Chapter 99: Gray Temple (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 99: Gray Temple (3)
The first reward had granted him the Luck stat and the Adaptive stat.
Now, the second reward appeared.
'Did entering the labyrinth after receiving the first class advancement quest trigger this?'
Jinhyuk swallowed hard.
Since the first reward had been so absurdly overpowered that it even shocked a veteran like him, he couldn't help but look forward to what this next reward would be.
Indeed. Pretending to be indifferent right now would be a flat-out lie.
"Confirm."
As he whispered the command in a low voice,
Ding!
[You have acquired 'Mark of the Moon'.]
[This ability will take effect once the first class advancement is complete.]
[Mark of the Moon]
Acquisition Difficulty: Unmeasurable (Reward exclusive to the first to climb the tower)
Description: Decreases the activation time of all barriers by 25%, and conversely, increases barrier performance by 30%. Furthermore, if you acquire all of the 'Lost Language' that were lost to time in the tower, you will be able to learn 'Nameless Barriers'. (Upon your first class advancement, the locations where you can acquire the Lost Language will be displayed.)
This is...
...insane.
Reading the status window, Jinhyuk's mouth fell open in a daze.
At first, he had simply chosen an unfamiliar class to chase a new interest.
It was only natural.
To Jinhyuk, a class was merely a single word added to his status window.
After all, he could obtain any skill and its higher-tier versions anyway.
Therefore, the first class advancement was nothing more than a light amusement to stave off boredom.
But because of the status message that had just appeared, all of that changed.
It was no longer just an unfamiliar field that piqued his curiosity.
It had transformed into a brand-new domain that made every single cell in his body thrill with excitement.
Jinhyuk's gaze fixed on the status window.
'Lost Language' and 'Nameless Barriers'.
These were things he had glimpsed while climbing the tower in the past.
'They were among the things I kept searching for but could never find a single clue about.'
Back then, he had assumed it was just a mistake made by the developers of the notoriously trash game, the Tower of Trials.
Or so he had thought.
'But it was actually an Easter egg meant solely for the first player to conquer the tower.'
Finally, it all made sense.
At the same time, Jinhyuk's heart began to beat wildly.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
At the fact that he would be the very first to tread upon pristine, untouched snow.
And at the anticipation that the end of this path would not be a hollow in-game ending, but reality.
* * *
The raid team quickly cleared out the monsters around the entrance and began to push deeper inside.
Rumble!
Various spells and skills completely reshaped the landscape before their eyes.
Boom!
As multicolored mana converged, a massive explosion erupted.
The inside of the labyrinth was nothing short of a war zone.
"Tanks, brace yourselves and pop all your taunts and survival skills! Remember! Do not let the aggro slip under any circumstances!"
"DPS, focus your fire on the ones coming from the front first! Anyone who messes up their mana management and starts lagging behind better be prepared to sweat blood later! I'll grind you to dust!"
They were indeed the elites of a top-tier guild.
Facing venomous cobras over four meters long and Gigant Anacondas capable of crushing steel, they hadn't suffered a single casualty.
Jinhyuk watched the Samurai Guild fight from a slight distance.
'They've got a decent setup.'
The raid members' teamwork was solid, and the balance between offense and defense wasn't bad.
It meant they had the right to talk big.
Let's see.
With that level of skill...
'They can probably survive for... maybe an hour or two.'
If they were extremely lucky, one or two of them might even survive up to ten hours.
Jinhyuk ran various scenarios through his head.
Having rotted alive as a veteran for so long, he could predict the outcome just by glancing at the situation.
Just then,
"How do they look to you, Player Kang Jinhyuk?"
Lee Young-kwon, who had been standing silently beside him, spoke up.
"Huh? What do you mean, how do they look?"
"I mean literally, what do you think of their skills?"
"Well, they're not bad. It looks like they have plenty of experience raiding together."
"But... that's not all, is it?"
Lee Young-kwon asked again, as if expecting him to add something more.
"They're textbook. It's not bad, but it's not exceptional either. The only reason their current formation is holding up is because they got lucky with their opponents. Of course, the fact that the Japanese raiding style is specialized for group combat plays a part too."
"Does that mean... there are flaws in their formation?"
Flaws?
The problem was that there were too many. He could easily spot five or six at a glance. Could other people really not see them?
"If their opponent were a named monster instead of a regular one, the tank in the third row on the left would have been breached instantly. Do you see how the flow of mana to his shield is slightly unstable? On top of that, to cover that gap, the supporters' mana consumption has also increased. It looks to be about 0.7%... and that's fatal."
0.7%.
It might seem like nothing, but if the battle dragged on, or if it became intense enough that victory was decided in a single breath, it was a figure that could create a massive disparity.
"..."
Lee Young-kwon fell silent.
'As expected...'
It was just as he had anticipated.
While everyone watching was marveling at the Samurai Guild's near-perfect raid, Jinhyuk alone had looked completely unimpressed, which had struck him as odd.
In fact, the players from the Ssaulabi side watching the battle were busy gasping in admiration.
