I'm the Only Wizard Climbing the Tower - Chapter 143

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.

Chapter 143

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After signing the contract for the Extreme Lunatic Hell headquarters and returning home, I immediately called Hyeji and Yejin over.

We had not done today’s climb yet.

A little later, the party members arrived at my home.

Yejin and Hyeji spoke in turn.

“I heard you went to look at a headquarters building today. What happened with that?”

“I signed the contract today. A whole 38-story building! A building more than worthy of serving as the base of the Extreme Lunatic Hell Group!”

“This bastard’s drive is something else. What kind of guy buys a whole building in one day?”

Choi Yejin clicked her tongue at my initiative, which had far exceeded the creator’s expectations.

“Jiho, lend me an office later. I’ll install a dedicated line and a Bloomberg Terminal and make a trading room.”

“Hyeji, you’re rich. Pay to rent an office.”

“That’s too much... I’d be growing your money in the end, so support me at least this much. You have plenty of money too.”

There was even a greedy financier already trying to make use of the news that I had bought a headquarters building.

I smacked my lips.

‘What is this? Isn’t there even one person who’ll sincerely congratulate me?’

This was the moving day when I finally got my own headquarters.

Yet instead of heartfelt congratulations, everyone beside me was either complaining or thinking about how to benefit from it.

I had wasted my life.

Then, right at that moment.

-Iing iing iing iing!

Clap clap clap clap clap!

Iing Iing, who had been perched on Hyeji’s head, began clapping!

It seemed she was congratulating me on buying the headquarters.

I was deeply moved.

“Iing Iing, are you congratulating me on buying my headquarters?”

-Iing!

“Thank you, Iing Iing! You really are the only one! You’re completely different from these freeloaders, who either complain beside me or are fully prepared to use me! Seriously, our party members have problems. At this touching moment, when the headquarters of the Extreme Lunatic Hell Group has finally been decided, they won’t even offer a single word of congratulations!”

-Iing iing iing iing iing!

Was she agreeing with me?

Iing Iing nodded vigorously.

Iing Iing really was the best!

“Iing Iing, once we finish moving in, do you want to visit our headquarters? Let’s sip wine together in the top-floor chairman’s office and play at looking down on ordinary people. It’ll be fun.”

-Iing!

Iing Iing readily nodded.

Then she brought her tiny hand to her mouth and mimed taking a sip.

It was air wine!

Iing Iing, you watched Baki too!

Then Choi Yejin cut in from beside us.

“Hey. I want to see the headquarters too. Invite me.”

“I don’t want to invite you, Yejin.”

“Why? I want to drink wine at the headquarters and watch people too.”

“Because you’re an alcoholic. You’d probably drink wine until you got completely wasted. What if you lie down on the sofa in my executive office and start causing a drunken scene?”

“No, why the fuck am I the only one who can’t come?! You invited Iing Iing! What, are you discriminating against people?”

“Are you the same as Iing Iing?”

A person needed some conscience.

How dare a foul-mouthed, alcoholic nuisance of a passenger try to compare herself to Iing Iing!

To think she wanted the same treatment as our cute, pretty, beautiful, lovable Iing Iing.

How presumptuous!

“I can quietly look out the window too, you know? Invite me. I want to go on a headquarters date with you.”

“Anyway, let’s go to the Tower already. Since I bought a headquarters, I need to work hard and make money.”

“Don’t change the subject, you bastard.”

Leaving Yejin grumbling behind, I picked up my staff and jar.

Hyeji also gathered up her spatial pouch.

Iing Iing flew over with a pop and landed on my head.

Jiho Unit 01, launch preparations complete!

“Enter the Tower.”

[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 44)]

[Na Hyeji (Republic of Korea: Floor 44)]

[Choi Yejin (Republic of Korea: Floor 44)]

[Please select the floor you wish to enter.]

“Floor 44.”

[Entering Tower Floor 44.]

Flash!

A bright sphere of light surrounded us.

* * *

The sphere of light faded.

I slowly looked around.

What I saw was...

