Unexpected Company on the Second Floor
Hyun Si-woon quickly climbed atop the stone gate and concealed himself.
As time passed, people caked thickly in mud approached.
Spear, blunt weapon, shield, bow, staff.
A party composed of exactly five people.
Ha.
Hyun Si-woon sighed inwardly.
This was a situation he had not anticipated. Something had gone wrong.
The reason he had insisted on soloing despite his poor physical condition was precisely to monopolize the hidden route. If the map ended up shared like this, everything would be for nothing.
Was it an automatic join system?
The map capacity for the Tower of Despair had always been six. Even in the past, if the quota was not full, you could still enter the room. Of course, the situation was unfamiliar to Hyun Si-woon. When he had played before, users themselves had already dried up. EndSeeker had always kept five alts parked in the party, leaving no gap for other players to squeeze in. Moreover, past the tenth floor, there had simply been no users capable of entering at all.
Damn it.
As he held his breath, the approaching faces gradually came into view.
Huh?
Hyun Si-woon's eyes lit up.
Three men and two women—and four of the five were familiar faces.
"Ha, fuck. This feels off."
Thud!
The solidly built man who drove his spear into the ground, leaned his back against the stone gate, and brushed mud from his clothes was Yu Jae-jun—the famous streamer known as 'Raven'. He, too, had been a user of the Tower of Despair in the past. There had been plenty of talk about woman trouble, though Hyun Si-woon had never bothered with the details. Other people's private lives held no interest for him.
"Do-hee."
"Yes."
"Hurry up and grab the skill so we can move. See the hole in that white stone gate over there? Just stick your staff into it."
Do-hee?
A woman with neatly tied black hair... someone he was seeing for the first time, holding a staff.
Can a woman even take down a gladiator with a staff in the first place?
If so, that would be some serious physical talent... yet her frame was slender. Beside her stood a man with a shield looking after her...
Whoa. Baek Yeon-ho.
Jackpot!
Hyun Si-woon marveled inwardly. The man was famous as well—a former pro gamer who had maintained top-ranker status across nearly every genre. A monster. He was also the only streamer Hyun Si-woon had ever enjoyed watching regularly. His results in the Tower of Despair, however, had not been particularly strong. As Hyun Si-woon recalled, he had cleared up to the fifth floor and then quit, calling it boring.
Did they form the Avengers or something?
Hyun Si-woon was dumbfounded. And the reason was simple: the woman holding the bow beside him carried an even more ridiculous résumé.
Was there anyone in Korea who did not know her?
South Korea's national archery gold medalist.
Kang Si-a.
She had taken the world's youngest gold medal at sixteen and, through her current age of nineteen, had swept four golds across four years—a genius among geniuses. South Korea was where the world's archery monsters gathered, and she had claimed first place there every single year... overwhelmingly. Her looks had star power as well, so she had appeared in commercials frequently, as he recalled. She was a sports star trailed by glittering titles: Archery Fairy, Archery Goddess, Artemis, and more.
And the last one.
Choi Geon-woo.
Boasting an absurd physique of 190 cm and 120 kg, he was infamous as a troublemaker among streamers. Still, his monstrous strength had to be acknowledged. A former strongman champion with MMA competition experience as well. He and Yu Jae-jun were practically childhood friends.
Hyun Si-woon realized it anew.
I really did watch a lot of streams.
To know this much about people he was meeting for the first time. Then again, that simply meant they were that famous.
Anyway.
Hyun Si-woon deliberated. Should he step out now? Or wait?
The deliberation was brief.
Thud.
Hyun Si-woon lightly dropped from atop the stone gate.
Thump!
A dull sound rang out as his feet met the damp mud. The five pairs of eyes that reacted instantly all locked onto him at once.
"What the hell!"
"Who are you!"
Everyone raised their guard and shifted into combat stances.
"What is that?"
"A person...?"
"Looks like a second-floor Climber? How is this even possible?"
The five glanced at one another's faces in confusion.
"Hello."
Hyun Si-woon forced a smile and dipped his head in a polite bow. Since they were sharing the map, they were people he would inevitably run into when dealing with the Phantom Knight. Better, then, to size them up in advance.
Especially.
Kang Si-a, in particular, held real interest for him. He needed to learn how to shoot a bow, and if he was going to learn, better to learn from the world's best. Of course, being good at shooting did not automatically mean being good at teaching. If her personality was strange or uncooperative, he had no intention of forcing any relationship.
"Who are you?"
Yu Jae-jun's sharp gaze stabbed into Hyun Si-woon.
"Our party is in the middle of clearing this... Have there been cases of overlapping with other teams?"
"I was surprised myself."
"Your team?"
"..."
What should he say? Would they even believe him if he claimed he had entered alone?
"I'm alone."
"...Did they all die?"
"Let's just say that for now."
"You talk strangely. First of all, don't approach—stand right there."
Yu Jae-jun gestured and gathered his party members to discuss how to handle Hyun Si-woon.
"Guys, what do we do about this?"
Choi Geon-woo answered at once.
"What do you mean what. Just kick him out. He looks scrawny as hell."
"You're going to leave someone alone in a place like this?"
The one who pushed back was the woman called Do-hee. Her full name was Baek Do-hee. From what he overheard, she was Baek Yeon-ho's older sister.
"If we leave him, he'll definitely die."
"So you want to take him into the team? That scrawny guy?"
Choi Geon-woo shot back, irritation thick in his voice.
"We can't just leave him to die. He's a person."
