MDPS 28

Episode 28

My Dark History is Too Strong

Recruitment

《You have harvested 2 units of the Power of Sin.》
《You have harvested 3 units of the Power of Sin.》
⁝
《You have harvested 1 unit of the Power of Sin.》

And at last, the moment I harvested a total of 200 units of the Power of Sin—

《You have reached 200 units of harvested Power of Sin.》
《Remnant of the Morning Star, Stage 1 ‘Wrath,’ has been unlocked.》
《This passive is applied to all summoned creatures.》

【Remnant of the Morning Star】

• Stage 1: Wrath

  • Attack Power increases by 20%.

  • After taking a certain amount of accumulated damage, the ‘Berserk’ state is triggered, granting immunity to interruption for a set duration.

  • Unstoppable: Immune to movement-related debuffs.

The instant that passive activated, the eyes of all my summons glowed crimson.

What in the world was happening?

Up until now, Hertia had shown no particular ability.
Even when viewed through the Orb of Scrying, it looked like she had not yet fully regained her power.

Did she notice me from the beginning… and hide her strength all this time?

Even so, to gamble by holding back against him—
Karmar was furious at being underestimated.

“Hertia. You’re not the only one who can bind your opponent’s movements!”

Karmar poured mana into the pool of blood beneath him.
The once-calm red liquid quivered, and snake-like crimson lines shot out.
They wrapped around the arms and legs of Her, Caligo, and the other summons.

“Haha! How’s that? You won’t be able to move a musc—”

But at that moment—
A crimson gleam flared in the eyes of Oh Hyun-woo’s summons.
They tore apart the blood tendrils that had sprung from the pool.

《Your summons have received the ‘Unstoppable’ buff and will ignore movement-related debuffs for a certain time.》

Now freed, Hyun-woo’s summons resumed their massacre of Karmar’s creations.
The blood creatures could not withstand the onslaught and fell like trees in a storm.
As the creatures he had crafted from his own blood died, Karmar’s body also began to suffer.

For they were his blood-born creations—any damage they took rebounded to their master.

Damn it, not yet! I can endure this much…!

— Lord Karmar! The space is beginning to fracture. Are you unharmed?

Through the pain, his butler Vité’s voice came.
Karmar bit his lip.

— The warp won’t last much longer. You must return quickly.

He hesitated for a moment.
He could continue the fight, but rational judgment was needed.

His purpose here had never been battle.
He had come only to share a fragment of power with Barg.

《The Pool of Blood disappears from the raging battlefield.》

Karmar retracted the pool of blood.
The rampaging Hertia and Caligo slashed at him, but their attacks passed harmlessly through his body.

“Running away? Fitting.”

“You arrogant—!”

His body began dissolving into mist from the edges.
Staring at Hyun-woo with bloodshot eyes, Karmar demanded:

“Name yourself, human!”

“You already know.”

“You dare, to the very end—!”

Grinding his teeth, Karmar roared in fury:

“…Lucifer! You dare utter that cursed name…! Next we meet, I will kill you without fail!”

Clutching his broken body, Karmar vanished from the battlefield.

《You have cleared the Tower of Fierce Battle, Floor 60: ‘Raging Battlefield.’》
《Unbelievable record!》
《Clear Time: 28 minutes 34 seconds》
《You have set a new Rank 1 clear time!》
《Clear Rating: SSS》
《You have set a new record for highest clear rating!》

With the 60th-floor battle finished, I let out a sigh of relief.
I had bluffed with bravado before Karmar, but in truth, I was out of cards.

Never thought I’d run into Karmar here…

Even after suffering the combined assault of my summons, he still had strength left.
He had certainly grown stronger than before.

Meanwhile, Hertia and the others were still mid-growth.
If he had counterattacked, victory would not have been certain.

A prolonged fight might have gone badly for me.

Now I understood why the monsters had grown stronger from Floor 51 onward.
Karmar’s handiwork, no doubt.

Good thing my bluff worked.

Still, the spoils of his retreat left me a fine artifact.

【Lesser Pool of Blood】

• Effect: 20% chance to create a blood pool when striking an enemy. The pool binds the target, rendering them immobile for a set duration.

