Chapter 427: Ninety-First Floor, The Maze of Saboden (3)

The Community on Earth, during the events of the ninety-first floor.

[(Translated) Kwon Su-Hyeok Left Alone - Where Did the Other Climbers Go?]

More than a year has passed, but the Tower of Ordeal remains one of the most widely discussed subjects across the globe. The sheer volume of attention it receives speaks for itself, and today, the tower became the stage for an unprecedented development.

At 5:32 PM EST today, when the tower’s broadcast resumed, the close to six thousand remaining climbers had abruptly disappeared. Only one remained, Kwon Su-Hyeok.

In the brief span that followed, numerous theories emerged, though the debate soon narrowed to three main possibilities.

While the broadcasts from every tenth floor have never been shown, the dominant belief has been that they function as rest areas, since no climber has ever died during those intervals.

Taking that into account, the first hypothesis contends that the ninetieth floor may not have been a rest area at all. The second speculates that something discovered within the rest area may have triggered the incident.

However, both of these explanations quickly lost ground, due largely to Kwon Su-Hyeok’s presence. Considering his feats to date, the notion that every other climber had perished while he alone survived seemed implausible.

Moreover, when he appeared on the ninety-first floor, his expression showed no hint of inner turmoil.

Indeed, users on Peddit even subjected his expression to an emotion analysis program. The results indicated that there was a 9% chance he was worried, 33% he was anticipating something, 12% he was tense, and 46% he was determined, with no trace of sadness whatsoever.

If the others had truly fallen, surely the program would have registered sadness as a possibility.

The argument currently gaining the most traction is that Kwon Su-Hyeok is once again undergoing a unique ordeal, much like prior occasions.

With the prevailing belief that whoever conquers the tower will ascend as Earth’s god, it would hardly be surprising for the unequivocally top-ranking climber from the first floor up to the ninetieth to face a solo challenge before claiming divinity.

...

At the same time, distinguished intellectuals from multiple nations have voiced concerns. They question whether a twenty-five-year-old young man can truly be considered suitable to serve as Earth’s god.

Critics point out that the tower measures only strength. If sheer might alone were enough to determine divinity, the consequences could prove perilous.

Of course, from my perspective, I welcome the prospect. Still, given the potential challenges that may arise should Kwon Su-Hyeok assume godhood, as well as the political upheavals it would inevitably spark, such apprehensions are understandable.

Indeed, South Korea’s standing in the international community has already soared to unprecedented heights.

Personally, I cannot help but wonder what will unfold once Kwon Su-Hyeok, having conquered the tower, finally returns to Earth.

...

- Why’s this even news?

- Can someone give me a three-line summary?

- Kwon Su-Hyeok? These Westerners are nuts. Call him Light Su-Hyeok.

- Is this commenter a newb? They don’t even know about the Su-Hyeok-bot.

- What’s the Su-Hyeok-bot, you weeb?

- He’s the guy who, since the tower’s appearance, has been digging through foreign posts on the Community and translating them.

- Oh, really?

- Yeah, he’s one of the best sources of info in the Community. I heard he even does the translations himself.

- Sorry, I deleted my earlier comment.

- But so what? From now on, if you don’t do a three-line summary, I’m downvoting.

- Use your head, moron.

- Lol, people who can barely say “hello” in English are raging at the guy who combs foreign forums to share intel.

- Don’t kill the goose that lays the golden eggs, idiots.

- But seriously, is Su-Hyeok okay?

- Yeah, those traps looked insane.

- Like wtf??? The place gives off early tower vibes but is brutal as hell.

- Ok, whatever? Where are Alexei and Hee-Jeong noona, though? T_T

***

[Exterminate all enemies. Time remaining: 11 hours 8 minutes.]

I pushed my focus to the limit, and my accelerated thoughts sought the best possible response for the dire moment.

The monster’s arm, aimed directly at my heart, threatened me the most.

My reflexive axe swing would deflect its arm, but that didn’t mean I was in the clear. Even with Flash Strike, the maze’s attacks were still alarmingly fast, as was the monster’s.

Perhaps from now on, I would have to treat Flash Strike as the norm. Either way, three strikes were still converging upon me from opposing directions. Utilizing my senses, I calculated their trajectories.

