Gifts of the Mirror Cliff
“I was already at a loss as it was. Did you come all the way here because of me?”
Kang Mu-hyun smiled, though a flicker of apology crossed his face.
“No, that’s not it. This kid’s got something to gain here too.”
Yujin rested a hand on top of Park Ji-hoo’s head as he spoke.
“Ah, I see.”
Embarrassment settled over Kang Mu-hyun’s expression.
“Well, it’s lucky anyway. From the looks of it, you hadn’t even gotten a feel for the place. I should be able to help.”
“Thank you. This is a little embarrassing—you already gave me advice, and I still couldn’t make use of it.”
“It’s always like that at first.”
Later on, there wouldn’t be a soul who didn’t know about this place—but at this point in time, there was no way anyone would understand how to use the cliff.
Yujin gave a rough nod and glanced around.
Kang Mu-hyun, Kim… what was her name again? And the woman with the surname Lim.
That was everyone.
“What about the freeloaders?”
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
“The couple. The ones that were trailing after us.”
“Ah—Jane and Logan. Those two still haven’t returned to the Tower.”
“You know them pretty well. Decided to team up?”
“I heard Seong Yujin suggested as much. I thought it would help us as well, so we took them in.”
Smart thinking.
If those two joined Kang Mu-hyun’s party, their climb would become far more stable. After all, they were skilled enough to earn names like Ray and Overclock.
In the first timeline, they hadn’t climbed all that high—but if they and Kang Mu-hyun supported each other, the ending of their story would change.
“Next time they come back, bring them here once. It’ll help them too.”
“Understood.”
Kang Mu-hyun smiled and nodded.
“All right then…”
Yujin took his hand off Park Ji-hoo’s head and gave his shoulder a light tap.
“Go sit over there.”
The Mirror Cliff.
Ji-hoo approached it slowly and sat facing the cliff where his reflection showed, just as Yujin had told him.
“Just do something like meditation. You’ll see something eventually.”
It was the same as with Vivian. No elaborate explanation. Contemplation, emptiness, intent, self-reflection—he didn’t bother with any of the hard words. It was enough as it was. Even Vivian, who’d just been spacing out, had gotten something out of it. Well, she hadn’t told Yujin what it was.
“Y-yes, sir.”
Park Ji-hoo began staring quietly at the cliff, just as Yujin had said.
“You all do the same.”
“Understood. I’m curious myself about what we’ll see.”
Kang Mu-hyun moved without a shred of doubt. His companions eyed Yujin with some suspicion, but they didn’t argue. Judging by everything he’d shown them so far, he didn’t seem the type to run a scam over something like this.
Yujin took a step back and watched them.
Wouldn’t mind picking up one more myself.
Unfortunately, the cliff only ever gave a person one chance. No matter what Yujin did, he couldn’t wring anything more out of it.
I was hoping for a sword skill, of all things.
Yujin already had plenty of skills—but ones tied to the sword he actually used as his main weapon were painfully scarce. What he did have sat at a mere E-grade or D-grade. He had at least picked up Heavenly Demon’s Blade Frenzy [B] while smashing the ones Didascalia had prepared this time, but…
Doesn’t look like something I can throw around casually yet.
He thought of Heavenly Demon’s Stride [B], the one that had pulverized the Zygote. Even a single activation had completely drained Yujin’s mana dry. Sharing a similar name, Heavenly Demon’s Blade Frenzy [B] was likely the same.
So what I need right now is one of two things.
A sword skill with solid power—or an item or trait that would massively boost his mana.
Hmm.
Fortunately, this was the Dream Garden—a floor also known as the treasury of opportunities. A few candidates naturally drifted through Yujin’s mind.
Severing Moon [C] wouldn’t be bad for a while. Burst Blade [C] and Bicheondo [C] go without saying.
As far as Yujin knew, those ranked among the absolute best skills obtainable on the twentieth floor.
There are mana elixirs too.
Golden Spirit Fruit [C], Celestial Silk Herb [C], Frost Flower Root [C], Star Essence [C], and so on—items that drastically increased mana capacity the moment they were consumed. Being lower-floor goods, none of them delivered a truly dramatic change on their own, but…
Nobody said I only get to eat one.
If Yujin swept them all up and swallowed every last one, even the Heavenly Demon set would be usable without worry. And whatever was left over could go toward raising the 3 No a bit.
Yeah. Good.
Elixirs looked better than skills after all. That settled his next move. Once Park Ji-hoo and Kang Mu-hyun’s group got up, he’d head straight for the elixirs.
“Hwaaah.”
He’d been thinking for quite a while, yet the four of them were still staring at the cliff. Not a single twitch among them—they seemed to have sunk into a complete state of self-forgetting.
It made him a little uneasy.
Don’t tell me these guys are going to sit through a whole day too.
But Yujin knew the old saying well enough: “don’t tell me” was exactly the kind of line that always came true.
They’re not getting up.
Yujin’s narrowed eyes bored into the backs of Park Ji-hoo’s and Kang Mu-hyun’s heads. More than twenty hours had already passed. The sun had set, risen again, and climbed to its zenith—and still the two of them showed no sign of stirring.
“…Do we just keep waiting?”
“Is that actually okay?”
