NOVPUBLetting out just enough killing intent as I spoke seemed to have worked.
The three who had been standing there in a daze, watching Matthew collapse, dropped their weapons and knelt, just as I told them to.
Ten seconds passed.
Fully recovered, Matthew also knelt down.
He looked at me with a slightly more subdued expression and opened his mouth.
“...W-What do you want?”
“What are you asking?”
I tilted my head.
“Was I the one who tried to kill you first? You’re the one who tried to rob and kill me.”
I lightly tapped Matthew’s cheek.
“Which tower difficulty are you from?”
“...Hard.”
So they weren’t just relying on numbers after all.
Having cleared Hard Mode Floor 9 and residing on Floor 10, he probably had some confidence in his skills.
“This is a team mission with ten players. If you go around demanding everyone’s weapons and items, how do you expect to complete the mission properly?”
“...I’m sorry.”
“What I want is very simple. Whatever the mission is, we do it right. And...”
I straightened my back and looked at all four kneeling players, including the other two who had been standing nearby.
“I hope you’ll listen to what I say.”
It looked like Matthew got the message.
Next, I planned to give a warning to the remaining three—one by one.
I walked up to the platinum blonde woman with <10> above her head.
She was the one I’d seen hesitate just a moment ago, debating whether to charge at me.
“Name and country.”
The woman let out a shallow sigh and responded.
“Lena Vogel, Germany.” 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝖕𝖚𝖇.𝖈𝔬𝔪
“Which tower?”
“Hard Mode.”
Her gaze flicked toward Matthew, who was sitting obediently on his knees.
“You two from the same tower?”
Lena Vogel answered without resistance.
“Yeah.”
“How many times have you done this kind of thing together?”
At that, Lena frowned.
“Is that something you need to ask?”
“Yeah, it is. I’m curious.”
My firm answer got the desired effect.
Lena opened her mouth again.
“...The exchange two cycles ago was the first. We partied up right before entering it.”
So they’d been having a bit of fun with this ever since.
I had one more question.
“Then why did you hesitate to charge at me just now?”
“Your movement.”
Lena looked me straight in the eye and continued.
“The way you dodged the spear’s trajectory and countered. That movement killed any will I had to attack. You can’t mess with someone when you realize you’re out of your depth.”
She seemed like she wanted to ask me something, but she held back.
Not that I’d have answered her anyway.
I walked past Lena and spoke to the two others seated quietly.
9th-floor resident, Josephine Bernard. France. Normal Mode.
9th-floor resident, Okada Yuuji. Japan. Normal Mode.
These two were also from the same numbered tower.
The thread connecting both parties into a team had been the previous exchange meeting.
I mentally classified these four as a problem group.
The Transcendent Gallery seniors had given me various bits of advice about exchange meetings.
– Sword of Light) Just like in the first exchange, you’ll definitely be considered the top dog this time too.
– Archmage) If you think you can control the situation, then do it. That’ll be the easiest way to manage a mission-type theme.
– Heavenly Demon) To reduce unnecessary variables, the first method is controlling everything. The second method is killing them all and removing the variables entirely—but I doubt you’ll choose the latter.
“Get up and take up your weapons.”
The moment I finished speaking, a notification popped up in front of me.
[Move together with the summoned players toward the area illuminated by the red beam.]
Beyond the wall—
Toward the direction of the dense forest, a red pillar of light had appeared.
I deliberately took the very rear position.
During the last exchange meeting, I’d also stayed at the back, which made it easier to observe the others’ movements.
“Thank you for saving me.”
A woman with short hair.
A distinctly Korean voice.
Though the auto-translation system made different languages sound extremely natural, there was always the faintest hint of a difference.
And just like with Baek Jin-young, whom I killed last time, I could clearly tell it was real Korean.
“What’s your name?”
“Kim Joo-eun.”
“Difficulty?”
“Normal Mode, Floor 7.”
I motioned with my ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) chin toward the two problem players from Normal Mode walking ahead.
“Same numbered tower as those two?”
“No, it’s a different one.”
Kim Joo-eun also looked curious about me.
“You’re probably not going to tell me your name, are you?”
“Nope.”
“I figured. You’re wearing a mask, after all.”
“You’re quick on the uptake.”
She gave a small chuckle at that.
“Still, it’s nice to meet another Korean. Even if the translation is super natural, it’s just a little different from hearing an actual Korean speak.”
“Yeah, I get that.”
I was glad to meet a fellow Korean—but that was it.
I had no intention of forming bonds or companions during an exchange meeting.
If the mission explicitly required cooperation, or if there was a condition demanding a minimum number of surviving players, then I’d step in to help.
But otherwise, I had no reason to go out of my way for others.
That’s the kind of tower I’ve come to understand.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
I tapped the shoulder of the man walking next to Kim Joo-eun.
He flinched and turned toward me awkwardly.
