Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Since I had seen the Crisis Response Committee’s sincerity, I had to show sincerity worthy of it as well.

Then what was there that I could do?

The answer to that question was not very difficult.

[You have cleared the 10th Floor.]

What else was a Chosen supposed to do besides climb the Tower?

To be blunt, it was not even something worth boasting about.

I had only climbed to the 10th Floor, so compared to others, I was a latecomer.

Considering the floors left, I still had a long way to go.

I had to work harder.

Moreover, clearing the 10th Floor had a special meaning.

[10th Floor clear reward will be issued.]

Oh, as expected.

The difficulty had changed, but this was the same as in the game too.

The Tower gave random rewards in units of ten floors.

Just like now.

[Monster Evolution Ticket]

-You can evolve a monster under your Command.

-Current evolution conditions are not met.

Amazing.

Something completely unexpected came out.

This was an item Poing needed.

Although I could not use it right away, the day would come as I continued climbing the Tower.

[Reading total subjugation score.]

[You have been selected as MVP.]

[Hall of Fame (10th Floor)]

1st: Pingkkyu Gyongdyu

2nd: Jin-ha

3rd: Kiina Karin

4th: Robert Hans

…….

….

..

At the same time, the total subjugation score came out.

Naturally, my rank was first place.

I had gotten used to it, so I felt no particular emotion.

The more one climbed the Tower, the more the difficulty increased exponentially.

‘It is still on the lower floors. I should at least be able to do this much.’

If I could not even do this, it would be embarrassing.

Was I wrong?

“Hajin is too full of himself. Restrain yourself!”

Poing, who happened to be beside me, poked my side and puffed out both cheeks.

Her puffed-up cheeks looked like balloons.

She looked sulky.

It was understandable.

“Liar! Hajin said I would be able to see you soon before you left the Tower! You didn’t keep your promise!”

It seemed she had missed me while I was briefly away from the Tower.

Originally, monsters of the Tower could not go outside through ordinary methods.

It was one of the Tower’s rules.

There were exceptions, but that was not something to discuss right now.

However, I had a method.

A method to summon Poing to Earth.

[Command Monster Summon Ticket]

It was the item that came out of the Golden Goblin’s Treasure Chest.

If I tore the ticket, I could summon Poing outside the Tower.

It was possible even right now.

But.

‘It is too early right now.’

She was at an age where she should only see good things and eat good things.

How could I summon Poing into an attic room barely the size of a single compartment?

I could never do that.

That was why I had not yet told Poing about the summoning ticket.

Honestly, I needed to hurry up and get my own home.

Next time there was an opportunity, I should subtly ask Team Leader Kang Han-seok about housing prices nearby.

This was what connections were for.

Well, that was that.

Judging from how pouty Poing’s cheeks had become, she was not just a little sulky.

“Poing, do you know what cotton candy is?”

“Cotton candy…? I’ve never heard of it.”

“Right. It is a sweet snack shaped like a fluffy cloud, and when you put it in your mouth, it melts softly. When we meet next time, I will bring you some. How does that sound?”

Twitch, twitch.

The corners of Poing’s mouth bounced up and down like rubber bands.

They moved at an extraordinary speed.

A battle between expectation and anger.

After a fierce clash, the one that finally achieved victory was expectation.

Poing’s mouth softened like melting ice cream.

“Cotton candy… you have to! You have to! You promised!”

“Sure.”

Of course. If she helped me climb the Tower, even a truckload of cotton candy would be possible.

Poing, now equipped with a bright smile, asked.

“Hajin! Are we going straight to the next floor this time too?”

It seemed she had developed an interest in climbing the Tower, and she urged me on.

It was a good sign.

After all, climbing was about confidence.

However.

“No.”

I answered flatly.

I also wanted to climb the Tower right away, but.

Preparation was necessary.

Whenever the tens digit changed in the Tower, or more precisely, whenever one updated floors to the 11th, 21st, 31st… the environment changed.

For example, just as Goblins were the main monsters in the 1st Floor range.

Starting from the 11th Floor, the monsters that appeared would change again.

“From the next floor onward, we need preparation.”

“Umm? Hajin has that thing where you go flash and then FWAAH!”

Flash? FWAAH?

Could she mean Blink and Instant Kill?

It was so sudden that I did not understand for a moment.

Well, to the innocent Poing, it might look like that.

A small laugh slipped out.

She was not wrong.

Instant Kill was my trump card in both name and reality.

However, there was something I could not overlook.

