Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Even after Han Yoo-seong exited the Transcendent Gallery and hurried his steps, the topic of conversation in the <Transcendent Gallery> remained focused on him.
Title: But even if we somehow help that guy, is there anything beneficial for us?
Author: Secret Room Theorist
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Of course, it relieves boredom, yeah yeah. But I wonder if there's anything else besides that.
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Isn't it enough if it's entertaining?
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Since when did the Demon Uncle start thinking about meaningful things to look for benefits like that LOL
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Jjuhdak) I think there might be benefits.
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?? Benefits?
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Shrine Maiden) Jjuhdak-nim, please elaborate!!
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Jjuhdak) We can trade among ourselves, right? I think trading items with the Climber might also be possible.
Interdimensional trading is possible in the <Transcendent Gallery>.
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Secret Room Theorist) Even though we have a lot to give that guy, what we could receive from him... oh, there is something.
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Oh, there is something, you bastard LOL
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Pioneer) Hmm, if it's possible, aren't there quite a few things we could receive? Even if we don't go to the high floors, just past the 30th floor. People might need things like 《Phantom Wood》 or the 《Specter Reunion Rune》….
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Pioneer) And even without going to the 30th floor, as soon as we reach the 2nd floor, the Climber Coin Shop opens, right? We could get food from there too.
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Pioneer) I don't remember much else from the Tower, but I still think about the food from the Martial Arts Earth. I keep trying to make Mapo Tofu, but I can't get the taste right.
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I'm a Martial Artist, but I sometimes miss those Red Wheat Noodles… pasta. Eating a bowl every time I ascended a floor used to be like a ritual… I don't know why food disappears in our interdimensional trades.
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Jjuhdak) That's right. Because items bought directly from the Coin Shop are in a special storage box. Those probably won't disappear.
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Heavenly Demon) So, Jjuhdak. Have you attempted to initiate interdimensional trading with that Climber?
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Jjuhdak) Yeah, I tried, but it showed that interdimensional trading is disabled due to the target not meeting the qualifications yet. That means there's a chance it could be activated. Maybe it will activate as soon as we reach the 2nd floor.
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Sword of Light) We could give him a swordsmanship manual.
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Divine Archer) I just returned from training in the mountains… what an astonishing event has occurred. If trading is possible, we could give him weapons too, couldn't we?
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Even if you send it, the level restriction will likely apply to weapons, though?
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Divine Archer) Hmm, I see….
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Shrine Maiden) Hawa-wa, this young girl will give him talismans.
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Pioneer) Young gi-rl?
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Shrine Maiden) Shut up, old man.
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Absolute Monarch) A swordsmanship manual, huh. Sword of Light, you seem quite intent on teaching that guy like a disciple. You gave him the most advice too. I'm curious about the reason.
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Sword of Light) No particular reason. It's just fun.
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Sword of Light) Starting from the 2nd floor where points are tallied per floor. It would be really fun if the Climber I helped ranked high in the overall score rankings across Easy, Normal, and Hard difficulties.
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Sword of Light) I don't like the guys currently holding the top spots. I want to make them feel a bit scared.
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Sword of Light) And in just a few days, they'll meet other players at the monthly 《Tower Exchange Meeting》. Even if he's alone for now. That scene is also very intriguing to me.
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Archmage) Do you really think he can hold his own to that extent?
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If what Sword of Light said comes true, it would be incredibly fun. But what's scary is the possibility that he might have died while we're talking like this.
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Ice Queen) I made a glacier of prayer for the Climber's safety! Don't say things like that! Freeze!
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Jjuhdak) Ah, right. We haven't even asked the Climber's name yet. I should ask when he returns alive.
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Jjuhdak is saying something that sounds like a death flag LOL
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The Climber activated the death flag before Jjuhdak did. What is 'See you alive'? 'See you alive.' Hmm, sounds like he's going to die?
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Jjuhdak) You are blocked until the Climber comes back alive.
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Ah.
Crack!
The shaft of the spear shattered. In front of my eyes was a dark green monster with blood smeared all over both hands.
Judging by its appearance, it was probably a Goblin.
I barely managed to block the axe swung by the Goblin by crossing the spear shaft horizontally.
I rolled on the floor, gripping the remaining part of the spear that still had the blade attached.
Thrust!
I immediately stood up and pierced the Goblin's neck with the blade portion, which I held like a dagger.
Gasp!
A thin groan escaped the Goblin's mouth, which was literally right in front of me. Bright red blood spurted from its neck.
And the Goblin's body collapsed forward.
[Level has increased!]
[Lv.1 → Lv.2]
['Strength' stat increases by 4.]
['Agility' stat increases by 5.]
['Stamina' stat increases by 3.]
