Chapter 14
Chapter 14
Mad Black Mage's Tower Strategy
Chapter 14
In his previous life. Not long after Seo-jin had entered the Tower.
A strange rumor circulated on [Marduk], the climbers' intranet.
Did you hear that news? They say a legendary item appeared on the 2nd floor.
That's bullshit. There's a rumor that rankers spread it on purpose to block newbies from climbing.
There was even video evidence! The Association is sending people to look for it now.
https://m.marduk,
It was a rumor that an 'EX' grade item, which was hard to even see in the lower floors, had been discovered on the Tower's 2nd floor.
At that time, the Tower was open up to the 35th floor, and even S-grade items were rare, let alone EX-grade items.
Because of this, many dismissed it as a false rumor.
If it was an EX-grade item, it would be a divine weapon that could split mountains and cut rivers, so why would such a thing be on the 2nd floor?
The so-called Tower experts naturally dismissed this as a false rumor.
Nevertheless, there were moths that rushed after the rumor with a glimmer of hope.
This was an event that signaled the full-scale increase of delinquent climbers who gave up climbing and stayed on the 2nd floor.
However,
'It wasn't completely a false rumor after all.'
Seo-jin picked up the iron ingot that had been carefully stored in the Black Snake Gang's vault.
WOONG-.
The heavy sensation transmitted directly to his hand.
'The Sword's Original Form.'
This was an EX-grade item that could later be forged into any sword.
This original form would later be forged into Excalibur thanks to the holy sword's blueprint that the Frontline Strategy Team discovered at the lakeside on the 50th floor.
That holy sword became the signature weapon symbolizing Holy Knight Robert, and later fell into Ju Won-jae's hands.
He used that holy sword to cut the necks of demons that spread throughout the world after the Collapse incident, and finally even executed Seo-jin's execution.
There was nothing better than a holy sword for beheading a black mage.
Seo-jin looked at the iron ingot with a sense of strange fate.
'But why is this here?'
After thinking for a while, Seo-jin soon shrugged his shoulders.
There was no need to think deeply about it.
'It must be one of the items that debtors put up as collateral.'
Despite the prestigious name of Sword's Original Form, it looked like a simple lump of iron on the outside.
The debtor who lost this, and the Black Snake Gang who took it, probably didn't know the true value of this item.
However, only Gwak Pae-cheon seemed to have some discernment, as he appeared to have been captivated by the unknown energy and mana emanating from this original form and kept it separately.
'Good. This is a big harvest.'
Even if he forged this original form right now, he wouldn't get anything great, but if he obtained high-grade blueprints later, its growth potential would increase dramatically.
'It would have been better if it was a magic tool or defensive equipment rather than a sword.'
From the perspective of Seo-jin, who was a black mage, it was a bit disappointing, but it would be difficult to expect such things from a low-level thug organization like the Black Snake Gang.
In the first place, obtaining this here was already a near-miraculous achievement.
'Shall I go now?'
Seo-jin, having secured the original form, prepared to leave.
If the tail is long, it will eventually be caught.
Since he had single-handedly stormed into an organization and caused complete devastation, he should leave quickly.
Just as Seo-jin, having gathered everything worth taking, stood up from his spot.
SHIK-.
"What? Everything's already smashed before I even arrived?"
A familiar voice from beyond the inner courtyard.
"......!"
At this unexpected situation, just as Seo-jin stopped in his tracks, the owner of the voice revealed himself from beyond the door.
"Where are you going in such a hurry? Hmm?"
An opponent who had caught up behind him so fast that Seo-jin couldn't even sense his presence.
Seo-jin slowly stood up and turned his head.
A handsome young man in black robes was leaning against the doorframe.
A man with roughly tied hair and a gourd bottle in one hand that caught the eye.
There weren't many ranker-level assassins who wandered around drinking alcohol in broad daylight.
'Shadowless Flying Hero Nam-gung Cheon.'
What a coincidence. How could it be so perfectly timed?
Seeing his old sworn brother made him inwardly glad, so Seo-jin smiled and replied to him.
"Where am I going? I've taken everything worth taking, so I should leave now. Don't you think?"
"That's a perfectly gentlemanly answer. You've saved me the trouble of smashing the Black Snake Gang, so it's fine to take a little. But leave what's in your hand."
Nam-gung Cheon pointed precisely at the Sword's Original Form in Seo-jin's hand while drinking from his gourd bottle.
He seemed to know the value of this thing.
Since he had wandered around various floors of the Tower like a wanderer and broadened his knowledge, it was natural if you think about it.
Seo-jin glared at Nam-gung Cheon in front of him.
'Did this guy come to the Black Snake Gang because of this too?'
