I Just Subscribed and It’s the Best Hunter of All Time - Chapter 27
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
#Episode 27.
Entering The Tower together proved remarkably simple.
All it took was maintaining physical contact while ascending The Tower as usual.
And so, the two of us entered The Tower.
“Haah…”
The moment we crossed the threshold, Cho Cheon-woong’s breathing grew ragged and labored.
I naturally drew my sword and asked him, “Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m… the moment I entered The Tower, the voices started immediately…”
“Voices?”
From what I’d heard earlier, Cho Cheon-woong experienced intense auditory and visual hallucinations within The Tower. That was also why he’d nearly been “expelled.”
I doubted that expulsion would have been a peaceful affair. After all, both the name Chen Long and his entire identity had been fabricated.
A superhuman directly backed by the Chinese government was actually Korean?
That would be a massive scandal.
They must have covered it up somehow.
“Are you experiencing hallucinations as well right now?”
“No, no. Just the voices.”
“The voices… or rather, it’s probably that evil deity speaking to you. What is it saying?”
His answer to this question came a bit slowly.
“…So you’ve brought me a sacrifice. Well done. I shall grant you a reward. Something like that.”
“Hmm.”
I nodded thoughtfully.
It seemed the entity didn’t care that I’d warned him beforehand about the trap.
Perhaps it only mattered that he’d entered The Tower.
‘A trap laid by something as powerful as an evil deity wouldn’t be ordinary.’
Well, I’d already prepared myself for that much.
In truth, I didn’t really have a choice.
Sargon had prepared a trap on the 26th floor. But so what? Was I supposed to never climb The Tower again?
Eventually, this was something that could only be resolved by confronting it head-on, no matter what form it took.
“Um, hyung-nim? I absolutely didn’t intentionally lure you here or anything like that…”
“I know. I’m actually grateful you were honest about it.”
I meant that sincerely. If he’d tried to deflect or hide things, my suspicions would only have grown.
I slowly loosened my body while holding my sword, watching Cho Cheon-woong.
“By the way, hyung-nim?”
“Yes? You seem older than me, so I thought… ah, if it’s uncomfortable, I can call you something else.”
“…No, it’s fine.”
“Great! And feel free to speak casually to me!”
“Mm.”
That wouldn’t be easy.
In fact, being called “hyung-nim” felt incredibly awkward.
Actually, it felt really awkward even when I was called “hyung” (older brother).
It wasn’t because we’d only just met, or anything like that. It was simply that Cho Cheon-woong looked far too old for his age.
To be honest, judging by appearances alone, I should probably be calling him “hyung” or “uncle.”
I set aside such thoughts and asked Cho Cheon-woong directly.
“So you don’t know exactly what that trap is?”
“Ah, well… I apologize. I wasn’t able to hear the specifics.”
“It’s fine.”
I answered without concern.
If he’d known the details about the trap, he would have brought it up first.
He would have used that information to negotiate or make a deal.
The fact that I asked meant I already knew he wouldn’t know.
“I can’t guarantee your life, so do your best.”
“Yes. I’ll do my absolute best.”
Cho Cheon-woong answered with a firm expression.
Regardless of what anyone said, he was an Awakener that China had put forward—one who’d even gone through the trouble of laundering his nationality. That much guaranteed a certain level of competence.
As we exchanged these brief words,
[Moving to the next floor.]
The Tower’s guidance voice rang out.
I kept my sword drawn and looked ahead. Then, moments later,
we both opened our eyes in entirely different spaces.
* * *
Cho Cheon-woong blinked.
The dizziness that came with each spatial transition never became easier to bear, no matter how many times he experienced it.
But now was not the time to act with his usual composure.
This floor harbored the malevolent schemes of the Evil God.
He quickly scanned his surroundings with his eyes.
‘Inside a building?’
The first thing that caught his attention was the gray-tinted walls and floor. When he lifted his head slightly, he confirmed the ceiling was similar.
“Spacious.”
Then, the voice of Han-sung, who had been transported alongside him, reached his ears.
Cho Cheon-woong shifted his gaze in that direction.
There stood Han-sung with a composed expression.
‘How can he be so calm?’
Cho Cheon-woong found it remarkable.
The Evil God had targeted him directly. Somewhere on this floor, there would be the Evil God’s trap.
Yet Han-sung wore an expression as if he’d simply stepped out for a casual neighborhood stroll.
It was different from how Cho Cheon-woong himself had been—following orders from above, forcing himself to appear bold.
No, it was simply the nature of the man himself.
“Indeed.”
Cho Cheon-woong nodded in agreement with Han-sung’s words. Then, as he surveyed the surroundings, he spotted something and pointed toward it.
“There’s a door over there.”
“Yeah.”
Han-sung already knew, so he answered curtly.
Ahead of us stood two doors.
I scoured every corner just in case, but found no other doors or openings.
As I surveyed the surroundings,
[Objective: Escape the building.]
[Time Limit: Three hours]
the objective materialized before my eyes.
