99.
The shadow soon stopped in front of the tent where Jian and Sehun were sleeping. Through the gaps in the tent, smoke so fine it was invisible to the eye seeped in.
When the shadow disappeared after completing its task, blood-red irises appeared in the darkness. Only after the sound of clothing brushing against the floor had faded did Sehun close his eyes again.
* * *
“Ugghhh…”
Hyunsu groaned and collapsed on the ground. Jian also pushed back his sweat-soaked hair.
His weakened legs kept trembling. His heart had been aching since earlier due to the consecutive use of his life force.
In the distance, Sehun, Siyun, and Yongho, who had just defeated the final monster, were quickly flying toward them using flight artifacts.
Jian caught his breath while drinking water. He planned to use his recovery skill as soon as Sehun arrived.
“Jian hyung… how many floors do you think the Tower has…?”
At the voice that sounded nearly dead, Jian looked down. Hyunsu, whose face had become gaunt in just a few days, was writhing on the asphalt like a worm.
“Who knows.”
This was something Jian wanted to know more than anyone else. If they at least knew how many floors the Tower had, the psychological burden would be much less.
“Hyung.”
While Jian was talking with Hyunsu, Sehun, who had arrived at the safe zone, approached him. He was about to embrace Jian but stopped when he realized his body was covered in monster fluids.
Jian wiped Sehun’s cheek with the back of his hand. Although his hand became dirty with the greenish fluid splattered on Sehun’s cheek, he didn’t mind.
After all, Jian’s body was also covered in dust, just less than Sehun’s.
“Come here.”
Jian took Sehun’s hand and sat down. The shadows under his eyes had deepened compared to before entering the Tower.
It was understandable, as the monster Sehun had just faced was even stronger than the Kraken.
Lifting hundreds of house-sized boulders with telekinesis must have consumed an enormous amount of mana.
Without hesitation, Jian used 1 million life force—enough to fill Sehun’s health and mana completely, with some to spare.
The pain in his heart intensified, but he didn’t care. He only wanted Sehun, who always stood at the front lines because of his ability, to feel a little more comfortable.
Sehun’s eyes creased at the sudden change in his body condition. He tightened his grip on Jian’s hand.
“Why do you push yourself so hard?”
Looking at Jian’s forehead beaded with cold sweat, Sehun bit his lip. He took out a clean handkerchief and wiped away the droplets of sweat.
While his body was in optimal condition, his heart felt that much heavier. He was caught in a dilemma, feeling that Jian’s complexion worsened with each use of his ability.
To clear the Tower quickly, he needed to use his abilities, but due to his cursed body that didn’t respond properly to recovery potions, the frequency of Jian using his recovery skill had visibly increased.
Even when asked to use his skills only within limits that wouldn’t strain his body, Jian remained stubborn. Even now, his health and mana, which had been at only 20%, instantly became 100%.
“I can just drink this.”
Jian grinned as if telling him not to worry and took out a life force recovery potion. The potions, which had once filled his inventory, had now decreased to a countable number.
Moreover, the amount of life force recovered when drinking the potion had decreased compared to when he first used it.
They had only just cleared the 44th floor. The appearance of Cerberus wasn’t far off.
The number of hunters resting in groups of close friends around them was also fewer than at the beginning. As they ascended, the number of injured increased, and some required long-term recovery.
The difficulty of clearing each floor rose like stairs, to the point where it was a miracle there were no fatalities.
As a result, the burden on S-rank hunters also increased.
Jian and Hyunsu stayed in the rear as most of their awakened abilities specialized in defense, healing, and support, but others consistently led from the front, using more power than anyone else.
That was why Jian went so far as to fully restore Sehun’s health and mana. Other hunters with recovery skills had also tried several times to restore Sehun’s health and mana.
Not knowing that their abilities didn’t work on Sehun, it was essentially a wasted effort. Ultimately, Sehun avoided such situations, saying he could just drink recovery potions.
‘It’s also strange that the Jeongho Association hasn’t made any moves.’
With the 44th floor cleared, there would be no battles for a while. However, Jian couldn’t rest comfortably.
