Evergreen Tower (1)
Click.
After hanging up, I scratched the back of my head vigorously.
"Not picking up."
Come to think of it, after coming out of the gate yesterday, I forgot to call my foreman. On the way back, it suddenly hit me, so I dialed right away, but no matter how many times I tried, he didn't answer.
"Well, at least the call log's there."
He must've noticed by now that I'd cleared the Tutorial Tower.
I shoved my phone into my bag, zipped it up, slung it over my shoulder, and let out a small breath.
"All set."
Back home.
I'd made every preparation for whatever might come.
"Let's head in."
Time was short for me.
Just a week.
I didn't even have time to waste sitting around.
I took a steady breath, closed my eyes tight, and activated the skill.
Evergreen Tower
Come on.
A floating sensation lifted me up, and I smirked faintly.
The moment it faded, I snapped my eyes open and tilted my head dumbly.
"What the hell is this?"
I quickly scanned my surroundings.
Here, there.
"It's all white?"
Feels familiar.
Yeah.
This looks just like.
"The Tutorial Tower?"
Didn't it resemble the Tutorial Tower?
In the Tutorial Tower, I'd gotten my skill in a space like this.
Which meant.
Searching for a unique skill suited to Han Mir......
Yep, this is it.
I clenched my fist tight.
A new unique skill.
What would it be?
Heart pounding, I stared at the system window.
Search complete
Oh!
Your new unique skill will unlock upon clearing the Evergreen Tower.
Damn it.
"If you're gonna do that, don't tell me now."
My excitement deflated in an instant.
Clicking my tongue, I yelled into the void.
"Fine, send me to the first floor right now. Every minute counts."
Understood.
Skipping the Evergreen Tower usage notice and sending you to the 1st floor.
Notice?
"Wait, hold up. Let me hear that notice."
You should've said something earlier if there was one.
The light rising from my feet faded, and I let out the breath I'd been holding.
Unlike the Tutorial Tower, death in the Evergreen Tower means no resurrection, and you'll feel hunger.
However, you can enter and exit the Evergreen Tower at any time.
To exit the Evergreen Tower, simply reuse the skill anytime.
Enter and exit anytime?
Eyes wide, I glanced at the backpack on my shoulders.
What a waste bringing this.
I'd packed everything from lunchboxes to all sorts of gear.
Just dead weight now.
It said I can exit, right?
Let's test it.
Light-hearted, I reused Evergreen Tower.
And.
"I'm really out."
I was back in my room.
Totally unnecessary baggage.
I quickly stashed the food from my bag into the fridge, then reused the skill to return to the Evergreen Tower.
This concludes the notice.
Entering the 1st floor.
Vmmm—!
Bright light shone from under my feet again.
Shoulders feeling much lighter, I rolled them as I surrendered to the rising floating sensation.
Hmm.
So this is the 1st floor.
I rubbed my chin and quietly looked around.
"Looks like a forest where goblins might pop out."
Not much different from the Tutorial Tower's 1st floor.
For a second, I wondered if the system screwed up and sent me to the wrong tower's 1st floor.
1st Floor
📍 Defeat:???
🎁 Progress:[0/1]
But the conditions are different, so probably not.
Wonder what that ??? is.
Since it says "defeat," it's gotta be some monster like a goblin.
"Guess the Evergreen Tower doesn't spoon-feed you like the Tutorial Tower."
Whatever.
I'll smash whatever shows up with my fist until something sticks.
Thinking that, I turned toward the direction where I sensed a presence.
Thud, thud.
Heavy footsteps shaking the ground.
Something's coming.
Someone—or something—is approaching.
So I immediately let my right hand hang low.
Black Dragon
Whoosh.
Scales erupted instantly.
I clenched my fist tight and assumed a stance.
Come on.
A kind monster to boost my synchronization rate.
I braced myself, waiting for it to appear.
But.
"......?"
The presence vanished suddenly.
What the?
Blinking, I stared in the direction it'd come from.
Something was definitely there...
...A shadow?
A thick shadow suddenly appeared at my feet.
Face hardening, I jerked my head back.
A massive bear with rocks jutting from its back was plummeting straight at me.
"You motherf—."
Slam—Boom!
The giant bear crashed down toward me.
Just before it squashed me flat, I managed to swing my right arm and blocked it.
And not only that.
The bear tumbled across the ground, its belly caved in.
Patting my chest in surprise, I turned at the fanfare from the side.
Defeat the Earth Bear
📍 Progress:[1/1]
🎁 Status:Success
📍 Next:Moving to the next floor
Huh?
Already done?
Synchronization rate hasn't even gone up yet?
"This ain't right."
Hey, come on.
I opened my mouth toward the system.
But before I could, light enveloped my body.
Disappointing all around.
I came in worried after all those warnings.
And this is what comes out? Just those guys?
"At this rate, I'll really have to gate-crash."
If it's just this level nonstop, my synchronization won't budge.
Then I'd have no choice but to raid a high-rank gate.
Scratching my head, I looked around again.
