CLICK.
I ended the call and scratched the back of my head.
“He is not answering.”
Come to think of it, I had meant to call the older man after leaving the Gate yesterday, but I had completely forgotten.
The thought suddenly occurred to me on the way home, so I called him immediately. No matter how many times I tried, however, he did not answer.
“Well, the missed calls will be in his call history.”
At the very least, he would realize that I had left the Tutorial Tower.
I placed my phone inside the backpack, zipped it shut, and slung it over my shoulders with a quiet breath.
“Everything is ready.”
After returning home, I had prepared for every situation I could imagine.
“Let us go immediately.”
I did not have much time left.
Only one week.
I could not afford to waste even a moment.
I slowly inhaled, closed my eyes, and activated the skill.
[Verdant Tower]
Come.
I smiled faintly as the familiar sensation of weightlessness lifted me.
The instant the floating sensation disappeared, I opened my eyes wide and tilted my head in confusion.
“What is this?”
I quickly looked around.
In every direction—
“Everything is white.”
The place seemed strangely familiar.
That was right.
It looked exactly like—
“The Tutorial Tower?”
Was this not identical to the Tutorial Tower?
I had received my skill in a space like this there as well.
Did that mean—
[Searching for a Unique Skill suited to Han Mir…….]
I knew it.
I clenched my fist tightly.
A new Unique Skill.
What would I receive this time?
My heart pounded as I stared at the system window.
[Search complete]
Oh!
[The new Unique Skill will be unlocked upon clearing the Verdant Tower]
Damn it.
“Do not tell me now if you are going to make me wait until then.”
My excitement vanished in an instant.
Clicking my tongue, I shouted into the air.
“Enough of this. Send me to the first floor immediately. Every minute and every second matters.”
[Understood]
[The Verdant Tower usage instructions will be skipped, and you will be transferred to the first floor]
Instructions?
“W-Wait. Let me hear those.”
It should have mentioned them from the beginning.
The light that had been rising beneath my feet faded, and I released the breath I had been holding.
[Unlike the Tutorial Tower, you cannot be resurrected after dying inside the Verdant Tower, and you will experience hunger]
[However, you may enter and leave the Verdant Tower at any time]
[To leave the Verdant Tower, simply activate the skill again]
I could enter and leave whenever I pleased?
My eyes widened as I looked at the backpack on my shoulders.
‘I brought all of this for nothing.’
I had packed everything from lunch boxes to miscellaneous supplies.
All I had done was burden myself with unnecessary luggage.
‘It said I could leave, did it not?’
Then I might as well test it.
With a light heart, I activated Verdant Tower again.
And then—
“I really returned.”
I was back inside my room.
I truly had packed all that luggage for nothing.
I quickly placed all the food from the backpack into the refrigerator, then activated the skill again and returned to the Verdant Tower.
[This concludes the usage instructions]
[Entering the first floor]
HUMMMMM—!
A brilliant light once again shone from beneath my feet.
I rolled my newly lightened shoulders and surrendered myself to the gradually rising sensation of weightlessness.
***
Hmm.
So this was the first floor.
Rubbing my chin, I quietly surveyed my surroundings.
“At a glance, this looks like the sort of forest where Goblins would appear.”
It did not look particularly different from the first floor of the Tutorial Tower.
For a moment, I wondered whether the system had made a mistake and sent me to the Tutorial Tower instead of the Verdant Tower.
However—
[First Floor]
[Defeat ???]
[0/1]
—judging by the different condition, that did not seem to be the case.
What were those question marks supposed to mean?
Since it said defeat, the target was probably a monster like a Goblin.
“Is this saying the Verdant Tower will not hand me the answers as the Tutorial Tower did?”
It did not matter.
If I smashed every creature I encountered with my fist, I would eventually kill the right one.
With that thought, I turned toward the direction from which I sensed a presence.
THUD, THUD.
Heavy footsteps shook the ground.
Something was coming.
Someone was approaching.
