A dark-red information window unfolded beneath the notification.
[Loading bodily adaptation record.]
[Adapted Areas: Right Arm / Right Shoulder]
[Adaptation State: In Progress]
「Lv.10 growth authority candidate generated.」
[Candidate Authority: <Demon Dragon’s Bloodstream>]
Sang-hyeok’s gaze remained on the newly appeared name.
‘Demon Dragon’s Bloodstream.’
The authority was still locked.
Two opening conditions appeared beneath it.
[Opening Condition 1]
[Accept mana absorbed from outside through the Heart of the Apocalyptic Demon Dragon and mix it into your bloodstream.]
[Status: Fulfilled]
[Opening Condition 2]
[Endure a powerful status effect and spread the Demon Dragon’s power throughout your entire body.]
[Status: Unfulfilled]
Vmmmm.
At that moment, the <Spirit Vein Ring: Sprout> drew in surrounding mana and the blue pattern around his wrist brightened.
Mana seeped into his body and reached his heart.
THUD.
The mana that passed through the heart turned dark red and flowed through his right shoulder and arm all the way to his fingertips.
The change that had begun on the 6th Floor had become clearer with each floor he climbed.
On the 8th Floor, it had pushed back the suppression of <Silence>.
On the 9th Floor, it had allowed his right arm and shoulder to endure powerful mana pressure.
But it still had not reached his left arm or either leg.
Sang-hyeok clenched and opened his right hand while rereading the second condition.
‘It wants me to adapt my entire body to the Demon Dragon’s power.’
He had definitely found the clue to expanding it through his whole body.
While enduring the pressure of the 9th Floor, the dark-red energy had spread through his chest, back, and waist.
It had not completely settled there yet, but a few more similar stimuli should be enough to fulfill the second condition before long.
Just as Sang-hyeok was about to close the information window, another notification followed.
「Lv.10 reached.」
「New growth area opens.」
[10th Floor Limited Cooperative Battlefield]
[Entry Requirement: Lv.10 or above]
[Default Matching Members: 4]
[Levels do not increase in Cooperative Battlefields.]
[Merits and special rewards are granted according to battlefield contribution.]
[Limited Cooperative Battlefields open only on designated floors.]
[10th-Floor-Range Cooperative Battlefield Opening Points]
[10th Floor / 15th Floor]
[Entering a Cooperative Battlefield does not consume an individual climb attempt.]
[Cooperative Battlefields that have already been unlocked can be challenged repeatedly.]
Sang-hyeok slowly read through the newly opened guide.
In the 10th Floor range, Cooperative Battlefields opened on the 10th and 15th Floors.
Four players of the same level gathered there and carried out a shared objective.
Players did not gain levels inside, but merits and special rewards were awarded according to contribution.
The battles also did not consume individual climb attempts, so they would not interfere with his one-floor-a-day plan at all.
‘What I was waiting for has opened.’
Sang-hyeok had already confirmed how strong <Extinction Devouring> was when he fought alone.
Now it was time to see how large a gap he could create when standing on the same battlefield as other players of his level.
It would also be his first cooperative battle since regressing.
Before reaching Lv.20 and entering the Channel League, he needed some experience coordinating with other players using his current strength.
Of course, he had no intention of merely gaining experience and leaving.
He intended to take first place in contribution and secure the special reward.
As it happened, in the 10th Floor Cooperative Battlefield <Frozen Gorge>, the status effect <Freeze> accumulated rapidly the farther one moved outside the protection of the Warmth Core.
If he endured that pressure while spreading the Demon Dragon’s power throughout his body, he might be able to fulfill the second opening condition as well.
‘I’ll take everything I can get.’
Sang-hyeok called up the entry guide.
[Enter your first Limited Cooperative Battlefield?]
[Public name and appearance may be configured before entry.]
[If appearance is set to private, you may select a system-provided protective appearance.]
[Protective appearances provide no separate equipment effects.]
Sang-hyeok’s gaze remained on the appearance-privacy notice.
Entering a Cooperative Battlefield and revealing his identity were separate matters.
He set both his public name and appearance to private.
[Select a protective appearance.]
Several protective appearances appeared one after another.
Mist covering the face.
A deeply pulled hood.
A white mask.
A metal half-mask.
Sang-hyeok’s gaze stopped on the final option.
It was a black mask with neither eyes nor a mouth carved into it.
[Protective Appearance: Black Mask]
“I’ll use this.”
The moment he selected it, the black mask covered Sang-hyeok’s face.
He felt no weight from it.
