50th Floor (2)
《You have purchased Legendary Mage’s March Helmet (Effect Hit).》
《You have purchased Legendary Mage’s March Shoes (Effect Hit).》
“Haaah. Done. I finally finished setting everything up.”
After purchasing the final set equipment to put on Caligo, I collapsed onto the bed.
Then I naturally checked the remaining balance in my bank account.
Since I had spent all the money I had earned so far on buying items, I had only 20 million won left.
I did not even remember how many hundreds of millions I had poured in.
No. To be honest, I did not want to think about it.
Thinking about the money I had spent would probably make my stomach hurt badly.
‘Even low-level equipment is this expensive, so later... ugh, I do not even want to think about it.’
I had barely managed to prepare the equipment by selling every summoning ticket I had.
But when I thought about how that much money would be needed every time one more summon was added, my mind already grew faint.
Even so, I did not regret spending the money.
It had been necessary, and I had to buy it.
To be honest, I was relieved that even after spending such a huge amount of money, I still had 20 million won left in my account.
With this money alone, I could live for several months without any immediate trouble.
‘By the way, is the 50th floor still infamous these days?’
Perhaps because I was thinking about climbing the 50th floor tomorrow, sleep would not come easily.
For an adventurer, climbing the 50th floor meant becoming a full-fledged person who could hold his own.
Internationally, it meant being a veteran. Domestically, it meant being around the top 100 in the rankings. In other words, it was a position where one could act a little proud wherever one went.
Because of that, even just searching for the 50th floor on the community brought up all kinds of sharp reactions.
-The 50th floor really feels like hell. I could not even touch it and used an escape scroll to run.
-Can that bastard Varg even be cleared?
-Ah. Damn it. I feel like if I can just clear the 50th floor, I can go straight to the 90th floor.
└Lol, 90th floor is too much, but the 50th floor’s level design is especially awful. It suddenly feels ridiculously difficult.
From the 50th floor onward, it certainly seemed to be a dungeon where an adventurer’s talent was tested.
Judging by how everyone reacted so violently, that is.
The boss of the 50th floor was Varg, a spider-type monster.
Its upper body was human, but its lower body was a spider’s. On its head, where large spider eyes hung like decorations, a human face shedding tears of blood was embedded.
How should I put it... it was like the culmination of the vampires’ twisted tastes.
In regions ruled by vampires, grotesque monsters like Varg appeared.
However, the strategy method distributed by the government did not sit well with me at all.
‘They are telling people to party up?’
The government recommended party play from the 46th floor onward.
Their reasoning was that since enemies with abnormal patterns appeared, increasing the number of allies would improve stability.
Of course, party play was a function added later out of consideration for beginners who entered after the fact, so I understood why they would create such a strategy.
However, the problem was that the boss monster received stat adjustments depending on the number of people.
If I had been planning to defeat only the ‘surface boss’ of the 50th floor, it would not have been a bad strategy, but...
“They still look like newbies. This is not a strategy I need to follow.”
The hidden boss of the 50th floor.
‘Blood Fanatic’ Varg.
Tomorrow, I would definitely cut off that bastard’s breath.
***
《You have cleared the 49th floor of the Battle Tower, ‘Tomb of the Dimming Night Desert’.》
《An unbelievable record!》
《Time Taken: 12 minutes 11 seconds》
《You have broken the clear-time ranking and reached 1st place.》
《Clear Grade: ‘SSS’》
《You have broken the clear-grade record.》
《Level up! Your adventurer level becomes ‘46’.》
Krr.
I could feel the reward for pouring money into this.
I had cleared the 45th floor in 22 minutes, but I cleared the 49th floor in only 12 minutes.
It seemed not only I, but also the summons, could feel their own growth.
“They say clothes make the man. For a slow grub, you are rolling along rather quickly now, Caligo.”
“Haha! Now I can perform well enough without relying on those petty tricks of yours, Hertia!”
To be honest, even I was getting excited at this point.
How quickly could I clear it?
Where was my limit?
Between the former Lucifer and the current Oh Hyunwoo, who was more versed in Legend Seven?
My heart kept pounding without pause.
‘Yes. This kind of fun existed back then.’
The joy of clearing strategies.
The catharsis of success.
The anticipation of growth.
I had lived while forgetting far too many emotions.
I had been too busy merely scraping by.
All this time, I had completely forgotten what emotions the person called ‘me’ lived with, and what I liked.
But now, I realized it all over again.
What I liked most was clearing difficult challenges.
‘Let’s see. Equipment checked, artifacts equipped, emergency escape scroll checked.’
Even though I had established a strategy and made every possible preparation, that did not mean variables would not occur.
Just in case, I had prepared an emergency escape scroll, but I only hoped the moment to use it would never come.
《You have entered the 50th floor of the Battle Tower, ‘Palace of Blood’.》
***
What greeted us when we entered the 50th floor was a giant fortress.
Beyond the castle walls, which were covered in black blood as if someone had poured it over them with an enormous bucket, someone’s screams could be heard.
-Aaaaaagh!
-Aaagh!!!
It certainly looked completely different from the previous floors.
No other small fry could be seen, and the entire floor was a giant palace.
“The fishy scent of rotten blood... how unpleasant.”
