The Swordsman's Castle (2)
The Blood-Drinking Katana.
A rare-grade card, an equipment piece carrying agility, strength, and vampirism synergies.
Vampirism synergy.
That was the first reason Yoon Taeyang absolutely needed the Blood-Drinking Katana.
Vampirism was a synergy that restored health in proportion to damage dealt.
Since the skill card Power of Regeneration obtained from defeating Aksharon already carried one vampirism synergy, acquiring the katana would let him stack the effect.
For Yoon Taeyang, who played solo without companions, vampirism was literally worth its weight in gold.
Even with a healer present, the tangible benefit was so strong that it never lost its value.
Some players refused to give up the vampirism synergy even after obtaining higher-grade cards, choosing instead to keep using lower-grade ones.
And then there was the second reason.
The skill embedded in the Blood-Drinking Katana: Blood Qi Surge.
Blood Qi Surge forcibly triggered adrenaline secretion.
It was a technique that removed pain in exchange for amplifying overall physical abilities.
Among users who felt no pain to begin with, it was simply treated as a useful buff.
A self-buff that could be cycled every cooldown with no casting time or cost.
But for Yoon Taeyang, it had another use.
Suppressing the sensation of pain.
This second function was essential for him, whose synchronization rate was 100%.
“Enduring is fine, but making a countermeasure is better.”
The Blood-Drinking Katana could only be obtained by defeating the stage boss, the Mad Swordsman.
Not just by defeating him, but by meeting certain conditions.
To kill the Mad Swordsman, one naturally had to interfere with the clear.
If the stage was cleared before the swordsman descended, there would be no chance to fight him.
That was exactly why Yoon Taeyang had caused such a commotion instead of sneaking into the dungeon.
Inside the dimly lit dungeon, Yoon Taeyang rolled his shoulders.
“They’ll be here soon, right?”
Of course. Their psychology is obvious, isn’t it?
Anyone who sees someone ahead of them instinctively feels anxious.
Players were no different.
In fact, they felt even more impatient than ordinary modern people.
Modern people only experienced the frustration of falling behind, but players could literally have their lives threatened by those ahead of them.
For players, items, cards, and achievements were directly tied to survival.
“By the way, it’s a shame about that player. Tobi, was it?”
Yeah. If this stage wasn’t the Sword’s Castle, we could’ve gotten friendly.
Not just his strength, but his leadership in rallying the other players in such a short time.
Getting close to players like that would make many things easier down the line.
Especially considering Tobi’s strength, there was a chance they might meet again on higher floors.
“Given the situation, I’ll have to kill him, won’t I?”
If we let him live and run into him upstairs, he might become a nuisance.
Wow, people like us think riding the bus is the best thing ever.
Exactly. All he had to do was sit still and ride, but he’s trying to hijack the driver’s seat.
He’s even thinking about killing the bus driver.
Cruel. So cruel.
Is this even a country anymore?
But what if Tobi’s actually competent enough that the other players don’t come down?
Yoon Taeyang smirked as he read the chat.
The unlocking process was bound to be delayed.
Even if Tobi displayed leadership beyond his station, Yoon Taeyang could simply slip in and cause chaos once, sending everyone scrambling into the dungeon.
Of course, that chaos would have to match the level of performance Tobi had shown.
It’s not even that difficult.
Yoon Taeyang had deliberately pulled back at the last moment precisely to set up that scenario.
“Since I’m already inside, I might as well look for items.”
Truthfully, the dungeon didn’t offer much benefit to Yoon Taeyang.
It was true that dungeons dropped equipment and cards far more generously than other areas.
However, most of the equipment and cards that dropped in the dungeon were of no use to him.
He had already farmed too thoroughly on the previous stage, Street of Murder.
Even setting aside the Greatest Machinery, his regular equipment was already top-tier.
At this point, Yoon Taeyang’s setup surpassed that of most players on the fifteenth floor and below.
To improve your specs at this stage, you need rare high-grade cards or artifacts, and those aren’t easy to come by.
“Right.”
There might be such items inside the dungeon, but obtaining them was purely a matter of luck.
“Still, I should check the important spots.”
You remember them?
“Roughly. Tell me if I go wrong.”
Yoon Taeyang moved quickly.
Players had naturally analyzed the dungeon in the Sword’s Castle stage as well.
High-grade artifacts like the Greatest Machinery from the clock tower, or high-grade cards, occasionally appeared in the dungeon.
Azur Murph, a renowned Dantalion guide, had concluded that the locations of all items in the Sword’s Castle dungeon changed every run.
But it wasn’t a complete loss.
The “spots.”
Areas where good items appeared frequently, identified through statistics even if not guaranteed.
“Was it left from here?”
No. One more block. Ah, there’s a trap ahead! The floor’s going to drop! Hey! Hey!
Hyeonhye’s voice, which had been briefing him, suddenly grew urgent as Yoon Taeyang strode forward without hesitation.
Rumble.
The floor dropped away, and Yoon Taeyang casually leapt over the pit.
“I know. You’re hurting my ears, so tone it down.”
Damn it, you complain even when I warn you. Should I just stop telling you?
“Ah, sorry. Just this once.”
Apologize sincerely.
“My bad.”
I don’t feel any sincerity at all…… Stop. Turn right at that corner.
“Okay~.”
lololololol
What are these two doing?
Sweet, so sweet.
This is sweet?
lololol Basement shut-ins call it sweet the moment a guy and a girl talk.
Agreed.
Don’t you know men and women shouldn’t sit together after age seven? This is Korea, remember!
Oh right, that existed. The skill card.
What was it again? Treasure Detection?
