Seclusion Training
I'm pretty famous in the open community, on par with most rankers. I'm the world's one and only solo player, and I used to be that amateur who spammed nonsense posts like a maniac. Plus, my unique circumstances have spread outside the Tower of Trials too, so there's no way I wouldn't be known. Anyone in Korea who follows Hunter or Tower news probably knows who I am.
But fame doesn't always match community interest. The top rankers, whose names everyone knows on sight, barely get any attention. Those fossils are so strong they won't drop dead anywhere, so no news is good news. And if you're in the same tower, hearing about them or seeing them isn't hard anyway.
Me? I just step away from the community for a bit, and my news cuts off completely. Plus, I'm in all sorts of dangerous spots. That's why they pay extra attention to me—or so it seems. Honestly, it's just a pain in the ass. No, I've finally cut off the community and gotten busy with real training, so why the fuck are they bothering me now? I blocked all the annoying DMs, but my block list is full, so I can't even do that anymore.
I had no choice but to post on the community to announce I was alive. Comments poured in at a ridiculous speed. Why'd you go dark? If you're alive, post something. Stuff like that. Sounds like warm concern, but almost none lacked the word "fuck."
The open community is full real-name, not some echo chamber for specific types or ages, so the vibe doesn't usually unify. But anything about me or my posts always turns out like this. Feels like DC Gallery, not the open community.
I sighed, leaving half-assed replies, when my left temple started itching. I reached up.
-Thwack.
I snatched an arrow aimed at my head. Turning, I saw a mid-tier lizardman warrior with a longbow. What, already caught up?
I tossed the arrow aside, shoved the community window away, and approached the lizardman. Two bands on its shoulders. Ballsy for a scrub—warrior race lives up to the hype.
The archer lizardman swiftly drew its dagger and charged. A 2m muscle-packed lizardman rushing with a dagger is always intimidating. But I'd seen it too many times; now I could react calmly.
-Crack!
A low kick crumpled its balance. I snatched the dagger and stabbed its throat. Critical hit effect in red, and it dropped fast.
Months into my self-imposed seclusion training on Floor 3. Now I could handle mid-tier lizardmen barehanded while posting comments.
Forcing myself into extreme situations was damn effective. How many near-deaths? Stopped counting after my hands weren't enough. Gambling my life over and over, but I always won big without failing.
Seo Jin-hyeok Lv.50 (Warrior)
HP: 780/780 | MP: 400/400
Level stuck at 50 for months—experience walls and level gaps kept it there. But stats jumped huge overall, thanks to achievements and pure training.
Recent discovery: stats can rise from normal exercise too. Pre-Tower fitness resets to all 1s. But Tower gains reflect directly. A weakling benches 500 post-PT? Strength matches.
But 1-2 strength points matter a ton, so pure training's brutal. No special perks either. Still, risking it barehanded against lizardmen, grinding routines—I racked up gains.
Display level 50, but real stats over 60. Add skills and growth? Massive edge over same-level challengers.
Time to clear Floor 3. Know the boss room, but first: that ruin where scout NPCs backstabbed me, lightning's rest.
Explored to the end, saved the boss for last. Field boss by class, but strongest in Floor 3 zone, including boss room. Floor boss is group fight vs. multiple lizardmen—shaman revives heroes.
Ruin boss? Solo entity, so toughest.
Durability-max leather armor. Main sword, plus dagger and handaxe on belt. Small stuff's handier out than inventoried. Ate digestible white rolls, geared up, headed out.
-Rumble!
Last wall opened, revealing vast chamber beyond stone door. Like other boss rooms, eerily quiet. Center: crouched lizardman, white like murals—but no "lightning armament."
"The greatest weapon is neither sword, bow, nor spear—but the martial prowess one warrior accumulates over a lifetime."
"Thus, lizardmen revered their supreme warrior as a weapon itself."
"Born with lightning control, buying the fear of all lizardmen—that warrior is the 'armament that wields lightning.'"
No treasure sealed here. Ruin exploration quest complete flashed.
Ruin Exploration
It grabbed a spear, stood—sparks crackled from its eyes.
First thought seeing the white lizardman: those scout NPCs who smashed my head for "treasure protection." No treasure, just this scary fucker. Even if they reached here, it'd end them.
Pointless since NPCs, but hilarious.
-Grrr...
It growled low, watching me. No bands on shoulders. But definitely high-tier warrior or better. Stance with spear screamed it. Lightning aside, top-tier strength.
Test the waters. Pulled two rocks from inventory, hid behind shield. Timed it, hurled.
One rock? Spear swing blocks. Second? No way.
Throwing Lv. 6
From throwing rocks so much, got Throwing skill to Lv. 6—my killer curveball. Rock arced wildly; lizardman ignored, charged.
As they closed—crackle! Flash.
-ZZZAP!
Lightning burst around it, smashing both rocks. What the fuck, electric barrier? I'd be fried toast up close. And I'm a warrior, fuck.