A Stroll Through the Rampage

"A rampage of power...?"

I had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but it sounded vicious right off the bat. And losing consciousness meant instant failure? Seriously, why did they have to make things run rampant? Wouldn't it be so much nicer to have something comfortable, like the power control test back on the first floor?

Besides...

Can I even overcome a rampage in the first place?

Just like controlling power on the first floor, I had never learned how to do anything like that in my entire life. Reading the objective suddenly filled me with a knot of anxiety. Senior Cheok, Senior Huang... Can I actually trust these guys?

"Ah, come on."

I had to trust them. They were Transcendents, after all. They had even taken the time to help me pick out a bow and a thumb ring. Alright, decision made. I'd give it an honest shot, and if it proved impossible, I could always throw in the towel then.

"Guess I'll go see for myself..."

Step, step.

Deciding to suspend my disbelief, I took one cautious step forward, and then another.

...

Wait. Why wasn't anything happening? Forget a rampage of power—not even a gentle breeze stirred across the floor.

"Hmm..."

Tilting my head in utter confusion, I kept strolling along, and before I knew it, I was standing right in front of the crystal. The objective for the second floor was simply to reach the Trial Crystal. What gives? Does something change if I touch it?

Tap.

Ding!

Wait, what? That was it? I didn't even do anything!

Ding-dong!

Ugh, that chime. It embarrassed me every single time I set foot in the shop. Whenever I asked if there was any way to turn it off, the reply was always the same.

<There is a saying. If you cannot avoid it, enjoy it.>

How on earth am I supposed to enjoy this? At least it was a relief that Cassius was usually the only one here. If someone else had been around like last time...

"Floor Two in thirty-two seconds? Hmph, the Tower truly harbors far too many variables."

Holy crap. Exactly like that. Whenever another customer was already here, it was mortifying. All eyes locked right onto me, and I braced myself for the aggro to swing my way once again—or so I assumed.

"Judging by this, I must recalibrate the weight assigned to the parameter of 'feebleness'. Perhaps the entire hypothesis—"

Wait. Never mind. He wasn't paying any attention to me at all.

<You have arrived. It appears you succeeded in conquering the second floor of the Tower of Transcendence.>

"Yep. Wasn't really much to it."

Meanwhile, the figure draped beside me in a deep traveler's robe kept muttering frantically under his breath. Shrouded head to toe like a classical wizard, he gave off the distinct aura of an eccentric hermit. Given that he was browsing inside the Arcana Market, he was bound to be a Transcendent, but still... Before any unnecessary trouble flared up, I decided to handle my errands and leave.

"I came to buy what I mentioned earlier while I was in the neighborhood."

<Very well. I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have prepared the two corresponding items. Inspect them and choose what you desire.>

"Alright."

My plan was simple: grab the skill book as quickly as possible and bolt. But just as I reached out—

"Hold on."

Huh? What? Was he talking to me?

"How did you clear it?"

Yep, definitely talking to me. But this guy seemed genuinely unhinged. There was a manic, feverish glint dancing behind his eyes.

"Floor Two! How did you conquer it? The physical phenomena, the psychic resonance, the fluctuations in mana flow... Recount every detail, exactly as you experienced it!"

How did he even know I had just cleared Floor 2? There was no way rumors could have spread that fast.

<He is an acquaintance of the Transcendents you met previously. He came specifically to see you.>

Aha, an acquaintance of the seniors? That meant he was a senior too.

"Ah, yes. Forgive my lack of courtesy. I am Merlin."

Oh. A second ago, he seemed like a total weirdo, but maybe he was more civilized than I thought. And Merlin? I definitely knew that name. The legendary Archmage from mythology.

"Hello. I'm Kim Haun."

"Indeed, a pleasure. Now that greetings are concluded, let us get down to business. How did you clear Floor Two? Did you feel no rampant surge of power? What of mana backflow?"

Come on. He really was an eccentric after all. Sir, this isn't how a normal conversation flows. And why are you glaring at me like that? It feels like high-powered lasers are about to shoot straight out of your pupils.

The Transcendents I had met before—Cheok Jun-gyeong and Huang Zhong—seemed reasonably well-adjusted compared to this guy. Here, though... it felt like he wouldn't let me leave the room unless I gave him an answer. In that case, I might as well tell him the plain truth.

