Chapter 3
Chapter 3
「Warning. The tutorial structure has been damaged.」
When Sang-hyeok pulled his hand away from the stone gate, the rest of the black sand poured out.
A palm-sized hollow remained in the stone gate.
Vmmmm.
A white light swept over the stone gate.
A moment later, new stone rose into the gouged spot and filled the hollow.
The stone gate returned to its original appearance, but the black sand on the floor did not disappear.
'Good lord. The gate that no one could even scratch really broke?'
The look in Sang-hyeok's eyes changed.
It was an Authority far stronger than he had thought.
Sang-hyeok immediately opened the Authority's information.
[Authority Name] <Erasure>
[Authority Stage] Stage 1
[Current State] <Seed of Erasure>
[Effect] Erodes the essence that maintains a being's form.
[Fully eroded areas are not restored.]
[At the current stage, the grade and range of erodible targets are limited.]
[The higher the target's grade, the greater the mana and stamina consumption.]
Sang-hyeok took in the last two lines.
Authorities grew from Stage 1 to Stage 10.
Above that existed a stage beyond the standard called Transcendence.
The current <Erasure> was a seed that had not even completed its first stage.
Yet that power had erased a structure of the tower.
BOOM!
Something dropped behind Sang-hyeok.
The white floor shook, and flecks of light scattered in every direction.
When Sang-hyeok turned his head that way.
A golden dummy in human form stood there.
It was nearly three meters tall, and its thick arms and torso were smooth, as if carved from a single block of metal.
[Adamant Dummy]
[Attribute: Indestructible]
「First Authority unlock confirmed.」
「Training target summoned.」
「Use your Authority freely and acclimate your body to it.」
It was the adaptation training of the early tutorial.
The Adamant Dummy did not attack players; instead, it was a target designed to let them test their first Authority as much as they wished.
Back when he had gone in and out of the Awakening Research Institute, Sang-hyeok had also read the records about this dummy several times.
Over the past four years, countless players had slashed at it with swords, burned it, and frozen it, but the result had always been the same.
[No damage recorded.]
'The stone gate broke, so couldn't I break this thing too?'
Sang-hyeok walked up to the dummy and pressed his palm, wreathed in black energy, against its right shoulder.
Tssss.
Starting from where his palm touched, the golden shoulder turned to black sand.
Thud.
The right arm dropped to the floor.
A beat later, a notification floated up.
「The Adamant Dummy's right arm has been...... damaged.」
Sang-hyeok stared at the unusually long ellipsis.
'Looks like even the tower didn't expect this thing to break.'
Sang-hyeok's eyes gleamed.
This time he stepped back three paces and reached toward the opposite shoulder.
Whoosh!
Black energy shot out from his fingertips.
When the energy stretching through the air touched the shoulder, the golden surface was gouged shallowly.
Tssss...!
The erosion speed was clearly slower than when he had made contact.
Sang-hyeok widened the distance further.
From five paces away, he aimed at the torso.
The black energy flowed through the air like smoke.
The time it took to reach the torso was short, but against a moving enemy, it was a speed that could easily be dodged.
Tssss...!!
A black mark appeared in the center of the chest.
The surface crumbled a little, but it could not dig deeper inside.
Sang-hyeok stepped back even further.
And he used <Erasure> toward the dummy again.
However, this time the black energy lost its force and scattered into the air before reaching the dummy.
'Range is about five meters.'
The limit was clear.
The farther the distance, the shallower the erosion.
The projection speed was not fast either.
Above all, the mana consumption was heavy.
He had only tested it a few times, yet he could feel the mana in his chest draining rapidly.
'So this is the current level.'
Right now, Sang-hyeok was Lv.1.
Apart from the Authority's grade, the mana to move it was woefully insufficient.
Sang-hyeok examined the severed arm and the black mark on the torso in turn.
At range, it was only useful for keeping an enemy in check.
To reliably annihilate a target, he had to touch it directly.
Having reached his conclusion, Sang-hyeok walked back up to the dummy.
[Indestructible]
The words remained even above the severed right arm.
Sang-hyeok let out a short laugh and placed his hand on the dummy's chest.
This time, he intended to erase the entire torso.
The black energy of <Erasure> gathered in his hand.
Tsssss.
At the same time, the dummy's chest was dyed black.
From where his palm touched, the golden surface crumbled into black sand.
Sang-hyeok did not take his hand away.
As the blackness spread across the entire chest, his mana drained rapidly, and his right arm grew heavier.
'Just a little more.'
Sang-hyeok pushed in his remaining mana.
Crack.
A fissure formed in the black-dyed chest.
The fissure ran along the neck and waist, extending to the remaining left arm and both legs.
Crack crack crack!
The golden body split along the fissures.
CRASH!
The Adamant Dummy's torso and head, its remaining left arm and both legs, all collapsed to the floor at once.
The debris turned to black sand wherever it touched and scattered.
Sang-hyeok lowered his hand.
The black energy remaining at his fingertips quickly faded.
With Lv.1 mana, even erasing a single dummy was not easy.
But its destructive power alone was 'real.'
