Chapter 97 – Gray Temple (1)

The ‘Gray Temple’ was located on the 3rd floor.

At the entrance of this place, there was a priest who managed the temple and was in charge of helping the players on their job quests.

Could it be said that it was the most active ‘exchange agency’ within the Tower?

Most of the players received their quest about their first job from the priest here and would finish the quest while walking around the Tower.

But…

Entering the temple was a different story. One of the most terrifying monsters of Greek mythology was trapped inside.

A place boasting the extreme difficulty of annihilating raids more than 20 times.

[Medusa’s Lair]
That was the labyrinth that the Fathers of Fighting and Jin-hyuk had decided to attack.

At that moment.

Woong!

With a dazzling light, white light flashed from the sky and fell to the ground.

The spatial movement skill had been activated.

“Phew. We are here.”

The mage-type player announced as they arrived at their destination.

“Thank you. I was comfortable because of you.”

Jin-hyuk briefly expressed his thanks. He was being sincere.

It took him only a few seconds to move to a place that usually would have taken 12 hours if he had traveled normally. Looking at this, he understood why most players went after the mage-type jobs.

Of course, he had no intention of doing that.

‘Well, I can just copy the skills.’

He could fuse all the skills and abilities, so there was no reason to learn magic from scratch, right?

Can’t he just copy it from the mage in front of him?

But, after checking the copy conditions, Jin-hyuk groaned.

[Copy Condition: Height 160 cm and weight 107kg. A man with severe hair loss and has been single for 38 years. The only thing always with him is a female crucian carp in a fishbowl. Find him a life companion. If successful, you can copy one of his skills.]
Gulp.

Jin-hyuk gulped.

“…”

In an instant, several candidates had popped into his mind, but no one seemed perfect for this.

‘It will be easier to fight an enemy.’

Or surviving a Dragon’s Breath. This could arguably be the most challenging copy condition thus far.

Jin-hyuk touched his forehead.

Yoo Yeon-hwa… if he introduced her to him, would things work? Her grandfather would probably turn into his enemy.

Furthermore, he would get an uppercut from Yoo Yeon-hwa.

Jin-hyuk felt a cold sweat run down his spine at the thought of being hit with her immense strength.

Teresa wasn’t good at rejecting, so she might accept it, but it felt like he would suffer for life from the guilt.

Elise… let’s not bother with her. He didn’t feel like risking his life for the sake of one skill.

Well, what cannot be done has to be abandoned.

‘Let’s give up on this.’

Jin-hyuk gave up, and then.

“You are here.”

Kim Gitae and a dozen men and women who sensed the spatial movement approached. All of them emanated strong magic.

They were the 2nd raid group of their guild.

`Indeed, this time. It seems like they too have brought out their best.’

There were a total of 11 raid groups in their guild. Among them, it was unusual for the first and second groups, their main parties, to be called up.

This was because they weren’t consumable resources that could be abandoned.

“Haha. It is an honor to meet you. Player Kang Jin-hyuk. I am Lee Young-kwon, the captain of the 2nd raid group.”

A man with brown hair approached him.

Looking at the shield on his back and the heavy-looking ax, this player seemed to be both a tank and a damage dealer.

Jin-hyuk narrowed his eyes. If it was Lee Young-kwon…

It was a name he’s heard of.

‘It is the guy who appeared on TV when Elise and I grilled some intestines.’

A player who had played a prominent role in the Gladiator Arena on the 5th floor. He was among those who ranked among the world-class guilds who achieved the ‘freedom’ clear condition by winning the championship.

Lee Young-kwon had climbed to the top position. He could not be pushed around by strong enemies.

From team battles to his ability to coolly control people, he had been captain of their 5th raid team and promoted to captain of one of the main raid teams in one go.

This was the first time Jin-hyuk could evaluate this man’s ability.

“I am Kang Jin-hyuk. Please look after me.”

“No. We should be kind to you. Personally, I watch every single viewtube of yours.”

Lee Young-kwon smiled brightly.

The rest of the players behind him also began to speak.

“I am Ha Yeonsu, who is a sub-dealer. This labyrinth is difficult, but it is reassuring with player Kang Jin-hyuk here.”

“If there is a player Kang in the raid, it feels like a labyrinth will be easy.”

“I-I am the main healer of the raid. Could you please take a picture with me? My friends didn’t believe me when I said you were coming to this raid…”

“Wow! The actual real one…”

“Can I take the picture with my arms holding yours?”

