Chapter 35
Episode 35
-Ah, yeah, that's true lololol
-I really don't know the full-clear condition for the seat-stealing map.
-Is taking first place the full clear? But Corpse-Spirit bro already took first place.
-Right? But no full clear message popped up.
"So I'm going to skip that map for now. I'm going to try entering a different stage at random."
I sent my will to the Dimensional Tower system.
"Enter Floor 2."
I felt the system respond to my will.
But then.
[A proposal is offered to the awakened who has achieved 2 full clears.]
[Would you like to enter a floor composed of higher difficulty?]
"Huh?"
I couldn't help blinking.
What's this now?
-?!?!?!
-What is this???
-No, wait, isn't this that thing???
-Whoa, it actually popped up??
-Corpse-Spirit bro, that's it, that's it, that's it!
-Whoa, insane, it actually popped up... damn
The chat went into overdrive mode once again.
"Hey, hey. Calm down. What is this that everyone's making such a fuss about?"
What is this?
-This only pops up for people who've achieved multiple accomplishments!
-A hard mode entry offer!
-The Dimensional Tower is normally on normal mode, but they say it asks top-tier climbers if they want to enter hard mode.
-According to records, the number of people who've had this pop up can be counted on one hand worldwide.
-Corpse-Spirit bro, you have to accept this, no question!
-The real Corpse-Spirit Martial Sovereign content finally begins!
Oh. So this was that famous hard mode.
The chat was flying by incredibly fast, but I got the gist of it.
Dimensional Tower Community posts had floated rumors about it as 'a mode that only appears for top-tier climbers.'
But so few people had actually seen it that it was treated like an urban legend.
And I actually received it.
"Oh. I've been wanting to try this."
I raised the corners of my lips and spoke toward the chat.
"Viewers. May I accept?"
-Of course you accept!!!
-Let's goooooo!
-Corpse-Spirit bro, hard mode, let's go!!
-Our Corpse-Spirit bro is a man born for insane content!
-Going normal here would be weirder.
-Accept it accept it accept it!
Unanimous.
My viewers are consistently madness itself.
I like it.
"Alright. Then it's decided. I accept."
The system responded to my will.
Whoooosh!
Light surged up from beneath my feet and my vision shifted in an instant.
[You have entered high-difficulty Dimensional Tower Floor 2: Maze Breakthrough.]
[Break through the maze.]
[If you die, you fail.]
[May luck be with you.]
As the light settled, a new landscape unfolded.
What I saw before me was.
A narrow passage made of massive stone walls.
Gloomy torches were embedded here and there, and the ceiling soared far overhead.
The floor was laid with stone slabs bearing the traces of long ages.
A scene you might only see in an old dungeon game.
And I was standing alone in the middle of it.
"This atmosphere is killer."
I slowly looked around and raised the corners of my lips.
-Maze Breakthrough is hereeeee!
-Corpse-Spirit bro, it's the maze! That maze!
-Whoa, a maze, that's a map that really puts you through the wringer.
-The traps here are the real problem. A lot of regular hunters die to the traps.
-The monsters are threatening too, but... to Corpse-Spirit bro, aren't monsters just materials anyway?
-lololololol To Corpse-Spirit bro, monsters = corpses = resources.
-The traps are more dangerous, for real.
-Corpse-Spirit bro, what you need to watch out for is the traps, the traps!
All sorts of information streamed up in the chat.
Maze breakthrough.
It seemed to be content where you escape a complex maze full of traps and monsters.
"Maze breakthrough, huh... I've been wanting to try this."
The memory of spending a year trapped in that damn formation at the Heavenly Secrets Jegal Clan in my past life naturally came to mind.
"Alright. Let's go."
I did a light stretch and got ready.
"Before that. First, I need to summon the undead."
I lightly flicked my finger, and the shadow beneath my feet began to slowly spread.
Slither. Slither.
Familiar forms crawled out of the shadow in a line.
Heukgang and Baekgang.
And eight ordinary Walking Corpses.
A total of ten undead lined up in the narrow passage.
But then.
[In high-difficulty mode, undead deployment is limited to a maximum of 10.]
"Oh? So that's how it's going to be?"
Looking at the system message, I let out a hollow laugh.
The restrictions are tight, as befits hard mode.
During the mining, I churned out seven hundred at a time and worked them like crazy, but here it's exactly ten.
Well, even if I tried to cram seven hundred into a narrow maze passage, there wouldn't be room anyway.
-Whoa, restrictions got applied lolololol
-Corpse-Spirit bro: 700 → 10. That's a brutal nerf.
-As expected of hard mode.
-But for Corpse-Spirit bro, Heukgang and Baekgang alone are already enough.
-Right. Those two jiangshi are basically one-man armies.
"Well. This much is enough."
I lightly rolled my shoulders and moved on to the next preparation.
"Taking out the throne palanquin."