Then, he saw a line of text remaining on the floor.
[Indestructible]
It was the right arm that had fallen off first.
Even though the torso had vanished, the golden arm was still maintaining its form.
'I'll have to annihilate this too.'
Sang-hyeok crouched in front of the right arm.
He placed his palm on the arm and gathered his remaining mana.
Black energy rose faintly from his fingertips.
Tssss.
The erosion speed was slower than before.
It was because Sang-hyeok's mana was nearly depleted.
Still, he did not stop.
The blackness spread across the entire arm.
The wrist crumbled, and even the fingers turned to black sand one after another.
The moment the last finger disappeared.
[Indestructible]
The words that had remained in the air vanished.
"Hoo."
Sang-hyeok braced himself against the floor and stood up.
His body swayed slightly, but he quickly regained his balance.
Only black sand remained in the white space.
The system stayed silent for a while.
「......」
Instead of words, only dots floated up.
Even those soon disappeared.
A moment later, a new notification appeared.
「An achievement requiring public announcement has occurred.」
「Please set a public name to display in the achievement announcement.」
'A public name, huh.'
Sang-hyeok recalled the Korean prospects who, before the regression, had revealed their names early and become targets.
At that time, Korea's national strength had been greatly weakened by successive rifts.
As the brain drain continued, even the player-support systems run by the government and domestic guilds became little more than formalities.
Player powerhouses like China and Russia had exploited that gap.
Large guilds and brokers backed by their nations had offered enormous signing bonuses and citizenship to promising prospects.
If they refused, the persuasion turned into threats.
They monitored every move, dug into family backgrounds, and even resorted to kidnapping.
Korea ranked 64th out of 64 formally incorporated nations.
Even in the Eastern Channel, it was last among 32 countries.
When the association and government protested, the other countries denied any knowledge, and Korea could only watch its prospects slip away.
Of course, there were also players who left on their own in search of better conditions.
But many changed their nationality after their families were threatened or after realizing they could not protect themselves by remaining in Korea.
The records left them as voluntary immigrants, but in truth, the choices had been forced.
Right now, Sang-hyeok was Lv.1.
He did not yet have the power to protect even his family from powerful nations targeting him.
Above all, he did not want to lose Kim Do-hyeon, Kim Sang-jun, and Kim Seo-yun ever again.
There was no need to paint a target on their backs.
Not until Korea became a country that could protect its own players.
Or until he himself became a powerhouse capable of facing player nations like China and Russia alone.
It was better for his name not to be revealed.
'Undisclosed.'
「Public name has been set to Undisclosed.」
「Only the achiever's affiliated nation will be displayed in the achievement announcement.」
The next moment.
A notification large enough to fill Sang-hyeok's vision floated up.
[World Achievement]
[For the first time in the Infinite Tower, you have destroyed a tutorial entity with the <Indestructible> attribute.]
[Achievement Name: Crack the Impossible]
[The achiever's name will be kept private.]
[Achievement points will be credited to the achiever's affiliated nation.]
[Republic of Korea Achievement Points +20,000]
Sang-hyeok's gaze stopped on the last number.
This quarter's projected point shortfall was around 150,000 points.
Subtracting the points just earned left 130,000 points.
They had not yet escaped the range where a large-scale rift would occur.
Still, the future had clearly changed.
It had not been long since he entered the tutorial.
In that short time, he had filled 20,000 points of the shortfall the nation had to cover.
At first, Sang-hyeok had not known how his just-regressed self could possibly resolve the achievement points.
But now.
Looking at the achievement window floating before his eyes, he could see a path.
'I just need to create more impossible records.'
He would repeat the same results going forward.
He would bring in points that others could not obtain.
If he filled all 130,000 points that way, he could prevent this quarter's rift.
That would be the first step toward getting the Republic of Korea back on its feet.
He would be able to hold onto the prospects who were emigrating because the country was collapsing.
And as that snowball kept rolling, the points Korea earned through its own strength would gradually increase.
On top of that, if Sang-hyeok grew stronger, he would likely be able to earn even more points in the future.
The achievement rewards soon followed.
「World achievement rewards are being distributed.」
「The Trait <Heart of the Apocalypse Demonic Dragon> reacts with the rewards.」
「A portion of the <Demonic Dragon’s Eye> Authority is being unlocked.」
Intense heat spread inside Sang-hyeok's eyes.
Black energy flowed thinly along his optic nerves and then vanished.
[Authority Unlocked]
[Authority Name] <Demonic Dragon’s Eye: Weakness Perception>
[Current State] Partially opened
[Effect] Borrows a portion of the Demonic Dragon's vision.
[You can see the target's structural weaknesses, cracks, and gaps in mana flow.]
Sang-hyeok slowly read the Authority information.
<Erasure> was a power that erased existence.
Now he had gained eyes that could see where to erase.
Vmmmm.
The reconstructed black stone gate split open to the left and right.
From beyond the gate came the sound of metal scraping against the floor.
Scrrrrape.
Sang-hyeok looked inside the opened stone gate.
The next target on which to test his newly gained eyes was waiting.
