Chapter 140
Penser heard about the situation from his subordinates and hurriedly headed to where Jack was.
‘So, Lee Shin is here?’
He thought that Lee Shin was a monster that came up from the Tower of Earth. It was said that the other Earthlings were keeping him in check and that he had been fighting hard on the lower levels.
‘But recently, a large number of Earthlings came up and that meant that there was a high probability that Lee Shin was also there.’
Since Cigarate and Veula were also heading this way, it was certain. In that case, the probability of Jack and Lee Shin facing off was very high, and this was a scene that Penser could not afford to miss.
‘If this guy called Lee Shin is really that great, he would not be killed that easily.’
Penser thought that since Jack would not lose to a guy like Lee Shin, this was a chance to find out who Lee Shin really was and how skilled he was. He just had to arrive quickly before Jack killed Lee Shin. If Lee Shin was really that remarkable, it would be a waste to simply kill him.
‘Only if I can control that guy… the Tune of the Drunkard could grow even bigger.’
Penser tried to hide the smile creeping onto his lips as he headed toward where they were.
Baaang—!
Suddenly, a fierce lightning bolt struck the place where Jack supposedly was. It was clear that Jack and Lee Shin had started to fight.
"Damn it! Move faster!" Penser shouted.
The explosion happening on the battlefield was so loud that even the ground vibrated. However, that was it. When Penser arrived at the scene, he could not believe what he was seeing.
"What the hell is going on…?” Penser muttered.
Not only did Vuela and Cigarate stand there perfectly fine, but he presumed to be Lee Shin was also standing calmly and looking back at him. Penser lowered his gaze slightly. There he was—Jack, his head buried into the ground, his clothes completely burnt, as if they had been set on fire.
"Tell me exactly what you are seeing," Penser said to the subordinates next to him to confirm if his eyes were still functioning.
"Ah... Mr. Jack... has fallen," said the subordinate with a shaky voice.
"... And?" Penser asked again.
"The enemies are standing perfectly fine," said the subordinate.
"..." Penser could not say anything.
Jack had lost against Lee Shin. That perfection of a monster, Jack, had completely lost to a mere human. While Penser was lost in thought, his carriage had arrived in front of Lee Shin and the two. Penser pretended to be nonchalant about the battle as he got off the carriage and took a step forward.
"My name is Penser, the owner of the Tune of the Drunkard." Penser introduced himself.
"Is introducing yourself to us that important? I guess Jack was not that of a big deal to you,” Lee Shin said to Penser in a mocking tone and Penser frowned.
“You’ve defeated Jack, so you must be the strongest here. If so, how can I do anything else in front of such a person?” said Penser.
"... So, what brings you here?” Lee Shin asked.
"You may not believe it, but I just came to bring Jack. I think Jack tried to help those guys because they helped us in the past, so he probably wanted to return the favor. So, let’s not make a big deal out of it," said Penser.
Lee Shin clicked his tongue when he saw Penser lying without any hesitation.
‘So, this is what he’s like.’
The next moment, Penser took out a thick envelope from his pocket and handed it to Lee Shin.
"Since we made a mistake on our side, I’m giving this to you as a gift. I hope this helps smooth things out," said Penser.
Lee Shin did not refuse the envelope and when he took a look inside it, he could see that there were 200,000 points.
"You’re quite generous,” Lee Shin said.
"Well, there are times when you just have to use it. If I didn’t understand that, I wouldn't have made it this far," said Penser.
"Well, thanks. I'll make good use of it," Lee Shin replied.
"And here is my business card. Why don’t we have a chat sometime?" Penser took out his business card and handed it to Lee Shin.
As he accepted it, Lee Shin thought about what he should do in the current situation. Lee Shin knew that, in the end, Jack would go against this Penser guy and start to climb the tower.
Lee Shin did not know exactly what their history was, but since Jack trusted Penser for now, Lee Shin could not simply kill him. Lee Shin wanted to send Jack up the tower while maintaining goodwill.
"Can I ask what kind of relationship you have with Jack?" Lee Shin asked.
Perhaps not expecting such a question, Penser looked at Lee shin with a slightly surprised expression.
"Are you curious about Jack?" Penser asked.
"Yes, a little," Lee Shin replied.
"Jack and I are inseparable. Well, you could almost say we're like family," Penser explained.
"Huh? You guys are like family?" Lee Shin asked.
Then, the next moment, a voice of a woman came from behind them. Looking past Penser’s shoulder, Lee Shin could see a familiar-looking woman who was smiling brightly and waving at him.
"Lee Shin!" Alice shouted with excitement.
"Is it you, Alice?" Lee Shin greeted her.
As soon as Lee Shin reached the 30th floor, he sent a message to Alice as well.
‘Hmm there was no response just a little while ago.’
Lee Shin wondered how she was able to come to find him. The next moment, Alice pushed Penser aside and came closer to him, greeting him with joy.
"Sorry, I couldn’t check your message earlier. I had a lot of things going on,” said Alice.
"How did you know to come here?" Lee Shin asked Alice.