"So, this is definitely the 2nd floor, right?"
Identical.
No difference between the scenery I just saw and this one.
Trees everywhere, here and there.
"I remember the Tutorial Tower changing floors."
1st floor was forest, 2nd was cave.
Figured it'd be the same here, but nope.
"Name's Evergreen Tower, after all."
No way the next floor's forest too.
Smacking my lips, I glanced to the side.
There floated the clear condition for this tower too...
2nd Floor
📍 Defeat:Bloody Mantis
🎁 Progress:[0/1]
Unlike the 1st floor, the name was revealed this time.
So I had to tilt my head.
"What's a Bloody Mantis?"
Never heard of it.
Come to think of it, that "Earth Bear" from the 1st floor was new too.
Are all these monsters undiscovered species unique to this place?
Scratching my cheek, I shrugged.
"Whatever, should be easy."
1st floor guy went down in one hit.
What's 2nd floor gonna do, different?
Thinking that, I started walking to find the "Bloody Mantis."
30 minutes later.
I lightly hopped over a blocking boulder.
The instant my feet hit the ground, I kicked off hard.
Had to.
Glancing back, my eyes trembled finely at the truck-sized mantis charging at me.
Insane.
What the hell is that?
No way a mantis that big exists.
And blood-red, of all things. Sketchy as hell.
"Kieeeek."
Tat-tat-tat-tat!
Sand flew with every multi-legged step.
Trees in its path shattered on impact, no need for its front limbs.
Doesn't look ordinary at a glance.
In that case.
Smoke
No choice but to hit with full power.
Stopping, I pivoted, planted my legs firm, twisted my waist, and unleashed a full-force punch.
"Ki-ik?"
My all-out punch shattered the mantis's carapace.
Damn.
Why's a mantis exoskeleton this tough?
You think you're a stag beetle or something?
"Keeeeeek!"
Slam—Boom!
The enraged mantis spewed massive mana everywhere.
Trees and even rocks in the area started shattering to pieces from that alone.
"Gahk..."
I took the full brunt of the power surge at point-blank.
It hurts.
Feels like my bones are splintering, organs twisting.
I spat blood and flew back, tumbling pathetically across the ground.
...That mantis.
Stagger.
Forcing my aching body up, I glared at the giant mantis.
It tilted its triangular head at me.
Cracks in its exoskeleton, but it looked unfazed.
Just casually watching me.
Strong.
Strong.
Not as much as the Tutorial Tower guardian, but still ridiculously strong.
This is nuts.
The Earth Bear from 1st floor died in one hit.
But this 2nd floor monster took my punch and seems fine.
The difficulty jump is off.
Just one floor difference.
But the difficulty spiked dozens of times.
Whoever designed this tower screwed up big time.
Letting out a hollow laugh, I shook my head.
Just one hit, and synchronization rose.
Good enough.
No need to gate-crash then.
I wiped the blood from my chin and smirked, closing my eyes.
Evergreen Tower
No more resurrections on death.
And my whole body throbbed.
Even moving was the limit.
So.
"Tactical retreat."
Be back soon.
You damn mantis bastard.
White light wrapped around me as I flipped off the Bloody Mantis.
"Ow, my everything..."
Thud.
The moment I exited the tower, the full pain hit, and I collapsed to the floor.
The Lord of the Twisted Underworld asks if you couldn't even dodge that.
Shut up.
How was I supposed to spot and react to that?
It blasted mana out of nowhere.
No time to dodge or anything.
Groaning softly, I sprawled out on the floor.
It hurts.
Hurts like hell, but... what can I say.
"Better than burning alive."
After burning to death hundreds of times in the Tutorial Tower, this was bearable.
Grinding my teeth, I forced myself up, took a deep breath, and pulled out my phone.
"Nothing, as expected."
Bloody Mantis.
Even Earth Bear.
Searched them all—no results.
"Guess those monsters are tower exclusives."
Evergreen Tower.
No idea what it's for, but for me right now, it's a godsend.
0.1% up from one hit.
Who knows how much for killing the Bloody Mantis.
"9 PM..."
Maybe 'cause I went out, came back, and dove straight in.
Time flew by.
At this hour, only ER or healing hunters could fix me up...
"Gotta hit up a healing hunter first."
Waiting to heal naturally? Black Dragon would take over first.
I opened the front door and staggered toward the nearby hospital run by a healing hunter.
"...Full-body fractures."
"Pardon?"
"How did you even walk here?"
Feels more bearable than I thought?
I averted my eyes from the healing hunter's psycho-stare.
Tsking his tongue, he pointed at the X-ray on TV.
"Arms, legs, ribs—all cracked. Worst spots are fully broken. Only your right hand's fine."
"......"
Whoa.
You can move like this? If it weren't my body, I'd report it to the news.
The Lord of the Twisted Underworld says it can't comprehend getting hurt that bad from just that.
You get human pain tolerance?
Already dying here, and the system's nagging— I squeezed my eyes shut.
World's so cruel. For real.