Chapter 20: Return (4)

Slam!

The giant monster wearing a crown staggered while collapsing to the ground.

「 You have defeated the trial objective, the goblin king. 」

The tower informed us of the completion and—

「 Would you like to absorb the soul of the goblin king? 」

The black fog above the corpse confirmed the death of the goblin king.

I claimed my victory while heaving for air.

“I won.”

It was underwhelming compared to fighting off the other challengers.

The goblin king didn’t have any skills to bind me, nor could he read the trajectory of my attacks.

All he could do was swing his club and decimate everything in his way.

I was dancing circles around him with the buffs, and was taking all the aggro while dealing all the damage.

The only thing you could call teamwork was the buffs that Lee Hayeon gave me.

Of course, this was how it was during the entire 4th trial, so I was used to it.

And the result was this nonchalant victory.

「 Congratulations. You have overcome the Tower of Trials floor 4. 」

「 As a reward, you have received ‘unlock innate ability.’ 」

「 As a reward, all your stats have been increased by +4. 」

「 As a reward, you have received ‘5,500 points.’ 」

「 As a bonus reward, you have received the skill ‘Instant Acceleration (D)’ 」

「 As a bonus reward, you have received ‘2,000 points.’ 」

「 Please move to the waiting area. 」

「 Moving to the waiting room. 」

My body instantly felt lighter, reflecting the stat changes.

In terms of utility, that reward was just as good as a skill or an item.

Higher base stats meant being able to do more things.

‘Rewards are good.’

It was worth going through the damn trial.

Voom!

A portal appeared in front of the giant throne the goblin king once sat on.

Yes, that was it.

This was how the 4th trial ended.

But—

“…”

My thoughts were still jumbled in my head like a tangled ball of wire.

“I’m sorry but… am I free to go?”

Lee Sunghoon quietly asked an uncharacteristically respectful question.

“Why are you asking me that? You can just go.”

“…W-well, I’ll head out.”

Voom!

I guess that was the end of our relationship.

There was still another hunter standing behind me without moving.

It was Lee Hayeon.

“Do you have anything to say?”

Once I asked, she responded immediately.

“…I know I may be overstepping my bounds but you did what you had to do.”

“Did I?”

“Yeah. Someone had to do it and if you hadn’t, I would have.”

“I’m glad you think that way.”

It was obvious what she was talking about.

Murder, and some morally gray acts of threatening Lee Sunghoon.

Looking back, I was a cold-blooded bastard during the entire trial.

I was acting with a tiny bit of conscience, but only for my own benefit.

Because I didn’t want to resort to murder unless I had no choice.

“You’re strong. Even if you were only a player outside, you were probably strong.”

That stung a little.

‘Eh, not really.’

I just got insanely strong after entering the tower.

Out of nowhere, Lee Hayeon tapped the empty space in front of her.

“…?”

I didn’t understand what she was doing for a while, but it was soon made clear.

「 Challenger Lee Hayeon has sent you a friend request. 」

It was one of the features of the community.

I forgot about it because I thought I’d never have a use for it but…

“…”

I was speechless for a second.

Lee Hayeon noticed this and quickly backpedaled her preposition.

“Uh, um, you can ignore it if you’d like.”

“No. it’s not like that. I was just wondering why you sent something like this to me.”

“Well, you basically single-handedly cleared the trial for us, and I wanted to give you some sort of compensation.”

“…”

“If you ever get back to Earth, look for Lee Hayeon of the White Silver guild.”

“Oh, if you’re trying to recruit me…”

“N-no it’s not like that! It’s just if you need anything at all.”

I couldn’t help but smile at her fumbling.

She had a stoic face the entire time, so it was nice to see this side of her.

“We can help you connect with guilds, merchants, hunters, dungeons… whatever you might need. Our guild specializes in that. And of course, we can do it free of charge.”

I nodded at her salesman-like pitch.

Honestly, it was an attractive offer and I didn’t want to reject her thanks.

‘And I don’t know if she’s trying to use me or not, but I can figure that out later.’

I wasn’t so thoughtless that I couldn’t tell the difference between good and ill will.

“Okay. I’ll leave a message if I can.”

「 You’ve accepted the friend request from challenger Lee Hayeon. 」

A bashful smile appeared on her face as she read the message.

This one seemed genuine compared to the distanced smiles from before.

“I’ll be heading out now too. Get to the 8th floor safely.”

“Okay. I wish you a safe climb up as well.”

Voom!

The silence was deafening after the smiling hunter entered the portal.

“…”

To be honest, I was thankful to this tower.

The tower was the one that gave me, someone with nothing, a second chance.

But the tower pushed people to the limits.

The life-threatening battles, and now, murder.

‘Fighting the monsters wasn’t that bad.’

It pushed people just enough for them to survive and grow.

I was on a high from the rewards I’d been receiving.

But I could finally distance myself from all of this and see everything in a more objective light.

I was just blinded by all the rewards the tower had been dangling in front of me.

The tower of trials didn’t just make people stronger in a normal manner.

However—

“…”

After experiencing this ruthlessness, I still didn’t want to stop.

For the first time in my life, I wanted something more than to become just a hunter.

