6. Floor 2 Trial(1)
<Undead Race>
Grade: Floor 2 Trial
▶Objective: Cross the finish line within the time limit.
▶Reward: All of the following are granted.
1) 2,000 points.
2) Choice of 2 from the Adept's equipment set.
3) Right of entry to Tower Floor 2.
▶Additional Reward: ???
▶On failure: You will remain in the Floor 2 trial grounds.
[From this moment you may cross the starting line and the finish line.]
[*Reach the finish line within the time limit! Fail, and you will be 'cleaned'!]
[Time remaining: 3 days]
"All right! Let's go!"
RUMBLLLLE......!
The walls around them crumbled away, and the players' view opened up.
GRAAAAAH......
HRAAAAAH......
What blocked the way ahead was an overwhelming mass of undead, too many to count.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands.
Seen as a plain number it might register as nothing more than a number, but face them in person and the mass is far more overwhelming than expected.
"Charge!"
"Raaaaaah!"
"Let's join forces!"
THUD! SLICE.
The Floor 2 trial players were on a clearly higher level than those on Floor 1.
There was no hesitation in how they swung their weapons, so compared to the players he had seen until now, there was a certain crispness to it.
And that was not all.
Because they had passed through Floor 1 <El Land>, they could now carry out work suited to their 'roles' in earnest.
<Fire Ball>
<Holy Arrow>
<Divine Strike>
Just like this, with players who had learned magic or holy magic on Floor 1 showing their worth.
'This is about when the hesitation starts disappearing for good.'
Being Floor 2, the enemies consisted only of the weakest zombies and skeletons.
However many of them there were, those things were undead.
One spell from a mage or a priest and they were swept away.
HISSSSS—!
Two things lethal to undead.
Fire and Divine Power.
The trial-takers, gathered around the players who could use those two elements, were quite literally unstoppable.
"We can do this! We can do this!"
"Raaaaaah—!"
On top of that, those things only had numbers. They were weaker than goblins and gnolls.
So at least until the first day, all the players could work together and reach the same distance.
But Lee Jin-hyeok knew.
'The real trial.'
Swish.
'always shows up as the finish line gets closer.'
***
Day two.
A little past the halfway distance.
"Haah...... haah......"
"Protect the mages and priests."
"Going in!"
The further they went, the more the undead multiplied, and the mana the mages and priests held ran dry.
SCREEEEEECH—!
And a new undead monster with far tougher skin appeared, the ghoul.
"Aaaaaargh!"
"S, save me!"
Mages and priests were necessary, so the other players protected them, but the rest were another matter.
Beings who might as well not be there.
No, beings who, if anything, were 'competitors' who got in the way of one's placing.
"If you fall behind, we can't save you. You have to survive on your own!"
"It's a shame, but those who can live have to live."
Among those left behind, the players who had no guild affiliation or had been betrayed by their companions were saved by no one.
'F*ck...... Trying to save something like that could get me killed too.'
'Never mind placing or score, if I don't get inside that finish line the cleaner bastard is coming.'
'Tsk, tsk. They should have built up enough skill on Floor 1 before coming up. Or at least made some connections.'
Weak, so they fell behind. Weak, so they died.
That was all.
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> looks at the abandoned players with sorrow.]
[Constellation <King of Muspell> clicks its tongue, saying being weak is a crime too.]
'So the stragglers are starting to appear.'
Standing at the very front, cutting down undead, Lee Jin-hyeok glanced behind him.
'There's no need to go out of my way to save them.'
Lee Jin-hyeok was not a saint afflicted with the disease of having to save everyone.
He moved strictly in whatever direction profited him.
No, right now there was value in building this kind of image.
'Because that way.'
Grin.
'I can draw the Constellations in.'
[Activating the skill <Enchant: Flame>.]
Taken one by one, Floor 2 undead were weaker than goblins or gnolls.
Their movements were slow and dull.
But the problem was that they were not living creatures.
