Chapter 142
I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 142.
Yoo Baek-jun placed his hand on the stone monument.
As he did, the monument emitted a brilliant light, and the magical power contained within it flowed into Yoo Baek-jun.
The magic coursed through every part of his body. It almost felt as though the monument was assessing him.
—Welcome, Successor.
—The Tower of the Martial God is now open.
A deep, resonant voice echoed.
Shortly after, the massive stone monument began to dissolve into pure white light before vanishing completely. In its place, a towering staircase appeared.
‘Hmm… I assume it’s opened up to the 5th floor?’
The tower’s maximum height was 30 floors.
But climbing straight to the 30th floor from the start was impossible. Currently, only up to the 5th floor was accessible. Further floors would unlock as the story progressed.
“Well, shall I head up first?”
Yoo Baek-jun stepped onto the familiar staircase.
Of course, it was familiar. Every time he followed the Yoo Baek-jun route, he had relied heavily on this place.
After climbing the endless wooden stairs, he arrived at the 2nd floor, which looked largely the same as the 1st.
The only difference was—
“Big. Huge.”
A massive gate stood in the distance.
It was a door meant to block access to the stairs leading to the higher floors. It would only open once the trial of the 2nd floor was perfectly cleared.
‘For the 2nd floor, it’s gotta be this.’
Currently, the room is empty.
Yoo Baek-jun glanced around briefly before deciding to use the Book of the Martial God to accept a quest.
There were quests available within the Tower of the Martial God.
[Successor’s Love.]
A certain someone who dearly loves their successor has built this tower for training.
To repay that love, you must climb the tower, right? Let’s ascend to the 5th floor.
—Reward: 500P, stat increase, ???.
Among the rewards, there was a question mark.
It meant the nature of that reward was still unknown. But Yoo Baek-jun already knew what it was.
‘Well, that’s not important now.’
Yoo Baek-jun looked up at the empty air.
—Welcome to the Tower of the Martial God.
—This is a place where the memories of those who once stood alongside the Martial God remain. Their memories will test those who come here.
—If you wish to test yourself to your limits, say, ‘I accept the trial.
—If you reach your limit and wish to give up, say, ‘I give up the trial.’
What kind of place was the Tower of the Martial God?
Simply put, it was like an arena. On every floor, all sorts of enemies would appear, and you had to fight them.
Occasionally, there were floors with special gimmicks.
‘Since it’s only up to the 5th floor, there shouldn’t be any gimmicks. Just straightforward enemies to defeat.’
And that was one of the things Yoo Baek-jun did best.
He opened his mouth.
“I accept the trial.”
He blinked once.
When he opened his eyes again, the previously empty hall had undergone a drastic change.
“So many. So many.”
Countless martial artists.
People wielding all kinds of weapons stood densely packed in the hall.
At a rough estimate, there had to be at least 50 of them.
—This floor will test how the successor fares in battle against multiple opponents.
—Defeat all the disciples.
—Do so, and the gate shall open.
The voice ended there.
Yoo Baek-jun observed the martial artists before him.
Disciples, huh? They must be the ones the Martial God taught when he first established his family.
‘No, looking at the variety of weapons… Maybe this was from before he founded the family, back when he was stopping the rampage of gates and monsters?’
The Sword Saint family founded by the Martial God only passed down his personal swordsmanship.
But before establishing the family, he had gathered talented individuals to protect the nation from crisis and taught them various weapon techniques.
So this must be from that time.
“…….”
“…….”
The disciples remained silent.
They simply gripped their weapons and glared at Yoo Baek-jun.
Yoo Baek-jun took a step forward.
Whoosh—!
Immediately, the disciples began to move, surrounding him. In an instant, they formed a tight encirclement in a perfect circle.
“Planning to surround and kill me?”
Not a bad idea.
But,
“Thanks for gathering in one place!”
They picked the wrong opponent.