Kim Jihye and Lim Ayeong—Kang Mu-hyun’s companions. The two of them had stood up after about an hour and a half. That was normal. These two were the weird ones.
Same for me and Baekbaek, though.
Yujin scratched hard at his head. If he’d known it would take this long, he would have gone and grabbed an elixir or two first. The thought of wasted time was enough to make irritation crawl up his spine.
“It’s a good thing, actually, so stop fretting.”
“F-fretting?”
Kim Jihye’s eyes sharpened.
“We’re worried, that’s why!”
“That’s right!”
“So don’t worry. The longer it takes, the higher the odds of getting something good.”
“Ah… then…”
Both women’s faces darkened a little. A mere hour and a half—what that meant was that the rewards Kim Jihye and Lim Ayeong had received were nothing special. Yujin already knew that, so he didn’t bother asking what they’d gotten. Whether it was good or not, he simply hadn’t cared in the first place.
“Still, they should be waking up soon enough.”
Mana was writhing around the two of them—that much was clear.
Whoooooosh—!
It happened almost at the same time. Wind whipped up, coiled around Park Ji-hoo and Kang Mu-hyun, then shot skyward like a waterspout.
“Kyaa!”
“Sudden wind—!”
The lackeys shrieked at the abrupt gale. Yujin, by contrast, didn’t so much as blink as he watched what was happening in front of him.
Ssshhh—.
Of the two who hadn’t moved an inch, Kang Mu-hyun was the first to rise. He stared blankly at his own face reflected in the cliff, then lowered his gaze.
The golden spear, Dawn [C].
Gripping the shaft hard, he thrust his arm forward.
A simple thrust—no skill used at all. But the aftermath was staggering.
KRAAAAACK—!
Space warped. Every ounce of force compressed into a single point at the spear tip and erupted with extreme destructive power.
A trait.
Probably B-grade. He didn’t know the name, but it was clearly no ordinary trait.
Something related to spear strikes, most likely.
If Kang Mu-hyun could put that kind of power into every attack, he would become someone on a completely different level from now. He might even close in right on the heels of the 3 No. Of course, the gaps in level and experience meant an actual fight would be another story—but the fact that Kang Mu-hyun had grown enormously was undeniable.
That left the youngest of the 3 No, Park Ji-hoo.
Yujin’s gaze shifted left. In the brief time he’d been watching Kang Mu-hyun, the kid had already stood. Eyes still closed, head slightly bowed. The wind kept circling him, then began to gather toward a single point. The ash-gray wind that had spiraled like a tornado was absorbed straight into Park Ji-hoo’s fist and vanished.
“Haa—”
A deep breath left his mouth. Unlike Kang Mu-hyun, he didn’t put on a demonstration—but Yujin knew at once what the kid had obtained.
Wind God’s Fist [B].
The skill the Fighting Demon had used as his mainstay in the first timeline. Alone against a boss monster on the seventieth floor, he had finally crushed its skull with that technique. It had cost him his life in the end—but the power had been famous enough that even Yujin had heard plenty about it.
“You awake?”
Yujin stepped up beside Park Ji-hoo and tossed the words out lightly. Ji-hoo slowly opened his eyes.
“Ah—Hyeong.”
“Congrats. Looks like you got something pretty good.”
“Y-yes. It’s a B-grade skill, and…”
“Skip the explanation.”
There was no need to spill his own information with so many ears around—no matter that it was Kang Mu-hyun. Right now, the man was less a companion or a subordinate and more a mere acquaintance. There was no telling how their relationship might change later. Better to keep what needed keeping.
“If you’re done, let’s move. You’ve been sitting here a full day.”
“Really?”
Park Ji-hoo’s eyes went wide. Clearly he hadn’t imagined that much time had passed.
“I’m hungry, so let’s get back. We’ve got things to do—hurry it up.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
Apparently convinced he’d been a nuisance, the kid scrambled in a fluster.
“You lot must be starving too. Come with us.”
At the mention of his group, Kang Mu-hyun looked apologetic.
“Thank you.”
“Thank me for what. I was just waiting on my kid and happened to be standing next to you.”
“No—I’m not talking about the waiting.”
“Then what?”
“For teaching us about this place. Thanks to you, Seong Yujin, I was able to obtain something tremendous.”
He bowed deeply in gratitude.
“Forget it. We’re climbing together anyway. One more strong person only helps me.”
When hands were short, he could put the man to work and spare himself some hardship. Nothing bad about it from Yujin’s side either.
“Enough with the awkward talk—let’s just head back. Ah, and if you’re that grateful, buy us a meal at least.”
“Of course. I’ll buy as many as you like.”
Kang Mu-hyun answered with a smile—as if, considering what he’d gained, he was ready to buy meals for the rest of his life.
Yujin waved him off like it was whatever and started walking.
Toward Unmonghyang.
No trouble this time, right?
The Zygote was dead, the Flower Keeper was dead, and Didascalia had just trembled and fled. For a while, he wouldn’t even dare try anything against Yujin.
The problem is higher up.
The twenty-first floor. From there, the manager changed—a being of a completely different caliber from Didascalia, who was merely vicious and stupid.
The name was…
What was it again?
Something that sounded kind of like okonomiyaki.
He couldn’t quite remember. But the dangerous presence itself was etched firmly in his mind.
What a pain. Hope I don’t run into them.