I wanted to climb the tower.

A part of me craved to get stronger, but it was also because this tower was the closest thing to the ‘Great Calamity.’

Where monsters came from, and why gates appear.

I had a feeling that I’d find out more about what happened to the world as I climbed the tower…

Above all, it was because I knew that whoever adapted the fastest was the one who survived the calamity.

Of course—

‘There are also other things to be earned from here.’

One merit was that I could get infinitely stronger here.

No matter what it was, the tower gave me a chance to grow stronger and I was going to take it.

Even if it meant crushing others to do so…

And from the 8th floor, I wouldn’t be hesitant to climb up anymore.

Because everyone who remained would have done so of their own volition.

So first, I decided to absorb all of the souls in the tower.

「 You have absorbed the soul of the goblin king. 」

「 You have absorbed the soul of the player ‘Lee Jinhoo.’ 」

「 You have absorbed the soul of the player ‘Lee Sieon.’ 」

「 You have absorbed the soul of the player ‘Im Sangyoon.’ 」

Shaaa…!

All of the fog spiraled into my palm to be absorbed.

I wouldn’t kill just to get stronger, but I would if the situation forced me to.

It was too late to have any qualms about that anyway.

‘I can digest these souls later.’

Once I absorbed all the souls, I headed to the portal.

「 Moving to the waiting room. 」

I could always check the rewards later.

It was time to heal up first.

***

「 You have entered the 5th floor waiting room. 」

「 Healing all injuries and status ailments. 」

「 The healing effect is constantly applied in the waiting room. 」

The familiar messages greeted me again.

But the following messages weren’t something I’ve seen yet.

「 More than a thousand people have cleared the 5th trial. 」

「 The system expansion is starting. 」

「 A system that ranks trial clears, ‘Trial Evaluation’ is being created. 」

「 New categories are being added to the marketplace. 」

「 More items are now available in the marketplace. 」

「 You are now able to change your nickname. 」

“A system expansion.”

Like we figured out previously, the expansion was finally starting.

I knew it was going to happen, but it still felt surprising.

It felt like it was only yesterday when I was putting my life at risk to kill the sand golem…

‘I guess I got stronger pretty quickly.’

Slightly nostalgic, I checked out the newly expanded system.

“Trial Evaluation.”

Upon the command, a decorated hologram appeared in front of me.

「 4th Trial Evaluations 」

…

…

“Fairly intuitive.”

Clicking the name at the top of the board expanded the details.

“…”

Is this record humanly possible?

‘I mean, what? How did he clear the trial in 34 minutes?’

It was a name I recognized from the community, and he was stronger than I had imagined.

There was too much coincidence for it to be someone with the same name.

‘I guess this is the power of actual hunters.’

An existence that C and D-rank hunters couldn’t even fathom.

I knew he was a high rank from the way he spoke, but…

‘I didn’t know this was his level.’

As I continued down the leaderboard, something caught my eye.

Originally, you could only use your real name in the tower.

So it was obviously unexpected to see a name like that.

‘Oh yeah, it did say…!’

The system had mentioned something about the nickname.

I pushed away the leaderboard and connected to the community to see some new text.

「 Name Change 」

A popup window opened as I clicked on the text.

「 Please write your preferred nickname. 」

If I was able to change my name, I had to do it now.

In trials like the 4th one where leaked information could be vital, revealing your name could put you at a disadvantage.

‘And people like Lee Sunghoon can try to track me down.’

That could prove to be annoying.

I contemplated for a bit and just wrote the first thing that came into my mind.

「 Your nickname is now ‘Hunter.’ 」

I didn’t put much thought into it, but I was satisfied with it.

There wasn’t any information they could deduce from that.

Well, it was perfect for laying low.

“Phew.”

It was time to look at the leaderboard again.

‘I wonder if I’m also there?’

Slowly, I made my way down the board to not miss anything.

And I soon found what I was looking for.

It was higher than I thought, but what surprised me was the next message.

「 All challengers in the top 50 are designated as ‘Pioneers.’ 」

「 Challengers who continue to be in the top 50 until the 8th floor receive a chance to acquire a radiance. 」

“Radiance?”

I think that means some sort of light?

It was very unorthodox compared to all the direct wording the tower usually used.

‘Is it going to be some sort of skill or…’

Or is it something that would make me stand out more?

That was the only way I could interpret it.

‘Hm, I’ll figure it out later.’

It was now time to look at the expanded marketplace.

There was only one thing I was looking for.

The return stone.

I had to know how much it would cost to return to Earth.

It was easy to find once I used the search bar.

“…”

I couldn’t help but flinch after seeing the price.

「 Return Stone (F) 」

「 Price – 500 points 」

「 Explanation – An item that allows you to escape the Tower of Trials and return to Earth for 3 days. 」

‘…Isn’t this a little too cheap?’

Even if the effects were only temporary, the price still flabbergasted me.

“I shouldn’t even have to think about this.”

If it let me return for 3 days, there was no reason to not buy it.

I had so many things to take care of since I’d been gone.

「 You have purchased a Return Stone (F). 」

My trip home was faster than I expected.

____