Chapter 308
I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 308.
Yoo Baek-jun climbed the Tower of the Martial God.
The tower's maximum floor was the 30th. Previously, he had only conquered up to the 20th floor.
Fortunately, this time, the final floor—the 30th—was open.
‘He told me to come meet him before meeting that pitiful dragon.’
Pitiful dragon.
He must have meant the Evil Dragon, but was that bastard really so pitiful?
It was a puzzling remark.
“Well, I’ll find out once I go up.”
Yoo Baek-jun began his ascent.
The Tower of the Martial God was by no means an easy place. Each floor was filled with various gimmicks, and mid-bosses awaited along the way.
The one saving grace was that even if the attempts repeated, the gimmicks and mid-bosses didn’t change drastically.
Even if they did, they were manageable.
‘Then it’s doable.’
A veteran.
For the ‘me‘ who had poured an obsessive amount of time into this game, the Tower of the Martial God wasn’t particularly difficult.
Rather, it was just another piece of content that stoked the desire for challenge.
—……!
The boss guarding the 30th floor clutched his abdomen and dropped to one knee.
He was a man who wielded a swift sword—no, dual swords—with incredible speed.
‘Why is it so quiet?’
But something felt off.
Originally, this guy was loud, talking nonstop, but this time, strangely, he was silent.
—Splendid……. However…….
The man, still on one knee, looked at Yoo Baek-jun.
It seemed he had more to say, but…
—…….
Before he could finish, his body turned to dust and scattered.
Yoo Baek-jun tilted his head in confusion.
“If you’re going to talk, finish what you’re saying.”
Now it’s just bothering me.
Yoo Baek-jun clicked his tongue and went to check the rewards—only to freeze on the spot.
“What the hell? Where are the rewards?”
The final reachable floor always had rewards.
That was the rule of the Tower of the Martial God.
But this time, there was nothing. No chest, no rewards, not even a staircase leading further up.
“There’s nothing here.”
This was a first.
Normally, reaching the 30th floor granted massive rewards, including skills, traits, items, and even artifacts.
Given the tower’s extreme difficulty, the final floor’s rewards were equally grand.
“…….”
But now, there was nothing.
Not even a hint of something appearing.
Not even the voice of the Martial God, who had been dropping cryptic hints all along, could be heard.
“Wait, now that I look…”
Yoo Baek-jun glanced up at the ceiling.
He recalled his past experience of clearing the Tower of the Martial God. Back then, the final floor offered a view of the clear sky.
“Why is the sky so dark?”
But now, that was gone.
Instead, there was a dark sky—like a night sky, or perhaps even darker.
Whoosh!
A gate appeared before Yoo Baek-jun. He let out a hollow laugh.
“You’re telling me to go back just like this?”
With no rewards and only a gate open, it felt like the tower was saying,
“There’s nothing for you here, so leave.”
Yoo Baek-jun wandered the floor for a while, but nothing changed.
‘Something’s wrong.’
The Martial God wouldn’t lie.
It was more accurate to assume something had happened that he couldn’t speak of.
‘The mastermind behind the gate.’
If this was an event related to the Martial God, nothing else came to mind.
In the battle against that mastermind, the Martial God had likely been defeated.
‘The sealed artifacts that Black Shadow is gathering.’
Yoo Baek-jun frowned.
“This doesn’t feel right.”
He had a feeling an unexpected variable might arise.
But there was nothing he could do.
All he could do was prepare as planned—and then prepare even more thoroughly.
“Yoo Moo-hak, where the hell did this guy go? He’d be helpful right now.”
Always dropping cryptic remarks and then disappearing.
With a sigh, Yoo Baek-jun stepped into the return gate.
* * *
Though he hadn’t obtained rewards from the Tower of the Martial God, it wasn’t a complete loss.
Yoo Baek-jun gave the sword he acquired from defeating the 30th-floor boss to Jeon Soo-yeon.
“Huh? Family head, why are you giving me a sword…?”
“A gift. Use it well.”
“Tomorrow, the sun will rise from the west… Wow!”
Jeon Soo-yeon fumbled as she caught the roughly thrown sword.
Her eyes sparkled as she examined the blade.
“Family head! This is an amazing sword! It’d sell for a high price!”
“You’re not planning to sell it, right?”
“Ah, of course not.”
Her cheerful smile made him feel oddly suspicious.
The sword was S-grade.
A perfect fit for Jeon Soo-yeon, who, true to her Intelligence Division roots, valued swift swords.
Since he already had the White Sword, it was better to give this one to her.
“And this one is for Instructor Han Seong-ah.”
“I’ll use it gratefully, Family head.”
The 30th-floor boss had wielded dual swords.
Both were S-grade, and it was hard to say which was superior—both were exceptional.
Han Seong-ah accepted the sword gratefully.
“Ah, Family head. Noel said he has something to show you. He asked you to come.”
“Noel?”
Yoo Baek-jun nodded.
Now that he thought about it, he had asked Noel for something. It seemed the results were ready.
“Lord Yoo Baek-jun.”
“Hey, everything alright?”
“Thanks to your concern, everything’s fine.”
Noel, who had been spending time with his orphanage friends, greeted Yoo Baek-jun with a deep bow—nearly 90 degrees.
It was so humble that Yoo Baek-jun was taken aback.
“You wanted to see me?”
“Yes, I have something to show you. The corpse of that dragonkin you mentioned before…”
Noel gestured for him to follow.
They headed to an underground cave—their workshop.
Inside the workshop was what appeared to be the corpse of a massive dragon.
