Chapter 16: 2nd Floor. Goblin (7)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 16: 2nd Floor. Goblin (7)
The next day, Kang Jun-hyeok went to see the Guard Captain to complete his quest. As soon as he opened the door, the Guard Captain greeted him with a beaming smile and pulled him into a bone-crushing embrace.
“Ahahaha! You’ve come, Kang Jun-hyeok! Yes, yes! Come in!”
“You seem to be in high spirits.”
“I just wiped out those wretched things! How could I not be!”
The Guard Captain’s face was flushed a deep red. It was clear he had been drinking all night.
It wasn’t just the Guard Captain, either. The entire village was buzzing with excitement, having stayed awake through the night to celebrate. Everyone was jubilant.
The Guard Captain threw himself into a chair and spoke.
“The damn goblins have been exterminated. We cut down every last one of them as they came scurrying out of the burning forest. It’s a tragedy that the woods burned, but… land turned to ash only becomes more fertile.”
The Guard Captain looked at Kang Jun-hyeok with a smirk.
“We’ve reclaimed our forest. It’s all thanks to you. Haha. Hahaha! Truly, I can’t believe this actually happened.”
The Guard Captain burst into laughter repeatedly. It was an expression of pure, unadulterated happiness—one Jun-hyeok had never seen from him in his past life.
“Originally, I intended to make you my successor… but I realize now that I misjudged you. You are remarkable. You aren’t a talent meant to be tied down to a tiny village like this.”
The Guard Captain stood up and offered his hand to Kang Jun-hyeok.
“Go out into the continent, Kang Jun-hyeok. You have the strength for it.”
“I’ll think about it.”
Kang Jun-hyeok took the Guard Captain’s hand.
And with that, the quest ended.
The world began to distort. The Guard Captain’s figure flickered like a television screen filled with static.
Well then.
The 2nd Floor was over.
Had he reached 100%? It was almost a certainty, but he couldn't let his guard down; there was always a slim margin for error. Fortunately, the system window soon appeared to inform him that he hadn't missed a thing.
[2nd Floor Quest Cleared.]
[Rewards will be determined based on your performance.]
[Calculating achievement rate...]
[Calculation complete.]
[Achievement Rate: 100%]
[Perfect Clear. Congratulations! Additional rewards will be granted.]
[Top: You have obtained the Guard Captain's Cuirass.]
[Bottom: You have obtained the Guard Captain's Protectors.]
[The effect of the Title: Perfect Player has been added.]
[You have obtained the 2nd Floor Strategy Writing Permit.]
[1,714 Gold has been distributed.]
“What?”
Kang Jun-hyeok’s eyes widened when he saw the final reward.
“A Strategy Writing Permit?”
A 2nd Floor Strategy Writing Permit. It was a reward worth being surprised over. However, before he could check it, the system messages continued to flood in.
[Perfect Clear Reward: You have obtained the weapon [Goblin King's Greatsword].]
[Perfect Clear Reward: You have obtained the title [Variant Slayer].]
[Players who have Perfect Cleared the 2nd Floor: 1.]
[You are the only one!]
[Universe Announcement.]
[Please offer your congratulations, citizens of the universe! A Perfect Player of the 2nd Floor has appeared. This is a feat that no one has achieved until now!]
[Feat +5]
With that, Kang Jun-hyeok’s body returned to Earth.
He saw the familiar ceiling and his own bed. Kang Jun-hyeok slowly sat on the edge of the mattress.
The first thing he did upon his return was sort through his emotions.
The quest on the 2nd Floor was to become a soldier of the village. To reach 100%, Kang Jun-hyeok had immersed himself completely in that role.
He had taken on the persona of a soldier born and raised in the village, possessing a deep affection for his home—a soldier who had lost childhood friends, benefactors, and teachers to the goblin attacks.
He had deceived his own emotions and assimilated into the role. On the 2nd Floor, Kang Jun-hyeok had truly been a resident of that place.
Even real-life actors often struggle with their daily lives after becoming too immersed in a role. It was the same for him. The intensity of his immersion had made him forget who he truly was. It was necessary for the clear, but from the perspective of the human named Kang Jun-hyeok, it wasn't exactly a healthy practice.
“It’s a good skill, but this part is quite inconvenient.”
Kang Jun-hyeok clicked his tongue.
