I Inherited the Basement of the Tower - Chapter 11

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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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Inherited the Basement 1 of the Tower – Episode 11

Fluttered—

The torn contract drifted slowly downward.
Behind it, I could see Ahn Jae-jun’s expression turning sour.
He looked like he was barely holding back his anger.

“…Interesting. I’ve only dealt with those whining to be accepted, never one outright rejecting me like this.”
“I don’t have the talent for listening politely to nonsense.”

Thud.

I lowered the backpack I’d been carrying onto the desk.
Rumble—
Bundles of fifty-thousand-won notes spilled out from the backpack.

“This settles things between you and me.”
“Agreed. Should’ve ended this long ago.”

Ahn Jae-jun casually tapped the desk with his knuckles.
The door swung open.

Burst—!

Muscular men in suits blocked the doorway.
Despite their appearance, each one was a Hunter surpassing Park Seong-cheol.
The hands of those who rushed in were equipped with heavy weaponry.

‘Damn. My bad premonitions never miss.’

“I don’t understand. Why did you come here alone? Are you naive, stupid, or did you just see me as some overly moral citizen?”

Ahn Jae-jun pulled out a bottle of whiskey and poured it into a glass.
Then he spoke while swirling the clinking glass.

“Kill him.”

At that single word, the Hunters began to move.
The one at the front—a man with a particularly unpleasant expression—let out a harsh laugh.
He scratched his bald head with his iron club, then swung it at me with a whoosh.

Whoosh!

I lowered my stance and dodged with ease.
The barrage of attacks continued, but I remained composed.

‘As expected.’

After dodging a few times, I understood.
I couldn’t be certain of their exact levels, but these Hunters were all below level 10.

‘Then I have plenty of room to spare.’

Unless they were elite-tier Hunters.
No matter how many of them there were, moving at such sluggish speeds, they couldn’t harm a single hair on my head.

‘Still, there are quite a lot of them. Annoying.’

I glanced up at the ceiling.
Perhaps I should block their vision first.
I pulled out a Magic Stone I’d brought intending to dispose of, and hurled it toward the bald man.

Whizz—!

“Ha. What’s this? A final desperate move?”

The bald man dodged slightly and sneered.
I smiled back at him.

“I wasn’t aiming for you in the first place.”

Click.

The Magic Stone that flew past extinguished the fluorescent light switch.
As the room darkened, the men hesitated.

“What—what is this?!”
“What did that bastard do?”
“Light the torches!”
“Block the door! There’s only one way out anyway! What? The Guild Master? Why should we worry about him, you bald-headed idiot!”

In an instant, the confused enemies erupted into chaos.
Among all that, they chose to block the exit rather than protect Ahn Jae-jun.
Veterans indeed.
The problem was that I had no intention of running away either.

Whoosh—!

My blade cut through the darkness, slashing through empty air.
The bald man screamed, clutching at his severed arm.

“Ahhhhh! My arm!!”

Splurt—!

A fountain of blood erupting in rhythm with his heartbeat.
Men drawing weapons and swinging them wildly at nothing.
Only moonlight streaming through the window illuminating the space.

‘I can see everything.’

I was the only one who could accurately assess the situation.
Why?

Ding!
【You have not been exposed to sunlight.】
【Night Vision acquired.】
【Nix’s Blessing is active.】

-Stats increased by 500%.

Nix’s blessing had already been in effect from the start.
As I ascended to the 5th Floor, my stats increased one by one.
Even excluding ‘Darkness,’ which didn’t directly impact combat power.
Converting pure stats to level equivalence, I was at 35.
Meanwhile, their level was 10.
No matter how hard they tried, they were at the level of a child wielding a twig.

‘Moreover, with the power of my Darkness stat combined with Yahwi’s swordsmanship, there’s no one in this place who can stop me except Ahn Jae-jun.’

Zing—

My crimson eyes swept across the room.

“H-hieek…!”

Now that their eyes had adjusted to the darkness, they trembled as they looked up at me from where they’d fallen.

Ahn Jae-jun remained motionless.
He simply sipped his drink, using my fight as entertainment.
Was my pride wounded?
Absolutely not. If anything, I was grateful.
It allowed me to move freely.

“…Stupid bastards.”

It seemed Ahn Jae-jun was the one whose pride was hurt.
He must have believed he could dispose of someone like me with just his subordinates.
Watching them flounder in the darkness was probably infuriating him.
I smirked and raised the Pitch-Black Blade high.

Crack.
From this moment on, this small room was essentially my domain.

Whoosh!

I kicked off the floor of the Guild Master’s Office and launched forward.
It was worth having learned Yahwi’s Second Form in advance.

