Chapter 80: 15th Floor. Heaven-Endowed Blacksmith (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 80: 15th Floor. Heaven-Endowed Blacksmith (1)
[Title: I cleared the 15th floor, but...]
[Uh... what was that? The blacksmith.]
[Kang San (17th Floor): You cleared the 15th floor? Congratulations. It looks like you actually met the blacksmith. Most people don't even get to see him.]
[Baek Seon-ah (16th Floor): I think he’ll be a huge help moving forward. Though his attitude is pretty obnoxious.]
* * *
[Special rewards will be granted to those who have passed the test with excellence! Rewards will become even more exceptional depending on your performance!]
[Conversely, those with disappointing results will face a penalty.]
[A Temporary Test will be held for those who failed to pass the first test! If you pass the Temporary Test, you may participate starting from the third test!]
[There will be a truly significant penalty if you fail again, so everyone, please be careful!]
[Now, for the remaining week, work hard to climb the Tower! Good luck to everyone!]
The system window vanished after those final words.
Kang Jun-hyeok, who had been staring into the air, opened the Community.
[Kang San (17th Floor): ...Again? This is driving me crazy. Seriously.]
[Jung Ji-hoo (25th Floor): Haha. It was bound to happen.]
Naturally, the Community was in an uproar. Posts from those lamenting, those despairing, and those hardening their resolve flooded in at a rapid pace.
Among them, certain individuals stood out.
[Kang Ji-an (3rd Floor): It’s not even a big deal, is it? There’s no penalty even if you don't pass. They tried to scare us last time, but nothing happened, right? Why is everyone so afraid?]
These were the ones who had failed the first test. Yet, they felt no sense of crisis and treated the situation lightly.
Quite a few posts from those who had given up appeared. It wasn't particularly surprising, as the same thing had happened in his past life. However, an unexpected difference piqued Kang Jun-hyeok’s interest.
“The numbers have gone down.”
The number of people who had given up was significantly lower than in his past life. He could guess the reason. It was likely because people like Olivia, Kim Tae-yeon, and Baekdusan had been working hard to encourage others.
“They’re putting in the effort on their own, I see.”
He felt a faint sense of anticipation regarding what kind of difference that would make.
What he had to do hadn't changed. He simply had to climb the Tower as much as possible during the remaining week. After three days had passed, Kang Jun-hyeok entered the Tower.
[15th Floor Quest]
[Reach the end of the mine.]
Kang Jun-hyeok arrived at an abandoned iron mine. He stood at the entrance, looking into the dark tunnel.
“Shall we go?”
This was a floor with an average clear rate of only 1%.
Kang Jun-hyeok drew his weapon.
* * *
Kang Jun-hyeok stepped into the mine.
With every step, dust billowed up, and the musty scent of coal filled the air. Various ores were embedded in the walls. On the surface, it looked like an ordinary abandoned mine.
But this was a floor of the Tower. Naturally, it was no ordinary mine.
Once he had ventured a certain distance, the minerals embedded in the walls suddenly began to stir. They collided with one another with a clattering din, forming shapes.
Rumble!
They were Ore Golems—the primary monsters of the 15th floor.
The Golems lunged to eliminate the intruder. As a stone fist swung toward him, Kang Jun-hyeok shifted back to evade. The fist smashed into the floor.
Thump!
The ground shook momentarily as cracks spread out from the impact.
The Golems' movements were sluggish, but the power behind each attack was substantial. An average Player would find it difficult even to block them. More than anything, since their bodies were made of ore, a sword wouldn't even bite into them properly. The standard strategy was to strike the relatively vulnerable joints multiple times to disable them.
Of course, none of that applied to Kang Jun-hyeok. He swung his Greatsword with a look of annoyance.
BOOM!
A thunderous roar erupted. The Golem’s head literally exploded as it collapsed helplessly.
His current Strength stat was 60. It was a figure that even Players on the 40th floor or higher couldn't reach. It was impossible for a mere Golem on the 15th floor to stop him.
He advanced without hindrance, smashing every Golem that appeared. The mine was like a maze, with paths branching and winding in all directions. Kang Jun-hyeok explored every single one of them.
Was it this way?
By tracing the memories of his past life, Kang Jun-hyeok was able to find what he was looking for. At the end of a path, a fragment lay on the ground. It was a shard that shimmered with the colors of the rainbow.
After picking up the fragment, Kang Jun-hyeok turned back and continued to roam the mine. He soon found another.
Click.
When he fitted the two fragments together, they matched perfectly. Judging by the shape, it seemed the piece would be complete once he gathered one more.
After continuing his search, Kang Jun-hyeok finally found the last fragment. His exploration was over. He immediately headed for the end of the mine. Golems and traps appeared along the way, but he handled them without issue using his raw stats and Trap Disarming skill.
Finally, he reached the end of the mine. There stood a Golem the size of a house. However, unlike the Golems he had encountered so far, it stood still like a statue, taking no action.
[Clear conditions met. Would you like to clear the quest?]
A system window appeared. Most users cleared the quest here without much thought. But if that were truly the end, the clear rate for the 15th floor wouldn't be a mere 1%.
Kang Jun-hyeok approached the Golem. There was a groove in its chest. Its shape perfectly matched the fragments he had collected.
