Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Level 2 Player

Dragon Tooth Soldier

The next morning, Jin-su, together with Shin Su-a, acquired all the achievements obtainable on Floor 50 and cleared all the hidden dungeons.

“Rest well today.”

“Yeah.”

At Jin-su’s words, Shin Su-a answered with a stiff expression. Quite a lot of information about Floor 51 had spread on Floor 50.

‘Thanks to the NPCs.’

Floor 50 was a place where one could stay for a long period of 5 years. Also, it was the first place where NPCs appeared in large numbers and the auction house opened. There were many minor missions like newbie guidance, so it was convenient to gather points.

‘Floor 50 is a space to form a proper party, acquire a class, and match equipment.’

NPCs cannot absolutely tell falsehoods to players regarding information about the Tower. The same goes for information about Floor 51. They can withhold the information itself, but they cannot tell falsehoods.

If one stays for several years on Floor 50, one cannot help but form acquaintances with NPCs or players.

‘It’s a kind of hint.’

Players intending to challenge Floor 51 acquire all kinds of information from NPCs or other players such as ‘There is no safe zone on Floor 51.’ ‘There are no NPCs.’ ‘The appearance frequency of mimics drops sharply.’ ‘You must stockpile a lot of food.’ ‘You absolutely need at least one healer who has learned the Sanctuary skill in the party.’ etc., and after making thorough preparations, they challenge the gatekeeper.

‘Most cases are those who fill up the full 5 years and challenge out of necessity.’

But there were a minority of cases like Jin-su who challenge the gatekeeper before filling up the 5 years. Cases that think staying longer on Floor 50 brings no further development, or the type that wants to conquer the Tower as fast as possible.

The next morning, after filling their stomachs solidly, Jin-su and Shin Su-a immediately challenged clearing Floor 50.

[Do you wish to challenge clearing Floor 50?]

[Yes.] [No.]

Jin-su and Shin Su-a chose Yes.

Hwaaaak!

At that moment, a cluster of bright light enveloped Jin-su and Shin Su-a’s bodies.

[The clear condition for Floor 50 is to defeat the gatekeeper.]

[We pray for the challenger’s victory.]

The place Jin-su and Shin Su-a arrived at was a circular arena that looked like a Roman-era Colosseum. In the center, there existed a huge golem made of stone.

It was the gatekeeper of Floor 50, the Stone Golem.

Taak!

Jin-su drew the Bloodsucking Sword and Shining Longsword and charged forward, swinging the two swords.

Seogeok!

The Bloodsucking Sword cut through the Stone Golem’s torso.

Puuk!

The Shining Longsword pierced the core of the Stone Golem that revealed itself as the torso was cut.

Pasak!

Tudududuk!

As the core was shattered, the huge Stone Golem’s body turned back into ordinary rocks and rolled on the floor.

[You have achieved for the first time the unbelievable achievement of hunting the gatekeeper of Floor 50 in 2.2 seconds.]

[Title The One Who Defeated the Gatekeeper of Floor 50 in the Shortest Time is granted.]

[Title The One Who Broke Through Floor 50 in the Shortest Time is granted.]

[Skill Book Stone Golem Summon is granted.]

[Elixir Inner Spirit Pill is granted.]

‘The reward is stingier than I thought.’

It was a bit regrettable, but Jin-su took it as it was.

‘From the start, the Floor 50 gatekeeper isn’t an enormously strong monster.’

The Stone Golem gatekeeper of Floor 50 was a monster of a level that a well-formed party could catch smoothly if they properly exerted their capacity. So Jin-su didn’t even summon the Shadow Summons.

Because there was no need to do so.

However, this was only by Jin-su’s standards.

The Stone Golem that regenerates infinitely if the core isn’t destroyed was, in some aspects, as tricky to deal with as undead-type monsters that possess immortality attributes. Therefore, parties that failed in searching for and destroying the core often continued the battle until their stamina and mana bottomed out and were wiped out.

If the gatekeeper Stone Golem existed on Floor 50, retreat would have been possible. But because it exists in a separate space, retreat was impossible, and defeat meant death.

‘This is also the reason players are reluctant to challenge climbing to Floor 51.’

