A Whispering Wind
The Blue-White Match was cleared.
The rewards were a single Platinum Chest and the exclusive reward for the Blue-White Match: the Wristband of Victory.
◈ Party Attack Power +5%
At first glance, it looked like an ordinary wristband. Half blue, half white. The only difference was the tower emblem embroidered right in the center.
Oh.
This is actually way better than I expected.
A five percent increase might seem stingy, but the crucial part is that it applies to the entire "party." Especially considering the special floor raid I'll be participating in soon.
Maybe it wouldn't mean much for a novice, but a five percent boost to Choi Muryeong's attack power would be terrifying.
Snap.
I immediately slipped on the Wristband of Victory.
And then...
Click.
Next up was the chest opening. I had opened so many Platinum Chests by now that it was starting to feel like the default.
Flash!
A brilliant light burst from the chest.
And then, an item appeared.
◈ A golden coin the size of a fist. It looks ancient, like an antique relic. The front depicts the tower, while the back is completely blank.
What does this do?
Reading the description, it was quite intriguing.
To use it, you had to enter the tower and flip the coin. If it landed heads-up, all rewards would be doubled. If it landed tails-up, all rewards would vanish.
Once used, the action could not be canceled or retrieved, and the coin would automatically disappear after the rewards were either gained or lost.
Isn't this just gambling?
It felt like a waste to use it on lower floors, but using it on higher floors felt too risky. If luck was on my side, I could hit the jackpot. But since I wasn't exactly known for my good luck...
Still, it felt like a waste to give it to someone else.
I slipped the Tower Coin into my inventory. I'd find a use for it eventually.
As soon as I closed my inventory, a system message popped up.
Execution Eye (Passive)
Visualizes the weaknesses of all targets within the user's field of vision.
Oh?!
It wasn't an offensive skill. But in a way, it was even better than one.
A "weakness" differed from race to race. Heads and hearts were only weaknesses for humanoids—and even then, cyborgs were a completely different story.
They wouldn't die even if you slit their throats, and they didn't have hearts. Their cores might randomly be located in their lower abdomen instead.
Since I didn't know everything about every single monster and foreign race out there, having this ability would definitely save me a lot of wasted effort.
Why slash twice when you can do it in one?
After reaching level 15, I would obtain a new skill every ten levels. With a skill of this caliber, I could easily cruise through to level 30.
Its synergy with the recently acquired Death Slash was also top-tier. I could pinpoint a weakness with Execution Eye to land a critical hit, then trigger Death Slash for an instant-kill area-of-effect attack.
Man, I couldn't wait to test this out.
After returning.
I explained the situation to Cha Yerin and Woo Jumin. I told them that I planned to grind solo for the time being, so I wouldn't be able to help them level up.
Fortunately, both of them responded cheerfully.
"It's fine. We'll manage on our own," Cha Yerin said.
"I can clear the tenth floor range all by myself now, Hyung!" Woo Jumin chimed in.
When did they become so reliable?
Still, just in case, I told them to contact the Hunter Administration Office immediately to recruit two more members before entering the tower.
Well, now I only had to worry about myself, right?
My plan was simple.
I would repeatedly clear the nineteenth floor, where the Goblin Shaman appeared, and the twenty-ninth floor, where the Orc Shaman appeared, to farm chests like crazy.
I had already cleared up to the twenty-ninth floor solo to prepare for this chest farming. Ironically, being alone made the clears even faster.
Anyway, the nineteenth and twenty-ninth floors.
Since these two floors featured shamans, the drop rate for mental defense items would be higher. Even if the probability was like finding a needle in a desert...
I just have to try.
Worrying, agonizing, or regretting wouldn't help. The most important thing was to take action.
So, I practically lived in the tower.
As soon as I woke up and ate breakfast...
"Kieeeek!"
A casual clear of the nineteenth floor.
"Thank you for the food!"
I'd return, eat lunch, and then...
Zzz...
Take a quick one-hour nap.
"Kraaaaagh!"
A smooth clear of the twenty-ninth floor.
"Thank you for the food!"
After eating a hearty dinner, I would practice my breathing.
"Inhale... Exhale..."
Cultivating my dantian.
Zzz...
And then, a deep, peaceful sleep.
By repeating this routine, I became quite accustomed to using my dantian energy, or dan. I also grew proficient in utilizing and combining my new skills.
Just as I had anticipated, Death Slash and Execution Eye synergized perfectly.
To what extent? Even without stabbing with a proper blade, if I simply jabbed the red weaknesses revealed by Execution Eye with a blunt burst of dan...
Thud!
Collapse!
Smack!
Flop!
Every single monster, regardless of type, would lose all strength and drop dead on the spot.
Haha.
This was insane. I didn't even need to use my severing technique, jeol, at this rate.
There was just one minor issue...
Since it's a passive skill, it stays active in daily life...
For example, even when I looked at Do Sangjin preparing dinner, or Woo Jumin diligently studying tower lore, I could see their bright red weaknesses.
Their heads. Their chests.
"..."
Well, I just had to squint and try to ignore it. Every rose has its thorns. I'd have to endure this much.
By the way...
The deadline set by Choi Muryeong was fast approaching. As of tomorrow, there would be exactly one week left.
Clearing the tower twice a day. Having done that without a single day of rest for three weeks, I had cleared it over forty times.