“There is an old saying. If you are a person of the martial world, hide thirty percent of your skill.”

“Mm?”

Poing tilted her head.

“That is a sure-kill technique only to be used when it is truly necessary.”

In other words, it meant I could not abuse it carelessly.

If I could not use it when I truly needed it, I would be in trouble.

As I continued climbing the Tower, moments of crisis would often come.

I could say that with certainty.

But I could not abuse Instant Kill, which had a fixed limit, every time.

That was also why I actively used Blink and Wand magic.

Well, leaving that aside.

For me, who lived with all kinds of curses dangling from me, I needed some preparation starting from the 11th Floor.

What I had prepared was.

[Vitality Pill]

-Upon consumption, physical ability increases by one stage.

-Caution! For the full effect, before taking it, please use it with focus in a place where you will not be disturbed.

The item I had received as a reward from the previous Dungeon subjugation.

I had deliberately saved it to use in the Tower.

Outside, I would be exposed to threats as I was.

However, inside the Tower, I could receive Poing’s protection.

As a rule.

A novice rushed forward recklessly.

An intermediate thought up countermeasures.

A master.

‘Finishes all preparations before things hit.’

[You have consumed the Vitality Pill.]

Phew, let’s do this.

Taking a deep breath, I swallowed the Vitality Pill under Poing’s protection.

Gulp.

Medicine good for the body was supposed to be bitter.

I had thought I might suffer for days on end, with old grime peeling off my entire body and giving off a ten-year-old stench.

Instead, it ended anticlimactically without incident.

[Physical ability has improved.]

It ended with that single line of System message.

It seemed I had become too absorbed in the dramas I had been watching lately to kill time.

Before swallowing the Vitality Pill, I had asked Poing to protect my life desperately no matter what happened, so I felt needlessly embarrassed.

In an instant, I had become someone who had made a fuss ahead of something completely insignificant.

Avoiding Poing’s gaze, I glanced over the System.

[Some stats will be adjusted due to the rise in physical ability.]

[Health [F] → [E], Endurance [F] → [D], Stamina [F] → [E]]

Amazing.

Embarrassment aside, the Vitality Pill’s effect was certain.

The change had jumped so sharply that it was visible at once.

So much so that I wondered whether this was even allowed.

It had already fulfilled its role just by improving my cursed physical abilities.

But this was not the end.

The Vitality Pill’s true value lay elsewhere.

[You have acquired Low-Grade Debuff Resistance.]

It appeared!!

Although it was only low-grade right now, it was my clue for successfully climbing the 11th Floor range.

As the saying goes, even an ox horn should be pulled while it is hot.

Now that all preparations were complete.

Should we slowly set out?

“Let’s go.”

[Entering the 11th Floor.]

***

[11th Floor, Cemetery Zone.]

When we reached the 11th Floor, a System window appeared.

Cemetery Zone.

Just as the words described.

Old, tilted tombstones stretched endlessly.

Above them, moss and ivy grew tangled together, again and again.

It was a scene that gave me chills just from looking at it,

‘Or so I thought when I first saw it.’

But now, it did not bother me at all.

Maybe because I had seen it so many times on the game screen.

Even seeing it in real life did not really hit me.

I knew something far more chilling than that scenery.

-Delinquency Notice: The current principal and interest balance of the loan you hold is 554,847,000 won, and this month’s interest amount is 2,321,300 won. Please make your payment.

I was certain of one thing.

No matter what situation descended on me, it would never match the bewilderment I felt when I first faced that.

Because life was the real thing.

Meanwhile.

Another System window appeared.

[Debuff: The influence of Shackles of the Dead takes effect.]

Along with the message, dizziness swirled through me as if weights had been attached to my entire body.

“Hajin, you don’t look good… are you okay?”

Poing seemed to notice the change and asked in a worried tone.

Even in the game, it had not been this bad.

At most, it had been a curse that worsened physical ability by thirty percent.

It seemed that as the difficulty increased, the curse had become stronger too.

On top of that.

[Low-Grade Debuff Resistance is adapting.]

Even though the skill I had prepared in advance was being applied, I was still like this.

Moving my body was not easy, as if I had fallen into a swamp.

Sss, hoo. Even breathing was no simple matter.

‘This is driving me insane.’

In truth, the difficulty was not this high for other people.

It was because I had the Lich King’s Terminal Curse.

And with Shackles of the Dead layered on top, a compounding effect had occurred.

Fine. I had to be wearing at least this level of shackle for clearing it to feel worthwhile.

