intrusion (1)
I spent my last day on Earth doing more research about the tower.
One could look at this as wasting my precious time on Earth but…
My initial goal was to get a leg up on everyone else, so I didn't mind.
There wasn't anything I needed besides the food and sleep I got.
'Too much rest is a luxury I don't need.'
I tried finding out as much as possible about the status of all the challengers on the 6th floor.
And—
A phenomenon called 'Tower of Trials' has been going around among hunters…
Tower of Trials, what is it and why is it spreading like wildfire?
Interviewing anyone who has information on the tower of trials.
The mainstream media had picked up on the scent.
That just helped to show how many challengers came back from the tower.
'And that means more people have enough points to spare the 500 on the return stone.'
That also meant I was starting to fall behind compared to the other challengers.
"I'll be busy once I get back."
I'd have to clear the 5th trial as fast as possible.
A familiar message popped up as I was lost in thought.
「 You will be returned to the tower soon. 」
Return, as though the place I belonged was the tower.
…but I didn't have anything to say against it.
'I guess return is the correct term.'
I was returning to become stronger, and to survive.
Back to the tower.
Badump, badump.
My heart raced as my body longed to go back.
'I guess it's not so bad that I'm so accustomed to the tower.'
The tower had changed me.
But that allowed me to grow and survive.
Maybe that's why…
「 Time over. 」
「 Returning to the Tower of Trials. 」
I was looking forward to the next trial.
***
"…I'm back"
The large stone waiting area was there, just as I left it.
Realizing that I had returned, I searched my body for my items.
'I was holding on to it when I was in the studio so…'
The tips of my fingers grazed something hard mid-thought.
「 Krocken Magic Tower's Repair Box 」
A black box with gray engraved stars like constellations, an item I bought at the hunters' market.
And just around the corner—
「 Cleansing Stone 」
An azure pyroxene stone.
Another item I bought outside.
「 Assassin's Cloak 」
And even the item I get from the 2nd floor.
"…Items are free to travel back and forth, huh."
No matter where you got them from, as long as the item had a rank associated with it.
I still didn't have anything like my phone or wallet, but that was fine.
Just knowing this information was a huge advantage.
'This cleansing stone is gonna take a weight off of me.'
Same with the repair box.
Now I know to just go buy items and bring them back if they didn't have them in the marketplace.
It was then—
「 'The First Returnee' achievement unlocked. 」
「 Acquiring the skill 'Eye of Truth (A)' 」
"…?"
'The first returnee?'
I had to read that a couple of times to get a full understanding of the situation.
"I must have been the first person to go and come back."
It made sense since I used it almost immediately after getting to the 5th floor.
It was amazing that battles weren't the only place you could unlock an achievement from.
However, what was more amazing was this skill.
Just the fact that it was an A-ranked skill was making me shake with excitement.
I collected my breath and opened the status window to see the details.
And—
「 Skill – Eye of Truth (A) 」
「 Proficiency – None 」
「 Effect – Uses mana to obtain information from a specified object. Can also determine whether or not the target is telling the truth. 」
I got chills reading the description.
It wasn't a battle-related skill, but one could argue it's even more useful.
'Information on the specified target huh.'
What could top a skill like this?
I hadn't heard of anything that lets you obtain information like what the first part of the skill said…
Though I could guarantee that the latter effect would be useful.
It didn't have a proficiency so it wouldn't be possible to rank it up, but it's a great skill regardless.
Especially in the group trials with other challengers.
'It isn't very descriptive but I'll figure it out in time.'
Most active skills tended to work similarly anyway.
I held the cloak in my hand and opened my mouth.
"Eye of truth."
「 Activating the skill 'Eye of Truth' 」
「 Retrieving information on the following object. 」
The activation message was followed by another message.
「 Assassin's Cloak 」
「 Grade: D 」
「 A cloak-type item that's specialized in instantaneous acceleration. 」
Mana slipped from my body as I smiled at the message that appeared while
"Not bad."
Not that much better compared to the original item description but…
「 Waiting Area 」
「 Grade: ◻ 」
「 A private area provided by the Tower of Trials for the challengers. 」
「 Currently being provided to challenger Han Sungyeun. 」
I can even see information like this so it's probably useful.
"No, I actually hit the jackpot."
Being able to extract information out of everything was a huge advantage.
Though I still couldn't check the latter half of the skill.
'I need someone to talk to for that part to activate at all.'
But this unexpected achievement was a pleasant surprise.
'The return stone was so worth it.'
