The Tower of Ordeals, 1st Floor (1)

The reason I had to climb the Tower was simple.

I wanted to become stronger than Yoo Seolhyeon.

From the moment I copied her SSS-grade Heavenly Martial Physique until now, my goal had never wavered. It was the only thing driving me.

Before me rose the obsidian monolith towering over central Seoul. Placing my fingertips against its polished, glass-like surface, a holographic prompt flickered to life before my eyes.

"Yes."

"Hmm..."

Solo play held little appeal for me. The clear rewards remained identical whether you tackled the trial alone or in a group. The sole advantage of going solo was monopolizing all the monster experience points for yourself, but even that fell flat against my grander plan.

"A handful of experience points isn't worth losing sleep over."

Copying an extra skill was easily worth a thousand times more than some scrap of monster exp. Match with a stranger, copy their unique talent, clear the floor, and part ways. To pull that off, random matchmaking was clearly the superior choice.

The instant I hit confirm, two silhouette icons materialized on the display. In a fraction of a second, they flashed brilliant emerald.

"Well, that was fast."

Crack—!

The world shattered like tempered glass into thousands of shimmering shards. Space dissolved around me, swirling through the void before snapping back together into a completely new form.

"Where...?"

A gentle, crisp breeze brushed against my cheek. I opened my eyes and surveyed the area. An expansive green meadow stretched out in every direction under a bright sky. And standing right beside me was a young woman.

"...Eeeek?!"

The moment her eyes landed on me, she recoiled in sheer panic.

"W-Who are you?!"

...What kind of question was that?

An excruciating silence stretched between us. Shin Yulha kept her head twisted away, doing everything in her power to avoid eye contact. Whenever our gazes accidentally brushed against one another, she flinched visibly and snapped her neck back around. She looked like a stray alley cat eyeing a human from ten paces away, primed to bolt at the slightest twitch.

"...Are you alright?" I asked, forcing the words out to puncture the suffocating awkwardness.

Her shoulders hitched violently.

"Y-Yes... ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Yes, I'm... I'm fine..."

"You don't look fine at all."

Her face was as pale as a sheet, her eyes darting frantically about the field. No sane person could look at her shivering frame and conclude she was fine.

"To be honest... I was supposed to enter with my guildmate, but my finger slipped and hit the wrong option on the menu..."

"Ah. That's unfortunate."

"I heard what you achieve on the first floor sets the tone for your entire career as a climber..." she mumbled, burying her face into her drawn-up knees in utter dejection.

Her despair made sense. It was common knowledge that anyone with a shred of talent steered clear of the random queue. Climbers joined a proper guild, found rookies matching their skill level, and tackled trials together with guaranteed teamwork.

I focused my gaze upon her and willed my cheat ability into action.

"Oh..."

An A-grade unique ability. And the requirement wasn't particularly punishing either. Once we cleared the floor and exited the trial zone, all injuries would automatically knit back together anyway. The thrill of acquiring a brand-new power surged through my veins.

"Well, since we're stuck together anyway, let's give it our best shot."

"O-Okay..."

She gave in surprisingly easily. Not that she had much of a choice. If she didn't like it, what was she going to do about it? She should have watched where she was tapping her fingers. I offered her a hand and hoisted her to her feet just as another notification flared across our vision.

In the center of the meadow, pillars of light surged, coalescing into three gelatinous slimes. Before I could make a move, Shin Yulha scrambled forward, planting herself firmly between me and the monsters.

"Hiyah!"

From the glowing blue crystal orb hovering above her palms, three streaks of condensed mana streaked through the air, pinpointing the cores of the advancing slimes. Crack! Thwack! The cores shattered into powder under the impact. Deprived of their nuclei, the slimes lost all structural integrity and melted into puddles before dissipating into black ash. Shin Yulha watched them vanish with a proud, puffed-up grin.

"Stay behind me! I'll do whatever I can to—"

I locked eyes with her, raising an eyebrow.

"Why would I do that?"

From the second my fingers wrapped around the hilt of my sword, a relentless, intoxicating thirst had begun scratching at my mind, screaming for me to swing it. Whether it was the instinctual memory baked into the Heavenly Martial Physique or my own latent nature, I couldn't say. Nor did it matter.

Chalky white hands burst through the turf—skeletal arms clawing their way toward the sky. Five skeletons dragged themselves out of the earth, settling their hollow frames atop the grass. But before their bony joints could even take a single forward stride—

Shhk—! Crunch!

A blinding silver arc cleaved through the air. The crisp, percussive shatter of splitting bone reverberated across the open field as my blade passed through them like paper.

"Oh."

