apologies.’
I offered a silent apology.
If I had died on the 2nd Floor, the Korean Tower would have started there too.
“The Tower is essentially… an instanced dungeon.”
An instanced dungeon.
A dungeon that generates anew with each entry.
Only those who enter and their party members who enter simultaneously can access that dungeon.
If a different party enters the Tower, a new instanced dungeon is created exclusively for them.
Let’s say Kim Chul-soo’s party enters the 51st Floor, and five minutes later, Han Seol-ah’s party enters the same floor.
Though it’s the same floor, they cannot meet.
They’re in dungeons of different dimensions.
“Before entering, you choose your floor.”
The moment I touched the Tower’s entrance, a message appeared before everyone’s eyes.
[Accessible Tower Floors]
[Floor 1]
[Floor 2]
(…)
[Floor 90]
You can only enter floors up to the one you’ve cleared.
If someone attempted to enter India’s Tower, only up to Floor 73 would appear on the list.
Because Iransu died attempting Floor 74.
“Since we’ve cleared up to the 94th Floor, we can enter up to the 90th Floor.”
“Wait, Apostle, shouldn’t we be able to enter the 94th Floor then?”
“The 90th Floor is a single tier with one unified theme, so you can only enter at its starting point—the 90th Floor itself.”
…That’s probably how it works.
The reason I can explain the Tower’s farming process in such detail?
Because I’m the one who climbed it.
No.
I only entered the Tower after putting it on hold not long ago for the first time, so how would I know anything about farming?
[Typically, layers 1 through 10, 11 through 20, and so on—every 10 floors constitute one tier.]
“Layers 1 through 10, 11 through 20. Every 10 floors make up one tier.”
[While not connected like the 90th Floor, the environments within a tier are usually similar.]
“…The environments within a tier are usually similar.”
Whitey was projecting a cheat sheet for me!
The explanation continued from there.
The three of them stared blankly ahead.
It was a side effect of cramming too much information into their heads in such a short time.
‘…These three aren’t exactly intellectuals.’
Right.
What’s the point of studying with you lot?
“So where we’re going is…”
Practical experience is the best teacher. Agreed?
I pressed ‘Layer 79’.
“The Elf Forest.”
* * *
The Layer 79 Waiting Room was noticeably smaller than the Floor 94 Waiting Room.
“F-finally, we get to farm too…!”
Han Seol-ah trembled with emotion, her eyes squeezed shut.
Lee Ah-woon swallowed hard and clenched his fists, while Kim Chul-soo’s nostrils flared as he struggled to steady his quickening breath.
‘That’s understandable.’
“And it’s Layer 79, no less.”
Chul-soo chimed in with perfect timing.
Currently, the United States is the only nation on Earth capable of farming the 70-tier range.
Even the United States has only reached the 70th Floor as its limit.
A place capable of farming Layer 79, the final floor of a tier?
South Korea alone.
“Floors ending in 9 within each tier are special.”
“Oh, that’s what you explained earlier! Those are the boss floors, right?”
Han Seol-ah answered immediately.
With Min Ji-hee, that brilliant strategist, handling everything, she’d never needed to think much—but despite struggling to keep up with the crash course in theory just moments ago, her instincts absorbed knowledge related to combat and practical experience with remarkable clarity.
‘I’ll need to teach her a lot going forward.’
“Exactly. The difficulty is at its highest, but the value of the loot that drops is in a completely different league.”
The core material for the potion to subdue The Old Master—’World Tree’s Dew’.
True to its name, it’s a rare material that must be harvested from the actual World Tree.
The problem is that the elves revere this tree as their ‘Mother’ with absolute devotion.
Naturally, to breach that sacred ground, we’d have to push through a forest teeming with elves.
And closest to the World Tree dwells the strongest and most arrogant elf of them all…
That’s the boss that appears on Layer 79.
The Elf Queen.
“Once we enter, the battle with the Layer 79 boss will likely begin immediately.”
At my words, the three of them swallowed hard, their eyes sparkling with unwavering trust as they gazed at me.
I didn’t need to see it to know what they were thinking.
‘The Apostle will slice through everything for us!’ They were absolutely certain of it.
“I will not participate in combat.”
“…Pardon?”
Not a chance.
“Defeat the Layer 79 boss with only the three of you.”
I am the man who will conquer Floor 95 and prevent Earth’s destruction.
The one who will ultimately clear the Tower and save Earth.
In other words, a Hero.
Then these three?
They could be called members of that legendary ‘Hero’s Party’.
Those standing in such a glorious position should naturally possess power befitting their rank.
They mustn’t grow accustomed to relying on a single Hero to carry them.
‘Well, Chul-soo is an exception.’
He’s more like the Hero’s Party’s pack mule.
Even if he’s not particularly strong, he can still be included.
Countless clichés prove this point.
When you cast out the party’s pack mule, disaster inevitably strikes.