"Everyone knows that you’ve arrived, so I just asked people to find out,” Alice replied.
After saying that, she suddenly stiffened her expression and turned her head to look at Penser. Penser also looked at her, and his face immediately hardened. It seemed like they recognized each other.
"It’s you again," said Penser.
"You're quite shameless, aren't you? You did that behind my back and you still offer your business card to Lee Shin?" Alice said in a cold voice.
"Tsk, didn't I already say that there was a misunderstanding?" Penser asked.
“You want me to believe that?" Alice replied coldly.
She laughed at Penser and turned back to Lee Shin.
"That guy used to support Earthlings until recently. He's the one who helped those guys who are after you," Alice said.
"Don't talk nonsense. Why would I mess with someone I haven't even seen?" Penser said.
"You stop talking nonsense. I know that you were planning on using those guys to trap Lee Shin, just like you did to Jack," said Alice.
Alice shot Penser a contemptuous look, as if she knew something about him. Penser behaved as if he was the one being mistreated by her, but as someone who knew Alice's unique ability, Lee Shin had no choice but to believe her words.
"How do you know about this guy? And what do you mean by trapping Jack?" Lee Shin asked Alice.
"To explain it briefly, after arriving here, I was listening out for rumors about you trying to find information, and I heard that the Earthlings were planning to trap you. And while searching for those Earthlings on the 30th floor, I found out that they were all connected to this guy," Alice explained.
"Those Earthlings were all connected to Penser?" Lee Shin furrowed his eyebrows and looked at Penser.
"Yeah, that’s right. That bastard was secretly supporting those guys. That's how I found out. I also caught a few of those Earthlings in the process," Alice replied.
"So, the reason they attacked us earlier was because of that?" Hearing her words, Cigarate muttered to himself.
If those Earthlings considered Vuela and Cigarate to be Lee Shin’s comrades, it was not a surprise that they came after the two.
"That son of a bitch was playing a trick to trap and restrain Jack. But Jack didn’t know about that and always thought of this guy as family and followed him,” Alice explained.
"Stop talking nonsense! If you keep making stuff up like this, I won't let it go so easily," said Penser.
"Oh yeah? So what will you do to me?" Alice replied.
If it had been before, his threat would have been intimidating. With Jack, turning her into a dead body any moment would not be a difficult task. But now, the situation had completely changed.
Jack was lying down unconscious from Lee Shin’s attack, and Lee Shin was there to watch her back. She was confident that she would not be harmed no matter what Penser tried.
"Wait a second... what is this… all about?" Jack asked.
The sudden voice of Jack made everyone shift their focus to him. Jack, who had been shaking, scratched the floor and clenched his fist, struggling to get up.
"Jack? You are alive!" Penser quickly approached Jack and tried to support him.
“Don’t touch me. I can get up on my own," Jack replied coldly.
Jack frowned and pushed Penser away as he tried to get up. Then, he looked at Alice.
"What you said just now wasn’t a lie, alright? Say it again,” Jack said, glaring at Alice.
Jack’s eyes were filled with anger. It seemed like he would slit her throat if she said even one word wrong.
"Jack, do you really think your younger sister is dead?" Alice asked.
As soon as she finished saying that, Jack glared at her and his fist shot out toward her. However, Lee Shin’s psychokinesis stopped his hand in mid-air.
"Let go! Let go of me now!" Jack shouted, trembling with anger.
Alice was stunned by Jack’s reaction. He tried to calm down for a second and then continued to talk.
"Calm down, Jack. I am positive that your sister is alive," said Alice.
"Stop talking nonsense! I saw Agatha’s death with my own two eyes," Jack shouted with anger.
"Yeah right, if you're going to lie, you should do it properly, no?" Penser sneered at her with a relaxed expression, but Alice's smirk did not even waver.
"Do you really think that corpse was Agatha’s? Think about it carefully. Wasn't there something strange about the appearance?" Alice said.
"What... are you talking about? What's the reason for saying such nonsense!" Jack shouted.
"Your younger sister is living perfectly fine on the 31st floor!" Alice shouted back.
Alice seemed frustrated.
"That cheater kidnapped your younger sister to use you. He pretended to sacrifice himself and switched her with a fake corpse to make it look as if she had died!" Alice shouted again.
Alice glared at Penser, pointing at him. Although he seemed stunned for a second, he quickly hid his expression and refuted her.
"You need to stop making things up. You weren't even there, and you know nothing to say stuff like that!” Penser replied.
"Yeah right, I almost believed you. But, since you only came up to the 30th floor recently, you wouldn't know anything about that. It happened several years ago,” Jack, who almost lost his senses, regained his composure and spoke calmly.
Lee Shin watched the situation and organized his thoughts.
"Alice, is that true?" Lee Shin asked Alice in a calm voice.
"Yeah, it's true. You would know, right? My ability allows me to figure out the truth that the other person is hiding,” Alice explained.
"Hahaha! Are you telling me to believe that you have such an unbelievable ability?" Penser laughed at her because he thought that she was bluffing.
He did not know how she found out, but there was no way she had such an outstanding ability.