Glancing sideways, I noticed Han-sung’s eyes narrowing slightly.
‘There’s no specific instruction on what to do.’
Looking at this space alone, I couldn’t discern any traps that the evil god might have laid.
Then Han-sung spoke.
“Let’s examine the doors first.”
“Yes!”
Cho Cheon-woong hurried after him.
The two soon reached the pair of doors and discovered something invisible from a distance.
It was writing inscribed upon the doors.
Han-sung murmured as he studied it.
“Time and space… I see.”
The left door bore the word “time”; the right door, “space.”
Cho Cheon-woong also glanced at Han-sung before speaking.
“It seems we have to choose one and enter… doesn’t it?”
“Appears so.”
It resembled a mission I’d heard about during training before.
Choosing one of two options and advancing forward.
Some had clear right and wrong answers, while others merely differed slightly depending on the choice.
Based solely on the writing before us, this seemed like the latter.
There was no problem written out, and dividing time and space into correct and incorrect answers seemed odd.
“Hmm, which should I choose…?”
“Let’s go this way.”
While Cho Cheon-woong deliberated, Han-sung grasped one of the door handles.
“Huh? Why, why that one?”
Cho Cheon-woong started in surprise and asked for a reason.
Han-sung answered simply.
“I have a feeling about it.”
“What?”
“Intuition.”
“No, wait…!”
Intuition?
Wasn’t making a choice based solely on intuition in a situation like this far too reckless?
It was just intuition in name, but ultimately it was a gamble—pure luck or misfortune.
However, I didn’t give Cho Cheon-woong a chance to say anything more and simply pulled the door open.
We had no idea what lay beyond, and there was a high possibility the Evil God had set some trap, yet I opened it without hesitation!
But it was already too late.
The door marked “Space” opened without any resistance.
Cho Cheon-woong, tense and alert, raised the weapon in his hand and peered ahead.
And soon, with a dumbfounded expression, he muttered.
“Huh? W-wait, it’s completely empty?”
The space beyond the door was literally empty.
For a moment, the tension seemed to ease, but Cho Cheon-woong snapped back to attention.
After all, even if it appeared empty on the surface, there could be any number of traps lurking inside!
‘Let me prove my worth here!’
Cho Cheon-woong made a quick decision and tried to speak to me.
He would enter first and check if there were any other dangers lurking about!
“Hmm, doesn’t seem like there’s anything in particular.”
“Eh? W-wait!”
Cho Cheon-woong’s eyes widened.
Somehow, I had already stepped into the room!
Didn’t this person feel fear? How could he act so recklessly without thinking?
But contrary to his worries, I walked freely through the interior, examining various spots before turning back to Cho Cheon-woong and speaking.
“Why aren’t you coming?”
“I-I’m coming.”
It was a continuous display of behavior that defied common sense, but Cho Cheon-woong swallowed hard and followed after me.
At this moment, Cho Cheon-woong didn’t know that I hadn’t opened the door thoughtlessly at all.
The moment I confirmed the mission, I had subscribed to a familiar ability.
Of course, that ability was Intuition.
After subscribing to the ability, the sensation came immediately.
From the door marked “Time,” I felt a strong sense of foreboding, but from the door marked “Space,” I felt nothing at all.
That was the reason for my bold action.
Of course, Cho Cheon-woong had no way of knowing this.
‘Does this person really have a heart made of steel?’
That was all he could think to himself.
If it were him, he would have spent dozens of minutes deliberating in front of the door, wondering if there were any other clues!
Naturally, even if it appeared empty, he wouldn’t have been able to rush in so casually!
Meanwhile, I gazed around the empty space, contemplating this mission and the trap the Evil God had supposedly prepared.
“No matter how powerful the Evil God is, I don’t think they can simply interfere with other floors as easily as they’d like.”
“Is that so?”
Cho Cheon-woong asked, looking at me.
I nodded and replied.
“If they could interfere that easily, there would be no need to set traps in the first place.”
“Ah, I see.”
“And there’s another reason too.”
Sargon had only come once to persuade Han-sung, yet he hadn’t wielded his power directly—he’d sent an apostle instead.
Even that apostle had faced Han-sung while possessing Cho Cheon-woong’s body.
But suddenly transforming an entire floor into a trap?
That was far too abrupt.
With that in mind, observing this floor’s mission sparked a thought in Han-sung as well.
“What if he can’t alter the mission’s fundamental framework, but can meddle with minor details?”
“Pardon?”
“For instance, making a room that was originally a trap chamber even more sinister. Something along those lines.”
“Ah… yes, that could certainly be possible.”
Cho Cheon-woong nodded in agreement.
But then, Han-sung spoke again.
“Let’s try heading over there this time.”
“W-wait, just a moment!”
Of course, Cho Cheon-woong panicked and tried to stop Han-sung.
“Why?”
Han-sung asked with genuine curiosity in his expression, and Cho Cheon-woong stammered, barely managing to force out the words.
“Ah, well, there might be traps set by the evil god, so shouldn’t we move more carefully?”
