The Explosion in Park Chul-eon's Room
Explosions rocked Park Chul-eon's room.
The meaning was clear: one of Park Chul-eon's crew, the bald white prick, had just awakened his powers.
Even though Yoo Dahui had grown way stronger than in the previous loop, I hadn't expected her to lose. Still, with cleanup needed, we had to move fast.
CRASH!
“Kaaaaah!”
A completely naked man plummeted from the burning room, flames licking his body.
Players outside locked their gazes on the culprit—the bald white guy.
I headed straight to the dorm, ignoring the chaos, and pushed into the hallway leading to Park Chul-eon's room.
Thick black smoke was already filling the corridor.
Shit.
Hot smoke made breathing painful.
Without System, it would’ve been impossible.
“Y-you fucking bitch!”
“That pervert bastard trying to rape someone else, huh?”
“KRRRAAAAAK!”
Park Chul-eon's room belched endless black smoke like the maw of some abyss.
Conversations inside ended abruptly. Not a single sound escaped.
“Yoo Dahui!”
“Oh, Jinwoo.”
Inside, Park Chul-eon lay half-dead, twitching weakly, and a short yellow-skinned guy was curled up nearby, barely conscious.
I couldn't enter. Unlike the previous loop where I had ties to Park Chul-eon, there was no connection here, so I called Yoo Dahui from outside.
“This is…?”
“Just toss them out and get them gone. Miss Su-yeon, if you don't want to die, speak up now?”
“Y-yes…!”
Su-yeon huddled in the corner, trembling like a leaf, terrified of Yoo Dahui.
Dying might be kinder.
Compared to what was coming, death could even seem merciful.
Trials in the Tower of Struggle weren't like normal courts. Mercy for proven criminals? None at all.
“Let's go.”
Yoo Dahui moved with practiced ease, as if she'd rehearsed every move.
She hurled the naked men out the window and slipped out of the dorm.
The hallway swarmed with players from every race, gaping.
No humans in sight. But an elf broke through the crowd.
“What exactly happened?”
Elena Trigard asked, tone perfectly calm even when she saw me.
Yoo Dahui stared blankly a moment before answering.
“The men who tried to rape me? I tossed them outside.”
At the word rape, Elena's eyes snapped to me.
Contempt filled her gaze, like she was staring at a loathsome insect.
“Rape…?”
“Yes. They used powers, even poisoned the drinks.”
Yoo Dahui frowned, waving away the swirling black smoke.
“Mind if we talk outside? I've been here a while.”
“Ah. Sure. Let's go.”
Surprisingly, the flames died fast.
Many players here could handle water or fire magic easily.
They weren't the type to struggle with a newbie's fire on the first floor.
“Khhk…”
“Wh-why are they all naked?”
“Dunno. They just fell from that room?”
Players milled around, loud and confused.
Without Elena, the scene would've been a total mess.
“Everyone shut up.”
Players silenced instantly under Elena's commanding presence.
The courtyard fell silent.
Writhing pink worms and dangling cocoons.
The grotesque sight sent revulsion through the players.
“What's going on?”
Elena tore her eyes away from the horror and asked.
It wasn't the same Elena from moments ago—the tiny, self-righteous one who used to stomp her feet in anger.
Her face looked slightly swollen, though.
“Those men tried to rape me. And they planned it with that woman too.”
“Planned crime…”
In the original dimension—in modern society—this would've taken time to investigate, hold a trial, and sort it all out.
But here? The Tower of Struggle. A world where strength decided everything.
Elena, at her level, could fabricate evidence and bury the truth.
Especially since she already had proof of attempted rape.
No reason to hesitate.
I couldn't hesitate.
I stared at Elena.
She avoided my eyes, coldly scanning the scene.
Then she summoned a single sword from her inventory.
She approached the three writhing, naked men.
Naked bodies crawling on the ground. A chilling sight.
“No excuses left. Anything to say before you die?”
“U-ugh… P-please spare me…!”
“For the crime of attempted rape, I, Elena Trigard, hereby carry out execution.”
Elena muttered to the surrounding players, turning them into witnesses.
SWISH!
She swung her blade with a savage grin.
The edge sliced cleanly through the first man's neck, not a drop of blood on it.
“Anything left to say?”
“Ah… I-I was wrong! I made a mistake! The bastard started it! I just… I only did what he told me to…!”
“Execution.”
The emotionless sword took the lives of the remaining two in an instant.
Only Park Chul-eon was left.
“Anything left to say?”
“……”
Park Chul-eon stared at his dead crewmates, words dying in his throat.
He'd realized nothing he said could save him.
Elena didn't hesitate. Her sword flashed.
In this place, a player's life was lighter than a fly's.
Because this was no place to nurture newbies. It was a grinder.
“As for this woman…?”
“Shouldn't we kill her?”
“Do you wish to kill her?”
“Yes.”
Yoo Dahui showed no intention of saving Su-yeon.
“Please spare me…! I had no choice…!”
“I wanted to forgive you, but I can't. If I'd been weaker, you'd have killed me without mercy.”
Without regression, she might never have reached this far.
Without regression, she might have been dead at Park Chul-eon's hands.
Even because of that horrible ending, Yoo Dahui showed no mercy.
