Chapter 23 – Saintess Of Amsterdam

The owner of the voice was a saint in white armor.

Teresa.

Seeing as she was gasping for breath, it seemed like she had come to help those at the rear after tackling the Dulahans at the front.

Jin-hyuk looked at Teresa with a surprised expression.

‘The Guild should be talking about them alone leaving here…’

He was surprised.

He didn’t think she was given the title of the saint for nothing.

“Can I talk with him for a moment?”

Teresa asked Kim Somi, who was still in shock.

“Uh? Yes! Yes! Sure.”

Kim Somi nodded and jumped up from the ground as she disappeared behind a rock.

As only the two were left, Teresa asked.

“You… you dealt with all the Durahan in the rear?”

A question that was brimming with doubt.

Right, she was bound to be doubtful.

The average rank of a player who came as porters was E or F.

It would be impossible for those level of players to fight like this. Yet he still defeated the Dulahan alone, despite them being monsters B-ranks found challenging to deal with?

It would be absurd to even consider this a coincidence.

“Firstly, I did deal with the Durahans.”

“You are hiding your identity? Why?”

“Everyone has their own personal reasons. Me too…”

Jin-hyuk didn’t end the sentence there and added.

“You too.”

“… what do you…”

Teresa’s eyes fluttered open. There was a slight tremor there that normal people wouldn’t notice.

‘Right. Normal people.’

Jin-hyuk smiled and continued.

“Actually, I didn’t understand it in the beginning. Why did a ranker like you give up on fighting the boss monster and come here? It was hard for me to understand it.”

Attacking a higher floor in the tower guaranteed honors and rewards.

Teresa abandoned that golden chance and chose this ruin raid instead.

Reason?

Was there more than one?

Of course, it would be because the reward she could get here would be more significant than what she would get from defeating the 3rd-floor boss.

And Jin-hyuk knew that.

“Wasn’t this the place chosen for your job quest”

“…!?”

This time Teresa couldn’t even hold her expression. It was as if someone punched her in the face.

‘Very few people know that the ruins were the place for the Paladin’s quest…’

If it was the normal method, the Paladin occupation change quest would only come up on the 6th floor.

But right now, she wanted to be ahead of the others.

Teresa bought the information on the ‘Black Market,’ which was operated by those who had climbed higher than the 10th floor in the Tower of Trials.

Teresa frowned.

‘No way…’

Was this guy also one of the members of the black market?

She had to find out for sure.

Was he simply using the little information that he had?

Or did he know everything?

“That’s correct. I have been hiding it until now because I have to go to the place where the Oath of Apostle John is, but I have not yet figured out exactly where it is.”

Teresa laid bare her purpose and reasoning for coming here.

Of course.

A status window with slightly different contents was in front of his eyes.

[Eye of Truth Activated.]
[Teresa’s statement is ‘False’]
Cute.

‘Are you thinking of fooling me?’

Jin-hyuk smiled.

“It isn’t Apostle John’s but Apostle Peter’s Oath. And it would be a lie to say you don’t already know its location.”

The Oath was somewhere inside, and she already knew its location before even coming here.

She was hesitating because the path to it was probably rather difficult. Thousands of traps more terrible than normal would be there.

Not to mention the over one thousand undead blocking the path.

“You… really know everything.”

Finally, Teresa admitted the truth.

Nice.

Now he can move to the next step.

“Actually, I have a task to do at the Oath’s location. Ah, of course, I am aiming for something other than that.”

“And you want us to work together?”

“I want us to work together.”

He drew a clear line.

“I completely know the location of the traps and how to move around them. Well, it doesn’t matter if you want to move with the Zion Guild players as well. But no matter how lucky you are, everyone will die except for you.”

But that cannot be allowed, right?

For a noble hero who was called the saint.

If she went and said that she had lost all her men and had survived alone, her reputation would be tarnished.

Even if she succeeded in changing her occupation to Paladin, the public reaction would be cold.

“… let me think about it.”

“Anyway.”

Think about it all day.

After all, there was just one conclusion.

‘The oath to you and the rest to me.’

It was only Apostle Peter’s Oath for the paladin wannabe, but Jin-hyuk wanted everything else.

The ‘Frozen Tears’ and the ‘Magic Soul Pill.’

Right, the two best items.

Rather than the relics, he wanted them.

In particular, the Frozen Tears was a crystal considered the essence of magic. When absorbed, it has the effect of greatly increasing the absolute stat value of magic.

‘Raising my magic stat would be one of the top priorities that would help me at the top.’

Although the skills he used now didn’t consume too much magic, he was preparing for the future. As the skill level goes up and fusion using higher level skills are done, the importance of his overall magic stat would increase.

‘Originally, there was no way to break the curse, so I was about to give up…’

He had changed his plan after confirming Teresa’s existence. If Teresa was able to handle divine power, it would be possible to alleviate the cold aura of the Frozen Tears.

“May I ask you one thing before making a decision?”

Teresa, who was worried, opened her mouth

“Go on.”

“Before, the person who killed those sentries and woke the Guardian up… was it you?”

