When Hajun’s record first surpassed James’s and claimed first place, people thought their eyes were deceiving them.
“Huh? What is this?”
“Five seconds?”
“What happened?”
The record was so absurd that it was almost impossible to believe.
“Five seconds means he defeated the Corrupted Ent of Despair the moment he entered the Ascension Trial.”
“He killed that thing in one strike? How does that make any sense?”
“Does the Sky Tower have bugs too?”
“There’s no other way to explain it unless it was a bug.”
At first, everyone was skeptical.
The record was completely impossible by all standards of common sense.
However, they all knew one thing.
Bugs did not exist within the <Sky Tower>.
One by one, they began accepting reality.
Unknown had truly established a record of five seconds.
“Theoretically, it would be possible if he unleashed his skills immediately upon entering and killed it.”
“Then considering the distance at the start, he must be a ranged type rather than a melee fighter.”
“His skill must also travel extremely quickly.”
“He could be a melee fighter equipped with an Artifact containing high-grade magic such as Blink.”
“Whatever the case, Unknown’s attack power must be beyond anything we can imagine.”
“Perhaps he obtained power beyond that of a human?”
Rumors concerning Unknown began spreading throughout the world at astonishing speed.
Title: ★Breaking News) Unknown Has Reached the Second Floor.★
Content: Apparently, Unknown just broke through to the second floor. But the record is completely unprecedented. The clear time says five seconds. I thought my eyes were deceiving me for a moment. Even after thinking about it again, this is completely insane.
Oh! And it still says Korea beside Unknown’s name. Doesn’t that make it highly likely that he’s Korean?
* Stop making things up. Five seconds? At least make your nonsense believable.
└ I was at the first-floor Ascension Trial site before leaving. It’s true. The plaque says five seconds.
└ I saw it too. It isn’t a lie.
└ It really says five seconds?
└ Yes. Everyone at the scene stared blankly at the Hall of Fame plaque together. It was unbelievably shocking.
└ Insane. It really was five seconds?
└ Yes, it was genuinely five seconds. If you don’t believe it, go to the first-floor Ascension Trial site and see it yourself.
└ Damn it. I’m going to check right now.
The record was impossible to believe upon first hearing it.
Some of those who learned the news later even traveled to the first-floor Ascension Trial site to confirm whether the five-second record was genuine.
* As expected of God Unknown!! While everyone was debating whether he could break the eighty-nine-day record, he didn’t merely finish within one month—he did it in two weeks. This is incredible.
└ Exactly.
└ Magnificent. Starting today, I’m abandoning James and becoming a fan of God Unknown. It still says Korea beside his name, so doesn’t that practically confirm that he’s Korean rather than Chinese?
└ Yes. But we should wait and see what China says. If they lied, they’ll apologize, right?
└ Homegrown God Unknown! I believe in you! Our brother God Unknown must be Korean!
The number of posts concerning Unknown exploded once again.
Even older posts from several days earlier were dragged back into the spotlight.
[I honestly think claiming that Unknown will break the eighty-nine-day ascent record is already excessive. Anyone who believes he’ll also shorten the trial clear time has a problem with their intelligence.]
└ It turns out the original poster was the one with an intelligence problem.
└ Please quietly raise your hand if you want to crawl into a hole and hide.
[Exactly. Anyone who knows what equipment James wore during his first-floor Ascension Trial would never say that. No one had ever achieved a record like his before, and no one ever will.]
└ A comment that reminds us never to use the word ‘never’ carelessly.
[Yes. James will probably remain the only person with a record in the ten-minute range forever.]
└ Technically, this comment was correct. James is still the only person with a record in the ten-minute range.
└ That’s true. Unknown didn’t achieve a record in the ten-minute range.
Posts that had belittled Unknown in the past were placed upon the chopping block and mocked mercilessly.
Conversely, one post was reevaluated and became famous for its prediction.
[One month should be more than enough for Unknown to reach the second floor.]
└ Incredible. How did you know?
└ The only person who predicted he would succeed within one month.
└ Are you acquainted with Unknown?
└ I have come to pay my respects to this prophetic post. Please allow me to pass the second-floor Ascension Trial this month.
Every post related to Unknown became part of a raging hurricane that swept through the community.
And that was not all.
Every major media outlet began publishing extensive reports about him.
* Unknown Establishes a New Record!
* Unknown, the Five-Second Legend. Who Is He?
* Is Unknown Korean or Chinese?
Unknown here.
Unknown there.
The entire world seemed covered in stories about Unknown.
The destructive impact of his five-second record was comparable to that of a nuclear bomb.
<Tiamat>’s Korean branch.
“W-What? They say Unknown has already reached the second floor.”
“How could that possibly be true?”
Even Tiamat’s executives initially refused to believe Unknown’s record.
To them as well, five seconds was a result that transcended all reason.
“It appears to be genuine. The record has reportedly been confirmed at the first-floor Ascension Trial site.”
“Good grief… That’s insane.”
In the end, their reactions were no different from everyone else’s.
“I believe I now understand why our master insisted that we find him at all costs.”
“Damn it. We were already suffering because some unidentified man wearing a Hahoe Mask prevented us from obtaining ‘Guldin’s Necklace.’ Now Unknown has gone even further and caused this uproar.”
“We must secure him before the major powers begin moving.”
“We also have to find the Hahoe Mask. Our master ordered us to retrieve Guldin’s Necklace from him at any cost.”
