Episode 2 – Dark Tower (4)

Jaehyuk slowly opened his eyes. 

'Wh-What happened? Did I pass out?' 

He slowly raised his stiif body and looked around. He noticed that he had somehow made it to the arrival point for the next section. 

At the arrival point, all injuries of the players were healed just like a safe zone in a video game before they proceeded to the next section. 

He examined himself and noticed that his body that was filled with holes had already healed. He wondered how long he was passed out. 

[287 : 58 : 37 ] 

'I was knocked out for two days?!' 

Jaehyuk frowned. 

In a situation where he only had two weeks to pass the first floor scenario, every minute and second was precious. Yet he became reckless and got injured, wasting away two days worth of time.

'What was I thinking? Have I grown too arrogant?' 

Maybe it was because he was a constellation in the previous rounds, he had grown arrogant and underestimated the dangers of the Tower even if it was the first floor. As a result, he almost lost his life. 

"Ugh..." 

He sighed and scratched the top of his head. There was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't bring back the time he has wasted away. 

Ting! Ting! 

He heard the sound of multiple system notifications. 

'Oh right! I honestly forgot about this.' 

During the time he was passed out, multiple notifications had piled up. He opened the notifications one by one. 

[Rewards for clearing section F as a solo player is being calculated...] 

[You have achieved 500 Karma.] 

[Additional 500 Karma will be given as a bonus.] 

[500 coins has given as a reward.] 

[Additional 1000 coins will be given as a bonus reward.] 

[Skill: Physical resistance has been acquired.] 

'1500 coins and 1000 Karma. What a huge amount in the start.' 

In the Tower, Coins and Karma was very important. 

Coins was used as a form of currency in the Tower. Artifacts, Skills, Magic scrolls, Potions. You could buy all of them will coins. 

Whereas Karma was a scoring system given according to the players' performance. It was used by the Tower and Administrators to provide rewards for players according to her performance. 

Jaehyuk, who just passed section F, already had this much karma and coins. Yet he had an indifferent expression as if it was no big deal. 

"Status window." 

Jaehyuk carefully looked at the red window that just appeared. 

[Player Information] 

[Name: Kim Jaehyuk] 

[Divine Status: *Sealed*] 

[Age: 20] 

[Attributes: Cold-Hearted, Tenacity] 

[Personal Skills: Infinite Returner, Piercing the Sky Swordsmanship, Sword Training, Wind Gale, Magic Eyes, Heightened Senses, Physical Resistance.] 

[Strength: 51 (+35) ] 

[Agility: 56 ] 

[Physique: 55 ] 

[Magic Power: 21 ] 

(T/L: Changed Heavenly Slaying Swordsmanship to Piercing the Heavens Swordsmanship.) 

'At least my skills has increased.' 

Jaehyuk wore a satisfied expression. 

His skills that was only one from the beginning had now increased to seven. It was an amount that a beginner shouldn't possess on the first floor. 

The only problem was his overall stats. To be specific, his magic power stats.

Despite the F section being filled with traps all over, there was an important hidden piece placed there. The hidden piece was the arrows themselves. 

Depending on the arrow that was deflected, a specific stat from the player's window will increase. 

For instance, the red arrow which increases strength, the blue arrow that increases speed, the green arrow that increases and the purple arrow increases magic power. 

Jaehyuk took advantage of this information and thoroughly increased his stats while progressing through the section. 

However, he couldn't increase his magic stats as he did with the others because purple arrows were hard to find. And his rest of his stats refused to increase after a certain point. 

'I'm satisfied with the results. There's only so much I can do in the F section.' 

Finding the hidden pieces of the F section wasn't his main goal anyways. 

The hidden piece he was looking for was located somewhere on the first floor. But that's all he knew. The information he acquired from the other players back in the previous turn was that limited. 

For all he knew, the hidden piece could be anywhere on the first floor from section E to section A. 

But Jaehyuk had a lead about where the hidden piece could be located. 

'The player who spend the information said he came across a cave somewhere in section E.' 

According to the story of a nameless player, he was being chased by the Horned Wolves in the E section and came across the cave by accident. He was going to place his bet there. 

There was a possibility that the hidden piece wouldn't be located there. But he was going to take his chances. 

Jaehyuk stood up from the floor and dusted himself. Then he looked around and noticed the place was empty. 

Normally, there would be players from different clans stationed here to recruit new members. However, there was nobody here. Meaning, they must have already progressed to the next station. 

'I shouldn't waste anymore time.' 

Jaehyuk strode towards the entrance of the E section. Then... 

Swish— 

As he crossed the entrance, a bright light flashed infront of his eyes causing him to shield his face. 

[You have entered the 'Blood Mountain Forest'.] 

[There are different dangerous creatures that are present in the forest. Evade or Kill the monsters and safely make it to the other side of the forest.] 

Once the light was cleared, Jaehyuk opened his eyes and noticed he was in a different section of the forest. 

