Chapter 191: Fiftieth Floor, Friendly Match (3)

[Capture the other factions’ tails!]

The Subren climbers’ strategy seemed to be straightforward. They hadn’t yet unleashed their full force, leading me to believe that they planned to keep us at bay until the Kosharks managed to eliminate the Turinas’ Tail.

Once the Turinas fell and the Subrens retreated back into the sky, the Kosharks’ next logical target would inevitably be us.

Of course, I had no intention of standing idly by and allowing their plan to succeed. Moreover, they had made the fatal error of underestimating the extent of my capabilities.

Pushing off the ground, I launched myself into the air. I infused my axe with mana as I swung my axe wide across my body, and it thrummed powerfully through the sky. Charged with an immense amount of mana, the axe unleashed a lightning arc over forty meters long that slashed across the sky.

The arc devastated the charging Subrens caught in its path. Stepping through the air, I used the falling, bisected bodies as temporary footholds to propel myself higher.

Within seconds, I reached the center of their formation. Without hesitation, I manifested my lightning-infused Aura to block their escape routes.

Just to ensure their swift defeat, I utilized half of my mana reserves to unleash bolts of lightning in every direction. A tempest of electricity raged across the sky.

“Graaah!”

“Urgh... Ack—”

Subrens convulsed violently within the storm, unable to withstand the relentless onslaught. A few managed to endure briefly, likely protected by defensive skills, but it made no difference.

Their Tail was already plummeting toward the ground.

I leaped again, intercepting the falling figure, and grabbed hold of their tail. Unlike my snake-like tail, this one was covered in fur, similar to a mammal’s.

With a firm tug, the tail came free from the Subren's body.

After deactivating Flash Strike, I let out a satisfied smirk as the tail let out a lamenting cry. “What? How could this happen? If we’d fought at close range, I could have helped you!”

Though it had voiced its disappointment, it didn’t try to return to its previous host or even offer significant resistance.

Listening to its complaints confirmed what I already suspected: forming a bond with the tail could be crucial in securing victory in the exhibition match. This made me curious about what abilities Yoonie possessed.

I pondered the question briefly, but a notification interrupted my thoughts.

[Earth has captured a tail. Current number of captured tails: 2.]

After glancing at the message, I landed lightly on the ground. Moments later, thousands of Subren corpses rained down around me.

Thud, thud, thud—

The few remaining Subrens, looking utterly lost, took to the skies, clearly intending to put as much distance between us as possible.

Earth’s climbers didn’t need to concern themselves with them anymore.

The Earthlings had come to a complete halt, their movements frozen mid-stride. They looked on blankly, their disbelief palpable as their gazes wandered aimlessly from the empty sky to the lifeless Subren bodies strewn around.

Finally, everyone stared disbelievingly at me.

“Holy fuck, that was insane.”

“Those were climbers just like us, ones who reached the fiftieth floor.”

“Is this even possible?”

“Unreal. Absolutely unreal.”

Amidst the awe-struck stares, I detected a trace of fear in some of their eyes. To be honest, I wasn’t particularly bothered by it. Instead, my attention turned to Yoonie.

Though still limp, she appeared to be alive. Contrary to my initial fears, it seemed unlikely that she would perish from this ordeal.

“Hmm?”

A sudden quiet on the opposite side of the plain caught my attention. The fierce clash between the Kosharks and the Turinas had ceased, leaving an eerie silence in its place.

Turning to look, I saw that both groups had frozen mid-battle, gazing fixedly at us. In the stillness, I could almost hear their thoughts.

They probably think they are in serious trouble now.

As expected, after a brief, heated exchange, the Kosharks and Turinas turned toward us. In what seemed like an instant, they had ceased fighting and formed an impromptu alliance.

The sight of the Subrens being obliterated in a single strike had clearly shaken them to their core.

Still, it wasn’t a cause for concern.

I glanced back at the climbers and commanded, “Prepare for battle!”

Though some were still stuck in a state of disbelief, they seemed composed, and their faces showed no sign of unease.

