I Inherited the Basement of the Tower - Chapter 50

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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 50

The other raid team members gathered quickly.
Among them was someone whose youthful appearance stood out distinctly.
Park Eun-ji of Gaebang.
Strangely, she wasn’t wearing martial arts robes today. She’d come in comfortable training clothes suited for practice.
Were the Gaebang guild members not all martial arts novel fanatics with such a rigid concept?
Were there actually normal people among them who cared about others’ gazes?
My evaluation of the Gaebang guild members was beginning to shift slightly.

‘Of course, excluding that crazy guild master woman.’

I could tell from her speech at the auction house.
That woman could easily be called an honorary martial artist.
I wanted to bring Yahwi along sometime and have him converse with her.
When a true martial artist like Yahwi pointed out her martial arts inaccuracies, what kind of reaction would she show?
…Though if someone overheard this, they might misunderstand.
I don’t harbor any particular ill will toward her personally.
Surely she wouldn’t still be upset about that one thing I said to her over the phone back then.
Yeah, that’s right.
I was only doing it to recover Nix’s belongings.
Next was Park Do-hyeon from the Unnamed Guild.
True to his name, he stood in the corner of the group, characterized by dull ash-gray clothing.
He had almost no presence, and with something like a mask on, his face couldn’t be identified.
Judging by the short dagger at his waist, he seemed to be of the assassination type.

‘So this is what happens when only such people gather in the Unnamed Guild, making it one of Korea’s top five guilds.’

At least their skill was undeniable.

Next was Yun Seo-rin.
True to her affiliation with the Central Guild, she stood in the middle of the formation.
Surely it wasn’t because of the guild’s name—it had to be coincidence.
Either way, she was easy to identify.
She appeared to be around my age, with a massive bow strapped across her back.
What was peculiar was the absence of a quiver.
She wouldn’t be swinging the bow around without arrows, would she?
Last was a short boy with red hair—no, not a boy.
When he turned his head and his face came into view, I saw a man instead.
It was Seong U-jae from Vigilante.
Thick eyebrows that seemed to overflow with testosterone. Looking at him now, despite his short stature, his body was incredibly toned.

‘Could there have been some error where Eltos and he swapped their base stats?’

While I was lost in idle thoughts.

Clap!

Hyeon-jun, who had been waiting for everyone to gather, stepped forward with a clap.

“Well, everyone’s here. Nice to meet you all. I’m Hyeon-jun, a member of the Hunter Association and also part of this raid team. My level is 10, same as all of yours.”

The hastily added follow-up sentence was likely meant to appease Yang Sang-jin, whose expression was beginning to rot slightly.
Yang Sang-jin was the type who took great pride in his affiliation with Taesan—rumor had it he even hung his membership ID photo from when he joined Taesan in his bedroom and looked at it every time he slept.
He was one of those who had greatly looked down on me.
Even now, he could easily pick a fight, but the fact that he was treating me as completely invisible said it all.
A man abandoned by Taesan who crawled back up—he couldn’t accept that.
That was probably his psychology.
But he wasn’t thorough about it; he’d been glancing over here and there since earlier.

“What’s the big deal if he’s level 10? The Association President just parachuted him in. If the guilds clear it themselves, the Association’s standing will shrink. That conniving bastard’s greed knows no bounds. Isn’t the money paid through the raid rights enough for him?”

Yang Sang-jin muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.
Then Jinhyeok, the youngest son of the noble guild standing beside him, covered his mouth.
It looked like he was either holding back laughter or suppressing nausea.
It was ambiguous.
Taking it as the former.
Yang Sang-jin, emboldened by the reaction, spoke even louder.

“Well, he probably doesn’t even know why he’s standing there either. Being a civil servant, he’s just a puppet who follows orders without thinking.”
“….”

Even receiving hostility right in front of him, Hyeon-jun’s expression remained unchanged.
He simply smiled and responded courteously.
I couldn’t help but laugh inwardly at the sight.

“Now that you’ve said everything, shall I continue with the guidance?”
“What?”

Yang Sang-jin bristled at the sight of him showing no offense whatsoever.
But Hyeon-jun ignored him and continued speaking.

“As an Association member, I’ve simply taken on the role of guide. If I’m not to your liking, I can entrust the guidance to Hunter Yang Sang-jin instead. Of course, such an accomplished hunter as yourself must already be familiar with the preparation settings for special dungeon floors, yes?”
“…!”

Yang Sang-jin’s eyes widened.
But his mouth remained firmly shut.
There was no way he’d know about the setup procedures.
It would be information taught only to Hyeon-jun separately.
If Yang Sang-jin let his pride get in the way here, it would only harm the entire raid team, and his standing would suffer afterward.
Having calculated everything, Hyeon-jun drew out his response with an unwavering smile.
Truly a professional civil servant.
I wonder how many difficult customers he’d dealt with to reach that level.
I wanted to applaud him.

