Chapter 19: 3rd Floor. Dungeon (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 19: 3rd Floor. Dungeon (1)
[Title: 3rd Floor Review.]
[It’s a total textbook floor. I wish every floor was this straightforward.]
[James Smith (4th Floor): Agreed.]
[Sarah Brown (6th Floor): I second that.]
[Choi Do-yoon (21st Floor): By the way, did anyone find the basement? I found the entrance, but I didn't go in because it felt ominous.]
[Jung Ji-hoo (24th Floor): Uh... a few people mentioned finding it, but no one has ever come back out.]
[Choi Do-yoon (21st Floor): ...Hmm. Glad I stayed away.]
* * *
[3rd Floor Quest]
[Clear the dungeon.]
A quest window appeared before Kang Jun-hyeok’s eyes the moment he arrived on the 3rd floor.
The 3rd floor was incredibly simple. It was a dungeon—a classic labyrinth built of brick. He simply had to navigate the corridors, clear the rooms, and defeat the boss.
It was the kind of generic dungeon one could find anywhere. In a way, it was only now, on the 3rd floor, that a level truly befitting the Tower had finally appeared.
Kang Jun-hyeok walked forward. There wasn't a hint of tension in his stride. As he moved through the corridor, a monster materialized before him.
Clack.
The sound of rattling jawbones echoed. A spear was gripped in fingers made of bleached bone.
The primary monsters of the 3rd floor were Skeletons. They weren't weak; they felt no pain and continued to move like zombies even if their limbs were torn off. One had to separate the skull from the spine to take them down in a single blow, which was easier said than done given their sturdy frames.
Under normal circumstances, they were monsters that required a fair amount of effort to dispatch one by one.
The Skeleton, having spotted Kang Jun-hyeok, approached with a rhythmic rattling. Kang Jun-hyeok nonchalantly drew his Greatsword and swung.
The Skeleton tried to parry with its spear.
Crush!
The attempt was futile. The Skeleton’s body was pulverized along with its weapon. Its frame shattered into splinters the moment it collided with the heavy blade.
It was a single strike.
A Skeleton’s health was roughly 100. In contrast, the attack power of Kang Jun-hyeok’s Greatsword was 28, and his Strength stat was 26. His total damage output reached 200. He could tear through a Skeleton even if it managed to defend itself.
More Skeletons appeared in succession, but the result remained the same. They couldn't even slow his pace.
As he moved through the corridor, Kang Jun-hyeok stepped on a pressure plate.
Whoosh!
An arrow hissed out from a hole in the wall. It moved at high speed, but Kang Jun-hyeok dodged it with a casual tilt of his head. Neither traps nor monsters could stop him.
After defeating the Goblin King, Kang Jun-hyeok had become significantly stronger. The gap between him and the ordinary monsters of the 3rd floor was far too wide.
“With this much of a gap, I won’t be able to gain anything,” Kang Jun-hyeok muttered.
[That is only natural at your current level.]
It was one of the fundamental laws of the Tower: one could gain nothing from an opponent when the power disparity was too vast. That was the current state of affairs between the Skeletons and Kang Jun-hyeok.
The Master of All Weapons muttered, sounding almost amused by the absurdity.
[Still, the Tower's design shouldn't have allowed for a gap so large that growth becomes impossible... I suppose it means you’ve squeezed out every bit of potential up to the very limits of the floor's design. My word.]
After exploring every room in the dungeon, Kang Jun-hyeok entered the boss room. The boss of the 3rd floor was a Skeleton Knight.
Kang Jun-hyeok raised his Greatsword and brought it down. The Skeleton Knight raised its own blade to block.
Boom!
With a heavy impact, the Skeleton Knight was forced to its knees. Befitting its title as a boss, it managed to survive the initial strike.
But that was all. Kang Jun-hyeok raised his Greatsword and struck again.
Crunch!
The Skeleton Knight couldn't withstand the second blow and was crushed into the floor. Even the boss wasn't strong enough for Kang Jun-hyeok to gain any experience or skill proficiency.
[Acquired Weapon: Skeleton Knight's Sword.]
[Dungeon Cleared.]
[The quest will end once you exit through the door.]
Creeeeeak.
