The One Who Rewrites the Records
One hour later.
The team members, faces etched with exhaustion, held out the poison sacs.
“Here you go.”
“Your voluntary cooperation made this much easier than expected.”
I flashed a wide grin.
Seeing the way their lips tightened, they seemed genuinely moved by the praise.
-My partner, did you not already conquer the colony?
“I did.”
-Then why has the mission not ended?
“They only acknowledge the colony as destroyed once the chieftain’s throne is shattered.”
I had deliberately left the Hobgoblin’s throne intact. It would have been a waste to finish the mission before collecting every last poison sac.
-It appears the harvest is complete.
“Once I’ve taken everything I need, it’s time to break it.”
The materialized power of Polar Night.
Blades of darkness tore the crudely fashioned throne into countless pieces.
Main Mission — Red Goblin Subjugation: Cleared.
You destroyed the Red Goblin colony without receiving help from any external faction.
Clear Time: 4 hours, 21 minutes, 35 seconds.
Global Team (463) has set a new record for the fastest first-floor clear.
Beginner’s Luck
All stats +15
EXP gain increased by 30%
Increased mission rewards
Only applies while Unranked. Does not apply during promotion matches.
◈ Allows random contract with a C-Grade Constellation from the Tower of Babel.
◈ The contracted Constellation will bestow a blessing upon the player.
◈ Cannot be traded.
“Wow! Our team just broke the fastest clear record!”
“It’s all thanks to Player Yu Jinho.”
“We got these rewards because of that troll—er, because of him.”
“An item that arranges a contract with a Constellation? Incredible!”
The team members made no effort to hide their excitement.
I scanned the C-Grade Constellation Contract with a disinterested expression.
-Are you considering taking one of them as your guardian star as well?
“Hardly.”
-Since you would receive a blessing, would it not be better to form a contract?
“The Constellations available from a C-grade ticket are painfully obvious.”
C-grade Constellations.
Among the stars engraved in the heavens, they were the lowest tier. Mortals who had earned reverence through heroic deeds, or minor gods so obscure they barely appeared in mythology.
The river god Achelous, humiliated by Heracles. The North Wind god Boreas. All of them were classified as C-grade.
-Indeed, even this one can see that those who show interest in you are quite extraordinary.
The Lord of the Ten Thousand Demon Palace, Baal.
The Evil of the Heavens.
Both were Constellations whose ranks the Tower itself refused to measure. If one had to categorize them, they would be ‘God-King’ class.
Ares was S-grade. He was, after all, the son of God-King Zeus and the God of War of Olympus.
-It seems all of them desire you as a contractor.
“Like I told you last time, I have no intention of contracting with any Constellation.”
The ‘blessing’ that shared a portion of a Constellation’s power.
They offered various items and skills as rewards, but once you served a Constellation, restrictions would slowly bind your actions. Utilizing my pre-regression knowledge would become far more troublesome.
The losses would outweigh the gains.
“I already have a goddess with me. Why would I contract with anyone else?”
I couldn’t exactly explain the real reason to Nyx, so I gave a vague answer.
-Contractor, I never knew you thought of me so deeply!
“You’re acting like this is the first time you’ve heard it. I said the same thing last time, remember?”
-This goddess has truly chosen her contractor well!
Nyx’s smile stretched so wide it looked like her mouth might reach her ears.
This was what they called a white lie.
Player Yu Jinho has set a new record for highest contribution on the first floor.
A player has been born who renewed both the fastest clear record and the highest contribution record.
As a reward, 2,000 CP has been granted.
As a reward, the Stone of Focus has been granted.
CP was the currency used within the Tower. Its main use was purchasing otherworldly items that could not be obtained as mission rewards.
Next, I examined the Stone of Focus.
◈ A stone that increases the user’s concentration.
◈ When processed into equipment, it receives additional bonuses to concentration effects.
-Increased concentration. Not a bad option at all.
“It’s useful enough.”
It was a mineral that only showed its true value after processing. Equipment that boosted concentration was especially popular among magic-type players. Since it was a Unique-grade mineral, a skilled artisan might even be able to elevate it to Legend-grade.
But that wasn’t where its real value lay.
I recalled the words of my former rival and comrade, Sergey.
-If you take the Stone of Focus to the fifth floor, you can obtain Demonic Power.
Demonic Power.
A technique that poured every single one of the user’s stats into a single designated stat.
Whenever Sergey cast large-scale magic, he used Demonic Power to maximize its destructive potential. That was how he had earned the title Destroyer Monarch.
I’ll make good use of your skill.
Thanks to Devour, my stats were overwhelmingly higher than other players at the same level. With Demonic Power that concentrated every stat into one, I would be able to use it far more effectively than its original owner, Sergey.
That prideful bastard must have known that when he revealed his secret to me.
