Survive for Forty-Eight Hours

When Do-yun opened his eyes, he found himself in a jungle thick with undergrowth on every side. The air that touched his skin was muggy and oppressive, and nearby trees stretched high and cool into the canopy. The theme of the eighth floor was none other than survival. He would have to scavenge food and water from the surrounding environment on his own and find a safe place to sleep—pure wilderness.

That alone would have been an extreme enough environment, yet the Tower of Ascension had layered on one additional condition.

“Tch.”

Do-yun clicked his tongue at the extra notification that floated up. Unlike the Tower of Trials, where worrying only about one’s own survival had been enough, here he would also have to watch for ambushes from other challengers. Well, he had already expected as much, so it was not especially surprising.

Still, I didn’t think they’d hand out extra points for it.

Points were the resource needed to measure one’s clear rank on the eighth floor. Gather a certain amount or more and there was no further need to struggle. Reaching S-rank was the end of it. Gathering points past S-rank in the first place was nearly impossible.

But they give extra points for neutralizing other challengers, huh.

It seemed rewards obtainable through points had been added. Maybe they would let him pick specific rewards in something like a shop format.

“Doyun-nim! First we have to make a base, a base! We need to gather food too, and check if there’s a river nearby—”

Ciel chattered on with what she considered earnest advice; Do-yun let the words wash over him like background noise. To other people it might have been helpful, but to him at least the suggestions were utterly useless.

I never planned on following the orthodox route to begin with.

His gaze had already been fixed for some time on the back of his hand, which glittered faintly. The minimap. It was time to check just how impressive a reward five consecutive first-place finishes had truly been.

Tap.

When Do-yun lightly rapped the back of his hand, a three-dimensional map rose into his vision accompanied by a soft glow. Contours of the terrain, nearby water sources, even differences in elevation—everything rendered with precision. On top of it all, his own position was displayed in real time as he moved.

“This is ridiculously good.”

The “mini” modifier had kept his expectations modest, yet the sheer volume of information packed into it far exceeded anything he had imagined. A natural smile curved across Do-yun’s face.

On the eighth floor, information is power.

This was no mere convenience reward. It was a weapon capable of rewriting the very approach to clearing this floor.

The eighth floor was a place where the more effort one poured in, the more one could take away. According to the Seeker, Jeong Se-ah, it was a golden paradise with treasure strewn everywhere.

—You know those trees that grow especially tall? Eat the fruit that grows on them and your Agility stat goes up by one.

—Oh, and waterfalls! Sit in the lotus position under a waterfall and meditate, and your Magic Power rises.

—Every so often you spot a stone statue, right? Prostrate yourself and bow to it and a random stat goes up.

For Jeong Se-ah, who specialized in every bizarre act imaginable, forty-eight hours had apparently felt far too short. That was the opposite of most challengers, who prayed for the survival mission to end even a day sooner.

“That woman claimed she never had enough time on almost every floor, though.”

Of course she didn’t. She ignored the actual objectives and spent every moment on strange side quests. Her obsession with hidden pieces, which never faded even in the harshest environments, was almost terrifying.

“Works out great for me, though.”

Thanks to the records left behind by Jeong Se-ah and countless others, Do-yun had no need to waste time trial-and-error figuring out which actions were necessary and which were not. On top of that he had been given the broken special privilege of the minimap. So he methodically began collecting every nearby hidden piece one by one.

Under ordinary circumstances, even spending an entire day scouring the area might yield one of these rewards if one were lucky. Do-yun, however, used the minimap to tear through them at a frenzied pace. He finally stopped only after the sky had darkened into dusk.

“Status window.”

Do-yun spoke the words for the first time in a long while. A feast of numbers incomparable to those he had seen at the start of the tutorial spread before his eyes.

Just looking at it filled him with quiet satisfaction. When he had first called up the status window on the 0th floor, he never could have imagined reaching numbers like these. The most tangible difference, though, was the increase in Magic Power.

“Didn’t expect I’d be able to raise Magic Power by as much as five.”

Vitality, Attack Power, Strength, Agility—every stat except Magic Power had never left him feeling particularly lacking. That was only natural. The equipment he wore amplified his stats to an absurd degree. Feeling a ceiling this early would have been ridiculous. Magic Power alone was the exception.

Gear with Magic Power-related stats is rare, after all.

