Chapter 239: The Great Explorer 'Phesis'
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 239: The Great Explorer 'Phesis'
Out of the countless residents dwelling within the Tower of Trials, a select few stood out vividly in Jinhyuk's memory.
Alice von Ataraxia, the intermediate administrator Rick Hennessy, and the Dark Emperor of the Heavenly Demon Cult were prime examples.
And the man standing before him now was a figure of no less stature.
The Great Explorer, Phesis.
'Aside from myself and the deities, he's the one who knows the most about the Tower of Trials.'
Jinhyuk's eyes narrowed.
Though Phesis appeared to be examining the tree, that wasn't his true objective.
He was waiting.
Waiting for the players who wielded immense influence over the Tower.
To be more precise...
'He's waiting to talk to me.'
Feigning ignorance, Jinhyuk approached Phesis with an innocent expression.
"Are you studying the Isrian Sapling?"
"Oh! You know about the Isrian Sapling?"
"It's the tree that provides the sap used as the raw ingredient to cure sarcoma, one of the incurable diseases. Though it's not quite in its finished stage yet."
"My, my! Hahaha. It's surprising enough to run into someone out here in the middle of nowhere, but your knowledge is even more astonishing. Yes, that is exactly why I was taking a look at this sapling."
Sure you were.
"That's strange. If it's for treatment, surely you know that a sapling of this size can't be used to make a cure, Mr. Phesis?"
At Jinhyuk's words, Phesis's mouth fell wide open.
He had no choice but to be flustered.
Jinhyuk had seen right through the value of the sapling he had chosen solely to draw attention.
On top of that, his real name had just slipped out of Jinhyuk's mouth. For Phesis, he had completely botched his opening move.
"Hahaha. Well, you are far more interesting than I expected. It was indeed worth the wait, Player Kang Jinhyuk."
Realizing there was no longer any need for clumsy acting, Phesis burst into a good-natured laugh.
'Yeah, nice to meet you too.'
Jinhyuk offered a bright smile in return and activated 'Gluttony's Eye'.
Ding!
With a cheerful chime, a status window displaying the target's details appeared.
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Name: Phesis Dantalian
Gender: Male
Age: ???
Level: 50
Strength: 23 | Agility: 25 | Stamina: 26 | Mana: 11 | Crisis Detection: 152
Stat Points Available: 0
Class: Explorer
Unique Ability: Floor Levitation
Skills: 'Sixth Sense' Lv16, 'Tireless Stamina' Lv16, 'Multidimensional Map' Lv15, 'Eloquence' Lv14, 'High Affinity' Lv14, 'Exceptional Appearance' Lv14, 'Improvisation' Lv13, 'Synergy (Passive)' Lv12
——————————————————
[Copy Conditions: Phesis, who enjoys the attention of numerous deities, is an explorer of the Tower and a messenger who spreads its news. To copy Phesis's abilities, you must clear two conditions.
'I think I treat them pretty well... The system really is profound. Its standards must be different from humans.'
Tilting his head slightly, Jinhyuk looked back at the status window.
The first thing that caught his eye was, of course, the unique ability.
Phesis's unique ability, 'Floor Levitation', possessed the broken trait of allowing him to freely traverse any floor below the 41st floor.
This meant he didn't have to defeat boss monsters or satisfy specific conditions to move on to the next floor.
However, it wasn't entirely beneficial. Those who possessed this ability suffered from the fatal drawback of having to completely give up all combat-related skills.
'It means he has to purely enjoy exploring the Tower, completely detached from combat.'
Still, there was no need to be disappointed.
Even if he couldn't copy the unique ability, there was still a highly useful skill among the list.
'Let's see...'
Jinhyuk licked his lips.
The skill 'Synergy'.
It was a passive skill that boosted stats by 10% when using two or more skills simultaneously.
'For a multi-skill user like me, this is an absolute must-have. I have to get my hands on this no matter what.'
Thump! Thump! Thump!
His heart beat rapidly at the thought of spamming his enhanced skills.
Above all, the most thrilling part was copying the abilities others had painstakingly cultivated, completely for free.
Good.
A rough script of how to play this out formed in his head.
"So, for what reason were you waiting for us?"
"Haha... I didn't have any bad intentions. Actually, I had some business that required me to meet with several high-ranking players and residents. You are the fifth guest I've met this week, Jinhyuk."
An explorer whose primary purpose was to roam the Tower... meeting people?
That was quite unexpected.
The request the system mentioned was probably related to this.
"What kind of guest are we talking about?" Jinhyuk asked slowly.
Then, Phesis uttered an unexpected word.
"The Tower's rankings."
"...The Tower's rankings?"
"Yes. As you know, Jinhyuk, there is no metric to compare the rankings between the countless residents of the Tower of Trials and the players who have now joined from the outside. At least, not officially."
In the past, even within the Tower of Trials, they had only vaguely gauged the top rankers; they had never grasped the exact rankings.
But now that the Tower had become reality, a new standard was about to be established.
By the system itself.
'Interesting. Is this another change?'
Though he had graduated from caring about rank numbers a long time ago, this was quite intriguing.
It wasn't just a rank converted into a simple number, but the value of the influence that rank represented.
That would act as a massive factor in climbing the Tower in the future.
'Since the system and even the deities are involved, a higher ranking will likely come with various benefits.'
Things like raising the notoriety of the base they currently occupied, reinforcing its defensive facilities, or giving more weight to their words when negotiating with residents.
"Then, you were waiting for us to determine those rankings."
"Haha. That was a big part of it. Honestly, the members of the 'Veteran Corporation' you lead are incredibly prominent, aren't they? I felt I absolutely had to meet you to fill in the blanks of the rankings."
