Chapter 36
The scenery changed, and I was moved to the reward room.
‘…Miraculous Clear?’
That was a thing?
Still feeling somewhat dazed, I looked around.
It said the reward level had been upgraded…
“…Huh?”
The moment I saw the skill stone, I had no choice but to be surprised.
The skill stone was not green.
In other words, it wasn’t Rare or Rare+ grade.
It was emitting a violet glow like an amethyst.
I had never seen that color before.
Meaning, it was a skill stone of a grade that had appeared for the first time.
I picked up the skill stone.
\[Skill Stone: Destruction Ray (Epic+)\]
Using this will allow you to acquire “Skill: Destruction Ray (Epic+).”
“Oh…?”
Epic-grade…?
And not even normal Epic, but Epic+?
Until now, no skill higher than Rare+ had ever appeared in the world, so no one knew what the next grade was called.
It seemed that the grade after Rare had finally appeared for the first time.
And it had even skipped over Epic and gone straight to Epic+.
Compared to the rewards so far, it was a reward that had leapt two whole grades ahead.
“Haha, wow…”
I couldn’t help but get a little excited.
Destruction Ray?
From the name alone, I couldn’t tell whether it was physical-type or magic-type.
Before reading the skill description, I prayed for a moment.
Please be magic-type.
\[Skill: Destruction Ray (Epic+)\]
Condenses the power of destruction and fires it in a straight line. Requires 30 to 300 seconds of Mental Focus to cast. The longer the Mental Focus time, the greater the skill’s power.
Type: Magic
Willpower Cost: 1,000
Cooldown: 3 minutes
“…Yes!”
First of all, it was magic-type!
I read the skill description.
“Condenses the power of destruction and fires it in a straight line…”
Hmm… Aha.
So it was like a destruction beam? A laser attack?
The first thing that stood out was that the Mental Focus time wasn’t fixed.
From 30 seconds to 300 seconds.
And apparently, the longer I focused, the stronger the skill became.
‘It feels like a charging skill.’
Another thing that stood out was the insane Willpower cost.
A full thousand.
Ten times more than Flame Strike.
The cooldown was also fairly long at 3 minutes.
Was this what Epic-grade magic was like?
Since I didn’t need to worry about skill costs, that actually made me look forward to it even more.
It made me wonder just how strong the magic must be to cost this much Willpower.
‘Surely it’s not stronger than that cannon, right?’
The cannon’s Willpower cost was 600.
This skill consumed even more Willpower than that, so naturally, that thought crossed my mind…
But no matter how much it was Epic-grade, above Rare, surely it wouldn’t be that strong.
That would be game-breaking.
The cannon had only been that strong because it was a special item usable only on that stage.
If we judged purely by Willpower, that cannon should have had at least a thousand times the power of Flame Strike, yet its Willpower cost had only been six times higher.
Still, this skill called Destruction Ray was probably far stronger than Flame Strike or Blade Gale, so I had high expectations.
\[You have acquired “Skill: Destruction Ray (Epic+)”.\]
After acquiring the skill, I considered using it right away…
‘Not here.’
If it was too strong, what if the reward room collapsed?
No, never mind.
I was getting ahead of myself again.
Let’s not expect too much.
What if it turned out weaker than I thought?
I decided to test Destruction Ray later, when I re-entered for a repeat clear.
Then I checked the other reward.
\[Item: Heavenly Music Box\]
A lost relic of the Order of Paeli. When used, it plays a melody that calms the mind and body. Can be used by consuming 1 Willpower per second.
“…Hmm.”
I had a feeling one of the relics would be given as a reward.
But did it really have to be this one?
♫\~ ♩♪\~
When I used the music box, the clear melody I had heard earlier flowed out.
It definitely did feel like my mind was becoming more peaceful.
Good.
It was good, but… what was I supposed to use this for?
I would have rather gotten the relic that created a barrier.
But since I had obtained an Epic+ skill, I could generously let this slide.
Well, listening to it did make me feel calm.
\[Difficulty: Nightmare\]
\[Floor: 4\]
\[Level: 45\]
\[Willpower: 1,250\]
\[Skills: Destruction Ray (Epic+), Teleportation (Rare+), Sixth Sense (Rare+), Rapid Regeneration (Rare+), Flame Strike (Rare) (+2), Blade Gale (Rare), Elevation (Rare), Fairy Light Bullet (Normal+) (+1), Lesser Toxic Resistance (Normal+), Leap (Normal) (+1), Swing (Normal), Thrust (Normal)\]
My level had also gone up by another 5, and before I knew it, I had almost reached level 50.
My body had become way too strong.
If I ran a little too hard, my shoes got ruined. Ever since clearing Floor 2, I had already been entering the Tower barefoot every time…
Would I have to give up on shoes forever now?
It would be nice if I got some sturdy shoe-type item.
I fiddled with the Pligas necklace around my neck.
‘Speaking of this guy…’
Maybe it was about time to try taming Pligas before challenging Floor 4.
If possible, it would obviously be better to try before Floor 4.
It could become a huge help during the clear.
I’d decide after testing the power of my newly acquired skill.
“Good. Very good.”
This Floor 3 hidden clear had been an incredibly big harvest.
Miraculous Clear.
Who would have thought such a thing existed?
But normally, it would never have been possible.
In the end, the condition for the Miraculous Clear of Floor 3 hidden route was wiping out the entire undead army.
Are you kidding me?
How the hell is anyone supposed to do that?
Even someone level 100 would get exhausted trying to kill them all.
This kind of cheat-like clear was probably only possible this one time.
Unless, of course, another broken item tailored specifically for me, like that cannon, appeared again.
\[Would you like to exit the Tower?\]
After organizing the rewards, I exited the Tower.
