The Automatic Rooting Range Is Too Wide - Chapter 178

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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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Auto Looting Range Too Wide Episode 178
Chapter

Episode 178: The Corrective Guardian (4)
The moment I shattered the whale, the second eruption came to an end.
The Awakened processed the remaining Demons with bewildered expressions.
Since the eruption ended immediately after it began, reality felt distant and dreamlike.
“Ahahahahaha!”
Once all the Demons were cleared, the Knight approached my team with a booming laugh.
He came straight toward us.
“Truly magnificent! To dispatch a large-class creature so effortlessly! I cannot fathom why a warrior of your caliber remained unknown until now!”
The Knight patted my shoulder in congratulation.
“Thanks to your exploits, the Gate of Apocalypse has weakened considerably! The sealing ceremony has been accelerated! The mages say that during the next eruption, we’ll be able to close the Gate of Apocalypse!”
It meant we only needed to hold back the Demon swarm one more time.
“Of course, you and your Companions have accumulated the most merit points! It’s no exaggeration to say you’re overwhelmingly in first place!”
The three of them momentarily went blank at those words.
‘First place? While Seol-aeng and Goseong are still holding the line?’
‘Wow, wow wow wow! I’ve never even placed first back in school!’
‘Mom! I got first place!’
Their astonishment soon transformed into reverence.
In truth, it was as though the Butcher alone had secured first place.
All they had done was assist the Butcher.
“….”
Yet the Butcher seemed unmoved upon hearing he was in first place.
Though I wore a mask and my face couldn’t be seen, my demeanor remained taciturn.
They wanted to cheer right then and there.
“Hey, you got first place. Why does the Butcher seem… not particularly pleased?”
“Perhaps it’s natural for him? Even gold becomes mundane if you see it too often.”
Not just any guild—they’d surpassed Seol-aeng and Goseong to claim first place, yet he didn’t celebrate as if it were routine?
Kim Gyeong-ho nearly shouted that he was talking nonsense.
But upon reflection, he couldn’t help but understand.
‘The Butcher… it’s possible.’
Each weapon the Butcher wielded was extraordinary.
How could an unaffiliated Awakened acquire so many weapons?
It became possible by climbing the Tower at high ranks and consistently claiming first place in various events as naturally as breathing.
‘Indeed, the Butcher… even monsters aren’t this monstrous.’
Kim Gyeong-ho gazed at me with reverent eyes.
But I harbored thoughts entirely different from his expectations.
‘Wow, first place! I’m in first place!’
Internally, I was doing every conceivable celebration dance.
The Mega Hidden Stage had yielded at least one Legendary-grade item.
Since I had achieved the highest contribution score, that Legendary-grade item was essentially already mine.
‘What could it be? With a scale this massive, surely nothing trivial will appear?’
Any Awakened would have their heart racing in such a situation.
Even Mincheol, who had already obtained Legendary-grade items multiple times, was no exception.
‘But I was invited here as a guest. If that’s the case, the other side probably has priority on the Legendary-grade item….’
Could I take it with me by forgoing other rewards instead?
It was while Mincheol was contemplating this.
He sensed a presence. Looking up, Lee Tae-ryong and Ko A-sung stood before him.
“…You’re quite impressive, sir.”
Lee Tae-ryong spoke with a thoroughly contorted expression.
As if he truly despised saying such words.
“But don’t get cocky. Compared to Baek-ryul hyung, you’re still far behind.”
This bastard was picking a fight again.
I was slightly irritated, but simultaneously curious.
Just how strong was Baek-ryul that he kept bringing up his name?
“Is Baek-ryul really that impressive?”
“Of course! He garnered attention from his debut in the Tower, and in the Lower Layer, he’s never once lost his position as the strongest!”
Lee Tae-ryong spoke enthusiastically, heaping praise upon Baek-ryul.
“Moreover, he reached the Middle Layer in the shortest time among all Awakened of Seol-aeng throughout history! The moment he entered the Middle Layer, he’s already being called a Prodigy!”
A Prodigy.
It was a term referring to those particularly special among the Awakened of the Middle Layer.
