I Inherited the Basement of the Tower - Chapter 70

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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 70

“Sigh, wake up.”
“Ugh, yes.”

Min-hee, who had been lying face-down with her forehead pressed against the hard stone floor of the Underground Temple, stirred and rose with a groan of pain.
A vivid red mark remained clearly visible on her forehead.
I scratched my head as I looked down at her.
In truth, there was no reason for Min-hee to apologize so profusely.
After all, I had never explicitly told her that Elder Barkalor was a “resident” of the Underground Temple summoned through the system.
From her perspective, she likely thought of him as nothing more than an exotic-looking elderly Hunter working alongside me.
Rather, I was inwardly grateful for her attitude—she harbored no prejudice regarding nationality or appearance, treating Barkalor simply as a colleague.
Feeling awkward, I changed the subject.

“By the way, why exactly is your mentor searching for Elder Barkalor?”
“Well… the Association President assured my mentor that if he merely heard the name Barkalor, he would definitely fly to Korea immediately. But I’m not entirely sure why that is…”

Min-hee answered with a still-bewildered expression.

“Is this mentor of yours truly a trustworthy person?”
“Of course! Absolutely!”

At my repeated question, Min-hee nodded her head firmly without a moment’s hesitation.
Yet unease still coiled in a corner of my heart.
My reason for deciding to bring Min-hee to this secret space—the Underground Temple—was clear.
It was because I had witnessed firsthand her approach to truth as an alchemist, and when I presented her with the new materials, I saw the pure passion and fervor burning in her eyes.
I was certain she would become entirely mine.
But Lowell, the British national-class alchemist who was her mentor, was different.
He was an unknown figure I had never met or verified myself.

‘How can I verify him?’

I stroked my chin thoughtfully for a moment, lost in contemplation.

“Then, tell me—what does this Lowell cherish and love most?”
“Hmm… me? Since he has no children, he thinks of me almost as his own daughter.”
“I see.”

In that instant, my eyes gleamed with brilliance.

“Exactly, right? Then let’s do this. Eltos, come over here for a moment and help me with something.”
“Yes? Customer, did you call for me? What would you like me to create?”

Eltos, who had been shaping sunstones in the distance, approached with heavy thuds.
I retrieved an item from my subspace inventory and spoke.

“What I need your help with this time isn’t crafting an item—it’s wearing one. Here, try putting this on first.”
“This one?”

Click.
Hisssss.

Eltos placed the mechanical mask I handed him over his face.
With Eltos, whose massive frame was the size of a house, now wearing a mechanical mask that covered more than half his face.
Steam billowed forth, and his presence became absolutely menacing—like a villain straight out of a movie.

“Perfect. Absolutely perfect. And Min-hee, I need you to take this.”

This time, I picked up a thick rope.
Jeong Min-hee’s eyes widened noticeably in alarm.

“W-wait!? Why suddenly a rope? What is this…!”
“…Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m just going to kidnap you.”
“…Pardon? That makes it even worse!?”

I flashed her a friendly smile and pulled the rope taut.

“From now on, Min-hee, you’re going to be my hostage.”

* * *

“This must be it.”

Lowell had finally arrived at a dilapidated neighborhood in Korea.
The email contained only this address with no other explanation.
Just as Lowell, filled with doubt, was about to press the doorbell of the rusted front door.

Whoosh—

Suddenly, the empty air shimmered.
In place of the entrance door, a portal woven from dense mana opened before me.

“…!”

I was startled for a moment, but I quickly analyzed the mana pouring forth from the portal in a single breath.

‘This level of purity and density in mana is extraordinary.’

Of course, admiration aside, entering that place was an entirely different matter.
I instinctively surveyed my surroundings once, then checked the positions of the weapons hidden within my garments.
Then I pulled out my phone with one hand and sent a text to Association President Yun Tae-sik.

[Lowell: If I don’t contact you within the hour, immediately bring armed forces to this address.]

However, Yun Tae-sik’s reply arrived immediately, as if mocking my caution.

