〈A Wimp's Guide to Clearing the Tower 109〉
The ceiling of the underground prison opened.
In the blink of an eye, it transformed into an arena.
The stands were packed tight with people.
'The prison… turned into an arena?'
Does that even make sense?
How did they know we came here?
No matter how fabricated the setting is, how manufactured the souls are…
I don't know who designed this floor of the Tower, but at least try to keep things plausible.
At this point, I'm genuinely curious.
The missions that players from every country must face starting on the 71st floor—
Are they really the same as the one I'm doing now?
"They will not be different."
"Is that so? I kind of wish they were."
"And why is that?"
"Because this mission is tied to Gobang's past…"
I can't help feeling uneasy.
Players all over the world could end up indirectly experiencing Gobang's past.
"That is not something you need to worry about."
"Why not?"
Gyeon Dallae explained in a calm voice.
"To those who know nothing of Lord Gobang's present or past, it is nothing more than a simple, ordinary mission. Merely stopping the tyranny of a mercenary band and eliminating the necromancer and the king pulling the strings."
That's true.
The mission text doesn't even mention Gobang's name.
It only briefly mentions a barbarian warrior in the background description of the Prime Beast Hydra.
And would an ordinary player even bother to check the background lore?
〈Royal Guard Captain Jornte〉
Rank: SSR (Special Super Rare)
Type: Knight (Human)
Knight Jornte was originally a mercenary. He roamed the continent with the hero Arius, completing countless commissioned missions. When Arius became king of the Norton Kingdom, Jornte was appointed captain of the royal guard and enjoyed honor and wealth at his side. Later, deceived by the king, his body was modified and he fell into the state of a chimera.
Stuff like that.
'That bastard King Arius—he really shows up everywhere.'
I thought he only deceived Gobang, but he even tricked his own guard captain and turned him into a chimera?
And on top of that, for the sake of restoring the Prime Beast Hydra and turning it into a strategic weapon, he ordered the collection of children's souls.
A complete piece of shit.
'Let's check his info.'
〈King Arius of Norton〉
Rank: R++ (High Rare)
Type: King (Human)
'Huh?'
High Rare, but that's it?
Pathetic and flimsy.
At that level, wouldn't he die with a kek! even if he got hit by Rajiks's Golden Pickaxe?
Arius was an illegitimate son of the Norton royal family. To avoid the eyes of his half-brothers who kept him in check, he left the royal palace and wandered the continent. With neither martial power, wealth, nor influence to speak of, Arius's only weapons were his status as royalty and his silver tongue. He masqueraded as a hero, scammed naïve people, and built his forces that way.
The event that made Arius's name known throughout the kingdom was the subjugation of the Prime Beast Hydra. His popularity skyrocketed, and using that as a stepping stone, he returned to the royal family, won over the nobles, purged his half-brothers, and ascended the throne.
A small-time con artist, nothing more.
Then why is he the target of an ultra–high-difficulty mission?
Clatter, clatter, clatter.
Hundreds of soldiers and knights poured into the arena, along with combat mages positioned around where the king sat.
That was it.
Arius's true power was his army.
For a single player to break through that force and kill Arius—it was obviously going to be difficult.
'Hmm.'
The same applied to Juhyeok.
Even with the summoned ones fighting alongside him, how were they supposed to reach the area packed with all those spectators?
If the king hid himself, he'd be nearly impossible to find.
'There's no way except a decapitation strike on the boss.'
Something like a large-caliber shot.
But what about the mages surrounding the king?
What if they deployed defensive magic?
If it failed, there would be no second chance.
They might end up in an all-out war with the kingdom's army.
Since this is a conditional clear, you can't abandon it, and there's no time limit either…
You could be trapped in the Tower forever.
Mission: Impossible.
A mission that was never meant to be cleared.
Juhyeok, thanks to the summoned ones, at least had a thread of hope…
But ordinary players? The moment they accepted the conditional clear, they were as good as dead.
I have to warn them in advance—make sure they never accept it.
"Attack!!!"
The all-out assault began.
The spectators erupted in cheers.
"Go!"
"Kill them!"
