The Place of Letting Go

"Senior, should I just sprint through the third floor of the Tower of Transcendence right away?"

The tower? Well, obviously I had to climb it. But before that—

"Heh heh... To think ordinary elixirs could produce such a dramatic effect."

Merlin marveled as he gazed upon the Climber whose eyes sparkled right before him. What was the lad's name again? At any rate, looking at that peculiar fellow, the ancient archmage couldn't conceal his genuine astonishment. Even after consuming the elixirs, Haun's internal energy remained extraordinarily faint. Yet, an undeniable difference lingered in the air. Though he had merely expanded from a speck of grit into a grain of dust, a difference was still a difference. To think the elixirs had taken hold so remarkably well.

"Though, of course, it remains exceedingly faint."

"Aw, come on..." I grumbled. "Still, my Physical Aptitude went from E to D, and my Combat Potential jumped from F to D."

<That is the very definition of faint, you foolish brat. In the realm of Transcendents, having straight S-ranks across the board is hardly enough.>

"Then again..." Merlin mused aloud, stroking his beard, "come to think of it, I have never observed a being quite at your level before."

Who were the subjects Merlin had studied over his long existence? Transcendents and Pre-Transcendents, almost without exception. At the very least, they were individuals hovering at the precipice of Transcendence. In truth, unless someone stood at that summit, their paths would never have crossed in the first place. In other words, this was his first time encountering a creature so utterly, breathtakingly feeble.

A peculiar case unlike any he had ever witnessed. Was that why? A sudden thought flashed through the ancient sage's mind.

If all goes well, we might just witness quite an amusing picture on the fourth floor.

Of course, there was work to be done first.

"First, I suppose I must brief you on the third floor. As I mentioned earlier, it shouldn't prove too troublesome for you."

"Yes, that's what you said."

Well, obviously I remembered. He had told me barely five minutes ago. Sure, Kim Haun might only be a newly awakened Climber with a rock-bottom level, but I wasn't an idiot.

"The third floor. Among our kind, it is commonly referred to as the Place of Letting Go."

"The Place of Letting Go?"

"Indeed. One's inner self-consciousness, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠achievements, and the like. It is best understood as a process of relinquishing every fragment of ego accumulated on the path to becoming a Transcendent."

Wait, what?

Self-consciousness? Achievements? Relinquishing all of that? What is this, some kind of Buddhist doctrine of non-possession? Senior, that doesn't sound easy to understand at all!

"Simply put, the more you have accomplished, the stronger the resistance you will face. A powerful ego invariably returns to haunt the challenger as a harrowing illusion."

"Aha."

Now that I could wrap my head around. So in short...

"Since you have yet to achieve anything of genuine consequence, you will encounter virtually no resistance."

"Hmm... I suppose that makes sense."

It was true enough: I hadn't really accomplished anything grand. At best, I'd cleared the 10th floor of the Tower of Despair and the 2nd floor of the Tower of Transcendence. Oh, I suppose I cleared a Special Dungeon too, but in the grand cosmic order of Transcendents, such feats wouldn't even register as a microscopic blip.

Still, honestly, good for me. If having zero accomplishments meant I could breeze through the third floor for free, that was an absolute steal. I wondered if the subsequent floors would be just as generous.

"The fourth floor will likely be quite different, however. Its objective is fundamentally distinct, and a rather delightful idea just came to mind."

"Different how?"

Don't tell me I'd have to clear it through standard means? Hold on, Professor, that's a serious problem. How am I supposed to pass a Transcendent trial the normal way...?

"Worry not. If my calculations are correct, you may even manage to shed a fraction of that frail husk of yours."

No, Senior, I'm telling you, I am worried.

Wait. Shed my frail husk? Did that mean I could actually get stronger? Well, if that was the case, maybe I had something to look forward to after all.

"For now, go ahead and conquer the third floor."

"Understood!"

Flash!

"And off he goes."

<Indeed. Well... now that the fellow has ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠departed, perhaps you might take a brief respite elsewhere, Grand Magus?>

"Do you not find this entertaining as well? I find myself genuinely eager to see just how far his improbable journey will take him..."