[Yun Tae-sik: Oh, a very familiar address indeed. You’ve grown timid in your old age, haven’t you? Don’t worry about anything and go in at once. I guarantee it.]

My brow furrowed.

‘Familiar?’

So Yun Tae-sik knew about this dilapidated address.
Or did he mean he’d actually been here before?

‘Well, if that cunning fox Yun Tae-sik is making such a definitive statement, at least it’s not a trap or a place where my life is in danger.’

I carefully placed my hand on the weapon within my garments and slowly pushed my body through the portal.

‘Is Barkalor inside this place?’

My aging heart suddenly pounded fiercely, and overwhelming excitement and anticipation surged within me.
As I passed through the portal and stepped inside.
A completely alien space, entirely different from before, greeted me.
I turned to look back, but the portal had already vanished without a trace.

“…Damn.”

The realization that my retreat was cut off sent a chill down my spine.
Yet my curiosity and sense of wonder overwhelmed even that dread.
It felt as though I had been transported back decades.
To those days when I climbed the Tower alongside my companions, exploring the unknown.

‘But I can’t afford to let my guard down.’

Lowell began walking slowly through the dim cave.

Whoosh!

Then, a torch ignited on the cave wall.
It was unmistakably a flame infused with deliberate magical power.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

With each step Lowell took,
torches lit in succession as if guiding him deeper, illuminating the path ahead.
Following that firelight, Lowell finally reached a vast cavern.

“Huh… wh-what is this place?”

An exclamation escaped my lips unbidden.
Dominating the center of the vast cavern stood an enormous Goddess Statue.
And surrounding it were mysterious structures from different eras.
It was truly a beautiful and majestic sight.
Like… a grand “Temple” that belonged only in legends.
It was that overwhelming.
Then, a cold voice echoed through the empty Temple.

“Stop moving.”
“…!?”

Lowell started in surprise, his head whipping toward the source of the voice.
Standing there was a man dressed entirely in dark garments.
In stark contrast to his shadowed attire,
his skin was pallid, utterly devoid of color.
His features were sharp and strikingly handsome, almost otherworldly in their mystique.
He emanated an alien presence, as though he had become one with this temple of darkness itself.
Lowell’s shock was fleeting.
Judging that the man might be the Antagonist, he reached into his robes.
Regardless of his retirement from active duty and the long years of rest that had aged him,
he had once been one of the pioneers who climbed the Tower before the current Hunter system was even established.
But.

Screech—!

“…!”

In an instant, a crushing gravitational force bore down upon Lowell’s shoulders.
His body lurched violently to one side.
He managed to steady himself by tensing his lower body,
but his movements had already become sluggish, as though he were sinking into a swamp.
Lowell forced his gaze to shift.
A pitch-black sphere of darkness spun rapidly before him.
And in the next instant,

Whoosh!

The man’s form literally evaporated from sight.

A chilling metallic ring,

and when he reappeared with that sound,
a cold blade was pressed flush against the nape of Lowell’s neck.

“Lowell. Britain’s national-class alchemist. Correct?”
“…That’s right.”

Lowell answered, cold sweat dripping down his face.
Too fast.
Far too fast.
He couldn’t even react. Even if he wasn’t a Hunter specialized in combat, his level exceeded 30.
Yet he couldn’t muster any response whatsoever.
The man moved as though this entire temple was wholly his domain.
He displayed an overwhelming and absolute mastery of combat.

“A legendary alchemist, they say.”
“…That’s merely the glory of the past.”

The man let out a derisive chuckle.

“Is that so? From what I know, a certain woman practically worships you like a god.”
“A woman? Wait. You don’t mean—!”

The man issued a low command into the void, ignoring Lowell’s question.

“Eltos. Bring that woman here.”
-Yes.

A thick, murky voice answered from the darkness beyond.

Thud.
Boom.
Thud.

With heavy, ponderous footsteps that shook the entire temple.
A colossal giant emerged, piercing through the shadows cast by the torches.

“…!”

Lowell involuntarily stumbled backward at the overwhelming presence of the towering figure.

Hisss. Whoosh.

