Tutorial's End
The eighth floor was a vast, empty cavern, much like the second or third floors, but it was completely devoid of monsters. Instead, a stone tablet with deep grooves stood in the center, surrounded by square stone blocks.
Complete the picture by solving the puzzle.
...Seriously? Is this some kind of console game?
While it was certainly better than endless fighting, it did nothing to help me understand what this Tower actually was. The fact that such a puzzle existed in the tutorial meant I would likely encounter more of them as I climbed. Come to think of it, I recalled reading an interview where a returnee mentioned solving puzzles to bypass traps or unlock treasure rooms in various ruins and dungeons. It was probably similar to cracking a digital door lock.
Right now, in the tutorial, it was simple and practically handed me the solution. But as I went higher, wouldn't it be faster and far more convenient to just smash the door down?
"There, done."
I slid the final block into place. As the stone pieces clicked along the grooves, the carved image came together. It wasn't a particularly difficult puzzle, but I could see how someone who struggled with these things might get stuck here for hours.
After taking a brief rest, I headed up to the next floor.
The ninth floor—the final stage of the tutorial.
Upon arriving, I found myself in another cavernous chamber, similar to the third floor. Returnees commonly agreed that floors ending in the number nine were exceptionally brutal. Some theorized that because the Tower's difficulty shifted every ten floors, these transitional stages—the 9th, 19th, and 29th floors—served as a harsh trial to test if a climber was ready to transcend to the next tier.
A new quest materialized on the crystal.
Hunt the Hobgoblin
Unlike the child-sized goblins, a hobgoblin was a mutated variant that stood nearly two meters tall. Or perhaps goblins were the mutated offshoots of hobgoblins. Evolution, after all, was merely the result of random mutation and environmental selection, and creatures couldn't choose the direction of their genetic drift.
Given its massive frame, a hobgoblin naturally possessed far greater strength and endurance. But knowing that information was one thing; how often did an ordinary citizen like me actually get to face a monster?
Granted, after the gates appeared, the military did introduce monster combat training. But how much could a military really change when their idea of "combat training" consisted of marching soldiers around a field with rifles, shouting "bang, bang!" at the top of their lungs? At best, a few elite units got to borrow KCTC's MILES gear for a bit of realistic practice, or the shooting ranges swapped out human silhouettes for cardboard cutouts of monsters. That was the extent of it.
Just like before, a section of the wall slid open, and a hobgoblin stepped out. The green-skinned monstrosity towered a full head above me, a heavy machete gripped tightly in its hand.
"Kerrrk!"
Wasting no time, the frenzied beast charged straight at me. I reached into my cargo pocket, pulled out a hand axe, and hurled it.
Clang!
The hobgoblin deflected the axe with practiced ease. When a normal goblin blocked a throw, the recoil would send it stumbling, but this creature didn't even budge. It swung its machete down in a vicious arc. I raised my shield to block.
"Ugh, my arm..."
The impact vibrating through my arm was bad enough, but what truly shocked me was the sight of the machete piercing straight through the shield. Ah, so there's a thin sheet of iron inside.
With the wood punctured, the shield's internal structure was laid bare. It was made of a thin iron plate sandwiched between two wooden boards, held together by an iron rim. No wonder it felt a bit heavy. Having blocked so many axes and arrows, the outer wood was already riddled with holes, its durability severely depleted.
Still, it could hold out for a few more hits. Or so I thought. The hobgoblin unleashed a relentless barrage, forcing me to raise the shield again. The wood splintered violently, and a chunk of the outer layer sheared off. Before the shield could disintegrate entirely, I parried the incoming machete with my sword.
Clang!
As the one-handed sword clashed with the machete, I instinctively relaxed my grip slightly and angled the blade.
Shhhk!
"Huh?"
"Kerrrk?"
The machete slid harmlessly off my angled blade, leaving both the hobgoblin and me momentarily stunned. Seizing the opening, I swung my sword at the off-balance monster's neck. But the hobgoblin managed to throw its torso backward, narrowly evading the lethal blow. My blade sliced deep into its left forearm instead.
"So close!"
I could have ended it right there. That parry just now was the true application of Blue Wood Swordsmanship. Since the style was originally designed for fighting with a sword alone, holding a shield had been actively hindering my movements. Even so, discarding the shield required a massive leap of faith. Just because I didn't fear death didn't mean I was immune to the fear of pain.
Enraged by the deep gash on its arm, the hobgoblin went completely wild. I blocked its next strike with my shield, but the impact cracked the wood behind the iron plate. Its eyes were bloodshot, saliva dripped from its jaws like a rabid dog, and its strength had clearly surged. My instincts screamed at me: the hobgoblin had activated an ability.
"Kerrrrk!"
With a guttural, raspy screech, the beast swung its blade in a mad frenzy.
Thwack! Thwack! Clang!
As my shield turned to absolute tatters, I began matching its strikes with my sword. Fortunately, the sword was made of solid steel and held up well. When the shield finally shattered into useless pieces, I was left to face the hobgoblin with nothing but my blade.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
As our blades clashed, a strange sensation washed over me. I had never learned swordsmanship in my life, yet here I was, effortlessly parrying and blocking a heavy machete. Part of it was because the half-crazed hobgoblin's swings were incredibly sloppy, but I couldn't help but wonder if I actually possessed some hidden talent for combat.