In Lower Layer terms, he could be called a promising prospect.
‘So that’s the level we’re talking about?’
Mincheol had also heard rumors about Baek-ryul frequently.
Since Lee Dong-hwi, the 0th Generation Legend, South Korea had failed to produce a world-class Awakened.
On foreign websites, mockery of South Korea as a backward nation in Awakened development was not uncommon.
But with Baek-ryul’s emergence, the atmosphere was gradually shifting.
Baek-ryul was expected to be the genius who would recreate Lee Dong-hwi’s legend and elevate South Korea’s prestige.
“Anyway, just try climbing to the Middle Layer! Baek-ryul hyung won’t let you off easy!”
Lee Tae-ryong said this and left.
Then Ko A-sung, who remained, shook his head slowly.
“Don’t take it too hard. That guy’s a notorious Baek-ryul fanatic.”
It certainly seemed that way.
I had heard Baek-ryul’s name more today than in my entire life before.
“Your performance was remarkable. Especially when you defeated the whale—I couldn’t help but admire it.”
Ko A-sung added while scratching his cheek.
“You boasted about defeating me and elevating Goseong’s honor, then immediately got pushed back… honestly, it’s embarrassing beyond measure.”
The conversation paused briefly.
After a short silence, Ko A-sung blurted out a single remark.
“Have you considered joining Goseong?”
It was the second recruitment offer.
Goseong was a mega-corporation rivaling Seol-aeng.
A direct scouting offer from the Goseong clan itself was all the more special.
But I shook my head.
“For now, I’m more comfortable being alone.”
Ko A-sung smiled bitterly at my refusal.
“Go Seon-ho’s assessment was accurate. A solitary wolf of a man, they said….”
I smiled bitterly too, thinking to myself.
‘This is killing me.’
Part of me wanted to accept the offer immediately.
My reason for climbing the Tower was to join a large guild, after all.
But my current identity as the Butcher was firmly marked by the Hope Society.
In other words, I wasn’t choosing to reject Goseong Guild’s offer. I was unable to accept it.
“I’ll go prepare for the next major outbreak. Don’t get complacent being in first place. You could still get overtaken at the end.”
With those words, Ko A-sung turned to leave.
To hear that I held an overwhelming first place and still be able to ignite his competitive spirit.
‘What impressive fighting spirit. That personality must be why he can grow stronger.’
They say the neighbor’s rice cake always looks bigger.
I felt a brief envy toward Ko A-sung’s personality, so different from my own.
‘Whoa, dangerous thinking.’
But I quickly shook off the envy.
For someone like me who pursued safety and caution, such thoughts were extremely dangerous.
* * *
About twenty minutes passed.
“The major outbreak is about to begin!”
The Knight moved between the Awakened, shouting.
“The sealing ceremony is nearly complete! This will be the final outbreak! You just need to hold on for exactly ten minutes!”
In case anyone missed it, the Knight raised his voice even louder.
“There’s absolutely no need to overexert yourselves! Once the Gate of Apocalypse closes, any Demons that emerged outside will automatically be resummoned!”
In other words, the Hidden Stage would end once ten minutes passed.
Hearing that the end was near, I felt my mood lift naturally.
‘Just ten more minutes of effort, then I collect my rewards and head back.’
There was still the matter of reward distribution, but that would be a happy problem to have.
It would be infinitely better than fighting.
Uuuuuung—
The Gate of Apocalypse began to tremble.
Perhaps because it was the final outbreak, its surface started bubbling violently.
The Awakened stared at the Gate of Apocalypse with solemn expressions.
With only ten minutes remaining and this being the final wave, they needed to earn as many points as possible.
However, when the gate opened, the Awakened could only be taken aback.
Was it because there were too many Demons?
Was it because the summoned Demons looked too powerful?
Neither was the case.
“Wow, the air is nice here.”
“So this is inside a Hidden Stage?”
“We paid good money to come, but there’s nothing special.”
It was because humans—not Demons—had walked out.
* * *
The Master of Seol-aeng.
Lee Ji-hun had been shuffling through papers since morning.
Yeonhui brought coffee and asked with curiosity.
