Chapter 210
Chapter 210
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 210
Chapter Title: Tower of the Gods (11)
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‘This tower isn’t friendly toward us.’
The higher they climbed the Tower of the Gods, one conviction grew stronger.
This tower wasn’t built for humanity’s sake. Nor just for Park Chan-woo himself.
It was far removed from a simple trial of ascent and conquest.
Hostile rather than welcoming to the challengers.
Entwined with far more complex intentions.
‘A tower that mirrors destroyed worlds.’
That was the conclusion he’d reached by the 12th floor, at least.
The Tower of the Gods was connected to all ‘destroyed worlds.’
A tower that had contained cataclysms since the dawn of time!
Its danger level was thus staggeringly immense.
The world was inevitably threatened by the tower’s mere existence.
The same went for the place where the ‘Tower of the Gods’ had appeared.
‘...Earth could perish too.’
It was highly likely to tread the path of destruction.
Why had the transcendent Lil left such a dangerous tower as her ‘final arrangement’?
Did she value the completion of magic over the survival of Earth and humanity?
An immortal transcendent might not comprehend the death of mortal humans.
Or perhaps...
‘Faith.’
She fervently believed that he—her disciple—would overcome this ‘cataclysm.’
That he would erase the ‘curse’ engraved in the tower.
He chose to believe the latter.
Hadn’t Chronos said as much?
Lil was different from ordinary transcendents.
She possessed emotions akin to a human with compassion.
And so, Park Chan-woo did not head straight to the 20th floor.
The simple reason he didn’t, despite being able to: he chose to tackle every trial starting from the 13th floor.
If this was Lil’s true arrangement, then she would want him to climb the tower floor by floor.
There must be something she wanted to teach him, to show him.
With that, he headed for the stairs to the 13th floor.
Rewards poured in.
It had been ages since he’d gotten 3-star Platinum Boxes.
Moreover, this was his first Top-Grade Spirit Stone from climbing the tower.
‘Top-Grade Spirit Stones were incredibly rare even back then.’
Even at the end of the world, only a handful had been mined.
Even lords at Demon King level or higher treasured them immensely.
Acquiring one was like plucking stars from the sky.
A truly insane level of rewards.
And that wasn’t all.
Pip!
Pip pip!
The number of Easter Eggs trailing behind him increased.
Perhaps due to the high clear rank, they’d multiplied explosively.
Twenty-three eggs now followed him.
...Wonder what happens if he collects more.
Of course, the messages didn’t end there.
‘Five wills?’
Did that mean the Tower of the Gods had a sense of self?
One composed of five egos, no less?
A truly crucial tip.
It wasn’t just made of ‘systems.’
If it had wills, they’d be overlooking the climbers.
Likewise, they might be aware of Park Chan-woo too.
Meaning they could block him—or help him.
There must be a reason it was split into five.
‘I’ll find out as I climb higher.’
What those five wills were.
Park Chan-woo shrugged and ascended the stairs.
The tower’s 10th floor.
Lee Hyuk-soo scowled at the ‘Black Evil God (Lv70)’ that appeared before him.
He’d grown stronger rapidly through the third night.
‘Already level 70.’
He’d only reached the 10th floor, yet a level 70 foe appeared.
And the difficulty was rising steeply with each floor.
“M-Master. Shouldn’t we regroup once and come back?”
Han Min-oh, who’d appointed himself his disciple, suggested.
Lee Hyuk-soo glanced around.
The party numbered three.
Lee Hyuk-soo, Han Min-oh, and a woman named ‘Ling Ling.’
“Already tired? You’re not all that impressive after all?”
She was a Chinese woman he’d reluctantly accepted at the earnest request of Abyss Safety Minister Park Sang-min.
Among those Lee Hyuk-soo had met, she was one of the top talents.
The problem was her constant provocations toward him.
The Chinese government seemed to have pushed hard to gauge the abilities of Lee Hyuk-soo, hailed as the Messiah and great hero.
Of course, he wasn’t one to fall for such petty taunts.