[Passive Skill: Acting]
[Rank: Lowest-Grade]
[Proficiency: F]
[The act of deceiving one's own emotions and wearing a mask. You have become more adept at hiding your true feelings.]
The passive skill, Acting.
This skill helped him deceive his own emotions—to the point where even he himself was fooled. Because the depth of immersion changed, it wasn't easy to control his feelings afterward.
While it was a massive help in clearing floors, it was a skill that caused problems as its proficiency increased. In the future, there would even be players who couldn't distinguish between themselves and their roles in the Tower.
Since Kang Jun-hyeok had experienced that a few times before, he intended to be even more careful this time.
“…Whew.”
I am Kang Jun-hyeok.
A Player of the Tower.
He organized his thoughts as he exhaled. Having calmed his emotions, Kang Jun-hyeok checked his rewards. First were his stats.
[Kang Jun-hyeok]
[Level: 11]
[Health: 330]
[Strength: 24]
[Speed: 22]
[Feat: 18]
[Attack Power + ?]
[Defense +8]
His stats had seen a respectable increase. Because his level was high, the gains were smaller than before, but considering he was only on the 2nd Floor, the numbers were absurd.
And as additional rewards for the Perfect Clear, he had received weapons and armor. Three pieces, at that.
“In my past life, I only got one at most.”
And even then, it had been flimsy equipment that wasn't much different from what could be bought in the shop. However, the equipment Kang Jun-hyeok had obtained this time was on a different level.
[Guard Captain's Cuirass]
[Part: Top]
[Rank: Low-Rank]
[Strength +2]
[Defense +3]
[The Guard Captain's cuirass. It is his prized equipment, purchased at a great cost.]
[Guard Captain's Protectors]
[Part: Bottom]
[Rank: Low-Rank]
[Strength +2]
[Defense +3]
[The Guard Captain's protectors. It is his prized equipment, purchased at a great cost.]
“Low-Rank, huh.”
The gap between equipment ranks was significant. The stats attached were double those of shop equipment, and the defense power was even higher. Kang Jun-hyeok equipped the gear with satisfaction.
Next was the weapon.
[Goblin King's Greatsword]
[Part: Weapon]
[Rank: Mid-Rank]
[Attack Power +28]
[The Goblin King's greatsword. Born as a variant, he never doubted that he was the king meant to lead his kin. This weapon is the proof of that conviction and a milestone on the path forward.]
“…Heh.”
Kang Jun-hyeok let out a short laugh.
Mid-Rank.
This was a rank of equipment that shouldn't appear on the single-digit floors.
“I thought it was a good weapon, but…”
He hadn't expected it to be this good. It didn't have any special effects, but the attack power was insanely high. To put it simply, it was impossible for an ordinary player to purchase equipment of this level from the shop.
I’ll put it to good use.
Kang Jun-hyeok continued his inspection.
[Title: Variant Slayer]
[A title given to one who has slain a variant that could have changed the future of its species.]
[Speed stat increases by +2 when facing a variant rather than a normal species.]
“Oho.”
Kang Jun-hyeok’s eyes sparkled. His speed would increase when facing variants like the Goblin King. Considering he would encounter quite a few variants while climbing the Tower, it was a title he could use consistently.
[Active Skill: Stealth]
[Rank: Lowest-Grade]
[Proficiency: E]
[Cooldown: 10 minutes]
[Erases all sounds you make for 10 seconds.]
The proficiency of his Stealth skill had reached E.
Already E? Since the rank was low, the growth speed was phenomenal. At this rate, he might reach D before the 10th Floor.
His Swordsmanship proficiency had also increased.
[Passive Skill: Swordsmanship]
[Rank: Lowest-Grade]
[Proficiency: E]
[The technique of wielding a sword. It is a level that a talented individual can only reach after years of effort.]
When a passive skill's proficiency reaches E, it represents a first-class level that a talented person would normally need years of effort to achieve. It was essentially a system-assisted shortcut.
That power was incredibly potent. After all, the Swordsmanship skill had played a major role in defeating the Goblin King. Accordingly, it was quite difficult to level up. Since passive skills didn't have ranks like active skills, they were much harder to improve.
Yet, he had already reached E. In his past life, his Swordsmanship proficiency hadn't reached E until the 10th Floor.
Furthermore, the Perfect Player title had also changed.