“Good. Anything left to say?”
At Elena's words, Su-yeon dropped to her knees before Yoo Dahui, begging.
Please spare me.
Save Elena.
She begged again and again.
“I-I was wrong… Miss Dahui, just this once…?”
“No.”
SWISH!
Su-yeon's head rolled off too easily.
Elena sheathed her sword.
“Huuu, what a fun show!”
“Humans are way crazier than goblins or orcs, huh?”
“Heh heh. Stop thinking orcs are just for rough stuff.”
“Any race can pounce on you the second you step out alone.”
“That's all love. Don't underestimate our orcs' love.”
Players chatted casually and dispersed.
Only a few human players and Elena remained in the courtyard.
“Mr. Choi Seong-yun, clear these bodies for me.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Miss Dahui… come with me. We need to talk.”
“Yes.”
Elena finished the basic cleanup and led Yoo Dahui away.
She glanced back at me with a dissatisfied, questioning look, as if asking Is that all? before disappearing.
I had no idea what she wanted to discuss.
I returned to my room.
My lower body felt sticky.
After washing, I collapsed onto the bed.
For some reason, today felt longer than usual.
But I still had to do it.
There was one new item waiting for me today.
A trace of the Ancient Spirit.
I'd never heard of the trial it supposedly gave. Nobody described it.
Unusual item, yet I never imagined it would be here with Elena.
Unless someone used it without testing… Players who handed traces to others without trying them were rare.
[The Ancient Spirit is revealing its trace.]
When I activated the Ancient Spirit's Trace, a multicolored stone lost its colors.
Its form then softened, turning translucent.
“Oh…?”
The Ancient Spirit's trace floated up on its own, without me touching it.
Soon it squirmed, forming an unknown shape.
It felt like clay being molded.
A fist-sized Ancient Spirit manifested.
Deep moss-green, resembling a cuttlefish.
The formed spirit twitched, waving its arms.
—UUWK! Stinky smell!
“Tch, how arrogant.”
—Black mage! Mmm, that's a big one too!
The Ancient Spirit unrolled what looked like a book, then nodded.
—I never imagined a disgusting black mage holding my trace.
“Heh heh… Why not just hand me the trial?”
The Ancient Spirit's power varied with the summoner's chemi—the resonance between us.
Nature Spirit Magic favored the summoner, but Ancient Spirit Magic favored the spirit.
It was harder to learn than Nature Spirit Magic but supposedly stronger.
Descriptions often mentioned its terrifying power, yet I knew nothing about it.
Among the characters, only one guy had been used as Yoo Dahui's combat fodder, so this was completely new territory for me too.
—No way!
I had no intention of borrowing strength from a black mage.
Especially not when I was already exhausted by this cuttlefish's nonsense.
My expectations crashed, tension dropping to zero.
What the…?
At that moment, black energy gathered at the Ancient Spirit's head.
Something felt different from before.
Direction… automatic?
Not life force absorption.
[Do you want to transfer Dark Magic?]
Even after reading this novel to the end, I hadn't seen anything like this.
Transfer Dark Magic to the Ancient Spirit?
What the hell would that even do?
If I don't know, I have to try it.
I had regression.
Regressors did whatever they felt like.
I immediately transferred Dark Magic to the Ancient Spirit.
The instant it happened, something impossible occurred.
—KKEKEEEEEE!
Strange energy flooded in!
Black mage!
Hand over your power right now!
The moss-green cuttlefish flailed wildly.
Its body turned pitch black under the Dark Magic.
It squirmed, reshaping itself.
[Dark Magic Lv.5 ▶ Dark Magic Lv.4]
“Eh, shit?”
The Dark Magic level dropped.
And a new skill appeared.
[Shadow Spirit Magic Lv.1 acquired!]
—I, me… swallowed by this lowly dark power…!
The black Ancient Spirit before me melted like melted ice cream and flowed into my shadow.
It happened so fast I was dazed.
Shadow Spirit Magic? I’d never even heard of it.
This is when you use it.
I immediately tried it.
Using System assistance, I imagined shadow in my mind.
The instant I did, my shadow erupted, forming a human shape.
“This is…?”
A black human identical to me.
Reminded me of the criminals from Conan.
He stood quietly, but he was terrifying.
I cautiously called him over.
“Hey.”
—Yes.
“Holy… shit…!”
He could talk.
But his voice sounded off.
“Why is your voice like that?”
—It can be modulated.
“Wow. It even has Yoo Dahui's voice.”
I tested it more.
Overall, the clone was about 50% as strong as me.
Not fully capable, but usable.
Tap tap tap.
Someone knocked on the door.
—Kim Jinwoo. Can I come in?
It was Yoo Dahui.
I had no idea how much time had passed.
I reverted the shadow to normal.
My real shadow reappeared.
CLUNK.
CLUNK.
—Kim Jinwoo?
—What?
—Ah. You hadn't registered yet?
p>The moment I didn't open the door, her tone turned urgent.
She was about to break it down.
I opened the door.
Yoo Dahui, face flushed red, threw herself into my arms.
“Kim Jinwoo…! Just got out of the shower, huh…?”
“Yeah.”
“Then we can do it right away! Take your clothes off!”
“Yeah?”