Chapter 25: Seventh Floor, The Eerie Forest and the Mad Weretigers (2)

[Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok’s party must kill at least three weretigers. If they kill more than five, the Weretiger King will appear. Time remaining: 4 hours 42 minutes.]

[Number of weretigers killed by Kwon Su-Hyeok's party: 0/3]

Despite my earlier resolve to embrace any potential consequences, I found myself holding back, unable to attack the weretigers with my full force.

“Grragh!”

A weretiger charged at me from the right, and I swung my mace at its shoulder. I heard its bones shatter from my strike.

Crunch!

The weretiger staggered, clutched its now-sunken shoulder, and then collapsed.

Of course, I hadn’t hit it with all my strength. I was being careful, aiming only to incapacitate and not to kill. Every strike I made was measured and deliberate.

“Su-Hyeok! Slow down a bit!”

Cole’s shout from behind prompted me to swing my lightning-wreathed mace ahead of me in a wide arc. The lightning crackled outward, causing the weretigers to hesitate. Seizing the moment, I glanced back at my team.

I was positioned at the head of the group while Ha Hee-Jeong and Seo Ho-Su covered our rear. Cole, Doppy, and Seo Ha-Rin were sandwiched between us, supporting the rest of us.

“Are we slowing down for Ha-Rin and Doppy?”

“Yeah, they’re starting to tire out. We’ve been running for too long.”

As I had expected, the priests were the first to show signs of fatigue. The weretigers had been relentlessly chasing us for over fifty minutes now.

... They have held out long enough.

Honestly, I hadn’t expected them to last for this long.

The mist that clung to the forest had softened the ground and turned it into a quagmire. Each step seemed to pull at our feet as if the earth itself was trying to drag us down.

While it wasn’t too much of a problem for me, the priests were clearly struggling. Their legs must have been growing heavier with each step. Thankfully, everyone had taken the Physical Enhancement Potion before we started climbing the seventh floor, and the boost to their stats was already paying off.

“Ha-Rin! Doppy! Start casting vitality spells on yourselves from now on!”

Until now, the priests had been exclusively casting spells on Seo Ho-Su and me. It made sense then, as we were the ones doing the most physically demanding work. Now that I still had plenty of stamina left and Seo Ho-Su seemed to be holding up fine, we had to adapt our strategy.

After shouting out the command, I focused on our front again. Just before I finished turning, I glimpsed Seo Ha-Rin and Doppy nodding in acknowledgment.

“Okay!”

“

Kriee

! Understood!”

At least they were still hanging in there. Their energetic responses brought a faint smile to my lips as I swung my mace at the weretigers closing in on us again.

“Ugh!”

“Grragh!”

One of the weretigers took a direct hit from my mace and collapsed, losing its balance.

Before I pulled my mace back, another one charged at me from the opposite side. I raised my shield and struck it under the chin, then quickly dropped my stance, following up with a kick to its shin.

Snap.

The weretiger’s bone broke with a sickening crack, and its leg twisted grotesquely.

“Raaagh!”

Since the fallen weretiger lay on our escape path, I couldn’t just leave it there. I kicked the weretiger in the chest, sending it flying backward until it slammed into a tree trunk. Its head snapped back with a loud thud. Leaves rained down from the impact.

... Fuck. I hope I didn’t kill it.

***

[Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok’s party must kill at least three weretigers. If they kill more than five, the Weretiger King will appear. Time remaining: 4 hours 11 minutes.]

[Number of weretigers killed by Kwon Su-Hyeok's party: 0/3]

“To the left!”

We had been locked in this relentless chase for over an hour and a half now. This eerie forest seemed to stretch on endlessly, with no end in sight despite our constant running.

Of course, we had been constantly changing direction, dodging the weretigers as best we could, while we fled.

But seriously, shouldn’t something have shown up by now?

“Shit! Not a single rock to lean on in this cursed forest!”

“Ho-Su! Watch out on your right!”

We had only seen dense trees, mist, and charging weretigers. It was so monotonous that I began to wonder if we were trapped in an illusion. The only silver lining was that the weretigers’s pursuit had lessened somewhat.

“They’ve definitely thinned out behind us!”

“I see the same thing in front of us!”

It seemed there wasn’t an endless horde of weretigers after all. The more we incapacitated, the weaker their pursuit became.

“Let’s catch our breath. But keep moving.”

We slowed our pace slightly, taking advantage of the brief respite.

Seo Ha-Rin and Doppy’s stamina had dropped dangerously low. Slowing down meant risking encirclement by the weretigers, but we had no choice. We had no idea what else lay ahead. For now, we needed to take a breather, even if only for a moment.

***

[Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok’s party must kill at least three weretigers. If they kill more than five, the Weretiger King will appear. Time remaining: 3 hours 24 minutes.]

[Number of weretigers killed by Kwon Su-Hyeok's party: 1/3]

Although we had tried our best to avoid killing one of the weretigers, it was inevitable that we would slip up eventually.

After a brief rest, Seo Ha-Rin and Doppy regained some of their strength. Unfortunately, the short rest gave enough time for the number of weretigers pursuing us to swell into the hundreds once again. They must have gathered while we traveled more slowly.

This was still within the range of what we expected. The real problem arose when their numbers suddenly surged again. No matter how hard we tried to avoid killing them, keeping everything under control was impossible in such chaos.

Cole had aimed for a weretiger’s shoulder but hit another’s forehead instead. Although we had only killed one, we resolved to be even more cautious with our attacks.

Naturally, the more careful we were, the faster our stamina drained.

***

[Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok’s party must kill at least three weretigers. If they kill more than five, the Weretiger King will appear. Time remaining: 2 hours 43 minutes.]