"Total annihilation of the intruders!"
"Glory to His Majesty King Arius!"
Chimera hounds and knight units charged in.
"My lord, Saint Bardin is at your side."
Bardin left his role as a holy sword and moved next to Juhyeok.
"VIP protection mode, Commander. Please do not worry."
Veronica, never missing a shot.
"Girl, shall we have some fun?"
Gyeon Dallae scattered talismans, her movements like a dance as if she might take flight.
And the Mad Monk…
'Huh? Where did he go? He was just here.'
Anyway, the battle began.
Bzzzzing!
Juhyeok had already activated his energy shield.
He held the Thunderstorm Cudgel in one hand.
The Blood Jade Aura was active.
And the Blink Ring—limited to ten uses.
All set.
Now, execution.
A rite of passage.
'Why wouldn't I be able to kill people?'
I can do it.
Human or hound—everything in sight, I'll kill them all—
At that moment,
Juhyeok took a step forward, then froze.
'Wait.'
At the same time, a thought flashed through his mind.
'Why am I so desperate to fight like this?'
Because I'm a coward with no courage?
Because I want to live as a real man, not a wimp?
I can't deny it.
That might be part of it.
But the biggest reason of all—
Was guilt.
Toward the summoned ones who sacrificed themselves only for him.
He didn't want to burden them anymore.
He wanted to do his part, to shoulder the load they were carrying together.
But the thought that struck him now—
Was this really lightening their burden?
Had their shoulders truly grown lighter?
Juhyeok moved forward.
He saw Gobang facing Jornte.
Glance after glance,
Gobang kept looking at him, tense, as if worried something might happen.
And it wasn't just Gobang.
Bardin too—
"Light!!!"
Holding his flail high, he circled close around Juhyeok.
As if trying to fill the void left by Kosak.
The moment enemies came even a little closer—
Whooosh! Thud!
He charged instantly, dealt with them, then returned to his position.
What about Veronica?
Same story.
A class that suffers badly if aggro is pulled.
Yet she ignored the enemies rushing her, silently pulling the trigger for Juhyeok alone.
And then there were Gyeon Dallae's talismans.
Their drop range was extremely limited.
Like petals, they fluttered only around Juhyeok.
'At this rate…'
Can this even be called a proper clear?
'Everyone's only looking at me.'
Juhyeok let out a dry chuckle.
This wasn't right.
And he slowly stepped back.
Only then did relief spread across the faces of the summoned ones.
Juhyeok stepping forward—
Rather than lightening their burden, it was only making it heavier.
'Unbelievable…'
He'd thought he'd become strong enough.
He'd judged that he was at least capable of taking care of himself.
It was probably like this.
Like an eighty-year-old mother worrying herself sick every time her nearly sixty-year-old son went out.
There was no helping it.
He needed to become stronger.
At the very least, strong enough to surpass the summoned ones.
Gobang stood facing Jornte.
The knight in iron-plated armor tilted his head.
"You… you look familiar."
Then, as if recalling something—
Click! He removed his helmet.
"That's right. A barbarian warrior. A dull, stupid slab of meat meant to be a shield."
A huge, blood-red single eye—just like a royal guard captain's.
Jornte, too, was a modified chimera knight.
The difference from the others was that he could speak freely.
"…But you died. How are you here?"
"That's right. I died. But I was summoned by my summoner."
"Summoner? Hm. Words I can't make sense of at all."
"You don't need to."
Step. Step.
Gobang walked forward.
"You're going to die here."
"…Me?"
Schring.
A blue greatsword slid free from Jornte's waist.
"That's music to my ears. Please, do kill me."
"How would you like to die?"
"Kahaha! You've got a tongue now. You've gotten fairly clever. You should've been like this fifty years ago. If you had, you wouldn't have fallen for Arius's tricks."
Whoosh!
Flames flared up along Jornte's blade.
Crack!
Gobang's body hardened like diamond.
His face was calm, but inwardly, he was extremely uneasy.
Because the enemy was strong?
Ridiculous.
He could toy with someone like Jornte, torment him slowly, then kill him.