They had certainly not given up on Sehun. That was for sure. Fearing that someone might approach when they let their guard down, Jian would wake up periodically to check the surroundings.
And each time, he found Sehun awake. He realized that Sehun was worried about the same thing.
Fearing they might exploit a moment when Sehun’s strength was weakened, Jian alleviated his anxiety by restoring Sehun’s health and mana after each battle. That was why he pushed himself despite knowing Sehun’s concerns.
After confirming that his used life force had recovered to some extent, he closed his status window.
“I wish we could rest properly for a day.”
Jian muttered this and then gently shook the hand of Sehun, who was silently watching him. Sehun’s tense expression relaxed a little.
Jian didn’t particularly consider his actions a sacrifice. If someone other than Sehun had been experiencing the same symptoms, he would probably have hesitated each time he used his ability.
Although life force recovery potions existed, the ability couldn’t be used indefinitely, and above all, consuming too much life force would strain the body.
Even now, his body was feverish, and his mouth felt parched. The pain in his heart, as if being squeezed, persisted.
He used his ability despite all this pain and risk because it was Sehun. Just the thought of Sehun getting hurt brought a much greater pain pressing on his heart.
“You two, aren’t you uncomfortable? Use these to clean up.”
While Jian was comforting Sehun, Jihwan approached and handed them two teardrop-shaped artifacts.
They were one-time-use artifacts that, when used, had the effect of washing away foreign substances from the body as if one had taken a shower. As the Tower life extended, everyone unanimously praised these as the most useful items.
After a simple shower with the artifacts Jihwan had given them, Jian and Sehun joined the Dark Net Guild members for a meal.
As Jian had predicted, Siyun gave them a full day of rest. During that time, those who couldn’t go to the next floor would be sent down to the first floor, and new people would join at the 44th floor.
Everyone could sense the anxiety about not knowing how many floors the Tower had, even if they didn’t speak about it. The atmosphere of laughter from before had disappeared, even during rest times.
Even when conversing with smiles, shadows covered everyone’s faces. The atmosphere was particularly bad among guilds with many seriously injured members.
Everyone was tense with anxiety that an S-rank dungeon would appear soon. The mana level of the dungeon that appeared on the 44th floor was at the boundary between A-rank and S-rank.
It was a semi-S-rank dungeon, but they were able to clear it without fatalities because there were five S-rank hunters, including Jian.
Currently, all the world’s spotlight was on the Tower. From the United States to China, Japan, Europe, and other regions, hunters had been dispatched.
They judged that the mysterious tower that appeared in Korea could appear in their countries at any time.
So far, they were clearing the Tower floor by floor with the strength of hunters affiliated with Korea, but some countries had agreed to help if the situation worsened.
“I think we’ll have to send Jungsu down.”
Finally, a dropout occurred in the Dark Net Guild as well. Hyunwoo spoke in a heavy voice, having called his companions together.
“The wound has healed, but the aftereffects of his leg being severed are too severe.”
Because of a golem with a body made of blades that appeared on the 44th floor, Jungsu almost lost his right leg.
Not just Jungsu, but a significant number of those injured on this floor had lost an arm or a leg.
Although the wounds were healed with recovery potions and skills, the psychological impact was substantial.
“Daeun and Seonjun will join us instead.”
Sehun’s brow furrowed slightly at the name he hadn’t heard in a long time.
He had felt comfortable not seeing him since he went to America. Then his expression relaxed at the thought of telling him that he was dating Jian.
“Jihwan, could you take Jungsu down to the first floor?”
“Sure.”
Jihwan supported Jungsu and joined the group heading down to the first floor. Hyunwoo clapped his hands, partly to lighten the heavy atmosphere.
“Everyone, fully recharge your health and mana. Recovery potions don’t restore mental strength, so get plenty of sleep too. I’ve decided to stand guard.”
“You need to rest too, hyung.”
Jian tried to dissuade Hyunwoo, who seemed to be pushing himself out of a sense of responsibility for the guild members, but Hyunwoo’s resolve was firm.
With no choice, Jian rested with Sehun in the tent. His body was definitely weakened from using so much life force at once.