“Aren’t I moving carefully right now?”
Carefully?
Cho Cheon-woong wondered if perhaps his years in China had made him forget Korean.
What did carelessly opening doors and advancing without hesitation have to do with caution?
“Besides, if we move slowly, we won’t set a record, will we?”
At Han-sung’s follow-up remark, Cho Cheon-woong was rendered completely speechless.
Even now, he was thinking about records…!
‘Is this man a monster?’
A monster who knows nothing but Tower conquest…!
Han-sung assumed Cho Cheon-woong understood when he closed his mouth, so he resumed walking.
This time too, without a moment’s hesitation, he flung the door open.
And once again, an empty space appeared.
“Empty here as well.”
“Truly…”
Cho Cheon-woong answered while struggling to calm his racing heart.
Han-sung continued advancing after that, and the same pattern kept repeating.
Empty room. Empty room. Empty room.
“Ugh!”
“Ahhh! Just wait!”
“P-please slow down a little!”
Each time, Cho Cheon-woong desperately tried to restrain Han-sung, who charged forward like a truck with failed brakes.
Of course, all such attempts had failed!
“Why? We haven’t encountered a single trap or monster so far.”
Because he possessed an invincible logic: “As long as the results are good, there’s no problem, right?”
“No, what is this…”
In the end, Cho Cheon-woong had no choice but to follow Han-sung with a dejected expression.
‘This… this isn’t what I had in mind.’
Cho Cheon-woong had believed he could prove his worth on this floor one way or another.
Beyond being a kite with a severed string, he was completely blacklisted by the Chinese government—Han-sung was a lifeline he had to cling to at all costs.
A powerful Hunter commanding global attention! A prodigy of unprecedented caliber! One who had surpassed every title!
That was Han-sung.
While the information wasn’t widely publicized, the missions he’d undertaken with Han-sung alone proved it. The recently famous rising star was none other than Han-sung.
So even if Han-sung had swiftly dispatched monsters with superior skill or shattered traps in an instant, he wouldn’t have been this surprised.
‘Could it really end without anything happening at all?’
As he contemplated a concern he’d never considered before entering this floor.
“Ah.”
For the first time, Han-sung stopped before a door.
“Hmm.”
Cho Cheon-woong observed Han-sung’s contemplative expression, then looked at the door.
There, as before, different characters were inscribed.
One side bore the character for “sky,” the other for “earth.”
The content itself appeared no different from what he’d seen on the previous doors.
But Han-sung’s eyes perceived something Cho Cheon-woong could not.
‘Both of them?’
Yes.
Han-sung had stopped because both doors emanated an ominous aura.
It was the first time experiencing this since arriving here.
“So it was impossible to get through without anything happening from the start.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s nothing.”
Han-sung shook his head, then pointed at the doors and spoke.
“Something’s coming next. Be ready.”
“Ah, yes!”
Cho Cheon-woong immediately drew his weapon and assumed a defensive stance.
Han-sung confirmed this, then walked toward one of the doors—the one inscribed with “earth.”
Since both seemed equally ominous anyway, he simply followed his instinct.
Whoosh—
The door opened.
For the first time, a different landscape revealed itself.
It was, quite literally, a vast expanse of earth. Red and desolate terrain.
“Hmm.”
From the outside, there was nothing particularly remarkable to see, yet Han-sung’s eyes narrowed to slits.
The moment the door opened, the ominous sensation intensified.
“Can’t tell from out there. Let’s go.”
“Y-yes!”
Cho Cheon-woong swallowed hard, then hurriedly followed Han-sung inside.
The moment my feet crossed the threshold, the parched earth’s texture transmitted through my shoes.
“The air feels rather stale.”
Cho Cheon-woong spoke while surveying his surroundings, making a deliberate effort to ease his tension.
The air in this place was decidedly peculiar—subtly unpleasant, one might say.
“Indeed. And… ominous.”
“Ominous, you say?”
“Yes. The entire space feels like a trap.”
Han-sung fell silent for a moment, then turned to Cho Cheon-woong with a question.
“Are you still experiencing auditory or visual hallucinations?”
“No, nothing at all right now.”
Cho Cheon-woong shook his head.
Since entering this floor, he hadn’t experienced any hallucinations whatsoever.
It was both a relief and deeply unsettling—something that had been present was suddenly gone.
Han-sung listened to the answer, pondered briefly, then spoke.
“We’ll advance only to where the door is visible. Let’s assess what might be nearby—”
But before he could finish, he spun around sharply.
“…It’s gone.”
“What? W-wait!”
Cho Cheon-woong, turning his head in response, widened his eyes in shock. The door they had just passed through moments before had vanished without a trace.
But something far more alarming happened next.
Shhhhhh—
The nearby earth stirred, and mounds of soil began to rise and take form.
Those earthen masses took the shape of figures—humanoid forms clad in armor and wielding weapons.
And naturally, they began advancing toward Han-sung and Cho Cheon-woong.
“It seems it’s finally begun.”
Han-sung raised his weapon.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————