I Inherited the Basement of the Tower - Chapter 56

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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 56

【Entering the special dungeon floor.】
【Clear Condition: ???】

Along with the status window, our raid party entered the special dungeon floor.
All around us was darkness, thick with dense fog.
Bones scattered across the ground, rolling carelessly beneath our feet.

Was this what hell or the realm of the dead truly looked like?

‘Well, the darker it is, the better for me.’

I clenched and unclenched my fists.

【Nix’s Blessing is activating strongly.】

Darkness was indeed circulating rapidly throughout my entire body.
It was likely connected to Thanatos’s mark.

“Ugh, the stench.”

Just then, Park Eun-ji, who had entered behind us, covered her nose.
She was right.
The putrid reek of rotting corpses assaulted our nostrils.

“I told you. It’s a graveyard.”

Yang Sang-jin, who had visited once before, twisted his expression in disgust.

“Still, don’t block it too much. You’ll adapt soon enough.”

Park Seong-cheol agreed in a cold voice.

“Right, Eun-ji. Are you going to fight with your nose covered?”

These Taesan bastards really have no consideration.
But they’re right.
Fighting with my nose plugged is unacceptable.
I can’t accept fighting with my nose blocked.

“Then why don’t we try using wind magic to blow away the stench?”

At that, Jinhyeok, who had been suffering beside her, brightened up.
Then Jinbyeok, who had been suffering alongside him, also brightened his eyes.

That’s a good idea. Let’s use it right away.

However, I shook my head firmly.

“It won’t work. Save your magic.”

From the moment we entered, the stench is the default.
If we use skills to avoid the smell, we’d have to cast wind magic non-stop from now until we clear this floor without a single second of rest.
Park Eun-ji came here as a member of the special dungeon layer conquest team, not as a fan to blow away odors.
Park Eun-ji came here as a member of the special dungeon floor conquest team, not as a fan to blow away the smell.

I understand.

I understand her sentiment.
This smell is harsh for me too.
Enduring such a stench at her young age must be even harder.
But Park Eun-ji quickly accepted it and closed her mouth.
Hana Park Eunji quickly accepted it and closed her mouth.

“That can’t be…”

I sighed and opened my inventory.
I already knew about the stench beforehand.
There was no reason not to prepare for it.
There was no reason not to prepare.

Thud, thud-thud-thud.

Items tumbled to the ground with a series of soft thuds.
Everyone’s attention turned toward me.

“Everyone, use these.”
“How do you use this thing?”

Seong U-jae turned the item over in his hands, examining it from different angles.
I brought the item to my mouth to demonstrate how it worked.
Then—

Click, clang.

The mechanical device unfolded, attaching itself around my mouth and neck.
Moments later, relatively fresh air flowed through my nose and mouth.

Whoosh—

“Oxygen masks. They won’t be perfect, but they’re better than nothing.”

I spoke in a resonant voice.
Without hesitation, everyone equipped the items in their mouths.
Lin Xiao-wei and Li Wei quickly grabbed theirs as well.
The raid members’ necks gleamed with the ‘Sun Pendants’ they wore.

“Wait, now that I think about it—Park Do-hyeon!”

Oh no, this was bad.
Before entering, I’d been so focused on the reporters that I’d left Park Do-hyeon behind.
As I looked around with a serious expression, Park Do-hyeon with his distinctive round eyes appeared.

“I’m right here, Captain. And I’m serious—if you do that one more time, I’m stabbing you in the back with a dagger.”

Embarrassed, I fidgeted with the mask.
He’d been there all along; I simply hadn’t noticed him.

“…Park Do-hyeon! Of course, the mask suits you just as well as I thought! Yes! That’s what I was going to say.”
“I haven’t even put it on yet. Ugh!”

It wasn’t his short blade that frightened me.
The Black Armor would automatically defend against it anyway.
What I actually felt sorry about now was something else entirely.

Click, clang.

Next, the shoulders of Jinhyeok and Park Eun-ji, both wearing masks, sagged simultaneously.

“Phew…”
“Hah. I feel like I might actually survive. If you had something like this, why didn’t you give it to us before we came?”

I extended my hand to the grumbling Jinhyeok.

“If I’d given it to you outside, you wouldn’t have appreciated it. Yet you still have that attitude? Give it back.”
“…A noble should know how to show gratitude. I apologize. I’m sorry.”

