Chapter 1 · 10 min

Chapter 1

Transcendence (EX)

When was that again.

Hmm.

I think it was around the summer break when I was sixteen.

I was sitting in the back seat, looking at my phone.

Staring at the phone in the swaying car made me nauseous.

I was sleepy, so I closed my eyes, and it felt like I'd dozed off for a bit.

And not long after.

With a suffocating impact, everything went dark before my eyes.

Beep— beep—

Beyond the hazy vision, like fog had settled in.

I saw a hand covered in blood.

It was definitely my hand, but I felt nothing.

Blood kept dripping, drop by drop, from the tips of my fingers.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

So why am I suddenly bringing up old stories.

Because blood is dripping, drop by drop, right in front of my eyes.

“Kkeueueok···.”

A middle-aged woman, Lee Heeja.

She tripped over the threshold while leaving the room and fell.

Unluckily, she hit the floor headfirst and her skull cracked.

Blood was steadily seeping from the torn scalp.

Whether it was a concussion or something else, she stared at me with a pitiful gaze and muttered words I couldn't understand.

So what.

My gaze was indifferent.

No one could blame me.

Not even Lee Heeja, that person, could blame me for not helping her.

Sixteen years old, from the accident during the summer break I'd just recalled.

It's already been eight years since I became a quadriplegic vegetative patient.

“Keok, keogeogeok···!!”

Lee Heeja rolled her eyes back.

I watched that and thought.

Compared to the evil deeds she'd committed, wasn't this death far too merciful.

Die as slowly as possible.

Oh, right.

So that accident back then, it turned out a massive cargo truck had crossed over from the opposite lane and crushed our car.

My parents died instantly from the truck that crossed the median.

I survived by luck, but became a quadriplegic.

My guardian became my only relative, my uncle.

Lee Taesik, that damn bastard.

At first he pretended to take care of me with all his heart and soul, but it turned out he'd been after my dad's assets.

The bastard meticulously and thoroughly secured the assets.

As my dad's assets dwindled, the treatment I received worsened.

After the work was completed to a certain extent.

Lee Taesik decided to erase me from the world entirely.

He couldn't kill me, worried it might crack his crime.

He dumped me in some remote rural corner.

And entrusted my care, along with a gag order, to a distant relative, a sixth cousin or something, Lee Heeja.

-Fucking useless cripple bastard.

That's what Lee Heeja spat out every time she looked at me.

I couldn't even respond, so I just blinked.

Lee Heeja probably knew too.

That I was hearing every word she said.

And she probably knows even now.

“Keueok···keo···!!”

That I.

Am watching her death.

I met her eyes and said in my heart.

Please die slowly.

Very.

Painfully.

[...have awakened]

I opened my eyes.

As usual, the TV was on in front of me.

It was noisy, but I couldn't turn it off, which was troublesome.

I turned my head and looked at Lee Heeja.

She was collapsed face down on the floor.

Quite a bit of time had passed, and the blood that had pooled on the floor was already coagulated.

I need to die quickly too.

It doesn't seem easy like this.

There's no other choice.

What options does someone who can't even twitch a finger have.

[You have awakened]

······?

At the black letters that suddenly floated before my eyes, my brain briefly stopped thinking.

An awakening out of nowhere like this?

‘What is this?’

I tried to recall.

Right. There was a theory like that.

──────────────────

The probability of awakening increases the more extreme the crisis.

Awakened abilities become stronger the more unique the situation.

──────────────────

Looking at it that way, it fits my case perfectly.

A full-body paralysis patient with not a single person to help.

There couldn't be a more extreme crisis than this.

There couldn't be a more unique situation than this.

[You have awakened]

Even while thinking about this and that, the message kept repeating.

As if waiting for me to confirm it.

I confirmed the message not with my vision, but with my senses.

The letters scattered and disappeared with a swish.

Black dots flew in from somewhere like sand and transformed into a new message.

[Abnormal physical ability has been detected]

[Permanent nerve damage has been detected]

[It is a desperate situation with no escape]

These bastards.