The last three days had been great, and this was just the cherry on top.
I couldn't stop smiling.
'If I can start using this skill without having to say the skill name out loud…'
All of my interactions with other people were going to change drastically.
Of course—
'That's a story for after the 5th trial.'
Now, since I finished checking up on all that…
It was time to choose a weapon.
I'd been meaning to buy a new set since I sold my previous set back on Earth.
"Marketplace."
Normally, I'd spend some time contemplating what items to get, but there were a couple I'd been eyeing for a while.
「 You have bought a Thunder Blade (C). 」
「 5,500 points deducted. 」
「 You have bought a Covert Hunter's Shield (D+). 」
「 3,800 points deducted. 」
"This should be enough."
「 Thunder Blade 」
「 Grade: C 」
「 Attack Speed: +12% 」
「 An azure blade that bears the thunder's mana. Created by a blacksmith that worshipped the thunder. 」
「 Attacking with this weapon has a 10% chance to inflict an 'electrocute' effect. 」
「 Covert Hunter's Shield 」
「 Grade: D+ 」
「 Movement Speed: +3% 」
「 Presence Concealment: +5% 」
「 A shield that can be attached to the arm. Created with a minuscule amount of mithril. 」
「 You can conceal your presence more easily and move faster. 」
The thunder blade had the on-attack effect even though it didn't have a lot of bonus effects.
And the covert hunter's shield was an attachment-type shield fit for my combat style.
I invested pretty heavily into the sword, so the shield was a little shabby but—
'My fights usually revolve around the sword anyway.'
It shouldn't be too big of a problem.
After making all of the necessary preparations, I checked the community one more time.
「 Floor 5 Community (443/691) 」
"There were over 1,000 people the last time I checked."
I guess most people moved onto the 5th trial almost immediately.
Maybe some of them only just cleared the 4th trial and came up.
Although the chances were pretty slim.
I then briefly checked the leaderboard before taking a sigh of relief.
'My ranking hasn't changed.'
The most important part was that I was still a pioneer, but it would be a good idea to stay on the higher side just in case.
"I guess there's no use delaying it any further."
「 Do you accept the 5th floor trial? 」
「 Y/N 」
The waiting period was long gone.
I pressed 'Y' without hesitation and the usual blue portal appeared.
I put the repair box and the cleansing stone in my inventory and put on the new equipment.
I stepped into the portal to find myself transported to a drab cave.
「 Entering Tower of Trials floor 5. 」
「 Difficulty – Hard 」
「 The objective of the following trial is hunting.' 」
「 We wish the challenger a satisfactory ending to their choice. 」
The objective soon followed.
「 The 5th floor trial is starting soon. 」
「 Remaining time – 1 day 」
「 Trial success condition – Kill the boss of the wolf cave, the werewolf, in the remaining time. 」
「 Trial fail condition – Challenger's death or time out 」
「 Trial success reward – Barbaric Wolf's Hairband (C-) 」
「 Trial fail penalty – Death 」
As soon as I finished reading the message, I heard growls begin to surround me.
Grrrr…
"This is a warm welcome."
Muttering dully, I took a look at my surroundings.
It should have been too dark for me to see anything but…
Maybe it was due to my enhanced stats, but I could see the enemies as clear as day.
A wolf-like beast with brown, uneven fur, and scarlet eyes.
"Eye of truth."
「 Crazy Wolf 」
「 Rank: E+ 」
「 A D-rank beast with a wolf-like outer appearance who usually hunts in packs. 」
「 Their jaw strength is powerful enough to cleanly sever an ordinary person's arm. 」
It was a useful yet vicious description.
Sever an arm with a bite…
Although they might have a harder time with my arm with my tenacity stat.
It still wouldn't hurt to be careful.
"Grrrr…!"
I squeezed the hilt of my new sword as three growling crazy wolves ran towards me.
"Kwaaar!"
And that was the last thing to come out of their mouths.
Stab, stab, stab!
I placed a hole in their necks simultaneously while dodging their claws.
Their corpses lost all strength and dropped to the floor.
Katang.
The fight was anticlimactic and didn't raise any emotion in me.
Considering my stats, a D-rank monster wouldn't really put up much of a fight.
"The sword feels pretty good, but the electrocute effect didn't activate."
The description said it had a 10% chance of activating, but it wasn't as frequent as I had hoped.
Though I wasn't disappointed.
~Grrr…
There were more practice dummies left in the cave.
And the echoing growls would lead me to them.
____