My entire body had truly been shattered, yet somehow, only my right hand remained unharmed.
In a way, it was almost amusing.
Whether I liked it or not, Black Dragon’s performance was certainly reliable.
Its durable scales must have absorbed the impact.
“You are a Hunter, correct?”
“Excuse me?”
“The mana flowing through the bodies of the Awakened makes them naturally more resilient. That is probably why you were able to walk here in your condition.”
The Healing Hunter put on the glasses he had removed and rose to his feet.
“Judging by your condition, you do not seem to have been a Hunter for very long. Reality is not the Tutorial Tower. You will not resurrect after dying.”
“Ha ha…….”
“Enough of that. I will begin the treatment. It will hurt a little.”
SHHHH—
Green light flowed from the Healing Hunter’s hands and seeped into my body.
Whenever the light entered me, pain like bolts of lightning surged through my entire body and blotted out my vision.
However—
“……Does that not hurt?”
“It is tolerable.”
It was far less painful than I had expected.
The Healing Hunter stopped channeling mana, seemingly taken aback by my reaction.
A moment later—
“Ahem. I will continue.”
After quickly clearing his throat, the Healing Hunter resumed treating my body.
Ten minutes passed.
By the time his forehead had become drenched in cold sweat, he withdrew his hands from my body with a sigh.
“The treatment is complete. Fortunately, there should be no lasting effects.”
“Oh.”
My body truly felt lighter.
The agonizing pain that had seemed to tear through every part of me vanished in an instant.
Fascinating.
So this was a healing skill.
As I rolled my shoulders, I glanced behind me.
A faint green light still lingered around the Healing Hunter’s hands.
Honestly, I coveted it.
It would have been convenient to possess a skill like that myself.
The thoroughly exhausted Healing Hunter failed to notice my gaze. He wiped his damp forehead with a sigh and returned to his seat.
After removing his glasses and setting them down, he rubbed his entire face with a towel.
Then he put his glasses back on and looked at me with a weary expression.
“More importantly, competent Hunters do not rely solely on their Unique Skills.”
“You are referring to Common Skills, correct?”
“Yes. Hunters make proper use of Common Skills. That is one of the reasons they avoid injuries.”
Common Skills.
Unlike Unique Skills, which could be similar yet still possess different names and descriptions, Common Skills had the same names and effects for everyone.
“You must put in effort to obtain a Common Skill. For example, to acquire Downward Slash, you must swing a sword downward one hundred times.”
I nodded quietly.
Common Skills.
They were certainly worth considering.
‘I have realized it repeatedly, but I am slow.’
My right hand was powerful.
It was extraordinarily powerful, but the rest of my body was not capable enough to make full use of it.
I had excellent stamina, but speed was an entirely different matter.
“Sir, do you know of any Common Skills that can make a person faster?”
“No. I am sorry, but I do not.”
“Ah…….”
“The acquisition conditions for Common Skills are valuable knowledge and information. Unless the skill is famous, like Downward Slash, the requirements are usually passed down in secret.”
That made sense.
This was an age in which information itself was power.
It would not be easy to obtain something as valuable as the conditions for acquiring a skill.
The Healing Hunter scratched the back of his head, appearing genuinely apologetic at my disappointment.
“So I cannot help you much. More importantly, I am a Healing Hunter.”
“I was the one who asked an unreasonable question.”
Ultimately, I would have to discover it myself.
Apparently, there truly was no easy path.
Smacking my lips quietly, I rose from the chair.
“Thank you for your work.”
“Yes. Please be more careful next time.”
After bowing to the Healing Hunter, I headed toward the counter.
Then I nearly dropped my wallet.
“The treatment fee is three million won.”
“……Excuse me?”
“Treatment provided to Hunters is not covered by insurance.”
Ah.
So this was why becoming a Healing Hunter had surpassed becoming a doctor as the most popular career among students.
Swallowing my tears, I held out my card.
“Would you like to pay the full amount at once?”
“Yes…….”
The fact that the treatment was undeniably effective only made it more infuriating.
***
I had now learned something with absolute certainty.
I could not use the same strategy I had employed inside the Tutorial Tower, where I deliberately took attacks and then escaped.
‘Of course, I should still flee when I am in danger.’
But I could not treat it as a regular strategy.
It cost too much money.
I did possess the Mana Stones I had obtained from the Orcs.
I was keeping them somewhere safe.
However, I could not treat them as a steady source of income.
I had encountered those monsters entirely by chance.
Therefore, I needed to preserve the Mana Stones as emergency funds and save as much money as possible.
My bank account had already become considerably lighter after six months of automatic payments.
“Phew…… Then shall I return?”
Now that my body had been fully treated, there was only one thing left to do.
Return to the tower.
I was slightly tired, but I could rest after clearing the second floor.
[Verdant Tower]
A sensation of weightlessness accompanied the brilliant light.
When I opened my eyes, I was once again standing within the verdant forest.
“So I do not return to the place where I left.”
When I escaped the tower, the area around me had been devastated.
Now, however, my surroundings had been completely restored, as though nothing had ever happened.
“So leaving and reentering cannot be exploited after all.”
“Tsk.”
I had hoped it might serve as another useful tactic.
That was unfortunate.
After stretching and lightly warming up my body, I set out to take revenge on the Bloody Mantis.
“Kiiik…….”
More precisely, I was about to set out.
Then I heard the creature nearby.
I immediately held my breath and cautiously advanced toward the sound.
