The Tower's Trial: Floor 8. Yoon Seong-gi♡

"Hey, I'll speak casually, okay?"

"Huh...? Ah, y-yes..... Please do."

The guy suddenly became extremely polite.

When I gave him a slight glare, he immediately nodded and bowed.

He wasn't exactly small, but he seemed to shrink so much that he felt smaller than me compared to when we'd first met.

Still, we couldn't start like this, so we began with basic introductions.

First of all, his name was Yoon Seong-gi.

"Pfft!! Your name is Seong-gi...? Pfft...!!"

"Uuuh.... Then your trait is..."

"What, do you want to die?"

"......"

Violence solves everything.

After a slightly awkward silence, we continued introducing ourselves.

His class was simply Swordsman. He was the typical guy who fought with nothing but a single sword.

'How the hell did he make it this far?'

He still had so much of an ordinary person's air about him that I couldn't help wondering. I thought someone who had reached Floor 8 should normally look like a battle-hardened warrior, but this guy was a complete amateur.

His Strength, Agility, and Defense were all in the mid-to-high teens. He didn't seem to have obtained many good traits either.

'Did he just happen to get low-grade trials and clear them through sheer luck?'

He might be the exact opposite of me.

His guild was called [Felix], I think. Since I'd never heard of it, it was probably a small or midsize guild.

Technically, he belonged to a small or midsize guild, but they were basically just individual Awakeners.

After roughly finishing my own introduction, I also obtained his permission to broadcast with surprising ease.

"The mosaic will be applied, right...?"

"Yeah, but the viewers already know your name is Seong-gi."

"Huh...?"

"Ahem... Sorry. Let's get ready to go."

Ignoring him as he seemed to lose his soul, I picked up a weapon.

He took a sword. I took a spear.

Once again, no armor was provided. I entered wearing the thin dolphin shorts and tank top I usually wore.

"You at least looked up what this place is for, right?"

"Yes. I may not look it, but I memorize information thoroughly. On this floor, we have to clear every room within the eight-hour time limit. If we fail a room's mission, our reward grade drops and we have to start over from the beginning."

"You know the basic information well. Then you also know there's no need for a walkthrough here, right?"

Floor 8 had the greatest number of possible variations of all the trials.

There were eight rooms, so one of the trials that had appeared in the past could come up. But even if you knew them, they might be meaningless combat trials, or the details might be subtly altered, making prior knowledge more of a poison than a benefit.

This was the place where a new trial appeared every time, as though an AI were making small changes to the questions.

"O-of course. I've heard that quick thinking and cooperation are the most important things."

"Good. Then follow my orders no matter what. Got it?"

"Er.... Th-that..."

"Did you get it?"

When I raised my fist slightly,

"Haha.... As if I have a choice."

Seong-gi immediately lowered his head.

But was this really okay?

I was a little worried that this might become a controversy or incident involving an Awakener streamer, so I cautiously opened the chat window—but

- LMAOOOOOOO

- Serves you right~

- How dare that ill-looking bastard!

- He got meek real quickㅋㅋㅋ

- I knew it the moment he started acting cocky after meeting herㅉㅉ

Apparently, I hadn't crossed any lines yet.

I had been the one ignored first, and the confrontation had followed the legitimate rules, so there shouldn't be any controversy.

And this method would be good for him too.

"Hey. Just trust me and follow along. I'll make sure you get a high-grade reward too."

"Ah.... Yes."

His response was less than enthusiastic, but he would understand soon enough.

*

The first room.

I used the electronic panel in the center to press the start button.

[Hold back the approaching enemies and protect the crystal orb]

As soon as the trial began, the structure of the room changed.

- Rumble... craaack!!

Like a moving cube, the tiles on the floor and walls rose and fell, repeatedly splitting apart and joining together. In the blink of an eye, the huge empty space transformed into a straight passage.

It was about three meters wide and open at both ends. In the middle of the passage sat a crystal orb on an ornate pedestal.

At the same time the restructuring ended, skeletons emerged from both ends of the passage.

The front and the back.

If even one side broke through, the crystal orb would shatter and the mission would fail.

'The numbers are different.'

At a glance they looked similar, but there were about twenty-five in front and fifteen in back.

