The scenery around me slid apart and collapsed.
Once a layer peeled away, a vast, ocher-colored plain unfolded before me, perfectly befitting the word ‘wasteland.’
The only things in sight were a fewGoblins in the distance.
All of them were armed with crude wooden spears and clubs.
‘No metal weapons… and there are three of them.’
I'd heard that Awakened climbing the first floor for the first time were generally advised to begin by killing one with an ambush or a ranged attack….
‘Do I really need to go that far?’
There were only threeGoblins.
‘Well… I can at least test my new Skill.’
By stepping on the shadow of the agent from the Tower Disaster Control Headquarters I'd just met, I had imprinted a new Skill called ‘Covert Movement.’
It was in the new Shadow Imprint Slot I'd received as a reward.
‘I think the one giving off the delicious scent was something Blade….’
‘Toxic Blade’ was a B-Grade Skill I'd never seen before.
I had passed on it without hesitation.
Since I already had ‘Flash,’ it didn't seem worthwhile to give up ‘Healing Touch’ just to take another offensive Skill.
If it had been A Grade, perhaps that would've been another matter.
This was the next best thing.
[Covert Movement (D): Blend into the surrounding environment and minimize your presence.]
[Automatically deactivates upon performing violent actions such as attacking or leaping, or upon using another Skill.]
‘Covert Movement.’
When I activated the Skill, I felt as though I had become part of nature.
‘It feels good, but how effective is it?’
As it happened, oneGoblin stood alone, a short distance from its remaining companions.
‘So that's the one they tell you to take out first on the first floor. Maybe I should sneak up and slice it apart like this.’
I held my breath and quietly approached it.
One step, then another.
Slowly closing the distance of over a hundred meters, I soon drew within arm's reach.
‘It still hasn't noticed me?’
I felt as though I'd soon be close enough to hear it breathe.
In any case, this was more than enough for Covert Movement to earn a passing grade.
‘Then it's time for your punishment.’
I circled behind it and cut through its neck.
SLASH—!
Flash—the same technique that had split the massive head of the ‘Ruler of the Swamp’ in half—struck theGoblin.
Needless to say, it died instantly.
Its head no longer belonged to it.
That was the end of Covert Movement's usefulness.
Only after their companion's head went flying did the other twoGoblins spot me. They charged from the distance, shrieking.
“KREEK!”
“KRRREEK!”
“Hey, take your time. I have something to do.”
The shadow of theGoblin's corpse at my feet rippled uneasily.
“Is this it?”
I felt as if I knew what to do next without being told.
I moved my foot and stomped on the shadow.
[New Shadow Contact detected.]
[Target:Goblin]
My shadow soon writhed of its own accord, then snapped off a mouthful of theGoblin's unstable shadow.
“…Oh.”
[The target's shadow has been ‘bitten.’ Temporarily imprinting its signature Skill, ‘Throw (F).’ (Disappears after one use)]
It took exactly one bite. No more, no less.
Eating random things was a good way to get sick, yet it was tearing a mouthful of shadow from aGoblin corpse.
‘It really is Endless Hunger. That hunger hasn't gone anywhere.’
In any case, Bite was now ready for testing too.
“But if it's Throw, what am I supposed to throw… Oh, thanks.”
The spear carved from wood that the first victim still clutched tightly was perfect.
TheGoblins were still scurrying toward me on their short legs, intent on eating me.
I gripped the spear and aimed at one of their heads.
Thanks to the Throw Skill's effect, my body naturally settled into a stance like the ones I'd seen in Olympic javelin throwing.
I focused for a moment, took aim, and… threw!
“HAH!”
The spear shot from my hand, arced through the air, and struck the target.
THWACK—!
“Why did that sound like a watermelon bursting…?”
The target had already been sent sprawling with its head pierced through.
“F-Grade Throw isn't bad.”
It was good enough that I almost regretted it being disposable.
Still, this had served well enough as an instruction manual for Bite.
‘Depending on how I use this, it could be a huge help.’
It might only be aGoblin's Throw for now, but as I continued climbing the Tower, there was no telling what I might encounter.
‘Does it work on bosses too?’
Nothing said it didn't, so perhaps it would. I could learn all that little by little.
There was only one left now.
“It's your turn.”
***
I killed the last one using nothing but the sword, without any Skills.
It was for a performance test.
“…This thing's the real deal.”
It cut so smoothly that it exceeded my expectations.
So much so that the modifier ‘Old and Corroded’ in the item's name seemed absurd.
‘I should have it appraised somewhere.’
In any case, that concluded the first floor.
I was the only living thing left in the empty wasteland.
“Looking back, this is seriously ridiculous. The first floor is this easy, and they threw Non-Awakened people into a place like that?”
Had theGoblins I'd met in the swamp yesterday been unusually strong, or were these ones exceptionally weak?
No, that didn't seem to be it.
‘I've gotten stronger.’
A single Skill and a single experience had made this much difference.
‘At this rate… I'll be climbing one floor a day for a while.’
If the first floor was only this difficult, I felt as if I could climb several floors in a single day.
