Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Part 6

His vision spun and his body stiffened.

Mincheol gritted his teeth.

‘For now, let’s fall back.’

Clench.

Wooooong!

As Mincheol stretched one leg back and raised his hammer, the weapon began vibrating violently.

Earth Shatter.

KRAAAAAAAANG!

Rrrrrrrrrumble.

When Mincheol activated the skill and slammed his hammer into the ground.

The earth began shaking violently with a tremendous roar.

It was like an earthquake had erupted.

Kyaaak!

Screech!

As the ground shook wildly, the rock monkeys panicked and began scattering in every direction.

‘Haa, the monkeys have backed off for now, so I should deal with the harpies first...’

At that moment.

RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!

The entire canyon began shaking as though it were about to collapse.

‘Huh...? What is this...’

Maintaining his balance on the shaking ground, Mincheol was greatly startled.

This shaking was not caused by his skill.

It was at least ten times stronger than the earthquake created by his skill.

Rumbleeeee.

KRAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKAKANG!

Just as Mincheol barely managed to keep his footing.

A gigantic monster burst out from beneath the ground.

“Good lord...”

【Level 74】Drogas

Shocked by the boss monster’s sudden appearance, Mincheol’s jaw dropped.

Why was a level 74 boss monster appearing on the twenty-third floor...?

More importantly.

Why had that thing appeared?

‘Don’t tell me... because of the Earth Shatter skill I just used...?!’

KRAAAAAACK!

“Brother! Hurry and run—”

BANG!

SHATTER!

“Ghk!!”

The Giant Worm charging at incredible speed shattered Indomitable Barrier in a single blow.

The impact was so immense that he nearly lost consciousness.

Worse, horrible pain surged through the arm holding the shield, as though it had broken.

SHARARARARAK!

Soon, Drogas’s tentacles began extending out from throughout the canyon.

No, rather than tentacles, should they be described as smaller worms?

SHARARARAK!

Kiiiik!

Kyaaak!

As the tentacle-like worms stretching out from the canyon began swallowing the harpies in the sky.

The monsters screamed and began fleeing wildly.

But the worms extended overwhelmingly faster.

Crunch.

Crack-crunch.

“...”

When not only the harpies, but even the monkeys were all devoured by the worms.

Mincheol swallowed dryly.

The hundreds upon hundreds of monsters disappeared in an instant.

‘If only I hadn’t used Earth Shatter...’

Just as Mincheol was blaming himself.

Step. Step.

At some point, Yugeon had come down and was walking toward him from behind.

“B-Brother! Why are you here?! Hurry back up—”

“You worked hard. I’ll finish things from here.”

“Pardon...?”

Shing.

With an indifferent expression, Yugeon drew the sword hanging at his waist.

A cheap sword that had been lying around at home.

Ding!

【Infinite Realm】 has been activated.

[Consumes 1 Feat.]

Bzzzzzz.

Whoosh!

A world where everything had stopped.

Yugeon moved his sword.

Ding!

【One Sword of Heavenly Destruction】 has been activated.

[Consumes 1 Feat.]

Flash!

KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!

Whoooosh.

Shatter.

“As expected. I really need to replace my sword soon.”

When time began flowing once again.

The sword in Yugeon’s hand shattered into pieces.

At the same time.

SPLIIIIIT!

BOOOOOOM.

The enormous Drogas and the smaller worms were split into two and died instantly.

‘What... did I just see...?’

Mincheol stared blankly at the dead boss monster.

It had definitely been level 74.

An existence that should never have appeared on the twenty-third floor.

Not merely a field monster, but a named boss monster.

And yet the moment Yugeon moved, the boss died instantly.

‘Does that even make sense?’

Not ordinary monsters.

The levels of boss monsters were different from the levels of Awakened.

A level 50 boss monster and a level 50 Awakened were not equivalent.

Even at the same level, the boss monster was far stronger.

Because of that, Awakened did not trust boss monster levels.

In the past, many Awakened had lost their lives meaninglessly because they did not know this fact.

A level 40 Awakened had challenged a level 30 boss monster alone, only to die without even managing to scream.

That was how boss monster levels differed from those of humans.

‘At least four... no, five.’

A party of five Awakened in the level 70s would have been needed to kill Drogas.

‘But how did Brother...’

Just what was his true identity?

Mincheol already knew he was strong, but this was too absurd.

“You okay?”

“...Huh? Ah, yes! Yes... I’m fine!”

At Yugeon’s question, Mincheol quickly came to his senses and put away his shield.

The harpies and monkeys had already been eaten, and even the boss was dead, so there was no longer anything to fight.

“Go get only the boss monster’s mana stone.”

“Only the mana stone?”

Drogas’s hide was extremely tough and hard, and many Awakened used it to make protective equipment.

So why was Yugeon telling him to take only the mana stone?