Sssssss.
A massive throne slowly rose from my shadow.
[Throne of the Small Empire's Emperor].
And beneath it, the [White-Bone Palanquin Support] supporting it.
As the majestic throne was mounted atop the bone-woven palanquin support.
Its grandeur remained unchanged even within the narrow maze passage.
"You lot are the palanquin bearers. Lift it."
I pointed at the eight ordinary Walking Corpses.
Slither.
The eight corpses moved in perfect unison to the sides of the throne palanquin.
And simultaneously.
Thud.
They lifted the throne with ease.
The palanquin bearers were eight, as always.
Four on each side of the bone-woven palanquin support, in perfect symmetry.
The very picture of an imperial procession.
A palanquin procession in a maze passage was a somewhat ridiculous sight.
-lolololololololololol
-Corpse-Spirit bro is seriously bringing a palanquin into the maze???
-No, the emperor concept is insane lolololololol
-A palanquin in a narrow passage lolololololol
-Corpse-Spirit bro is committed to the emperor cosplay everywhere.
-I've never seen anyone bring a palanquin into a maze before.
-This man is so consistent, it's adorable.
I could see the viewers all losing their minds.
This level of madness is a basic option now.
"Now. Shall we go?"
I leaned back deeply into the throne and sent my will to Heukgang.
Heukgang took the first step forward.
That was the moment.
Shhhhwing!
I saw something shoot down from the ceiling at terrifying speed.
A massive spear blade.
Not just one, but a volley of killing spears raining down.
The maze's first trap.
The ceiling trap panel opened and it fell straight toward Heukgang's crown.
-Aaaah!!!
-Danger!!!
-Corpse-Spirit bro, Heukgang!!
-It's a trap, a trap from the very first step??
-Ah, this maze is seriously cruel T_T
The chat was instantly buried in screams.
And the next moment.
Clanggggg!
A sharp metallic sound echoed through the maze.
The spear blades that fell onto Heukgang's head and shoulders.
Bounced right off.
It sounded like throwing iron rods against a steel wall.
The chat went silent in an instant.
-?
-???
-Wait, what???
-They bounced off??
-The spears broke???
-What the hell just happened???
"Pfft."
A laugh escaped me before I knew it.
Everyone must have thought Heukgang was going to get shredded by the trap.
Well, by regular hunter standards, that was the normal reaction.
"Everyone, calm down."
I lightly waved my hand while seated on the throne.
"My undead are in a jiangshi-fied state. So they're basically impervious to blades by default."
-Impervious to blades???
-Wait, are jiangshi that strong???
-Impervious to blades, is that even possible???
"Of course, it's not that physical attacks don't work at all. If a physical attack is strong enough beyond a certain threshold, they can be destroyed. So... hmm. You can think of my jiangshi as having bodies that are basically as hard as steel by default. When steel collides with steel, that's what happens."
I pointed at Heukgang.
"But a trap of this level doesn't stand a chance. It's not like it's a press or anything. And besides."
I smiled faintly and continued.
"There's also my throne effect. The [Throne of the Small Empire's Emperor] increases the stats of undead under my command by 25%. And that affects their durability too."
-Whoa....
-Insane. Seriously.
-Impervious to blades + 25% buff?
-The traps are just meaningless?
-Does the maze even mean anything to Corpse-Spirit bro?
-The traps are completely useless??
-No, wait. Then isn't he just going to plow straight through the maze???
The viewers went into madness mode once again.
Well, I understood.
The maze's greatest threat, the traps, had been neutralized from the very first step.
"I doubt all the maze traps are similar. We'll find out as we go."
I crossed my legs on the throne again and sent my will to Heukgang.
"Now. Shall we go?"
Heukgang took another step forward.
And the palanquin procession began to move heavily behind him.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The palanquin bearers' footsteps echoed in a steady rhythm through the narrow maze passage.
This is really something. I wonder if this is turning into a flex stream.
High difficulty?
Easy, right?
* * *
Beijing, China.
A deep underground facility on the outskirts of the capital.
It was inside a private conference room directly under the Dimensional Tower Administration.
Red lights embedded in the ceiling cast a gloomy glow over the conference room.
A massive curved screen covering the entire wall.
On it, the broadcast of some Korean super rookie was being streamed in real time.
The sight of him riding a throne palanquin through the maze.
The image of him casually deflecting the ceiling trap with a blade-impervious jiangshi.
All of the dozen or so figures seated around the round table were staring at the screen.
Those in military uniforms, politicians in suits, and even a white-haired old man in Daoist robes.
The white-haired old man seated at the head of the conference room slowly opened his mouth.
"Codename Jiangshi Master has entered Floor 2 of the Dimensional Tower."
At his voice, the gazes from all around shifted from the screen to him.
"And he's proceeding on hard mode, no less."
The old man slowly stroked his white beard with thin fingers.