It did not obstruct his vision either.
With the settings finished, Sang-hyeok moved his will.
‘Enter.’
「Moving to the 10th Floor Limited Cooperative Battlefield waiting area.」
FLASH!
The white settlement space drowned in dazzling light.
Sang-hyeok’s figure disappeared completely within it.
***
At the same time.
A new entry appeared on the 9th Floor public record board.
[Republic of Korea Private Player]
[9th Floor Clear Evaluation: SSS]
[Clear Time: 02:39]
[Number of Stops: 0]
[Current Level: Lv.10]
Players who had been waiting for the record to update immediately captured the screen.
The same information spread rapidly across several channels.
[Korea/Lv.42] Soju in Rice Soup : 9th Floor SSS too. Cleared in 2:39. Damn, this record is crazy again.
[Korea/Lv.33] Newbie Guardian Squad : Wait. Then that means every floor from 1 to 9 is SSS?
[Korea/Lv.42] Soju in Rice Soup : Yep. Nine floors in a row.
The rapidly rising messages slowed for a moment.
Nine consecutive SSS evaluations from the 1st Floor through the 9th without missing even once.
On the 1st and 5th Floors, the Impossible One had even completely cleared a Hidden Battlefield and Hidden Trial.
The format of each trial had been different.
But the Impossible One’s evaluation had never changed.
[Korea/Lv.33] Newbie Guardian Squad : At this point, aren’t they seriously a candidate for the next Heavenly Seat?
[United States/Lv.61] IronJack : They’re still only on the 9th Floor. There have been countless super rookies who shone for a few early floors and then lost their streak.
[Korea/Lv.42] Soju in Rice Soup : Did those super rookies earn two Impossible Achievements at Lv.1 and completely clear two Hidden stages too?
[China/Lv.68] Beijing Swordsman : It is clearly an exceptional talent. But if you want to talk about Heavenly Seats, watch them at least through the 20th Floor.
[Korea/Lv.33] Newbie Guardian Squad : Then what if they catch Second Seat Mugeuk’s twenty straight SSS clears and break the record on the 21st Floor?
The current publicly known record for consecutive SSS evaluations in individual climbs was twenty, set by the current Second Seat, <Mugeuk>, during his rookie days.
No one had ever maintained the highest evaluation through the 21st Floor.
[Korea/Lv.47] Mugeuk Record Preservation Society : You’re already comparing a rookie who just hit the 9th Floor to Lord Mugeuk? LOL. Nonsense. Go look at the difficulty from the 21st Floor onward first.
[Korea/Lv.52] Only Watches Mugeuk Videos : I admit the Impossible One is amazing. But nobody has ever surpassed Lord Mugeuk’s twenty straight SSS clears.
[Korea/Lv.42] Soju in Rice Soup : How many times has “nobody has ever done it” already been broken when talking about the Impossible One?
Most reactions still said it was too early even to bring up Mugeuk’s record.
Even so, every time the Impossible One added another floor, Mugeuk’s twenty consecutive SSS clears began to appear in the same conversation.
While the argument continued, the topic shifted toward the Cooperative Battlefield that had just opened at Lv.10.
[Japan/Lv.55] Tsukikage : The 10th Floor Cooperative Battlefield should be open now.
[Korea/Lv.33] Newbie Guardian Squad : Are we finally going to get someone who’s seen the Impossible One in person?
[Japan/Lv.55] Tsukikage : If they entered immediately today, the first eyewitness account should appear.
[Korea/Lv.33] Newbie Guardian Squad : I’m camping here for the witness review.
Until now, all people had been able to see were clear times and evaluations.
They did not know the Impossible One’s public name or face, much less what equipment and authorities had produced those records.
But in a Cooperative Battlefield, the Impossible One would have to fight in the same space as other players.
A private name and protective appearance could remain hidden, but fighting style could not.
[China/Lv.68] Beijing Swordsman : Don’t get too far ahead of yourselves based only on individual trial records. Cooperative Battlefields and the Channel League aren’t places where being strong alone is enough.
[Japan/Lv.55] Tsukikage : That’s true. Individual climbing and multiplayer combat are different.
[Korea/Lv.42] Soju in Rice Soup : That’s exactly why I want to see it. I want to know whether they’ll dominate a Cooperative Battlefield the same way they dominate alone.
[United States/Lv.61] IronJack : If they take first place in contribution there as well, expectations for the Iron Rookie League will change.
[Korea/Lv.33] Newbie Guardian Squad : For now, somebody who gets matched with them today, please post a review.