[You will move to Floor 51 in 59 minutes. Do you wish to go up in advance?]

[Yes.] [No.]

A system message floated up.

‘I don’t think I saw this before the regression.’

This time, it seemed to have floated up because he caught it too quickly.

“Take this.”

Jin-su handed the Stone Golem Summon skill book to Shin Su-a. It wasn’t a mage exclusive skill like the Dragon Tooth Soldier, but a common skill for mages and healers.

‘The Ice Dragon Mage has the Dragon Tooth Soldier.’

Also, since Shin Su-a is a healer, having one guard was somewhat reassuring.

‘The Stone Golem’s combat power isn’t on the good side, but its endurance is good.’

If thought of as a moving stone shield with an automatic recovery skill built in, it was somewhat usable.

“Th, thank you.”

Shin Su-a bowed her head. When defeating the gatekeeper Stone Golem, Shin Su-a had done nothing. So she didn’t receive an item as a reward either.

Ah, she acquired two quite humiliating titles.

[Title The One Who Contributed Nothing to Defeating the Gatekeeper of Floor 50 in the Shortest Time is granted.]

[Title The One Who Broke Through Floor 50 in the Shortest Time with No Contribution is granted.]

They did raise the stats a bit as titles. But they were titles with names so humiliating that she rather wanted to permanently delete them from the status window.

“I’m thinking of going to Floor 51 right away, is that okay?”

At Jin-su’s words, Shin Su-a dyed her face red and nodded. She hadn’t moved even one step and hadn’t cast even one skill. There was no reason it wouldn’t be okay.

‘Just don’t ask.’

She became even more humiliated at Jin-su’s question.

“Then let’s go right away.”

“Yeah.”

Jin-su and Shin Su-a chose Yes.

Hwaaaak!

Along with a cluster of bright light, Jin-su and Shin Su-a climbed to Floor 51.

[You have arrived at Floor 51.]

[Defeat the boss monster of Floor 51 within 10 days and climb to Floor 52.]

[Time you can stay on Floor 51 - 10 days.]

“From here, it’s the same as before Floor 50.”

The time you can stay is also 10 days, and you have to defeat a boss monster, not a gatekeeper.

“First, let’s move.”

The terrain of Floor 51 was in the form of a swamp zone.

“It doesn’t seem like a very good terrain?”

Shin Su-a furrowed her face and moved her footsteps with difficulty. Every step she took, her body sank up to the thighs.

“Yeah.”

Jin-su also agreed. At least Jin-su with high Strength and Stamina stats stopped at an annoying degree, but in Shin Su-a’s case, if she moved for a long time, her movement speed would slow and her stamina would drop without choice.

Decisively, the problem was that the swamp was gradually deepening. At this rate, it was a situation where not the thighs but the waist would be exceeded and the person would be completely submerged.

‘I remember. Before the regression, I spent an enormous amount of time looking for shallow places in the swamp to move.’

He also suffered enormously finding a place to sleep. Decisively, the monsters that appear here were the problem.

‘It was Lizardmen.’

Lizardmen specialized in swamp life hid their bodies in the swamp and launched surprise attacks.

“Try using the Stone Golem Summon skill.”

“Okay.”

At Jin-su’s words, Shin Su-a used the Stone Golem Summon skill.

Hwaaaak!

Along with a cluster of bright light, a huge Stone Golem revealed its appearance.

“Let’s climb onto the shoulders.”

For the huge Stone Golem, the swamp zone that comes up to a person’s waist was only a depth where the calves would be submerged. Jin-su and Shin Su-a climbed onto the Stone Golem’s shoulders.

‘As expected, everything has its use.’

A smile bloomed at the corners of Jin-su’s mouth. In fact, it was possible to summon Shadow Summons and ride them, but there was a bit of a problem.

‘The size itself doesn’t differ much from a person.’

He had to ride piggyback, and in deep swamps that sink up to a person’s head, it was of no help at all. But the huge Stone Golem like a giant race was different.

It was comfortable to sit astride the shoulders, and no matter how deep the swamp became, only about the waist would be submerged.

‘It would be better to switch the status window.’

In an environment like this, the Blood Demon Swordsman’s combat power drops greatly.

