The Quantum Strike and the Hall of Fame
Quantum strike laser, fire!!!!! I don't even remember how I made it back home.
I sat blankly on the sofa, staring up at the ceiling, and spat out an excuse.
“Actually, I was just trying to hide my true strength.”
“I’m serious. What good comes from showing off that I have power? There’s a reason people hide their strength, you know?”
“I’m telling you, it’s true….”
Anyway, that’s not what’s important right now. To escape the awkward conversation, I jumped up from the sofa and shouted.
“Shall we go to the Tower!?”
“Enter!”
[Republic of Korea : Moving to the Black Tower.]
In an instant, my view shifted, and the massive tower appeared before my eyes. As I approached and opened the door, a message popped up.
[Will you challenge the 2nd floor?] Yes / No
“Yes!”
[2nd Floor Mission : Defeat the Bluebirds!]
📍 Time Limit: Unlimited.
🎁 Success Condition: Defeat 15 Bluebirds.
💀 Failure Condition: Failure to defeat or death.
🚫 Restricted Equipment: None.
📜 Restricted Protocols: None.
Seeing the blue birds, which matched the blue sky, flying around, my face turned pale.
There’s a common saying.
That the bluebird is a harmful bird.
Especially when it’s a giant bird nearly 3 meters tall.
“What the hell, why are they so huge?”
“Right.”
More than anything, their size was wicked, and their sharp talons caught my eye.
That meant, in other words, that those birds had also spotted me.
“How do I use the ring!?”
“Help me!”
The ring began to glow brightly.
Fate's Timeline - Thousand Memories
Summoning a Transcendent suited to the situation.
Error! Error! Error! Error!
[Abnormal intervention by a Transcendent confirmed.]
[Authorization granted.]
[Deploying MX-7H-F692 Chronos-class Warship!]
I thought it would appear by tearing through space, but this time, the scale was on a different dimension.
A 'warship' so massive it felt like the sky itself was opening up revealed itself. Wait, is that…?
‘That line… isn't that what I always say to my enemies?’
As if there was no need to hear an answer, a massive laser was fired. The Bluebirds, pierced by the beam, turned into a handful of ash and vanished without a trace.
[15 targets eliminated.]
[Congratulations! You have completed the 2nd floor quest!]
[Achievement Unlocked : Will you be an ally, or an enemy?]
[2nd Floor New Record Achieved!]
[Would you like to register in the Hall of Fame?] Yes / NO
What is this…. I stared at the message window floating in front of me with my mouth agape and nodded.
“Register….”
1st Place: Lee Suhyun (Private)
2nd Place: Han Yerin
3rd Place: Kim Haneul
Grade: Unrated
Effect: Increases all experience gain. Faster than others! Unlike yesterday!
[You have unclaimed rewards. Would you like to receive them?]
“Yes…?”
[1st Floor Clear Reward: Magic Crystal granted.]
[1st Floor Clear Additional Reward: Magic Crystal granted.]
[2nd Floor Clear Reward: Magic Crystal granted.]
[2nd Floor Clear Additional Reward: Magic Crystal granted.]
Four Magic Crystals appeared in the air with a bright light.
◈ A gem containing special power. Used for simple magic tool crafting or beginner magic enhancement.
They were all F-grade, but even one of these fetches 500,000 to 1,000,000 won. The price rises exponentially from C-grade, but I should be satisfied for now, right? Anyway, this comes first.
“Excuse me….”
After putting the Magic Crystals into my inventory and waving at the warship, a blue light enveloped my body, and in an instant, I was moved inside the ship.
There, familiar yet nostalgic figures welcomed me.
“It’s been a while, Captain.”
“Isn’t it too long since we’ve seen you, nya?”
“I’m glad to see you again, Captain.”
The crew members who called me Captain. The red-haired woman with a mature style. The blue-haired girl who felt like a childhood friend from next door. Even the one with cat ears.
Seeing the characters from the game I used to play moving and alive, a wave of emotion washed over me.
Yesterday, because of the alcohol, I couldn't fully enjoy the joy, but today is different.
They are all living beings, my daughters.
As expected… my spending was not in vain.
How should I greet them first?
Nice to meet you? It’s been a while? Sorry for forgetting my homework?
No, it’s already decided.
“Have you all been well?”
As soon as I asked after them with a bright smile, they rushed at me!?
“Ugh!”
I was instantly surrounded and pinned to the floor by them, and their gazes were intense.
“Leaving us behind… where did you go!”
“That’s right, nya! That’s too much, nya!”
“Do you know how much we missed you…?”
To me, they are just one of many games, but to them, I am the only one.
They must think of me that specially.
Though, I feel like I’m going to be crushed to death before that.
…Save me.
At that moment, a feeling like the air itself was shaking.
“Oh my, that thing was here, nya!”
“R-run!”
“We’re sorry!”
In an instant, they backed away from me, and messages asking if I was okay flooded in.
“I’m fine.”
“Sorry, nya… we knew our Captain was a weakling, but we didn’t know you couldn’t even handle this much, nya.”
“We’re sorry… our Captain is as weak as ever, both then and now?”
“Being weak isn’t our fault, but we apologize.”
…Why? I received an apology, but why does my heart feel like it’s being scratched?
After about an hour of sharing the joy of reuniting with them, the time to say goodbye arrived.
“Call us anytime, and we’ll destroy anything for you.”
“One shot for you! One shot for me! I’ll let you taste the quantum strike laser, nya!”
“I look forward to our next meeting.”
With the farewells to them, a bright light enveloped me, and I was moved outside the tower.
Checking the clock, the time it took to clear was about 1 minute.
The time spent laughing and chatting with them was 1 hour.
This… isn’t it too easy?
“Should I climb several floors a day?”
At that moment, a message appeared.
“Why?”
“R-right….”
I almost forgot.
It’s true that my ability is outstanding when it comes to clearing the tower, but without this ability, I am the owner of a body so weak that I couldn’t even clear the 1st floor.
“Thank you… I almost got arrogant.”
* * *
“2nd Floor Hall of Fame.”
1st Place: (Private)
2nd Place: Han Yerin
3rd Place: Kim Haneul
Director Lee Naeun bit her nails, showing her anxiety.
“Haven’t you found them yet?”
“I checked the data of all Awakened as of today, but there is no Awakened who meets the requirements.”
“Damn it… is there no way… no way at all?”
After racking her brain, she came up with a method that was ignorant but had a slim chance.
“Bring all the Awakened data. Include the new recruits who registered today.”
“D-don’t tell me, are you planning to check them one by one?”
“Yes, there is no other way. I have no choice but to trust my unique ability.”
Intuition… a method of finding them using an intuition that has 99.9% accuracy due to her ability.
It takes a long time and the method is incredibly crude, but she had no choice but to do it, feeling like she was grabbing at straws.
“While I check, the association should also check the database once more and update it.”
“Understood, Director.”
She checked and compared the Awakened one by one on her tablet, but her intuition didn't react.
Just then, employees appeared carrying piles of documents.
“What is all that?”
“These are Awakened who registered a long time ago. They aren’t in the database; we recorded them by hand.”
“…….”
Director Lee Naeun couldn't help but gape at the massive amount.