"There really wasn't much to it. I just walked over, touched the crystal, and it was over."

That really was the whole story, after all.

"You encountered zero resistance? That is impossible!"

Impossible? I literally just walked through it with my own two feet.

"Whew... Very well. As the saying goes, seeing once is worth hearing a hundred times. Would you mind if I observed it directly for a moment?"

"Uh... what? Sure, I don't mind."

Observe directly? How?

"Through the power of magic, nothing is impossible."

Well, he was an Archmage, after all.

"One simply needs to summon past memories like this."

With that, he snapped his fingers with a sharp, echoing crack!

I wondered what he was playing at, but the result that unfolded before my eyes was jaw-dropping.

Shudder—

A smooth, translucent pane of light condensed out of thin air.

"Wait, that's me?"

Right there on the screen, crystal-clear footage of me strolling across the second floor moments ago began to play.

"Whoa..."

So this was real magic? Incredible. He operated on a completely different plane compared to someone like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me, who could only fling brute-force Energy Bolts.

"The moment one steps into that domain, it is only natural to be tossed violently by rampaging mana. Yet you appear utterly unperturbed."

Well, yeah... I really didn't feel a single thing.

"Hmm. Could it be that his mana was so feeble there was simply no fuel for a rampage? I did hear he cleared the first floor through a similar approach. No, even granting that—"

Uh oh. He was slipping right back into his own private world.

"Um... excuse me?"

I called out tentatively, but it was no use.

"He caught the very laws of the Tower—the system itself—completely off guard... Oh, fascinating. Truly fascinating."

Zero response. Well, he wasn't being quiet, either; he just kept rambling non-stop to himself.

<Haha...>

Well, nothing could be done about it. I couldn't stand around waiting forever for a wizard's train of thought to pull into the station.

"I'll take a look at the skill books first."

<Let us do so. As mentioned, there are two varieties. Their prices differ, so examine them and make your selection.>

With a heavy thud, Cassius pushed two ancient grimoires forward.

The former, Shadow Merchant, was tailored for personal transactions. Mirage Market, on the other hand, was an absurd ability that allowed one to conjure an entire temporary exchange out of thin air.

Both sounded remarkably enticing.

"Ah, Mirage Market is two thousand mana stones."

<It is a skill that unfolds a marketplace across sub-dimensional space. Naturally, it must be expensive.>

Fair point. But it was far too steep for my current wallet. Two thousand stones meant one thousand even with my fifty-percent discount. It blew right past my budget before I even considered it. Nothing to be done about that. It would be amazing to run an entire private exchange, but that was an investment for the future. For now, handling immediate necessities took priority.

"I'll take Shadow Merchant, please."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

<Good grief, you reckless fledgling. Just when will you engage in proper, dignified commerce...?>

Aigoo, giving me side-eye again. Hey, I drop three hundred mana stones without flinching these days! Sure, it was originally six hundred and I got fifty percent off, but still. Regardless, with the grimoire safely tucked away into my inventory, the deal was struck.

As for Merlin...

"He unlocked Primordial Force, yet suffered no rampage? Does the Tower perceive total capacity rather than the quality of mana? I must introduce a new variable—"

Still completely absorbed in his solitary lecture. One glance was enough to grasp his character. He was the quintessential mad researcher, hopelessly addicted to unravelling cosmic theories. I considered saying a polite goodbye, but it felt pointless to interrupt his trance.

"I'll be taking my leave, then."

Flash!

It was only long after Kim Haun had departed that Merlin finally resurfaced from his theoretical depths. Blinking under the hood, he cast his gaze around the quiet shop.

"Where did that Climber go?"

<He left long ago...>

"Did he? When might he return?"

<He comes and goes entirely as he pleases... Is that not the nature of Climbers in general?>

"Hmm, there was something crucial I needed to verify with him... Alas, it cannot be helped. I have no choice but to wait here. I shall impose on your hospitality until then."

<Pardon? No, wait... it is time to close—>

"Do you have anything to eat?"

<Wait... er...>

Beijing, China.

Near the grand entrance of the Heavenly Martial Alliance Headquarters.

"Haaah..."

Liu Wei, the premier S-rank sensory Awakened of the alliance, exhaled a long, suffocating breath.

