Chapter 18: The Lost World of the Corrupted (2)

“

Krieeee!

"

Time seemed to slow as the arrow streaked through the air toward Doppy, its trajectory visible to all. I despaired, thinking it was too late for me to react, yet somehow, before my train of thought could even finish, I instinctively swung my mace and deflected the arrow.

At the same time, Ha Hee-Jeong must have cast a spell, as a translucent shield materialized in front of Doppy. However, I had already shattered the arrow with my mace and its shards clattered pathetically to the ground.

Ah, right. I took the Physical Enhancement Potion earlier.

Since I hadn’t engaged in combat since the third floor, there had been no way for me to test how much my abilities had grown. Memories of the first floor flashed through my mind, where I had rolled on the ground to dodge arrows. I had indeed grown quite a bit.

While I silently admired my growth, Ha Hee-Jeong's urgent voice interrupted my thoughts.

“Stop! Stop!"

She was yelling at a Caucasian man poised with a bow, looking like he'd just stepped out of a barbershop with his tidy pomade-slicked blonde hair and chiseled Hollywood actor features. He wore a puzzled expression as he notched a second arrow.

“That goblin is on our side!" Ha Hee-Jeong shouted.

The archer's hand paused, uncertainty written all over his face.

I looked around, noticing that the others were giving me dumbfounded looks. A burly man with thick eyebrows and a shiny bald head approached me, speaking with an awe-filled tone.

“Wait... excuse me. You just deflected that arrow, right?"

“Sorry? Oh, yes,"

The man was impressively built and had to be the most muscular person I had ever met. He reminded me of a wrestler or someone who spent considerable time at the gym.

“Is that goblin really yours?"

The Hollywood actor-looking guy[1] interjected. Seeing that he was still lightly pulling on the bowstring, it seemed he hadn’t lowered his guard yet.

“Well, it isn’t exactly 'mine.' I don’t own it. Its name is Doppy. We came up through the tutorial together."

Doppy, who hid behind me after the arrow scare, peeked out and exclaimed, “

Kriee!

Goblin! Human! Friend!"

This prompted the actor to finally lower his bow.

“And though Doppy is young, it’s a priest capable of casting healing spells," I added.

The actor apologized by slightly lowering his head, his demeanor softening.

“Ah, I'm sorry. I thought it was attacking you guys."

“It's okay. You didn't know."

Even though I was still partly irked, I decided not to make a fuss since Doppy hadn’t been hurt and I could understand the actor’s perspective. If a goblin suddenly appeared behind Ha Hee-Jeong, I would react defensively too.

The awkward tension lingered, but since maintaining distance wasn’t conducive to dialogue, we all gathered in the center of the clearing.

Ha Hee-Jeong and I were joined by the bald man armed with a giant shield and sword, and close to him stood a young girl clutching a small mace. Next to them were the Hollywood actor with a bow and an African-American woman with a mace.

One mage, one archer, two priests, and two warriors. Not a bad lineup.

I noticed the African-American woman shooting wary glances at Doppy, clearly still distrustful.

Just as Ha Hee-Jeong was about to speak, the bald man preempted her by introducing himself.

“Uh, um. My name is Seo Ho-Su, I’m forty-four years old. This is my daughter, Seo Ha-Rin. She's eighteen."

"Hello, I’m Seo Ha-Rin."

The girl next to him lowered her head. Her long hair flowed down her back, enhancing her delicate beauty.

“It seems fate has brought us all together. Let's introduce ourselves. You can understand me even though you are foreigners, right?"

“Yes.”

"Wow, that’s interesting."

Seeing the introductions going off-topic and not wanting them to drag on, I seized the first opportunity to introduce Ha Hee-Jeong, Doppy, and myself.

“I'm Kwon Su-Hyeok, and I’m twenty-four years old. This is my friend Ha Hee-Jeong, we're the same age. This friendly goblin is Doppy."

But as soon as I introduced myself, people stared at me, eyes widening in surprise.

Why are they looking at me like that?

The actor and bald man quickly asked what was on their mind.

“The Kwon Su-Hyeok and Ha Hee-Jeong who are first and second in the rankings?"

“Are you the climber in first place?"

Ah, come to think of it, I am quite famous in the Community

.

