Infinite Evolution Hunter - Chapter 183

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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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183
As I read through the books filling the Tower, I came to understand the history of this planet.
This planet’s sun had exhausted its lifespan long ago. That was why it had always been shrouded in darkness.
Without a sun, life could not flourish, so this planet was destined to face death.
However, someone who once lived on this planet had saved it. As the sun declined and temperatures shifted, they maintained the climate through magic and brought hardy trees that thrived in harsh environments, planting them across the world.
Through that ancestor’s providence, people could still inhabit this planet.
It was so ancient that the Scholars on this floor would surely believe the ancestor long dead, but it was clear that ancestor was the Administrator.
Having found several answers at once, I ascended the third floor and broke through the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors without solving their problems.
After that, I continued climbing higher by solving problems floor after floor.
Focusing on problem-solving made ascending each level quite rewarding and enjoyable.
The Scholars only read quietly, so the Tower filled with nothing but the sound of turning pages and the scratch of pens—a sound that oddly calmed my mind.
Thanks to studying without sleep, I reached the upper floors in just a few days.
Until now, I hadn’t looked at books after solving problems, but from here on, I would need to read every book in this place.
This damned Tower was absurdly spacious. Towers should grow narrower as you ascend, but the magic of the Infinite Box made the space expand the higher I climbed. The expanded space was packed densely with books, just like the lower floors.
Many books were written in scripts I’d never seen before, so I had to read other books to learn the characters just to read them.
An ominous thought crossed my mind—would I be trapped in this Tower forever?
Now I had to spend days reading books to break through each floor. Like Brixel had done, I read books on various disciplines at random.
It didn’t matter if I didn’t understand the content. I would memorize it as is and tell Jae-in and Alice—they would find a way.
Now I had fallen into a trance, reading with half my spirit departed.
Then.
“…!”
I nearly let out a cheer without thinking. Content about seals appeared before me.
I embedded every single character of the book’s content into my mind. I would not miss a single detail.
Since I didn’t know how distorted time flowed in this dimension, I had to return as quickly as possible, but if I missed crucial information, such an opportunity might never come again.
After finishing the book, I scoured every book on that floor to ensure there was no additional content.
There was no point in ascending further.
I turned my steps toward the staircase leading downward.
“Are you leaving now?”
The Scholar who had handed me paper on the first floor asked me. He had somehow made his way up here.
“…There’s a book I want to see on a lower floor.”
“You can’t go down.”
“Are you saying you’ll stop me?”
“No, you simply cannot go down.”
Sensing something amiss from his words, I stood before the staircase leading to the lower floor, but just as I couldn’t ascend without solving problems before, I couldn’t descend now.
“…How do I get out?”
“Are you done pretending now?”
I applied light pressure, but the Scholar’s expression remained composed.
“Who are you?”
“You should know, since you came to meet me.”
Tremendous power erupted from the Scholar’s body, who had appeared so ordinary. It was neither physical force nor mana or magic. It was a form of psychic power that interfered with will itself.
“Manager!”
I rallied my strength to resist the psychic wave pouring from him. In a mere instant of contact, my consciousness nearly scattered.
My inability to climb the stairs in this Tower must have been caused by the Manager’s psychic wave. I hadn’t been aware of it while ascending, thinking no attack was coming, but now that he unleashed it so openly, I felt it unmistakably.
“That’s right. I am the Manager.”
I extended my hand forward, intending to release my aura.
“I could kill you without issue, but this body is not mine. I’m merely borrowing it to speak.”
“Why… did you let me climb the Tower?”
“Because you might discover the truth.”
“The truth?”
“The singular truth that explains the origin, process, and purpose of this world—all of it.”
“As if such a thing exists.”
“A mere human could never comprehend it anyway.”
He merely shrugged, paying little attention to my words.
“So you don’t care if I’m your enemy, as long as I search for this truth?”
“Enemy? Who would be my enemy? You overestimate yourself.”
The Manager, borrowing the Scholar’s body, laughed lightly.
I turned my palm toward the wall, intending to blast through it.
My aura wouldn’t flow. I gritted my teeth and forced harder, but my arm trembled violently. I couldn’t channel it. I thought I’d blocked his psychic wave with my aura, but I was still under his control.
“After Brixel fled, I added several mechanisms. Now anyone can climb the Tower if they wish. But no one can leave—not until they discover the truth or prove their power and merge with us.”
“You’re telling me… to find the truth here?”
“From what I’ve observed, you’re not particularly intelligent. You won’t find the truth.”
He looked me up and down.
“However, you are a peculiar existence in many ways. Merging with someone like you enhances the diversity of the soul, sometimes producing unexpected results. Merge with me. Then you can live eternally within me.”
“You’re mad, pursuing a truth that doesn’t exist. I have no interest in such immortality. I’m going back.”
“If you won’t listen, there are many ways to make you listen.”
The psychic wave that had emanated only from him spread across the entire Tower starting from this floor, and I felt it extending to the entire Monster Planet.
Its range had expanded, and its power had intensified as well.
“I have to go back…”
“Why must you go back? Haven’t you grown weary of fighting?”
His words resonated softly in my mind.