They're doing a confirmation kill out of nowhere.

It's not even mocking.

[A bonus is given to the awakened ability]

[The grade of the trait rises]

[The trait has been decided]

The system seems to know too.

That no matter what ability it gives, it holds little meaning for me.

It should just give me an instant death ability instead.

Then I could use it on myself.

At least die without pain.

[Please check the status window]

But ignoring my wish like that.

Messages floated up one after another.

[Name: Lee Hansung]

[Level: 1]

[Trait: Transcendence (EX)]

[Skills: -]

Seeing the status window, it really sinks in that I've awakened.

There wasn't much else to look at.

Level is 1, and no skills.

I checked the trait.

[Transcendence (EX)]

-Experience points gained increase by 1,000,000 times.

······?

For a moment, my brain stopped just like when I saw the awakening message.

An EX-grade rating is something I'm seeing for the first time.

And the content is even more absurd.

Experience points by 1,000,000 times?

‘Since I'm going to die anyway, is the system just throwing it out randomly?’

Maybe that's the case.

There was an opinion like that among the things experts exchanged on TV.

-Sometimes it feels like the system is experimenting with something. Even with quests or rewards. It's not disorder, but there are times when it's handed over as if with a specific intent.

Well, it's useless.

What use is experience points being 1,000 times or 10,000 times.

A quadriplegic awakener or whatever.

Awakening doesn't mean I can move···.

···Huh?

Wait a minute.

Suddenly a fact I hadn't thought of came to mind.

The black tower.

A place of miracles.

A place where real-world restrictions don't apply.

Immediately, one awakener came to mind.

Han Yonggyun.

He lost his left arm in an accident at a young age.

But in the tower, he swings a massive greatsword and sweeps through monsters as a top-tier awakener.

In the tower, both his hands existed perfectly fine.

Meaning that physical damage that occurred before awakening is not recognized in the tower.

Looking at it that way.

Real-world restrictions might not be much of a problem in the tower.

‘Maybe I···might be able to move too.’

And at that moment.

Truly ridiculously, my heart pounded, thump, thump.

It's not like I'm hoping for a lot.

I want to walk.

At that simple impulse, my mind went blank.

When was the last time I walked?

When was the last time I saw someone other than Lee Heeja?

What am I supposed to say when I see people?

No, can I even enter the tower?

How do you enter the tower again?

[Would you like to enter the tower lobby floor?]

Ah, right.

They said it works just by thinking.

I'm really glad I don't have to say it out loud.

If that were the case, I wouldn't even be able to enter.

‘Enter.’

The moment I muttered in my heart.

A pure white light filled my vision.

[You have entered the tower lobby floor]

I really entered.

My heart sank.

‘Can I move?’

I raised my hand.

I moved my legs.

I took steps.

Step, step.

It works.

“This is crazy···.”

I can't even think of what to say.

In actual reality, my body was dying.

Even so, my chest swelled endlessly.

To think walking alone could make me this happy.

Was what I wanted really this simple.

[Items needed for tower climbing can only be purchased with points]

[You can obtain basic skills through the skill merchant]

In the midst of frantically moving my body.

My mind sharpened at the message that floated up.

The place I'm in now.

A place I'd watched on TV the whole time, yet never imagined I'd actually come to.

The lobby floor of the tower.

Murmur murmur murmur.

Inside the enormous cavity.

It was filled with hundreds of people.

People chatting and smiling.

People shouting at the top of their lungs.

Among them, there was a place where people were particularly gathered.

A man with an exotic appearance wearing a flashy robe.

If forced to categorize by race, he looks closer to Hispanic.

As I approached, the man's gaze fixed on me.

“What do you want?”

At the same time, a message floated before my eyes.

[Held points: 0]

[Obtainable series: [Flame][Earth][Wind]]

Thanks to Lee Heeja leaving the TV on every day, I know all about tower climbing.

Maybe better than the average awakener.

Looking at the obtainable series, I'm a magic series awakener.

