Something's Seriously Wrong
Something was seriously wrong.
That was the thought that crossed Do-yun's mind as he stared at the notification floating before his eyes.
This is the Tower of Ascension.
We honor you, who have already proven yourselves in the Tower of Trials and yet chosen a new challenge once more.
The first to conquer this tower shall be granted the chance to fulfill a dearest wish.
He knew about the Tower of Trials well enough.
One day, monsters had begun appearing out of nowhere across the world. Humanity had barely managed to hold the front lines with modern weaponry when superpowered individuals emerged and started clearing the creatures out. Every one of them told the same story: they had returned after conquering the Tower of Trials.
People hadn't been quick to believe them — but the power those returnees displayed left no room for denial.
Will you enter the Tower of Trials?
Y / N
So when a translucent system notification had appeared before Do-yun's eyes, he hadn't hesitated for a second. He reached for Y.
Why would anyone turn down a chance to become a superhuman?
"So what the hell is this supposed to be?"
The translucent letters floated before him, and they made it clear he had entered not the Tower of Trials, but the Tower of Ascension. And it wasn't just the system window that was wrong. Returnees always said that first-timers were summoned into a stone chamber — yet Do-yun's vision took in a vast plain stretching all the way to the horizon.
And I'm not even alone out here.
Do-yun swept his surroundings with a tight, wary gaze. The plain sprawled in every direction, and people stood scattered across it in clothes of every description — billowing martial robes, full suits of steel plate, pointed hats marked with stars. For all their wildly different styles, they shared one thing in common: every last one of them radiated a terrifying presence. For an ordinary human like Do-yun, it was almost enough to drop him where he stood.
Ghk—!
Their auras crushed his instincts flat. His breath caught in his throat, and the strength drained from his legs. While he scanned the area with trembling eyes, a new system notification bloomed in front of him.
In the Tower of Ascension, restrictions are placed upon everything obtained in the Tower of Trials.
Restrictions may be lifted each time you ascend by ten floors.
All skills have been sealed.
All stats have been fixed at 10.
Almost the same instant he finished reading, savage complaints erupted all around him.
"Why the hell are you taking what I earned with my own power?!"
"Turn us back into ordinary humans? What kind of sick joke is this?"
Shhk.
Those complaints did not last long. Weapons came flying before the speakers could even finish, punching straight through their bodies.
"Nyahaha, so without skills and stats you're nothing. Nice of you to confess it."
"Your lives. I'll take them gladly."
The ones with holes in them stared down at their own wounds in disbelief, then collapsed to the ground as their strength failed. Do-yun clenched his teeth hard at the sight.
At this point, even the slowest person alive would have figured it out. This was not the Tower of Trials. Judging by the system notice that had just appeared, every single person standing here was a veteran who had already cleared the Tower of Trials. Somehow — for reasons he couldn't begin to guess — Do-yun had been dumped in among them.
I only ever saw a notice about entering the Tower of Trials, so why—!
The injustice of it was enough to drive him mad, but he couldn't afford to let any of that show. Those killers were already rolling their eyes in search of their next victim. Show any weakness, and he'd be next on the menu.
Are those things even human?
Do-yun stole a glance at a woman whose nails had grown out into long, wicked claws. Blood still dripped from them in fat red drops — sharper than any ordinary dagger. Catlike ears even jutted from the top of her head.
She doesn't look like she came from Earth, no matter how you slice it.
The returnees who came back from the Tower of Trials had superpowers, sure, but none of them had given off this kind of wrong-species dissonance. Unless something had twisted them while they climbed, it meant they had been born this way from the start.
So this is how I end up meeting aliens.
A cat beastkin was practically normal by comparison. There were people with smooth reptilian skin, and even a robot whose entire body was pure machinery.
You have answered the summons of the Tower of Trials!
We honor your courageous challenge.
Please shout "Status Window"!
In the middle of all that, a system window popped up in front of Do-yun in a tone that was far too cheerfully perky. This had to be the tutorial the returnees always talked about.
Just send me back already!
Everyone else got to run their tutorial in a quiet, safe, peaceful stone chamber. Why did he have to do his next to a pack of veterans who had already cleared the Tower of Trials?
"S-Status Window."
The moment Do-yun muttered the words under his breath, a translucent window straight out of a video game bloomed before his eyes.
The Tower of Trials' system was remarkably kind to challengers. You started inside a safe stone chamber, then worked your way through monsters and traps floor by floor. Every floor paid out rewards. Best of all, if your health hit zero you simply got bounced back to reality — so the risk was basically nonexistent. That was why Do-yun had answered the summons without a second thought.
No idea how it works here, though.
If the notifications were telling the truth, this place was the Tower of Ascension, not the Tower of Trials — and that meant any number of things could work differently.
Those corpses sure as hell don't look like people who got sent home.
He swallowed hard looking at the bodies punched full of holes. Returnees said that the moment your health hit zero, your body dissolved into light. Leftover corpses like these should never have existed.
First priority: stay alive as long as possible.
