Four in the morning.
Even though I had slept for only six hours, my stamina was completely restored, leaving me in perfect condition.
It felt as though all the hardship from yesterday had never happened.
All I could feel was a pleasant surge of vitality.
Waking up had become enjoyable every single time.
In the past, I had barely managed to drag myself out of bed while half-asleep.
Since things were already good, I might as well make them even better.
I had plenty of Hunger to spare, so I decided to level up Exceptional Regeneration.
[Hunger: (10,000/10,000)]
[You have successfully fulfilled the condition!]
[Possessed Buff, 'Exceptional Regeneration(D+) Lv. 1,' has become 'Exceptional Regeneration(D+) Lv. 2'!]
[The amount of Mana, energy, and stamina restored increases!]
I leveled it up twice more.
Then—
…….
…….
[Hunger: (200,000/200,000)]
[You have successfully fulfilled the condition!]
[Possessed Buff, 'Exceptional Regeneration(D+) Lv. 3,' has become 'Exceptional Regeneration(D+) Lv. 4'!]
[The amount of Mana, energy, and stamina restored increases!]
"Whoa, stop right there! The next level needs 500,000? Are you kidding me?"
I could continue once I had more to spare.
I had spent a total of 300,000 Hunger.
But considering how much Hunger I had invested, the effect was excellent.
-Waaah! Waaah!
[Fire(EX) says the air inside the Spirit Shelter feels even better than before!]
[Fire(EX) says his recovery has improved too!]
The moment I entered, I could clearly feel the difference.
I should have upgraded it sooner.
Too many other things had been appearing lately, so I had neglected it.
I needed to pay attention to this as well.
We had filled ourselves with tteokbokki, fried snacks, and blood sausage yesterday, so I decided to keep breakfast light.
Steamed sweet potatoes, milk, boiled eggs, and salad.
It was a little troublesome, but I could not eat heavily seasoned food at every meal.
Even as an Awakened, I still needed to take some care of my body.
-Waaah!
[Fire(EX) says sweet potatoes and milk are an incredible combination!]
[Fire(EX) says it's so delicious that he feels like he'll burst into flames!]
"What exactly do you think tastes bad?"
-Waaah?
[Fire(EX) asks what that means!]
If I ever got the chance, I should feed him fermented skate too.
Would he enjoy even that?
After filling our stomachs, it was time to climb the Tower.
"Today's the last trial of this type."
The type of trial would change starting from the next floor.
According to what I had heard, the next type was—
-Monster Waves. It is a section where even Awakened with tremendous firepower often struggle badly.
"Because raw power alone isn't enough. You need to keep killing them continuously."
-Correct. Even if you barely manage to eliminate every monster and enemy in one wave, an even larger number will swarm in during the next. That is not all. If the castle under attack collapses, you will fail even if you eliminate every wave.
The important thing was endurance.
There was nothing to worry about.
I had the Spirit Shelter, whose rest efficiency had improved significantly.
A few waves would be nothing.
I started immediately.
[You have arrived at the 8th Floor of the Trial Tower.]
[Find 10 objectives and return safely.]
[Objectives: 0/10]
It certainly lived up to being the final trial of this type.
The number of objectives had doubled.
On top of that, the complicated labyrinth now looked as though skilled craftsmen had built it, with a level of refinement it had never possessed before.
The Kobolds' crude weapons had been replaced by organized equipment.
They wore iron helmets and armor that I had no idea how they had produced, and they even carried gleaming crossbows.
And that was not all.
"GRRRR!"
"GRRRR!"
THUD!
"There are a lot of you right from the start."
It certainly lived up to the final objective-search trial.
The moment it began, countless Kobolds surrounded me.
The difficulty had risen dozens of times over.
But even with the increased difficulty, the result would not change.
One Meteor was enough.
[Fire(EX)'s possessed skill, 'Meteor(EX),' activates.]
KABOOOOOOOOOM!!
Finding the objectives had become more difficult too.
Even Spirit Eyes could not see them clearly.
Of course, that only lasted for a moment.
I soon discovered one.
After repeating the process exactly ten times—
[You have cleared the 8th Floor of the Trial Tower!]