Because of me, hundreds of thousands had been stuck waiting indefinitely in the lobby...

“Ah, yes. I'm that Kwon Su-Hyeok. And yes, Hee-Jeong is second."

The bald man clapped and grinned broadly.

“Wow, we hit the jackpot Ha-Rin! With the first and second-place climbers on our team, we won't have to worry about dying on the sixth floor."

I found the way Seo Ho-Su fussed fatherly over Seo Ha-Rin quite endearing. It almost felt like I was watching my own father.

Still shocked by our identities, the Hollywood actor introduced himself next, followed by the African-American woman.

“I’m Cole Grouse, twenty-seven years old."

“I'm Chloe Vincent."

Unlike Cole, Chloe clicked her tongue as if something about the situation did not sit well with her. I couldn’t quite place it, but I could feel her negative vibes just from looking at her.

Curious about their reputations, I whispered to Ha Hee-Jeong, trying to gather more information about our current companions.

“Do you know anyone here?"

“Actually, we got pretty lucky. Cole Grouse and I reached the ninetieth floor together during my previous life. I’m pretty sure he is still ranked in the top hundred right now?"

“Really?"

“Yeah, and Ha-Rin had been with us since the forty-first floor. It’s good to see her again. She’s pretty good. I’m not sure about Ho-Su, but as for Chloe... well, I don’t know anything about her either."

What she shared revealed that we had some decently talented people joining us.

Reflecting on this, I couldn't help but think that our team might be a little bit overpowered. Besides Ha Hee-Jeong and I, the first and second-place climbers on the Climber Leaderboard, we also had a couple of teammates who ended up as powerhouses in Ha Hee-Jeong’s first life.

Is the tower trying to help me?

While I pondered about our team, I suddenly felt a piercing gaze. Turning around, I found Cole staring intently at me. Our eyes met, his gaze lingering for longer than I would have expected.

Why is he staring at me? Is he challenging me because I made him wait indefinitely on the fifth floor? Does he want to fight?

“Ah, right, I should have mentioned it. He’s gay." Ha Hee-Jeong whispered suddenly, causing me to snap out of my reverie and shift my focus.

I had once heard that gay men often use subtle cues or signals to share their identity with others.

Fuck, I don’t care if you like men, but if you gaze for that long it’s a little invasive

,

isn’t it?.

While this happened, Seo Ho-Su had been looking inquisitively at Doppy.

“Hey, this Doppy fellow, is it a pet or something?"

“No, Doppy's not a pet. It’s my colleague. It can think like us and even saved my life."

“Really? It saved the life of the top ranker? That's impressive. Hello, Doppy?"

Seo Ho-Su greeted Doppy as if it were a cute puppy.

“Kriee!

Human! Nice to meet you!"

The bald man laughed heartily at Doppy’s response.

“Oh, hehe. What a cute friend. Goblin! I’m also pleased to meet you!"

“Ah, Dad, stop that!"

Seo Ha-Rin seemed embarrassed by her father's actions as she whispered quietly beside him.

A beaming Seo Ho-Su ignored that however, going ahead and shaking hands with Doppy. I realized he didn’t consider Doppy as a pet; he simply found it cute.

Watching Seo Ho-Su as he conversed with Doppy, I had a faint premonition that he would turn out to be a good ally.

“Why are you calling it cute?"

“Huh?"

Just as a warm atmosphere started developing, Chloe interjected sharply.

“Can't we just kill it since it's a monster? Isn't it unpleasant anyway?"

“Wait a minute, miss!"

“We're going to be traveling together from now on. How can we know if this

thing

won't stab us in the back later?" she continued.

“Uh... Doppy saved this guy's life.”

“I didn’t see that happen. Even if that's true, that’s no guarantee it won’t betray us later. I find all these monsters disgusting.”

Seo Ho-Su looked at Chloe with an expression of disbelief. A chill replaced the warmth in my heart, anger welling up within me.

Is she insane? How could someone be so rude so quickly? She must be out of her mind. Crazy...

“Crazy bitch."

Although I may have thought it, someone else actually said it aloud.

Ha Hee-Jeong stood next to me, fixing Chloe with a steely, unsettling gaze that reminded me of the intimidating eyes she’d displayed in the bar before entering the tower.

