Chapter 91: Diagnosis Complete

Thin but long, as if nature had frozen a reed—something that snapped as cleanly as an icicle breaking.

Its name was the Blowgun.

It was everything to the Goblin Chieftain.

‘I didn’t know before. Without that blowgun, this bastard is nothing.’

The Master Orc was a martial artist type whose entire body was a weapon.

That’s why it took cutting off one of each of his limbs before he could finally be subdued.

In contrast, the Goblin Chieftain was like a soldier with a rifle.

The reason Revan was able to decisively bring down the Goblin Chieftain, who had reached Phase 3, was all thanks to a lucky blow that sent the blowgun flying during the fight.

Revan swung the Black Iron Rod again at the half-broken blowgun spinning through the air.

Kaang!!

A satisfying, crisp impact.

Just like knocking a baseball far away, Revan sent the broken blowgun flying into the distance.

Then he grabbed hold of the remaining blowgun still attached to the Goblin Chieftain and shouted.

“Grip!!”

[Grip is activated.]

With the skill’s activation, Revan seized both of the Goblin Chieftain’s hands and the frozen blowgun with a powerful grasp.

Now Revan looked like he was hanging from the Goblin Chieftain, using the broken blowgun as a support.

It wasn’t ridiculous.

After all, this was exactly what he’d intended when he leapt in.

After pulling with his left hand to make sure his glove was securely fixed, only then did Revan raise the Black Iron Rod once more.

“Thunder Strike.”

[Thunder Strike is activated.]

Kwaaaaaang!!

Thunder roared.

Blue sparks crashed over the Goblin Chieftain’s head like a tidal wave.

But that was not the end of the impact.

It was only the beginning.

Using the Master Orc’s clenched fist as a foothold, Revan began hammering madly, like driving a nail into a wall.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Kaang!!

Regular, yet strangely irregular.

The relentless barrage, struck without a single breath, was filled with the desperate wish to crack the enemy’s skull open.

The Goblin Chieftain, realizing Revan’s intent a moment too late, thrashed about trying to shake him off.

“Hold still!!”

[Shout is activated.]

With Shout, whose cooldown had just finished, Revan once again stiffened his opponent.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Crash!!

Finally, the hammering shattered all the ice that had been restraining the Goblin Chieftain.

A truly astonishing destructive force.

Writhing in agony, the Goblin Chieftain barely regained freedom in his arms, then flung Revan away like peeling off a leech.

「Graaaagh!!」

Thud!!

Revan went flying a great distance.

He crashed to the ground in a ridiculous heap, yet for some reason, he didn’t feel hurt at all.

On the contrary, a smile broke out. Because—

“Heh, now I’ve secured the remaining blowgun too…!”

He’d managed to snatch away the last blowgun from the Goblin Chieftain.

Revan tossed the seized blowgun onto the floor.

With that, his objectives were complete.

Brushing dust off his body, Revan stared at the Goblin Chieftain.

「Graaaagh!!」

The Goblin Chieftain raged.

Despite his grand title, the creature was now in a pitiful state.

Flesh that had been rapidly frozen was ripped apart by the blows from the Black Iron Rod, making it hard to find an intact part on his upper body.

Especially the hands that had gripped the blowgun were the worst.

The Goblin Chieftain glared at Revan as if he wanted to tear him apart.

「You…! I will never let you go unpunished…!」

“Do as you please.”

Blood pooled on the floor, enough to form a puddle, but the Goblin Chieftain’s eyes still blazed with life.

No, it looked more like the last flash of life before death.

But it wasn’t frightening.

So Revan replied indifferently.

“Shall we finish this?”

The creature was now barely hanging on to life.

The only reason he couldn’t enter Phase 3 was that he’d lost the blowgun that served as the main feature of Phase 3.

「Graaaagh!!」

If you don’t have teeth, you use your gums, as the saying goes.

Unable to just give up without a weapon, the Goblin Chieftain elongated the claws on both hands.

Seeing this, Revan hoisted the Black Iron Rod onto his shoulder and sneered.

“A sniper shouldn’t try swinging a greatsword.”

「Shut up!!」

Did the Goblin Chieftain actually understand what Revan said?

Certainly not.

But the mocking smile on Revan’s lips was so provoking that whatever Revan had uttered, the Goblin Chieftain would have raged all the same.

The Goblin Chieftain charged at Revan like a beast.

Surely he was rushing at full strength, yet for some reason, he looked more like a moth plunging into a flame.

When the distance between Revan and the Goblin Chieftain had closed to mere steps—

“Farewell.”

[Energy Bolt is complete.]

Flash!

A burst of light flashed between the two.

And then—

[You have successfully hunted the Goblin Chieftain.]

[You have achieved a solo kill on the Goblin Chieftain.]

[You are the first to hunt two consecutive boss monsters in the Tower of Infinity.]

[As you are a special challenger, your challenge time is not recorded.]

[However, since you are the first to hunt the Goblin Chieftain, the rankings have changed.]

[Congratulations! You have set a new record on the 2nd Floor of the Tower of Infinity!]

