Chapter 14: A Foolish Challenger
Whooong—
A streak of light fell from the sky onto the Undermost Square in the first-floor waiting area. Shin Ha-Neul appeared. He was over six feet tall and had a very strong physique. Shin Ha-Neul, who had just entered puberty, moved his body with amazement.
“Wow, so it was real.” Shin Ha-Neul, who had given up his dream of becoming a professional mixed martial arts athlete due to his injury, gave a hollow smile in response to how his unfixed body could return to its original state so rapidly.
Whip— Whip— Whip—?
As Shin Ha-Neul was practicing his weaving skill at an imaginary opponent by punching in the air, he saw a rabbit approaching him.
“Hello! My name is Toeing!” Toeing introduced himself.
“Who’s the best fighter here?” Shin Ha-Neul smirked and lifted Toeing up by his ear.
“Ouch! I don’t know!” Toeing cried out in the air.
Shin Ha-Neul seemed as if he did not believe Toeing’s words at all. Toeing’s short arms and legs swung in the air.
“This is your last chance! Say it properly!” Shin Ha-Neul shook Toeing.
“Ahhh— I really don’t k-k-know who it i-i-is,” Toeing cried out in fear.
“Oh my!” At that moment, Hwang Kang-Woong, who was passing by, stumbled and fell on Shin Ha-Neul.
Shin Ha-Neul, startled, accidentally let Toeing go and grabbed Hwang Kang-Woong.
“Oh dear, I’m sorry…” Hwang Kang-Woong apologized.
“Jeez! You gotta look up, mister!” Shin Ha-Neul pushed Hwang Kang-Woong away.
Toeing had already gone out of his sight.
“Mister, do you know who’s the best fighter here?” Shin Ha-Neul asked arrogantly.
“The best fighter? Why do you care?” Hwang Kang-Woong asked.
“Because I want to fight them and see how good they are. People on Earth were saying that there are some guys out here who will soon be the tower’s ranker.” Shin Ha-Neul was full of confidence.
“Hmm… Interesting… Did people really say that?” Hwang Kang-Woong stroked his beard, looking as if Shin Ha-Neul’s words had piqued his interest.
“So, do you know? Stop wasting my time,” Shin Ha-Neul asked in an annoyed voice.
“I’m not so sure…” Hwang Kang-Woong replied.
“Tsk, you’re not helping.” Shin Ha-Neul entered the village, leaving Hwang Kang-Woong behind.
The village, Undermost, looked very neat. It was as if people had brought the city in from Earth. While Shin Ha-Neul was wandering around, he found a pile of dummies that seemed to be used for training. Near the pile, Shin Ha-Neul could easily spot people who were training and exercising using those.
‘I wonder if that rising star is here.’?Shin Ha-Neul kept thinking about it as he walked around.
“Who’s the strongest one here?” Shin Ha-Neul approached every single person out there and asked the same question.
The attention of all those around Shin Ha-Neul was drawn to him, because he approached people out of nowhere and talked in an unfriendly way.
‘Is he the new challenger? I saw a streak of light earlier.’
‘What is he doing here?’
‘Why is he looking for the strongest one? Is he trying to pick a fight or something?’
‘The strongest one here is…’
People’s eyes went to Park Joo-Hyuk, who was hitting a dummy with his sword in a corner of the training ground. Park Joo-Hyuk was so focused that he was not aware of Shin Ha-Neul’s presence. He was training to raise his Strength and Health Points.
“Is he the strongest one out here?” Shin Ha-Neul muttered.
Park Joo-Hyuk left a strong first impression on Shin Ha-Neul. He seemed to have a strong physique. Shin Ha-Neul flinched for a moment, but he convinced himself that people don’t fight using their appearances.
Shin Ha-Neul was sure that if had not been injured, he would be unrivaled among amateurs. Since he used to be a rising star in the field of Mixed Martial Arts, Shin Ha-Neul was confident that he would not lose against such ordinary people.
“Hey, mister!” Shin Ha-Neul called out.
Park Joo-Hyuk frowned when he noticed Shin Ha-Neul approaching him.
“What is it?” Park Joo-Hyuk was annoyed that Ha-Neul broke his concentration.
“Are you the strongest one here?” Shin Ha-Neul asked.
“...” Park Joo-Hyuk did not have anything to say.
“What do you want?” Park Joo-Hyuk asked after a pause.
“Let’s battle,” said Shin Ha-Neul.
