Chapter 68: One-Man Army (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 68: One-Man Army (4)
Only one player had come here.
Yet, that single individual possessed power rivaling tens of thousands.
['Black Leaf' has been activated.]
[The statues, now infused with the effect of Decay, are rapidly weakening.]
To accelerate the climax, he had played his final card.
The surfaces of the statues stained black.
The forces that once boasted invincibility...
The subordinates that once boasted defeatlessness...
...were slowly crumbling.
"T-this makes no sense..."
Muhon stumbled backward.
The statue he was riding also retreated to protect its master.
But it was useless.
The countless statues that had once protected him were already too busy fighting among themselves.
Above all, while his summons were troublesome, Muhon's own raw strength didn't even measure up to a common named monster.
[Lv. 3 Glacial Shaping has been activated!]
Rumble!
A thin wall of ice blocked Muhon's path of retreat.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Things were just starting to get fun. It wouldn't do for him to exit the stage so soon.
He had to stay and watch the ending, at the very least.
"I cannot accept this! An ability that interferes with the command system of summons... There's no way such a thing exists!"
Muhon shrieked.
His face turned pale, and his voice trembled.
Indeed, from his perspective, this situation was utterly unacceptable.
"You're free to deny reality, but doing so only makes you look pathetic."
Jinhyuk channeled his mana.
Hummmmm!
A golden mist shimmered along his fingertips.
The 'Mandala' was about to be activated.
Perhaps sensing that the leaking mana was far from ordinary, Muhon hastily leaped down from the head of the statue.
"Block him! Stop that bastard!"
Somehow...
Somehow, he had to kill him before the Mandala fully bloomed.
"Groooar!"
The statue, adorned with brilliant jewels, raised both hands high.
A shadow loomed over Jinhyuk's head.
Boom!
The ground cracked like a turtle's shell.
But there was nothing where the statue had struck.
"Your habit of dumping everything on your subordinates and running away when cornered remains unchanged, I see."
His body soared high into the air.
Before anyone knew it, a bow crafted from 'Glacial Shaping' was gripped in Jinhyuk's hand.
Of course, the arrow was not made of ice.
A golden arrow, forged from the light of the fully bloomed Mandala, was poised to fly from the bowstring at any moment.
[Glacial Shaping and Mandala are resonating!]
['Arrow of Exorcism' has been activated!]
A single flash of light erupted.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The light, cutting a straight path, pierced straight through Muhon's heart.
Sizzle!
Heat rose from the gaping hole in the center of his chest.
"Dam...mit!"
Muhon looked down at his wound, his face a mixture of futility and despair.
But it was only for a brief moment.
For no living creature could survive after losing its heart.
Muhon's stumbling body collapsed forward.
And at that exact moment:
[The 3rd-floor boss monster, 'Muhon', has been defeated!]
[The 4th floor of the Tower of Trials is now open!]
[Time remaining until the next floor must be conquered: 89D 23h:59m:59s]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have leveled up.]
Golden status windows appeared one after another in the sky.
He had finally conquered the 3rd floor.
On top of that, his level had jumped by five all at once.
Considering how the required experience scaled exponentially, this was an incredible achievement.
"I can just dump the stat points into mana..."
Next, it was time to claim the rewards of this raid.
Jinhyuk walked past the frozen statues.
He spotted a chest lying in front of Muhon's corpse.
"This is...?"
Jinhyuk's pupils dilated slightly.
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
These were the seven colors used to classify the grades of high-grade relics or treasures obtained after defeating a 3rd-floor boss monster.
And yet...
'To think an orange-grade would drop.'
Normally, any drops within the first ten floors were strictly 'red-grade'.
However, the chest before him was 'orange-grade', one tier higher.
He could guess the reason.
It was likely due to the effect of 'Monopoly'—which granted the absolute best rewards when hunting entirely alone.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Jinhyuk's heart beat rapidly.
As expected, the most thrilling and exciting moment was checking the rewards for one's hard work.
[The 'Unknown Treasure Chest' is opening!]
With a dazzling flash of light, the items inside the chest revealed themselves.
[There are a total of 7 items inside the chest.]
[You have acquired 4 Pink Diamonds.]
[You have acquired 'Top-Priority Base Designation Ticket'.]
[You have acquired '1kg of Soft Grains'.]
[You have acquired '50L of Natural Water'.]
[You have acquired 5 'Solar Seeds'.]
[You have acquired 3 'Fire-Breathing Snails'.]
If it had been a red chest, it would have contained three items at most.
An orange-grade was truly on another level.
'Wow, they really hooked me up.'
This alone was a highly satisfying reward.
He thought it was more than enough...
But then.
"Huh?"
Upon checking the final item on the list, Jinhyuk barely managed to swallow a gasp of sheer shock.
[Stone that Blocks the Sun]
Haha.
The corners of Jinhyuk's mouth curled upward.
The absolute best item drop possible from Muhon had appeared.
'I heard the drop rate is less than one percent.'
This was insane.
It was a moment that made him realize once again just how absurd the 'Monopoly' effect was.
At this rate...
'I might be able to milk the 4th floor for all its worth too.'
Visualizing the near future, Jinhyuk began to redraw his plans.
* * *
[The 4th floor has been opened.]
This message was delivered to every player inside the Tower of Trials.
"W-what?"
"The 4th floor is open?"
"Does that mean someone cleared the boss?!"