[Title: Perfect Player]
[A title given to one who has perfectly cleared the 1st Floor, the start of the Tower.]
[Current Effects]
[All Stats + 1]
[The rate of proficiency gain for passive skills is slightly increased.]
[The effects of the title increase as the number of Perfect Cleared floors grows.]
“An increase in proficiency gain?”
Considering the value of proficiency, it was an excellent effect. Its value would only go up as time went on.
“To think you can only get this by Perfect Clearing the 1st Floor.”
No matter how many times he looked at it, it was hard to believe.
His gold was also at 1,714. It was a high amount. Combined with his existing gold, he could buy about two more lowest-grade skills.
Everything up to this point was already magnificent. Each reward was something an ordinary player would consider a jackpot.
However, there was one more reward Kang Jun-hyeok had obtained.
[2nd Floor Strategy Writing Permit]
[You may write a strategy for the 2nd Floor.]
“…It’s real,” Kang Jun-hyeok muttered blankly.
A Strategy Writing Permit.
The Tower was designed so that information could not be provided to those following behind. Whether directly or indirectly, any attempt to transmit information was filtered out with uncanny precision. Many attempts had been made to bypass this restriction, but all had failed.
However, there were a few very specific ways to pass information to those coming later. One of them was the Strategy Writing Permit. It was a reward provided with an extremely low probability upon clearing a floor.
The owner of a Strategy Writing Permit could write and post a strategy for that floor on the Community. Strategies posted this way could be purchased with gold, even by players who hadn't cleared that floor yet.
It was one of the few means for those following behind to obtain information about a floor before entering it. Naturally, its value was beyond imagination.
The Tower was not a confined space. One could drop into an entirely different world on the very next floor, or be trapped in a classic labyrinth. There was even a possibility of being thrown into a jungle without a single scrap of food. Since everything was unknown, even a tiny speck of information was worth its weight in gold.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that this alone surpassed all the other rewards he had earned.
There was a clear example. In his past life, a player had cleared the 56th Floor and luckily obtained the Strategy Writing Permit for it. That player wrote a strategy—and he became the person with the most gold on Earth. He had enough gold to reach the highest floors on that wealth alone.
“To think I’d get something like this.”
It was something even he hadn't obtained in his past life. The probability itself was abnormally low. Even though the entire universe was climbing the Tower, only a handful of these permits were ever released. It was truly miraculous luck.
But there was a problem.
“Of all things, it’s the 2nd Floor.”
Kang Jun-hyeok clicked his tongue. Gold was required to purchase a strategy, and the required gold changed depending on the content of the strategy. Kang Jun-hyeok opened the strategy tab in the Community. Naturally, no strategies had been posted yet. He lightly wrote a single line.
[The 2nd Floor quest is to protect the village from goblins.]
A very simple explanation that literally just stated the quest itself.
[Gold required for purchase: 400]
Just for that, the system demanded 400 gold to purchase the strategy. Kang Jun-hyeok frowned. Players who had just cleared the 1st Floor only had around 100 gold. They didn't have the gold to buy a 2nd Floor strategy. It was nothing but a hollow prize.
“If it were at least the 10th Floor, I could get hundreds of thousands of gold.”
He couldn't tell if he was lucky or unlucky. After a moment of thought, Kang Jun-hyeok began writing the strategy anyway.
Since it’s come to this.
What was needed for a Perfect Clear of the 2nd Floor, what had to be done, and what kind of enemies were there—he decided to write it all down. Since no one could afford to buy it anyway, he planned to use it as a personal notepad.
Once he had written everything, the gold required for purchase appeared.
[Gold required for purchase: 10,000]
Ten thousand gold.
Even the author himself couldn't afford to buy it. Kang Jun-hyeok posted the strategy with a hollow laugh. The title was simple.
[Title: Strategy for 2nd Floor Perfect Clear.]
[Would you like to register this?]
[The commission fee is 90%.]
“Sure.”
It was a murderous commission fee, but since he didn't think anyone would buy it anyway, he didn't care. Kang Jun-hyeok registered the strategy and lay down on his bed.
He hadn't been able to sleep properly because he was standing guard on the 2nd Floor. He intended to catch up on his missed sleep.
Kang Jun-hyeok closed his eyes. He didn't attach much significance to posting the strategy.
But while he slept...
A massive commotion erupted across the world.