I'm the Only Wizard Climbing the Tower - Chapter 33

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 33: 033

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Flash!

The bright glow faded.

I slowly looked around.

The first thing I saw was, as always, a vast grassland.

A clear, open plain stretching as far as the eye could see.

Beyond the horizon, though, something appeared.

-Roooar!

-Grrrroooar!

-Kraaah!

Thudthudthudthudthud.

A swarm of green monsters charged toward us.

Orcs.

A horde of around three hundred Orcs, including Orc Warriors, came rushing our way.

I muttered softly.

"This is Floor 13."

The graveyard and sieve of Easy-ranks.

Because of the Orcs charging at us right now, countless Easy-rank Hunters must have fallen into despair, given up, and returned to the Lower Floors.

As I stared intently at the Orc horde...

"J-Jiho!"

Na Hyeji cried out.

She stomped her feet and shouted with a terrified expression.

"P-Please kill them already! They're coming this way!"

"Hyeji. Can't you feel it?"

"Feel what?"

"The resentment of all the Easy-rank Hunters who gave up climbing on Floor 13."

"What are you even talking about?!"

Tsk tsk. I clicked my tongue.

For someone from the same Easy-rank background, she seriously lacked the sensitivity of an ordinary person...

To think she couldn't feel the resentment of all those ordinary Easy-ranks who had despaired here.

I clenched my fist as if making a vow.

"I'll slaughter those bastards without mercy and ease the resentment of the Easy-rank masses!"

"Fine, just hurry...!"

"Hyeji, you're really scared of everything."

She had watched me wipe out hundreds of Orcs on the floor below.

Yet Na Hyeji was still afraid of monsters.

How timid.

Na Hyeji spoke as if she had been wronged.

"But this is the floor where Orc Warriors appear! I heard they're incredibly strong. You never know..."

"Well, that's true."

Since Hyeji was that worried, it would be a bit much to keep taking my time.

Shall I get started?

I slowly raised my staff.

-Hummmmmm...!

I arranged a massive amount of Blue Motes.

Then I formed Fireballs.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!...

Fireballs formed at rapid speed and began circling around me.

One at first, then ten, then thirty.

Past fifty, past one hundred...

Two hundred.

-Whoooooosh!

A full two hundred Fireballs floated into the air and began circling around me.

"Ah, it's hot!"

Scamper!

Once again unable to endure the heat, Hyeji hurriedly fled behind me.

I clicked my tongue.

'This is why rich people are like that. They're always in places blasting air conditioning, so they're weak to heat. Dirt-spoon people like me, who get through summer with a single fan, don't even notice this much heat...!'

If she hated this little heat that much, how was she going to survive the blazing heat of midsummer?

These days, it kept getting hotter because of global warming and all that.

Hyeji needed to get used to the heat.

Anyway, I had prepared two hundred Fireballs.

Then...

-Roar?!

-Urrgh...!

-...!

The Orc horde charging at us stopped in its tracks.

The sight of the two hundred Fireballs I had summoned must have made their brains freeze for a moment.

If they had been cunning and sharp Goblins, they would have turned tail and run like hell.

Orcs were different, though.

Did they have pride of their own?

Or were they simply unable to recognize the difference in strength between us?

Glance. Glance.

They checked their numbers.

-Roooooar!

Then they charged again.

There were nearly three hundred of them, so they must have thought they stood a chance against a wizard.

Idiots.

They were no different from beasts.

'Well, if they aren't going to run, that works out for me.'

I wouldn't have to chase down and kill any runners.

I fired the Fireballs.

-Swoooooosh!

One hundred Fireballs first.

One hundred red streaks plunged into every corner of the Orc horde and struck.

In that instant, brilliant flashes erupted.

Countless explosions went off at once.

-Kaboommmmm!

A deafening roar and violent tremors shook the sky and earth.

Massive explosions surged up all around.

The Orc horde was caught in the blasts and shockwaves, ripped to shreds.

Their blood sprayed everywhere, while body parts and chunks of flesh flew high into the sky.

Patpatpat!

The remains and chunks of flesh that had soared into the air fell weakly back to the ground.

Dust rose from the aftershock, obscuring my vision.

When it cleared, the ground before me was littered with Orc body parts among countless craters.

One hundred Fireballs had wiped out three hundred Orcs in a single blow.

As I looked at the devastation, I murmured softly.

"The resentment of the Easy-rank masses... has been repaid here."

You ordinary Easy-ranks who gave up climbing after being blocked by the wall of Floor 13.

Rest in peace now.

Your wish to save the Republic of Korea.

This Extreme Lunatic Hell Wizard Hunter will fulfill it in your place...!

As I became lost in sentimentality...

"J-Jiho! Look! Those things are still alive!"

Na Hyeji pointed somewhere with a horrified voice.

I looked over and saw the Orc Warriors.

-Stagger, stagger.

One by one, they rose from the piles of corpses.

Surprisingly, over ten Orc Warriors had survived.

