Chapter 79: The Womb of the Dead, 'Pendariel' (1)

Chapter 79: The Womb of the Dead, 'Pendariel' (1)

[New footage has been uploaded to the Tower of Trials.]

Due to Jinhyuk's latest video upload, the Tower of Trials' message board was once again thrown into chaos.

-NyangNyangPunch: Wow. So a major guild couldn't stop a single zombie and caused this mess?

-Taiwan Is Number One: Seriously, what a nuisance. They transformed what was already a tough fight into the difficulty level of hell. And there are players who don't even know about the hidden boss, right? How is anyone supposed to beat that?

-Line Must Be Drawn Correctly: How could they be so careless as to not withstand the second wave? Truly disgusting.

-Black Tea Flavored Tteokbokki: I just heard that the large attack teams who tried a preemptive strike on the queen were all wiped out. Real promising talents gone because of those idiots messing things up.

A torrent of swear-filled comments followed, but the major Chinese guilds couldn't let out as much as a peep in response. The Triads were annihilated, and those affiliated with Murim were not players and therefore couldn't post a refuting video. Everything was going exactly as Jinhyuk had planned.

-Laidback Streamer Above All: At least Player Kang Jinhyuk did a great job drawing the boss's aggro and prevented a mass slaughter.

-KingGodEmperor: If it wasn't for Brother Kang, everyone in the small stronghold would have died for sure.

-David H: That's good and all, but does it make sense for just five people to fight the queen?

-Best Swordsman of Joseon: I don't know about others, but Kang Jinhyuk is an S-class player recognized by the strongest gaming nation. He's worth trusting.

-Starbucks Maniac: Just search for Kang Jinhyuk and a bunch of related videos come up, worth watching them all. He's a card you can trust.

-FreshSpiritEnvoy: In times like this, doesn't Unknown show up? I want to see that player fight alongside Kang Jinhyuk.

Contrastingly, the perception of Jinhyuk skyrocketed. Among all the ranked players falling, he was the only beacon of hope.

"Brother. Do you think maybe you've gone a little too far this time?"

Yoo Yeonhwa sighed softly.

The Jinhyuk she knew was always one to defy expectations and find a different path, but she never imagined he would flip the board like this.

Her head was spinning.

"Hyung, how did you know there's a boss monster here?"

Lee Taemin was just as bewildered by the current situation.

"Well, I was trying this and that and stumbled upon it."

"...So nonchalant."

His words seemed casual, but the effort behind discovering a hidden quest must have involved countless challenges and attempts.

"Did you also destroy the market?"

Teresa asked the question she was curious about.

"Hm, I'm not really sure, but it seems like it didn't fall apart on its own, right?"

Jinhyuk simply grinned and side-stepped the question.

"Anyway, do you have a way to deal with the queen?"

Cheon Yuseong finally broached the most crucial issue.

True, it was great that he drew everyone's attention by going big, but without a brilliant plan to resolve the situation, it was all tantamount to a suicide mission.

And of course,

"There's a way to win."

Jinhyuk knew the only method to end this battle.

The process wouldn't be smooth sailing, but considering the rewards at stake, the risk was worth taking.

"It's good it wasn't done thoughtlessly. So, what's next?"

"Would you be able to follow the plan if I tell you?"

"To survive, I'm ready to do anything."

"Don't change your tune later. Your role this time is quite important."

"......Just tell me."

Cheon Yuseong nodded resolutely, expecting a difficult task—albeit a different kind than he anticipated.

"To give those guys a real hit, we'll need a skill of considerable scale. The problem is..."

"What's the problem?"

"It's quite expensive."

"You can't be serious..."

Cheon Yuseong's face darkened rapidly.

"Why should I give my hard-earned coins to you? And why are you trying to milk coins from me specifically!"

There were others like Teresa, who was known to be wealthy, or Lee Taemin and Yoo Yeonhwa, who were doing fairly well.

"But why me?"

"Yoo Yeonhwa gave the Twin Dragon Swords. Teresa already handed over some coins before. Besides, don't be such a miser. It's not like you're unaware of the hit count surge in the recent video you uploaded."

"Damn it. You saw that?"

"Yeah, I saw it. It was quite fresh and interesting, unlike your usual style?"

The title was perhaps 'Swordsmanship That Could Help Even the Lady Next Door Survive In a Dungeon'?

It attracted a load of aggro with the claim that it was Sword Saint himself giving personal lessons.

Of course, click bait alone wouldn't have been enough for a hit.

But thanks to Cheon Yuseong's overwhelming skill, the video made it to the 'Hall of Fame' on the same day.

"I need to kill the guy who taught him video editing."

"Don't be too hard. It's only because it was you that I recognized you right away."

Despite trying to hide his face with clumsy editing techniques, he could not hide his unique swordsmanship.

No one else could fool my eyes.

