Growth (2)

Hyun Sukjin: Basically, you can get back to Earth once you reach the 5th floor.

Kim Seunghoon: Is that where the tower ends?

Hyun Sukjin: Seeing that they said the system would expand on the 5th floor, probably not.

Park Chansuk: An expansion....

Hyun Sukjin: I think they're planning to add more commands and start selling an item called the return stone.

It seemed like more things would be unlocked on the 5th floor.

I paid closer attention to the chat.

Hyun Sukjin: The stone you can buy on the 5th floor will only let you return temporarily.

Kim Seunghoon: Did they tell you how much it would be?

Hyun Sukjin: Nah. They wanted me to use another question so I stopped.

Lee HaYeon: Then we can never go back to Earth permanently?

Hyun Sukjin: No, I hear there's another item for that on the 8th floor.

Kang Sunwoo: So there's no way to go back just yet then, damn.

The chatting died down as everyone became somber.

I saw this as a huge win though.

"So there IS a way to get back…."

It's all I'd wanted since I'd entered the tower.

Same as everyone else.

As long as you reach the 8th floor, you should be able to get back.

But why is it that—

"…"

The news didn't make me that happy.

Kang Sunwoo: Alright. It's my turn to spread some knowledge.

More information started to pop up in the community.

Kang Sunwoo: Basically, it's not possible to get your abilities back, but you can grow really quickly by climbing the tower.

Lee Changsuk: Ah, I asked about how the rewards were calculated.

Hyun Sukjin: Eyy let us have it!

Lee Changsuk: So everyone gets their own individual trials and you get bonus rewards depending on how special your method of clearing was.

Kim Seunghoon: That's simpler than I thought.

Everyone started sharing what they found out left and right.

They could be charging points for this…

Not a single person tried to sell anything though.

They were all too preoccupied with the idea of returning home.

Lee Hayeon: I just asked about the expansion and got a response.

Lee Seungjin: Ohh that was fast. What did they say?

Lee Hayeon: Starting from the 5th floor, they'll be selling more weapons as well as more items like the return stone.

Lee Hayeon: And they'll even be selling skills starting on the 8th floor.

Lee Seungjin: They're gonna sell skills….? I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Hyun Sukjin: Is that all the expansion is?

Lee Hayeon: No, I think they're also adding a new system called the 'divergence.'

What they called the 'divergence' was simple.

The narrative-based trial.

The battle-based trial.

The strategy-based trial.

On the 8th floor, you get to choose one of these divergences.

Essentially, it would determine the way in which you'd climb the tower.

Lee Hayeon: Once you choose a divergence, you'll get the relevant trial.

If you chose the narrative-based trial, you'd play a role within a story.

Battle-based trials would be mostly eradication or a raid.

And the strategic trials would consist of challenges that could involve the other challengers, like capture the flag.

I could picture how they'd all go besides the narrative trials.

Hyun Sukjin: And even if you plan to leave on the 8th floor, we still don't know how expensive the item would be.

Kang Sunwoo: Damn, I guess I gotta start saving.

Park Chansuk: You might die if you're too cheap with it. Be careful.

Kim Seunghoon: You might have to keep climbing the tower to save enough points.

Lee Hayeon: Yeah. I wasn't able to find out anything else.

Lee Jinwoo: I don't like the sound of having to go against the other challengers.

Park Chansuk: They probably won't let the losing side survive.

Lee Jinwoo: I don't even know why that's an option.

From the looks of it…

The administrator didn't seem to want to give us the whole picture.

'I should take this into account when I ask my questions.'

There wasn't much more to get out of the community after that.

Kim Donghyuk: I think I understand the divergence system now.

Hyun Sukjin: I think we figured out as much as we could at this point.

Kim Seunghoon: I guess everything else is up to us now.

Lee Seungjin: Damn, the other difficulties probably already got out.

Oh Choonsuk: lmao yeah we're the only ones still stuck here.

I turned the community off when the conversations became irrelevant.

"Why aren't I that happy about finding out that we can go home…"

If I could get back, I'd be a top-class hunter.

Using my innate ability, I'd be able to go around dungeons absorbing souls to get stronger.

'I can probably even become an A rank hunter.'

But that didn't sit right with me.

I guess human greed knows no bounds.

This was the first time I'd been given the opportunity to grow.

I wanted to get stronger.

I wanted to climb higher.

A smile escaped from the corner of my mouth.

'Am I trying to kill myself?'

I had to snap out of it.

Slap!

"Get yourself together."

I slapped my face to regain my composure.

The 5th and 8th-floor challenges were a problem for the future.

I might not even survive the 3rd floor.

I had to focus.

"I'll think about those floors when I get to them."

The most important thing was staying alive.

「 Han Sungyeun 」

「 Strength – 16 」 「 Stamina – 11 」

「 Agility – 11 」 「 Mana – 8 」

「 Innate ability – 'Necromancy(F) 」

「 Skill – Accelerated Regeneration(E+), Heat Resistance(F), Pain Resistance(D) 」

"This is more like it."

It was much better than the time from the tutorial where all the stats were below 10.

But…

I didn't know if this would be enough for the higher floors.

I needed to get stronger.