The players active in the Tower gasped in shock.
To think the 3rd-floor boss monster, which had given them so much trouble, had been defeated.
Considering how they had repeatedly failed until now, it was hard to believe.
Moreover, weren't the schedules of the large guilds completely empty right now?
However, having seen the status window appear before their eyes, they couldn't deny it forever.
This was reality.
"He really... succeeded."
Patrick of the Olympus Guild swallowed hard.
When he had first met the masked player, he had been half-doubtful.
It was only natural.
Even a perfectly composed raid team hadn't been able to touch a single hair on the boss.
But at this moment, all those doubts melted away like snow.
"And he did it solo, no less."
The face of Maria, a European ranker, was also a storm of complex emotions.
Relief that humanity had not perished, mixed with a sense of shame stemming from the overwhelming difference in skill.
Those two emotions tangled in her mind.
"A hero is born."
"Still, I'm so glad we bought ourselves 90 days before we have to conquer the next floor."
"We need to prepare thoroughly this time."
The other rankers chimed in one by one.
On the other hand, Tenwei, wearing a deeply displeased expression, clicked his tongue sharply.
"Glad? You think this is a good thing? Fools! Do you really think the success of this raid benefits us? That bastard is going to suck up all the views from now on!"
"..."
"..."
Everyone froze.
Indeed, he was right.
Currently, the community was completely flooded with talk about the player named Unknown.
After the highlight video of the entire boss raid was uploaded, the phenomenon grew even more intense.
-TowerManiac: Wasn't that Thousand-Handed Avalokiteshvara an insanely strong named monster?
-DonghakAntMovement: There's a reason its nickname was 'The Blender'. Anyone who went near it got shredded.
-ToMeSoccerIsMurder: Yeah. That's why most raid teams went the other way just to avoid that guy.
-Kingdom3: Wow. But he completely smashed it? And solo?
-DoAncestorsLiftForYou: Plus, using the chess pieces as summons during the boss fight was insane.
-SaeYeongEonHwan: Please show lots of love and subscribe to the 'Unknown' channel! Unknown is the future!
-TwitchViewerOutranksTheUnemployed: Oi oi, I believed in you!
-DogThatBarksOnlyAtVeterans: Woof! Arrrgh! Woof woof woof! Grrrr! Whine!
-DaramiS2: Those big guilds did nothing but hype themselves up, but they have zero substance lol.
-ShivaIsShivaShiva: Honestly, why don't all the guilds just hand everything over to Bro Unknown?
Because Jinhyuk had edited out things like his fusion skills and Alice's existence, the video lacked some logical coherence. Nevertheless, the flashy and exhilarating footage was more than enough to satisfy everyone's cravings.
It was, quite literally, overwhelming popularity.
At this point, it was impossible not to feel a sense of wariness.
"Hmm. Our standing might weaken."
"This isn't something we should just blindly celebrate."
The room buzzed with murmurs.
The atmosphere grew strange.
The sighs of relief quickly soured into envy and jealousy.
Right then.
"What on earth are you talking about?"
Teresa sprang up from her seat.
"What do you mean?"
Tenwei shot back immediately.
"We all survived thanks to him. Honestly, who among those gathered here could have defeated that boss monster? Who here could have marched into that hell with rookies who haven't even gained proper combat experience?"
Instead of offering words of gratitude, their first instinct was to worry about their own rice bowls.
It was the classic case of saving a drowning man only for him to demand his bundle back.
Of course, the most offensive of them all was Tenwei, who was openly criticizing him.
"Ha. Taking his side just because you're acquaintances?"
"I am merely stating facts," Teresa drew a line. "And if the rest of you share Mr. Moyong Hwang's opinion... I will no longer participate as a member of this alliance."
"A-are you saying... you're leaving the Summit?"
A startled Patrick hastily asked.
It was only natural for him to be shocked.
This was a place where even the most prominent rankers and promising prospects from around the world desperately tried to build connections.
Naturally, they didn't just accept anyone, and since wealth and honor were guaranteed, no one ever wanted to leave.
Yet, Teresa's expression was resolute.
"Do you trust him that much? That man?"
"Yes. I trust him."
She trusted him more than anyone else.
If there was a player destined to see the end of the Tower...
...it would be that single individual.
And if she had to weigh that person against everyone else on a scale...
...the choice was obvious.
Teresa was certain.
* * *
At the same time.
Having gathered all his rewards, Jinhyuk exited the Tower of Trials.
Before heading to the 4th floor in earnest, he planned to take a break and recover his stamina.
'Since I achieved results beyond my expectations, should I splurge a little?'
He would book a five-star hotel, take a hot bath, and enjoy a full-course meal.
'Back when I was a BJ, paying rent and utilities made it hard to even afford one meal a day.'
He had frequently starved himself for two days straight just to afford the food for his mukbang broadcasts.
But not anymore.
Selling just one of the Pink Diamonds he had obtained earlier would easily net him 300 million won.
At the anticipation of spending a proper day of luxury for the first time in his life, Jinhyuk's stomach rumbled.
But it was right then.
Vrrr!
The smartphone in his inner pocket vibrated violently.
[Caller: Yu Yeon-hwa]
Confirming the name displayed on the screen, Jinhyuk swiped to answer.
"Hello?"
"Oppa...!"
Yu Yeon-hwa's voice was trembling.
As if everything was about to crumble.