I Just Subscribed and It’s the Best Hunter of All Time - Chapter 256

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

#Chapter 256
Jung Han-sung’s eyes narrowed further as he regarded his opponent.
“So?”
“You have two choices.”
The opponent continued speaking, that smile never wavering.
“Defeat me. Or ascend to the peak of The Tower and face The Source.”
“What’s the difference between the two?”
“Well, if I’m being honest, defeating me would be easier. You wouldn’t have to face The Source. Though I suppose it wouldn’t matter for clearing this Tower either way.”
Upon hearing this, Jung Han-sung fell silent, studying his opponent intently for a long moment as if contemplating something.
Then, without warning, he rose and passed by the figure, moving toward one direction.
Toward the Staircase within The Tower.
“Will you be alright?”
‘It’ asked Jung Han-sung this question.
To which Jung Han-sung gave a simple answer.
“Yes.”
That was all the answer would be.
Jung Han-sung had no intention of explaining the reasoning behind his choice.
Nor did the opponent press him for details, instead offering only a faint smile.
As if seeing straight through his innermost thoughts.
Thus Jung Han-sung climbed the Staircase toward the next Floor.
Inwardly, he wondered if something awaited him on the next Floor as well.
But contrary to his expectations, the Second Floor of The Tower was simply empty. And the same held true for Floor 3.
“Hmm.”
Then, standing before the Staircase leading up to the final 4th Floor, Jung Han-sung paused briefly.
The 4th Floor. The Source resides there. And it seemed that confronting The Source would indeed be quite dangerous, as he had anticipated.
The ‘thing’ on the 1st Floor hadn’t revealed its exact nature, but it had suggested that fighting itself would be easier than facing The Source.
Jung Han-sung closed his eyes for a moment at that thought, then opened them again.
‘Let’s go.’
Danger or not, it mattered little.
He had never ascended The Tower without accepting risk.
He would climb these stairs. He would see the end of this Tower.
Jung Han-sung gathered strength in his legs and began climbing the Staircase once more.
The path from Floor 3 to the 4th Floor felt remarkably long. Yet Jung Han-sung did not stop, climbing ever onward.
And finally, when he reached the 4th Floor.
Jung Han-sung found himself facing a door.
―The same door.
Onyx spoke upon seeing it.
True to his words, the door at the ‘center’ of the 4th Floor was identical to the ones he had seen on this Floor before.
Was this not the end? Did it lead somewhere else?
Such musings lasted only briefly.
Jung Han-sung approached the door slowly and grasped the handle, pulling it open.
Whoosh—.
Once again, the door opened without a sound. And this time, I had no need to pass through the black veil.
Because the moment I opened the door, what lay within came toward me first.
Something immense descended upon me.
No, wait.
It didn’t descend upon me.
I merely felt it that way.
I simply believed myself crushed beneath the weight of its colossal presence.
It was there.
Holding its place.
‘Ah.’
I exhaled a sigh.
But that sound did not emerge from my lips—it radiated from the depths of my heart.
It exists in that place.
The Source is there.
Ever since I first set foot on this floor, I had wondered what The Source was, pondered its nature.
But the moment I faced it directly, I understood with the clarity of a lightning strike.
The Source is, quite literally, the source.
It is The Tower’s source, my own source, and indeed the source of all things.
And that realization seeped deep into my being.
I felt as though my body was shattering into countless fragments.
Yet I had no leisure to examine it closely. My eyes were fixed upon The Source as if nailed in place.
It was inevitable.
Its presence was far too immense.
To avert my gaze elsewhere while standing before it was impossible.
Thus I gazed upon The Source, and continued gazing until I perceived something else entirely.
“If I climb The Tower, I’ll be able to earn an enormous amount of money.”
I heard someone murmuring as if making a vow.
I looked toward that place. There I stood.
“At least it will be far better than drifting from one part-time job to another.”
The figure murmuring thus seemed strangely familiar.
It could not have been otherwise.
It was exactly how I appeared when I first resolved to climb The Tower.
Though it was not so long ago, I found that image profoundly foreign.
At some point, I ceased to harbor great attachment to money.
It was understandable. I possessed far too much of it. In truth, had wealth been my sole objective, I could have ascended merely to the 50th Floor and lived comfortably.
Even that alone would have earned me enough wealth for most people to spend their entire lives.
“Then why did I not do so?”
The figure who had been murmuring for some time turned to face me and asked.
To that, Jung Han-sung answered without hesitation.
‘My goal has changed.’
“How has it changed?”
‘Climbing The Tower.’
At that answer, he strode forward with confident steps. In that instant, his form shifted dramatically.
A man possessing a presence that ranked among the most formidable Jung Han-sung had ever encountered. The Heavenly Demon’s visage.
“So climbing The Tower is the purpose of your entire life?”
“No.”
By then, Jung Han-sung noticed his voice had returned to normal.
Perhaps it was merely his imagination. But Jung Han-sung paid it no mind and answered.
“To climb The Tower, prove myself, and discover how far I can ascend.”
“What meaning lies in proving yourself that way?”
“That’s rich coming from you. Wasn’t witnessing the end of nothingness your own goal?”
At Jung Han-sung’s retort, the Heavenly Demon let out a low chuckle.
“How foolish.”
