Chapter 378

Chwak!

Horse Fly transformed at lightning speed the moment Siegfried gripped it and prepared to swing with all of his strength.

‘Here goes nothing!’

Siegfried swung Horse Fly, which was no longer a hammer, at the oncoming Black Slime.

Flash!

Horse Fly left a rainbow-colored trail.

A grotesque noise echoed…

Splat! Thud…!

The Black Slime lost its momentum and dropped to the ground in two pieces.

[Alert: You have killed Black Slime!]

[Alert: You have gained experience points!]

[Alert: You have cleared Sky Tower: Twenty-Fifth Floor!]

A bunch of messages popped up in front of his eyes.

“Ah… I should’ve done this earlier…” he grumbled while staring at the Black Slime’s body in sheer disbelief. Horse Fly was no longer in its hammer form in his hand—it was in its blade form.

In other words, Siegfried had transformed Horse Fly into a blade to split the Black Slime into two instead of hitting it with a blunt weapon, and his plan worked extremely well. He managed to slice the Black Slime in half with one swing. He didn't even use Quick Draw.

“So it was immune to blunt force rather than having an extremely high Defense?”

It did make sense, as his attacks technically bounced off of the Black Slime rather than being unable to breach the Black Slime's defenses.

“Did you see that, everyone? Make sure you use sharp weapons against this guy and not blunt weapons like I did, okay?” He shared the tip he found with his viewers before heading over to pick up the loot.

Surprisingly, there was more than one Essence of the Strong this time.

[Alert: You have obtained Intermediate-Quality Essence of the Strong!]

[Alert: You have obtained Low-Quality Essence of the Strong × 2!]

[Alert: You have obtained Lowest-Quality Essence of the Strong × 7!]

As expected, the quality and quantity of the essences that he would obtain would increase the higher the floor. He placed the Essence of the Strong into his Inventory and said, “Alright, I will keep climbing. Ah, but before that, I should drink a potion first.”

He lost quite a lot of health after almost getting suffocated to death by the Black Slime, so he opened his Inventory to take out a potion to replenish his health, but…

[Alert: You are unable to take out items from your Inventory!]

He could not take out the HP potion from his Inventory.

“W-What?”

Siegfried tried to take out the HP potion once again, but…

[Alert: You are unable to take out items from your Inventory!]

[Alert: You are unable to take out items from your Inventory!]

[Alert: You are unable to take out items from your Inventory!]

He failed to take it out despite his repeated attempts.

[Alert: Challengers of the Sky Tower are restricted from taking out any items from their Inventory.]

[Alert: Only the items on their person may be used while challenging the tower.]

It turned out that the Inventory would be locked while challenging the Sky Tower.

“What the hell? I can’t take items from my Inventory?” Siegfried grumbled in disbelief.

The Sky Tower was made up of ninety-nine floors, and it was a hardcore dungeon that required surviving each floor until the end.

However, how were they supposed to survive for that long without being able to use HP Potions from their Inventory? It was a fact that increased the difficulty of the challenge by several folds, at the very least.

How was this any different from not allowing a marathoner to drink water while running a marathon?

“Do I have anything with me…”

Siegfried rummaged through his pockets and found a small leather pouch.

Fortunately, there was a Low-grade Health Potion inside of it.

“It shouldn’t stop me from taking this, right?” he wondered as he popped the bottle open and drank it.

[Alert: You have consumed Low-grade Health Potion!]

[Alert: You have recovered 0 HP!]

[Alert: Potions from outside will have zero efficacy within the Sky Tower.]

The potion didn't replenish his health even by one point.

"Are we even supposed to clear this tower?”

Did it make even sense not to use any single potion throughout a dungeon? Fortunately, Siegfried’s Horse Fly had the option to absorb thirty percent of the damage he dealt as Health.

“I guess I’ll have to rely on lifesteal for now…” he grumbled before he turned toward the camera and said, “I think you will need at least one lifesteal item before challenging this tower. My potions aren't working here.”

The viewers instantly reacted to the tip.

— Gosu^^: Write that down!

— BiteMyLipsAh~: Sky Tower… Must… Lifesteal… Noted…

— Breanie: Memo… Highlight… Done!

Siegfried’s lifestream turned into an educational one instead of a dungeon introduction stream.

“All right, I'm going to continue to the next floor,” Siegfried informed his viewers before walking over to the magic circle.

***

Siegfried reached the fiftieth floor after defeating all sorts of strange floor owners.

[Sky Tower: Fiftieth Floor]

But…

“What the hell is this place…?”

The fiftieth floor made Siegfried grumble and grimace as soon as he stepped foot into it. The second floor until the forty-ninth floor was like an arena where he had dueled against the floor owners, but the fiftieth floor was completely different from them.

“Welcome!”

“Hey, young man! Come and catch a break!”

“Would you like a glass of cold beer?”

There were rows of signboards promoting the shops underneath them, and those shops were manned by NPCs. Some of the NPCs were selling food, while others were selling potions.

The entire place felt like a night market rather than a dungeon.

“Wasn’t this place a dungeon…?” Siegfried muttered under his breath.

A friendly-looking NPC approached and grabbed Siegfried's wrist.

“You must be tired! Come on here and take a break!” said the NPC>

“Huh?”

“Are you hungry? Pick whatever you want! These have been prepared for you!”

