Episode 4 – Master of Ice and Fire (1)

Ting! Thud! 

The familiar mechanical-like message alert rang in his ears. 

[The quest has been concluded as all monsters inside the dungeon have been defeated.]

[Your rewards will be determined shortly.]

"Hah..." 

Jaehyuk released an exhausted breath. He had accumulated alot of fatigue than he imagined. 

He wasn't that surprised considering how he was forced to fight monsters for two days straight without break. 

Most of the time when he tried to rest, an enemy will emerge out of nowhere and interrupt him especially speedrunners. 

Sometimes, he was only allowed to rest for one minute before fighting a group of knights. And immediately after that, he had to fight against the boss monster. 

It was natural he would be exhausted even if he used the [Rapid Rotation] technique to restore parts of his magic power. 

'This guy was really strong.' 

Hs shifted his gaze towards the defeated knight. It was pressed against a wall and had a huge hole in the middle of its chest. 

The Knight 'Antares' was dead. 

It was a strong opponent. Strongest he has ever faced on the first floor. Perhaps it was not wrong to say it was the strongest entity on the first floor with the solo exception of 'that' being. 

It was the first monster he had encountered since he returned to even force him to use the Piercing the Sky Swordsmanship second technique – Single Stab. 

'You fought well. But I just came out as the strongest one here.' 

He didn't know how long the knight has been fighting but it was obvious it performed its duties of a knight even though its lord was long dead. 

You can count on one hand the number of players with that level of commitment to their cause. The fact that this knight fought against any intruders for a very long time should be worthy of praise. 

'Now you can finally rest.' 

[Calculations has begun.] 

[Tallying up your points based on performance….]

While the calculations was going on, Jaehyuk sat on the floor covered with stone tiles to regain his stamina. 

'The second technique definitely uses up too much of my mana?' 

Jaehyuk thought with a frown. 

The second technique was undoubtedly powerful. However, he was disappointed because it had used up almost all of his mana in an instant, leaving him unpleasantly dizzy. Although it was good to use it once in a while but unless the situation truly demands it, he will leave it untouched

'I definitely have to increase my mana somehow.' 

He patiently waited for the system to calculate his rewards. Since he killed alot of enemies along with a high-level opponent, there was probably something promising waiting for him at the end. 

Finally, after a while... 

Ting! Ting! 

[You survived in the hidden dungeon for 48 hours.] 

[You have acquired 1000 Karma.] 

[Calculating numbers of enemies slain...]

[You have slain 290 Dark Knights.] 

[You have slain 160 Black Reapers.] 

[You have slain 99 Speedrunners.] 

[You killed the Commander of Demon Knights, Antares the Black.] 

[Total monsters defeated: 550 ] 

[65,000 Karma has been acquired.] 

[You have achieved an impossible feat. Additional Karma will be provided.]

[You have acquired 1000 additional Karma.] 

[Additional rewards will be provided. Please select your reward from the category.] 

[1. Skills]

[2. Attributes]

[3. Items]

[4. Points]

Four options appeared before him, but there was no need for Jaehyuk to think deeply about what he should choose. 

[Points has been chosen as a reward.]

[10,000 Karma has been accumulated!]

'The rewards given at lower floors only have cool names, but they're mostly insignificant. The [Suppressing Iron Sword] should be enough for now. I can always craft or a new sword or go to a blacksmith. What I should focus on is the hidden piece given as a reward for first position.' 

While he was thinking, additional messages popped up after he received his reward. 

[Your ranking in the tutorial has been updated.]

[Do you want to register your name on the ranking list?] 

Upon seeing the message, a smile formed on his lips. With this, he managed to close the gap between him and the frontrunners. On top of that, he hadn't even entered the other sections yet. 

'I made the right choice by entering this dungeon. My total points are 76,000. So I should have a high position on the leaderboard.' 

Every floor in the Tower provided a leaderboard within the top 300 spots. 

An announcement is made when there are changes on the leaderboard such as a player moving up to a new rank. It was done to encourage players to try harder. 

But Jaehyuk didn't put his name on the leaderboard. There was a good reason for his decision. 

What would happen when a new player suddenly enters the leaderboard? 

There will be different reactions. Some might react positively and try to recruit him while others mostly high-ranking players will react hostility and try to block him. 

Either way, It was never good to be the centre of attention. 

Wasn't there an olf saying that went, learn to be crazy without being in the centre of attention or something along those lines? 

Jaehyuk registered in the rankings with a codename. 

"I will register as Merciless King." 

[Registration accepted. You will be chosen as 'Merciless King' on the leaderboard. You can change the name at any time using the setting.] 

[First Floor Leaderboard] 

1. Witch of Slaughter (157,111 Points)

2. Berserker King (155,982 Points)

3. Nameless Swordsman (150,473 Points)

···

150. Merciless King (76,000 Points) (You) 

... 

'150 place, huh?' 

Wasn't this better than his previous regressions? Normally, he would have to go through every section before he could even reach that position. 

Jaehyuk scanned the leaderboard and eventually, his gaze fell on the name occupying the first position. 