It seemed like many other notification windows popped up besides the level up, but my gaze was fixed elsewhere.
In front of me, another person was dying.
A woman lying dead with her long hair spread out on the ground. Her abdomen was soaked in blood, rendering her thin armor useless.
I knew why this woman had such wounds. I had witnessed in real-time the Goblin that I just killed digging into and tearing at the woman's abdomen with its sharp claws, which were as good as a sword.
The screams that had filled the floor were still vivid.
But when I faced that situation, I was too far away to reach her by running just a few dozen steps.
A mouthful of blood spurted from the woman's mouth, and her head drooped.
The woman's body, which had been twitching, suddenly stopped moving.
Letters still floated above the woman, who had turned from a living human into a corpse.
[NPC - Defeated Mercenary]
At this moment, anger burned stronger than fear.
Why do I keep being shown only corpses like this? If they insist on placing an NPC right in front of me, they should at least give me a proper chance to save them.
Even if it's just a simple illusion, saving someone is better than watching them die before my eyes.
What was even more irritating was...
The fact that I was now scavenging the belongings of this mercenary.
To survive.
Scrape-
Replacing the broken spear, I picked up a sword that must have belonged to the mercenary.
And I took the greaves that looked like they could fit around my ankles from the mercenary and wrapped them around my own ankles.
There were things to take from the pouch tied around the mercenary's waist as well.
There were two potion bottles, identical to the Grade 3 Recovery Potion carried by the [Fleeing Citizen].
There were also real bandages, not the rags I was using as makeshift wraps.
I closed the mercenary's wide-open eyes. It wasn't a hypocritical act. Those were the eyes that had met mine. I just closed them because I felt uneasy.
"Status window."
<Player Status>
Name: Han Yoo-seong
Race: Human
Lv.2
Strength: 16
Agility: 18
Stamina: 14
The Easy difficulty seniors said they only gained 1 stat point when leveling up, and Normal usually gained a base of 1, occasionally gaining 2 in only Strength, Agility, or Stamina.
Strength increased by 4, Agility by 5, and Stamina by 3.
This was similar to the predictions made by the Fixed Nicknames on Hard difficulty.
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Sword of Light) If you are on Hard difficulty, you will ascend rapidly in the early stages. People who originally had some strength, like the Knights where I am, or the Warriors on the Martial Arts Earth, only gain a tiny bit even on Hard difficulty because their base stats are high, but since you are from 21st Century Earth, you will gain a lot.
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Jjuhdak) The gap between your original life and surviving on Hard difficulty. For those who survive on Hard difficulty, a reward for that hardship is applied.
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Jjuhdak) In the first place, most summoners on Hard difficulty aren't ordinary people, so they don't really feel it, but if you are on Hard mode, you might actually feel it.
I spread both hands wide and then clenched my fists.
I definitely felt it.
Even after retiring from high school baseball, I exercised moderately, but ultimately, I just went to the gym.
A sensation, as if hardness and flexibility were added together in my muscles, traveled from my shoulders down my arms to my hands.
Does this confirm Hard difficulty?
A bitter taste lingered in my mouth.
I untied the cloth that was bound around my shoulder like a bandage.
It seemed that the 'Complete Stamina Recovery' effect, one of the benefits of leveling up explained by the Sword of Light, had taken place.
I had reached halfway up the 1st floor.
I couldn't help but think that, given the scene unfolding before me.
A long bridge appeared. A long bridge connecting two pieces of land separated by an abyss if one fell.
The steel planks on the left and right that could be called railings.
This was one of the structures the Absolute Monarch had informed me about.
Absolute Monarch) When arrows fly from the left, you must hide using the planks on the left as Concealment. If an arrow flies toward a spot where you cannot hide your body, block it with a shield or deflect it with a weapon. I was carrying a rectangular shield, so blocking was relatively easy, but you don't have anything like that.
The Absolute Monarch, who I hoped would tell me some other method here, utterly betrayed my expectations.
Absolute Monarch) You must find a way to survive on your own. What else can you do?
Absolute Monarch) Trust your instincts.
Bullshit.
I started walking.
Ignoring the lingering feeling about the NPC I couldn't even attempt to save, I stood before the bridge.
Screeeech-
I placed my foot down.
Onto the bridge.
Wind blew from the right side.
Whoosh!
Three iron arrows rushed in from the right.
I hastily moved my body toward the right.
I had to use the steel planks for Concealment as much as possible.
Crack!
One of the iron arrows bounced off the steel plank.
One of them...
Clang!
I swung my sword and deflected it.
Could I do it? There was no time to think. I just had to do it.
Thwack-!
One arrow hit me.
Just like when I was attacked by the three-headed Ansranthrop, an unrealistic pain surged through me.
