Chapter 161: Treasure Hunt (3)

While I was flying around searching for people, I caught the faint sound of screams carried on the wind from far away.

I immediately headed in that direction.

But...

“...?!”

As I looked over the ground below, I suddenly froze in shock.

Because I spotted someone who absolutely should not have been here.

‘Kim Seo-ah?’

It was my sister.

Why is she... here?

My sister was with someone.

And, surprisingly enough, that someone was Ye Cheon-wi.

“Seo-hyeon!”

...Confused, I hurriedly pushed Air Walk to maximum speed.

Booooom!

I landed in front of the two of them.

The moment I touched down, my sister ran over and threw herself into my arms.

“I-I seriously thought I was going to die...! Waaah...”

Seeing my sister finally burst into tears left me a little flustered too.

I patted her on the back and shifted my gaze.

Ye Cheon-wi had been standing there with a startled expression, and when our eyes met, he gave me a slight bow.

I nodded back, then gently pulled my sister away.

“Calm down. You’re okay.”

Only then did she stop crying, though she was still sniffling.

I asked,

“What happened? Why are you here?”

Even without asking, the answer was obvious.

My sister had become a Climber too.

And she had been selected for this Treasure Hunt.

“Well... actually, after Floor 12 was cleared...”

“You became a Climber?”

My sister nodded.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I told you to tell me immediately if you ever became a Climber.”

“S-Sorry...”

I sighed.

What the hell was going on?

When I looked back at Ye Cheon-wi, my sister spoke.

“Ah, he saved me. I almost got killed by a monster...”

...Ye Cheon-wi saved my sister?

He said,

“We happened to encounter each other by chance. It seems she was attacked by monsters before the 10 minutes had passed, so she was unable to exit and fled. I was just about to escort her back to the portal.”

So that was what happened...

The thought that my sister really could have died made my heart drop.

Feeling deeply grateful to Ye Cheon-wi, I thanked him.

“Thank you very much, Mr. Ye Cheon-wi.”

I was about to bow deeply when an urgent voice rang out.

“Wait!”

I awkwardly lifted my head again.

For some reason, Ye Cheon-wi looked flustered.

“Please do not lower your head to me.”

“Uh...? Why?”

“It makes me feel far too ashamed.”

...What the hell is he talking about?

He really is kind of a strange guy.

Anyway, I thanked him again.

“Thank you. Seriously. For saving my sister’s life.”

“Th-Thank you...”

Ye Cheon-wi smiled.

“I merely did what ought to be done. I am glad your family member is safe.”

My sister whispered to me.

“You knew him...?”

...This wasn’t the time for that.

“Which way is the portal? You need to get out of here right now.”

This island was dangerous.

There was a lot I wanted to say, but that could wait. First, I needed to get my sister out.

I picked her up and lightly jumped into the air.

“Kyaa...!”

She said she couldn’t remember where the portal was, so I searched the surrounding area.

There was no way she could have run very far with an ordinary person’s speed and stamina, so I found the portal almost immediately.

Several corpses were lying around the portal.

Not a single one was intact. They were in horrific condition.

“Close your eyes.”

“Huh? O-Okay.”

I set my sister down at the edge of the portal.

“Now, hurry up and leave.”

“What about you...?”

“I’ll leave soon too. After I make sure all the other Climbers get out first.”

My sister asked worriedly,

“Th-There are a lot of monsters here... You’re not in danger, right?”

At that moment, a pterosaur in the sky came diving toward us at high speed.

Now that I looked at it, the area above this portal was completely exposed.

So that was why the pterosaurs had attacked them.

I swung the Sword of Heaven’s Gatekeeper.

The Aura Blade of Decisive Strike shot out.

Slaaaash!

The pterosaur’s body was split in half in midair and crashed into the forest beyond.

My sister stared blankly at the sight.

“Don’t worry and just get out. Tell Mom and Dad not to worry either.”

She nodded.

Then her figure disappeared before my eyes.

After confirming that my sister had exited, I finally let out a sigh of relief and looked behind me.

Ye Cheon-wi was approaching.

He spoke as though giving me a report.

“All 100 Climbers who were summoned with me have been made to exit. However, I would like to ask whether I handled things properly.”

Oh, Ye Cheon-wi had made all the Climbers on his side leave too.

I nodded.

“You did well. All 100 on my side exited too.”

Then it really did seem that we had been summoned in three groups of 100...

Which meant we only needed to make all 100 people from this portal leave now.

“We cannot let the Climbers search for treasure. Absolutely not.”

“...Have you already discovered one?”

“Yes. It’s similar to the Masked Auction. Non-Climbers will die. Or the Tower’s Time Limit will decrease.”