"Listen carefully. I'll take the front. You take the back. Hold out!!"

"Yes..!"

We quickly took our positions and faced the skeletons.

I didn't wait for them to approach.

I rushed forward and thrust my spear through the skull of a sword-wielding skeleton before it could even react.

- Crack!!

Beginning with the satisfying sound of bones shattering, I brought down the skeletons one by one.

'The difficulty is... easy.'

One at a time.

The skeletons armed with various melee weapons crumbled rapidly, like sandcastles collapsing.

Attacking and defending simultaneously, I picked up speed. I dodged the skeletons' attacks by a hair's breadth without stopping my spear thrusts.

I must have been swinging it for about fifteen seconds,

- Craaack!!!

and I finished clearing out the monsters on my side by smashing two of them at once.

But the problem was...

"Graaagh!! Help!!! Help!!"

'Damn it...'

When I looked back, a skeleton with only its upper body remaining was gripping his ankle, while he was locking swords with another skeleton. And while he was trapped and unable to move, a skeleton wielding an axe was approaching.

"Hey, just shove that bastard away!!"

I shouted as I rushed over, but he remained frozen in place.

'Did fear make his mind shut down?'

There was no time.

I threw my spear and struck the head of the skeleton about to bring its axe down on Seong-gi.

- Whooosh...!!

- Crack!

The spear flew hard and killed the skeleton just before its axe struck Seong-gi.

"Get a grip, you idiot!!"

I gave him a light smack on the back of the head, picked up a sword lying nearby, and swung it.

With me joining in, the skeletons were cleared away in an instant.

The first room ended very easily.

And then...

"Seong-gi?"

Even I was surprised by how cold my voice had become.

Watching him fight had been so pathetic that my emotions had leaked into my expression and tone.

"Kgh.... This is.... I mean, I definitely cut its torso in half..."

After meeting my gaze, he shrank back slightly and made excuses while sweating profusely.

"Haa... Don't you even know that, just like zombies, skeletons have to be killed by smashing their necks or heads? You said you had memorized the walkthrough, didn't you?"

"No, I just... Before I knew it, I panicked..."

[You have cleared the first room. The room will be changed to the waiting room]

"Haa..... We'll deal with you later, okay?"

"......"

His shoulders seemed to grow narrower and narrower.

- Rumble.... Boom...!!

Before I knew it, the room had been rearranged and replaced by the waiting room I'd seen at the start.

'How did he make it this far with those skills?'

There were still seven hours and fifty-seven minutes left.

The first room had ended in only three minutes.

'Right, I should give him some feedback before we go.'

This was for his sake more than mine.

On Floor 8, if one of the two people died, the survivor alone would receive a lower reward grade and be matched with someone else.

If your partner was too useless, you could let them die and look for a better partner again, but even so, wasn't that going too far? It was a human life.

So giving him feedback like I was doing was actually treating him very kindly.

"Seong-gi."

"Yes, ma'am..."

"Listen carefully. I'll teach you the basics of using a sword and how to use your strength. Why were you locking swords with a skeleton weaker than you? Push it away and swing your sword!! Haa, and your stance is..."

...

..

.

For about twenty minutes,

I gave him feedback from the world's strongest person—something money couldn't buy.

But,

"If I explain this much, you should be able to handle the rest, right?"

"Yes... I can do it..."

I could tell he hadn't understood a thing.

If anything, his confidence had only been crushed further.

"Haa...."

'Did this actually have the opposite effect? His confidence is completely gone...'

I never expected him to fail to understand what I said and sink even deeper into self-loathing.

His arrogant attitude when we'd first met would have been much better. At this rate, he wouldn't even be able to swing his sword.

If I were a man, I would have shouted, 'What the hell are you doing, you fucking man?! Cut your dick off!!' and beaten the hell out of him, but I had a feeling saying that in a woman's body would cause some kind of controversy.

There was nothing I could do.

Someone like him had to overcome this on his own.

If he couldn't overcome it, he would die. If he did, he would grow by one step.

"You're not injured, are you? Then let's go to the next room."

"Yes..."

In the awkward atmosphere, we began the second room.

