After leaving the Tower, I returned home, but even then, I could not tear my gaze away from one thing.
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[Disaster Incarnate]
O you who incarnates disaster.
Trait Effect: The power and attack range of all Skills are greatly increased, and each Skill is granted a special effect appropriate to it.
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It was an extremely unfamiliar Trait.
Even though I was only an F-rank Hunter, the fact that I had never even heard of such a Trait meant that it had to be something extraordinarily rare.
‘This is… incredible.’
I did not know exactly what kind of Trait Disaster Incarnate was, but even from the effects described at a glance, it was clearly anything but ordinary.
The very name Disaster Incarnate sounded extraordinary enough.
‘Let me look it up first.’
I immediately accessed the Hunter community to gather information about the Trait.
‘Hmm?’
The Hunter community was in an uproar.
Naturally, everyone was talking about the newly emerged SSS-rank record holder, Strongest.
-Who exactly is Strongest?
-An SSS-rank record. Incredible.
-Strongest really is the strongest.
-SSS-rank actually existed?
-Jeff is looking rather ordinary now.
I had expected public attention to begin gathering around this time, but the reaction was even greater than I had anticipated.
It was probably because fear of a potential Tower Collapse had recently begun spreading throughout Korea.
Even in the news section of the Hunter community, I could find headlines about it.
-It has already been ten months since Floor 45 was cleared. What is the Awakened Management Agency doing?
-[Breaking News] Flying Sword has remained in seclusion for seven days. Concerns arise that something may have happened during a Tower climb…….
-We cannot rely on Flying Sword forever. The government must devise a new solution.
In a way, such concerns were only natural.
It was already approaching a full year since South Korea had cleared Floor 45 of the Tower.
No one yet knew the exact conditions that caused a Tower Collapse, but based on previous cases, the prevailing theory was that it occurred when progress beyond the highest cleared floor remained stalled for more than a year.
It was inevitable that people would begin talking about a crisis.
There were currently two Towers in South Korea.
One in Seoul, and one in Busan.
As a general rule, when an Awakened declared that they wished to enter a Tower, they would be sent into whichever Tower was geographically closest to them.
The highest cleared floor of the Seoul Tower was currently Floor 45, while the Busan Tower stood at Floor 44.
There was still some breathing room with the Busan Tower because Flying Sword, who had already succeeded in clearing Floor 45 before, was available.
The Seoul Tower, however, was a different matter.
Flying Sword, who could currently be regarded as the strongest Hunter in Korea, could not even contemplate challenging Floor 46.
The comments beneath the articles were also filled with concern.
-I heard Flying Sword’s simulation results were not very good... Should we not bring in mercenaries?
-But does anyone else feel uneasy about Hunters from other countries entering Korea?
-We do not have another choice.
-Korea is completely doomed.
-Time to emigrate.
-Anyone sensible is already looking into emigrating. Would you not agree?
There was a simple reason so many comments expressed concern about foreign mercenaries.
When Hunters entered a Tower, they were sent into whichever Tower was closest to their current location.
In other words, it was possible for someone to deliberately enter another country and recklessly clear that country’s Tower.
There had actually been an incident during the height of the China–India border conflict when China had deliberately used one of its own A-rank Hunters to advance through India’s New Delhi Tower.
The highest cleared floor of the New Delhi Tower, which had previously been only Floor 37, had suddenly jumped all the way to Floor 43.
At the time, India had no Hunter who could be considered A-rank.
When the highest cleared floor suddenly rose beyond Floor 43, India immediately found itself facing a crisis.
From India’s perspective, it was essentially an act of terrorism capable of wiping out its capital.
Naturally, India identified China as the force behind the incident.
China denied responsibility, but there were only a handful of countries at the time that possessed Hunters capable of clearing floors above Floor 43, so there was no possibility that such an excuse would be accepted.
Before long, relations between China and India deteriorated to the point that the two nations came perilously close to nuclear war.
Had the New Delhi Tower actually collapsed, a nuclear war might truly have broken out.
Fortunately, neither the EU nor the United States wanted that outcome, and the incident was eventually resolved after they pledged to ensure regular Tower clears for India.
Afterward, clearing another nation’s Tower was prohibited under international law.
However, Hunters were not beings who could truly be restrained by laws alone, so similar disputes continued to occur frequently.
Governments around the world therefore had no choice but to react sensitively whenever Hunters from other nations entered their territory.
In fact, monitoring the movements of Hunters was among the highest priorities of intelligence agencies in every country.
‘Putting that aside…….’
Matters such as the survival of nations and the future of the country still felt distant from me.
It was more sensible to return to my original purpose and investigate the Disaster Incarnate Trait.
[Search: Disaster Incarnate]
[No search results found.]
‘Hmm… as expected.’
I searched several other Hunter information sites repeatedly, but just as I had expected, I could not find any information about the Disaster Incarnate Trait.
There was still a great deal of information I did not have permission to access, so it was not particularly strange.
‘I suppose I will have to test it myself.’
Seeing was believing.
If I wanted to understand what effects the Trait possessed, nothing could be better than testing it myself.
***
The next day.
After spending an entire day impatiently waiting, I immediately entered the Tower to test my new Trait.
“Enter the Tower.”
[Floor 1 ]
[Floor 2 ]
[Floor 3 ]
.
.
.
[Floor 13 ]
[Floor 14 ]
Just as I was about to select Floor 14 without a second thought, an idea suddenly occurred to me.