No, that was impossible. I had never even been in a fistfight with a neighborhood bully, let alone a real battle. If I were a true prodigy, I would have decapitated this thing minutes ago. This had to be the power of the Blue Wood Swordsmanship skill I had acquired from the ability stone. Returnees always said even the most useless-looking skill was worth hundreds of millions of won, and now I understood why. It was worth every single penny.
Deflecting another strike, I lunged forward, aiming for its abdomen. But the half-crazed beast still possessed enough survival instinct to take a half-step back. My sword missed its stomach, but sliced a massive gash across its thigh instead.
"Kerrrk!"
Clang!
"Urgh!"
The furious hobgoblin brought its machete down with terrifying force, and I was forced to block with the ruined remnant of my shield. Even though it was bleeding profusely from its arm and thigh, its strength was somehow still increasing. The impact completely shattered the remaining half of my shield, and a sharp crack echoed from my left arm. The bone was broken.
The impact was severe, but strangely, I barely felt any pain. The sheer adrenaline of combat had numbed my senses and kicked my sympathetic nervous system into overdrive. Seizing the moment while the hobgoblin was slightly off-balance from the overextended strike, I lunged forward.
"Hah!"
My blade slashed across its chest, but it failed to cut through the ribs, dealing far less damage than I had hoped. Desperate and bleeding out, the hobgoblin swung its machete in a wild, sweeping arc to take me down with it. I threw myself to the ground, rolling out of the way.
"Aargh!"
The moment I hit the dirt, a wave of agonizing pain surged from my fractured left arm. No matter how much adrenaline was pumping through my veins, it couldn't completely block the agony of rolling on a broken bone. Gritting my teeth, I scrambled behind the hobgoblin and slashed upward, severing its Achilles tendon.
"Kerrrk!"
As the beast stumbled and tried to spin around, I leaped backward. I clamped the sword between my teeth, reached into my cargo pocket with my right hand, and hurled a hand axe. I had aimed for its heart, but the combination of the pain and my unstable footing threw off my aim. The axe buried itself in its lower back. It was lucky we were so close; otherwise, it would have missed entirely. Note to self: never throw weapons from a distance unless absolutely necessary.
I grabbed the hilt of my sword with my right hand again and charged. Weighted down by the axe in its back, the hobgoblin swung its machete from an awkward, unbalanced posture. It was incredibly easy to parry.
Shhhk!
I slid my blade along its machete and thrust forward, burying the sword deep into the center of its chest. Having its heart pierced—and likely its lungs and stomach ruptured—the hobgoblin coughed up a torrent of dark blood and collapsed.
"Aaargh! Fuck! That hurts like hell!"
To stop the pain, I immediately opened my status window and selected absorption. Fortunately, enough time had passed for the cooldown to reset. If it hadn't, I would have had to sit there nursing a broken arm or waste points buying an expensive high-grade recovery potion from the shop.
As the new clone materialized, the broken bones, the hobgoblin's blood, and the dirt covering my body vanished instantly, leaving me completely clean.
By absorbing the clone, I gained avatar points, and my Multidimensional Avatar skill reached Level 10. At the same moment, a notification window popped up.
Thanks to Blue Wood Swordsmanship reaching Level 15, my Multidimensional Avatar level had risen accordingly. Still, it was a bit disappointing that a Level 15 skill only translated to three levels for my main ability. Then again, considering it was an ability that literally created and controlled physical clones, it made sense that the leveling requirements would be steep.
In hindsight, the shield had actually been holding back my swordsmanship. My movements felt infinitely more natural without it. I tossed the ruined scraps of the shield aside and looted the hobgoblin's weapon and mana stone.
"Wait, is this another ability stone?"
Lying right next to the hobgoblin's mana stone was another green gem. I stared at it in disbelief. I thought ability stones were supposed to be incredibly rare.
I hesitated, wondering if I should absorb it immediately, but decided to hold off. I had to consider the possibility of needing quick cash for living expenses once I reached the tenth floor. When I got the ability stone from the horned rabbit, I was weak enough to die at any moment, so obtaining a new skill was an absolute necessity. But now, I was about to enter the tenth floor. Once I got there, I needed to think about getting proper equipment. My one-handed sword had served me well, but the edge was chipped in multiple places, and the blade was slightly bent from the hobgoblin's monstrous strength.
"Well, if the skill is good enough, I'll just use it myself."
I opened the shop window and exchanged all my mana stones for shop points. I had collected twenty-two mana stones in total, meaning I had slain twenty-two monsters. Both the horned rabbits and the hobgoblin yielded exactly one point per stone, regardless of the monster's strength.
"Shouldn't a hobgoblin be worth more than a rabbit?"
I grumbled at the unfair exchange rate. After deducting the four points I had spent on the swords and shields, I had fifty points remaining. To prepare for any unforeseen circumstances, I kept ten points as a buffer and spent the remaining forty on High-grade Recovery Potions.
The forty bottles of potions would serve as my financial safety net. If the ability stone didn't sell or if I ended up using it myself, I could sell these potions to cover my living expenses. From what I had gathered, the current shop prices were heavily discounted for the tutorial. Even if that turned out to be a rumor, I could easily sell them outside the Tower for a profit.
In fact, if the rumors were true, I would probably regret not spending those last ten points. If the price jumped tenfold later, I would be losing out on a massive profit.
I placed my hand on the crystal and stepped forward to the next floor.
You have reached the 10th Floor.
Multidimensional Avatar 'Slot 2' has been activated.