Chapter 95: How a Veteran Builds Up (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 95: How a Veteran Builds Up (2)
Jinhyuk had a five-day window before Kim Gi-tae finished recruiting players to enter the labyrinth.
During that time, Jinhyuk visited all kinds of concerts and Michelin-starred restaurants Kim Hee-woong had prepared, going to as many as he could.
And his current location was the Chopin International Piano Competition.
Held once every five years, it was one of the world's top three music competitions, where pianists competed using only Chopin's pieces.
Leveraging his S-rank status, Jinhyuk easily secured a seat and found himself completely captivated by the performance of a male pianist in his early twenties.
How much time had passed like that?
The accompaniment, which had been building to a climax, subsided, and finally, the pianist's hands lifted from the keys.
The performance was over.
‘I don't know much about music... but this is giving me goosebumps.’
It was a realm entirely different from combat.
The beautiful, magnificent melody could easily be described as another world sublimated into art.
Still thrilled, Jinhyuk let out a breath.
"Whew..."
It was amazing.
It felt like he had just watched a movie.
His entire body still felt immersed in the lingering afterglow.
‘It took quite a bit of time, but I've achieved all my goals.’
With this, he had attended every possible competition and concert.
At the same time,
[You have listened to a masterpiece that defined an era.]
[You have completed 'Attend 7 Concerts'.]
[You have completed 'Visit the Beethoven Museum'.]
Several status windows appeared before his eyes.
‘Good.’
The corners of Jinhyuk's mouth curled upward.
[The conditions have been met.]
[You have successfully copied the skill 'Absolute Pitch (F)'!]
[You have successfully copied the skill 'Understanding of Instruments (F)'!]
The skills he obtained were all F-rank.
But Jinhyuk wasn't one to be satisfied with just this.
Combining low-rank skills to create a skill of a much higher dimension—that was precisely why he had chosen the unique ability 'Fusion'.
"I'll fuse Blessing of the Stars and Understanding of Instruments."
Jinhyuk immediately activated the 'Fusion' skill.
[Fusing the skills 'Blessing of the Stars' and 'Understanding of Instruments'.]
[Fusion successful.]
[You have acquired the skill 'Heavenly Melody'.]
[Heavenly Melody]
Acquisition Difficulty: B
Description: Vestia, the Goddess of Music, transcended races to value harmony and peace for all. She believed that no matter how harsh the world, music could serve as a medium to break down walls. This ability contains the goddess's wish.
[The copied skill is stored in the 'Memory of the World'.]
He hadn't come here because he had time to kill.
It was to gather non-combat abilities.
To obtain the supplementary power needed to climb the tower in the future.
He was investing his precious time.
‘Next is cooking.’
The two tasks he had to complete before heading to the Elf Forest.
Now, all that was left was to learn cooking.
Jinhyuk scrolled through the list of reserved 3-star Michelin restaurants.
[To copy the skill 'Imperial Chef', you must meet the following conditions:]
[1. Eat a course meal at a 3-star Michelin or higher restaurant (7/10 times)]
[2. Observe the chef's cooking process (3/5 times)]
[3. Try cooking different types of dishes (25/30 times)]
Since he had been eating in between attending the competitions, he wasn't far from meeting these conditions either.
‘I can finish everything today and head back to Korea.’
In other words, it meant the time to head to the 6th floor was drawing near.
*
The CITIC Tower located in Beijing, China.
In the penthouse on the top floor of the building, which soared high enough to deserve the term skyscraper, several men and women were gathered.
They were rankers belonging to the Zhonghua Guild, China's largest guild.
"Damn it! To have the first clear stolen from us again. What a fucking embarrassment! Didn't you confidently declare that we would be the first to clear the 5th floor?!"
A portly man with a bushy beard roared.
Indeed.
Their preparations had been perfect.
They had prepared a massive number of veterans and rankers who had cleared the 5th floor—no, who had even run time attacks on it.
On top of that, they had even prepared a sacred relic rated 'Orange' by the guild itself, so guaranteeing the first clear was only natural.
However, the Zhonghua Guild failed to secure the first clear of the 5th floor.
Despite investing so much resources and effort.
In fact, more than half of them were still struggling to escape the mines or the gladiator arena.
"It's not that our preparations were lacking. It's just that that bastard Kang Jinhyuk defeated the boss at an abnormal speed."
Kang Jinhyuk.
At that name, anger washed over everyone's faces.
"The low-ranking members are talking about nothing but him, too. I happened to overhear some bastard spouting bullshit about how he's humanity's only hope. Of course, I had his head cut off immediately."
"Though I doubt it will happen, I suppose it's time we consider the possibility of defectors."
"Just how long did that guy rot in the Tower of Trials to climb it so fast? I heard he did it all on his own, without any external support..."
"He must have been playing for a very long time. Maybe he even climbed past the 20th floor."
The 20th floor.
An unknown territory that no one in this room had ever set foot in was mentioned.
"No way..."
"There's a crazy bastard who played that insane game past the 20th floor?"
"That's absurd! Even in China, where we had over 500 million players, everyone quit. How could such a guy come from a country with a total population of barely 50 million, even if you scraped every last one of them together?!"
Everyone raised their voices in denial.
Because they believed China was the center of the world, and only China was destined to see the top of the Tower.
Wasn't that why they proudly called themselves 'Zhonghua'?
