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CHAPTER 134 — THE TOWER OF TRIALS
Before arriving at the Beast Swamp where the Lizardmen were,
Ryu Min had already peeled away from the formation early.
With so many people, it wasn’t difficult to avoid others’ eyes.
‘They won’t notice one person missing, right?’
Just in case, he stopped and checked whether anyone was tailing him, but no one followed.
Reassured, Ryu Min passed between enormous twin saplings and slipped into a gap between rocks.
Then he saw a cave that looked suspicious at a glance.
He stepped without hesitation into the pitch-dark cave, and a suddenly appearing message lit up the darkness.
[There is a hidden Sub Quest!] <Sub Quest>
└Find the hidden portal
└Upon success ▶ Receive Indomitable Elemental Resistance Potion
[You have completed the Sub Quest!]
At the words that the quest had been completed, a shimmering portal appeared before him.
Ryu Min’s lips curled up in satisfaction.
‘Found it. The hidden portal.’
The Round 9 Sub Quest was none other than finding the hidden portal.
A Sub Quest that could only be found in the Lizardman subjugation squad—the lowest-difficulty one.
‘That’s why I chose Lizardman. There’s no Sub Quest in the other subjugation squads.’
At first, even Ryu Min hadn’t known what the Sub Quest was.
Not until the angel told him when the Round 9 tally results were announced.
‘Once I learned that “find the hidden portal” was the Sub Quest, I searched every nook and cranny each run. Choosing every option.’
He searched by selecting in reverse order, from number 5 down to number 1.
And what he found was this place: a cave near the Beast Swamp where Lizardmen appeared.
Here, he found the hidden portal and could complete the Sub Quest.
The reward—an Indomitable Elemental Resistance Potion—wasn’t bad either.
[Indomitable Elemental Resistance Potion]
-Category: Consumable
-Grade: Legendary
-Effect: Fixes Fire, Cold, and Wind resistance at 95% for 4 hours
-Usage restriction: Regular grade or higher
-Description: An incredible item that pushes resistance to the three major elements to the extreme. Upon consumption, you won’t sweat even in midsummer, and you won’t feel cold even if you walk around without an outer layer in midwinter.
A Legendary potion, no less.
It was a potion with a great effect—but why give him this, specifically?
Because there was a reason.
‘It’s a reward given so you can use it here, in the Tower of Trials.’
Ryu Min stared at the shimmering portal before him.
He already knew what was inside.
That was why he didn’t hesitate, stepping forward boldly.
Ryu Min’s body was sucked into another dimension.
[Welcome to the Tower of Trials.]
[The Tower of Trials is a tower that tests a Player’s limits from the 1st floor to the 99th floor.]
[In the tower, time does not share its flow with other dimensions, so do not worry about the mundane world and please enjoy conquering the tower to your heart’s content.]
[Anyone can challenge it, but on each floor, only one person may obtain the reward.]
[If someone else has already obtained that floor’s reward, you will not receive a reward even if you conquer it.]
[If you die in the tower, you will be ejected back to your original dimension, and you cannot attempt again.]
[Now then, please—by all means! Challenge your limits!]
Just as the explanation scrolled down, this place was a tower that tested a Player’s limits.
‘Each floor has all kinds of traps and trials. And rewards, too.’
The reward placed on each floor could be obtained by only one person.
That was why Ryu Min hid the existence of the Sub Quest in his prophecy.
‘Because every reward is mine.’
To claim the rewards up to the 99th floor, Ryu Min climbed the tower.
As he climbed, he felt newly moved all over again.
‘I failed fifty-eight times trying to conquer the 99th floor.’
Failure meant death, but here, even if you died, you were simply returned to the cave where the original portal was.
The only regret was that you couldn’t retry.
‘But I had many chances to challenge it. And in the end, I succeeded in conquering the 99th floor on the fifty-ninth try.’
After that, every time, he climbed perfectly all the way to the 99th floor and claimed the rewards.
That reward wasn’t the Rune of Stealth he was aiming to obtain in Round 9.
‘The Rune of Stealth is only an additional reward you can get in the upper floors of the Tower of Trials.’
The reward on the 99th floor was a reward that could oppose angels—a reward that was absolutely necessary if you wanted to stand against them.
‘That’s why only one person can obtain it.’
That was why the angels would go crazy if they knew.
Ryu Min didn’t know why a reward disadvantageous to angels existed in the first place, but—
‘Good is good, isn’t it?’
This time too, Ryu Min would claim that reward.
Just as he always had.
Clack— creaaak—
When he opened the door of the towering spire and stepped inside, a message appeared.
[You have entered the Tower of Trials, 1st Floor.]
[If you face the prepared trial, you will receive a reward.]
[Upon clearing the 1st floor ▶ Strength +1]
As the message said, the Tower of Trials had a reward on every floor.