Everyone, not just Jinhyeok, wore noticeably better expressions.
I smiled with satisfaction.

‘It was worth putting Eltos and Jeong Min-hee to work.’

The clear conditions for special dungeon floors were unknown.
Even Yang Sang-jin’s raid party had returned without discovering them.
No one knew how long we would have to stay here.
It was best to minimize unnecessary stamina consumption as much as possible.
Then, suddenly, a violent gust swept through.

Whoooosh—

“Ugh.”

The wind was so fierce that everyone lowered their stance and covered their faces.
The warm atmosphere shattered in an instant.
The wind seemed to say: remember where you are.

‘Right. This is a special dungeon floor.’

A place where many of Taesan’s level-10 elite vanguard members never returned alive.
A veritable graveyard.

“…Let’s go.”

Facing the desolate atmosphere, I moved forward slowly.
As the leader, I took the lead, and the raid members matched my pace and followed behind.

* * *

“Combat could break out at any moment. We’ll move toward the center while avoiding engagement as much as possible.”

Kang Ha-jin’s voice rang out from the front.
However, Park Seong-cheol remained standing in place.

“Hey, Seong-cheol!”

Unable to watch any longer, Yang Sang-jin, a fellow guild member, tapped his shoulder.

“Snap out of it, man! Are you scared?”
“…Scared?”
“Puhaha! Kid, you always strut around acting tough. I knew it. Guys like you are always the ones who can’t watch horror movies, right?”
“You’re the same way. You couldn’t even get out of bed for a week after coming back from the special dungeon layer.”
“What the—did Seo-yeon say that? Min-jae? Or that bastard Seung-woo? It’s all lies, I’m telling you!”

Just then, Seong U-jae, who had been walking ahead, suddenly turned his head around.
Because he was short, Park Seong-cheol and Yang Sang-jin had to look down while walking.

“Han Seo-yeon, Lee Min-jae, Min Seung-woo? So it was a lie after all?”

Yang Sang-jin’s face went pale.

“No, no! It’s Kim Seo-yeon, Kim Min-jae, Kim Seung-woo!”
“Cooperate from now on. I’ll spare only you.”
“Damn it! This old man really—!”

Park Seong-cheol, who had been watching the two with a smirk, fell silent again once he was alone.
He swallowed hard.
Scared?
Yeah, that’s actually true.
But it wasn’t because of the undead.
It was because he had received one additional mission beyond clearing the special dungeon layer.

—Kill Kang Ha-jin….

Gulp.

Ahn Jae-jun’s voice echoed vividly in my ears.
Ahn Jae-jun had promised me the position of Taesan Guild Master in return.
He always spouted nonsense about gods and myths as if his mind wasn’t quite right.
But the promise of the guild master position was probably genuine.
The moment I heard those words, I accepted the proposal without hesitation.
I pocketed the item he handed me—the ‘Spear of Set’.
And so I shed blood and sweat alongside the raid members, concealing my ambition.
I wasn’t without guilt, but I endured it.
A position as guild master of South Korea’s greatest guild didn’t come around very often.
This might very well be my last chance.
And I had a reason—I absolutely had to seize this opportunity.

‘…Min-young.’

It was because of my ailing younger sister, Park Min-young.

“Sir, can’t we go a little slower…?”

A voice that suddenly reached my ears drew Park Seong-cheol’s attention.
At the front, Park Eun-ji was trailing along beside Kang Ha-jin.
My younger sister was about that age too.
Or perhaps a bit younger.
Park Min-young wasn’t a minor, after all.
By coincidence, she shared the same surname and had a name similar to my lost youngest sibling, so watching her felt like seeing my sister.
During training, I found myself worrying whenever she seemed to struggle.
I didn’t show it, so she probably had no idea.

“Kyaak!”

Just then, Park Eun-ji, who had been trudging along, caught her foot on a bone buried in the ground.

“…!”

As she lost her balance and began to fall, Park Seong-cheol’s body moved before he could think.

“Watch out!”

I threw myself forward from the back of the formation to the front.

Thud.

Of course, Kang Ha-jin standing beside me didn’t miss it.
He stared at Park Seong-cheol with a fixed gaze.

“What?”

Embarrassed, Park Seong-cheol cleared his throat and retreated back to the rear.

