The Greatest Record in History

When Hajun's record first overtook James's and claimed the number one spot, people assumed their eyes were playing tricks on them.

"Huh? What?"

"Five seconds?"

"What is that?"

A record whose very number defied belief.

"Five seconds means he took down the Corrupted Ent of Despair the instant he stepped into the Ascension Exam arena."

"In one hit? That's absurd."

"Maybe the Sky Tower had a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bug?"

"If it's not an actual bug, there's no explaining it."

At first, everyone doubted. Common sense demanded it be impossible.

But everyone also knew the truth. That no such thing as a bug existed within the Sky Tower.

And so, one by one, they began to accept reality. That Unknown had truly set a record of five seconds.

"Theoretically, it makes sense if he unloaded his skills the moment he entered and brought it down right away."

"In that case, with that much distance at the start, he's probably a ranged class rather than a melee one."

"His skills were probably an extremely fast-casting type, too."

"Or maybe he's a melee class carrying an artifact loaded with high-tier magic like Blink."

"Whatever the case, one thing is certain — Unknown's attack power is beyond imagination."

"Could he have gained some inhuman power?"

Rumors about Unknown began spreading to every corner of the world in the blink of an eye.

A record no one could believe on first hearing.

Some of those who caught the news late even headed straight to the Floor 1 Ascension Exam arena to verify with their own eyes that the five-second record was real.

Posts about Unknown began surging once more. And among them, old posts from days past started getting dragged back into the light.

As the posts that had once underestimated Unknown were dredged back up and roasted from every angle, one post went the opposite way — reevaluated into holy ground.

Every post concerning Unknown became a typhoon, whipping the entire community into a frenzy!

And that wasn't all.

The media outlets plastered Unknown across their headlines in a frenzy of hyperbole.

Unknown here, Unknown there.

The whole world was wallpapered with talk of him. The five-second record Unknown had set carried destructive force on the level of a nuclear bomb.

Tiamut's Korean branch.

"Wh-what? They're saying Unknown has ascended to Floor 2?"

"Is that even possible?"

Tiamut's executives, too, refused to believe Unknown's record at first. To them as well, five seconds was a number that left the old benchmark impossibly far behind.

"It appears to be true. It's been confirmed at the Floor 1 Ascension Exam arena just now."

"...God. Insane."

In the end, their reactions were no different from anyone else's.

"Now I truly understand why He insisted we must find that man."

"Damn it, we were already tearing our hair out over failing to secure Guldin's Necklace because of that unidentified bastard in the Hahoetal mask. And now this Unknown has to go even further and run wild like this."

"We must secure him before the whales make their move."

"The Hahoetal mask must be recovered too. He has ordered us to bring back Guldin's Necklace, no matter what."

"Then we'll dedicate the manpower on Floor 2 entirely to hunting down Unknown, and have the manpower on Floor 1 focus on finding the Hahoetal mask."

"We won't be getting much sleep for a while."

"Sleep is for after you're dead."

A grand mansion in Washington, United States.

This was the villa of James Smith — the strongest Ascender, revered as the undisputed World Rank #1.

"James! Hahahaha! Congratulations! I heard your record finally got shattered, so here I am."

A voice so large it rang through the entire mansion.

The owner of that massive frame — easily towering past two meters — was Ivan Petrov, one of the Seven Ascenders.

"The noisy one has arrived, I see."

Watching Ivan push open the door and stride in, an elegant ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠woman with a refined, aristocratic air murmured quietly.

"What's this? Sophie, did you come running the moment you heard James's record was broken too? Hahaha! Too slow, you're one step behind me."

"I am here on other business."

The woman called Sophie. Her full name was Sophie Dubois, and she, too, was one of the Seven Ascenders.

"Heh. Ivan, did you come all this way just to mock me?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course I did! KHAHAHA! Your precious record finally got broken, and I simply couldn't stand not seeing the look on your face."

"Honestly."

James shook his head at Ivan's words.

"My record being broken is of no consequence. A new god who might surpass even us has appeared — if anything, that delights me."