This was doable.

The key to climbing the 10th Floor range had already been decided.

Do not allow monsters to damage me.

Considering my current condition, it was over if I got hit even once.

By the way….

“Poing, are you okay?”

“Huh? Yeah, yeah! I’m completely fine!”

Poing answered while hopping in place.

That was unexpected.

Could it be that because she was a monster, she did not receive the curse?

Hmm…. Maybe that was it.

In the game too, the one who received the debuff was the user, not the Tower’s monsters.

Rather, this was good.

At least it was better than both of us being sick and groaning.

“Uwaaaah! Hajin, the skeletons are moving!”

I heard a shout that could have been either a scream or a cheer.

When I turned my head in the direction Poing pointed, white bones creaked and sprang up from the dry earth.

[Undead Knight]

With red flashes gleaming in their empty eye sockets, they were grave sentries moved by necromancy.

The monsters of the 11th Floor.

I immediately entered the combat stance.

[Imbuing Wand with Electric Shock.]

Aiming at one, I activated the spell stored in my Wand.

A line of electricity stretched out straight.

Normally, it had enough power to instantly kill one Goblin Warrior.

However, it did not work on the undead.

“H-Hajin’s magic didn’t work!”

“I know.”

What a fuss.

I knew it too.

It was because the lightning element had poor compatibility with the undead.

To compare it, it was like water and oil.

I had used it to check whether it was the same as the game knowledge I knew.

‘Okay, so even if the difficulty has gotten harder, the elemental matchups are the same?’

It had been difficult to test against Goblins.

Thanks to this, I had a reference point.

If the elemental matchups were the same as what I knew.

Then their weakness was the same too.

“Hajin! There are lots of enemies! A lot will come from over there!”

Starting with Poing’s shout, bony hands suddenly sprang from the dry earth.

Their numbers were no joke.

The ones I could see right now numbered over ten.

All of them were undead.

I took out the spare Wand I had prepared in advance and gripped one in each hand.

As expected, holding only one made me feel empty.

Clatter, clatter!

They began charging in earnest.

There had been quite some distance between us.

But in the blink of an eye, they drew close.

SLASH!

A cold, blue blade brushed past my hair.

Certainly.

Compared to Goblins, their movements were quick.

It was because they had no flesh, making their body weight light.

Moreover, my own movements were sluggish due to the curse.

I had taken only a few steps, yet my breath was already rising to my chin.

As if they knew that fact.

The undead narrowed the encirclement with their mobility at the forefront.

There were no openings.

However.

It would be troublesome if they overlooked this.

No matter how fast you are, you cannot catch me.

“Blink.”

Flash!

[Using Blink.]

[Remaining Blink Uses (■■■□)]

Along with a golden flash, the undead skulls entered my sight.

Because I had blinked into the air, not behind them.

At the same time, I extended my Wand forward.

Electric magic did not work on them.

A master finished every preparation before things hit.

To prepare for the undead, I had spent a large sum learning new magic.

It was time to test it.

[Imbuing Wand with Dust.]

“Dust.”

Fwoooooosh!

When I activated the Wand, thick powder like flour sprayed out.

It was Grade 1 magic often used by porters for self-defense.

Its effect was simple too.

When activated, thick dust sprayed from the tip of the Wand. That was all.

It was usually used as escape magic against monsters with strong senses of smell and sight.

However.

“Static Electricity.”

Crackle!

When Static Electricity sparked against a spell used for self-defense, a different result occurred.

BOOOOOOM!!

The dust exploded.

The sight resembled Grade 2 magic, Fireball.

No, in terms of destructive power, it was greater.

[Magic understanding has increased.]

[You have acquired Dust Cloud Explosion.]

In that fleeting instant, I used Blink and escaped from the explosion range.

Time passed.

As the aftermath of the explosion faded, black smoke billowed.

Originally, when an enemy was defeated, the System would immediately tell me I had killed it, but no alarm had appeared yet.

It was not because the power was lacking.

It was because I had deliberately held back.

The role of finishing them off had already been assigned elsewhere.

[Rainbow Servant Slime (Poing) has leveled up.]

Looks like it has just begun.

[Level has risen.]

[Level has risen.]

[Level has risen.]

[Level has risen.]

[Level has risen.]

[Level has risen.]

…….

….

..

Poing’s full-fledged power-leveling had begun.

***

[You have cleared the 11th Floor.]

[You have achieved first place in Contribution.]

[You have achieved MVP!]