Chapter 17: Strategy (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 17: Strategy (1)
The next morning.
Kang Jun-hyeok scratched his head as he woke up.
He had roughly two days left before he could re-enter the Tower, and he had nothing in particular to do until then. Since he remembered the general flow of history, he knew nothing significant was happening at this point in time. There were minor incidents here and there, but none were worth his concern.
I’m bored.
Needing a way to kill time, Jun-hyeok opened the Community. As he did, a specific notification caught his eye.
[A strategy has been sold. Please check your sales history.]
“Huh?”
Jun-hyeok let out a small sound of surprise. A strategy had sold? The one he had priced at 10,000 Gold?
Puzzled, he opened the System window.
[Title: 2nd Floor Perfect Clear Strategy]
[Buyers: 10]
[Total Gold: 100,000]
“...Wait, what?”
For a moment, Jun-hyeok couldn't process the numbers. He narrowed his eyes, wondering if he was seeing things correctly. But no matter how much he stared, the System window remained unchanged.
[Total Gold: 100,000]
“...Hold on.”
Jun-hyeok was genuinely flustered. One hundred thousand Gold? Ten buyers?
“What is this?”
The price for the 2nd Floor strategy was 10,000 Gold. Even Jun-hyeok hadn't managed to save that much yet, so there was no way a 1st Floor Player could afford it.
In his confusion, a realization suddenly struck him.
Strategies weren't necessarily only for those following behind. Even the frontrunners—those who had already cleared the floor and were climbing higher—could purchase strategies for the lower floors.
Currently, the top-tier Players had entered the mid-30s. They would likely have around 10,000 Gold. If they were the ones buying it, it wasn't impossible.
However, Jun-hyeok hadn't even considered that possibility for one simple reason.
“They’d spend 10,000 Gold on a 2nd Floor strategy?”
Even for a Player above the 30th Floor, 10,000 Gold was no small sum. In fact, it was a massive fortune. Considering that the only source of Gold was clearing floors, it was incredibly precious. It was literally gathered through blood and sweat, something to be spent with extreme caution. There was no reason to waste that much on a strategy for the 2nd Floor, which they had already passed.
And yet, they bought it. Not just one person, but ten.
“Why?”
Jun-hyeok couldn't understand it.
Seeing his reaction, the Master of All Weapons spoke up as if the answer were obvious.
[It is only natural.]
“Natural?”
[What you posted is not a mere walkthrough for the 2nd Floor. It is a Perfect Clear strategy. That, in itself, is vital information regarding the Tower’s fundamental nature.]
“...Ah.”
At those words, Jun-hyeok finally realized his oversight.
The current world was still in its early stages. It had only been ten years since the Master of the Universe changed the world and the Tower appeared. The top Players had barely reached the 30th Floor. There were even many who hadn't earned the right to challenge the Tower yet.
Since it was the very beginning—before the First Test or the Universe Integration—there was almost no information available. In other words, the world didn't even properly understand what the Tower was yet. They were simply climbing because it was there, lacking any fundamental knowledge. It was no different from trekking through a jungle without a map or gear.
They didn't know how to acquire Passive Skills, how to reach 100% achievement rates, or how to efficiently increase proficiency. They had rough ideas, but those were merely guesses, not certainties.
In such a vacuum, a strategy for a Perfect Clear of the 2nd Floor had been posted.
To the Players, this wasn't just a guide for the 2nd Floor. It was a blueprint of the Tower’s System and structure. It provided the answers on how to reach a 100% achievement rate and how to trigger hidden Quests.
Thinking about it that way, the value was more than enough. If anything, it was strange that only ten people had bought it. The Master of All Weapons spoke, sounding slightly surprised.
[Did you not expect this? Is that why you were looking so disappointed?]
“What did you think I was disappointed about?”
[I thought you were regretful because it was only the 2nd Floor. While you can earn money from it, the amount is inevitably smaller than what you'd get from higher floors. How unexpected. I assumed you would have known this would happen.]
“...I guess so.”
Even without the 2nd Floor specifics, the information regarding the Tower’s System and structure alone was worth a fortune in these early days.
However, Jun-hyeok had completely forgotten that. In the future, such things were common knowledge, as obvious as the fact that the Earth is round. He hadn't considered that it held any special value now.
“This was definitely my mistake.”
[Even you make mistakes.]
“Of course I do. What did you take me for?”
[An avatar sent down by the Master of the Universe to test the Tower.]
