Chapter 3
#3. Noob Slaughter
After sleeping soundly and waking up, it was already around 2 PM.
Since there’s no mom in the Tower of Trials banging on the door to wake me for breakfast, I slept without noticing the time.
The moment I woke up, I opened the open community and chat channel. The (1/1) beside the Tower of Trials#2661 chat window was still there.
I had thought another challenger might come in after a day or so, but that means I’m still the only one in this tower.
Good. That means I can monopolize resources for longer.
Yesterday I’d been fixated on the thought that I had to clear 100 floors all by myself, so I was terribly anxious, but looking back, it was a really stupid thought.
In the end, wouldn’t other challengers come in once enough time passed? I could just wait until there were more challengers and clear it slowly then.
It was a shame I couldn’t catch the ranker bus, but being able to monopolize resources like this early on and grow was an enormous advantage.
Even the other challengers in the open community had to have been shocked by my growth speed, hitting level 8 in just one day.
If I could somehow become even a low-rank hunter, it would be a complete life reversal. At this rate, I might even be able to become a high-rank hunter easily.
Of course, to do that, I’d have to move diligently while I could still keep this monopoly going.
-Clack!
Using the inventory, I equipped the armor set I’d bought yesterday, then left the inn with brisk steps.
**
The field where horn rabbits spawn is usually the kind of area you graduate from at level 3, or at the latest level 5.
Apparently, after that, there isn’t much to gain from hunting horn rabbits.
Of course, that only applies to newbies climbing other towers that have already been milked dry; I’m already level 8 just from clearing the field quests.
Anyway, I’m done with the field area now too. Finally, it’s time to head into the labyrinth area, the real hunting ground.
The labyrinth is a place you have to pass through to climb the Tower of Trials, basically the game's main dungeon.
Inside are powerful monsters and dangerous traps you can’t see from outside, along with boss rooms that act as gates to the next floor.
More than anything, treasure chests containing rare items are hidden all over the place.
These treasure chests are also a finite resource, so in other conquered Towers of Trials, they’re said to be extremely rare... but that has nothing to do with me.
The Book of Advancement, which lets you change into a rare class, is a unique item that appears only once per tower.
A whole assortment of treasures that can’t easily be assigned a price is waiting for me.
[Challenger, the Tower of Trials is calling you.]
After passing the NPC at the labyrinth entrance and going inside, the surrounding air turned eerie and a message announcing my entry appeared.
The minimap attached to the interface had turned pitch-black, with the words [Exploration Progress 0%] displayed alongside it.
In the labyrinth area, the map only shows places you’ve personally explored. So it seems the first-generation hunters ran around frantically on every floor to fill in the progress.
But now that the strategy up to Floor 100 has been neatly compiled, challengers can view the maps made by other challengers in the open community with a simple click.
And this complete version of the map naturally includes every trap and treasure location discovered so far.
Of course, it doesn’t show the locations of treasures that were already depleted long ago, but even that can be found quickly with a few searches.
From here on out, I’m going to strip every treasure chest in this labyrinth clean.
**
The first treasure chest isn’t all that far from the entrance.
The chest’s contents are said to be a few kinds of potions and simple material items, but they’re not things a Day 2 newbie could easily get.
Especially potions, which are tied directly to life and death—you can never have too many of those.
Besides, if another challenger comes in, the treasure chest near the entrance will be stripped clean in no time, so I need to grab it now while no one’s around.
As I slowly advanced while checking the map, what was waiting beyond the treasure chest suddenly sprang out.
-Kerrk!
A monster the size of a child, with pointed ears, green skin, and a very large nose.
It was a goblin, the most common monster you can see in the Floor 1 labyrinth area and also the weakest one.
Treasure chests aside, I was waiting for monsters to appear too.
Why? Because I wanted to properly test the power of level 8 against something other than horn rabbits.
-Sreung.
I drew the [Steel Straight Sword] I’d bought at the shop. My weapon was no longer a wooden sword.
In truth, what I really wanted to test wasn’t the power of level 8, but this sword. It looked too cool, so I wanted to use it right away.
Holding the ridiculously stylish longsword, I charged at the goblin making that kerk sound.