His skill list was empty, of course. The only reason Do-yun had risked saying "Status Window" out loud was because it was a required step to progress the tutorial.
In the Tower of Trials, starting stats are fixed at 10!
Climb higher to raise your stats — do your best! >.<
As a tutorial reward, an F-Rank Skill Selection Ticket has been granted!
What is with that emoticon.
Do-yun almost barked out a hollow laugh and had to clamp his mouth shut hard, eyes flicking around. Luckily, no one seemed to be paying him any attention.
"Hey, old man — you look like you can throw down. Care to go a round?"
"What are you staring at? Looking to die?"
The first murders had broken out the moment the skill-sealing notice appeared, and the perpetrators were already picking fights with everyone nearby. Thanks to those psychopaths putting on a show, no one seemed to have noticed Do-yun's slip.
Better than nothing, at least.
Do-yun focused on the book floating in front of him. An F-Rank Skill Selection Ticket — the standard tutorial reward, and a critical moment that would decide the direction of his growth. In the early floors, you had to push through with this single skill alone.
◈ Bash (F) — Increases damage dealt by 1,517%.
◈ Light Footsteps (F) — For 10 seconds, movement speed rises by 436% of Agility.
◈ Poison Coating (F) — Next attack adds poison damage equal to 584% of Attack Power.
He was skimming the list without much thought when the coefficients hit him and something felt deeply off.
What the hell. Why does this look like that.
Those amplification rates were nowhere near what an F-Rank skill was supposed to offer. Startled, Do-yun dredged up a returnee interview he'd once seen on the news.
— If you're not confident in a fight, I'd recommend picking the Bash skill.
— Why is that?
— It flat-out multiplies your impact by a hundred and fifty percent. It's a huge help for people who aren't used to combat.
A hundred and fifty percent. That much he was sure of. So what exactly were the coefficients floating in front of him right now?
Bash (F) — Increases damage dealt by 1,517%.
One thousand five hundred seventeen percent. Not one-point-five times the impact — fifteen times. He shut his eyes and opened them again and again. The number never changed.
While Do-yun was still waving a hand through the air in a daze, a new system window rose over the skill selection screen and blocked his view.
Transfer to Floor 1 will begin in 30 minutes.
Unlike the white lettering of the Tower of Trials' notices, this one was written in blue. An announcement from the Tower of Ascension.
"Thirty minutes? Are you kidding me?"
Depending on your standards, thirty minutes might not sound like much — but the thought of lasting that long in this hellhole made his vision go black. There was no way the maniacs who had already started murdering people would just sit quietly until then.
"Haha! If we want to thin out the competition even a little, thirty minutes is going to be tight!"
"…I need blood."
Sure enough, the moment the thirty-minute limit dropped, their behavior got even more extreme. Several people simply started swinging weapons at whoever happened to be nearby.
"You son of a bitch!"
"Die!"
The wet sounds of blood spraying and the screams rose from every direction. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before Do-yun's turn came. As if on cue, a man with a greatsword was already charging straight at him.
"Kyahahaha! Come and taste my blade!"
"Just my luck."
Do-yun clicked his tongue once and moved his hand. There was no time to think. He had to stop the enemy right in front of him.
There were hundreds of F-Rank skills, but Do-yun's choice was the most straightforward one: Bash. A skill that boosted every kind of damage was unmatched for pure versatility. Sure, the coefficient was usually so low it only saw use in the early floors — but Do-yun's Bash was a different story.
Bash (F)
The next attack will have 1,517% impact added.
The instant he decided to use the skill, a pale haze of energy drained from his body. That had to be the resource people called mana — whatever you needed to fuel a skill.
"Get the hell away from me!"
Do-yun swung his glowing fist at the man. A dazzling flash erupted, and a storm of force howled outward.
BOOOOM!
"Guh—!"
The shockwave from the punch alone sent the greatsword-wielding man flying. Do-yun stared down at his fist in shock. He'd expected some power — but not a backlash this violent.
Whoosh.
The man's body carved a clean arc through the air, then smashed straight into a cloaked man and a horned woman who had been tangled up fighting each other.
"Gyaaaah!"
"What the hell is this now?!"
The heavy body slammed dead-center between them, and both fighters lost their balance and went sprawling. It was enough chaos to yank every gaze on the battlefield toward a single point. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath for a moment — and then dozens of eyes locked onto Do-yun as one.
"Did that come from over there?"
"Judging by the direction… that scrawny human, yeah."
"That much power with his skills sealed? Unbelievable."
Interest. Killing intent. Wariness. A mess of emotions stabbed into Do-yun's skin through those stares. A strange hush fell. People who had been at each other's throats a second ago went quiet as if by mutual agreement.
"Ah, for real…"
His plan of staying small and invisible was already dead. Do-yun bit his lip — then deliberately took one step forward instead.
Since it's come to this, I've got no choice.
All he could do now was play the part of an overwhelming powerhouse no one would even dare approach.
Bash (F)
The next attack will have 1,517% impact added.
Light gathered around Do-yun's fist as he activated the skill once more.