Chapter 147: Forty-Second Floor, Waiting Room

[5 hours 50 minutes until the rest period ends. Please take a rest.]

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-second Floor): HAHAHA is Ryun really that talkative?

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-second Floor): Ugh, I’m telling you, it’s relentless.

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-second Floor): But isn’t there a lot you can learn from a swordmaster?

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-second Floor): Yeah, that’s true, but still...

I paused mid-message and glanced over at Ryun, who was still attached to my axe. He was propped against a chair, and Doppy sat across from it.

“And then... Ilien... and I...”

Wait, isn’t this the same story he shared earlier?

Sure enough, Doppy looked thoroughly drained. He nodded lazily, likely out of politeness, and his expression betrayed sheer exhaustion, as if he was barely holding on.

I sighed faintly.

How could someone this verbal never tell the other ents why they refused to move the World Tree, about Sorien? Was it a matter of pride? Embarrassment?

Well, who knew if he would ever share at this point?

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-second Floor): You’ll understand when you meet him.

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-second Floor): You’re usually pretty good at listening to people. Just how bad is it? 😂

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-second Floor): Ugh, you’ll see. Just help me out once you do. Doppy and I can’t handle this alone.

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-second Floor): Ew, no thanks. You know I can’t stand overly talkative people.

Of course, locking Ryun in the mimic wasn’t an option either. For one, living beings couldn’t be placed inside it, and even if it were possible, doing that to him would feel downright cruel.

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-second Floor): Also, you just handed over the World Tree’s essence after getting it? No sneaking it out by any chance?

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-second Floor): Yeah, that was the trial. There was no way to smuggle it out or anything. Plus, my patron god is the planet’s deity.

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-second Floor): Hmm, it still feels like a missed opportunity.

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-second Floor): I did manage to grab a few leaves and branches...

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-second Floor): Well, those are sold in shops, but it’s nice to have them anyway.

From what she had explained, although the leaves and branches were useful, they weren’t particularly valuable. The leaves could be used as hemostatics or herbs, and the branches could be used for crafting weapons. Unfortunately, neither of us was skilled in those professions.

Still, if parts of World Trees are sold in shops, are they more common than I thought?

Considering how many worlds existed in this universe, it wasn’t entirely far-fetched.

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-second Floor): How about you? Was the forty-first floor manageable?

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-second Floor): For me? Yeah, it was straightforward since I already knew what to expect. Magic always does a much better job at taking down big monsters than melee weapons.

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-second Floor): That’s good to hear.

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-second Floor): Hey. Don’t be too annoyed about Ryun. Sure, he talks a lot, but you’re learning from a swordmaster. That’s a rare opportunity.

She brought up Ryun again, and as I typed my reply, I cast another glance his way. He couldn’t see the messages, but I still felt a pang of guilt.

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-second Floor): True, but if he’s already this talkative, I dread to think how talkative he’ll be once we get closer.

Thankfully, he seemed utterly absorbed in his conversation with Doppy.

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-second Floor): By the way, the achievement points this time felt a bit underwhelming.

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-second Floor): Really? How many did you get?

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-second Floor): Around 6,000. Doesn’t that seem low for a hidden mission?

I hadn’t dwelled on it much since I had gone straight into training with Ryun, but it had struck me as odd.

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-second Floor): Hmm? 6,000 points? I think that’s quite generous, actually.

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-second Floor): What do you mean?

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-second Floor): You’ve got Ryun now. He’s fused with your axe, probably enhancing it, and you’ll be learning combat techniques from a swordmaster. That’s far more valuable than a few thousand points.

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-second Floor): Oh... so they factor that in?

Her argument made sense. Sometimes, the gains you made during the trial were worth far more than the points awarded. In this case, I had gained an axe inhabited by a swordmaster.

Learning from someone like Ryun? That was priceless, worth far more than 50,000 points.

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-second Floor): The tower’s rewards are always fair. Haven’t you noticed this before?

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-second Floor): Honestly? I’ve never really compared my rewards.

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-second Floor): I thought you would have figured it out by now, especially since it makes evaluating your reward easier. If the tower rewards you with an item, the fewer points it additionally rewards, the more valuable that item is.

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-second Floor): Oh...

That was good to know. This way, I could even anticipate hidden missions. For instance, if the tower rewarded me with a seemingly unremarkable or worthless item, I would know that it had to be important.

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-second Floor): By the way, no matter how impressive Ryun was, wasn’t he just one opponent?

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-second Floor): ... Yeah.

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-second Floor): And weren’t the other climbers facing a single, powerful monster?

Now that she mentioned it, even if my trial and the other climbers’ weren’t exactly the same, they paralleled one another. If that pattern held, my forty-second floor would be structured similarly to the other climbers’.

Ha Hee-Jeong had previously described the forty-second floor as related to nest extermination.

Hmm, she mentioned an ant colony if I remember correctly.

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-second Floor): You guys had to deal with an ant colony, right? What do you think I’ll face?

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-second Floor): Hmm, maybe harpies? Werewolves? Sirens? There’s no shortage of options. Just be ready for one-versus-many combat.

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-second Floor): Makes sense. No point overthinking since it could even be something completely unexpected.

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-second Floor): Exactly. Just don’t get too relaxed.

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-second Floor): Huh?

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-second Floor): You faced an ent swordmaster on the forty-first floor. Who knows what kind of monsters you’ll face on the forty-second? Instead of wasting time worrying, go swing your axe a few more times now.

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-second Floor): Haha, okay, okay.