“It seems I will be able to make proper use of my new medicine, Honored Sage.”
Caligo seemed to tremble with excitement just from seeing vampires or their creations.
“Do not get excited, Caligo. A mistake born from your agitation could ruin the plan.”
“...It seems I briefly lost my grip on reason. I apologize, Honored Sage.”
Caligo was the key member of this clear. If he became excited this early and ruined things, that would be troublesome.
“Then let us begin.”
“Yes!”
《Entering the Palace of Blood.》
***
As soon as he entered the Palace of Blood, Oh Hyunwoo took in a deep breath.
Air thick with the stench of blood seeped deep into his lungs.
A smile slowly spread across his mouth.
Sensations completely different from a game dungeon stimulated his entire body.
The stench of rotten blood that stimulated his sense of smell, the cold air touching his skin, and even the faint sound of soldiers’ footsteps.
His heart pounded wildly at the sense of reality that could never have been captured on a monitor screen.
The excitement he had felt during the tutorial revived once more.
‘It is wider than I expected. Their troops are stationed in places that Hertia’s ability cannot reach.’
The range of ‘Hertia’s Principle’ was not infinite.
No matter how broad her authority was, it could not cover the entire Palace of Blood.
They could only break through if Hertia moved personally.
“Hert.”
“Did you call for me?”
“Take Iron and climb the upper-right castle wall. Kill the one with black armor, a helmet, and a red sword.”
“I shall obey your command.”
As soon as Hert received Oh Hyunwoo’s command, she soared at high speed.
Clack.
Hertia landed atop the castle wall with light, elegant steps and stretched her body at length.
At her appearance, the troops defending the castle wall all drew their swords, pulled their bowstrings, and tensed.
Even the breathing of the soldiers shook in the heavy air, but Hertia paid no attention to it and smiled leisurely.
“Hehe. There is no need to struggle so desperately. No matter how earnestly you wish for it, you will not be able to touch even a strand of my hair.”
Clack.
Along with the sound of Hertia’s heels, a black veil swiftly unfolded.
The cold threads of death pushed through the gaps in the soldiers’ armor.
An energy that made even breathing feel like a sin wrapped around the soldiers’ bodies.
Snap!
Her fingers snapped.
A vortex that called for death unfolded atop the castle wall.
A roar that could not be distinguished from wind or screams swallowed the soldiers.
“Aaaaaagh!!”
Even though the giant vortex was approaching, the soldiers could not move.
They despaired at being unable to avoid death even as they saw it drawing closer.
However, the commander in black armor was different.
He stabbed his sword into the ground and endured with desperate tenacity.
He was brave even before death, and he struggled with all his might to withstand the attack by driving his sword into the ground.
When the sound of the vortex stopped, the commander raised his head and stared straight at Hertia.
He had endured the opponent’s attack, so all he needed to do now was swing his sword.
But something was strange.
He tried to pull the sword he had stabbed into the ground and move forward, but his body would not listen.
“Ho. It seems you were not placed there for nothing.”
An arrogant smile settled on Hertia’s lips.
“But how insolent. If you stand before that person, you should naturally kneel.”
Hertia stretched her hand high above her head.
Then Iron, who had been waiting below the castle wall, was dragged upward by the power of the artifact.
Whoooosh!
A giant lump of stone cut through the air and shot up over the castle wall.
“Iron. Strike down!”
The moment Hertia lowered the hand she had stretched above her head toward the ground—
Iron brought his enlarged fist straight down onto the commander’s head.
“Hweeeeek!”
KABOOOOM!
The entire castle wall collapsed.
Screams and blood mixed together and dyed the ground red.
The soldiers buried beneath the rubble were crushed beyond recognition without even being able to scream.
“Haaah!”
Iron slowly rose from the remains of the castle wall.
He brushed the dust off his body and looked up at Hertia as if dumbfounded.
Then he soon lowered his head at her sharp gaze.
“Master!”
At Hertia’s shout, Oh Hyunwoo smiled leisurely and gave an order.
“Well done, Hertia. Then, Iron. Show your new ability.”
“Y-Yes?!”
Leaving the frightened Iron behind, Hertia walked with light steps toward the opposite castle wall.
“Iron. Charge into the castle wall!”
“Yeees?!”
“Stop making that foolish face and make a hole in the wall larger than your own body!”
Hertia activated the power of the artifact and forcibly threw Iron.
《The frontline placement effect of <I-I Will Do It If I Am a Knight!> activates.》
《Iron covers his eyes and charges in a straight line!》
Iron’s tremendous body charged in a straight line from below the castle wall.
At the sight of a boulder pushing its way in, the soldiers’ faces turned pale.
“Fire arrows and magic! Stop that thing’s charge! Stop it, I said!!”
However, the soldiers’ shouts soon became screams.
The castle wall collapsed horribly in an instant.
Along with that, Oh Hyunwoo gave his next command.
“Caligo. Temina.”
Oh Hyunwoo’s low, cold voice rang out.
“Kill them without leaving a single one alive.”
“I have been waiting!”
“My flames will burn them all!”
The Palace of Blood, filled only with despair and death.
There, Oh Hyunwoo’s demons announced the return of their ruler and began a festival of blood.