5th Floor, The Girl Who Gazes at the Meteor Shower (5)
[UHS_0217]: Just cleared the Apocalypse Tower's 5th floor hehe upvote pls
#ApocalypseTower5thFloor #EasierThanExpected
The moment I uploaded a post to social media, likes poured in.
I'd been waiting for this moment.
Every time the top vanguard cleared a floor, not only players all over the world but even outside clear-analysis teams would pounce on it.
What the rewards were, what the clear method was, what monsters had appeared.
As expected, as always.
In an instant, hundreds of comments were posted on my social media proof post.
The corners of my mouth twitched on their own.
[Tier 4 99] Ahn Ho-young: Hyung-nim, congratulations. You have returned safely.
[Apocalypse 5] Yu Hyun-sung: Whoo. Don't even get me started. I seriously thought I was going to die this time.
Floors 2 through 4 had been pretty easy.
So getting a bit complacent played a part too. My preparation wasn't thorough. Not having enough materials to make bombs, and not factoring duds into my plan.
[Tier 4 99] Ahn Ho-young: By the way, has there been no more contact from China?
[Apocalypse 5] Yu Hyun-sung: ? Dunno, blocked them
[Tier 4 99] Ahn Ho-young: As expected of you, Hyung-nim. I also think it is best to ignore them for now.
[Apocalypse 5] Yu Hyun-sung: why?
[Tier 4 99] Ahn Ho-young: While you were challenging the 5th floor, Hyung-nim, one of the American Tier 4 Tower players just reached the 90th floor. It seems they have spurred on their clearing pace.
[Apocalypse 5] Yu Hyun-sung: Oh.......
They'd acted like they'd rot in the 80s floors forever, and now they're finally climbing?
Then again, those guys must have built up plenty of experience by now.
[Tier 4 99] Ahn Ho-young: It seems the talk of sending all the Tier 4 Tower's top rankers to the Apocalypse Tower is true. On top of that, they are desperate to recruit the unaffiliated Tier 4 Tower top-floor rankers as well.
[Apocalypse 5] Yu Hyun-sung: They're even trying to send the guys who climbed the Tier 4 Tower on their own to the Apocalypse Tower? Is that possible?
[Tier 4 99] Ahn Ho-young: The power of money and threats is great, it seems.
Scary, scary~
If you added up America, China, Russia, and even the European Union, there were quite a lot of Tier 4 Tower top-floor challengers.
Backed at the national level, they could challenge in better conditions than others, because the warriors with a talent for combat sucked up even other challengers' TP and were decked out in top-grade equipment and skills.
Maybe the Celestials knew about that national-level backing too, because most of them were wrapped in plenty of blessings.
[Tier 4 99] Ahn Ho-young: If you wish it, Hyung-nim, I will sweep them all away.
[Apocalypse 5] Yu Hyun-sung: Hey, man, what's with 'sweep'? Leave them. If they didn't do anything wrong, there's no reason to punish them.
[Tier 4 99] Ahn Ho-young: Will they not be a threat to you?
[Apocalypse 5] Yu Hyun-sung: Who knows.
A threat? Based on my experience going through floors 1 to 5, those guys would all just die like dogs if they came to the Apocalypse Tower for nothing.
I survived because it was me.
Because I'm the best.
Well, it'd be fun if one or two survived. It might be some comfort, in that I wouldn't have to endure this crappy place alone.
[Apocalypse 5] Yu Hyun-sung: Anyway, I'm heading off now.
After cutting contact, I sat cross-legged in the dead center of the waiting room and took a deep breath.
I'd gotten 2 rewards in total for clearing the 5th floor.
A selection ticket for a skill the 5th-floor boss used, and a Box of Five Rings.
First, the Box of Five Rings.
I'd deliberately saved these without opening them until the very, very end. Even though there was a lot in them that would have helped greatly if I'd opened them right away.
There was only one reason.
[You have collected all the Boxes of Five Rings without opening them!]
[The Boxes of Five Rings are combining, and the reward grade rises.]
This was it.
The contents I'd get from opening a Box of Five Rings? They were fine, of course.
But when several floors shared the same theme and the same reward like this, it was better to save them.
I'd never once done this until now. When I was scrambling just to survive, where would I find the leeway to save rewards?
