Chapter 4: First Floor, Tutorial (1)

I stopped at the edge of the first torch’s glow and calculated the distance to the next illuminated area, eventually determining that it was about four meters away. Anything could be lurking in that stretch of darkness, whether friend or foe.

Human eyes could adapt to darkness over time, yet no matter how hard I stared into the darkness, whatever it was hiding remained obscured. The Tower of Ordeal must have deliberately made the darkness impenetrable to human vision.

I had no choice but to act, though. Hence, I thrust the Chipped Longsword into the darkness and slashed wildly. Thankfully, nothing snagged on the blade.

“

Phew

." I let out a sigh of relief and advanced.

On my second step, I felt something shift under my foot.

Click—

A chilling sensation rushed up the side of my head. I ducked instinctively just as something whizzed over my head.

Ping!

Feeling another shiver race up my spine, I quickly rolled forward.

Click, click, click, click.

At the same time, I felt a series of mechanisms trigger beneath me. The air swished as something swept through the area that I had just passed. Seeing the area lit by the second torch, I pushed off the ground and launched myself toward it.

“Fuck."

My heart pounded violently. Just moments after entering the tower, the traps had already come so close to killing me.

A third wave of chills belatedly spread across my body. Although terrified, I was proud that I had instinctively rolled as soon as I heard the click.

Thinking back on it now, how did I even dodge that? I felt much quicker than usual and reacted unbelievably fast.

With my heart still pounding loudly, I glanced at the darkness I had just navigated. I still couldn’t see through it.

At that moment, my adrenaline began to subside, and I felt a stinging pain from my left calf. I turned my gaze to my leg and found my jeans were torn. A thin red line was drawn across my calf, partially hidden by the fabric. Fortunately, I had only been grazed.

Traps? Damn it!

I hadn't even considered the possibility of traps. When I read the message to annihilate all enemies, I assumed there would only be unseen foes. I had tunnel-visioned too much on the assigned task and made a fool of myself.

Returning to where I had rolled, I poked the ground with my sword. However, I didn’t hear any more clicks. I pressed down on the floor harder just to be safe, but I still got no reaction. It seemed the traps could only be triggered once.

What even is happening?

I needed to be sure, so I poked the ground ahead of me with my sword as I slowly re-entered the darkness. My left leg twinged with each step I took. The pain was unpleasant but mild.

I cautiously approached the wall and groped around, eventually feeling a cold metal rod embedded about waist-high. I grasped it firmly with my right hand and pulled, but it refused to budge. Hence, I steeled myself and pulled harder, finally unlodging it from the wall.

I carried the iron rod back to the place illuminated by the second torch. An arrow made of iron glistened eerily in the dim halo of the torch. What would have happened had it pierced me?

I need to be more careful.

I had to consider all possibilities. Although the arrow had come from the darkness earlier, was there anything stopping more arrows from flying through an illuminated area?

After securing the arrow, I cautiously moved forward. I would prod the area in front of me with my sword before each step, causing my pace to slow down.

Just as I started to feel frustrated, I shook my head to clear my thoughts and remind myself of the trap from earlier.

[Eliminate all enemies. Time remaining: 17 hours 46 minutes.]

There was still plenty of time left, and the word “enemies” suggested that I would eventually come across hostiles. I had to avoid sustaining any more injuries from traps.

Alright, let’s be more careful.

At that moment, an arrow flew past my eyes.

Click! Ting!

For a moment, I stood stock-still with my sword still pressed against the ground. I didn't expect a trap to appear in a well-lit area this early, but that only made me appreciate my decision to check the ground with my sword even in illuminated zones. The arrow, which was now embedded into the wall, was still shaking.

I gulped down my saliva and cautiously moved forward again.

My steps were as slow as a turtle's. I found the next trap around the area where the visibility from the second torch began to fade. Perhaps due to my heightened tension, I felt as though my upper back would start cramping at any moment.

While I was prodding the ground, a click echoed.

Ting!

To my surprise, I then heard an arrow being launched from above me. A flash of silver glinted approximately forty-five degrees above my line of sight. I instinctively twisted my sword upward to try and block the arrow flying from the ceiling.

