Chương 150: Chapter 150
I heard a notice.
[The Guardian Field is determining the enhancement competence of the Player who dissolved the Guardian Gems.]
After making that judgment, another notice, one that Hyukjin hadn't expected, rang in his ears.
[Based on the Player's enhancement competence, the Guardian Tower being summoned can be enhanced.]
[The Guardian Tower enhancement will progress at random.]
[2 additional Guardian Gems are required to enhance the Guardian Tower.]
For a moment, I doubted my ears.
'Two more Guardian Gems?'
Normally, it only took ten Guardian Gems to summon a Guardian Tower. But right now, I was being asked for twelve.
'Twelve gems…'
We didn't have time to go to Gajwa Station and look for another two gems.
'There's no helping it.'
I turned to stare at Yeonseo.
"...Huh? What?" Yeonseo took a step backwards. "Why're you giving me such a suggestive look all of sudden? You're making a girl sweat here."
I never gave her a "suggestive" look. Yeonseo took another step back, her voice going unnaturally high.
"Hey. I don't have one. I really don't. That was my first time seeing a Guardian Gem."
I was a little flabbergasted.
'She shouldn't have even heard the notices.'
Looking at the reactions of my teammates, there was no doubt that only I heard the notice that two additional Guardian Gems would be necessary. But Shin Yeonseo had picked up on it somehow. She realized by force of intuition that the Guardian Gem in her possession was about to be pried out of her fingers. The girl took another step backwards.
"Yeonseo?" I called Yeonseo like an elementary school teacher coaxing a child. "Shin Yeonseo."
"I really don't…"
"You're a good girl, right?"
"..."
I vividly remembered Yeonseo's reaction when she first saw the Guardian Gems.
–Wowww. So pretty! I've never seen anything this pretty! Never! Never ever! Pretty stone! Amazing!
The way she kept emphasizing 'never' was unnatural, to say the least. And the most damning proof was her summary.
Summary: Lying Swordswoman
Normally, something like 'Lying Wife' was supposed to show up, but this time, it said Swordswoman. From that, I judged…that her mindset was closer to a 'Swordswoman' than a 'Wife' because something was pricking her conscience.
'But well, Swordswoman is better than Wife.'
Strangely enough, I didn't think of Yeonseo as a woman, even though she was the dream of all men, the subject of countless fanclubs, and the source of the countless Sword Empress Crushers of all genders. Even though anyone and everyone could see that she was a beautiful and charming girl.
But despite that, I didn't feel anything more for her. There was no need to give her special treatment. So to me, 'Swordswoman' was better than 'Wife', so I didn't call out her lie back then.
'But now's not the time to nitpick.'
I held out my hand.
"Yeonseo. I know you're hiding something."
The countdown started.
[120 seconds left in the Guardian Field's duration.]
We had two minutes to get to the next part. I had to find two more Guardian Gems, and I couldn't go get them from Gajwa Station.
"I also know you really like this gem."
"Hng."
Yeonseo looked like she was about to cry. She had apparently taken quite a shine to this Guardian Gem. Her expression was one of a girl being robbed of a truly precious toy. That face might have made some guys relent, but not me.
"So let's trade."
He could take it by force, but that was the last resort. Doing so could emotionally wound an important member of their party. There were still two minutes left, so they could afford to take a slight detour. Hyukjin didn't think of Yeonseo as a girl, but he acknowledged and respected her.
[The 'Merchant of Venice' is watching you carefully.]
This notice was heard not just by Hyukjin, but by Yeonseo as well. The Italian server Guardian started to focus on Yeonseo, too.
"...Trade?"
"Yeah. If you give me a Guardian Gem right now, I'll do one thing you ask of me. As long as it's within my power to grant."
"..."
The Merchant of Venice was watching. Hyukjin urged her with his eyes to answer carefully. There was one minute and thirty seconds left.
"Then come drink coffee with me."
"Coffee?"
"Just the two of us."
Sung-gu and Yoohyun coughed at the same, feigning ignorance. Yeonseo's face reddened a little.
"We'll drink coffee, just the two of us. For at least two hours."
Now wasn't the time to be choosy.
"Okay. Deal."
Friends could drink coffee together, too. Hyukjin still drew a clear line.
"But as I said before, I don't see you as a girl."
"Hmph! No one asked you about that." As if completely unconcerned by such a minor detail, Yeonseo stuck out her tongue, then took out a Guardian Gem from her Inventory.
Hyukjin heard a notice.
[The 'Merchant of Venice' clucks their tongue at the baffling trade.]
There was no real reward attached, but a compliment was a compliment. Baffling it might be, but Hyukjin got what he wanted.
In contrast, Yeonseo heard a different notice.
[The 'Merchant of Venice' loses interest in you.]
The Merchant of Venice's interest in Yeonseo fizzled out completely, but it was of zero importance to Yeonseo. She hardly ever did any Playing related to 'trading'. As a Player specialized in 1 vs. 1 PVP, she only needed to firmly capture the hearts of the Guardians who liked PVP.
In any case, Hyukjin got one gem. That left just one more. He had one minute left.
"Darong?"
A [!] mark popped up over Darongi's head. The squirrel shook his head like a rattle and started pushing off Hyukjin's shoulder, but his attempt to flee failed.
That was because Hyukjin was holding his bushy tail. Darongi flailed in midair.
Hyukjin pulled out a fried chicken leg from his Inventory, which earned him a sincerely dumbfounded look from Sung-gu. "Shabam? Why is chicken coming out of your Inventory?"
And it was even soy sauce chicken.