“Then the personnel on the second floor should devote everything to finding Unknown, while those on the first floor concentrate on locating the Hahoe Mask.”
“It seems we won’t have time to sleep for a while.”
“We can sleep after we die.”
An enormous mansion in Washington, United States.
It was a villa belonging to James Smith, the strongest Ascender and the man universally revered as the world’s number-one Ranker.
“James! Bwahahaha! Congratulations. I came as soon as I heard that someone had finally broken your record.”
A thunderous voice shook the entire mansion.
The enormous man standing well over two meters tall was Ivan Petrov, one of the Great Seven Ascenders.
“A noisy guest has arrived.”
A woman with an elegant, aristocratic appearance murmured as she watched Ivan enter through the door.
“What? Sophie, did you also rush here after hearing that James’s record had been broken? Bwahaha! It seems I arrived one step too late.”
“I came for another matter.”
The woman called Sophie—
Her full name was Sophie Dubois.
She was also one of the Great Seven Ascenders.
“Phew. Ivan, did you come all this way merely to mock me?”
“What? Why are you asking something so obvious? Bwahahaha! Your precious record was finally broken. I couldn’t resist coming to see what expression you would be wearing.”
“Good grief.”
James shook his head at Ivan’s words.
“The fact that my record was broken is insignificant. I’m simply pleased that a newcomer who may surpass us has appeared.”
“Tsk. How boring. I knew someone like you would respond with something so dull and respectable.”
“I am curious, though. They said the record was five seconds, correct? How was that possible?”
The person who answered James’s question was Sophie, who had remained silent until then.
“He may have awakened a Trait more exceptional than ours. Perhaps he is the Brilliant Star that Tiamat has been searching for.”
“I had the same thought. We can’t remain seated and do nothing. I heard that several factions within China are already desperate to find him. If Tiamat has also begun moving… I have a feeling we need to locate him first.”
James turned toward Ivan.
“Come to think of it, the timing of your visit is remarkably convenient. Excellent. You should help us search for him.”
“What? Wait. I only came to mock you… Ugh. Fine. I understand. I’ll do it.”
Ivan initially attempted to withdraw, but when James gave him a displeased look, he eventually nodded.
There was a reason he could not easily refuse James’s requests.
“Haha. Excellent. Then let us begin immediately.”
Seven great pillars supported the center of the world.
Three of the seven pillars that had remained silent until now began to move.
Their movement heralded the beginning of a tremendous upheaval within the Sky Tower.
SHIIIIING!!
Brilliant white light flashed before my eyes.
A new landscape, completely different from the first floor, unfolded before me.
I stood within a barren clearing roughly the size of a large stadium.
However, it was only so empty because this was one of the strongholds containing a portal.
When I raised my head and looked forward, an enormous mountain range spread across my vision, too vast to take in all at once.
That was right.
The theme of the second floor was living nature itself—the Eternal Mountain Range, covered in colossal trees and stretching endlessly into the distance.
‘So this is the second floor.’
A smile naturally appeared on my face as I inhaled the clear, refreshing air that pierced deep into my lungs.
Drunk on happiness, I tasted the air, felt the earth beneath my feet, and enjoyed the sensation of becoming a man of nature.
‘Hahaha. I truly reached the second floor on my first attempt.’
Only then did the reality of defeating the Corrupted Ent of Despair within five seconds begin to sink in.
I closed my eyes.
Electrifying excitement traveled down my spine and spread throughout my body.
Ripples passed through my heart like a pebble falling into a still pond.
For a long while, I remained lost in an ecstasy that felt like walking above the clouds.
Then voices reached my ears and shattered the mood.
“Look at that man. He must have struggled tremendously before finally reaching the second floor.”
“Exactly. We shouldn’t despair merely because we haven’t reached the third floor yet.”
“That’s right. There must be many people who longed desperately to reach the second floor like him…… Seeing him has reminded me of the determination I had when I first began.”
Uh, hmm.
Had I become too lost in my emotions?
Without intending to, I had become an inspirational example for others to use as consolation.
I quietly chuckled at their misunderstanding.
In reality, I had been celebrating the fact that I reached the second floor only two weeks after Awakening and cleared the Ascension Trial within five seconds.
Still, since I seemed to have influenced them positively, it was not an entirely unpleasant experience.
Once that minor incident ended—
‘Now, then. It’s time to do what I came here for.’
I still had no time to rest.
Tiamat was pursuing me.
If I became complacent merely because I had reached the second floor, I would eventually pay a terrible price.
I needed to grow even faster—
At a rate far beyond anything they could anticipate.
Escaping Tiamat’s clutches was one reason.
But there was another.
‘I can’t forget the exhilaration of defeating the Corrupted Ent of Despair in five seconds.’
Strength.
It was a pure desire engraved into the DNA of every living species.
I had become utterly captivated by it.
The Great Seven Ascenders—
No.
I wanted absolute strength beyond anything they could reach, even if all seven combined their power.
‘Aleon.’
I called for Aleon.
Particles of light gathered from the bracelet, and Aleon manifested before me.
Looking at him, I curled my lips into a broad grin.
‘Now, Aleon. It’s time for us to do what comes next, isn’t it?’
* Hahaha. Reaching the second floor has given you an excellent look in your eyes.
Aleon laughed with satisfaction at my words.
* Very well. Let us go find the second Sacred Treasure, the <Robe of the Sage>.
Yes.
Let us obtain my second Mythic item.
My eyes shone more brightly than ever before.