Even without me explaining every detail, Ye Cheon-wi seemed to understand immediately and nodded.

“We need to find the remaining Climbers and make them all leave as quickly as possible. Can you help me, Mr. Ye Cheon-wi?”

Ye Cheon-wi replied,

“Leave it to me. But do you trust me?”

Trust?

I wondered what he meant, then quickly understood.

He was asking whether I trusted him not to touch any of the treasures himself.

I nodded.

“Of course I do.”

Ye Cheon-wi, China’s representative Nightmare Climber.

He was a bit of an odd person, but after training together for quite a long time in the Mental World, I knew him well enough.

This man followed me almost fanatically.

On top of that, he had already made all the Climbers in his own group leave and had even saved my sister’s life.

If I couldn’t trust him, who the hell could I trust?

At my words, Ye Cheon-wi briefly looked deeply moved, then quickly returned to normal and nodded.

“I will do my utmost. Let us go.”

And so we split up and began searching for the Climbers who had scattered in every direction.

We searched the area around the portal.

They probably hadn’t been able to get very far.

We quickly found them one or two at a time.

“Are you okay? I’ll take you to the portal.”

“Ugh... Thank you...!”

There were people wandering through the forest or hiding from monsters, and here and there we also found the corpses of people who had already been killed by monsters.

I took all the survivors back to the portal and killed every monster I saw along the way.

In the middle of all that, I found another treasure.

Like the gauntlet from earlier, it was a bone-decorated necklace bound by chains in the center of a magic circle.

[Item: Schlau’s Bone Necklace]

A bone necklace filled with the will of the exceptional shaman Schlau. Willpower increases by 50%.

[The treasure is currently sealed.]

[The treasure will belong to the first Climber who releases its seal.]

[You may release the treasure’s seal by selecting one of the following.]

[1. Five Stage 6 Fallen appear in a random area]

[2. 1,000,000 random Non-Climbers die]

[3. 30% chance that 10,000,000 random Non-Climbers die]

[If the treasure is destroyed, one of the choices’ effects will be applied at random.]

The same kind of messages appeared when I touched it.

The choices were a little different, though.

‘There’s no end to this bullshit...’

Apparently, the options weren’t identical for every treasure.

Of course, they were all equally horrific.

“Demon King.”

I decided to borrow some of the Demon King’s power.

I couldn’t move the item, and I couldn’t destroy it either.

Fwoooooosh!

So instead, I completely covered the area around the magic circle in a thick, solid layer of ice.

Even if someone discovered it, they wouldn’t be able to use it as long as they couldn’t touch it.

I continued searching for the remaining Climbers.

I found one more treasure too.

I froze that one over so no one could touch it either.

Only after I had sent exactly 39 people out did I stop finding any more survivors in the area.

I reunited with Ye Cheon-wi.

“I escorted 18 people out on my side.”

Then between me and Ye Cheon-wi, we had made 57 people exit.

Including my sister, that made 58.

We were still missing 42.

Of course, some people had died.

So this time, I even searched for and counted the corpses one by one.

But some bodies were far too badly mangled, and there were probably people who had been eaten by monsters entirely, so getting an exact count was impossible.

And there must have been some people who fled and then returned to the portal on their own to exit...

In the end, it was impossible to determine whether any Climbers were still left just by counting people.

‘...Maybe there aren’t any more?’

Hadn’t all the living ones probably left by now?

Honestly, most of the Climbers were likely ordinary people, and they wouldn’t have had the ability to travel very far from the portal.

We had searched the entire area around it.

The vegetation was so thick that visibility was terrible, but there was no way anyone could have escaped my senses and remained unnoticed.

Of course, a high-level Climber might have traveled much farther away from the portal...

But if there had been a high-level Climber among them, would everyone really have needed to run away?

Those pterosaurs were only around Level 20 or 30 at most.

‘Fucking Tower.’

Would it kill you to show us how many people are still left?

Not that I should expect something reasonable from this bastard.

“What shall we do?”

As I was thinking, Ye Cheon-wi apparently reached a similar conclusion and asked.

Treasure Hunt would end once every Climber had either exited or died.

In other words, if there were no other survivors left on the island, all that remained was for me and Ye Cheon-wi to leave.

But once we exited, that was it.

We couldn’t leave recklessly.

If there were still Climbers remaining, there was no telling what might happen.

Sure, I had already warned everyone that I would kill anyone who pulled any bullshit, but who knew whether someone might still release a treasure’s seal while thinking they could get away with it as long as their identity stayed hidden?

“For now, let’s search a wider area—”

That was when it happened.

