Easy?
Covered in the blood of the guy who just exploded, I stood there blankly for a moment, trying to process the situation.
"Does this even make sense? Ah, with 3,250 Strength... is this just how it's supposed to be?"
Even as I stood still to collect my thoughts, the remaining goblins showed no signs of attacking.
It seemed they were also trying to process that bizarre situation in their own way.
"Let's try one more."
Gwa-ak
I clench my fists.
The PTSD and lingering fear I felt the moment I entered the Tower seem to have almost vanished now.
There's only a desire to test my changed stats.
"Kki...kkieek?"
"Kkikkikki"
"Kkieek?"
The goblins that hadn't been able to move yet seem to have regained their senses and are riling up their fighting spirit again.
Closing the distance step by step, they grip their clubs roughly.
However,
I'm the one doing the hunting.
Shung
"Wha...what the fuck!"
I tried to dash at the lead goblin, but I stopped, shocked by my own speed.
I thought I had only taken a tiny step, but it was as if I'd used some kind of ground-shrinking technique; I had already reached my target.
"Why am I so fast? That scared the hell out of me!"
"Kkieek...?"
Oops.
I thought I had stopped, but I had already arrived right in front of the target goblin long ago...
Both the goblin and I are startled, staring at each other.
"Kki...kkie...ek?"
Teok
I place my hand on its head and lightly squeeze.
Kwaji-jik
"Ugh! Fuck, that's disgusting..."
This is already the second attack, and since I somewhat expected it this time, I wasn't surprised.
The head in my hand crumbles futilely like a biscuit, spraying brains everywhere.
"Hahahahahaha"
Laughter bursts out of me like a madman.
Is it really this easy?
These are the guys that drove me to the fear of death countless times over the past 4 months.
I analyzed their attack patterns and challenged them again and again, trying to find a way to clear them despite the constant frustration.
The first attempt, where I barely escaped after getting hit in the back of the head with a club, feeling like my head would explode.
The 8th attempt, where I had to crawl away like a dog after breaking a leg.
And most recently, my left arm was left hanging by a thread, almost severed...
But now, they just look like bugs that are easy to crush.
"Haa... let's just finish this quickly."
I wanted to end this grueling 4-month struggle now.
Seuseuk
Peong
"Kkieek!!!"
Seuseuk
Peong
Peong
Peong
The guys couldn't even track my movements, and I lightly rushed at them one by one and kicked them.
Naturally, every one of them that touched my foot exploded, scattering into flesh and blood.
<You have completed the 24th floor of the Tower of Trials.>
In less than a minute, 20 goblins had exploded, and just like that, I easily succeeded in clearing the floor.
Pat
As I exit the Tower, my shabby rooftop room greets me.
'How far will this be this easy? I don't think it's just for a floor or two.'
The pent-up frustration from the past, where I was despised by the Management Bureau as a 'perpetual 20th-floorer' and blamed myself, is washed away in an instant.
How much further can I go...
As a pleasant sense of anticipation wrapped around my whole body, I was able to fall into a sweet, deep sleep for the first time in a while.
The next morning
An uncontrollable sense of exhilaration hits me the moment I open my eyes.
The unbelievable result of clearing the 24th floor, which had given me trouble for 4 months, in just 1 minute wasn't a dream.
It was because I had confirmed that the 25th floor of the Tower had opened.
"Going straight to the 25th floor."
Without delay, I entered the 25th floor of the Tower of Trials.
<You have entered the 25th floor of the Tower of Trials.>
<Eliminate the Hobgoblin 0/1>
Since it was a floor whose clear videos I had watched several times, I knew the Hobgoblin was inside the cave visible in the distance.
Dadadadada
As I put strength into my legs and started running, the cave that I thought was quite far away approached in an instant.
"Kkieeeek?"
"Kkieek?"
"Kkikkikkieek?"
Looking around as I ran, it seemed the regular goblins, who were on alert to stop players from reaching the Hobgoblin's cave, couldn't even properly perceive me as I ran past.
"No need to deal with all of them."
I had already been sufficiently covered in the blood, flesh, and brains of regular goblins yesterday.
Is there any need to smell that stench again?
I arrived at the cave entrance in an instant.
I stop and slowly enter the cave.
The Hobgoblin was standing at the entrance of the cave as if it had been waiting.
Huge, rugged muscles were coiled over a massive frame that far exceeded that of an adult male. Bloodshot yellow eyes flashed in the darkness, and sticky saliva dripped from between its yellow fangs protruding out of its maw.
"Ugh... it's even grosser in person."
Unlike the regular goblins, it was wearing crudely made leather and iron armor, and it was emitting a ferocious killing intent in all directions.
