Escape
“Ugh…”
The guy I’d struck across the head with the flat of my blade staggered, twisted, and crumpled to the floor.
I’d only meant to warn him, but he was weaker than I’d expected.
“B-Big bro, are you okay?!”
“Holy shit, he’s not breathing…?!”
The rest of them closed in with faces twisted in rage.
“Hey, rookie! Get over here and give big bro CPR, now!”
“What? Me?”
“I’m gonna mess that bitch up, so if you don’t want to watch him die, do it already!”
“…Fine.”
The so-called rookie started performing mouth-to-mouth with a look of pure disgust, while the remaining two drew their blades and charged.
“You’re not walking out of here in one piece today. I’m cutting off every limb you’ve got.”
They’re pretty quick, actually.
Still nowhere near as fast as a Dire Wolf, though.
“Die!”
“Huh. You just said you weren’t going to kill me.”
— CLANG!
Both of them swung at once, and I casually met their edges with my own.
Their strength… a little short of an orc’s, maybe?
“You little brat—how the hell are you this strong…!”
They strained with everything they had, trying to shove me back, while I leisurely took their measure.
Factoring in speed and power together…
“You guys are C-class, right? Barely scraping the bottom of it, too.”
“…!?”
“Yep. Called it.”
Assessment complete. Time to actually fight.
— THUD. THUD!
I kicked them square in the gut, one after the other.
“What the f—”
The impact must have been too much; both of them looked ready to black out on the spot.
Can’t have them dropping already.
I need to test my ability!
This was my chance to measure the power of the Aura that had wrecked my house.
— SMACK!
I slapped them across the face and shouted,
“Hey—! I’m not going to kill you, so don’t just collapse on me. Put up a little resistance, will you?”
“What is this crazy bitch even saying…!”
“Watch your mouth.”
I clenched my fist and looked down at them, about to inject a quick lesson in manners—
— CLANG!
Something slammed into the back of my head.
“Hm?”
I turned to check behind me.
The rookie who’d been doing CPR had just ambushed me.
“W-What the hell. I stabbed you with a knife—how are you still standing…”
“Oh, you little shit. Perfect timing.”
He froze solid, too scared to even twitch.
He’d make an excellent training dummy.
Aura.
Black mist began to bleed out into the air around me.
I’d planned to shape it and hit him with it, but—
“Ghk…!”
The mist crushed down on him. His face went blue, and he fainted clean away.
…He can’t even handle this?
Disappointed, I glanced at the others. They were in the same state—couldn’t even breathe under the pressure.
Way too weak.
I reeled the Aura back in with a sigh of regret.
All that remained in my house now were four unconscious men and one middle-school-aged girl (probably).
“Hmm.”
What was I supposed to do with them?
Yes, they’d broken into my place, but if I reported this to a guild, I’d almost certainly get dragged in right alongside them.
My head was starting to ache from the logistics when—
“…Huh?”
I realized the four faces looked vaguely familiar.
I snapped photos of them with my phone and ran a search.
Class 3 Wanted Criminals
Murder · Robbery · Violent Sex Crimes
“What.”
They were heinous criminals.
Well, that simplifies things.
Dump them on a guild and let them handle the rest.
I dug some rope out of the house and trussed all four of them up in one big bundle.
Let’s go, boys.
— Drrrrrk…
I dragged them across the ground all the way to the Hwasan Guild.
The next morning.
“Up we go.”
I stretched luxuriously in a soft bed and woke at my leisure.
Nice place.
The furniture was clean, the whole environment spotless. My condition felt fantastic as a result.
Today’s the day I climb the 10th floor.
In the Tower, a boss appeared every ten floors.
A little nerve-wracking, sure—but with my current specs, I ought to take it down easy.
Bosses are random so I don’t know exactly what’s coming,
but I’ll wrap it up quick.
“Mm.”
Another peaceful day on the board. I closed it and headed for the Tower.
My first boss floor.
I was excited—and, if I was honest, a little scared.
What if a dragon suddenly pops out as the boss?
Ridiculous, sure, but I couldn’t rule it out completely. A High Orc had already crashed the tutorial. Why couldn’t a dragon show up on the 10th floor?
Stay sharp.
