Chapter 32: Two Guilds (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 32: Two Guilds (3)
“You were hiding a place like this?” Kim Tae-yeon murmured, her voice laced with intrigue.
They had left Kang Jun-hyeok’s house and moved to a nearby training center. Tucked away in a basement, it was a location known to no one except Baekdusan and his secretary.
The reason they were here was simple. Baekdusan asked with a hesitant expression, “...Are you truly alright with this?”
“I’m fine,” Kang Jun-hyeok replied, lightly loosening his muscles as he stood opposite him. “I’m sure you’re curious to see just how strong I am.”
“Well, that is true, but...”
The average achievement rate for players was barely 10 to 20%. At best, it reached the 40s, and many fell below even 1%. However, Kang Jun-hyeok had cleared every floor up to the 4th Floor with a 100% achievement rate.
In simple terms, it meant he had gained over a hundred times more than an average 4th Floor player.
But the problem was the opponent.
“I am a 27th Floor player. And you, Mr. Kang Jun-hyeok, are only on the 4th Floor.”
Baekdusan was strong. Having cleared the 27th Floor, he was currently one of the top-tier players in Korea. In contrast, Kang Jun-hyeok was only on the 4th. No matter how much of a Perfect Player he was, the gap between floors was immense. The higher one climbed, the greater the rewards became.
It was difficult to believe that even Kang Jun-hyeok could bridge that distance.
Faced with those doubtful words, Kang Jun-hyeok spoke calmly.
“We can find out through a direct test. Both of you can come at me together if you’d like.”
“No, no. That won’t be necessary. I’ll go first.”
Baekdusan stepped forward. Kang Jun-hyeok drew his Greatsword—a blade of a strange, alien design. Baekdusan’s eyes narrowed.
‘...I’ve never seen a Greatsword like that.’
It was likely a reward obtained through his Perfect Clears. Kang Jun-hyeok possessed powers and items they knew nothing about.
Baekdusan’s expression turned serious as he gripped his sword in one hand.
“In that case.”
[Duel Start.]
As the system window appeared, Baekdusan lunged forward instantly. Kim Tae-yeon let out a small gasp at his beast-like speed.
‘He’s fast.’
In terms of pure individual strength rather than guild influence, Baekdusan was clearly superior to her. Closing the distance in a flash, Baekdusan’s face was the picture of focus.
He wouldn’t let his guard down. Kang Jun-hyeok undoubtedly possessed various unknown powers. If so, he would capitalize on the advantages where he was certain to be superior.
‘Strength and speed!’
His Strength and Speed stats were 26 and 22, respectively. No matter how many Perfect Clears Kang Jun-hyeok had achieved, it was highly likely he couldn’t overcome the raw difference in stats. He would overwhelm him with power and velocity. That was Baekdusan’s judgment. The logic was sound and intuitive.
It was just the wrong answer.
Kang Jun-hyeok raised his Greatsword and swung.
Clang!
“Guh...!”
Baekdusan’s body was sent flying backward along with his sword. Staggering as he barely regained his footing, Baekdusan’s eyes were wide with shock.
“Wh-What? How?”
He had been overpowered. And completely at that.
Kang Jun-hyeok spoke dispassionately. “Your Strength stat appears to be in the mid-twenties. A fitting value for your floor.”
“Th-Then how...?”
“My Strength stat is 32.”
“...Huh?”
Kang Jun-hyeok moved. He dashed forward and brought his Greatsword down toward Baekdusan. Baekdusan hurriedly raised his sword to block.
Boom!
“Urgh!”
Baekdusan’s knees were forced to the ground without mercy. Baekdusan’s Strength was 28, and Kang Jun-hyeok’s was 32. It was only a difference of 4. But at the same time, it was a definitive gap.
Clang!
Baekdusan defended, but his body was pushed back. Pressing his advantage, Kang Jun-hyeok continued.
“Raising stats is difficult. But their efficiency is incredibly high. It would be wise for you to understand that properly.”
Kang Jun-hyeok took a bold step forward. Baekdusan swung his sword frantically, trying to push him away. However, Kang Jun-hyeok didn’t bother to parry or block. He simply advanced, taking the attacks head-on.
“A player’s body is immutable. It does not suffer lasting injuries. If the conditions are met, this kind of approach is possible.”
He didn’t defend; he simply pushed through with his body. It was the same method he had used against Alessandro.
