12. Floor 3 Trial(1)
FWOOOSH—!
The Floor 3 trial waiting room.
The moment he arrived, what he felt was heat severe enough to drain the strength out of a person.
"Ughhh......"
"Drink your <Flame Resistance Potion>. Quickly."
The heat was unexpected, or rather worse than expected, and the players were drooping.
They were even downing <Flame Resistance Potions> bought at high prices, trying to adapt to the heat.
'Not that it will do much good.'
A cheap <Flame Resistance Potion> could only clear away the heat temporarily.
Without a tolerance for heat, or for burning, the fundamental problem did not get solved.
In the end one simply lost the stamina to take a long trial.
'Before the regression I thought I was going to die too. It was hot enough to melt ice in moments.'
Lee Jin-hyeok was adapting to the heat very well.
The Imugi itself was a creature that could adapt uncannily well to environments of heat, cold, and the like.
On top of that, thanks to the chill of <Eternal Frost>, which did not melt under any circumstances, the heat was dropping a further notch.
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> offers you a shy greeting.]
"Hello there."
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> tilts its head, saying a great deal seems to have changed.]
"A lot has happened."
Constellations can only spectate a player's 'trials.'
So they did not know what Lee Jin-hyeok had been doing on Floor 2, <Dead Run>, all this time.
[Constellation <King of Muspell> folds its arms and snorts.]
[Constellation <Dawn King of Zhonghua> laughs heartily, saying it has heard the rumors about you.]
[Constellation <Fire That Killed the Mother God> is satisfied with the space you are in.]
Led by the four Constellations that had offered Lee Jin-hyeok the position of Apostle, the Constellations were filing in one after another.
"Hoo......"
"......."
Unlike the Floor 1 or Floor 2 trials, the players here showed not the slightest sign of trying to cooperate.
"I'll go first, then."
"Don't push yourself. See you on Floor 3."
FLASH—!
Instead, when someone muttered into empty air, they were moved individually, one at a time.
That was right.
Unlike every trial before it, the Floor 3 trial was one taken strictly 'individually.'
[A player who has completed their preparations may challenge the Floor 3 trial at any time.]
A hologram window appeared with perfect timing, as though it had been waiting.
The Floor 3 trial could even be taken by each player whenever they wished, at any time.
'There's no need to waste time.'
Swish.
'I finished my preparations before coming.'
Lee Jin-hyeok indicated his consent.
[The <Floor 3 Trial> begins!]
[You have acquired the Main Quest <Challenger of Fire>.]
<Challenger of Fire>
Grade: Floor 3 Trial
▶Objective: Challenge the Granite Colosseum.
▶Reward: Choice of 1 from the following.
1) 5,000 points.
2) Choice of 1 from the Expert's equipment set.
3) A buff 'that will be useful in the Floor 4 trial.'
*Guaranteed reward: Right of entry to Tower Floor 3.
▶Additional Reward: Granted on a sliding scale according to the <Stage> cleared.
[Additional rewards and experience accumulate and upgrade, and are granted all at once after the Floor 3 trial fully ends.]
The Floor 3 trial was peculiar in many ways.
All the more so in that a player could keep going or stop according to their own strength.
Since one could leave after clearing only Stage 1, passing the trial itself was in fact not very difficult.
'Which is why plenty of players clear only Stage 1 without pressure and leave.'
While Lee Jin-hyeok unfolded his arms and loosened up lightly.
[Moving to the 'Granite Colosseum' to proceed with the Main Quest <Challenger of Fire>.]
Along with the hologram window, his body was moved.
***
"......."
The place Lee Jin-hyeok arrived at was a colosseum made of granite.
GAAAAAHK!
SCREEEEEEECH!
Looking around, he saw the spectator seats packed with a certain species.
Lizards with red scales and yellow pupils slit vertically.
Those things were the foreign species ruling Floor 3, <Lava Ocean>.
'Lizardmen.'
[A number of Constellations take note of you.]
Stars in every color began shining in the colosseum's sky.
It meant a considerable number of Constellations had entered to see Lee Jin-hyeok.
[A number of Lizardmen take note of you.]
[Lizardman Lord <Kukokawik> enters.]
[Lizardman Grand General <Rakuowak> enters.]
Was it because the Constellations' interest was concentrated on him?
Or because a super rookie climbing the Tower while rewriting records had drawn attention?
The Lizardman Lord who ruled Floor 3, the Grand General who guarded him, and other 'renowned' Lizardmen entered as well.
[You begin to receive a great deal of attention!]
[Constellation <King of Muspell> is curious about your strategy.]
'The Constellations, and the Lizardmen, want a stimulating picture.'
How should he satisfy the Constellations, wring points and rewards out of them, secure his own gain, and grow stronger?
'Simple. A performance big enough to fill the Constellations' dopamine.'
Looking at the Constellations and the Lizardmen watching him, Lee Jin-hyeok smiled.
'And on top of that, a little seasoning is all it takes.'
After closing his eyes briefly and opening them again, Lee Jin-hyeok looked up at the sky.
"Dear Constellations."
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> listens closely to your words.]
"How many stages do you think I can clear?"
***
A Lizardman wearing an ornate gold crown shifted out of his slouched posture and sat up.
The Lizardman Lord, Kukokawik.
The spiritual and practical ruler of the Lizardmen who ruled Floor 3.
"What do you think? Grand General?"
Grin.
"My younger brother, Rakuowak."
A frame far too large for a Lizardman, nearly the size of a drake.
Armor covering the whole of that enormous frame, and a solid iron mace.
It was Rakuowak, the Grand General and another Lizardman carrying the Lord's blood.
"He is impudent."
Rakuowak furrowed his brow.
"To ignore the Lord in Lizardman territory and focus only on the Constellations. Truly impudent."
