HRMCT 60

Chapter: 60

Rough breathing.

Hands and feet trembling as if suffering from convulsions.

Vision gradually fading.

All of it represented the state of a human who had long since surpassed their limits.

‘No more….’

Kaaang-!

The sword that had cut down a zombie struck the ground, letting out a sharp metallic sound.

She could no longer even stand while holding 『Black Wing [C]』.

‘This can’t happen.’

There were still many zombies left.

Honestly, there were still too many to even count.

They were vast like an ocean.

No matter how many she killed, cut down, and crushed.

There was no end in sight.

Her sense of time had disappeared long ago.

Her mind was no longer clear enough to even understand the situation.

She simply cut down the closest enemy by instinct.

Even that was no longer easy.

The zombies’ rotten bodies, which had once been shattered with a single strike, could no longer be cut apart with one swing of her sword.

Even tearing through decayed flesh and bones had become a struggle.

“Haah… haah….”

Her legs felt heavy.

The ruined city felt as if it had transformed into a swamp, grabbing onto her legs and sucking her in.

Park Jihoo was the same.

With powerful punches that did not match his timid personality, he had been continuously bursting zombies apart.

But not anymore.

Breathing heavily with his breath reaching the edge of his throat, he was only barely managing to push the creatures away.

Even that was difficult.

If this continued for just a few more minutes.

‘I’ll be swept away.’

Just as Seong Yujin had said before the battle began.

She would be swallowed by the wave of zombies and torn apart completely.

Even knowing that.

There was nothing more Isea could do.

There was no way to recover her stamina, and she could not run away.

Rather.

Rather.

Rather.

A thought suddenly surfaced in her mind.

Isea shuddered at that horrifying assumption and shook her head.

A sacrifice?

She wanted to smash her own head for daring to think such a thing.

Dying with regrets was better than surviving with regrets.

Those were the words she had spoken herself.

It was also her determination.

She could not deny that now.

Nor did she intend to.

She had only complained for a moment because things were simply too difficult.

“Even if I die like this.”

A hundred innocent lives could be saved.

That was enough.

That her efforts had saved people.

That she would not regret her decision because of that.

Even after death, she could say those words.

“Hoop-.”

A shallow breath escaped from lungs that felt like they were about to burst.

Now, even controlling her breathing was difficult.

‘At least Jihoo….’

I have to save him.

Everything that remained.

Even if it was her very life force.

She decided she would burn everything away completely to save Park Jihoo.

Whether it was actually possible or not, she did not know.

Isea struggled to move her foot.

Her body staggered and she nearly collapsed.

Even so, she did not stop.

One step.

Another step.

Cutting down the zombies blocking her path somehow, she slowly moved closer to Park Jihoo.

But….

This was her true limit.

Even though she had only walked a few steps, she could no longer move forward.

Suddenly, it felt as if the ground was rising.

More accurately, Isea was the one falling.

Kwoong-!

The hard asphalt road slammed into her nose.

A sharp pain spread through her, but her chest hurt even more.

‘So this is the end.’

She could feel the approaching zombies.

The rotten stench.

Soon, their rough hands would tear apart her body.

Fear took one large step closer.

But even then, she did not regret her decision.

With her fading vision, she looked at the rotten legs of the creatures approaching her.

‘Even if I die….’

That crazy bastard will take care of what comes after.

At the very least, the survivors hiding in the safe zone would be able to continue living.

Instead of herself, who would fall here.

She comforted herself with that thought and smiled.

“Damn it, you’re still smiling even in this situation.”

At that moment, a familiar voice reached her ears.

The crazy bastard, Seong Yujin.

The moment he appeared, he sliced apart all the zombies that had been slowly approaching Isea.

『Thousand Cuts of Heaven [D]』.

It was the perfect skill for massacring large numbers of weak enemies.

The zombies were unable to block 『Silkworm Thread [C]』 even for a single moment and were cut apart.

“What did you do so well that you’re smiling like that?”

Seong Yujin asked.

But Isea did not answer.

No, it would be more accurate to say she could not.

Right now, she was in a state where she could barely breathe, let alone speak.

“Seriously, you’re so stubborn. How is it? Do you regret not listening to me?”

It sounded like he was mocking her, but it was not.

For some reason, there seemed to be a hint of pride in his voice.

‘It must be my imagination.’

Pride? No way.

There was no way that crazy bastard possessed such emotions.

Isea denied the thought that had flashed through her mind and quickly shook her head internally.

“If you had listened to me, this would’ve already been over and you would’ve been resting on the 10th floor by now.”

Had that much time really passed?

She did not know.

She did not know what time it was anymore.

While Isea tried to estimate the flow of time with her hazy mind, Yujin continued speaking.

“Still, good job. I really didn’t think you’d actually last 24 hours.”

…What?

Strength returned to Isea’s slowly closing eyes.

“I was wrong when I thought you would definitely fail. You kept the words you said yourself.”

At the same time.

■ Quest Complete.

■ Successfully defended the safe zone for 24 hours.

■ Level Up ■ Level Up ■ Level Up

■ Achievement 『Self-Sacrifice』 obtained.

■ Achievement 『Nothing Happened』 obtained.

■ Achievement 『Proof of Conviction』 obtained.

■ Quest Completion Reward: Skill 『Declaration of Sanctuary [C]』 has been granted.