He was right. I was exhausted from fighting. Exhausted from a battle with no end, no promise of victory. The weight of the world on my shoulders had always crushed me.
“It was hard, wasn’t it? But what about the Tower?”
Studying here had been enjoyable. While solving problems, I didn’t have to fight. I forgot the terror of the world’s destruction.
“Yes, forget it all and search for the truth with me.”
That didn’t sound so bad… But why did I study? Why did I come here?
Boom!
I fired my aura at the wall.
“How could I forget my family!”
I threw myself through the hole that opened in the wall.
With desperate willpower, I pushed back his psychic wave, but after only a few steps, my body refused to move again.
“Hmm…. How did a mere human manage to move like that? This will be worth studying. As long as you have a home to return to, you’ll keep resisting.”
The Manager waved his hand, and the Gate Generator in my pocket slipped out smoothly.
“Once your home disappears, you’ll have nowhere to run.”
“No!”
Once more, I pushed back against his psychic assault with desperate willpower and mental fortitude, then hurled myself at him.
Despite my burning desire to crush him, my body lacked strength—I collided with him weakly, my frame trembling.
The Scholar himself seemed to have no power either, falling limply alongside me.
But as the Gate Generator struck the ground, a Gate opened.
I had to destroy the Generator before he could cross through it. I couldn’t return home, but I couldn’t abandon Earth, my family, my friends.
I raised my fist and brought it down on the device.
At that moment, a hand made of black smoke emerged from the Gate, seized my descending fist, and yanked me forward with tremendous force.
“If I cannot have it….”
As I was pulled into the Gate, the Manager’s overwhelming psychic assault crashed down upon me.
* * *
“Brother! Brother! Eres! Why won’t you wake up? Did you suffer a psychic attack?”
Yang Sang-heon shook Ji-seok’s body as he turned to Eres with the question.
“It is no mere psychic attack. His soul has been bound.”
“A psychic attack? Surely you can break it, Eres?”
“That entity was greater than I. I lack the power to undo what a superior being has wrought.”
Even the mighty Eres wore an expression of dread. Those seeing her like this for the first time fell into somber silence.
Not only had they found no way to save Bae Na-young and the Child, but now Ji-seok had lost consciousness.
Bae Na-young, who understood the mind better than anyone, remained frozen in place. Ji-seok was laid on the ground while Ye-seul, Jae-in, and Alice gathered around him, examining him carefully.
After observing the situation quietly for some time, Eres’s brow furrowed.
“I am displeased, but…. That one would know this best of all.”
“Who?”
Yang Sang-heon asked. While research had not been his strong suit, he had remained steadfast at Ji-seok’s side.
“Gaff.”
“Demon Gaff?”
“Demons are skilled in the handling of souls. One who claims kingship among them would certainly be capable of such things.”
“But we only recently fought Morax.”
“Morax and Gaff are not allies. Among demons, the concept of sides holds little meaning. Thus, our battle with Morax means nothing to Gaff. However, a pact with a demon carries its own dangers.”
“…Call him.”
“Did you hear what I said?”
“There’s no other way, is there? I’ll take responsibility.”
Yang Sang-heon was prepared to do anything to save Ji-seok.
“Sigh…. I did not wish to incur a debt, but…. Gaff!”
Eres called out Gaff’s name loudly.
“…? Can you summon him just like that?”
“When I call, it is no ordinary summons. To your ears it may sound like mere sound, but…. Never mind, explaining is tedious.”
Eres waved her hand dismissively.
“You should be a bit kinder to these adorable humans, don’t you think, Eres?”
Gaff appeared out of nowhere, hands tucked casually into his pockets. He still wore the form of a young boy in overalls.
The Hunters in the room startled at Gaff’s sudden appearance and immediately took defensive stances.
“But then again, for the great embodiment of Darkness, Eres, to summon a lowly demon like myself… you must be in quite the predicament, I’d say?”
“Cut the jokes. You already know the situation, don’t you?”
“Kee-kee-kee. Of course I do. You’ve prepared the price, haven’t you?”
“What do you want?”
Yang Sang-heon stepped forward.
“How is your soul?”
“…I’ll give it…”
“No!”
Akiko yanked Yang Sang-heon back and cried out.
“Hahahaha!”
“I told you to stop joking around.”
Eres spread black energy in all directions.
“Why should I listen to your orders?”
Gaff unleashed his own power in response.
Since neither entity directed their force at the people of Earth, Gaia offered no interference, yet the overwhelming negative energy permeated the space. Though it appeared as merely two children glaring at each other, the pressure was so immense that even the strongest Hunters struggled to remain standing.
Yang Sang-heon spread light before him to shield Akiko. Her abilities surpassed his, but he would protect his pregnant wife and child.
Following Yang Sang-heon’s lead, the most powerful Hunters and tanks stepped forward to shield the others.
“Ah, can’t even have a little fun.”
Gaff withdrew his power first, and Eres followed suit.
“Hmph. Gaff, you can do it, right?”
Eres asked Gaff, and all eyes turned toward him, hoping for an affirmative answer.
Eres asked Gaff, and everyone’s eyes turned to Gaff, hoping he would answer yes.

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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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