[All beings dwelling in the Tower of Infinity begin to pay great attention to your actions.]

[Your achievements will be recorded in the Tower of Infinity.]

[‘Achievement: Victor of the 2nd Floor’ obtained.]

[‘Achievement: Goblin Chieftain Slayer’ obtained.]

[‘Achievement: Solo Hunter of the Goblin Chieftain’ obtained.]

[‘Achievement: Scourge of Goblins’ obtained.]

[The Tower of Infinity grants you special rewards.]

[You have obtained the Infinite Chest.]

The light that had filled his vision faded away.

What replaced it was an avalanche of system notifications crowding his sight.

At the same time, the system’s voice echoed endlessly in his mind.

Revan’s gaze shifted.

But it wasn’t toward the mass of system messages filling his view.

Beyond them, Revan stared at the faintly visible corpse of the Goblin Chieftain.

The body, laid out with a gaping hole through its abdomen.

The moment he saw that, Revan finally felt the certainty of his victory.

“Hoo…”

The second battle was over.

Revan ran a hand through his sweat-soaked bangs, thoroughly savoring the sense of refreshment.

After drawing in a deep breath, he looked into the camera that had been observing him and gave a broad smile as he spoke.

“Diagnosis complete. As I expected, the patient turned out to be an ordinary goblin with anger management issues. I administered appropriate treatment, and now he’s finally calmed down… no, maybe he’s turned good? Anyway, seeing my patient fully cured like this fills me with pride as his attending physician. That concludes today’s consultation. Goodbye!”

A crisp closing remark.

He’d been driven to the brink of death in a previous rehearsal, and this wasn’t his first victory in the Tower of Infinity, so he was that much more composed.

That’s why, instead of being shocked by the flood of rewards before his eyes, he coolly delivered his closing remarks, in perfect sync with his channel’s concept.

Clap!

Revan clapped his hands to signal the end of filming and mark the final edit point.

Only then did he finally flop to the floor.

“Wow… pretty exhausting, huh?”

Was it because all the tension had drained away?

Compared to the last battle, this one was much shorter and he’d taken almost no damage from the Goblin Chieftain, but somehow his strength had just left him.

So, since he was already sitting, he lay down completely and enjoyed a well-deserved rest.

Sweet rest is the victor’s alone.

Revan thought as he lay there.

‘But it’s really strange. How does he remember me?’

A monster that remembers a player?

He’d never even heard of such a thing.

But the Goblin Chieftain remembered Revan, which was why the fight had started right away at Phase 2.

‘Is it because he’s not an ordinary monster, but a boss in the special region known as the Tower of Infinity? That’s definitely intriguing. But it’s too good to use up right away; I should save it for later, when I run out of content.’

A boss monster that remembers the player.

Even just the keyword was tantalizing enough to draw attention.

Which was exactly why he couldn’t let word get out.

At least, not for a while.

Because for now, even without that angle, there’d be plenty of hype.

‘But this time, they’re not asking me for my impressions? That’s kind of disappointing.’

Was it because he’d used a ticket for a direct challenge?

The Tower had acknowledged the challenge itself but didn’t recognize the challenge time.

And even though he was the first to win two times in a row, this time the Tower of Infinity didn’t ask Revan for his impressions.

Of course, maybe giving your thoughts wasn’t such a big deal.

But from Revan’s point of view, who’d gotten a great publicity boost from his statement on the 1st Floor, it was hard not to feel a bit let down.

Once he’d rested enough, Revan turned his gaze to the exit portal open on one side of the room.

‘Shall I leave now?’

With nothing else to do, he figured it was time to get going.

Of course, if he went out now, there would surely be a crowd waiting for news of Revan, but that too was the victor’s privilege, so he didn’t really mind.

‘Wait, come to think of it, they didn’t say anything about preparing the Stairway of Glory this time, did they?’

Now that he thought about it.

After beating the Master Orc, the Tower of Infinity had set up a Stairway of Glory for Revan, allowing him to do interviews freely even in the midst of a huge crowd.

But this time, there had been no mention of the closing remarks or the Stairway of Glory.

Which meant—

‘If I go out like this, I might get crushed to death.’

That thought suddenly made him not want to leave.

Standing before the portal, Revan changed his mind and clapped his hands.

Clap!

The reason for the clap was to mark an editing point.

He changed his plans and decided to film his next video here instead.

Looking at the still-summoned camera, Revan spoke.

“Ahem, then from now on, I’ll start a review of the rewards for clearing the 2nd floor.”

By ‘next video’, of course, he meant a review of the rewards gained for defeating the Goblin Chieftain.

After clearing his throat, Revan called up all the system notifications he’d put off checking at once.

That was when it happened.

Ding!

[Time has elapsed.]

[The exit is closing.]

[As time has elapsed, you will automatically challenge the 3rd floor.]

“…What?”

Kugugugugugu…!

Suddenly, a system notification.

It was none other than the Tower’s one-sided notice that, as time had passed, he would now be automatically moved to the next floor.

(Continued) The Magician Doesn't Hide His Power