Chapter 69
Chapter 69.
"That guy who was floundering in the sea at first... has become unbelievably strong."
"Thanks for the compliment."
Thud, Thud.
As Lee Ganghan approached him.
"Kugh..."
Columbus, who had tried to raise the broken wine bottle to resist Lee Ganghan.
"...There's no point in doing this."
He put the bottle back down, showing he had no intention of resisting.
"Not going to fight?"
"What's the point of fighting a monster like you? Right now, I'm just an ordinary drunkard."
While saying this, Columbus looked around with tired eyes.
"Yeah... That's why I can't understand it. I'm just a navigator who received investment from the queen to find the New World. Sure, I was a bit greedy, but is that enough to be included in the Seven Deadly Sins... and Greed at that?"
"Who knows."
"The vengeful spirits too. The people who died because of me would be at most in the thousands, so what are all those vengeful spirits filling that sea? Why am I being held responsible for my descendants slaughtering New World slaves!"
Perhaps he felt he had many grievances.
Columbus shouted loudly despite his aged body.
But.
"I don't know about that either."
Lee Ganghan wasn't moved by his outcry at all.
After all, it wasn't like this side had appointed him as one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
That was entirely Columbus's situation.
"Rather than that, why don't you tell me what you know about the First Tower?"
"What...?"
"When you were firing cannons earlier, you compared it to the 'Iron' days, and seeing how you know about such grades... you must have knowledge about the towers too. Isn't that right?"
Seeing that he recognized player grades like Iron and Bronze.
It meant Columbus also had knowledge about the towers.
Lee Ganghan was curious about the knowledge that Columbus, the Guardian of Greed, possessed.
"Tower, knowledge about the towers..."
Columbus, who had been muttering Lee Ganghan's question to himself.
Snicker.
Soon raised the corners of his mouth.
"I only know about myself. I don't have any knowledge that would help you."
"I'll judge that after hearing it."
"Really? Then..."
Thud.
Columbus, who sat down on the spot, unconsciously brought the mouth of the broken wine bottle to his lips.
Seeing that the bottle was broken and its contents were gone, he smacked his lips.
"Bring me a proper wine bottle, then I'll tell you what I know."
This is really something.
There's no cure for alcoholism.
Lee Ganghan chuckled and looked for a liquor bottle.
Whoosh...
When one of the vengeful spirits brought him a wine bottle.
He took it and handed it over.
"Hmph. Even in death, the slave mentality remains the same..."
Columbus, who mocked such vengeful spirits.
Crash!
Broke the mouth of the wine bottle with his hand.
And immediately drank from the bottle.
"Do you know why I was included in the Seven Deadly Sins?"
"That again? What connection does that have with the towers?"
"Just listen. I, Columbus, am not a good person. Yes, I sold those natives as slaves and exploited their wealth. Greed? Yes, I was greedy enough. But you know."
Bang!
He stopped drinking wine.
And slammed the bottle down hard on the deck.
"Looking at humanity as a whole, am I an evil person worth mentioning? There are countless monarchs who massacred tens of thousands of people, and slave traders existed in every era. How could an adventurer like me be included in the Seven Deadly Sins?"
"..."
I was trying to hear some tower information.
This drunkard is just talking about himself again.
'At this rate, I'll reach the time limit. Should I just throw him into the sea?'
The time limit for staying in the First Tower that's proportional to level.
Since his level had risen quite a bit compared to last time, the time he could stay here would have increased.
But if he kept listening to this drunkard's lament like this, the tower conquest could end due to time limit like last time.
While Lee Ganghan was seriously considering whether to finish off Columbus.
"Of course... I did hear about my crime initially."
He brought up the story about his 'sin.'
"Really? What was it?"
"I'm a sinner who eliminated a certain 'possibility.'"
"Possibility?"
"Yeah..."
Gulp, Gulp.
While drinking wine, he said.
"I eliminated a possibility... What possibility disappeared because I discovered the New World?"
