Chapter 51: Thirteenth Floor, the Forest of Insects (1)

Doppy’s abilities weren’t as terrible as I had assumed. I wasn’t saying they were particularly impressive, just not awful.

Thanks to the effects of the body-enhancing elixir, its reactions were decently sharp, but that was where the positives ended. For someone who claimed to have some experience with a sword, its technique was sorely lacking.

I couldn’t tell if it was due to its young age or if my expectations were simply too high.

One thing was clear, though. It didn’t possess the raw talent that someone like Seo Ha-Rin had.

Still, it’s only the thirteenth floor...

There was plenty of time for Doppy to shape up. With my guidance, it should eventually grow more capable.

“Aaah...”

I let out a long sigh, stretching out on the bed. Doppy and I had only lightly trained, not exerting enough energy to even break a sweat. Thus, I skipped taking another shower and flopped back onto the mattress.

[30 minutes 05 seconds until the rest period ends. Please take a rest.]

When thirty minutes remained until the next floor, a new notification blinked into view.

[The thirteenth floor of the Tower of Ordeal requires two participants. Please register your climbing partner.]

[The current number of surviving climbers is even. If a climber doesn’t select a partner before the timer ends, the tower will assign them one automatically.]

[Please register your climbing partner for the thirteenth floor.]

“Ha Hee-Jeong.”

[Calibrating. Climber Ha Hee-Jeong has also selected Climber Kwon Su-Hyeok. Registration complete.]

It appeared both participants had to select one another to form a duo, which made sense. Otherwise, people could choose non-consenting partners, causing untold chaos.

Well, with that sorted...

I turned my attention to the chat window, which had been buzzing for a while now. Unsurprisingly, Cole was responsible for most of the commotion.

- Cole Sprouse (Thirteenth Floor): ... Wait, so the thirteenth floor is a two-person mission, right? You’ll be going with Ha-Rin, Ho-Su?

- Seo Ho-Su (Thirteenth Floor): Hmm? Yeah, of course.

- Cole Sprouse (Thirteenth Floor): And Su-Hyeok’s going with Hee-Jeong... So, uh... who am I supposed to go with...?

- Seo Ho-Su (Thirteenth Floor): ...

- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Thirteenth Floor): Hold on, I’ll check with Alexei to see if she has a partner.

***

The tower’s cold, mechanical voice echoed in my head as we transitioned to the thirteenth floor. It didn’t even wait until my vision had fully adjusted to the new surroundings.

[Welcome to the thirteenth floor: The Forest of Insects.]

[The floor is inhabited by bugs that alternate between neutral and aggressive every thirty minutes. During the first thirty minutes, all bugs remain neutral.]

[Climbers can hide from the bugs’ attacks in shelters scattered throughout the forest. Each shelter can be occupied for up to thirty minutes.]

[To enter a shelter, climbers must first capture a keybug. Once a keybug’s key is used at its corresponding shelter, it cannot be reused.]

[If a climber attacks other bugs while attempting to capture a keybug, nearby bugs will become hostile. Failing to capture a keybug five times will cause all the bugs in the forest to attack.]

[Survive the bugs swarming throughout the forest. Time remaining: 3 hours 59 minutes.]

Focusing my eyes, I found myself in the midst of a dense forest. No, it was more like an overgrown jungle. The trees were so thickly packed they practically blotted out the sky.

And the air? It buzzed with swarms of insects.

But simply calling them “bugs” didn’t do justice to the sheer size of the things.

They look like wasps... How can they be this massive?

Each one was as large as a pigeon, and instead of stingers, their tails had sharp tendrils. They came in various shades as well. Some were bright red, others deep blue, suggesting they were different species.

A notification window floated before me, offering more information.

[Fire Bug]

- Imbued with the power of fire.

- Carries paralyzing toxins, causing any sting or bite to induce burns.

[Ice Bug]

- Imbued with the power of ice.

- Carries paralyzing toxins, causing any sting or bite to induce frostbite.

Burns and frostbite...

Neither sounded too individually threatening, but that was before factoring in the overwhelming number of these creatures. Thousands filled the air, flitting between the trees, making it impossible to see where the swarm ended and the forest began.

There were as many bugs as there were branches in this jungle.

And that noise is threatening.

The noises they generated weren’t the high-pitched whine one would expect from regular insects like flies or mosquitoes. Instead, it came in vibrating pulses, a deeper, heavier droning hum that filled the air.

I had heard people compare the sound of a giant hornet’s wings to that of a drone, which made sense. From my encounters with giant hornets, I had noticed the same thing.

But the noise here was even louder, almost like the propellers of a small helicopter cutting through the air. The low, rumbling hum echoed from every direction.

If a climber gets stung by even a few of these things, they won’t make it out alive.

Every bug in this forest would turn aggressive in thirty minutes. The key to surviving this floor lay in finding keybugs and their matching shelters.

With each half-hour triggering a new wave of attacks, getting hold of a keybug was crucial.

Still, this shouldn’t be much of an issue for us.

Neither Ha Hee-Jeong nor I found these oversized bugs particularly intimidating.

With her command of fire and my control over lightning, we had the perfect tools for exterminating them. It was like we had an electric fly swatter or a torch, a simple equation.

As I processed the incoming information, Ha Hee-Jeong spoke up in a low, steady voice, “You have probably figured it out already, but this floor isn’t going to be much of a challenge for us. The bugs aren’t really a threat. We just need to head to the right.”

“To the right? What’s over there?”

