Chapter 20
My level after climbing to Floor 28 was 670.
Considering my title, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say my actual strength was close to Level 870.
But even taking all that into account,
the being before me was stronger.
-Gulp.
'Why is a Level 999 showing up!!!'
A Level 999.
That was the kind of specification found on the fifth tier of the Pilgrim's Tower.
The fifth tier had been cleared by only a single-digit number of people in the whole world, let alone Korea.
And I was supposed to fight something like that?
Was I supposed to rely on my thirteen traits and try my luck?
'Am I crazy.'
"Ha, haha… I'm sorry for disturbing your sleep…."
I slowly backed away with my sword in hand.
I even stealthily reached out a hand.
'Trait Enhancement Swap, Tower Harmonizer!'
The enhancement allowed me to use Tower Travel, which had originally been usable only in safe zones, even while clearing a tier.
Now I could flee to the Normal Tower if things got dicey.
Only then did I relax.
Not much, just a little.
-Glance.
'That is…. '
My eyes scanned the wraith before me.
Black hair, red eyes, and translucent skin.
Anyone could tell it was a ghost.
According to the setting, it had gone missing several thousand years ago, so if it was still alive, that would be even more frightening. Anyway.
'At least it isn't an aggressive mob.'
Fortunately, the wraith merely stared blankly at me.
It showed no sign of attacking anytime soon.
I decided to examine it a little more closely.
-Ding.
[Vengeful Spirit of ???]
Level: 999
A vengeful spirit bound to the Tower.
So much time has passed
that it has forgotten even its own name.
Holding nothing but a single sword,
it waits endlessly for something.
"……Hmm."
It didn't seem to be there for me to kill, at least.
Was it an NPC related to a hidden piece?
Maybe if I helped it resolve its grudge, it would pass on and toss me an incredible reward like Luka had.
The possibility seemed fairly high.
-Tap-tap.
"Hey, Salamander."
"Y-yes, sir!"
"You've met her before, right? Go have a little catch-up chat with her."
I decided to send Salamander first.
I judged that it would be better to have someone acquainted with her talk to her.
Absolutely. Unequivocally.
I wasn't doing this because I was scared.
"T-the great one should go…."
"If you don't go, I'll kill you with my sword."
"Eeeek…."
Since Salamander seemed reluctant about the reunion, I bolstered its courage with a Rare-grade sword.
The lizard, subjected to the 'Who forced you?—Did someone threaten you with a knife?' treatment, started walking.
And when it came face-to-face with the wraith…
"Um, do you happen to remember me?"
[—波瘤芭扼.]
The wraith's bright-red eyes flashed.
-Fwoooosh—!!!
Killing intent filled Floor 29.
It was killing intent powerful enough to make even my body stiffen.
And Salamander, who took it head-on?
"Kieeeeeeek!!!"
"Hey, hey! Come back!!"
"Eek, guh-heeeek!!!!"
Salamander ran away, ignoring my command.
The yellow flames dripping onto the ground made it look as though it were peeing itself.
"…Tch."
'So this is how it goes.'
Well, she was stronger than me, after all.
If the stronger side threatened you, that would obviously be more frightening.
I should start preparing to flee, too.
'First, bring up the Tower Travel button…. '
"Um, I'm sorry! I think I did something unnecessary!!"
After activating the 'Tower Harmonizer' trait,
I asked while maintaining a state of tension.
There was no answer.
-Stare.
[……. ]
She merely stared intently at my sword.
Unlike Salamander, she showed no sign whatsoever of emitting killing intent.
She moved only after making eye contact with me one last time.
[弊措绰脚牢啊?]
"I'm sorry! I can't understand what you're saying! I can't understand!!"
[锐茄窍焙. 家牢硅狼浅葛肺弊父茄八犁甫瘤虫促聪.]
"Uh, um. Are you Korean?"
[……. ]
And after my desperate attempts to communicate,
-Shing—!!
she drew the sword at her waist.
At first glance, it looked as though I should run,
-Ding.
[The trait 'Sword God'….]
"……Huh?"