The God of War of Olympus is greatly pleased with the first-floor mission results.
The Master of the Polluted Throne observes your use of the blessing with great interest.
The Evil of the Heavens watches your every step with the eyes of a hawk.
The Morning Star of Minos offers you a guardian star contract.
The Lord of the North Wind offers you a guardian star contract…
The Farmer of Midgard…
Messages poured in like rain. Most were from C-grade Constellations.
-It is exactly as you said.
Nyx murmured in a satisfied voice. The corners of her mouth twitched; she seemed to be holding back laughter.
I had expected some Constellations to offer guardian contracts, but never this many.
Before my regression, I had been a slow starter. Late bloomer. In a good light, it meant my vessel required time to mature. In a bad light, it meant I had received no attention from Constellations in the early stages.
Perhaps that was why the passionate reactions felt so refreshing.
The God of War of Olympus glares furiously!
The God of War of Olympus declares he will challenge any Constellation who offers you a guardian contract to a duel of honor!
The Lord of the North Wind withdraws his guardian star offer.
The Farmer of Midgard…
The flood of contract offers vanished as quickly as they had appeared.
I swallowed a smile.
That saved me a lot of annoyance.
Even Ares himself was wary of Baal and the Evil of the Heavens. It seemed I wouldn’t have to deal with a barrage of courtship messages from Constellations for a while.
I activated the Babel Tower app menu.
Functions that could only be used outside the Tower with an authenticated device could be accessed freely inside by simply calling them up.
[Retry Floor 1]
- Repeating the floor reduces rewards to 10%.
[Challenge Floor 2]
- First attempt. Additional rewards will be granted upon success.
[Return to Earth]
- Returns you to the location you entered from.
Even after clearing a mission, retrying was possible. The problem was the heavy penalties attached.
-Are we going to eat cotton candy now?
“We haven’t even properly warmed up. Let’s not.”
It hadn’t even been a full day since I entered the Babel Tower. Not even half a day, really.
“I’ll buy you plenty once we get out, so be patient for now.”
-It is disappointing, but I shall trust your word.
After soothing the whining Nyx, I pressed the button for the second floor.
Around the time Jinho challenged the second floor—
The Tower’s announcement appeared across the entire world. The floating letters translated themselves into each country’s language so anyone could read them.
“I never thought someone would break your record.”
“I was simply lucky, Master.”
“You call the fact that the first-floor record stood unbroken for years ‘luck’?”
The woman with striking golden hair that reached her waist gave a faint smile instead of answering the man directly.
Ellen Taylor.
The number one ranked player in the United States.
“What do you think of this person, Guild Master?”
“Just call me William.”
“Please share your opinion, Guild Master.”
William Rockefeller.
The Guild Master of Gold Moon, one of America’s top player guilds.
“This man was determined to take first place.”
“Determined?”
“Look at how ridiculously low everyone else’s contribution scores are.”
“You’re right.”
Ellen scanned the Hall of Fame and nodded in agreement with William.
“How did you clear the first floor back then?”
“I worked in perfect sync with the players you personally selected for me, Master.”
William had spared no expense, investing Gold Moon’s full resources to build the ultimate team that could draw out Ellen’s abilities to their absolute limit.
One tanker.
Three buffers.
An extreme composition that placed everything on Ellen’s personal prowess.
“Don’t blame yourself. Back then, we had far less information about the Tower.”
William waved his hand dismissively.
Ellen had been one of the earliest players. At the time, clearing the Tower’s lower floors had not been as systematic as it was now. It was an era where you had to charge forward blindly.
Ellen had overcome those terrible conditions and set the highest record on the first floor.
“The American Rank One being this humble doesn’t suit you.”
“It’s all thanks to your support, Master.”
“If you say that, the ones who received my support and still couldn’t produce results should bite their tongues and die.”
Ellen shook her head from side to side.
“Anyway, that’s not what’s important.”
“Hm?”
“The player named Jinho Yu entered through global matching.”
“Through global matching… and the contribution distribution ended up like this?”
A startled Ellen quickly fiddled with her phone. A moment later, she let out a long sigh.
“It’s true.”
“He achieved this level of results with a randomly formed team.”
“This person… he has potential.”
“That’s why I called you here.”
William turned the monitor to show her an article.
The screen displayed a photo of Jinho along with a short interview.
“Is he serious?”
“No. It’s a roundabout way of saying he won’t join a guild.”
“You don’t seem ready to give up, Master.”
William smiled softly.
“Can you go to Korea for me?”
“You want me to meet Jinho Yu?”
“The former Rank One and the current Rank One. It paints quite the picture.”
“If it is your will, Master.”
“Not immediately. We should observe the situation in Korea first.”
A sharp light gleamed in William’s eyes.