Tower Strategy Guide and the King Slime Trial
Tower, tower. Just what the hell is a tower, anyway? Folks say it's some unknown entity that puts trials on awakeners and dishes out rewards accordingly.
- Difficulty Selection
When you first enter the tower, it'll prompt you to choose a difficulty right away. The association manual says pick Normal, but if you're confident, just go Hard—it's way better. After floor 20, the reward gap between Normal and Hard is insane; you'll feel it big time.
Prep thoroughly before tackling each floor. Sure, if you're busing with S- or A-ranks, you don't need prep, but most hunter noobs like us aren't in those parties. So please, gear up properly. The tower ain't a game—it's reality.
Sometimes hidden rooms spawn on floors. They got higher-difficulty monsters than the floor norm, but killer rewards. Best part? Clearing one upgrades the floor's rewards overall. Find one? Clear it no matter what.
1. Recommend Hard (Normal's fine too).
2. Prep thoroughly for every floor.
3. Clear hidden rooms on sight.
"Phew... now it feels like I can actually challenge it, right?"
Three days had passed since I'd scoured strategy posts for the tower and practiced my skills to prep for conquering it. Why three days? Right after the gate incident, I'd wanted to dive straight in, but the gallery posts made it clear: the difficulty was no joke, and prep was essential. Plus, I still hadn't mastered my skills properly, so I needed time to sort that out.
"Anyway, time to head out?"
It was time to test the fruits of my three days' blood, sweat, and tears. Perfect timing—midnight, 00:00. Ideal for slipping into the tower away from the association, government, and guild eyes. I grabbed the kitchen knife I'd prepped on the table and headed out.
The cool, refreshing night air felt a bit chilly on my slim, delicate frame. But my steps toward the tower grew lighter.
"There it is. Man, it looks seriously menacing."
Incheon had two towers. One sprouting near the airport, the other on the mountain where folks rarely tread. I was heading for the mountain one.
The sight before me was epic. A white tower loomed like a fortress, backed by the mountain.
"No one's around. Lucky, I guess?"
Lucky or not, not a soul in sight.
"Alright, let's do this."
I stayed vigilant as I approached, but with zero people, it felt unnecessary. I pulled the kitchen knife from my pocket, strode up, and entered without a hitch.
"Huh, cleaner inside than I thought."
The moment I stepped in, the surroundings shifted instantly. Like a gate, but different—gates felt like teleporting; this sealed off the outside world.
"All white."
The mountain vanished as the landscape morphed into an unknown white room. I scanned it—nothing but emptiness.
Then.
You have entered the tower for the first time.
Please select difficulty.
[EASY] [NORMAL] [HARD]
"Pops up like this, huh."
Just like the strategy posts—difficulty options floating before me. Kinda like my status window, familiar vibe.
"Gotta pick Hard, right?"
I eyed the options and reached for Hard. Posts were adamant: always Hard. A bit cocky, sure, but...
As my hand extended, the buttons went black, text shifting.
'Uniqueness' detected in user.
Difficulty fixed to ???.
"What?!"
Hard vanished, message popped, difficulty locked in—tutorial started. What the hell?
Before I could process, the room's vibe shifted.
Rumble—
"Ugh... what the—."
I braced, scanning warily. Then.
Flash—!
About 10m away, faint light poured out—monster spawn sign from the posts. I prepped to lunge, stance ready to shred whatever came.
But.
Ping—!
"Huh?"
Not what I expected. A totally different monster popped out, leaving me dumbfounded.
"A... slime?"
Despite the tension, out bounced a slime—the eternal weakest mob from games and media.
"Why build up the mood for this?"
My hype deflated at the sight.
"Sigh... sorry, but die."
I stared it down, imagined torching jelly like before. A tiny flame sparked, engulfing it.
"All that scare for this crap."
Gallery warned: tower's deadly. Came hyped, but this? Deflating. Goblin at least, but slime? Overworried.
I checked if it was dead, turned to leave—then the tower reacted, like reading my gripe.
"Oh, now the real deal?"
Makes sense—not plain Hard, but unmentioned ??? mode. No way it ends here.
I scanned eagerly.
BOOM—!!!
"Ah..."
It crushed my expectations. Something beyond imagination appeared.
"Slime... but why so huge?!"
A slime. Same as before. But crowned, 5m tall.
"A-appraise!"
I backed off, activating Appraisal Eye—test on monster, ID this thing.
Squish squish~
Skill (Passive): Squishy Body
Effect: Reduces physical damage by 60% to all parts except core.
Entity is in weakened state.
"King... Slime?"
King Slime—stronger than regular, obviously.
Thud—!
As I appraised, it moved.
Thud. Thud.
Bouncing slowly toward me. Tower rules: kill to clear tutorial.
I paused thinking, timed its jumps—every 2 seconds, no other patterns.
As it leaped—
Slash—whoosh!
Swing cheap kitchen knife.
"Yeah, no dice."
It sliced—barely, imperceptibly. I retracted, dodged jump range.
Thud.
No new moves. Time for plan B.
"Heh, Amaterasu."
Melt like the first slime with Cook Your Food. But nope.
User's capacity (mana) insufficient! Effect reduced by 50%.
"Ah."
No flame—system confirmed my mana suckage. Careless me. All skills neutered against this pig slime. Despairing, but I grinned.
Why? Earlier hit cracked its jelly faintly—hardened.
"Here I come, you pig bastard."
I charged. It sensed danger, altered pattern—too late.
Rushed near-core jelly, fired Cook Your Food. Jelly hardened like solid—
Slash!
Knife plunged deep into rigid flesh, exposing core. Purple, gleaming.
I shoved arm in, grabbed—
Pop—!
Ripped core free. Awkward left arm handled jelly fine.
Splorch—
"Eww..."
Jelly melted like summer ice cream post-core.
As I watched fascinated, clear message.
"Yeah, that's me."
Pretty wiped, panting hard—but had to say it.