‘Although if I use mana, I can walk on the swamp zone like flat ground.’

The mana consumption was too extreme. Also, the field of view narrows and there are some restrictions on movement, so compared to fighting on flat ground, combat efficiency has no choice but to drop sharply.

‘If it was before the regression...’

Even a river made of lava, not a swamp, couldn’t be any restriction.

‘Even if I only consumed a dust-like amount of mana that automatically recovers just by breathing, I could walk around on swamp zones or lava zones like land.’

If the environment was annoying, he could even extinguish the swamp zone or lava zone itself. But now it wasn’t.

‘It’s too weak.’

Still, there was hope. Because the current himself was overwhelmingly stronger than the himself at the time he reached Floor 51 before the regression.

‘It was good that I didn’t summon the Shadow Summons.’

He had saved them because of the 24-hour cooldown, and it was a good thing. Jin-su switched the status window from the dark-type class Blood Demon Swordsman to the holy-type class Ice Dragon Mage.

‘Let’s also try using the Dragon Tooth Soldier Summon skill.’

Jin-su took out the 12 teeth of the White Drake and used the Dragon Tooth Soldier Summon skill.

Udeuk! Udeuk!

As Jin-su’s mana drained out, the White Drake’s teeth swelled up. Then they turned into Dragon Tooth Soldiers with heights exceeding 3 meters. The Dragon Tooth Soldiers were wearing pure white armor and were equipped with armaments like swords, spears, and shields.

“Wow!”

Shin Su-a who witnessed that appearance opened her mouth wide. Then she looked at Jin-su with a gaze full of envy.

What Shin Su-a summoned was a roughly shaped Stone Golem, and only 1 unit. In contrast, the Dragon Tooth Soldiers Jin-su summoned looked splendid like knights rather than soldiers, and there were a whopping 12 units. So it was natural to be envious.

On the other hand, Jin-su had a lukewarm expression.

Because guys far below the level of the Dragon Tooth Soldiers he knew had been summoned.

‘Well, because it’s not a true dragon’s tooth.’

No matter how much special karma has accumulated on the White Drake’s tooth, since it’s originally a lesser dragon’s tooth, there is bound to be a limit. Moreover, there was also the limit that the skill level was only 2.

‘Still, it should be usable for now.’

Although he hasn’t accurately measured the combat power yet, they are guys made from the teeth of a White Drake that exceeded Level 500 with special karma accumulated. Even though it’s a Level 2 skill, it should be able to do its share at least up to about Floor 100.

‘If I steadily raise the skill level, I should be able to use it smoothly up to the middle floors of the Tower.’

Moreover, unlike the Shadow Summon skill, there was the advantage of no skill reuse cooldown. Although the performance is lower than the Shadow Summon skill, the Dragon Tooth Soldier Summon skill was also a reasonably usable skill.

‘To continue using it for now, I’ll need to unlock the neutral skill limit.’

If he can fix 22 neutral skills at Level 122, the efficiency of major neutral skills like Dragon Tooth Soldier as well as Shadow Summon and Inventory will rise greatly.

‘Although the mana consumed when using the Dragon Tooth Soldier Summon skill is large.’

Anyway, since mana automatically recovers over time, the cost-performance was on the quite good side.

Tung!

At that time, a small vibration was transmitted to the Stone Golem that Jin-su and Shin Su-a were riding.

Pueok!

At the same time, the Dragon Tooth Soldiers staggered.

“They’ve appeared.”

The Lizardmen had started the attack while hiding their bodies in the swamp.

Puuk! Jwaak!

The Dragon Tooth Soldiers started the counterattack. The Dragon Tooth Soldiers, summons that feel neither pain nor fear, silently received the Lizardmen’s attacks and counterattacked.

Seogeok! Jwaak!

The Lizardmen’s blood wet the swamp.

‘As expected, they’re usable.’

Attack power or attack speed was on the slightly low side. But because they were guys born from the White Drake’s teeth, the Durability stat alone was enormously high, and naturally they were that hard.

‘As expected, material power is the best.’

They overcame the low skill level with material power.

“Freezing Declaration.”

Jin-su cast the skill. At the same time, the surroundings were enveloped in pure white mist, and the swamp began to freeze.