Earth’s warriors echoed my command with conviction, “Prepare for battle!”

Alexei, standing beside me, broke into a playful grin. “Prepare for battle? What for? You’re just going to wipe them all out on your own again, aren’t you?”

She had spoken loudly enough for the nearby climbers to burst into laughter.

Farther away, some climbers exchanged quizzical remarks as if wondering what had been so funny or whether their help was even necessary. I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly.

Still chuckling, Alexei turned and addressed the others, “Alright, enough jokes! Do as Kwon Su-Hyeok says! Even if he’s strong, the other climbers vastly outnumber the Subrens!”

Once again, the climbers vigorously echoed the command, “Prepare for battle!”

Alexei gave me a look, signaling that it was time.

I nodded briefly before surging forward. “Charge!”

The ground trembled under the thundering footsteps of the assembled climbers. Predictably, the Kosharks outpaced the Turinas.

Leading the charge was a familiar Koshark, now their Tail—Turen.

It has been a while. I still haven’t forgotten our charge, though.

Although our stint as comrades had been all the way back on the sixteenth floor, the memory of that charge held a certain charm, even now.

Meeting my gaze from a distance, Turen grinned. Somehow, the grin carried a multitude of meanings. A similar smile tugged at my lips. We both understood that personal camaraderie and friendly matches were entirely separate matters.

Thinking ahead, I realized I needed to carve a path through the Kosharks. Targeting a precise position along their frontlines, I swung my axe and released an arc of Aura.

The Kosharks at the front leaped to evade it, but only a handful managed to time their movements perfectly.

“Gaaaah!”

“Ugh!”

The blade of Aura decimated the leading ranks, but it didn’t stop there. It continued its path of devastation, causing thousands to crumble beneath one strike.

Of course, Turen skillfully avoided the lightning, but it hardly mattered. With the majority of Earth’s climbers unarmed and charging recklessly, I aimed to finish this quickly, ideally within a minute.

Even if they won’t die permanently, I don’t want my allies to suffer unnecessarily.

The remaining Kosharks were roughly five hundred meters away now.

Before the frontlines collided, I activated Flash Strike once more; the advancing Kosharks froze mid-charge, seemingly moving through honey.

Having already eliminated the Subren Tail, it didn’t matter in which order I captured the rest.

My muscles tensed and released in rapid succession as I closed the five-hundred-meter gap in moments. The Kosharks, having their strongest member lead, made identifying my target simple.

Well, I am sorry, Turen. We can catch up later.

Silently bidding him farewell, I grabbed his tail.

A sudden jolt of lightning coursed through it—not from me, but from the tail itself. Turen’s tail seemed to possess the innate ability to discharge electricity.

However, as someone who had mastered Lightning Essence, these mere sparks posed no threat to me.

The silver tail detached with ease, and another notification appeared.

[Earth has captured a tail. Current number of captured tails: 3.]

Once I registered the message, I unhesitatingly tore through the Koshark ranks. With sufficient mana in reserve, I managed to eliminate the Turina Tail just before Flash Strike dissipated.

[Earth has captured a tail. Current number of captured tails: 4.]

[Tail Tag has concluded. The climbers of planet Earth have claimed first place.]

A ripple of confusion spread across the plain.

“W-what’s going on?!”

“What just happened?”

Naturally, the sudden events left them bewildered. After all, the match had ended in the blink of an eye.

A nearby Turina spotted me and pointed a trembling finger in my direction. “Th-that’s the one!”

The one? Isn’t that a little harsh?

I smiled faintly and gave the four tails in my hand a slight wave.

The Turinas stared, frozen in uncertainty, when the notification updated again.

[Climbers will now be transported to the rest area.]

Separately, a window appeared directly in front of me.

[Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has completed the hidden mission ‘Sever Your Own Tail,’ earning the spirit, Yoonie.]

Wait a moment. I earned the spirit, Yoonie? What is that supposed to mean? Does this mean I have been permanently saddled with that insolent tail?

