The Elixir, and the Window Before His Eyes

The moment the elixir went down, a hologram window bloomed open right before his eyes.

What came of it was better than he had dared expect. Yujun broke into a wide, unguarded grin.

Keen Senses. Even among A-Rank traits, that one sat close to the top of the first tier.

Swallow an Aged Elixir and, more often than not, an A-Rank trait was simply out of reach. Getting one at all would have been reason enough for gratitude, and a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sensory trait on top of that left nothing to wish for.

The Ring of Fortune, I bet.

He had eaten something that precious. Of course it had paid him back.

Still. Am I already at the point where even a lesser demon is easy?

Taking down the two demons had brought him to level 145. They, by contrast, had been in the high 200s. He had beaten enemies nearly twice his level — and not one of them, but two. He was beginning to see that he had been underestimating himself.

Nor did it end there. He held items other people simply could not get their hands on.

And I've got thousands of top-grade potions besides.

Top-grade health potions, bought with real money. So long as a blow did not kill him outright, and so long as he drank one in time, he was as good as invincible.

"Haa…"

Yujun perched on the edge of the bed and turned the whole affair over again.

So I helped the dark elves and the elves, and they helped me. Not a bad trade.

Saving the dark elf queen ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from the demons, in particular, was something the dark elves would never forget. A favor like that was a considerable asset. And along the way he had taken everything there was to take: a hidden dungeon cleared, the Dolle Herb in hand, and, last of all, the Aged Elixir.

I ought to use the Dolle Herb right away.

Yujun drew out the Blue Dolle Herb the queen had given him when he left. He had asked her for it for one reason only — he knew how to use it. Crush Blue Dolle Herb fine and rub it into one particular item, and that item changed into something entirely new. Fortunately, he already had that particular item.

From his inventory, Yujun produced the Stone of Omnipotence.

The Stone of Omnipotence. For all its grand name, it was an utterly ordinary stone with no effect whatsoever — about as far from omnipotence as a rock could get. Bring it together with Blue Dolle Herb, though, and that changed.

Yujun closed his fist around the herb and began to crush it. Under a pressure that had long since left the human range behind, the Blue Dolle Herb went soft and slack as gruel. Sssk. Skrr. Like that, he worked the mash evenly over the stone.

No light rose from it. Its shape did not change. Its options, however, did.

A Mythic-grade item. The options alone made it plain why the Stone of Omnipotence had been judged Mythic.

He had made one once before. The reason he was making another was simple: the first had already been absorbed into a level 500 Mythic-grade weapon, and pulling an absorbed stone back out required that he be able to equip that weapon. In short, a Stone of Omnipotence locked inside a level 500 weapon was a feast painted on a wall. So he had needed a new one, and he had made it.

Yujun brought the stone to his sword.

What kind of option is this going to stick to Bajur's Mana Sword?

The corner of his mouth climbed all the way toward his ear.

"Guild Master," her secretary said. "This is the footage everyone's been talking about."

"The player who went into the Ancient Ruins and came back out?"

"Yes."

Do Jiyun — a top-tier ranker, the woman they called the Fire Empress — watched the footage her secretary had brought, and her eyes went wide.

"…Huh?"

Certain she must have seen it wrong, she looked again. The scene did not change.

That's the Frenzy Armor Set, isn't it?

The Frenzy Armor on the man in the footage. Do Jiyun knew the peculiar pattern worked into it.

As if I could fail to.

The Frenzy Armor Set had been everybody's item for users over level 150. It hadn't even been terribly expensive in the cash shop, its options were exceptional, and the way attack and defense climbed the longer a fight dragged on was nearly the same as using a cheat. Skip it, and people called you a sucker. A paid item, and a staple all the same.

There hasn't been a single player wearing that set. Not until now.

Do Jiyun's eyes narrowed.

Could he be someone who played War of the Gods?

A moment later she shook her head. The chance that a player who had only just cleared the 10th floor had played War of the Gods was, as she saw it, essentially none. Anyone who had touched that game at all was already finding a place in the Tower of Infinity, and the old hands who had made any kind of name had climbed all the way to the top ranks. From the start, everyone who had played War of the Gods was a fifth-year player, granted the unusual advantage of starting ahead by a privilege from the operator who had run the game.

And there's no way he spent all five years stuck below the 10th floor.

Far more credible was the simpler guess: a player overflowing with talent had obtained the Frenzy Armor Set in the Ancient Ruins.

Blood's going to be in the air over this.

The unseen war among the great guilds, all of them angling to recruit that player, had already entered its countdown.

At the rate he's growing, he'll lock down a ranker seat in no time. That's why the great guilds are circling him like starving beasts.

The pace of his growth made no sense. Word was he had already reached the 15th floor. The speed from the 10th to the 15th was without precedent, and he had cleared every trial alone. Judged by results alone, the talent was historic — enough to stir jealousy even in Do Jiyun, whose martial power already stood apart among the top rankers.

