The Sixth Sense

Kang!

My dagger was knocked away by the doppelganger's blade.

One of the doppelganger's hands still hadn't regenerated.

I poured mana into the broken hilt.

Thwack!

My sword tore straight through the doppelganger's stomach.

The broken hilt had a shape-shifting effect.

Along with the message, the doppelganger's body began to melt away. What remained of it was absorbed into the floor and vanished in an instant.

I drank the potion the moment it appeared. Fitting for an intermediate-grade one, my wounds began to close slowly and steadily.

I pulled the Copycat's Mirror out of my inventory. After all the trouble I'd gone through to earn it, I had a feeling I'd be cursing up a storm if the effect turned out to be garbage.

A smile crept across my face as I read ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the item information.

A consumable buff item. Not an especially rare category in itself, but this one's effect was in a league of its own. A tenfold increase. And it didn't just boost stats — it amplified skill power as well.

So this is what a Legendary-grade consumable looks like?

The highest-grade consumable I'd seen before my regression was Unique. That one capped out at boosting all stats fivefold.

This'll make a hell of a trump card.

No use for it came to mind just yet, but there was no downside to holding onto it.

"Hell no!"

I snapped at the system message a little more irritably than intended, then flopped down onto the floor. Nine floors I had climbed.

Recovering took longer than the fight itself.

If the next floor threw another quest like this at me, there was no way I could clear it in my current condition. What I needed right now was absolute rest.

Time to get some sleep.

They say sleep is the best medicine, after all.

When I opened my eyes to that system message, I was on Floor 10. Perhaps because I'd slept deeply the night before, my body felt refreshed.

Finally, the last floor.

I'd spent about a month inside the Tower. It wasn't as long as it felt, but the thought of getting back outside stirred something like longing in me.

About time a quest showed up….

The moment I thought it, the system message appeared.

As soon as I confirmed the quest, a new message unfolded before my eyes.

The Hunt. The Senses. Survival. Death. Overcoming.

All five trial names were abstract. I could make a reasonable guess at the Hunt and Survival, but the other three eluded me.

I should start with the ones I think I understand.

That meant the Hunt and Survival. I was already sick of survival, though — Floor 9 could just as easily have been called a survival trial as a hunting one.

"I challenge the Trial of the Hunt."

With the system message, I was transported to the trial grounds.

After reading the trial's description, I stared at the Baphomet standing before me. A low-tier demon I'd hunted countless times before my regression — and its specialty was mental attacks.

It used to be a real pain to deal with.

Back then, I hadn't had the Siren's Necklace. But now I did. That difference mattered a great deal.

"Pheheh."

The Baphomet rose from its spot and began casting a spell.

The system messages flashed past in quick succession. I drew my dagger from my waist.

"Pheh?"

As I readied my attack, a flustered sound slipped from the Baphomet's mouth. I didn't let that opening pass me by — I swung the dagger.

Swish!

The Baphomet's head slid off and dropped to the floor.

The matchup simply favored me — under normal circumstances, this trial would have been harder than Floor 9.

"Huh?"

Wait — wasn't I supposed to clear all the trials? I mulled it over for a moment, then asked the question directly.

"What happens if I don't challenge the other trials?"

Hearing the system's answer, I paused to think. Even if the Tower cleared itself right now, I would still walk away with the reward I wanted. But if I challenged the other trials, I could receive even better ones.

"I'll challenge the other trials."

My deliberation didn't last long. If better rewards were on the table, what possible reason was there to refuse?

I picked my next trial immediately.

"I choose the Trial of Survival."

The Trial of Survival was simple: endure for one week in a forest crawling with monsters. The endless ambushes had left my body and mind worn down to the bone. After clearing it, I rested a while before moving on to the next trial.

So this is the Trial of the Senses.

The place I arrived at was an empty black void. When I waited a moment, the trial's details appeared.

With the system message, true darkness descended. If the room had merely been dim until now, what I faced now was a darkness so absolute that it could not even be felt as 'darkness' anymore.

I can't feel anything.

Losing my senses alone was terrifying. Anyone thrown into this state would be devoured by fear.

No sight.

I couldn't see my own body.

No hearing, no smell, no taste.

No sound came when I moved. When smell and taste refused to register, my head began to ache.

No touch, either.

Without touch, I couldn't even tell where my legs ended or my arms began. One hour like this — no human could hold out. Even if that human were me.

Back in my training before the regression, I'd at least used mana in its place to sense my surroundings.

If ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I just sit here, I might actually lose my mind.

With my senses gone, it felt as though I might lose my very self. On top of that, my sense of time had vanished too. I had no idea whether even one minute had passed since the trial began.

Let's just breathe.

It was better than doing nothing. Since my senses were gone, I began breathing the way my body remembered — not through sensation, but through habit.

Inhale, as I remembered it.

"Haa…."

Exhale, as I remembered it.

"Fuu…."

I had no idea whether I was actually breathing properly, but I simply followed my memory. In and out, again and again.

Then, something changed.

There should have been nothing to feel — and yet I felt something.

Huh?

Blue particles. Mana.

Why can I feel mana?

Every time I inhaled, mana was drawn into my body. And it didn't stop at merely sensing it. My surroundings gradually sharpened into focus, until at last I could feel my own body.

Could it be….

When one sense is blocked, the others sharpen — that's a well-known truth. The blind often excel in every other sense. Even ordinary people find their remaining senses firing harder when one is taken from them.

So that's the principle behind this?

But I hadn't lost one sense. I'd lost five. And in exchange, something else had awakened.

The sixth sense.

People argue about whether such a thing even exists. I know it does.

After completing my third rebirth before the regression, I had gained the special skill Sixth Sense.

So this is what it actually was? I never really understood it back then.

My senses expanded without limit. The range spread wider and wider until it struck a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠boundary. The moment I felt that edge, my anxiety eased a little.

That was how I passed the time, learning to control my sixth sense.

With the system message, my sealed senses came flooding back. The last time I'd felt this was after finishing my training before the regression.

I'm experiencing this sooner than I did back then.

Before, I had used my sixth sense without ever truly understanding it. But thanks to this trial, I had learned to control it.

I checked the messages that had piled up in the meantime.

Ten mana-gain messages in total. And once my mana reached 50, another message was waiting.

My whole body trembled as I read the message.

Every mana awakening brought with it an immense agony. This time, though, I had been spared the pain — thanks to my senses being sealed away.

The ordinary effects of mana growth. Mana now flowed through me more smoothly than it had before I entered the trial.

With this, I should be able to handle an upper-tier footwork.

Even Paek Footwork had been pushing me to my limit, but I'd made it through the first awakening. As long as the technique wasn't overwhelmingly demanding, I could now use an upper-tier footwork.

The Kwae (Swift) stage is probably still beyond me, though.

To use Kwae, I'd need at least two more awakenings.

And next came the turn of the special ability.

I had already felt the power of the sixth sense firsthand, back when my senses were gone. The way they expanded outward — that feeling had been exhilarating.

"Huh? What's this message?"

A skill had been absorbed into a stat's special effect.