Crush his ankles, snap his spine, tear off his arms one by one…
But there were a lot of enemies in the arena.
And the assassin was gone.
Then who would protect the summoner?
He had to finish this quickly and return to his side.
Personal revenge?
That meant nothing.
To Gobang, the single most important value was the summoner's safety.
Thrust!
Jornte's blazing greatsword stabbed toward his heart.
He was SSR as well.
This fight could drag on.
It had to end before Jornte fully grasped his strength.
'Give one, take one.'
Gobang didn't retreat—he advanced.
He twisted his upper body slightly to avoid his heart, then deliberately took the flaming greatsword into his chest.
Thunk!
The blade pierced through his right chest.
"Hahaha! Was that all you had? You stupid barbarian!"
Ignoring the taunt, Gobang grabbed Jornte's shoulder with a firm grip and yanked him in.
"Y-you bastard…"
Grab!
He seized Jornte's head with both hands.
"Hah!"
With a roar of exertion—
"GRAAAAH!!!"
Crunch!
He twisted—
Rip!
—and tore it free.
Thud!
Jornte's headless body collapsed to the ground.
[You have completed a High-Difficulty Optional Mission.]
[Reward: 73 kg of Superior Magic Crystals / Rune Necklace of Liberation (2)]
Next—
'Where's the king?'
But Gobang's eyes were fixed solely on Juhyeok.
How could petty revenge even be compared to the summoner's safety?
The summoner was unharmed.
Only now did he feel at ease.
Gobang yanked the greatsword out of his chest.
Splurt!
Bright red blood sprayed like a fountain.
But regeneration came quickly.
Gobang grinned.
Now he could finally protect his summoner properly.
The circular arena's stands.
At the highest point sat King Arius of the Norton Kingdom, watching the spectacle.
There were no long-term prisoners in the Norton Kingdom's underground prison.
The cells were always empty.
Any fresh, usable criminals had their souls extracted, while the worthless trash were gathered all at once and slaughtered in gladiatorial matches.
Prisoners killing prisoners.
Sometimes, live monsters were thrown in to spice things up.
Whenever games were held, the kingdom turned into a festival frenzy.
Nobles and wealthy merchants paid large sums to gather in the arena, indulging in blood-soaked entertainment.
But prisoners couldn't be supplied endlessly.
Unless a war broke out and prisoners of war were taken.
Without fighters, games couldn't be held.
That meant losing a source of income.
And with the treasury already nearing collapse due to the cost of restoring the Prime Beast Hydra and paying the necromancer Noma…
Still, there was a solution.
Forcefully creating fighters.
Thus, the chimera project was prepared.
Untrained, feral chimera hounds.
And chimera knights created specifically for the arena.
Originally, today's match was meant to be between hounds and knights.
Bored, as always, he'd opened the lid—
Only to find this.
All the chimera hounds and chimera knights were already dead, killed by suspicious intruders.
Where had they come from?
Six in total.
Each one extraordinary.
King Arius made a swift decision.
They would fight in place of the scheduled contestants.
Their opponents: his loyal slave, Captain Jornte, the knights, and the trained chimera hounds.
No matter how strong those six intruders were, could they really compare to Jornte?
Enhanced by chimera magic, a man who had reached the realm of a Sword Expert.
But as time passed, unease crept in.
They weren't easy prey.
The hounds were being slaughtered.
Chimera knights—crafted at enormous expense—were crushed by flails, their heads blown apart by mysterious ranged weapons.
And that giant in particular—
Just how massive was he?
Even Jornte, grafted with a Minotaur's body through chimera enhancement magic, looked small by comparison.
But I've seen that somewhere before.
Who was it again?
It almost reminded him of that utterly stupid barbarian from fifty years ago.
Then, Jornte died.
Even after being stabbed by the flaming sword, the giant dragged Jornte in and tore his head off.
The spectators began to grow excited.
They were intoxicated by the savage spectacle they hadn't seen in a long time.
But Arius grew uneasy.
This was dangerous.
If those bastards made it out of the arena, there was no telling what would happen.
'…This won't do.'
Arius issued orders to his subordinates.
"Have the soldiers pour oil into the arena."