In a desperate frenzy, Baekdusan thrust his sword toward Kang Jun-hyeok’s head. Kang Jun-hyeok caught the blade with his bare hand and twisted Baekdusan’s wrist. He then kicked the staggering man.
“Gah!”
Baekdusan lost his grip on his sword and slid across the floor. Despite taking several hits, Kang Jun-hyeok’s health had barely dropped.
The reason was his defense. Since he possessed several pieces of mid-rank equipment, his defensive power was exceptionally high. It was difficult for Baekdusan’s attack power to inflict any meaningful damage.
Kang Jun-hyeok tossed the captured sword back to Baekdusan. Baekdusan caught it clumsily. Kang Jun-hyeok approached once more.
“And, let me teach you one more thing.”
“Y-You...!”
Kang Jun-hyeok lightly dodged the swinging sword and stomped on Baekdusan’s foot. Baekdusan flinched for a moment from the pain. That split-second delay in his reaction left him unable to defend against Kang Jun-hyeok’s follow-up.
“A player’s body doesn’t get injured, but the pain is felt just the same. You should get into the habit of ignoring it.”
Kang Jun-hyeok jabbed his fingers toward Baekdusan’s eyes. Baekdusan reflexively closed them. Taking advantage of that, Jun-hyeok kicked him in the stomach. With a retching sound, Baekdusan’s body doubled over. Kang Jun-hyeok clicked his tongue.
“I told you, you won’t get injured.”
“No... I...!”
‘I know that, but still!’
Baekdusan struggled to suppress the urge to vomit. He certainly knew the things Kang Jun-hyeok was saying. Having climbed to the 27th Floor, there was no way he wouldn’t. But knowing something and putting it into practice were two different matters.
Even if he wouldn’t be permanently injured, he couldn’t help but instinctively protect his vitals and close his eyes.
‘It’s not as easy as it sounds!’
In a fit of pique, Baekdusan thrust his sword toward Kang Jun-hyeok’s eyes. Then, his own eyes went wide.
Kang Jun-hyeok truly didn’t blink.
He simply accepted the attack with indifference and countered immediately. Baekdusan tumbled across the ground. Kang Jun-hyeok watched him with a cold gaze.
These people were certainly strong and talented. But they had yet to adapt to the Tower’s system.
‘I might as well engrave it into them properly while I’m at it.’
“...Uh, wow.”
Kim Tae-yeon watched the battle with her mouth agape.
What was this?
Baekdusan was one of Korea’s top players. Even she couldn’t reach him. Aside from Yoo Jin-ha, it was hard to find anyone who was evaluated as being able to overwhelmingly defeat him. Yet that very Baekdusan was being toyed with like a child.
She felt as if she were dreaming.
“Ugh... Blegh!”
Baekdusan’s face suddenly turned green as he took another hit. He looked as if he were about to vomit, and his movements began to slow down noticeably.
Kang Jun-hyeok spoke as if he understood. “You’ve been afflicted with the Poison status effect.”
A reward from the 4th Floor. The effect of the Necklace of the Queen’s Poison Stinger. It had a set chance to inflict Poison on the opponent.
“There are various status effects, so it would be best to prepare for them as well.”
“H-How did you even get something like this...?”
It was equipment that even Baekdusan, at the 27th Floor, had not obtained. Baekdusan retreated, drenched in sweat.
“Darn it!”
Unable to endure being one-sidedly beaten any longer, Baekdusan took a stance. He lunged forward, unleashing his trump card.
[Slash.]
An Active Skill. It was a Low-Rank Active Skill that Baekdusan had barely managed to unlock upon reaching the 25th Floor, having emptied his gold reserves to purchase it. It was his finishing blow.
Clang!
And it was blocked by Kang Jun-hyeok’s Greatsword without any fanfare.
“...What?”
“The performance of Active Skills up to the Low-Rank isn’t particularly impressive on its own. If you want to use them, you’ll have to employ them in an entirely different way.”
For example, like this.
Kang Jun-hyeok took a stance and thrust his Greatsword. Baekdusan recoiled in terror, narrowly evading it.
[Thrust.]
In that state, Kang Jun-hyeok activated his Active Skill. Normally, after thrusting a Greatsword, Kang Jun-hyeok would have had to reset his posture before attacking again. However, his body moved in a bizarre fashion, and he immediately thrust at Baekdusan once more.
Craaaack!