They're textbook, but not exceptional.
From the way he dismissed a near-perfect raid as if it were nothing,
The tank in the third row on the left... the supporters' mana...
to his keen eye that could pinpoint weaknesses from a single skirmish.
Yes.
'The realm he sees is entirely different.'
Just as an ant crawling on the dirt sees a different world than a hawk soaring in the sky, even when looking at the same scene, one's vision is determined by one's level.
'The videos uploaded to ViewTube didn't even show a fraction of Player Kang Jinhyuk's true skill.'
That was the limitation of an edited clip rather than the whole picture.
The highlights meant to capture subscribers' attention were on an entirely different dimension from reality.
As his thoughts reached this point, goosebumps broke out all over Lee Young-kwon's body.
If it was this man, he really might...
crush all those arrogant Samurai Guild players, and sever the head of Medusa, the divine beast that the Ssaulabi Guild had been completely helpless against.
'It's possible.'
It was absolutely possible.
The labyrinth raid had only just begun, but in Lee Young-kwon's mind, the end of this raid was already clear.
* * *
Fierce battles and brief rests repeated in turn.
How long had it been since they entered the labyrinth?
As the raid team advanced relentlessly along the route previously mapped out by other players, a fork in the road appeared before them.
From this point on, they were entering uncharted territory where information was blank.
"Raid Leader, we've arrived!"
At the scout's words, everyone halted.
There were two paths to choose from.
The left path was brightly lit by flames erupting from the ground.
On the other hand, the right path was shrouded in a darkness so thick that any ambush would catch them completely off guard.
"Which way should we go?"
Sunglasses—no, Maeda, the raid leader of the Samurai Guild, looked at Takeshi.
Fire and darkness.
It went without saying that this choice would completely dictate the course of the raid.
"..."
Takeshi slowly rolled his eyes.
To the left.
To the right.
And back to the left.
'Damn it. Was this not the future I saw?'
The scene he had witnessed through his Future Sight before coming here.
There had definitely been a fork in the road, but it was different from the one before his eyes now.
In that vision, instead of fire and darkness, there had been a row of pillars.
"Lord Takeshi?"
Even amidst his panic, a prompting voice reached his ears. If he delayed any longer, their doubts would turn into certainty.
"Well..."
Takeshi's lips parted.
He couldn't hesitate any longer.
He had to make a choice now.
But right then,
"Ah, so you've chosen the left path after all."
A familiar voice cut in.
It was Jinhyuk.
"The left...?"
"Wow. As expected of a veteran's keen eye. Considering the difficulty of the tower, most people would try to choose the right path because it looks more dangerous, patting themselves on the back for their 'reverse psychology.' But you already knew that this labyrinth is designed to send those who try to be clever straight to hell."
Jinhyuk wore an expression of genuine admiration.
He even gave a thumbs-up with sparkling eyes.
"Y-yes, exactly. That's how I cleared this place in the past. On the way to the 30th floor, forks like this appeared quite often."
'Often, my foot.'
'The Tower of Trials isn't some kind of IQ test.'
'There's no way they'd design traps using reverse-reverse psychology.'
'Let me repeat: this game is a piece of trash.'
'The developers didn't pour their hearts and souls into pursuing perfection; they just threw it together haphazardly to screw over veterans all around the world.'
'But I did confirm one thing.'
'That guy's Future Sight is way more pathetic than I thought.'
'I'd sooner trust a tarot card reading at a CGV movie theater.'
It was truly absurd.
However, the words that came out of Jinhyuk's mouth were a far cry from his inner thoughts.
"Incredible...! I suppose there are many places like this on the upper floors of the tower as well."
"Haha. You'll be able to get there too someday, Player Kang Jinhyuk. Though, of course, we will always be one step ahead of you."
'Sure you will.'
'Though it looks like you're exactly one step away from entering your coffins.'
"Shall we get moving again, then?"
"Understood. Everyone, move out."
Takeshi nodded.
"Are you absolutely sure about the left, Lord Takeshi?"
Just to be safe, Maeda double-checked.
"Yes. Just as Player Kang Jinhyuk said, it's common for the Tower of Trials to lay traps within traps."
"...I see. Understood for now."
Although he felt like they were being dragged along, Maeda couldn't argue any further.
After all, the player who had accurately located the hidden dungeon on the 5th floor of the tower—which had never been revealed anywhere—was none other than Takeshi.
Takeshi was currently the most trusted player in the guild.
The raid team quickened their pace once more.
However, just as the last player stepped completely into the brightly lit passage,
Whoosh!
Rumble!
Suddenly, the flames began to dance wildly. Crimson lines completely encircled the players from all directions.
"W-what is this?"
"Didn't you say the left was safe?!"
"I-I thought so too... No, a trap of this level is just routine! Everyone, don't worry! As long as we don't move, those flames won't pose any threat!"
Takeshi tried to reassure everyone.
Of course, it was futile.
Rumble!
As if mocking his Future Sight, the crimson lines slowly began to close in.