Chapter 305. White Tower (3)
Even in this moment, he was floundering.
The person next to him suddenly adjusted his weapon—without even twisting his body at all—and stepped forward to throw his sword.
What is this?
It wasn’t just a problem with the gatekeeper of the White Tower. Wasn’t the real monster over there?
Grrrr….!
As the hunter on the left successfully executed a directional attack, Ha-seong opened his mouth and held his breath for a moment.
All the opponent had done was draw his sword and throw it.
But to Ha-seong, Kim Gi-ryeo’s actions seemed like a master adapting to the twisted sensations as if he had overcome the dungeon curse in just a few seconds.
It really was hard to believe.
The sky turned to earth.
How could he throw his weapon and hit in such a cursed state where nothing could be seen when looking in the direction from which the sound came?
With his eyes wide open, distinguishing between the up, down, left, and right clearly.
What the heck was going on in that hunter’s brain?
‘I still… can’t even take a proper step because of the nausea…!’
Ha-seong gasped as he tried to suppress the overwhelming sense of discomfort.
But no matter how much time he took, he couldn’t even think of adapting to the flipped view.
In this state, recognizing the proper location in space was nearly impossible.
Thus, any light attack from someone was exaggerated to a grand significance.
“Uh, Hunter… Could it be that Mr. Kim knows how to protect himself from the dungeon curse…?”
Of course, the number one ranked person in this place was a thinking creature, so when the Steel Toad was flipped on its back and neutralized, a reasonable question finally popped out of him.
“…No?”
An alien simply denied it without even taking a breath.
“No… Really?”
“Ah, no matter what, I can’t repel the effects bestowed by the dungeon. Ha-seong, you know there are no cases in this world that can do such things, right?”
If someone achieved what no one on Earth could, it was only natural that the attention would be drawn.
So, Kim Gi-ryeo felt the need to hide his absolute abnormal state.
When his disciple, who had entered the gate with him, suddenly got beaten by the Toad Beast, he panicked and inadvertently revealed he was just fine.
‘Well, since I already covered my awakening attributes with Kang Chang-ho, the information about my resistance will leak out eventually.’
But despite this crisis, revealing all the truths was definitely risky, as it meant explaining abilities that went beyond the bounds of humanity in the modern world.
So, Gi-ryeo made up a reason for maintaining his balance.
“Jeong Ha-seong. Originally, the curse that the gate bestows can only be endured by the person themselves.”
When the effect of coughing up blood happens, it’s with a recovery item.
And if one were to lose their hearing, they would just have to accept that state.
Claiming that he too was suffering from the visual reversal effect, Gi-ryeo’s voice commanded Ha-seong to proceed with the strategy without any more complaints.
“What did you say?”
The young man, referred to as a hero, frowned beneath his forehead.
A year ago.
He looked as tense as when he drew the Sword of Sunset and got angry in the backyard of the Hunter Association.
‘Huh? Is he going to start the sword dance again?’
Gi-ryeo suddenly recalled a past event and stiffened his shoulders.
But contrary to his worries, Ha-seong wasn’t angry or frustrated; he seemed simply anxious.
“My vision is too blurry. I can barely face Hunter. How can I endure and overcome… in this state?”
Everything felt uncertain.
For now, thanks to Gi-ryeo’s intervention, the boss was neutralized, but what if the Toad on the first floor didn’t die just from the Hydra attack?
No, what if it died instead? Then the trial on the next floor would start immediately, and there was no way he could adapt to the changed view in such a short time.
“Khuhk…”
Ha-seong clutched above one of his eyes and stood up.
He tried desperately to activate a skill to shoot the enemy, no matter how he could.
But.
“Grrr!”
Whoooosh.
The completed flames ended up far from the spot where the monster lay.
It was the aftereffect of the image flipping in his head.
He was fully aware that the toad was stuck to the ground, yet the human brain was naive; if the ceiling was etched into the eyeball, one could be so easily deceived.
“Jeong Ha-seong!”
Just as the man with black hair was in pain.
The great mage watching him said,
“If you’re really having a hard time adapting to visual information, then you should just close your eyes.”
But that sounded cruel to a mammal that had lived for millions of years without knowing about miracles or mana.
“If I close my eyes completely, I won’t be able to discern the enemy’s position.”
“Sense it with magic.”
“Such a method can only be used to avoid an awakened person walking through a bent corridor. It’s tough facing an opponent moving at A-class speed…”
“Then how about realizing it when the attacks hit your body and adjusting the direction of fire then?”
“Isn’t that the same kind of idea?”
Shivering.
Ha-seong forced himself to lift his head, disregarding the dizziness flooding in.
Holding tightly onto his only weapon that could withstand his flames.
He spoke while gripping the Sword of Sunset strongly.
“I’m not as sharp as Mr. Kim. I am incredibly slow to react. Frankly, I never knew it would be so disorienting just because one eye is damaged.”
“Hmph.”
“Trying to mount a counterattack recklessly will surely result in failing to adjust the range of my skill…”
He trailed off, but it was easy to infer what he meant to say next.