“Foolishness is precisely why I’m here now.”
Jung Han-sung replied with a smile of his own.
Then the Heavenly Demon’s form blurred and scattered into the surroundings. From the opposite direction, another figure emerged and began walking.
“Follow me.”
It was Arthur.
He walked slowly, clad in armor.
As he did, grass sprouted and trees grew from the pitch-black space around him.
Arthur walked for a distance before stopping and turning to look back at Jung Han-sung. “Where does your blade point?”
The moment Jung Han-sung heard those words, he realized he had a sword at his waist.
With that realization, Jung Han-sung drew the blade and answered.
“Upward.”
“Have you devoted everything to merely ascending?”
“Is that strange? It’s human nature, after all.”
“Human nature?”
“Yes. Everyone gazes toward higher places the moment they’re born. That doesn’t change as they grow. A higher position. A better home. A better car. A better environment.”
Jung Han-sung was no exception to this.
Before climbing The Tower, Jung Han-sung had envied others in the most ordinary way.
He had wanted to ascend to greater heights.
“Ambition. That’s my driving force, and I have no intention of denying it.”
Jung Han-sung answered while holding his blade aloft.
What he desired was simply to see the end of The Tower. And to climb as far as he possibly could.
“Doesn’t it wear on you?”
“What in this world comes easy?”
Climbing The Tower at first had been remarkably simple, but naturally, the latter stages had proven quite grueling.
Climbing The Tower for the first time was a very easy task, but of course, he struggled quite a bit in the latter half of The Tower as well.
It was an unexplored realm on Earth where no one had ever set foot, and it carried dangers to match.
Yet Jung Han-sung found himself exhilarated.
The rush of victory. The satisfaction of toppling an enemy he’d thought formidable.
The thrill of transcending his own limits.
“Yes. It was exhilarating.”
“Even though it was painful, dangerous, and you could have died at any moment?”
“Even so.”
Jung Han-sung answered without hesitation.
“Because every single moment of it was entirely ‘my choice.'”
Had someone else forced those trials upon him, he would have suffered.
Come to think of it, there were countless moments when Jung Han-sung had been pushed into choices by others.
But The Tower was different.
That had been entirely his choice.
Arthur stared at Jung Han-sung for a long moment, then slowly retreated.
As he did, the surrounding fields and forests vanished. And in their place came something else.
―You are not worthy.
It was a vast Darkness, and simultaneously a vast will.
Yet Jung Han-sung did not believe it to be The Source. The Source possessed no such clear intent.
Jung Han-sung lifted his head and spoke.
“Sargon.”
For a moment, no response came. Then, as if nothing had happened, it spoke again.
―You are merely a whelp intoxicated by meager strength.
“And you’re the one who got utterly demolished by that very whelp?”
―Insolent wretch.
Jung Han-sung found himself laughing at that reaction.
He couldn’t tell if this was truly Sargon’s response, or merely the image of Sargon that existed in his own mind.
―Your path will grow ever more treacherous ahead. More perilous still. In the end, you will kneel and know regret. I shall ensure it.
If this truly was Sargon, he would have answered exactly like that.
So Jung Han-sung spoke with genuine conviction.
“The words of a loser who keeps failing don’t reach my ears.”
At that, the entire space shook violently, and the surrounding Darkness rushed toward Jung Han-sung at tremendous speed.
But in that very instant.
Kraaaaaack―!
Thunder roared and fire blazed. The surrounding Darkness shattered and scattered.
Jung Han-sung thought he heard a scream, but he had no time to dwell on it.
Before him stood a form woven from coalesced lightning.
It spoke to him.
―The seed has grown quite beautifully.
Jung Han-sung looked down at his own chest at those words.
And there, embedded deep within his body, he discovered the seed.
One day, Indra had gifted him a seed. It had blossomed beautifully at some point, brimming with divinity.
Completely saturated with sanctity.
―Now it is entirely yours. You have refined it, and you have chosen your path.
Indra spoke thus and withdrew without hesitation.
As he retreated, Darkness descended upon the surroundings once more. Yet it was no longer a Darkness that bore malice toward me.
A whisper—.
And soon, a path emerged within the Darkness.
Jung Han-sung instinctively began walking along that path.
Simultaneously, Jung Han-sung felt an intense emptiness and anguish.
‘Would it not be better to turn back now?’
‘Is there reason to advance while enduring this pain?’
‘I already hold everything in my grasp—why not simply live in comfort?’
Thoughts that persistently tormented him, as if intent on breaking his will.
Yet Jung Han-sung walked on in silence, his expression unchanged. Then the direction of his thoughts shifted.
‘No one knows what awaits at the end. There are things in this world better left unknown.’
‘Must I truly continue ascending The Tower to uncover the truth?’
‘What lies above may differ from my expectations.’
But Jung Han-sung dismissed those thoughts as well.
Various other thoughts assailed him in turn, and simultaneously, intense pain struck his body in waves.
It was as though urging him to surrender and retreat right now.
Yet none of it affected Jung Han-sung as he walked the path.
It could not have been otherwise.
Jung Han-sung had already made his resolve.
And so, Jung Han-sung walked on, step after step.
“Ah.”
I had arrived before The Source.
It beheld me, and I beheld it.
‘One who ascends.’
And then, I heard a whisper.

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