Thooom! Craaash!

Rooooar!

Wooooo!

Deafening sounds rang out before the light had even faded.

“What the hell?”

The moment I opened my eyes, I saw fortress walls.

The main gate had been smashed wide open. Explosions and screams burst out everywhere, and...

Thud! Thud! Thump!

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

Rumble-rumble-rumble!

Huge monsters poured through the broken gate.

Ogres swung clubs.

Trolls threw boulders with their long arms.

Wyverns attempted to dive from the sky.

And the scattered Cyclopes glared with their single eyes wide open.

“The gate has been breached!”

“Call the knight!”

“No! We can’t stop them...!”

“Run!”

Human soldiers were helplessly collapsing.

I muttered quietly.

“What a complete mess the instant we enter.”

From a rough look at the situation, it seemed we had been summoned into the fortress just after the monsters breached the gate.

Choi Yejin shouted from beside me.

“Hey! What the hell is this situation?! Why are they fighting like crazy the moment we enter the Tower?!”

“How would I know?”

How could I know what was happening on Floor 44?

Our country was a Tower backwater, and we did not have enough Points to buy information on the Highest Floors.

Anyway.

‘Is this fortress the one we saw on Floor 43?’

The partly collapsed walls and watchtowers felt familiar.

It seemed to be the fortress I had seen from a distance yesterday.

More than anything else...

“Damn it! It can’t be helped! We can’t hold any longer! I’ll buy time here, so everyone run!”

“Knight Commander Valdemar! You can’t! You must run with us!”

“If even one more person can survive, this body is not a waste! Now hurry and run!”

The middle-aged knight shouting determinedly before the gate had a familiar face.

It was definitely the fortress where I had guided refugees on Floor 43.

Anyway.

The scene before my eyes felt familiar somehow.

The shattered main gate in the fortress walls.

The huge giants, Ogres, Trolls, and Cyclopes, swarming through it...

I muttered quietly.

“On that day, humanity remembered. The terror of being ruled by them. The humiliation of being trapped inside a cage...!”

“Jiho, is this Attack on Giant Humans again?”

“I’ll wipe them out! Every last one from this world!”

“Seriously...”

“It’s time for Extreme Lunatic Hell Sergeant Baekbai!”

Sergeant Baekbai, the strongest being in this world.

Had descended here!

“Iing Iing. Omnidirectional Mobility Gear mode!”

-Iing!

Pop.

With Iing Iing’s help, psychokinetic Omnidirectional Mobility Gear activated.

My body instantly rose into the sky.

From my suddenly elevated viewpoint, I assessed the number of nearby monsters.

‘The monsters I can see right now... There are about a hundred?’

Around fifty Wyverns floated in the air.

The other fifty or so were Ogres, Trolls, Cyclopes, and the like rampaging across the ground.

The number did not seem like much.

But the monsters were huge and immensely strong, so they had smashed the gate apart and swept the fortress’s people aside like pathetic pests.

It couldn’t be helped.

This Extreme Lunatic Hell Angel AC-130 would have to save them!

The method was simple.

“A barrage is power, daze!”

Mana Cannon, «Final Spark», fire!

A massive beam of destructive light burst from the end of my staff.

Cwaaaaaaaaaash!

A huge, vast pillar of blue light shot forward in a straight line.

It began sweeping away everything in front of it.

The Ogres swarming through the breached gate.

The Trolls climbing the walls to avoid the bottleneck at the gate.

Even the Cyclopes in the rear, standing with their hands behind their backs and glaring with their single eyes.

Even the fortress walls and gate, which had already been half-destroyed and could no longer serve their function.

Everything was buried in light and evaporated.

Cwaaaaaaaaaash!

Fsssssss...

After the brief discharge ended, I looked ahead again.

There was only ground melted and vitrified by extreme heat, and a space blasted open in a straight line.

“Hmm. As expected, easy.”

As I looked at the vitrified ground and nodded in satisfaction...

“Crazy...”

A low curse came from my side.

It was Daesik.