■ Achievement Reward: Item 『Ember of Twilight [C]』 has been granted.

■ Achievement Reward: Item 『White Oath [C]』 has been granted.

■ Achievement Reward: Trait 『Unbreakable Martial Spirit [C]』 has been granted.

“…Crazy.”

She thought she would no longer be able to speak, but she was wrong.

At the notifications of the 【Akasha System】 displayed before her eyes, Isea unconsciously let out an exclamation filled with shock.

Yujin silently closed his mouth, his eyes heavy.

‘What happened?’

The rewards made no sense.

Of course, the difficulty had been high.

This quest, corresponding to the 8th floor, was famous for having caused the most sacrifices in the early stages of the Tower.

Naturally, the rewards were also large.

But he could say with certainty that they were not this good.

The rewards Yujin had received in his first run were less than half of what he had obtained now.

‘Why is there such a difference?’

He asked himself in confusion, but he already knew the answer.

Isea’s stubbornness.

Or rather, her conviction.

Without offering even a single sacrifice, she endured the full 24 hours using only her own strength.

The only difference between Yujin in his first run and now was that.

“Haha.”

Yujin let out a hollow laugh.

He had thought it was nothing more than useless righteousness.

A stubborn obsession that provided no help in climbing the Tower.

People with personalities like the Sword Empress were nothing more than fools who would eventually be used by others and discarded.

It had to be that way.

Because there had never been a single exception.

Wasn’t it only Yujin, who cared about nothing but himself, that had climbed to the end of the Tower and torn apart the apocalypse?

Just looking at that fact, the Sword Empress’s unnecessary kindness had been completely useless.

But he was wrong.

“I was wrong, and that bastard was right.”

At least, that was how the 【Akasha System】 judged it.

The answer was obvious just by looking at the rewards given.

■ 『Dawn [C]』: A spear forged by a master craftsman who reached the pinnacle, containing the sunlight of dawn. A fairly good blade.

■ 『Moonlit Black Divine Robe [C]』: A long robe resembling the night sky. When magic is infused, defense increases greatly. A stealth effect is added at night, and the darker it is, the stronger the effect becomes.

Just these two alone were enough to leave him speechless.

Two C-rank items had appeared.

Normally, even D-rank items were rare below the 10th floor.

Yujin only possessed good equipment because he had climbed the Tower faster than anyone else and obtained countless achievements and opportunities.

Even C-rank items were normally something people could not properly see below the 50th floor.

Yet after clearing just one quest, it gave him two of them?

He continued to laugh bitterly.

Both he and Isea had chosen sacrifice.

‘The only difference is that I sacrificed others, while she sacrificed herself.’

The results were worlds apart.

Yujin still believed that the efficient method was the correct answer.

However, he began to think that sometimes, reckless righteousness might actually be the better choice.

“Damn.”

He clicked his tongue.

The disgusting taste of zombie blood remained in his mouth, so he spat it out.

“Yeah, this time, you were right.”

He looked at Isea, who was unconscious and sprawled on the ground.

“Thinking about how smug you’ll be makes me annoyed.”

How much would she brag once she woke up?

Just imagining it made his head hurt.

“Are you okay?”

There was no reason to continue thinking about troublesome matters, so he turned toward Park Jihoo, who was catching his breath behind him, and asked.

“Ah, y-yes.”

The guy was a complete mess.

Unlike Isea, who swung a sword, he had fought in close combat wearing only a poor-quality gauntlet.

There was no way his body could remain intact.

Naturally, the skin all over his body was torn and split.

If zombies had been contagious like in movies, Park Jihoo would have become one of them long ago.

“You probably received decent rewards too, right?”

“Yes, th-that’s right.”

Park Jihoo quickly nodded.

“Did you happen to get a weapon?”

No matter how he looked at it, the gauntlet Park Jihoo was currently using was far too poor.

It was the lowest grade, and it had no special options.

It was nothing more than slightly durable.

Yujin asked just in case.

“No. There wasn’t a weapon item.”

“Tsk.”

It would have been nice if he had gotten at least one.

“You’re pretty unlucky too.”

If he had gotten even a single D-rank gauntlet, Park Jihoo’s combat power would have increased dramatically.

“B-but I got armor instead.”

“Hm? Armor?”

“Yes. It’s called 『Dragon Slayer Armor [C]』.”

“Oh!”

Yujin’s eyes widened slightly.

He had heard of this item in his first run.

An armor worn by someone other than the War Demon.

‘It was Gideon, right?’

One of the Ten Evils, the Mad Dragon Emperor.

It was the armor worn by that insane pleasure-seeking murderer until he was killed by the Sword Empress’s blade.

And now it had fallen into Park Jihoo’s hands.

“You got something good. If you use it properly, it’ll be very useful.”

He was not saying it casually.

『Dragon Slayer Armor [C]』 was actually considered the best C-rank armor among those who favored heavy armor.

Meaning there was no equipment comparable to it up to the 50th floor.

‘Now, if he only gets a weapon….’

It seemed like they would not need to worry about equipment for a while.

“Good.”

Yujin nodded with a satisfied expression.

Because of Isea and Park Jihoo’s choices, they had obtained something far greater than what they originally would have received.

The things ahead would inevitably become easier.

Especially the third quest.

“This one’s a piece of cake.”

Along with Yujin’s quiet mutter, the final quest was given.