Yoo Baek-jun activated his magic and used Heavenly thunder. It was a speed the disciples couldn’t possibly react to.
The hall shook as if an earthquake had struck, and lightning erupted from where Yoo Baek-jun had stepped.
“……!”
The lightning, swirling like a vortex, spread in all directions, engulfing the disciples.
Their bodies began to burn.
Since it was a skill amplified by Elemental magic, its power was even greater than before.
“Hah!”
Yoo Baek-jun immediately followed up with another skill.
First, Berserker, followed up by Cold aura.
The disciples, paralyzed by the Heavenly Thunder and frozen by Cold aura, were helpless as he dashed toward them using Lightness Technique.
“Guh!”
A magical-charged fist slammed into a disciple’s abdomen, the impact lifting them off the ground.
Yoo Baek-jun used Gale Kick to pummel the disciple mid-air before finally delivering a kick to the head, snapping their neck completely.
The disciple’s body vanished.
‘One stack.’
He could feel the Berserker’s stack accumulating.
Yoo Baek-jun clenched his fists and threw himself into the battle with the disciples, just as he always did.
But there was one difference.
“Hup!”
Boom—!
The skills he was using were different.
When using his fists, he primarily relied on the Heavenly Destruction Fist Technique, but this time, he mixed in skills like Heavy Strike, Ground Kick, Joint Strike, and Gale Kick.
And also his Footwork techniques and Berserker skills.
‘Considering the rewards I’ll get from conquering the Tower of the Martial God this time, I need to build up my proficiency.’
The Berserker stacks piled up rapidly.
Unlike before, Yoo Baek-jun’s speed was now terrifying, leaving the disciples stunned.
He drove his fist into their shocked faces.
And shortly after—
“Are you the only one left?”
“Tch!”
A young disciple, barely more than a boy, gritted his teeth and pointed his weapon at Yoo Baek-jun, frustration evident in his expression.
Yoo Baek-jun assumed a stance as if he were about to attack, but then—
“I will abandon the trial.”
He dropped his arms.
The boy’s eyes widened before he disappeared.
As if time was precious, Yoo Baek-jun immediately spoke again.
“I will accept the trial.”
The disciples reappeared.
The boy who had just vanished in shock was now staring at Yoo Baek-jun with the same expression.
The other disciples were the same.
‘Why?’
‘Why abandon a battle you already won?’
‘Why summon us again?’
Confusion was written all over their faces.
Yoo Baek-jun cracked his knuckles and grinned.
“Time for some good old grinding.”
The Tower of the Martial God.
It was the perfect place for grinding.
* * *
Yoo Baek-jun immersed himself in grinding.
Summoning the disciples, he used skills he normally didn’t to build proficiency.
Once only one disciple remained, he abandoned the trial.
“……!”
By now, even the shocked expression of the young disciple felt familiar.
He repeated this process over and over, and his skill proficiency rose at an astonishing rate.
“I will abandon the trial.”
Of course,
This grinding wasn’t endless.
If it were, he would’ve stayed in the Tower of the Martial God forever, never leaving.
‘There’s a penalty, after all.’
"I will abandon the trial."
It sounded like a voluntary choice. But of course, that wasn’t the case. There was a penalty.
‘Each time you abandon, the trial becomes harder.’
The floor’s difficulty increased.
If it was a floor with multiple enemies, their numbers would grow. If it was a one-on-one battle, the enemy would become stronger.
And one more thing—abandoning the trial meant any injuries sustained wouldn’t heal.
That was how the penalty worked.
‘This floor is a battle against multiple enemies, so their numbers increase. Right now…’
Initially, there had been about 50 disciples. Now, their numbers have surpassed 75.
Would it stop here? No.
Each time he abandoned, the number increased. Indefinitely. He knew because he had tried it before.
‘The maximum number I can handle right now is… around 120? Even that’s pushing it.’
He would maximize the use of space to create one-on-one situations, use every debuff to incapacitate the other disciples, and buff himself to the limit.
