The Buffs I Raised Are Too Strong - Chapter 24

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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 24.
“Heh… scared?”
“…….”
Scared? Was I?
“Haa…….”
I let go of the handrail slowly.
My legs tensed with sudden force.
I nearly collapsed.
The trembling still hadn’t stopped.
“Ugh…….”
Even nausea.
Awakening, enhanced physical ability—
none of it touched the mind.
I shuffled out of the elevator on unsteady legs.
I steadied my blurring vision.
My eyes darted left and right.
“……?”
Underground Floor 100.
That’s what the elevator display had read.
‘What is this place?’
It was bright.
It was loud.
I found myself wondering if this was what a nightclub I’d never been to would feel like.
Though I still hadn’t seen a single person yet.
It felt like the moment I ventured deeper, I’d stumble into some wild, raging party.
“Impressive, isn’t it?”
“……Guild Master.”
Baek Yul-heon’s hand settled onto my shoulder as if he’d been here a thousand times.
Wait—correction.
He didn’t look that familiar with it at all.
Which made sense.
“Your expression looks terrible.”
“…….”
His own face was twisted far more severely
than mine, ravaged as it was by nausea and vertigo.
“……A place like this—no matter how many times you come, you never get used to it. Though to be fair, I haven’t exactly been here that often.”
“What exactly is this place?”
“This? To put it mildly… it’s illegal.”
“……It’s still safe to be here, though, right?”
“Well, what can we do. We need to find Hyun Chae-rin.”
Hyun Chae-rin.
However distant the connection, I’d heard enough about her, seen enough.
Was she really the type to show up in a place like this?
Then my sister spoke first.
“Hyun Chae-rin is actually here? She comes to dumps like this?”
Unlike me or Baek Yul-heon, she had her lips curved upward as if she’d just witnessed something fascinating.
“If it were the original her, she wouldn’t set foot in a place like this… but given how many things have piled up for Hyun Chae-rin lately, maybe it adds up.”
“Well, I’m seeing her differently now. Thought she was some kind of machine, but… maybe we could actually get along?”
“……Don’t joke around.”
“Fine, fine.”
My mood lifted a little from the casual banter with my sister.
Baek Yul-heon took a deep breath and forced his stiff legs to move.
“Let’s go in.”
A long corridor. Blaring EDM.
Footsteps echoing off the walls.
The air carried an unsettling chill, raising goosebumps on my skin.
An ominous place in every respect.
And then—
“Hey! Who’s this!”
A face I’d never seen before appeared.
‘A gate… keeper?’
A burly man in a business suit.
But unlike an ordinary bouncer outside a club,
there was something…….
“……Still jittery as ever, I see.”
“Hey, I’m always the same!”
The Gatekeeper addressed Baek Yul-heon with the ease of an old acquaintance.
“……Who is that?”
“……The one who keeps this door.”
“……You two seem close.”
“……Please don’t say things like that. He’s just… unusual.”
I whispered quietly to Baek Yul-heon.
He clearly didn’t care much for the man.
“Baekryeon Guild Master. So what brings you here this time?”
“……I’m looking for someone.”
“Huh? Couldn’t you handle that through the usual channels?”
“The person I’m looking for is here.”
“Ah, so you’re searching for one of our clients!”
“……Don’t call them that.”
I couldn’t keep pace with the man’s oddly elevated energy.
His gaze was unfocused and hazy.
He looked as though he’d taken something.
His body swayed uncontrollably, as if he might collapse at any moment.
And yet.
“……Older sister.”
“Yeah. I see it too.”
I glanced toward her.
Behind her back, a fist was clenched so hard the veins stood out, ready to strike.
“That guy’s strong.”
Really strong.
The title “Gatekeeper” didn’t come out of nowhere.
If Baek Yul-heon, who looked visibly displeased, were to actually fight him——
‘……Could he even win?’
Like the Guild Master, my older sister looked equally tense.
Right.
There’s no one who can beat her when her mood turns dark.