“What are you looking at so intently? There aren’t any urgent documents to process today, are there?”
“Ah, I had someone investigate something. The report just came in.”
Lee Ji-hun flipped to the first page of the papers as he spoke.
“You know that Mega Hidden Stage opened this time, right?”
“Of course. With a ticket, up to five people can enter.”
“Right. So we at Seol-aeng formed a team centered around Lee Tae-ryong.”
The paper rustled.
Another page turned.
“But when the participation date wasn’t far off, this rumor started circulating—that entrance tickets to the Hidden Stage were being traded in the Underworld too.”
The Underworld.
It referred to the society formed by Awakened who had devoted themselves to crime.
Its existence was hidden from the public eye, but high-ranking Awakened like Lee Ji-hun all knew about it.
Just how vast the Underworld was.
The Underworld was where items that couldn’t be obtained in the legitimate world were frequently traded.
“What’s strange about tickets being traded?”
The entrance tickets for this Hidden Stage had been scattered randomly.
So it wasn’t strange if an Awakened from the Underworld had obtained and sold one.
“Right, obtaining the ticket itself isn’t strange. But the contents are the problem.”
“What do you mean?”
“It was a ticket that only one person could participate with.”
“Isn’t it a ticket for a different Hidden Stage?”
“That’s possible. But what do you think are the odds of two Hidden Stages with identical entry methods appearing simultaneously at the same time?”
The atmosphere suddenly grew heavy.
Though Yeonhui wasn’t an Awakened herself, she had been in this industry for a long time.
The same Hidden Stage, but the entrance tickets had different contents?
Something felt off. No matter how much she thought about it, it seemed suspicious.
“So I had someone investigate the specific information about that ticket….”
The paper rustled.
Lee Ji-hun’s gaze fixed on the final page.
“…Yeonhui, what was the name of the Quest written on the ticket we obtained this time?”
“The Corrective Guardian.”
“How many people can enter?”
“Five people.”
“What’s the entry restriction?”
“Below Floor 41, right? But why are you asking?”
Lee Ji-hun silently handed over the file folder.
Yeonhui accepted it and read the final page.
-Quest Name: ‘The Crystal Destroyer’.
-Participants: 1 person.
-Entry Restriction: Below Floor 61.
Yeonhui looked at Lee Ji-hun with a startled expression.
“Below Floor 61 means….”
“A Middle Layer Awakened will participate.”
“That’s not necessarily true, is it? Since it’s below Floor 61….”
“The tickets were all traded at high prices in the Auction House. Only those with that kind of wealth would be in the Middle Layer.”
Yeonhui’s complexion hardened.
A Middle Layer Awakened participating was serious enough, but the real problem was the contrasting Quest names.
‘The Corrective Guardian’ and ‘The Crystal Destroyer’.
“Wait a moment. Could this possibly be….”
“That possibility is probably correct.”
Lee Ji-hun pressed his temples as if troubled.
“It’s definitely a Quest where we have to survive against a Middle Layer Awakened.”
* * *
“It’s not a Demon?”
“A human? That’s not a human, is it?”
All the Guild’s Awakened stared at the intruders with bewildered faces.
It was shocking enough that a person had burst out, but they weren’t even Tower residents.
They were Awakened from Earth, just like themselves.
Everyone was left dumbfounded by the unexpected situation.
“Kahahaha! Look at those stupid faces!”
“Hey, you idiots! This isn’t the Event Layer! What will you do if you stand there like fools and die!”
The intruders laughed loudly at the sight.
But not everyone was laughing.
“Hey, you morons. Where’s the time to laugh? Can’t you see the Quest window?”
“Ah, right. There’s not much time left.”
“Let’s finish this quickly and go eat something.”
The intruders drew their weapons.
At that moment, a new message appeared before the Awakened’s eyes.
【Hostile intruders have breached the perimeter!】
【Hold your ground until the ‘Gate of Apocalypse’ closes!】
【Time remaining: 9 minutes 12 seconds】
The intruders slammed their feet against the ground.
At the same moment.
A barrage of attacks, saturated with murderous intent, hurtled toward the guild’s Awakened.

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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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