“Fellia.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
But it wasn’t a dragon.
It was the corpse of Fellia, a dragonkin who had lived for centuries and grown infinitely close to a true dragon—a former executive of Black Shadow.
The corpse had risen as an undead.
“I modeled it after a true dragon. It’s lacking in comparison, but…”
“I don’t see what’s lacking.”
Noel’s trait, King of the Dead, allowed him to strengthen resurrected undead while preserving their memories and ego.
‘And… he’s grown even stronger, hasn’t he?’
Yoo Baek-jun checked Noel’s status window.
[Noel]
Strength: D+
Agility: D+
Stamina: D+
Spirit Energy: S
[Unique Ability: King of the Dead (S-)]
[Traits: Natural Necromancer (S), Curse Specialist (S), Legion Commander (A+), Bottomless Spirit Energy (A+), Frail Body (C+), ……]
Like Yoo Baek-jun, Noel had grown over time.
In this game, NPCs grew over time like players, with talent playing a major role.
Talented NPCs grew significantly, while those without talent had limited growth.
“…….”
“Is something wrong, Family head?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Han Seong-ah, who stood loyally by his side, had also grown remarkably.
Her strength had reached S-grade, and her magical abilities had balanced out impressively.
She seemed to have made significant progress in magic as well.
And then there was one more thing.
[Loyalty (S+)]
—Unwavering loyalty to the person they’ve sworn to serve.
‘What is this…?’
It was an overwhelming trait.
Loyalty. At this rank, even if Yoo Baek-jun said beans could ferment into soy paste, they’d believe him.
If he told them to die, they’d die.
“Family head?”
“No, um… it’s nothing.”
Yoo Baek-jun repeated the same words from earlier.
He’d have to be careful with his requests from now on.
Anyway,
‘Noel’s a talented guy.’
True to Noel’s craftsmanship, the undead before him radiated extraordinary power.
“What should we name it?”
“Since it’s a dragonkin, how about ‘True Draconian’? That should suffice.”
“That sounds good.”
The once-named Fellia—now the True Draconian—rose to its feet.
An immense flow of magic emanated from its skeletal body, and its eyes gleamed with intelligence.
“It retains its memories and ego from life, but… I suppressed the ego slightly. As a dragonkin close to a true dragon, its ego was too strong and clear.”
“Does that affect its performance?”
“No. In fact, it’s easier to control this way.”
“Then it’s fine.”
Yoo Baek-jun smirked as he looked at the True Draconian.
“I wonder if this guy ever imagined she’d end up like this…”
Probably not.
* * *
Yoo Baek-jun entrusted the first airship he had built to Jin Seo-yeon.
Since he planned to station an airship at the Magic Tower anyway, and she had expressed interest in modifying it.
“This technology is incredible.”
That was Jin Seo-yeon’s impression after disassembling the airship from top to bottom.
While Yoo Baek-jun was away in the Baim Kingdom, she had immersed herself in studying the airship.
“It’s hard to believe this is ancient technology. The pinnacle of arcane engineering…”
Jin Seo-yeon, uncharacteristically enthusiastic, rambled on with sparkling eyes.
Yoo Baek-jun half-listened while checking her status window.
[Jin Seo-yeon]
Strength: C
Agility: C
Stamina: C
Magic: S+
[Unique Ability: Master of the Magic Tower (S+)]
[Traits: Magic Prodigy (S+), Blessing of Magic (S+), Magic Artillery (S+), Rapid Chanting (S), Elemental Magic Master (S), ……]
Yoo Baek-jun whistled softly.
The list of S-grade traits went on and on.
Her magic stat was already S+, and its sub-stats had likely stacked up considerably.
“…What are you looking at?”
“Huh? The weather’s nice. The sky’s clear.”
“What are you talking about?”
She was the most talented person he had ever met.
He was glad to have her as a full ally.
“Take the modified airship for yourself. In exchange, I’d like you to help improve the ones we produce in the future.”
“It shouldn’t be too difficult.”
Jin Seo-yeon nodded, then glanced at the airship floating in the distance.
Two more airships rose beside it, flying in formation.
“I like those.”
While Yoo Baek-jun was in the Kingdom of Baim, two more airships had been completed.
The beastkin, their wounds healed, marveled at the airships.
The younger ones even jumped around, shouting in excitement.
“You’ve have new guests.”
“It just happened that way.”
Jin Seo-yeon watched the beastkin.
Under everyone’s care, they were recovering quickly.
“You’re such a good person.”
“What? A pushover?”
“…A good person.”
“Yeah, a pushover.”
“Are you messing with me?”
For some reason, Yoo Baek-jun heard ‘pushover’ instead of ‘good person.’
He had invited more gnomes from outside to craft prosthetic limbs, which cost a fortune.
“…That’s why people gather around you and never leave.”
“Glad to hear it. Does that include you?”
“…….”
Jin Seo-yeon turned her head without answering. Embarrassed by her own words, her cheeks flushed red.
Yoo Baek-jun chuckled.
‘The end is truly approaching.’
The Evil Dragon.
Once he dealt with that bastard, the “Yoo Baek-jun route” that “I” knew would be over.
The only concern was…
‘Something feels like it’ll happen afterward, and I don’t know what.’
Yoo Baek-jun clicked his tongue.
All he could do was watch what unfolded and respond accordingly.
‘From now on…’
After ‘I‘ became Yoo Baek-jun.
It was time to witness the fruits of the bonds he had built in this world.
As he watched the airships flying in the distance, Yoo Baek-jun steeled his resolve.
The battle with the Evil Dragon awaited.