“Name. Country.”
“Felix Bauer, Germany.”
Felix was from Easy Mode, Floor 8.
We were nearly at the place where the red pillar was pointing.
I spoke again.
“Keep walking as you listen.”
I raised my voice slightly so that Matthew, walking up front, could hear me as well.
“When the mission begins, just follow the objective.”
The four problem players, including Matthew, turned and glanced at me.
“If you pull any unnecessary stunts unrelated to the mission, I’ll kill you.”
I let out just enough killing intent to make sure they knew I wasn’t bluffing.
They got the message.
What appeared in front of us wasn’t a waiting room-like structure, but a real fortress wall built to repel actual monsters and enemies.
Soldiers were moving about in a flurry.
“They’re coming! Everyone, prepare the defensive lines!”
A knight barked out orders from what appeared to be a fairly high position.
Far in the distance, the spire of a temple was crushed under the foot of something massive.
Blood stained the ground.
The mangled corpses of humans lay everywhere.
Beside me, Kim Joo-eun muttered with a trembling voice.
“...A spider?”
Looked like a spider to me too.
Felix stumbled back.
“I-It looks like that spider’s at least sixty meters tall.”
He wasn’t wrong.
The spider’s sheer size was enough to crush entire buildings with a single step.
“You there! Mercenaries! Quickly, build a barrier to block the webs of those bastards—those are Kabarax’s threads!”
[NPC – Third-Rank Knight Gerado]
I approached Gerado, who was giving orders with a grim expression.
“That thing. Are we supposed to kill it?”
Gerado shook his head at my question.
“That would be best... but its shell is sturdy enough to endure even the aura of a Third-Rank knight like me. Sometimes it can even resist Fourth-Rank attacks. Kabarax has extremely high resistance to aura itself. Until the mages arrive, the best option is to build structures and hold out.”
Right after Gerado finished speaking, a notification popped up before me.
[Mission Triggered!]
[Repel all three 'Kabarax' monsters beyond the walls of Dmuhlen City.]
[After that, locate and eliminate the entity controlling the 'Kabarax' like puppets.]
[Three of the summoned players have already begun searching the forest. Join them as quickly as possible.]
So it’s a phased mission, huh.
The three missing players must be working on the subjugation objective now.
“Just hold the line! Once the mages arrive and deploy sonic magic, those beasts will retreat into the forest, cocoon themselves in silk, and fall asleep!”
Judging by the murmurs, the other six players must have gotten the same alert.
“Why the hell are monsters like that showing up in the exchange meeting?”
Josephine stepped back.
Matthew scowled and shouted.
“Shut up! At least we’re not being told to kill them. Move! Do what the NPC says!”
Slip—
I took out the Binding Scroll and unfolded the Veil of Secrets right in front of me.
Title: Giant Spiders called Kabarax appeared.
Author: ㅇㅇ*
– They’re huge as hell. Three of them. Apparently we just need to buy time until the mages show up with sonic magic to repel them.
There are a decent number of NPC soldiers here.
But... can I kill those things? I heard they’re resistant to aura.
ㄴ Kabarax, huh... Ah, right. It did say repel. That drops the difficulty by a lot.
ㄴ You’re seriously thinking about killing them even when the mission says repel?
ㄴ Ice Queen) Frooozen! If I freeze them, they’ll die...! Sorry I can’t help this time. Frooozen.
A monster that even Fourth-Rank aura users struggle against... but she can freeze them to death?
I was suddenly curious just how powerful her freezing actually was.
ㄴ Archmage) Yeah, you can repel them with sonic magic if you’re a Third-Rank mage... but the problem is, after they web up the forest and hibernate for about a month, they wake up stronger and bigger.
ㄴ Archmage) That’s when you need a high-tier mage or a Fifth-Rank aura user to finish them. So if you can kill them now, that’s the cleanest option.
ㄴ Archmage) Though I guess this is just a one-time exchange meeting quest anyway.
ㄴ Someone knows a lot.
ㄴ “Someone who’s probably the smartest in the continent” and y’all still acting surprised.
ㄴ Gutter Swordsman) I think Climber could definitely kill them.
ㄴ Sword of Light) If you cut them down one at a time, you can kill them with Fourth-Rank aura. Yours seems to be on the sturdier side even among Fourth-Rank users, so I’d say you’ve got a real shot.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) One at a time?
ㄴ Sword of Light) I’ll show you.
After receiving instructions from Sword of Light-senpai on how to kill a Kabarax, I put the gallery terminal back into my inventory.
“Move.”
The players, startled by my voice, quickly stepped aside to make a path.
I stood at the edge of the fortress wall.
Gerado hurried over to block my way.
“I told you, just holding out is enough. What are you planning?”
I drew my sword—Mundum Exstinguit.
White aura surged along the blade.
“I plan to kill them.”
If it’s possible to kill them—then I will.
