164
[Lucio]
[Adventurer A]
Name tags, clearly visible.
Six red lines were drawn beside the name of Lucio, the Nesto Guild’s vice-master.
-?
-Adventurer A?
-Why are you showing up here
-Is Lucio the Nesto vice-guildmaster?
-Did Adventurer A bring the whole Nesto crew with him?
-Is he here for payback because his guidebook tanked?
-Pathetic, just pathetic
The sudden appearance of the two was a shock even to the viewers.
Hanbit turned the stream audio back on and spoke, looking at Adventurer A.
“Seemed like you really wanted to see me. Looks like you’re not too picky about how you go about it.”
“Tch.”
Adventurer A’s face twisted at the question, which was clearly a reference to the information broker.
He swept the rain off his face with a look of distaste, then spoke in a voice laced with irritation.
“I was curious what kind of face someone has when they coast purely on luck.”
“Well, luck is luck, sure. But is that really all it is?”
“…What?”
His expression stiffened at the question, which carried much more weight than the words themselves.
That reaction planted a certainty in Hanbit.
This man had been pulled in by the goddess and made a trip to the other world.
Adventurer A realized that Hanbit had sensed exactly that.
“You… what the hell are you?”
-Hell yourself, you bastard
-Who the hell are you, then?
-Let’s not use the word “washed-up” now
-Fact) He’s genuinely washed-up among the vanguards.
-He’s always been known for having a garbage personality, so he’s isolated anyway.
-That baseless confidence is coming back to bite him.
-He’ll be pushed out soon. lol
The viewers poured out sharp derision.
But to Hanbit, Adventurer A’s thoughts were perfectly transparent.
He probably never considered that someone other than himself had made a trip to the other world.
No — or perhaps he had suspected it, and instinctively denied it anyway.
Whether there was any real reason to do so, Hanbit couldn’t say.
“Sounds like you two have something in common. I’m curious about the secret.”
Lucio, standing to the side, twirled the dagger in his hand as he spoke.
His expression said he found the situation interesting — yet there was something distinctly off about him.
Hanbit thought he could understand now why Haneul had called him dangerous.
And rightly so — there was simply no underlying emotion to be felt from the man at all.
“Ask him yourself. The ambush half-failed. What’s the plan?”
“Who knows? It’s not my concern.”
Lucio gave a thin smile.
He had no apparent intention of sending the dagger spinning in his fingers flying this way.
It genuinely seemed like he was content just to watch.
“Why is the guidebook guy acting like this toward Black Dragon? Did someone find out his cheap little work is a fraud?”
Grrrk—
Haneul’s guileless question was answered by the sound of grinding teeth.
Loud enough to cut through the rain and lodge itself in the ear.
“Hey. What did you just say?”
Adventurer A leveled his distinctively-shaped sword at Haneul.
Something had clearly been scraped raw.
“Your skin is so thin. Getting that angry at a kid?”
-Agreed
-Kids say things like that lol
-Someone’s a little touchy~
-Cheap
-Fraud
-Trash
-Washed-up
-Baldy
“These little—…!”
Adventurer A’s fury, magnified by the stream chat he was watching, surged another level.
He lowered his sword and began walking forward.
“I’ll just kill all of you. Lucio, stay out of it.”
“Do what you want.”
Lucio shrugged at the voice thick with anger.
Hanbit watched Adventurer A approaching and asked, unbothered.
“Seemed like there was something you wanted to know — and now you’re just going to kill me?”
“I don’t need it anymore. Whatever cheap trick you use, the fact that you’re wrong will be proven in Episode 3.”
Slide—
A single layer of ash-grey coated his blade.
A technique known as Ashen Form.
It appeared to be classified as a hidden skill — but frankly, the limits of that power were far too apparent.
Whoosh—!
Gusts of wind began churning into the downpour, growing fiercer by the moment.
Adventurer A walked slowly forward, cutting through the sheets of rain.
His unhurried pace came from solid confidence.
His eyes held the conviction that even if everyone here came at him at once, he would win — and if they ran, he would not let them escape.
Hanbit glanced at the clouds overhead, slid his sword back into its scabbard, and spoke.
“This is your last chance.”
“What?”
Adventurer A furrowed his brow at the abrupt remark.
“The chance to kill me. I’m saying this is the last one. I guarantee it — the next time we meet, you won’t come close.”
“Ha.”
He let out a scoff at the bold warning.
Then spoke as though the words weren’t even worth engaging with.
“Looks like you’re trying to buy time somehow. Just shut your mouth and——”
Flash—!
