Floors 6 Through 10
One day.
That was all the time it took for Yu Jaewoo to turn the world upside down.
And yet, the man himself could hardly have cared less.
After spending a single day at his family home, he returned to his studio apartment and threw himself into distributing his skill points.
Current available skill points: 500P.
"Hmm. For some reason, my main skill, Dream Soul Talk, can't be upgraded. Instead, a bunch of sub-skills have popped up."
Current contracted souls: Cheonma
Additional contracts currently available: 0
Can only be manifested while Awakener Yu Jaewoo is asleep. Current manifestable area: a sphere with a 1 km radius.
Jaewoo hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"World of Dream Souls."
The following points are required to upgrade the skill World of Dream Souls:
World Permanence — 800P
└ Maintains the World of Dream Souls even when the Awakener is not dreaming.
World Manifestation — 2,000P
└ Links the World of Dream Souls to reality and allows free travel to and from the realm even while awake. Note: contracted souls may not leave the World of Dream Souls.
World Expansion — 10P per 1 km of radius.
Environment Design — 200P
└ Builds any environment the Awakener desires within the world.
Jaewoo was genuinely taken aback.
"There's a lot I can do with this, huh?"
But rather than choosing on the spot, he resolved to deliberate a little longer.
"Contracts of the Dream Soul Realm."
[Here are the points required for upgrades.]
Additional Contract — 2,000P
└ Enables the Awakener to forge one additional Dream Soul contract.
Additional Contract — 3,000P
Additional Contract — 4,000P
Contractor Descent — 5,000P
Insane.
Expensive, sure — but every single one of those skills was utterly ridiculous.
And Contractor Descent, of all things?
"You're telling me I could summon Master Cheonma into the real world?!"
Unfortunately, his skill points fell far short for now.
Which left exactly one option.
"Tower climbing."
You may currently enter 6 floors.
Would you like to enter Floor 6?
"Yes."
Floors 1 through 10 were so well known that there wasn't a soul on Earth unfamiliar with them. Naturally, the higher one climbed, the scarcer the information became—and the greater the danger.
Floors 1 through 5 could be conquered by any awakener who trained with steady dedication, but from Floor 6 onward, the Tower was no place for anyone ranked E-Class or below. Word had it that a truckload of climbers died there every single year.
An interview with a certain D-Class awakener came to mind.
From Floor 6 on, clearing the floor granted a Random Box—and the items that came out of those boxes sold for a fortune.
Money, money, money.
Just you wait. I'll be making plenty for us from now on.
Entering Floor 6 of the Tower of the Republic of Korea.
Ping—
The scenery before his eyes shifted.
This time, it was no forest.
It was a desert.
"Hoh."
Just how far did the Tower's conjured spaces extend? Curiosity sharpened his anyeok—his cultivated power of perception. The Heavenly Demonic energy pooling in his dantian surged along his meridians and gathered in both eyes. His vision sharpened until he could see what no ordinary human could.
And yet.
The desert remained every bit as boundless, its far edge beyond all reckoning.
"Vast."
He strode out of the safe zone. A sand-laden wind swept past, and beneath the ground, he felt something stirring.
Sandworms, starting from Floor 6, if I recall.
Monsters that tunneled beneath the sand and lashed out at passing climbers with their tentacles. A sandworm's tentacles could punch clean through a human body, and once inside, they drained the awakener's bodily fluids.
Which is why awakeners keep coming out of Floor 6 with parts of their bodies mummified.
That very instant—
A tentacle came lashing out of the sand.
Crash! Bang!
But piercing a body sheathed head to toe in protective qi was impossible. If anything, it was the sandworm's tentacle that took the hit.
Kieeeek!
A shriek echoed up from beneath the sand. Jaewoo extended his qi sense outward to survey the sandworms—
"About five of them."
The orthodox method of clearing Floor 6 was simple: sprint across the desert until the sandworms exhausted themselves, then seize the tentacles they flung out and drag the beasts to the surface. That was why most climbers geared up with items boosting agility, senses, speed, and defense.
But.
He had no need for any of that.
He drew a single thread of inner force from his dantian. The surrounding air grew oppressively heavy, and the sandy floor shuddered violently.
He extended a hand, palm turned toward the sky, and released his qi in every direction.
"Come up."
FWOOSH!
Precisely five sandworms were seized by the colossal force and hauled up out of the sand. It was Void Seizing—an art reserved for martial artists who had ascended to the supreme realms.
Kieeeek!
The sandworms were roughly three meters long, and the revolting creatures shrieked as though being torn apart, the grip of the Void Seizing clearly agonizing.
Jaewoo regarded the monsters for a long, unhurried moment.
Then he closed his outstretched palm.
KRRK—
The sandworms began to shrivel, like caterpillars crushed in a fist.
Kieeeek!
The instant his palm became a fist—
BOOM!
Every sandworm burst apart, and viscous green blood rained from the sky.
You have slain all five Sandworms.
You have cleared Floor 6 of the Tower of Korea.
You have leveled up.
50 skill points awarded.
The sandworms crumbled to ash. Each one retched up ten low-grade magic stones, red as garnets, and Jaewoo drew them all to him with Void Seizing.
Fifty low-grade magic stones.
Goblins only ever coughed up 10,000-won lowest-grade stones, but these bastards dropped ten 100,000-won low-grade stones apiece.
"I just made five million won in the blink of an eye. Insane. Absolutely insane."
