12. Floor 3 Trial(4)
If one speaks of the summit of reptilian monsters one can actually lay eyes on at present, there are broadly two species.
The drake.
And the wyvern.
Ask which of the two is stronger and most people pick the wyvern.
But that is a matter of 'comprehensive combat.'
Because a wyvern can fly through the sky, and with its high intelligence it can toy with an opponent.
Setting those points aside, it is only a matter of 'pure physical strength' or 'presence.'
One on one, fighting in a confined space.
Or ask which is strongest in pure physical strength, and a hundred out of a hundred will say this.
That neither the basilisk with its deadly venom.
Nor the wyvern, clever and inheriting more of the dragon's traits than any other.
Could dare be a match for a drake.
[The drake roars.]
[*Warning! You are exposed to drake fear. You have been afflicted with <Status Ailment: Fear>. Your whole body slowly stiffens.]
[By the effect of the skill <Indomitable Star>, you are freed from all status ailments.]
An ordinary player would be crushed by its presence and wet himself merely standing before it.
Timid goblins, small monsters, and other creatures frequently die outright.
And he was told to crush an opponent like that with presence alone?
'It's serious about this.'
That was right.
The Stage 3 trial had been nothing more than a breather.
To determine whether Lee Jin-hyeok was an Imugi, Jǫrmungandr had prepared a drake.
***
It might have been wounded and bound in iron chains, but its presence alone was enough to shake the entire colosseum.
"It's terrifying!"
"We cannot endure this! A mere human certainly cannot!"
Among the Lizardmen watching, those closest lost consciousness, and those who did not were trembling, stirred by fear.
"A tremendous majesty, no matter how often one sees it."
"......."
Even the Lizardman Lord, Kukokawik, was barely holding out.
The only ones unaffected in this situation were the Grand General guarding his side, Rakuowak.
And the one taking the trial himself, Lee Jin-hyeok.
'Not bad.'
As a Ranker, Rakuowak had built up ample resistance to this sort of fear.
It was one thing for him, but for someone who had only just come up to Floor 3 to endure a drake's killing intent?
'So there is a reason the Constellation intervened personally. But he will not succeed in this trial.'
Stage 4 was a trial examining 'can you subdue your opponent by presence alone?'
It was not simply a matter of enduring the presence the opponent gave off.
One had to subdue the opponent completely and crush its spirit.
And without the help of items, at that.
It goes without saying that players below Floor 5, being called 'beginners,' have not even learned such a thing as presence.
At most, a few with innate talent can give off something like killing intent.
In fact, some who pass Floor 5.
Who pass Floor 10, 15, 20, who even become Rankers, never learn it to the very end.
And yet a player who has come to Floor 3 is told to send out presence and subdue an opponent?
It was an absurd trial.
Which is why even players who barely pass Stage 3 are often eliminated at Stage 4 without ceremony.
At least the opponent is matched for fairness to a goblin, a kobold, or the like.
Even so, the players who had passed it could be counted on one hand.
A tiny minority among countless players.
The shining stars, Rankers.
Even among them, none had passed the Stage 4 trial.
At best, the Rankers of Rankers.
Only three of the 'High Rankers' within the top 100 had passed Stage 4.
And the opponent at those times had been a goblin.
And yet here was a creature called a drake set before him, with an order to crush it by presence?
Rakuowak was certain.
He did not know exactly what the Constellation was thinking, but this one thing was clear.
'The Constellation.'
Swish.
'has no intention of letting that player into Floor 3.'
***
'So it's as worked up as it can get.'
The moment he saw the drake, Lee Jin-hyeok smiled.
'From the fact that it brought out a drake.'
Lee Jin-hyeok caught Jǫrmungandr's intent at once.
The only thing that could subdue a creature on the order of a drake by presence was the species above it, the 'Imugi.'
It meant that if he wanted to pass the trial, he should stop hiding his identity and reveal it.
But there was one thing Jǫrmungandr was mistaken about.
'In fact, I.'
Swish.
'have no intention of hiding the fact that I hold the Imugi's power at all.'
That was right.
As was clear from how he had brought out the power immediately in the Stage 1 trial, Lee Jin-hyeok had no intention of hiding that he was an Imugi.