An artifact that immobilizes foes—rare and useful.
But obtaining it required overcoming Karmar’s movement-sealing attacks.
Truly a blessing in disguise.

“Take it. I grant this to you.”

“Th-thank you!”

I handed the artifact to Temina, whose multi-hit attacks would make best use of it.

It was good to strengthen our forces, but the fight had highlighted too many uncertainties.

We lack flexibility against unexpected variables. More preparation is needed.

My current party was designed for one purpose:
Clearing the 100th floor of the Tower of Fierce Battle.

But if Karmar—or others—kept meddling like this?
I would need a wider pool of summons to adapt.

Which meant, inevitably—money.

Time to make real use of Ascend Management.

Previously, I had declared I would distribute my “Tower of Fierce Battle Strategy Guide” for free.
Including the summon combinations I used.

And what would happen next?

The value of those summons would skyrocket.

So, I had already told Ascend Management to pre-purchase those summons.
The plan: profit from the price surge.

Of course, I’d regulate prices to some extent.
If beginners couldn’t afford the necessary summons, the whole plan would fall apart.

…Why boost the sponsor company’s profits too, you ask?

Because that company is mine!

Ah, I can already hear it—the sound of money flowing in!

Ascend Management Office

Son Tae-ha received Hyun-woo’s video guides for Floors 11 to 30.

Not only were the strategies meticulous, but the summon lineups were tailored to match adventurers’ budgets.
How many possible variations had he accounted for?

“Hyun-woo, how do you even know so many combinations?”

“I trimmed it down, actually.”

“No, I’ve never even seen some of these combos before…”

“That’s the point. The summons that used to be dirt-cheap will finally get attention.”

Son Tae-ha scanned the documents Hyun-woo provided.
The plan was simple: buy up underused summons featured in the guide, then resell once prices rose.

“I’ve reviewed everything. But… if profit’s the goal, why not sell them for even higher?”

“You can, but only with Legendary grade and above.”

“Pardon?”

“I want to keep the lower-tier summons affordable. I’ll take profit too, but I don’t want to choke out beginners.”

“Ah, so high-tier summons are fair game…”

“Exactly. Time to kick those parasites making a living off monopolies.”

Hyun-woo had long despised the big guilds that hoarded info and exploited others.
He himself had been a victim of that at the start of the Great Cataclysm.

Even if it meant yielding some profit, he intended to crush their monopoly.

“So what you’re saying is…”

“Yes. I plan to dismantle the adventurer society’s power structure.”

“No thought of cooperating with them?”

“Why would I? They’re useless.”

Son Tae-ha was stunned by Hyun-woo’s audacity.
But it wasn’t baseless confidence—his strategies backed him up.

“And besides, I have another revenue stream.”

“There’s more?”

“Yes.”

Hyun-woo smiled brightly.

“Deck consulting.”

“…Consulting? You mean, advising adventurers on their summon decks?”

In any collectible RPG, players sought out experts to review their decks.
The more complex the game, the greater the demand.

Now that the game had become reality, that demand could be turned directly into money.

“The Tower guides are a service for low-level adventurers.
Deck consulting will target adventurers who’ve reached at least Floor 50.”

“Ah…”

“And thanks to our guides, low-level adventurers will quickly climb past Floor 50.
Then they’ll come to me for consulting.”

“You’ve seeded information ahead of time to generate future clients.”

“Yes. And because the info is accurate, they’ll trust me all the more.”

Son Tae-ha’s evaluation of Hyun-woo rose again.
He wasn’t just a skilled adventurer.
He knew exactly how to measure and leverage his value.

“Still, consulting will take a lot of your time. Can you manage alone?”

“That’s why I plan to raise a disciple.”

“A disciple? As in, talent recruitment for your future guild?”

“Correct. In fact, I already have someone in mind.”

“Oh? You’ve already chosen?”

“Yes. And it seems he just arrived. In-su, come in.”

Hyun-woo turned toward the office door.

A shy young boy stepped inside.

“H-hello! My name is Go In-su.”