If it were anything related to Chuhon Swordsmanship, I could recite it backwards and forwards with my eyes closed.

"......I had to do it for a personal quest."

"Anyway. How grand of you."

To grow as a Sword Saint, one must clear quests that garner widespread recognition.

Previously, when the player base was slim, the requirements were low, but now, with the entire world watching, the quest needed millions, not dozens or hundreds, of endorsements.

"So I know you've got a fat purse. How about you donate for the team?"

"How much are we talking?"

"100,000."

The amount exactly matched the coin earnings Cheon Yuseong had amassed.

Upon hearing the figure, his expression soured as if he had bitten into something bitter, realizing he might have to give up all his precious savings meant for future use.

"You also have a lot of coins, right? You don't have to take from me..."

"But, I'd feel bad about spending 100,000 coins too."

Why would I spend out of my own pocket?

There's a reliable stream of money right in front of me.

"Hurry up, we're short on time."

Jinhyuk snapped his fingers.

I'm the captain of this stronghold.

You are just one of the crew.

Above all, in the face of mighty foes outside, it's paramount to follow the captain's orders.

"...You really won't die a peaceful death."

[You have received 100,000 coins from player Cheon Yuseong.]

Cheon Yuseong clenched his teeth and spat out all the coins he had.

At that moment,

Koong—! Koong—! Koong—!

In the distance,

The footsteps that shook the earth's foundation started to approach—quickly.

***

Excluding special floors like field-type or labyrinth-type, each floor of the tower had a boss monster reigning over it.

These absolute beings were defined by one single term: "strength."

록However, their power didn't always correspond to the floor they controlled.

Because some chose to rule over a lower floor than their power warranted—out of boredom, or simply because they liked the floor they had.

Pendariel belonged to this category.

An apocalypse where everything was annihilated.

A desolate land where only the dead roamed was her ideal world.

"Kieee!"

"Kraaah!"

Countless hordes of zombies roared in the middle of the street, but stood still as if waiting for something.

Then,

Step.

Pendariel took a step forward.

Hssssk.

Thick smoke rose from the asphalt.

It was a 'corrosive' effect caused by corpse poison.

Even normal zombies carried some corpse poison, but the one Pendariel possessed was on another level.

It was potent enough to burn even the air in its vicinity.

"Is this... all humans amount to?"

Pendariel's mouth tore apart sideways.

A horrendous figure drenched in blood.

Her pale skin and long red hair that reached her waist might only be seen in nightmares.

"Urgghh..."

A man in front of Pendariel moaned.

Ian Smith.

A ranker affiliated with the major European guild 'Pantheon,' Smith had quickly organized an assault team to hunt the queen after seeing the video uploaded by Jinhyuk.

Everyone had at least a year of experience in the Tower of Trials, along with recent raids in ruins.

But their end was pitiful.

The 55-member assault team failed to even graze the queen's garment, turning into rotting corpses.

"What kind of monstrous creature is this..."

No one coming here could ever defeat this monster.

Its very existence was a contradiction to logic.

Smith looked up at the queen for one last time.

Her eyes were hollow and cold.

Kwakwakwakwakwakwa!

And this was the last memory of the promising ranker from Europe.

"Spare... that human... kill... all the others. I will kill him... myself."

Pendariel ordered the endlessly lined-up zombies.

"Kieee!"

"Keeek!"

The zombies leaped forward all at once.

The 3-meter tall enhanced zombies spearheaded the charge tanking the damage, followed by special zombies with elongated arms or deformed heads.

They were entities only seen in the later waves.

If it weren't for the special circumstance of waking the queen, there would have been no fight right now.

But all the powerful zombies were gathered in one place.

Kwakwakwang!

Kwaaang!

The plants at the entrance were smashed into oblivion.

Both the rock and self-destructing plants tried to block them, sacrificing themselves, but they couldn't hold out even for a few minutes.

That was to be expected; they weren't meant to be dealt with so early in the third wave.

"It's over."

Pendariel, who had been watching the fight from afar, was confident.

She knew that the arrogant human would be dragged before her very shortly.

However, the psychic message from the zombies assaulting the battlefield defied her expectations.

[Four humans are trapped in ice. And the human you mentioned is nowhere to be seen.]

"Trapped? In the ice?"

Did they lock themselves in ice?

Because they were afraid of being tortured to death by her?

Or could it be...

'There's another plan?'

Pendariel's brows furrowed.

Presumably, they provoked the zombies on purpose to lure them into the base.

What was the reason?

'To weaken this place's power.'

And then,

'...To hunt me?'

As that thought crossed her mind, Pendariel felt a chill overtake her heads.

And at that moment.

[The third form of Glacier Sculpture, 'Ice Prison Kaleidoscope,' is activated!]

A world distorted in darkness was now painted over in white.

Thus,

Wooowooowooon!

The myriad walls of ice crystal enclosed the queen and her hoard of zombies entirely.