"…Pardon?"
"Royal mages, prepare fire magic. Burn everything to the ground. Don't let a single one crawl out alive."
"But the knights are still—"
"So what?"
Arius shot back as if genuinely puzzled.
"After seeing that, you still say such things? They can't even deal with a mere six intruders—"
"Five, Your Majesty."
"…What?"
"There are five intruders in the arena, Your Majesty."
Arius blinked and looked again.
There had definitely been six at the start.
'Did one die?'
At that very moment—
"Were you looking for this old man?"
A voice rang out from the air.
Arius lifted his head.
"Gah!"
An old man floated in midair, hands clasped behind his back, gazing down as if surveying the world.
"You were going to set the arena on fire?"
The Mad Monk raised one hand.
Uuuuuuuuh…
A swirling storm of qi.
"You dare, against my summoner?"
Above his palm formed an enormous blade of condensed force.
King Arius's pupils trembled.
'…Sword Master?'
No.
Stronger than that.
A Grand Master, spoken of only in legends.
Chill!
Goosebumps erupted along Arius's arms.
Had he ever felt this level of threat in his life?
"K-kill that old man!!!"
Brilliant spells surged toward the Mad Monk.
Knights hurled their spears.
Screech! KABOOM! Whiiirl!
But none of the attacks could pierce the Mad Monk's protective qi.
Still standing calmly with his hands behind his back, he spoke leisurely.
"Ever heard of doing the wave?"
What on earth…
"Since it's a circular arena, let's do the wave. From left to right."
Then a gigantic crescent of qi descended into the arena.
"G-gah!"
"D-dodge!"
"Block it!"
"Protect His Majesty!"
Tsapapap!
The violently spinning crescent of qi.
Severing everything it touched.
Tspeeeriiiiit!
It made a full circuit of the stands.
And then—
A massacre.
The Crescent Boomerang Wave.
Two laps, three laps…
A sea of blood.
Mountains of corpses and oceans of gore.
There were no other words for it.
Juhyeok witnessed the devastation in the stands as well.
'…My god.'
At first, he'd wondered where the Mad Monk had gone.
Then he heard the commotion in the stands and looked up.
No—Mad Monk, "doing the wave"?
Isn't that something you do to cheer at baseball or soccer games?
The stands had been annihilated.
Bodies with severed heads, bodies cut in half at the waist, bodies missing legs.
A mass killing by the Mad Monk.
Then again, that was who he was.
Would the title "the most vicious under heaven" exist for no reason?
Juhyeok felt foolish for having agonized over whether he could bring himself to kill in front of someone like that.
And it wasn't just him.
Everyone was silent.
Gobang, Bardin, Gyeon Dallae, Veronica—
All of them swallowed hard as they stared at the scene the Mad Monk had wrought.
And then—
At some point, reappearing—
Thud thud thud thud!
Kosak came running over with a bright smile.
"Master Summoner Bong, you see, our Rajiks the farmhand—huh?! W-what is that?"
He froze at the horrific sight of the stands.
"Hoeeek!"
Even Rajiks, who'd been rolling in confidently moments ago—
"…Huh?"
His round body trembled violently.
But the Mad Monk was unfazed.
Descending slowly from the air, he said,
"Hm? Why is everyone so surprised? At this point?"
Sir, not being surprised would be the abnormal reaction.
And then—ding!
[You have completed all missions on the 72nd floor.]
[Reward: 73 kg of Superior Magic Crystals / Rune of Summoned One Rank Breakthrough (Conditional).]
[Evaluating clear rank.]
[World Announcement: You have achieved an S+++ clear rank on the 73rd floor of the Black Tower (Korea).]
[S+++ Clear Reward: You are awarded 2 Platinum Badges.]
A message announcing the successful clear.
But even in this situation, one line rang clearly in his ears.
'Rune of Summoned One Rank Breakthrough?'
Not a rank increase, but a breakthrough.
And the word conditional was explicitly stated.
'Does "breakthrough" mean…?'
[You may challenge the 74th floor.]
[Exiting the Black Tower of the Republic of Korea.]
Spot!