I Inherited the Basement of the Tower - Chapter 37

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

Inherited the Basement 1 of the Tower – Episode 37

Whoooosh—

With wrinkled hands, the darkness was absorbed.

“Mmm….”

Association President Yun Tae-sik’s complexion, the source of the darkness, gradually brightened.
Barkalor, who had converted the absorbed power into mana, slowly opened his eyes.

“That’s enough for today. Such a curse. You’ve touched something dangerous.”
“Haha. Thanks to you, I was able to unleash such tremendous power.”
“Hmph. When you wield power beyond your station, you reap such backlash.”

Despite words that could have been unpleasant, Yun Tae-sik laughed heartily.

“True words indeed. I was quite young once myself.”

With their frequent visits, the distance between the two old men had grown slightly closer.

“Thank you again today.”
“We are grateful, Barkalor.”

Yun Tae-sik and Gu Jang-hun bowed their heads.
But Barkalor didn’t even blink.
As always.

“Direct your gratitude instead to my Master.”

He merely offered his unwavering reverence.
Then, Association President Yun Tae-sik asked with a genial smile, testing the waters.

“Haha, of course. But tell me, do you still refuse my proposal to naturalize as a Korean hunter?”

Foreign appearance with fluent Korean.
Skillfully wielding the mysterious power of curses, and the magical energy alone felt at least S-rank, upper-tier hunter level.
Yun Tae-sik was not someone to let such talent slip away.
But suddenly, tendons bulged across Barkalor’s wrinkled forehead.
He stopped moving and emanated dark magical power toward Yun Tae-sik.

“…!”

In an instant, the atmosphere in the room grew heavy.
Yet Gu Jang-hun, who should have protected the Association President, did not presume to step forward.
Sweating, he merely prepared to sacrifice himself to buy time if necessary.
Despite being a high-tier A-rank hunter, there was nothing he could do in this situation.

“I follow only my Master. So just accept the treatment quietly and leave. If you spout one more foolish word, know that the treatment ends right there.”

Despite the sharp voice and killing intent, Yun Tae-sik maintained his composure.
He was no ordinary old man either.

“My, I apologize. I sincerely beg your pardon.”

I reassessed the relationship between the two old men based on Barkalor’s reaction just now.
…They didn’t seem close at all.
No matter how I looked at it, it was Yun Tae-sik’s one-sided pursuit.

‘I’m sorry, but I’m also opposed to formal hunter registration in Korea.’

Barkalor cut him off cleanly with a serious expression. If he had responded lukewarmly, I would have felt displeased on my end.
The only reason I remained in Korea was the location of the Temple and my homeland.
As I’ve said repeatedly, I harbored no patriotism.
Barkalor, and Yahwi and Eltos as well.
The Temple residents are my people.
They are my family.
They were not ones to be taken and used as needed on a whim.

“Association President.”

As I entered the room, pretending I had just arrived.
Everyone inside stood and greeted me.

“Welcome, Master.”
“Haha, I hope you’ve been well, Hunter Kang Ha-jin. I’m indebted to you once again.”
“Hunter Kang Ha-jin. It’s been a while.”

In order, it was Barkalor, the Association President, and Gu Jang-hun.
Seeing two elders and one man physically standing above them rise to their feet like this felt rather awkward.

“How is your health?”
“Haha, thanks to you, I feel rejuvenated these days.”
“He’s improved so much that he keeps insisting on returning to active duty. I’ve been scolded endlessly trying to stop him.”

I tilted my head at Gu Jang-hun’s words, spoken with a hint of laughter.

“Wait. But haven’t you already been reinstated as Association President?”

Otherwise, who’s going to grant me the right to designate which special dungeon floors to conquer?
However, Gu Jang-hun shook his head with a troubled expression.

“No, I meant returning to active duty as a hunter. Really, do you want to get sick again because of your abilities?”

Ah, so that’s what it was.
This old man was serious.

