HHDT 21

Chapter 21

“Resurrection?”
“Yes.”

Until now, the elf showed no sign of surrender,
but the keyword ‘resurrection’ caught her deep interest.

“Entities belonging to the Manmajeon will resurrect 24 hours after death inside the Tower.”
“Manmajeon…?”
“It’s the place you belong to once you bow.”
“…So that means I become bound to you?”
“Well, something like that.”
“Bound… that sounds a bit…”

The elf murmured awkwardly,
then the goblin chief licking his blade spoke up.

“Kihehe… Do you know how merciful the Cheonma is?
He has given us a home and possibilities to grow.
It’s far better than being meaningless illusions inside the Tower!”
“A home…?”
“Yes! Moreover, the Cheonma only commands us goblins to work eight hours instead of 22!
If you are an orc, you should know how merciful that is!”
“Eight hours…? For goblin slaves?”

The elf looked at Lee Kanghan in surprise.

“Chiik… I can’t believe it! Are you a pushover?
How can you only make goblins work that little, especially resurrecting goblins?”
“Kihehehe! That’s why the Cheonma is the best master!
We can’t help but worship him!”

Lee Kanghan smiled wryly, surprised at being called a pushover for making them work just eight hours.

• “Is working eight hours really that surprising?”

• “Maybe in the goblin industry, yeah lol”

• “Well, since the chief was ready to throw goblins away, it makes sense…”

• “But can Manmajeon really do that?”

• “Cheonma is playing a different game — how is this E-rank?”

• “I heard the traits are being taken away soon lol”

Viewers again realized how broken the Cheonma’s ability was.
Not only commanding monsters but having extra content like this.
As rumors about time limits spread,

“…Chiik. You want me to bow so I belong to Manmajeon, right?”
“Yes.”
“There are two conditions.”
“What conditions?”
“You only have to bow this once.”
“Okay.”

Once bound, bowing again only reduces the cooldown of Cheonma’s technique,
so no need to make her bow repeatedly.

“What’s the other condition?”
“Chiik… you have to bring me orcs to Manmajeon, like that goblin chief.”

She asked for orcs to be brought in?

‘That’s a welcome for me.’

Even though she looks like an elf, if she brings orcs too,
there would be three species in Manmajeon.
Having diverse species would help Manmajeon grow
and strengthen Cheonma’s traits.

“Okay. But orcs don’t understand me, so you interpret and make them bow. Then I’ll bind you to Manmajeon.”
“Got it. So… how do I do that?”

When Lee Kanghan moved off her body,
the silver-haired elf didn’t run but looked at him.
Her red eyes shone clearly.
From her neck down, red tattoos were visible.

• “Oh, silver-haired elf is pretty!”

• “But why so many tattoos on the neck? Shouldn’t her face be clean?”

• “Summoning elves at Iron? Lucky lol”

• “Nope, she’s an orc”

She calls herself an orc but shows no orc traits on her face.
As she stared blankly at Lee Kanghan,
he nodded to the goblin chief.

“Show her an example.”
“Yes! Cheonmacheonsei! Manmaangbok!”

The goblin chief slammed his head on the floor loudly.
The elf watched closely, then said,

“…I’ll only do it once, as promised.”
“Good. No more.”

She bowed weakly.

“Cheonmacheonsei, Manmaangbok…”

• “Why does she sound like a mosquito lol”

• “Totally different from goblin chief lol”

• “100 loyalty vs 0 loyalty”

• “Still worth getting an elf summon though”

The goblin chief and the elf were completely different extremes.
Still, she bowed, and a message popped up:

[‘Named entity subdued.’]
[Opponent did not fully surrender. Cheonma technique will not be strengthened.]
[You can register the opponent in Manmajeon.]
[Register ‘Half-blood Elf Karana’ in Manmajeon? (51/10,000)]

When subduing the goblin chief fully, the technique duration increased.
This time, since the elf bowed in a deal,
the Cheonma technique wasn’t strengthened.

‘Still, half-blood… so she must be related to orcs somehow.’

Though she looks like an elf, it’s strange.
Lee Kanghan clicked ‘yes’ to register her.

Then,

Flare…!

“Ugh…”

The elf’s forehead burned,
and the character 魔 (‘magic/demon’) was engraved there.

[‘Half-blood Elf Karana’ registered in Manmajeon.]

“Manmajeon… is this what it is?”

The message appeared in the air.
Karana looked ahead.
Then,
flash!
The glowing character on her forehead flickered.
Whoosh!
Her whole body was drawn into it.

‘Let’s check if she entered well.’

Lee Kanghan opened Manmajeon’s feature.

‘Far from the goblin territory.’

Most of Manmajeon was covered in darkness.
Far from the goblin’s territory,
the SD version of Karana looked around cautiously.
Lee Kanghan clicked her.

[Half-blood Elf Karana]
[Status: fanaticism, delusion, curiosity, confusion, healing in progress…]

Karana’s status was shown.

‘Fanaticism, delusion?’

That probably means she blindly believes Lee Kanghan,
or maybe believes she’s an orc (delusion).
Lee Kanghan guessed so.