Some hunters only entered the tower two or three times a year, yet I had run it forty times by myself. It was an unprecedented feat for someone of my level.
Thanks to that, I had accumulated a significant amount of Contribution Points. Kang Mina mentioned that there was talk within the Administration Office about presenting me with an award plaque.
I don't need something like that...
What was I supposed to do with a useless plaque? Now, if it were an item, that would be a different story. When I told her that, Kang Mina said she would look into it. I wondered what the Administration Office would come up with.
Lately, the Administration Office had been losing a lot of hunters to private guilds, so they were apparently planning to take some kind of action to keep me.
It doesn't really matter to me, but...
For some reason, joining a guild didn't appeal to me. Private guilds were notorious for scams. Having already had my life ruined once by a real estate lease scam, it was only natural for me to be cautious.
Maybe I should just...
Start my own guild?
No. Even imagining it for a second felt like too much work. Honestly, relying on the Administration Office was comfortable. Thanks to them, I had Kang Mina and Do Sangjin looking after me, and life was good.
...Let's just focus on clearing the tower for now.
With one week left, I could probably run it about fourteen more times. Would a mental defense item really drop in that time?
Why hasn't Nairin contacted me yet...
The moment that thought crossed my mind—
Ding!
A new message popped up.
Nairin has requested an item trade.
Wow, speak of the devil!
Or rather, speak of the elf!
I quickly tapped the accept button.
As the trade window opened, an item appeared.
An earring crafted by crystallizing the sound of the wind from the Eira Forest, where the elven goddess was said to be born. It looks like a transparent spherical piercing.
◈ Immunity to Fear, Madness, and Confusion.
◈ Increased Health and Mana recovery speed during meditation.
◈ Recommended Race: Elf (Side effects apply to other races).
I read the letter Nairin had attached.
The Quiet Eira Forest's Earring blocked various mental attacks using the sound of the wind from the Eira Forest. It was essentially like noise-canceling technology.
To put it simply, it used sound to cancel out sound.
The sacred wind of the Eira Forest neutralized all kinds of curses. But what happened when there were no curses to block?
The sound of the wind itself would drive a human mad.
For elves born under the blessing of the Eira Forest, the sound represented pure tranquility and peace. But for humans, it was a completely different story. In a way, it became a curse of its own.
While it granted immunity to fear, confusion, and madness, a human's soul would gradually wear away, like a rock eroded by the wind.
Elves apparently used this earring to pacify prisoners of other races.
Cruel bastards...
Nevertheless, the reason Nairin sent me this item was likely because it was incredibly powerful, and she believed the side effects wouldn't affect me.
Fortunately, through my recent dantian cultivation, I had become highly adept at meditation.
Without hesitation, I put on the earring.
Whoosh...
At first, I heard a clear sound of wind, like a soft whistle. As I listened closely, the sound began to morph into a faint whisper...
"Inhale..."
Whoosh...
"Exhale..."
Whoo...
As I sat cross-legged and began to meditate, the sound of the wind faded into silence.
At the same time, my body felt incredibly light.
"That was nothing," I muttered with a smirk, standing up.
With this, even the Lich King's curse wouldn't be a problem.
Whoosh...
"Quiet."
The wind fell silent again.
For now, I would spend until midnight completely suppressing the energy of the Eira Forest through meditation. Tomorrow, I'd enter the thirtieth floor as a test run.
If it seemed too dangerous, I'd immediately retreat. But if it seemed doable...
"I'll tear the whole place down."
Just like I had killed the Goblin Shaman on the tenth floor before he could disappear, would I be able to kill the Lich King on the thirtieth floor before he vanished?
...Can I actually kill him?
I was looking forward to finding out.
By the way, what should I offer in return for the trade?
Just then, the postscript at the end of the letter caught my eye.
P.S. For the trade, I would be grateful if you could send me some of that fried bread filled with meat that you were eating before, Taepyeong-nim.
Fried bread filled with meat?
"A hot dog...?"
Come to think of it, Nairin had stared at my food with a look of intense longing back then.
Well, it wasn't hard to do. Since I was sending some anyway, I might as well buy a variety of them.
Classic hot dogs, potato hot dogs, mozzarella hot dogs, and fire-spicy hot dogs.
I ordered a generous amount of various hot dogs and placed them in the trade window.
And then...
Trade successful!
Ah, right. I forgot to tell her to eat the fire-spicy one with milk.
"Hmm..."
Well, she'll be fine. She's a great elf, after all!
"Yawn..."
Maybe it was because I fell asleep while meditating so deeply, but my body felt exceptionally refreshed. It almost felt like the Quiet Eira Forest's Earring actually aided my meditation.
I had planned to throw it away after a single use if the side effects were too severe, but it seemed there was no need for that.
Now, the sound of the wind didn't even register unless I actively focused on it. That meant I had grown that much more accustomed to meditation, and my dantian cultivation was firmly established.
Well then, should I head straight to the tower after breakfast today?
"Heh, heh..."
"Hyung, did something good happen?" Woo Jumin asked cautiously.
"Yeah. Something great."
"What is it?"
"I'm going into the tower."
"...Don't you do that every day?"
"Today is different."
"How?"
I grinned at Woo Jumin.
"Because I'm going to the thirtieth floor."