A Week of Unmatched Slaughter
How to put it… the 14th Floor had been fun, too.
In the first timeline, he remembered grinding through it with no small amount of suffering. Compared to that, his growth this time was so absurd it felt like he was playing the game with cheats on.
In other words: he had gone full unmatched.
The overall flow wasn't much different from the 13th Floor. The only real change was that instead of darkness, the stage took the form of dungeon-style ruins. And again, only a single species of monster appeared.
The Wailing Maiden Banshee.
An amorphous horror that charged while unleashing a scream capable of inducing delirium just by hearing it. Naturally, they were far more troublesome than the Noctibar of the 13th Floor. Back then, all he had needed to do was hide with Moonlit Night Black Divine Art [C] and drive a spear through them. Here, he also had to weather that psychic assault of a scream.
So Yujin devised a slightly unorthodox approach.
Ranged attacks.
He had a few skills for that — Silver Form Sword [E] and Slash [D]. But neither proved efficient. Their ranges were simply too short. The effective reach of both sat well inside the distance at which a banshee could sense him. Meaning any attack still forced him to hear the scream. That defeated the entire point.
That didn't mean he was out of options for striking from beyond their awareness, though.
Enter the collaboration between Heavenly Silk Thread [C] and Dawn [C].
He simply tied the thread to the end of the spear shaft and threw it. An unbreakable silk line a full fifteen meters long, and a spear that was itself a C-grade item — together, they made a devastating ranged weapon.
Control was a bit of an issue… but that hardly mattered. Yujin had the trait King of All Arms [S]. Even a weapon cobbled together on the fly fell under the complete dominion of an S-grade trait.
Once he had the method, Yujin swung his new toy with abandon. Banshees died with their skulls punched through before they ever registered his presence.
After he had cracked maybe a hundred of their heads, he started flying.
Just like with the Noctibar, a banshee burst apart from the lightest graze of the spear blade. He didn't even need to aim for the head. Shoulder, belly, leg — anything that touched it, died. Yujin tore through the dungeon, gleefully whipping the Heavenly Silk Thread [C] in wide arcs.
"Hahahahahaha—!"
Spear spinning on its silk like a general of legend, he charged through the ruins as pure terror given form. If the banshees had retained any reason, they would have taken one look and fled for their lives. Unfortunately for them, they possessed no intellect — and in any case, they were bursting apart before they ever saw him.
How long did he sweep through them like that?
The banshees in sight began to dwindle. He had slaughtered most of an entire floor's population. The damage was severe enough that a full respawn would take a considerable stretch of time.
"Ah, come on. They've got to keep coming out or popping them isn't any fun."
An old Dynasty Warriors-style game based on the Three Kingdoms flickered through his mind — that feeling of a warlord mercilessly mowing down endless mooks. Yujin wanted to keep tasting it.
But every feast ends. The day came when even a full circuit of the floor turned up fewer than ten of them.
"This is as far as it goes, huh."
He had spent a full week roaming the 14th Floor. Aside from snatching brief rests, he had hunted without pause — and this was the result. Clicking his tongue, Yujin unwound the Heavenly Silk Thread [C] from Dawn [C]. The impossibly fine strand drifted once more through the empty air.
"Well. About time to stop anyway."
He flicked open his status window.
He had hit his target of level 50. Eight levels in a single week on the 14th Floor. Any other player would have choked on their own tongue. Even Yujin himself was moved by the speed of it.
"The party system helped, too."
It wasn't only the experience from the banshees he killed. Experience from the three slaves grinding down below had been pouring in as well. Automatic hunting, perfected. A satisfied smile spread across his face.
"Those kids should have leveled up a fair bit by now."
Obviously, he wasn't the only one benefiting from the party system. If anything, the slaves had gained even more. From the moment they parted, he had gone on an absolute rampage of a hunt. They were probably reeling right about now.
"After all the help I've given them, if they still can't hit 50, they might as well go die."
Vivian was the one slight worry. Unlike the other two slaves, her level had been quite a bit lower — a gap of about five levels.
"Catching up might be rough for her."
He mulled it over for a second, then shrugged.
"Not my problem. If they don't hit it, I'll just work all of them the same."
Whether Vivian's level was low or not, he had set a target, and the slaves were expected to meet it. That was the whole point of the constant support, wasn't it? Failure would simply be paid for in flesh.
"Hunting ends here for now."
He scratched his head. There was nothing left to hunt even if he wanted to.
"Shall I head up, then?"
The 15th Floor. He had no intention of stepping outside just yet. He planned to leave together once the slaves arrived. In the meantime, he figured he might try something else.
"Let's go down."
It was time to track down the item he had put off while leveling — the Champion Gloves [C]. A weapon for Park Ji-hoo.
"That gauntlet of his is absolute garbage."
He had kept postponing it under one excuse or another, but no longer. If the kids were going to hunt faster and more efficiently, Park Ji-hoo's weapon absolutely had to be replaced.
"And while I'm at it, I should drop by the 5th Floor."
He was a little curious how many of them had made it there. Aside from finding the Champion Gloves [C], he didn't have much else to do. Scouting a few more useful people while he was at it wouldn't hurt. He had no intention of taking them as slaves, but establishing a face-to-face connection would let him use them on the higher floors later.