Once the Impossible One cleared even the 9th Floor with SSS and reached Lv.10, PlayerNet’s attention immediately shifted toward the Cooperative Battlefield.
Would the player who had swept through every individual trial also overwhelm a battlefield fought alongside other players?
The three people who would learn the answer before anyone else were already waiting for a match.
***
At the same time.
10th Floor Limited Cooperative Battlefield <Frozen Gorge> waiting area.
Limited Cooperative Battlefields were separate growth areas that opened only on the 10th and 15th Floors within the 10th Floor range.
They were also designed to teach players how to coordinate with others before entering the Channel League at Lv.20.
Levels did not rise inside Cooperative Battlefields, but the same battlefield could be cleared repeatedly.
Once players learned the basic strategy, they could collect Tower materials and crafting resources relatively safely, so many remained there even after completing their first clear.
Players could return after leveling up as well.
However, matchmaking only paired players of the same level, and the battlefield difficulty also rose according to current level, greatly lowering the efficiency of repeated farming.
For players without guild or corporate support in particular, Lv.10 was the best time to gather equipment and consumables.
That was why farming here thoroughly before moving on to the next floor had become almost an unwritten rule among low-floor players.
The three people waiting for their final party member in the circular stone chamber had also remained at Lv.10 for that reason.
[Current Matching Members: 3/4]
‘Baren,’ wearing a gray cloak over metal armor, checked the edge of his round shield.
Including this run, it would already be his sixteenth attempt here.
The fire mage ‘Red Lotus,’ dressed in a red robe, was waiting for her twelfth.
‘Blessings Cost Money,’ wearing a blue shawl over white priest robes, was waiting for an astonishing twenty-fourth run.
Seeing the attempt counts displayed in the matching window, Baren joked.
“Twenty-four runs? Haven’t you basically moved in here?”
Blessings Cost Money smiled bitterly.
“I need money to buy mana potions and equipment suitable for the next floor. I’m hoping something valuable drops as crafting material this time.”
Red Lotus looked toward the final empty matching slot.
“I hope the last person is another fire mage.”
Baren raised an eyebrow.
“You’re aiming for the <Eternal Freeze Core> too?”
“If we get the chance. I keep thinking about the complete-clear reward every time we leave with only the basic reward.”
The complete-clear condition of the Frozen Gorge was the destruction of the <Eternal Freeze Core>.
But not a single party had destroyed it yet.
“Once you leave the Warmth Core’s range, <Freeze> keeps stacking. Your body freezes before you even make it halfway to the core.”
Blessings Cost Money nodded as well.
“Even when I continuously apply my mitigation ability, all I can do is slow the rate at which <Freeze> accumulates.”
Even if a party endured <Freeze> and reached the core, destroying it was another problem.
Red Lotus added.
“Last time, there was another fire mage besides me. The two of us barely made it to the core and poured flames into it, but the surface refroze immediately after it melted.”
It was a core that even fire magic capable of melting ice could not scratch.
There was a reason nobody had achieved a complete-clear record even four years after the Infinite Tower appeared.
Red Lotus sighed, then suddenly looked at the matching window.
“Come to think of it, the Impossible One hit Lv.10 today, right?”
“That’s right.”
Baren’s eyes brightened.
“If they entered the Cooperative Battlefield immediately, they could be matching right now.”
“It’d be amazing if they landed in our party.”
Listening to the two of them, Blessings Cost Money tilted his head.
“Who is the Impossible One?”
Red Lotus stared at him in disbelief.
“You don’t know the Impossible One? Didn’t you see the recent achievement announcements?”
“The private Korean player who erased two targets said to be impossible to destroy in the tutorial and got SSS on every floor from the 1st through the 9th.”
After hearing Baren’s explanation, Blessings Cost Money let out a belated exclamation.
“Ah, those achievement announcements. That’s the person people call the Impossible One?”
“Yes. Their 9th Floor record went up today, so they might be entering their first Cooperative Battlefield right now.”
It happened at that exact moment.
Ding.
The final empty slot in the matching window floating at the center of the stone chamber lit up.
[Republic of Korea / Lv.10 / Public Name Private]
“Huh?”
[4-player matching complete.]
A pillar of white light fell on one side of the chamber.
When the light faded, Sang-hyeok appeared wearing a black mask with neither eyes nor a mouth.
The three players looked back and forth between Sang-hyeok and the Private label in the matching window.
A brief silence followed.
Then Red Lotus carefully opened her mouth.
“Could you be… the Impossible One?”