Chapter 165: Forty-Sixth Floor, Waiting Room (1)

The Omniscient Thunder Axe’s garden during the forty-fifth floor.

“Sir... While it is true some owe him their gratitude, a significant number within the Liberation Alliance remain uneasy. How much longer do you intend to turn a blind eye to Kwon Su-Hyeok?"

The figure being addressed paused. “He is a child who has emerged after four thousand years."

“Considering the outcome of those who clawed their way through legal loopholes to gain qualifications, surely you are aware of the precedent set by Kal-Lain."

“No. That child is special."

“Before obtaining the qualifications of a divine throne, Kal-Lain was no different. Just like in the past, that so-called ‘special’ trait can become a blade turned that is against us!"

“He will not be the same. That child has been marked by the tower itself."

“What do you mean by that...?"

“Enough."

“Is this... connected to why the Master of the Five Wheels has not revealed himself?"

***

I silently watched Kasaan as he clung to the unconscious woman, tears streaming down his face.

Hmm...

I reminisced about my adventures with Doppy. From the start, he had proved himself a reliable helper and comrade. I had met him on the lower floors when I was still clueless, and as a priest, he had provided invaluable assistance.

To be completely honest, with how prone I was to injuries at that time, I relied on Doppy a lot.

Even so, he had taken quite some time to become fully capable of defending himself.

Now I have to deal with escorting a level 2...

The forty-seventh floor was fast approaching. I didn’t have the luxury of time to nurture a nine-year-old troll. Even if his mom—a level 42 powerhouse—joined us, I would rather decline.

Wait, am I getting ahead of myself?

Maybe I was jumping to conclusions. Just because the situation felt similar to before didn’t mean the tower was guaranteed to assign Kasaan as a climbing companion this time.

Besides, they are mother and son...

Surely the tower wouldn’t separate them right after their reunion.

Honestly, having them tag along wouldn’t be a reward but a burden. The tower had consistently offered proper rewards up until now. I doubted it would force Kasaan and Etora to become my climbing assistants.

As I mulled over my thoughts, Etora slowly opened her eyes. She glanced around briefly before gazing fixedly at me. Though a bit disoriented, she grasped the general situation.

Without hesitation, she bowed her head deeply. “Savior... thank you. I am forever indebted to you for your great kindness.”

Her words felt strange to hear, although perhaps that was because she had been a grotesque creature attacking us until moments ago.

Feeling slightly awkward, I exchanged glances with my party members before shaking my head. “I only did what needed to be done.”

“It could not have been easy. Thank you so much for saving me and my son.”

“Ah, yes. Although, could you share what exactly happened here?”

“What do you mean...?”

“I mean, about the trolls and those insect monsters. Earlier, you mentioned the trolls were abandoned.”

Ha Hee-Jeong had shared her theories, but I wanted to confirm the facts. As climbers, the information we could gather was limited.

At my question, Etora cast a troubled look toward Kasaan, who was snuggling into her embrace. After stroking Kasaan’s head gently, she turned back to us with a hesitant expression.

Sensing her reluctance, I pressed further. “Were you abandoned by the god you worship?”

She lowered her gaze sorrowfully. “That is not it. The Master of the Hive and his children have simply always despised the trolls.”

“The reason being... some ‘original sin’?”

“Yes. I’ve heard that due to the hatred between our ancestors and the Master of the Hive’s children, our ancestors slew countless insects.”

“The Master of the Hive,

hmm

. Then did you only just learn that the trolls had a god of their own?”

“Yes, I only realized after meeting them moments ago. A god who wields power like ours. I believe they are our true god.”

“I see. There’s still something I’m curious about. What is this city, exactly?”

“This place is a realm of punishment.”

A realm of punishment?

My expression likely reflected my confusion since Etora elaborated, “We trolls were conscripted periodically to cleanse ourselves of our original sin.”

“Ah... and what did you mean when you said the humans here are trolls that abandoned their heritage?”

Despite her weary appearance, Etora continued answering my questions sincerely. “A troll’s power comes from their horns. But since the Master of the Hive’s children target trolls above all else, they chose to sever their horns to survive even a little longer.”

Having addressed my curiosity, I felt like I was beginning to understand the situation. According to Etora, their god had disappeared long ago. During that time, the trolls had been tormented by the insect god, the Master of the Hive.

If she uses the term "original sin," that seems like a pretty good indication that the trolls also inflicted torment on the insects.

After their god’s defeat, the trolls were forced to endure the hatred they had once inflicted. This entire situation was the result of hate breeding more hate—a grim cycle of retribution.

Based on appearances alone, I felt instinctively biased toward the trolls, but without knowing the full context, it was impossible to determine who was truly in the right. All I could do was feel sympathy for those who suffered despite having committed no apparent wrongdoing.

Etora interrupted my thoughts. “You deserve more thanks than this, but... this is all I can offer.”

She swept her hand through the air, and a small club, roughly the size of Seo Ho-Su’s forearm, materialized out of thin air. She then stood up, carefully and reverently holding the club with both hands as she presented it to me.

[Troll’s Club]

- Creates items.

- Uses remaining: 3.

* Warning: Attempting to create items that exceed a reasonable limit may consume uses without producing results.

The ability to conjure items, even if it couldn’t exceed an unknown “reasonable limit,” seemed incredibly versatile, especially with how spontaneous the tower’s trials could be.

Still, the fact that the limit wasn’t explicitly defined made me slightly uneasy.

“Do you know what the ‘reasonable limit’ the club mentions is?”

“You cannot infringe upon the authority of the gods or produce anything capable of violating it.”

“Thank you.”

