Sang-hyeok’s eyes widened slightly.
‘Bodily adaptation?’
The Heart of the Apocalyptic Demon Dragon had now begun changing Sang-hyeok’s body itself.
It was a change he had never experienced before.
Sang-hyeok immediately looked down at his right arm.
‘It’s changing my bloodstream?’
When his heart beat again, the dark-red flow remaining beneath his skin writhed once more all the way to his fingertips.
It was a power that had remained even after he withdrew <Extinction Devouring>.
Sang-hyeok slowly clenched and opened his right hand.
‘What changed?’
The notification did not explain what bloodstream adaptation actually changed.
Just as Sang-hyeok was about to test it himself, the 6th Floor battlefield around him began turning white.
FLASH!
The three Mana Gates and the black sand piled over the floor scattered into light.
The gray floor vanished as well, and the surroundings changed into a pure-white settlement space.
「6th Floor clear reward granted.」
「Level increased.」
[Lv.6 → Lv.7]
Whoosh.
Warm mana flowed into his body.
The mana he had spent opening the gates recovered all at once.
Part of the newly replenished mana flowed into the Heart of the Apocalyptic Demon Dragon.
THUD.
The heart accepted the mana and beat powerfully, pushing dark-red energy into his right arm.
The energy rapidly traveled through his blood vessels and reached his fingertips.
To see whether that flow could continue without the help of the <Spirit Vein Ring: Sprout>, Sang-hyeok removed the ring from his left wrist.
Clack.
The external mana entering through his wrist was cut off.
Even so, the dark-red energy flowing through his right arm did not disappear immediately.
Sang-hyeok watched the change with the ring removed.
THUD.
Even when his heart beat again, the energy remained in his right arm.
But it did not last long.
Soon, the inside of his right arm pulled sharply.
“Ugh.”
A thin pain spread along the inside of his arm, and the dark-red energy quickly faded.
Sang-hyeok clenched and opened his right hand as he organized the changed sensation.
Even without the <Spirit Vein Ring>, the dark-red energy remained in his right arm for a short while.
However, it was not stable enough to last long.
New information appeared.
[Bloodstream adaptation begins from the right arm.]
[Current State: Unstable]
[Repeatedly circulate mana and grow your body to advance adaptation.]
Sang-hyeok looked at the <Spirit Vein Ring: Sprout> he had taken off.
On the 6th Floor, the mana drawn in by the <Spirit Vein Ring: Sprout> had passed through the Heart of the Apocalyptic Demon Dragon and flowed into his right arm.
The stimulation created by that process seemed to have begun the <Bloodstream Adaptation>.
It was still too incomplete to call a proper authority.
He did not yet know its exact effects either.
But the system had even shown him how to make it grow.
There was no need to rush.
If he kept climbing the Tower and circulating mana like this, it would eventually blossom into a proper authority.
Clack.
Sang-hyeok put the <Spirit Vein Ring: Sprout> back on his wrist.
‘I just have to keep climbing.’
While he finished organizing his thoughts, the notifications concluding the settlement appeared.
「All settlements complete.」
「Returning to reality.」
FLASH!
White light wrapped around Sang-hyeok and erased the settlement space.
***
The next day.
As planned, Sang-hyeok entered the 7th Floor of the Infinite Tower.
When the white light faded, a long corridor built from gray stone appeared.
Before Sang-hyeok could even look around, the stone door at the far end of the corridor flew open.
CLACK!
The sound of stone striking stone rapidly drew closer from beyond the door.
A statue with long limbs soon leaped over the threshold and landed in the corridor.
THUD!
As the statue touched the floor, a blue sphere embedded in the center of its back lit up brightly.
Light extending from the sphere wrapped around both legs, and the stiff stone joints began moving smoothly.
[Running Statue]
[Lv.8]
The statue glanced back at Sang-hyeok once, then lowered its body as though preparing to sprint.
As it took position, the trial information unfolded.