The voice of the Master of All Weapons was quite serious. Jun-hyeok let out a short laugh and opened the Community.
Predictably, the Community was in an uproar. The usually noisy boards were moving five times faster than normal.
The Community was buzzing because of the strategy Jun-hyeok had posted. Most of them were low-floor Players who wouldn't have 10,000 Gold, yet they spoke as if they knew the entire content of the strategy.
As Jun-hyeok scrolled through the boards, he soon realized why.
“Some kind-hearted soul made it public.”
Unless they purchased a Strategy Writing Permit themselves, those following behind couldn't see a floor's strategy. However, there were no such restrictions for the frontrunners who had already cleared the floor. Anyone who bought the strategy could talk about it freely.
Indeed, after digging through the posts, he found that someone had copied and posted his strategy in its entirety.
[Title: Contents of the 2nd Floor Perfect Clear Strategy]
“So that’s why the sales stopped at a hundred thousand.”
If not for that, his profit would have likely doubled. It was a shame, but there was no way to enforce it, so there was nothing he could do. As he scrolled down the post, he saw a note the author had added at the end.
Hello. This is Olivia Turner. After purchasing the 2nd Floor strategy, I found that it contained much information that would be helpful to everyone, so I decided to share it.
>
And to the Player who posted this strategy, I am truly sorry. Though it was for the sake of the many, I have uploaded your precious information without permission.
>
If you contact me privately, I will do my best to compensate you. Once again, I am sorry.
It was a humble apology directed at Jun-hyeok. He let out a faint smirk.
“So it was Olivia.”
Olivia Turner. A top-tier Player who, in his past life, had reached beyond the 80th Floor. Even now, she was one of the elite few who had cleared the 32nd Floor.
She was a woman called a Saintess because she gave everything to everyone. Until the very end, she had sacrificed herself as bait for the sake of weaker Players. She was someone he had gotten along with quite well in his past life.
Though things will be different this time.
Reading further into the Community, he saw that talk about him was starting to surface.
The shock and astonishment that had permeated the Community slowly began to settle. The next emotion to spread was curiosity.
A Universe Announcement had appeared for the Perfect Clear. About a week after the 1st Floor Perfect Clear, the announcement for the 2nd Floor had come out. It wasn't hard to deduce they were the same person.
However, there was no information beyond that. People made various guesses: a hidden master who had reached enlightenment; an alien from another planet; an avatar of an Administrator. Since none of it was particularly useful, Jun-hyeok closed the Community.
Just before closing it, one person's question caught his eye.
* * *
Having closed the Community, Jun-hyeok idly stroked his chin.
Every Player on Earth now knew what a Perfect Clear was, how to increase their achievement rate, and what they needed to do to move on to the next Quest. Children who didn't know how to find their way had learned how to use a compass. And it had happened several times faster than in his past life.
It’s not bad.
He had no intention of yielding anything in this life. He planned to take everything for himself. But this wasn't a bad thing. People would now follow the methods he had shown them and contemplate how they could reach a higher level. If his past self had directly given people fish, this time he had taught them how to fish.
Above all, he had already gained enough for himself.
“Hmm.”
Jun-hyeok shook his head after a moment of thought. It was a thought he didn't need to have right now. What mattered was his profit.
[Total Gold: 100,000]
“Haha.”
A laugh escaped him. Of course, there was a 90% fee. The Gold actually given to him was only one-tenth of the total. But even so, it was 10,000 Gold. It was an amount that made him smile. It was more than double the total Gold he had earned so far.
If he had this much... Jun-hyeok’s eyes gleamed.
* * *
A short while later, Jun-hyeok opened the Shop.
The world seemed to split open, revealing a space like the void of the universe. From within, the shopkeeper, Pixie, appeared. Her appearance, like a fairy from a storybook, contrasted with her dark expression and the cigar held in one hand.
Pixie looked at Jun-hyeok and puffed on her cigar as if she had expected this.
[Right... There’s no way a guy like you would die on the 2nd Floor.]
“I want to buy an Active Skill.”
[...Did you scrape together another 1,000 Gold or something?]
Pixie shook her head in disbelief. To have earned enough Gold to buy a skill right after clearing the 2nd Floor was staggering.
[Fine. Considering the Gold you had before... if you’re lucky, you might be able to get two Lowest-Grade Skills.]
“No.”
[...No?]
What Jun-hyeok wanted wasn't a Lowest-Grade Skill.
“I want to buy a Low-Rank Skill,” Jun-hyeok said pleasantly.