The God-Infused Body
The first floor was vast.
Across every floor of the Tower—save for a handful of special places—it was likely the widest and tallest of them all. The Tutorial floor had been about the size of a mid-sized city, but the first floor was on another scale entirely.
Terra alone was a colossal city large enough to hold every player on Earth. The monster habitats stretched several times farther still. That was why Yujin had been forced to walk for a long while.
"Tch. Should've grabbed a mount before heading out, huh?"
He didn't need anything on the level of the Uranos [B] he'd ridden in the first timeline, but even a single horse would have made free movement possible. He knew that perfectly well. The reason he had set out on foot anyway was simple.
Even obtaining the lowest-tier mount—a horse—took a considerable amount of time. A week at minimum, maybe more.
Black Wing [C] was the single most important first step in the plan he had laid out. He had to secure it in the shortest time possible. So no matter how much of a pain it was, he had no choice but to run on his own two feet. There was no leisure to waste on the comfort of a mount.
"What kind of bullshit hard work is this, anyway."
He grumbled without pause as he walked, and after a long stretch of that, his target finally came into view ahead.
A massive deer roughly three meters tall, crowned with horns that looked as if they were on fire. Bright yellow gas jetted from its nostrils—it looked lethally dangerous just to breathe near.
A Sulfur Deer.
It was the monster with the widest habitat and the largest population on the first floor. That also made it the first one most players ran into.
"Numbers are perfect for a clean sweep, too."
Four Sulfur Deer stood in plain sight. Deeper in there would be many times that many, but this was the outer edge of the habitat, so the pack wasn't large enough to be a real burden.
Yujin slung the Fire Dragon Blade [E] over his shoulder and strolled forward like an unemployed guy out for a neighborhood walk. As the distance closed, the deer's ears pricked up. They had sensed him.
Prrrrt—!
"Look at these bastards. Eyes like they want to murder someone."
Naturally, a Sulfur Deer's gaze was nothing like an ordinary flower deer's. The whites were bloodshot red, and the pupils were split into three. The murderous intent blasting out of those grotesque eyes was more than enough to make anyone's knees go weak.
Yujin smiled at the sensory assault of their stares.
"Quit looking at me so nasty and just hand over the horns nice and quiet."
Thud—!
Yujin and the four Sulfur Deer. Neither side could claim the first move; both kicked off the ground at once. The distance vanished in an instant.
The Sulfur Deer struck first. Their jaws split wide, revealing teeth far too sharp for creatures that supposedly grazed on grass. Getting bitten by those wouldn't end with a simple chunk of flesh missing.
The lead deer aimed straight for Yujin's throat.
…This is it.
The moment he entered combat and focused, the entire world seemed to slow. It wasn't a skill or a trait. This was pure, innate talent.
Inside that endlessly stretched time, Yujin took one step to the side.
Seamless Unity [E].
The trait whose name meant thought and action in perfect accord. The same trait he had gained on the Tutorial floor activated, and his body began moving at the same speed as his accelerated mind.
In short, he got insanely fast.
Snap—! One deer's jaws slammed shut on empty air. Too late. Yujin was already gone from that spot. He had already slipped past the teeth and come around to the side, swinging his arm upward from below.
The Fire Dragon Blade [E] rose like a soaring dragon, aiming for the lead Sulfur Deer's neck.
Hit the windpipe first, then go straight for the eyes.
Sulfur Deer were strong monsters. Thinking they were weak just because there were a lot of them was a mistake. On the first floor they were probably the strongest after the Earth Dragons. Their hide and muscle were so tough that ordinary attacks barely left a scratch. Even at level 7, Yujin was no exception. Severing a neck in one stroke should have required at least level 10…
Shhk—!
"Huh?"
Yujin's eyes went wide. His prediction had been completely wrong. The first strike was only supposed to land a solid hit, then the second would take the eyes—the vital point. Instead the edge of the Fire Dragon Blade [E] carved through the deer's neck like hot butter through melted wax.
Thud—.
That was the end. The severed head of the Sulfur Deer hit the ground, and the creature died on the spot.
"What the hell…"
Yujin found himself staring down at the Fire Dragon Blade [E] in his hand.
"Was this sword actually that good?"
No chance. It was just an E-grade blade with zero options attached. Serviceable up through the early tenth floor, sure, but nowhere near good enough to slice a Sulfur Deer's head off like tofu.
So there had to be another reason.
"Ah!"
One fact he had completely forgotten surfaced.
"Right. That was it."
He had been so lost in the long-lost sensation of Seamless Unity [E] that it had slipped his mind entirely.
"God-Infused Body [S]."
An honest-to-god S-grade trait.
Greatly elevates every physical capability of the body.
The modifier "greatly" was no exaggeration; the effect was peerless. Yujin was only level 7, yet the body under the trait's influence performed at several times that level. This was the first real fight since acquiring it, so only now did he feel the difference properly.