Now that I think about it, this is the perfect place to use it.
Yoon Taeyang smacked his knee in admiration.
“Genius. Why didn’t I think of that?”
Oh. Yoon Taeyang actually read the donation.
Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa, that’s actually valuable.
lololol Yeonsu just added a line to his resume~.
Is that the guy? The one waiting for Dal-nim’s cam stream?
“Hyeonhye, what do you think? Is it okay to use it here?”
Hmm. Should be fine. We’ve got time to spare, and it’ll be hard to find a more suitable place than this.
“The agility synergy……”
Yoon Taeyang hesitated slightly.
The Treasure Detection card carried poison, agility, and mage synergies.
The other synergies didn’t matter, but the agility synergy was the problem.
Because the Monk’s Belt he had equipped also carried an agility synergy, the agility synergy was currently active.
If he used the Treasure Detection skill now, that synergy would be disabled.
You’ll just have to find better items later. It’s an investment.
“I suppose so?”
Yeah. If you hesitate here and miss your growth window, you’ll regret it later.
After a moment of thought, Yoon Taeyang spoke.
“Use Treasure Detection.”
Flash.
A large sphere of light appeared before Yoon Taeyang.
* * *
The fifth floor of the Sword’s Castle.
Players gathered in small groups, talking among themselves.
“We’re about to clear this. Shouldn’t we have some fun too?”
“You want to go now?”
“If not now, when? After everyone else has already left? You’re just going to farm because you’re scared the boss might show up?”
“Is this okay? Tobi’s right in front of us. Shouldn’t we be more careful?”
“Plenty of players have already slipped out. If they claim the equipment first, there’ll be nothing left for us.”
“Still……”
“How frustrating. If you keep hesitating, you’ll lose your share. Tobi might’ve gotten a fat reward from the last stage, but I didn’t. I’m going. If you’re not coming, stay here.”
“W-wait, I’m coming too!”
A group of players began moving stealthily.
“Idiots.”
Tobi ground his teeth.
The castle contained many rooms, large and small.
Every room was locked and required one to four players to unlock.
The unlocking process had gone smoothly at first.
The first and second floors.
With many players working together, clearing seemed easy.
Then came the first crisis.
Huh? I could do this even without one person?
With that thought, players began slipping away.
One, or two at a time.
They vanished like rats.
Tobi had tried to stop them.
He had no choice.
Tobi was alone. He didn’t have enough hands to catch every escaping player.
The third and fourth floors.
The unlocking slowed down.
The difficulty increased with each floor.
While the first floor’s rooms only contained skeleton soldiers at most, the fourth floor had golems.
There was no reward for the unlocking work itself.
It was as if clearing the stage was the only reward.
Tobi reassured the players that they would receive achievement rewards upon clearing the stage, but with nothing tangible in hand, their dissatisfaction only grew.
Now they had reached the fifth floor.
The players’ patience seemed to have reached its limit.
This was different from the first and second floors.
A significant number of players were showing signs of leaving, enough to disrupt the unlocking process.
Watching them, Tobi gripped his greatsword.
The time spent unlocking the first through fourth floors.
And the sharp rise in difficulty.
The “clear room” was most likely on the sixth floor.
From now on, I’ll block them with force.
At the same moment as his calculation, Tobi’s greatsword struck the floor.
BOOM!
Simultaneously, several players blocked the stairs leading down to the fourth floor.
They were players who had shared Tobi’s thoughts while ascending the tower.
In an instant, a scuffle broke out among the players.
“Move. I need to go down.”
“If you leave now, everything we’ve done so far becomes pointless. Can’t you endure a little longer?”
“Who made you a guard? What right do you have to stop us? Move.”
Tobi approached them.
“Don’t you know how the Dimensional Labyrinth works? If you meet the boss, you’ll most likely die.”
The player who had protested most violently twisted his expression.
“Damn it. That’s exactly why I’m trying to survive! The fifth-floor unlocking is already tough enough. If we run into that crazy swordsman, it’s over! We need to gather equipment first!”
Tobi grabbed the player’s shoulder.
“Wouldn’t it be wiser to clear the stage as quickly as possible instead of going down? If you leave now, the other players will follow.”
“What about the players who already left? They’re down there sucking honey while we do all the work.”
“I don’t like it either, but we still have to do what needs to be done.”
“Then let’s rest for a bit and continue. This isn’t some construction site labor. We’ll just go down for a moment and come back up. That works, right?”
He’s not listening.
Tobi let out a small sigh and tightened his grip.
Crack crack crack crack.
“What the hell are you— Aaaagh!”
The player whose shoulder was grabbed screamed.
Tobi shook his hand.
Thud.
The grabbed player collapsed like a paper doll.
“What was that?”
“That’s impossible.”
“How can a human hand have that much strength……?”
The players were horrified.
The shoulder of the grabbed player was grotesquely twisted.
Tobi shook his hand and spoke to the players.
“Let’s endure a little longer. Once we find the clear room, I won’t care about dungeons or anything else.”
Silence fell.
Tobi looked around and asked.
“Or does anyone else want to end up like that?”
That was when it happened.
Clap clap clap clap clap clap.
An unexpected round of applause.
Tobi scanned his surroundings.
No one was clapping.
Tobi soon realized the sound wasn’t coming from beside him, but from below.
Tobi turned around.
A player applauding at the bottom of the stairs.
Yoon Taeyang.
Yoon Taeyang smiled faintly.
“You’re working hard in my place, I see?”
Tobi’s face contorted.
“You bastard……”
“I appreciate you working for me, but if you work this hard, it puts me in a bit of a bind.”