It was like meeting a celebrity. Everyone tried their best to talk to him; some even asked for his number.

‘This is no fan meeting.’

Jin-hyuk had a troubled expression at the excessive interest being shown in him. He had thought they would all be prideful, considering they belonged to the 2nd raid team of the 2nd largest guild in Korea.

It seemed like they could throw anything to the side to connect with top-ranking players.

Just then, Kim Gitae chimed in.

“The nominal captain is Lee Young-kwon, but I will leave all the decisions up to you. All the by-products that come inside can also be taken by you. Just one thing. Please succeed in clearing it.”

In a word, take everything but give us the title of clearing the labyrinth.

That was the best-case scenario for them. It was more important for them to raise the name of their guild even if they had to give up their pride and profits.

The weight of being second in Korea wasn’t light.

‘I was planning to smack them on the back of their heads if they were greedy.’

But this changed things.

“Alright. On that condition.”

Jin-hyuk nodded his head.

“Then, as soon as the preparations are complete, we will enter the labyrinth. If you, Player Kang Jin-hyuk, have anything to do, please finish it now.”

“How long will you give me?”

“Around 30 minutes.”

30 minutes.

That much was enough.

Another purpose for coming here was the 1st job quest.

Priests in white robes could be seen in the stone building inside the temple.

Jin-hyuk moved towards them.

“Welcome, stranger. You are someone I hadn’t seen till now.”

An old-looking priest addressed him.

“I came here because of my first job change. I heard that we can receive job-related quests here.”

“If that is why you came here, then you came to the right place. To become stronger, one needs to have a job that suits them. Well then, let me ask you. What direction are you pursuing? If it is a swordsman, then look at this. If it is magic, then a mage, a tank, or a healer who protects his allies?”

The priest flicked his finger lightly.

Right.

[Occupations are being shown]
An incredibly long list appeared.

‘Because the view of the real world is insanely large.’

There were countless jobs in the Tower. What the priest said was just a minor preview of this list. In addition to those, he could also choose many unpopular and hidden jobs.

Of course, certain conditions must be met.

But…

“Um. But these are only jobs that are no fun.”

Jin-hyuk mumbled while looking bored.

Swordsman, mage, healer, archer, etc.

He had been fighting against players and monsters who had already done their first quest.

To take an occupation, one must know their unique abilities, skills, strengths, and weaknesses.

‘It is good to climb the Tower.’

The future of mankind depended on the conquest of the 50th floor. It would hurt his mouth to even talk about how important it was.

But on par with it, no, perhaps even more important was the thrill and fun.

‘If everything’s the same, it’d just be boring.’

The DNA of a veteran demanded new stimuli to keep them interested in the world again.

In that sense, Jin-hyuk wanted to pick a new job.

“Sort by the popularity in reverse order.”

As he said that, the list was displayed in reverse.

Artist.

Angler.

Novelist.

Barrier User.

Engraver.

They were professions that were unsuitable for combat or were difficult to grow. Naturally, they weren’t popular with players since half of the jobs were untouched.

‘Hmm…’

Jin-hyuk stroked his chin. He had to find one which suited his taste.

‘All but two are art related.’

Artists and novelists weren’t bad choices but difficult to grow.

A masterpiece novel that would go down in history? Sure, that sounded nice.

But wouldn’t he have to invest years in doing that? Before that, mankind would be destroyed, or the Tower would be conquered by someone else.

And Engraver… he didn’t want to choose it for a number of reasons. He had a hunch that a great one would appear soon.

And his worries didn’t last long.

“Barrier User. I will do this.”

Jin-hyuk decided.

“B-Barrier User as the first job? Are you serious?”

The priest was startled and asked him for confirmation. Until now, many players had clung to him for conditions of hidden job quests, but this was the first to touch an unpopular one.

Of course, he was shocked.

However, Jin-hyuk nodded once more.

“Yes. Unpopular and difficult to deal with. It is just what I want.”

The field of barriers was complicated.

‘For me, who is learning ancient runes and the elven language, this can be a nice challenge to me.’

Most of all, it would be fun to tease Chun Yuseong.

It will be fun to play with barriers against his sword.

‘Because that guy’s well versed at it too.’

Right.

This was the biggest reason.

“… I understand. The choice is yours.”

The priest reluctantly handed him a black scroll.