Chapter 6
Tower
What exactly is the Tower?
People say it's an unknown entity that gives Awakened people trials and rewards them accordingly.
[Title: Tower Guide]
This post is written on the assumption that you're entering the Tower for the first time, so don't start shit over nothing.
1. Choosing a difficulty
When you first enter the Tower, it'll immediately ask you to choose a difficulty.
The Association manual will tell you to pick Normal, but if you're confident, choosing Hard is much better.
The rewards for Normal and Hard become absurdly different after Floor 20, and you'll really feel it.
2. Floors and preparation
Prepare thoroughly every time you attempt a floor.
Sure, if an S- or A-rank carries you, you won't need to prepare, but most Hunterboarders don't have a party like that.
So please, for the love of God, prepare properly before going in. The Tower isn't a game; it's real life.
3. Hidden Rooms
Hidden Rooms can occasionally appear on a floor in the Tower.
They spawn monsters stronger than the usual ones on that floor, but you can obtain various rewards.
More importantly, clearing a Hidden Room boosts that floor's rewards so much they shoot through the roof.
In short, if you find one, you pretty much have to clear it.
TL;DR
1. I recommend Hard (Normal isn't bad)
2. Prepare thoroughly when attempting a Tower floor
3. If you find a Hidden Room, clear it no matter what
Anyway, prepare well before entering the Tower, and above all, don't die.
If you disagree, you're right.
(A frog sticker giving a thumbs-up.)
ㄴ Oh... As expected, info worth an upvote.
ㄴ Love you, bro. Come here, let me hug you.
ㄴ (OP) Fuck off.
ㄴ Hngh....
ㄴ We can clear the Tower just fine without reading a guide like this!
ㄴ Elf stans, elf stans... You guys barely even tackle the Tower, you bastards.
“Phew... Think I'm finally ready to give it a shot?”
Three days had passed since I started looking up Tower guides and practicing my skills to prepare for the Tower.
The reason it had taken three days was that I'd planned to go straight to the Tower after the Gate incident, but...
Most of the posts about the Tower I'd found on the Gallery said it was quite difficult and required a lot of preparation.
More than anything, I still hadn't properly learned how to use my skills, so I needed to get myself sorted out.
“Anyway, shall I get going?”
It was time to head for the Tower and see the results of three days of blood, sweat, and tears.
It was midnight—00:00—the perfect time to enter the Tower without the Association, government, or guilds noticing.
I immediately grabbed the kitchen knife I'd prepared on the dining table and headed outside.
The night air was cool and pleasant.
It felt a little cold against my thin, delicate body, but...
My steps grew even lighter as I headed toward the Tower, my destination.
“There it is. Damn, it looks ominous.”
There were two Towers in Incheon.
One had risen near the airport.
The other had risen in the mountains, where people rarely went.
And the Tower I was heading to was the one in the mountains.
A spectacular sight unfolded before me.
The white Tower stood before me, backed by the mountain and exuding an uncanny, fortress-like presence.
“Looks like no one's here. Should I be relieved?”
I wasn't sure if it was something to be glad about, but there wasn't a soul in sight.
Well, shall I go in?
I kept scanning my surroundings warily as I approached the Tower, but...
With nobody around, it didn't seem like there was any need to keep doing that.
I immediately pulled the kitchen knife from my pocket and approached the Tower, and...
I entered without encountering any obstacles or resistance.
“It's cleaner inside than I expected.”
As soon as I entered the Tower, the scenery around me began to change in an instant.
It looked a lot like a Gate, but it felt different too.
A Gate felt like being transported somewhere else, while the Tower felt as though its space was cut off from the outside world.
“It's white.”
As the scenery changed, the mountain that had been visible just moments ago disappeared in an instant.
Before I knew it, I was in an unfamiliar white room.
I looked around the white room, but there was nothing there.
Just then.
[You have entered the Tower for the first time.]
[Please choose a difficulty.]
[EASY]
[NORMAL]
[HARD]
“So that's how it appears.”
Just like I'd seen in the guides, difficulty options appeared before my eyes.
The window looked a little like the Status Window, so it felt somewhat familiar.
I should pick Hard, right?
I looked over the difficulty options and reached toward the button for Hard.
All the guides made a huge fuss about choosing Hard, so it seemed like the right choice.
Of course, my confidence was running a little high, too.
Just as I reached out to press the button...
The difficulty selection buttons turned black, and the words began to change.
[A ‘Singularity’ has been detected in the user.]
[Difficulty has been fixed at ???.]
“What?!”
The Hard button suddenly vanished, a message like that appeared, and...
The difficulty was forcibly selected, and the Tower tutorial began.
What on earth was happening?
Before I could even finish thinking it through, the atmosphere in the room began to change.
Krrrumble—
“Ugh... What the hell is this?”
I took a stance and watched my surroundings warily as the room's atmosphere changed.