Etora smiled warmly. “No, it is we who should be thanking you. In truth, considering the grace you have shown us, this hardly feels adequate.”

Her expression seemed bright despite her exhaustion.

I glanced at my party members while holding the club. They exchanged smiles and nodded, silently giving their approval for me to keep it.

And then, as if to mark the Troll’s Club as the final reward for this floor, a notification window appeared.

[Calculation of additional experience points completed.]

[The abandoned city’s level cap is 100, but due to Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok’s extraordinary achievements, the limit has been removed.]

[Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok’s stats have been raised by 10% of his total levels. Final level: 113.]

Now I understood why my rewards had taken so long to calculate. Typically, climbers above level 50 were transferred to the waiting room, at which point the tower would calculate their bonus experience points and then grant them stats according to their final level.

However, in my case, surpassing level 100 had left the system scrambling to process what my final level should be—likely causing errors behind the scenes.

[Congratulations. Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has conquered the forty-fifth floor of the Tower of Ordeal: The Abandoned City. Achievement points will be calculated.]

[Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok is the highest-level climber in Zone 1. He additionally completed the hidden missions ‘Punisher and Savior’ and ‘Redemption’ by slaying the Punisher and freeing Etora from her curse.]

[Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has been awarded 27,846 achievement points. Total achievement points: 150,051.]

As the notifications updated, my vision shifted. Unlike the usual blinding light that accompanied my transfers into the waiting room, this time, darkness enveloped me.

Suspended in the familiar weightlessness, another notification appeared.

[The party with the highest average level in Zone 1 is ‘Kwon Su-Hyeok’s Party.’]

[As a reward, each party member may select one skill* currently in their possession to acquire permanently. *Warning: The selected skill will be reset to level 1.]

[Please make your decision.]

...

My status window hovered above the darkness, but I barely spared it a glance. I already knew what to expect, having discussed the reward with Ha Hee-Jeong beforehand. I had also decided in advance which skill to choose.

“Thousand-Pound Mace.”

[Confirm selection: Thousand-Pound Mace?]

“Yes.”

[You have gained Thousand-Pound Mace level 1.]

[Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok will now enter the waiting room.]

As soon as I confirmed my selection, the floating sensation intensified, and my vision faded into blinding white.

***

[Other climbers have not yet cleared the forty-fifth floor.]

[There is no time limit. Please take a rest.]

I wasn’t surprised that the other zones hadn’t cleared the forty-fifth floor, although unfortunately, that meant there wasn’t a timeframe for when the next floor would start.

Stretching out my senses, I felt the familiar flood of skills I had missed, like Lightning Essence and Awareness.

A subtle rush of exhilaration swept over me as I surveyed the waiting room. Ryun and Doppy sat at a desk, staring intently at something spread across its surface. Judging by the board, it looked like they were playing

Go

.

“Su-Yeok! You’re back! Good work out there!”

“You’re... finally here...”

They barely looked up before returning their focus to the game.

Wait, was that it? Just a casual greeting after everything I have been through?

I almost laughed at the absurdity of it, but before I could comment, Ryun irritably grumbled, “It’s... not there...”

“No way! You said it was here!”

“I told you... it was the spot... next to it...”

“Don’t lie! No take-backs!”

Unbelievable.

They had played

Go

for days, barely acknowledged my return, and then just went back to bickering over a board game. I shook my head and let out a sigh.

Better to leave them to it.

Turning away, I approached the corner where my equipment was neatly arranged and summoned 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: 177.9

Agility: 177.1

Stamina: 178.4

Mana: 168.2

Skills: Lightning Essence lvl 12, ... Ghost Step lvl 1, Demon Slayer lvl 1, Thousand-Pound Mace lvl 1, Savior lvl 1.

An increase of precisely 11.3 points per stat welcomed me back. For clearing just two floors, it was an incredibly satisfying boost.

My eyes shifted to my skill list. I intended to review my newly acquired Thousand-Pound Mace skill, but instead, my attention was drawn to another entry—Savior.

Savior? What is this skill supposed to do?

I didn’t know when I had unlocked it either. Though one thing did come to mind.

Punisher and Savior.

Rewards would commonly go unannounced, so I didn’t find it particularly strange. However, what bothered me was the mystery surrounding it. Most skills offered hints about their function through their names, but Savior provided no obvious clues.

I decided to message Ha Hee-Jeong immediately.

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-sixth Floor): Hey, Hee-Jeong.

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-sixth Floor): What’s up?

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-sixth Floor): I just got a skill called Savior. Do you know what it does?

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-sixth Floor): Savior? No idea. I’ve never heard of it before.

Even Ha Hee-Jeong didn’t recognize it. That only made me more curious. It didn’t seem like a skill that could be obtained easily.

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-sixth Floor): I think it’s connected to saving the city or defeating Trozen.

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-sixth Floor): Hold on a second. I used to have a skill that looked similar to that.

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-sixth Floor): What was it?

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-sixth Floor): It was called Arsonist.

I couldn’t even begin to guess how she acquired a skill like that or what it did.

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-sixth Floor): What does the skill do?

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-sixth Floor): The more arson you commit, the higher the skill level gets. And as it levels up, it provides bonuses to actions related to arson.

So that means Savior could work in a similar way? Would my skill level increase the more I performed acts of “liberation”? Does that also mean it would enhance my abilities when I save people?

That seemed like a reasonable assumption.

Just as I was beginning to piece it together, another question crept into my mind.

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Forty-sixth Floor): Wait a second. How did you even get a skill called Arsonist?

- Ha Hee-Jeong (Forty-sixth Floor): Huh? Oh...

There was a long pause before she responded again.