"We are a small, elite group, but... what do we need to do to participate in these rankings?"
"Oh! Does that mean you'll cooperate with the investigation?"
"Of course I will."
To fulfill the first copy condition, he had to grant the request anyway.
Of course, there was no need to say that out loud and lower Phesis's affinity.
'After all, you're destined to be forcibly recruited into our company anyway.'
And at that exact moment...
[The members of the mid-sized faction 'Veteran Corporation' have been integrated into the ranking evaluation.]
[The individuals integrated into the rankings are: Kang Jinhyuk, Alice von Ataraxia, the 5th-floor boss monster Andrea, Cheon Yu-seong, ??? (Goguma), and Teresa de Lorencia.]
A blue status window appeared.
Setting aside Yu Yeon-hwa and Lee Tae-min, even Wolyeong, T-Bone, and the five great spirit beasts didn't make the cut.
The names of Melena, who held a decent executive position in the Demonic Human Association, and the dwarf blacksmith Orun were nowhere to be seen either.
Just how high were the standards for this?
While Jinhyuk was dumbfounded, Phesis let out a series of exclamations, clearly thrilled.
"Wow, amazing! To think this many people would be included in the rankings! I've met many people recently, but I've never seen a faction with a lineup like this."
"Is this considered a lot?"
"O-Of course it's a lot! The rankings only go up to 1,000. There are giant factions from the upper floors, and there are even beings included in the rankings whom I don't have the authority to meet. Just making it onto this list is incredible. Especially for players—not many of them have made it into the rankings."
Phesis, speaking rapidly, added another detail.
"Of course, because achievements, influence, and various other factors are taken into account, the rank doesn't strictly equate to combat power. But except for a few special cases, you can generally assume they are directly proportional."
If so...
It meant 'those bastards' on the 50th floor of the Tower were also on the rankings.
Seeing that even Phesis didn't know everything perfectly, it was safe to assume the system managed the overall system.
It was then.
"What's taking so long? Is it someone you know?"
"Mogi!"
Alice and Goguma, who had been waiting behind, approached.
Cheon Yu-seong and Teresa, who was at the very back, also looked back and forth between Jinhyuk and Phesis with curious eyes.
"Ah, sorry. Something pretty interesting came up, so the conversation dragged on. Since you're here, take a look. They say this is a newly introduced system."
Jinhyuk gestured with his chin toward the empty air.
"Huh? What is it?"
"Mogi?"
"Rankings...?"
"Wow. How fascinating."
Everyone's eyes turned upward.
* * *
[??? Goguma (28th), Alice von Ataraxia (29th), Kang Jinhyuk (117th), Teresa de Lorencia (231st), Cheon Yu-seong (688th), Andrea (815th)]
[Due to various variables, there may be aspects the system cannot fully grasp.]
[Reliability: 97.85%]
"W-Wait a minute! Is this a joke?!"
Alice immediately raised her hand high.
"What's wrong with it? Looks perfectly reasonable to me."
"Reasonable?! How on earth is this reasonable?! Why am I ranked lower than that stupid reptile?!"
Refusing to accept it, Alice began to throw a massive fit.
"Mogi!"
On the other hand, Goguma, who had received a high rank, wagged his tail proudly while nestled in Jinhyuk's arms.
"Well, that's because Goguma is incredibly strong when he manifests his true form. You know about ancient species, don't you?"
"T-Then what about me?"
"That was back in your prime. It probably means you're not at that level right now."
What was the point of talking about the good old days when tigers used to smoke?
She wasn't like that now.
"Well, that might be true... but I'm still pretty useful! If I try my best, I can easily do better than that sea anemone-like creature."
"I know. Why are you so down? It's not like you."
Jinhyuk gently placed his hand on Alice's head.
For a moment, he had the illusion that Alice had grown docile.
"My rank is surprisingly high."
"Maybe it's because your growth potential when you undergo 'Corruption' was highly evaluated, Teresa?"
"Ah... it's because of her..."
Teresa hung her head in embarrassment.
It seemed she still found it difficult to accept her darkened version, who possessed a completely different personality from her own.
He understood.
To be honest, even he found that version of her a bit overwhelming.
For Teresa, it must feel like facing her cringiest past self at every turn.
Finally, Cheon Yu-seong bared his teeth and growled softly.
"There's no way the gap between you and me is this wide."
"Didn't you literally just cry the other day, saying you had no idea how you could ever beat me? Have you already forgotten that?"
"I never said such a thing."
Wow... does this guy carry an eraser around in his head?
He was genuinely curious how someone with that brain managed to pass medical school.
No matter how he looked at it, holding a knife to the CSAT proctor's throat seemed like a more realistic scenario...
"Forget it. I should stop talking. I'm the idiot for trying to get you to admit defeat."
"Hmph."
Cheon Yu-seong turned away coldly.
"As expected, the atmosphere between you and your companions is wonderful, Jinhyuk."
"Does this look wonderful to you?"
"Bickering like this is only possible between people who truly trust each other."
Phesis, wearing a broad grin, stretched his arms.
"Well, let's get moving. We wouldn't want to arrive too late and let them steal the spotlight from the Veteran Corporation."
"Steal the spotlight...? Is someone else coming besides us?"
"Did you not know? Besides you, Jinhyuk, another faction has been invited to the banquet currently being held at the Imperial Palace."
At Phesis's words, Jinhyuk's eyes narrowed.
"Another faction... Don't tell me?"
"Yes. The ones who eliminated the last demon, Valmariel, are also heading to the Imperial Palace right now. I'm sure you've heard of them, Jinhyuk. The name 'Gandhara'."