Chang!

I managed to deflect the arrow away from my face, but it still grazed my left ear. Still gripping the sword, my hand trembled violently.

“

Ha

..."

I sighed involuntarily, having just narrowly escaped disaster by a paper’s width. If I hadn't been on high alert, I would not have managed to block the arrow.

“Damn."

I chided myself for not considering an attack from above even though I had decided to consider all possibilities. It was naive of me to expect that threats could only come from the sides.

However—irrespective of my foolishness—I was now certain that my reaction speed had improved. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have managed to parry the arrow, yet I did. My reaction time and processing speed were definitely faster than before I had entered the tower.

It must be due to the talent awakening.

One of the messages I received earlier mentioned that the talent I awakened depended on the type of weapon I selected. It seemed that choosing the sword increased my physical abilities.

I checked the time.

[Eliminate all enemies. Time remaining: 17 hours 23 minutes.]

Due to my vigilance, I had covered a disappointingly short distance in forty minutes. I had to proceed more vigorously.

The visibility from the second torch was ending. Similar to the previous patch of darkness, this next one was about four meters long. When I cautiously stepped forward, my left shoulder tingled eerily.

Ting—

I quickly twisted to the right.

An arrow pierced the wall right next to where my left shoulder had just been.

“

Squeak!

Die!"

Something dark and shiny shot toward me from the darkness. Without time to think, I rolled to the right. A grim dagger sliced through the air, forcing me to rise quickly and step back.

A monster with green skin appeared from the darkness. It was far shorter than me, about stomach-high.

[Goblin Assassin]

- A goblin, yet an assassin.

- Specializes in attacking from the shadows.

- Has a hidden ace.

“

Squeak!

Human! Lucky you, dodging my ambush!"

This was my first time encountering an enemy, and it just had to be a goblin assassin with an extremely annoying tone. My height and longsword gave me the reach advantage against it and its dagger. Since this was my first combat encounter, I needed to exploit any advantage I could.

Firmly gripping my longsword, I took five steps backward.

“

Squeak!

Human! You are an idiot!”

As I widened the gap, the goblin grabbed a crossbow tied to its waist.

Oh, damn it! I am so stupid!

At that moment, I recalled that the arrow I had dodged just now had been shot from that crossbow, not from a trap. Yet again, I made a grave mistake. I had focused on the goblin’s dagger so much that I failed to notice the crossbow at its waist.

I watched as the goblin assassin expertly loaded an arrow into the crossbow. Snapping to my senses, I rushed toward it.

“

Squeak!

Too late! Stupid human!"

I was still three steps away from the goblin when it aimed at me. When it pulled the trigger, I hurriedly rolled diagonally.

Thump!

As the arrow whizzed past, I quickly got back to my feet. Now that the goblin was within reach, I thrust my sword toward it.

Chang!

The goblin blocked my sword with its dagger, sending the sword bounding back. Seeing the opportunity to attack, the goblin struck in the moment of recoil.

Shwick—!

The swiftly moving dagger sliced through the air horizontally, whistling softly. I hastily leaned backward to evade the strike, time seeming to slow as I watched the dagger pass in front of my nose. As a result of the successful dodge, I found an opportunity to counterattack.

Leveraging the elevation that my sword had gained from the deflection earlier, I forcefully swung it back down on the goblin. The goblin tried to retreat, but the extra reach of my sword finally played a role. Unable to move out of the way in time, I sliced diagonally into its body, leaving a deep laceration.

Scrape.

A chilling sound accompanied by the unpleasant sensation of metal shearing through flesh reached my senses.

“

Squeeeeeeeak!

"

The goblin fell backward, mortally wounded. Refusing to give it any opportunity to escape, I repeatedly drove my sword into its chest.

Crunch

.

Splat!

The sound of bones breaking filled the air as green blood spurted out.

Blood splattered on my face and neck, then slowly trickled down my cheeks. It smelled repulsive.

The areas that the blood touched heated up. Startled by the heat, I instinctively stepped back.

“

Gurk.