But no matter how hard they tried to deny it, even as they spoke, they began to realize.
That there was a veteran in this Tower whom they knew nothing about.
And that this veteran, all by himself, was more threatening than their entire guild mobilized.
But just as an awkward silence fell over the room,
Thud!
The double doors swung open, and a man appeared.
He was a handsome man dressed in striking, luxurious silk robes.
Everyone's eyes turned toward him.
"M-Master Namgung Cheon!"
"Are the discussions with the Murim faction already finished?"
The master of the Zhonghua Guild and China's strongest player.
Namgung Cheon.
That was the man standing before them.
"Yes... I've wrapped things up for now."
Namgung Cheon walked across the room with a dissatisfied expression.
Step by step.
Though he was merely walking, the room filled with a heavy chill, as if they had been plunged into a freezer.
Gulp.
The sound of dry swallowing echoed from all around.
Naturally, no one was foolish enough to ask why Namgung Cheon was in a bad mood.
Taking his seat at the head of the table, which had been left empty for him, Namgung Cheon spoke again.
"I received the report regarding the 5th floor. Who was in charge?"
"I-It was me. But, Master Namgung Cheon! This time, it was definitely..."
The bearded man hurriedly tried to excuse himself.
Of course, his pathetic excuse was cut short.
"...Urgh?"
Slash!
Blood sprayed like a fountain from his cleanly severed upper torso.
"A bastard who can't even handle a simple task like that has no right to climb higher with me."
Namgung Cheon's sword had already slashed horizontally, drawn and sheathed in the blink of an eye.
It was a speed impossible to perceive, let alone track with the naked eye.
Flicking the blood off his blade, Namgung Cheon turned his gaze to the rankers.
"I must head to the 5th floor of the Tower to carry out a task assigned by the Murim. The main raid team has work to do with me as well."
Namgung Cheon called upon the main raid team.
The raid leaders who met his gaze bowed their heads.
"What should we do about the 6th floor?"
"For the elves, I will authorize three S-ranks and one raid team. The selected members will head to the 6th floor, take the elves prisoner, and burn their forest to the ground. Your deadline is ten days."
The order given was the complete eradication of a floor.
There were no objections.
There were no questions either.
For carrying out the order was the only way they could survive.
"Understood."
"We will absolutely not disappoint you this time."
*
Having finished all his business in Europe, Jinhyuk headed straight to the Tower of Trials.
Since there was still a day left before his meeting with Kim Gi-tae, he figured he might as well go introduce himself to the elves in the meantime.
‘They're hidden so deep in the forest that even meeting them isn't easy.’
That was just how the elven race was.
They possessed beautiful appearances and loved nature more than anyone, but strangely, they were incredibly exclusive and hostile toward other races.
In short, not only was it hard to meet them, but holding a conversation with them was even harder.
But that was only for ordinary players.
‘I'm different.’
He knew exactly where the elves lived.
Where their favorite fruit trees grew.
He even knew exactly what to do to win their favor.
Jinhyuk, who had been wearing a strange smile, suddenly shuddered.
Because an old memory had suddenly flashed through his mind.
‘Come to think of it, all sorts of crazy things happened when I first tried to get close to them...’
The memory of offering fried chicken to the strictly vegetarian elves, calling it a rare delicacy, and getting chased by the entire tribe was not something he could easily forget.
Since dying meant he wouldn't be able to log back in for 48 hours, he had played hide-and-seek in the forest for a whopping 17 hours.
‘Well, that was my bad.’
Offering meat to an elf.
If he had given them savory sunflower seeds instead, they wouldn't have been that furious.
But that incident wasn't even the worst of it.
The most horrific memory dated back to October 17th, at exactly 11:43:15 PM.
‘I'll never forget that day, even if I die.’
He remembered the exact date and time for a reason.
Jinhyuk bit his lower lip.
After countless attempts, Jinhyuk had finally managed to win the elves over and was invited to their village.
But of all days, it had to be the day of the elves' annual festival.
A clearing where the beautiful night sky blended with lanterns made of fireflies.
The fragrant fruits and drinks, unlike anything else in the world, made the place feel like a true paradise.
The atmosphere was wonderful.
‘Right up until they asked me if I could play an instrument.’
The only experience he had with instruments was a few music classes back in elementary school, and he had usually dozed off during those.
In the end, as a last resort, he had purchased the only instrument he knew how to play from the Coin Exchange.
A recorder.
Jinhyuk had performed the timeless masterpiece, "My Heart Will Go On," completely ignoring both pitch and tempo.
And just in case any of the elves couldn't hear it, he had even applied a voice amplification spell.
That...
was a fatal mistake.
"Aaaargh!"
"Stop, stop! Please stop!"
"This is a demon! A demon has descended upon us!"
"The... the forest is angry! The trees are dying!"
"The spirits are all leaving!"
It felt as though the elves' screams were still ringing vividly in his ears.
‘And the price I paid for playing with all my heart and soul was disastrous.’
He had thought he channeled his inner Leonardo DiCaprio to recreate the grandeur and sorrow of Titanic.
But reality was a dumpster fire.
A permanent banishment order.
The charge: inflicting irreparable damage to the souls of the elves and the forest spirits.
‘This time... it'll be different.’
Because he had made all the necessary preparations to redeem himself from that humiliation.
Hummmm!
As his vision faded to black, Jinhyuk entered the 6th floor of the Tower of Trials.