<Uh... well, my shift is ending, and the clock-out time is...>

"Worry not! I shall compensate you handsomely with overtime pay."

<No... wait, that's not the point...>

Floor 3 of the Tower of Transcendence.

The moment I set foot inside, the first things that caught my gaze were towering bookshelves lining both sides of the hall. Majestic statues of armored knights stood in solemn rows before them. And at the far end of the grand chamber, resting entirely by itself, sat a solitary throne.

"He did say it followed a similar vein to the second floor..."

I could already feel it in my bones. The moment I started walking, something was bound to shift. From the perspective of a Transcendent, at least. Would the tomes on those shelves burst into cursed flames, or would those stone knights spring to life and cleave me in two?

"And when I take a step forward—"

Clack. Clack.

......

Yep. Exactly as I expected.

Trial brought forth by one's ego? What a joke. The entire hall remained dead silent.

"Hmm..."

How should I put this? Is it really okay for me to get a free pass like this?

A flicker of doubt crossed my mind, but hey, what was I supposed to do about it?

"Since you have yet to achieve anything of genuine consequence, you will encounter virtually no resistance."

Merlin's words had been dead accurate from the start.

Still, since he warned me that the fourth floor would be an entirely different beast, I'd need to tread carefully from there on out. Of course, whatever free rewards the tower wanted to throw at me right now, I wasn't about to say no.

Thump.

"Just like this."

Ding!

Haah...

Last time, the Transcendent seniors had made an enormous fuss, gasping in disbelief and demanding to know how on earth I had cleared the first floor. Well, look at me now—I've cleared all the way up to the third floor.

Still, what exactly does an 'expanding presence' do for me anyway?

Curious about the notification, I popped into the Tower of Transcendence shop to ask.

However...

"Starting from the fourth floor, the trial demands proving existence rather than nonexistence. In that case, what approach should I take with that Climber—"

"Hmm..."

Here we go again. He was completely lost in his own little world.

I had come all this way to ask about this presence expansion, but it looked like he was going to be muttering to himself for hours.

<Sigh...>

Good grief, listen to that sigh. The ground's about to cave in.

Well, I'd seen it firsthand during my previous visit: that stone golem was terrifyingly strict about clocking out on time. That was the sole reason I'd been practically kicked to the curb back then. But Senior Merlin was a revered, peerless Transcendent, making it considerably harder for the poor shopkeeper to show him the door.

Nothing I could do about it.

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

Time for me to clock out too. Hang in there, Golem, you can do it!

Flash!

Now that I was back home—

"Time to take inventory of everything I've gained."

First up, the status window.

"Hell yeah!"

This was the intoxicating thrill of growth. Just staring at my status window was enough to make me feel completely satisfied. My stats had once been an embarrassing wall of straight E's and F's, but now I had solid C's and D's in the mix.

And the best part?

"The more magic stones I rake in, the stronger I can become."

On top of that...

"Having this makes everything so much sweeter."

Take the elixirs I purchased today, for example. Under normal circumstances, they would have cost an astronomical 28,000 magic stones. But thanks to the card's permanent 50% VIP discount, I walked away paying a clean 14,000.

"Oh, right."

"I need to gather five more of these so I can crack open the golden mystery box."

Alright, decided. That was my next objective.

"Since I can only climb the Tower of Despair once per day..."

With each floor clear, I'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠earn two tokens thanks to my blessing. In other words, if I climbed steadily for three days, I'd have enough to open that golden box.

The Seal of Amplification is an absolute godsend.

Without it? I would have had to clear five whole floors just to scrape together five tokens.

"Nice."

See you in three days, golden box. Man, I'm getting hyped already.

Ding!

This was the very shop that had unlocked last time. Back then, I had opted for the silver box that cost only a single token, simply because I didn't have any more Marks of Transcendence to spare. And what had come out of that silver box was none other than the Arcana Market VIP Membership Card.

So if I opened the golden box—one that demanded a whopping ten tokens... just how absurdly overpowered would the reward be?

