Chapter 0: Prologue
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 0: Prologue
Attempts: 79.
Wiped raid teams from various guilds: 297.
Casualties: 315,850.
These numbers were the grim result of the failed attempts to conquer the 48th floor of the 'Tower of Trials'.
[Time Limit: 0h : 58m : 33s]
A faded status window flickered.
The timer steadily ticked down.
-Howl's Castle with Killer Moves: Sigh... There aren't even any challengers left.
-NotOverYet: Even the giant guilds gave up. Honestly, too many people died.
-My Freaking Awesome Orange Tree: The world ends in an hour anyway. Even the news started a countdown. GG.
-FeelingItHeh: What are you guys even doing here on the last day? There's a massive party going on in Hongdae right now. Aren't you guys celebrating Friday night?
-Bro, That's Gungsuh Font: Lmao, look at this basement dweller getting all excited. You've probably never even spoken to a girl in your life, Friday night my ass.
[Current Users Online: 87]
The chatroom, which once boasted millions of active users, now had fewer than a hundred.
It was only natural.
Countless failures had already brought down the major guilds.
And those who challenged the tower solo had long since vanished.
Humanity would end just like this, never to conquer the next floor.
Just when everyone thought it was over...
Hummmmm!
A blue light began to emanate from the place that had been deserted for so long.
This phenomenon only meant one thing.
[A challenger has entered the domain of the 48th Floor's 'Red Dragon Destia'.]
A new challenger had arrived.
A man materialized in the dungeon.
His face was obscured by facial distortion magic, but...
...he held a thirty-centimeter dagger in one hand.
He was, without a doubt, a player.
-Howl's Castle with Killer Moves: Ohhhhh!
-Climber123: There's still someone challenging it!
-Bro, That's Gungsuh Font: Whoa. Is this for real? A challenger at a time like this?
-Arcane Shift Forward, Flash Back: Look at this guy trying to be a hero at the literal end of the world. Someone confiscate his keyboard for an hour.
The sudden turn of events breathed life back into the chat.
Just how long had it been since a new challenger had appeared?
The viewers who had clung to the last shreds of hope erupted in cheers.
[Current Viewers: 7,588]
The news spread like wildfire across online communities and social media.
People who had been waiting for their demise tuned in, driven by a sliver of hope.
Soon, all eyes were on the challenger.
-The Disappearance of Fresh Hairtail No. 1: But who is he? He doesn't look like a ranker.
-My Freaking Awesome Orange Tree: He set all his info to private, so we can't see his status window.
-Climber123: Don't tell me some newbie just wandered in to mess around since it's the end of the world?
-Veteran Detector: Holy shit. Everyone shut up and look at that dagger.
-My Freaking Awesome Orange Tree: It looks like something you'd use to peel coconuts. What's there to see on a starter item?
-Veteran Detector: Look at the color! The color!
At the viewer's remark, everyone's attention shifted to the dagger.
A blade as black as obsidian.
And the pommel at the end of the hilt was...
...'purple'.
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. Seven colors.
The highest tier among them, a supreme holy relic that no one had ever managed to obtain.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The hearts of the onlookers pounded wildly.
He had arrived.
A fossil so ancient, he'd practically rotted!
* * *
"Grrrrr..."
The Red Dragon let out a low growl from its nest at the intruder's appearance.
A massive body stretching thirty meters.
Just facing it made the hairs on the back of one's neck stand on end.
"You humans truly do not know when to give up. Have you come back for more even after losing so many of your kind?"
Destia looked down at the intruder.
Her gaze was filled with arrogance.
As if all living things were beneath her.
Of course, that arrogance was backed by the solid foundation of overwhelming, absolute power.
However...
"I had to prepare a few things to make grilled lizard. But I made sure to get here on time."
The man met her gaze with utter composure.
At his insolent reply, Destia's brow furrowed.
"Human, do you not realize that even if the end result is death, some ways of dying are infinitely more painful than others?"
"I don't know. Why don't you try it if you can? Stop talking and show me."
"Very well. Conversing with an insignificant insect is meaningless anyway."
Destia slashed her claws through the air.
"...!"
The man's body suddenly stiffened.
A high-tier binding magic had been activated.
"What a disappointing end."