Meaning there were ninety-nine rewards.
To Ryu Min, it was no different from a treasure chest.
‘That said, I can’t let my guard down.’
Each floor’s trial was packed with difficult traps.
‘If it’s a Player entering for the first time, they’ll struggle quite a bit.’
Before Ryu Min lay a corridor where nothing could be seen except darkness.
As you could see, not knowing what might come out would force anyone to tense up.
‘Doesn’t apply to me, though.’
Ryu Min dashed forward in one go.
Fwishushushuk—
A metal spike shot out from the left wall, but he dodged it as if he’d predicted it.
The moment he did, a spike stabbed out from the right wall, but he dodged that lightly as well.
Next came spikes jutting up from the floor.
He leapt over them cleanly, as if he’d expected it.
Those life-or-death moments unfolded in only a few seconds.
At this point, it felt like traps made to kill you, but they were easier than you’d think.
‘If you progressed slowly, you could’ve heard the mechanism turning and sensed something was off beforehand.’
But since Ryu Min knew every trap’s location, there was no reason to go slowly.
He just broke through quickly, like now.
[You have cleared the Tower of Trials, 1st Floor.]
[As a reward, Strength 1 permanently increases.]
[You will be moved to the next floor in 10 seconds.]
Watching the message, Ryu Min smiled.
For someone who’d conquered the 99th floor, this was nothing.
‘Next, the 2nd floor is an arrow trap.’
In an instant, Ryu Min vanished.
Fwishushushuk—!
Chwararararak—!
Chains and arrows assaulted Ryu Min at the same time.
He avoided them with smooth movements, flipping through the air.
The floor clanked open, revealing a bottomless pit-like hole.
Chwarak—
Grabbing a chain that swung in the air, Ryu Min seized the next chain and crossed.
Leaping over the hole and landing, he ran without pause.
After conquering it dozens of times and memorizing it, the locations of traps were vivid before his eyes.
[You have cleared the Tower of Trials, 19th Floor.]
[As a reward, Agility 2 permanently increases.]
[You will be moved to the next floor in 10 seconds.]
By the time he reached the 19th floor, Ryu Min had gained permanent stats: Strength 7, Intelligence 7, Agility 7, Luck 5.
Even reaching this far was an incredible achievement.
‘But for someone climbing for the first time, around the 9th floor would be their limit.’
Every time the tens digit changed, the difficulty jumped sharply.
Meaning, from the 10th floor onward, traps were placed at a level that ordinary Players would find hard to conquer.
‘With Agility 150 or higher and over Level 50, you might barely make it to the 20th floor.’
So for a normal Player, even reaching this far was remarkable.
Of course, Ryu Min wasn’t a normal Player.
‘From the 20th to the 39th floor, monsters will appear.’
Since you needed to be past Level 50 to even reach the 20th floor, the monsters that appeared wouldn’t be easy either.
‘Minotaurs appear as the baseline, so that says it all.’
To Ryu Min, they’d be nothing more than good sources of experience.
‘And it’s also a chance to build stacks on the Rune of Slaughter.’
He still had zero stacks on the Rune of Slaughter because he hadn’t killed any monsters yet.
Since reaching 100 stacks doubled all stats, he really wanted to get the buff as quickly as possible.
“Grrrrr.”
A monster’s growl echoed from the dark corridor—
Sliiick—
But Ryu Min smiled instead.
Holding his scythe, he ran forward with a grin.
It was a chance to raise his stacks.
“Kwaaaargh—!”
Thud—
An ogre’s body, its neck severed, collapsed limply to the floor.
[You have killed an Ogre!]
[Due to title effect, experience increases by 1.5x.]
[EXP +5.7%]
[Gold +12,000]
[Current kill count: 200/100]
[Due to Rune of Slaughter effect, all stats increase by 100%.]
[Due to Devil’s Ring effect, damage increases by 15%.]
Having just cleared the 39th floor, Ryu Min opened his status window.
His level had already risen to 85.
He’d built the Rune of Slaughter buff, and he’d also gained 2 stats from the Orb of Eternal Sleep.
‘And besides that, I obtained the conquest rewards for each floor.’
They ranged from Expert-grade Rare equipment up to Unique equipment.
[You have cleared the Tower of Trials, 39th Floor.]
[As a reward, ‘Trial Necklace’ is granted.]
[You will be moved to the next floor in 10 seconds.]
Ryu Min checked the reward he received.
[Trial Necklace]
-Category: Necklace
-Grade: Unique
-Effect: Strength, Intelligence +39
-Durability: 5,000/5,000
-Usage restriction: Master grade or higher
-Description: A necklace said to be obtainable only by conquering the Tower of Trials located somewhere in the world. Obtaining this means you have cleared the 39th floor.
This time, it was Master-grade Unique equipment.
Ryu Min smiled.