‘Stories of Hero’s Parties that disappeared after mistreating their pack mule without understanding their value are extremely common online.’
“Do not expect me to save you when you’re in danger.”
“…Understood!”
A steely resolve crystallized in Han Seol-ah’s eyes.
Lee Ah-woon and Kim Chul-soo also nodded firmly, their fighting spirit ignited.
“Oh, and by the way—if you die while farming, you really die.”
“What?!”
“Huh?!”
I wondered why they’d accepted it so calmly.
These idiots.
I thought they were treating this place like Lost Honor, where you could die and come back to life.
“Do not be careless.”
Though I’d frightened them considerably, honestly, our odds of victory are more than sufficient.
Two EX-rank Hunters, supposedly the pinnacle of Hunters.
And there’s also a unique existence—the strongest B-rank on Earth.
In terms of combat power, we’re absolutely not at a disadvantage.
There are only two risk factors.
Lee Ah-woon hasn’t yet acquired power befitting an EX-rank Hunter.
The other issue was merely Yereche’s absence—the healer needed to restore Lee Ah-woon, who burned through his life force while fighting.
But watching Kang Hyo-jun, I finally understood something.
The more you push people, the stronger they become!
“Well then, shall we go?”
* * *
Whoosh!
The moment I crossed the Layer 79 portal, an endless forest sprawled before me, ancient gnarled trees blocking out the sky.
And at its center.
The World Tree rose with an overwhelming majesty so breathtaking that merely gazing upon it stole one’s breath—a colossal silver tree of impossible grandeur.
‘Damn, seeing it in person… it’s really fucking massive.’
Even I, who rarely cursed and was known for my gentle nature, found profanities reflexively escaping my lips at such magnificence.
‘The World Tree truly is a massive tree.’
With a tree of such proportions, it made perfect sense that the elves revered it as their “mother” and worshipped it.
“This is Layer 79…?”
“Breathing is certainly difficult. The mana concentration here is completely different from outside…”
Lee Ah-woon and Kim Chul-soo broke into cold sweat.
The Tower’s mana concentration naturally grew denser the higher one ascended.
Of course, from the 90th Floor where I had been, the environment became a special case where the concentration dropped sharply as destruction progressed.
But Layer 79 possessed an exceptionally dense mana concentration due to the World Tree’s presence.
‘That’s precisely why I chose it as their training ground.’
The denser the external mana, the more grueling the burden of extracting and controlling the mana within one’s body. It was akin to running through deep water where breathing itself became labored.
Training in this weighted-vest environment, forcibly squeezing out mana while accumulating combat experience, would explosively accelerate their mana manipulation abilities.
‘True training always requires wearing the weighted vest, doesn’t it?’
I could farm materials from the World Tree.
It was ideal for weighted training.
And above all else.
The boss’s difficulty level was perfectly calibrated.
One careless moment meant actual death.
‘But with effort’, victory was achievable—that precise level of challenge!
In that instant.
Something radiating a heavy, suffocating presence descended from the sky with a sudden whoosh.
Rumble!
A gale wind swept through.
Boom, boom, boom!
The earth itself began to tremble.
Gracefully flowing golden hair and refreshing emerald eyes. An elegant bearing and haughty jawline!
…Originally, she had the pristine, delicate appearance befitting a forest sprite.
But now, something was different.
Her snow-white skin had flushed crimson with rage, and her golden hair—as fluid as melted gold—now thrashed wildly in all directions, straining against the turbulent mana she could barely contain, threatening to pierce the very heavens.
A cold, piercing light blazed from her eyes.
In short, it was the “absolutely furious” Elf Queen mode.
“How dare you wretched humans set foot in my mother’s sacred sanctuary…!”
Boom—!
Whoooosh!
With a single gesture, the spirits around her went berserk, sweeping forth like a violent tempest.
Truly, she embodied the forest’s sovereign and the apex of her entire race…
Though, well.
‘Ugh, look at her putting on airs.’
After grinding down the Elf Queen for ten years in Lost Honor, I couldn’t help but snort derisively.
‘I’d love to just pummel her senseless and make her admit that the World Tree is nothing but a big tree.’
What irritated me even more.
She looked exactly like the Elf Queen I’d seen in Lost Honor.
Which made that “arrogant” demeanor twist my gut even tighter.
“Apostle, we’re commencing battle!”
Han Seol-ah turned back to brief me, but.
“Huh? A-Apostle isn’t here!”
Of course not.
The moment we entered, I’d swiftly climbed onto one of the World Tree’s thick branches and settled in.
‘Oh, this is a perfect vantage point. Ideal for observation.’
I leaned back comfortably against the branch and gazed down at the scene below.
‘Now then, go ahead and fight.’
“Insects daring to gaze upon my mother’s altar. Atone with your deaths.”
The queen pronounced judgment coldly, then snapped her fingers with elegant grace.

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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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