Chapter 76
76. 8th Floor of the Trial Tower
As soon as I cleared the boss, I activated the transfer gate.
The queasy feeling of going through the transfer gate vanished, and the world that unfolded beyond it wasn't much different from the 7th floor.
The place was a broad forest, and the trees scattered around everywhere didn't look all that special.
-THUD!
I was quietly looking around for a moment when a rumbling sound echoed from far away.
I spread mana toward the direction of the sound and sensed the owner of it.
It was something like a huge tree golem stomping around. It seemed different from the tree monster that appears on the 7th floor.
It looked like one of the high elves' familiars or a guard golem.
In any case, it didn't look all that strong, and I had something more important to do right now. For now, let's head to the Dark Elf village.
I already have the village's location memorized, so there's no need to look at a map.
-Tap-tap-tap!
I sprinted toward my destination at full speed. The effect of the skill I got for clearing the 7th-floor boss had kicked in.
The boss, which relied on quick hit-and-run tactics, had given me this skill as the maximum contribution reward.
[Sprint Lv.1]
A trace of mana circled around my legs, my steps grew lighter, and my speed increased.
Since it scales with my Agility stat, it's remarkably effective for a level 1 skill.
While I was running like that, I ran into the tree golem I'd sensed a little earlier.
It seemed this forest was dotted with golems like this here and there.
The golem's eyes lit up the moment it saw me. Then, with a creaking sound, it immediately charged.
It was time to test the reward from the achievement I'd earned by one-shotting the 7th-floor boss.
[Weak Point Insight]
When I targeted the tree golem in front of me and activated the skill, a strange flow of mana latched onto it.
It was a sensation similar to using mana to sense the surroundings, but a little different.
If mana sensing detects movement within a set range, this felt more like looking through the opponent's insides.
The golem's overall structure was read into my head, and I could naturally find its weak spots.
That golem uses a small seed embedded in its back as its core, pouring mana into it to move.
In other words, if I destroy that seed, it'll be neutralized immediately.
-Kreeeeek!
The golem slowly raised its arm. It looked like it was trying to smash me down.
But despite its bulky appearance, it was terribly slow. Something that slow couldn't land a hit even if it tried.
[Iron Wall]
I closed in on the golem and drove a fist empowered by Iron Wall into its chest.
-KWAANG!
The punch shattered the golem's body in one blow and pierced straight through its back, and with a red flash, its core was destroyed.
The feeling when a crit lands is a little different from usual.
The skill description said a critical could occur when a weak point is hit, and I think that's what this is.
A normal critical is just a proc that occurs when you land a critical hit.
But this one artificially forces a critical when you hit an identified weak point.
It feels like forcing an attack that might not have been a crit into one.
The system's explanations are often unclear, so I have to understand things like this by experiencing them firsthand.
But right now I'd rather go to the village first than anything else.
-RUMBLE.
Several tree golems emerged, tearing up the ground, and surrounded me.
**
It seemed to be a structure where killing one caused several more to appear.
There was probably related information in the strategy guides, but I couldn't check because I was in a hurry to climb the floors.
On the face of it, it looked like I'd picked the wrong monster and gotten myself surrounded alone—a huge mess.
Honestly, this much doesn't faze me anymore.
-THUD!
The tree golems whose cores I'd smashed precisely all collapsed onto the ground.
I waited for a moment, but no more golems appeared. There was probably a limit to how many could spawn.
I'd become strong enough to one-shot the bosses of each floor, which ordinary challengers have to gather in groups of ten or more just to defeat.
Even now, even if a ton of trash mobs showed up, they wouldn't be any trouble at all.
After taking down the golems, I kept moving along the path. And then I immediately ran into an unexpected situation.
“What the hell is this.”
A fog carrying an odd aura was slowly settling around me.
Even the system minimap was obscured, and the path itself seemed different from the one I knew.
There'd always been thick fog near the Dark Elf village, but there'd never been any map gimmick like this.
By now, the village should be visible, but all I can see is fog.
[Sense Amplification]
I spread mana around me and used Sense Amplification, and immediately fell into confusion.
