3. Mad Blood Rampage(2)
The Constellation <Blood-Red Hair> was the only Constellation of goblin origin.
The reason she had been able to rise to the position of Constellation despite being of the goblins, the lowest of species, was precisely that skill, <Mad Blood Rampage>.
Because goblins were the weakest race, their stats could be raised by the widest margin.
<Blood-Red Hair> had used that fact to create and wield the skill called <Mad Blood Rampage>.
Of all the rampage-type skills that existed in the Tower it held the greatest power, and its side effects were beyond imagination to match.
While the skill was in use, one fell into the <Frenzy> status ailment, unable to tell friend from foe at all.
And once it ended, one fell into the <Exhaustion> status ailment, unable to move so much as a finger.
The penalty that followed using this power was of a kind no player could bear.
Use it in the middle of a fight and you would be left helpless and die.
But for Lee Jin-hyeok, that was someone else's problem.
Thanks to <Indomitable Star>, it was effectively a skill with no penalty at all.
'Which is exactly why I went for it.'
Rampage-type skills came with a variety of penalties.
Among them were ones that permanently lowered stats, and ones that consumed separate items.
But however powerful the penalties of <Mad Blood Rampage> were, every last one of them was tied to 'status ailments.'
For Lee Jin-hyeok, who took no penalties at all, it amounted to the strongest skill there was.
'Objectively speaking, it raises the most stats too.'
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> is astonished at your action.]
[Constellation <Eternal Flame>, worried for you, sponsors you with 1,000 points.]
Perhaps out of concern over this, <Eternal Flame> sponsored Lee Jin-hyeok with a modest sum of points.
'It seems to have taken quite a liking to me.'
Seeing that, Lee Jin-hyeok snorted with laughter.
"There is no need to worry too much. I will get through it well enough."
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> nods, saying it will trust you.]
'Skill window.'
{Skill}
<Stellar Archive>
Grade: Rare
▶Copies and stores a Constellation's power in the form of a 'skill.'
▶One skill may be copied and stored per 10 levels.
▶Skill duplication requires that Constellation's Sacred Relic and points.
▶Upon skill duplication, the grade of <Stellar Archive> rises and additional effects are revealed.
[Common Grade Special Effect]
▶For the next skill duplication, the required points and the level restriction are removed.
[Rare Grade Special Effect]
▶Upon the next skill acquisition, two skills may be copied from a single Sacred Relic.
*Points are consumed for each one, at the same rate.
*Both skills must be copied for <Stellar Archive> to be promoted to the next grade.
[Currently Stored Skills]
Common: <Mad Blood Rampage>
*Points required for next skill: 200,000
'This is insane.'
Lee Jin-hyeok was aghast.
'Two hundred thousand points?'
He had assumed that, for power this strong, the price of a Constellation's power would naturally be enormous.
But for that price to be a full two hundred thousand.
'When am I supposed to earn all that?'
Back in his days as the first-ranked player it might have been another matter, but as a beginner it was an unthinkable sum.
'Even the 2,000 points <Eternal Flame> gave me is by no means a small amount.'
And yet the figure he had to aim for was a full two hundred thousand.
Counting both together, that came to four hundred thousand.
'I can get two skills from a single Sacred Relic. So, carefully.'
It would take quite a while before he obtained the next Sacred Relic anyway.
Until then, all he could do was gather as many points as possible.
[Constellation <Blood-Red Hair> furrows her brow.]
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> looks at Constellation <Blood-Red Hair> and smiles awkwardly.]
Was it because she had realized her Sacred Relic was gone?
<Blood-Red Hair> had begun watching the tutorial grounds, a place almost no Constellation ever watched.
'Well, of course. She'd never imagine a Goblin Chieftain in the tutorial grounds being threatened by a human into betraying her.'
The humans in the tutorial grounds were never strong enough to make a Goblin Chieftain turn traitor, so that was only natural.
Was this not the first time a Goblin Chieftain had been killed at all?
'One last one left.'
[You have slain a <Goblin Chieftain>!]