I immediately lowered my right hand.
[Black Dragon]
WHOOSH.
Scales sprouted across it at once.
Clenching my fist, I assumed a fighting stance.
‘Come.’
Come and raise my Synchronization Rate, generous monster.
I remained in position and waited for the creature to appear.
However—
“……?”
The presence suddenly vanished.
What was that?
I blinked and stared in the direction from which I had sensed it.
There had definitely been something there……
‘……A shadow?’
A dark shadow suddenly spread across the ground beneath my feet.
My expression stiffened, and I immediately threw my head back.
An enormous bear with rocks protruding from its back was plummeting toward me.
“You damned—”
KA-BOOM!
The enormous bear crashed down upon me.
Just before it crushed me, I barely managed to swing my right hand and block it.
That was not all.
The bear was hurled aside, its abdomen deeply caved in, and rolled across the ground.
As I patted my startled chest, a fanfare rang out beside me.
[Defeat the Earth Bear]
[1/1]
[Success]
[Moving to the next floor]
What?
It was already over?
[Synchronization Rate: 1%]
My Synchronization Rate had not even increased.
“This will not do.”
Listen here.
I opened my mouth to protest to the system.
Before I could speak, however, light had already enveloped my body.
***
This was disappointing in several ways.
The system had issued such a severe warning that I had entered the tower prepared for the worst.
Yet that was all it had to offer?
“At this rate, I truly will have to sneak into a higher-ranked Gate.”
If every monster continued to be this weak, my Synchronization Rate would never increase.
In that case, I would have no choice but to trespass into a higher-ranked Gate.
Scratching the back of my head, I looked around again.
“Did I really reach the second floor?”
It looked identical.
There was no difference between the scenery I had seen moments ago and the scenery before me now.
Both places were filled entirely with trees.
“I remember the environment changing inside the Tutorial Tower.”
The first floor of the Tutorial Tower had been a forest, while the second had been a cave.
I had assumed it would be the same here, but apparently not.
“Is it because this place is called the Verdant Tower?”
Surely the next floor would not be another forest as well.
Smacking my lips quietly, I glanced to the side.
As expected, the condition for clearing the floor was displayed there.
[Second Floor]
[Defeat the Bloody Mantis]
[0/1]
Unlike on the first floor, the target’s name had been revealed.
That only made me tilt my head further.
“What is a Bloody Mantis?”
I had never heard of such a monster.
Come to think of it, I had never heard of an Earth Bear either.
Could the monsters appearing here be undiscovered species?
I scratched my cheek and shrugged.
“Well, it should be easy.”
The monster on the first floor had fallen from a single blow.
Why would the second floor be any different?
With that thought, I set out in search of the Bloody Mantis.
***
Thirty minutes later.
I lightly leaped over a boulder blocking my path.
The instant both feet touched the ground, I kicked off again.
I had no other choice.
Glancing behind me, I stared with trembling eyes at the mantis the size of a truck charging after me.
‘This is insane.’
What was that thing?
How could such a monster exist?
I had never imagined that a mantis as large as a truck could exist.
Worse still, it was an ominous shade of bloodred.
“Kiiiiik.”
SKITTER-SKITTER-SKITTER!
Dust scattered whenever its numerous legs struck the ground.
It did not even need to use its forelegs against the trees in its path. Simply crashing into them was enough to pulverize them.
Even at a glance, it was clearly no ordinary creature.
In that case—
[Haze]
—I had no choice but to strike it with everything I had.
I stopped, spun around, and planted my feet firmly against the ground.
Twisting my waist, I threw my fist with all my strength.
“Kiik?”
My full-powered punch shattered part of the mantis’s shell.
Damn it.
Why was a mantis’s exoskeleton so hard?
Did it think it was some kind of stag beetle?
“KIEEEEEK!”
KA-BOOM!
Enraged, the mantis released a massive surge of mana in every direction.
That alone began shattering not only the surrounding trees but even the boulders.
“Guhk…….”