Thanks to their sturdy bodies and the iron and leather armor protecting their vital points, a few Orc Warriors that had avoided direct hits had barely clung to life.

-Grrrroooar...!

-Grrk. Grrk. Guh...

Of course, they weren't uninjured.

Perhaps the explosive force had damaged their organs and eyes.

Burst lenses leaked from both their eyes, while blood dripped from their noses and mouths.

Even so, they were alive.

Honestly, I was impressed.

'Wow, they survived that? They really are damn tough.'

Then again, these were Orc Warriors.

Orc Warriors.

The natural enemy of Easy-rank Hunters.

Overwhelming athletic ability, powerful strength, sturdy bodies, and excellent armor.

They were definitely far stronger than the Orcs and Goblins from before.

Still, that was all.

‘Air Bullet.’

Thud!

I casually fired an Air Bullet, and it pierced one through the forehead before it died instantly.

Then a thought crossed my mind.

'Orc Warriors... Those bastards must have torn apart and killed a lot of Hunters.'

Orc Warriors killed Hunters by tearing them apart.

They grabbed the bodies of ordinary Easy-ranks and Normal-ranks with their overwhelming strength.

Then they brutally ripped them apart.

That was what Orc Warriors did.

Among all the monsters in the Tower, the ones before me were the most brutal in the way they killed Hunters.

Anger flared inside me.

"Orc Warriors! You dog bastards! You're monsters, yet you dare tear apart humans, the pinnacle of all living things?!"

I couldn't forgive them!

How dare they kill humans, my own kind, in such a vicious way!

I'd pay them back in kind!

"I'll tear you apart too! I'll honor the souls of the Hunters you sacrificed!"

"What are you doing, Jiho?!"

"I'm going to rip and smash!"

I approached an Orc Warrior that was staggering to its feet.

I stepped on its body and yanked hard on its arm.

Then...

Rip!

"Huh."

Like pulling a radish straight from the ground, the Orc Warrior's arm came right out.

The sound of muscle and flesh tearing was deeply disturbing.

What was this?

-Grrrroooooar!!!

The Orc Warrior screamed in agony and writhed.

With a dazed expression, I stared at the Orc Warrior's arm in my hand.

Sway, sway.

It had been torn off at the shoulder.

Since it had been ripped off rather than cut, the severed end was ragged and disgusting.

This was unexpected.

"Fuck. Why did that come off?"

"Ugh! That's disgusting! Why are you suddenly pulling off its arm?! Jiho, are you really insane?!"

"I'm surprised too. Why did it actually come off...? What the hell...?"

Pulling the Orc Warrior's arm had been something I expected to fail.

The scenario I had imagined was this.

1. I pull on the Orc's arm, but it doesn't budge.

2. I say, "A wizard doesn't need physical ability in the first place! A wizard should punish enemies with magic, yet here I was trying to use strength like an ordinary person. I still have a long way to go."

3. I kill it with magic.

That was the nonsense I had been planning to pull.

Still, my physical strength seemed stronger than I had thought.

Strong enough to casually rip off the arm of a tough Orc Warrior.

I had always used magic and never had a reason to really use my body, so I hadn't realized it.

Could my physical ability have become ridiculously strong enough to suit an Extreme Lunatic Hell Wizard Hunter?

I was shocked.

'No! At this rate, I'll become a strength mage!'

A strength mage was heresy.

A proper wizard should be skinny and weak, only clicking spells...

Why was I so strong?

Anyway.

"Ripping off arms feels fucking awful. Let's finish this with magic."

The sensation of tearing the arm off a living Orc was too unpleasant and revolting.

I used magic to finish off the rest.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

I gave each surviving Orc Warrior an Air Bullet between the brows.

Thump. Splat. Crash.

Every Orc Warrior fell with a hole through its forehead.

They wore armor, but no helmets, so Air Bullets were enough to kill them.

A little later...

"They're all dead."

A quiet stillness settled over the area.

I lowered my gaze and looked around.

The horde of over three hundred Orcs, including Orc Warriors, had fallen completely silent.

I had killed every last one.

My work was over.

Now it was time for our proud EX-grade unpaid porter, Na Hyeji, to step up.

"All right, Hyeji! Get those spoils collected."

"Okay..."

Click.

At my command, Hyeji took out her tongs and staggered toward the pile of Orc corpses.

Hmm. She didn't seem too disgusted by mangled corpses anymore.

Hyeji was growing as a Magnet Pet.

As expected of a special EX-grade porter.

"Come on, work faster! We still have 20 km to go after you collect everything! At this rate, we'll get off work late at night!"

"Then how about you help too, Jiho?"

"A wizard doesn't bend over without dignity to pick up random junk. That's what porters are for."

"Oh, dear..."

And so, Floor 13 ended without much trouble.

You ordinary Easy-ranks who despaired because you couldn't overcome the wall of Floor 13.

Your wish to save the Republic of Korea...

This body will definitely inherit it!

