Chapter 77
Chapter 77.
No.14 map, Garden of Death.
Here, as the map name suggests, as soon as you enter, purple-tinged flower buds that haven't bloomed yet were abundantly positioned all around.
'But I'm getting matched with different races here too.'
A dwarf that appeared to be about 120cm tall.
And even a fox beastman who was slightly shorter than him.
Lee Ganghan looked at the different races curiously, then first turned on TowerTube.
Then.
-Oh, here comes my dopamine
-Today's dinner photos came out great! The suit looked good on you!
-Ha, are you supporting that party now?
-Ah, why bring politics into this again ㅡㅡ When the president asks you to eat, can you tell him to get lost?
-For real ㅋㅋ
-So do you support them or not?
"I don't know politics~ I don't even know which president this is. I don't discuss related topics~"
-No, but the stupid concept is a bit...
-That's the wise thing to do ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Rather than that, please focus on the game?
-Anyway, he'll clear the tower quickly ㅋㅋㅋ We should talk about today's issues
-ㄴㄴ This is a cooperative battle map
-Oh, that's right?
Since Lee Ganghan distanced himself from politics, and this time the map that came up was a 'cooperative battle' map which was Lee Ganghan's first time, people's attention quickly returned to this side.
-It's Garden of Death
-The difficulty here is hard...
-Don't you die first and then start?
-ㅇㅇ After 3 minutes, poison gas comes out of the flowers and you die, then start from the 1st floor
Cooperative battle map, 'Garden of Death'.
This No.14 map used widely from Bronze to Platinum stages had a reputation for difficult gameplay.
In the chat window, there were many stories about 'Garden of Death', but.
'Die first and then start?'
What caught Lee Ganghan's eye first was 'die first and then start'.
If he dies and starts over, his Heavenly Demon Constitution grade will drop.
He should try to survive somehow.
While he was getting information about Garden of Death by looking at the chat window.
"Ahem, Hmm!"
The dwarf cleared his throat loudly, then.
"Human, are you sane? Where do you have the leisure to fool around with TowerTube on right now!"
He shouted at Lee Ganghan.
"Ah, the dwarf is noisy. Do you know who Lord Heavenly Demon is? He's humanity's top promising player."
"That's right. This person will clear everything for us. Don't worry."
Then two fellow humans immediately defended Lee Ganghan.
The two who had been grinning from the moment they got to play with Heavenly Demon thought they could easily win this cooperative battle too.
"Grr...! Even if you say he's humanity's top promising player, how strong can he be! He's still just a human!"
Getting matched with three humans.
This round is ruined.
Just as the dwarf continued grumbling.
"Sniff, sniff, Sniff."
The fox beastman approached near Lee Ganghan, sniffed, then.
"That bracelet, it's an Arena Bracelet, right?"
He immediately recognized the identity of the 'Arena Promising Player Bracelet' that Lee Ganghan was wearing.
"Arena Bracelet...?"
"There's a bracelet given to 10-star players, the one given to promising players."
"I, I know that too! For a mere human to have that...?"
Then the dwarf's gaze toward Lee Ganghan changed.
The contemptuous look in his eyes had somewhat softened.
-What's an Arena Bracelet?
-Come to think of it, he's wearing an accessory I haven't seen before
-He's been wearing that bracelet for a few days now ㅇㅇ
-I thought it was just decoration ㅋㅋ Since he doesn't wear much equipment
"It's a pretty useful bracelet. It makes you sleep well and gives you a shield."
-Shield???
-I've never seen it shield anything
-There's never been a need for a shield ㅋㅋ
Lee Ganghan smiled bitterly at that chat.
Cases where a shield was needed.
None in towers, but somehow it happened in reality.
'I don't need to mention now that the shield first activated when I almost got shot.'
Things like attacks from Chinese intelligence organizations.
It seemed like something that should be resolved through discussion with the government.
Lee Ganghan thought so and turned his gaze to the fox beastman.
"Despite how you look, you recognized it well."
"Sniff, sniff. I'm good at smelling treasures. And I've seen an Arena Bracelet before."
The fox head twitched its nose.
"Even if items look different, each treasure has its own unique scent. When they overlap, I knew it was an Arena Bracelet!"