"How can you prove it?" Lee Shin asked Alice.
"I think I said it earlier, but Jack’s younger sister is living on the 31st floor. If we go up to the 31st floor and take a picture of her alive and post it to the community, Jack would be able to hear the news through challengers he trusts. The residents cannot use the community," Alice explained.
"Do you know her location, though?" Lee Shin asked Alice.
"Yes I do, so you have to stop that guy from doing anything," Alice replied.
As Alice glared at Penser, Lee Shin’s mana choked him.
"Keuk... J-Jack...!" Penser gasped and sent a pleading look to Jack asking for help, but he did not move this time.
It was certainly not because he was helpless to stop Lee Shin.
"Do you believe in this woman?" Jack asked Lee Shin.
"Yeah, I trust her. At least more than that guy," Lee Shin replied.
His words made Alice blush a little.
"I cannot just decide to climb the tower based on your words alone," said Jack.
"You’re right," Lee Shin agreed.
The next moment, Lee Shin slammed Penser into the ground.
"Keugh!" When his face was slammed against the ground, blood started to pour out from his mouth.
Lee Shin felt that the scattered pieces of the puzzle were gradually fitting together. Everything from the reason why Jack started climbing the tower to the conflict between him and Penser, and even the incident that occurred on the 31st floor all started to make sense for Lee Shin.
'Whether Jack climbed the tower due to the conflict with Penser or after discovering the presence of his younger sister, when Jack escaped from his clutches, Penser must have killed his sister. And Jack, who learned about her death after reaching the 31st floor, caused a disturbance.’
Lee Shin wondered if it was the right decision to save Jack's younger sister from here. If he were to save his sister here, Jack might not climb the tower. Unable to hide the displeasure on his face, Lee Shin grabbed Penser by the neck and lifted him up.
"Tell me the location of his sister. Or else, you’ll die,” Lee Shin said in a cold voice.
"I-I-I don't... know—" Penser did not give him the location.
Thud—!
His head slammed against the ground once again. Then, Lee Shin pushed away Penser, who lost consciousness.
"Can we save her if we go up to the 31st floor?" Lee Shin asked Alice.
"Well... we can save her if those guys don't get the news that we're going up there to save Agatha..." Alice explained and glanced around.
The gangs of the back alley, who had intimidated Lee Shin earlier, looked startled and waved their hands as if trying to tell them they had no intention to do that, but it was meaningless.
Swoosh— Swish—!
Thud— Thud—
With a sharp sound, their heads fell off in an instant. Jack, who had disappeared from his original position, reappeared behind them, holding a sword with blood dripping from it.
"I was going to kill these bastards anyway,” said Jack.
"Nicely done. I like to keep things tidy before moving on to the next step,” Lee Shin replied.
After saying that, Lee Shin chuckled and looked at Vuela and Cigarate.
"Come with me, you two. We will be going straight to the 31st floor," Lee Shin said.
"Lee Shin, let's have a fight before we go," Cigarate asked Lee Shin, full of eagerness.
"We have plenty of time to fight. I'll fight you on the 30th floor, so get ready to go up,” Lee Shin replied.
"What are you going to do with these guys?" Vuela asked, looking at Penser and Jack.
Vuela thought that Penser and Jack would be left behind once Lee Shin and the group started climbing up the tower.
"There are many Earthlings among those who came up this time who won't climb the tower right away," Lee Shin explained.
"Can we trust them?" Vuela asked Lee Shin.
"Yeah, we can trust some of them," Lee Shin replied.
Lee Shin and Jack looked at each other. Jack still seemed confused.
"I’m still not sure if I’m doing the right thing…. Besides, I can’t even tell if Agatha is really alive,” said Jack.
“You’ll find out if you wait a little more,” said Lee Shin. That was all he could say.
Lee Shin did not want to comfort him nor give him hope.
"I won't say thank you yet. But... if I get to meet Agatha, I'll do everything you say,” said Jack.
"Sure," Lee Shin replied.
Lee Shin’s group left, leaving Jack to take care of the rest.
Two days passed, and it was the day when the stage of the 30th floor began. Lee Shin purchased some information from the administrator, but there was nothing useful for him. He was simply told to climb the tower, and so he and his group went up to the 30th-floor stage.
[You have entered the 30th floor.]
[Survive for 15 days on Growth Island.]
[All items you had have been taken away.]
[All stats above 100 are reset to 100.]
[Health Point and Mana Point are reset to 20,000.]
[Hunger strikes at regular intervals.]
[Killing creatures will allow you to acquire abilities with a certain probability.]
As Lee Shin entered the stage, he looked around. The place was surrounded by grass and trees.
"Hmm..."
Lee Shin was wearing ragged clothes and had no weapons.
Whoosh—
Among the trees, a group of small saplings started to shake.
"Come out.” Lee Shin ordered.
At Lee Shin’s cold voice, the movement of the trembling saplings stopped. However, after a short second, a new challenger in the form of a bird with sharp claws flew toward Lee Shin from among the saplings.
"Tsk! Die!" the challenger shouted.
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