These things could not feel pain at all, so they would keep coming even with their arms and legs cut off, even with their hearts cut through.
Smashing the skull, or burning the whole body.
That was the only way to kill them.
In that respect, these things were far too easy an opponent for Lee Jin-hyeok.
Wrap his sword in fire and take the head off, and they simply died in one stroke.
[You have slain a ghoul.] x4
[You have acquired 3 points.] x4
[Your experience rises.]
[A number of Constellations feel frustrated at your actions.]
'Is it starting?'
He was starting to get a bite.
The other players might not know it, but Lee Jin-hyeok had an exact grasp of the Constellations' psychology.
Those things wanted him to 'do something, anything.'
'It'll be one of the two.'
Either tear ahead and take first place.
Or save every one of the stragglers back there before they died.
The 'fun' only Lee Jin-hyeok, with strength overwhelming compared to the other players, could 'provide.'
That was what the Constellations wanted.
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> hands down a new Star Decree.]
'As expected. There it is.'
A Star Decree.
It was a means by which, upon succeeding at 'a certain action,' one could claim the 'sponsorship' a Constellation had registered in advance.
<Star Decree>
▶Objective: Rescue the stragglers of the Floor 2 trial
▶Reward: 100 points per straggler rescued.
Rescuing stragglers.
It was exactly as Lee Jin-hyeok had predicted.
He did not know <Eternal Flame> well, but he knew it had a considerably good-natured character.
[A number of Constellations join <Eternal Flame>'s Star Decree.]
'Oho.'
Perhaps unable to stand by while other players died, Constellations of a good-natured bent began joining the Star Decree en masse.
As the points climbed higher and higher, Lee Jin-hyeok immediately ran toward the stragglers.
The points needed to absorb the next Sacred Relic came to a full 200,000.
Right now, every single point was precious.
"Thank you for the Star Decree."
But goodness like this always comes with a stifling sweet potato.
The Constellations who wanted the opposite, a refreshing soda, were never going to sit still.
[Constellation <King of Muspell> hands down a new Star Decree.]
<Star Decree>
▶Objective: Pass the Floor 2 trial in first place
▶Reward: 3,000 points
'Save the stragglers and you can't take first...... a completely opposed Star Decree.'
[Constellation <Dawn King of Zhonghua> joins <King of Muspell>'s Star Decree.]
[Constellation <Blood-Red Hair> joins <King of Muspell>'s Star Decree.]
[Constellation <Fire That Killed the Mother God> joins <Eternal Flame>'s Star Decree.]
[A number of Constellations join <Eternal Flame>'s Star Decree.]
[A number of Constellations join <King of Muspell>'s Star Decree.]
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> denounces the other Constellations!]
[Constellation <King of Muspell> snorts, telling it to run its charity work on its own.]
The points kept climbing.
Perhaps because they were Constellations of high reputation, they raised their sums against each other and would not give an inch.
Once the points of Constellations with their own tastes and convictions were added in as well, the sums began snowballing.
'Only one of the two can be cleared. That's what the Constellations think.'
Points piled up through gritted teeth, if only to see the Constellations on the other side despair.
For Lee Jin-hyeok, caught in the middle, it was the best of good news.
'Because I.'
Cutting the head off a ghoul that was about to fall on the stragglers, Lee Jin-hyeok smiled.
'intend to clear both Star Decrees.'
A Star Decree, once registered, cannot be withdrawn until it fails completely.
Using that fact, Lee Jin-hyeok intended to clear both Star Decrees.
***
[You have slain a ghoul.] x4
[You have slain a zombie.] x2
[You have slain a skeleton.] x3
[Your experience rises.]
Undead burning in an instant under a sword wrapped in fire.
However great their numbers, they could not stop Lee Jin-hyeok.
With his Mana raised to a full 35, <Enchant: Flame> could now be sustained continuously.
And with the <Hunter's Leather Set> and <Eternal Frost> covering his physical resistance, he could rampage without a care.