One could easily notice that section E was greatly different from section F. 

The forest was so dense that the entire atmosphere felt thick and stifling. The trees were a different colour, dyed scarlet as if they have been soaked completely in blood. 

If the forest in section F was considered wondrous, then the forest in section E could be considered a slaughter zone. It was a place that was fit to belong in the Dark Tower. 

Jaehyuk didn't stand idle and made his way forward. 

There was no single paved path and a dense cluster of scarlet trees filed the surroundings. On top of that, the air was so thick that it made Jaehyuk feel discomfort and made his movement sluggish. 

The floors in the Tower was usually filled with abundant mana. For the races, it was a blessing since they all relied on mana to survive. But the mana in this forest was completely different; the toxic mana continuously tried to invade his body. 

The forest ecosystem has changed due to the influence of an unknown source, and the first change seemed to have been the mana quality that was present in the air. 

Being exposed to such a toxic environment alone would make any ordinary player feel extremely uncomfortable without even realizing the source. Meaning, they wouldn't be able to make rational judgment and even become violent. 

On the other hand, it became manageable if you knew how to counter the negative effects of the toxic mana. 

[Attritude: Cold-Hearted has activated] 

His attribute 'Cold Hearted' gave him mental protection against the negative influence of the forest. 

On top of that, the Mana Circulation Technique he learnt from his master was activated subconsciously and eliminated all the toxic mana that tried to invade his body. 

Click―!

Jaehyuk stopped walking upon noticing something and drew the [Surpassing Iron Sword] from his waist. 

He narrowed at the object was blocking his path. When he looked closely, he realised what was blocking his path wasn't an object but a monster.

"?" 

Jaehyuk titled his head. It was because the monster had a strange appearance. 

A spherical mass of golden with a diameter of around 40 centimetres. It was a monster that had a more 'majestic' vibe than ominous aura. 

"A slime? Hahahahaha! Seriously, I was on guard against a stupid smile." 

Jaehyuk laughed at the ridiculous situation and hung his sword. Compared to other monsters, slimes were not that much of a threat. 

Bounce— Bounce—!

The gold slime innocently made its way towards Jaehyuk. A creature that bought no harm. But something happened when it entered a suitable distance from Jaehyuk. 

Swoosh— 

The golden slime slowly morphed into a hideous monster and opened its jaws very wide, intending to swallow him whole. However, Jaehyuk slashed the Surpassing Iron Sword forward and pierced the core of the slime, killing it in an instant. 

'Yeah right. As if I would fail for such a lame trick." 

The real name for that gold slime was a Demon Slime. A slime that has been influenced by the negative condition of the environment. 

Although slimes weren't usually threatening creatures, it didn't necessarily mean they were weak. 

Since they have less-threatening appearances, most players usually drop their guard around them and those little fuckers used this fact to their advantage to catch the players off guard. 

The only reason Jaehyuk even bothered acting was because he wanted the slime to get closer so he could finish it quickly. The number one of the Tower was never underestimate any creature. 

'There are more.' 

Baaang—! 

Jaehyuk drew a thin line with the Surpassing Iron Sword and the other slimes that flew towards his face got slashed, getting completely annihilated. 

The 'Blood Mountain Forest' was filled with so many different monsters that Jaehyuk encounteted a new opponent with each step he took. After killing off the slimes, even more gold slimes attacked him as if to avenge their fallen breathen. 

Next, he encountered the Black Fanged Mambas, huge snakes with venom powerful enough to kill five bulls in an instant. Then he encountered the Horned Wolves that had varying horns from one to five. 

Yet none of them were a threat. At least in Jaehyuk's standards. They were all defeated with a single slash. 

The strongest monster he faced was the 'Five Horned Wolf'. A huge wolf with the ability to use lightning. It didn't die after a single slash so when Jaehyuk slashed over three times. 

Howl—! 

The Five Horned Wolf let out a moan and died in a pathetic manner. 

Maybe it managed to put up a fight since it was a King. After all, It was the only horned Wolf to have five horns. But it didn't change the fact that it died after three slashes. 

'Too weak.' 

It was disappointing, really. He thought he would face against a powerful opponent. In the first place, why did he desire fight against a powerful enemy? 

Was it because he was the God of War in his past regressions? Or has he finally gone mad? 

Well, the answer didn't matter at the moment. 

Puok— Puok—! 

Jaehyuk sliced off the horns of the Horned Wolves and removed the fangs of the Black Serpents. 

They were very useful items that he couldn't leave behind. 

'I can use the horns from the Five Horned Wolf to craft a sword and sell the rest.' 

Since the Five Horned Wolf was the King of the Horned Wolves, most beginners will get totally annihilated if they attempt to fight it. The crafted item could turn out to be a B-ranked sword or even A-rank if he was lucky.

'I'm done here.' 

When he was done with harvesting the loot, he put all of them into his inventory and strode onwards in a casual manner. He continued his search for the hidden piece he was looking for.