[Objectives: 10/10]
[Competent Kobold: 15,000/15,000]
[Competent Kobold Vice-Captain: 50/50]
[Competent Kobold Captain: 5/5]
[You have completely annihilated the entire Kobold Labyrinth on the 8th Floor of the Trial Tower!]
[A new record has been achieved!]
[The Trial Tower 8th Floor World Ranking has been updated to Rank 1!]
[Clear Time: 7 minutes 19 seconds]
[You have succeeded in overwhelmingly clearing the 8th Floor of the Trial Tower!]
[Superior Basket Made by Competent Kobolds × 1,033 has been awarded!]
[Competent Kobold's Sharp Blade × 1,445 has been awarded!]
[Competent Kobold's Polished Shield × 1,489 has been awarded!]
[Competent Kobold Vice-Captain's Gold Necklace × 14 has been awarded!]
[Competent Kobold Captain's Shining Jeweled Charm × 1 has been awarded!]
[Lowest-Rank Mana Stone(F) × 996 acquired!]
[Low-Rank Mana Stone(E) × 691 acquired!]
[Lower-Intermediate-Rank Mana Stone(D) × 493 acquired!]
[Intermediate-Rank Mana Stone(C) × 372 acquired!]
[Upper-Intermediate-Rank Mana Stone(B) × 260 acquired!]
[High-Rank Mana Stone(A) × 17 acquired!]
[Highest-Rank Mana Stone(S) × 3 acquired!]
I had taken three minutes longer, but considering how much the difficulty had increased, it was still an unprecedented record.
More importantly, my eyes were drawn to the Mana Stones.
Three S-Rank Mana Stones.
There was something I had been curious about anyway.
Perfect timing.
I placed an S-Rank Mana Stone into the Buff Water Purifier.
When Fire drank the water, his eyes flew wide open.
[Highly Concentrated Purified Water Infused with Highest-Rank Mana Stone(S+) consumed!]
[Hunger fills 3.25 times faster than usual!]
[Hunger depletion is reduced by 3.05 times compared to normal!]
[Duration: 72 hours!]
"That's insane?! This is it!"
-Waaah! Waaah!
[Fire(EX) says the taste is insane!]
[Fire(EX) says that because it's ground up, he can keep drinking it endlessly!]
[Fire(EX) says it stimulates his appetite!]
Fire was completely satisfied too.
He immediately began inhaling food and Mana Stones.
As food and Mana Stones vanished at an astonishing rate, the Hunger I had spent rapidly filled again.
[Hunger has reached 1,000,000!]
[Fire(EX)'s Level increases by 1!]
❰Fire(EX) Lv. 11❱
❰Possessed Skills: Hellfire(EX), Meteor(EX), Hell Spear(EX)❱
❰Hunger: (0/2,500,000)❱
……A new skill will be unlocked upon reaching Lv. 15
……Lee Chanyoung will unlock a new skill upon reaching 2,500,000 Hunger
The requirement had increased by 2.5 times.
Yeah.
I had expected something around that.
I was just glad it had not risen even more.
But there was no reason to worry.
The rate at which Hunger filled had increased just as much, while the amount lost over time had been significantly reduced.
I checked the skill.
[Successfully reached 2,500,000 Hunger.]
[Skill, 'Stealth(C-),' acquired!]
[A similar skill has been detected!]
[Skill, 'Charming Light(C-),' 'Veil of Darkness(C),' and 'Stealth(C-)' combine and are enhanced into 'Light and Shadow(B+)'!]
<Light and Shadow(B+)>
Description: Using the shadow of a Dark Spirit, you can completely conceal your presence at any time. Using the light of a Light Spirit, you can make yourself appear attractive.
"Oh! B+! Charming Light was way too strong anyway."
Whenever I activated it, animals swarmed me.
Because of that, I normally kept it turned off.
The skills had merged at exactly the right time.
The Haunted House was managed by Association employees, and they screened the Hunters they allowed inside.
No matter how famous I had become, I was still someone who had only recently started entering E-Rank Gates.
There was no way they would let me in.
But with Light and Shadow, sneaking inside would be easy.
Even into the Haunted House.
And I could turn it on and off whenever I wanted.
That took care of everything I needed to do.
I had obtained everything I needed too.