The door beyond the boss room groaned open. If he walked through it now, the quest would be marked as cleared. It had taken less than an hour—it was practically a stroll.
But if he left now, it would be over. He would have gained nothing of value, leaving with nothing but a single mediocre sword.
[Skeleton Knight's Sword]
[Category: Weapon]
[Rank: Lowest-Grade]
[Attack Power +13]
[Description: A sword once wielded by a Skeleton Knight.]
It was a middling weapon, neither good nor bad. In other words, this was the limit of the rewards a standard Player could hope to obtain.
Naturally, Kang Jun-hyeok had no intention of leaving.
* * *
The average completion rate for the 3rd floor was a mere 5%. The remaining 95% of the floor remained hidden.
If there was one difference between the 3rd floor and the previous ones, it was that its hidden elements were somewhat known among the higher-floor Players.
In the boss room of the 3rd floor, there stood a statue—a stone knight standing tall, gripping a sword with both hands. Kang Jun-hyeok approached the statue, gripped the stone hilt, and pushed down.
Grind.
With the sound of scraping stone, the sword sank into the pedestal. He turned it one full circle clockwise, then two circles counter-clockwise, and pushed down once more.
Click.
As if a key had found its lock, the sword sank deep into the floor.
Rumble...
The statue slid back, revealing a hidden passage beneath. It was a staircase leading into the darkness of the basement.
The Master of All Weapons let out a sound of intrigue.
[A gimmick leading to a sub-level?]
“Exactly.”
[The strategy for a floor shouldn't be transmittable by normal means, yet I wonder how you find out these things.]
The Master of All Weapons muttered, sounding puzzled. Kang Jun-hyeok stared silently at the stairs.
The knight statue in the boss room was quite out of place. If a Player lingered for just a moment instead of rushing to the exit, they might discover that something was hidden within it. Taking it a step further, the specific sequence of turns would open the path to the basement.
A few Players in the past had discovered this fact, which was how Kang Jun-hyeok knew about it. However, that was where his knowledge ended.
One could use the statue to open the path, but what lay within that basement? Information on that had never surfaced in his past life. It meant that everyone who had entered the basement had died there. Only those who felt an instinctive dread and chose not to enter survived to spread word of its existence.
Something significant was down there. That was why Kang Jun-hyeok descended the stairs without hesitation.
[The clear for the 3rd Floor Quest has been revoked.]
[A new quest is underway.]
[3rd Floor Progress Quest: Clear the dungeon basement.]
“Let’s go,” Kang Jun-hyeok muttered.
* * *
The basic structure of the basement was similar to the ground floor. The difference was that the bricks were darker, and the atmosphere was pitch black. As he moved through the corridor, Kang Jun-hyeok encountered the denizens of the deep.
They were Skeletons, but their bones were stained a deep, blood-red.
‘Red Skeletons.’
There weren't just one, but two standing guard. They spotted Kang Jun-hyeok and charged immediately.
Clack-clack-clack!
Their speed was twice that of a normal Skeleton. Kang Jun-hyeok raised his Greatsword to block the spears thrust at him simultaneously.
Clang!
The sound of the collision rang out. Kang Jun-hyeok felt a significant amount of recoil. He realized the strength of these Red Skeletons was also more than double that of the ones above.
The Red Skeletons pressured him with rapid, coordinated spear thrusts. An average 3rd-floor Player would struggle to handle even a single normal Skeleton; a coordinated attack from two Red Skeletons would be enough to slaughter them instantly.
Kang Jun-hyeok tightened his grip on the Greatsword.
Screech!
He swung the blade to parry them away. Then, gripping the hilt with both hands, he put his full weight into a violent horizontal slash.
Boom!
One Red Skeleton barely managed to defend, but it couldn't withstand the force and was sent flying. Kang Jun-hyeok immediately took another step, using the momentum to swing toward the second Skeleton.
Crash!
The Skeleton defended, but its body was blown back and slammed into the wall. He thrust the Greatsword toward its staggering neck.
Crack!
The cervical bone snapped. The body, having lost its head, collapsed into a pile of bone fragments.
The first Red Skeleton approached again and thrust its spear, but Kang Jun-hyeok twisted his neck to dodge. He pulled his arm back and smashed the pommel of his sword into its temple.