* * *
At the same time.
A world achievement announcement was displayed at the top of PlayerNet's all-channel feed.
[For the first time in the Infinite Tower, a tutorial entity with the <Indestructible> attribute has been destroyed.]
[Achiever: Undisclosed]
[Affiliated Nation: South Korea]
The channel, which had paused for a moment, exploded.
[USA/Lv.52] Raven : If it's an indestructible tutorial entity, you mean that thing, right?
[Japan/Lv.64] Tsubaki : There's no other entity it could be besides the Adamant Dummy.
[UK/Lv.58] Gray : Huh, they destroyed that? That's absurd. Wasn't there no such case even in the current Sixteen Celestial Seats' tutorial records?
[China/Lv.63] Unryu : Name undisclosed. Affiliated nation: Republic of Korea... that Republic of Korea, last among the 64 nations in the national rankings?
[Korea/Lv.41] Cheolgeom : It's our country! It's really Korea!
[Korea/Lv.48] Baekho : National Achievement Points +20,000 really came in. It's not an error. Whoa.
[USA/Lv.52] Raven : Wait. If they broke the Adamant Dummy, aren't they in front of the Indestructible Guardian by now? Don't tell me they're going to break that thing too?
[Germany/Lv.61] Eisen : Those two are different. That one isn't an entity that can be broken.
[China/Lv.69] Paegeom : Impossible. Unless you have a 10th-Tier Trait from the start, you absolutely can't take it down in the early game.
[Korea/Lv.41] Cheolgeom : You never know. The claim that the Adamant Dummy could never be broken was the accepted truth too.
[China/Lv.69] Paegeom : I bet my entire fortune on "can't take it down."
[Japan/Lv.51] Haru : I'll bet something precious of mine on "can't take it down" too. One of the two.
[Korea/Lv.41] Cheolgeom : Everyone bet everything. Don't talk back later.
The shock of the Adamant Dummy's destruction did not last long.
The topic soon moved to the tutorial's final gate.
The Indestructible Guardian.
It was an entity that even the current Sixteen Celestial Seats had passed by during their tutorials without considering confronting it.
Its level, defense, and regeneration were all beyond what a newly awakened player could bring down.
Messages repeating the same conclusion piled up in the PlayerNet channel.
The Adamant Dummy might simply have been a lucky matchup.
But the Indestructible Guardian was different.
It was impossible—that was the consensus.
* * *
While the bets were starting on PlayerNet.
Sang-hyeok stepped through the opened stone gate.
The moment he set foot inside, the air itself changed.
Unlike the warm white space, the inside was cold and heavy.
A gray space with no visible ceiling.
Broken swords and crumpled armor lay scattered across the floor.
Scrrrrape.
The sound of metal scraping against the floor came again.
In the center of the space, something enormous was crouching.
A back covered in black steel rose higher than Sang-hyeok's height.
A system notification floated up.
「You have entered the tutorial's final gate.」
「The final gate will begin shortly.」
[Objective: Survive for 10 minutes against the Indestructible Guardian.]
[Caution: This entity is not a target to be defeated.]
Information appeared above the crouching being's head.
[Indestructible Guardian]
[Lv.25]
Sang-hyeok looked up at the number.
He was Lv.1.
The opponent was Lv.25.
Before the regression, not a single player had ever brought down the Indestructible Guardian.
No strategy for it existed either.
It was not an entity placed there to be defeated in the first place.
Running and surviving for ten minutes was the only established method.
「Tutorial Adjustment is being applied.」
[Health recovery speed greatly increases.]
[Mana recovery speed greatly increases.]
[Movement speed increases.]
Huff.
A warm energy surged into his body.
The mana that had bottomed out while destroying the Adamant Dummy rapidly refilled.
Strength returned to his heavy arm as well.
His feet felt lighter than a moment before.
Sang-hyeok examined the Tutorial Adjustment again.
Health and mana recovery.
Movement speed increase.
All of it was power meant for running away from the guardian.
Thud.
The Indestructible Guardian braced itself against the floor.
Its crouched upper body slowly began to rise.
Its steel-covered legs straightened, and its massive head rose upward.
Red fire lit up in its two eyes.
BOOM!
When the guardian stood fully upright, the gray floor shook.
A single foot was larger than Sang-hyeok's torso.
Sang-hyeok activated his newly gained Authority.
'<Demonic Dragon’s Eye>.'
The inside of his eyes grew hot.
The colors of the gray space dimmed.
Beyond the guardian's steel outer shell, red mana was revealed.
The mana ran from the torso to the limbs, and it was especially thickly concentrated at the knees and ankles.
Inside the forehead, an even stronger red light was settled.
Just as Sang-hyeok was about to fix his gaze on that light.
「The final gate begins.」
[Time Remaining 10:00]
Rumble...
The guardian's right foot slowly lifted.
The enormous sole blotted out the space above Sang-hyeok's head.
But.
Sang-hyeok did not step back.
For <Erasure> to work reliably, he had to make direct contact.
Therefore.
Whoosh!
Sang-hyeok instead dove in under the guardian's foot.