Chapter 30: War, Peace, and Thieves (1)

Fortunately, Ha Hee-Jeong was right. Despite eating the Bear King's Gallbladder, there were no visible changes to my appearance. Now it seemed almost laughable that I had been worried about my skin changing color or my eyes taking on a different look, like what had happened to Seo Ho-Su.

All I felt was a surge of energy coursing through my body, filling me with strength.

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

Title: Seeker of the Crossroads

Affiliation: None

Patron Deity: First class, Omniscient Thunder Axe (Share percentage: 1.09% (-?.??%) / 100.00%)

Strength: 77.2 (-18)

Agility: 71.2 (-16)

Stamina: 73.7 (-17)

Mana: 42.8 (-11)

Skills: Lightning Essence lvl 5, Sixth Sense lvl 9, Indomitability lvl 14(+5)... Bear’s Blood lvl 7...

My stats had taken a significant hit after using the share percentage, although my status window conveniently displayed the stat reduction in parenthesis.

Interestingly, it seemed like consuming the Bear King’s Gallbladder restored some of my penalized stats. Although I was not particularly good at math, I roughly estimated about five percent of my stats had returned.

Wait, maybe not?

I hadn’t memorized my stats, so it was hard to be exact. Since I could always check the status window, I hadn’t seen a need to commit them to memory.

Well, let’s say it’s about five percent. That’s good enough.

That meant I only had to restore another fifteen percent of my stats until I was back to my normal condition. If I regained five percent on the eighth floor, another five percent on the ninth, and the last five percent on the tenth, I would return to my normal self by the eleventh floor.

Even if I didn’t have to battle on the eighth and tenth floors, I could earn some extra penalty reduction on the ninth floor if I fought well enough. Factoring in the five percent my stats would return by every floor, and the chance my stats would increase along the way...

Then theoretically, by the end of the ninth floor, or at least by the tenth floor, I would surpass my original stats.

On top of that, I have acquired the Bear’s Blood skill.

Surprisingly, the skill started off at level seven. Even the Seraphim Elixir hadn’t given me such a high-level skill. Considering how potent this elixir had been...

I am beginning to wonder if that bear really was one of our ancestors. Though, of course, that’s probably not the case.

To be honest, I wasn’t exactly sure what Bear’s Blood did. Regardless, I could feel a power surging through my body, potentially stronger than what my status window suggested. It was as if my physical abilities had somehow exceeded their usual limits.

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Eighth Floor): Ho-Su, do you know exactly what the Tiger’s Blood skill does?

- Seo Ho-Su (Eighth Floor): I’m not quite sure. It just feels like I’ve got a bit more strength.

I had asked Seo Ho-Su, hoping he might know more, but even he couldn’t give me a clear answer. Well, as long as it wasn’t a bad thing, there was no need to worry. More strength could only be a good thing.

Or so I thought—until I picked up the double-headed axe.

“Huh?”

I saw the same fleeting glimmer I had noticed when Seo Ho-Su grabbed his sword, and it happened the moment I gripped the axe. For a split second, I was certain I discerned a black light flicker across the axe—it was unmistakable.

The axe felt subtly lighter than it had before I took the Bear King’s Gallbladder, but the reduced weight wasn’t the only thing I noticed. It now seemed to fit perfectly in my hand, as if it had been custom-made for me.

Even more remarkable, the surging power from the Bear’s Blood skill felt noticeably stronger.

I recalled that Seo Ho-Su’s sword had mentioned in its description that it would reveal its true power when wielded by the Weretiger King. However, my axe didn’t have such an explanation.

[Bear King's Double-Headed Axe]

- A double-headed axe the Bear King intended to use as a human.

- Steeped in the Bear King's lingering grudge.

I checked the description again, wondering if I had missed something, but it was still the same. The only interesting note was that it was, “Steeped in the Bear King's lingering grudge.”

Could the Bear King’s resentment be manifesting through the Bear’s Blood?

It seemed highly likely. I couldn’t ignore the significant difference in how the axe felt before and after taking the Bear King’s Gallbladder. It was just like how Seo Ho-Su’s sword revealed its true power thanks to the Tiger’s Blood skill...

It turned out that the Bear’s Blood wasn’t just an incredible elixir, but also granted additional powerful benefits.

I hadn’t had the chance to test it in battle yet, so I wasn’t sure if the axe was the perfect weapon for me. However, I couldn’t deny there was a synergy between the Bear’s Blood and the Bear King's Double-Headed Axe. When wielding this axe, it felt like I could tap into my full, unpenalized strength.

