Whoa, Look at That Mana Pool (1)

I just blinked repeatedly.

It was because of the notifications that had suddenly appeared.

'What is this?'

It had been the Floor Four boss, the Forgotten Knight.

Why had he suddenly become a guardian deity?

And why had his level shot up so much?

'That's Floor Five-level. No, Floor Six-level.'

"What the hell?"

I racked my brain for a long while.

The situation was that difficult to understand.

And what hypothesis had I come up with in the end?

'Did he go to the Normal Tower?'

First. I didn't know how, but the Floor Four boss had somehow escaped to the Normal Tower.

Second. He had lived a long, healthy life there, leveled up like crazy, and died.

Finally. I had been in the Hard Tower's if route and had suddenly become a 'guardian-deity-catching young man.'

'It had been a lifetime for him, but here, it was already part of the observed past.'

That explained everything.

His explosive leveling.

Even the reason it had lasted no more than an instant for me.

"Phew…."

Dumbfounded, I rubbed my face.

The free win wasn't entirely welcome.

'Why had he leveled up like that?'

If this hypothesis was true, I had sent him to utopia.

No one in the Normal Tower would be able to stop him.

But he had leveled up?

…Who had he been trying to defeat?

'If I summon him and ask… no, don't tell me?'

Just as I was about to ask him,

I suddenly realized what had happened.

A chill ran down my spine.

'He really was planning to beat the crap out of me!'

From the Normal Tower's perspective, I was a ring thief.

Practically a traitor, in other words.

I could understand him sharpening his sword.

Of course, in the end, it was like saving a drowning man only for him to pull a knife out of his bundle.

It was ridiculous, but anyway.

'He trained hard to repay me… It absolutely couldn't be that.'

What's more, I'd declared it to him.

I'd told him I would use him as material to level up Dohwa.

How much resentment must he have held toward me after nearly becoming fox food?

I couldn't even imagine.

-Mutter.

"Well, it's all just a hypothesis."

Of course, this was only one plausible possibility.

It was possible he had done all that out of good intentions.

Like Baekrihyang, saying he would do everything in his power to serve me.

But should I really summon him based on that?

Someone with stats practically at Floor Six level, who might even resent me?

'Am I insane?'

Even if I gave it the benefit of the doubt, it was a button with a fifty-percent chance of getting me fragged. Did I look like I'd press it?

I knew the value of my life.

'Okay, you're Dohwa food after all.'

I casually decided the boss's fate.

Then I turned my gaze elsewhere.

Toward the notifications I'd stopped reading earlier.

"Let's see… huh?"

And the rewards that caught my eye…

Were enough to make the effort of challenging the Hard Tower feel 800 percent worthwhile.

[The pilgrim has defeated 'Cain, Guardian Deity of the Babel Empire'!]

[Legendary Achievement!! Every being in the Tower praises your feat!!]

[Recalculating rewards according to difficulty….]

-Ding.

[Calculation complete.]

[Achievement Difficulty: EX+ (Nearly Impossible)]

[Achievement Rewards]

- Your next clear reward is multiplied by 4

(Scenario First-Clear Rewards may be applied cumulatively)

[Boss Floor Clear Rewards]

- Stat Points +160

- Lowest-grade Recovery Potion x88

- Weapon/Armor Selection Ticket x8

(Scenario First-Clear and EX+ Achievement Bonuses Applied)

"……What?"

The twofold bonus to the Boss Floor rewards I had obtained for clearing Floor 39.

And the fourfold reward from farming achievements.

They were multiplying those together outright?

It was so sweet I was getting dizzy.

I was going to get a blood sugar spike at this rate.

'This isn't the end.'

I even knew that.

That eightfold reward had applied to the Stigma as well.

My appetite immediately returned.

'I had originally only planned to use it as Serin's medicine, but this changes things.'

The Stigma I'd originally had in mind was Mana Absorption.

I had planned to create it, counting it as sacrificing one Stigma.

But a Fourth-tier Stigma with eight times the effect?

'This will be useful no matter what when I fight.'

At this point, it was practically mana theft.

It meant I could siphon off mana, one of the stats I lacked, and fight with it.

I wondered how useful this would be for climbing Floor Five.

I was already getting excited.

'I need to craft the Stigma quickly!'

-Step.

I immediately started walking.

The face of my sister, who would be surprised that I was already back, floated before my eyes.

I was just about to take the portal, but

-Hesitate.