But what if there are dozens of men like this one waiting beyond that door?
Could she hold them all off without her Greatsword?
‘At a glance, there are no security cameras……’
Baek Yul-heon had made it clear from the start—this place operates illegally.
The moment the police caught wind of us being here, the Guild Master, my sister, and Baekryeon would all go down together.
Older sister knew that too.
“So-hyuk. When I give the signal, you run. Understood?”
“……What about you?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
But contrary to her reassurance and my concern——
“Aigo! I’ve kept such a busy person far too long! Please, head up!”
“……Thanks for your trouble.”
Baek Yul-heon opened the door without any issue whatsoever.
“Let’s go, you two.”
“Yes, understood.”
“……Ease up on that grip, So-hyun.”
“……Okay.”
Creak——
The massive iron door swung open on its own.
As the gap widened,
the EDM that had been stabbing at my ears now seemed to burrow straight into my brain.
At least the cold had lessened somewhat.
“Uhhh……”
Older sister went in first, and
As I was about to follow him through the doorway.
A firm grip.
“?”
Baek Yul-heon grabbed my shoulder.
“So-hyuk.”
“Yes?”
“Listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”
……
His expression turned grave.
But something about it felt different from before.
“First, don’t speak to anyone down here except me and So-hyun.”
……Yes?”
“Second, don’t put anything in your mouth.”
“But…….”
“Third, once we find Chae-rin, we leave without looking back. We’re getting out of here without causing any disturbance whatsoever. Understand?”
……
“You follow me?”
……Yes.
It was only then that I truly grasped it.
This place was dangerous.
One wrong step and you’d plummet into the abyss.
* * *
We walked a short distance past the door.
People began to appear.
Bang, bang!
“Waaaahhh!!”
Roaring voices.
Fireworks crackling.
‘What on earth is this place?’
A space like this shouldn’t exist underground.
Yet it sprawled before us, vast beyond measure.
More than vast—it was boundless.
People laughed like madmen,
surrounded by things I’d never seen or heard of in my life.
‘……It’s like hell.’
“So-hyuk. Keep pace.”
“Yes, sorry.”
“If you get separated, it’s over. Communications don’t work down here—nothing does. Stay close, no matter what.”
“Got it.”
No communications, no phones.
In this boundless place.
The moment I lost sight of those two, I’d be lost.
In a place where lions and hyenas lurked around every corner.
A young impala separated from the herd.
‘……Or maybe even worse than that.’
At least an impala has fast legs.
I wouldn’t say I was slow per se.
But compared to everyone here, I had no doubt I was painfully slow.
‘Everyone in this place is Mid-tier Awakener or higher.’
Those stronger than my sister were rare.
But most of them were more powerful than that terrorist from the mall back then.
To someone like me, who’d only just cleared Floor 1.
It was a paradise for predators.
“Ugh…….”
Goosebumps crawled up my arms.
Just then, my sister poked the guild master’s back gently, her voice hushed.
“Do you actually know where Hyun Chae-rin is?”
“……So-hyun, keep your voice down.”
“No, but it looks like we’re just going in circles. You do actually know where we’re going, right?”
“Ah, um.”
“……As expected.”
Based on Baek Yul-heon’s reaction.
It seemed his plan had been to wander aimlessly through the Underground Floor 100 until he spotted Hyun Chae-rin.
‘As if that would work.’
The place was vast, first of all.
And it was crawling with people.
The gender ratio was roughly even.
Hyun Chae-rin had short hair.
Even among women with short hair alone, this vast and crowded space was packed thick with them.
Unless she had a remarkably distinctive face or scars — and she had neither.
To spot Hyun Chae-rin with the naked eye in one glance?
‘What, was I a beast?’
It wasn’t something human senses could accomplish.
“……Wait.”
‘Senses?’
A memory surfaced without warning.
Not a pleasant one.
In my own way, it fell into the category of painful memories.
But useful nonetheless.
“……Sensory Amplification.”