“Well then. Let me begin the preparations.”

While Hyeon-jun set up the training preparations, Yang Sang-jin couldn’t seem to accept the blow he’d just taken and kept muttering complaints.

“…Ugh, this is frustrating. Should I just take him out the moment we enter the special dungeon floor? Heh heh.”
“…!”

Park Seong-cheol, who’d been listening, flinched and turned around.
What’s wrong with this guy?
Anyway, do I really have to keep listening to this?
Strictly speaking, a raid right means the right to raid, not necessarily that I have to form a team with them.
Maybe I should just take him out and go alone.
It might actually be more convenient for finding Thanatos’s mark.

Click—.

The moment I grasped the hilt of the pitch-black longsword, my mind swirling with countless thoughts.

“Hey, you.”

Something collided with Yang Sang-jin’s waist.

“Huh? What is it?”

When Yang Sang-jin looked down, there stood Seong U-jae, a man of diminutive stature.

“Whoa, you startled me! Ah, mister. Your height…”
“My height? Go on. I’d really love to hear the rest of that sentence.”

Seong U-jae growled menacingly.

“Ah, no. You just scared me. What’s this all of a sudden!”
“What do you mean ‘what.’ I’m just doing what I need to do.”
“What you need to do? What do you—”

At that moment, Yang Sang-jin’s face went pale.
Vigilante Guild.
Literally, a self-defense force.
A major guild that suppresses awakened crimes through force at the scene—cases the Hunter Association struggles to handle immediately.
After gates appeared, the state didn’t officially recognize them, but active hunters were granted a form of immunity.
Around the time some hunters caused major social disturbances and public sentiment toward hunters was turning sour, the Vigilante Guild emerged.

“I couldn’t overlook what you said earlier. Were you plotting a crime?”
“W-what did you say?”
“Then speak quickly. I’ll nip it in the bud before we begin proper training.”

Seong U-jae raised his thick fist, disproportionate to his frame.
Yang Sang-jin swallowed hard.
But he soon shouted with feigned confidence.

“If that’s the case, what will you do? Sue me without evidence? And you don’t seem to know the law well. Mere plotting isn’t punishable by law.”

Though it seemed like a decisive counterattack, Seong U-jae paid it no mind, simply flicking his ear dismissively.

“Punishment? I think there’s been a misunderstanding. I’m not a cop. I’m a vigilante. I never had judicial authority to begin with. Guys I don’t like?”

I said that with a sinister smile.

“-I just beat them.”

Crack.

Power surged into my thick fist.
Yang Sang-jin’s confident demeanor vanished, and he started stammering again.

“Ah, ah! Of course I was joking. Do I look like some guy who kills people!? I’m a hunter who climbs diligently! A hero!”
“A lot of guys we deal with say the same thing. Right up until I break their jaw.”
“Right now! Are you trying to frame me as a criminal!?”

Yang Sang-jin’s neck veins bulged.
Seong U-jae licked his finger and flipped through his notebook.

“Yeah, yeah. So you’re definitely not one, huh? Then I need your cooperation, upstanding citizen. Let’s see… Lee Min-jae, Han Seo-yeon, Min Seung-woo from Taesan. Do you know those names? These guys are real scumbags.”
“Well, I’ve never heard of them. Right, Park Seong-cheol? Huh?”

Yang Sang-jin sought agreement from Park Seong-cheol beside him, visibly flustered.
Then Seong U-jae turned around awkwardly.

“Hmm… Really? That’s unfortunate.”

I was enjoying watching him corner Yang Sang-jin, so I casually threw in a comment from the side.

“That’s strange. Han Seo-yeon, Lee Min-jae, Min Seung-woo. Weren’t those all guys you were close with, Yang Sang-jin? Go dig deeper. I was in Taesan for a bit too, so I know something about it.”

Seong U-jae’s eyebrows twisted sharply when he heard my words.

“So you’re saying you lied to me?”

This guy really got angry.
Then Yang Sang-jin pointed at me and shouted.

“What do I! Hey! You got expelled right after joining—what would you know!?”

I shrugged and stepped back.
At this point, Seong U-jae would handle it on his own.
Just then, I heard a small laugh from behind me.

“…Ha ha.”
“…?”

When I turned around, it was Park Do-hyeon from the Nameless Guild.

“Ahem.”

He adjusted his mask as if nothing had happened and turned his head away.
That guy has some dark tastes.

“Well, the setup is complete now. Shall we run a training session?”