In that instant, a brilliant yellow radiance flooded the sky.
Adventurer A reflexively looked up.
Sensing something wrong, he turned his gaze back to Hanbit.
“What is that?”
“What do you think? Your last chance just ran out.”
“…!”
Tat—!
At those pointed words, Adventurer A immediately kicked off the ground and closed the distance.
The two-layered blade flew straight for Hanbit’s throat in an instant.
And just as that razor edge was about to touch his skin—
Kwa-kwa-kwa-boom—!
A massive bolt of lightning consumed the earth.
It was only after that — enveloped in the blaze of light — that a message surfaced in Hanbit’s vision.
Ding—
[Dungeon: Tower of Vortex entry ticket has been confirmed.]
[Entering Dungeon: Tower of Vortex.]
* * *
“Huh?”
“Wh — what is this?”
Startled voices rang out at the landscape that had changed with the lightning strike.
What greeted them was a black vortex, spinning endlessly on all sides.
Standing on a transparent platform, the group found themselves before an enormous door.
-??
-What is this?
-Tower of Vortex?
-A dungeon, just like that?
-A place like this exists?
-Black Dragon had a plan all along?
-Adventurer A was too busy acting smug to get the kill. lol
-Idiot. lol
The chat had grown even noisier at the sudden turn of events.
In all likelihood, the two vanguards and whatever Nesto members remained had been killed.
That bolt of death had been large enough to blanket an entire mountainside when it fell.
Hanbit took in the familiar sight and turned his gaze to the others.
“The entry went smoothly.”
Crumble—
The talisman-like paper he had been holding disintegrated into powder and scattered.
The others were staring at their own hands as well.
“The entry method was a lightning strike?”
“I genuinely thought I was about to die.”
“I was already bracing for a respawn.”
The three men cast their minds back to the lightning bolt.
In the meantime, Haneul crouched down and tapped the transparent floor.
“This feels somehow familiar… Is this a map that exists somewhere else too?”
“…Familiar?”
Hanbit echoed the question, puzzled by the unexpected response.
She tilted her head slightly and said:
“A feeling? More like a sensation, I suppose? I’m honestly not sure. But the map is incredibly beautiful!”
Haneul shrugged and continued gazing around in wide-eyed wonder.
‘There shouldn’t be anywhere similar to this.’
The Tower of Vortex was a distinct space from the moment you stepped into its entrance.
At least as far as Hanbit knew, there was no place resembling it.
‘Someone may have been here before, though… ‘
There was no information about this dungeon to be found anywhere.
But there was more than enough possibility that the highest-tier vanguards had passed through here.
Had they joined a survey team, they could have obtained information about this place.
Of course, that was a conversation far too early for the girl in front of him.
Then why was she feeling a sense of familiarity with this place?
“Let’s take a moment to sort things out before we go in.”
He cut the stream audio again and turned his gaze to the twin siblings.
Noeul flinched when their eyes met; Haneul simply tilted her head.
Hanbit held up the empty hand that had been holding the now-vanished talisman.
“The talismans I gave you — each one costs two hundred million.”
“…Pardon?”
“What?”
The twins’ eyes went wide simultaneously at the figure dropped without preamble.
A reaction befitting their age — honest and unguarded.
Though an adult would have been just as startled.
“Paying it back in money would be difficult for you. And billing your parents would be too much to ask, wouldn’t it?”
“Ah, about that…”
As Hanbit laid out the situation point by point, Noeul’s expression grew a shade darker.
The reason came from Haneul’s mouth.
“Our parents aren’t around. We live with our grandmother.”
“…Is that so?”
This time it was Hanbit who was caught off guard.
There was nothing wrong with what had been said — it was just poor timing to have brought it up.
“I’m sorry. Four hundred million… it will take a long time, but we’ll pay it back somehow.”
Noeul offered to make restitution.
Hanbit tilted his head slightly to meet his eyes and said:
“I told you — I have no intention of asking for it in money. I’m the one who gave you the talismans in the first place.”
“Oh? So we can come in with you?”
Still as lively as ever, Haneul asked in an eager voice.
Hanbit straightened and posed a different question.
“How are you two playing the game right now?”
“At an RP Space. It just barely fits within our allowance.”
A shop with gear installed in each room.
A structure like a PC café — it was a business that catered primarily to students.
It made sense, given that even the cheapest Level 1 gear started at one million won.
Hanbit looked back and forth between the two and asked:
“The audio isn’t going out, so be honest with me. Why did you come looking for me?”