“You punk, Jang-hun. I’m really fine.”

The way he was scolding me so earnestly now—Yahwi would probably become exactly like this when he aged.
Stubborn and refusing to listen.
Fond of fighting.

‘No, wait. Yahwi just looks young on the surface, but he’s actually an old soul. So really, isn’t the Association President more like a younger version of Yahwi?’

While I was entertaining this silly thought, Gu Jang-hun’s words came back to me.

‘Getting sick because of his abilities.’

It was the same with Barkalor.
A backlash from power beyond his measure, he’d said.
What kind of ability could cause something like that?

‘Does the old man know?’

Among hunters, asking about each other’s skills or abilities was fundamentally considered rude.
If I asked, they would answer, but I had no particular desire to know in the first place.

‘What good would it do me anyway.’

Unless, like the Gaebang Guild Master, he had obtained items from a special dungeon floor.
So unless it was Nix’s power that I needed to seize, it had nothing to do with me.
I’d never even heard that Association President Yun Tae-sik had conquered a special dungeon floor.

‘Forget it. I’ll ask Barkalor later.’

It was time to get to the main point.

“About the meat you requested before.”
“Ah, yes. There’s no rush.”

Association President Yun Tae-sik smiled warmly.
Since there was no separate bag or luggage, I assumed he hadn’t obtained it yet.
Not much time had passed anyway.
But.

“No, sir.”

Ding!
【Black Armor opens the inventory and retrieves wild hog meat glistening in sunlight.】

Whoosh.

A pocket dimension opens beside me, and frozen meat comes pouring out from within.

“I’ve brought them.”

As the meat poured out before his eyes, Yun Tae-sik’s eyes widened in astonishment.

“Ah. Truly remarkable. You continue to display new abilities. So this is a storage ability, then. Hehehehe.”
“Yes. I recently acquired it.”

I adjusted the collar of the Black Armor.

【The Black Armor in formal attire fidgets as if feeling uncomfortable.】

-It’s true that asking about a hunter’s abilities between hunters is impolite.
But directly exposing them carries an entirely different meaning.

‘This isn’t my only source of income.’

In other words—I’m confident.
Confident enough that even if I lose this much, I won’t be at a disadvantage.

‘Stop overthinking, Yun Tae-sik.’

We’re still in a cooperative relationship, more or less.
But cooperation only works when both sides possess similar or equal power.
So this is both a response to the naturalization proposal I just made to Barkalor and a subtle warning.
Recognizing this, Yun Tae-sik bowed his head first, his expression amiable.

“As long as I remain Association President, the Association will never cease its support for Hunter Kang Ha-jin. You’re our only lifeline, after all.”
“I’ll take care of it.”

Gu Jang-hun rose from his seat.
We could always grab the meat later.
I watched him stand at this particular moment with deliberate attention.
The Gu Jang-hun I’ve observed thus far is quick to read situations and perceptive, despite his imposing frame.
Moreover, his loyalty to the Association President is so strong that rather than exercising independent judgment, he faithfully follows the President’s intentions at every turn.

‘If that’s the case.’

I turned my gaze back toward the Association President.
The treatment was finished, the meat was taken care of, so the business was essentially concluded, yet he remained still with a smile that was difficult to read.
At this point, it would be harder not to notice.

“Barkalor.”
“Yes. Please, go ahead and speak.”

The old man responded with sharp perception as well.
He immediately offered a respectful bow with measured movements, then headed outside.
Of course, given his nature, he would have cast detection magic for my safety—sensing movements, mana, and eavesdropping countermeasures—but the reason he went through these unnecessary theatrics was because of his suggestion.

-Right now, only our residents inhabit the Temple, but judging by your recent actions, Master, expansion will come soon. Beyond this nation, there will come a day when no one on this planet remains ignorant of the names of Nix and you, Master. Therefore….

He was telling me to practice against the Association President.
The higher one’s position, the more battles are fought with words and authority rather than blades.
And those heavy-bottomed fools especially—truth rarely passes their lips.