The mana I'd spread scattered in all directions, and I couldn't properly sense my surroundings.
“It's magic.”
Looks like the fog spread around here is creating some kind of interference.
It's not just blocking detection or obscuring vision. It seems to be scrambling my senses completely.
Judging from the way it's set up, it's probably a spell affecting a certain range, but since it even interferes with mana sensing, what am I supposed to do?
If I search the community, I feel like I'd find the answer, but relying too heavily on walkthroughs is a bit awkward.
If I can't overcome it on my own, this thing might end up causing me trouble someday.
“Hoo...”
I took a deep breath and spread mana once more.
Let's recall the feeling from using [Mana Gathering] and try to manipulate the mana by concentrating as much of it as possible into a single point.
If it goes well, I feel like I can somehow pull it off.
Didn't work.
Fuck.
The more I concentrated, the harder it became to control the flow of mana.
It's similar to when I try to meditate. The confusion in my mind is affecting the mana directly.
Damn it, all I want is to quickly check on the Dark Elves' condition.
“...Let's try again.”
I closed my eyes and devoted all my attention to mana detection. The mana kept refusing to stay under control and scattered as it pleased.
I kept failing to hold on to the mana that scattered on its own. Then let's change the method.
Let's push back against the scattering mana instead.
Instead, use as much mana as possible all at once and make it reach as far as it can.
I spread mana blindly until the MP value in the status window was nearly bottoming out.
Then, at the far edge of the mana I'd spread, something snagged at my senses.
-Crack!
The moment I sensed it, I ran at full speed. What I saw was a huge rune bear.
And a familiar-looking Dark Elf cutting the rune bear down.
As expected, that distinctive, intense presence was hard to miss even from the 7th floor.
-THUD!
The rune bear collapsed, and the Dark Elf, dispelling the shadow wrapped around her sword, shouted toward me.
“Hey, who are you?”
I hesitated for a moment. Would she remember me? Was that really the person I knew?
“It's me.”
After that awkward greeting, the Dark Elf—Eleanor—slowly walked toward me.
“No way, is it really you?”
She recognized me right away.
**
The Dark Elf village was exactly where it had been on the 7th floor.
Only, she'd reinforced the fog magic around the village so no one could force their way in.
Back then it only interfered with sight a little, but now it was set up to scramble every sense completely.
“I don't know why I didn't think of you when setting the spell's exceptions. I never forgot you for a single day.”
Eleanor looked incredibly happy to see me again, grinning from ear to ear as she said it.
The reason Eleanor hadn't thought of me when setting the spell was probably because of the system.
[Beyond the Night Fog - Ruel's Stump]
Following Eleanor, I arrived back at the Dark Elf village. I swallowed hard.
Would the other Dark Elves recognize me too?
The moment that question crossed my mind, I slapped my forehead.
“No, it doesn't matter.”
I don't even know what I'm worrying about. What's the problem if the NPCs don't recognize me?
If anything, isn't that a good thing? It's a chance to focus only on growth without getting caught up in pointless things.
The Dark Elves' kindness softens me. Wasn't that why I hurriedly left the 7th floor?
Then why am I hoping they'll recognize me now?
No, there's no need to overthink it.
Seo Jin-hyuk, you disgusting bastard. You're still hoping for some kind of peace, aren't you?
After my conversation with Lizmel, I decided not to treat the Dark Elves as just NPCs anymore.
If they speak like people and act like people, then they're just people.
But the Trial Tower showed me that thought was wrong. They are, after all, part of the system—nothing more than NPCs.
“If they find out you've come back, everyone will be shocked, won't they? The village mood has been pretty subdued for a while, so this should let us breathe a little easier.”
“Humans will age quickly, and yet you show up again looking completely unchanged from before.”
“Have you finished the trials? How many dimensions have you traveled through in the meantime? I'm already looking forward to hearing about it!”
But when I look into Eleanor's eyes, still burning with dreams and curiosity—
“Now, tell me the story of the past twenty years.”
—understanding and reason scatter, and my primal instincts keep rearing their heads.
I shouldn't have chosen the Dark Elf faction.