[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 13)]

[You have completed Tower Floor 13.]

[You have defeated 307 Orcs (10).]

[You have defeated 23 Orc Warriors (100).]

[Points are being calculated.]

[Tower Floor 14 has been unlocked.]

[Returning.]

* * *

After returning to reality, I opened my status window.

[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 14)]

[5,370 Points]

"5,370 Points... I made quite a lot."

Were these the kinds of floors found in the Middle Floors?

With each floor I climbed, the amount of Points I earned rose at a rate incomparable to the Lower Floors.

Of course, since those Orcs hadn't been placed there for people to fight, I normally should have earned far fewer Points than this...

But when was I ever an ordinary Hunter?

An Extreme Lunatic Hell Wizard Hunter like me had to kill every enemy, even ones you weren't supposed to fight.

Anyway, I had finished today's climb in a good mood.

Click!

It was time to stick to my daily routine.

I quickly took pictures of the spoils and wrote a post.

[Post Title: Newbie Hunter... Cleared Floor 13 Today]

[Author: Blue Dot]

(Photos of ramen boxes filled with spoils)

Newbie Hunter... went to Floor 13 today.

Just like I'd heard, Orcs came swarming in.

So I killed them all...

But something surprising happened in the middle of it.

There was an Orc Warrior,

and I thought about all the Hunters it had torn apart and killed.

I got really mad all of a sudden, you know?

So I grabbed its arm and pulled.

Its arm came out with a squelch;;

It was so gross and disgusting that I was seriously shocked.

Weren't Orc Warriors famous for having really tough, sturdy bodies?

Why did its arm come off, holy shit;;;

It scared the hell out of me...

Anyway, today's earnings were...

307 Orc axes, 23 sets of Orc Warrior armor,

and another 5,370 Points.

Drumroll...!

A total of 174.6 million won!!!!

The day I move is getting closer and closer!

A refined life with gleaming marble tiles and a robot vacuum isn't far off.

I'm saving the Republic of Korea and making lots of money too.

I'm proud of myself.

Being a Hunter... I think this job suits me.

└You pulled off an Orc Warrior's arm? What kind of bullshit is that, lol. Are you some top-floor Hunter?

└You went from saying you killed thousands of Goblins on the Lower Floors and moved tons of spoils, to saying you pulled off an Orc Warrior's arm?

└At least come up with a fantasy that sounds possible if you want people to pretend to believe it, fuck. A Floor 13 scrub massacred Orcs and pulled off an Orc Warrior's arm? What the hell are you saying...

└└Blue Dot: But it's all true?

└└Yeah, right.

└How do you earn Points on Floor 13? Isn't that a floor where you just run for your life? I heard you barely earn any Points there.

└└He said he killed all three hundred Orcs that charged him, lol.

└└? Is that possible?

└└No, that's why he's a delusional attention seeker, lol.

└└Blue Dot: Impossible is nothing.

└└Understanding you is impossible, you psycho...

...

Tsk tsk. I clicked my tongue.

"Ordinary people really are... so foolish! They're trapped by their pathetic common sense and turn away from the truth right in front of them!"

How tragic!

After putting on a little show, I looked around.

'But where did Hyeji go? She was sorting the spoils just a moment ago.'

Hyeji, who had been diligently putting the spoils into ramen boxes, was nowhere to be seen.

I hadn't heard her leave through the front door.

Did she go take a dump or something?

I shrugged and headed to my room.

"Well, today's climb is over, so I should wash up, eat, and go to sleep."

Bang.

I opened my bedroom door and went inside.

Then I saw her.

"Huh? Hyeji? What are you doing in here?"

Hyeji was in my room.

But something seemed off.

"Hyeji?"

"..."

My EX-grade porter, Na Hyeji.

She was leaning over my desk, staring intently at something.

I looked at the object she was watching.

'A crystal ball?'

It was the crystal ball.

She was blankly staring at the crystal ball resting on its ramen-box stand, her pupils unfocused.

Something was wrong.

I grabbed her shoulder.

"Hyeji? Are you okay?"

"Eek!"

She flinched in shock.

Na Hyeji pressed a hand to her chest and let out a deep sigh.

"Whew... You startled me."

"What are you doing?"

"I was just looking at the crystal ball."

"That absentmindedly? You didn't react when I called you."

"...I'm not sure. When I keep looking at it, it feels like... I don't know, like my mind is expanding? Or like I'm connected to someone incredible? It's a strange feeling..."

"...?"

Hyeji rambled incoherently.

Glance.

I turned to look at the crystal ball.

'It feels completely normal to me.'

It was incredibly beautiful and naturally drew the eye.

But I didn't feel like I was connected to someone or that my mind was expanding.

No matter how I looked at it, it was an ordinary crystal ball.

I spoke to Na Hyeji with a serious expression.

"Hyeji."

"Yes?"

"Find time to see a psychiatrist. I think you've been pushing yourself too hard lately. You can take tomorrow off if you want."