Chapter 186: Demons’ Forest (1)
Allforone’s shadow wasn’t here?
It wasn’t completely unimaginable, seeing as the Martial King’s shadow had his own will. But Allforone was different.
This meant that a section of the system was completely different now.
Considering how the gods and demons weren’t able to leave the 98th floor because of the system, this was something that definitely shouldn’t have happened.
But Yeon-woo really couldn’t find Allforone’s shadow.
There was a blue portal leading to the next floor where Allforone was supposed to be.
‘Just how am I supposed to take this?’
Yeon-woo thought for a moment and shook his head. It wasn’t something he should be concerned about anyway. If Allforone wasn’t here, this position would be his.
[You have achieved a great record. Would you like to put your name on the hall of fame?]
[You have rejected recording your name.]
[Even though your name is revealed, your accomplishments will be registered so that you can check anytime.]
[21st Floor Ranking]
Tied 1st place. Unrevealed and Bivasbat
3rd place. Nayu
4th place. Hughl.
5th place. Cha Jeong-woo
…..
Although he hadn’t been able to see Allforone’s shadow to become the only 1st place, this was a pretty good result.
He was curious what kind of face the Martial King would have when he heard the results.
Yeon-woo clicked the ‘N’ to the messages that popped up like he always did. It was better to stack up rewards and get them at a later time.
Just when he was about to activate the portal, his communication ring suddenly rang. It was news from the Night Watch, from the outer section of the Tower.
“I wonder what it could be?”
[Uh, um, I think you’ll have to…..hurry.]
“Why?”
[They say that they haven’t been able to see Brahm on the 23rd floor for a while.]
Yeon-woo’s eyes got bigger and he quickly activated the portal. He had been too relaxed because he thought Brahm would stay there for a while.
The portal opened, and Yeon-woo was swallowed by light.
***
News that the 1st place of the 21st floor’s hall of fame changed spread quickly to the rest of the Tower.
The players who hadn’t been paying attention to the lower floors started to pay attention now.
It was a record that hadn’t changed for a while. Even the Martial King hadn’t been able to change it.
Though the new record was only a tied 1st place, it was still amazing that he had the same score as Allforone.
Because of this, the name ‘the Hoarder’ started to become famous among the high rankers and the large clans.
And among them, a few started to have questions.
-Why doesn’t the Hoarder reveal his name?
From the Tutorial to here, the Hoarder had never revealed his name. It was unrevealed, but there was no one who didn’t know him.
Most people didn’t pay too much attention to this because countless events occurred in the Tower, but some people began to have questions.
***
“So what…..!”
Henova was about to ask the person who came in, but he paused after seeing the message in front of his eyes.
[There has been a new record set on the 21st floor’s hall of fame. Would you like to check?]
The 21st floor. It was the floor that Yeon-woo went to this morning.
After Henova sent Yeon-woo away, he set his notifications so he would be able to know if there was a change in the rankings.
However, he didn’t think that he would have to worry about it until a least a few days, or even a few years.
So he was confused to see the alarm suddenly pop up. Thinking that something was wrong, he quickly flicked the window up. He had already forgotten about the stranger who came in.
And in the ranking, there was an unfamiliar name in 1st place.
“Tied 1st place?”
Was it possible to be tied on the system rankings? No, other than that, was there someone who had the same record as Allforone?
So although Henova was surprised, he smiled warmly.
He thought it was worth it making those artifacts for him.
Since at the very least, Yeon-woo hadn’t dirtied his name.
“Hm. He still has a brain though.”
Henova smiled and put the hammer back down. He put his pipe in his mouth.
Taking the smoke in, he had a thought to himself.
If he was also a player, he would’ve gone straight to the 21st floor.
There was a face he wanted to see, although it was only a shadow. He occasionally thought about how nice it would’ve been to go see him.
Since Yeon-woo had gone to the 21st floor with his weapon, Henova felt that it was the same thing as going there himself.
He wanted to think of it.
The face that Yeon-woo probably would’ve seen. What kind of face would he have had? Would he have been laughing? Or been expressionless, like the other shadows?
What kind of face would that guy have had when he was clearing the 21st floor? He was probably smiling like a fool. And what would he have been wearing? Did he use the Dragon Slayer he made, or was it that lightning?
The more he thought about it, the more old memories started to pop up.
They were things that he didn’t want to think about. Now, he thought he could start opening those memories one by one.
‘Mm, wasn’t there a customer here? And I heard someone from the One-horned tribe was coming.’
Henova was locked in thought for a moment, and then he turned his head to look at the door.
There was just an empty door.
No one was there.
***
Jang Wei felt strange seeing Henova smile.
When he had investigated, he heard that Henova’s skill had become rusty after Arthia was ruined.
However, Jang Wei could guarantee that wasn’t the case. The reason why those rumors had spread was probably because he wasn’t motivated anymore.
But Henova seemed to have found his fire again, even though his disciple was dead.
Although they had cut ties, he was still his disciple.
‘Something’s definitely up.’
So Jang Wei was planning on messing Henova up. He would even kidnap and torture him if needed.
But right before he could, the door suddenly opened.