[You have acquired 100 points!]
SLICE.
The last Goblin Chieftain's head was cut away.
'That's the end of it.'
He had filled his ten entirely with Goblin Chieftains, creatures most players never even laid eyes on.
An achievement no player in the Tower's billions of years of history had ever managed.
'The more achievements you rack up, the greater the reward the Tower gives.'
His heart was already pounding at the thought of what it would give him.
[You have slain 10 goblins.]
[Main Quest <Goblin Hunt> cleared.]
[Moving to the Floor 1 trial waiting room.]
SLASH—!
Before the last Goblin Chieftain's severed head could even touch the ground.
FLASH!
A pillar of white light wrapped around his body.
***
The Floor 1 trial waiting room.
This place looked nothing like the tutorial grounds with their dense forest.
Walls of solid ice, tangled together like a maze, covered every direction.
FLASH. Flash.
"Ughhh......"
"I made it!"
"Damn it...... Those goblin bastards were scarier than I thought."
"Boss! Over here! Here!"
Like Lee Jin-hyeok, a great many players who had cleared the tutorial were gathering.
Players who had been in the same party were already grouping up.
[Congratulations! You have successfully completed the tutorial!]
Before Lee Jin-hyeok's eyes, a message of congratulations delivered by the Tower itself was formed.
[From this point on, you are a 'player.']
[Once you clear a floor's trial, you may enter that floor at any time!]
[The <Floor 1 Trial> will begin shortly.]
[Time remaining: 34 minutes]
'Starting soon, then.'
The Tower's trials were made up of three stages.
1) Enter the waiting room in order to take that floor's trial.
2) Wait in the waiting room, then undertake the trial for entry to that floor.
3) After that, contract with a Constellation or move to the next floor.
Since this was the trial for reaching Floor 1, it was the Floor 1 trial.
The place he currently stood in was the Floor 1 waiting room.
'There's time to collect my rewards and prepare.'
The Floor 1 trial ran for one hour, with a waiting period of twelve hours.
Which meant that with bad luck one might wait as long as thirteen hours, or be thrown into the trial one second after arriving.
Fortunately, he had been given time for at least the minimum preparation.
"Quite a lot of them survived."
"Well, the tutorial can be finished inside an hour if it goes quickly."
From Floor 1 of the Tower, rather than the tutorial, players who had come in from all sorts of places were mixed together at random.
The overwhelming majority of the players entering the Tower knew nothing about the Tower at all.
The ones who led them were the small number of players who had been born and raised on the 'floors' since childhood.
'I was pushed around by them a lot myself when I first climbed the Tower.'
Dang So-wol, Russell, Cheon Hyang-un.
Recalling that all three of them had come from the Tower, Lee Jin-hyeok snorted with laughter.
That he, who came from outside the Tower, now knew more about the Tower than anyone.
It was an ironic thing.
'Check the rewards.'
[Your level has risen!]
[You have acquired 1,000 points.]
[You may choose and receive one Adept's weapon.]
[You have acquired the item <Adept's Sword>.]
<Adept's Sword>
Grade: Common
Category: Sword
[Attack Power: 20]
'For a Common grade, the attack power is quite good.'
After choosing the sword, Lee Jin-hyeok swung it a few times.
Up to this point, these were rewards obtainable simply by clearing the tutorial.
[Your level rises further.] x4
[You have acquired 1,000 points.]
[You may choose and receive one of two skills.]
▶<Goblin Slayer> (Heroic)
▶<Goblin Chieftain> (Heroic)
"Oho."
Seeing the two skills, Lee Jin-hyeok let out a sound of admiration.
"Heroic skills, is it."
No one knew exactly what standard the Tower used to hand out rewards.
But as far as Lee Jin-hyeok knew, the strongest tutorial reward on record had been 300 points and the Epic grade skill <One Who Stands Against the Horde>.
And yet Lee Jin-hyeok was being allowed to choose one of two Heroic grade skills, no less.
'Heroic, higher even than Epic.'