What ability did he even get? It's all but certain the Frenzy Armor came out of the Ancient Ruins.

Wearing that set meant his level was 150 at the very least.

"Does he have an EX-Rank skill or something?"

The mutter slipped out of her, and the moment she heard it, it sounded plausible. He was still wrapped in a veil. Not one thing about him was certain, and that was precisely how she ended up making strange guesses.

"Don't tell me he's No-Pay Casual Gamer."

No-Pay Casual Gamer — a living legend of War of the Gods, or as good as. If he were still alive, the balance of power across the Tower of Infinity and the Continent would have been turned completely on its head.

How did anyone even think of pouring billions into that garbage game? Honestly.

Even a third-generation conglomerate heir, swimming in money and spare time, would not have done it.

Everyone who lasted to the end back then became a ranker…

No-Pay Casual Gamer was the only one whose identity had never come to light. Had he died in the tutorial, or was he still hiding who he was? She had been leaning toward the notion that he had thrown himself at Hell difficulty during the tutorial for no good reason and lost his life.

A sharp awl always works its way out of the sack. If there hasn't been a single rumor until now, then No-Pay Casual Gamer is definitely dead.

And yet the living legend and this rising rookie kept overlapping in her mind. Was that only her imagination?

"No. There's no way."

Do Jiyun — whose handle, back when she played War of the Gods, had been Pink Pinkku Rabbit — let out a short, disbelieving laugh.

Yujun blew through the trials of the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th floors in a single rush, and only when he set foot on the 15th did that advance finally stop.

This is way too easy.

What the floor trials had shown him was that he had no business lingering in the lower floors. He had not even formed a party. Every trial had fallen to him alone, and he was no longer simply riding his items. Titles, high-grade traits, and the stat increases granted by the Primordial Player privilege had all come together, and he had become a powerhouse outside any normal measure.

Among players at level 300 and below, I don't think I have a match.

He even had the feeling he could beat players above that.

Well. The items are still doing most of the work.

He gazed quietly at Bajur's Mana Sword, the weapon into which he had absorbed the Stone of Omnipotence only a day before.

Breaking through to the 15th floor had raised his level by five as well. The equipment he picked up along the way was junk by his standards, so he shoved it into a corner ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of his inventory.

I was going to walk straight through the 15th floor, too…

The situation had changed. The moment he arrived, he learned that the Species Tournament was being held.

The Species Tournament. Something like a festival of fighting, opened twice a year. What made it unusual was that many different species took part, and that the System itself hosted and managed the whole affair. War of the Gods had certainly never had a system, or an event, like this. He had heard of it from Stelln, the dark elf elder whose messenger he had added the last time they met.

They had started as enemies, but they had been in contact often since. Yujun never reached out first. Stelln was the one who said, outright, that he wanted to get along, and he was good enough to keep Yujun posted on the state of affairs inside the Tower of Infinity.

So I've got an information source of my own now.

Yujun made his way to the enormous tower beside the stone statue on the 15th floor, where the Species Tournament was being held. A tremendous press of bodies had packed in around it. If "crowd" was even the word. Every kind of species had gathered — elves and dark elves, the ones he had seen not long ago, and orcs, dwarves, even a race like the Poritam.

You almost never see Poritam… so the Species Tournament really is that big.

It felt new. It felt good, too — the sense that something he did not know was unfolding inside the Tower of Infinity. With his strength finally at a certain height, an event like this was welcome.

This place, he had heard, was a zone where combat was impossible. Perhaps that was why species that hated one another could stand shoulder to shoulder without a fight breaking out.

Quite a few humans, too.

After the orcs, the elves, and the dark elves, humans were the most numerous of all. Safe to assume every one of them was from Earth. The Continent had never had humans to begin with.

And every last one of them is Korean.

He did not know why, but only people who had been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠living in Korea had been dragged into the Tower of Infinity. As Yujun walked toward the thick of them, he had the feeling that every gaze swung his way at once. It was not a feeling. They really were staring holes through him.

Why are they looking at me?

It did not seem to be simply because he was wearing good items. He stood there, doing his best to ignore the attention, and the players' whispering reached him.

"Is that him? The player?"

"I think so. That armor… that's the one from the video."

"He is good-looking."

"That's good-looking? He just looks like some pretty-boy gigolo."

"Don't be jealous. It's because you're ugly."

"I-I'm not jealous."

"Whoa. The finish on that armor really is something."

"Which guild is he going to join? It's gotta be one of the Four Great Guilds, right?"

Thanks to the trait Keen Senses (A), the talk came through even more clearly.

They saw a video of me?

Had recording orbs really been scattered around like that?

They would have planted them in the Ancient Ruins for sure.

So the footage of his fight with the raiders had spread. The odds were high. It did not matter. He was far stronger than the other players imagined, and he would grow stronger still, and faster. For him, the Species Tournament was nothing but a stepping stone.