“Hm? That would be to become a disciple — no, I mean, to get into DD Studio….”
“Is that really all? I won’t ask a third time.”
The warning, delivered with a blank expression, landed coldly.
Noeul had been about to give the same answer as before, but the words died in his throat.
A brief silence followed.
At last, having made up his mind, he opened his mouth with some difficulty.
“There are two reasons. The first is that an unease I felt from the guidebook settled when I watched Black Dragon’s stream.”
“An unease?”
“I can’t describe it any other way. When I read through the walkthrough’s storyline, something deep inside me — a strange feeling I could barely stand…”
Noeul’s added explanation was genuinely describing something like unease.
Certainly, Adventurer A’s walkthrough was fundamentally wrong — but it was strange for an ordinary sixteen-year-old player to feel something like that.
Hanbit shifted his gaze to Haneul and asked.
“Did you feel the same?”
“No? For me it was more just… a vague sense that I didn’t like it.”
A weaker version of the emotion than her older brother.
Yet Haneul was the only one who had felt a sense of familiarity with the Tower of Vortex.
How could this strange phenomenon be explained?
Even if this were a board set by the goddess, this was…
‘…Twins?’
In that instant, a single word flashed through Hanbit’s mind.
The twins he had encountered in the other world were not as few as he might have thought.
But there had been only one pair — an older brother who wielded a light spirit, and a younger sister who wielded wind swordsmanship.
Why hadn’t he thought of this sooner?
What connection could there be between that pair and the siblings standing before him now?
Hanbit suppressed the thoughts crowding his mind and asked again.
“What’s the other reason?”
“We want to succeed in RP and become famous!”
This time Haneul raised her voice and answered with spirit.
A perfectly fitting aspiration for a sixteen-year-old.
“Then you could join a large guild. If you’d like, I can introduce you to a good one.”
“That won’t work.”
“Won’t work? Why?”
“I don’t think other people will be able to clear this game. We absolutely have to be the ones to find the Erfort.”
The conviction shining in her eyes, looking straight at him, was utterly unwavering.
That same earnestness was mirrored in Noeul.
“Could you… take us to DD Studio?”
“We’ll truly make sure you don’t regret it. We’ll do as we’re told — and if you want, we can even bring our school transcripts.”
“…”
The twins’ resolve, spoken as though it were their final chance.
There seemed to be more to the story beneath the surface, but he had no desire to dig into it right now.
The thoughts surging through his mind would also need time to be verified.
“Let’s do it this way.”
After a moment’s deliberation, Hanbit reached a decision.
“As compensation for helping us, I’ll buy you each a Level 3 gear. You won’t be able to get to an RP Space during the two weeks we’ll be in the Tower.”
“…Pardon?”
“Gear? Seriously?”
The twins’ eyes went wide as they reacted in unison.
For a sixteen-year-old to have personal gear was significant in and of itself.
On top of that, Level 3 gear was in the thirty-million-won range.
More than most students could hope for — but these twins were different.
“That said, entering the Tower of Vortex is a separate matter. The entry ticket costs two hundred million, but this information alone would sell for tens of billions.”
“Tens of billions…”
Noeul’s face had gone nearly ashen.
Haneul, on the other hand, shifted to a look of even greater curiosity.
“So we just have to earn that much inside the Tower, right?”
“That’s up to you. You might come out having earned even more — or you might die at the very start and get thrown out of the Tower. All I’m giving you is the opportunity. I’ll talk to the head of DD Studio based on what I see.”
“Yes. That’s enough.”
Haneul grinned with the air of someone who had no doubts.
Noeul, who had been shaken by the figures, was also steadying himself.
Hanbit immediately collected their addresses and ordered two Level 3 gears.
“We’ll proceed until the gear arrives. I’ll brief you, but the rest is on you. That goes for Jaeha and Avant-garde as well.”
“Oh? Uh…”
“Understood. I find myself rather eager.”
The two men who had been quietly listening knew they would have to demonstrate their own worth as well.
Hanbit stepped up to the massive door at the Tower’s entrance and placed his hand on it.
[Dungeon — Tower of Vortex]
Rank: ?
Restriction: None
Description: A tower standing firm within a raging vortex. Each floor imposes individual or party-based trials, and floors dedicated to rest and preparation exist as well.
Simple dungeon information surfaced.
It matched what he already had in his head.
“I’ll explain as we go. The first floor isn’t difficult, so start by getting a feel for the place.”
Creak—
The door opened without resistance when he pushed.
As he stepped inside, a message appeared.
[Entering Tower of Vortex — Floor 1.]