Oh.

She meant to come at him from this angle?

‘Actually, from her point of view, I must look like a suspicious person in the current raid party.’

It was because he was hiding his identity and clearly knew too much. He could explain it to her, but that wasn’t in his character.

And it was annoying.

Jin-hyuk chose a simpler and more straightforward method.

“I understand you are suspicious of me under these circumstances, but that wasn’t me.”

“You expect me to believe this?”

“Yes, above all, the evidence is right in front of us.”

“Evidence? What evidence?”

“If I were the one who woke up the Guardian…”

Think.

“I would have killed you before we even had this annoying conversation.”

That was a much simpler way than explaining things in this world.

Teresa’s action again met with strong opposition.

It was because Song Cheon-hwa, the captain, was terrified and opposed to it.

“Absolutely not! Now we must be together and move ahead as one, not go around solo!”

It was Teresa who was the core of the group. But she wasn’t going to simply back down.

“There is a map up to the 20 km point into the ruins. Everyone knows the strategy. Nothing will change even if I don’t come.”

From the time when the Tower of Trials was just a game until the present after it had become a reality.

After countless attempts, players were able to create maps of the ruins.

At the very least, from the entrance to the 20 km point, a player would be able to proceed with caution and minimal risk.

“Above all, before the battle with the boss, the contract never said we had to unconditionally be under your authority, right?”

“T-that…”

As she said that, Song Cheon-hwa stuttered in his reply. It was because nothing she said was incorrect.

And…

He sighed as he allowed her to act alone.

“Phew. Fine, however, you need to be there when we reach the end of the map.”

“Yes. I will join you by then.”

Teresa nodded her head.

“Ah! And… Can I take a porter with me for help?”

“That.. you can do what you want.”

Song Cheon-hwa roughly waved his hand as if he had no energy.

It was a minor thing, so he gave her permission. The porters who met her gaze trembled.

Accompanying a ranker.

It wasn’t luck.

It was instead a first-class ticket to hell.

‘She is trying to take us to the most filthy place filled with danger, damn it! No one will come back.’

‘Please, please, I cannot.’

‘o not make eye contact with her! She will convince us if we do.’

‘I have a wife and children who I need to feed back home.’

Everyone prayed in earnest.

Please, I hope it isn’t me!

And then…

Teresa pointed to one person among the porters.

It was Jin-hyuk who was nominated, and he agreed to accompany her.

“I don’t know what you are thinking… As someone who has lived close to 50 years, is this love? That’s good. But it is nothing compared to your life!”

“Right! Listen to Captain Kim!”

“No matter how pretty the saint might look! Sigh, youth is the problem. It makes them go crazy.”

The porters were trying to tell him to not go.

It looked like they misunderstood something.

Instead of dating and wasting time, he was the kind to simply focus on climbing up another floor in the tower.

“It isn’t like…”

Jin-hyuk, who was trying to refute them, couldn’t find an opening.

Wait, wait.

They wouldn’t believe him and try to stop him if he told them that he had a reason. Instead, he’ll just say this.

“Actually, Miss Teresa and I have known each other since childhood.”

Set the genre.

And see…

A bit of childhood and mixed melody.

“The ruins contain items to heal Teresa’s family in Europe. At first, I thought of going in alone, but I couldn’t.”

And add some tears. He even pinched his thighs, yet not a single drop came.

Damn it, he was emotionally dry.

“Even if my skills are lacking and I lose my life… I will protect her till the end.”

Love, tragedy, and heroism.

Through this combo.

This trinity of tropes was even recognized at the box office and in classical works like Romeo and Juliet.

The porters now looked at him blankly.

It was as if they remembered something they had forgotten long ago.

“Kang Jin-hyuk you…”

“You’re the man. Damn it. You are a man from the Goguryeo era!”

“Right. Go. Shouldn’t a man protect his childhood friend?”

“Youth is so nice.”

Everyone began to encourage him.

Jin-hyuk and Teresa packed their bags and went straight into the ruins along the tangled road.

Did they move for 5 hours like that?

The two that had separated from the raid team could reach their destination.

‘So well-defended.’

Jin-hyuk slowly observed the formation of the monsters. It was mostly ghouls and skeletons. High-level undead was also here and there.

Durahan… and a Lich that can use magic.

Judging from the magic power, the circle probably wasn’t too strong.

Liches should never be taken lightly, though.

Especially since they could cast debuff or curse spells, there was a chance of getting a fatal injury no matter how strong you were.

Teresa poked Jin-hyuk in the side with her finger.

“There! The Oath is next to it.”

“I saw it too.”

In the center of the circle.

There should be the ‘Oath of Apostle Peter,’ ‘Frozen Tears,’ and ‘Subspace Inventory Combination.’

Now, if the monsters could be killed for a level up…

He will leave it to Teresa.

“Get ready.”

Jin-hyuk was ready to move.

The dagger that was in his hand began to shine red.

“Okay.”

Teresa also raised her sword and shield.

But right then…

Tring!

Suddenly a red status window appeared in front of the two of them.