"Who knows. There are too many to know."
The New World natives were ultimately wiped out.
Is it related to that?
While Lee Ganghan was making his own speculations.
"They didn't even tell me that. They just said they'd forgive this sin if I killed the challenger..."
Columbus, who had been pointing at Lee Ganghan with a staggering hand.
Thud.
Let go of the wine bottle he was holding.
"That's all I know."
"...That's it?"
"Yeah. Didn't I say I only know about myself?"
"What about information on the First Tower?"
"That? I don't even remember. I've been dead for so long, why would I know about the situations of those who came after?"
He really only knows about himself.
As Lee Ganghan let out a hollow laugh.
"Then..."
Columbus staggered to his feet.
And shrugged his shoulders.
"What will you do with me now? Will you kill me with your own hands?"
"I was thinking of throwing you into the sea."
"Why?"
"I have to set them free."
"Ha. Barbaric slave bastards. It's natural for losers to have everything taken away..."
Columbus, who sneered while looking at the vengeful spirits surrounding him.
Staggered toward the edge of the deck.
"Well, fine. I was defeated too..."
Creak.
At the end of the deck.
Columbus, standing on the railing.
"I'll follow the winner's will."
Splash!
He fell into the sea without a moment's hesitation.
Then.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...!
The vengeful spirits all gathered toward where he had fallen.
From there.
[Benefactor.]
[May we...]
[Finish him off?]
Various types of voices were heard simultaneously.
"Go ahead."
When Lee Ganghan's permission was given.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
The vengeful spirits gathered at one point.
Slash, Slash!
The sound of something being torn to shreds could be heard.
And not long after.
[You have cleared the battlefield 'Sea of Darkness' on B1 floor.]
A clear message appeared before his eyes.
Whoosh...
The surroundings changed back to the space before entering B1.
***
The dark space where he had first spun the Seven Deadly Sins roulette.
Lee Ganghan stood there blankly and thought.
'I cleared it safely, but...'
Columbus seemed to be cooperative.
But in the end, he told me almost nothing.
'Well, it was just the basement 1st floor stage anyway, so I should be satisfied with this much.'
The Sea of Darkness was the most troublesome map he had encountered so far.
But this was still only B1 in the First Tower.
Getting too much from here might be greedy.
Then.
[Calculating performance on B1 floor...]
[You cleared within 3 attempts.]
[You cleared at a grade below Platinum.]
[You left Columbus's end to the vengeful spirits.]
A performance calculation message appeared.
Three evaluation conditions were displayed.
'Oh ho. This is at least the pattern when SSS+ comes out?'
Having received SSS+ so many times.
Lee Ganghan could now roughly tell by looking.
He thought it was good that he left the finish to the vengeful spirits, and waited for the clear evaluation.
And soon.
[Clear Evaluation – SSS+]
[Opening clear rewards.]
"Oh."
An evaluation higher than expected.
SSS+ appeared.
'With this, can I expect TP rewards and a level up?'
Lee Ganghan had gained quite a few levels earlier thanks to the light of the angel's sword.
If he received another level up as a reward this time.
It seemed like he would quickly reach level 50, the Bronze limit level, even though he hadn't been in Bronze for long.
But.
Instead of a level up message or TP acquisition message appearing.
Whoosh...
Three treasure chests were created before Lee Ganghan's eyes.
Then.
Flash!
The three chests opened simultaneously.
System message windows floated up above each one.
[Legendary Adventurer's Eye]
[Santa Maria]
[New World's Gold Mine]
'Ho ho.'
All three rewards looked appealing just from their names.
Since he got an SSS+ evaluation, maybe he'd get all of them?
Lee Ganghan initially had such expectations.
[Please select 1 out of 3 rewards.]
But he could only choose one.
'That's a shame.'
At least it was fortunate that he could check the names before choosing.
Lee Ganghan swallowed his disappointment.
And examined the three rewards.
