Chapter 15: 2nd Floor. Goblins (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 15: 2nd Floor. Goblins (6)
The first emotion to flicker across the Goblin King’s face was bewilderment.
It was immediately followed by pure fury.
“You dare... treat me... like prey!”
Kang Jun-hyeok’s attitude had wounded the King’s pride. The monster made his decision: he would kill this human right here, no matter the cost.
“I shall... slaughter you!”
The King lunged violently. The ground groaned as his massive frame bore down on Jun-hyeok. Jun-hyeok quickly raised his sword to intercept.
Clang!
The impact sent Jun-hyeok skidding backward. Feeling the strain in his wrists, his eyes grew cold.
He’s strong.
The Goblin King’s raw strength was clearly superior to his own. His speed wasn't lacking either, and his skill with a blade was exceptional. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was Jun-hyeok’s equal in pure swordsmanship.
Given his massive size, his reach also provided an overwhelming advantage. These were the areas where the Goblin King held the upper hand.
Conversely, what did Kang Jun-hyeok have over the Goblin King? The answer was simple.
The Tower System.
The absolute law gifted by the new Master of the Universe.
In that case...
Jun-hyeok tightened his grip on his hilt. He kicked off the ground, charging at the Goblin King with explosive speed. With a roar, the Goblin King swung his greatsword downward.
Screeeech!
Amidst the village engulfed in an inferno, the greatsword and the longsword collided. The Goblin King’s assault was relentless. Utilizing his natural advantages to the fullest, he slowly forced Jun-hyeok back.
And finally—
Clang!
A violent upward slash from the greatsword shattered Jun-hyeok’s guard.
“Die!”
The Goblin King stepped forward, bringing his blade down in a finishing strike. Jun-hyeok’s sword hand had been knocked wide; it was impossible to pull his weapon back in time to block.
So, Jun-hyeok didn't use his sword to defend.
Instead, he reached out toward the descending blade with his bare hand.
“Foolish... move!”
The Goblin King bared his teeth. He immediately realized the boy intended to sacrifice an arm to land a counterattack. He poured even more strength into the hand gripping the greatsword. The strike carried enough power to cleave through the arm and split the boy's body in two.
The greatsword met the arm.
Skreeee!
Jun-hyeok’s arm narrowly deflected the Goblin King’s greatsword. The King’s eyes widened in shock.
“...How?!”
He had put everything into that strike. It wasn't a force that mere human flesh should be able to withstand. Yet, there wasn't a single scratch on Jun-hyeok’s arm. By all common sense, the limb should have been severed just as the Goblin King predicted.
But Kang Jun-hyeok was a Player of the Tower.
His body, protected by the System, only loses health points from attacks; it does not suffer physical mutilation. That was the Law of the Tower.
To a Player, the body itself was a tool. Jun-hyeok understood this fact better than anyone.
The Goblin King had committed everything to that single blow. Because he hadn't considered what would come next, he was now riddled with openings.
Seizing the moment, Jun-hyeok quickly gripped his sword with both hands. He settled into his stance and stepped forward with near-perfect form.
A single-point thrust.
The sharp blade aimed straight for the Goblin King’s heart. It was a nearly flawless attack. The Goblin King frantically threw his body backward.
Stab!
The tip of the sword pierced the Goblin King’s chest. The King staggered and collapsed.
“You... brat...”
“You actually managed to dodge that? You’re a monster. Truly.”
Jun-hyeok was genuinely impressed. He hadn't been able to pierce deep enough into the heart. It was a severe wound, but not a fatal one. Against an ordinary goblin, that would have been more than enough to kill, but this was the Goblin King. His health pool was likely massive.
Jun-hyeok shook his arm, feeling the phantom impact.
“I parried as much as I could, but I still lost 150 HP. I would’ve died if my health wasn't high enough.”
He had judged that his current health could endure the gamble, but the damage was still staggering. However, Jun-hyeok had reaped the reward. He had landed a clean hit using swordsmanship against an opponent who was clearly superior.
And the Tower always rewarded such feats.
[Your proficiency in Swordsmanship has increased significantly.]
[Your Swordsmanship proficiency has risen from F to E.]
The Goblin King was strong. Even for Jun-hyeok, winning a head-on confrontation was difficult.
Or rather, it had been.
“Now then, let’s try this again.”
“...Strange... tricks!”
The Goblin King gritted his teeth and charged. Despite his heavy injury, the power and speed behind his blade remained unchanged. Jun-hyeok smiled and raised his sword.
Clang!
The greatsword swung violently. Until now, Jun-hyeok had been unable to easily handle the superior strength and reach, forced to give ground.
But not anymore.
The Goblin King’s eyes wavered. Jun-hyeok’s movements had changed. They were far smoother than before, and his distribution of strength was immaculate.
An... enlightenment?
No. That wasn't it. It didn't feel like a sudden realization. His skill itself had simply, purely ascended.
“What did you do...?”
Step.
Jun-hyeok moved forward.
Acquiring a Passive Skill was incredibly difficult. One had to perform an action near-perfectly countless times just to barely obtain one. For an average Player to acquire ten Passive Skills, they usually had to reach the 30th Floor.
However, they were just as powerful as they were rare. Obtaining a Passive Skill provided an inherent correction to one's abilities. To put it simply, if a Passive Skill’s proficiency was at Rank F, one could handle a sword at a second-rate level.
And what level of skill did one attain upon reaching Rank E in Swordsmanship? It was a realm that even those with talent had to train for years to achieve.
First-class.
Rank E proficiency allowed one to reach the realm of a first-class warrior. The System’s correction was violent in its efficiency. That was one of the true rewards of the Tower.
Clang!
With his increased proficiency, Jun-hyeok’s swordplay was fundamentally different. The Goblin King brought his greatsword down with brute force. Jun-hyeok moved his sword to parry the attack.
