Chapter 83: The Great Library of Magic (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 83: The Great Library of Magic (1)
[The main theme of the 5th floor is 'Escape.']
A male player spoke up.
[By escape, do you mean we start trapped somewhere?]
[Yes. Because all past videos and records have disappeared, not much information remains. However, based on the memories of players who played the Tower of Trials back then, we were able to reconstruct up to the 8th floor.]
[Oh! That much?]
[Haha. It's all thanks to the veteran players.]
"Calling someone a veteran for only reaching the 8th floor is hilarious. You have to at least reach the 15th floor to be considered a veteran."
Watching the TV, Lee Tae-min clicked his tongue in disbelief.
"True. But what can you do? Most people quit before the 8th floor. It's actually impressive they managed to uncover information up to the 8th floor at all."
Yu Yeon-hwa agreed.
"I suppose. If we judge by our standards, the hurdle is just too high for others."
"Looking at it this way, monopolizing information early on really is a massive advantage."
"Well, isn't that obvious?"
The others chimed in one by one.
Pride was written all over their faces, stemming from their experience of having reached beyond the 15th floor of the tower.
Hmm...
Watching them, Jinhyuk scratched his cheek.
I should probably keep my mouth shut here, right?
He couldn't bring himself to tell these proud people that one had to at least see the end of the tower to be called a true veteran.
They were his precious companions, after all.
He should at least spare their feelings.
Especially that guy, Cheon Yu-seong—if Jinhyuk teased him for being a mere "20th-floor scrub," he would completely lose his mind.
Seriously, looking out for my teammates' mental state like this... Even I have to admit I really am something else.
Just as Jinhyuk was nodding to himself, the TV broadcast continued.
[...In that case, could you tell us what kind of escape we have to perform?]
[The objective of the 5th floor is to escape from one of several highly lethal survival environments, such as a mental hospital, a gladiator arena, a mine, or a deserted island.]
[That doesn't sound as difficult as I thought? If we know the locations in advance, can't we prepare our strategies beforehand?]
Information was the most crucial element of an escape.
Who would be inside.
What the terrain and objects would be like.
What could be utilized, and so on.
Knowing everything in advance meant there were countless ways to prepare.
[Haha, it's easy to think that way. But it's not. On the 5th floor, the locations and their internal configurations change every time, which renders the advantage of a second playthrough useless. On top of that, players suffer a debuff that seals their mana. In fact, it will likely be the most difficult floor to clear so far.]
[Mana is sealed?]
[Yes. It seems the intention is for players to clear it using purely their own physical strength.]
An environment that changed with every attempt.
A debuff that sealed unique abilities and skills.
Starting in the absolute worst condition was the fundamental premise of this floor.
"This is why this floor is so annoying."
"Whew. Guess I'll have to stay on my toes for the first time in a while."
"Ah, seriously, this was a floor I swore I'd never look at again after clearing it once..."
Sighs echoed from all around.
Everyone believed they would have to start from rock bottom.
That was undoubtedly what they were thinking.
But there was one exception.
Only Jinhyuk wore a relaxed smile.
Because he knew.
Exactly how to clear this floor as easily as possible.
And even what kind of preparations were required to make it happen.
* * *
The next afternoon.
After thoroughly recovering from his fatigue at the hotel, Jinhyuk lined up the rewards he had obtained from defeating Pendariel.
'A-Rank Random Draw Box.'
'High-Grade Skill Enhancement Scroll.'
'Exchange Fee 10% Discount Coupon.'
'Great Library of Magic Admission Ticket.'
There were four in total.
Every single one of them was a valuable prize with absolutely no waste.
He wanted to check them right away, but first...
"Status window."
Jinhyuk activated his personal status window.
He needed to distribute the stat points he had gained from leveling up.
--------------------------------------------------
Name: Kang Jinhyuk
Gender: Male
Age: 27
Level: 34
Strength: 16 | Agility: 16 | Stamina: 16 | Mana: 62 | Gap: 100 | Luck: 10 | Adaptive Stat: 10
Available Stat Points: 21
Coins: 235,341
Class: None
Unique Abilities: Fusion, Grave of Swords, Blessing of the Stars, Judgment of Anubis, Blood Demon Qi, Mandala
Skills: Lv6 'Fire Element', Lv4 'Gluttony's Eye', Lv3 'Communion', Lv3 'Brand of the Flame Soul', Lv4 'Monopoly', Lv4 'Shallow Breathing', Lv5 'Glacial Shaping', Lv4 'Daylight', Lv3 'Soul-Chasing Sword', Lv1 'Double Agent', Lv1 'True Grand Purity Hwarang Heart Method', Lv2 'Sword Demon Emperor Stepss'
--------------------------------------------------
Including the levels he had missed checking because of his frantic hunting, he had gained a total of 7 levels.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Jinhyuk's heart beat rapidly.
I thought I grew in the most optimized way in the past, but...
It had been an illusion.
Because right now, he was growing at a speed that couldn't even be compared to back then.
Haha. This is almost ridiculous.
The materialized Tower of Trials certainly boasted a level of difficulty on a completely different dimension compared to the game.
However, even more than that increase in difficulty...
My rate of growth is far greater.
His past experience and accumulated skills proved it.
Just how strong he had become.
Feeling a pleasant rush of exhilaration, Jinhyuk quickly distributed his 21 accumulated stat points.
[Strength increases from 16 to 19.]
[Agility increases from 16 to 19.]