The 'Sword God' trait, which activated as soon as I gripped a sword.
It whispered this directly into my intuition.
She had no hostility or killing intent.
If anything, it was a desire to compete.
She merely wanted to fight me once—that was what it told me.
It wasn't long before I learned that intuition was correct.
-Pose.
[辟仿篮咯啊快困捞聪, 3檬甫剧焊窍摆促.]
The wraith babbled in an incomprehensible language.
She held up three fingers.
Then she pointed at me with the index finger of her other hand and tapped those three fingers.
Each time that index finger tapped, one finger folded down.
Only after all three had finally folded did she raise her index finger and touch it to mine.
'I think I more or less understand.'
She probably wanted to spar.
She was saying that since her level was higher, she would allow me three attacks. After that, we'd have a serious sword fight.
It was probably something along those lines.
But should I accept?
'…This is dangerous.'
There was only one floor left until I completed the medicine for my little sister.
I couldn't risk my life.
Thinking rationally, I should run right now.
But my finger stubbornly refused to move toward the Tower Change button.
'She doesn't seem like a bad ghost.'
How should I put it? I could feel her respect.
Starting with the way she faced that sword.
Even the way she looked at me.
But should I just run away?
Just because she was a higher level than me…
Even though I had thirteen Mythic-grade traits?
'What the hell, let's give it a shot.'
Even if I suffered a critical injury, the 'Guardian Dragon's Blessing' could block it. Pressing the Tower Change button during that time would be easy.
There was no way my life would truly be in danger.
Probably.
'Of course, if it gets dangerous, I'll run…. '
All right. Let's fight once.
The way that wraith wanted.
Sword against sword.
"Then I'll attack first?"
I pointed my sword forward.
I also gave my opponent a small bow.
Perhaps she was satisfied, because the wraith's dry lips curled slightly upward.
[坷芭扼.]
She bowed as well…
Hmm, maybe it was because she was pretty.
I found her incredibly likable.
"Then here I go!! Spatial Slash!!!"
I shouted loudly and swung my sword.
Then—whoosh!!!
A sword strike shot toward the sky.
The wraith reacted as though to ask what I was doing,
'That thing has excellent homing, you know.'
The sword strike she thought had missed was turning around and targeting her head.
The wraith was also startled and turned around.
[……!!!?]
The wraith raised her sword.
She was probably going to block or deflect it.
I shook my head without realizing it.
'Oh dear, not like that.'
The Myriad Daggers trait was active on it.
It had an attack power enhancement applied.
Enough to make up for a difference of about 100 levels.
But if she tried to block that?
She'd probably be cut apart along with her sword.
The spar would end with my instant kill.
'Should I have told her…. '
Just when I thought it was about to end so pointlessly,
[窜莹!?]
"……!!!!?"
The ghost's form suddenly vanished.
No, at a glance, it merely appeared to vanish.
If I hadn't had Dragon Eyes, I would surely have assumed she had used some trick like invisibility.
'What the hell is that.'
Just before my sword strike reached her,
she touched the ground with the tip of her toe.
Then she moved as though a booster had gone off.
She was moving so quickly that it only looked as if she had used short-range teleportation.
-Gulp.
"Crazy…."
This wasn't a matter of the level difference.
I could believe that was a Stigma.
The markings on her forearm hadn't lit up, so it probably wasn't a Stigma. Anyway.
[饶快, 老檬瘤利档救瞪环沁焙.]
-Pose.
The wraith made a V sign.
It wasn't to commemorate filming a life MAD movie suitable for a funeral, of course.
Did it mean I had two attacks left?
'This time, I'm going all out!'
"Spatial Slash, Twin Strike!!!"
Whoosh, whoooosh—!!!
I swung my sword twice in rapid succession.
The Stigma on my arm flashed, too.
The insanely overpowered Stigma, enhanced fivefold, sent two sword strikes flying.
'This will be hard to block, right?'
There were two ranged homing attacks.
And this time, they were even moving in different directions.
Since the sword strikes followed completely separate trajectories, even that wraith surely couldn't evade them.
