The Ascension : A New Beginning (Solo Leveling x Tower of God) [ON A HIATUS]

Chapter 16 : Hope And Despair

After the short meeting with the Director, the regulars finally reached the main location for the test. As per the instructions, Bam and Rachel got inside the shinsu bubble and were moved inside the wine glass through a separate route. Ho, despite his injury, had to take part in the test as well and decided to move with the rest of the regulars. Everyone regrouped into different teams and split away, each team with their own role.

The spearbearers along with Hatz and Ho were sent to monitor the movements of the barnacle goblins. Their role was to get rid of the worms when the time comes, thereby removing the chances of them interfering with the activity of the net dolphins.

Lauroe, was teamed up with Sunwoo Narae (One of the scouts) and Cheonhwa (One of the fishermen). Their role was to locate and reroute the striped ground pigs into attacking the goblins.

Khun and the remaining lightbearer had their usual job - Relaying information from and to the different teams involved. Khun himself acted as the brain of the entire operation.

Finally the team of Jinwoo, Shibisu, Anak and Endorsi were instructed to keep a close watch on the net dolphins, and to protect them in case the bull appears.

**********

"Shibisu, any movements on your end?" Khun asked through his pocket.

"Nope. So far everything's going smoothly. The dolphins do seem a bit slow, but that's to be expected." Shibisu relayed back.

"What about Jinwoo and those two princesses? Are they still with you?"

"I am still here." Jinwoo responded from the side. "But the same can't be said for the two princesses."

"...They ran away to look for the bull themselves, didn't they?" Khun let out a sigh. "I don't know what I was expecting..."

"Atleast they are acting a bit more like siblings now..." Jinwoo had a faint smile, thinking about his sister Jinah and all the stuff they used to get into when they were kids. 'I wonder how she is doing right now...'

"Khun, wouldn't it have been a better idea if Jinwoo were to move with one of the other teams?" Shibisu asked him. "For all we know, the bull might not even make an appearance. So wouldn't concentrating all of our heavy hitters at this single location be a little wasteful of utilising their potential?"

"Yeah, I am aware." Khun replied after a short pause. "Maybe I am being a little paranoid, but I get the feeling that the bull will most definitely make an appearance."

"... And so you decided to put me here as well? Me? The weakest member of our team?" Shibisu lamented.

"Don't worry. I'll take of the funeral, if it does happen." Khun replied in a flat voice.

"..."

Jinwoo merely stood at a distance, looking at the ongoing interaction between the two with amusement. A fact he noticed was how much he had bonded with most members of the team, despite being around them for only a little over a month.

'They are a lively bunch, that's for sure...'

Taking his attention off the conversation, Jinwoo opened the system interface to look at more details regarding the newest quest he received earlier.

[Main Quest : The Submerged Fish Hunt

Although avoidable, you have decided to take part in the exceedingly difficult test that was issued by the administrator of the floor. Pass the test inorder to continue climbing up the tower.

Rewards: C-Rank Equipment Box, Nightshroud Robe]

'Kinda weird that the system knows almost everything that's going on here.' He thought to himself. 'Come to think of it, if it's a system... Does that mean it has some sort of operator?'