[The treasure’s seal has been released.]

[The Tower’s Curse descends upon a random area with a radius of 10 kilometers.]

“...!”

A message appeared before my eyes.

You’ve got to be... fucking kidding me.

I ground my teeth.

‘They actually did it.’

I had hoped I was wrong, but someone really had released a treasure’s seal somewhere on the island.

The Tower’s Curse, descending upon a random area with a radius of 10 kilometers.

Naturally, the effect would be applied to the real world outside, not to Treasure Island itself.

Ye Cheon-wi’s expression had hardened as well.

I said only one thing.

“...Let’s split up and search. Hurry.”

“Yes.”

I flew back into the sky.

Cooling the rage boiling inside me until it turned cold.

A radius of 10 kilometers.

If a densely populated city took a direct hit, it would be a catastrophe.

And the message specifically called it the Tower’s Curse.

Anyone who died would undoubtedly become Fallen.

I started worrying intensely about what might be happening in the real world...

But there was nothing I could do about something that had already happened.

All I could do now was find the bastard who had released the seal and prevent any further damage.

I pushed Air Walk to maximum speed, searching desperately for the culprit.

After freezing over the treasure Plli had been guarding too, I ordered Plli to search for the culprit as well.

Booooom...

Then, while I was searching, I heard an explosion from somewhere in the distance.

Ye Cheon-wi had fired a magic skill into the sky as a signal.

I immediately headed over.

When I descended to the ground, Ye Cheon-wi was standing in front of a magic circle.

But the chains around the magic circle had been released, and the treasure was gone.

“It appears the seal was released here.”

“...Looks like it.”

The bastard had taken the treasure from this spot.

Not much time had passed since the message appeared.

We searched the surrounding area.

We found footprints leading away from the magic circle and traces of trampled grass, then followed them.

It wasn’t as though I had learned any tracking skill, but with superhuman senses, it wasn’t difficult.

And soon, we discovered something.

A cave hidden by the bushes.

But its entrance consisted of an artificial stone door.

It practically screamed that there was something inside.

“The trail seems to end here.”

The stone door wasn’t closed.

It was standing wide open.

There was a high chance the culprit had entered the cave.

Were they still inside?

“Let’s go.”

The two of us entered the cave.

Torches hung along the cave walls.

Ye Cheon-wi used a light-orb spell to brighten the dim space further.

Sixth Sense gave me no warning.

No monsters or traps suddenly appeared either.

A long straight passage continued ahead until it split into three paths.

I said to Ye Cheon-wi,

“I’ll take the left.”

“Then I shall check the right path.”

I wasn’t particularly worried about Ye Cheon-wi.

He was an excellent Climber above Level 90.

The culprit might have gone down the middle passage, so I resummoned Plli and ordered it to block the entrance to that path.

If we didn’t catch the culprit quickly, they might release more treasure seals.

Hoping the culprit was still somewhere inside this cave, we split up and headed down opposite paths.

***

Agus, an ordinary Floor 20 Climber from Indonesia.

For the first time, he had been selected by one of the Tower’s rules.

While everyone around him panicked, he calmly read the rules of this Treasure Hunt.

‘Treasure, huh...’

There was no way the Tower would hand Climbers free rewards.

Considering the Masked Auction and Joint Battle, the Tower had a general tendency to reward Climbers by sacrificing Non-Climbers’ lives.

Then there was a high chance this Treasure Hunt worked the same way.

Agus didn’t particularly care.

Why did high-floor Climbers become high-floor Climbers in the first place?

Many of them continued climbing the Tower because their desire for power was stronger than anyone else’s, and Agus was no different.

He couldn’t care less how many Non-Climbers died.

However, Person123 had warned the Climbers after the Joint Battle incident.

If Agus openly sacrificed people’s lives and got caught, he really could end up dead.

There were even rumors going around that the Climbers who had chosen Round 6 during the Joint Battle were dying one after another.

‘Well, as long as I don’t get caught, who cares?’

Then Person123 suddenly appeared among the crowd.

Agus nearly freaked out internally, but soon started wondering whether he was really Person123.

Because for Person123, his presence was...

Well, far too weak.

Anyway, while all that was happening, pterosaurs suddenly began attacking people from the sky.

The guy claiming to be Person123 was killed by one of them.

‘Knew he was fake.’

Amid the chaos, Agus moved away from the others.

Monsters?

There was no reason to bother fighting them.

Thanks to them, everyone scattered, making it easier for him to disappear unnoticed.

Agus quickly moved through the forest in search of treasure.

And eventually, he found one.