—Proficiency in Cold aura has increased.
—Proficiency in Berserker has increased.
Meanwhile, he actively used the skills he wanted to level up to take down the enemies.
—Proficiency in Heavy Strike has increased.
—Proficiency in Ground Kick has increased.
—Proficiency in Joint Strike has increased.
—Proficiency in Gale Kick has increased.
On top of that, he used the Heavenly Destruction Mind Technique to recover stamina while also raising its proficiency.
“Grr…!”
The number of disciples continued to grow.
Now, it had surpassed 100.
By this point, the total number of disciples he had fought was easily in the thousands.
“Tch!”
A blade he failed to dodge grazed his cheek. Of course, all the wounds he received here were real.
If he was hit, he was injured.
If he died, he would really die.
‘I have to push it as far as I can.’
It was dangerous, but the benefits were undeniable.
A place where time flowed differently from the outside, allowing him to fight an endless number of enemies.
Where else could he find such a perfect grinding spot?
The enemies grew in number and strength?
“That’s exactly what I wanted.”
A smile tugged at Yoo Baek-jun’s lips.
He proceeded carefully with his grinding.
[Skill Proficiency I.]
Berserker’s proficiency is increasing.
If it reaches A-rank, something good might happen…?
—Reward: 200P
[Skill Proficiency II.]
Heavy Strike, Ground Kick, Joint Strike, and Gale Kick’s proficiency is rising rapidly.
If they reach A-rank, something good might happen…?
—Reward: 200P, stat increase
Multiple quests supported his efforts.
And after what felt like an eternity—by normal time, it would’ve been over a week—
“Huff!”
Yoo Baek-jun was still fighting.
But compared to the first day, his movements had clearly improved.
‘No room for complacency now.’
With the sheer number of enemies, he actively used the Heavenly Destruction Fist Technique and Dragon Fang Spear Technique as well.
Blades grazed past him.
Cuts and wounds, big and small, began to cover Yoo Baek-jun’s face and body.
“Keugh!”
“Ugh…!”
As if paying the price for those wounds, he moved like an enraged beast, systematically taking down his enemies.
One by one, decisively.
“Hah… Huff!”
Yoo Baek-jun exhaled roughly and scanned his surroundings. The countless enemies were gone.
All had fallen by his hand.
Only the young disciple remained.
“Are you the last one?”
“……!”
Yoo Baek-jun faced the young disciple.
The boy’s expression no longer held the shock from their first encounter.
Now, there was only exhaustion, as if he were staring at a monster.
‘Are you going to abandon the trial this time too?’
The boy’s eyes seemed to ask.
Yoo Baek-jun shook his head.
“No.”
Confusion flickered across the boy’s face.
“I’m done grinding here.”
Crash—!
His fist shot forward, and the disciple vanished.
Yoo Baek-jun looked around.
No disciples remained on the 2nd floor.
Creak—!
With a heavy groan, the gate opened.
The staircase to the higher floors came into view. After recovering, Yoo Baek-jun ascended.
What awaited him was a floor with the same structure as the 2nd.
The only difference was—
“…….”
“Hmm.”
Unlike the 2nd floor, someone was waiting.
A man in plain robes, gripping a sword. His well-trained physique, visible through his clothes, was striking.
‘No matter how many times I see it, his body is… like a human weapon.’
No, striking wasn’t the right word.
His physique was so well-built it was almost awe-inspiring, like looking at a bodybuilder.
The man gazed at Yoo Baek-jun.
—This floor will test how the successor fares in battle against a trained swordsman.
—Defeat this swordsman.
—Do so, and the gate shall open.
As soon as the words ended, the swordsman began demonstrating his overwhelming swordsmanship.
There was no hiding it.
“The Heavenly Destruction Sword Technique .”
It was a familiar technique.
Yoo Baek-jun drew his sword smoothly.
“Guess I’ll work on my sword proficiency this time.”