Daesik continued.

“Your magic is truly awe-inspiring every time I see it. You haven’t even absorbed the continent’s mana like I did. How can you use magic on that scale...?”

“That would be me.”

“No. What’s even more astonishing is your mental capacity. How did you control so much mana and achieve such precise efficiency?! This is absurd...”

“Ah? Brains for a barrage? Are you stupid? A barrage is power, daze!”

“...Your inner world is truly difficult to understand.”

I had brought Daesik to the Tower so Daesik could get some fresh air instead of being bored.

Why did Daesik keep saying strange things?

If Daesik kept this up, I’d just leave Daesik in the living room.

Anyway.

“I’ve swept away the ground forces.”

I raised my gaze toward the sky.

There they were.

“Kiieeeeeee!”

“Kyaaaaaaaaaak!”

A flock of sparrows, Wyverns, charged at me while screeching sharply!

Mana Cannon, «Final Spark», had primarily struck the ground just now, so many Wyverns remained in the air.

Of course, bringing them down was simple.

I aimed my staff at them.

“That bird is a harmful bird.”

“Kyaak?”

I was the sparrow slayer and a genius of slaughter.

The successor of Mao Zedong.

Catching flying sparrows was easy for someone like me!

“Rapid Railgun casting, click.”

Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!

Repeated explosions and flashes rang out.

Blue trails rained across the sky, piercing the Wyverns in an instant.

Crack! Crunch! Thud! Crack!

The Wyverns fell in droves, their heads smashed and their chests pierced through.

They scattered blood as they dropped like autumn leaves.

I muttered quietly.

“With this, the Four Pests Campaign has been successfully completed. Now I must quickly carry out the Great Leap Forward.”

“...”

“Daesik, say something. It’s boring when you don’t react. Fill the audio.”

It did not suit Daesik to be silent, so I urged Daesik to respond.

Daesik replied in a somewhat arrogant voice.

“I’ve finished assessing you. You pretend to be crazy on the outside, but in truth, you enjoy the reactions around you. I saw it on television. They call that sort of personality an attention seeker, do they not?”

“What...?”

I was shocked.

As expected of the Sect Leader of the Black Mage Tower.

With the cool intellect unique to a wizard, Daesik had already analyzed my personality!

It was so shocking, frightening, and chilling.

“No...! You discovered that I’m normal! You discovered that I actually possess a sound mind, cool intellect, and genius-level brain, but deliberately act like a fucking lunatic to gain attention! My most fatal secret has been exposed!!!”

“Hmm... No. I was mistaken. You really are crazy.”

“How frightening...! Is this the outstanding intellect of the Sect Leader of the Black Mage Tower? As expected, that’s a wizard’s insight!”

Though Daesik had lost body and magic, a wizard’s insight remained unchanged!

I would have to be wary of this guy...!

At this rate, Daesik might discover that I was normal!

Anyway.

“I’ve dealt with every monster in sight. Iing Iing, let’s descend.”

-Iing!

Pop.

We slowly descended to the ground through Psychokinetic Flight.

People were waiting there.

“Angel! It’s the Angel!”

“The Angel came to save us again!”

“Long live the Angel! Long live the Angel!”

“Waaaaaah!”

People who knew me cheered as they looked this way.

There were also new faces who had never seen me before, looking at me in shock and amazement.

“...Is that the so-called Angel? The one who saved refugees from the east?”

“Fuck. I thought they were talking nonsense because they had some kind of group hallucination. I can’t believe the Angel really exists.”

“Am I dreaming right now? That person wiped out those monsters alone?”

“But that’s less like an Angel, and more like...”

A combined total of several thousand people looked this way with varied expressions.

I slowly landed on the ground and spoke quietly.

“Do not be afraid.”

Extreme Lunatic Hell Heaven Angel AC-130.

Had descended here!

* * *

After wiping out every monster, people began gathering before me one by one.

“Angel! Thank you, thank you!”

“You save us every time...!”

“How could we ever repay this grace...?”

Thud. Plop. Thud.