‘…Since it’s the old man’s advice, I’ll get some practice in.’

Click.

I felt the grip of the sword hanging at my waist.

‘If they cross the line, using a blade suits my nature better.’

Just like when I went to pay the penalty to Ahn Jae-jun, or when I beat down Park Seong-cheol and Park Jin-woo at the Association building.
I can’t make any promises.

“Thank you so much for the meat.”

Once we were alone, Yun Tae-sik bowed his head respectfully.

“I’m the one who should be grateful. I’m being paid for this work, after all.”
“Of course. Soon, I’ll meet with Chef Ahn Yeong-jae and provide the payment we promised earlier.”

I nodded and took a sip of the cooled coffee.

“So, what’s this about?”
“I hesitate to bring this up, but…the movements of Taesan Guild lately have been unusual.”

Taesan Guild?
Those guys have always been suspicious and shady.
What could possibly warrant such a special warning.
Noticing my expression, Yun Tae-sik paused for a moment before speaking.

“I hope my premonition is wrong, but perhaps….”

The words that came out were shocking.

“A Tower Break may occur in the near future.”

* * *

Meanwhile.

“…Is it really here?”

On the outskirts of Seoul, near The Black Land.
In a neighborhood that no longer seemed inhabited, a woman covered her mouth with her sleeve as she gazed up at a small villa.
Jeong Min-hee, formerly of the Sage Guild and now a freelance alchemist.

[I’ve sent you the address. Come here.]

The destination was shabby, dilapidated, and showed little sign of anyone living there.

‘…But it matches.’

The address in the message was unmistakably correct.
Who was the person who had called for her?
Currently the hottest topic in the entire world.
Kang Ha-jin—the first SSS-rank Hunter, who had successfully overcome his penalty and announced a glorious return.

‘Every recent move has been spectacular—curing the Association President’s ailment and all.’

He’d even brought ridiculous-grade materials that threw alchemists into chaos.
In any case, he was absolutely not someone without money, so why would he live in a place like this?

‘What’s the point?’

A region with no merit whatsoever in terms of infrastructure or safety.

‘…If I go in, hunters won’t suddenly appear in droves to kidnap me or anything like that, right?’

Jeong Min-hee quickly brushed away the intrusive thoughts.
Ah, surely not.
Even thinking about it myself, I’d been watching too many movies.
It’s not like Kang Ha-jin is some organized crime thug.
Surely not something like that—

Creak.

Just then, the villa door suddenly swung open.
And Jeong Min-hee’s eyes met with a pair of piercing gazes fixed upon her from within.

“H-hieek!”

Upon closer inspection, it was a white-haired elderly man with exotic features.
Like some distinguished elder actor from Hollywood—a once-handsome leading man aged gracefully.
Ah, I see.
A mafia boss.
So this is how I die, completely helpless.
That bastard Kang Ha-jin.
If I’d known it would come to this, I wouldn’t have just gotten angry—I would’ve smacked Park Min-hu’s smooth head at least once.
Just as my life was flashing before my eyes.

“You must be the Master’s guest. We’ve been expecting you. Please, come in.”

The elderly man spoke fluent Korean.

“Y-yes?”

Clutching my handbag tightly against myself in shock and surprise, the door suddenly opened wider.
Someone else was emerging from inside besides the old man.
It was a large, burly man and another elderly gentleman—one whose face seemed oddly familiar.
The mafia boss-like old man then spoke curtly.

“You two should be on your way.”

The familiar-looking elderly man chuckled and made light of it.

“How disappointing. Aren’t we guests as well?”
“Guests, yes. Troublesome ones.”
“Hehehehe, then we’ll take our leave.”
“We’re going, Barkalor.”

And finally, as my racing heart began to settle,
my mind rebooted, and I finally found the identity of the familiar old man in my memory.

“Wait—the Association President!?”

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