The NPC was treating Siegfried very well right off the bat.

Siegfried tilted his head in confusion and asked, “Are we not fighting?”

“Well, the other floor owners would try to fight you, but that’s not the case with us. We are here to provide rest to challengers like you on your climb to the top.”

“Oh?”

“You can enjoy hot meals and drinks here to recuperate your Health and Stamina.”

“So this is something like a rest area?”

“Exactly! This is a rest area! We are something like staffers working here, and you are our customer!”

“I see…”

“Alright, why don’t you have a glass of cold beer—“

It was then.

Smack!

Siegfried swung Horse Fly and smacked the head of the nice NPC.

“Kuheok!”

The NPC collapsed to the ground and…

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

Siegfried continued to swing his hammer mercilessly until the NPC’s head was smashed open.

—HHH: ?

—233433: ?

—Zombiagra: ???

—UBS: ?

—Eunrang: Wow… This guy smashes their head open first before trying to have a conversation…?

The viewers were flabbergasted and spammed the chat room with question marks after seeing Siegfried’s unwarranted aggression.

Who in their right mind would smash the head of someone who had extended goodwill to them?

Even the NPCs working on the fiftieth floor were stunned.

“W-What are you doing?!”

“This crazy bastard!”

“Stop that!”

The NPCs screamed at Siegfried, but he didn't bat an eye. Instead, he stepped on the chest of the NPC. He just smashed the head open and grabbed the glass of beer offered to him a while ago.

“Why don’t you have a drink instead?” Siegfried said.

“…!”

“Why? You don’t want to?”

“K-Keuk! W-Why are you doing this to me—“

“I said drink it.”

“T-That is…!”

“Do you want me to help you?” Siegfried said before he grabbed the NPC by his face and poured the beer down his throat.

“Kuheok! Gruuk…! Kuheeeok!”

The NPC flailed his arms around as he desperately tried to break free, but he soon foamed from his mouth and started spasming.

Ten seconds later…

“…”

The NPC lay motionless on the ground. It seemed that he had been poisoned.

“Nice try,” Siegfried said with a spine-chilling smirk.

Swoosh!

Then, the appearance of the other NPCs faded away before turning into demons.

“Keke! This guy is quite sharp!”

“How did he know what we are?”

“What gave us away?! Our disguise was perfect!”

Siegfried’s response to their question was quite simple.

“Just a wild guess,” he said with a shrug.

The demons were flabbergasted at his response as all of them stared at him with bewildered looks on their faces.

One of the demons asked, “S-So… You beat someone to death just because you thought it could be a trap? You weren’t even sure?”

“Yup.”

“What if you had ended up killing someone innocent?”

“Is that a problem?”

“…!”

“Why? Is that a problem?”

“T-That’s a bit…” the demon was speechless at Siegfried’s brazenness.

And it was not only the demons that were stunned at his exemplary attitude.

—JBL: Is this guy for real…?

—Jpark1: Satan: Ah… This is a bit too much…

—Oii: Even the demons think he went too far! Hahaha!

Well, not that he cared…

“You’re all wandering spirits anyway, right? So what if I kill you? You’re just going to respawn, right?” Siegfried said with a shrug.

“B-But still! Ahem!”

“Hey, I’m busy, so can we get this over with?” Siegfried asked before he swung Horse Fly at the nearest demon. It didn't take him that long to kill all of the demons.

The fiftieth floor was not a test of one’s strength, but rather, it was a test to see if the challenger would drop their guards during their ascent.

[Alert: You have killed the Cunning Devils!]

[Alert: You have obtained experience points!]

[Alert: You have cleared Sky Tower: Fiftieth Floor!]

Multiple messages popped up in front of his eyes.

[Alert: You have obtained Intermediate-Quality Essence of the Strong × 7!]

[Alert: You have obtained Low-Quality Essence of the Strong × 17!]

[Alert: You have obtained Lowest-Quality Essence of the Strong × 3!]

He collected all of the Essence of the Strong before continuing to the fifty-first floor.

***

[Sky Tower: Fifty-First Floor]

What awaited him on the fifty-first floor was a swordsman with black eyes.

[Black-Eyed Damos]

[An ancient swordsman who had plunged the entire continent into chaos.]

[Type: Named NPC]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 250]

[Class: Sword of Fire]

[Warning: Argh! My eyes!]

Siegfried tilted his head in confusion after reading the warning in Damos’ details.

“Argh! My Eyes? Does it mean he’s going to show me something I probably shouldn’t see…?”

He felt that it was highly likely after experiencing the dirty tricks Bjergsen had pulled on the second floor.

Damos suddenly said, “I don’t think we need to exchange pleasantries.”

“Yeah,” Siegfried replied.

“Here I come.”

“Sure.”

Siegfried gripped Horse Fly and prepared to clash against the incoming swordsman.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

He swung Horse Fly and went on the offensive, but Damos easily blocked the attacks with his sword.

‘Hmm? This guy’s strong,’ Siegfried thought while looking at his opponent.

Flash!

Damos’ black eyes suddenly let out a burst of blinding light and…

[Siegfried van Proa]

[HP: ⬛⬛⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜]

[Stamina: ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬜]

[Mana: ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛]

He lost eighty percent of his HP, which was one hundred percent full just a second ago.