Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: The Tower of Penance
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[You have arrived in Dudrum, the City of Trainees.]
[You have received a buff.]
[Skill Proficiency Increase +10%]
The place Lee Shin arrived at with Kilgeo was a city called Dudrum.
Befitting its name as the City of Trainees, the city was lined with all sorts of facilities.
From the most basic training grounds to a magic tower, an arena, and even guild houses.
It was a sight hard to find in other regions of the Eteun Kingdom, but Dudrum was different.
By providing a great buff that increased skill proficiency, the number of users naturally grew, regardless of their level.
And as the user population increased, so did the various amenities.
“…There’s a pickpocket! Get him!”
“Damn it! What kind of NPC pickpockets a user’s wallet!?”
…Of course, due to the kingdom’s nature, it wasn’t without its problems.
Still, it was far more developed than other cities.
At least here, soldiers were dispatched for a pickpocketing incident.
Knights could also be seen here and there.
It was clear the security was higher compared to other regions.
‘…I’ll have to be careful.’
Lee Shin thought to himself as he watched a thief being apprehended nearby.
No matter how high his notoriety was, he wouldn’t be caught without committing a direct crime…
But on the other hand, it meant he could be arrested immediately if they found even the most trivial pretext.
So, it was best to be as careful as possible not to get into any trouble until his class advancement was complete.
“Where is the tower?”
“It’s on the outskirts of the city. We have to walk a bit more.”
In truth, there were already numerous towers built for training purposes in Avala Online.
Towers built by the magic tower for apprentice mages, or towers for knight trainees.
The characteristics of these towers were their extremely high difficulty and, in proportion, their generous rewards.
Thanks to this, they were often used as content for rankers’ streams, and Lee Shin himself had challenged them several times.
But even to him, the name Tower of Penance was unfamiliar.
The name itself suggested something difficult, but that was all.
Lee Shin asked Kilgeo, who was walking ahead.
“What kind of test is this?”
“It’s just as it sounds. You must endure penance.”
“…I find that hard to understand.”
“Haha! You’ll know when you get there.”
“……”
Kilgeo didn’t seem to have any intention of telling him beforehand.
Considering his extremely high affinity with him, it was highly probable that knowing wouldn’t be of any help.
So Lee Shin simply decided to ignore it and meticulously check the items he had taken.
‘Quite a lot dropped.’
Four pieces of armor and one weapon.
Considering Lee Shin’s drop rate reduction penalty, it was a very good haul.
What was even better was that the one weapon he got happened to be the dagger Kang Woo-jin had used.
If a bow or a wand had dropped, he wouldn’t have been able to use it even if he got it.
‘The ones I can use for now are…’
Excluding the shield and the robe, there were three items Lee Shin could equip.
Well-forged Iron Dagger
A hard and sharp iron dagger. It is very light.
• Durability: 140/200
• Attack Power: 67
Intermediate Adventurer's Helm
• Durability: 200/370
• Physical Defense: 100
• Magical Defense: 10
A dagger and a helm with decent performance.
They were exactly the kind of equipment one would expect to see at this level, nothing more, nothing less.
But the last remaining item, an earring, was different.
Mysterious Earring
• Durability: 10/10
• Spell Power: 5
• Mana Recovery Speed +15%
“Oh?”
Lee Shin ignored the useless Spell Power stat and focused on the last line.
An item with the special option of mana recovery.
The option was even more valuable because it replaced the negligible defense an earring would have provided.
This type of equipment could be used for a long time regardless of stats, making it highly valuable.
‘I got lucky.’
Lee Shin, savoring the true thrill of PK for the first time in a while, smiled with satisfaction.
He had easily obtained equipment that he would have normally had to get from a raid.
Plus, there were no particular restrictions, so he could sell it for a high price later.
An item that was profitable in many ways!
Of course, for the user who lost it, it was a tearful event… but that was none of Lee Shin’s concern.
‘He should have been more careful with his own things.’