“It’s not efficient.”

Drogas’s hide and teeth.

They were fairly good.

The problem was the difficulty of processing them.

Drogas’s by-products were extremely troublesome and difficult to process, making the processing costs very high.

The problem was that they did not perform well enough to justify the processing cost.

“You’d get better efficiency just using your current equipment than using that.”

“Ah...”

“But the mana stone is different.”

“I see! I’ll go get it right away.”

Mincheol nodded, took out a dagger from his bag, and went to dismantle Drogas.

Truthfully, dismantling it was not very difficult.

Yugeon had already split it in half.

Squelch.

“Brother, I brought it.”

“Good. Keep it safe. Sell it somewhere with low fees.”

“?”

“What?”

When Mincheol stared at him, Yugeon tilted his head.

“Uh... You’re giving this to me?? You’re telling me to keep it?”

It was a mana stone obtained from killing a level 74 boss.

Not level 7.

Not level 4.

It was a level 74 A-rank mana stone.

Even if sold cheaply, it would fetch at least three hundred million won, and the average price was five hundred to eight hundred million.

And yet Yugeon was simply telling him to keep it.

“I don’t need it.”

“...Even so, I can’t just take this. More importantly, the boss appeared because of me...”

“I knew it would appear.”

“Pardon?”

“When Drogas senses an enormous vibration, it thinks its territory is being invaded and comes out.”

“...”

There were so many things he wanted to ask.

Why Yugeon did not need the mana stone.

How he had known in advance that the boss would appear.

Why a level 74 boss monster could appear on the twenty-third floor.

He was curious about everything.

‘And about who Brother really is too...’

Swoosh.

“You look like you have a lot of questions.”

“Haha... I’m not very smart, so I’m having trouble understanding...”

“Originally, there were no boundaries in the tower.”

“What do you mean, no boundaries?”

“I mean it wasn’t divided into Area 1, Area 2, Area 3, and so on. Originally, the tower was one whole thing from Floor 1 to Floor 100.”

“?!!”

Mincheol’s eyes widened at the shocking revelation.

Then what exactly had he and all the other Awakened been doing by clearing floors and moving upward?

“It was changed into what it is now. They divided the floors so they could show more. So they could watch more dramatic scenes unfold.”

“...”

Mincheol tilted his head at the incomprehensible words.

There were parts he did not understand.

But more than that.

Yugeon’s eyes had become far too chilling as he spoke.

For a moment, Mincheol thought he saw anger in them, but he could not tell who that anger was directed toward.

“Anyway, in the past, there was no concept of floors. That came later.”

“Uh... so that means...?”

“There are a few powerful individuals hidden on every floor even now. Where does the tower begin?”

“Area 1, Floor 1.”

“There used to be a level 90 monster there too.”

“What?!! W-Wouldn’t that be a disaster??”

“Don’t worry. It’s already gone. It didn’t have much lifespan left.”

“...”

“I know what you’re thinking, but don’t worry too much. Most of them are forced to sleep by the laws of the tower anyway. Unless they’re forcibly awakened like today, they won’t appear.”

“Ah... S-Sorry. Because of me...”

Smirk.

Tap.

Seeing Mincheol scratching the back of his head, Yugeon gave a faint smile and patted him on the back.

In truth, the reason Yugeon had brought Mincheol here today was to lure out Drogas.

‘I needed an earthquake strong enough to make Drogas come out.’

If he had not killed Drogas today, Hwang Mungi would have died at Drogas’s hands.

That was because the object Hwang Mungi was searching for was something Drogas went mad for.

If Hwang Mungi found that object, the sleeping Drogas would have immediately burst out.

_____________

Drip. Drip. Drip.

“Ugh...”

“This place reeks.”

“Brother, why did we come here...?”

Pinching his nose, Mincheol shone his flashlight ahead as they moved forward.

They were currently in Area 1, Floor 5, [Waste Storage].

As soon as they finished their business on the twenty-third floor, they had immediately come down to Area 1, Floor 5.

“There’s something I need to get.”

“There’s something worth getting here?”

Then suddenly, something came to Mincheol’s mind.

In the center of Floor 5’s Waste Storage was an enormous mountain of trash.

From food waste to discarded appliances.

All kinds of garbage had been piled there haphazardly.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to the trash mountain?”

“That’s right.”

“Is there really anything worth getting there...?”

He had visited the trash mountain himself in the past.

But there had not been anything particularly useful there.

There had been things like weapons and armor, but they were all shabby junk.

“There’s no better place than filth to hide treasure.”

“Hmm... If you say so, Brother, I’ll believe you.”

Mincheol gave a faint smile and once again looked ahead as he walked.

______________

How long had they walked?

After traveling for quite some time while dealing with the monsters that attacked them, an enormous circular cavern finally appeared before them.

And within it stood a massive mountain of trash.