"Wh, what is this......?"
"Thank you! Thank you!"
The stragglers who had fallen behind the group gave their thanks.
"......."
He did not bother to say 'there are considerable points riding on your lives.'
He simply gathered up the stragglers, put them behind him, and swung his sword.
"You can walk, can't you?"
"O, of course!"
"Then follow me. As fast as you can."
[Constellation <Fire That Killed the Mother God> is pleased with your choice.]
[Constellation <King of Muspell> furrows its brow.]
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> takes the hands of the <King of Muspell>, saying it pities one who does not know the splendor of love.]
"Take care of the other stragglers too. Quickly!"
"Ah...... yes!"
Ignoring the Constellations' messages, Lee Jin-hyeok focused.
'Since it's come to this. I'll save every straggler.'
[Constellation <Dawn King of Zhonghua> starts hacking as though it has eaten a sweet potato.]
But not every Constellation reacted favorably.
To love the autonomy and unpredictability of the players climbing the Tower, and yet to want them to move in the direction one desires.
That was the nature of the Constellations watching the Tower.
But naturally, it was impossible to satisfy every Constellation.
In which case, Lee Jin-hyeok could only move in whatever way profited him most.
[Constellation <King of Muspell> adds 5,000 points to its Star Decree.]
[Constellation <Eternal Flame> adds 200 points to its Star Decree.]
<King of Muspell> wanted its refreshing soda and added to the sum of its Star Decree.
And <Eternal Flame> added points too, in case Lee Jin-hyeok changed his mind.
'I'm going to clear both anyway.'
Swish.
'But if they want to compete on their own, all the better for me.'
<Star Decree>
▶Objective: Rescue the stragglers of the Floor 2 trial
▶Reward: 700 points per straggler rescued.
<Star Decree>
▶Objective: Pass the Floor 2 trial in first place
▶Reward: 15,000 points
'High reputations, and high pride to match.'
Lee Jin-hyeok called out.
"Don't rely on me alone."
Lee Jin-hyeok looked behind him.
"My stamina isn't infinite either."
"Ah...... yes! Yes. Understood!"
"Support the wounded, let's get out quickly!"
And so the stragglers leaned on one another, one after another, and followed behind Lee Jin-hyeok.
'No more falling behind?'
Looking ahead, there seemed to be no further stragglers.
"Let's head somewhere safe first."
[Activating the skill <Goblin Chieftain>.]
CRACKLE—!
An intense blue light bloomed in both of Lee Jin-hyeok's eyes.
CRUNCH?
GAAAAAHK!
Before long, some of the undead began attacking and biting their fellow undead.
The undead gathered here were, fundamentally, the corpses of monsters or of players who had failed while climbing.
The overwhelming majority of them were monsters from the tutorial and the Floor 1 trial grounds.
In particular, there were a great many goblins here, the ten that each player had killed.
That was right.
More than half of those things were 'undead' and 'goblins' at the same time.
Bastards whose intelligence was insanely low, and who on top of that had no self to speak of.
And their levels were low as well.
Spend the mana, and by <Goblin Chieftain> they had no choice but to obey Lee Jin-hyeok's commands.
[Constellation <Dawn King of Zhonghua> begins to feel an enormous interest in you.]
[Constellation <King of Muspell> begins to show great interest in your ability.]
[Constellation <Blood-Red Hair> is amazed at your use of the skill!]
"Huh?"
"Why are those things fighting each other?"
"Is there a necromancer......?"
"There shouldn't be. If there were, the priests would have noticed by now."
The other players had not properly grasped Lee Jin-hyeok's skill.
In that gap, Lee Jin-hyeok shouted.
"Let's get somewhere safe while we have the chance! Hurry!"
He was right.
This was no time to be quietly watching the undead fight each other.
'Not a single one.'
Lee Jin-hyeok's eyes gleamed.
'I won't let a single one die.'