Chapter 6 · 10 min
Chapter 6
Lake Sunfish
[Would you like to register your name]
[Yes][No]
The system window blinked in front of me as I lay face down, as if urging me to hurry up and register.
Naturally, I tapped ‘No.’
Ding-dong.
[The Floor 1 rankings have been updated]
A system notification appeared.
Whenever someone entered the rankings, the system window sent a notification to everyone. And the screen that appeared before me.
[You did not register your name]
[You will be registered anonymously]
[Republic of Korea Floor 1 Clear Rankings]
[1st Anonymous/Summoned Creature 7 seconds]
[2nd Anonymous/Anonymous/Anonymous/Anonymous/Anonymous 27 seconds]
[3rd NewbieLover/IncarnationOfFire/AstralRealmIsBest/Chomin/Ppikoppi 27 seconds]
Ah, I'm screwed.
It did show up as anonymous, but because ‘Summoned Creature’ was written beside it, everyone now knew for certain that it had been one Summoner and one summoned creature.
In other words, it meant a Summoner had cleared it with a single summoned creature.
This wasn't the time to be delighted about how amazing my summoned creature was.
I'd forgotten for a moment because we'd ended it so spectacularly.
I'd also been startled when the tentacled sunfish suddenly charged at us, especially since it was obvious from the way it looked that it intended to bite us apart.
“Ah!!”
Clara seemed to realize it only then and timidly came over in front of me.
“I-I'm sorry. It was so disgusting that I lost my head.”
“Hmm... Clara, let's go back home first and think about it.”
“O-okay...”
____________
Thump. Thud.
Clara and I were transferred onto the folding mattress laid out on my bedroom floor. I'd bought it after clearing Floor 0 because crawling across the dirt had made my bed filthy after returning.
First, let's check the new rewards.
I looked over the multiple system windows that had appeared.
[You have leveled up]
[Level 1 → Level 2]
[Your class is Summoner. Magic Power increases]
[Magic Power 6 → Magic Power 8]
[This is Floor 1. You have obtained an UN-grade reward]
[Lowest-grade Magic Stone Fragment]
[Youth Potion 1 Second]
[Iron Sword That Breaks Easily]
A Youth Potion came out. One second didn't seem like much, but it was worth about 150,000 won.
One second? Wouldn't it take more than a second just to drink it? You might think.
‘Because you can combine them to increase the duration.’
That way, it could be increased to one minute, one hour, one day, and so on. Because of that, even the one-second versions were actively traded.
A Lowest-grade Magic Stone Fragment was worth around 10,000 won. It was used to repair items that came from the tower.
Lastly, the Iron Sword That Breaks Easily.
This wasn't worth much either, since it came from the Unranked Floors.
I could sell everything right away, but I decided to enter the system-window Gallery first.
After all, every Korean must have seen the ding-dong notification.
{Anon: Did everyone see the Floor 1 rankings? 7-second clear lol}{8}
{Anon: No, how the hell is a 7-second clear possible? The Tentacle Sunfish was fucking hard to kill}{5}
{Anon: Are we about to get an S-rank Hunter in Korea?}{3}
{Anon: Even if it's only Floor 1, no country has ever had a 7-second clear, right?}{2}
{Anon: But there's one really fucking scary fact}{1}
As expected, new posts were appearing nonstop. Most of them were about me.
{Anon: But there's one really fucking scary fact
They registered their clear ranking anonymously
Doesn't that mean they're planning to naturalize in another country?}
Anon: Naturalize? Fuck, just hearing that pisses me off. If they really do that, they should immediately be added to the encyclopedia of traitors
From the title alone, I thought it wasn't about me, but it was.
Hmm.
I checked a title that was blatantly about me too.
{Anon: Is that 7 seconds for real? Looks like some insane Summoner appeared in Korea?
Isn't the Association desperately recruiting Summoners right now?
Anon: It's not the Summoner who's insane, it's the summon. Why would the Association want an Unranked-level person when they said they need someone high-level?
{Anon: Hey, hey, if what you're saying is true, then the summoned creature is way more shocking, isn't it?
The ranking that just appeared
Anonymous/Summoned Creature
The anonymous one here is the Summoner class, right?
Summoner???
That class can't do shit against the Tentacle Sunfish
So fucking hell, that means the summoned creature solo-cleared it in 7 seconds?
Anon: You're right. If the summoned creature is that amazing, what are they giving it in return?
└Anon: Maybe sucked them off once?
└Anon: As if?
Anon: No, before that, can it even be that strong? If it's Floor 1, its level should still be Unranked at best, right?
└Anon: Maybe they summoned some prodigy knight who'd been called a genius since childhood right before they hit level 10?
└Anon: If that's true, they hit the jackpot. Must have a shitload of traits
└Anon: But if the summoned creature is that amazing, how much groveling would you have to do? They must be giving up an arm and a leg for it
...Maybe this doesn't feel so bad?
Did I have attention-seeking tendencies? Watching the Gallery blow up over the anonymous Summoner was fun.
I happened to post yesterday that I'd awakened and wanted recommendations for which summon to choose, so someone might suspect that WheelchairHunter was the one in the rankings.
If someone who always posted nonsense suddenly stayed silent at a time like this, that would be suspicious. I should muddy the waters as much as possible.
{WheelchairHunter: I'm jealous, I'm a Summoner too
Remember my summoned-creature descriptions from yesterday?
It says I have to offer up my neck before he'll be loyal to me
Or else they want me to give them a separate house to live in
Then they'll consider climbing with me}
Anon: Average summon lol
Anon: lol I was getting insanely jealous looking at that 7-second-clear summon, but your post made me feel better. Yeah, Summoner really isn't a class you should pick, thanks lol
Anon: A house? Just buy one? Oh, you're not rich? Then why did you choose Summoner?