[7th Floor Trial: <Fugitive’s Corridor>]
[Time Limit: 5 minutes]
[Objective]
- Defeat the Running Statue before it passes through the final gate.
- Obstruction entities strengthen each time it passes through a gate.
[Evaluation Criteria]
- Pursuit time
- Number of gates allowed through
- Mana consumption efficiency
Sang-hyeok looked past the information window at the crouching statue and the corridor stretching ahead.
‘Exactly like the guide.’
Between the Running Statue and the first gate, tall stone walls stood in staggered rows.
The path along the floor twisted back and forth between them.
The standard method was to chase the statue along that winding route while dealing with obstruction soldiers.
Because the statue was so fast, few players managed to stop it before it passed the first gate and earn an SSS evaluation.
Instead of looking at the path below, Sang-hyeok looked at the tops of the stone walls.
‘There’s no reason I have to follow the designated route.’
Unlike the winding path below, the walls formed a straight line toward the first gate.
「Trial begins.」
RUMBLE!
The instant the trial started, the statue kicked off the floor and sprinted away.
Instead of following it, Sang-hyeok turned toward the stone wall beside him.
Tap!
He kicked off the wall and climbed onto its top in a single leap.
Even with such an abrupt jump, his balance did not waver thanks to the <Collapse Walker’s Boots>.
Sang-hyeok ran straight across the tops of the walls.
The distance between him and the statue rapidly shrank.
Crrrrack.
The stone wall ahead shook.
An obstruction soldier wearing stone armor pulled itself upright.
[Pursuit Blocker]
[Lv.7]
The blocker immediately thrust a stone spear toward Sang-hyeok.
Sang-hyeok did not slow down.
Instead, he gathered mana into his right arm.
‘<Extinction Devouring>.’
FLASH!
Sang-hyeok swept his right hand forward.
The stone spear and the blocker’s body scattered into black sand at the same time.
Sang-hyeok ran straight through the space where it had vanished and kicked off the final wall with all his strength.
Tap!
His body sailed over the Running Statue’s head.
Twisting in midair, Sang-hyeok extended his right hand toward the blue sphere embedded in its back.
‘<Extinction Devouring>.’
HISSSSS!
The blue sphere turned into black sand the instant <Extinction Devouring> touched it.
The light wrapped around the statue’s legs went out.
Its joints locked up.
Before it could reach the first gate, the Running Statue toppled forward.
KRAAAASH!
Sang-hyeok stepped on the fallen statue’s back and lightly landed on the floor.
[Running Statue has stopped.]
[Gates allowed through: 0]
[Pursuit Time: 00:43]
[Mana consumption efficiency: Highest]
「7th Floor Trial completed.」
[Clear Evaluation: SSS]
「Level increased.」
[Lv.7 → Lv.8]
New mana flowed into the Heart of the Apocalyptic Demon Dragon.
THUD.
As the heart beat strongly, Sang-hyeok felt hot blood circulate through his right arm faster than before.
The dark-red energy followed that flow and spread more naturally to his fingertips.
[Bloodstream adaptation advances by one stage.]
Sang-hyeok lightly clenched and opened his right hand.
The more he climbed the Tower, the more his body adapted to the Demon Dragon’s power.
***
At the same time.
Overseas Talent Analysis Division, Chinese Player Association.
Screens covering the walls displayed rookies distinguishing themselves across the Eastern Channel.
Japan, India, Vietnam, Thailand, and more.
Their names, levels, traits, affiliated guilds, and even the possibility of making contact with them were organized together.
The purpose of this place was to identify talented players from other countries before anyone else and turn them into Chinese strength.
If a prospect showed promise, they were offered contracts with major guilds, growth resources, and citizenship.
If they still refused, surveillance and threats followed.
They did not hesitate to use family members as leverage or even kidnap the player and force a change of nationality.
If they could not bring someone in through a contract, they took them by force.
That was how this division operated.