Besides, wasn’t this what made games fun?
Before blaming others, he should have been more cautious himself.
It was a statement that would have left others utterly dumbfounded, but there was no way for Lee Shin to know that.
And since it was just a game, he had no desire to know anyway.
In any case.
After checking the items, Lee Shin looked around.
As they moved toward the outskirts of the city, the number of shops gradually decreased.
Considering that towers for user training were usually located in the city center, this was unusual.
Lee Shin glanced at Kilgeo and thought.
‘Is it a niche tower?’
Sometimes there were such things.
Towers that benefited only a very small number of classes.
In those cases, they were sometimes located in remote places due to the small number of users.
But this case was different.
“Hmm…?”
Bustle, bustle.
The closer they got to the tower, the more users they saw!
Since there were no other facilities nearby, they were all users who had flocked here to use the tower.
After arriving at the tower’s entrance, Kilgeo turned to Lee Shin and spoke.
“Come find me after you’ve completed the test.”
“Understood.”
“I’ll be waiting at the entrance of the tower.”
[The test begins. Ascend the tower.]
[To gain Kilgeo’s acknowledgment, you must pass through all floors.]
[No time limit.]
* * *
Before starting his ascent, Lee Shin went to a secluded spot, removed his disguise, and reappeared.
Then he headed towards the tower, which was swarming with users.
[Welcome to the Tower of Penance!]
[There is no limit to the number of attempts.]
‘No limit?’
Lee Shin thought he understood one reason why there were so many people around.
If there was no limit on the number of entries, anyone could clear it as long as they had the time.
“Everyone! I’m really going to clear it this time!”
“Please cheer me on for my challenge… oh, StrawberryToothpaste-nim! Thank you for the donation!”
Of course, this alone didn’t explain why there were so many streamers around…
Instead of finding out, Lee Shin decided to just go in.
With so many chances to try, he figured he’d find out by diving in headfirst!
[You can receive a great reward each time you ascend a floor.]
[If you ascend the tower to the very top, you can receive an even greater reward and a title.]
[Do you wish to ascend the tower?]
“I do.”
[Entering the tower.]
*Fwoosh!*
With a feeling of being sucked in somewhere, Lee Shin’s vision went dark.
And when he opened his eyes again, he was standing inside a very tall tower.
A message appeared before his eyes.
[Tower of Penance, 1st Floor.]
[Climb to the top of the floor.]
[Inside the tower, your skills and stats will be reset.]
“……?”
That’s it?
In his bewilderment, Lee Shin stared intently at the message.
[Climb to the top of the floor.]
But his suspicion was correct.
The message didn’t change, nor did a new one appear.
Lee Shin finally looked around.
A cylindrical tower with nothing inside.
On its walls, stairs were attached sporadically.
The distance was a bit far, but if he jumped with enough force, he could just barely reach them.
‘I’m supposed to climb that.’
It was an extremely simple test.
*Tuk.*
Lee Shin began to leisurely climb the stairs.
He wondered if monsters might pop out midway, but there were none.
There were just an incredible number of stairs. It was like…
‘Something like MapleStory’s Forest of Patience?’
When that thought occurred to him, he understood why there were so many streamers outside.
Even in MapleStory, things like this had once become a trend as a challenge.
‘…Well, if I have to, I’ll do it.’
Although he had never tried it, Lee Shin was confident.
After all, isn’t this something anyone can do with enough time?
He wasn’t asked to do a time attack; he thought he was more than capable of just climbing.
*Tuk!*
With a relaxed mind, Lee Shin began to climb the stairs one by one.
But at this point, Lee Shin didn’t know.
If it were a challenge that could be cleared so easily, it wouldn’t have become so famous.
* * *
[You have climbed to the top of the 1st floor.]
[You have obtained 5 unassigned stat points.]
The first stage was easy.
Lee Shin lightly climbed all the stairs and passed the first floor.
‘This is nothing special.’
Lee Shin thought, taking it easy.