As far as Seo-jin knew, Nam-gung Cheon had always wanted to have his own divine weapon.
Even when the party members voted to forge Excalibur, he threw a tantrum saying they should make the Righteous Heaven Sword instead.
Having finished his thoughts, Seo-jin threw the Sword's Original Form to Nam-gung Cheon.
"Here. Catch it."
"Oh, you're unexpectedly..."
Just as Nam-gung Cheon naively reached out his hand to catch the original form.
"If you can catch it, that is!"
KWARUNG-.
Seo-jin unleashed black lightning toward him.
"This crazy bastard."
Nam-gung Cheon dodged Seo-jin's black lightning with the quick movements befitting a ranker.
But Seo-jin's target wasn't Nam-gung Cheon.
PEOONG-!
Seo-jin's black lightning hit the Sword's Original Form flying through the air, and the original form with high mana conductivity resonated with Seo-jin's mana and caused a large explosion.
HOOWOONG-.
Black mana smoke that covered the inner courtyard simultaneously with the explosion.
Seo-jin took advantage of that confusion and ran toward the door where Nam-gung Cheon had been positioned.
'It's hard to beat him right now.'
Seo-jin knew his skills well.
He was the spiritual pillar of the Thief Guild and an upper-level ranker similar to the Frontline Strategy Team.
He wasn't comparable to Hwangseokgong whom he had fought earlier, but he was a difficult opponent for Seo-jin to handle right now.
TAT-.
Seo-jin grabbed the Sword's Original Form that had been stuck in the ceiling after being hit by black lightning, then jumped over Nam-gung Cheon and escaped outside.
"Where are you going!"
PABAK-.
Nam-gung Cheon's throwing knife flying toward Seo-jin's back through the explosion smoke.
Seo-jin, who had predicted this in advance, rolled to the side to avoid the knife and put his hand on the ground.
TEOK-.
Thanks to the 'discipline enforcement' between sworn brothers that they had always done, he knew all of his combat style and habits.
Even the intervals of his Shadowless Step technique and the points where he placed his feet.
CHILIT-.
Seo-jin scraped his palm on the sharp stone yard to draw blood, then cast magic directly on the ground.
'Blood Pool.'
GULLREONG-.
Seo-jin's blood instantly drained out and melted the mana structure of the floor beneath his palm.
The floor instantly turned into a pool of blood.
"......!"
Nam-gung Cheon, who came out through the explosion smoke, noticed the blood pool under his feet and tried to gather his energy to unfold water-walking technique, but.
MIKKEUL-.
"Huh?"
Because he had already drunk several bowls of alcohol, his footwork got tangled, and Nam-gung Cheon fell straight into the blood pool.
"Shit, what is this!"
The guy floundering in the pool.
'Good.'
Nam-gung Cheon was bound as Seo-jin intended.
Of course, since he was a ranker, he could quickly escape from such a pool.
'But that's not an ordinary pool.'
OOWOONG-.
Seo-jin didn't stop there and spat out blood once more.
At the same time, blood-red mana claw hands burst out from under the blood pool and grabbed Nam-gung Cheon's limbs, pulling him down.
Having perfectly restrained Nam-gung Cheon, Seo-jin dusted off his hands and stood up.
"Well then, see you next time, little brother."
"Hey, you bastard! Who's your little brother? Don't you dare leave!"
PABABAK-.
Nam-gung Cheon began to escape from the blood pool using his characteristic mana and mysterious footwork technique.
......It was called footwork, but it was actually a technique of moving his feet quickly underwater like a duck to surface.
It would look quite ugly, but since the effect was outstanding, it seemed certain that he would soon escape from the pool.
'There's no time to spare.'
Since Seo-jin's current blood magic was insufficient to hold him any longer, he had to leave this place as quickly as possible.
TADAT-.
While Nam-gung Cheon was floundering in the pool, Seo-jin quickly escaped from the inner courtyard and headed for the main gate.
But when Seo-jin arrived at the front yard of the main gate, a battle was in full swing there.
"Die!"
"Go rescue the boss first!"
"Let's uproot them completely while we're at it!"
"KRAAAK!"
The support forces who came to help the devastated Black Snake Gang and the hostile forces trying to completely annihilate them were entangled in battle.
Although they belonged to the same Thief Guild, the lower organizations were divided into their own factions.
'It would be better to quietly slip out here.'
After assessing the atmosphere, Seo-jin stripped the black robe from a Black Snake Gang member lying on the ground and put it over his robe.
Seo-jin, disguised as a gang member, broke through the bloody battlefield and reached the gate of the ruined Black Snake Gang.
Just when it seemed he would successfully escape from the Black Snake Gang.
"Catch that bastard!"