It was a shame the Tower's rules allowed me to climb only one floor per day.
“This Tower is easy.”
As expected, when something begins with hardship, everything afterward feels easy.
***
The results soon streamed into view.
[You have conquered the Tower's first floor.]
[Clear Evaluation: S+]
[Base stats improve whenever you conquer a new floor of the Tower.]
[Base stats increased.]
[Loot obtained on this floor will be stored automatically.]
[Crafting Materials]
- Green Hide Fragment (2)
- Tough Green Hide (1)
[Equipment]
- Oak Club (Low Grade)
“Oh? I got equipment too?”
I immediately opened my inventory and checked the equipment's attributes.
[Oak Club]
Grade: Low
Category: Blunt Weapon
Description: A shabby club carved from wood by aGoblin.
Its craftsmanship is abysmal, but it delivers a satisfying impact.
It wasn't anything impressive, but it was better than nothing.
“The market price for a Low-Grade weapon is around three hundred thousand won, but this is a club used by aGoblin… Would it be worth around one or two hundred thousand? This is a good start.”
I'd only swung a sword for a few minutes, yet I'd earned an amount I might not make even after sweating through an entire day of work.
No wonder everyone was desperate to become Awakened.
Of course, it had the highest mortality rate of any profession in the world.
“Let's see. As for the materials… Are the fragments and the hide everything? The hide looks like a higher-tier material than the hide fragments.”
If so, the results on the material side weren't bad either.
The loot was important, but there was something that deserved even more attention: the increase to my base stats.
‘They said I only get it when I conquer a floor for the first time, not when I clear it repeatedly.’
Even after receiving it twice as a reward from yesterday's kidnapping event, I hadn't known what it was, so I'd studied it separately.
If Skills and items gave each Awakened their individuality, these stat rewards governed their fundamental physical capabilities.
Even if someone who had struggled withGoblins on the first floor gained excellent items and Skills, could they really reach around the fiftieth floor and hunt wyverns that flew through the sky and breathed fire? Probably not.
These base stats compensated for that gap.
Of course, not every Awakened grew stronger in exactly the same way.
Even with the same stat increase, their growth differed depending on their initial Awakening ability.
One person's strength might increase, another's Mana might rise, while someone else might become quicker.
‘…In my case, am I growing more like a Warrior?’
My body felt strangely light and full of energy.
‘Yesterday, I didn't know what it was, so I couldn't really feel the difference. Now that I know, even one increase is fairly noticeable. But the clear evaluation is a little unexpected. This was worth an S+?’
The clear had taken a fair amount of time because I'd tested each new Skill and piece of equipment one by one.
I didn't know how much other people struggled or how many minutes they took on the first floor, but by my standards, it had been slow.
‘If I'd tried to kill them quickly… one minute? No, I could've done it in under thirty seconds.’
Just now, I'd spent over a minute using Covert Movement to approach the firstGoblin.
‘Is time not very important to the evaluation? Or does it value what you do more than how long it takes…?’
Just as I had that thought, a new message slid into view.
[The Tower's Gaze grants the Gaze Target a new opportunity. - Gaze's Favor (1)]
“Hmm?”
The Tower's Gaze. It had appeared without warning every time I was about to forget it since the kidnapping, so seeing it here again felt oddly welcome.
“An opportunity without a trial? Are you allowed to do that?”
In any case, now that I'd received a reward, it was only natural to check its effect first.
[Gaze's Favor]
Description: A small fragment imbued with the power of ‘Gaze.’
Effect: Upon consumption, gain a base-stat increase equivalent to the reward for conquering one floor of the Tower.
Its effect was equivalent to the reward for conquering an entire floor.
“It really is an opportunity…!”
Despite the grandiose description, it looked like an ordinary pill.
Nothing described it better.
Since it was an item whose effect came from swallowing it, the Tower seemed to have put some thought into its form.
‘The part about consuming it bothers me a little….’
Still, it probably hadn't given me anything strange.
It was a little frightening when it gave me trials, but from what I'd experienced, it wasn't a bad fellow.
“Thanks. I'll enjoy it.”
I made sure to thank it.
It was the Tower's Gaze, after all. It had to be watching from somewhere.
Gulp.
A message appeared the moment I swallowed it in one go.
[Base stats increased.]
‘Works like a charm.’
That brought me to four base-stat increases.
I'd only climbed the first floor, yet my stats were now on par with an Awakened who had conquered the fourth floor and was preparing to challenge the fifth.
‘Does that put me around Jin-cheol hyung's level? I'm not sure I should be getting away with this.’
Still, it would've been strange to refuse something offered for free.
That concluded my business on the first floor.
As if afraid I might refuse to leave, the wasteland sky was already collapsing and disappearing from far in the distance.
“You're already telling me to go? How cold.”
I had more time left than I'd expected.
But I couldn't simply let that time go to waste.
“In that case… there's only one thing to do.”
This was the perfect time to commission the equipment I'd planned from the start.
***
At that moment, on the highest floor of the Tower of the Republic of Korea.
