Chapter 106 – How A Veteran Trains A Pet (2)

He knew from the moment the gate opened that Anubis would be inside the palace.

As long as that guy was here, he would need to do something, and it would likely be difficult too.

‘As long as the law of the Tower exists. He will not be able to touch me directly.’

Then there would only be one option left to Anubis.

Jin-hyuk began to think.

‘The only trump card Anubis can use to counter me is [Mummy Awakens].’

Against a player who hasn’t even reached the 10th floor, it would be impossible for Anubis to bring out an opponent up to his usual standard.

This would be Anubis’ best option in line with narrowly matching the system’s limits. Once it got to that point, the ending would be easy.

Now that he’s seen the opponent’s cards, it was time to prepare a countermeasure.

After Jin-hyuk manifested the ‘Blessing of the Stars’ and ‘Sword Grave’ at the same time, he also purchased ‘Blood of the Royal Family’ from the coin exchange.

It was an item that boasted the highest efficiency when dealing with a mummy. It had been created to protect the pharaoh or those of royal blood.

In other words, Jin-hyuk was sure it was a perfect counter.

No matter how strong the opponent was, if a countermeasure could be prepared correctly, then the level gap could be fixed.

And the result.

Thud!

Was this.

The mummy was utterly shattered on the ground.

It had collapsed so quickly that it couldn’t even attack properly. A heavy silence fell over the palace.

And moments later, the silence was broken down with exclamations of shock.

“T-this cannot happen…”

“A player on the 6th floor managed to defeat Anubis’ warrior?”

Horus and Osiris were shocked.

This was a result that they hadn’t expected. Even Anubis was not yet able to regain his senses.

“How did this happen…”

Anubis mumbled.

The humiliation he had received on the 1st floor’s underground level. The wound that was caused by the opponent’s tricks when dealing with Pendariel.

The knowledge that he had used them to get a favor from Rick.

He thought he could repay all of the accumulated ill feelings in one go.

But…

The warrior he had prepared with confidence from his side was now on the ground, and the human was still standing stall.

“I will make sure the eggs are given to me properly. Of course, since it is an important item, I should be able to choose it, right?”

Jin-hyuk smiled brightly.

“Stop messing around….!”

“Anubis! You made the promise with your own mouth. You haven’t forgotten that, have you?”

Anubis was about to shout his rejection when Horus stopped him.

A deal was made under the name of the Egyptian Pantheon.

It was also a duel where Rick, who could be considered a manager of the Tower’s middle section, had witnessed a God’s defeat.

This would make them a laughing stock in the face of the other divine mythologies.

“Damn it…”

Anubis cursed under his breath.

He ground his teeth as he growled.

As Anubis tried to calm himself, Horus spoke once more.

“Do keep the promise. The egg of the beast is stored inside, so I will guide you to it. However, keep in mind that you cannot get another egg if you have failed to hatch or tame this one.”

“Of course. I wasn’t expecting any return or refund policy from the world of Gods.”

Jin-hyuk just shrugged with a casual face.

It was as if he didn’t consider the possibility of failure at all.

‘Is this why Rick brought him here?’

Horus nodded at that thought.

He had wondered why Rick, known to be the most strict manager of the Tower, favored this human. After what he had seen today, he could begin to understand it.

And that understanding led to a conviction.

Horus’ eyes turned yellow.

“… if you were to come here properly someday.”

His was a gaze that looked like it could pierce the soul and gaze into the future.

“What do you think? When the time comes. Why don’t you choose to be one of us and become a dweller who rules this floor?”

The suggestion was made lightly, but its contents were anything but.

“Horus!”

“Are you being serious….!

The other two gods reacted the same way. They couldn’t help it.

What Horus had suggested just now had that much impact. It meant that he would be giving Jin-hyuk a choice on what he wanted to do.

Obviously, what Jin-hyuk could do will differ from what Gods could. There was no use denying that fact.

However, Jin-hyuk was a weak human at the moment. What did it mean to give such a voice to a human who was a newbie in the Tower?

But…

“No.”

Jin-hyuk said clearly.

A rejection!

Even Rick, who had been watching silently, was visibly shocked.

It was the first time that he had heard a human being given such an offer and reject it.

Jin-hyuk raised his head with a calm face.

Not this endless desert.

Beyond the sky where the sun was sitting.

[50th floor of the Tower of Trials]
The highest point of the Tower.

It was a place of the last sanctuary where even Gods dared not tread.

“I am sorry, but this isn’t where I belong.”

He had no intention of thinking the offer over.

To see the end of the Tower and conquer it once more.

“I have a higher place to go.”

And he had to be successful.

Of the many players who had played the game.

Being able to climb the end…

Was possible for only him.

A treasure trove was located in the inner parts of the palace.

Treasures collected by the Egyptian Gods were piled up like mountains.