China ranked first in the Eastern Channel and competed with the United States, the top nation of the Western Channel, for the lead even among the P7—the world’s seven great player powers.
Recruiting talent by any means necessary was one of the reasons China had maintained that position.
The record currently drawing their greatest attention sat at the bottom of the Republic of Korea section.
It belonged to a player whose name had not even been identified.
[Public Name: Private]
[Confirmed Affiliated Guild: None]
[Real Name and Contact Route: Unknown]
[Management Classification: Special Observation]
At that moment, an alert sounded from one side of the screen.
Beep.
“The Republic of Korea’s private player has updated their record.”
At the analyst’s report, every gaze in the room gathered in one place.
[Affiliated Nation: Republic of Korea]
[Public Name: Private]
[Current Level: Lv.8]
[Tower of Growth Floors 1–7 Clear Evaluation: All SSS]
[7th Floor Pursuit Time: 00:43]
[Gates Allowed Through: 0]
“The 7th Floor was SSS too?”
The man sitting at the head of the room leaned forward.
“Yes. They defeated the Running Statue before it passed through the first gate.”
The analyst brought up the player’s previous records as well.
[Tutorial World Achievement: <Cracking the Impossible>]
[<Indestructible> entity <Adamantine Scarecrow> destroyed]
[Tutorial Impossible Achievement: <The One Who Achieved the Impossible>]
[Defeated <Unbreakable Guardian>, an entity that was not a target for defeat]
[1st Floor Hidden Battlefield Complete Clear]
[5th Floor Hidden Trial First Complete Clear]
“So this is the player they call the Impossible One on PlayerNet?”
“Yes. From the two tutorial achievements until now, the public name and affiliated nation are identical, and the timing of each record lines up perfectly.”
The analyst then displayed the records from the 1st through 7th Floors.
Seven SSS evaluations appeared in a row.
The man slowly examined everything from the tutorial achievements to the 7th Floor record.
“Remarkable.”
“Yes. These are records with the scent of a Heavenly Seat.”
It was not an absurd assessment.
Most of the current Sixteen Heavenly Seats had maintained consecutive SSS evaluations through at least the 10th Floor during their rookie days.
The current Second Seat, <Mugeuk>, had achieved twenty consecutive SSS evaluations from the 1st through the 20th Floor.
Of course, the Impossible One had only reached the 7th Floor.
But based on the results so far, they were not inferior to the Heavenly Seats at the same stage.
In particular, not one of the current Sixteen Heavenly Seats had achieved both of the Impossible One’s tutorial records together.
The man lightly tapped the desk with one finger.
“They really might possess Heavenly Seat-class talent.”
His gaze lowered to the personal-information section beneath the records.
“Have we found any clue to their identity?”
“Not yet. There is no confirmed guild or sponsoring organization, and no one on the Korean Association’s official rookie list matches them.”
“Find them as quickly as possible.”
The man looked across the analysts.
“Activate every cooperative network we have in Korea. Start by narrowing down unaffiliated players who awakened recently and whose climbing dates match.”
“Yes.”
The analyst’s hands moved.
[Management Classification: Special Observation]
[→ Highest-Priority Overseas Recruitment Candidate]
[Identity Confirmation Priority: Normal]
[→ Urgent]
The man pointed to the nameless record on the screen.
“Prepare the recruitment package as well. Give them a choice of major guilds, exclusive equipment, growth resources, and full support for relocating and settling their family.”
One analyst asked cautiously.
“What if we offer the best possible terms and they still refuse to come to China?”
A cold smile touched the man’s lips.
“If they won’t listen when spoken to nicely.”
His gaze stopped on the nameless Republic of Korea entry.
“Then we use the stick.”
***
The next day.
As always, Sang-hyeok challenged the Infinite Tower.
「Enter the Infinite Tower?」
‘Enter.’
FLASH!
White light wrapped around Sang-hyeok.
A moment later, his feet touched cold stone and the light faded.