“Urgh, so this attempt ended in failure too.”
Shin Yu-seong barely managed to stand, using the sword he'd driven into the ground as a support.
His surroundings resembled hell itself.
Lava flowed across the ground like rivers, and acrid sulfurous smoke billowed into the air.
With the corpses of monsters strewn everywhere, it truly was hell.
The aftermath of the battle had left no part of Shin Yu-seong's body unscathed either.
“Haaah, hah….”
His breathing came in harsh gasps.
Between the scorched remnants of his expensive equipment, his flesh had gone beyond cooked and was practically glowing. He had sweated so much that his mind reeled, as though he might collapse at any moment.
By contrast, his opponent and final objective, the monster known as the ‘Incarnation of Hellfire,’ remained unharmed.
It was less a monster than a raging inferno itself.
The enormous blaze wearing a human shape openly sneered at him.
A bitter defeat.
Another line had been added to Shin Yu-seong's record of countless failures.
‘I've already figured out every one of the boss's patterns. I can dodge them with my eyes closed. And it still isn't enough?’
If he could only find a way to reach it, then clearing the floor wouldn't be difficult. But he couldn't get anywhere near those flames.
Not even he, the strongest Awakened in the Republic of Korea, could do it.
A crushing sense of defeat and helplessness.
Never since Shin Yu-seong began climbing the Tower had he felt so powerless.
‘Is it impossible without the Frost Giant's Heart after all? No… I should say it's impossible without those seven days.’
Even at that very moment, the second hand must have been ticking diligently toward the Tower's collapse.
When they had faced the threat of collapse, nothing had felt more cruel than the passing of each second.
They needed thirty days.
Yet they had been given only twenty-five. A difference of just five days had put the Republic of Korea at risk of losing most of the Seoul Capital Area.
If they delayed announcing the failed clear attempt any longer, even evacuation would become difficult.
Just before they revealed that horrific reality to the public, he had appeared.
The Lord Bounty, an unforeseen variable.
An unknown Awakened bearing a ridiculous nickname had turned back a countdown to destruction that had never once reversed except when the Tower was conquered.
The public had gone wild over the ‘blessing’ that preceded those seven days, but Shin Yu-seong knew with certainty.
Those seven days weren't merely an ordinary week that would pass in the blink of an eye. They were the single move that would save the Republic of Korea.
‘If it hadn't been for those seven days… I wouldn't have been able to prevent the collapse with my strength alone. Even if I challenge it every day for the rest of the time, nothing will change.’
Until now, he had prevented the Tower's collapse and protected the country entirely with his own hands.
But this time, even he could find no way to act.
The sense of defeat and helplessness he'd felt upon realizing that.
No one could understand those emotions.
No one but Shin Yu-seong himself.
‘…Gaze is gone too.’
It had first appeared around the time he came to be counted among the ten strongest Awakened in the Republic of Korea.
After that, even his capricious friend, the ‘Tower's Gaze,’ who had always been Shin Yu-seong's climbing companion, had fallen silent.
As though it no longer watched him.
‘Did it move on… to find someone else?’
It was obvious who that someone was.
‘It must be that nameless Awakened.’
A bitter smile spread across his lips.
He felt like an actor who had played the lead for years, only to be pushed out of the role and left watching a new protagonist appear from behind the stage.
The strongest in the Republic of Korea. Guardian Deity. Sword Saint.
It was a moment that rendered all those titles meaningless.
‘Is this as far as the era of Shin Yu-seong goes?’
His grip tightened sharply around his sword.
‘No. It isn't. I still have a role to play.’
Strength alone wasn't enough.
If strength were all that mattered, then just like the person who had been Korea's strongest before Shin Yu-seong, they would eventually crumble beneath the weight and leave in search of their own peace.
‘This insane world needs hope. No, it needs a symbol of hope.’
People needed the belief that even if the present was a gutter, the future might be better.
They needed the will to drag their exhausted bodies and minds to work and protect those they loved.
No one could envision such a future in a world that would collapse in a hundred days.
The world needed a pillar people could believe in, one that allowed them to dream of tomorrow.
It was a position granted only to the person who stood at the Tower's summit and bore the fate of an entire nation upon their shoulders.
To Shin Yu-seong, that was the throne he had protected.
‘I can't leave it vacant.’
That was why he couldn't allow this lonely throne to remain empty.
Until that unknown Awakened fully matured and took this place by force—or inherited it—someone had to hold it.
‘Maybe I still won't want to hand it over when that time comes.’
Shin Yu-seong chuckled at his own absurdity.
“Sword Saint (saint of the sword), my ass… I still have a long way to go before I become a saint (a virtuous man) too.”
It was the honest sentiment of Shin Yu-seong the man, not Shin Yu-seong the Sword Saint.
Gratitude was gratitude, but as a fellow Climber, he still wanted to remain the strongest.
As he adjusted his grip on his blackened sword, flames once more ignited in his eyes.
“You had better prepare yourself, junior. This old relic won't let you catch up so easily.”
The strongest Awakened in the Republic of Korea had no intention of surrendering his position yet.