This time was different.
The rings performed well, but having one wouldn't have helped much with clearing, so I'd somehow saved them up.
《Ring of the Five Solitary Kings》
▣ Grade D
▣ Origin
An age of war when five kings could not trust one another.
A ring left behind by the king who survived to the very end.
According to records, there was never anyone at his side.
▣ Traits
• King's Mantle
Generates a barrier with 200 (+Lv*5) durability over the skin.
If the barrier is completely destroyed, it regenerates after 5 minutes.
• King's Hardened Body
Action speed +5%
Attack and defense +7%
• Solitary King
All stats +10% when fighting alone without allies
Satisfying.
Intuitively excellent performance.
In particular, the 'barrier,' which you could call the main feature, was very important survival utility early on.
The barrier value was very low, but it was quite good against bosses that could kill you in a single blow, like the 5th-floor boss. If my Stamina stat was currently 21, you could roughly say I had 2,100 HP.
The added shield was over 300. The higher my level, the more that effect would grow.
Of course, HP or whatever, if my heart got stabbed or my neck got pierced, I'd die instantly, but that's roughly how it was.
But with this barrier, there was a high chance that even if a vital spot was attacked, only the barrier would be damaged and I'd avoid instant death.
Of course, if the opponent's attack power was too overwhelming, it'd break through even the barrier and I'd die.
On top of that, the overall boost to body specs was at a jaw-dropping level. To get a ring with effects like this, you'd have to carry out a special quest on the upper floors even in the Tier 4 Tower.
And I got something like this on a mere 5th floor.
“Next, boss skill selection.”
I'd naturally planned to pick [Flash Cut]. But when I saw the selection list, my mind wavered a little.
1. [A] Flash Cut
2. [A] Meteorn Kingdom Knight Swordsmanship
3. [A] Meteorn Ether Circulation Method
“This...... is seriously a tough call.”
Flash Cut needed no explanation; it was a skill that could end an enemy's life in an instant, but it had a fatal flaw.
Namely, that it ruptured the leg muscles, so it couldn't be used twice.
It was similar to my [One-Strike Slaughter]. That skill also wrecked my arm muscles once used.
Second, the Kingdom Knight Swordsmanship.
Honestly...... it was truly my first time seeing a skill like this. There might be few or no players even within the Tier 4 Tower who had a skill like this.
'So that wall I felt was because of this skill.'
The 5th floor's knight, a mere level 55, had overwhelmed me with swordsmanship.
In pure swordplay, my experience of reaching level 300 should have been naturally superior.
But what if something called 'sword arts' that I didn't know existed in another world?
What if it was a world where only swords, magic, and mana had developed, not Earth, where firearms developed and swordsmanship withered away?
There might be sword techniques that couldn't be understood with an Earthling's common sense.
That dream technique was right here.
On top of that, the third skill was every bit as tempting.
Ether Circulation Method.
I'd wondered what the heck that was, and.......
'This is mana breathing.'
A skill that neatly circulates the mana inside your body.
Until now, mana had been used merely as 'points for using skills.' Rankers had made all sorts of efforts in their own ways to try to manipulate mana, but there had never been a successful case of moving it at will and handling it freely.
According to people's guesses, maybe if you researched it for several generations over hundreds of years, but research had concluded that it was impossible for modern Earthlings to newly handle mana.
But what if there were a world where that research into mana manipulation had already been completed?
And what if the skill before my eyes was the product of those hundreds of years of history?
It was a tough call.
[Flash Cut] had long since dropped way down in value. For a one-strike kill, there was no skill as great as that, but in the long run, getting the swordsmanship or the breathing method was far better.
I couldn't tell on my own what on earth was better.
“Ah, is that what you were agonizing over?”
My dilemma naturally turned into a consultation with the Apocalypse Tower's Aedric.
Honestly, he was the only person in the Tower I could consult with anyway.
“I think the Circulation Method would be better.”
“Why?”
“It seems you're agonizing because you don't know much about 'sword manuals,' but that sword manual actually assumes mana manipulation as a basic premise. A human without mana can't handle it.”
“Well...... once I hit level 50 later, I can use mana automatically, right?”
“Eh, with mana like that, used merely as an energy resource through the Tower's system assistance, not a chance. You can only truly understand and use a sword manual once you know how to manipulate mana from your own heart.”