They are about two finger joints wide.

Up until now, I had been able to dodge the attacks by changing location. I had needed to move through the maze anyway, and I hadn’t desired to take a risk by simply twisting and tilting to avoid the strikes.

However, that didn’t mean I had to do that. Due to the staggered nature of the attacks, I could squeeze by them without stepping one way or another. Of course, with the monster pressing in as well, I couldn’t guarantee I would come out unscathed. The danger remained ever-present.

Ugh.

I readied myself, then twisted my head, waist, left arm, and right leg synchronously with my axe’s swing.

Clang—!

The axe clashed against the monster’s claws. They came out of the confrontation undamaged and were undeniably tough, although I hoped the rest of it wouldn’t be as durable.

With the claws blocked, I had to deal with the three invisible strikes.

Bending forward would cause me to lose sight of the monster, so I snapped my head back instead. The formless attack swept past my eyes. The next pierced between my twisted waist and raised left arm, cutting beneath my armpit.

I bent my right knee, and the last blow tore through the air below the crook of my knee.

Shit, I was a fraction late.

Hisss—

Part of my plate armor had disappeared with a chilling hiss.

This shit is costly, okay?

I couldn’t bend down to inspect my armor, but I suspected the spatial tear had carved a neat circular hole into it.

Fortunately, my leg remained intact.

All of this took place in the span of a heartbeat, in increments of a mere tenth of a second. My pulse hammered wildly.

Mission evasion successful, but this doesn’t look good.

Because of how I had dodged the monster and the maze, my posture was unstable, and its claws were pushing my axe back toward my chest. Thankfully, I didn’t need to evade any more attacks in that instant. Shifting quickly, I corrected my stance.

Reasserting my strength, I shoved my axe against its claws once more. It had caught me off balance, but once I regained my footing, I held the upper hand in terms of raw strength.

Bzzzt!

Lightning burst forth, racing along the axe and lashing the monster. It stiffened for a moment. It didn’t suffer severe damage, but enough to catch it off guard. Gripping my axe with both arms, I broke my axe free from the engagement.

An opening.

I slashed Soulbound through the gap. As soon as my lightning-infused Aura struck its shoulder, the creature vanished from before my eyes.

Fuck. It teleported again.

It reappeared at a distance, and I instinctively stepped forward, following the rhythm of battle.

Unfortunately for me, however, the maze launched another strike in that instant. Moreover, instead of a bullet-like tear, a rectangular pane of doom was slicing toward me. I shifted back with a long step, barely slipping past the follow-up assault.

The monster didn’t attack. Instead, it watched me while licking the blood trailing down its shoulder with its long tongue.

Hmm.

I stopped in place rather than giving chase. An idea was forming within my mind. If I didn’t change locations, the maze wouldn’t react. That meant standing still could make fighting the monster far easier. On second thought, I couldn’t be certain of that, just like how stepping on air had gone poorly. The maze could also strike after a set amount of time, for all I knew. Still, it was worth attempting.

During my brainstorming, the creature had kept still, simply glaring at me.

What a cunning bastard. Should I launch more Aura at it?

I kept Flash Strike active and swung my axe lightly, but quickly. Lightning and Aura shot through the air toward it. As expected, the monster evaded it without much effort. Even with Flash Strike, it could slip away.

Sadly, no matter how swift my lightning-infused Aura was, it wasn’t faster than me. If I chose to sprint, I could overtake my own strikes. My physical capabilities alone set me apart.

Anyway, these weird spatial attacks definitely aren’t traps. The maze is reacting, just like I suspected.

Confronting the monster had convinced me of that. It moved freely across the ground, but the maze didn’t target it. Of course, when I shifted even a step, the maze tried to destroy me.

Also, it can teleport.

Another suspicion arose. The monster possessed the ability to teleport, and the maze’s attacks erased space itself. This was Saboden’s maze, and I was fighting its clone. Perhaps Saboden possessed spatial skills.

At the very least, I needed to keep that in mind.

Still not moving?