‘Midnight Flame Slash!’

Of course, I wasn’t foolish enough to shout out skill names while launching a surprise attack.

Whoosh!
Clang clang clang clang!

Every time I swung my blade, screams erupted in the darkness.

“Arghhhh!”
“Where are you! Where?!”
“Stop! It’s me!”

Panicked, they slashed at their own comrades more times than I could count.
After dancing through the darkness with my blade like that.
Every Taesan Hunter affiliated with the guild was sprawled on the ground.

Tap!

Only then did something unexpected happen.
Along with the sound of a glass being slammed hard against the table.

Whoooosh!

An enormous burst of light erupted.

Ding!
【You have been exposed to intense light.】
【Nix’s Blessing has been deactivated.】

“Tsk.”

I turned around and looked toward the source of the light.

“That’s not what I’m paying her salary for.”

Ahn Jae-jun’s special stat was Radiance.
I had wondered if Nix’s blessing would be dispelled from Radiance as well, and it seemed my suspicion was correct.
At least I learned something useful from this.
Ahn Jae-jun rose from his seat.
Though he was emitting a pure white light, the sensation emanating from within it was bloodlust and malice.
A sword made of light materialized at Ahn Jae-jun’s fingertips.
He assumed what appeared to be a ready stance for swordsmanship—the Taesan Sword Technique.
I did not back down either.

“Now that I see it directly, I understand. Your light is weaker than the sun.”

Whoosh—!

I gathered all my strength and drew forth darkness.

Ding!
【Special stat, Darkness, is released.】
【Resisting Radiance.】
【Nix’s Blessing is activated.】

Ahn Jae-jun probably viewed special stats as merely adding an elemental property to attacks.
But for me, it was a matter of survival.
All the effort I had put into cultivating darkness was paying off.
The darkness pushed back the radiance.
The Guild Master’s Office was divided between us—black and white, darkness and light.
They wavered and each tried to expand their domain, but neither gained ground easily.

“…!”

Shock appeared on Ahn Jae-jun’s face.

“I wondered how you cleared the 5th Floor, but I never expected you’d obtain a special stat.”
“Now then, blade against blade. Let’s see whose swordsmanship is superior.”
“Even if you’ve surpassed level 5, you’re still only at my knee….”

Ahn Jae-jun let out a scoff.
I did not miss that opening and moved my feet.

Tap—!

‘Yahwi’s First Form.’

Chosya Ilseom.
The dark blade and light collided.

“…How cowardly.”
“It’s your arrogance to drop your guard during combat, Ahn Jae-jun.”

Tremendous sparks erupted from the clashing blades.
Ahn Jae-jun’s eyes widened in shock.
He must have been surprised.
The completeness of my swordsmanship operated on an entirely different level.

‘This is all thanks to having found such a great master.’

I thought of Yahwi and redirected the weight of my blade to the side.

Skreek.

The luminous blade slid away smoothly.
I had been waiting for this singular moment.

Whisk!

I swept upward from below.

Clang!

Of course, it didn’t connect.
Swordsmanship alone could not overcome the overwhelming gap in our stats.

Tap.

I withdrew my blade and swiftly retreated.
From just two exchanges, I understood the disparity between us.

‘I cannot win.’

It was a natural statement, after all.
Ahn Jae-jun ground his teeth, seemingly enraged by the experiential fact that his swordsmanship had been overwhelmed.

“My Taesan Sword Technique…!”

There was nothing to be done about it.
The Yahwi Style was a swordsmanship Yahwi had founded by extracting only the advantages from existing sword techniques.
Judging by the name Taesan Sword Technique alone, it was likely a swordsmanship that existed around the same period as when the Yahwi Style was founded.
Yahwi’s pruning probably didn’t spare the Taesan Sword Technique either.
I couldn’t suppress the corners of my mouth from rising.

‘It works.’

If we had the same level and the same stats, by now his light would have been swallowed by my darkness.
Well, the fact that I can’t win right now doesn’t change anything.

‘It’s about time.’

Zing-, zing.

The phone vibrating from earlier continued to ring.
At the far end of the Guild Master’s Office corridor, something was thudding ominously.
Something was coming.

‘Good thing I took out insurance beforehand.’

Of course, I hadn’t entertained the insane notion of facing Ahn Jae-jun alone.
I feigned ignorance and unfolded an elaborate technique.

“Then let me show you my secret technique.”
“…!”

Ahn Jae-jun took a cautious stance.
Not a trace of the composure from moments ago remained.
Having already revealed a special stat, he would naturally be wary of what other hidden techniques I might possess.
Then I would show him.
What kind of technique I had brought.

