Chapter 64

Chapter 14. Tower (6)

The one who was kicked soared up like a kite with its string cut, smashing a table and a couple of chairs before rolling far away.

“Ugh…”

“Chok! Chok!”

Groans filled the air.

“Damn it! Just one guy! And a newbie who just finished the tutorial, at that. You bastards!”

A guy was shouting at the top of his lungs, urging his subordinates from the other side.

Yeonwoo launched himself in that direction.

“W-What? S-Stop!”

The guy’s face turned pale as he took a step back.

Whether he was a commander or not, the others rushed to his aid in a panic, but—

Puk! Puk!

Yeonwoo sharply sliced through their wrists, shattered their lower bodies, and kneed their chests, sending them sprawling. In one swift motion, he grabbed the commander by the collar.

“Chok!”

No matter what he said.

Crunch!

With all his strength, he twisted the guy’s head in the opposite direction. His tongue hung out.

“E-Even Sir Sai!”

“W-Who is that guy…?”

Yeonwoo tossed the dead commander aside and sharpened his senses even more.

‘Where? Up? Down?’

As his expanded sensory range detected something clanking and turning, the sound of a trap being activated echoed.

Mechanisms were set to immediately fire arrows or poison darts when someone entered the secret area.

However, thanks to this, Yeonwoo could find the empty space beyond where the traps were concentrated.

Something large was moving frantically.

Was it trying to escape through another secret passage?

‘Not a chance.’

Yeonwoo gauged the position and activated his mana circuit to the fullest.

With his legs brimming with power, he stomped the ground hard.

Kwaang!

As if a cannon had fired, the solid floor crumbled, and the shockwave shook the entire building.

Bang! Bang! Kwa-kwa-kwaang!

Thanks to this, countless traps and secret passages beneath his feet were destroyed or collapsed, causing a chain explosion.

“W-Wh-Wh-What…!”

“M-M-Mad…!”

The remaining guys, still with their wits about them, opened their mouths in disbelief at the unbelievable scene.

And below the shattered ground.

A large hole revealed a secret space deep underground.

There, a man was staring in shock, his hand frozen on a safe he had been about to open.

A plump figure.

It was undoubtedly Daim, the clan leader of the Night Watch, as mentioned by Willow.

Thud!

Yeonwoo leaped down and landed lightly.

Shake, shake, shake.

Daim, his mouth agape, couldn’t utter a word. He slid down the wall.

Clank!

At that moment, the door of the safe he had been fiddling with opened wide.

Inside were various documents, bearer bonds, certificates, and all sorts of small jewels and gold bars, neatly arranged in different compartments.

Yeonwoo, holding his greatsword in a reverse grip, slowly approached the man.

Behind the mask, Yeonwoo’s eyes were coldly smiling.

Daim, trembling, reached into the safe in a panic.

His fingertips caught a sword, a valuable artifact he had kept separately.

“Die, die!”

Daim drew the sword and lunged at Yeonwoo, activating his mana and deploying a skill.

But Yeonwoo slashed along the seam, shattering the man’s sword, and simultaneously drew Krashna’s dagger, thrusting it into the man’s throat.

Puk!

“…Gurgle!”

Daim, foaming at the mouth, trembled and then his head fell to the side.

It was the futile death of a clan boss who ruled the underworld.

Yeonwoo tossed the man’s corpse to the floor and looked up.

There were guys staring at him with horrified expressions.

Their faces were filled with shock.

“If you don’t want to die, send one of you down here as a representative.”

* * *

“H-Here is the c-coffee you requested.”

The hand placing the coffee cup on the table was trembling.

Yeonwoo smiled slightly at the sight.

“Not poisoned, I hope?”

“H-How could I do such a thing?”

The guy’s face turned pale.

He hadn’t thought of it, but if he had, it could have cost him his life.

‘Where did such a monster come from…!’

Bister, the deputy clan leader of the Night Watch, who had suddenly become the clan leader, felt like he was going to go mad.

When he heard that a player was frequently visiting Hennoba’s forge, he hadn’t thought much of it.

Occasionally, newbies who ventured outside the tower would come to Hennoba, lured by the rumors of the Five Great Masters.

Such people usually left on their own after a bit of work, so he had thought the same would happen this time.

The only difference was that the artifacts stolen from Hennoba’s forge were very good.

No, they were more than just good.

They were outstanding.

The Beast King’s Lion Mane Helmet and the half-finished Eye of Gies.

When Daim and Bister saw these, their eyes nearly popped out.

They had seen the relics of a ruler, artifacts that only Rankers handled.

At the same time, they were worried.

If someone could entrust such items, they must be a skilled player. Could they really take them?

So, out of curiosity, they tried to find the original owner of the two items.

‘If only Daim had backed down then!’

They later discovered a crucial fact.

The player who had set a new tutorial record and then suddenly disappeared, causing rumors, had received the Beast King’s relic as a reward.

Daim rejoiced.

No matter how impressive the record, a Novice was still a Novice.

Taking the items of such a newbie was like taking blind loot. Moreover, many were curious about the player’s whereabouts, so he thought he could sell the information for a good price.