In other words, without the Circulation Method, the sword manual was utterly useless.
On the other hand, the Circulation Method was more than worth it on its own.
“If we're just talking about which skill is superior, the sword manual is better. But without the Circulation Method, the sword manual is useless, so what can you do?”
“Hm.”
He had a point.
The Skill Shop didn't have sword manuals or circulation methods like those. When I looked, they could only be bought at very, very expensive prices much later, around the 50th floor.
[Heavenly Demon Divine Art]
[Arhat Sword Scripture]
[Indestructible Vajra Body]
[Limitless Sword Secret]
[Mount Hua True Scripture]
Martial arts manuals, huh. I didn't know there'd be stuff like this.
The problem was that they were so damn expensive I didn't even think about buying them.
Not only martial arts manuals, but circulation methods too.
Here, they were called 'mind methods.'
It's like reading a wuxia novel.
Was there any player in the Tier 4 Tower who'd gotten a skill like this?
Considering the Chinese and Japanese guys who pieced together similar types of skills and showed off calling themselves martial artists, well. Probably not.
They'd somehow scraped together same-type sword active skills and footwork and such.
Impressive obsession, but the efficiency, eh, who knows. They were stronger than me, so I kept quiet, but honestly they looked kind of stupid.
Like slightly strong otaku, I guess.
“One more piece of advice: 'circulation methods' are actually all much the same in structure.”
“What do you mean?”
“Even if you get that one, later when you get a higher circulation method, you can upgrade while preserving a fair amount of the proficiency. Sword manuals can't do that. Not that they can't, exactly; it's hard.”
That part was kind of a headache.
“Martial arts are so diverse and full of character, you see. Once you get a higher martial art, you have to throw that one away.”
“Is that so.”
Then there's no helping it.
[You have obtained the skill 'Meteorn Ether Circulation Method.']
[The stat 'Mana' is strengthened.]
Ugh, I really wanted to try Flash Cut. It's a shame, but what can you do? It was a technique with no practicality for climbing the Tower anyway. Let's not regret it.
Just having the 'Mana' stat greatly strengthened after clearing a mere 5th floor was a gain.
As I sorted out my rewards in satisfaction.
[The Celestials' debate has ended.]
[To you, who proved your qualifications by clearing the Apocalypse Tower's 5th Floor for the first time on Earth, the Celestials grant an 'S-Rank Skill Selection Ticket.']
“......Ha, so you're finally recognizing me?”
The corners of my mouth twitched, but I tried not to show it. But I felt fucking awesome.
A full 10 years. For 10 years, I'd lived ignored by the Celestials. Even when the Tower Master urged me to challenge the Apocalypse Tower, I was overshadowed by that guy Ho-young and didn't get much attention.
Through those long years of indifference, how lonely had I climbed the Tower?
The Celestials who had turned away from and ignored me because of my lacking talent now had no choice but to acknowledge me, even if only bit by bit.
[Please write the S-Rank skill you wish to obtain.]
Honestly, there was one skill I did want. But...... it connected to the 'Miracle' I was set to obtain later after clearing the 20th floor, so it was useless right now.
For now, it'd be better to get a skill I needed right away for clearing the 6th floor.
As I said at the start, floors 1 through 5 were the 'tutorial' of each difficulty's tower.
In other words, from the 6th floor on, the difficulty went up on a whole different level.
In the middle of all that, I couldn't waste a precious S-Rank skill.
I had to set the priority.
Attack skills and defense skills.
Or mobility.
What did I need to supplement?
I already had an attack skill. [One-Strike Slaughter], despite being a B-Rank skill, put out A-Rank-level power.
On top of that, it had the advantage of being a 'buff skill.'
Its effect was 'empowers the next 1 attack,' which meant that if I had another attack skill, I could stack it with One-Strike Slaughter to empower it.
The only reason this skill's rank was low was purely because of its penalty.
Mobility was decent too.
Rapid Acceleration and Emergency Evasion.
With just these, I had no worries for now.
What I lacked was defensive skills.
I'd covered that part to some extent with the ring's shield armor too.
'Then.......'
What I truly needed.
First, 'absolute information' needed to clear the Tower's upper floors.