"Heheheh..."

Besides, Senior Merlin had mentioned that on the fourth floor of the Tower of Transcendence, I might finally shed a bit of my frail mortal husk. That meant a direct boost in power. If things went well, maybe I'd even be able to challenge higher-rank dungeons on Earth!

Beijing, China.

Inside the high-security conference room of the Heavenly Martial Alliance Headquarters.

All the guild's core executives, led by Alliance Leader Luo Qin himself, had assembled once again alongside the highest-ranking executive of China's Central Awakened Management Bureau.

The reason for their emergency summit?

The anonymous individual hailed across South Korea as 'EX-jwa'—in other words, the enigmatic figure known only as '???'.

"To completely evade the detection network of an S-Rank sensory specialist... is such a feat truly possible?"

"Astonishingly, that is precisely what Liu Wei reported."

"Hmph... Tracking the rat down will be no simple task, then."

As the Management Bureau official neatly summarized the grim situation, Luo Qin and the surrounding executives nodded with darkened expressions.

A moment later, the official's lips curled into a cold, predatory smirk.

"Well, no matter. What need is there to hunt the vermin with our own hands? We need only shake the very foundation of the house where the rat is hiding."

Shake the house? That meant...

"Indeed. Let us apply direct, crushing pressure on South Korea."

"Speak plainly. What is your proposal?"

"If we cannot pinpoint his whereabouts, the solution is trivial. We simply plunge the entirety of Korea into a catastrophic crisis and watch them squirm."

The rabid patriotism and volatile mob mentality of those small-country weaklings? There was nothing on earth easier to manipulate.

"To begin with, we shall draft an official dispatch formally nullifying the S-Rank Awakened dispatch agreement currently up for review. Our pretext will be a severe breach of bilateral trust between our nations. Perfectly unassailable."

South Korea was designated as a high-risk dungeon territory. A-Rank dungeons manifested with alarming frequency, and on rare occasions, catastrophic S-Rank gates tore open. Lacking a single S-Rank Awakened of their own, the Koreans would desperately bend over backward to keep that mutual assistance pact alive.

"A splendid plan."

Once they severed the agreement, all they had to do was bide their time until an upper-tier dungeon spawned on Korean soil—

Clack!

The heavy double doors swung open without warning. Who dared barge into a closed-door executive council—

Wait, Liu Wei?

"Heavenly Emperor, I bring glorious tidings!"

"Good news?" Luo Qin tilted his head, his brow furrowing slightly.

Liu Wei was hardly in any position to parade into the chamber with such swagger. After all, the indisputable fact remained that he had botched his tracking mission in North Korea. Yet for him to speak with such brimming confidence could only mean one thing: he had stumbled upon something monumental.

"An A-Rank dungeon with an estimated difficulty bordering on S-Rank is on the verge of manifestation in South Korea."

"The heavens themselves ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠smile upon us."

Luo Qin had already conquered his way to Floor 66 of the Tower of Despair. His personal level stood at an overwhelming Level 67. Even a genuine S-Rank dungeon posed little threat to his might; with minimal preparation, he could clear one without breaking a sweat.

Would a mere high-difficulty A-Rank dungeon give him any pause? He could stroll through it as casually as an afternoon walk in the park.

On the other hand, what about those vermin across the Yellow Sea?

For them, it was an existential disaster. With South Korea's current military assets lacking even a single S-Rank Awakened, tackling a standard A-Rank dungeon stretched their elite strike forces to the absolute limit. An A-Rank dungeon encroaching upon S-Rank lethality? It was, for all practical purposes, an insurmountable death sentence.

"It seems we can exert far harsher pressure than we originally anticipated."

If an awakened dungeon was not cleared within its allotted time limit, a dungeon break was inevitable—the monsters trapped within would flood the surface world. And if a dungeon of near-S-Rank calamity ruptured...

"An entire province will be reduced to a living hell."

To prevent such unspeakable slaughter, someone would inevitably be forced to make a move.

Whether it was that mysterious '???' bastard... or the desperate dogs of Korea.