The Phantom Knight
Whoosh!
The moment he passed through the portal, his vision flipped in a rush. The outside of the basement they had left behind came into view.
“…….”
The surroundings were still quiet.
Current Unsealed Bases: 5/6
The sealing stone remained intact. That meant they were still hunting down below.
The Wraith Weapon Merchant was a fairly troublesome opponent. Its attack power wasn’t particularly high; the real problem was its excellent evasion rate, letting it dart around and slip away. They were probably stuck in something like a game of whack-a-mole. Of course, that didn’t mean they could afford to let their guard down. It swapped between six different weapons in turn—one mistake and you could go down hard.
Well, they’ll figure it out on their own.
He had no desire to stick his nose in and hand out free tips to the ones who had gone down by themselves.
“Hah.”
Hyun Si-woon leaned against the wall and caught his breath. His cheek twitched. A laugh slipped out.
All the hardship, the pain, the bitterness of the past—they had all been flung far away by a single weapon. The sense of achievement was absolutely insane. Those others would be thrilled just to have gotten a rare weapon, but Hyun Si-woon had obtained the one-and-only weapon in the entire tower.
It really was rough, though.
Physically, yes, but the mental exhaustion hit even harder. He was just closing his eyes for a moment of meditation when—
“Hahahahat!”
A delighted burst of laughter floated up from the stairs below. That irritating voice could only belong to Yu Jae-jun. The noisy clamor gradually drew nearer…
Looks like they cleared it safely.
If someone had died, he wouldn’t be laughing so freely.
Yu Jae-jun’s party emerged.
“Of all things, it had to drop a spear! Didn’t I tell you? Last night’s dream was a good one!”
“…….”
The atmosphere was off. Only Yu Jae-jun was laughing; the rest wore faces like they’d bitten into something foul.
The Wraith Weapon Merchant had dropped a rare spear. From the sound of it, they’d agreed that if a sword came out they’d sell it at the exchange outside and split the proceeds fairly, but if someone’s preferred weapon dropped, it would go to that person.
“Aren’t you celebrating a little too hard by yourself? We all worked for it.”
Baek Do-hee pouted.
“So what if I am? Don’t tell me you’re complaining about something we already agreed on beforehand?”
“No, it’s not that….”
Baek Do-hee let out a sigh that said she was done with it. It probably wasn’t full-blown dissatisfaction—just irritation at Yu Jae-jun for completely failing to read the room.
That team’s going to fall apart soon enough.
Hyun Si-woon shook his head. Through repeated regressions he had seen this pattern many times—personalities that simply didn’t mesh. Two groups that never should have mixed, forced together.
“Hey, you’re still alive?”
Yu Jae-jun looked at Hyun Si-woon and smirked.
“I was worried you might’ve wandered off and gotten yourself killed.”
“Worried, huh.”
Hyun Si-woon answered lightly. As if. If he’d really been worried, he would have taken him down into the basement with them.
“Well, I’m in a good mood.”
Whoosh!
Yu Jae-jun spun the spear around for show. From rare grade onward, the quality was on another level. The blade was smooth, looking genuinely high-class.
“Since I scored a nice item, I’ll do you a favor. The Phantom Knight—this body of mine will clear it personally.”
“We’re going right away?”
Choi Geon-woo stepped closer to ask.
“Obviously. Break the sealing stone right now.”
“You need to be careful.”
Baek Yeon-ho cut in.
“Don’t let your guard down. Its defense is high and its patterns are unpredictable—one mistake and you’re finished.”
“I know. I’m Raven.”
“…….”
Baek Yeon-ho nodded, then moved over to his older sister Baek Do-hee and whispered something. Roughly: stay in the back and just keep the healing up.
Because Hyun Si-woon had died a few times already, Baek Do-hee had learned healing safely.
“…….”
Twang, twang!
Kang Si-a simply and silently drew and released an empty bowstring over and over, fine-tuning her senses.
Whoosh!
Hyun Si-woon drew his sword as well—the sword of a low-rank Ascender. He deliberately kept the Formless Sword hidden. They looked similar, but the subtle differences were there. The others might not notice, but Baek Yeon-ho’s pro-gamer eye might catch something off.
Specs are identical for now, at least.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Hyun Si-woon swung his sword, loosening up, when—
“We’re going.”
Crash!
Yu Jae-jun smashed the final sealing stone with his spear.
Current Unsealed Bases: 6/6
Unsealing all bases.
Rumble!
That was when the ground began to shake.
Ssshhh!
The fog over the swamp started clearing at speed, revealing the entire landscape. The patterns carved into the floor glowed and sharpened, then began to writhe as if they were living things.