「 Innate ability – 'Necromancy(F) 」

「 Proficiency – 65% 」

「 Basic effect – Able to absorb the souls of the dead and control them at will. 」

「 Extra effect(1) – Able to permanently increase stats depending on the nature and rank of the soul. 」

「 Extra effect(2) – Able to store souls for later use. Soul storage capacity depends on the ability's rank. 」

My innate ability's proficiency was getting pretty close to 100%.

That meant it was almost time for my innate ability to evolve again.

'Once it hits 100%, it should rank up to an E rank ability.'

Then it should gain some extra effects.

That was what the other players said when their innate abilities ranked up.

'Soon I'm going to need something a little better than just absorbing souls.'

More so because my stats weren't increasing as much anymore, but I wasn't too worried about that.

I could always find more monsters to fight.

Necromancy made the user stronger and stronger the more you fought.

I'd be able to rank it up as long as I was well prepared for the 3rd trial.

I began by absorbing all of the souls I had.

「 Permanently increasing your stats using the souls in captivity. 」

「 Strength increased by 9. 」

「 Agility increased by 14. 」

「 Stamina increased by 10. 」

「 Mana increased by 6. 」

「 Number of souls in possession – 0/5 」

Power overflowed in my body.

In the past, I just felt more energetic than before, but this was different.

I felt like my body didn't know what to do with all the surplus power.

Satisfied, I opened my stat window.

「 Han Sungyeun 」

「 Strength – 27 」 「 Stamina – 25 」

「 Agility – 28(+5) 」 「 Mana – 13 」

「 Innate ability – 'Necromancy(F) 」

「 Skill – Accelerated Regeneration(E+), Heat Resistance(F), Pain Resistance(D) 」

The three stats that affected the physical body were all above 20 now.

Not only that, but they were also about to hit 30.

'My agility is already over 30 if you count the item bonus.'

I could probably kill an orc with my bare hands right now.

Tack!

I propelled myself against the ground and jumped up as hard as I could.

I pushed myself back off the ceiling and landed back on the ground.

"…"

After a total of 4 round trips, I wasn't even phased.

It felt more like a warm-up to me.

'I'm starting to feel more and more inhuman…'

My body was feeling more like a living weapon now.

Especially considering that the stats were well balanced.

Although…

'I'm still not very used to it yet.'

With this much strength, I couldn't properly control my body.

But I should be physically superior to an average orc.

As long as I could get used to it…

'I can probably 1v1 a D rank monster.'

Either way, I should never let my guard down.

One mistake could cost me my life.

「 Floor 3 trial starting in – 18hrs 32min 」

'I think it's about time I start training again.'

I couldn't be arrogant just because I won one battle.

First, I bought myself another shield.

「 Deadwood Shield (D-) 」

「 Cost – 2,100 points 」

「 Explanation – A shield made by a black magician from a piece of deadwood. Activates a buff when life falls below a threshold. 」

'This should be enough.'

I had enough points to spare.

「 You have purchased Deadwood Shield (D-) 」

「 2,100 points deducted. 」

「 Remaining balance – 1,275 」

It cost me a pretty penny but it was alright.

I still had a lot left from the 2nd trial's reward.

「 Deadwood Shield (D-) 」

「 Grade: D- 」

「 A violet round shield that a black magician forged for berserker. 」

「 Made from quality deadwood that does not break easily and absorbs impact. 」

「 Increases attack speed after losing certain amounts of life. 」

「 Increases strength after losing certain amounts of life. 」

It said that a black magician forged this, so it made sense that the effects were pretty creepy.

The effects should be quite useful in the trials.

'Made for a berserker, huh…'

I guess that's sort of what I am now.

I had to fight non-stop if I wanted to stay alive in these battles.

That was enough distractions for the moment.

I put on all of the equipment and started training.

Shield and dagger techniques, along with getting used to this new body…

I also had to check out the effects of the Assassin's Cloak.

You could only use the active abilities by passing in some mana through it.

'I have to get some practice in because I've only just started using mana.'

That way, I'd be able to use it in battle more naturally.

「 Floor 3 trial starting in – 17hrs 12min 」

I immersed myself in training with my new shield.

There was a lot to learn now that my reach had gotten a lot shorter with the dagger.

But the more I trained, the more I found myself enjoying it.

I got more accustomed to the dagger and my inhuman strength.

I never could have imagined myself like this in the outside world.

Just that fact made the training feel enjoyable.

Actually…

'This… is quite nice?'

Seeing my stats increase shined a new light on repetitive training.

It wasn't like I suddenly became a swordsmanship prodigy or anything, but I was still ecstatic that I'd become this strong.

My heart was beating out of my chest and my whole body heated up.

I felt alive the whole time.

Maybe I was just slowly going crazy.

Was it normal to feel like this when I could die at any moment?

Maybe it was.

You never know what you have until you're about to lose it.

This was also the first time I'd ever had any potential in my future as a hunter.

The stats, skills, and innate abilities.

Maybe it's because I'd never had all the things that the others took for granted.

All I had to think about was surviving the third trial.

While I got lost in my thoughts and training, a message popped up.

「 Floor 3 trial starting in – 0secs 」

「 Time up. 」

It was time to start climbing the tower again.

「 Do you accept the 3rd-floor trial? 」

「 Y/N 」

Time to test out the fruits of my training.

____