First, let's press the first one that appeared, 'Legendary Adventurer's Eye'.
Whirr...
A separate explanation appeared before his eyes.
[Legendary Adventurer's Eye]
Grade: SS
Passive skill.
When entering a tower, you can find hidden clear conditions with a certain probability.
Also, when examining the inside of a map, you can find hidden locations with a certain probability.
The skill activation probability increases in proportion to Agility stats.
'That's good?'
When climbing towers, he often received S grades because he didn't know the hidden clear conditions.
If he got this Legendary Adventurer's Eye, he could know the hidden conditions?
Also, he liked that the skill activation probability increased in proportion to Agility stats.
Lee Ganghan's agility had far transcended the human realm.
'This is the most appealing, but... let me check the others first.'
His heart was already more than half set on the Adventurer's Eye.
But still, to check, Lee Ganghan examined the next reward.
[Santa Maria]
Grade: S+
The flagship that the legendary adventurer Columbus rode when discovering the New World.
Can only be summoned on water.
Navigation is possible without crew, and automatic repairs proceed even if damaged.
'Ship summoning is... ambiguous.'
Santa Maria.
A ship that moves automatically seemed fine.
But how often would there be occasions to use ship summoning?
Especially among the maps he could encounter in towers.
There were almost no battlefields where 'water' was the main feature.
'Let's pass on this one.'
Lee Ganghan excluded Santa Maria from his options.
And examined the last item.
[New World's Gold Mine]
Installs a massive gold mine in Ten Thousand Demon Battle.
It becomes possible to mine gold by deploying Ten Thousand Demon Battle members.
Mined gold is automatically converted to TP, and the more skilled the miner, the more TP is converted.
The 'New World's Gold Mine' has a limit to how much can be mined.
This facility cannot be leveled up.
'It's really a gold mine.'
New World's Gold Mine where Ten Thousand Demon Battle members are deployed to mine gold.
He didn't know what the mining limit was.
But still, being a gold mine, it would probably give considerable TP.
'If I choose this, I could mine gold here and even rebuild the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect.'
Certainly, considering that.
This gold mine looked better than Santa Maria.
'But I'm still more drawn to the Legendary Adventurer's Eye.'
Since the difference between SSS+ clear evaluation and S rewards was so significant.
Lee Ganghan's heart leaned toward the Adventurer's Eye.
When he made up his mind and chose the chest with 'Legendary Adventurer's Eye' floating above it.
[Would you like to receive the skill 'Legendary Adventurer's Eye' as a reward?]
Another confirmation message appeared.
Click.
When Lee Ganghan pressed yes without hesitation.
[You acquire the skill 'Legendary Adventurer's Eye.']
Something other than Heavenly Demon-related skills.
Was added to his skill window for the first time.
'I'll only know how it actually applies when I enter a tower next time.'
Or maybe conditions will appear when I go down to B2?
Lee Ganghan thought so and looked around to see where he should go to proceed to the next stage.
Flash, Flash.
In one corner of the darkness.
A faint green light cluster caught his eye.
'Huh? That light... I don't think it was there before.'
Could he go to B2 by going there?
As Lee Ganghan walked toward the light.
[Heavenly Demon lord?]
"Hm?"
[Ah. I was wondering why you're going that way.]
"Don't you see some light over there?"
[Light?]
The Divine Maiden ghost was puzzled by Lee Ganghan's words.
That green light wasn't visible to her eyes?
Then.
Flash...
Near where Lee Ganghan was standing.
A red portal appeared.
[Uh... that looks like a portal going down?]
"Right."
A red portal that was now somewhat familiar to his eyes.
Could he go to B2 by entering there?
But then what was that green light cluster?
When Lee Ganghan was wondering.
['Legendary Adventurer's Eye' has activated.]
[You have found a hidden location.]
Ding.
Along with a message that 'Adventurer's Eye' had activated.
The green light cluster began to become clearer and clearer.