The Horde's Master
At that moment, elsewhere.
Thud!
“Gwoar!”
Lee Jin-ho was fending off a swarm of monsters closing in on Marin. He shoved them back with his foot and shoulder, creating distance before sweeping his sword through their ranks. In an instant, the blade pierced a monster’s skull and ended its life.
“This could go on forever. I never expected to find a way to clear the 11th floor right away, but it’s taking longer than I thought.”
Lee Jin-ho mulled over the floor’s conquest. His level had risen so high that experience barely accumulated anymore. He had already graduated from the 11th floor. Convinced of that, he had searched for a way forward, yet no answer appeared.
“Kyak!”
“Tsk.”
Lee Jin-ho clicked his tongue at the monsters that refused to give him a moment to think. He deflected their attacks and countered, gripping his sword tightly. Pointing the tip forward, he focused.
Sky Piercer.
The skill activated, and sword aura surged from his blade, shooting ahead. Training alone against monsters had sharpened the technique’s power. The devastating aura tore through the front ranks, skewering multiple monsters in its path.
Lee Jin-ho eyed the next targets through the fresh holes in their bodies. Before the Red Moon, the monsters would have cowered in fear. Yet they still charged at him with murderous intent.
“Have I reached the limit of raising skill proficiency?”
He frowned at the stagnant 0.1% progress. These monsters had once helped him level up and improve his skills even without formal sword training. Now their uselessness only irritated him.
Progress on the 11th floor had stalled. The thought made him impatient.
While I’m stuck, Ji-sung must still be moving forward.
Lee Jin-ho thought of Yoo Ji-sung. After years of training, he considered himself a polished swordsman. But Yoo Ji-sung was different—he overcame countless slumps and walls with raw talent.
He became a Conqueror and received powers whose limits even he doesn’t know. He’s probably growing stronger every single day. If I stay like this, he’ll definitely overtake me.
Lee Jin-ho was confident he was stronger now, but the future was uncertain. Even someone from a similar background couldn’t be allowed to surpass him. No—he refused to acknowledge anyone stronger than himself.
I can’t be overtaken. Not for the sake of the ancestors who trained relentlessly to prepare for the disaster. I have to prove their efforts and sacrifices weren’t in vain.
To do that, he needed to reach the 12th floor and grow further. While cutting down monsters and pondering, his eyes locked onto one particular creature.
What’s that?
Unlike the others that moved on pure instinct, this one watched him from the rear without joining the fray. Lee Jin-ho’s eyes gleamed.
Found it! The clue to the 12th floor.
Without hesitation, he charged forward, his sword carving a path through the horde.
Slash!
“Kyaaak!”
Thud!
Lee Jin-ho’s blade flashed, severing the arm of a goblin clutching a poisoned needle. The limb spun through the air. Before the goblin could even scream, its head followed, hitting the ground alongside the arm. He kicked a slime’s core, bursting it, then sprinted onward. Acidic slime splattered across the grass in his wake, turning it brown.
A Blood Wolf’s claws raked toward his head.
Swish!
Hair fluttered away, cut clean, but Lee Jin-ho’s gaze never left his target. The headless wolf collapsed behind him. His ferocious advance forced the monsters to retreat.
Seeing the dense wall of creatures blocking his path only strengthened his conviction. He halted and prepared a skill.
Mountain Cleaver.
Mana drained rapidly as blue energy gathered along his sword. From his right hip, he swung horizontally to the left. Sword aura followed the arc, slicing through the air.
A crescent-shaped wave tore forward, accompanied by endless cutting sounds.
“Kyaaak!”
“Kweeeek!”
“Grr….”
“Guu….”
Monsters stacked in layers were bisected, their upper and lower bodies collapsing separately.
Now!
Lee Jin-ho kicked off the newly opened path. Undead monsters rose belatedly, but he was already gone. The dull slicing sounds made him bite his lip.
It’s a shame I can only wield aura through skills. If I could manifest it freely, I’d consider that another wall cleared.
He had been hammering at his mana core to achieve free aura manifestation, yet it remained unresponsive outside of skill use. Shaking off the regret, he reached his target.
A named monster.
The creature was far larger than a normal Blood Wolf. Its swollen muscles looked capable of crushing anything. Its elongated fangs seemed ready to chew through steel. Stronger than its kin, it either wielded special abilities or had been granted a name by some unknown entity. Such monsters were called named monsters.
Lee Jin-ho knew the term well—he had visited villages often enough. He had also fought similar creatures before.
Focus.
“Grrrr….”
Saliva dripped from the growling wolf’s mouth as if it had already spotted prey. Its bloodshot eyes fixed on Lee Jin-ho, and it lowered its stance. The bloated legs kicked off the ground with explosive force.