<Goblin Slayer> was a skill that granted extra damage and benefits when killing goblins.
<Goblin Chieftain> was a skill that raised one's dominion over goblins.
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> is curious about your choice.]
[Constellation <Blood-Red Hair> is watching you.]
Looking at the two directly opposed skills, Lee Jin-hyeok chose one.
'Looking at it long-term, and thinking about the trials I'll be meeting for a while.'
Swish.
'This is the right one.'
[You have selected the skill <Goblin Chieftain>.]
<Goblin Chieftain>
Grade: Heroic
▶Allows you to 'dominate' goblins and issue them commands.(*The skill's power is proportional to the [Mana] stat.)
▶The lower the target's level and intelligence, the more the skill's effect is amplified.
▶Upon slaying another Goblin Chieftain, a portion of their Mana stat is seized.
The skill Lee Jin-hyeok chose was <Goblin Chieftain>.
The skill possessed by the ones he had killed during the tutorial.
Its merit was that it let him use mana to dominate weaker opponents.
[Constellation <Blood-Red Hair> is pleased with your choice.]
'I have more than enough damage to kill goblins even without <Goblin Slayer>.'
Above all, <Goblin Chieftain> was also a hidden piece leading to another skill later on.
'Status window.'
{Status Window}
Name: Lee Jin-hyeok
Race: Human
Level: 8
[Strength: 29] [Vitality: 29] [Agility: 29]
[Mana: 5] [Divine Power: 0]
His level had reached 8 before he knew it.
Even with a penalty on experience gain, killing Goblin Chieftains had pushed his level up considerably.
'Kill ten ordinary goblins and your level doesn't even rise. At best you have to kill five or more Berserkers to jump to level 2.'
Mana was not a stat that rose with levels, so it remained as it was.
'Shall I prepare for the next trial?'
[Accessing the <Auction House>.]
Before Lee Jin-hyeok, an interface and all sorts of goods began to spread out.
The <Auction House>, a feature usable anywhere in the Tower.
Here, one could pay points to buy items other players had listed.
'Alchemy material listings.'
He needed to obtain the next skill for <Stellar Archive>, so there was reason to save every point he could.
But the points he currently held came to a mere 4,000.
With them or without them, the goal of two hundred thousand points was just as far away.
'The next trial matters more than pocket change.'
[Purchasing the item <Gradri Petal Extract>.] x10
[100 points consumed.] x10
<Gradri Petal Extract>.
It was originally a common material, used mainly by alchemists.
The opponents appearing in the next trial were gnolls, monsters with dog heads on human-shaped bodies.
Their sense of smell was excellent, and they tended to show particular weakness to sour smells like that of <Gradri Petal Extract>.
[1,000 points consumed.]
[Purchasing the skill <Enchant: Flame>.]
{Skill}
<Enchant: Flame>
Grade: Rare
▶Enchants a designated weapon with the 'flame' attribute.
He spent 1,000 points and bought a single skill.
It was a simple skill that consumed mana to imbue a weapon with the flame attribute.
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> applauds your skill selection.]
[Constellation <King of Muspell> hears the rumors about you and comes calling.]
'That's done.'
As he tucked the <Gradri Petal Extract> away, voices rang out from every side.
"Everyone has to band together."
"This trial is far easier than the last one!"
"That's right. All you have to do is run. This is exactly when we need to stick together!"
The Floor 1 trial bore the name <Safe Altar>.
An altar was created the moment the trial began, and the objective was to kill the gnolls that appeared around it and get inside the altar.
Since entering the altar meant passing the trial immediately, the objective was simple.
If there was one variable, it was that gnolls were stronger than goblins.
The players gathered here had been through the tutorial, so they would have a little more composure.
"Come! Quickly!"
"We have to band together!"
Slipping in among the people gathering in an instant, Lee Jin-hyeok poured one vial of <Gradri Petal Extract> over his sword and spread it along the blade.
'Now.'
[Time remaining: 0 seconds]
[You have acquired the Main Quest <Safe Altar>.]
'It begins.'