Identifying what an item is by smell.
Do fox beastmen have such abilities?
When Lee Ganghan looked at him curiously.
"Right. Then human, are you Silver tier? If you're promising, you might get matched with one tier below."
The dwarf asked Lee Ganghan about his tier in a much softer voice.
Since he said one tier below is Silver, that side must be Gold?
"I'm Bronze though?"
Using honorifics with the fox since he used honorifics.
Using casual speech with the dwarf since he used casual speech, Lee Ganghan answered.
"What, what? Bronze? That's a two-tier difference!?"
"Sniff, sniff. I'm Silver."
The dwarf was shocked upon hearing Lee Ganghan's tier.
And the fox beastman chiming in from the side.
"Dwarf, aren't you just bad at this?"
"What?!"
"I, I'm also Gold..."
"I'm also Gold! But Lord Heavenly Demon is an incredible player! He's more than enough even at Gold!"
To summarize, two human players + dwarf are Gold.
The fox is Silver.
'The fox seems to have some skills.'
Just as Lee Ganghan was assessing his teammates' capabilities.
Ding.
[The flowers of death are blooming.]
A message saying flowers are blooming appeared for the entire team.
"Kuk. It's starting already...! Let's die first and properly organize the team below."
"Sniff, sniff. Right~ Let's think about how to strategize below~"
Two players who naturally assumed death upon seeing the message.
-Is this Heavenly Demon's first death?
-Come to think of it, I've never seen him die before ㅋㅋㅋ
-He probably can't hold out here, he can't overcome poison gas right?
-For real, everyone just dies instantly when the flower pollen starts flying
Viewers were also convinced that Heavenly Demon would die this time.
And for good reason.
Dying here first and everyone returning to the 1st floor was the common start of No.14 'Garden of Death'.
Shuuuuu...
As the flower buds opened and purple smoke rose.
Thud, Thud.
Players fell one by one.
'The poison is quite strong.'
Poison mist rushing in instantly.
How do you avoid that?
When Lee Ganghan was looking around and pondering countermeasures.
Ding.
['Arena Promising Player Bracelet' detects an intangible threat.]
[Barrier is activated.]
The Arena Promising Player Bracelet that had blocked bullets in reality activated once again.
***
Ziiiiing...
A blue barrier formed around Lee Ganghan's body.
The purple smoke couldn't penetrate the shield and lingered thickly around.
-Oh, this is the bracelet barrier?
-Pretty useful ㄷㄷ
-I didn't know it could block poison gas too
-Ah, I've seen mages block it with barriers when they start here
Viewers were amazed, wondering if this was the bracelet's effect after seeing the shield blocking the poison mist.
However,
-But you can't keep holding out indefinitely...
-Wouldn't it be better to die quickly?
-ㅇㅇ You need to match up with teammates
-Starting from the 1st floor is standard
The majority opinion in the chat was to die first and then start.
Since viewers didn't know that Lee Ganghan's Heavenly Demon Constitution grade would drop if he died, they didn't think much of dying once in the Tower of Infinity.
'But the situation is different here.'
He shouldn't die that easily.
Lee Ganghan turned his gaze away from the chat window and carefully examined his surroundings.
A garden covered in purple mist, with nothing properly visible.
At least the flowers emitting smoke were somewhat visible.
Other than that, there were no escape routes or places like that visible at all.
'This really seems hopeless.'
Is this why everyone just dies and starts over?
Lee Ganghan shook his head and moved toward where the poison mist was relatively thinner.
As he started moving.
Crack...
The barrier's surface cracked slightly.
[5 minutes remaining for barrier duration.]
A message appeared saying the shield would end in 5 minutes.
'Is it because it activated in reality earlier? The duration is short.'
Those Lowest Grade Disciples are really useless.
Lee Ganghan frowned and deployed his lightness skill to the maximum.
As he wandered around the garden where purple flowers were in full bloom.
Ding.
[Teammate 1: Hey Bronze!!! Why aren't you coming down yet!]
A new chat window opened, and Teammate 1's chat appeared.
'I know who that is right away.'
That dwarf who was speaking rudely earlier.
[Teammate 2: Bronze mr, why aren't you coming~ Ah, did the barrier activate by chance? If you say 'barrier release', it gets released~]
This speech pattern seemed like the fox beastman.