Kang Jun-hyeok inserted the pieces into the groove. Immediately, light flickered in the Golem’s eyes.
Rumble!
The Golem began to move with a heavy creak.
This was the way to reach the next stage of the 15th floor: roam the entire mine to collect three fragments, insert them into the Golem at the end to activate it, and then defeat the activated Golem.
Kang Jun-hyeok quickly backed away. The now-active Golem fixed its gaze on him.
Whirrr.
The light in the Golem’s eyes glowed red, revealing intense hostility.
“Let’s do this.”
THOOM!
The Golem moved. It was faster and stronger than any Golem he had encountered so far. Above all, it didn't just possess physical force. The Golem violently raised its arm.
Fwoosh!
Flames erupted from its arm, swallowing Kang Jun-hyeok whole.
Strong, fast, and even wielding fire—many a Player must have perished in vain, unable to overcome this machine.
However...
“That’s warm.”
Kang Jun-hyeok waved his hand to brush aside the flames. Despite being engulfed in intense fire, there wasn't a single wound on his body. His Fire Resistance skill had reached Rank C. A mere Golem from the 15th floor couldn't inflict any damage on him.
Its strength and speed were superior to the Golems he had met before, but only to that extent. Kang Jun-hyeok brought down his Greatsword. The Golem’s body began to shatter like a toy.
The Golem did not fall easily. It moved its broken body, desperately swinging and spreading fire. But the flames were brushed off with a light gesture, and its swinging attacks were deflected by a simple punch.
Rumble...
Due to the overwhelming difference in power, it wasn't long before the Golem could no longer hold out and collapsed.
[Proficiency in Fire Resistance has increased slightly.]
[Proficiency in Greatsword Technique has increased slightly.]
He had defeated the Golem at the end of the mine without any real trouble. However, this was where the real challenge began. The clear rate achieved by those who defeated this Golem was only 10%.
There was still 90% remaining. And the door leading to that 90% began to open.
Rumble...
The floor the Golem had been guarding opened up, revealing a staircase leading to the basement. The Master of All Weapons muttered:
[It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that face.]
He spoke as if he knew exactly who was at the bottom of these stairs.
Kang Jun-hyeok descended into the basement. As he went down, he felt a sweltering heat. It was a heat that made it feel as if a furnace were present. Without the Fire Resistance skill, it would have been difficult even to breathe.
From the bottom of the stairs, a sound began to drift up.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sound of a hammer striking iron.
Listening to that rhythm, Kang Jun-hyeok reached the end of the stairs. It was a small cave located deep within the mine. The walls sparkled with sharp veins of ore, and the scent of molten metal hung heavy in the air.
On one side of the cave wall, countless tools were lined up—giant tongs, hooks, and endless loops of chain. It was a forge. And in the center of the forge stood a giant, hammering away at a massive anvil.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The air trembled with every strike of the hammer. It felt as if he were hammering not just physical matter, but concepts themselves.
The giant’s appearance was incredibly alien. It was as if he had been hammering for so long that his entire body was covered in calluses, making him look more like a Golem than a living being.
CLANG!
The hammering stopped. The giant slowly raised his head. A gaze filled with utter boredom and annoyance turned toward Kang Jun-hyeok.
“A Player, after all this time.”
[The Loser of the Great War, the Heaven-Endowed Blacksmith, has appeared.]
* * *
The blacksmith had said "Player." It meant he recognized the concept of the Tower. One could tell not just by his manner of speaking, but also by the system window.
Loser of the Great War.
Like Alessandro, the Master of All Weapons, and Pixie, he was a being from the universe who had participated in the Great War in the distant past. The Master of All Weapons spoke up.
[It has been a long time, Heaven-Endowed Blacksmith. The one who can hear the voices of all things... are you called a blacksmith now?]
“...Hmm?”
The blacksmith, who had been wearing a disinterested expression, looked surprised upon discovering the Master of All Weapons.
“Is that you?”
[Call me the Master of All Weapons. For that is now my name.]
“Didn't you say you were quitting everything? Have you finally ended up in the hands of a human? What on earth were those final words you spoke back then?” the blacksmith asked, sounding incredulous. His question held a hint of mockery and ridicule. “To think that the end of one so great and solitary would be such a wretched sight. How pitiful. It seems I, bound in chains, am in a better position.”
Despite the insulting words, the Master of All Weapons showed no reaction.
[Our defeat was much the same. Life is truly unpredictable, wouldn't you agree?]
“...You?” The blacksmith looked puzzled by the Master of All Weapons’ calm attitude. “Your personality seems to have changed quite a bit. My apologies for the late greeting. It has been a long time, Master of All Weapons.”
[Indeed.]
“Then... are you the Player who possesses the Master of All Weapons?” The blacksmith looked at Kang Jun-hyeok as if he were seeing something bizarre. “You are the one who owns him? Hmm... you seem different from the Players I’ve met so far. Well, even so, my task remains the same.”
CLANG!
The blacksmith struck the anvil. The vibration shook both body and soul.
“I am a blacksmith.”
A blacksmith is one who forges metal to create weapons.
“Bring me the metals and materials you’ve obtained while climbing the Tower. I shall craft you a Failed Masterpiece worthy of your kind.”