“W-what is this?”
Baek Do-hee, seeing the spectacle for the first time, pressed herself against Baek Yeon-ho’s back.
“It’s just the cutscene. Wait.”
“Heh, the Phantom Knight’s entrance scene is a little over the top.”
Yu Jae-jun spoke with forced ease, but his arm was trembling on pure instinct.
The swamp was one enormous circular magic circle. The bases they had occupied formed the nodes of a single formation.
Hyun Si-woon lifted his head and looked at the sky. An ominous sealing net was visible there.
There.
The Phantom Knight was sealed up there.
At that moment—
Kuuooooooh!
From each base, one after another—six pillars in total—shot upward into the sky.
Kwagagagaga!
The beams of light that had been fired skyward converged on a single point and began hammering against the massive sealing net.
—Gooooooooh!
A long, eerie wail rose from somewhere.
The seal of the Cursed Guardian, ‘Phantom Knight’, is being released.
Clatter, clatter-clatter!
From somewhere came the sound of hooves crushing the earth. At first it was only a faint silhouette. But it steadily took on form.
“Th-that’s….”
Baek Do-hee swallowed hard. Baek Yeon-ho nodded.
“That’s right. The Phantom Knight.”
A massive Phantom Steed covered in armor, and seated upon it a figure clad in rusted plate. A knight with a spear. Not a living knight—a dead one. The armor itself was empty. Literally hollow inside.
“W-we’re supposed to take that thing down?”
“Like I said earlier, we take out the Phantom Steed first and kill its mobility!”
True to form for a pro gamer—he had been briefing the team on what they needed to do ever since earlier.
And then—
“Hey, weakling.”
Yu Jae-jun looked at Hyun Si-woon.
“Huh?”
“You just stand there and watch. Don’t get in the way. Got it?”
“…….”
He had even warmed up so he could help, and now he was being told to spectate?
Fine, whatever.
Hyun Si-woon shrugged.
Surprisingly nice guy.
At least he wasn’t using him as a meat shield. Hyun Si-woon didn’t mind. He was actually grateful. If they cleared it themselves, he got a free bus ride. Even if they failed, they would have already put some damage in—making the fight that much easier for him.
“Alright.”
Whoosh!
Yu Jae-jun spun his spear.
“Let’s go!”
“Charge!”
They had already coordinated. Just as Baek Yeon-ho had explained, they were going after the Phantom Steed first.
That’s the correct order, sure.
Hyun Si-woon nodded. Of course, back when he was grinding Tower of Despair as a pure stale-water veteran, he had simply leaped straight up and driven his sword into the knight’s weak point—the head—at the perfect timing.
“Charge pattern!”
Baek Yeon-ho shouted as the Phantom Steed’s hooves slammed the ground and it snorted.
“I’ll block it—get ready!”
After that—
Kwagagagagaga!
It charged straight at Baek Yeon-ho. An enormous rush of speed, yet Baek Yeon-ho did not dodge.
“Noona!”
“I know!”
Baek Do-hee’s healing light poured over his body, and then—
Kwaaang!
The Phantom Steed’s head smashed into the shield.
“Kh-khuhk!”
Blood burst from Baek Yeon-ho’s mouth. He was driven back three full steps, but he did not fall. He held up remarkably well, considering how heavy the impact had to be.
“N-now!”
“Hit the right front leg first!”
Blocking the charge with a shield left the Phantom Steed briefly stunned. In that window they had to focus fire on one leg.
Clang-clang-clang!
Choi Geon-woo charged in and began hammering down with his axe like a madman. Yu Jae-jun stabbed with his spear as well—clang! clang! From farther back, Kang Si-a loosed arrows, hunting for openings. The uncanny part was her accuracy. The range was considerable, yet she was landing shots precisely into the gaps in the moving horse’s armor.
Insane.
Hyun Si-woon marveled inwardly. As expected of the archery goddess.
But…
Focusing the Phantom Steed first was a dangerous method. Because the knight on top was not going to just sit still. Skilled people could dodge the spear while cleanly breaking one leg, but with amateurs…
“Geon-woo-ssi! Above!”
Baek Do-hee’s voice cracked as she shouted.
Whoooosh!
The knight was swinging its spear—right toward Choi Geon-woo.
“Uh, uh?”
He twisted frantically, but—
Kwaang!
It caught him square in the back and launched him.
“Heok!”
He flew about two meters into the air before crashing down on his back.
Baek Yeon-ho’s eyes went wide with horror.
“H-holy shit! If it hits like that—!”
The moment that spear connected, the aggro bounced. The Phantom Steed stopped looking at Baek Yeon-ho and switched its attack target to another character. From that point on it became pure chaos.
