Level Up
The dungeon I was about to enter was the habitat of the Black-Maned Nolls — a dungeon packed with Nolls far stronger than the ordinary kind.
Nolls were creatures that naturally hunted in packs, which was why the standard wisdom held that this dungeon should only ever be attempted with a full party.
“Hello there. Are you with a team?”
Someone called out to me as I made my way toward the portal alone. A slightly chubby boy who looked to be in his late teens.
Awakened young, huh.
So thinking, I answered the young ascender's question.
“Nope.”
“Then would you like to come in with us? We just need one more person and we can start right away.”
When I looked past the boy, I saw several other boys and girls behind him — all of them, by the look of them, late teens as well. Had they come out on a field trip from some ascender high school?
Either way, I had no intention of teaming up with them.
“Ah, sorry. I'm planning to run it solo.”
“…Sorry, what?”
At my words, the boy stared at me with an expression that plainly said, What kind of fresh nonsense is that?
“W-wait, hold on. You're going in alone?”
“Yep.”
The boy looked me up and down all over again.
“I mean… you don't even seem to have proper gear. You're not being reckless, are you?”
“Mister! Do that and you'll die young. Solo, in the Black-Mane Noll habitat? Seriously?”
One of the kids behind the chubby boy chimed in — apparently they'd all been eavesdropping on our conversation.
“I appreciate the concern, but I'll manage.”
“Tsk tsk. This is why squishies are squishies.”
“See? This is exactly why men die young, and for no good reason.”
They all shook their heads at me.
Excuse me? Squishy? Me?
Honestly, they'd only tried to stop me out of genuine worry, so I could let most of it slide — but calling me a squishy?
That stung a little, okay?
I was still a perfectly hale twenty-something, thank you very much! And they were calling a complete stranger a squishy on first meeting.
Just walk away.
I'd been about to give them a word of adult wisdom, but I shook my head instead. No point stirring up trouble for nothing.
“He's not listening.”
“Leave him. He'll get his face smashed in at the entrance and come running right back out.”
“If he comes out with his tail on fire, that's prime viewing right there. Comedy gold.”
“Hey, hey, let's bet on it! I say he's out in ten minutes—”
“Five minutes for me!”
Their chatter drifted faintly to my ears. They were whispering behind my back — and apparently placing bets on me.
Frankly, it was an insulting situation, and a part of me did think, Should I really just let these punks and their lackeys talk?
No. They're just kids. Besides, with things like this, showing them with skill is always the fastest way to settle it. Words never do the job.
Let's see whether they still had jokes after they watched me clear the dungeon without so much as a scratch.
“Water Bomb.”
KWAAAAAAANG———!!
The soccer-ball-sized Water Bomb I hurled into the middle of the Black-Maned Noll pack exploded with a thunderous roar.
Pshh! Pshh! Pshh! Pshh! Pshh! Pshh!
“Kyaeng!”
“Kyaaeeeng!”
“Kiiing… kiiing…”
The sheer power of Water Bomb was astonishing. The moment it detonated, hundreds — thousands — of water streams hardened into needles and shot outward, riddling the Black-Maned Nolls' bodies like honeycombs.
Water Bomb really does look better every time I see it.
It hadn't earned its Legendary grade for nothing. Its mana cost was dramatically lower than Thunderbolt's. It fell short of Thunderbolt in raw punch, but against the monsters of the 1st Floor, its destructive power was more than terrifying enough — and its area of effect was impressively wide.
Layer on the Sage's Aura and the Sage's Tome, and a single Water Bomb was far and away more than enough to steam-cook every monster on the 1st Floor.
“Water Bomb—!”
“Water Bomb!”
“Water—!”
I spammed it without pause. When my mana ran dry, I simply fished a mana potion out of my subspace ring and downed it. Done. Monsters of the same level were no longer capable of being my opponents.
I could probably start farming higher dungeons now.
I had spare attention to waste on idle thoughts. And so, in the blink of an eye, I reached the boss room — and came face to face with this dungeon's boss.
“Grrrrrrrrr…”
The boss was three or four heads taller than the average Black-Maned Noll. And it walked upright on two legs. As the creature rose from its resting place, bristling its mane, an oppressive pressure filled the room — like watching a giant of legend rise to its feet.
“KRARARARARA!!”
The thing unleashed a roar directly at me. Woven into that roar was a status ailment ability — Confusion.
The Sage's Tome activates: Status Ailment Resistance.
Nnnnope~ Not happening. That stuff doesn't work on me.
“Grrrh?”
Seeing me perfectly fine, the Black-Maned Noll Chief's face flickered with visible confusion. If your roar doesn't land, you're supposed to charge in twice as hard — why would you freeze up like that?
Not that it mattered. Charging or not, the outcome wasn't going to change.
