Heart-Pounding Dice Roll!
My heart raced as the dice tumbled through the air.
Nyx’s gaze followed the falling dice.
“There is a face with nothing drawn upon it.”
“That’s the one we want.”
Hmm.
In short, the 61st floor trial was a pure ‘luck-based jackpot game.’
Two of the six faces were blank.
The remaining four represented the various disasters that could strike during the voyage.
Blue Team Dice — Blank
Red Team Dice — None
The elves aboard the opposing ship giggled among themselves.
For reference, the flag fluttering from our ship was dyed blue.
“What is that skull symbol?”
“Pirates.”
The ship sliced forward, carving through the clouds.
“We’re screwed right from the start.”
“Three straight failures and we’re already in the relegation zone. Ha. Now what?”
“It’s fine. We’re on the same team as the Savior of Paris—he’ll handle it somehow.”
“Please take care of us!”
Excuse me.
You people also fought tooth and nail through the promotion match to get here.
Why are you all drooping like sick chickens?
-Is it not because of your great renown, Geudae?
Ugh.
Don’t say such carefree things.
Reaching the 61st floor meant they had already overcome the Platinum wall.
Whether they won or lost their Diamond promotion match, they had earned enough contribution points to ascend.
So when people like that grew disheartened over a little bad luck, how could I not get irritated?
-Strange. If what you say is true, these are mortals who stand near the top among Earth’s players.
Players who cleared the Diamond promotion test made up less than 0.1 percent of the total.
Even my guild mate, Hyung Youngsu, had been stuck hearing “perennial Bronze” for years before I helped him.
In our country alone, fewer than twenty players had ever been promoted.
Simply reaching the 61st floor marked them as one of the strongest in their respective regions.
“It just means Earth’s average level is that low.”
Elves started with 1,500 RP—five hundred points higher than Earth players.
How much of a gap did five hundred points create?
“If all four of us worked together, we could probably beat one elf.”
Two would still be too much.
-The difference in level is truly enormous.
“They’re the type who treat spirit handling as basic.”
Just summoning the damn things was annoying enough.
On top of that, they amplified their swordsmanship and archery by layering elemental power on top.
The World Tree faction held an upper-tier position among all the races climbing the Tower.
Because my RP was so high, it seemed I had been paired with relegation-zone players.
-Yet was relegation not originally a nonexistent concept?
“From the 61st floor onward, the penalty for failure grows harsh.”
Death or defeat: 3–7 days login prohibition.
RP falls below 900, or 5 consecutive losses: rank demoted one stage.
Upon demotion: 30-day ban from promotion matches.
During ban period: all stats reduced by 30%.
Insane, right?
-If one cannot participate in the promotion match, whether stats fall or not is ultimately meaningless, is it not?
“It makes operating inside the Platinum bracket miserable.”
Even after hitting the level cap, experience still accumulated.
You simply received fewer bonus stats.
Setting aside the inability to retry while demoted, the real problem was this:
“If a high-difficulty gate appears in your country, it becomes a massive headache.”
Enter with lowered specs and die?
It turns into a national loss.
In the previous timeline, players burdened with demotion penalties often held back, which frequently led to Breaks.
-One’s own life is a precious thing.
“True. We can’t blame them.”
At first glance, opening the path beyond the 60th floor seemed like a chance to grow stronger.
But when examined closely, the Tower had slathered on countless restrictions to make dimensional erosion easier.
It was like an insurance contract written in tiny, dense print.
Fail to read it and you get burned.
That was enough explanation.
“We have uninvited guests.”
A pitch-black shadow fell across the deck.
Naga pirates.
The unwelcome visitors that appeared whenever the dice were rolled.
-A familiar sight.
“I saw them during the mission before.”
Back then they had been players, so I couldn’t devour their essences.
But the Tower’s manufactured creatures were fair game.
The pirates who appeared without warning charged straight at the team.
“Goddess, those fellows are yours.”
-I shall ensure they cannot lift even a single finger.
“No need to go that far. Just keep them breathing.”
Nyx, manifested in the homunculus body, stood behind me.
Leaving my back to the goddess, I kicked off the deck and shot forward.
Sparks exploded along the trident as blue energy surged upward.
An aura blade.
Ah.
Were they talking about aura?
Unfortunately, from the 61st floor onward even trash mobs could wield aura blades at will.
“This is why everyone suffers.”
An aura blade stood on equal footing with ganggi or explosive demon energy.
There were subtle differences if examined closely, but the rank itself was the same.
A power of ‘authority’ that normally required enlightenment to wield.
The irony of mass-produced monsters created by the Tower using it so freely.
The difficulty was on a completely different level from the Platinum section.
Polar Night Power
Dark Shadow Soul-Chasing Sword
Black energy surged above the shadow-forged longsword.
The evil of the heavens.
Ganggi unfolded by perfectly executing the advanced martial art Dark Shadow Soul-Chasing Sword that I had received from the Heavenly Demon.
Even when my realm had been insufficient, I had used it as a wildcard.
Now, with my elevated rank and the support of the advanced internal cultivation method Sura Demon Spirit Heart Method, the true power of the technique finally shone.
The sword carrying both blue light and darkness collided with the trident.
Clang!
A vibrating shockwave rang in my ears as the trident was forced back.
The blade forged from the darkness of night slowly advanced, slicing the aura blade apart.
Though their ranks were equal, the swordsmanship that carried deeper martial insight and the Polar Night power matched to its origin overwhelmed in destructive force.