“Hm? What did you say?”
Baek Yul-heon reacted to my murmur.
“Master, could you…… your ear for a moment.”
“My ear?”
My sister, who’d suddenly stopped, tilted her head in confusion.
The guild master glanced at my expression, then offered his ear.
And then.
“……I have a way to find Hyun Chae-rin.”
“……What?”
* * *
“Huff…….”
Jeong So-hyuk took a deep breath.
Jeong So-hyun watched him with a displeased expression.
“What exactly is he trying to do?”
“Well…….”
Jeong So-hyuk still hadn’t revealed his second ability to Jeong So-hyun.
I understood the reasoning.
Given her nature, she would never let her younger brother enter the Tower.
So I had no choice but to keep silent as well.
Revealing the truth was a matter between siblings.
“I’m ready.”
“……All right.”
Jeong So-hyuk’s expression was resolute.
But as Baek Yul-heon himself, concern weighed heavily on him.
He’d heard everything about the ability.
‘Sensory Amplification…….’
The Director of the Seoul Awakener Management Bureau.
Jeong Chung-un’s ability.
He knew that ability well.
He’d been tested by it before, and wounded by it multiple times.
To describe the ability in a single phrase:
It was terrifying.
The human senses.
Sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch.
An ability that pushed all of them to their absolute limits.
At first glance, one might think it was simply a good ability,
but delving deeper, it was dangerous beyond measure.
No ordinary human could adapt to senses elevated to a beast’s level,
and even an Awakener’s body struggled to mentally prepare for such strain.
Jeong So-hyuk had only Awakened this ability about a month ago.
Adaptation was out of the question—every time he used it, his body would suffer strain.
He’d claimed his ability had weakened, but that didn’t mean there was no cost.
There had to be a penalty.
So Jeong So-hyuk made one request when explaining his ability.
‘I’ll focus entirely on my sense of hearing to track Hyun Chae-rin’s voice, so please don’t lose me.’
If we fell behind, it would be over.
Knowing that, he still revealed his ability.
Baek Yul-heon could only nod.
“……Lend it to me.”
Jeong So-hyuk murmured in a tiny voice.
And then.
“Gah—!?”
He staggered for a moment,
then shut his eyes tight.
“Ha……! Ha……!”
Focus entirely on hearing.
Closing off sight and smell both, concentrating only on opening his ears wide.
“So-hyun, get ready.”
“What? What’s wrong with him!?”
“Just follow So-hyuk like I said.”
Fortunately, So-hyuk’s physical abilities were far below ours.
We wouldn’t lose him if it was just a matter of following.
“Hnn…… hnn……!”
One second, two seconds.
Sweat poured down like rain.
Then Jeong So-hyuk’s eyes opened.
“Found it.”
Jeong So-hyuk began to run.
We moved in tandem with him.
Crash—!
“Huh?”
Impact.
The back of the head, the back, the buttocks—
Something came flying at us.
Something heavy.
“G-Guild Master! What is this!?”
Something writhed against my back.
And it was—
“What is…… this.”
‘A monster……?’
“Oh no……! I’m so sorry!”
Then someone came rushing toward us from far off.
“The cage was left slightly open and the merchandise got away! Oh no…… I’ll compensate for all the damage!”
I’d heard about it before.
In the underground, there were cases where people bought and sold tower monsters created by abilities.
But
that wasn’t what mattered.
‘So-hyuk……!’
I hurriedly peeled the monster off my back and looked around.
So-hyun’s panicked expression.
Everyone’s attention focused on us.
The confused black marketeer.
“Damn it……!”
I’d lost So-hyuk.
My enhanced buff was too strong
Author |
Naengmyeon Hwachai
Publisher |
(Corporation) Samyang C&C
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Editorial Department
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(주) Samyang C&C – Dream Books
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UCI |
G720:N+A063-20260731072
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Submissions |
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Without written permission from (주) Samyang C&C – Dream Books, the contents of this book may not be used in any form or by any means.

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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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