Swish.
"And I still do not know whether he has the skill to back it up."
"You feel nothing from his appearance. Is that what you mean?"
"Yes. I will need to see him fight to be certain."
"Your eye will be the accurate one."
Rakuowak narrowed his eyes and looked down at Lee Jin-hyeok.
"Our Grand General is a 'Ranker' acknowledged by the Tower, after all."
"You flatter me."
The Tower assigns a 'rank' to players who have cleared Floor 15 or above.
Achievements, level, skills, relationships with Constellations, and influence are all combined into the standard.
Those who place within the top 10,000 of them are commonly called 'Rankers.'
Among those, the ones who place within the top 100 are classified as 'High Rankers.'
Considering that each single floor is a vast world and that the total number of players is enormous, merely becoming a 'Ranker' granted tremendous influence within the Tower.
It meant placing within the top 10,000 of all players, after all.
'Even the Grand General feels nothing?'
Kukokawik looked down at his own palm.
It was trembling without pause.
'That one. He is no simple human.'
Living creatures have a special instinct.
The predator relationship.
They grasp the predator relationship embedded in them by instinct.
The classic example was that even a rat which had never seen a cat freezes with terror standing before one.
And among them, individuals born with the qualification of a 'Lord' sense that instinct all the more keenly.
'Something is different.'
Drakes, or wyverns.
The overlords of land and sky, the ones that inherited the most of the now extinct 'dragon' bloodline.
A fear greater even than when he faced those things was wrapped around Kukokawik.
'I checked on him because they said he was a monster climbing while rewriting the Tower's records, but......'
It was not a figure of speech.
He was, quite literally, a 'true monster.'
One who must never, under any circumstances, come up to Floor 3.
"Grand General."
"Yes. My Lord."
"You know we can involve ourselves in the Tower's trials to a certain degree?"
"I know."
"That human."
Kukokawik closed his eyes firmly.
"must never come up here. He is a monster who will devour us all."
***
[Constellation <Dawn King of Zhonghua> looks at you and smiles.]
[Constellation <King of Muspell> bursts out laughing.]
[Constellation <Fire That Killed the Mother God> advises that now is precisely the time to hand down a Star Decree.]
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> reproves you, saying gambling is a bad thing.]
'Is it because the rebellion hasn't happened yet?'
Watching the Constellations send him all sorts of reactions, Lee Jin-hyeok stole a glance at the Lizardman Lord.
'Kukokawik is still safe and sound.'
Kukokawik.
The Lizardman Lord who ruled <Lava Ocean>, and one famous as a benevolent ruler.
He was also the child of the previous Lord, who had unified the entire Lizardman populace.
'That one had senses more acute than any other Lizardman, and than the other Lords as well.'
As such, he would know that Lee Jin-hyeok possessed 'some power.'
'He may not know it is the Imugi's power, but he can recognize that I hold something unsettling.'
For now, that much was enough.
'Because that will make him raise the trial's difficulty.'
If Kukokawik used his own discretion to push the trial difficulty to the maximum, there were two benefits.
First, the reward the Tower itself gave became generous.
[The higher the difficulty rises, the greater the reward on clearing.]
Whoever made the Tower's trials and its system, this one thing was certain.
Second, he could draw the Constellations' attention.
'A trial at the highest difficulty handed down by a Lizardman Lord. And an all-time rookie who breaks through it far too easily.'
Grin.
'Is there a picture more stimulating than that?'
[Lizardman Lord <Kukokawik> adjusts the trial difficulty at his own discretion.]
[The player may refuse this.]
[*Upon refusal, you may take a trial of the 'standard specification' set by the Tower.]
Kukokawik had adjusted the trial.
Lee Jin-hyeok predicted he had probably raised the difficulty to the maximum.
If there was one regrettable point, it was that Lee Jin-hyeok himself could not identify his opponent until the trial began.
[A number of Constellations consult Lizardman Lord <Kukokawik>'s trial settings.]
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> worries about you.]
[Constellation <Blood-Red Hair> approaches with gleaming eyes.]
[Constellation <Fire That Killed the Mother God> hands down a new Star Decree.]
<Star Decree>
▶Objective: Pass Stage 1 of the Floor 3 trial exactly as Kukokawik has set it.
▶Reward: 1,000 points.
[A number of Constellations join <Fire That Killed the Mother God>'s Star Decree.]
'They're excited.'
The Constellations began staking all sorts of points and rewards.
Seeing them stake that much even though it was only Stage 1, a considerably powerful enemy seemed to be coming.
'Just what is coming out, for them to make this much fuss?'
[Constellation <King of Muspell> adds 1,000 points to the Star Decree.]
[Constellation <Blood-Red Hair> adds 500 points to the Star Decree.]
The Constellations' act of adding points to the Star Decree amounted, in a word, to this.
[If you want to challenge it, go ahead and try.]
Of course, as the difficulty rose to match, the odds of failing to clear it grew extremely high.
Considering how many players die even in a standard specification trial, it might look like a gamble with one's life staked.
'The me from before the regression could never have imagined taking a trial of this difficulty at this point.'
But it was different now.
Lee Jin-hyeok had the experience and technique of a past life, plus a Constellation's body and all manner of hidden pieces.
And on top of that, the Imugi's power, which the Constellations still did not know about.
'There's a limit to the monsters that can come out as opponents anyway. It's still only the Floor 3 trial.'
Grin.
"Good. I'll go."
[You will take the trial as set by Lizardman Lord <Kukokawik>.]
[Loading information on the Stage 1 trial.]
'These ones?'
Seeing his opponents, Lee Jin-hyeok's expression twisted oddly.
And then, before long, laughter slipped out.
'Even so, I didn't expect these ones to come out from Stage 1.'