Who would have guessed that the ‘Solitary Eater’ would be outside the tower, not inside?

The outer regions of the tower were full of eccentric people, so it wasn’t strange that rumors hadn’t spread.

On the other hand, Bister was uneasy about having these items.

Even if the player was a Novice, someone who set such a record must have a powerful backer.

Even if not, they would soon have one, which could be harmful to them.

But Daim dismissed Bister’s concerns.

And the result was—

‘The entire clan is destroyed. Damn it.’

The Night Watch was a significant organization.

They shouldn’t have been defeated so easily. There were rumors that the Red Dragon was their backer.

Other underworld clans larger than the Night Watch didn’t dare to mess with them.

But Yeonwoo didn’t care at all.

He seemed to be inviting a fight.

The Night Watch might have to cease operations for a while.

Or maybe it was already over.

Too many were dead or severely injured, and their base was destroyed.

Many of the remaining members would likely flee in the middle of the night.

The consequences of messing with the wrong person were too severe.

Unaware of Bister’s burning heart, or perhaps aware,

Thud!

Yeonwoo placed his coffee cup on the table and looked at Bister with a cold gaze.

Bister shuddered.

He felt as if two will-o’-the-wisps had turned into chains, binding him tightly.

“Shall we talk about compensation now?”

“C-Compensation, you say?”

“The value of the damaged items, the repair costs for the building, the damages the forge has suffered due to your harassment, Hennoba’s medical expenses, and compensation for mental distress… there’s quite a lot, isn’t there? If you don’t like it, you can hand over your head.”

Bister quickly shook his head.

He couldn’t admit that other underworld clans had also messed with Hennoba’s forge.

“First, we’ll take everything in that safe.”

Bister’s face turned pale.

It was the moment when the last remaining assets of the clan were stripped away.

“You’ll have to take care of the repairs yourselves. Especially those who caused a ruckus in the forge and harmed Hennoba. You’ll also have to protect the forge from other pests in the future.”

Bister clenched his eyes and nodded.

“Report to the clan that backs you. Whether they’ll care about this is another matter.”

“…”

Bister shut his mouth.

For some reason, Yeonwoo seemed to understand the structure of the underworld.

As he said, even if the Night Watch was under the Red Dragon, they wouldn’t care about a mere incident outside the tower.

Even if the Night Watch was dissolved, they would only investigate the cause, not seek revenge.

Bister’s head fell weakly.

“Alright. I’ll leave the rest to you.”

Yeonwoo pushed his chair back and stood up.

Bister’s legs were trembling as he escorted him.

* * *

Yeonwoo returned to the forge with a bulging bag.

‘Should I have done more?’

Yeonwoo had briefly considered it in front of Bister.

Should he completely destroy the Night Watch, hang the members’ heads, and crush a couple of other underworld clans?

But the underworld was the underworld. Newcomers would fill the void.

And they would become new pests, bothering Hennoba even more.

It was better to break the existing ones and set them up.

Even if the head of the Night Watch was cut off, they had the scale to recover.

‘And I can use them as a shield to prevent other clans from bothering Hennoba.’

With that thought, he arrived at the forge.

“Hmm?”

Yeonwoo saw Hennoba pacing in the courtyard, looking anxious.

The bandages on his face suggested he had visited a doctor.

But his eyes were still trembling with unease.

“…”

Yeonwoo felt a lump in his chest. He suppressed his emotions and deliberately made a noise.

Hennoba naturally turned his head and brightened upon seeing Yeonwoo.

Then he cleared his throat and composed himself.

Frowning slightly, he barked,

“Where did you go, you dangerous—!”

Hennoba couldn’t continue.

Yeonwoo chuckled and placed the bag on the ground, pulling out the items inside.

Not only the lost items but also various rare materials the Night Watch had.

Hennoba alternated his gaze between the bag and Yeonwoo.

A whirlwind of emotions played across his face. He sighed deeply and said,

“Damn brat. You’ve caused trouble again, haven’t you?”

Yeonwoo nodded silently.

“Yeah. You wouldn’t listen to me. Is the aftermath taken care of? No more worries?”

“Yes.”

“Alright. Bring that in.”

Hennoba grumbled as he went inside, but his voice had a warm tone.

A slight smile appeared on Yeonwoo’s lips.

He slung the bag over his shoulder and followed Hennoba into the forge.

* * *

The incident at Hennoba’s forge quickly spread.

The Night Watch tried to suppress the rumors, as the clan’s survival was at stake.

But they couldn’t stop all the gossip.

It became widely known that the supposedly vanished Solitary Eater was in the outer regions.

Other underworld clans began to move.

They started monitoring his every move, compiling rough reports, and selling them to clients for a high price.

Several large clans began covert operations to scout Yeonwoo.

Additionally,

The news reached some people who had been searching for him for weeks.

“What? The outer regions? Why is he suddenly there?”

Pant, who was drinking, frowned at the sudden words from the next table.

The frightened player had to explain the rumor for an hour.

But only one phrase echoed in Pant’s ears.

“The outer regions, you say? The outer regions!”

Pant’s eyes gleamed intensely.

Edora, who had been watching him, asked,

“Hennoba?”

She tilted her head at the familiar name.