I couldn’t rebut her well-reasoned comment. The forty-first floor had already proven to be far more challenging than any of the floors in the thirties. Spending time honing my skills was a far better use of time than fretting about the unknown.

I opened my status window.

[Kwon Su-Hyeok (Earthling, C-66432)]

Title: Seeker of the Crossroads

Affiliation: None

Patron Deity: First class, Omniscient Thunder Axe (Share percentage: 0.00%(-?.??%) / 100.00%)

Strength: 162.2

Agility: 158.1

Stamina: 163.4

Mana: 150.6

Skills: Lightning Essence lvl 11, ... Axemanship lvl 9, Combat Focus lvl 25(+5), ... Scientist Do’s Composure lvl 2.

Inspecting my skills closely, I noticed that Scientist Do’s Composure had received the level-up reward from the previous floor. While it didn’t exactly leave me brimming with excitement, a mental-resilience-enhancing skill still had its uses.

On top of that, Axemanship and Combat Focus had leveled up twice and once, respectively. Axemanship had leveled up once during my fight with Ryun, and once again during my training with him, but it still wasn’t enough for me to unleash aura from my axe in the same way a swordmaster could unleash aura from their sword.

Even after training, I felt as though I were on the brink of a breakthrough, but the final piece of insight continued to elude me. Perhaps reaching level 10 in Axemanship would unlock the ability to wield aura.

Well, it isn’t guaranteed, but it is worth pursuing.

I rose abruptly from my bed. Sleep was out of the question, and, as Ha Hee-Jeong had advised, it seemed prudent to spend my time honing my skills further. Plus, unlocking aura before entering the next floor would be invaluable. Besides, I needed to relieve Doppy from listening duty, as he still required rest despite his growth.

“That time... with Sorien...” Ryun’s voice droned on, endlessly recounting his stories in a deliberate, drawn-out manner.

Doppy sat nearby, his legs swinging back and forth in a display of idle boredom. His expression betrayed a mix of exhaustion and indifference.

It was time to rescue Doppy.

“Ryun, let’s head to the training room. Can you watch my form?”

Doppy’s face lit up instantly, his relief palpable, and he looked at me reverently, as if I were his savior.

I gestured for him to take the bed. “Go ahead and rest, Doppy.”

“Thanks! I was just about to collapse!”

“Ah... that’s a... good idea... It reminds... me of... my younger... self...” Ryun mused, his voice tinged with nostalgia.

Oddly, his tone seemed slightly different now.

Less formal, perhaps? Or is it my imagination?

I didn’t linger on the thought. Before Ryun could launch into another wordy tangent, I grabbed the axe.

“Your impatience... with training... mirrors... my own.”

I just need to reach Axemanship level 10 and unleash aura...

I repeated my two objectives silently, using them as an anchor to push past Ryun’s incessant commentary.

Ironically, I had selected Ryun as my training partner for this session of combat training. Of course, I had lowered the difficulty level to something manageable.

With Ryun offering guidance, the training began. Unfortunately, less than ten minutes in, a wave of regret washed over me like an unrelenting tide.

“It’s like... watching... my younger self... sixty years ago.”

Ryun didn’t stop talking. Thinking that since it was only the first time, I reassured myself that I would eventually grow accustomed to his constant chatter.

Two hours later, my optimism proved to have been pointless. Disappointingly, I hadn’t managed to level up Axemanship or unlock aura.

***

[Welcome to the forty-second floor of the Tower of Ordeal: Ant Nest.]

[Exterminate the ant nest. Time remaining: 9 hours 59 minutes.]

The tower hadn’t given me such a succinct floor description in a long time. Typically, the messages contained enough detail to infer the presence of a hidden mission, but not this time.

It seemed like if I wanted to find a hidden mission, I would have to clear the floor as intended and hope to stumble my way into something.

That aside, I got the ant-extermination mission also?

Surprisingly, the tower had assigned me a floor that appeared to match what Ha Hee-Jeong had conquered in her previous life. Up to now, however, my individual challenge floors had been far more difficult than those of other climbers; they had also given me equally substantial rewards.

Because of that, I couldn’t tell if the Tower of Ordeal was giving me a breather or trying to trick me.

Maybe this really is a “breather” floor.

I swept my gaze around the area. The ant nest’s tunnels were about six meters wide, ample space for me to fight in.

A faint light filtered in from the tunnel behind me, but strangely enough, something sealed it. Expanding my senses, it felt like an invisible wall.

“What... are you... waiting for...? Why... aren’t you... moving already...?”

“Ryun! Su-Yeok needs time to think first!” Doppy chimed in, reprimanding our newest companion sharply.

“Is that... so?”

“The trials of the tower require careful consideration!”

“Ah... I see...”

Right. Ryun wasn’t fully aware of how I interacted with the tower’s notifications. Not that it mattered as Doppy’s explanation seemed sufficient for now.

I gripped my axe, its weight comforting me.

“Our objective is straightforward. All we need to do is wipe out the ant colony.”

“I see. So... the next trial... is nothing more than... an ant nest. It feels... not good...”

“It does feel a bit off,” I agreed.

I understood his sentiment perfectly. Shifting from facing a swordmaster to battling an ant colony certainly felt anticlimactic.

Still, given that this trial mirrored Ha Hee-Jeong’s, I could try and maximize my score. With a full ten hours at my disposal, conquering this floor appeared fairly easy.

Maybe I should try to speedrun this floor.

“Well then, let’s get moving.”

Not long after, I encountered the first ant monster, and as I faced the creature, a peculiar sense of unease crept up my spine.