Her raised forepaw loomed over the man's head.
His body was swallowed by her shadow.
And at that exact moment...
...her forepaw slammed down.
BOOM!
The ground split open with a violent crack.
Shards of rock exploded outward in every direction.
Yet...
"Hmm?"
The sensation that should have been felt was missing.
The feeling of bones crushing and flesh turning to mush.
"A physical attack right after a binding spell... Isn't that pattern a bit too predictable?"
It was then that the man's voice echoed from behind Destia.
Impossible.
"You... countered it before the skill even activated?"
In that split second?
"Well, I can tell what you're trying to do just by looking at your hand movements."
"Cut the bullshit!"
Destia reared back completely.
Her head rose so high it nearly touched the cavern ceiling.
"There will be no more flukes."
Flames began to churn within her gaping maw.
Rumbleeeee!
All moisture in the air evaporated instantly.
The ultimate power meant to reduce any enemy to ashes.
An authority possessed only by dragons.
"As expected, it's the Breath," the man muttered.
The reason the previous raid teams had failed was precisely because they couldn't block that torrent of fire.
Rumble!
The flames blazed with growing intensity.
Once the mana, condensed to its absolute limit, was released...
...not even a corpse of a human would remain.
"There is nowhere to hide."
For the entire dungeon lay within the range of her Breath.
And of course...
"...I have no reason to hide."
He hadn't come here to run away.
And he certainly hadn't come here to die.
He had come to win.
To survive and ascend to the next floor.
And to see the end of this world.
[Reading 'Memory of the World'.]
A brilliant mist poured out behind the man's back.
An infinite archive where every skill was recorded.
A great library containing the truths of the world.
This was the man's true ability.
"I summon 'Hellfire' and 'Black Tears'."
With those brief words...
Whoosh!
...a fireball about one meter in diameter materialized in his left hand.
Drip! Drip!
A black liquid dripped from the tip of the dagger in his right hand.
-Howl's Castle with Killer Moves: Isn't that Hellfire? The signature skill of Maria, the European ranker!
-Veteran Detector: That liquid dripping from the sword... That's the skill of the 15th Floor's 'Wailing Witch'.
-Climber123: Oh my god... To think there was a player with a copying skill.
-Bro, That's Gungsuh Font: So what? He can spam S-rank skills all day, but it won't do jack shit against a dragon.
-Arcane Shift Forward, Flash Back: I had a tiny bit of hope, but of course, it's just as expected.
-Reserve_Schoolgirl: Ugh, what a waste of my time.
Viewers began leaving the channel in droves.
It was only natural.
Whether it was Hellfire or the Witch's curse...
...nothing could ever surpass a dragon's Breath.
This was a proven fact, established through countless failed attempts.
"Foolish human. Did you talk so big relying on nothing but those measly skills?"
Destia clicked her tongue.
Indeed.
This level of power wouldn't even scratch her.
Therefore...
...he would just have to create one.
'The skill manifested in my left hand...'
To counter the Breath...
'...and the skill manifested in my right hand, fused together.'
A skill of an entirely different dimension, capable of slicing through even dragon scales!
The man let the black droplets fall onto the Hellfire.
At that moment...
[Skill 'Hellfire (S)' and Skill 'Black Tears (S)' are fusing.]
As the two disparate skills merged into one, dark red sparks erupted.
[Fusion successful!]
[You have acquired 'Breath of Void Dragon Etherion (SSS)'!]
RUUUUUMBLE!
Black flames erupted, on a completely different level from the Red Dragon's Breath.
The quality of the mana...
...and the temperature of the flames were incomparable.
"T-That is...!"
Destia's eyes shook violently.
There was no way she wouldn't recognize it.
How could she not?
Etherion, one of the ancient species.
And the ultimate Breath used by that ancient dragon.
"Y-You...! How could a mere human possess such power...!"
Destia stammered.
It was fear, far transcending mere curiosity.
That was why she had no choice but to ask.
"Who... just who are you?!"
At Destia's question, the man slowly opened his mouth.
"Kang Jinhyuk."
I am a veteran.
Worn down and eroded by time.
"And this isn't the first time I've killed you."
And at the same time, I am the only player to have ever conquered the summit of this tower.