And then—
BOOM—
A muffled explosion rang out, and smoke billowed upward. The sand wind swept the smoke away, revealing the box before him.
"Finally!"
He had been waiting for this exact moment—because he knew exactly what was likely to pop out of a Floor 6 Random Box.
Just then:
"......?"
So the legendary achievements and bonus rewards weren't one-time-only deals?
"Huh? A bonus Random Box too, on top of everything else?"
So the rewards weren't identical every time. Wasn't this just the best thing ever?
Floors 6–10 were F-Class territory. Floors 11–15, E-Class. Floors 16–20, D-Class. Floors 21–25, C-Class. Floors 26–30, B-Class. Floors 31–35, A-Class. Floors 36–40, S-Class. Floors 41–45, SS-Class. And Floors 46–47 were said to be SSS-Class.
Which meant a D-Class box—
was a full two tiers above his current floor's standard reward.
He opened the boxes right away.
"F-Class first."
Creak— ding!
Congratulations! You have obtained [Inventory, 5 kg].
Yes! An inventory!
He'd coveted this item—the one every awakener carried—something fierce. From now on, he wouldn't have to lug Tower rewards or heavy loads around by hand.
"Ah! It's like a dream!"
Granted, as a lowest-tier inventory it couldn't hold more than 5 kilograms, but hey—it was something.
"Heheh. Next, the D-Class box."
Creak— ding!
Congratulations! You have obtained [Inventory Expansion, 30 kg]. Use it now?
"Jackpot."
A gasp escaped him as he stared at the window floating before his eyes.
"Of course I'm using it!"
Expanding inventory.
Current inventory capacity: 35 kg
Whoa, incredible.
He could haul around any reasonable load with this.
"Next floor."
Would you like to enter Floor 7 of the Tower of Korea?
"Let's go, go, go!"
Ping—
The scenery changed again. This time, a snowfield.
Whooooosh—
A gust of wind rolled through, and the cold bit deep. But what did a little chill matter when he'd be done in minutes?
He shot out of the safe zone—and immediately, from far in the distance, wolf-like monsters came charging through a self-made blizzard.
Frost Hounds. Seven of them.
Grr! Grr! Grr! Grr!
The Frost Hounds came barking savagely, frost glittering on their fangs and frigid blue cold radiating from their backs.
He let fly with his qi blades at once.
Ssh-sh-sh-sh-shk—
Tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk—
Seven holes punched through seven Frost Hound skulls. The beasts never even managed a proper death howl; they simply dropped dead on the spot. Naturally, each one promptly spat up ten low-grade magic stones.
My, my. How much does all that come to?
Seven million won?
So that makes twelve million already?
"Making money is the easiest thing in the world."
You have slain all ten Frost Hounds.
You have cleared Floor 7 of the Tower of Korea.
You have leveled up.
100 skill points awarded.
F-Class Random Box awarded.
"No, wait—tower climbing is the easiest thing in the world."
After that, he stuffed every magic stone and Random Box into his inventory and pressed on with the climb.
Floor 8. Eight Blue Oaks. He closed the distance in a flash and put qi blades through their brows.
Fwi-fi-fi-fi-fwip!
Eighty low-grade magic stones. Eight million won. Pre-Opening Ticket 3/5.
Floor 9. Ten Red-Eye Scorpions. This time he went in with his wooden sword and unleashed sword qi.
Shaaaaak! Srrk—!
A hundred low-grade magic stones. Ten million won. Pre-Opening Ticket 4/5.
Floor 10. Twenty Skeleton Golems and a single Skeleton Warrior. He smashed the bone-bags to pieces with palm strikes and qi-reinforced fists.
KWAJIK! KWAJIK! BOOM!
Two hundred low-grade magic stones. Twenty million won. Pre-Opening Ticket 5/5.
In the blink of an eye, he had cleared all five floors—the daily climbing limit. And then the notification appeared.
"Oh—well, what do we have here. More rewards, you say?"
For an achievement no one has ever accomplished, choose ONE of the following:
1. A-Class Random Box
2. 2,000 Skill Points
3. Skill: Mental Barrier Lv. 10
4. Level Reset Ticket (One-Time Use)
Whoa—
Rewards that made his jaw hang open.
First, the A-Class Random Box. What were the odds of getting something good? Pass.
Two thousand skill points. He did need them, but... he'd hold off.
The skill Mental Barrier Lv. 10. With Master's Myeolcheonmagong—the Heaven-Destroying Demonic Art—at his side, he had no need for it. Pass.
Which left the Level Reset Ticket?
"Explain the Level Reset Ticket to me."
Explanation unavailable until the reward is claimed.
"Tight-fisted, aren't you."
He scratched his head for a moment, then spoke.
"Give me number four. The Level Reset Ticket."
[The Level Reset Ticket is granted as your reward.]
Fine. Might as well find out what it can do.
In that instant, something like a black bracelet coiled smoothly around his wrist, and he knew at once that this was the Level Reset Ticket.
◈ Description: Usable when conquering a tower other than the one you have already cleared. When used, you may climb that tower again starting from Level 1.
"Whoa! That's an absolute steal!"
He let out a whoop of joy. Which meant—if he cleared the Korean Tower, then went to another country and cleared that one too, he'd earn all the milestone rewards all over again?
Incredible.
Little by little, the gears began turning in his head, showing him exactly how he was going to use this thing.