As soon as I returned to my room, the door suddenly burst open, making me flinch.
“Oppa, can you help me with my assign— Why are you so startled?”
“…I seriously told you to knock before coming in.”
“Okay, fine. Look over my report for me.”
My little sister strode in and held out a piece of paper like I owed her.
Why did this kid not change at all even after turning twenty?
I skimmed over the pitiful report she had written.
What was this mess of a paper?
“Didn’t I tell you to make your subheadings and numbers distinguishable when writing a table of contents?”
“Huh? Ahh.”
“And stop ending sentences with ‘yo.’ It’s all over the place, switching between formal and casual endings. And what’s wrong with the flow from the introduction here?”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“How exactly are you supposed to move straight into the main argument from here? Don’t you think there’s something more you need to say first? Try using your brain.”
“Ugh, just tell me.”
My sister grimaced as she stubbornly listened to advice that would become her flesh and blood, then snatched the report paper back and tried to leave.
I found it annoying that she didn’t even say thank you, so I messed up her hair with my hand.
“Ah, you crazy bastard! I told you not to do that!”
“Don’ tell me wha’ to do\~ Get out.”
I kicked her out of my room.
I could hear her tattling to Mom outside, but did she really think Mom would be on her side?
She only got scolded again for talking back to her older brother, then grumbled as she shut the door to her room.
“Ugh…”
I stretched once and left my room too.
As I took water out of the fridge and drank it, Mother asked,
“Did you go into the Tower?”
“…Yes.”
“Alright. Don’t push yourself too hard. Take it easy. I always say this, but be careful, okay?”
“Yes, don’t worry.”
I returned to my room.
Although I had received my parents’ permission, entering the Tower was still something I felt self-conscious about.
Even if they knew in their heads that repeatedly clearing Easy Floor 1 wasn’t dangerous at all, they were probably still worried.
‘Wish there were some goblins in the real world.’
Then I could show them directly that I could pop a goblin’s head with a flick of my finger… Though maybe that would be a pretty unfilial thing to do.
After returning to my room, I rested for just a short while before entering the Tower again.
I still had to test the performance of the new skill.
\[Nightmare difficulty Floor 3 has been entered.\]
Gruuuuh—
The undead rushed toward me.
I picked up a mace and kicked off the ground with force.
Without using magic, I started dealing with the undead using only my body.
Bang, bang, bang!
I leapt around, smashing undead heads.
When I was level 30, I had to use magic to feel comfortable. But now, even like this, I was flying around.
As time passed, the undead grew more numerous, and self-destructing undead and beast undead also started appearing.
I only shot the explosive undead with light bullets and continued fighting without magic.
Elevation activated too, and it was still manageable.
I was practically crushing my way through the undead as I advanced.
For a moment, I wondered if I should deliberately get hit by a self-destructing undead to test Rapid Regeneration…
But if I died doing that, there would be no dumber death, so I gave up on the idea.
I fought for 10 minutes, deliberately waiting for the sun to set.
Once the sun went down, an undead army densely lined the horizon.
Only then did I move to the underground passage.
After gathering all the gemstones and activating the sun symbol, I returned to the surface.
I watched the undead melting under the sun for a while.
Soon, countless undead began gathering in one place and merging together.
“Alright… come out.”
The fully powered-up lump boss that had given me so much trouble.
I had deliberately waited until all the undead appeared in order to make this guy emerge.
After all, now that I had reached level 45 and gained an awesome high-grade skill, shouldn’t I obviously fight this thing again?
The guy had fought a good battle against Pligas, whose recommended level was 50 or higher.
That meant this thing could be considered at least a level 50-range boss.
I still didn’t know if I could win, but if it looked like I couldn’t, I could just leave.
Wooooooo—
The low-frequency roar vibrated through my eardrums.
I tapped my ears and waited for the lump to roll toward me.
Rumble rumble rumble!
As expected, it came rolling with tremendous speed.
This time, I dodged by jumping sideways without using Leap.
Hmm, now it was somewhat dodgeable.
Whether it rolled continuously while changing direction or leapt into the air and dropped like a meteor, I dodged it every time.
Of course, just because I could dodge it didn’t mean I could physically clash with something of that stupid size yet.
‘That’s enough warming up.’
After finishing my physical ability test, it was time to taste the main dish.
\[Skill: Destruction Ray (Epic+)\]
Condenses the power of destruction and fires it in a straight line. Requires 30 to 300 seconds of Mental Focus to cast. The longer the Mental Focus time, the greater the skill’s power.
Type: Magic
Willpower Cost: 1,000
Cooldown: 3 minutes
The lump was about to roll toward me again.
I stopped time and began Mental Focus.
Naturally, I charged it for the full 300 seconds.
I wondered how strong it would be.
It was Epic+ grade, so at the very least, it should deal meaningful damage.
After completing 300 seconds of Mental Focus…
I released time stop and cast a fully charged Destruction Ray at the lump.
For a moment, a pitch-black sphere rippled in the air like a black hole, accompanied by a bizarre sound.
And immediately after that…
A massive jet-black beam large enough to fill my entire field of vision shot forward.
“…!”
There was no sound at all, to the point that it felt unnatural.
When the beam thinned, vanished, and my view of the front returned, I was shocked.
A huge hole had been blasted clean through the center of the lump’s body, like a donut.
Woooooo…
Its core had been pierced…
No, pierced wasn’t even the right word.
Its entire core had been blown away.
Unable to regenerate, the lump melted and collapsed.
I stood there with my mouth open before giving a one-line review.
“Wow.”
…I expected it to be strong.
But I didn’t expect it to one-shot the thing.