*

[The second room begins. Kill all the enemies]

Three orc warriors.

It was a simple, easy challenge.

"I'll take two. You take the one on the far left!"

"Yes!"

*

After fighting like that...

He suffered a slight injury this time.

"Kgh... I'm sorry."

"What do you mean? Someone who made it to Floor 8 can't even kill one orc properly? Haa..."

I had plenty to say, but I decided to let it go for now.

Looking at his face, it seemed his mental state was already wavering. If I added another word here, it would only have the opposite effect.

He had sprained his wrist and twisted his ankle.

I wrapped the bandages available in the waiting room around them, then moved on to the next room.

*

The third room was similar to the first.

Instead, a horde of goblins came rushing out, and once again, we barely cleared it after I saved him from nearly dying.

The fourth room was a boss battle.

The boss monster we had to defeat was a gigantic minotaur.

It was a higher-tier orc monster with a massive, roughly three-meter-tall body and a muscular physique.

And the moment the battle began, the minotaur charged madly straight at us.

Yoon Seong-gi was startled and tried to run away, only to fall over disgracefully by himself. In the end, I defeated it alone.

"......"

When I glared at him, he lowered his head toward the ground.

"I'm sorry..."

At least he seemed to know that he was at fault.

Seeing him stare only at the ground as if he were too ashamed to face me, I didn't really feel like saying anything to him either.

'Right. Let's just clear this quickly and get out...'

Without even asking about the next trial, I immediately began it.

*

[Fourth room. Find and bring back three pearls from inside the cave]

Thank goodness.

If another battle had broken out, Yoon Seong-gi might really have died.

The square gray room began rearranging itself in an instant, leaving behind only a single narrow cave entrance. A small box and a flashlight appeared beside the entrance.

It was a simple trial that ended once we entered the cave and brought back three pearls.

The problem was probably the time limit.

It didn't seem likely that they would put a life-threatening obstacle inside the cave.

"I'll go first. You can follow properly, right?"

"Yes. I can do that."

There was only one flashlight.

I picked it up and shone it into the cave. It was quite cramped.

'Looks like we'll have to crawl...'

I didn't like the idea of him positioning himself right behind my defenseless body, but there was no choice.

'Surely he wouldn't try anything, right?'

Seeing how dejected he was, I didn't think he would do anything at all. There were still three rooms left, and he knew I was broadcasting, so there shouldn't be any problem.

"Let's go."

I pushed my body into the dark cave.

*

'I can see even without the flashlight.'

A very faint, gentle light emanated from the walls.

'It doesn't look like I'll have to worry about getting scratched and hurt...'

The cave was so narrow that we had to crawl on all fours.

I was worried about scraping myself against the sharp walls, but the ground was somewhat soft. It also felt a little damp, but overall, there was less trouble than I'd expected.

"You're okay back there too, right?"

There wasn't enough room to turn around, so I couldn't check his condition one detail at a time.

"Nngh...... No, I'm fine!"

It felt as though there was a problem, but apparently it wasn't a very serious one.

"Then follow me carefully. Be sure to say something if you can't keep up."

We crawled through the narrow, damp cave.

The temperature inside was slightly high.

After crawling like that for about ten minutes, sweat began streaming down my body.

'Haa... damn it, where the hell are these pearls supposed to be?'

***

Yoon Seong-gi's perspective.

All he could see was her butt.

'Haa... Now that I'm seeing it up close, her ass is fucking huge.'

Apparently her short dolphin shorts couldn't cover her enormous butt, because more than half of her plump, sumptuous flesh was exposed as she crawled along, swaying gently.

He felt as though he were being seduced.

Had he ever seen an ass this arousing before?

It was firm and gathered into a very sensual curve, without sagging or any awkward angles.

Each time she moved, it jiggled softly, bringing to mind the smooth texture of her skin.

How nice would it be?

If he could just touch it, how wonderful would it feel?

It was so alluring.

He wanted to grope and touch it wildly.

He wanted to grab it, pull her sideways, and thrust into her.

He wanted to restrain her so she couldn't resist and pour his seed into her precious womb.

The instinct of a man.

His reproductive urges surged violently, but...

He endured it.

