I Just Subscribed and It’s the Best Hunter of All Time - Chapter 45

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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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#Episode 45.
After hearing Baek-seol’s words, I had pondered the matter carefully.
How could one possibly distinguish whether a person encountered in The Tower was from another world or not? What exactly would be the difference?
Or perhaps they weren’t even people to begin with?
Such were my musings, but observing the being before me made one thing abundantly clear.
‘Humans aren’t the only inhabitants here.’
For one, no race like elves existed on Earth. I’d never even heard of an Awakener transforming into an elf.
However, stories of encountering elves while climbing The Tower surfaced occasionally.
Not as some otherworldly phenomenon, but as entities that appeared during floor missions—either as allies offering assistance or as adversaries to be overcome.
And there was one more thing.
[‘Encounter with an Otherworldly Being (Silver)’ achievement unlocked!]
The achievement notification sealed the matter—the elf before me was indeed from another world.
I glanced over the message, then looked back at the elf.
‘The skin and body hair seemed almost devoid of pigmentation. The frame was elongated and graceful.’
The elf’s appearance was indeed quite striking, as I’d heard. But the most distinctive feature was undoubtedly the long, pointed ears.
“Hmm? Why do you stare so?”
The elf tilted their head with a puzzled expression as I gazed intently.
I answered honestly.
“It’s my first time seeing an elf. Are you an elf?”
“Indeed! Though humans call us that—we simply call ourselves people.”
“I see.”
“But are you perhaps from another world?”
The sudden question caught me off guard, and I asked in return.
“What makes you think that?”
“You carry a distinctly different scent! The ascetics who came before spoke of otherworldly humans who possess a unique odor.”
“Ascetics?”
“In our world, those who climb The Tower are called ascetics. Ascending this Tower is akin to a pilgrimage of suffering, after all.”
“I see. Your intuition is correct—I am indeed from another world. We have no such races as elves where I come from.”
“How fascinating!”
“Well, this is equally strange to me. By the way, where are you from?”
Before the elf could ask further questions, I turned to address the person who had remained silent until now.
It was extraordinarily difficult to determine from appearance alone whether this person was from Earth or elsewhere.
This was because everyone within The Tower wore equipment that had emerged from it.
I myself wore armor rather than jeans and a shirt when inside The Tower.
The same applied to this individual.
Clad in sturdy canvas trousers and leather armor, with a large bow slung across their back, they met my gaze and answered.
“Twisted Forest.”
“Ah! The Twisted Forest! You hail from quite a treacherous place!”
The elf exclaimed in admiration upon hearing the man’s response.
From that exchange, I realized the two were from the same world.
The man responded to Han-seong without reacting particularly to the elf’s words.
“And you?”
“Seoul.”
“Seoul, you say. An unfamiliar place name.”
“I suppose so. I’m from a different world, after all.”
“Seoul! What a unique sound to it! By the way, that bow is remarkably intricate! Is it your primary weapon?”
“….”
The man didn’t answer the elf this time either.
Han-seong furrowed his brow and spoke.
“Since this is a cooperative mission, I think we should at least share our positions. Is the bow really your main weapon?”
“Yes. Do you use a sword?”
“That’s right. The sword is my primary weapon.”
“Looking at you, I’d say you command quite a few other abilities besides the sword!”
“Well, I’ve picked up a few things here and there.”
Han-seong answered the man and the elf in turn, then fell silent for a moment before speaking again.
“Are you deliberately ignoring the elf’s words right now?”
“Yes.”
“What? That’s what this is about?”
The elf looked at the man in surprise.
I’d noticed it from the start, but this elf is quite peculiar in his manner of speech.
Before this, the descriptions of elves I’d seen on the internet all painted them as noble and mysterious—that sort of image.
This elf seems rather rough around the edges and even a bit dim-witted.
Anyway, this guy is ignoring the elf’s words again.
“…Is there a reason? Did you two perhaps meet before?”
“No. I simply don’t converse with pointy-ears.”
“Good heavens! Pointy-ears! Such a hateful slur—the kind those dwarves would use! It’s absolutely dreadful to hear!”
The elf cried out in shock, but the man continued to ignore him.
It seemed he harbored considerable ill will toward the elf.
I already felt a headache coming on.
‘Should I just go alone?’
The thought crossed my mind briefly, but I shook my head.
‘No. This is a chance to gather information about another world—I can’t just give up.’
If I were just an ordinary Awakener from Earth, I would have chosen to clear this alone the moment I encountered such a troublesome situation.
But these are people from another world. One is an elf, but regardless, this was a valuable opportunity to obtain crucial information.
‘Besides, that elf seems to be quite the chatterbox.’
Of course, I wasn’t foolish enough to judge someone based solely on appearances.
That seemingly carefree manner of speech and personality could all be an act.
The man was equally worth being cautious about.
‘Thinking about it that way, their relationship doesn’t seem that bad.’
At least from the atmosphere alone, since they’re from the same world, it didn’t seem like they’d conspire to stab me in the back.
Han cleared his thoughts before speaking.
“Well, we’re just parting ways after clearing this floor anyway, so there’s no need to get close. As long as we don’t stab each other in the back, we’re fine.”
Having laid out his position, Han glanced at the man and the elf in turn as he continued.