‘In other words, he’s worried that the challenger coming along with him might get fried.’
But on his end, he was just an inconsequential F-Class body, so even if he wanted to help, there were limits to his role.
“Didn’t I say clearly that I would only support when entering this gate?”
“Ah…!”
It wouldn’t change anything to hastily reveal he was a fraud at this moment.
So, Gi-ryeo calculated in his head and suggested a better solution.
“Jeong Ha-seong.”
This gate was rated A-class in difficulty.
Thus, it was only natural for a top-ranking S-Class hunter to be hard-pressed to die, so honestly, it was a situation that could work out as long as Ha-seong, a strong one, didn’t turn on his own kind.
“I’ve been repeating the skill I’ve explained in class recently to no end, remember?”
“…Yes.”
“The method to ignite flames as close to your body as possible, serving as a defensive gear as well.”
“Sure.”
“Then how about practicing that right now? It’s sudden, but thinking about it, the White Tower format is quite good for practical training, right?”
Within Ha-seong’s sights.
A blond man who looked like he was upside down hanging from the ceiling began to explain further.
“With an A-Class boss showing up, you’ll finally have an opponent that can put some tension on you. Plus, the structure keeps the battles coming without a break.”
“Really?”
“You should be able to get the hang of it with that much action.”
Turning the symbol of fear, the White Tower, into just a skill training ground.
“Jeong Ha-seong. You’re worried that I might torch you, huh?”
“……”
“But as long as you properly finish the skill I showed you, you can adjust the effect range around your body to just 1cm. This is the process to get there.”
No longer would this overflowing mana assault the weak; it could just melt away the blades of various scoundrels approaching him with malicious intent.
Gi-ryeo had predicted that the mammal in front of him would have trouble completing this during recent classes.
On the other hand, he didn’t fully judge it to be impossible either.
“At a time when disasters are common, it’s funny to say that people born around the same time share experiences…”
Ha-seong had previously shown fleeting signs of potential.
“Surely, when awakening something, there are times when one must endure hardships and stress.”
Precisely when he had tussled with the awakened at a sandy beach in Incheon.
This black-haired primitive mage had already managed to initiate flames at a distance nearing zero from the enemy.
“Remember fighting with Hunter Kang Chang-ho?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t mean to say you should act just like back then. Attacking with your whole body within the range would only lead to grievous harm, right?”
Croak.
At that moment, the infected creature from another dimension was inflating its vocal sac while flipped over.
Gi-ryeo noticed the enemy preparing for an attack and commanded Ha-seong.
“What I mean to say is to use your skill by attaching it as closely to your body as possible. Just charge at the enemy and beat them down mindlessly! Can you do that?”
Asking if he could do it was somewhat unfair, considering there was a high-level monster roaring right in front of him that he had to deal with.
“I-I’ll give it a try.”
The number one ranked hunter felt unjust about his tutor’s demands, yet he resolved to execute it.
He cloaked himself in flames like the crazy, foreign mages lighting fires in water.
And maintaining this spell, which served as both armor and weapon, he charged towards the enemy, but keeping his eyes closed while grabbing the monster wasn’t easy.
“Ugh!”
Of course, even with his eyes open, the situation was unfavorable.
Leaping.
As a real powerhouse with S-Class mana moved, the Steel Toad canceled its upcoming scream attack and hastily flipped over to flee.
Time passed.
After being exposed to the Hydra‘s venom continuously for a long time, it was fortunate that the first floor trial couldn’t withstand it and vanished.
Swish.
From the sounds, it seemed the owner of the epic weapon had pulled the blade from the monster’s corpse and reclaimed it.
“I have a feeling that spatial movement is about to start soon.”
But what did it matter?
“Oh, it wasn’t just a feeling.”
The battle on the second floor had commenced.
Ha-seong momentarily opened the eyelids he had closed.
However, the newly appeared trial on the next floor was even more bothersome.
‘The colors are familiar… Oh! Damn! It’s the monsters I’ve encountered before. Those are the Evil Servants that mostly appear in the island region…!’
A tiny monster, about the size of an adult’s palm, came out.
‘And three of them?’
Ha-seong stepped into the center of the room to initiate a wide-range attack.
Of course, given how tangled the incident had become, it was unreasonable to expect good results from a preemptive strike now.
And so it unfolded that the hunter reputed to be the best in South Korea was helplessly whipped around by the swift and small movements of the three monsters.
‘This is impossible. No matter whether I open or close these damn eyes!’
After all that training, how could he…?
How could he show such a shortcoming in a gate he had cleared alone once?
Target, excellent, top rank, first place.
Ha-seong had received excellent evaluations throughout his life. Therefore, he felt all the more embarrassed by the current situation.
‘Before entering the tower, I had boasted I could do it all by myself.’
Now, even as a grown adult, he felt a rush of shame that made him wish he could hide in a mouse hole.
Yet, knowing this, his teacher, standing somewhere in the room, began advising him that if he didn’t properly maintain his skill, he would get hit. His voice sounded colder today, perhaps because Ha-seong was keeping his eyes shut.