Raising my hand toward the startled creature, I spoke.
“Thunderbolt.”
The Thunderbolt, its power amplified through the Sage's Aura, drove itself straight into the Black-Maned Noll Chief's heart.
KRAKAKAKAKAKAKOOM—!!
The moment I stepped out of the dungeon through the exit portal, bright light washed over me and my vision flipped.
There we go.
I allowed myself a grin at the refreshing rush welling up from within my body. Level 6, achieved. I was climbing at a steady one level per day. At this pace I couldn't even feel the notorious level-up plateau that supposedly began at level 5. Keep this up, and I might genuinely hit level 10 in two weeks or so.
The moment I pulled up my status window with a pleased expression, though—
“Uh… uh?”
A familiar voice reached me. I turned my head to find those bratty kids from earlier — the ones who'd begged me to join their party.
“Wh-what? That's him, right? He just came out of the exit portal?”
“Y-yeah. I'm not seeing things, right?”
“He really cleared it solo?”
“Don't tell me he's level 10 already?”
“Even if he is… what kind of trait do you need to solo the Black-Mane Noll habitat…?”
They stared at me with wide, wonderstruck eyes. Then they came scrambling over.
“Hyung! Did you really clear it all by yourself?”
“Oppa, carry us next time! Please!”
Unbelievable. Just a moment ago it was all old man this and mister that, and now they were calling me hyung and oppa. These kids had faces thick enough to baffle the mind.
But then again… I could sort of understand their sudden change of heart. The Sky Tower was a place where the law of natural selection ran unchecked — a place where rank was decided strictly by the power you carried. In one word: if you looked like bottom-feeders, you'd be treated like bottom-feeders, and you'd have no one to blame. Conversely, if your opponent was clearly the stronger party, it was crawling with people who would wag their tails like eager dogs.
Inside the Sky Tower, no matter what incident broke out, it was never easy to punish a perpetrator under the rule of law the way it was outside the Tower.
Still, they really are a hilarious bunch.
Honestly, when I'd overheard them betting on me earlier, it had annoyed me a little. But watching them now, their antics were so transparent it was almost cute — I nearly burst out laughing.
Must be because they're young. They're not really dislikeable.
I'd been planning to give them a sharp talking-to when our paths crossed again after the dungeon run, but I'd just leveled up and was in too good a mood. Besides, watching their behavior now, it felt pointless to get angry at a pack of squabbling hatchlings like these.
“Yes, I cleared it solo. And no carries. If I'd carried you, you wouldn't have gained any growth of your own anyway.”
“Well, yeah, but we were curious how you cleared a dungeon, oppa!”
“Hm. Curious about my secret?”
“Yes!!”
I flashed them a grin and answered.
“You awaken a 10-Star trait. That's all there is to it.”
“…Huh?”
“Oh come on~ do we look stupid to you?”
“Oppa, you joke around way too much. Ho. Ho. Ho.”
“If you'd actually pulled a 10-Star trait, why would you still be hanging around here? One of the Five Great Clans would've whisked you away — no, forget that, a famous overseas clan would have.”
“Exactly.”
I had told them the plain truth, but naturally they all took it as me messing with them. To be fair, even if I'd claimed a mere 9-Star trait, they'd have called it a bluff. A 9-Star trait was already so far out of reach that pulling one was like plucking a star from the sky.
“Anyway, that's everything. I'm off. See you around, if fate allows.”
“Yes, hyung-nim! Safe travels!”
“Next time, let's definitely run a dungeon together!”
“Bye-bye~”
After that brief episode with the kids, I found myself a quiet spot away from foot traffic.
Status window!
I wanted to check how my stats had climbed with this level-up. At level 4, I'd gained 1 Magic. At level 5, Magic had gone up by exactly zero again. Still, level 5 had granted 3 Spirit, so it hadn't been a bad haul overall.
And this time?
“Oh!”
An exclamation burst from my mouth. Strength 1, Agility 1, Magic 1, Spirit 2. This time, Magic had gone up. Guess today's just one of those days where things go right for me.
Not only had Magic risen, but Spirit had jumped by 2 as well. That meant the amplification power of the Sage's Aura now stood at 10x (+1.6) — a figure brushing right up against 12 times.
So excluding my base stats, every point of Spirit adds another 0.1x to the multiplier.
Once my level climbed higher and I pushed the Sage's Tome to its maximum grade, that multiplier would inflate into the dozens without breaking a sweat. Wouldn't my Fireball end up stronger than another mage's Hellfire at that point?
Hellfire — the signature spell of one of the Seven Ascenders, the climber known as the Grand Archmage. Who was to say the day wouldn't come when my humble 2-Star Fireball outstripped a 9-Star Hellfire?
“Hooooh. The radius within which this one may roam has widened once more. Most excellent.”