“Since it’s difficult to coordinate properly on the spot, I think it’s best if we just avoid interfering with each other while we achieve our goal, don’t you think?”
“Right. That makes sense. We just met, so proper coordination would be difficult!”
“I agree.”
“Then let’s just go over our combat styles and head out immediately. As I mentioned, I use a sword. I’ll be fighting mostly at close range.”
“I also use a sword! It’s my weapon of choice.”
The elf said so and drew a longsword. Finally, the man tapped his bow and spoke.
“I use a bow. Since I can channel mana, I can deal damage even to monsters with tough hides.”
“Good. Two melee fighters and one ranged. Not a bad setup.”
Han nodded and added one last thing.
“So… before we head out, does anyone know anything about Arachne?”
“Of course I do.”
“I do too.”
“Uh, I don’t. Could you tell me something about her?”
Han hadn’t expected both of them to know, so he had to ask again.
This time, it was the elf who spoke.
“Arachne. The Spider Queen. Human upper body, spider lower body. A cursed and powerful monster. And a creature of Darkness. Her origins trace back to the very distant past…”
“She’s a monster that spews webs. The webs Arachne produces are so strong that even trained adult men struggle to break free. And she typically commands dozens or hundreds of spiders as subordinates.”
As the elf spouted knowledge unrelated to combat, the man cut him off and provided more practical information.
“Right! That’s exactly what I was about to say!”
The elf nodded without seeming bothered that the man had interrupted him.
The more I see of him, the stranger he seems.
Even as Han thought this to himself, he asked the man a question.
“Anything else to watch out for? Oh, and what should I call you?”
“Sometimes there are individuals with potent venom in their front legs. And you can call me Hank.”
The man, Hank, said so and stared directly at Han as he asked.
“What’s your name?”
“Han. Just call me Han.”
Han had been about to give his full name but changed his mind midway, offering only the first syllable instead.
“Got it. Han.”
“Nice to meet you! Han! Hank! Oh, you can call me Elion!”
Hank casually ignored the elf Elion once again.
* * *
Two humans and one elf advanced deeper into the Cave.
Han, one of the humans, was thinking about the other two.
‘I wonder how strong they are.’
Most Awakeners he’d encountered while climbing The Tower didn’t possess particularly noteworthy abilities.
The same held true even for Maria and Cheon-woong, who ranked among the top tier.
The Guild and the Unclaimed Territory of the Neutral Zone were the only reasons we maintained any contact at all—without them, I would have lost interest long ago.
The difference in our climbing speeds was simply too vast.
‘Normally, climbers form teams after bonding during their ascent, or at least cooperate on missions together.’
Unfortunately, that was impossible for me.
The people I’d met below the 10th Floor were probably still lingering in the 10th Floor range.
Meanwhile, I had just entered Floor 40.
With such a gap between us, how could we possibly climb together?
If Maria and Cheon-woong—among the most promising Awakeners—were at that level, I doubted I’d encounter anyone of comparable strength anytime soon.
So at some point, I’d stopped paying attention to other Awakeners altogether.
But Hank and Elion were beings from another world.
Their true capabilities remained a complete mystery.
With a mixture of anticipation and tension, I pressed forward.
Tap.
Hank stopped in his tracks and tapped his shoulder audibly.
It was one of the signals he’d taught me before we set out—a warning that enemies were nearby.
Since I hadn’t sensed anything, I looked at him with curiosity.
Hank then pointed to a spot on the ground.
‘A web.’
There it was—a spider web.
It lay low across the floor, and Hank spoke in barely a whisper.
“It’s a vibration-sensing web. From here on, enemies could emerge from anywhere.”
After saying that, Hank gestured carefully for us to avoid the web.
Elion, who had been walking at the front, carefully stepped around it, followed by me, and then Hank.
After that, Hank discovered and pointed out several more webs.
The three of us continued forward.
‘It’s opening up.’
After walking for a while, the passage suddenly widened, and ahead of us, the path split into two directions.
But there was a problem.
“Damn.”
Both paths were covered with spider webs.
Clearing the webs wasn’t the issue. But we couldn’t prevent the signal from being sent. The moment we touched them, they’d know.
Hank’s expression darkened as he spoke.
“It looks like sneaking past is impossible.”
“Hmm. Wouldn’t it be better to deal with whatever comes at us here rather than squeeze through a narrow passage?”
“That’s true.”
Hank would defer to whatever Elion said anyway, so I stepped in to voice my agreement.
“Since we’re not perfectly coordinated with each other, we’ll need the space to fight freely.”
“That makes sense. Then let’s position ourselves and trigger both webs simultaneously.”
“Agreed. I’ll take the right side.”
“Then I shall take the left!”
Elion took his position before the left web without hesitation, and I claimed the opposite side.
Hank positioned himself appropriately toward the rear, nocked an arrow to his bowstring, and nodded.
At his signal, Hank and Elion swung their blades toward the web almost simultaneously.
Skreeeee!
The web tore apart.
Some of it clung to the blade, but a quick wipe with cloth sent it falling away.
Sssssss—.
And immediately after, I heard something approaching from ahead.
I turned my head toward the sound.
“They’re swarming in tremendous numbers.”
Dozens of pairs of yellow eyes gleamed in the darkness.

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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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