Then, three commands appeared below her:

[Summon]
[Worship]
[Exile]

Since she said bowing was only once, worship won’t work anyway.

‘If I meet orcs upstairs, I’ll summon them and make her interpret.’

Lee Kanghan thought so and closed Manmajeon.

“Then I’ll go up first, follow me.”
“Yes! Ah, but Cheonma, wait a moment…”

The goblin chief handed Lee Kanghan a piece of gold.

“This is gold harvested earlier!”
“From the orcs’ bodies?”
“Yes! I’ll offer it to Cheonma!”

Harvesting gold by butchering monsters — strange but useful.
Lee Kanghan opened his palm.
The gold piece dropped,
then a white light swallowed it.

[200 TP obtained.]

“Oh. Got 200 TP.”
“I’ll harvest more next time and give it all to Cheonma!”
“Good. That’s the spirit.”

Not a lot, but a nice side income from the goblin chief’s monster butchering.

• “Chief butchered quickly and earned 260,000 won lol”

• “Summoning more mobs will be more profitable”

• “Is the summoner broken? Monsters make money lol”

• “No, the Cheonma is broken, not the summoner”

‘Next time I’ll tell them to mine gold from the start.’

Lee Kanghan thought and took the portal upstairs.

In the middle of the path, five orcs guarded the way.

‘Good.’

Lee Kanghan summoned Karana.

“Chiik… already found them?”

Karana in her hood glared at the orcs.

“Cheonmacheonsei Manmaangbok… If I make them say this, right? Chiik!”
“Yes. Interpret and order.”
“Got it.”

She stepped forward.

“Chiik. Chiik…”

Karana started talking with the orcs.
She clearly gave orders including Cheonmacheonsei Manmaangbok.
But

“Chiik?”
“Kuruuk, kuruuk!”

The orcs didn’t seem obedient.

• “What are they saying now?”

• “Elf and orc chiik sounds unbalanced lol”

• “Orc chiik is normal but elf acting like that is weird”

Viewers couldn’t understand the orcs but felt the vibe.
Lee Kanghan, who registered Karana, could now understand their talk.

• “I am Karana, descendant of the Gerushu Empire’s royal family and disciple of the Grand Sorcerer. Order: Bow to me saying Cheonmacheonsei Manmaangbok!”

• “…What the elf say? Crazy?”

• “Get lost, elf!”

When the goblin chief persuaded goblins before, some obeyed, some disobeyed.
But for Karana, no orcs accepted her as an orc.
Indeed, except speaking orc language, she didn’t look or behave like one.

“Hey, I think they’re disobeying you.”
“What? How do you know?”
“Since you’re bound, I understand what they say. I’ll just threaten with fists.”
“Chiik… No, wait! I’ll try my way!”

What? Don’t want to hit your own kind?
She at least has orc identity.
Lee Kanghan thought so first, but then

“You don’t recognize me? You’re really out of it…”

Karana took a small bell from her sleeve.
Jingle, jingle!
She shook it in front of them.

Then,

“What…?”
“My body!”

Orcs’ skin quickly turned red.

“Obey! Bow to me and shout Cheonmacheonsei Manmaangbok!”

As Karana ordered,
red orcs began bowing one by one toward Lee Kanghan.

“Cheonmacheonsei… Manmaangbok…”

Their soulless voices slowly repeated the phrase.
One by one, orcs #1, #2 began to be subdued.

“Ku… Kurukkuruk!”

The last orc, who bowed slowly,
suddenly swelled up and exploded.

“Chiik… Sadly, he didn’t inherit the glory of the empire!”

Karana lamented sincerely.
Of course,

‘…But didn’t she cause it?’

Since she rang the bell and changed them, the orc explosion was her fault.
Yet she acted like that?
Lee Kanghan thought,
‘She might be worse than the goblin chief.’

He said to Karana,

“Now that the orcs are subdued, let’s clear this floor. We’ve wasted enough time.”
“Chiik… Got it, Cheonma. The orcs bound to you will resurrect, right?”
“Yes, they will.”

Lee Kanghan answered and ran full speed along the path.

• “?? Took too long?”

• “Serious speedrun fail again today?”

• “Cheonma should watch how others climb the Tower — seriously.”

• “Compared to others, Cheonma is like a shorts video lol”

Viewers mocked Lee Kanghan for saying he took too long,
but he was worried.

‘I must get SSS+ this time.’

Time is important in Tower clear ratings.
So he rushed and entered the 10th floor clear portal.

[Iron Tower No.4 Results are being tallied…]
[Cleared Tower within 1 hour.]
[Defeated more than 10 orcs.]
[Encountered hidden named character, ‘Half-blood Elf Karana’.]

[Clear Rating – SSS+]
[Based on rating, clear rewards are given.]
[SSS rank and above receive special rewards.]

‘Good. Back to SSS+.’

While Lee Kanghan was pleased with the rating,

[‘Half-blood Elf Karana’ has been subdued.]
[A new choice is available in special rewards.]

‘Choice?’

Unlike before,
another message popped up.