“Baek Do-hee! Heal, now!”
Choi Geon-woo yelled.
“Cooldownoldown isn’t up yet!”
“Son of a bitch! It hurts!”
“…….”
Hyun Si-woon shook his head.
From here it only gets harder.
It was a rookie mistake that only happened because Choi Geon-woo had never played Tower of Despair.
In the end—
Thud!
Yu Jae-jun took a rear-leg kick from the Phantom Steed square in the gut.
“Gueheok!”
He clutched his stomach and went down. Spittle ran from his mouth; you could almost see the contents.
“…….”
“Shit.”
Baek Yeon-ho recoiled.
“At this rate there’s no answer—get up! Get up and make some distance!”
With both dealers disabled, a tank had nothing left to work with.
“Hurry up and stand! We’re all going to die!”
“Kh-khuhk…. Got it….”
Yu Jae-jun forced himself up through the pain—only for the Phantom Steed’s rear kick to connect again.
Thud!
This time his strength left him completely; he flew, tumbling three full times before stopping.
“No!”
Baek Yeon-ho screamed.
—Gooooooooh!
Now the Phantom Knight raised its spear high, preparing to skewer the downed Choi Geon-woo. Baek Yeon-ho dashed over and raised his shield.
Kaaaaaang!
An earsplitting metallic impact rang out. It felt like being struck all over by a sledgehammer. Baek Yeon-ho’s entire body vibrated for an instant.
“Keheok!”
His breath seized; pressure crushed his lungs as if they were collapsing.
“Yeon-hooooo!”
Baek Do-hee screamed, then whipped her head toward the motionless Hyun Si-woon.
“Hey!”
“Do something! We’re all going to die!”
“……Earlier you told me to just watch.”
“People are dying!”
Shing!
Hyun Si-woon drew his sword again.
“Aigoo.”
Should’ve accepted the help when he offered it the first time.
Not sure this body can even pull it off.
His stats were still 6, 6, 6, 7, 12. A mediocre physique worse than the average man. Pathetic.
Taat!
Hyun Si-woon kicked off the ground. He had planned to take the Phantom Knight alone from the start. Having meat shields around actually made the fight far easier.
“Shield guy!”
“……!”
“Stay exactly like that!”
Hyun Si-woon sprinted, stepped onto the top of the raised shield, and launched himself upward in a flash.
“……!”
A gleam flashed in Kang Si-a’s eyes. Baek Do-hee’s mouth fell open. Even through the pain, Baek Yeon-ho’s eyes flew wide.
This method…
It was a technique he himself had used back when he was deep into Tower of Despair. A true stale-water method known only to the real veterans. A method only an Ascender with a sword could use.
Tong!
The airborne Hyun Si-woon stepped on the Phantom Steed’s head and jumped even higher into the air.
Now I have to focus.
The knight would thrust its spear; he had to deflect it.
But—
Shwaaaak!
The spear hurtling toward his heart was faster than expected.
Please.
He had to twist his body to match the timing….
Goddammit.
Agility 6. His senses understood, but his body simply would not follow. No matter how he twisted, the knight’s spear tip tracking perfectly toward his heart filled him with resentment.
Just as he thought he was going to die again—
Kaaang!
Something flew from afar and struck the knight’s spear shaft.
Huh.
The shaft shook.
Kang Si-a?
Her arrow had arrived at the exact right moment and disrupted the spear’s trajectory.
Nice!
That razor-thin difference. Hyun Si-woon understood it on pure instinct. Thanks to that tiny margin, he escaped the split-second that would have skewered him. The optimal timing to deflect had been created.
“Hyaaaah!”
Hyun Si-woon’s body slid through the air as if gliding. The spear blade missed. He rode the shaft itself straight into the knight’s guard.
Then, with the sword in his right hand, he drove it with full force into the knight’s empty head—the Phantom Knight’s sole weak point. Perfect timing.
Shunk!
The blade sank cleanly into the head.
“Good.”
He felt the Phantom Knight’s body lock up. At the same time—
—Goooooooooh!
The Phantom Knight’s body shook violently. Hyun Si-woon did not hesitate. From that position he stabbed in and out of the head like a madman. Once, twice, three times. Leave it alone even for a second and it would recover. You had to chain the critical hits to finish it in one go.
Shunk, shunk, shunk, shunk!
And then the Phantom Knight’s body lurched backward and fell from the steed. Hyun Si-woon dropped with it and, relentless, rose again to keep stabbing—shunk, shunk, shunk!
The result:
You have defeated the Phantom Knight.
Clearing Floor 2 of the Tower of Despair.
At last, they had cleared the second floor.