Floor 11: The Two Doors (1)

As always, the community was ablaze after the rest stop, all the way through our time in the Waiting Room.

Ha Heijeong had been right. The rest stops differed depending on your ranking.

One point for food, ten for lodging. They seemed like trivial sums, but multiply them across the number of climbers and the math changed entirely. A hundred thousand climbers meant a hundred thousand points. Why were they doling out such stingy differences over such pitiful amounts?

The mood in the community, which should have brightened after the rest stop, was sour.

"Whew."

I let out a sigh and closed the community feed.

Nothing special had happened since buying the gauntlet. There was nothing left I wanted to buy anyway — I had no points remaining. I was so short on points I couldn't even afford to repair my equipment, and had to pay the repair costs with loot from my inventory instead.

Apart from the tips on mana manipulation Ha Heijeong had passed on to me, I'd just wandered the rest stop with my party members and come back to the Waiting Room. All that remained now was to wait for the eleventh floor — my first solo trial.

The moment the message's dry, mechanical voice fell silent, my vision brightened.

The instant I set foot on Floor 11, I checked my status window. All of my restricted stats had been restored — and the Mana-Accumulation Gauntlet had pushed every one of them up by 2 as well. For the first time in a while, power surged properly through my body. It was reassuring.

Come to think of it, my sponsoring Sinjwa has been silent since Floor 7.

Plenty of people had received sponsorships at the rest stop — skills, equipment, and so on. My own party members had received some too. Me, I hadn't gotten anything.

I heard good sponsoring Sinjwa don't just throw sponsorships around recklessly…… but supposedly most of them still sponsor within reason.

Hm. Could the preliminary contract on Floor 7 have made things awkward with my sponsor? I couldn't tell.

Well, news will come eventually. Focus.

Now it was time to survey the eleventh floor.

What greeted my eyes was a long corridor, identical to the one on Floor 1. The floor had no name, either. From Floor 6 onward, the floors had been given names — The Lost World of Polluted Things, the Eerie Forest, the Thief's Chamber…

Do all personal floors go nameless?

I had no way of knowing. Even the message was the same: annihilate all enemies.

It struck me that perhaps my personal floors weren't meant to test my strength at all.

Ah — there was one difference. The darkness that had lain between stretches of corridor was gone.

Are they done with that gimmick now?

Or maybe it meant the floor would be hard enough not to need it. Either way, all I could do was move forward.

Staring at the sealed corridor, memories of Floor 1 came flooding back. Barely dodging that first arrow, trading blows with the goblin assassin. It stirred up old feelings all over again. After a full day of rest at the rest stop, it almost felt like stepping onto Floor 1 of the Tower for the first time — though I'd changed far too much for that to be true.

"Kkiik! Suyeok!"

Dobby's voice broke my reverie. He was looking up at me with a puzzled expression, as if to ask what I was doing if I wasn't going to move.

"Right. Let's go."

We had to go — forward, not backward. I'd been caught in old memories for too long. The rest stop existed so that we could regroup and face a new trial.

Carefully setting my first foot down, I thought about Floor 11.

It's been a while since traps showed up.

None since Floor 6, none through Floor 9, not even in Kashatum's labyrinth. But I couldn't let my guard down. If I'd written off the possibility of traps, that would be exactly when I'd get blindsided.

And there was one more thing — a tip Ha Heijeong had given me.

Individuals of the same species were not all equally strong. It was easy to understand if you compared an ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ordinary person to a UFC fighter — both human, yet the difference in their combat ability was heaven and earth.

I'd already met Fenrike, a goblin Sinjwa, after all. And this wasn't simply a matter of comparing a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠'goblin warrior' to a 'goblin holy knight'.

Ha Heijeong had said that even among 'goblin warriors', their strength differed from floor to floor. I couldn't afford to be careless.

And I don't have a shield anymore, either.

I'd chosen the two-handed battleaxe as my main weapon, so the shield I no longer needed had gone to the old man. Fine — Floor 9 had passed easily enough, but this was a personal floor. Stay sharp.

"Kraaaaagh!"

Before long, two figures blocking the corridor came into view. Both wore plate armor, and with full helms covering their heads, there was no telling what species they were. The moment they spotted me, they let out shrieks and came charging — the swords in their hands catching the light of torches.

"Dobby, get back."

"Kkiik! Got it!"

Steel plate armor. Easy targets to handle with lightning. But I wasn't going to use the Essence of Lightning.

I need to actually learn how to fight.

It was a thought that had struck me at the rest stop. The Tower of Trials allowed no retries. A single mistake would not be forgiven. From here to Floor 100, I had to win on every floor except the rest stops. Which meant I couldn't afford to fixate merely on beating my opponents. I still had so much left to learn.

Until now, I'd never given a thought to axe technique. Honestly, there'd been no need to think deeply about it. Aside from Floors 1 and 2, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hadn't fought a single battle that demanded real tension.