Even when clearing the Tier 4 Tower, I'd always suffered from a lack of information. At least the vanguard bastards with Celestial blessings could ride their blessings from victory to victory; I'd truly risked my life, analyzing things one by one and clearing and progressing slowly.
Second, an 'experience booster' to make up for my lacking talent as I climbed the Tower.
I knew a skill that would satisfy all of that.
“Okay. I've decided.”
When I tapped on the keypad in the air to enter it, a message popped up right away.
[You obtain the S-Rank skill 'Heavenly Eye.']
[Many Celestials harbor doubts about your choice.]
[A minority of Celestials admire your choice.]
What. That many Celestials can't see the deep meaning behind this? Honestly, they're full of airheads too.
[The Girl Riding the Crescent Moon Swing ardently supports your choice.]
What's up with her now?
Ignoring the Girl, I checked the skill description.
《Heavenly Eye》
※The sight of the heavens shall open.
▣ Grade S
▣ Ability
Reads the structure and flow of the target.
Every being has a point at which it must collapse.
▣ Applications
• Discerning the weaknesses of living things
• Detecting mana flow
• Structural analysis
• Detecting hidden devices and traps
▣ Burden
Continuous use accumulates mental fatigue and increases mana consumption.
Exactly the skill I wanted.
With this, I wouldn't have to panic when a boss suddenly turned out to have regenerative ability like on the 1st floor, and there'd be fewer cases of dying instantly to Flash Cut in an instant like on the 5th floor.
Of course, its proficiency was low, and the skill itself wasn't all-powerful.
If anything, the [Blessing of the Observer Who Gazes at Truth] that Ahn Ho-young had was a superior version.
At my current proficiency...... grasping traits or skills an opponent was deliberately hiding was probably still too much.
I'd have to grow it until around the 30th floor for it to show the full performance I knew.
Still, it was far better than nothing, so I was satisfied.
And besides.
I'd always had a fucking trash 'eye' for things since long ago.
'Huh, didn't you see that just now, hyung? He applied that skill so artistically just now.'
'Ho, handling it like that. Let me try too...... hm? You didn't see it?'
'How did I use your technique? Well...... you just showed it to me once, didn't you? I copied it?'
There was a question I always had when watching geniuses.
'How do those bastards copy something exactly after seeing it once?'
This was a realm an ordinary person could never understand in a lifetime.
But this was the Tower.
A place where you could somehow cover lacking talent with skills.
A place where, if your talent was lacking, you also got fewer skills, so the gap in power grew even worse, but if you got the chance like me, you could also fill in what you lacked.
Heavenly Eye would raise my lacking eye for detail and analytical ability.
'Add to that.......'
The two pieces of equipment I'd gotten from clearing the 5th floor.
The knight's armor and sword.
The armor, honestly, I couldn't use right now.
That was because it made my movements far too sluggish, and to make up for that, I'd need the [Heavy Armor Proficiency] skill.
I didn't have it right now, so it was useless. The sword, at least, looked usable.
《Longsword of Rank-and-File Knight Zeller》
※O meteors of the end, be eternal.
▣ Grade C
▣ Origin
A longsword used by Rank-and-File Knight Zeller of the Kingdom of Meteorn.
Honed through countless real battles into a form specialized for quick-draw and charging attacks.
▣ Traits
• Attack Power 48
• First attack speed after drawing +40%
• First attack power after drawing increased
▣ Skill
[Quick Draw]
Cuts down the enemy the instant the sword is drawn.
Activation speed is very fast, and the power of the first strike is greatly increased.
A whopping C-Rank piece of equipment on the 5th floor.
This...... if you had to put it a certain way, was like winning the lottery. Going by my experience up to the Tier 4 Tower, on the lowest floors, getting F-Rank equipment was the best you could do, and only if you were really lucky did you get E or D.
One of the first-clear privileges was a high drop rate for high-grade equipment after killing monsters, wasn't it?
Even if latecomers cleared the 5th floor, there was a high chance they wouldn't get this weapon.
“Now I can finally breathe a little.”
I'd gotten a lot of skills and grown stronger, so now it was time to consolidate the power I had and become even sturdier.
As I sorted my equipment with that thought, a message suddenly popped up.
[The Wolf Starved for Victory offers to bestow a 'blessing' upon you.]