[Number of weretigers killed by Kwon Su-Hyeok's party: 1/3]

Finally, our group’s stamina hit its limit. Our pace slowed noticeably, and the number of weretigers surrounding us only grew.

There were still about three hours left. Half of our allotted time had passed, but we were already exhausted.

I still had energy in reserve, but the others were struggling. Even Ha Hee-Jeong was gasping for breath. Despite the situation, she offered no advice or guidance, simply focusing on using as little mana as possible to keep herself in the fight.

And that was when it hit me.

The seventh floor, this eerie forest, wasn’t a place we could clear by simply running away.

This doesn’t make any sense.

Even if Ha Hee-Jeong wasn’t using her full strength, our party was still ranked at the top. Every member of our group was ranked in the top ten on the leaderboard.

Kill the Weretiger King or offer a sacrifice.

The seventh floor forced a choice upon you, overwhelm the challenge with sheer power or sacrifice a teammate. If we kept running, we would only exhaust ourselves and have no strength to face the Weretiger King.

That fucking notification window. No wonder a climber can’t trust it. Even when it tells the truth, whoever reads it is left doubting everything.

It was like the tower itself didn’t want us to climb any higher. If I were any other climber, this would have been a real problem...

But honestly, I don’t think I’ll lose to the Weretiger King.

It was a thought that had sprung into my head earlier, even when I had opposed the others’ suggestions at the start of the floor. Yet, I stubbornly chose to flee, thinking it would help us grow as a party.

“If you go in knowing everything, you stop using your head.”

Since hearing Ha Hee-Jeong’s words, I came to realize that her advice applied not just to knowledge but to strength as well.

If I had overwhelming power, I could just crush anything that stood in my party’s way. But what if we encountered something that couldn’t be beaten with brute force? What then?

On the fourth and fifth floors, brute force hadn’t been the answer. My team and I couldn’t always rely on luck to get through those situations.

Karaksh, Queen Seraphim, and now the Weretiger King.

When overwhelming power was necessary, it should be employed. When it wasn’t, we needed to problem-solve and tackle the tower’s trials like any other climber. And if I wanted to allow my teammates to shoulder some of the burden, this was even more crucial.

Ha Hee-Jeong had recognized Cole Grouse and Seo Ha-Rin as talented individuals. Seo Ho-Su, though absent from her first life’s memories, was proving to be quite capable also.

If I relied solely on my strength to get through every situation, what would happen to my party?

These people had so much potential, and I would only stunt their growth if I only used my strength.

And now, on the seventh floor, it was time to show the world what our team could do by working together.

“Grragh!”

As if reading my thoughts, a wall of flames over three meters high flared up around our group. Ha Hee-Jeong had decided enough was enough. The advancing weretigers recoiled, startled by the sudden barrier.

“So, what now?” Ha Hee-Jeong asked calmly, her face displaying a serene expression.

Beneath the calmness, I could see a faint glimmer of anticipation in her eyes.

“Hee-Jeong.”

The decision had already been made. It was time to end this relentless chase.

“Put out the fire.”

Ha Hee-Jeong grinned, and the wall of flames dissipated gradually from the ground up. As the fire receded, we saw the weretigers’ legs and tails come into view.

The real battle was about to begin.

I felt liberated as I resolved to stop running, feeling a sense of lightness spread from my heart to the rest of my body. Everything I had held back for over three hours felt like it was about to explode all at once. I was ready to charge in and scream, all in the name of our growth and uncovering the true purpose of the seventh floor.

“Come at me, you damn tigers.”

The moment the hovering wall of fire completely disappeared, I kicked off the ground and charged toward the weretigers. The wind brushing against my cheeks felt exhilarating.

The first weretiger lunged at me, and I slammed my lightning-charged mace straight down on its crown. There was a sickening crack as its skull shattered.

Two.

More weretigers leaped at me from all directions.

I swung my shield, knocking away a weretiger charging at my left. Then, I quickly ducked to avoid the set of claws coming from my right. Going on the offensive, I drove my mace upward into a weretiger’s abdomen, sending a surge of lightning through its entire body as the mace tore through its flesh.

Three.

I brought the mace down onto the chest of the weretiger I had knocked down with my shield. Its ribs cracked as the mace drove deep into its chest, and its eyes rolled back.

Four.

Each swing of my mace signaled the end for another weretiger Just two more strikes, and the King would appear.

I lunged forward, kicking a weretiger squarely in the chest and sending it sprawling backward. Its claws slashed aimlessly at the air as it fell. As soon as its back hit the ground, I flicked my wrist and brought my mace down on its skull.

Crunch!

Bone and flesh mixed with brain matter as it splattered everywhere.

Five.

I could feel bits of flesh sliding down my cheek, but I didn’t care.

I sensed another weretiger leaping at me from behind... but it was already too late. I spun around, using the momentum from my twisting torso to swing my mace in a 180-degree arc. The force from the strike to its chest slammed the weretiger firmly into the ground.

Six.

Including the one Cole had taken down earlier, we had now killed six.

The notification window updated.

[Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok’s party must kill at least three weretigers. If they kill more than five, the Weretiger King will appear. Time remaining: 2 hours 35 minutes.]

[Number of weretigers killed by 'Kwon Su-Hyeok's Party': 6/3]

[The Weretiger King will now appear. Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok must either kill the Weretiger King or offer a sacrifice that satisfies the Weretiger King.]

A sacrifice? That wasn’t an option. Whether it was a king or an emperor, I would crush them all.

“Grrraaagh!”

A deafening roar echoed from the distance, far more powerful than any we had heard so far. There was no doubt that it was the Weretiger King.

We had killed six weretigers, and now it was time to face their king.