The blade moved naturally. As if reading its master’s intent, it perfectly deflected the force with clean precision.
Slash!
Jun-hyeok drew his blade across the King. A deep laceration appeared on the Goblin King’s arm.
“Urgh!”
The Goblin King groaned and retreated. Though bewildered by the sudden change, he racked his brain for a way to win.
The momentum... has shifted.
He had to turn the tide. As he searched for an opening, he spotted debris from a building falling from above. The debris was engulfed in flames, more than enough to incinerate anything it touched.
He would use that debris. Making a split-second decision, the Goblin King threw himself backward with all his might. He calculated that even if Jun-hyeok tried to pursue, he would be forced to back off as the burning wreckage fell.
That was the Goblin King’s greatest mistake.
Ignoring the debris entirely, Jun-hyeok lunged forward. The debris crashed into the ground, erupting into an inferno that swallowed his body. The Goblin King’s eyes widened. It was an act no different from suicide.
Whoosh!
However, from within the flames, Jun-hyeok emerged unscathed. Not a single burn marked his flesh.
It was the power of the Fire Resistance skill.
“You—!”
The Goblin King frantically tried to ready his weapon, but his posture was broken from his desperate retreat. Jun-hyeok did not miss the opening and thrust his sword.
Thwack.
The sword pierced the Goblin King’s heart. Jun-hyeok put strength into his legs, driving the blade deep and pinning the King against a stone wall.
Boom!
The Goblin King’s body jolted violently as it hit the wall. Blood sprayed from his mouth.
“Cough!”
Jun-hyeok withdrew his sword. The Goblin King slid down the wall and collapsed.
“That was tough,” Jun-hyeok muttered softly.
If the Goblin King hadn't made that final error in judgment, it would have been a real struggle. In truth, Jun-hyeok hadn't had much room to maneuver either. He had only 50 HP remaining—an amount where a single hit could have killed him. The Goblin King had been that formidable.
Sitting on the ground, the Goblin King spoke.
“A monster... indeed.”
“What? You’re not dead yet?”
Despite suffering a fatal wound to the heart, the Goblin King had not died. His health was beyond Jun-hyeok’s expectations. Jun-hyeok quickly gripped his sword, but the Goblin King spoke weakly.
“The vitality... of a variant. It is only... for a moment. I will die... soon.”
“Ah. I see.”
“...You.”
There was confusion in the Goblin King’s eyes as he looked at Jun-hyeok. A body that deflected his full power. Swordsmanship that suddenly ascended to the next level. And walking through a raging, oil-fueled inferno without a single burn.
“You... where did you... come from?”
It was bizarre. Alien. He was certainly no mere village resident. To that question, Jun-hyeok replied:
“Somewhere else. Not here.”
“Somewhere... else? What does that...”
The Goblin King’s head dropped before he could finish his sentence. He was dead.
Looking at the corpse, Jun-hyeok thought to himself.
Maybe this guy was climbing the Tower too.
If a goblin was this special, one never knew. He hadn't seen such a thing in his past life, but the universe was vast; it was possible.
[Level Up.]
[Level Up.]
[Health +60]
[Strength +3]
[Speed +1]
[Feat +2]
[Your proficiency in Swordsmanship has increased significantly.]
[Your proficiency in Fire Resistance has increased.]
“Whew.”
He had won.
Perhaps because he had utilized Fire Resistance during the battle, its proficiency had also increased. The Master of All Weapons muttered.
[You won. And in such a manner, too.]
To be honest, the outcome hadn't been certain. From the Master of All Weapons' perspective, the Goblin King was clearly stronger than Jun-hyeok. Since Jun-hyeok lacked any significant Active Skills, it had expected a difficult fight.
But Jun-hyeok had won. And he had done so by perfectly exploiting the Tower System.
[To think the Fake Tower is sophisticated enough to be understood to this extent... This is quite surprising.]
The Master of All Weapons knew that one could learn the Tower System in the Fake Tower created by the Losers, but it didn't know the specifics of its interior. Since it believed Jun-hyeok had been there, the Master of All Weapons couldn't help but re-evaluate the structure of the Fake Tower. Jun-hyeok simply shrugged without answering.
“Whatever the case, it’s over.”
The raging inferno now enveloped the entire goblin village. Having lost their King, the screaming, fleeing goblins were being cut down one by one by the soldiers.
Only one problem remained. The fire was consuming the entire village in the middle of the forest. Naturally, the woods were bound to catch fire. Even now, embers were beginning to spread.
“It’s time to pull back.”
Jun-hyeok sought out the Guard Captain, who was finishing off the remaining goblins. Upon seeing Jun-hyeok, the captain welcomed him with a bright smile.
“Jun-hyeok! You’re safe! What happened?!”
“I took him down.”
The Guard Captain’s eyes widened. “You defeated that monster? Heavens.”
“Regardless, Captain, the fire is going to spread. It would be best to prepare for that before it’s too late.”
“Ah, right.”
The Guard Captain quickly snapped out of it. He hurriedly pulled his soldiers back from the forest. The inferno that consumed the goblin village soon spread to the woods. However, because the Guard Captain quickly set backfires and soaked the trees, the fire did not spread any further despite half the forest burning. The humid weather had also helped their fire-based strategy succeed.
Returning to the village, the Guard Captain addressed the people. He declared that the goblins who had tormented them no longer existed. He declared that they had finally gained their freedom.
At those words, the villagers collapsed in joy. Those who had been taken hostage embraced their families and wept. Happiness blanketed the entire village.
And for Jun-hyeok, a system window appeared, signaling the true end.
[2nd Floor Progress Quest Complete.]
[The quest has ended.]
[Please go to the Guard Captain.]