Boom!
“Krrraaah!”
Letting out a tiger-like roar, the Blood Wolf swung its leg. Lee Jin-ho held his breath and twisted aside.
“Hup!”
Crash!
Slash!
The attack grazed his shoulder pauldron, leaving a deep gouge. At the same time, his sword carved into the monster’s abdomen. The feedback through the blade made him frown.
Its hide is tougher than expected. Was the cut too shallow?
“Kraaang!”
Enraged by the pain, the wolf rampaged. Nearby monsters—clearly its allies—were sent flying and bursting apart. Terrified, the others scattered. Lee Jin-ho exhaled the breath he had been holding, then inhaled deeply and charged.
“Krrng!”
He swung at the flailing leg. A sharp pain shot through his shoulder as the broken claw spun away. Ignoring the agony, he drove his sword straight into the monster’s eye.
Thud!
“Kyaa….”
Before it could finish screaming, he twisted the blade deeper, scrambling its brain. Life faded from the remaining bloodshot eye. The surrounding monsters reacted strangely.
“Kyaaak!”
“Gwoar!”
Undead and living monsters began fighting each other. The undead only recognized fellow undead as allies; anything alive was an enemy. Lee Jin-ho smiled at the brief reprieve.
“So it was a controller.”
He had figured out its role. The path to conquering the 11th floor, once hidden behind a veil, now lay clear.
Every horde has a controller. A larger horde would have an even more powerful one. In that case…
Lee Jin-ho grinned.
“The largest horde. That’s where the key lies.”
The frustration that had weighed on his chest vanished. Time passed, and when he finally left, only monster corpses remained.
* * *
“Ugh… The more we go, the more monsters there are. At this rate, we’ll collapse from exhaustion first.”
“At least you and Su-ho oppa are holding up better. Ji-sung oppa and I are magic types, not physical. The experience we’ve built doesn’t help much outside of hunting… I’m seriously dying here…”
Jeong A-reum buried her face in her knees, groaning. They had just finished clearing another monster group and were preparing to rest a safe distance away.
Yoo Ji-sung watched her whining with a peculiar expression.
“The upper floors weren’t like this, huh?”
“The upper floors? They were very different from here. Hmm… but the Tower has changed so much that I’m not sure anymore. The tutorial appearing, the 11th floor turning into this—I have no idea what the other floors are like now. The upper floors… ugh, Dong-cheol oppa?”
“Understand what A-reum’s worried about. The whole Tower got flipped upside down. It’s like we’re climbing from the very beginning again. At least after the 12th floor we can return to the 11th anytime, right? It should be easier than before, but with the 11th floor like this, it won’t be that simple either. That’s what I think.”
“I agree with oppa.”
Jeong A-reum nodded at Ma Dong-cheol’s words. He thought for a moment, then grinned.
“It won’t help, but I’ll tell you about our time. You know how monsters originally lived in groups of the same species? They had homes! They built fences! Right?! They didn’t all bunch up and roam together like this! So when the Red Moon started, it was a nightmare! Every monster fights differently, but they were all mixed together! Imagine being the frontline tank like me. My head was spinning.”
Ma Dong-cheol recounted the past in detail. Yoo Ji-sung already knew the facts, but Ma Dong-cheol had a real gift for storytelling. His usual antics were unbearable, yet sometimes his tales were genuinely entertaining.
He really is something. Turning such a hopeless story into something this lively.
Now they had shelters to fall back on during crises, allowing them to regroup in villages. After that, they could climb floors more efficiently using their accumulated experience. But in the past, there were no shelters. They could only push upward through each floor. Without villages, they survived solely on trades with merchants and whatever experience they gained.
The merchants were a rule Markrun had created to keep his toys alive longer. Otherwise, they would have had to be completely self-sufficient for food and water—a literal hell.
It was fascinating how Ma Dong-cheol could dramatize that grim history like a movie.
Just then, Jang Su-ho, who had been chewing on jerky, spoke up.
“Dong-cheol, A-reum, and I nearly died several times back then. We saw plenty of people actually die. Every floor felt like hell, like walking on thin ice.”
This guy…
“Ah! Su-ho hyung-nim! Why’d you have to ruin the mood like that?”
“Telling the truth is better. Failing a conquest means death. Lightening the mood is fine, but making the Tower seem trivial isn’t. No—it’s outright bad. Newcomers and us alike can’t afford to let our guard down.”
“Ugh… You’re right, but still…”
Ma Dong-cheol groaned at the scolding. Even as he joked now, he had endured countless hardships climbing the Tower. Without his current companions, he wouldn’t have survived.