I clenched my fist. The surge of raw physical power settling into my muscles was unmistakable. The rush of leveling up was disgustingly sweet. And someone wanted to keep all this delicious experience to themselves? I turned around to find Shin Yulha staring back at me, her jaw hanging slack.

"...Uh."

"Just sit back and enjoy the show," I remarked calmly, turning my attention toward the next patch of churning ground. "I'll clear this floor myself."

Shin ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Yulha could only stare in dazed disbelief.

A streak of steel flashed like lightning. In the same breath, a deep, bleeding laceration tore across an orc's barrel chest. And there weren't just one or two of them—there were three hulking brutes. Orcs were monsters that no novice stepping onto the first floor had any business fighting. They were C-rank threats, creatures that climbers had to reach the fifth or even tenth floor before daring to hunt solo. Yet right here, right now—

"Grooaaargh!"

"Krrrk!"

They shrieked in agony as their flesh was carved to ribbons by a relentless storm of sword strikes.

At first, Yulha had managed to track his footwork. But now? His form had blurred into ghostly afterimages darting across the grass. It was a terrifyingly refined display of swordsmanship—the kind she had only ever seen from veteran climbers boasting years of grueling training within guild facilities. To see that level of mastery from someone in the tutorial floor defied all logic. A complete newcomer simply couldn't move like this.

Boom!

A heavy spiked club slammed violently into the turf where the man had been standing half a heartbeat prior. But before the dust even settled, a fountain of dark blood erupted from the nape of the orc's neck.

"Man... she saw the world like this the whole time? Life really is disgustingly unfair."

He muttered the incomprehensible grievance under his breath as the last beast collapsed. Within ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠moments, all three orcs dissolved into heaps of ash.

"Whew... That was a workout."

Baek Sihyeok drove his blade into the soil and plopped down onto the grass, his clothing spattered in monster viscera.

"...How?" she stammered.

"Just skill."

"..."

The first floor of the Tower of Ordeals served as a tutorial, featuring up to ten escalating waves. The farther a climber pushed, the more exponentially the rewards—and the lethality—multiplied. Sihyeok reclined back against the meadow, gazing up into the azure sky where the midday sun beat down upon them.

"How many people in our country cleared Wave 10 again? Three, was it?"

"Yes... that's right. We should probably leave now."

"Leave? Why?"

"...Wait, you're not leaving?"

The two stared at each other, both sets of eyes brimming with utter bewilderment. Sihyeok was the first to break the stillness.

"...Why would we?"

"Because Wave 10 is a Death Field! If we fail the clear, we die for real! And I've heard the difficulty is on a completely different dimension from Wave 9!"

A wipe in a Death Field meant no revival. No safety net. True, permanent death.

"Trust me."

"That's not something you can just casually ask someone to trust—!"

Without a shred of hesitation, I pressed [Yes].

The blood-red notification screen pulsed ominously before shattering.

Ruuuumble—!

The earth beneath our feet convulsed. Up above, the blinding sun drained into a sickly crimson, casting long, eerie shadows across the plains. A faint, sanguinary glow coated the grass, rousing whatever monstrous presence lay slumbering deep within the subterranean dark.

"Ah... Ahhh..."

Tears welled up in the corners of Shin Yulha's trembling eyes. The glare she directed at my back was dripping with sheer, unadulterated resentment. But I didn't waver.

"If Yoo Seolhyeon cleared it, why shouldn't I?"

Failure wasn't an option. I was going to surpass her, after all.

Craaaash!

The earth fractured open, and from the jagged fissure stepped a figure. The instant our gazes collided, every single thought evaporated from my mind.

"...What?"

The entity simply stood there, staring back at me. Yet that indifferent gaze felt as though it was whispering straight into my soul, mocking my resolve.

Are you really superior to me?

Standing before us was Yoo Seolhyeon from three years ago.

She looked exactly as she had on the day she left me behind—composed, radiant, and radiating untouchable confidence as she had strode into the Tower. Her hollow eyes drifted toward me for a fleeting fraction of a second. But the moment her gaze shifted past my shoulder and landed on Shin Yulha, a fierce, blazing fury ignited within them.

Boom!

Kicking off the turf with explosive force, Yoo Seolhyeon shot forward like a loose cannonball, her sword cleaving downward straight toward the crown of Shin Yulha's head.

Claaaaang—!

A deafening shockwave tore through the air. The violent impact sounded less like two blades colliding and more like an artillery shell detonating at point-blank range. The sheer concussive force traveling up my guard sent a dull, vibrating ache shooting straight through my wrist.

"What in the world...?"

Why was she targeting Yulha first?!

Beyond the locked steel of our swords, I met her eyes—and was greeted by an ocean of suffocating, murderous intent. A cold sweat traced a frantic path down my spine.

Never in my entire life had I faced bloodlust this thick.