"Tch. Boring as ever. I knew you'd come out with some tiresome speech like that."

"I am curious, though? Five seconds, was it? How was that even possible?"

It was Sophie, silent until now, who answered James.

"He may have awakened a trait more special than ours. It occurs to me that he might even be the radiant star that Tiamut has been searching for."

"I've had that thought myself. We can't just sit here, can we? I hear they're already tearing China apart looking for him. And now Tiamut is moving too... I have a feeling we'd best be the ones to find him first."

James said this, turning toward Ivan.

"Come to think of it, the timing of your arrival here is rather fortuitous. Perfect. You'll search for him with us as well."

"Huh? Uh? I just came to mess with you... Mmph. Fine. Fine, I get it. I'll do it."

Ivan tried to weasel out of James's demand, but when James put on a stern expression, he ultimately nodded. He had his reasons — debts, among them — that made refusing James's requests no simple matter.

"Haha. Good. Then let's move at once."

The seven great pillars at the axis of the world.

Three of the seven pillars, silent until now, had begun to move.

And that movement heralded the beginning of a great upheaval in the Sky Tower.

Flash!

Blinding white light burst before my eyes, and then — a landscape entirely different from the first floor spread out before me.

Where I stood was a desolate clearing, about the size of a full athletic field. That was only because this was one of the strongholds where a portal existed.

I lifted my head and looked ahead, and a mountain range so vast it couldn't fit into my field of vision came into view.

That was it. The theme of the second floor was an endless mountain range blanketed in colossal trees — the living, breathing embrace of untamed nature.

So this is Floor 2.

The crisp, cool air pierced all the way into my lungs, and a smile crept onto my lips of its own accord.

Drunk on the joy of it, I tasted the air and felt the texture of the earth beneath me, savoring the feeling of becoming one with nature itself.

Hahaha. I really did make it to the second floor in a single bound.

Only now did it truly sink in — that I had brought down the Corrupted Ent of Despair in five seconds flat.

I closed my eyes. A tingling thrill raced up my spine and spread through my whole body. A ripple spread across my heart like a pebble dropped into a still pond.

For a while, I couldn't pull myself out of that euphoria, as though I were walking on clouds.

It was then that a voice intruded on my bliss, drifting into my ears.

"Look at that boy. You'd have to have suffered through hell to get up here, to be like that."

"Right? No matter how hard it was, don't go despairing just because we haven't reached the third floor yet."

"That's true. Plenty of people yearned just as hard to make it up here to the second floor... Watching him, I think I'll go back to basics myself."

Uh... hmm.

Had I been swept up in my emotions a bit too much?

I had somehow, against my will, become a teaching aid for other people's comfort.

I let out a quiet chuckle at the misunderstanding. In truth, I was simply basking in the joy of reaching this floor a mere two weeks after my awakening — and passing the Ascension Exam in five seconds, at that.

Still, it seemed I'd been a good influence on them, so it wasn't an entirely bad experience.

And so the little episode came to an end.

Right. Time to get to work.

I had no room to rest. Not yet.

Tiamut was hunting me. If I allowed myself to grow complacent over reaching a mere second floor, I'd be asking for trouble.

I needed to grow faster — to climb at a pace they could never possibly predict.

Part of it was escaping the clutches of Tiamut's beasts.

But there was another reason too.

I can't forget the thrill of taking down the Corrupted Ent of Despair in five seconds.

Strength.

The purest desire inscribed into the DNA of every living species.

I had become utterly captivated by it.

The Seven Ascenders — no.

I wanted a strength so absolute that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠all of them combined could never hope to reach it.

Ellaon.

I called for Ellaon, and light gathered from the bracelet in glittering motes until Ellaon's form emerged.

Seeing that, the corners of my mouth curled up into a wide grin.

Well then, Ellaon. Time for the next thing on our list, don't you think?

At my words, Ellaon burst into a satisfied laugh.

That's right.

Second Mythic item. Let's go get it.

My eyes sparkled brighter than they ever had — like stars.