Chapter 59 – Entering the Tower

First Impressions

Kyung-min's sharp gaze swept over the four awakeners standing before him.

Each of them reacted differently to his presence.

One looked curious, eyes flickering with recognition.

Another was indifferent, arms crossed as if uninterested.

The third had an annoyed expression, as if already regretting his presence.

The last was the only one who smiled, though there was something unreadable behind it.

Before Kyung-min could speak, the team leader stepped forward.

She was a tall woman in her late twenties, wearing reinforced light armor with a longsword strapped to her back. Her sharp hazel eyes studied him carefully.

"You're our last slot?" she asked, tone professional but laced with skepticism.

Kyung-min gave a small nod.

"That's right."

She folded her arms. "What's your role?"

Kyung-min paused briefly.

Revealing too much wasn't an option.

But blending in as something too weak wasn't ideal either.

He shrugged slightly, keeping his posture relaxed.

"Close-range combat," he answered, his tone even.

It wasn't a lie—he could hold his own in a fight. But it also wasn't the whole truth.

The leader raised a brow, waiting for more details.

Kyung-min didn't offer any.

Instead, he let them assume.

The silence stretched for a moment.

Then, the annoyed one scoffed. "Another swordsman? Great. Just what we needed."

Kyung-min said nothing.

The leader exhaled sharply, eyeing him again before turning to the others.

"Fine. Introductions, then. Since we'll be stuck in a tower together, let's at least know each other's names."

The Party of Five

🔹 Eun-ha (Leader) – D-Rank, Swordswoman

🔹 Joo-hyuk – E-Rank, Shield & Defensive Tank

🔹 Min-seok – E-Rank, Archer

🔹 Da-jung – E-Rank, Support Mage

🔹 K4Yos – ???

Min-seok—the archer—looked unimpressed. "And him?"

Eun-ha turned back to Kyung-min.

"You got a name, masked guy?"

He tilted his head slightly. "K4Yos."

Silence.

Joo-hyuk, the shield user, squinted. "K… what?"

Min-seok blinked. "Is that a joke?"

Da-jung, the support mage, chuckled under her breath. "Dramatic, huh?"

Kyung-min ignored them.

Eun-ha only nodded, clearly not caring. "Alright. We'll see if you can actually hold your own."

She turned, leading the way toward the tower entrance.

The others followed.

Kyung-min trailed behind, his smirk hidden beneath his mask.

They had no idea who they had just let in.

A World Apart

The party approached the massive circular stone gateway embedded into the ground. Unlike Gates, which shimmered and flickered like a wound in reality, the Tower Dungeon entrance was eerily stable.

A solid structure. A pillar of another world.

The moment Eun-ha placed her hand against the engraved monolith beside it, the inscriptions glowed faintly.

[Confirming Party Registration…]

[Access Granted.]

A deep rumble shook the air as the gateway pulsed with energy.

Then— the floor beneath them vanished.

A sensation of weightlessness overtook Kyung-min for a brief moment before his feet landed on solid ground.

The first floor stretched before them.

The moment Kyung-min stepped onto the first floor of the Tower Dungeon, an eerie silence stretched across the cavern.

Massive stone pillars loomed overhead, their jagged surfaces lined with faintly glowing blue moss. The cavern walls pulsed with dim light, casting elongated shadows over the uneven terrain. The air smelled of damp rock and something else—decay.

He wasn't alone.

His temporary party moved cautiously, their steps light, their breaths steady but alert. They had only just begun their descent, yet the tension in the air was suffocating.

A growl echoed from the darkness ahead.

Low. Guttural.

The sound of something hungry.

Eun-ha, the party's designated leader, tightened her grip on her sword.

"Positions," she murmured.

Joo-hyuk, the shield bearer, shifted his stance, raising his tower shield slightly. His armor gleamed under the dim light, a solid defense against whatever lurked ahead.

Min-seok, the archer, nocked an arrow, his gaze darting between the pillars, scanning for movement.

Da-jung, the team's mage, held her hands close to her chest, faint sparks of mana crackling at her fingertips.

Kyung-min?

He stood slightly apart from the group, eyes narrowing as he studied the darkness ahead.

Unlike them, he was not afraid.

This wasn't his first dungeon.

This wasn't even his first time facing death.