He had been ambiguous in the Stage 2 and Stage 3 trials only because Jǫrmungandr had suddenly cut in.
He had teased the reveal of his identity in order to draw out Jǫrmungandr's interest and maximize the rewards.
So at a genuinely important moment like this, there was no need whatsoever to hide the skill.
[Activating the skill <Imugi's Blood>.]
CRACKLE.
When he activated the skill, black scales coiled up from his skin and over his armor.
Before long one pupil split vertically and turned yellow.
Gah, gaaaahk?!
Merely from him revealing himself and approaching, the drake began floundering in confusion.
STEP.
One step.
STEP, STEP.
Two steps, and then three.
"GAAAAAAAHK!"
With every step Lee Jin-hyeok drew closer, the drake backed away, until it slammed its body into the rear wall of the colosseum.
"Wh, what is this?"
"Run!"
Presence is an element tied to the willpower a being has acquired over the course of its life.
There was no reason at all that Lee Jin-hyeok, who had piled up countless experiences through regression, could not give off presence.
GRRRRRRRR......
A predator relationship so severe that merely meeting it was enough to make one faint.
No reptile, no, no living thing at all could look a creature of legend on the order of an Imugi straight in the eye.
And on top of that he was raising his presence?
To this young drake, bound and not even allowed freedom, it was far too great an ordeal.
THUD!
The drake roared without pause the whole time and then collapsed.
Everyone who saw it fell into silence.
[A number of Constellations are silent.]
Even the Constellations.
[You have subdued your opponent by presence and passed the Stage 4 trial!]
[You have cleared the Main Quest <Challenger of Fire>.]
[You have satisfied the objective of a <Star Decree>.]
Messages poured down in an instant.
There were far too many to take in at a glance, enough that a great deal was omitted.
[Player <Lee Jin-hyeok>'s name and achievement are recorded publicly in the Floor 3 <Archive>!]
Merely getting this far was enough to have a record carved into the <Archive>.
That was understandable.
In the Tower's long history, only three had ever passed the Stage 4 trial in the first place.
"Ss, sshk!"
After glancing once at the flustered Lizardman Lord, Lee Jin-hyeok looked up at the sky.
"With this."
Swish.
"I have earned the right to challenge Stage 5."
[After clearing the trial, you may enter Floor 3.]
[Or you may challenge further.]
[Constellation <Serpent That Encircles the World> is certain of your identity.]
Black scales, yellow pupils.
A body that endures heat and chill, and flesh that poison does not affect at all.
Those alone had not been enough, but through the trial just now Jǫrmungandr became certain.
Along with it, some of the other Constellations and Lizardmen could tell as well.
That the human standing boldly before them held the power of an 'Imugi.'
Or that he might be an Imugi itself.
[Constellation <Serpent That Encircles the World> proposes that you become its Apostle.]
Once certainty came, all that remained was to charge straight ahead.
Jǫrmungandr was now trying to make Lee Jin-hyeok its own.
[Constellation <King of Muspell> makes a 'rude gesture' at <Serpent That Encircles the World>, asking where it thinks it is looking.]
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> issues a 'stern warning' to wait its turn.]
[Constellation <Dawn King of Zhonghua> clicks its tongue, saying this is exactly why snakelike sorts are no good.]
[Constellation <Serpent That Encircles the World> is flustered by resistance stronger than expected.]
Considering the reputations of the Constellations putting up that resistance, Jǫrmungandr's fluster was understandable.
'They're all talking as though it's over.'
Seeing them, Lee Jin-hyeok quietly raised the <Scale Breaker>.
"Not yet."
Swish.
"The trial is not over."
[A number of Constellations take note of you.]
"This trial has five stages, does it not?"
[Constellation <Fire That Killed the Mother God> warns you to withdraw.]
The Constellations' reactions were understandable too.
Presence is the sort of thing that consumes mental strength the more one hurls it at a powerful opponent.
In fact, the three High Rankers who had passed the Stage 4 trial before had been left utterly spent.
'Melidus and Cheon Hyang-un fainted the moment they passed Stage 4, and Russell failed partway through his trial.'
So they had apparently assumed Lee Jin-hyeok would give up as well.