“Kang Ha-jin’s First Technique.”
“…?”
“Summoning a friend.”

Whoosh.

With those words, he dashed rapidly toward one side of the door.
Right on cue, the elevator doors burst open explosively.

Crash!

In that instant, both Ahn Jae-jun and I forgot about our fight.
We could only stare at what emerged.

‘Damn. Is that a monster?’

And no wonder….
The creature was nearly the size of the elevator itself.
I had summoned it, but this was my first time seeing it in person.
It was as if the elevator itself had come walking.
The massive figure had already entered the Guild Master’s Office.
Just its presence cast a shadow so overwhelming that Nix’s blessing seemed on the verge of activating.

“Are you unharmed, Hunter Kang Ha-jin?”
“Ah, yes.”
“I am executing official duties. By order of the Association President, I will be taking Hunter Kang Ha-jin with me.”

The name badge was difficult to read given the towering height, but it clearly read Gu Jang-hun.

“That cunning old fox?”
“Mind your words, Guild Master Ahn Jae-jun. As I said, I am executing official duties.”

Crack.

Gu Jang-hun clenched his fist, which was the size of a face.
Hunters belonging to the Association were civil servants.
In other words, they possessed the authority to enforce official duties.
If someone interfered?
It meant the lawful use of force was permissible.
Of course, I couldn’t defeat Ahn Jae-jun, who ranked first in Korea, but at least it didn’t seem like I’d lose pathetically.
Moreover, ever since the Association Chairman’s name came up, Ahn Jae-jun showed no further interest in fighting.

“Take him.”

Whether it was thanks to the Association Chairman or thanks to Gu Jang-hun.
In any case, I managed to escape Taesan on my own two feet.

“…I’ll need to reorganize the team for the Special Dungeon Floor conquest.”

I faintly heard Ahn Jae-jun’s words from behind.
Only then did it truly sink in that I had survived.

“Would you prefer to travel by car?”

Gu Jang-hun pointed to a vehicle parked nearby that was as massive as his own frame.
I hesitated for a moment.
I had learned much from that recent clash with Ahn Jae-jun.

‘I need to become stronger.’

My special stat of Darkness and Nix’s blessing both possessed broken abilities.
But the absolute gap in level was still difficult to overcome.
Landing a blow on Ahn Jae-jun felt satisfying, but an unresolved frustration remained lodged in my chest.
I wanted to climb higher.
To the very top.

‘I won’t spend forever cowering in the underground.’

Looking at Gu Jang-hun, I understood something.
It was those with power who determined where they wanted to go, what they wanted to do, and where they wanted to be.
Whether it was Gu Jang-hun’s might or the Association Chairman’s authority, ultimately power created coercion.

“I apologize, but would it be possible to postpone my appointment with the Association Chairman for later? I have pressing matters to attend to.”

Now is the timing to prioritize resolving my task.

“Of course, I’ll be able to supply high-quality Kobold meat going forward, so you don’t need to worry about that. If it’s alright, I’d like to reach out through Hyeon-jun once my busy schedule is over.”
“Understood. I’ll relay your message well to the Association Director.”

Gu Jang-hun acknowledged with a gruff voice.
After that, he drove me to the basement, and I didn’t bother refusing the ride.

“Ah, let’s stop by a convenience store before you go.”

I filled my backpack with soju and pork belly.

“Then take care of yourself. The Association Director has high expectations for you.”
“Don’t worry. There won’t be any problems with the meat supply.”
“That’s not what I meant… We’ll discuss this part directly with the Association Director later.”

Hmm? Is there something else?
Well, either way, it shouldn’t be bad for me.
If the real purpose is recruiting me into the Association, I can just refuse on my end.
After Gu Jang-hun left, I packed my things in the basement room.

‘I could stay up there and conquer the upper floors like this…’

But something more important than levels awaited below.
After a hard day, when I clock out, I need to go “home.”
Not this basement room, but the real home where my family was waiting.

‘Now that I’ve cleared the 5th Floor, I can climb the Tower whenever I want.’

I could come and go each time entry became available.
Now was the time to increase my workforce.
But first, a brief rest.

“Ugh, this damn hole. I really need to deal with it soon.”

I carefully descended with my backpack full of alcohol, making sure nothing broke.
Then I heard a welcoming voice.

“Welcome back!”
“I’m home.”

A smile naturally spread across my face.
My swordsmanship master and only family, whom I found myself especially delighted to see today.
It was Yahwi.

“Did you keep the house well? Put the meat on the grill. Let’s have a drink.”

Clink.

Yahwi’s eyes sparkled at the sight of the pork belly and green bottle.

“I shall serve you with utmost loyalty, my lord!”

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