At Shin Ha-Neul’s sudden request, Park Joo-Hyuk looked up to see his face. Shin Ha-Neul was a child. He looked so young that if he hit him, it would only look bad on him.
“I’m in training. Plus, I don’t battle,” Park Joo-Hyuk replied.
“Why? Are you scared to lose?” Shin Ha-Neul laughed.
Ugh—
Park Joo-Hyuk could tell for the first time that his temper had toned down a lot. In the old days, Park Joo-Hyuk would have beaten people up if they had annoyed him like this.
However, Park Joo-Hyuk decided to let him off. “Stop distracting me and get going.”
“Haha dumbass, I know you’re scared,” Shin Ha-Neul smirked.
“Whoa… Fine, let’s d—.” Park Joo-Hyuk could not hold it in anymore.
“D-d-don’t Joo-Hyuk!” One of the team members, who was nervously watching the situation from the side, grabbed Park Joo-Hyuk.
“He’s just a kid. Just ignore him,” the team member whispered in his ear.
At the team member’s words, Park Joo-Hyuk tried to hold in his anger. When Shin Ha-Neul saw that Park Joo-Hyuk was ignoring him completely, not giving any response, he moved to another place. Shin Ha-Neul could not start attacking a person who didn’t even respond.
No matter where Shin Ha-Neul went, they all had a similar reaction. ‘How come this place is full of dumbasses.’?Shin Ha-Neul was disappointed with what he was seeing.
Shin Ha-Neul questioned how these people could make Korea a leading country. He moved to the Central Square.
“Are you heading to the first floor?” Toeing, standing near the portal, asked.
“Yes,” Shin Ha-Neul replied.
Shin Ha-Neul was aware that the first-floor boss didn’t kill people. The boss was what he was most curious about, ever since he was on Earth, especially because Cha Yu-Min could not defeat him either.
People had thought that there would be a penalty for Cha Yu-Min, and that his ability would have dropped to a level similar to the other challengers on the first floor as a result.
‘Oh well, if we had similar abilities, I could potentially win.’ Shin Ha-Neul entered the portal.
“Wow…” Shin Ha-Neul was amazed by the grandeur of the first floor.
The first floor looked a lot different from what he had expected. As he walked, he found the three-way intersection and decided to take the leftmost route. Soon after, he encountered the monsters that he had heard a lot about on Earth. Though he was only encountering them for the first time in real life, he had already simulated defeating them countless times in his head.
Squeak— Squeak— Squeak—
The Gutter Rat ran up to Shin Ha-Neul.
Puck! Puck! Puck!
It was not difficult to avoid the Gutter Rat’s attack and counter. When Shin Ha-Neul hit the Gutter Rat about three times, it died.
“Huh? That’s it? This is easy.” Shin Ha-Neul then broke the Skeleton and trampled the Goblin to death.
He was getting more confident. When Shin Ha-Neul first entered the first floor, he was not sure that he could beat the boss. He just wanted to confront him once to understand where he stood compared to Cha Yu-Min.
However, as he increased his stats and gained more physical strength, he thought he might be able to defeat the boss. Shin Ha-Neul ended up thinking that the boss would not be that strong anyways.
Shin Ha-Neul left the room on the left and walked down the hallway. When he reached the end, there was a large door.
“Is this the boss’s room?” Shin Ha-Neul muttered.
Shin Ha-Neul wondered if he would be able to defeat the boss when Cha Yu-Min could not. What if the boss changed his mind and tried to kill him? However, his worries only lasted for a short moment.
Instead, Shin Ha-Neul imagined becoming the first—a supernova—who defeated the first-floor boss, after he had changed his difficulty level. He imagined everyone praising his talents and referring to him as the great challenger, more outstanding than Cha Yu-Min.
“It’s not impossible.” Shin Ha-Neul thought he was more talented than anyone else.
Shin Ha-Neul opened the door aggressively. As soon as he opened the door, he could see the boss staring at him with a blank look.
“Finally, you came,” said Lee Shin as if he had been waiting for Shin Ha-Neul.
Shin Ha-Neul thought it was a weird greeting, but that was not the important part.
“Haha, so you’re the boss?” Shin Ha-Neul said crudely, laughing.
“Haha?” Lee Shin frowned as Shin Ha-Neul started the conversation in a rude manner.
“Are you offended? You’re just a monster though,” Shin Ha-Neul continued. He maintained his rude and bold stance.
