Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 019
Chapter Title: Corruption
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From the skill enhancement ticket received for completing the sudden quest.
Han Jeong-woo used it immediately.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Using Skill Enhancement Ticket.] [Gravity Control (Lv.3) skill level has increased.] Gravity Control (Lv.3) → Gravity Control (Lv.4) The maximum gravity he could manipulate had increased to 50x, and the skill duration extended to 15 minutes.
A satisfied smile crossed his face as he pulled up his status window for the first time in a while.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ Name: Han Jeong-woo | Current Floor: 25th Floor Unique Ability: Gravity Sorcerer (EX-rank) Skills: Gravity Control (Lv.4) / Gravitational Pull / Gravity Field / Mana Absorption ⚡ Strength: 45 💨 Agility: 38 💪 Stamina: 30 ✨ Magic Power: 35 "My stats have gone up quite a bit."
Considering the average Strength stat for awakeners on the same floor level was 25, his were already at a monstrous level.
Stats were rewards given only through tower climbs, but Han Jeong-woo was an exception.
In addition to the tower's rewards, there were daily quests, sudden quests, and his own grueling gravity training. While others took one step, he took three or four.
"Time to... crank up the intensity."
He rotated his right shoulder like he was stretching, then his ankle. He even hopped lightly a few times.
His body had fully adapted to 3x gravity—perfectly familiar, aside from a faint sense of oddity.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Gravity Control (Lv.4) Enhancing own gravity to 5x
The immense pressure he hadn't felt in ages crushed his entire body. Breathing hurt, and even walking properly was a struggle.
Yet Han Jeong-woo smiled through the excruciating pain.
He knew.
This too would pass—and fortune would follow.
[Entering Korea Tower 26th Floor.] Amid the bone-aching torment of 5x gravity, he gritted his teeth and stepped into the tower.
The scenery shifted in an instant. Up to the 25th floor had been a sweltering lava zone, but starting from the 26th, it was a foggy, serene mountainside.
But something felt wrong.
"Serene mountainside... right?"
Han Jeong-woo looked around in confusion.
It was starkly different from the info he'd researched online.
The surroundings were indeed mountainous, but the trees everywhere had been crushed and shattered by something.
"Doesn't look serene at all, no matter how you slice it. And..."
He muttered as he scanned the area.
"No monsters."
Usually, entering the tower meant combat started right away.
But for some reason, not a single monster showed its face. Even the system hadn't sent a mission message.
A bad feeling creeping in, Han Jeong-woo hurried to exit the tower.
[Tower exit impossible.] "...What?"
The unbelievable message made him doubt his eyes.
He tried exiting over and over, but the result was the same.
"Trapped in the tower?"
Whoosh—
A frigid wind blew from far beyond the forest just then.
Feeling it lash his body in the utter silence finally made it real.
He was locked in the tower, forced to kill time here indefinitely.
"Ridiculous. I've got a move tomorrow."
The worry was brief. He quickly regained his composure and started searching for a way out.
'First...'
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Gravity Control (Lv.4) Restoring own gravity to normal
The reason was simple. No telling how long he'd be stuck here—he couldn't keep wasting mana.
He had mana potions in his inventory, but not enough to last forever.
"Whew... this is insane?"
With the crushing gravity gone, an involuntary gasp escaped him.
The training's effects were tremendous in proportion to the suffering.
His limbs felt feather-light. A casual step shot him forward several meters.
"Adapting to a mere 3x gives this much..."
What if he adapted to 10x or 20x? He'd practically fly.
He shelved the thrilling thought and activated his next skill to scout for an escape clue.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Gravity Control (Lv.4) Nullifying own gravity
His body lightened and slowly rose into the air.
"Alright, let's get the lay of the land first."
Floating, he surveyed the forest below.
"...That?!"
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Gravitational Pull ⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Gravity Control (Lv.4) Restoring own gravity to normal
He deactivated the skill and landed swiftly.
"Looks like something massive swept through this forest."
From above, the trees were felled in one direction—like a path deliberately carved out.
An artificial trace no natural phenomenon could explain.
Eventually, Han Jeong-woo followed in that direction.
The only clue in this monster-less, mission-less place.
He was certain something waited at the end.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ His steps were light.
Unbelievably so for his own body.
About ten minutes along the path of destruction, he encountered his first living monster.
Thud! Thud!
A massive dead tree advanced toward him, shaking the ground.
Rotwood. It blended into the forest normally, unleashing corrupted breath on intruders.
"Grrooo..."
[Retrieving 'Adamantium Dagger' from inventory.] Han Jeong-woo immediately put distance between them and drew his dagger.
The moment he reared back to throw, he doubted his own eyes.
The Rotwood halted in place, not attacking.
It raised a barren branch, pathetically pointing down the path he'd followed.
"Grrooo..."
Its wail sounded less like aggression and more like a desperate plea.
'If I'm not imagining it... it's asking me for something.'
He slowly lowered the dagger he'd raised to shoulder height.
No hostility meant no need to waste mana.
"You need to ask me a favor or something?"
He didn't approach recklessly, though.
It showed no attack intent, but the purple poison leaking from that rotting maw was still a threat.