[Item: Kirital’s Staff]

A staff imbued with the power of the lightning sorcerer Kirital. When used, it fires a powerful electrical beam in a straight line. Once used, it can be used again after 3 hours.

[The treasure is currently sealed.]

[The treasure will belong to the first Climber who releases its seal.]

[You may release the treasure’s seal by selecting one of the following.]

[1. The rate at which the Hard Difficulty Time Limit decreases is tripled]

[2. 30% chance that the Nightmare Difficulty Time Limit decreases by 3 years]

[3. The Tower’s Curse descends upon a random area with a radius of 10 kilometers]

[If the treasure is destroyed, one of the choices’ effects will be applied at random.]

Messages appeared when he touched the treasure.

All he had to do was choose one and he would get the item for free.

Agus was thrilled.

Messing with the Time Limit through option 1 or 2 felt uncomfortable, so he ruled those out and chose option 3 without much thought.

[The treasure’s seal has been released.]

[The Tower’s Curse descends upon a random area with a radius of 10 kilometers.]

After obtaining the item, Agus grew even more excited and set off to search for more treasures.

All he had to do was collect as many treasures as he could, then return to the portal and leave.

Before long, he discovered a suspicious-looking cave.

Rrrrrumble.

When he opened the stone door and entered, the path split into three.

He followed the right-hand path and soon found another treasure.

[Item: Unidentified Skull Mask]

A skull mask saturated with the grudges of countless people. When worn on the face, the Physical Ability of enemies within a 20-meter radius decreases by 20%. When used, it absorbs the power of the grudges and increases Physical Ability and Willpower by 50% for 10 minutes. Once used, it can be used again after 24 hours.

[The treasure is currently sealed.]

[The treasure will belong to the first Climber who releases its seal.]

[You may release the treasure’s seal by fulfilling the following condition.]

[Offer the heads of 50 Climbers (0/50)]

“What the...”

With his hand resting on the skull mask, Agus tilted his head.

There wasn’t even a choice this time?

Offering the heads of 50 Climbers was one hell of a demanding requirement.

It was an extremely good item, so Agus clicked his tongue in disappointment.

That was when—

A flash of light.

His right arm, which had been touching the item, was suddenly severed.

“...Aaaaaagh!”

Blood sprayed from the stump as Agus screamed.

Someone emerged from the dark passage.

“What ever shall We do?”

Ye Cheon-wi walked slowly toward him.

“With vermin like you, who endlessly offend His will.”

“D-Dieee...!”

In a panic, Agus thrust the staff toward the intruder.

Crackleeeee-!

Sparks flashed, and a blue beam engulfed the spot where Ye Cheon-wi had been standing.

Its power was beyond imagination.

His opponent vanished without a trace.

Agus, panting through the pain, relaxed in relief.

Shlk.

An arm burst out through his chest.

“Ghk.”

Agus vomited blood and stared down at the hand piercing through his heart.

“If it were up to me, I would rather not grant you an easy death. Consider yourself fortunate. I do not wish to show Him anything unsightly.”

Agus died instantly.

Ye Cheon-wi withdrew his hand without even sparing the corpse a glance, then picked up the staff.

[This item cannot be used.]

A message appeared before his eyes.

“Ah... Was it bound to the person who released its seal?”

Since the seal had already been released, he had hoped the item might at least be of some use to Him.

Did killing the owner not remove the binding?

Thinking that the man remained useless even after death, Ye Cheon-wi looked back down the passage.

Perhaps He had heard the scream, because footsteps were approaching from that direction.

***

After continuing down the left passage, I soon reached a small dead end.

The culprit wasn’t there.

Instead, there was a treasure.

Bound in chains at the center of a magic circle was...

A heart?

[Item: Tekan’s Heart]

The heart of Beast King Tekan. Consuming it increases Physical Ability by 10%. The body’s regenerative ability and all regenerative effects received by the body are increased. You will not die as long as the heart is not destroyed.

[The treasure is currently sealed.]

[You may release the treasure’s seal by fulfilling the following condition.]

[Offer the heart of a Level 50 or higher Climber (0/1)]

After reading the message, I frowned slightly.

What the hell was this now?

Unlike the other treasures, it didn’t have a list of choices.

It was more like a mission.

Offer the heart of a Level 50 or higher Climber?

What the...

...Wait.

Could I actually do that?

It was a bizarre mission, but it suddenly occurred to me that it might be possible.

Couldn’t I just offer my own heart?

I wouldn’t die even if I ripped my heart out.

I had Rapid Regeneration too.

Of course, ripping my own heart out would hurt like fucking hell.

Reading the item’s effect, it was almost identical to the Frozen Hydra Blood I had consumed.