A normal person would be dazzled by the golden statues and jewels strewn about, but Jin-hyuk didn’t even spare them a glance.

What he needed now wasn’t gold or jewels but something even more important and valuable.

At that moment, Rick, who was walking next to Jin-hyuk, said,

“At first, I thought I was giving Mr. Jin-hyuk a rare chance. The opportunity to get to the top of the Tower doesn’t come often.”

Rick’s expression was a bit bitter.

This was probably because his pride had taken a hit.

“However, thanks to Mr. Jin-hyuk, I witnessed a rare sight. That is why I think that not everything can be known in the world.”

A chance to see the egg. It was a kind of item that even the managers wouldn’t usually catch a glimpse of.

This was because a ‘beast’, ‘divine beast’, or ‘spirit beast’ were tricky for even Gods to handle.

And now he was able to see one?

Rick looked at Jin-hyuk with eyes filled with complicated emotions.

‘This is a bit…’

It was hard to react when such burdensome emotions were focused on him.

How many more surprises will this human show him?

‘Come to think of it, I was attracted to an older man once.’

It was true that a single person couldn’t know everything about the world.

Because even Rick couldn’t predict that such a man would appear from the rank of the newbies.

As Jin-hyuk realized the completely reversed relationship dynamic between him and Rick, he felt strange.

And at that moment…

“Here it is.”

Horus, who had been leading the way, stopped.

Ahead of them, they see a place where runes and other ancient languages were spread out like multiple lakers.

Three eggs of different colors, green, red, and black, were placed on a golden altar.

Each egg also had a different form.

“Which one will you take? Ah! I, too, have no idea of what lies inside the eggs, so there is no need to think we are playing around with you.”

“Even if the identity within is known, it is still useless. No matter what gets chosen, unless it is hatched out properly, one wouldn’t be able to do much with it.”

Anubis and Osiris spat out their own comments.

Well, it was understandable that they would be a bit mad. They were already visibly frustrated to even side with Jin-hyuk.

This was fun.

What else could be as amusing as seeing Gods sulk after their plans failed?

‘Pray for hundreds of days, so I perish? It would be faster for the desert to turn into a sea.’

Jin-hyuk didn’t care about their words and felt at ease.

‘First, we need to figure out exactly what the eggs are.’

Firstly the green egg.

[Lv5 ‘Eye of Gluttony’ is activated!]
[Due to the level difference, only some information of the target can be accessed.]
[Green Egg
Name: Grass Spirit Hesimius
Acquisition Difficulty: SS+
Description: … it has healing power and can survive for about 100 days even if the supply of magic from the master is cut off]
Hesimius was a grass spirit specializing in recovery skills… objectively, it wasn’t a bad pet to have.

It could be used as a dedicated healing pack for Jin-hyuk, which meant that he didn’t need a healer. Of course, he could also challenge dungeons at a higher level than his own.

However, he didn’t like the experience of raising this one.

The spirit would not be able to say anything, and no matter what he did, there wouldn’t be much response.

He had raised this once before and felt that growing weeds behind a mountain would be more enjoyable.

Efficiency was one thing, but at least he wanted to nurture it with some affection.

It was no fun if it was too hard.

Jin-hyuk used his skill on the next egg.

[Lv5 ‘Eye of Gluttony’ is activated!]
[Due to the level difference, only some information of the target can be accessed.]
[Red Egg
Name: Fire-Breathing Cat ‘???’
Acquisition Difficulty: SSS
Description: … it can use fire attribute abilities…]
‘I am seeing less and less information.’

It was an unavoidable result because of the increase in acquisition difficulty.

No matter how good his luck and adaptive stats were, there was a limit.

But Jin-hyuk could figure out its identity by remembering a single name.

‘A cat which breathes fire. It is Kiriya.’

This wasn’t a bad option.

Kiriya was among the most favored pets, even in the second half of the Tower. It dealt decent damage and could be considered a secondary damage dealer in a party.

But it came with disadvantages.

Even among the Gods, the story that cats and dogs do not immediately respect their masters but would choose their own was well known/

‘I have to let this go.’

Elise alone was already too much for him to handle. Thankfully, he had tamed her a bit, so she was a bit docile now.

Another relationship between a picky cat and a butler who wanted everything would be a bit too much.

‘It would be nice if the last one is something I can handle…’

Jin-hyuk looked at the black egg.

Please. Oh, God!

‘Starting tomorrow, I will even make donations and not make fun of newbies too!’

Jin-hyuk began to pray for a nice beast he could tame and held his breath.

[Lv5 ‘Eye of Gluttony’ is activated!]
[Due to the level difference, only some information of the target can be accessed.]
[Black Egg
Name: ???
Acquisition Difficulty: ???
Description: … however, it can only be hatched in that way.]
Okay!

Jin-hyuk clenched his fist as he looked at the status window.

He had always wanted to have this.

A pet that had never been obtained before was sleeping inside this black egg.