If I wield this axe, the twenty percent stat restriction won’t be much of a problem.

I swung the axe a few times to test it out. The room was cramped, causing Doppy to squeal and scurry into a corner, but I felt satisfied. With each swing, my confidence in the weapon grew.

This would do nicely. After a bit more practice, I finally tossed the axe aside and threw myself onto the bed.

Come to think of it, the Community...

I remembered posting a summary in the Community about the tower’s sponsorship system. Since the information was given to every climber when they cleared the seventh floor, it didn’t get as much attention as a strategy guide might have.

Still, I appreciated receiving comments like, “Thanks for the summary,” and “Thank you for organizing this.” Each of those responses was a small victory for me, so I was satisfied.

After all, I needed to maintain my good image.

[Everyone, shut up and bow to Mr. Kwon Su-Hyeok.]

[Eric Hockman (Rank 13,891) is a crazy bastard. Don’t group with him.]

[People really show their true colors in a crisis. He ran off on his own, lol.]

[Thank you, Kwon Su-Hyeok. Thank you so much.]

[The mage Lauren Slater (Rank 239,284) is a total troll, ugh.]

[Kwon Su-Hyeok summarized it. Read it carefully.]

[So, what’s the deal with sponsorships and share percentage? Is it okay to accept sponsorships?]

[Haha, I got a skill through sponsorship, this is awesome!]

When I checked the Community again, it was a whirlwind of activity, filled with climbers who had just cleared the seventh floor.

No, "activity" wasn’t the right word—it was absolute chaos. There were posts thanking me for strategy guides, heated arguments between party members, and endless questions about the sponsorship system.

Hmm, it’s total pandemonium.

I quickly exited the Community. I had hoped to find serious discussions or insightful theories about the sponsorship system, but...

Maybe if I dug deeper, I could unearth something worthwhile. However, I had no desire to wade through the chaos any longer. They would sort things out eventually, and I was sure some useful ideas would surface.

I’ll check back later. Besides, I need to prepare for the eighth floor.

***

[15 minutes 31 seconds until the rest period ends. Please take a rest.]

Finally! I was about to ascend to the eighth floor.

One thing I had learned from this experience was that waiting indefinitely in the waiting room was pure torture. The cramped room offered little in the way of entertainment, wasn’t spacious enough for a proper workout, and contained no distractions to help pass the time.

Chatting with my party members had been fun for a while, but we quickly ran out of things to talk about. At the time, most climbers were still stuck on the seventh floor, so even the Community had little to offer.

At least I had Doppy to keep me company, but even it got tired after a couple of hours and collapsed from exhaustion. A shared party rest area would have been nice...

So this is how they felt.

I began to understand the frustration of those who had cursed me back on the fifth floor.

How irritated they must have been, waiting so long just because of me!

Now that I grasped their feelings, I felt a bit more sympathetic. Finding a way to pass the time on my own would be something I needed to work on.

After all, I am ranked first...

It was clear that situations like this would only become more common. Our party would only continue to steamroll through floors that included the entire party. With Ha Hee-Jeong and me taking the lead, our party should have no problem conquering any challenge the tower threw our way. However, if we ran into this situation again where every climber was required to advance together, that would be a different story.

We would end up waiting indefinitely again.

I needed a solution as soon as possible. There was only so much time I could spend reviewing battles and planning my growth.

Hmm, I’ll think about this more later.

If I couldn’t figure it out on my own, I could always ask Ha Hee-Jeong. She had been in the tower long enough to learn some tricks for passing the time in the waiting room.

Alright, it’s time to move on to the eighth floor.

As a message flashed before me, my vision brightened.

[Time remaining: 0 minutes 00 seconds. Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok will now be sent to the eighth floor of the Tower of Ordeal.]

***

「Invisible message: The grudge of the Bear King embedded in the Bear King’s Double-Headed Axe reacts to Bear’s Blood. The power derived from Bear’s Blood increases significantly.」

「Invisible Message: The hidden mission ‘Grudge of the Bear King’ has begun.」

***

[Welcome to the eighth floor of the Tower of Ordeal: The Room of Thieves, Theft and Retention.]

[On the eighth floor, climbers can choose between theft and retention.]

[If both climbers choose theft, they will engage in combat. The loser will die, and the winner will lose their two highest-level skills.]