“Haha…” Lee Shin was speechless.
Shin Ha-Neul decided to be bold in front of the boss, because people told him that the boss had never killed a single person so far. He thought there was a system change that resulted from increasing the level of difficulty.
If the boss had killed the challengers every time he got annoyed, it would not be strange to hear that several people had died earlier. So far, there had been zero deaths and no exceptions.
“You impudent little thing!” Lee Shin commented on Shin Ha-Neul’s mannerisms.
“I don’t show respect to someone unless they are stronger than me,” Shin Ha-Neul explained.
“Do you think you’re strong?” Lee Shin asked.
“Of course! And why should I be polite to monsters?” Shin Ha-Neul argued.
Lee Shin smiled bitterly. He was planning on letting Shin Ha-Neul go after lightly demonstrating the differences in their skills. However, Lee Shin realized that it would not work out for Shin Ha-Neul.
Lee Shin’s mana scattered all over the place.
Swoosh—
In an instant, the appearance of the boss’s room had changed dramatically. Their surroundings were covered with lava and the floor where the two stood had collapsed, leaving almost no place for them to stand.
“Huh? What’s happening?” Shin Ha-Neul panicked.
“Let’s see how long you stay this arrogant,” Lee Shin smirked.
Shin Ha-Neul could feel the heat so intensely all over his body. He was very close to falling off, so he could not move even a little bit. In the distance, the lava was flowing like a waterfall and the height of the lava was rising.
Everything was happening so quickly that, in about five minutes, lava was about to reach his feet.
“This c-c-can’t be real. You’re faking it, aren’t you? Do you think I’ll be fooled by this?” Shin Ha-Neul couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“Ha!” Lee Shin only laughed and did not answer.
Shin Ha-Neul slightly bent his legs and moved them closer to the lava. He wanted to check the heat to see if it was real.
Splash— Pzzz—
The splashed lava got on Shin Ha-Neul’s shoes. He hurriedly raised his legs to take off his shoes because they were melting right away.
‘No way, is this happening for real?’
His shoes started to melt. The heat convinced him that there was nothing fake in this place. His whole body was soaked with sweat. Then he saw the boss on the other side. Lee Shin was experiencing the same heat.
“If you continue with this, you’re also going to die, you bastard!” Shin Ha-Neul cried out.
“Do you know why I didn’t kill the challengers? It’s because I also have to die to kill them. But I don’t like you that much,” Lee Shin explained.
“You’re crazy… You want to die together just because you don’t like me?” Shin Ha-Neul could not believe the situation he was in.
“Well, there will be pain when I die, but I will come back to life. So, it doesn’t really matter.” Lee Shin seemed very calm.
Splash— Swoosh—
His shoes were beginning to come into contact with the lava little by little.
“Ahhh, you crazy bastard! Stop this! Stop it right now!” Shin Ha-Neul cried in panic.
“Nah, let’s die together.” Lee Shin didn’t seem bothered. “No, I’m sorry. I apologize! It’s all my fault! So please…!” Shin Ha-Neul cried in pain.
“It’s too late,” Lee Shin replied in a firm voice.
Pzzz—
“Keughhh— It hurts! Please! Please, stop this! Please…” Shin Ha-Neul had never felt this kind of pain in his life.
Shin Ha-Neul cried out in burning pain. He had to wait for his impending death in a space where he could not escape.
“I’m so sorry… Please, please forgive me. Please!” Shin Ha-Neul begged him.
“What happened to your pride and arrogance?” Lee Shin sneered.
“I’m sorry. I have nothing else to say,” Shin Ha-Neul apologized.
“Repeat after me, three times. I will never mess with you again,” Lee Shin demanded.
“Can you let me get out of this fir—” Shin Ha-Neul asked.
“Just die,” Lee Shin replied in a firm voice.
Swoosh— Splash—
“Ahhh— I will never mess with you again! I will never mess with you again! I will never mess with you again!” Shin Ha-Neul shouted, his eyes shut, face covered with tears and mucus.
Shin Ha-Neul opened his eyes when he sensed a slight change in the environment.
“Huh…?” As soon as Shin Ha-Neul opened his eyes, he could see the faces of other challengers gathered around him.
“You are…” Among them, Shin Ha-Neul could see the faces of some people that he saw in the city earlier.
“Who’s this kid?” Park Hye-Won asked.