In the past, he might have pretended to touch her by accident and smoothly brushed it off, but right now, he was mentally and physically fragile.

If he touched her butt for no reason, she might beat him to a pulp, or she might deliberately leave him to die and switch partners.

Above all, his pride had been battered badly.

Yoon Seong-gi.

He had lived believing himself to be a genius.

He had decent looks and an excellent academic background.

And he was even climbing the Tower as an Awakener.

He bragged to his friends about being an Awakener, and just yesterday, he had enjoyed a one-night stand with a woman he'd met for the first time at a drinking party.

Whenever he introduced himself as an Awakener, the pretty bitches he met at clubs and bars spread their legs so easily that his pride had soared to the heavens.

He had lived by showing off like that and acting superior to everyone around him.

Then, today, he met Lee Do-hee.

When he first saw her, all he had thought about was hitting on her and fucking her.

How strong could a female Awakener really be? She was probably just a woman who had luckily survived as a Supporter... That was what he thought, but as time passed, his thoughts gradually changed.

When he lost their first spar, he simply assumed she was strong because she had luckily obtained good traits. He thought it was understandable since he had only gone through low-grade trials so far.

But after making a huge mistake in the battle against the skeletons, his pride crumbled.

He had never imagined that the skeleton he had confidently cut in half to show off would grab his ankle.

If she had been even a little later coming to help him, he would have died there.

And during her ensuing lecture, he realized the vast gap between them in martial arts.

Where to put his weight, how to place his feet, the stance and balance of force when swinging a sword, the relationship between distance and power... He hadn't understood a single thing she said.

He nodded while pretending to understand, but her disappointed, icy gaze had felt like she was looking at a bug.

She hadn't actually looked at him that way, but that was how Yoon Seong-gi had perceived it.

Beyond saving. A talentless dullard. Vermin. Incompetent.

For Yoon Seong-gi, who had lived believing he belonged near the top of society, it was an enormous shock.

And as they cleared the second, third, and fourth rooms one after another, he felt it keenly.

'I was an ordinary man.'

Unlike the fake version of himself, she was a truly shining 'genius.'

The word genius referred not to him, but to women like Lee Do-hee.

That was why the only thing he could do was stare fixedly at her butt.

He couldn't possess her, but surely he could look at her. Watching her ass even made him feel somewhat healed inside.

But then,

"Wait...!"

She suddenly stopped.

But Seong-gi failed to react because he was staring at her butt and thinking lewd thoughts, so he slammed his face straight between her buttocks.

- Pwoom!

"Hket!?"

"Uuugh!"

Her ample butt served as a perfect dispenser, and Yoon Seong-gi's face settled softly between Lee Do-hee's buttocks.

'Huh...? My face is... No way?'

He could have immediately backed away and pulled his face out, but he didn't.

His body seemed to refuse. His mind told him to get out quickly, but his body wouldn't obey.

'Ahh... Why does this feel so good?'

The soft, supple sensation gently enveloping his face.

A fragrant scent so pleasant that he couldn't believe it came from a woman who had been sweating.

And that place, slightly damp from sweat yet still soft.

It was heaven. This place was definitely heaven.

It was a warm, comfortable space, like his mother's embrace when he was young.

He had met all kinds of women and smelled plenty of unpleasant odors from them. That was why he had thought people who buried their faces in women's bodies were pathetic fools who had never even dated a woman.

But he had been wrong.

He had simply never encountered a proper woman's ass before.

A proper woman's ass was so good that he could gladly bury his nose in it and die.

'Sniff... haa.... This is fucking amazing...'

While he was savoring her butt like that,

"Hey!! You bastard, get your face away right now!!!"

'Ah...'

When her furious shout rang out, his body reacted automatically, startling him into backing away.

"No, it wasn't on purpose!! How could you just stop all of a sudden...?"

"Damn it... Be careful from now on. It's a fork in the path, so let's try the left side first. Follow me properly."

He followed her again.

But the sensation of that ample butt still lingered vividly in his mind.

It was on a completely different level from the women he'd met before.

A blissful texture and fragrance that seemed to have been created to make men happy.

'Once more... I want to bury my face in it once more. I want to rub my face all over that ass...'

His lower body began to stiffen.