Baekdusan’s body was sent flying as if launched, tumbling across the ground. It was a level of power incomparable to anything before. Seeing this, Kang Jun-hyeok murmured as if he had just remembered.
“Now that I think about it, my skill proficiency has increased.”
“H-How... an Active Skill...”
He had clearly heard that they could only be obtained at the 25th Floor or higher.
Kang Jun-hyeok answered casually. “If you have Feat Stats, the requirements are unlocked.”
“...”
“There isn’t only one way to find a path. It would be good for you to broaden your thinking.”
After that, the one-sided beating continued. Eventually, Baekdusan reached a point where he could no longer stand.
Baekdusan was finished. Kang Jun-hyeok turned his head.
“Now then, Ms. Kim Tae-yeon. It’s your turn.”
“Eek!”
Kim Tae-yeon let out a small shriek, her body trembling.
And several dozen minutes later, Kim Tae-yeon lay sprawled on the floor, looking just as battered as Baekdusan.
* * *
Back at Kang Jun-hyeok’s house, both Baekdusan and Kim Tae-yeon wore dazed expressions. They looked as if they were feeling the futility of everything they had done until now.
Kang Jun-hyeok spoke to the two of them. “Well then, good work. Please contact me again once the gems are ready.”
“Yes...”
“Thank... you.”
The two of them began to shuffle away. At that moment, Kang Jun-hyeok spoke up as if something had occurred to him.
“Mr. Baekdusan.”
“Y-Yes?”
“Your secretary... she isn’t climbing the Tower, is she?”
“...That is correct.”
Baekdusan nodded. While Baekdusan was the master of the Baekdusan Guild, his secretary was effectively in charge of the guild’s operations and management. Since she was responsible for such a massive organization almost single-handedly, she had no time to climb the Tower.
Kang Jun-hyeok looked at Baekdusan.
Baekdusan was an outstanding and talented player. Although his floor was low due to his obsession with power, his talent was certainly enough to survive until the end. But Baekdusan had died midway in the previous timeline.
The reason was that his heart had broken following the death of his companion.
That was why Kang Jun-hyeok said, “If you truly cherish your secretary, it would be best to have her start climbing the Tower even now.”
“...”
Baekdusan’s expression stiffened, as if those words had struck a chord.
The two left. Kang Jun-hyeok sat on the edge of his bed. The Master of All Weapons, which had been silent, spoke up.
[Kim Tae-yeon. You seemed to have a grievance against that girl.]
“Really?”
[Your movements were clearly more emotional when facing her than when you were dealing with the boy named Baekdusan.]
“You could see that? I thought I was being quite restrained.”
[You cannot deceive my eyes. And that grievance seemed less directed at her and more akin to self-loathing.]
“Self-loathing, huh.”
It wasn’t wrong. Kim Tae-yeon had said she would protect people. She said she would allow them to live stable lives even without climbing the Tower.
In his past life, Kang Jun-hyeok had done his best alongside her to establish order. He had tried to protect the weak. He had worked so hard at it that he couldn’t even climb the Tower properly.
But with the arrival of the first test not long after, all of that had crumbled. At that time, he realized he had put in worthless effort—that he had failed. It was the first of his countless failures.
The Master of All Weapons’ mention of self-loathing wasn’t far off. Because the person he loathed the most wasn’t Kim Tae-yeon, but his past self who had made those choices.
“But not anymore.”
He would not fail again. Not for his own sake, and not for the sake of the High Priest Milarepa, who had sacrificed himself for him.
The Master of All Weapons watched him silently. Kang Jun-hyeok opened the system window he had turned off.
[Duel Concluded.]
[3,561 Gold has been transferred from Kim Tae-yeon to Kang Jun-hyeok.]
[2,542 Gold has been transferred from Baekdusan to Kang Jun-hyeok.]
“About 6,000 Gold in total.”
It was a substantial amount. They had likely been saving up diligently without spending gold past the 10th Floor to purchase Low-Rank skills. He had taken all of it as the price for the trade. Still, what he had taught them was worth tens of thousands of gold, so they would surely be satisfied.
Kang Jun-hyeok organized his current status. His current gold reserves were around 16,000, and his Feat Stats were over 20.
He let out a hollow laugh. No matter how he thought about it, these weren’t things a 4th Floor player should have. Even among the top players on Earth right now, those who could gather 10,000 gold were but a handful.
And with this much, there was something he could purchase from the shop. Kang Jun-hyeok’s eyes gleamed.