“Groooar—”
“Kiik.”
SLICE—
The creature pinned something beneath its enormous foreleg and casually swung the limb.
Hiding behind a boulder, I checked what it had sliced apart and widened my eyes.
‘That is an Earth Bear.’
It was the creature I had encountered on the first floor.
Even after taking a punch from Black Dragon, it had not exploded. Its abdomen had merely caved inward.
Yet the Bloody Mantis was slicing it apart as easily as tofu.
‘I already knew it was powerful, but this is beyond what I imagined.’
Seeing that made one thing perfectly clear.
I had no chance of winning in a direct fight against the Bloody Mantis.
However—
‘It is still not as powerful as the Guardian of the Tutorial Tower.’
Back then, my chance of victory had been precisely zero.
This time, it was merely close to zero.
A possibility still existed.
‘Two blows. Two will be enough.’
If I struck it twice, it would die.
That meant I only needed to get close enough to land two attacks.
‘Perhaps now is the perfect moment.’
The creature was completely occupied with chewing, tearing, savoring, and enjoying the Earth Bear.
Judging by the way it was devouring such a tough creature, its jaws must have been remarkably strong.
Suppressing my presence as much as possible, I stepped out from behind the boulder.
Step, step.
I advanced cautiously, yet the Bloody Mantis remained focused on its meal.
Excellent.
The corners of my mouth rose as I silently clenched my fist.
Then—
“……How long have you known I was here?”
It noticed me immediately.
The instant I entered its attack range, its head snapped toward me.
Apparently, the creature had not been the one lured into a trap.
I had.
It raised its foreleg the moment it turned its head.
The sharp limb that had sliced through an Earth Bear descended toward me.
However—
[Haze - Martial Shadow]
Black Dragon’s iron fist struck first.
“KIEEEEEEEEK!”
The creature staggered backward with a cry of pain.
Its descending foreleg stopped before reaching me.
After confirming that cracks had formed across its exoskeleton, I immediately pulled my arm back.
Just as I prepared to throw another punch—
“KIIIIIIK!”
The creature once again released mana in every direction.
Mana began surging outward from its body.
I would not fall for the same trick twice.
I had anticipated this.
Instead of punching, I immediately drew my arm back and extended it in front of me, willing the skill to obey.
I commanded the black mist wrapped around my right hand to spread outward.
FWOOSH!
The black mist instantly expanded according to my will.
The moment it spread wide enough to form a barrier before me, the wave of mana crashed into it.
“Gugh…….”
The mana engulfed my entire body.
The surrounding earth was churned apart in an instant, and the thinner trees shattered beneath the force.
The area was devastated as though it had been bombarded.
Yet at the center of it all, surrounded by black mist, I raised the corners of my mouth.
“I blocked it.”
When the Healing Hunter examined the X-rays, my right arm had been completely unharmed.
That meant no matter how powerful the Bloody Mantis was, its strength did not surpass Black Dragon’s ability.
That was why I had decided to try blocking its attack with Haze.
And Black Dragon had rewarded my faith perfectly.
Damn it, I knew I could trust you.
That was Black Dragon for you.
Having stopped the wave of mana, I immediately clenched my extended hand into a fist.
The Bloody Mantis did not remain idle. It brought its foreleg down toward me.
The razor-sharp limb collided with my solid fist.
Neither side gave an inch.
The victor of that clash was—
“Kieek!?”
Naturally, Black Dragon.
How dare an insect attempt to defeat a reptile?
The foreleg that had effortlessly sliced apart an Earth Bear could not withstand Black Dragon’s durability and shattered into pieces.
Fragments of the limb flew through the air and embedded themselves in a nearby boulder.
The creature staggered backward in confusion.
That movement completely exposed its abdomen, where cracks already covered the exoskeleton.
Seizing the opportunity, I stepped forward.
“Hup!”
I aimed at the cracked abdomen—
And drove my fist into it with all my strength.
“KIEEEEEEK—!”
The creature twisted in agony as it screamed.
Green blood sprayed through the cracks in its exoskeleton.
Its name was Bloody Mantis, yet its blood was green.
Throwing its head back, the creature began convulsing as green blood scattered through the air.
A moment later, the red exoskeleton covering its entire body began to crumble.
[Synchronization Rate: 1.3%]
Then the creature disintegrated completely into powder and scattered away.
Phew.
After catching my breath, I picked up a fragment of the dispersing exoskeleton with my left hand and turned my gaze to the side.
“1.3%.”
How stingy.
I had worked so hard, yet it had only increased by 0.2%.
There was no other choice.
I needed to advance quickly and raise the remaining Synchronization Rate to 1.5% on the next floor.
[Defeat the Bloody Mantis]
[1/1]
[Success]
[Moving to the next floor]
SHHHH—
Light began rising from beneath my feet.
When the light disappeared and I opened my eyes—
“Wow. It really is another forest.”
I was standing in yet another forest.
Why did this tower never deviate from my expectations?
“Now then, what do I have to kill on the third floor?”
Hopefully, it would be stronger than the Bloody Mantis.
My life had been placed as collateral in the hands of a battle-crazed Black Dragon.
[Third Floor]
[Defeat the Slime]
[0/1]
What?
What did that say?
I rubbed my eyes and stared at the system again.
In other words—
“A Slime? Truly?”
The same creature I had encountered on Earth?
My jaw dropped.
“Who designed this tower?”
The balance is completely ruined.