Bad... luck..." the goblin assassin uttered, its voice fading, as it closed its eyes.

I panted heavily, feeling the intensity of my first battle.

“

Huff, huff...

"

Struggling to calm my breathing, I raised my hand to wipe the blood that was dripping down my neck and face. I was all too aware of the soggy sensation of the blood on my palm and the sight of the goblin's corpse drenched in green blood.

Overwhelmed by the gore, nausea surged from my stomach.

“

Ugh!

"

I knelt on the ground and vomited. Despite having eaten plenty at a bar, only gastric juices came up. I felt strange but couldn't stop vomiting.

“

Blarg, blech!

"

After retching for a while, I regained my senses. My entire chest throbbed from the constant clenching of my muscles, the acidic vomit, and the fight I had overcome.

Get a grip, Kwon Su-Hyeok. Pull yourself together.

Considering the tower had a hundred floors, this would not be the last time I’d have to take a life. I couldn’t afford to dwell on every kill; I had to be more determined than this.

I kept reassuring myself as I stood up, but my hands and legs wouldn’t stop trembling. Nevertheless, with my legs still shaking, I approached the goblin's corpse. I needed to collect the dagger and crossbow. I knew that crossbows were easy to operate and could easily take out a lone goblin.

My sword can break at any moment.

[Chipped Longsword]

- Plain looking.

- Appears so old that it can break at any moment.

- Sharp enough to kill something.

Since entering the tower, I had been using the sword to prod the ground and even used it to deflect a solid iron arrow. Since the description mentioned that it could break at any moment, having a spare melee weapon would be ideal

I tried my best to ignore the goblin's corpse as I picked up the crossbow.

[Goblin Assassin's Crude Crossbow]

- A rough and poorly made crossbow.

- Though it can be reloaded quickly due to its worn string, it lacks power.

- Sometimes malfunctions and fails to fire arrows.

As described, the crossbow looked a bit worn, but it should still work fine since the goblin had just used it.

After checking the crossbow, I untied the belt around the goblin's waist. Attached to it was a sheath for a dagger and a quiver with about ten arrows.

“This should be good enough."

With the right aim, I should be able to take down one goblin per arrow.

As I tied the belt around my waist, I suddenly felt dizzy.

“Did I vomit too much?"

Or was it because I was too tense during the battle?

After fastening the belt, I turned my attention to the grim dagger, which the goblin was still tightly gripping. It would be a good backup for when my sword broke.

Stubborn freak.

Reaching down, my dizziness intensified, and my vision started getting blurry. Trying not to collapse, I struggled to remove the dagger from the goblin's grip.

[Goblin Assassin's Dagger]

- Crudely made.

- In good condition, maintained with care.

- Coated with homemade poison.

Poison? It's coated with poison?

A chill ran down my spine. The goblin assassin was far more dangerous than I had imagined. I would have been poisoned had I been cut with this dagger.

I gasped absent-mindedly. “

Huh?

"

The blade of the dark dagger was smeared with red blood. It didn’t take me long to process that between the goblin and I, only my blood was scarlet.

Does that mean it's my blood?

Quickly checking myself, I found a thin scratch on my left forearm. The skin around the wound had already turned black.

Shit... when did I get injured? Why didn't I notice it? Was my adrenaline pumping too hard during the fight?

No, it didn’t matter. Being aware of the injury wouldn't have changed anything. The dagger had already cut me.

Fuck. I was poisoned.

So that was why I was feeling dizzy. My mind quickly became foggy, and my thoughts blurred. Soon, I collapsed and felt the cold, hard ground on my back. Barely registering the cold, I lost consciousness.

***

「Invisible message: First successful trap evasion! Agility increased by 1.」

「Invisible message: Successful trap evasion! Agility increased by 0.3.」

「Invisible message: Successful trap evasion! Agility increased by 0.3.」

...

「Invisible message: First successful repulsion of a Goblin Assassin! Strength and agility increased by 2.」

「Invisible message: Kwon Su-Hyeok has overcome the Goblin Assassin's homemade poison! He has gained the skill Poison Resistance lvl 1.」