‘No, wait…….’
What if I had somehow discovered an extremely unusual condition for acquiring a Trait that no one else knew about?
If that were true, this was no small matter.
‘It is worth testing.’
I had nothing to lose, so I decided to recreate the exact circumstances in which I had acquired Disaster Incarnate.
Climbing to higher floors was extremely important, but if there was a chance to obtain another Trait on the level of Disaster Incarnate, it would be wiser to acquire it while I still could.
‘There might even be a condition that prevents it from activating once I climb to a higher floor.’
There were indeed certain Traits that could only be acquired on specific floors.
If someone passed those floors and cleared an even higher floor, they would lose the opportunity to acquire those Traits forever.
That was why Hunters needed to exercise great caution while climbing the Tower.
‘I will go to Floor 13.’
I did not deliberate for long.
[Entering <Tower Floor 13>.]
The familiar scenery I had already seen once came into view.
[Floor 13 Mission Overview]
-Defeat 10 Scorpions.
-Defeat 2 Thirst Lizards.
-Completion Condition: Defeat all Scorpions and Thirst Lizards
-Failure Condition: Death
To recreate the circumstances in which I had acquired Disaster Incarnate as closely as possible, I immediately opened my Inventory and withdrew Ogre’s Giant Hammer.
Just as the hammer’s immense weight caused me to begin sinking into the sand, I raised it overhead.
[Activating the exclusive Skill, ‘Seismic Wave’.]
[The special effect of Disaster Incarnate has been activated.]
KABOOOOOM!!!────
What followed was an explosion so enormous that it seemed as though a nuclear detonation had occurred.
The entire stretch of desert was overturned. Every monster that had been hiding beneath the sand, waiting for an opportunity to strike, was wiped away, and even the terrain itself was transformed.
[You have defeated a Scorpion Warrior!]
[You have defeated a Scorpion Assassin!]
[You have defeated a Thirst Lizard!]
[You have acquired Experience Points.]
And it did not end there.
Lava surged upward through the ruptured sand, transforming what had once been a desert into a field of molten rock.
This had to be the special effect that Disaster Incarnate added to the Skill.
“…This is utterly insane.”
Could a single use of a Skill truly create a sight like this?
At this point, calling it a Skill hardly seemed appropriate.
It was practically a tactical weapon.
Even as I stared at the unbelievable scene with my own eyes, the Tower announced that I had cleared the floor.
[You have cleared <Tower Floor 13>.]
[Exiting the Tower.]
Unfortunately, I did not acquire another Trait as I had before.
But there was no reason to be disappointed.
‘I can simply keep trying until I get one.’
And so began my repeated attempts at Floor 13.
***
Six days had already passed since I began repeatedly clearing Floor 13.
[You have cleared <Tower Floor 13>.]
[Exiting the Tower.]
Unfortunately, despite repeatedly challenging Floor 13 for an entire week, the only Trait I had acquired was Disaster Incarnate on the first day.
The result was somewhat disappointing to me, but that did not mean I had gained nothing.
[Current Experience Points: 22,412,400]
More than twenty million Experience Points.
It was enough to purchase two Stats increases or two Random Skills.
‘I will need to think about how to spend them.’
Random Skills and Stats.
Both were attractive choices, so I could not make the decision lightly.
‘More importantly, I have something else I need to take care of first.’
After spending an entire week doing nothing but repeatedly clearing Floor 13, my Inventory was on the verge of bursting from all the monster materials and Magic Crystals I had accumulated.
I could not even begin to guess how much everything inside it was worth.
As someone who had spent all those years surviving as a Scavenger on the lower floors, merely looking at my fully stocked Inventory filled me with satisfaction.
‘I should probably stop repeating the floor here.’
I had cleared the same floor under the same conditions for an entire week without acquiring another Trait.
That meant Disaster Incarnate was the only Trait that could be obtained under those particular circumstances.
In other words, I had fulfilled an exceptionally unusual set of conditions and acquired a Trait because of it.
That alone demonstrated how valuable Disaster Incarnate was, but what mattered most was the Trait’s versatility.
‘The Skill enhancement and special effects applied to Clone as well.’
I had tested it just in case, and astonishingly, Disaster Incarnate’s effects applied to Clone in exactly the same way.
Thanks to that, the percentage of my Stats inherited by my Clone had risen all the way to 30%, and the Skill had also gained a special effect.
The special effect applied to Clone was Body Transformation.
Despite the impressive name, it could not drastically alter the body. It merely allowed me to make minor changes to the Clone’s appearance.
Of course, if I invested an excessive amount of Magic Power, I could induce a much greater physical transformation, but it was not particularly efficient.
That was unavoidable, since the Clone itself could only utilize 30% of my Stats.
‘Putting that aside…….’
I needed to go out today if only to empty my overflowing Inventory.
The rental period for Ogre’s Giant Hammer was also nearing its end, so I needed to visit the rental shop, return it, and rent it again.
Even with a pass, overdue equipment rentals still incurred additional charges.
If enduring a minor inconvenience allowed me to use it for free, there was no reason to pay unnecessary late fees.
“Shall I go?”
It had been a while since I had gone out.
***
“He is coming today, right?”
“……As I told you, I am very sorry, but I cannot disclose that information.”
“You really are inflexible.”
After saying that, Seo-yoon stared intently at the entrance to the rental shop without so much as blinking.
Just who had snatched up the weapon I had already set my sights on?
Today, I was going to see his face no matter what.