I took the torrent of power directly at point-blank range.
It hurt.
It felt as though every bone in my body had shattered and my organs had become tangled together.
Blood sprayed from my mouth as I was hurled backward and rolled gracelessly across the ground.
‘……That mantis.’
Stagger.
I forced my aching body upright and stared at the enormous mantis.
It tilted its triangular head and watched me.
There was a crack in its exoskeleton, yet the creature appeared entirely unaffected.
It merely stood there, calmly observing me.
‘It is strong.’
Very strong.
It was not as powerful as the Guardian of the Tutorial Tower, but it was still extraordinarily formidable.
This was absurd.
The Earth Bear on the first floor had died from a single strike.
Yet the monster on the second floor had taken my punch and still appeared unharmed.
‘The difficulty makes no sense.’
There was only one floor between them.
Yet the difficulty had increased dozens of times over.
I did not know who had designed this tower, but they had clearly made a mistake.
I shook my head and let out a hollow laugh.
[Synchronization Rate: 1.1%]
My Synchronization Rate had increased merely from being struck once.
That was enough.
It meant I did not need to sneak into a higher-ranked Gate.
I wiped the blood from my chin with one hand, smiled faintly, and closed my eyes.
[Verdant Tower]
I could no longer resurrect after dying.
And my entire body was throbbing.
Merely moving had become nearly impossible.
Therefore—
“This is a tactical retreat.”
I will see you again shortly.
You damned mantis.
As white light enveloped me, I raised my middle finger toward the Bloody Mantis.
“Every bone in my body aches…….”
THUD.
The instant I escaped the tower, I collapsed onto the floor from the pain coursing through my entire body.
[The Master of the Twisted Netherworld asks how you failed to avoid something so trivial]
Be quiet.
How was I supposed to anticipate and react to that?
It had released mana without warning.
It happened so suddenly that I had not even been given the chance to evade.
Groaning quietly, I sprawled flat on the floor.
It hurt.
It hurt terribly, but how should I describe it?
“This is still better than being burned alive.”
Perhaps because I had already burned to death hundreds of times inside the Tutorial Tower, the pain was more tolerable than I expected.
Gritting my teeth, I forced myself upright, steadied my breathing, and took out my phone.
“As expected, there is nothing.”
Bloody Mantis.
Even Earth Bear.
I searched for both monsters, but not a single relevant result appeared.
“As I thought, those monsters must exist only inside the tower.”
The Verdant Tower.
I had no idea what kind of place it truly was, but one thing was certain.
In my present situation, it was exactly what I needed.
[Synchronization Rate: 1.1%]
My Synchronization Rate had increased by 0.1% from a single attack.
There was no telling how high it would rise if I defeated the Bloody Mantis.
“Nine o’clock…….”
Perhaps because I had entered the tower immediately after returning home, it was later than I expected.
At this hour, the only people who could treat me were emergency room doctors or a Healing Hunter.
“I should receive treatment from a Healing Hunter first.”
If I waited for my body to heal naturally, Black Dragon would take it before I recovered.
I opened the front door and staggered toward a nearby clinic operated by a Healing Hunter.
***
“……You have fractures throughout your entire body.”
“Excuse me?”
“How did you manage to walk here?”
It had been surprisingly tolerable.
I quietly averted my gaze from the Healing Hunter, who was staring at me as though I were insane.
Clicking his tongue, the Healing Hunter pointed toward the X-ray images displayed on the screen.
“Your arms, legs, and ribs are all cracked, and some areas are completely fractured. The only part of your body that remains unharmed is your right hand.”
“…….”
Remarkable.
Apparently, a person could still move even after being damaged this badly.
Had it not been my own body, I would have wanted to submit the case to a television program about unbelievable medical incidents.
[The Master of the Twisted Netherworld says it cannot understand how something so insignificant injured you this severely]
What would you know about human frailty?
Already tormented by pain, I squeezed my eyes shut at the system window hovering irritatingly before me.
This was truly miserable.