Beneath the Three Sword Peaks
What methods allowed players to grow stronger?
The first, of course, was levels. As a player's level rose, their power increased exponentially. Crossing just level 5 was enough to set world records across every Olympic event. By level 10, one could fairly be considered superhuman—leaping over ten meters in a single stride, shattering massive boulders with a bare fist. A high level meant strength.
But leveling up was not the only path to power. Skills, items, and traits—acquiring high-grade versions of those could grant strength that surpassed mere levels. Traits, in particular, enabled tremendous leaps in ability. The ones Yujin had obtained—King of All Ailments [S] and God-Inhabited Body [S]—proved as much.
"So it's better to skip the minor stuff and go all-in on traits."
What Yujin intended to claim were traits as well. Among everything obtainable on the First Floor, these were the finest. Of course, being low-floor prizes, they lacked the kind of absurd performance that could overturn the entire board—but they were more than enough to serve as a foundation for growth for a good while yet.
"The first one I need to get is still Sword Heart [D], right?"
As the name suggested, it was a trait of exceptional use to any swordsman. Roughly speaking, it was known for the ability to read the heart of the sword. Yujin had no idea what a sword's heart even was, but looking at the effects, it smoothed out the path of the blade and elevated one's swordsmanship a notch further. If the Sword Empress acquired it, the synergy would be enormous.
"I'd like to get her something better, but this is the limit for now."
There was nothing superior available on the First Floor—at least nothing related to the sword.
"Next…"
Something suited to the Fighting Demon, Park Ji-hoo.
"Guess it's still just Fighting Spirit [D]."
It was the same trait Park Ji-hoo had obtained in the first timeline. The fiercer the battle—and the more disadvantageous the situation—the more it raised overall stats. The grade was low, yet even after climbing into the Tower's upper floors the ability remained quite useful. Consensus held that Fighting Spirit [D] had played a decisive role when the Fighting Demon single-handedly crushed the Floor 70 boss.
"Well, in the end it's still only a D-grade trait."
If Park Ji-hoo had possessed even one additional A-grade trait—no, even a B-grade—he would never have fallen on Floor 70.
"There's a decent one around Floor 50. I'll just grab him a new one then."
For now, this would suffice.
"All right. What else is left?"
He would need to secure one or two skills along the way as well. Without usable skills, their hunting speed had been sluggish. Items could wait for later.
"It was that way, wasn't it?"
Yujin had already left Terra's southern gate far behind when he hauled on the reins and changed direction. The memory was hazy after so many years, but the mountain rising ahead of him was almost certainly the right one.
"Mount Bukmang."
Early in the first timeline, players who wandered into that mountain without a second thought never returned—not a single one. That was how it earned its name. The reason was eventually revealed, but until then Mount Bukmang had been as good as a forbidden zone on the First Floor.
Not that it mattered to him. Yujin spurred his mount harder and closed in on Mount Bukmang.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud—!
The black horse raced nimbly across the darkened earth.
Getting a mount first was definitely the right call.
Without it, the journey would have taken far longer. A satisfied smile touched Yujin's lips as the horse reached the foot of Mount Bukmang in an instant.
"Dismiss summon."
Riding up the mountain was impossible, so he dismissed the mount and began to walk. The night-shrouded mountain was thick with an eerie atmosphere. There was no proper trail, and waist-high undergrowth only sharpened the feeling.
Yujin, of course, paid it no mind whatsoever. Gloomy, ominous—none of that bothered him. What irritated him was simply the nuisance of having to climb a mountain in the dead of night.
"I'd almost prefer it if a ghost showed up."
At least then he could slice it up and gain a few levels. Smacking his lips, Yujin pulled the Fire Dragon Blade [E] from Chunbae's mouth.
"Kkuaaaaang—!"
No matter how many times he saw it, the sight never stopped wrinkling his brow.
"Now that's horror."
It was far more terrifying than any ghost Mount Bukmang might produce. After a glance at Chunbae—who hung there with a look that all but said Didn't I do well?—Yujin drew the Fire Dragon Blade [E].
Pabababababat—!
A single sweep toward the front unleashed a blade wind that sheared the undergrowth away. A path appeared in an instant, as though an eraser had wiped the brush clean. Yujin advanced along the road he had made, occasionally swinging the Fire Dragon Blade [E] again.
"I really need to rank this up soon."
Instant [E]. A teleportation skill usable only once a day. If he raised it to even B-grade, he could completely conquer a place like Mount Bukmang in under ten minutes. For now, though, a single daily use and a mere three-meter range made proper exploitation nearly impossible.
"And how long is that going to take?"
The thought of walking a path he had already walked once before was both exciting and tedious. He knew exactly how grueling the process would be. Still, there was no other choice. If he did not want to meet the same ending as the first timeline, he had to do better this time.
"Mm. I heard it was somewhere around the mid-slope."