But they didn't know that.

To them, he was just another hunter.

A newcomer. An unknown variable.

And he intended to keep it that way—for now.

This was his first battle with the party, and how he approached it would set the tone for the rest of their run.

The growl from the shadows deepened. The soft clink of armor shifting, the creak of a drawn bowstring, the faint hum of mana in the air—his party was preparing to engage.

Kyung-min, however, did not.

He took a single step back, adjusting his position just enough to remain within range—but not at the frontlines. He wasn't here to prove himself. He was here to learn.

The Power of Observation

Fighting alone was simple. He dictated the flow, controlled the battle, made every decision.

Fighting in a team?

That was an entirely different skill.

And he intended to master it.

His gaze flickered across his teammates as they moved.

A balanced team.

Coordinated.

But how long would that coordination last under real pressure?

Kyung-min's fingers curled slightly.

He needed to understand more than their fighting styles.

He needed to see how they reacted when things went wrong.

The First Strike

A goblin burst from the shadows.

Fast. Low to the ground. A dagger glinted in its hand.

Eun-ha reacted instantly.

Her sword flashed.

A clean arc—the goblin's head flew off.

Learning the Hunt

The first goblin fell.

Its severed head hit the ground with a dull thud, rolling to a stop near Kyung-min's feet. Blood seeped into the dirt, but there was no time to dwell on it.

The real fight had begun.

More goblins emerged from the shadows—five, ten, fifteen. Their twisted grins gleamed in the dim light, jagged weapons clutched in clawed hands.

Kyung-min didn't move.

He had fought alone long enough.

He had relied on his summons too much.

This time, he wouldn't summon a single skeleton.

He would watch.

He would study.

He would learn.

A Team in Motion

The battle unfolded before him.

🔹 Eun-ha – The Blade

She surged forward, her longsword a blur of steel. She wasn't just swinging blindly—every strike was precise, targeting weak points. A fighter who relied on technique, not brute force.

🔹 Joo-hyuk – The Shield

He planted himself like an immovable wall, intercepting goblins with his massive shield. A goblin lunged—he bashed it away with a brutal counter. A perfect frontline anchor.

🔹 Min-seok – The Archer

His arrows cut through the battlefield, striking goblins mid-leap. He aimed for the eyes, the throat—every shot lethal. His speed, however, was slower than expected. A sniper, not a rapid-fire archer.

🔹 Da-jung – The Mage

She chanted, her hands weaving through the air. Fire erupted, engulfing a cluster of goblins. Explosive power—but high mana consumption. If this dragged on, she would burn out fast.

Kyung-min's eyes flickered across the battlefield, absorbing every detail.

What He LearnedFighters like Eun-ha needed space to maximize their strikes. If overwhelmed, she would struggle.A shield-bearer like Joo-hyuk was crucial—but only if the enemy focused on him. If the goblins ignored him, his presence was wasted.An archer like Min-seok required cover. If pressured, his long-range precision meant nothing.Mages like Da-jung couldn't afford to cast recklessly. If the battle turned chaotic, she wouldn't be able to aim properly.

This wasn't just about fighting.

It was about understanding how a team functioned.

And—more importantly—how his summons could fit into it.

What About His Skeletons?

Kyung-min had no idea how his new summons would perform.

Would the Skeleton Warrior be durable enough for sustained frontline combat?

Would the Skeleton Archer be effective, or would it lack the mobility needed to reposition?

Could the Skeleton Mage cast reliably, or would its spells be too slow to be useful?

And the Skeleton Reaper…?

That one worried him the most. Assassins were fragile. If it couldn't land a clean strike, it would be useless.

For now, he wouldn't summon them.

He would learn first.

Then—when he was ready—he would test them one by one.

The Battle's Shift

The goblins weren't just mindless creatures.

They adapted.

The moment Eun-ha's blade became predictable, they stopped rushing in one by one.

They circled.

They threw dirt to blind her.

They forced her into awkward angles, limiting her range of motion.

Joo-hyuk kept swinging his shield, but less goblins were attacking him.

Instead, they targeted Min-seok—the archer.

Min-seok cursed, stepping back, but a goblin was already closing in.

Too close. Too fast.

Kyung-min's eyes sharpened.

Would his team react in time?

Or—

Would he finally need to step in?