A long stone passage stretched before him, its floor covered in thick black fog.
「You have entered the 8th Floor of the Infinite Tower.」
The fog was so dense that the end of the passage could not be seen.
Eight stone statues stood along the two walls, four on each side, holding stone spears and swords.
When Sang-hyeok took one step into the passage, the stone door behind him closed.
RUMBLE.
Once the vibration from the closing door settled, the trial information unfolded.
[8th Floor Trial: <Silence Barrier>]
[Objective]
- Defeat all 8 Silence Stone Soldiers.
[Special Environment]
- The status effect <Silence> is applied to players who enter the battlefield.
- The lower your <Silence> Resistance, the greater the reduction in Authority output.
- If you fail to resist <Silence>, Authorities cannot be activated.
[Evaluation Criteria]
- Clear time
- Hits taken
- Mana consumption efficiency
Sang-hyeok carefully read the information.
The 8th Floor’s <Silence> was not a status effect one could endure without resistance.
Entering unprepared would seal a player’s authorities entirely.
To use an authority at all, players had to raise their Silence Resistance through equipment and consumables.
The maximum a low-floor player could realistically reach was around fifty percent, but few possessed enough equipment for that.
Most entered the trial with only twenty to thirty percent resistance.
Sang-hyeok took a scroll marked with a silver pattern from his inventory.
It was a one-use consumable Ilseong had secured for him at his request before he entered the Tower.
[<Silence Resistance Scroll>]
[When used, Silence Resistance +25% for 10 minutes]
Sang-hyeok opened the scroll and flowed mana into it.
FWOOSH.
The silver pattern burned like flame and seeped into Sang-hyeok’s body.
[<Silence Resistance Scroll> used.]
[Silence Resistance increases by 25%.]
If everything worked as expected, he should be able to draw out roughly twenty-five percent of his normal output.
Sang-hyeok looked down at his right hand.
Until now, <Extinction Devouring> had erased everything it touched.
Would its power of annihilation still remain when its output was suppressed to twenty-five percent?
‘I’ll know once I test it.’
Sang-hyeok looked toward the statues lining the walls.
「Trial begins.」
Ssssss.
The black fog covering the floor climbed up around Sang-hyeok’s ankles.
[Status Effect <Silence> applied.]
[Silence Resistance 25% applied.]
[Currently Available Authority Output: 25%]
Crrrrack.
The eyes of the statue standing along the right wall lit red.
[Silence Stone Soldier]
[Lv.9]
The moment it stepped away from the wall, it thrust its stone spear forward.
The dark-red spearhead cut through the fog toward Sang-hyeok’s face.
WHIZZ!
Sang-hyeok raised his right hand while watching the incoming spear.
‘<Extinction Devouring>.’
He was about to see how far <Extinction Devouring> could work at only twenty-five percent output.
THUD!
The Heart of the Apocalyptic Demon Dragon beat powerfully.
Dark-red energy surged through the blood vessels of his right arm and pushed all the way to his fingertips.
Wherever that energy passed, the force of <Silence> pressing down on his right arm rapidly weakened.
「Bloodstream Adaptation reacts to status effect <Silence>.」
[Applied Area: Right Arm]
[The effect of <Silence> applied to the right arm decreases.]
[Authority output restriction on the right arm is eased.]
WHOOOM!
Black energy that should have been suppressed to twenty-five percent surged past his palm and wrapped around his wrist.
<Extinction Devouring> was far stronger than Sang-hyeok had expected.
He twisted his body out of the spearhead’s path, then grabbed the shaft.
HISSSSS!
The stone spear and the arm gripping it turned into black sand together.
Sang-hyeok looked down at the black energy rising from his right hand.
In the end, he had failed to find out whether the power of annihilation would remain even at twenty-five percent output.
Bloodstream Adaptation had pushed the <Silence> out of his right arm first.
His bloodstream had not even blossomed into a formal authority yet, and it was already beginning to resist status effects.