Elizabeth (1)
"The Rank F Ticket has expired."
Moving to the 13th-floor waiting room.
Back in the waiting room, Yun-seok slowly looked around and let out a smirk.
Was his head a little messed up now? Earth felt far less comfortable than this place.
'Back then, my only goal was to survive and get back...'
He had chosen to head to Earth to learn about Murim. Somehow, he'd ended up personally ending his tangled grudge with Kang Hyung-woo with his own two hands before returning. A strange sentiment kept wrapping around him.
Perhaps it was the stark contrast between past and present? In less than half a year, so much had truly changed.
'I wonder what I'd say if the me from back then saw the me now.'
Well, he'd probably never understand. No, he might even call him a lunatic lost in delusions for killing people and treat him like a madman.
Looking back now, his past self had been far too soft—too soft.
Of course, he didn't miss those days or anything. It was just that, like how he couldn't have imagined his current self when he first arrived here, he couldn't predict what the future held.
That wasn't something to dwell on now, though.
Prepare yourself. The duel will begin shortly.
He'd find out eventually as he kept climbing higher.
Countdown beginning.
A moderate tension was helpful in battle. But these days, it rarely stirred in him.
From the 6th-floor boss battle to now, he hadn't truly felt endangered except for the 9th floor with his near-copy or the hidden mission duel against the Sword God.
And he'd capped off the free-for-all with a single finishing blow. Seven challengers had appeared... but one technique ended it.
Of course, if he didn't know what trial awaited, he might have tensed up a bit. But that wasn't the case anymore.
He already knew what enemies would appear up to at least the 18th floor, thanks to Geom-ma.
3.
The 13th-floor opponent was a challenger. Not real-time matching, but a Tower copy of a past challenger who'd passed through this floor, like last time.
Cheonma, Steel King, or that demon who'd massacred at the 6th-floor plaza. There might be threats like them mixed in, but not this time.
2.
Out of habit, Yun-seok first sized up his opponent.
A robe embroidered with ornate patterns. A staff gleaming with seven radiant gems. Anyone could tell at a glance: "I'm a mage."
A thick curiosity welled up.
1.
Mages were rare in Duel trials. Simple reason: hard to survive one-on-one.
Yun-seok had only seen a necromancer commanding corpses in a boss battle or that spirit user before—and never again after.
'A mage who's made it to the 13th floor...'
Rare meant she had some edge. But that was the end of his thoughts on it. No tension rose.
He had few chances to use counters against mages since they were scarce, but his skills were basically made for them.
Unless base specs were wildly mismatched, he couldn't lose even if he wanted to.
START!
The countdown ended, and the duel began. And in that instant—
"Infinite Barrier."
The ground caved in. No, more accurately, the entire space collapsed.
The circular arena vanished, replaced by a pitch-black, starless void.
And then...
"Attribute Fusion."
Fire, ice, lightning. Lights bearing three attributes floated in the air, merging into one before surging toward Yun-seok.
But he just watched calmly. This was his chance to test Immortality's effect.
If the description held true, it meant invincibility against elemental skills like these. Would it hold up in practice?
He got his answer soon enough.
Boom!
No damage.
The beam hit Yun-seok's body with a massive roar—perhaps amplified by this field skill. But that was it.
All noise, no scratch on him.
"...?"
The mage's face twisted in confusion. But she quickly regained composure and pulled out a new skill.
"Resistance Analysis."
Not like the explosive type from before. From the name, it seemed like an info-gathering skill akin to Appraisal.
Yun-seok's guess was spot on.
"What the hell...?"
Invisible to Yun-seok's eyes, she rapidly scanned the floating data: his resistances.
Numbers so bizarre she'd never seen up to the 13th floor.
'Attribute damage immunity? What the fuck?'
Mental resistance at 100%, and everything else far exceeding averages.
She quickly suppressed her shock. He was a monster, but not invincible. Holy attribute. That negative value meant roughly quadruple damage.
Without Resistance Analysis, it'd have taken endless trial and error to discover.
"Property Conversion."
A skill altering mana properties themselves. Now every spell would carry holy attributes.
"Fire Storm."
One of the upper-tier fire spells from "Advanced Attribute Magic." Flames gathered on her staff the moment she chanted.
Normally a 3-second cast, but she'd invested traits in cast speed reduction to survive duels—now near-instant.
Whoosh!
She swung her staff, and a vortex of flames hurtled toward Yun-seok.
Roooar!