But as if to mock his thoughts, the tower grew increasingly vicious.
All sorts of traps and obstacles began to appear!
Of course, in keeping with the tower’s concept, they were simple and crude traps, but…
*Thwack!*
[You have been hit.]
[Your hand is slipping.]
“…!?”
The hit detection was truly malicious.
As soon as he touched a bat flying around, his hand let go of the rope as if he’d been electrocuted!
With nothing to grab onto in the middle, Lee Shin, having lost his grip, plummeted straight to the floor.
*Crash!*
[You do not take damage in the tower.]
[The shock is quickly absorbed.]
[…]
[…]
[Climb to the top of the floor.]
“……?”
Lee Shin tilted his head back and looked up at the sky.
The top was once again dizzyingly far away!
A sense of futility and annoyance made Lee Shin’s face scrunch up.
‘What kind of….’
Still, it was bearable for now, so he endured it and tried again.
But…
[You have been hit.]
[You have been hit.]
[You have been hit.]
[…]
Mistakes kept happening!
In fact, this was an unavoidable problem for any person.
The section itself was just that long.
Indeed, other rankers also made repeated mistakes during their climb, so it wasn’t that Lee Shin was particularly clumsy.
If anything, Lee Shin was doing exceptionally well.
He was making one mistake for every ten that others made.
The problem was that it didn’t matter much here.
Because mistakes were bound to happen eventually.
There was a reason why it was a tower that even beginners could clear, yet rankers could fail!
Here, more than skill and talent, what mattered most were patience, perseverance, and an unyielding spirit.
Of course, those traits didn’t exactly suit Lee Shin.
Lee Shin was fundamentally the type to only do what he wanted to do.
This was even more true inside a game.
[You have been hi—]
“……”
A vein bulged on Lee Shin’s forehead.
He was past annoyance; he could feel his heart starting to beat faster.
“Hoo.”
But as if to calm himself, Lee Shin took a deep breath and started climbing the tower again.
He could still endure it.
But no matter how much he tried to calm down, the frustration was steadily piling up inside him.
Eventually…
[You have been hi—]
*Snap!*
[Logging out.]
* * *
*Clunk.*
“…Uwaaaaaaaaaah!!!!”
Finally snapping, Lee Shin let out a scream the moment the capsule opened.
It was a roar as if he were pouring out everything bottled up inside him.
“What’s wrong? What’s going on!”
Startled by the noise, Lee Si-eun came up from downstairs and asked.
‘What’s gotten into him all of a sudden?!’
“Hoo……”
Instead of answering, Lee Shin closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to regulate his state.
After quickly calming himself down.
“Just felt like yelling. Sorry.”
Lee Shin apologized to Lee Si-eun and, without waiting for a reply, zipped straight back into the capsule.
“……?”
Blinking her eyes, Lee Si-eun felt as if a sudden storm had just passed.
‘What was that about…?’
Jeong Hui-seon, arriving a moment later, leisurely asked the dazed Lee Si-eun.
“So, what did he say?”
“…I don’t know either.”
“Did his warnings pile up?”
“Ah… that could be it.”
Knowing him, that was a definite possibility!
It was a frequent occurrence, so Lee Si-eun and Jeong Hui-seon now took it in stride.
* * *
After letting out a single scream, Lee Shin immediately logged back into the game.
As Lee Shin reappeared so quickly, Kilgeo approached him with a smile and said.
“Haha! Patience is not something that comes so easi—”
“Shut up.”
“…?!”
‘…!’
The curse had slipped out before he knew it!
Realizing his mistake too late, Lee Shin turned his head away.
But…
[Kilgeo is impressed by your killing intent.]
[Kilgeo’s affinity increases.]
[Affinity cannot increase any further!]
“Yes! With that very spirit, climb to the top of the tower.”
“…Yeah, yeah.”
[Do you wish to enter the tower?]
[Currently challenging the 2nd floor.]
“Enter.”
Steeling his resolve once more, Lee Shin entered the tower.