Witch of Slaughter. He knew the identity of that person. 

'So you are at first place in this round as well. I wonder if she has gotten fat.' 

Jaehyuk smiled wryly. 

She only used the nickname 'Witch of Slaughter' to sound ominous and intimidating. In reality, she was a rather calm person. Well, that's unless you attack her or make her angry.

Jaehyuk closed his eyes and recalled the previous memories he had with that person. But he regained his solemn expression in the next moment. 

Although it was true they had a previous relationship with each other, that was only in the distant past. In this world, they were complete strangers. 

Jaehyuk looked at the leaderboard and remembered a few names. 

'Berserker King and Nameless Swordsman are at the very top of the ranking behind the Witch of Slaughter. As expected of those idiots. I bet they are probably somewhere fighting each other.' 

Berserker King had muscles for brains and was obvious with fighting. Nameless Swordsman was a persistent bastard that was obsessed with swordsmanship. 

He remembered during his past regressions that those annoying bastards always challenged him for a fight and lost every single time. 

Jaehyuk chuckle upon recalling those ridiculous memories. Although they were useless bastards, they have some strong poitns. 

Berserker King, Nameless Swordsman, Witch of Slaughter. 

If they entered the Tower at different times, they would have undoubtedly conquer the first floor. But they were put in the same round. 

'Seems like I have to fight them again.' 

In order to reach the top of the leaderboard, he had to fight against his closest companions for another time. How many times was this now? 

[Collect the item in the King's Casket and break it.] 

'Is there really an item hidden there?'

He looked at the casket infront of him. What kind of item was hidden there? There was only one way to find out. 

Jaehyuk approached the casket and opened it to see what's inside. But... 

'Digusting.' 

He only came across the sight of a rottom corpse and a terrible stench filled the air. Just how long as that corpse been kept here to rot? 

Couldn't they like bury this guy properly? What was the point of leaving his casket over ground level? 

Jaehyuk had so many questions but he discarded all of them. It was because there was something that caught his attention. 

"?" 

Within the corpse grasp, there was something emitting a capricious glow. It looked like a red stone. 

'I wonder what that is.' 

Jaehyuk removed the stone from the corpse hands. 

It was ironic. He felt like a thief looting a dead body even though this was not his first time stealing from a corpse. 

He took a closer look at the stone. It was black stone with red pulsating lines as if it flowed with energy. 

Thump! Thump! 

Wait, did it move just now? 

It was probably his imagination. However, that line of thinking turned to be wrong in the next moment. 

Thump! Thump! 

It wasn't his imagination after all. The stone really did move. 

"What the fuck?!" 

Thump! Thump! 

Thump! Thump! 

The stone vibrated once again. It was beating as if it was alive. Could it be.... 

Jaehyuk opened his eyes wide and finally realised. What he was holding was not a stone but a still beating heart. Or so it seems. 

Thump! Thump! 

"What the hell is this?" 

Indeed, it was a ominous item. 

Why would place such a strange item inside a casket? 

Wait, did this heart belong to this corpse? 

How was it still beating and why was it outside its body? 

Multiple questions he couldn't hope of answering started flying in. Most importantly,

'Why did the system say I should break the time?' 

Was it a reward for clearing the reward? Did he need to break it to leave the dungeon? Or was it... 

Jaehyuk thought of a terrifying possibility. Could it be this corpse will revive if he didn't destory the item? 

He shifted his gaze towards the Knight laying motionless against the wall. 

The Knight Commander Antares was so strong that even a simple mistake during their battle could have costed him his life. Perhaps it was at a level even the top players in the first floor would he powerless against it. 

Even then, it was still a soldier serving under a lord probably as its right hand. If the right hand was that strong then how strong would the actual lord be? 

Jaehyuk trembled and raised his guard then he realised something. 

'The system said I completed the dungeon so the possibility of that thing reviving is basically zero.' 

When he came to that conclusion, he rested his trembling heart. If he was to fight again then he would be in trouble. 

'Now that I know it's safe, should I just break it and be done with it?' 

Since the system said he should break it then that would mean the stone wasn't dangerous enough to cause him harm. 

Jaehyuk applied strength and slowly crushed the item. 

Crack— Scatter— 

As soon as he did, stone fragments shone and slowly melt into this palm. The black liquid seeped into his skin through his pores and flew throughout his body. 

It was a completely foreign sensation . It felt like thousands of ants was crawling up his skin. 

'Huh? What?' 

Jae-hyuk noticed opened his eyes wide. The alien-like liquid was slowly making its way towards his heart. 

"What the hell.... Stop! Stop! Stop!" 

In a panic, he tried to eject the strange substance from his body but he failed miserably.

His mana simply slip past it and allowed it to flow. He could only helplessly watch as the strange liquid squirm around inside his body like a curious tourist. 

Finally, after squirming around, the black liquid settled at the right side of this chest and rolled up into something that resembled a human heart. 

It was then when the everything was finished. 

Ting! 

The mechanical-like bell of the system rang in his ears. 

[You have become the Master of the 'Crimson Heart'.]