Mount Bukmang was tall—nothing like a neighborhood hill. In height it rivaled Hallasan, yet its terrain was several times more treacherous. The unexpected drain on his stamina only deepened Yujin's irritation.
"A boulder where the tips of three sword-like peaks meet, wasn't it?"
Sensing he had roughly reached the mid-slope, Yujin surveyed his surroundings. He saw neither peaks nor boulders. The mountain was vast, but more than that, obstacles blocked every view. Trees so dense they hid the sky and thick undergrowth choked his line of sight.
"Tsk."
Yujin clicked his tongue and raised the Fire Dragon Blade [E]. If he wanted to find his target, he would need to clear the area first.
"Ugh, looks like I'm doing gymnastics under the moonlight."
Grumbling as if he hated every second of it, he still poured mana into the blade in his hand. How much mana could a mere level-14 player even have? Even borrowing the power of Grace [C], the amount was modest. He would have to use every drop with maximum efficiency.
And mana control of that precision was one of the fields Yujin was most confident in.
A thin smile. Mana settled along the edge of the Fire Dragon Blade [E]—paper-thin, finer than a strand of hair, sharper than a cut of obsidian. Keen enough that even the scales of an earth dragon, a calamity that reigned over the First Floor, would part the moment they touched it. Blade energy compressed to the absolute limit.
An absolute art that a mere level-14 player could not even imitate. For Yujin, it was easier than breathing. Above Floor 80, this level of skill had been the default. He lacked only level and mana; the old sensation remained intact.
Yujin savored the long-absent, murderous edge and found his mood improving. It was a little disappointing that his opponents were brush and trees rather than a formidable foe, but it did not matter. The fact that they still needed cutting remained unchanged.
Cut.
A single thought. The Fire Dragon Blade [E], invested with the will to sever every existence he had envisioned, carved through space. The speed was not especially great. The power contained within, however, approached the unprecedented.
Saaaaa—.
Was that the wind? The air rippled faintly, and the forest howled.
"…This is ridiculously exhausting. I really need to level up already."
From left to right. Completing the straight cut, Yujin withdrew his arm with a theatrical complaint. And at the same moment—
Thud-thud-thud-thud—.
Everything that had blocked his path ahead collapsed. The chest-high undergrowth, of course, and even trees so massive that five grown men would have been needed to encircle them—every last one of them toppled without exception.
"Huuu—."
Having produced a spectacle no one would believe a single human could create, Yujin frowned and let out a breath. The mana remaining in him was truly negligible.
I poured that much power in, and this is all I get?
Compared to the self who had fought the end of the world, even calling himself weak felt like an insult. That Yujin could have split the whole of Mount Bukmang in half with a single stroke and still had force to spare. The gulf made him keenly aware of just how far he had fallen.
"Well, that's that."
He had achieved his purpose either way. The space that had been opaque a moment before now stood empty and clear.
"There they are—the peaks."
Three sword peaks. They looked exactly like blades driven into the earth upside down. Yujin strolled down the vast thoroughfare he had carved and examined the surroundings.
"There are more boulders than I expected."
He had imagined two or three rocks at most, but stones littered the ground. At a rough count there had to be more than fifty.
"Tsk."
He was already tired, and now he would have to check every single one against the conditions. Scratching his head, Yujin began to move. A boulder that touched the tips of the three sword peaks. Checking them one by one, time slipped past in a blur.
"Damn it, at this rate the sun's going to come up."
It already felt like three in the morning.
"I should've just handed them something decent and called it a day. Why did I have to go looking for something this special and put myself through—"
Yujin's grumbling cut off. His eyes had locked onto a boulder that sat precisely where the tips of the three sword peaks met.
"Found it?"
He had half expected to spend the entire night searching. It had taken a while, but he had still found it faster than anticipated. Without hesitation Yujin strode toward the rock.
"It was supposed to be under this, right?"
He could not recall the name of the person who had obtained Sword Heart [D] in the first timeline. The man had not been remarkable enough to warrant remembering. What stuck in Yujin's mind was that the owner of Sword Heart [D] had been the type to strut. A fame-chaser who spread word of his own fortuitous encounters just to draw attention. Hearing those rumors, Yujin had thought the trait far too good for such an idiot. He had even considered that if someone like the Sword Empress or Infinity Blader had claimed it instead, it might actually have helped clear the Tower.
This time it goes to the Sword Empress.
Far better that she put it to use than some trash. The original owner had never even reached Floor 50 before dying anyway, so Yujin felt not the slightest guilt.
He raised the Fire Dragon Blade [E] and brought it straight down. No mana, no techniques—purely physical cutting power. Yet God-Inhabited Body [S], a level that had reached fourteen, and insight refined to the extreme were more than enough to turn a rock like this into soft tofu.
Seogeok—!
The blade sank in with ridiculous ease and split the boulder cleanly in two.
"Oh?"
Beneath the cleaved stone lay a small pebble. A rune fragment. Exactly the rune fragment that contained the trait Sword Heart [D].