On these lower floors, other stats mattered far more than Magic Power to begin with. That made Magic Power rewards extremely hard to come by. The Ring of Magic Circulation obtained on the seventh floor and the stat rewards here on the eighth had finally eased that lingering shortfall.

“About time, then.”

Do-yun closed the status window and looked up at the sky. Dusk was settling into a darkening vault. There was one more hidden piece that could be obtained only during this specific window of time.

—What incident from the eighth floor do I remember most?

—Once night fell, will-o’-the-wisps started appearing.

—Weirdly enough, they always vanished whenever I tried to approach them.

Turning ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Jeong Se-ah’s words over in his mind, Do-yun set off. Will-o’-the-wisps that appeared every night. At the time Se-ah had not known, but later challengers who entered the Tower of Trials after her had uncovered the secret: those will-o’-the-wisps were none other than spirits.

They said to carefully approach while carrying something that would interest a spirit.

Spirits were extremely wary of unfamiliar beings. The reason Jeong Se-ah had never made contact was that she had charged in excitedly the moment she spotted them. Ordinarily he would have had to wander the surroundings collecting objects that might catch a spirit’s interest, but Do-yun had no need for that kind of effort.

“That’s exactly why I applied the Rune of Evolution to my sword.”

A blade imbued with the power of Spirit Affinity. With this, he could become the spirits’ instant celebrity. While Do-yun was stroking the sword, a voice piped up beside him.

“Wow. This is completely delicious!”

Ciel, who had just taken a bite of an apple, let out a sound of pure wonder.

“It’s so crisp, and the juice just bursts out—on a whole different level from ordinary apples! I need another one.”

“Do you realize how many ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠times you’ve repeated ‘I need ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠another one’ already?”

“The one earlier was an apple with the power of the heavens, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this one is an apple with mysterious energy, you know~”

Her pronunciation turned mushy as she stuffed her cheeks full of apple. Those fruits only granted points and stats once, so he had handed the leftovers to Ciel; she was happily devouring every last one.

Well, as long as you’re happy.

Having lost the will to even begin pointing things out, Do-yun simply kept walking in silence. Checking the minimap as he went, he arrived at a still lake. Multicolored lights drifted and danced above the water, creating an atmosphere of profound mystery.

He only had a brief moment to appreciate the mystical scenery before one of the flames noticed him and began drifting closer.

That’s right. Come on over.

Do-yun deliberately unbuckled his sword, set it on the ground, and even took a single step backward—all to make it easier for the spirit to approach. Hummm, hum.

Even with the fascinating power of Spirit Affinity right in front of it, the will-o’-the-wisp’s approach was agonizingly slow.

Ugh, why so damn slow.

Heat rose in his chest, but he forced the irritation down. Even so, this was actually on the fast side. Without Spirit Affinity it would have taken far longer.

The first spirit contractor supposedly spent two full days and nights at this lake alone.

Someone who had abandoned every other stat reward on the eighth floor and gambled the entire forty-eight hours on devotion to a single spirit. Spirits were rewards fine enough to justify that hardship, yet Do-yun had no intention of spending anywhere near that much time.

Might as well take everything if I can, right?

Claim the spirit and every other reward the eighth floor offered. That was why he had granted the sword Spirit Affinity in the first place. How long had he been watching the will-o’-the-wisp’s tedious approach when—

Brrr.

The flame that had been drifting toward him suddenly shuddered, then spun around and fled back the way it had come.

“What the hell?”

Do-yun shot to his feet at the sight. What had gone wrong to make it run? He scanned the surroundings and understood almost at once. The spirits had not grown wary because of anything he had done. They were fleeing a different threat entirely—one that was not him.

Ssssss.

Nearby, the sound of leaves brushing together reached his ears. It was deeply unnatural. Not a single breath of wind was stirring.

“Doyun-nim! Over there!”

Ciel urgently yanked on his sleeve. Her tiny fingertips were trembling. The moment Do-yun turned his gaze, a scene so chilling it felt as if his heart had dropped unfolded before him.

Crrrack.

Tree roots were writhing. From the dark forest, black, twisted roots came crawling forth.

“Well. Wherever there are rewards, danger always comes along for the ride.”

Even as Do-yun muttered the words, roots exploded outward from every direction and surged toward him.