"Yeah. Let's do that."
Smiling, Yujin strolled the corridors of the ruins. Not a single banshee remained on the silent path. The floor twisted like a labyrinth, but he didn't care. Not because he remembered the way — it had been a good ten years since he'd last been here, and his memory wasn't that good. He had another reason.
KWA-GWA-GWA-GWA-GWA-GWANG—!
If the path was hard, you simply made a new one. He drove his spear straight through the brick wall blocking his way. The easiest, fastest method of escaping a maze. Ordinarily he wouldn't have dared attempt it, but for a level-50 Yujin, it was hardly difficult.
KWA-KWANG— KWA-GWA-GWANG— KWA-GWA-GWA-GWANG—!
A straight line. In moments, he had reached the lair of the 14th Floor's boss monster.
"Oh. Long time no see."
At last, a dragon revealed itself before him. Its entire body was yellow stone — a Stone Dragon. The moment it spotted Yujin, its jaws yawned wide. Playing at being a proper dragon breed, it meant to unleash its breath.
Yujin had no intention of just standing there and watching.
Instant [D]
He had saved one use of it specifically for this moment.
Pat—!
Yujin's form vanished. Literal teleportation. A rough wind swept through the space where he had been standing a heartbeat before.
JEO-JEO-JEO-JEO-JEOK—!
Everything the Stone Dragon's breath touched hardened and warped. The breath carried a Petrification skill. Anyone without considerable magical defense would have become a statue on the spot…
"Yeah. Just don't get hit."
In a blink, Yujin was perched atop the Stone Dragon's head, raising Dawn [C] vertically overhead.
Then—
KWA-DEUK—!
—he drove it down.
Blade first, then shaft. The spear punched through the creature's hard skull and buried itself deep.
KEU-GEO-GEO-GEO-GEO-GEOK—!
A scream tore from the Stone Dragon's maw instead of breath. But a single stab wasn't enough to kill it. It was a boss monster, after all — and unlike his fight with the Dark Dragon on the 13th Floor, he hadn't layered skills into the blow. One hit was never going to finish it.
Of course, Yujin knew that.
Slash [D]
So he delivered a second strike.
KU-GU-GU-GU-GUNG—!
A violent vibration exploded inside the creature's skull. The razor-sharp mana that surged out along the edge of Dawn [C] reduced the Stone Dragon's brain — stone, just like the rest of its body — to powder. Boss monster or not, nothing could endure a level-50 Yujin driving an attack straight into its head from the inside.
Pa-seu-seu-seu-seu—.
The Stone Dragon's body gave one great shudder, and grit began to flake away. Little by little — until at last it crumbled completely into dust.
KWA-REU-REU-REU-REU—!
Like a child's sandcastle swallowed by an incoming wave. Gone without a trace.
You have defeated the Boss Monster: Stone Dragon.
He hadn't even been expecting it, but his level rose one more time. His experience bar must have been nearly full already.
"Oh. Freebies. Nice."
Grinning brightly, Yujin recovered Dawn [C].
"Chunbae. Open wide."
Once he reached the 15th Floor, it would be time to head down. He didn't need the weapon for that, so there was no reason to lug the heavy thing around.
"Kku-a-a-a-a-ang—!"
Like some circus strongman's stunt, Chunbae crammed the long spear into its mouth.
"That's it. Good job."
He gave Chunbae's head a fond pat, then climbed the newly formed stairs.
And so — the 15th Floor.
The great city upon the desert: Ezhara.
Hwa-a-a-a-ak—!
Elijah appeared before the stone pillar looking thoroughly refreshed. A week of leave. It had given him a rather novel experience.
"Well, well."
He swept back the long blond hair that had grown down to his shoulders.
"This is fun."
Honestly, his first steps outside had been a little disorienting — thanks to the black towers standing across the world, and the already-public identity of Players.
"Probably because of those bastards."
He didn't know who. The ones who had climbed ahead of him had spilled everything that went on inside the Tower. As a result, research of every kind was already booming even in the United States.
"Made conversation easier, though."
The fact that he hadn't been first still grated a little. But it was fine. The U.S. government and the Department of Defense had promised him a great many things. Money, of course — and a mountain of privileges and support on top of it.
And the one that pleased him most of all:
Immunity.
A special privilege Elijah had demanded for himself. A kind of license to kill. From now on, no matter who he murdered, he would face no punishment. He would have to keep the secret, of course — but as long as it wasn't a key figure, he could butcher as many ordinary people as he liked and bear none of the consequences.
Inside the Tower or out.
A cruel smile carved itself across Elijah's mouth.
All in the name of ensuring the smooth operations of a talent vital to preventing the world's destruction, or some such.
"They're not wrong. Not wrong at all."
An endless surge of exhilaration set his fingers trembling. He was looking forward to it — truly, desperately looking forward to everything he was about to do.
He was still laughing like a madman when—
Hwa-a-a-a-ak—!
The stone pillar began to shine.
"Looks like everyone's coming back."
They had left together; his companions were due to return as well. Elijah rearranged his expression, pulled his mask into place, and raised a hand.
"Hope you all enjoyed your leave—"
He never finished the sentence.
"Huh?"
Because the face that emerged as the light faded was a stranger's. The man looked Elijah straight in the face and opened his mouth.
"Blech."