Episode 28: Recruitment
《Harvested 2 points of Sin’s Power.》
《Harvested 3 points of Sin’s Power.》
⁝
《Harvested 1 point of Sin’s Power.》
Finally, after accumulating 200 points of Sin’s Power:
《Sin’s Power harvested has reached 200.》
《Remnants of the Dawn Star Stage 1, ‘Wrath’, unlocked.》
《This passive applies to all summons.》
【Remnants of the Dawn Star】
Stage 1: Wrath
Attack power increases by 20%.
Upon accumulating a set amount of damage, enters ‘Berserk’ state, becoming unstoppable for a duration.
Unstoppable: Immune to movement-related debuffs.
The moment the passive activated, the eyes of all my summons glowed red.
***
What in the world was happening?
Hertia hadn’t shown remarkable power until now.
Even through the scouting orb, she seemed far from her full strength.
‘Did she sense me from the start and hide her power?’
Even so, to gamble by holding back against him?
Karmar was livid at being underestimated.
“Hertia, you’re not the only one who can bind foes!”
Karmar channeled mana into the blood pool.
The calm red liquid rippled, and snake-like tendrils shot out, ensnaring the arms and legs of Hertia, Caligo, and the other summons.
“Haha, how’s that! Can’t move now—”
Then, the summons’ eyes blazed red.
They broke free from the tendrils.
《Summons gain Unstoppable buff, ignoring movement-related debuff skills for a set time.》
Freed, Hyun-woo’s summons resumed slaughtering Karmar’s creations.
The creatures fell like trees in a storm, unable to withstand the onslaught.
As his creations died, Karmar felt the damage himself.
After all, they were born of his blood—any harm to them transferred to him.
‘Damn it, not yet! I can still endure…!’
- Lord Karmar! There’s a rift in the space. Are you alright?
His butler Vite’s voice cut through the pain. Karmar bit his lip.
- The warp won’t hold much longer. You must return!
Karmar hesitated.
He could keep fighting, but reason had to prevail.
He hadn’t come here to battle—just to empower Varg.
《The blood pool in Raging Battlefield dissipates.》
Karmar recalled the blood pool.
Hertia and Caligo’s frenzied attacks passed through him harmlessly as he began to fade.
“Running away? Fitting,” Hyun-woo taunted.
“Insolent…!”
Turning to mist from his extremities, Karmar glared at Hyun-woo.
“Tell me your name, human!”
“You already know it.”
“You—!”
Karmar gritted his teeth and roared in fury.
“…Lucifer, you who dare claim that cursed name! I’ll kill you next time!”
Clutching his broken body, Karmar vanished from the battlefield.
《Cleared Floor 60 of the Tower of Strife: Raging Battlefield.》
《Unbelievable record!》
《Clear time: 28:34》
《Broke Clear Time Ranking #1.》
《Clear rank: SSS》
《Broke Clear Rank record.》
***
After the Floor 60 battle, I let out a sigh of relief.
I’d acted confident in front of Karmar, but I was out of cards.
‘To think I’d face Karmar here.’
He still had strength left despite my summons’ coordinated assault.
He’d grown stronger than before, while Hertia and the others were still developing.
If he’d counterattacked, victory wasn’t guaranteed.
‘A longer fight could’ve gone south.’
Now I understood why the monsters had been stronger since Floor 51.
Karmar’s meddling, no doubt.
‘Good thing my bluff worked.’
Still, I got a decent artifact as a reward for defeating him.
【Small Blood Pool】
Description: 20% chance to create a blood pool when striking enemies. The pool binds enemies, rendering them immobile for a set time.
An artifact that Immobilizes foes—one of the harder ones to obtain.
I earned it by overcoming Karmar’s movement-hindering attacks, turning misfortune into fortune.
“Take it, it’s yours.”
“Th-Thank you!”
I handed the artifact to Temina, who has the highest attack frequency.
The unexpected battle had bolstered our strength, but it exposed too many unstable factors.
‘My ability to handle variables is lacking. I need more prep.’
My current party is a single, specialized team built for clearing Floor 100 of the Tower of Strife.
But moving forward, that won’t cut it.
What if Karmar or others pull stunts like this again?
To handle such variables, I need to expand my summon pool.
In short, it’s time to make some serious money.
‘Ascend Management. Time to put it to work.’
I’d publicly declared I’d release my Tower of Strife strategies for free, including summon combinations.
What happens next?
‘The value of those summons will skyrocket.’
So, I’d instructed Ascend Management to buy up the summons used in my strategies in advance, planning to profit from the price surge.
Of course, I’d moderate the prices somewhat.
If newbies can’t afford the summons to build parties after reading my guides, it defeats the purpose.
…Why bother boosting the sponsor’s profits, you ask?
‘Because that company’s mine!’
I can hear it—the sound of money rolling in!
***
At Ascend Management’s office, Son Tae-ha received strategy videos for Floors 11 to 30 from Oh Hyun-woo.
The precision was astounding, but what stood out was the summon combinations tailored to a budget.
How many scenarios had he considered?
“Hyun-woo, how do you know so many combinations?”
“I trimmed them down quite a bit.”
“But these are combos I’ve never seen in my life…”
“That’s the point—so overlooked summons get attention.”
Son Tae-ha reviewed the documents Hyun-woo provided.
They outlined buying up obscure summons used in the strategies and selling them later when prices rose.
“I’ve reviewed the data. But… if you’re aiming for profit, couldn’t we sell at a higher price?”
“You can, but only for Legendary-grade or higher.”
“Sorry?”
“I want to control the price of low-grade summons. I’ll take some profit, but I don’t want to choke newbies.”
“So, high-grade summons…”
“Yeah. Time to kick the butts of those profiting off them.”
Hyun-woo despised the major guilds that hoarded information for exclusive profit.
He’d been a victim of that in the early Cataclysm days.
Even if it meant less profit, he aimed to shatter their dominance.
“You mean…”
“Yes, I plan to dismantle the current adventurer hierarchy.”
“No interest in working with them?”
“Why would I? They’re useless.”
Son Tae-ha was stunned by Hyun-woo’s boldness, yet it didn’t feel like baseless bravado.
The strategies alone justified his confidence.
“There’s another revenue model too.”
“Another one besides this?”
“Yes.”
Hyun-woo grinned.
“Deck consulting.”
“Deck consulting… you’re offering consultation services?”
In any collectible RPG, deck consultants exist.
The more complex the game, the higher the demand.
Now that the game is reality, that demand translates directly to cash.
“Tower strategies are for low-level adventurers, but deck consulting targets those past Floor 50.”
“Oh…”
“Low-level adventurers will climb past 50 using our guides. Then they’ll come to me for consulting.”
“You released the info early to build a client base.”
“Exactly. Accurate info builds trust.”
Son Tae-ha upgraded his assessment of Hyun-woo.
He wasn’t just an exceptional adventurer—he knew how to leverage his value.
“Still, consulting alone might be tight on time. So, I’m thinking of taking on a disciple.”
“A disciple? Part of the guild you’re forming?”
“Exactly. I already have someone in mind.”
“Oh, you’ve got a candidate?”
“Yeah. Looks like he’s here. In-su, come in.”
Hyun-woo turned toward the office door, and a timid young man shuffled in.
“Uh, h-hello! I’m Go In-su.”