People fell to their knees everywhere.

Some even shed tears of emotion and relief.

I nodded with dignity.

“Do not be afraid. Now that I have come here, every one of you will survive.”

“Angel...!”

“Do not be afraid.”

People began sobbing outright at my confident declaration.

These people cried easily.

They were this moved just because I had completely wiped out around a hundred monsters.

Those damn Hunter Gallery users should learn from these people.

Look at how deeply they showed their gratitude and appreciation.

Meanwhile, those shameless Hunter Gallery bastards only called me a concept addict and gross-image addict, even though I saved King Korea...!

As I was having those idle thoughts, Hyeji suddenly spoke beside me.

“Jiho, you’re going to keep up the Angel concept for a long time, right?”

“How dare you! What do you mean, concept?! Can’t you see it, Hyeji? The holiness of this truly angelic self? I’m not an Angel as a concept. It’s a clear fact! As proof, I submit the Halo that pops out whenever it feels like it.”

“...”

Hyeji tightly closed her mouth when I mentioned the Halo.

Well, she could not say I was not an Angel when a person had the symbol of angels, a Halo, appear over their head all the time.

Then a question suddenly occurred to me.

‘But why isn’t the Halo appearing now? Isn’t this the timing for it to appear?’

I had wiped out all the monsters attacking these people and saved them.

The Halo should have gone pop and appeared by now.

But for some reason, it did not appear.

Was there something else I needed to do?

While I tilted my head in confusion...

“Angel! Please accept this...!”

“It is humble, but it is everything we can offer you.”

People began bringing things out.

They carried trays and dishes with lids in a long line.

Judging by the smell, they seemed to be bringing me food.

It was probably their way of showing thanks.

I nodded.

‘Come to think of it, I’ve never eaten food in the Tower before. Should I try some this time?’

I was so strong that I always cleared Floors within a few hours.

Because of that, I had never eaten anything in the Tower.

I had never tried the infamous Orc chef’s jerky and cheese, the bread and ham said to appear on the High Floors, or even fruit from the Highest Floors.

They said every experience was good to have.

Should I try Tower food this time?

“Hmm. The smell is decent enough. Bring it here. I came to the Tower right after signing the headquarters contract, so I haven’t eaten. This works out well.”

“Oh...! Please!”

The people opened the lids of the trays and plates.

What I saw was...

“...?”

Some ugly, black meat.

Poorly grilled meat.

What was this?

“Um, ordinary people. What is this?”

“It is Wyvern thigh meat. It is the best cut of meat we have.”

“As far as I know, monster corpses are poisonous and bad for the body. I’ve heard Wyvern poison is comparatively weak, but monsters are still monsters. There should still be poison, right?”

“That is correct. There is poison. But this is the best cut we have. The thigh has especially little poison, so even if children eat it, there will be no serious harm to their bodies.”

“???”

Why were they eating monsters?

They even fed it to children?

I turned and asked the middle-aged knight standing beside me.

“Hey, mister. Explain this to me. Why are you eating this kind of thing when normal food exists?”

At my question, Valdemar lowered his head.

“...I am sorry, Angel. But this is all we have.”

“?”

“Since the monsters’ large-scale invasion, the land has been dying. Nothing sprouts no matter what we plant, and even if it sprouts, it soon withers. The water in the wells tastes bitter.”

“...”

“For the first few months, we endured on stored grain... But that too ran out. We could not hunt outside the fortress, because those creatures waited for us there.”

“...”

“So we go outside and collect their corpses. We select only the cuts with less poison, boil them for a long time, then grill them to stay alive. The monsters are our only food.”

I slowly looked around.

Tents packed every narrow alley.

People crouched between them and looked this way.

Every one of them was emaciated.

And people were tearing chunks of black meat apart with their hands and eating it.

Even though they knew it carried the poison unique to monsters.

Because it was the only food they had.

“Hmm...”

I felt strange.

Thinking about it, it was only natural.

Floors 41 through 43 had all been dried-up wastelands.

There was no way the land here would be fine.