However.
‘Exiting once means 24 hours before re-entry.’
The cooldown for re-entering was annoyingly long.
He knew full well that regrouping once was strategically and safely superior.
Moreover, this party had issues.
‘...It’s too offense-heavy.’
The biggest problem was the all-out attacker composition.
No one handled healing or defense.
Potions alone had their limits.
Lee Hyuk-soo himself was starting to feel his stamina waning.
Push on, or fall back?
‘If the remaining time runs out, the Feet-Monster gets summoned.’
The Feet-Monster from the 99th floor!
Level 70 on the 10th—god knows what level the 99th floor beast was.
If such a monster appeared in South Korea, the country could vanish instantly.
With warnings of it smashing everything until death, the mere thought was dizzying.
He absolutely couldn’t let that happen.
‘Achievement score. Probably the total score from climbers in the relevant country or city.’
Still, the summoning method left doubts.
The Feet-Monster spawned in the tower with the lowest ‘achievement score.’
Currently, only one Tower of the Gods had appeared in Korea.
Statistics showed 146 towers worldwide.
In other words.
‘Roughly one tower per 50 million population density.’
That was the inference.
And South Korea’s Tower of the Gods was in Gapyeong.
Hence, they had to steadily climb the one summoned there.
‘We need to raise the achievement score, even a little.’
At least prevent the Feet-Monster from spawning in South Korea.
Lee Hyuk-soo turned his gaze.
To the air.
A message floated where nothing should be.
It had started showing upon reaching the 10th floor.
But was that high or low? No clue.
Still, they needed to raise it by even one point.
If the fourth night began or an unexpected Abyss event hit, there’d be no time for the tower.
They had to climb as high as possible before other events occurred.
“Give up? Forfeit?”
“...Shut it.”
Lee Hyuk-soo clicked his tongue softly at Ling Ling’s taunt.
He didn’t know why she’d come all the way to Korea to be a nuisance.
‘She wanted to see my skills?’
Fine. He’d show her.
Surviving the third night had spurred his explosive growth.
No—climbing alongside the ‘Prophet,’ his growth had transcended mere adversity-overcoming; it was beyond what most humans could touch.
Shing!
The moment Lee Hyuk-soo drew the ‘Greatsword of the Lion King’...
Kuoooooo—!
His shadow swelled massively, forming a giant like a titan.
Then, as Lee Hyuk-soo swung at the ‘Black Evil God’...
The giant shadow mimicked him, swinging its sword.
Kwarrrrrrung!
With a deafening roar that shook the tower, the giant shadow’s blade cleaved the ‘Black Evil God.’
The Ancient Bengalodon.
It resembled a tiger at first glance.
The tower’s hastily prepared trial was trickier than expected.
Immune to magic and physical attacks.
No ordinary method could damage it.
But Ataraxia boldly declared,
“I can solve this problem. Please allow me to handle it, O great one.”
Perhaps feeling she’d underperformed on floors 11 and 12.
Unable to resist her earnest plea, Park Chan-woo nodded.
“Give it a shot.”
“Thank you!”
Ataraxia nodded enthusiastically and subdued the charging Bengalodon.
She erected a barrier and trapped it inside.
No damage dealt, but it couldn’t break free either.
Then she constricted the barrier’s domain, suffocating the Bengalodon to death.
Floors 14 and 15 featured more ‘Ancient Bengalodons’ with different immunity traits.
‘Ancient Bengalodons each have two random immunities.’
A curious monster.
Random traits, no fixed ones.
And so they reached the 19th floor.
A tough foe had appeared.
But an even bigger problem loomed.
Ataraxia wore an unprecedented tension, stiffer than when facing the Duskmount tribe.
Not just the ‘Ancient Bengalodon King’ was here.
Other men had arrived first.
Humanoid, yet their auras differed vastly from ordinary humans.
Soon, they and Ataraxia spoke simultaneously in hostile tones.
“......Dragonkin.”
“......Kirin Clan.”