“I know the hidden mission for the thirteenth floor. The bug queen is over on the right. We take her down, and we’re done.”

“Ah...”

So that was why she wanted to team up. I nodded understandingly.

“It’s a bit of a walk, but once we take down the queen, we can rack up achievement points by clearing out the other bugs along the way.”

Finishing her explanation, she gestured toward the right as if to say, “You lead the way.”

“Got it. Doppy, you ready?”

“Kriee!

Goblin ready!”

With Doppy’s energetic reply, we turned and set off quickly through the thick jungle, making our way toward the queen.

***

[Survive the bugs swarming throughout the forest. Time remaining: 3 hours 37 minutes.]

Only seven minutes remained until the bugs would switch from neutral to aggressive mobs and begin their assault on us.

Wait, what’s that?

I noticed something odd. However, I could tell it wasn’t something I had seen, and I was sure it wasn’t in my field of vision. Given that we could ignore the keybugs, I hadn’t kept particularly alert for anything unusual.

And unlike usual, my Sixth Sense didn’t alert me either. This was something else—an unfamiliar and unsettling sensation.

I came to a sudden stop, my gaze instinctively darting in the direction of the weird feeling.

Seeing me halt without warning, Ha Hee-Jeong turned around, confused.

“Hey, what’s going on? We’ve only got seven minutes left before they start attacking.”

“Wait a second...”

“Kriee?”

I didn’t offer much of an explanation, continuing to focus on the strange sensation.

Hundreds of insects buzzed through the air around us, and while I felt something, locating the source amidst the swarm proved difficult.

“You said we don’t need to catch the keybugs, right...”

Sensing that something had changed, Ha Hee-Jeong fell silent. I zeroed in on the sensation, sweeping my gaze across the dense forest.

This fire bug? No, not that one. Tree trunks, ice bugs—not them either. Leaves, sky, branches...

Then I saw it, a lone fire bug.

Found you.

My Sixth Sense kicked into overdrive. I felt an undeniable compulsion to catch that fire bug.

Without hesitation, I activated Lightning Essence, launching myself forward. I was in front of the tree in an instant. Leaping, I pushed off the ground before using the trunk as leverage to propel myself higher.

The fire bug, still unaware of my presence, only reacted at the last possible second. It moved instinctively, veering sharply to the left, assuming that a grounded creature wouldn’t be able to change direction in mid-air.

It was smart, but not clever enough.

With Kashatum’s Sky Shoes, I could adjust my path mid-leap. Stepping in the air, I changed direction, closing in fast.

The bug, having thought it had escaped, didn’t make any further moves. It had underestimated me. By the time it realized I was still on its tail, it was too late.

Its wings buzzed furiously, clearly panicked. However, its movements were erratic and uncoordinated.

In a split second, I extended my arm, snatching the bug out of the air. It writhed in my grasp as its wings flailed against the surface of my gauntlet. I tightened my grip, feeling it thrash helplessly.

I felt a fleeting sense of disgust at the way it wriggled in my hand, but the gauntlet shielded me from the worst of the sensation.

When I landed smoothly, Ha Hee-Jeong looked at me curiously.

“What did you catch?”

“I have no idea.”

My answer did little to clarify the situation, and she raised an eyebrow in disbelief. How could I explain it? I was just as uncertain as she was.

I gave a nonchalant shrug, and she turned her attention to the bug in my hand.

“It looks exactly like a regular fire bug... Did your senses pick up on something?”

“Yeah... something like that.”

“What’s the deal? It doesn’t look any different from the rest of them.”

She wasn’t wrong. The bug had the same hornet-like body, red exoskeleton, and stinger-like tendrils.

Ordinarily, the keybugs had a key attached to their tails instead of a stinger or tendrils, but this one appeared identical to the others.

Still, if my instincts were pointing me toward it, there had to be something.

“Should we kill it and see what happens?”

“Yeah, why not.”

Her immediate response caught me off guard. I hadn’t expected her to agree so readily.

“Wait, really?”

“Well, we have to kill keybugs to get their key anyway. If there’s something special about this one, we’ll only find out after it’s dead.”

“Hmm... You know, now that you mention it, its belly does look a little swollen.”

Before I could finish speaking, flames erupted from Ha Hee-Jeong’s hand, setting the bug’s head ablaze.

I trusted her instincts as she had more experience in this kind of situation. Therefore, when the bug was just about to be consumed by the flames, I let go of it. With its wings already torn off, it couldn’t escape.

The fire bug fell, disintegrating into ash before it could even hit the ground. All that remained was a small silver key, which landed on the ground with a faint metallic clink.

“Huh?”

“What?”

Our reactions were similar, yet different. While I was merely wondering what this key was for, Ha Hee-Jeong’s expression shifted, seemingly piecing something important together.

She sighed heavily, and her brow furrowed in frustration.

Uh-oh.

That was a sure sign she was about to get angry. Sure enough, her temper flared.

“Damn it! Those bastards left out some critical information in the Community post!”

“What do you mean? What information did they leave out?”

***

「Invisible message: The dormant Bear’s Blood within Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok’s body reacts to a bug without sweetness. His skills have leveled up. Bear’s Blood is now lvl 9.」

「Invisible message: Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has discovered the Key to the Fire Bug Queen’s Chamber in Zone 1 of the Forest of Insects. All hidden missions in other zones have been nullified.」

「Invisible message: Challenger Kwon Su-Hyeok has initiated the hidden mission ‘Nature’s Balancer, Nature’s Destroyer.’ He has been awarded 500 achievement points.」