"This is insane."
It was already ridiculous. And God-Infused Body [S] would only grow more absurd as his level rose.
Yujin's gaze shifted to the three remaining Sulfur Deer, frozen as they stared at their fallen companion.
"You want to die like your buddy here, or just hand over the horns nice and quiet?"
Naturally the Sulfur Deer, who could not understand human speech, chose the former. The brief pause ended and the fight resumed.
Shhk— Shhk— Shhk—!
Three casual swings. Not even a skill, nothing that deserved the name of technique. He just roughly aimed the blade at their necks. That alone was enough. Exactly like the first one, they dropped their heads and ended their lives on the spot.
"Huh. Didn't think it'd be this easy."
Of course Yujin had never once imagined he might lose. Sulfur Deer, Vampire Bats, Blue Slimes—none of them, Earth Dragons aside, were worth special concern. Even setting skills and traits aside, he still carried the [experience] of climbing to the hundredth floor alone and slaughtering his way through the end of the world.
But he had never expected it to end this effortlessly.
"Things are rolling along real smooth."
While Yujin wore a sly grin, the Sulfur Deer corpses glowed and vanished. In their place appeared the drops.
"Oh, luck's good too."
Not only the Sulfur Deer's Horn [F] he had come for, but two Coins as well.
"These aren't supposed to drop this easy."
Coins were the currency used when trading with NPCs. Barter existed, of course, but the truly good goods only moved for these. Pulling two Coins on the first floor—on the very first hunt—was genuine good fortune.
"Normally you barely even see these on the lower floors."
Yujin hummed under his breath as he stuffed the drops into his pockets any which way.
"Horns are enough. Next up, Vampire Bats?"
At this rate he might finish not tomorrow, but today. It would depend on how he handled the Earth Dragon, but… compared to the end of the world, an Earth Dragon was a literal earthworm.
"Earth Dragon or Heavenly Dragon, I'll just catch them all and fillet the meat."
For now, though, the Vampire Bats came first.
"Man, this keeps bugging me."
As he started walking again, Yujin frowned. The items in his pockets made every step awkward.
"Gotta get a Subspace soon."
It wasn't a big problem yet, but once the item count grew it would become a real nuisance.
"Once Citadel's business is done, mount and Subspace take priority."
Having something and then losing it made you appreciate the little things all over again. Clutching the rattling pockets, Yujin headed for the Vampire Bat habitat.
Citadel sat motionless, staring blankly at the liquor bottle on the table.
Come to think of it, I never even asked his name.
The player who had suddenly appeared, declared he would restore the flame, and then walked out. Citadel had nodded along, swept up in the moment, but the longer time passed the stronger the sense that something was off grew.
"Can I really trust him?"
He didn't know. What he did know for certain was that if that player truly could bring the flame back to life…
"Handing over Black Wing [C] and Grace [C] wouldn't feel like a loss at all."
The question was whether the man could actually succeed. Citadel himself had no idea how to restore the flame. If he had known, he wouldn't be drowning himself in booze at the shop—he'd be out there doing it himself. No matter how hard or difficult the method, he would have done it. But no matter how he searched, he had found nothing.
And now a player who had only just arrived on the first floor claimed he knew the way.
"Said he'd be back with the method by tomorrow, too."
He wanted to believe the guy, but he simply couldn't. Frustrated, he grabbed the bottle and poured the harsh liquor straight down his throat.
"Kraaah!"
The burn in his esophagus dragged a groan out of him. Even so, the tight knot in his chest showed no sign of loosening.
"This won't do. I need to see with my own two eyes how that bastard plans to bring the method back."
Barely half a day had passed since the player left. No matter how huge the first floor was, that was more than enough time to track him down and catch up.
"I'll have the information guild find out where he is, then borrow a horse and move."
Taylon would probably lend him a horse without complaint. He was mapping out the concrete steps when—
KWAANG—!
Someone kicked the door open and stormed into the shop.
"Who the hell dares—!"
Already on edge, Citadel shot up from his chair, ready to vent—then his body locked solid.
"Aah, fuck. That was a pain in the ass."
The figure who appeared with a curse was none other than that same player.
"What? I told you to wait, and you're already drunk and trying to leave?"
Thud—.
A dark-red leather bundle dropped to the floor with a heavy sound.
"Y-you…?"
"What are you doing? Take this."
While Citadel stammered in shock, the man nudged the leather bundle on the floor with his foot.
"The materials to restore your flame."
"What!"
Doubt and anxiety vanished in an instant.
"Sulfur Deer's Horn [F], Vampire Bat's Membrane [F], Blue Slime's Core [F], Earth Dragon's Blood [D]."
What on earth was this guy saying right now? Especially that last part—something about an Earth Dragon?
"You're welcome. So hurry up and show me to the forge."
The man urged him on with a face full of pure irritation.
"Hey, what are you doing? Let's wrap this up already."