The iron arrow was lodged in my thigh, but it felt like my entire leg was about to be ripped off.
I had no choice but to use that old, worn-out self-hypnosis again.
This is the baseball mound.
This place is.
Take a deep breath.
A place where I never collapsed no matter how nervous I was, a hundred or a thousand times.
A place where I never gave up, no matter how many times I was defeated.
Gulp-!
I poured the remaining half of the potion into my mouth. After swallowing, I pulled out the embedded arrow. I poured the Grade 3 Recovery Potion obtained from the [Lv.2 Defeated Mercenary]'s pouch onto the wound. Then I wrapped it with a bandage.
[Skill 'Pain Suppression' level increases. Lv.2]
Swoooooosh—!
This time, the wind blew from the left.
That meant an incoming barrage of iron arrows from the left.
I moved my body.
I dodged what I could use Concealment for.
Clang!
And I deflected what I could by swinging my sword.
Thwack!
This time, my shoulder?
[Skill 'Composure' level increases. Lv.2]
Dodge what needed dodging. Deflect what needed deflecting. Take hits when necessary.
It was a repetition of that process.
[Danger Sense Lv.1 - Skill acquired.]
Preparing for the countless arrows, I deflected the iron chains slamming down from above.
[Vision Expansion Lv.1 - Skill acquired.]
After walking for several tens of minutes, perhaps...
[Focus Enhancement Lv.1 - Skill acquired.]
Finally.
Finally, the end of the long bridge began to faintly appear beyond the fog.
Kagagagagak— Kagagak!!
And a creepy sound could be heard.
It sounded like something was being diligently cut with a saw.
As the fog slowly cleared, I saw an Ansranthrop as tall as an adult man.
It was diligently sawing through the massive wooden stakes supporting the bridge with both arms.
That son of a bitch.
A crest was visible above its head.
[BOSS MONSTER]
BOSS MONSTER.
[Queen Anthranthrope]
Queen Anthranthrope.
It was a she, not a he?
I pulled out the arrow stuck in my shoulder and poured potion onto it. The pain shaking my brain was suppressed by adrenaline.
My body moved on its own.
Kill.
[Focus Enhancement Lv.1 - Skill activated.]
I read the trajectories of the four iron arrows rushing in from the right.
Kagak! Kaang!
I deflected two and dodged two.
Even while doing that, Queen Anthranthrope was diligently sawing away at the bridge supports with both legs.
Kagagagagak—!!
The moment I kicked off the end of the bridge and leaped upward, the long bridge plummeted into the abyss.
Kyeerreeek!!
The Queen, as her title suggested, had a different head structure than the Ansranthrop I had seen before. A single, massive head.
It looked like it was covered in a very hard shell.
Although pain was flaring up fiercely all over my body, my mind was clearer than ever.
Whoosh!
I deflected the left leg attacking me. I twisted my body to the right and brought my sword down vertically.
One of the six legs.
Kyeek!
Calmly, I focused all my nerves and dodged every attack from the creature.
Pwah-ah-ah-ak!
In the process, I got stabbed in the abdomen, but I gritted my teeth and endured it. I cut down the remaining five legs too.
Kye-eeek!
Thud—!
I brought my sword down onto the head. Again and again.
Thud!
So hard that my arms felt like they were shattering.
Thud!
Crack-crack-
A sound like an egg being crushed was heard.
Fragments of the Queen's shattered crown dug into the back of my hand, but I didn't care.
The purple brain nestled inside was visible.
A brain beating bizarrely, like a heart.
I brought my sword down onto that brain.
Soon, notification windows covered my vision.
[BOSS MONSTER defeated!]
[Level has increased!]
[Lv.2 → Lv.3]
['Strength' stat increases by 4.]
['Agility' stat increases by 3.]
['Stamina' stat increases by 4.]
[1st Floor cleared.]
[Please proceed to the 2nd Floor.]
The dense fog ahead slowly receded.
Geu-geu-geu-geung-
What I thought was a wall was a door. Through the open door, I could see a long staircase.
An arrow and a number were visible on the door.
【 2 】↑
According to Jjuhdak's words, the difficulty level was written next to the number.
Text was indeed written next to it.
And that text possessed a malicious power capable of instantly blowing away the relief of having survived after killing the Boss Monster.
I rubbed my eyes and checked again.
"......"
The characters hadn't changed.
【Pandemonium】
Pandemonium.
I thought it would be Hard difficulty at most.
Before crossing the bridge, seeing my stats rapidly increase, I had resigned myself to it being Hard difficulty.
But the Tower I had fallen into was not merely Hard difficulty.
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Jjuhdak) Pandemonium doesn't have a finisher yet.
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Archmage) The clear rate there is 0%.
I'm screwed.
Completely and utterly.