His opponent had been a drake, not some goblin.
But Lee Jin-hyeok had no intention of stopping.
'The Stage 5 trial is one neither the Constellations nor the Lizardman Lord can involve themselves in anyway.'
There was no longer any need to draw the Constellations' interest or work to squeeze the rewards to their maximum.
[Constellation <Dawn King of Zhonghua> is pleased with your challenging spirit.]
[Constellation <Dawn King of Zhonghua> hands down a new Star Decree.]
[A number of Constellations join the Star Decree!]
A challenge at Floor 3's Stage 5 trial, the first in the Tower's history.
The mere fact of it being 'the first challenge' made the Constellations' reaction explosive.
<Star Decree>
▶Objective: Pass Stage 5 of the Floor 3 trial.
▶Reward: 100,000 points.
The points had piled up to a full hundred thousand.
"I will challenge it."
Lee Jin-hyeok challenged the Stage 5 trial at once.
***
'I know what the Stage 5 trial is.'
Before the regression, the only player who had challenged Floor 3's Stage 5 trial was Russell.
So Lee Jin-hyeok knew the information about the Stage 5 trial.
'If what he said is right, the Constellations can't intervene here anyway.'
[Loading information on the Stage 5 trial.]
The reason was simple.
<Stage 5>
[Opponent]
▶Fight and defeat a Lizardman holding the rank of 'general' or above.
[Reward]
▶Revealed upon clearing the trial.
*The Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, and Stage 4 trial rewards are currently accumulated.
[Holding out for 10 minutes in a fight against a Lizardman holding the rank of 'general' or above is considered a 'victory.']
[*Which Lizardman you fight is chosen by the player directly.]
It was because choosing the opponent was strictly the challenger's part.
'Ten minutes. I only have to hold out ten minutes.'
A Lizardman Grand General was among the most capable of the capable, one who had climbed at least to the Tower's high floors.
Quite a few of them were players who had cleared Floor 15 or above and held a 'rank.'
'But for me, the plain generals are a little borderline.'
Lee Jin-hyeok pointed the <Scale Breaker> at the Lizardman Lord.
No, precisely speaking, at the Grand General Rakuowak beside him.
"......!"
At the unexpected act, the whole body of Lizardmen began to buzz.
"Surely not the Grand General?"
"Th, there's no way."
"The Grand General is a 'Ranker'! The only one in <Lava Ocean>!"
"Did he choose without knowing anything?"
"Even so, isn't it common sense that the warrior guarding the king's side is the strongest?"
The Lizardmen thought this.
That Lee Jin-hyeok had chosen Rakuowak knowing nothing.
That he had simply chosen the one who stood out the most.
[Constellation <King of Muspell> finds your choice interesting.]
[Constellation <Dawn King of Zhonghua> is proud, saying a king must be willing to walk dangerous roads as well.]
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> tries to dissuade you.]
[A number of Constellations are greatly shocked by your choice.]
"Don't worry."
Lee Jin-hyeok smiled.
"I chose him because he looked the strongest."
A power within the Tower-acknowledged top 10,000 rankings, a Ranker.
The word for players below Floor 5, a novice (Novice: beginner).
In the Tower's history, cases of a Ranker fighting a novice in earnest, one on one, were exceedingly rare.
Because there was a wall between the two, high and solid, that made a 'fight' impossible to begin with.
So the Lizardmen, and the Constellations too, could only be astonished.
The trial might only require holding out ten minutes, but no one expected him to pick a Ranker outright.
"I will."
THUD.
"be right there."
In a single leap, Rakuowak came from where the Lizardman Lord sat to directly in front of Lee Jin-hyeok.
It was a display befitting the strongest in Floor 3 <Lava Ocean>, and a Ranker.
[Constellation <Fire That Killed the Mother God> gazes steadily at your opponent.]
"......."
"......."
Ranker and novice.
Lizardman and human.
Lizard and Imugi.
The two, crossed against each other, only looked at one another without a word.
[You have selected Lizardman Grand General <Rakuowak> as your opponent.]
[Beginning the Stage 5 trial.]
[If you hold out without dying for the remaining time, the challenger wins.]
[Time remaining: 10 minutes.]