└WheelchairHunter: T_T
Anon: Still, at least when you level up, you get that feeling of becoming stron... oh, you don't? Summoners only get Magic Power lol
└WheelchairHunter:..
SwordMageF: Just... make it to Floor 10. Big bro will carry you
└WheelchairHunter: Thank you, big bro
└Anon: If you don't buy them a house, they won't even enter the tower with you, so how are you supposed to reach Floor 10? lol
{Anon: Fresh news just came in
As expected, becoming a Summoner means you're fuuucked lol
This is the first time a Summoner has ever made the rankings, right?
That one's just some freak case equivalent to winning the lottery several times
Normally it's
Buy me a house
That's the average lol
This guy always posted nonsense, then awakened recently, and of all things became a Summoner lol
Looks like he'll keep posting nonsense forever~~~
Oh my stomach~~~ I can't stop laughing~~~~}
GiggleOneShot: What if that person's summon likes them a lot and they climb the tower together? You don't know what'll happen, do you? They might make new rankings
└Anon: Oh no~~~ Stop giving them false hope lol
└GiggleOneShot: Bunch of losers who get off on watching other people fail
└Anon: Yes~ yes~~ It's fucking hilarious, of all things a Summoner lol
There were plenty of twisted people around as usual, so things worked out better than expected.
For today, I was almost grateful to people like them.
When I looked beside me, Clara was still sitting there dejectedly.
I didn't want to see Clara looking so down either... Since things had already turned out this way, I decided to change how I thought about it.
“Clara, do you think we can clear the next floor in seven seconds too? How about we just keep updating the rankings anonymously from now on?”
“Y-you're not angry anymore?”
Angry?
Ah, I had been angry.
I had expected Clara's stats would probably put us in the rankings.
Still, the reason I hadn't wanted to take first place was because I was afraid of attracting attention.
The reason I didn't want attention was...
Someone might covet my summoned creature.
...Had I really become this possessive in just one day?
I felt a little embarrassed.
“Yes, I'm okay now. Clara. I'm sorry for having a bad attitude earlier.”
“No! I was the one who made the mistake!”
“I'm not angry anymore, so get up.”
Spring.
Clara, who had been sitting dejectedly, immediately stood up.
And then she held out her hand to me.
“H-hold my hand.”
I guess I'd made her feel a little insecure.
I took Clara's hand in both of mine and spoke.
“I should've said this first. Thank you for climbing Floor 1 with me today, Clara.”
“It was nothing!”
She was someone who hadn't cared in the slightest when she saw my lower-body paralysis. It was as though she simply didn't see it at all.
“I'm glad I have you, Clara.”
“I love you too!”
Clara, whose mood instantly recovered, threw herself into my arms.
____________
The next day.
Rustle.
“Um... Clara?”
“If the difference between Floor 1 and Floor 2 is only that much, then there's no need to even draw my sword this time!”
“Then, what about me lying face down like last time...?”
“I can't leave my husband lying on the floor like that!!”
I could no longer refuse under Clara's fiery gaze.
Though since her eyes were red, maybe that was why they looked fiery.
“Th-thank you, Clara...”
“I love you too!”
Now, whenever I said anything positive, Clara automatically answered that she loved me.
And so, while being carried in Clara's arms like a princess, I called out the system window.
“System window.”
[Conquer the Tower]
[Floor 0][Floor 1][Floor 2]
I tapped the newly appeared Floor 2, and we entered the tower.
The field had expanded to twenty meters in width, length, and height to match Floor 2.
At the point farthest from the preparation-room wall lay another Tentacle Sunfish like the one on Floor 1.
The difference was the lake ten meters in diameter positioned at the center.
It didn't matter if it entered the lake to extinguish the fire on its body.
With Clara's stats, she could easily defeat something like a Lake Tentacle Sunfish even without using her Wish. She also had the Swordsmanship trait.
[Would you like to kill it]
[Yes][No]
[20:00]
“Then, shall we start?”
“Anytime!”
Looking at the system window, whose time limit had increased to twenty minutes to match Floor 2, I tapped ‘Yes.’
Bang~!
Immediately, just like on Floor 1, the Lake Sunfish came flying toward us.
[O Fire]
Fwoosh!!
In an instant, the Lake Sunfish's body burst into flames. It ignored the fire and continued charging straight at us, but.
Thud. Crash.
Normally, the Lake Sunfish would land at around the fifteen-meter mark, just after crossing the lake. That was because it couldn't cover the full twenty-meter distance in one leap. But the Lake Sunfish, whose entire body had been engulfed in flames while it was still flying, smashed headfirst into the dirt and slid all the way to a stop directly in front of us, unconscious.
Its tentacle was still trembling, but it showed no sign of moving again.
[19:53]
Ding~!
The sound I'd been hoping for rang out, and a system window appeared before us.
[You have cleared Floor 2]
[Clear time: 7 seconds]
[You have entered the Floor 2 clear rankings]
[You have become Rank 1 on the Floor 2 clear rankings]
[Would you like to register your name]
[Yes][No]
[You have leveled up]
[Level 2 → Level 3]
[Your class is Summoner. Magic Power increases]
[Magic Power 8 → Magic Power 11]
[This is Floor 2. You have obtained an UN-grade reward]
[Lowest-grade Magic Stone Fragment]
[Youth Potion 1 Second]
[Dagger with a Brittle Blade]
The system window announced that we'd entered the record books again with the exact same seven-second clear as yesterday.
Exactly seven seconds again.
Ding-dong.
[The Floor 2 rankings have been updated]