'There are still some notifications left?'

A notification sparkled at the edge of my vision.

I found several unread lines there.

Well, it was probably nothing important.

I glanced over without much thought.

-Ding.

[Achievement Rewards]

- The summon 'Cain, Guardian Deity of the Babel Empire' retains the Regression trait

(When evolving another summon with the trait 'Fusion,' the Regression trait is guaranteed to be granted)

"……Huh?"

Wait, what was this?

'The Regression trait?'

It was talking about that thing, right?

The boss's pattern of rewinding time by two seconds.

It was an absurdly broken trait, without question…

And I could grant it to Dohwa?

"…Dohwa, come here?"

"Kyaeung?"

I summoned Dohwa right away.

"I brought over some material to evolve you."

"Kyaeung!?"

"I'm going to evolve you right away. Do you need to prepare yourself mentally?"

"Kyaeung~."

Dohwa wagged her tail happily at my words.

She looked just like a puppy that had heard the word 'walk.'

Of course, what I was going to give her was hundreds of millions of times better than a walk.

"Trait Enhancement Swap! Fusion!"

-Ding.

['Would you like to consume 'Cain, Guardian Deity of the Babel Empire' to evolve 'Dohwa'….]

"Proceed!!!"

I immediately reached out my hand.

Then—Fwoooosh!!!

A dazzling light burst from me and wrapped around Dohwa.

It looked exactly like the flashy effect for pulling an SSR character in a gacha game.

As for the result, what more was there to say?

It was a complete metamorphosis.

-Ding.

[Evolution complete.]

[You acquire the trait 'Regression' through the EX+ Achievement Bonus.]

[You acquire one additional trait through the effect of the trait 'Fusion+'.]

[Dohwa]

Level: 1156 (+800)

Traits: Lightning Flash (Rare), Aegyo (Common), Regression (Legendary), Loyalty (Rare)

"Kyaeung…?"

"Ooh!!!"

Never mind the fact that her level had surpassed mine.

Just look at that shiny trait.

It was Legendary, I tell you. Legendary.

"Dohwa, shall we check your performance together~?"

"Kaeng!!"

I held Dohwa in my arms and sat cross-legged on the floor.

Then I focused my eyes.

-Ding.

[The trait 'Dragon Eyes' activates….]

[Regression (Legendary)]

Consumes mana to turn back time.

(Dohwa's maximum regression time: 2.5 seconds)

"Apparently you can rewind time now."

"…Kyaeung?"

"Come on, let's try it once. Regression!"

I immediately gave her the command for a performance test.

Dohwa blinked for a moment, as though confused, but

"Kaeng!!"

Had she figured out how to use the trait?

Dohwa barked as if to say, 'Leave it to me.'

And then, perk—

Her fox ears shot straight up.

It was the signal that Regression had activated.

-Ding.

[The trait 'Regression' activates….]

'Ooh…!!'

At a glance, it looked as though nothing had changed.

But we felt it.

Along with the sound of a ticking clock,

time had definitely rewound.

"Kyaeung!!? Kaeng, kaeng!!!"

"Amazing, right? Yeah, I think so too."

Dohwa could now rewind time.

But thanks to my resistance, I wasn't affected by the ability.

On top of that, Dohwa would promptly rewind time whenever I commanded her to.

I had practically gained another free trait.

-Pat-pat.

"As expected, our Dohwa really is a lucky charm~."

"Kyaeung~."

"Let's fight together from Floor Five onward! Like we did on Floor Three!"

"Kaeng!!"

After that, I petted Dohwa enthusiastically.

It had definitely been worth challenging the Hard Tower.

I muttered that inwardly as well.

-Ding.

[Loyalty (Rare)]

A heart loyal to its master.

Positively affects every action performed for the master…

"Whine?"

"Oh, this is nothing. I already know our Dohwa follows me well."

"Kyaeung~."

There was one other trait, though.

That probably wasn't anything special either.

* * *

After enjoying a fluffy dopamine party for quite a while,

I took the portal with Dohwa.

I'd powered Dohwa up, so now it was my turn.

-Ding.

[Boss Floor Clear Rewards]

- Stat Points +160

- Lowest-grade Recovery Potion x88

- Weapon/Armor Selection Ticket x8

(Scenario First-Clear and EX+ Achievement Bonuses Applied)

[The trait 'Golden Rule+' activates.]

You acquire the following additional rewards.