A so-called mage.

Basic skills are flame, earth, wind.

Once you decide, you stick to that series.

‘Of course, if you're an outstanding hunter, you could master one series and then learn the next.’

But that's absolutely not my case.

Forget multiple series, I'll definitely die before mastering even one.

Whether I starve to death.

Or die with bedsores covering my body.

[You have selected the Flame series]

I selected flame.

Since I'm going to die anyway.

Something fiery looked good.

[Acquiring Flame series skill]

[Fireball (LV1)]

As expected, the basic skill is Fireball.

Universal.

I checked the skill.

[Fireball (LV1)]

-Creates a sphere of flame.

I spread my palm upward.

A sphere of flame floated up into the empty air.

Perhaps due to insufficient mana, I felt a fair amount of weakness.

Whoosh!

When I moved my palm, the sphere followed.

I tested this and that to grasp the skill's characteristics.

Creation is only possible from the palm.

It can be launched with will alone, but throwing it like a ball is much faster.

That said, it wasn't extremely fast.

About the speed an adult man throws a tennis ball?

Anyway, this situation itself is amazing and fun.

Walking in a new place, seeing people.

It's something I'm experiencing for the first time in eight years, so dopamine surged.

‘Experiencing this before dying too. Awakening is nice after all.’

Thinking that, I turned my head.

Dozens of dimensional gates flickering on the wall.

While the others were gray, one particular gate was emitting a blue light.

The smallest gate among all of them.

I approached it.

Standing in front and extending my hand, a message floated before my eyes.

[Would you like to enter the 1st floor of the tower?]

After hesitating for a moment, I slowly opened my mouth.

“Enter.”

My voice, which I was hearing for the first time in a long while, felt awkward.

[You have entered the 1st floor of the tower]

The white light filling my vision subsided.

The air turned chilly.

It's a cave that looks similar, but a completely different place from the lobby just now.

[Defeat 1 Goblin]

“Kirruk!”

Darkness filling my vision.

From somewhere beyond it, a bizarre and gloomy voice.

Probably the goblin's voice.

‘If I just keep my mind straight, one is enough.’

The 1st floor of the tower is a kind of tutorial.

If you focus, you can clear it without injury.

One goblin or so.

As long as I properly plant a fireball in its torso or head, I should be able to take it down easily enough.

Thinking that, I took a step forward.

The thick darkness slowly retreated before the flames of the fireball.

After a while, turning a corner, a fairly wide space.

There it was.

“Kigik, kik!”

A short height that only reached my pelvis.

A scrawny build.

A small head.

And in contrast, large ears.

It was perfectly the goblin I knew.

“Kyaaaaak!!!”

Soon the thing discovered me.

It let out a shriek and charged toward me.

Without getting scared or flustered, I calmly stared into its eyes.

And when the distance was definitely close enough.

I threw the fireball at its face.

Fwoooosh!!!

Flames spreading from its face!

Instantly engulfed the goblin's body that collapsed to the floor.

The goblin thrashing its limbs and rolling on the floor.

I put distance between us and quietly watched it.

It burned for about another minute before stopping its movements.

“I... did it.”

The tension released belatedly.

My head felt a bit dizzy, so I sat down on the floor.

Instantly, a new message floated before my eyes.

The content was extremely bewildering.

[You have defeated the Goblin]

[[Transcendence (EX) ability manifests]

[Experience points gained increase by 1,000,000 times]

[Level up]

···

[You have achieved Level 20]

Achieving level 20 from one goblin.

The highest level a hunter who cleared the 1st floor of the tower can reach.

That alone was absurd enough.

[You have defeated an enemy with the Fireball (LV1) skill]

[[Transcendence (EX) ability manifests]

[Experience points gained increase by 1,000,000 times]

[The skill level of Fireball (LV1) increases]

[The skill level of Fireball (LV2) increases]

[The skill level of Fireball (LV3) increases]

···

[Fireball (LV20) skill has reached the maximum level]

“...My god.”

Even the skill has reached the maximum level.