“It’s nothing.”
“…Right.”

Park Eun-ji also looked over, and her expression was peculiar.
Grateful and moved.
Feeling oddly embarrassed, I quickly shifted backward and pretended not to notice.
And I thought to myself.

‘If Min-young hadn’t been sick, she would have grown up so brightly like that.’

When I was young, there were three siblings including Park Seong-cheol himself.
But after losing our parents, we scattered in different directions.
As the eldest, Park Seong-cheol was quite old and male, so adoption was difficult.
In the end, I grew up alone, awakened as a Hunter, and saved money.
After establishing myself, I tried to find my scattered siblings.
And I finally found Park Min-young, but.

‘…Her condition had deteriorated significantly.’

The adoptive parents didn’t give her a second glance once she fell ill.
I wanted to beat them to death right then, but I endured it for Min-young’s sake.
Because even such parents seemed necessary for Min-young.
Park Seong-cheol spoke with those trash people and asked them to take him in as their adopted son.

‘That was the best way to care for Min-young up close and monitor them.’

A Hunter who earned good money asking to be taken in as an adopted son!
Of course, their eyes lit up and they accepted Park Seong-cheol as their adopted son.
So he had to keep climbing the Tower.
Climbing and climbing and climbing until he became the Guild Master of Taesan.
He needed a lot of money to cure Min-young’s incurable disease.
And if he became the head of Taesan Guild, he could fully protect the country where the recovered Min-young would live.

‘I also need to find my youngest sibling still in Korea.’

I glanced at Park Eun-ji on the off chance, but soon shook my head.
The lost sibling’s name wasn’t Park Eun-ji.

‘Focus.’

Park Seong-cheol lifted his head again.
No matter what, I could only confirm things once I left the special dungeon floor.
Since I had a mission the other team members didn’t have, I needed to concentrate even more.

Whoosh.

I pulled something from my pocket.
It was the spear tip set that Ahn Jae-jun had given me.

‘….’

Click.
After deliberating, I finally swapped out the spear tip.
If Ahn Jae-jun was right, this spear could deal fatal damage to Kang Ha-jin.
It would be best if I could kill him while making it look like an accident.
In the worst case, I’d have to break through head-on.

Crack.

Imagining combat with Kang Ha-jin, my palms grew slick with sweat.

‘Focus, focus.’

But contrary to my wishes, the fundamental concern I’d harbored for so long kept rearing its head unexpectedly.

‘But becoming the guild master of Taesan Guild is not really…’

Park Seong-cheol shifted his gaze toward Kang Ha-jin.

“Everyone’s keeping up fine, right? According to Yang Sang-jin’s intel, monsters should start appearing soon. Prepare for combat in advance.”

The back of Kang Ha-jin, whom he had decided to kill, was broad and reassuring.
He had once been consumed by inferiority complex, even disparaging him by bringing up parents he didn’t have—but he had to admit, though reluctantly, that the man was truly remarkable.

‘After all, that bastard becoming the greatest hunter would be better for my younger sisters…’

Damn it.
Park Seong-cheol gripped his spear tighter according to Kang Ha-jin’s instructions, clenching his teeth.

* * *

【Night Vision Lv. 2 is being deactivated.】

Whoosh.

The sunglasses that had covered my eyes vanished, and my vision brightened.
Without knowing the clear condition, I couldn’t just walk in any direction.
Fortunately, the Night Vision skill I had used just in case picked up traces.
And what I discovered wasn’t just a clue to clearing this special dungeon floor.

‘So he did something after all.’

That bastard Park Seong-cheol.
The foreign energy that had been resonating in my possession was now emanating from the tip of his spear that I’d glimpsed earlier.
And though I didn’t know what that spear point was, I had a bad feeling about it.
Black Armor, which I had transformed into jet-black armor in preparation for combat, had been vibrating since earlier.

【Black Armor trembles in fear.】
【Black Dragon’s Consciousness stretches its legs in bewilderment.】
【Black Dragon’s Consciousness laughs wickedly.】

I already knew the enemy wasn’t just Undead.
From China to Park Seong-cheol—this is just too much, no matter how I look at it.

‘….’

I stared at the status window, deliberating my next move, before opening my mouth as if nothing were amiss.

“It’s over there. Everyone, follow me.”

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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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