“He is a foolish kid,” Park Joo-Hyuk replied.
“Just go to the corner, over there,” Lee Shin demanded.
“Huh? O-o-okay!” Shin Ha-Neul flinched when he saw Lee Shin’s face.
Shin Ha-Neul hurried to the corner so he would not suffer from such pain again. Then, he looked blankly at the other challengers who were training with the boss.
Besides the boss, the man he had a quarrel with earlier and everyone else were much more talented than him. His face flushed as he recalled his careless actions.
‘Ha…’ Shin Ha-Neul sighed.
***
[Gene Ebrium]
# Occupation: Necromancer
# Status: Sealed - Unlock Level 2 (Details*)
# Title: Details*
# Health Point (HP): 3850/3850
# Mana Point (MP): 63720/63720
# Strength (STR): 28(+47)
# Agility (AGI): 24(+47)
# Intelligence (INT): 81(+65)
# Dominance: 11
# Skills: Details*
“Hmm… I’ve improved a lot. But still, to be honest…” Lee Shin had a long way to go.
In particular, the Strength and Agility stats could not be raised just as he wanted. He tried his best to raise them by doing more physical exercise, but there was a clear limit. Lee Shin had no choice but to acquire a special skill or title to raise them. Another option was to climb the tower and receive it as a reward.
‘What an imbalance between the Health Point and Mana Point stats…’?thought Lee Shin.
As of now, his Mana Point exceeded 50,000 points and his intelligence was close to 150 points. As the seal on his body was lifted, the overall stat rose significantly.
Nevertheless, Lee Shin needed higher stats. “This is not enough.”
The entire tower was under the supervision of the gods, except for just one place, the first floor.
“You must be frustrated,” Lee Shin looked to the sky and laughed at the gods. He did not know why, but the first floor was outside the realm of the gods. That was why the voices of the gods had not been heard so far. Lee Shin thought that could be the reason why they sent him to the first floor.
‘I was reincarnated and they were not,’ thought Lee Shin.
The timeline was clearly different; the world over there and the world over here were two totally different places. Lee Shin assumed that they sent him back to the first floor to avoid the eyes of the gods in this world. However, he could not understand everything.
“Hmm…” Lee Shin was full of questions.
Lee Shin knew that he had to climb the tower quickly in order to solve these questions. Once he left the first floor, he could be under the influence of the gods in some way. Therefore, he wanted to be properly prepared before he went up.
“List of titles,” read Lee Shin.
[The Huge Wall of the Tower]
I can’t believe you stopped 100 people from challenging you! You must be a huge wall to the challengers!
# Default Stats +5
[Invincible Defender]
I can’t believe you stopped 1000 people from challenging you! You are legendary! Your name will go down in history.
# Default stats +10
The next title would be obtained when he stopped 10,000 people, but he did not want to be here until then. He had acquired almost all the titles that were available. It was time to focus on climbing the tower.
Once Lee Shin started to climb the tower, the gods’ attention would be focused on him. From then on, the gods could possibly sense that something had gone wrong and actions could be taken. On the other hand, they could also be cheering for a large number of talented people, trying to flatter and make them their apostles.
The gods were obsessed with apostles and had a great desire for outstanding challengers. That was because the higher the class of believers or apostles who follow them, the higher their own classes would become.
Lee Shin sighed with a stiff face and slowly walked to the entrance of the first floor. He then opened the door that was blocking the exit of the cave. The door opened smoothly. Lee Shin walked through the doorway and caught sight of the polar region in the distance. This place, covered with snow and ice, was a place where Lee Shin could not escape with his basic mana skills.
One of the reasons was because of the bird, the Ice Bird. It was a bird that could be seen not only on the first floor, but also when one passed the 80th floor. The name Ice Bird was given by people in the tower who saw it.
Martas was his real name. Lee Shin could see Martas flying around as he stood there. The cool air Martas created made Lee Shin shiver. He knew that a single breath from Martas would freeze his body completely.
“...” Lee Shin looked at Martas with a complex feeling.
Martas had thrown Lee Shin into the sea previously, before Lee Shin found the Immortal Sphere. And then, he had flown over to someone unknown.
Wouldn’t Martas know something about the Immortal Sphere? Maybe he knew the identity of the person who called.
When Lee Shin looked at Martas, it seemed as if he was saying Lee Shin was not good enough to know the secrets yet. Lee Shin smiled bitterly and went back into the cave.