"Kruaaaak-!"
It lets out a bizarre roar, raises its giant club, and charges at me. The momentum was so fierce that the ground shook as if there were an earthquake, and a strike filled with clear malice, intending to crush my bones and flesh right then and there, flew towards me.
But to me, it was nothing more than slow motion.
Tu-uk
I lightly threw a punch.
Peong
A powerful impact sound rings throughout the entire cave.
Just one hit. The crude armor it was wearing couldn't perform its function even a little bit. In an instant, its upper body exploded.
Other than their appearance, to me right now, the Hobgoblin and the regular goblins I faced yesterday were on the same level.
<You have completed the 25th floor of the Tower of Trials.>
"Wow... it's really easy... is this allowed... at this rate, I'll easily get an A-rank, right?"
The Tower of Trials only awards a clear rank and rewards for the first attempt on each floor. The reason I didn't get any rank after clearing the 24th floor in an instant yesterday was because I had challenged it countless times over the past 4 months.
"Is it the first time in 5 years I'm getting a clear rank..."
When I first awakened and cleared up to the 3rd floor without issues, I also received clear ranks.
That message, which I was starting to barely remember.
I was waiting for that message window to pop up.
But...
[Clear Rank: SS]
You have acquired 'Sage's Necklace' as a reward.
Sage's Necklace (Rare)
-Magic Power +40
-Skill Level +2
"SS rank? Does a rank like this even exist?" Seeing the rare item that dropped along with an all-time high clear rank, I let out a wry laugh.
And
[Global Announcement: An anonymous player has cleared the 25th floor of the Tower of Trials with an SS rank]
Ah, what is this now...
At the same time, the South Korean Hunter community was literally in an uproar.
[Hunter Community Real-time #1]
Title: [Breaking News] 25th floor of Tower of Trials SS rank clear appeared;;
Did everyone see the golden global announcement that just popped up??? I was clearing the Tower and almost died from the flashbang;; No, what is SS rank? Isn't this a system error?
ㄴ Anonymous: Wow, so I wasn't the only one who saw it lol I doubted my eyes lol Isn't that crazy?
ㄴ Perpetual 10th-floorer: Isn't it fake? I've never even seen the term SS rank before?
ㄴ Couch Potato Conan: Fact) Only the Tower can trigger a global announcement as a fake.
ㄴ Gukbap Enthusiast: It's a secret weapon secretly raised by the Management Bureau. Or an overseas ranker secretly naturalized.
ㄴ Aspiring Writer: Wow... if it's real, a monster beyond the standard has been born. The South Korean Tower ecosystem is going to be completely wrecked, damn.
ㄴ Anonymous: What reward do you get for an SS rank clear on the 25th floor? Fuck, the price of magic stones dropped again... I'm so jealous I can't sleep, ugh;;
Every time I refreshed, the view count soared like crazy, and the bulletin board was plastered with stories about the mysterious 'SS-rank clearer'. Traffic was exploding to the point where the server was on the verge of crashing.
And... naturally, the place most shocked by this situation was the Player Management Bureau.
The emergency countermeasure meeting room.
Director Kim and the team leader-level staff's faces had turned pale.
Section Chief Choi, sweating profusely and fidgeting like a dog that needs to take a shit, looked particularly grim.
"What is this? Does anyone know who this is? What is an SS rank?"
There is no answer to Director Kim's question.
Frustrated, Director Kim flips through the report roughly and speaks again in a nervous, irritable voice.
"So, basically, it's not someone from our Management Bureau, right?"
"Yes, there are currently no players in the Management Bureau climbing the 20th floors. It is certain that it is not a Management Bureau player."
"Is that something to be proud of?"
"......"
"......"
That one pathetic remark was the only clear answer that came back.
Even though it was called a countermeasure meeting, it was impossible for the Management Bureau's higher-ups to come up with any countermeasures for this situation just by putting their heads together.
Still, Director Kim had no choice but to convene the meeting because he couldn't just sit by and watch...
"You there, Personnel Section Chief. Are you not feeling well? Why are you sweating so much?"
"Ah..ah! No... it's nothing, Director!"
"It doesn't look like 'nothing'? Choi Seung-pil, your face looks terrible right now. It doesn't look like we'll get anything more out of this meeting anyway, why don't you go to the hospital or something?"
"Ah...I'm...I'm fine, Director!"
Phew.
Why did it have to be the 25th floor...
A nervous hypothesis forms in Section Chief Choi's head,
and even though the meeting room was blasting air conditioning, the cold sweat pouring down like crazy wouldn't stop.