Rough steam billowed from the intricate mechanical mask covering half the giant’s face.
A thick rope was gripped firmly in his massive hand.
And at the end of that rope, bound tightly and dragged along, came a slender figure…

“Min-hee!”

None other than his sole disciple—Jeong Min-hee.

“Mmph! Ugh!”

Min-hee thrashed desperately, a gag stuffed in her mouth, as if pleading for her life.
Lowell’s eyes blazed crimson with fury.
In that instant, he was about to knock aside the man’s sword and draw his weapon to charge at the giant.

“Move, and you both die. Not just you—her too.”

The man’s chilling warning struck Lowell’s ears like a blade.

“You… you vile, merciless bastards…!”

Lowell clenched his teeth so hard his jaw nearly shattered.
Time passes, yet nothing changes. There still exist those who squander the noble power granted by the Tower on such abominable atrocities!
Then, the silhouette of the man overlapped familiarly in Lowell’s mind.
It was the silhouette of that man he’d seen in the photograph Min-hee had sent him.

‘This wretch dared toy with our innocent Min-hee’s heart!’

Lowell’s hands trembled violently with rage and betrayal.

“From now on, answer my questions without reservation and with complete honesty. If you lie even slightly or hesitate, you die. And I’ll kill her along with you.”
“…Understood. But if I answer all your questions truthfully, release that girl immediately.”

At Lowell’s solemn compromise, the man nodded with surprising compliance and posed his first question.

“Why are you trying to meet Barkalor? How do you even know about him? Who are you planning to sell the information you’ve gathered here to?”

Lowell suppressed the seething anger within him and exhaled a deep sigh.
Fortunately, the questions the man posed were not difficult to answer.
He responded with sincerity and honesty.

“…In my youth, while ascending the mysterious Tower, I happened upon an ancient alchemical tome by chance. It was merely a worn foundational text, but back then, when I possessed no systematic knowledge of alchemy whatsoever, it was revolutionary wisdom that could overturn the world. I devoted my entire life to studying that book as my eternal mentor, and thanks to it, I earned the undeserved achievement of becoming a legend in the field of alchemy.”

A deep longing and reverence flickered across Lowell’s eyes.

“I naturally assumed the author was a figure from centuries or millennia ago, from a different era or perhaps another world entirely. But then I heard that he actually exists, and that I could even meet him in this space in Korea. I know it sounds absurd, but as an alchemist—no, as a disciple—I simply wanted to confirm my lifelong mentor with my own eyes. There was absolutely no political motive or intention to gain any advantage.”

Lowell finished speaking, laying bare his sincere heart with calm composure.
The blade that had been pressing against Lowell’s throat withdrew smoothly, pulling away.
The colossal Eltos, who had been radiating a terrifying aura, also released the rope that had been wound tightly around Jeong Min-hee’s body.

“Phew.”

Lowell watched Jeong Min-hee freed from the rope and finally released a sigh of relief.

“But now I understand. It was nothing but the foolish delusion of an old man. You probably fabricated this entire story by threatening Yun Tae-sik, the Association President, and Min-hee to lure me here….”
“Ah. Was that it? I apologize for the misunderstanding.”
“Hm? What did you just say?”

The man suddenly offered an apology to Lowell in polite formal speech.
Lowell, unable to grasp the situation, asked back dumbfoundedly.
The man sheathed his sword and opened his mouth toward one side of the temple shrouded in darkness.

“Elder Barkalor. You heard that, right? That’s quite the story. He’s turned out to be far more of a celebrity than I thought?”
“Hehe. My twilight years have been rather dull. So it seems my alchemical treatises, which I researched and wrote as a hobby to pass the time, were eventually released as rewards from the Tower to later generations.”

In response to the man’s call.
An antiquated, gentle voice echoed from the thick darkness.
Soon, bathed in the flickering light of torches.
An elderly man with white hair, dressed in a neat butler’s uniform, walked out slowly with his hands clasped behind his back.
The moment Lowell beheld his wrinkled face and the overwhelming aura of intellect.
Lowell’s eyes began to widen slowly.

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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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