"Person this, person that. If we pick up dead weight for no reason, we're the ones who end up in danger."
"That part Geon-woo's right about."
Yu Jae-jun spoke with finality.
"In a place like this, premature sympathy only leads to death. We have to judge coldly."
Watching them whisper among themselves, Hyun Si-woon sighed inwardly.
Hoo. I can hear everything...
It was also a little bitter. He had expected it, yet they seemed to look down on him even more than he had thought. Still, listening to the conversation gave him a rough read on their personalities.
Yu Jae-jun and Choi Geon-woo were exactly as they appeared—rough, and while they seemed rational, they were cold. He understood. Surviving somewhere like this required that kind of steel.
Baek Do-hee, on the other hand? Emotional. From what he had half-heard, she was a former military nursing officer. Was it the influence of her profession? She seemed the type who simply could not casually abandon people. Still, he was grateful. After all, she was raising her voice to keep him alive.
"Opinions seem roughly in, so as promised, we go by vote."
Yu Jae-jun folded his arms.
"Anyone who thinks we should drive that guy out?"
Swoosh.
Yu Jae-jun and Choi Geon-woo raised their hands at the same time.
"Then anyone who thinks we should take him along?"
Swoosh.
This time Baek Do-hee and Baek Yeon-ho raised theirs.
"I'm not saying accept him as a full teammate, but we can't just leave him either. And if he's got a head on his shoulders, he could still contribute something."
"I'm just on Noona's side."
The score was 2–2.
"Kang Si-a."
Yu Jae-jun called her name.
"Yes."
"You?"
"Hmm."
Kang Si-a hesitated a moment.
"Can I be honest?"
"Of course."
"That person... somehow doesn't look weak."
"What?"
"...That scrawny guy?"
Yu Jae-jun and Choi Geon-woo both raised their eyebrows in open disbelief.
"I don't think we should judge by appearance alone. More than anything, even though he's by himself, his expression is completely composed."
"Hmm."
Yu Jae-jun let out a sigh.
"Then is it 2–3?"
His face openly showed disappointment.
Hyun Si-woon regarded Kang Si-a with interest.
At least she's not as dumb as those two.
Kang Si-a's words were correct. Being on the second floor meant he had already proven himself on the first, and had received additional stat bonuses as well. Judging an opponent by looks only worked before the first floor. In reality Hyun Si-woon's stats were 6, 6, 6, 6, and 11... yet his appearance was still stuck at the early 3, 3, 2, 3, 10 stage.
I really need to start working out.
Once he finished the second floor, he planned to focus for a while on improving his physical capabilities.
Okay.
Rough power assessment complete.
"Um, excuse me."
Hyun Si-woon cut in.
"I don't think there was any need for that discussion."
"What?"
"I have no intention of joining that party."
Hoo.
Hyun Si-woon drew a deep breath, forced his racing heart to settle, and swallowed dryly.
Then—
Shing!
The moment he drew his sword, they tensed.
"W-what the hell!"
Hyun Si-woon intended to die.
To learn the skill he would have to negotiate with them, but with Baek Do-hee holding the staff, negotiation was impossible. Forcing his way in to learn it would mean fighting five-to-one—something he could not win—and he had no desire to waste strength on a pointless fight.
If I can't monopolize it alone, better to just reset.
Simply regress, come back, and learn it again. Far faster.
Quick retry!
Let's finish this in one go.
There were many ways to die. Throwing himself at a Poison Swamp Predator was one option, but he truly hated that. The cleanest method was to drive the sword tip firmly into the cervical vertebrae at the back of the neck. Instant death, no pain.
It's sad that I know this.
He had learned it while dying to a Corrupted Gladiator.
"Y-you... what are you doing!"
Seeing the reverse-gripped sword, Baek Do-hee reached out and stepped forward.
But—
Thud!
Hyun Si-woon's body collapsing lifelessly onto the swamp came first.
Special ability Regression has activated.
This is your eleventh regression.
"Cough—!"
Choking agony tore through him as a phlegmy cough burst out. The sensation of a blade grazing his throat still lingered, but it vanished almost at once.
As expected. This was the cleanest way.
He looked around. The swamp again.
Thinking about it, there was no need to wait a full twenty-four hours.
If skills and stats accumulated? He could simply learn them one by one and regress.
Hyun Si-woon immediately broke into a run.
Back to the Stone Gate of the Dead.
He had to hurry. He needed to open the gate and learn the skill before they arrived.
"Hup— hah!"
Fortunately the map layout had not changed. He sprinted along the familiar path at full tilt and perfectly baited past the notorious Poison Swamp Predator. The Stone Gate of the Dead was not far now. Having done it once already, he did not even twist an ankle this time.
He arrived at the Stone Gate of the Dead.
Ssshk.
Without a moment's delay, Hyun Si-woon pulled out a staff and drove it hard into the hole of the red stone gate wreathed in crimson energy.
Rumble—!
The patterns carved into the gate blazed red, and a massive heat leaked out from within. Exactly as he had seen in the game.
Flame of the Dead.
The instant he touched that fire—
Whoooosh!
Heat raced from his fingertips straight into his heart. It felt as though a new power was being branded deep inside his body.
Fire Bolt
Once per minute, generate flame magic and launch it forward.
"Good."
He drew his sword again.
"...Fuck."
A faint wave of emptiness washed over him. At this rate, would he start treating his own life far too casually later on?
That thought could wait for later.
Let's finish the hidden content first.
Thrust!
The blade punched clean through his throat.