Hyeon-jun took control of the atmosphere.
Looking over there, the Association Training Ground was unfolding in a completely different configuration than before.

‘Oh.’

I’d never seen anything like this before.
Whereas the original training ground had been designed primarily for duels and one-on-one combat.

*Screeeech.*
*Boom.*
*Clang.*

Now the floor had risen up, shaped to resemble terrain and geographical features.
Sophisticated humanoid constructs took on the role of monsters.
It truly looked like a dungeon.

“…What is this? Suddenly science fiction?”

Even Yang Sang-jin asked in amazement.
Then Hyeon-jun shrugged.

“The Association has high expectations for this special dungeon floor conquest. Progress on the upper floors has been slowing, hasn’t it?”
“Hey, bureaucrat. That sounds like you’re insulting our captain.”
“Ah, Hunter Yang Sang-jin is from Taesan, right? I meant no offense. It’s just that our country depends heavily on Hunter Ahn Jae-jun alone.”

Hyeon-jun handled the difficult complainant with practiced ease.
This is the first time I’ve seen my son work like this.
Impressive.
As a hunter, I only know how to kill monsters. I’m not good at dealing with people gracefully.
Whether it’s monsters or people, a blade is simpler.

“Hunter Yang Sang-jin. What do you think? You’re the only one with experience in this special dungeon floor, after all.”
“…Yeah. It’s the same. Exactly like this.”

*Gulp.*

Yang Sang-jin swallowed nervously, as if recalling that time.
He had been part of Taesan’s failed conquest team.

“If those robots have power similar to the monsters inside, we’ll need to be careful.”

*Snap.*

With that, he raised his magic wand.

*Hummm.*

Holy power gathered at the tip of the wand.
Though it seemed incongruous, he was a hunter who wielded healing magic and holy power.
Despite his failure, Taesan had pushed to include Yang Sang-jin in this conquest team again for that very reason.

“According to the second conquest team’s briefing, these are high-tech training humanoids with adjusted stats. Feel free to attack without worry. They’re made of the same material as the Association Training Ground walls, so they shouldn’t break easily.”

*Kieeeek!*

Just then, one of the humanoids shrieked and rushed forward.

“Danger!”
“I’ll handle it!”
“I’ll attack!”
“Everyone, get back!”

Everyone who had been on edge attacked simultaneously at the sudden ambush.
The result was a disaster.

Crash!

“Ugh, argh!”
“Hey! Release your skill! What kind of bastard is this!”
“Damn it… I told you to get back!”

Their movements overlapped, and they tangled and fell over each other.
Park Eun-ji’s fan fluttered, and a fierce wind blew, sending Yang Sang-jin flying.
Park Do-hun, who didn’t see Seong U-jae rushing forward, stumbled and fell.
Followed by a barrage of arrows from Yun Seo-rin.

Thwack thwack!

“Gahhh!”

It was fortunate they were training arrowheads; if this had been real combat, at least three would be dead.
And all by their own allies.

-Screech!

And the humanoid that appeared belatedly struck them down with its training weapon.

Thwack thwack thwack!

“Ah! Argh! It hurts! Someone turn that thing off!”

Yang Sang-jin, who had been thrown the farthest, let out a scream.
I stood at a distance, watching the scene unfold with a sigh.
Should I really step in and handle this separately?
At this rate, we won’t clear the dungeon—we’ll be wiped out entirely.
But there was nothing I could do about it.
These hunters had all cleared up to the 10th Floor with respectable records in their personal Towers, but this was their first time attempting a team-based dungeon.
Yang Sang-jin had some experience, but Park Eun-ji’s wind magic sent him flying before he could even speak, leaving him to take hit after hit.

“Damn it! There’s nothing but trolls here!”
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I couldn’t control my magic properly…”
“Hey, everyone stop! Fighting among ourselves won’t help!”
“…This is a mess.”

The tangled group raised their voices at each other.
Hyeon-jun tried clapping from behind to organize the situation.
But unlike before, it wasn’t working—the atmosphere was too heated.
He had no choice but to look toward me.

‘What does he expect me to do?’

Certainly, they all seemed to need a central figure to control them.
But at this rate, we wouldn’t even get to selecting a leader—it would be noisy all day.
I should just shut them up first.
I scratched the back of my head for a moment.
Then I realized their behavior seemed familiar somehow.

‘Ah, now I remember where I’ve seen this.’

It was exactly like when Yahwi and Barkalor used to bicker.
When I first summoned Barkalor, the two of them fought so intensely that no one could stop them either.
So I’d handle it the same way I did back then.

【Special Stat: Darkness is released.】

A dark surge erupted.

I drew the Darkness up through my skin, amplifying my presence.

“Enough.”

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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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