Green Hell
The Second Floor was a jungle.
It was an entirely different type of place from the First Floor, with its vast plains and the massive city called Terra. Temperatures soared well past forty degrees, and the humidity sat at ninety percent or higher. The environment was a stifling steam bath that made every breath feel like drowning.
Naturally, it imposed severe restrictions on a player's movement. The forest, so dense that you could barely see an inch ahead, made monster ambushes nearly impossible to detect, while the scorching weather steadily chewed away at stamina. A river might have offered a brief respite of cool water, but there was nothing of the sort here. Endless jungle and monsters that hid themselves completely—it was a floor that truly deserved the name Green Hell.
Of course, that was only true for ordinary players.
Seong Yujin looked no different from usual.
Green Hell, my ass. Compared to the 82nd Floor, this place is paradise.
Remembering his first timeline, Yujin shuddered. The 82nd Floor—the true green hell that only he had ever experienced. Even someone like him had been forced to thrash desperately just to survive there. The environment had been so merciless that fighting powerful monsters would have been preferable.
"Aish, just thinking about climbing that place again pisses me off."
It was still a long way off, but even imagining it soured his mood. Spotting a single monster hidden among the dense trees, Yujin drew Fire Dragon Blade [E]. No—he drew and swung in the same motion. Flawless, perfect sword-drawing technique. The monster that had been waiting to ambush him was split cleanly in half the moment the blade flashed, and its body tumbled to the ground.
"Huh? It was a Tree Orangutan."
The corpse of a monkey covered in fur the exact color of tree bark came into view. It was only about a meter tall—similar in size to a Red Goblin. Its danger level, however, was on a completely different plane. Given the right timing, it possessed enough power to tear a level-15 player apart in an instant. An inexperienced player would be dead before they even realized what had happened.
"So this is Tree Orangutan territory?"
He looked around. While he had been lost in thought, he had apparently wandered into their domain.
"Tch. What a pain."
The truly terrifying thing about Tree Orangutans was that they lived in packs. Not just one or two of them, either—at least fifty. Not quite as numerous as a Red Goblin wave, but dealing with creatures that used the surrounding environment for sudden ambushes was thoroughly annoying.
"Nothing I can do about it."
Yujin clicked his tongue and stayed alert. Once you entered their territory, leaving without a fight was impossible. And he had already killed one of them. They would keep coming until either he died or their entire pack was wiped out.
I'll have to clear the daily quest later.
The daily quest he had received that morning was to collect ten Isaiah's Leaves [D]. In this vast, complicated jungle, finding them was like plucking stars from the sky. Yujin, however, was not particularly worried. He knew exactly where the Isaiah plant colonies were.
I must have taken a wrong turn while zoning out.
He should have headed a little farther east from here. Since he needed to hunt anyway, he simply decided to reverse the order.
Kieeek—kieeeek—!
Enraged monkey cries rang out from overhead. The pack of the one he had just killed was swarming in.
They're pretty tricky opponents, all right.
Stealth, nimble movement, and unpredictable, opportunistic aggression. Tree Orangutans had once been called a disaster by players for good reason.
Of course—
"Not against me."
Yujin's form vanished. At least, that was how it looked to the Tree Orangutans. The effects of God-Infused Physique [S] were far beyond anything a mere Second Floor monster could comprehend.
Kieeeeeek—!
They shrieked warning cries toward their own pack. Too late. Yujin was already standing in their midst.
Pabababababababat—!
Space itself seemed to split. The illusion came from sword strikes that were simply too fast. Dozens of times per second. Everything in the path of the blade was severed. Massive trees. The leaves that had blocked out the sky. The Tree Orangutans that had gathered to attack him. There were no exceptions. In the blink of an eye, a full twenty Tree Orangutans lost their lives and plummeted to the ground.
The forest shuddered with terror. No—the Tree Orangutans, stunned by a sight they could never have imagined, were fleeing.
"Huh?"
Weren't they the type to flip their eyes and charge in for revenge, just like Red Goblins? Tree Orangutans running away… Completely unexpected behavior. Yujin didn't even think to give chase.
"Well, damn."
Apparently, unlike Red Goblins, Tree Orangutans chose flight when they encountered an absolute, unbeatable enemy.
"First I've heard of it."
In his first timeline, Yujin had never possessed this level of power, so he had never learned that fact.
"Well, doesn't matter, does it?"
If the daily quest had been to kill Tree Orangutans, it would have been different. He had no intention of combing through this jungle just to hunt them down.
"What's important right now isn't hunting."
The daily quest. If only to check what kind of reward it would give, he had to focus on obtaining the Isaiah's Leaves [D].
"Let's see…"
Racking his memory, Yujin adjusted his direction slightly eastward. It had been so long ago that he couldn't be completely certain, but it should be roughly correct. Spreading his senses wide to avoid getting tangled up in more nuisances, he started walking.