“Urrah!”
-Thwack!
I didn’t know how to use a sword, and I still hadn’t learned any skills, so it felt more like hacking down with an axe than cutting.
The sword I swung forcefully split the goblin’s collarbone in a red flash and buried itself deep inside. I was a little surprised by how hard it stuck in.
-Keeeek……
Was that single deep stab a fatal wound? The goblin couldn’t do anything and collapsed right there, turning into light.
That red effect from earlier was probably a critical hit. A system where you deal extra damage if you hit a vital point.
But even with a critical hit, it was still a one-shot kill—yeah, the power of levels and items is incredible.
“Heh... this is it.”
The impact feel is ridiculous. Honestly, I’d been worried deep down whether I’d actually fight well.
The thrill of taking down a disgusting monster in one blow was more exciting than I’d expected. Adrenaline? Endorphins? It felt like that kind of thing was surging through me.
In that manga I read before, they said overwhelming strength is boring and all that, but how could this possibly be boring?
“Good, this is the perfect setup for a power-leveling spree.”
I kept moving forward and claimed the treasure chest I’d been aiming for. Then I immediately hunted down the three goblins I ran into.
Even though I was up against three at once, the goblins’ club attacks barely chipped away at my HP because my armor blocked them.
Just 1 or 2 damage—once the system’s protection feature kicked in, it felt like being hit by a cotton ball.
“Hyaaah!”
It was a total noob slaughter. I spent the whole day roaming the labyrinth while savoring the thrill of overwhelming power.
**
My first labyrinth expedition ended successfully.
I alone looted six medium treasure chests—the kind other challengers call a jackpot if they get even one.
The number of goblins I cut down on the way there and back was substantial too, so my level shot up, and after selling the loot at the shop, I had amassed an absurd amount of gold.
By Day 1, I’d already gathered as much gold as other newbies would need ten days of grinding to get, but today the scale was on a completely different level.
On top of that, I got an absurd amount of materials for enhancing gear. Enough that hunting and quests would take nearly two weeks to produce that much.
Just how amazing that is, the lurkers in the open community will explain it better than I can.
[Author: Seo Jin-hyeok#2661]
[Title: Tower of Trials Day 2 newbie earnings—how’s that?]
(Photo)
As you can see.
- Day 2 my ass—more like month 2, right?
- This bastard’s the same guy from yesterday who was baiting people by calling himself a Day 1 newbie
- What the fuck, on Day 2? LOL, did you hack?
- No, does this guy really think this is a real game...
- No fucking way, you got help from connections and now you’re calling that profit? Profit is money you actually made yourself.
- But the poster’s server is 2661—who would even be helping him?
- What country is server 2661 even for? It sure as hell isn’t Korea.
The open community’s ghosts reacted so fiercely to such an obvious bait post—I can’t help but grin.
Looking at my server tag, #2661, they seem to think I’m a Korean living overseas. I wonder when they’ll realize the truth.
This monopoly won’t last very long, but until then I’m going to enjoy it to the fullest.
“Heh, not bad.”
I rented the same inn I’d used yesterday once more, flopped onto the roomy bed, and kept lurking in the community.
It wasn’t just to kill time like yesterday; I had something to look into.
[I’ll break down the Tower of Trials class types]
I opened a post by some ranker who was staying in the tower to aim for a high-rank hunter.
Challengers of the Tower of Trials can choose a class and advance from level 10 onward, learning skills in the process.
Think warriors, archers, thieves, and the like—classes you often see in RPGs. The way you fight changes a lot depending on which class you choose.
- Seo Jin-hyeok Lv.14 (Jobless)
Today, having reached level 14, I’d already met all the requirements to advance into a normal class.
Even so, I couldn’t just advance into any class on a whim. I’d have to form a party with challengers who came in later.
Or I could stay jobless, hoping for a unique or epic class instead.
“Hmm... no idea.”
I agonized over it and over it, but even deep into the wee hours, the answer wouldn’t come easily.
In the end, I decided to put off class advancement until another challenger arrived or I hit a wall, and went to sleep late.
[Tower of Trials#2661 (1/1)]
And the next day, no other challenger had come in either.