It seemed like it would be good to use in situations where he wouldn’t use the Beads of Eternity.
“Now it’s the 40th floor.”
Ryu Min’s eyes filled with tension.
If everything up to now had been a warm-up, this was the real start.
Upon reaching the 40th floor, Ryu Min took out the Indomitable Elemental Resistance Potion he’d received as the Sub Quest reward.
From here on, this potion was absolutely necessary.
‘Use.’
[Using ‘Indomitable Elemental Resistance Potion’.]
[Fire resistance is fixed at 95%.]
[Cold resistance is fixed at 95%.]
[Wind resistance is fixed at 95%.]
From now on, traps would appear that couldn’t be conquered without the potion’s help.
‘Like a trap where the entire corridor heats up like an oven, or a corridor where a gale so strong you can’t even walk hits you, or a floor that tests the limits of your willpower with extreme frost.’
At this level, no matter how high your stats were, you couldn’t endure elemental attacks.
And in the first place, the environment was designed so you had no choice but to rely on the potion.
“Whew… shall we go again?”
Having steeled himself anew, Ryu Min stepped forward again.
At minimum, he had to reach the 80th floor.
Since each floor’s trap concept differed, each floor’s rewards differed too.
[As a reward, Fire resistance 5% permanently increases.]
[As a reward, Cold resistance 5% permanently increases.]
[As a reward, Wind resistance 5% permanently increases.]
From the 40th to the 59th floor were element-related traps.
Maybe because of that, rewards that permanently increased elemental resistances appeared.
When he finished up to the 59th floor, Ryu Min checked the resistances he’d received so far.
‘Fire resistance up 35%, Cold resistance up 35%, Wind resistance up 30%.’
There are two types of resistance.
General resistance that blocks status ailments, and elemental resistance that blocks elemental attacks like the above.
The Rainbow Effect that increases resistance by 50% belongs to general resistance.
Meaning it’s clearly different from the elemental resistance he just gained.
That was why Ryu Min was happy.
‘Because elemental resistance isn’t something you can raise easily.’
Items that raise elemental resistance are extremely rare.
Usually, you have to give up on obtaining them and rely on potions.
So having them rise permanently was an enormous privilege.
‘Now, should I start conquering the 60s?’
From here through the 79th floor, monsters appear again.
It wasn’t that stronger monsters came out—rather, they came out linked together with traps, so you needed to be a bit careful.
‘I can’t just sprint through like at the beginning.’
Needing to proceed cautiously, Ryu Min advanced with his scythe in hand.
There was a reason Ryu Min set his minimum goal at the 80th floor.
[You have cleared the Tower of Trials, 79th Floor.]
[As a reward, ‘Rune of Stealth Fragment’ is granted.]
[You will be moved to the next floor in 10 seconds.]
A Rune of Stealth Fragment.
At last, the item he wanted appeared.
Ryu Min used it immediately and engraved it into his body.
[Rune of Stealth]
-Effect: When using invisibility, completely conceals signs such as breathing, footsteps, clothing sounds, and so on.
It is not detected by Search, Presence Detection, or any external factor.
If you successfully attack after invisibility, the cooldown of invisibility is reset.
A smile spread across Ryu Min’s lips.
With the Rune of Stealth obtained, perfect invisibility was now possible.
‘But I can’t be satisfied here. The real thing is still ahead.’
Reaching the 80th floor, Ryu Min caught his breath for a moment and then moved forward.
Now, a harsh and difficult gauntlet awaited—like a comprehensive gift set of all the traps he’d faced so far.
‘The elemental potion still has about two hours left, so it’s enough to reach the 99th floor.’
It wasn’t as easy as it sounded.
All kinds of monsters, and rain and wind, typhoons, frost, pits of fire—
He climbed floor by floor, pushing through every kind of trap.
[You have cleared the Tower of Trials, 83rd Floor.]
[You have cleared the Tower of Trials, 87th Floor.]
[You have cleared the Tower of Trials, 92nd Floor.]
……………………
………………
…………
‘Whew. No matter how many times I climb, the road to the 99th floor is still brutal.’
After reaching the 98th floor, Ryu Min wiped sweat from his forehead.
There had been countless ordeals to get here.
Just one floor earlier, the 97th floor had even tested willpower with hallucinations.
Of course, thanks to the Rune of Mental Barrier, he’d passed through hallucinations and everything else for free.
‘The easiest floors so far are 97 and 98.’
The 98th floor was the same type of trap, so he passed just by walking.
But the final 99th floor wouldn’t be so easily cleared.
[You have cleared the Tower of Trials, 98th Floor.]
[As a reward, Resistance 10% permanently increases.]
[You will be moved to the final floor in 10 seconds. Good luck.]
Soon, Ryu Min arrived at the 99th floor.
The final obstacle was waiting for him.