- Stat Points +20

- Lowest-grade Recovery Potion x13

- Weapon/Armor Selection Ticket x1

[Ryu Hwi-min]

Level: 1087 (+200)

Title: Beyond the Impossible

Strength: 345+50 (+65)

Agility: 320+50 (+55)

Vitality: 295+50 (+60)

Mana: 123+50 (+10)

Luck: 63+50 (+10)

"Kyaa~."

As recently as yesterday, I had only been level 700.

And it had risen by more than half in a single day.

Judging by stats alone, I was now at the level of a Floor Five conqueror.

There wasn't a single Hard Tower Floor Five conqueror in the entire world, but anyway.

'This is impressive too, but…."

"The real deal is the Stigma."

I had only just finished marveling at my status window.

I set Dohwa down.

It was time to craft the Stigma.

It didn't take long.

"When the Stigma activates, I absorb the opponent's mana and use it freely. In exchange, I take damage proportional to the distance from the opponent and the amount of mana absorbed. Additionally, if I wish, I will suffer the opponent's pain and side effects in their place when absorbing mana."

-Ding.

[The trait 'Golden Rule+' activates.]

The grade of the Stigma being crafted increases.

[Due to the Scenario First-Clear and EX+ Difficulty Achievement Rewards, an eightfold increase is applied.]

The power increase granted relative to the restrictions is multiplied by eight when crafting the Stigma.

[Fifth-grade Stigma - Usurpation+]

As much blood as he sheds, the mana he covets shall become a sword that protects allies and cuts down enemies.

"…This should do it, right?"

I'd originally intended to make it so I had to touch the opponent directly to absorb their mana.

But with an eightfold increase in power, a long-range click seemed possible.

I could finally rest easy even when my little sister hit puberty.

"Then, Dohwa, let's go. We're going to heal Serin!"

"Kaeng!!!"

After that, I left the Tower almost immediately.

Unlike when I had barely managed to craft an Intermediate Potion on Floor Three, my footsteps couldn't have been lighter.

Part of it was that I was excited to have finished clearing Floor Four far more quickly than expected, and

[Baekrihyang's Soul]

When carried, resonates with Baekrihyang's spirit and…

"Lady Baekrihyang, can you hear me?"

[Divine one? Is there anything you would have this maiden or this child do?]

"No, it's not that. I wanted to tell you about the next boss's pattern. It has an ability that rewinds time by two seconds…."

Hyunseo, whose stomach probably hadn't even settled after eating kimchi jjim.

I fed him the strategy information piece by piece.

According to Baekrihyang, Hyunseo was moved to tears.

[Honestly… You can tell him that much yourself. And leave out that foul human-waste smell.]

"Pardon? What did Mr. Hyunseo say?"

[It is not a matter worth taking up the divine one's valuable time.]

"Well, if that's the case."

Hyunseo had tried to say something, only for Baekrihyang to cut him off, but anyway.

He was no longer in any danger of dying.

I headed to the hospital without a worry.

-Creak.

"Serin, big bro's here~."

"Yaaawn… Oppaaa?"

When I opened the hospital-room door, my younger sister greeted me with a yawn.

It seemed the drowsiness, an early symptom of Mana Overdisease, had grown worse in the meantime.

'Good thing I came quickly.'

Creeeak, thud.

I closed the hospital-room door first.

It was so I could summon Dohwa again.

"Dohwa, come out quietly."

"Kyaeung."

"…Whoa! You have four tails!!"

Perhaps Dohwa's evolution had made her cuter.

My sister looked a little more awake, but…

'Not that. I'll really make you better.'

She would no longer have to suffer.

I would heal my one and only family member.

With my own hands.

I firmly vowed it inwardly.

My hand reached toward the bed.

-Whoosh.

"…Oppa?"

"Dohwa. In case something happens, stand by with Regression."

"Kaeng."

I also put Dohwa's trait on standby.

I'd added conditions to prevent side effects to the Stigma as well, but one could never know what might happen.

I intended to tap the stone bridge before crossing it.

'Well, nothing will probably happen.'

"Usurpation!"

Then I activated the Stigma with my heart swelling with hope…

-Ding!

[The trait 'Guardian Dragon's Blessing' activates!]

[Guardian Dragon's Blessing (Mythic)]

A dragon's prayer is infused.

Once per day, nullifies a fatal injury…

"Keurgh!!!!?"

My vision turned blood-red.