How on earth am I supposed to report this?

The dungeon had undeniably existed. That mysterious '???' ranker had certainly cleared it. But because not a single footprint or residue was left behind, he couldn't track him. That was the entirety of the factual report he had gathered. Yet... would the Heavenly Emperor, Luo Qin, accept such an excuse? He would fly into an apocalyptic rage on the spot.

"Damn it all... If I'd known it would end like this, I wouldn't have requisitioned the private jet."

The situation had been deemed so urgent that he had rushed across the Yellow Sea aboard Luo Qin's personal aircraft. Yongin? Was that the name of the South Korean city where the Special Dungeon had materialized? What was it the local guilds were whining about? That they couldn't even locate the entrance before it vanished?

Pathetic fools.

Naturally, Liu Wei had found the site without issue. Even when an abyssal gate collapsed, residual spatial distortion lingered behind. And along with that distortion, the sensory imprints of anyone who had crossed the threshold should have remained etched into the earth.

Yet...

"Why isn't there anything...?"

Whenever a mortal human passed through a gate, the collision of mana and physical mass left an unmistakable trail. To find the ground sterile, devoid of even a speck of spiritual dust, was enough to make him feel as though he were chasing an ethereal ghost.

"Sigh."

He had no clue what anomaly had taken place, but what choice did he have? A report was still a report.

Rrrring—!

He pulled out his phone to answer the urgent ring.

"Liu Wei-nim! New intelligence just came in from the operative we planted in South Korea!"

"What is it? Did they catch his tail?"

"Yes! The Red Stream Spear, presumed to be the clearance reward from this Special Dungeon, has just been registered as an auction listing on a prominent Korean hunter forum!"

"An auction?"

The Red Stream Spear. The name and nature of the weapon matched the caliber of national rewards known to drop from quarterly competitive dungeons.

"What about seller information? Have you tracked the account?"

"The seller is masked under the moniker 'Shadow Merchant,' which appears to stem from a dedicated concealment skill. Standard network tracing and high-level sensory inquiries have failed to penetrate it..."

Tsk. That '???' bastard even possessed an anonymous trading skill? He certainly carried an irritatingly versatile bag of tricks. Still, this was as far as his luck would stretch.

"It does not matter."

An anonymous cloak might foil ordinary grunts and standard analysts, but what if an S-rank sensory specialist stepped onto the field? He would peel back the layers of deception with ease.

Unless he is an actual phantom, or the skill is of an extraordinarily high grade.

A skill of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a higher grade than an S-rank like Liu Wei? Such an absurdity couldn't possibly exist on this planet. Therefore...

"Win the auction, no matter how much it costs. I will personally reverse-trace his soul the instant the transaction executes."

"Understood, sir!"

Kim Haun, freshly minted Climber.

What did his morning routine look like?

Checking the status window, of course.

"Ahhh..."

Just look at those two floor blessings and the country-wide national buff stacked neatly on top of one another. Absolutely exquisite. Every single time I admired this screen, I felt satisfied enough to skip breakfast altogether. And today...

"Time to see how that auction is doing."

The Chinese might be scouring the peninsula for my identity? Sure, go ahead and look. I was selling completely anonymously.

Shadow Merchant.

An untraceable trade ability acquired straight from the Arcana Market inside the Tower of Transcendence. How on Earth were Earth hunters supposed to pierce through that? People on forums always warned that anonymous broker skills could be reverse-engineered by high-rank tracking specialists, but a technique forged in the Tower of Transcendence? Go right ahead and try. I had absolute faith that breaking through it was a mathematical impossibility.

"I wonder how high the bidding has climbed."

The general consensus online suggested a baseline estimate of at least two hundred million won. But that was assuming it was listed leisurely through a verified guild exchange with high-profile marketing. In a rapid community auction like this? It might not climb quite that high.

"Whew... Still, I hope it lands somewhere close to two hundred million."

That way, I could purchase high-grade elixirs, accelerate my base stats, and steadily build my foundation. Actually, let's not get overly greedy. Even a hundred and fifty million won would be plenty—

"Huh?"

Holy crap, what?

"Count the zeros... one, two, three..."

Five hundred and ten million won?! And the auction wasn't even over yet?