[Teammate 3: Lord Heavenly Demon, please take your time coming!]
[Teammate 4: We can wait forever!]
3 and 4 seemed to be fellow human players.
[Teammate 1: You crazy bastards, stop talking nonsense and hurry up and come $%&]!!!]
[Teammate 2: Dwarfs are all alcoholics, so they have rags in their mouths~]
[Teammate 1: What? This Silver idiot... Hey, come here and let's fight!]
[Teammate 2: Gold getting matched with Silver should be embarrassed~ No wait, you got matched with Bronze too? Hehe]
The team chat room went quiet after that chat.
Meanwhile, it seemed viewers could also see this team chat room.
-It's a mess ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Are those two fighting right now?
-Lord Heavenly Demon, hurry up and die and go down ㅋㅋㅋ
-But why is the dwarf so sensitive ㅡㅡ
-Honestly, I can't say I don't understand the dwarf's feelings
-You have to come down quickly and strategize from the 1st floor, so it's annoying if you dawdle ㅋㅋ
Certainly, normally you'd die immediately and discuss team play with teammates from the 1st floor, which would be the basic play direction for cooperative battles.
Lee Ganghan holding out alone here wasn't good team manners.
-But why is the fox taking Heavenly Demon's side? ㅋㅋㅋ
-Strangely favorable ㅇㅇ
-The fox was cute... the voice being too deep is a flaw
-Why???
-It's probably male ㅠ
-Are you insane;;
In contrast to the dwarf who had built up negative feelings in that short time, the fox beastman was gaining viewers' favor.
He was taking a favorable attitude toward Lee Ganghan, and his appearance seemed to play a part too.
'But how does he know about barrier release?'
Silver isn't that high a tier.
Recognizing the item at once too, he's quite well-informed.
Lee Ganghan thought the fox beastman was interesting and asked the viewers.
"How do you type in team chat?"
-Ah, it's your first cooperative battle today
-Click that chat window and speak, it automatically inputs the chat
"I see."
Simple.
Lee Ganghan touched the newly appeared team chat room.
"I'm going to look around here a bit more. You guys go ahead and proceed~"
He clearly stated that he had no intention of going down right now.
-Ah... Ahhh...
-Ugh, he's trolling!
-ㄴㄴㄴ If it's Lord Heavenly Demon, he'll clear it from here
-Right, they'll get carried too
As Lee Ganghan openly declared he would look around.
[Teammate 1: Hey you &&$%&973 bastard, hurry up and come down! You're really crazy!!!]
[Teammate 2: Ah... this is a bit... I can't shield this either~]
Teammate 1's chat was instantly filled with special characters.
Was there a profanity filtering function here too?
Lee Ganghan chuckled.
"Since we're already late, wait just a little longer~"
He scratched the dwarf's nerves once more and continued exploring.
However,
-But does wandering around yield any results?
-For real, all I see is poison gas;
-Just go...?
-I'm starting to understand the dwarf's feelings a little
-Teammate 1's chat now only shows special characters ㅋㅋㅋ
Even though almost 5 minutes had passed, there was no progress in the exploration.
No matter how much he went, all he saw were purple flowers and poison gas.
It was a situation where no solution was emerging.
'The barrier will end at this rate.'
How will he block that poison gas next?
When Lee Ganghan was thinking that while looking at the fading barrier.
Flash, Flash.
Green light clusters entered his field of vision.
'Oh, this is...!'
'That's the effect when Legendary Adventurer's Eye activates, right?'
Lee Ganghan's eyes sparkled as he ran toward the light.
Then there was.
'What? It's just a flower?'
Among the countless purple flowers blooming in the Garden of Death, the Legendary Adventurer's Eye effect was activating on one of them.
It didn't look much different from the others nearby.
Still.
'Let's trust the skill over my judgment.'
I should trust the Legendary Adventurer's Eye.
As he thought that and brought his hand to the purple flower.
[You have discovered a Thorn Flower.]
[The Thorn Flower closes its flower bud.]
[The flower contains poison again.]
Several lines of system messages appeared.
Sssssss...
All the fully bloomed flower buds closed, and the poison mist was sucked into them.