"Wanna trade for the Guardian Gem?"
[!!!] flashed over Darongi's head. His hesitation lasted all of two seconds. The squirrel pulled out a Guardian Gem from his Inventory.
Sunhwa stared in amazement. "When did Darongi get that?"
"Hard to say. He either stole it from you or secretly picked one up while following you around."
The process didn't matter. Hyukjin remembered how this squirrel, who was a real sucker for new things, food, or things worth stealing, was sleeping on his shoulder back when Sunhwa pulled out the gems.
'But he didn't have any [zzZ] marks over his head.'
Which led Hyukjin to conclude that Darongi was pretending to sleep. Hyukjin had taken note of it all; he just didn't show that he had.
He destroyed another two Guardian Gems.
[The Guardian Gem's power is permeating the Guardian Field.]
[The Guardian Gem's power is taking a potent effect.]
[The Guardian Gem's power is permeating the Guardian Field.]
[The Guardian Gem's power is taking a potent effect.]
At the DMC Riverview Xi, the ground began to quake at the big road between apartment complex 1 and 2. The passersby looked around in alarm.
"Huh? What's going on? An earthquake?"
"Is it an earthquake?"
It wasn't. It was the sign of a Guardian Tower being constructed.
[The Guardian Field is preparing to summon a Guardian Tower.]
[The Guardian Field is starting to restrict the field.]
"Huh? Huhh? Huh?"
People started to get pushed away. As if there was some kind of invisible force acting on them, they began to get dragged to the sides of the road like someone was hauling them away by their necks.
"Ahhhh!"
Screams rang out all over the place.
HONK–! HONK–! HONK–!
The honking of a car split the air. It wasn't that an accident occurred. It was just that one of the panicking drivers was slamming their horn, which wasn't surprising considering that cars were flying off in midair. The Guardian Field was restricting the field, and everyone who lacked the qualifications was being kicked out.
Hyukjin examined his surroundings.
'It's definitely chaotic.'
Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any casualties. A few cars that were kicked out of the field suffered minor collisions. They weren't serious crashes, but a few cars were dented here and there.
[The Guardian Tower to be summoned has been decided.]
It was the moment of truth. Hyukjin clenched his hands. The Guardian Tower that appeared here in the past was the growth-type Guardian Tower 'Megalodon'. You couldn't quite call it a super top-class tower, but it was still pretty high up there. It was that structure that made this place, the Namgajwa neighborhood, the safest place in Korea.
Which Guardian Tower was it?
[The Guardian Tower 'Tintin' has been summoned.]
The ground in the middle of the crosswalk began to writhe. Like a mole poking out its head, something shot out explosively. It was like watching a shoot germinate in 100x time. It grew like the beanstalk in Jack and the Beanstalk and became a 'tower' about five meters high. The monument had gray bricks and a blue roof, with open gunports interspersed along the tower's length.
This Guardian Tower was one Hyukjin already knew.
'Tintin?'
It was the starting version of the super top-class Guardian Tower 'Titan' located in Manhattan, New York. When Tintin evolved, it turned into Titan.
'It's Tintin?'
The Guardian Tower looked the same as the Tintin he remembered. He looked at it in shock. As far as he knew, it was one of the strongest Guardian Towers on Earth.
Yoohyun lightly touched the gray brick.
"Wow. This looks awesome, Hyungnim. Like some kind of fort, or a medieval castle."
"Ain't it a little too small to be like a medieval castle, bruh?" As expected, Sung-gu was very interested in Tintin. "Hyukjin, bruh. Just asking for a friend, can this thing, like, transform into a robot?"
Why the hell would that happen? At Hyukjin's withering gaze, Sung-gu smacked his lips with regret. "It'd be damn fuckin' cool if it could transform into a robot."
The funny thing was that Tintin was originally the symbol of the sovereign class. It was widely known that the Gold Pyramid Michelle and an American Master named Kwon worked together to summon it.
'Michelle and Kwon are said to have worked together.'
Back then, he just accepted it without a second thought and moved on. But after going through the process himself, his perspective was a little different.
'Ultimately, it's one person who summons the Guardian Tower. The Master Kwon summoned it, and Michelle helped a little on the side. Like Yeonseo and Darongi just now.'
The world of the top 1%, full of things that the masses—including Hyukjin—weren't aware of. The truth about the Tintin Tower in Manhattan might be a minor detail, but it was another piece of damning evidence that there really was a 'World Above' for Rankers. There was definitely a world he hadn't known.
"Bruh. Just tell me straight. Does this thing transform into a robot, or not?"
Unable to stay silent, Sunghyun spat out one sentence. "As if it could. Try using your brain a little, please."
"C'mon, why not? This is a world where you can conjure fire and wind and where cars go whee in the air, so why would a robot showing up be trigonometry?"
"..."
"Sunghyun. Be honest. You like robots too, don't you? A fri~ckin' transforming robot. That's like, a guy's greatest dream."
"I don't want to talk to you, Hyung."
Hyukjin walked up to the Guardian Tower.
[The Guardian Tower registers the presence of Guardian Tower Master candidates.]
This was only the beginning.
"Alright. Everyone, get ready."
There was no 'and they lived happily ever after' ending when the Guardian Tower was summoned. The higher the grade of the summoned Guardian Tower and the stronger its ability, the more difficult the 'Guardian Tower Scenario' would be.
All of the party members heard a notice.
['Guardian Tower Scenario 01' – 'Qualifications of a Guardian Tower Master', is beginning.]
He already knew this scenario. But for the Guardians, it was the debut of a new scenario.
____
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