“Shish!”
Even so, it wasn’t enough to bisect the Naga pirate’s aura blade.
Though inferior in technique and precision, the pirate braced with its waist and kept the aura blade wrapped around its spear shaft, enduring.
Crimson Requisition
I jerked my reddened left hand backward.
The Naga pirate, who had poured all its strength into the spear shaft, was yanked forward by an invisible force.
At the same time I swung the Dark Shadow Soul-Chasing Sword in a wide arc, pressing the shaft downward.
Hundred Beasts Emperor Martial Arts — First Form
Responding Dragon Emperor Fist
Violent rotating ganggi raced along my forearm and exploded the Naga pirate’s torso.
Who said anything about fighting fair?
After reducing the Naga pirate’s corpse to powder, I glanced back slightly.
“Uwaaaaah!”
A player with a bright red face roared in fury.
The blue light opposing the Naga pirate’s aura blade shook dangerously.
The mages and support classes could do little more than hold the pirates at bay.
“It can’t be helped.”
Nyx let out a short sigh.
Thick darkness surged from beneath her feet, restraining the Naga pirates.
Slash!
The aura blade sliced through Polar Night with ease.
It was an ability that manifested the power of a conceptual goddess, yet because Nyx herself was not in perfect condition, such a thing was possible.
Torn apart by the blade’s trajectory.
The curtain of darkness touched by the tip was riddled with holes.
“The night embraces all things.”
Whoosh!
Even if split by an aura blade and pierced with holes, a single gesture restored it instantly.
Immense controlling power.
The dozens of torn fragments each transformed into sharp spears and aimed for the pirates’ vital points.
An aura blade was not omnipotent.
Unless spread wide like a protective energy field, it could not block every strand of Polar Night closing in from all directions.
“Shishishishit!”
The Naga pirates spun their spear shafts rapidly to guard their vitals and advanced slowly.
“Now’s our chance!”
“Don’t waste the opportunity the savior created for us!”
The players rallied, burning with renewed fighting spirit.
It was admirable, but I already knew their level.
Dragon’s Wings
It wasn’t that I wanted to die of boredom… but they wouldn’t be much help in a real fight.
I flapped the wings that had sprouted from my back and soared upward.
The flight penalty only applied when leaving the ship’s vicinity.
Rising about ten meters like this posed no problem.
Thorn Missile
Explosive Demon Energy
I created thorn missiles across the widened area and infused them with the dark-red energy obtained from the Hell Knight’s essence—an ability equal to aura blades or ganggi.
Swishswishswishswish!
A rain of death poured from the sky onto the Naga pirates’ heads.
With Polar Night pressing from the front and explosive-energy thorns striking from behind and above, the Naga pirates flailed helplessly and collapsed.
“As expected of the Savior of Paris.”
“Beating Rene Davis alone wasn’t an exaggeration.”
“I believed in you!”
“If a melee breaks out I won’t be able to protect you. Look after yourselves.”
The difficulty of the voyage would only keep rising.
Keeping Nyx in the rear because of these people would be a waste of combat strength.
“I won’t drag you down!”
“We’ll do our best too!”
Though I wasn’t entirely convinced, they were still regarded as powerhouses in their respective regions.
They would have to survive on their own.
“The destination is slowly coming into view.”
“Indeed.”
“We’ll need some luck from here on.”
You have no idea.
“We’ve already had plenty of luck.”
We had collected the Naga pirates’ essences.
If they appeared two more times we would have a complete set.
Since retrying would be annoying, it would be best to gather everything on the first attempt.
Arrived at the First Island.
Sub-mission activated.
Material Gathering
📍 Objective: Collect ship-repair materials scattered across the island.
🎁 Reward: Restore consumed ship durability.
— Dial Stone: 100 kg
— Sky Wood: 300 kg
……
A worthless mission had appeared.
This was yet another reason the 61st floor was called a luck-based jackpot game.
The sub-missions that popped up every time you stopped at an island were also completely random.
Sometimes they helped you avoid the disasters written on the dice.
Other times they tasked you with harassing the opposing ship.
“It’s a fairly common event.”
Now.
Let’s pray the next dice roll gives us something tasty.
Blue Team Dice — ⚡
Red Team Dice — None
“Ah.”
This was a bit… unappetizing.
I already hated watching those ear-picking bastards suck up all the honey in a row.
The lightning symbol offered no essence to devour, so it was doubly unwelcome.
Event Triggered — Lightning Storm Lv. 1
The blue flag whipped wildly in the wind.
The elves’ ship sailed peacefully onward.
Above ours, however, black storm clouds gathered and began spitting lightning.
Mana Absorb
Attack below user’s magic power value.
Absorbing attack.
The Gluttony’s Maw.
The ring I had taken from Baal swallowed the lightning bolt whole.
Projectile-type attacks could be dealt with easily.
“We can help too…”
“Stay inside. It’ll be annoying if you get caught up in it.”
If the lightning storm had been higher level it would be different, but at Lv. 1 I could defend against it alone without issue.
“Even with bad luck the difference isn’t that big.”
“Not necessarily.”
The storm had slowed our movement speed.
From the second island onward, two missions would appear at once, and the first team to arrive could claim their preferred materials.
Even if we protected the ship, we had already lost ground.
Arrived at the Second Island.
I immediately checked the newly activated sub-mission.
“Ho. This looks interesting.”
“It really does.”