Time to prepare.
Pickaxe, check.
Fire, check.
Normally, protective equipment like the kind used at Gwanaksan was necessary if you wanted to avoid going insane.
Equipment that prevented spirit-form monsters from affecting you.
But I had Spirit-Blessed Body, so I did not need any.
I also had Heart of Steel.
"It'll be fine, right?"
-Yes. With those two combined, your mind should not be affected very strongly. Ah, and please keep in mind that unless you possess a skill specifically designed for spirit-form enemies, all attacks will have their power reduced by 50%.
"Spirits still deal 70%, right?"
-Correct.
There was nothing to worry about there.
What I needed to worry about now was—
"What should we eat at the Haunted House? The Yin energy around there is so strong that there aren't any restaurants nearby."
-Waaah?
[Fire(EX) asks what you think about tteokbokki, fried snacks, and blood sausage.]
"We ate that yesterday. Let's not."
Food.
That was the only concern.
In a place filled with Yin energy, the proper thing to eat was food overflowing with Yang energy.
"Pork belly, instant rice, ssamjang, kimchi, lettuce, garlic, chives! Oh! Perfect!"
Even I was proud of the idea.
There was nothing more delicious than pork belly after hard work.
And if the place where you had worked hard was the Haunted House?
Even better!
-Waaah? Waaah?
[Fire(EX) asks what pork belly is!]
[Fire(EX) asks again whether it's more delicious than beef!]
"Of course it is. Sometimes it's ten million times better than beef."
-Waaah?!
[Fire(EX)'s eyes fly wide open as he jumps excitedly in place!]
His eyes practically blazed with anticipation.
I probably had some of the ingredients among the groceries I had already bought.
"Lettuce, chives, garlic, and kimchi are here, but I'm missing everything else."
I would stop by a supermarket on the way and buy the rest.
A portable burner and grill plate too.
I stored all the ingredients from home inside my Inventory.
The Haunted House was supposedly dangerous, yet somehow all I could think about was eating pork belly there.
Just in case, I also packed plenty of instant noodles and a thermos filled with hot water!
With my Inventory fully stocked, I left home with light steps.
A mountain blanketed in dense fog.
Two Association employees assigned to the first guard shift of the day stood there wearing full-body protective equipment.
Their faces were twisted into miserable expressions.
There was a reason.
"Of all places, why did I have to get assigned to the Haunted House? Sigh."
It was the infamous Haunted House.
There was a reason Association employees considered it one of the worst assignments possible.
Because of the powerful Yin energy, spirit-form monsters occasionally appeared even outside the Haunted House.
The constant fog made it difficult to see.
And more importantly—
'You even hear stories sometimes about people seeing ghosts and going insane.'
Still, he was used to situations like this.
This was already his fifth year being assigned to the Haunted House, yet his body remained perfectly healthy.
Rumors were always like that, after all.
The man beside him, however, was trembling violently.
"I-It's safe, right? Th-This is my first assignment here."
"Oh, your first time? You must've joined recently. The Haunted House is practically a rite of passage for Association employees."
"Yes! I joined one week ago!"
A sinister smile spread across the senior employee's lips.
'As his senior, I should give him a proper initiation.'
It was nothing serious.
He had done the same thing to the previous rookie.
All he had to do was secretly place the ghost sign he had made behind him.
He was just about to sneak away under the excuse of going to the bathroom when—
"S-Senior! There's something black and blurry over there. What is that?"
"What are you talking about? Why would something like that appea—?!"
SWISH!
"Uwaaagh!"
The moment he turned around, a blurry black figure sprang out.
He fell flat on his backside and immediately passed out.
"S-Senior! Senior!"
As the blurry black figure in question, I awkwardly rubbed beneath my nose.
"I didn't do it on purpose."
I had merely wanted to test the skill's capabilities.
I had not expected it to work this well.
It completely erased every trace of my existence.
Fortunately, aside from passing out, the employee seemed unharmed.
I should hand out some energy drinks when I came back down.
After confirming there were no other problems, I entered the Haunted House.
The moment I reached the entrance, my mouth fell open.
The fog was even denser inside, and the atmosphere was downright eerie.
I immediately understood why people had named this place the Haunted House.