Even accounting for how green I was back then……

the goblins and orcs I'd met on Floors 1 and 2 and in my personal floor had seemed stronger than the Seraphim or the beastkin I'd faced afterward.

On my personal floors, I must not let myself be swallowed up by stat gains or by achievement points won through fast clears.

I don't know about the other floors, but on my personal floors, I need to meet my opponents head-on.

Frankly, I hadn't had that luxury on the lower floors. Against the goblin holy knight, I'd genuinely come close to dying, and Karakshi's patterns had been far too ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one-dimensional.

People said the axe suited me, that I had a talent for it — but…

I'm still raw.

From now on, I had to clash with my opponents and learn the axe through them. These ones were in steel plate, so there was a good chance they knew swordsmanship. Of course, the axe was nothing like the sword. Fundamentally a crushing weapon — less about cutting an enemy down than about smashing them apart.

I won't be able to apply it right away, but…

if I crossed blades with them, there would surely be things to learn and put to use. And honestly, even beyond axe technique, what I needed was the feel for combat itself.

Since Floor 6, I'd been overwhelming opponents with raw stats rather than fighting sense — though of course, split-second judgment had been part of it too. The better I understood combat itself, the sharper that judgment would become. The Seraph Queen had attacked with her tail as well; I'd only blocked it because my physical abilities were superior. Against an opponent with equal physicality, who knew how that would have gone. I needed to temper myself further.

"Kraaaaaagh!"

The one who had charged to within a few paces let out another shriek.

The first thing to keep in mind: the flow of mana running through my body must never be cut. I had to move as naturally as water flowing.

I recalled what Ha Heijeong had taught me about wielding mana. I needed to narrow the gaps between the flows of my own movement.

I ignored the notification window. Now was not the time to be reading pop-ups.

Swords were flying at me from both sides, simultaneously.

Block the left one first——

Click.

The instant I stretched my foot left, I felt a trap trigger beneath my sole.

Huh?

I cocked my ears fast, but there was no ting of an arrow being loosed. Instead—

Shaaak!

—a whistle of cutting wind from the upper right. That feel — an arrow. A silent one, apparently, with no launch sound at all.

In front of me, two swords were already hurtling in. I snapped my axe up first and batted the arrow aside.

Back up for now——

The Orc Guardians' swordplay was fiercer than I'd expected. One step back, and I evaded the coordinated strike from both sides.

Click.

Again, I felt a trap spring to life under my feet.

What the hell?

This was ground I had just crossed. A trap triggering on it made no sense at all. Damn it — no time to think about that. Evade first.

No launch sound again this time, either. Shaaak-! — the wind-cutting whistle from the upper right. I knocked away the two thrusting swords with my axe, then fell back another step.

An arrow streaked past before my eyes, and click — the trap triggered a third time. This one was behind me. Gauging the wind by ear alone, I twisted my head aside and let it slip past.

Ah. So that's the trick.

The traps on Floor 11 were different from before. Upgraded. Once you engaged the enemies, moving would set them off.

Wait a moment. If that were true, would stepping on the same spot again trigger the trap a second time?

I swung my axe in a wide arc, forcing the Orc Guardians back, and took one step forward. Thankfully, no trap triggered.

Three steps from here on out.

I could fight while dodging the arrows, but any farther back and Dobby was there — a stray arrow might find him. This worked out fine. I'd been meaning to learn the axe anyway. Fighting within three steps was like training on hard mode.

"Intruder! Die!"

Two swords came flying in staggered rhythm; I cut them both down with two short chops of the axe. There was no wobble in the deflected blades — the Orc Guardian twisted its wrist and recovered the rebound. The swords came again, and I batted them away once more.

"Kraaaagh!"

I tried to seize the opening — but instead the other Orc Guardian thrust its sword at me. I torqued the axe and turned the thrust aside. A well-drilled combination.

They were, without question, the strongest opponents I'd faced so far. But they were too honest. Full plate armor, and 'Guardians' at that…

Are they really trying to be knights?

Well, I wasn't the type to play along with such honest games. After all, the axe wasn't the only thing I had.

I snapped a low kick into the Orc Guardian on the left. It crumpled — and a sword came flashing in from the right. I knocked it aside, then brought my axe down onto the left Orc's shoulder. The blade shattered through the armor and bit deep.

That's one sent on his way.

One left. Two-on-one would have been fine, but sparring is best done one-on-one.

Now then — time to watch his swordsmanship and learn.

"Human!"

Roaring with rage at the loss of his comrade, the Orc swung his sword. Hm — rage like that would never produce proper swordwork…

I swung my axe to meet it.

It had taken me roughly seven hours to reach the boss room. Truthfully, this wasn't a floor that should have taken so long — most of that time had gone entirely into my own training.

Either way, it was time to enter the boss room.

"Yes."

Unlike the boss room on Floor 1, there was no heat to be felt. My vision brightened — but no enemies appeared. Instead…

A black door and a red door. The two of them stood there, welcoming me.