The guy at the door had a horn. He was probably from the One-horned tribe. And he had strange contraptions in both his hands.
He didn’t have any reason to fight Henova in front of the One-horned tribe. He could get Henova another time.
But the One-horned tribe member seemed to have suspected something. He began to secretly follow Jang Wei.
Jang Wei realized it, and he took some turns into an alleyway of the outer section.
“I don’t know why the One-horned tribe is following me.”
Jang Wei looked at the dark alleyway and purposely spoke in a loud voice.
And someone silently came.
He had a pleasant face, but it could look threatening when he tried. It was Yanu, who was someone that served as a potential successor to the Psychic and also worked for the Phante siblings.
Yanu had come all the way here because the tribe and Henova had a deal.
“It’s not as much as Miss Edora, but I still have some power. You seem dangerous. Who are you?”
Yanu said something that Jang Wei couldn’t understand and lightly clenched his fist. He didn’t even bother hiding his intention.
He always had a smile on in front of Yeon-woo and the siblings, but he was actually pretty famous among the warriors.
And Yanu had gotten a dangerous impression from Jang Wei in the smithy. It was clear he was trying to harm Henova. Yanu needed to ask what he was trying to do.
Jang Wei lightly clicked his tongue. Not even the Summer Queen wanted to be involved with the One-horned tribe, so he didn’t want to get involved with them either.
Even if he just wanted to talk, since the guy was giving off such a murderous intent, there was nothing he could do.
And he wasn’t that talented at speaking in the first place. There was a much easier option, so why would he bother with talking?
More than anything, the reason why Jang Wei avoided the tribe was because they were ‘annoying,’ not because he was scared.
There was a chance the One-horned tribe could get back at him, but it had already been a while since he had stopped caring.
Jang Wei silently got the arrow that was on his back.
If there was a silver lining, it was that he had another person to ask things. Yanu didn’t have anything to do with Arthia, but no harm could come from checking.
Jang Wei moved towards Yanu. His Four Directions Bow was ready for action.
***
“Hehe. This is fucked up…..”
Blood poured from his mouth. Yanu wanted to get up somehow, but he kept on falling back down because of the arrow in his chest.
Jang Wei looked down at Yanu coldly. It wasn’t an even match from the beginning. A high ranker versus a semi ranker. It was obvious what the result of a fight between the two would be.
But Jang Wei was shocked when dealing with Yanu. As expected of the One-horned tribe, it wasn’t easy.
“From now on, I want you to answer what I say.”
Jang Wei spoke while pushing down the arrow in Yanu’s shoulder.
It was painful, but Yanu smiled. Like it would never go his way.
“Why should I?”
“I’ll save you if you answer me.”
“Hehe. You think I’ll fall for that?”
“I don’t think so.”
“That was amusing to watch.”
Jang Wei lightly clicked his tongue. The guy couldn’t even fight back, but his gaze was still sharp.
He knew well about these gazes. People with these gazes wouldn’t ever respond, even with torture.
“Oh well. It’s not really a way I like but…..”
“Hehe. What? Are you giving up?”
“As if.”
Jang Wei smirked and put his forefinger to his mouth while using his left hand to push Yanu down.
<Summon – Demonic Creatures Cell>
Purple smoke started to creep up. And what came up was a blue snake with 9 heads. The Demonic Snake was one of the many monsters he had caught back when he was a hero.
“Eat.”
The Demonic Snake slid to Yanu. Yanu didn’t take his eyes off the snake.
The snake entered Yanu’s mouth and started to eat his brain. Then, images began to pop up in Jang Wei’s head.
The snake had the ability to absorb some of the memories of what it ate. This was a method that Jang Wei used often.
There wasn’t any sound, but there was still a lot of stuff that he found out.
Why the One-horned tribe suddenly didn’t participate and why the Martial King’s children had crossed over to Red Dragon.
At the center of it all was…..
‘The Hoarder, Cain?’
He kept seeing the Hoarder, Cain.
Even after Jang Wei read everything, he had to think for a while.
“So he wasn’t just scouted, but there was a reason, right? He didn’t plan on getting on Cheonghwado’s side from the beginning but…..he wasn’t really on Red Dragon’s side either…..hm?”
Jang Wei felt a strange vibe from Cain.
He acted like he didn’t really care about participating in Red Dragon.
He participated as a mercenary from the One-horned tribe, but he seemed to prioritize participating in the war over everything else.
It was amusing.
There were a lot of things that didn’t make sense, but it was still worth being interested in.
Everything revolved around him.
At first, he ignored him because he thought there wasn’t really anything to him. But it seemed like he had a lot of secrets.
“Cain.”
Jang Wei mumbled the unfamiliar name several times. Cain. He didn’t like the name for some reason.
But he was also amused. The reason why Cain wanted to participate in the war was on his mind.
Then, the snake crawled out from the corpse. Yanu’s corpse was completely sucked dry.
After Jang Wei extended his arm and the snake wrapped around him like a bracelet, he began to move towards the Tower.
From what he heard, there was something about Cain heading towards the 23rd floor.
“I hope something fun happens.”
Jang Wei lifted a corner of his mouth. He felt expectant for the first time since he entered the Tower.