Holy-infused, the flames weren't red but blindingly white. Plus her passive Hit Assistance made them track the target to a degree.
But...
Slash.
The flames dispersed before even touching him, sliced apart and vanishing without trace.
The culprit was his weapon.
The spell has been nullified by the Judgment Sword of the Sun Lord.
Mages fought strategically. They prepared meticulously and avoided battles they couldn't win—that was their creed.
Here, though, you had no choice. Opponents' patterns were near-random.
To survive as a mage, she'd amassed tools—including this one.
"Probing Eye."
Arguably superior to Appraisal. It scanned not just held gear but all visible equipment.
Her eyes froze on one line in the Judgment Sword's info.
—Ignores all magic below the wearer's mana value.
A game-ender for any mage. But the real absurdity?
Strength, agility, stamina, durability. She'd barely invested AP there, hoarding for mana even if it meant skipping upgrades.
Her unique skill added +3 mana to all magic too.
Yet...
'A swordsman with higher mana than me? What kind of bullshit is this?'
Her body shuddered involuntarily.
She had plenty of untapped cards—skills for every scenario, including sure-kills that'd turned tables before.
But what use were they? One swing of that sword, and poof.
"A demon, huh..."
Her opponent was a demon incarnate. No—to a magic user, worse than any demon.
And soon, she realized it applied externally too.
Demon Transformation.
Yun-seok's body swelled, massive horns and wings sprouting. Space warped and shattered around him.
Crack. Craaaack...
A scene fit for the apocalypse's prelude.
That was her final memory.
Moving to the 14th-floor waiting room.
Please prepare for the next duel.
Having tested Demon Transformation at the end, Yun-seok finished the duel.
What was "proper" magic like? He was a bit curious, but the matchup was so one-sided he didn't need to worry yet.
Even if he wanted to see more, she'd lost the will to fight before he could act.
'Rewards keep piling up, but duels are getting easier.'
Not surprising. Predation's cheat-like nature shone brighter over time.
Recalling the brutal fights of past floors, Yun-seok shook off the sentiment and checked his rewards.
This victory: 3 million AP. Plus an A+ staff melted via Alchemy for a total haul of 3.85 million.
Less than the last floor's solo sweep, but her S-rank mana meant one absorption netted nearly half. He snagged an A-rank unique skill too.
An A-rank unique skill, so he'd picked it. As expected, purely magic-focused.
(Yun-seok hadn't learned magic. Actives didn't count.)
'Ice magic,' 'mental magic,' 'dark magic,' etc.—only those counted as magic.
Eshton said learning such skills unlocked multiple types within, with ranks adding varieties or enhancements.
'No wonder she had so many skills.'
Predation revealed all opponent skills. Hers outnumbered anyone he'd faced.
Low ranks and trash non-mana stats aside.
'Anyway, synthesize something decent later.'
Only D-rank effect applied to him. Valuable, but synthesis might yield better.
Purchased item has arrived.
Please check the new arrivals tab.
Quickly wrapping up rewards, Yun-seok spent 3.75 million AP on a B-rank unique skill potion and downed it.
He pondered his skills.
"..."
The usual dilemma. Upgrade main Heaven Breaking Divine Art first? Or Predation?
He usually picked the safe Heaven Breaking, but not this time.
Wrong choice?
Harvests the soul upon killing a living being.
Yun-seok let out a groan reading the new effect.
Harvest souls? What did that even mean? And what good was it?
Questions piled up, but the unhelpful Tower of Heaven wouldn't explain.
'Guess I'll have to figure it out myself again.'
He brushed it off, but inwardly it nagged. Ghost energy, middle dantian, Heaven Breaking's promised C-rank effect—now this. Another homework added to the stack.
'Whatever. Let's get on with it.'
Yun-seok entered the achievement shop and bought a "Mission Directive."
Murim stuff needed at least a month, so clear this first.
But...
Mission Directive used.
Insufficient participants.
Mission trials with many challengers still matched real-time, unlike duels.
'Hope it doesn't take days...'
He waited silently. Good timing or normal wait? About 3 hours later, it matched.
14th-floor mission: "Heretic Extermination."
You may select difficulty.
Selecting Unique difficulty flashed the room once more, vision blacking out.
Moving to mission site.
What lay ahead—who knew? But if Kanna Blitz was right, this mission would let him see with his own eyes.
Elizabeth Lorwen.
The answer to the questions he'd harbored about her for so long.