The intensity seemed to have frightened Chloe, her voice quivering as she responded.

“W-wha-what did you say? Are you spe-speaking to m-me?"

I was surprised by Ha Hee-Jeong’s temper, but equally impressed by her confidence. Shutting my mouth tight, I listened closely as she pointedly addressed Chloe.

𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

“It almost seems as if we begged you to travel with us. If Doppy is so unpleasant, why don't you just leave?"

“But, we're all humans...! We should support each other, not monsters!"

“And what’s so great about humans? Don’t they betray each other too? Aren’t you a priest? Maybe you should compete with the goblin to see who casts better healing spells."

“...”

Ha Hee-Jeong’s rapid response had silenced Chloe, leaving Chloe speechless and unable to formulate a comeback. However, the displeasure remained evident on her face, and the atmosphere became tensely quiet.

It was at this moment that Seo Ho-Su stepped in to mediate.

“Uh, well, since we were destined to meet and help each other, why don’t we skip the fighting and not turn against each other? We don't know what lies ahead. Chloe, why don't you apologize first?"

Chloe reluctantly mumbled. “... I'm sorry."

Although I wasn’t satisfied, Seo Ho-Su had intervened diplomatically, and it wouldn’t be right to escalate things further. Therefore, I simply nodded.

Ha Hee-Jeong was clearly still annoyed. She leaned in and whispered to me, “She is so annoying. It’s always the useless ones who make the most noise."

Her blunt honesty almost made me laugh, but I suppressed it, mindful of the tension hanging in the air.

As we whispered, Chloe glanced over at us sharply.

“What are you staring at? Back in the day, you wouldn’t have even been able to meet my eyes," Ha Hee-Jeong muttered under her breath.

“

Pfft.

Enough, stop it," I urged quietly.

“

Sigh

, you know I’m only holding back because of you, right?”

Suddenly, we heard a rustling noise from outside our small group of climbers. I looked around, finally taking our surroundings in. We were standing in what resembled an undeveloped construction site, enclosed by barricades. The rustling noise emanated from what appeared to be the entrance to this site.

Beyond the open space, the scenery was eerily familiar, with high-rise buildings that looked like they had been lifted straight from Earth.

“Su-Hyeok?"

Ha Hee-Jeong picked up on the strange sound too, tightening her grip on her staff.

As everyone’s attention shifted toward the entrance, a grotesque creature squeezed through a gap in the barricades.

“What... what the heck is that?”

“Isn’t that... that...”

At first glance, I thought it was a human but quickly realized it wasn’t. Small horns jutted from its head, and it had pallid, diseased-looking skin, encrusted with scales.

The sight of the

thing

shambling toward us, intestines dangling from a rip in its stomach and face smeared with blood, was chilling.

“Is... Is that a zombie?"

It looked just like a zombie from a horror movie. When it entered through the gate and spotted us, it started running toward us at a terrifying speed. No ordinary human would be able to match its speed.

“— — —.”

Thankfully, we weren’t ordinary humans. Before it could fully accelerate, Ha Hee-Jeong murmured a few words. Immediately after, a fireball shot out and hit the creature's head, blowing it to pieces. Surprisingly, the explosion was soundless.

“Su-Hyeok, take the lead! Everyone, follow him!"

Before I could even ponder why the explosion was silent, Ha Hee-Jeong was already pulling me forward.

The creature that had just exploded was only the beginning. More zombie-like beings began to crowd through the entrance. I adjusted my shield and gripped my mace tightly, sprinting to the front.

Not needing more prompting, the others used the knowledge they had gained from the tutorial to take up their battle positions. I stood at the front with Seo Ho-Su, while Cole Grouse positioned himself in the middle, and Ha Hee-Jeong, Seo Ha-Rin, and Chloe took the rear.

Despite the onslaught, I wasn't particularly worried. It didn't feel like we were going to lose. My physical abilities had improved significantly, and it had been so long since I had fought that my body was itching for action.

Just a moment later, Ha Hee-Jeong shouted out a command.

“We need to break through!"

Lightning coalesced around my mace as I prepared myself for battle. The mace began to sparkle more fiercely than usual, illuminating the area around us.

1. I will be referring to him as ‘the actor.’ ☜