[If climber A chooses theft and climber B chooses retention, climber A will randomly steal one of climber B’s skills. In this case, only climber A will receive 200 achievement points.]

[If both climbers choose retention, they will proceed to the ninth floor and receive 1,000 achievement points each.]

[Climber Kwon Su-Hyeok (Rank 1) and Climber Alexei Braham (Rank 3) have been paired. Time remaining: 59 minutes 59 seconds.]

I found myself standing in a circular arena, similar to the ones I had seen in the first couple of boss rooms. Doppy... hadn’t come along. It was probably still lounging on the bed, fast asleep.

Lucky little guy.

I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy.

No, now isn’t the time for that.

I needed to focus. I was now on the eighth floor.

From my perspective, at twelve o’clock stood a tall blonde woman. At nine o’clock at the edge of the arena lay my double-edged axe, and at three o’clock lay her axe. It seemed we were both armed with the same type of weapon.

Wait a second. Alexei Braham, ranked 3rd?

She was the climber who kept holding the third rank even after our party completed hidden mission after hidden mission.

It was clear that this woman had also completed a hidden mission somewhere. But something about her didn’t quite match up with my expectations. From the name alone, I had pictured a hulking, 190-centimeter-tall muscleman.

Yet, standing before me was a tall but slender young woman.

I wasn’t underestimating her because she was a woman, it was just that her name and appearance didn’t align in the slightest. Alexei Braham. It was a name that anyone would assume belonged to a man. Yet, here she was wielding a massive double-edged axe, no less. They say seeing is believing, but I still couldn’t picture it.

Hmm, whatever.

The eighth floor’s notification had given a long-winded explanation, but I didn’t need to overthink it. While this floor might force others to strategize, that didn’t apply to me.

I was strong, and from my perspective, the rules were simple. All I had to do was declare that I would choose theft, no matter what.

The 3rd ranked climber?

I hadn’t fought her yet, but I was confident I could beat her to a pulp within ten seconds.

Who in their right mind would risk their life making such a reckless choice?

Even if their opponent lost and died, the victor would still lose two skills. Unless someone was completely insane, they wouldn’t choose theft.

“Nice to meet you!”

She called out, her voice filled with unexpected warmth.

Is she Russian?

Thanks to the Tower’s translation, I could understand every word she spoke, though it sounded a lot like “Spasibo!”

“Hi there. Are you Russian?”

“Yes. Are you Korean?”

Hmm, so I was right. Now it made sense why she was holding a double-edged axe. It seemed plausible if she was Russian.

She had to belong to the “Country of Brown Bears[1].” They were the ones who drank vodka like water and wrestled bears with their bare hands. They defied normal logic. I had seen videos of Russians doing bizarre things on the internet.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“I’ve wanted to meet someone like you. So this is what the number one climber is like.”

Her tone was ambiguous enough that I couldn’t tell if she meant it as a compliment or an insult.

Enough with the small talk

.

Let’s hurry up and finish the eighth floor so I can move on.

First, I needed to convince her to choose retention if she didn’t want to die.

But how should I persuade her?

Considering my image, relying solely on intimidation wouldn’t be a good idea. It would be best to start by explaining the power difference between us. Then, I could cautiously suggest that she couldn’t beat me anyway. Finally, I would finish my reasoning by stating that, because I couldn’t trust her, I had no choice but to choose theft.

“Hey, friend...” I began.

“I’m choosing theft!”

What? Theft? Did she just say she’s choosing theft?

I immediately reconsidered my earlier thoughts. I hadn’t thought there were people crazy enough to make that choice, but apparently, one such person stood right in front of me.

Has she lost her mind?

No, that wasn’t it. She probably didn’t yet realize the difference in power between us. Maybe she thought she had a chance.

I should explain it to her kindly.

“Hey, friend. Just for your information, my strength stat is—”

“I’m choosing theft!”

She repeated, cutting me off again.

“No, hold on. Why don’t you just listen to me for a second, ok?”

“I know you’re stronger than me! But I’m still choosing theft!”

Her expression was resolute, her determination unmistakable. It was clear she wouldn’t back down.

She really was insane... A heavy sigh escaped me as I realized just how stubborn she was.

1. "불곰국" is a playful nickname used in South Korea to refer to Russia. It combines "불곰," meaning "brown bear," a symbol often associated with Russia, and "국," meaning "country." The term humorously highlights the stereotypical image of Russians as tough and resilient, like brown bears. It's commonly used in informal or online conversations. ☜