Before I could fully grasp the situation, a blinding white light consumed my vision.

***

[All aggressive actions are strictly prohibited within the rest area. Climbers are invited to rest and relax as much as they would like. Time remaining: 55 hours 46 minutes.]

“Come on! We need first place!”

“Ha Hee-Jeong, we’re counting on you!”

The rest area buzzed with anticipation as everyone waited for the conclusion of the mage exhibition match. The warrior, priest, and archer matches had already finished. So far, Earth had taken first place in the warrior match, second in the priest, and third in the archer.

Just like Ha Hee-Jeong’s previous life, the Subrens had secured first place in both the priest and archer matches.

Since I had made sure they took fourth in the warrior showdown, we just needed Ha Hee-Jeong to secure first. Unlike the other climbers, I didn’t feel even slightly nervous. Her victory was certain, as was our overall triumph.

The only reason for the delay was simple. Ha Hee-Jeong likely didn’t know about the Subrens’ current standings. She was probably still working to ensure they ranked fourth in the mage match.

That aside, what should I do about this?

I shifted my gaze to Yoonie, who was resting in my palm.

Thankfully, she hadn’t reattached herself to me. Still resembling a pink snake, Yoonie lay motionless and appeared deceptively harmless.

She was quiet at least—for now.

Immediately after arriving in the rest area, Yoonie had caused quite the commotion, forcing me to knock her out with a burst of lightning.

Ugh. She is only going to cause more trouble once she wakes up.

Instead of feeling like I had earned a reward, it felt like I had been burdened with unnecessary baggage. Apparently, Yoonie was a spirit, but I still had no idea what she was capable of.

Should I just hand her off to someone else? She did seem fond of Alexei.

As I debated internally, the mages were summoned to the rest area. Then, a message from the tower materialized before us.

[Planet Earth has taken first in the fiftieth-floor exhibition match.]

[Every climber from Earth will receive 2 points in every stat. Additionally, their skills will level up twice on the fifty-first floor.]

As expected, we had succeeded. More importantly, however, the rewards proved to be as valuable as anticipated.

Cheers erupted across the rest area.

“Wow! I knew you’d pull through!”

“

Woohoo!

Let’s go, mages!”

“Well done!”

“First place, baby!”

Even climbers I didn’t recognize were hugging each other, their faces glowing with euphoria. For something as simple as a friendly match, the sense of camaraderie among us had grown remarkably strong.

While the others celebrated, Ha Hee-Jeong spotted me and approached, displaying a triumphant smile. She was clearly satisfied with the results.

“We got first place! Great work. So, how did the warrior class...” She trailed off as she noticed Yoonie. “Wait, what’s that?”

“This? She’s a reward from a hidden mission. No idea if she’s useful for anything.”

After I explained what had happened during the match, her expression darkened instantly. “So this thing almost caused everything to fall apart?”

“Well, yeah. If we had let her continue her tantrum, we wouldn’t have been able to ensure the Subrens took last.”

“Can I borrow her for a while?”

“

Huh?

Why? Are you planning to use her? I mean, she seems to like women, so she’ll probably listen to you better.”

She shook her head firmly. “No, just for a day. I’ll make sure this insolent brat learns some manners.”

Her confident tone caused me to nod instinctively.

Why does she seem strangely excited about this?

***

The Community of the Dead during Ha Hee-Jeong’s previous life, on the fiftieth floor.

[Damn it, why do they keep coming back to life but not me?!]

[This isn’t the same as us dying during trials!]

[What’s the difference?]

[Ugh, you idiot.]

[Just think of it as a sports tournament.]

[It’s still frustrating as hell.]

[What’s there to complain about? Be thankful you even have a spirit left.]

[By the way, did you see how shocked the climbers were earlier?]

[Can you blame them? Watching people like them get massacred in seconds would shake anyone.]

[They always knew Kwon Su-Hyeok was strong, but they didn’t realize they were like minnows before a shark.]

[Exactly. If anyone dared to mess with Kwon Su-Hyeok before, they definitely won’t now.]