Even as time passed, the creature only continued to watch me. It was likely waiting for an opportunity to strike in concert with the maze. Although standing still didn’t trigger the maze, in the end, that left me at a disadvantage. Remaining motionless only wasted the limited time I had been given.

One way or another, I will have to move.

Despite that, there was no need to rush. I was setting aside this time to take stock of everything I had learned and consider every angle.

I recalled the maze’s pattern of attacks.

Each corridor seemed to contain a limited number of reactions. They had each launched thirty to forty strikes before stopping, with the distance I had traveled not factoring in at all.

The only reason the first round ended quickly was that I rose into the air and got attacked dozens of times at once.

A similar limit potentially existed here.

Though, to be honest, I felt doubtful about that. This was just a hunch, but worth keeping in mind. If true, then focusing on evasion could make the battle far easier later on.

I fixed my eyes on the creature. Its dark-blue gaze pierced me unblinkingly. Moreover, it wasn’t displaying the slightest sign of impatience

.

Its teleportation is the real issue.

Since I had only seen it a few times, I couldn’t gauge the full extent of that ability. I didn’t know if it could teleport indefinitely, but I had to assume the worst.

Hopefully, the teleportation claw attack combo wasn’t just a probing strike.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

If it could truly appear right before me and attack whenever it wanted, I wasn’t confident I could dodge or block consistently.

Even worse, it could teleport its hand directly into my heart.

In that case, I would be struck down without even a chance to react. Judging from how it had fought so far, that didn’t appear possible.

Roughly speaking, I had grasped the situation.

In truth, the time it had given me wasn’t entirely a loss, since I had sorted out my thoughts. After this, though, I realized that perhaps time within the maze was tighter than I had originally imagined.

Hmm, I think I am ready.

At first, I had intended to observe a little longer, but I abandoned the thought. The ticking timer kept me on edge. Even so, I didn’t plan to reveal everything at my disposal. The gods were watching my every move, and since some were potential enemies, I needed to conceal as much as possible.

What I had gained through sparring with the Thunder Axe and through personal training was better left hidden for now.

When I have to face Saboden, that plan may go out the window, however.

Regardless, I know how to defeat the creature before me—it would be simple. Of course, I still wanted to see how it would respond.

It is go time.

I drew a breath and stamped down on the ground.

With the first step, two strikes flew at me, and I evaded by stepping forward. That queued two more attacks, which I avoided by twisting at the waist.

Another step later, and three more attacks converged on my position, from the front, back, and right. This was just like the start of the battle, and I predicted the monster would inevitably teleport to my left.

I tightened my grip on the axe as my attuned senses caught it shifting. The instant it vanished, I swung the axe upward to my left. As it cleaved diagonally, the monster appeared directly in its path.

Craaaack—!

My Aura—filled with lightning and divine energy—tore through its body.

It froze in place, jaws open wide with its tongue extended. My Aura emanated from its wound and severed the deadly appendage, dropping it to the ground.

Things are going to plan up to this point.

While planning my attack, I had already mapped out how to avoid the three follow-up strikes. Kicking off the ground, I leapt and planted my foot on its head. I spun once in mid-air and floated above the spatial tears. From there, all I had to do was land atop its collapsing body.

That was when an unexpected phenomenon occurred.

Woong—!

A chill swept across my skin. The monster’s bisected corpse began pulling in the very space around it.

A black hole? Damn it.

One look told me all I needed to know; this wouldn’t be an easy escape. Since my foot had been on the verge of landing on its corpse, I was falling directly toward the black hole. Even the ground under the monster was rising into the air.

To make matters worse, the maze’s attacks started pouring in from every direction. One disaster piling atop another. It had crossed my mind that the monster died too easily, but this trap had been hidden all along.

I was back in a bullet-hell simulator.

Can I even dodge?

I didn’t know. I would only find out by trying.

Desperately kicking off the air, I barely escaped the black hole as formless strikes swept past me. No more than the width of a sheet of paper separated my skin and the spatial tears.

They sheared away the hair on my head in chunks, along with the hair on my arms and legs, but I didn’t have the time to think about that. Dozens of strikes followed one after another, while the black hole continued to grow.

I had to escape quickly.

Grinding my teeth, I twisted midair and did a half turn as I fought to break free.