[Stamina increases from 16 to 19.]
[Mana increases from 62 to 74.]
As expected, the most important stat was Mana.
As he raised the stat by 12 points all at once, he felt the flow of mana coursing through every corner of his body grow significantly smoother.
Good.
Now, next...
Jinhyuk picked up the 'High-Grade Skill Enhancement Scroll.'
It was an item that raised a skill of level 10 or higher by 1 level, and for skills below level 10, it raised them by a whopping 3 levels.
Considering how much harder it became to raise skill levels as time went on, the value of this scroll was something that couldn't be measured in money or coins.
And of course, he had already decided which skill to enhance.
For the 5th floor, and for the future, the skill I need to develop the most is Glacial Shaping.
An all-around skill that could be used for both offense and defense, as well as in various situations.
If he had to choose just one, this was hands down his top priority.
Whirrrr!
The scroll vanished with a bright flash of light.
At the same time:
['Glacial Shaping' has been upgraded to Lv8.]
Crackle!
A chilly draft spread throughout the hotel interior.
"What's this? It suddenly got cold. Did someone turn on the AC?"
"Who turns on the AC in late autumn? Damn it. Besides, this isn't just AC, it's practically a freezer."
"I think there's a malfunction in the central cooling system..."
"Fix it quickly so the guests aren't inconvenienced! If they catch a cold and complain, we're all fired!"
Jinhyuk had no idea, but the hotel staff had to scramble for quite a while to find the cause.
Meanwhile, Jinhyuk, having enhanced his skill, picked up the golden box resting on the bed.
The A-Rank Random Draw Box.
True to its name, it was a gacha-style item where you spun a roulette to win an A-Rank item.
Whirrrr!
A massive golden roulette wheel appeared in the room.
Measuring about two meters across, the wheel was engraved with numerous A-Rank items.
Shall we begin?
When he pulled the lever, the wheel began to spin at an incredible speed.
Once, twice.
Ding!
[Please press the red button in the center.]
Pressing the button would select the item, allowing him to use it.
However...
Jinhyuk simply waited with his arms crossed, completely relaxed.
He stared at it as if the button didn't concern him at all.
[Time limit exceeded.]
[Please spin the roulette again.]
A red status window appeared, accompanied by a warning voice.
It felt as though if he didn't choose this time, the opportunity itself would be forfeited.
What a cheap threat.
After checking the status window, Jinhyuk pulled the lever once more.
But just like before, he refrained from making a selection.
Of course, he had a very good reason for doing this.
You could call it a bug.
Or perhaps, probability manipulation?
Jinhyuk had accidentally discovered a loophole in the system, which had been rigged to screw over players.
If you forfeit the roulette spin 36 times in a row, on the 37th spin, the rotation speed decreases by 99.99%.
It would spin as if playing in slow motion.
After that, all he had to do was wait until the wheel pointed to the item he wanted.
In fact, he had used this exact method last night to help Cheon Yu-seong draw the item he wanted.
Except for one catch.
The item drawn this way had a drawback: an expiration date of one week.
A mischievous smile played on Jinhyuk's lips.
He could already vividly picture Cheon Yu-seong flying into a wild rage a week from now when his attribute sword shattered.
I feel a tiny bit bad, but it's not like I lied to him.
He had definitely promised to give him the materials to complete the attribute sword. He had never promised that the sword would last forever.
Above all, since Cheon Yu-seong could enjoy using his newly crafted attribute sword for at least a week, it wasn't a complete scam.
Yes, absolutely.
While he was nodding to himself, the highly anticipated 37th turn arrived.
The wheel slowed down so much that he could clearly see what it was pointing to.
Now.
Jinhyuk pressed the red button for the first time.
[You have selected the A-Rank item, 'Three-Colored Pills'!]
Red, white, and black.
Three pills, each possessing a different effect, appeared.
To be useful within the one-week limit while also helping him clear the next floor, this was the best choice.
Jinhyuk carefully stored the pills in a corner of his dimensional subspace inventory.
As for the exchange discount coupon, I can just use it later when I upload a video that gets a lot of views.
Only one thing remained.
The Great Library of Magic.
High-tier skills, ancient forbidden spells, and barriers that only appeared on the middle floors of the tower or higher.
A library in another dimension where one could learn magic-type skills that others couldn't easily access was more than enough to make his heart flutter.
Yet, unexpectedly, tension hung on Jinhyuk's face.
Because the administrator of the library he was about to meet was a rather troublesome opponent.
It's been a while since I last saw that old geezer.
The librarian who managed the library, 'Rick Hennessy.'
A sly old fox who had been through it all, he was also the owner of the largest pawnshop in the tower.
Jinhyuk had also traded with him often in the past, and he had given old man Rick the nickname 'Thanos.'
This was because Rick would always slash the price of whatever the other party brought in half, while selling his own items at twice their value.
It was truly a miraculous way of doing business.
It was a luxury only possible for someone who possessed massive capital, endless items, and an incredibly thick skin.
However...
This time would be different.
This might be the first time you're meeting me...
...but it's not the first time I'm meeting you.
Unlike the past, where he had been thoroughly swindled while knowing nothing.
This time, he knew everything about his opponent.
Jinhyuk purchased a few items from the 'Coin Exchange.'
Then, he infused mana into the most important ticket among his rewards.
[The Great Library of Magic has opened.]
Rumble!
A gate with a shimmering green surface appeared.