With that in mind, I entered the 10th floor—
You have cleared the 10th floor!
Final Score: 30,000
The worldwide 10th-floor ranking record has been updated from 22,090 to 30,000!
—and killed the High Orc that had swaggered onto the stage about six seconds after the fight started.
I hadn’t even used my newly learned Aura ability.
“Ugh…”
I mean, if you thought about it, the result was obvious.
Disappointing.
There hadn’t been a single scrap of excitement in the whole climb. Looking at my combat power, I’d need at least a B-class monster for a real fight.
And those don’t show up until the late 20s at the earliest.
I was starting to truly despise the one-floor-per-day system.
Slumped and skipping system messages on autopilot, I suddenly saw something strange.
The Tower marvels at your achievement.
The System grants you temporary Star Authority.
Star Authority. Forest with No Exit.
Terms I’d never even seen online.
Like the tutorial—am I the first one to get this too?
I studied the message more carefully.
Clear it and the Star Authority disappears?
I wanted to go in, but charging in blind when I didn’t know what Star Authority even was felt reckless. What if it turned out to be something critical?
“What happens to the Star Authority if I don’t go in?”
If you decline the Hidden Stage, your Star Authority will dissipate.
It actually answered me.
Was someone watching?
…Well, if it was going to marvel at me, it must have been watching the fight.
Anyway.
If the Star Authority vanished no matter what I chose, walking into the Hidden Stage was the correct call.
It doesn’t even list the rewards this time.
But I was bored, so there was nothing to lose by going in. No need to even ask the board about this one.
“Enter.”
I said it with confidence, then gently shut my eyes to avoid the usual flashbang.
…What?
Unlike usual, nothing happened.
Wondering if something had gone wrong, I started to open my eyes—
— FWASH!
“KYAAAAH!”
Blinding white light punched straight through my retinas.
“…Is it over?”
I cracked my eyes open cautiously, half-expecting another blast of light.
A forest packed solid with trees stretched out before me.
🎯 Objective: Exit the forest by any means necessary.
🎁 Clear Reward: Permanent Star Scar
“?”
They dump you in a forest with no exit, and the objective is to escape the forest.
I stared blankly at the system window, too dumbfounded to speak.
…What’s a Star Scar?
The reward’s identity was suddenly the more interesting question. Time to ask the board.
(Photo of the system window listing the objective and reward)
Setting aside the bullshit of “no exit, now escape,”
what the hell is a Star Scar??
Unfortunately, the comments were completely useless.
Remote Space Slash? Come back when you have something that makes sense.
I’d just resigned myself to clearing this Hidden Stage on my own when—
(Photo of a Star Scar branded below the ribs across the chest)
See the Aquarius shape?
That’s a Star Scar
The gallery burned briefly over Dae-geom-jo-a-jo-a’s enormous chest, then—
I was starting to seriously question whether I should keep taking lessons from my paddak, but I decided to focus on the more important issue for now.
(Video of water suddenly erupting from an empty grassland)
(Video of water continuing to gush without end)
(Video looking down on a vast ocean from the sky)
This is roughly what it looks like when I use my ability
“…Huh?”
Everyone on the board was laughing. I couldn’t.
“Hhhh…”
This was a genuine emergency.
What the hell was I supposed to do?
…Let’s reread the objective.
Clinging to a scrap of hope, I read the system window over and over.
🎯 Objective: Exit the forest by any means necessary.
I had to leave a forest that couldn’t be escaped.
Did that mean I needed to teleport somewhere else?
There’s no way something like that would be possib—
…There was.
And it was an easy method I could use right now.
When someone from the board challenges you to a duel, you get pulled into an Inner World.
The second it clicked, I left a comment.
Cheong-sun-ga-ryeon has challenged you to a duel.
* By administrator privileges, you will be transferred to Cheong-sun-ga-ryeon’s Inner World in 15 seconds!
The second I posted, a request came in from my paddak.
Entering Cheong-sun-ga-ryeon’s Inner World…
The moment I opened my mouth to curse out my paddak, everything went black.
And then—
Climber’s escape from the forest confirmed.
Objective achieved!
Hidden Stage clear complete!
You will be transferred to the Reward Chamber shortly.
When I came to, I was standing in a pure white space.
Victory was mine.