How long had he been moving?
"Ah. There it is."
A colossal tree several times larger than the surrounding giants came into view. And around it grew plants that looked a lot like perilla leaves.
"Isaiah's Leaf [D]."
A D-grade material item. It was commonly used to craft tranquilizer potions, and its effects were outstanding for the grade. Chew and swallow a single whole leaf and your heart would calm so thoroughly it might as well stop. Ten leaves would be enough to make three hundred tranquilizer potions.
Yujin whistled as he began collecting them one by one. It wasn't particularly difficult. Valuable material item or not, nothing like a guardian existed to protect them. Thanks to that, he gathered ten leaves in no time.
At the same moment—
You have collected 10 Isaiah's Leaves [D].
Daily Quest completed.
Quest Completion Reward: Experience
Hwaaaaaaah—!
His level rose amid a swirl of light. Considering he had only leveled up a short while ago, the experience awarded for completing a daily quest was enormous…
"Ah, wait. Maybe not?"
He had just killed twenty Tree Orangutans, after all.
"Hmm. Then it's a little ambiguous."
It definitely wasn't a small amount. But it also wasn't the kind of flood that would make your eyes spin.
"Well, it is a reward you get every day."
A little disappointing, maybe, but still more than satisfying. At the very least, he would be able to grow at a speed that put his first timeline to shame.
"All right. Time to head back."
Lee Sia and Park Ji-hoo would be hard at work fighting Mantises by now. The monsters were at a manageable level and gave pretty generous experience, so they might have gained another level already.
He stepped forward with that expectation—
"Just what exactly did you do, Player Seong Yujin?"
A familiar voice. One that was never welcome. A thoroughly revolting voice, coming from directly behind him.
Without even needing to think, Yujin spun and swung Fire Dragon Blade [E]. Absolute speed, accelerated thought and Exterior and Interior as One [E] both activated. Yet he felt nothing connect. The thing that had been right behind him had dodged.
"Attacking without so much as a hello. Your aggression is still extremely high, isn't it?"
Pastel sky-blue hair that fell to the waist. A torso wrapped in pure white cloth. A pair of beautiful feathered wings sprouting from the back and a faintly glowing halo. And a face that looked as if it had been sculpted out of pure disgust.
"Didascalia."
This damn Tower manager bastard.
"You even remember my name. I'm honored."
The creature smiled. Sharp teeth coated in red blood and bits of flesh were visible.
"Don't smile. It makes me want to yank every last one of those teeth out."
"My, my. You really ought to show me a little more respect."
"Respect, my ass. The fact that I haven't ripped your head off right this second is me being polite, you bastard."
If he had the ability, he would have done exactly that and more. Perhaps sensing that killing intent, the face that had been wearing a smile designed to provoke beatings hardened.
"And can you actually do it?"
"What? You think I can't?"
Right now it was impossible, of course. Unless he could use Revolving Lantern [S] again. Even so, Yujin bluffed. He thought he understood why the creature had come looking for him.
Because of the Akasha System upgrade, no doubt.
There couldn't be any other reason. The Akasha System was essentially the foundation of the Tower. To a Tower manager like Didascalia, nothing could possibly be more important. So the bastard had to have come because of Akasha System 2.0.
"You look like you've got a lot of questions. Wondering just what I can do, huh?"
Yujin smirked as he asked. Didascalia's expression twisted.
"Player Seong Yujin. You truly are an incomprehensible existence. In all the long years I have managed the Tower, I have never encountered a player like you."
"Yeah, I tend to have that effect."
"So I spoke with the managers of the other Towers. About the existence known as you."
"Oh? That so?"
A managers' grand council. Yujin already knew about that.
"A grand council being convened over a single player is completely unprecedented. Especially when that player has only just reached the Second Floor!"
Killing intent filled Didascalia's eyes.
"So? What did you talk about?"
Yujin put a little more strength into the hand holding Fire Dragon Blade [E] as he asked.
"About how to deal with Player Seong Yujin, of course."
The creature's shoulder twitched slightly. A trivial motion, but Yujin understood it instantly.
He's attacking!
Didascalia's next move was an attack aimed straight at him.
"Irregulars are to be eliminated. That is the conclusion the managers reached!"
Paaaaat—!
The creature's hand shot forward. An attack that far surpassed the speed of a Light-Bolt Crow. But Yujin, already prepared, barely managed to evade it.
Piiiit—!
The tips of the nails caught his face and tore it open, blood spraying out. Dizzying pain. But this was not the time to care about that. Twisting his body, Yujin swung Fire Dragon Blade [E] at the same time.
"Die, you son of a bitch."
In that fleeting instant, the reddish blade carved through space and smashed into Didascalia's temple.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaang—!