Fwoosh—!
A faint light began pouring out from a spot about 10 meters away from me.
Just like the guides had said, it was a sign that a monster was being summoned.
At the sight of it, I immediately prepared to charge in,
taking a stance so I could deal with whatever monster appeared the moment it showed up.
But...
Boing—!
“Huh?”
A startled voice slipped out of me when a monster completely different from what I'd expected appeared.
“A slime...?”
Contrary to the tense atmosphere, what appeared before my eyes was a slime.
The same slime that was always portrayed as the weakest monster in games and other media.
Then why the hell did it make such a big deal out of the atmosphere?
All the tension I'd built up drained away as soon as I saw the slime.
“Sigh... Sorry, but you're going to have to die.”
I immediately looked at the slime and imagined setting its jelly on fire, and...
A tiny flame appeared and swallowed the slime whole.
“You scared me so much, and this is all you are?”
The Gallery had been full of warnings to be careful in the Tower, that I could die and all that, so I'd come here on edge.
It was a letdown.
I would've understood if a goblin had appeared,
but a slime? I guess I'd been worrying for nothing.
I checked to see if the slime I'd casually burned was still alive, then started to move so I could leave the Tower, when...
As if it had read my complaint, the Tower began to react again.
“Oh, is this where it really starts?”
Well, it wasn't just Hard, but a ??? difficulty that hadn't even been mentioned in the guides. There was no way it'd end here.
I looked around, filled with anticipation, when...
Kuuuung—!!!
“Ah...”
This time, something appeared that far surpassed my wildest expectations, as if mocking them.
A slime... but why is it so huge?!
A slime.
It was just a slime, no different from the one before.
But it was wearing a crown, and its body looked about five meters tall.
“A-Appraisal!”
I immediately moved away from the giant slime and used Appraisal Eye.
Partly to check whether Appraisal Eye worked on monsters,
and partly to figure out what on earth that thing was.
ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ
King Slime Lv. 10
Squish squish~
Skills
(Passive) Squishy Body.
Effect: Reduces physical damage by 60% in all areas except the core.
This individual is in a weakened state.
ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ
“King... Slime?”
The thing was none other than a King Slime.
I didn't know much about it, but it seemed stronger than an ordinary slime.
Thud—!
While I was looking over the King Slime...
It began to move.
Thud. Thud.
The King Slime bounced against the floor and slowly approached me.
As expected, since this was the Tower, I figured I'd have to beat it to finish the tutorial.
I stopped thinking and approached, calculating when the King Slime would jump.
At a glance, it didn't seem to have any special patterns other than jumping once every two seconds.
I watched its movements and waited until just before the King Slime jumped.
Whoosh—!
Slash—
I swung my cheap kitchen knife.
“Mm, no good, as expected.”
I did cut it.
So slightly that it was almost impossible to tell.
I immediately pulled back the kitchen knife I'd swung and moved out of the King Slime's jumping range.
Thud.
The King Slime still showed no other movements.
This time, I decided to try a different approach.
“Heh, Amaterasu.”
I was going to melt it with my Cooking skill, the same way I'd taken care of the slime before.
But things didn't go the way I'd hoped.
[The user's ability (mana reserves) is insufficient! The effect is reduced by 50%.]
“Ah.”
The system said my ability was insufficient, and no flame appeared as before.
So my ability meant mana?
It was more or less what I'd expected, but this was my own carelessness.
That made it clear none of my skills were going to work on this King Slime—or pig slime, or whatever it was.
It was a pretty desperate situation, but...
I hadn't lost my smile.
Because when the King Slime was hit by my Cooking skill just now, I noticed something, however slight.
Its jelly had begun to harden and crack.
Besides, that thing looked strong, but it only had one pattern.
In other words, it was actually easier to kill than the goblins that could think for themselves.
“Here I come, you fat bastard.”
I immediately started charging at the King Slime.
It seemed to sense something strange in my movements and changed its pattern, but it was already too late.
I moved toward the section of jelly that seemed closest to its core and used my Cooking skill.
The moment the jelly turned cloudy, as if hardening, I immediately stabbed it with my kitchen knife and slashed.
Slash—
Fortunately, my guess had been right, and...
The hardened part was cut deeply, revealing the core.
The core was shining with a brilliant purple light.
I quickly plunged my arm inside and grabbed the core, and...
Pop—!
I separated the King Slime from its core in an instant.
My left arm was still awkward to use, but I could at least pull the core out of a jelly-like body.
Squelch—
“Whoa...”
The jelly began melting as soon as it was separated from the core. It looked kind of like ice cream on a summer day.
As I watched the King Slime melt in fascination...
The Tower's clear message appeared.
[Congratulations. You have cleared the tutorial on Floor 1 at ??? difficulty.]
“Yeah, yeah. That's me.”
Honestly, I was pretty exhausted and panting, but...
I'd really wanted to say that line.