Nam-gung Cheon, covered in blood from head to toe, was fiercely chasing after Seo-jin.
'Did he already escape from the pool?'
Even rotten, a fish is still a fish - even drunk, an upper ranker was still a ranker.
But Seo-jin wasn't flustered at all and chuckled inwardly.
Then he shouted loudly for everyone fighting here to hear.
"It's Nam-gung Cheon! The former guild leader has appeared!"
"What?"
"Really?"
At Seo-jin's shout, the gang members from various forces who had been fighting each other stopped their battle in an instant.
Then they focused their attention on Nam-gung Cheon, who looked like a drowned rat.
"......"
The gang members, who briefly assessed the situation while looking at Nam-gung Cheon, soon contorted their faces and shouted loudly.
"It's Nam-gung Cheon! Catch him!"
"Smashing innocent sects again! Hurry and catch him!"
"I don't care, the bounty is 500,000 gold!"
Nam-gung Cheon was flustered seeing the gang members rushing at him in unison.
"Oh shit."
Seo-jin watched this scene from a distance and briefly recalled the history of the Thief Guild.
In the early days of the Tower, Nam-gung Cheon created the Thief Guild to protect people with all kinds of lowly professions and help them find work.
He became a good shield for the powerless and those without backing to unite and survive.
But as time passed, the gradually growing organization became chains that bound Nam-gung Cheon's free nature.
In addition to that, it reached the point of losing its founding purity and becoming corrupt.
He dumped the guild leader position on his younger sister and began wandering the Tower.
And whenever he thought the Thief Guild's evil deeds exceeded a certain level, he would go around each floor, smashing each branch under the guise of chivalrous acts...... collecting money and running away.
He couldn't help but be an object of love and hate for the Thief Guild members.
'Moreover, the highest-grade wanted order was issued by the guild leader, who is his younger sister.'
It was no wonder that other gang members were desperately trying to catch Nam-gung Cheon.
"Catch Nam-gung Cheon first!"
The gang members stopped fighting each other and rushed at Nam-gung Cheon in unison.
He was soon buried under hundreds of gang members, flailing his hands and pointing at Seo-jin.
"Hey, hey! Not me, get that bastard first, hey!"
But his words couldn't possibly reach the gang members.
Seo-jin chuckled as he watched him disappear buried in the crowd, then took advantage of that confusion to escape from the scene.
***
Seo-jin, who had smoothly escaped from the Black Snake Gang.
He stayed temporarily at an inn located on the outskirts of Chinatown.
Originally, he planned to go straight up to the 3rd floor through Bat Cave.
'......I used too much strength due to the unexpected fight.'
Even Seo-jin couldn't have predicted the intervention of the Black Snake Gang thugs and the sudden encounter with Nam-gung Cheon.
Because he hastily drew on his mana to escape from him, the condition of his recovering mana circuit deteriorated again.
Seo-jin, who entered a luxury room, collapsed onto the bed.
PAREUR-.
His arm, blackened and trembling again.
Confirming this, Seo-jin gritted his teeth.
'I can't delay learning the Primordial Unity Technique any longer.'
If he continued to leave it alone like this, he might have to cut off his arm.
Even if he made medicine with herbs, he didn't know if it would recover to its original state.
Finally, Seo-jin took out the skill book that Hwangseokgong had given him from his inventory.
Secret skill [Primordial Unity Technique].
If he learned this, he would be able to somewhat drive away the mana rampage that was currently tormenting Seo-jin and the madness of black magic invading his brain.
"Hoo."
Seo-jin, who regulated his breathing, let out a deep sigh and sat cross-legged on the bed.
The posture was awkward, but he had often seen Choi Gang-hyeon operating internal energy cultivation methods in this posture.
Seo-jin spread the book in front of his knees and fell into thought.
'Secret skills have a different nature from regular skills.'
It was different from regular skills that were acquired by consuming skill books and leveled up by filling usage counts.
'The method of learning secret skills is direct embodiment.'
You must realize it yourself and make it completely your own through countless practice and repetition to embody it in your body.
Seo-jin applied this process not only to secret skills but to all skills and magic.
'There's a big difference between those who superficially use skills by borrowing the system's power and those who embody them and handle them freely.'
Perhaps this was the difference between ordinary climbers and those called rankers.
Having finished his thoughts, Seo-jin began to gradually draw up his mana while reading the skill book.
OOWOONG-.
Turbid mana that began to flow backwards through Seo-jin's damaged mana circuit.
A new mana system was needed to purify this mana and strengthen the body.
"Hoo."
Just as Seo-jin was stabilizing his breathing and about to begin operating his energy according to the formula of the Primordial Unity Technique.
[Y-you crazy bastard! Close the book right now!]