With one more point of Magic, the circle around me in which Ellaon could move had grown slightly larger.
Whoosh.
Until just recently she could roam a radius of roughly two meters; now it was unmistakably wider — closer to two and a half, by the look of it.
As I watched Ellaon drift about in the air around me, a sudden flash of inspiration struck.
Oh. I could use Ellaon as a scout later, couldn't I?
Had she heard that thought, Ellaon would have flown into an absolutely towering rage.
A few days passed.
In that time, I ran dungeon after dungeon without rest, and before I knew it, my level had already reached 9. An insane leveling speed. If I cleared the 2nd Floor Ascension Exam without a hitch, it was bound to send shockwaves through everything — a record-breaking, all-time-shortest clear. I wasn't just a super rookie anymore; I was becoming an ultra-great-super rookie. At this rate of growth, wealth and fame were as good as mine already.
Ever since I got dumped by Yeon-hee, everything's been going suspiciously well for me.
Yeon-hee, a 6th-floor climber? Have fun dating him~ Meanwhile, your oppa will be off playing on the 9th floor — the one they call world-class.
I snickered to myself, painting rosy pictures of the future.
“Enough grinning. Take your elixir.”
“Yes, sensei.”
I pulled a bottle of the Beginner Mana Circuit Improvement elixir from my subspace ring and gulped it down.
Glug-glug-glug!
Your Mana Circuit is strengthened slightly.
The system message rang through my head — proof that my mana circuit was improving bit by bit. Without that message, the elixir's effect might never have truly registered with me.
Whether it was thanks to this or not, I couldn't say, but in the climb from level 6 to level 9, my Magic stat had gained one more point.
Either way, they said the effects compound the longer I keep taking it.
I had to revive my mana circuit as much as possible before completing the Philosopher's Stone.
Right then — time to run for another level-up. Early as today, late as tomorrow, I'd reach level 10. Which meant it was just about time to start preparing for the Ascension Exam.
That was when it happened.
Ding!
A text message flashed onto my phone. Who's this? The few friends I still had these days had all gone silent — nobody should be contacting me. Could it be… Ms. Ga-in? My supplier of goods — no, no, my dependable patron! Heart fluttering for no good reason, I hurriedly checked my phone.
All newly awakened individuals must complete awakening verification at the Ascender Management Center within 30 days.
Ohhh… right, that.
Upon awakening, you were required to report your ascender status at the Ascender Management Center within thirty days. If you were caught after the reporting deadline, the fines were astronomical — and the longer you went unreported, the more the accumulated penalties swelled beyond imagination. They said there'd once been an ascender who operated unregistered for several years before being caught, and rumor had it the fine was so enormous he'd been sentenced to a lifetime of indentured labor to pay it off.
Better get it over with quickly.
The registration didn't reveal your grade or anything of the sort, so there was no risk of my trait being exposed. With that thought, I headed to the Ascender Management Center.
“There's a ridiculous amount of people…”
Was there an ascender boom going around these days? I hadn't noticed back when I awakened, but apparently the number of non-ascenders awakening had spiked sharply around the time of my own awakening. Word was that the 1st Floor's population had doubled compared to before. I hadn't been able to feel the difference, having only just arrived on the 1st Floor myself — but seeing this crush of bodies now, I could believe it.
This'll take a while.
The moment I crossed my arms and leaned back against a chair—
Huh?
I spotted a familiar face. That guy is…
—The Toad-faced Executive.
The one I'd crossed paths with on the day I first cleared the Tree's tutorial. That creature was being escorted deeper into the center by someone who looked like a staff member.
Why does that guy keep grinding on my nerves?
An uneasy itch settled in my gut — and at the same time, I looked at Ellaon and murmured.
Seems the moment to use her came a lot sooner than I expected.
—What is it you would ask of me?
Ah, nothing. I just want to ask a small favor.
No way I could tell her I wanted her as a scout. Obviously.
—A favor?
Yeah. That toad-faced guy just now — something about him keeps sticking in my craw. Could you maybe sneak a peek at what he's here for?
If anyone could do it, it was Ellaon. She was a half-spirit of sorts whom no one but me could see. She could pass straight through walls — slipping into the room that toad had just entered and spying on him would be more than feasible.
Of course, if she says no, I can't exactly force her.
She might grumble that sending the Great Sage on such errands was beneath his dignity.
—Hmmm. Very well. Truthfully, the notion that this body should stoop to such espionage is, by its very nature, absurd. Yet on this one occasion, I shall grant your request gladly. That creature, too, has inexplicably been pricking at my senses.
Well, what do you know. Ellaon agreed to the favor without complaint.
And the purpose behind that man's visit to this place was—
Good grief!
—to me, an absolutely staggering revelation.
If I hadn't sent Ellaon, this could have ended very badly indeed.