Crunch!
The skull shattered, and the Red Skeleton’s body wobbled. He adjusted his grip and brought the Greatsword down with full force, splitting the monster in half.
[I thought as much.]
The Master of All Weapons spoke as if it had expected this. The Red Skeletons were strong—an ordinary Player would have had to risk their life—but Kang Jun-hyeok possessed enough power to clear the 10th floor if he were thrown into it today. This was hardly a challenge.
[It seems this will be another perfect run.]
It assumed Kang Jun-hyeok would clear the basement and once again obtain a perfect reward. But Kang Jun-hyeok was thinking beyond that. His eyes narrowed.
‘...At this level.’
They weren't weak. Even he had to take them seriously. Which meant he could obtain skills from them.
In that case... Kang Jun-hyeok flashed a thin smile.
Red Skeletons continued to appear. Kang Jun-hyeok used the weight of the Greatsword to pack destructive power into every strike. By perfectly utilizing the characteristics of the weapon to defeat his foes, he earned a fitting reward.
[You have acquired Passive Skill: Greatsword Technique.]
He had obtained a passive skill. The Master of All Weapons wasn't surprised; Kang Jun-hyeok’s swordsmanship was incredibly clean. Since the Red Skeletons were reasonably strong, it was only natural.
It assumed he would continue to use the Greatsword to finish the floor. However, Kang Jun-hyeok’s next move was completely unexpected. He stored the Greatsword back inside the Master of All Weapons.
[Hmm? What are you doing?]
“I need to farm the others too.”
Kang Jun-hyeok pulled out a pair of Combat Gloves.
[Combat Gloves]
[Category: Weapon]
[Rank: Lowest-Grade]
[Attack Power +6]
They were ordinary gloves purchased from the shopkeeper. Since the Master of All Weapons was also a pair of gloves but very thin, he could wear these over them without any issues.
[Why are you suddenly bringing out Combat Gloves?]
“You’ll see.”
Kang Jun-hyeok moved forward. Before long, another Red Skeleton appeared.
Clack.
As the Skeleton rushed in, clashing its jaws, Kang Jun-hyeok lunged inside its guard. He clenched his fists and measured the distance.
[...Wait.]
Seeing this, the Master of All Weapons realized his intent. Kang Jun-hyeok was trying to obtain the Hand-to-Hand Combat skill immediately after the Greatsword Technique.
[It’s not impossible, but it will be difficult.]
Theoretically, it was possible. The conditions for acquiring a passive skill were necessity and intent. If he could perfectly defeat the Red Skeletons using only his fists, he could obtain the skill.
But to do that, he had to perform flawlessly. He had to prove to the System a valid reason for choosing to fight with his bare hands when he could easily overwhelm the enemy with a blade.
Kang Jun-hyeok had already acquired passive skills for five types of weapons, but all of them were related to blades. It was hard to imagine he could master unarmed combat with the same ease.
“What kind of nonsense is that?” Kang Jun-hyeok said as he ducked under a spear. “You’re the one who already tested my qualifications.”
[...Ah.]
The Master of All Weapons remembered. Its own acquisition condition was the ability to handle ten thousand weapons. The System had presented that impossible condition, and Kang Jun-hyeok had passed it.
That meant, theoretically, Kang Jun-hyeok possessed the proficiency to obtain ten thousand passive skills.
[You madman.]
The Master of All Weapons groaned, a chill running through its sentient core. Even the one who had set that condition had done so thoughtlessly, throwing it out just to ensure no one could ever claim it, and had forgotten the weight of what it truly meant.
Kang Jun-hyeok grabbed the hand holding the Skeleton’s spear and suppressed its wrist. He closed into the spear’s effective range, demonstrating a combat style that utilized every advantage of hand-to-hand combat.
Crunch!
He slammed his elbow into its shoulder to break its posture and followed up with a strike to the jaw. He grabbed its wrist, twisting it until the bone snapped and the weapon dropped. Once the distance was closed, the Red Skeleton was helpless.
It was, quite literally, perfect technique. And the System rewarded him for it.
[You have acquired Passive Skill: Hand-to-Hand Combat.]