Except this one made you effectively immortal as long as your heart remained intact instead of your head.

...This wasn’t the time for that.

I stopped examining the treasure.

I turned back down the passage to check the remaining middle path.

That was when—

“...?”

A faint scream echoed through the cave.

Thinking it had come from Ye Cheon-wi’s side, I hurried over.

I continued down the right passage and soon saw Ye Cheon-wi.

And...

The corpse of some man.

Guessing what had happened, I asked,

“...Was he the culprit?”

“Yes. He was touching a treasure, so I executed him immediately.”

I shifted my gaze toward the skull mask sitting together with the magic circle.

So there had been another treasure down this passage too.

Ye Cheon-wi held out a staff to me.

“This appears to be the treasure he obtained after releasing the seal earlier.”

When I took the staff, a message appeared telling me that I couldn’t use the item.

Apparently, when it said the treasure became bound to the person who released its seal, it really meant no one else could use it.

I put the staff down and looked at the man’s corpse.

His heart had been pierced, and it looked like he had died instantly.

Naturally, I didn’t feel even the slightest sympathy.

I would have killed him immediately too if I had found him first.

I had already warned them not to pull any bullshit.

Just what the hell were these stupid items worth that someone would sacrifice countless lives for them...?

Beside me, Ye Cheon-wi asked cautiously,

“Should I have kept him alive?”

I shook my head.

“No. You did well.”

At least it seemed the immediate fire had been put out.

Though we still didn’t know whether any other Climbers remained.

I looked away from the corpse and approached the skull mask.

I checked the treasure’s information.

[Item: Unidentified Skull Mask]

A skull mask saturated with the grudges of countless people. When worn on the face, the Physical Ability of enemies within a 20-meter radius decreases by 20%. When used, it absorbs the power of the grudges and increases Physical Ability and Willpower by 50% for 10 minutes. Once used, it can be used again after 24 hours.

[The treasure is currently sealed.]

[The treasure will belong to the first Climber who releases its seal.]

[You may release the treasure’s seal by fulfilling the following condition.]

[Offer the heads of 50 Climbers (0/50)]

...This one demanded Climbers’ lives too.

If the purpose of the treasures in the forest was to fuck up the real world,

then the treasures inside this cave seemed designed to make the Climbers summoned to the island fight among themselves.

‘Hm...’

Come to think of it.

Couldn’t I just give that heart item to Ye Cheon-wi?

It was basically useless to me anyway, and its effect overlapped with something I already had.

If I ate it, I had no idea whether both my head and heart would become weak points or what.

More than anything, I really wanted to repay Ye Cheon-wi somehow for saving my sister.

Having made up my mind, I said to him,

“Mr. Ye Cheon-wi, come over here.”

I brought him back down the left passage.

[Item: Tekan’s Heart]

The heart of Beast King Tekan. Consuming it increases Physical Ability by 10%. The body’s regenerative ability and all regenerative effects received by the body are increased. You will not die as long as the heart is not destroyed.

[The treasure is currently sealed.]

[You may release the treasure’s seal by fulfilling the following condition.]

[Offer the heart of a Level 50 or higher Climber (0/1)]

After checking the treasure’s information, Ye Cheon-wi looked surprised.

“An extraordinary effect. To think one cannot die unless the heart is destroyed... And it even increases Physical Ability and regeneration.”

“Right?”

“I shall use my own heart to release the seal.”

“...What?”

Ye Cheon-wi suddenly formed Aura Blade around his hand with a resolute expression.

Startled, I grabbed his wrist.

“No, no, what are you doing?”

With an expression so serious that he looked one hundred percent sincere, Ye Cheon-wi said,

“You cannot allow this item to slip away. It is all right. Please use my heart.”

...Is this guy actually fucking insane?

I already knew he was weird, but this was beyond anything I’d imagined.

“Stop saying crazy shit and get rid of the Aura Blade. And I already have a similar ability, so I don’t need this item.”

Ye Cheon-wi tilted his head, then dispersed the Aura Blade around his hand.

I sighed and raised the Sword of Heaven’s Gatekeeper.

“So you take it, Mr. Ye Cheon-wi.”

I pointed the blade toward my own heart.

If I wanted to cut it out cleanly, a sword would probably be better than using my hand.

Ye Cheon-wi stared at me in alarm and reached out.

“What are you...?”

Around here, I guess?

It was going to hurt like fucking hell, but I could endure it.

I stabbed the sword in just beneath my heart.

Shlk.

The blade wrapped in Heavenly Aura Blade slid in without the slightest resistance.

Ye Cheon-wi looked like he was about to faint from shock as he screamed.

“...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”