-Snicker.
[苞楷, 脚狼钾揪肺焙.]
…That was, until the wraith adjusted her grip on her sword.
That was what I thought.
[窍唱, 惯犁埃篮郴啊炒焙.]
"……!!!?"
Her body blurred again.
It looked as though she were melting into thin air.
And then she displayed movements like a butterfly.
'What is that.'
Sword strikes that would cut a body apart the instant they touched it.
She looked straight at them and stepped forward.
Sometimes she avoided their paths, and sometimes she moved her body right into them.
How could the simple act of dodging attacks look so elegant and cool?
My mouth fell open without me realizing it.
"Highly recommend, highly recommend… Ahem."
'What am I saying at a time like this?'
An extravagant compliment completely unsuited to her had slipped out, but anyway.
I watched for a long time. No, for an instant.
-Crack!!!
[饶快.]
The sword strikes I had launched ultimately scraped the ground instead of her.
The bushes split apart and the soil beneath them exposed its insides,
and the wraith raised her sword.
Her three fingers had already folded down.
[铰菩甫败风绰霸酒聪聪, 郴傍狼7且沥档父荤侩窍瘤.]
The wraith slashed through the air several times.
At a glance, it looked like a warm-up.
But it was perfectly clear to my eyes.
She was now…
adjusting her strength to match my stats.
"Phew…."
'She really does only want to compete in technique.'
After all, would the Egan Tower give me a hidden piece if I had to defeat a Level 999 opponent?
If she controlled her strength, I could do a little WWE and take it afterward.
A sigh of relief escaped me before I knew it.
'Still, just in case, I'll keep the Tower Travel button activated…. '
"Come at me."
-Squeeze—!!
I tightened my grip on my sword.
My three opening attacks were over, so now let's fight.
It seemed my sincerity had reached my opponent as well.
A smile appeared at the corner of the wraith's mouth.
[捞抚篮- 固救窍促, 镭菌促.]
"Please go easy on me. Honestly, I'd prefer it if you gave me the hidden piece first and then fought me."
[捞抚葛甫荤郴咯, 绊缚促.]
After exchanging words that neither of us understood,
the wraith started running toward me.
-Saaaaash—!!!
She was so fast that the bushes along her path split apart like the Miracle of the Yellow Sea.
'But I can more or less see her!!'
"Hup!!"
I also raised my sword seriously.
With the Sword God trait, I analyzed every situation.
With Dragon Eyes, I watched my opponent's movements…
-Clang!!!
"Hup!!"
The wraith approached with mysterious footwork.
She crouched and thrust out a low slash, which I blocked perfectly.
No, saying I blocked it was inaccurate.
Just before her attack touched my sword, she withdrew it herself.
[嘎何碟摹绰扒困氰窍摆焙.]
"Hmm."
Looks like she noticed.
That her sword would break in two if it touched mine.
I wondered if my opponent was going to call that cheating,
[弊贰辑犁拐绢.]
but the wraith smiled instead.
Perhaps it was just my imagination, but her pale complexion seemed to have gained a little color.
Then she began circling wildly around me with her characteristic footwork.
'I can't attack either… can I?'
Thanks to the Sword God trait, I had a clear sense of it.
If I carelessly tried to attack her,
she would immediately exploit the opening.
Making the first move was practically the same as death.
'And she can attack freely, too.'
Meanwhile, my opponent clearly wouldn't hesitate to attack me.
That overwhelming mobility from her footwork would let her hit and run—strike me and flee.
Of course, I also had the Dragon Armor trait.
And it seemed she intended to keep controlling her strength.
If I drew her in while prepared to take one hit, I might be able to catch her, but…
'Something feels wrong.'
My instinct, which had carried me to so many easy victories, cried out.
It would be a waste to use a move here merely to win.
'Let's observe the situation first.'
Following that intuition, I focused on her movements instead of acting rashly, and…
-Ding.
[The traits 'Dragon Eyes' and 'Sword God' activate.]
"……Oh."
The incomprehensible footwork
and the mystery contained within it
began to make sense, just a little.