"Grrooo!"
As if answering, the Rotwood let out one final, desperate wail—like squeezing out its last strength.
Then it pointed its barren branch down the path one more time before collapsing backward.
"Dead...?"
Han Jeong-woo approached the fallen giant cautiously, vigilance unbroken.
"It's really dead."
This was baffling. Not only trapped without explanation, but now a monster begs for help and dies.
"What the hell were you trying to tell me?!"
He shouted into the void, venting his frustration at whatever unseen watcher lurked.
Normally, it'd drop a sudden quest to explain. But today? Dead silent.
"Figure it out myself, huh?"
Fine. Who couldn't?
He pressed on.
Another thirty minutes along the path the Rotwood indicated brought him to the forest's edge—and a vast, open lake.
The trail of crushed trees ended abruptly at the shore.
"Something's in there."
He stared intently at the water.
What kind of beast could cause all this?
He circled the shore, scanning every inch. But the surface remained still. Nothing happened.
"Guess I'll have to wake it up the hard way."
Couldn't exit anyway. No point waiting.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Gravity Field He targeted the lake's center. A hemispherical gravity field formed over the once-calm surface.
The entire lake churned violently.
The field sucked in surrounding water with ferocious force, compressing it under 12x pressure.
Rumble-roooar!
Unable to withstand, the water burst through the field's top like a massive geyser, shooting skyward.
This repeated several times until the lake's water level visibly dropped.
And finally.
With the water drained, exposing the muddy bottom—the center revealed a massive something.
"That thing..."
A familiar monster.
"30th floor boss monster, Adamantium Turtle."
He'd fought one before, but this was on another level.
Not just overwhelmingly larger—its shell bristled with razor-sharp spines like an ironclad warship's plating.
And the most telling difference.
Most of its body was tainted an ominous black.
Han Jeong-woo's eyes flashed. It felt familiar—
"Tower 20th floor, Corrupted Pixie..."
Those tiny fairies he'd faced were similarly polluted black.
The slight difference: the Adamantium Turtle's head wasn't blackened yet.
But the black skin below crept upward toward its head like a living thing.
"No idea why it's on the 26th floor, but..."
[Retrieving 'Adamantium Dagger' from inventory.] "Atmosphere says I gotta take it down."
As he drew the dagger, the corruption-overrun Adamantium Turtle turned its head.
Recognizing him, it twisted sideways.
Dozens of adamantium spines launched from its shell in unison.
Shiiiik!
A steel rain poured toward him.
Han Jeong-woo didn't budge an inch.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Gravitational Pull A vivid mark etched above the Corrupted Adamantium Turtle's head.
All the incoming spines veered sharply, magnetized back toward the turtle like iron filings.
Pfshk!
The startled turtle yanked its head in—but too late. Several spines lodged in its neck, dark red blood spurting.
Han Jeong-woo seized the opening, hurling the adamantium dagger at its head with all his might—aimed at the hole where it'd just retracted.
💥 CRITICAL HIT! 💥 Piercing strike to vital spot!
Boosted by 50x gravitational pull, the dagger easily broke the sound barrier. A dull thud of penetration echoed, followed by a horrific shriek.
"Kreeeek!"
The ear-piercing scream cut off abruptly.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [30th floor cleared!] [SSS-rank clear achieved.] [Acquired 500g Magic Stone as reward.] ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Acquiring 30th floor reward.] [Acquired 'Ironclad Shield' as reward.] "30th floor cleared?"
He frowned at the floating messages.
He'd definitely entered the 26th.
Whatever the reason, it didn't feel bad.
He'd skipped straight past 27, 28, and 29. A net gain.
[Exiting tower.] "...Finally out. What the hell was that?"
Pondering the bizarre incident, he kept his eyes on the Adamantium Turtle's corpse until his vision faded to black.
Flash!
Moments later, Han Jeong-woo's figure vanished from the tower in a burst of light.
Once he was gone.
The drained lake bottom fell into heavy silence once more.
At its center lay the massive Adamantium Turtle corpse, all alone.
Right then—a low, raspy voice echoed from inside its shell.
"...Found you."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Out of the tower, Han Jeong-woo's first move was to check his climb record.
How had the skipped floors been handled?
"Hmm?"
The skipped floors were all marked as SSS clears too. Clear times identical to the brief turtle fight.
"Weird. Why'd this happen? Trapped, then forced skip."
He scoured the internet but found no related stories.
It was something unique to him.
"Maybe... connected to Corruption?"
Until now, he'd thought "Corrupted" was just a monster descriptor. But after today, clearly not.
"The Rotwood begging for help too..."
Everything that happened was far from normal.
But he had no way to dig deeper now.
"I'll figure it out as I climb higher."
He pushed aside the tangled thoughts. No point obsessing over unanswerable questions.
Time to do what he could.
[Retrieving 'Ironclad Shield' from inventory.] A black shield embedded with dense, sharp, sturdy spines like the Adamantium Turtle's shell.
[Absorb mana from Ironclad Shield?] His mana absorption was already maxed at 50.
Anticipation gleamed in his eyes.