Chapter 9
“Ugh…”
The guy I’d smacked over the head with the flat of my sword staggered before collapsing.
I only meant to warn him, but he was way weaker than I expected.
“B-boss, are you okay?!”
“Shit, he’s not breathing…?!”
The other guys behind him approached with furious expressions.
“Hey, runt! Hurry up and give the boss CPR!”
“Huh? Me?”
“I’m gonna beat that bitch to a pulp, so get moving unless you want to watch the boss die!”
“…Yes.”
The guy they called the runt reluctantly started CPR.
“You’re not getting out of this alive today. I’ll cut off all your limbs.”
The other two drew their swords and charged.
‘They’re pretty fast.’
But nowhere near as fast as a Dire Wolf.
“Die!”
“Huh? I thought you said you weren’t gonna kill me.”
-Clang!
The two of them swung their swords at once, and I casually met their blades.
Their strength… a little below an orc’s?
“How does a brat like you have so much strength…!”
They strained to push me back, but I calmly assessed their combat abilities.
Taking their speed and strength together…
“You guys are C-Rank, right? Barely.”
“…!?”
“Thought so.”
Now that I’d finished measuring them, maybe I should actually fight.
-Thud, thud!
I kicked them in the stomach one after the other.
“What the hell…”
The impact must’ve been too much. They both looked like they were about to lose consciousness.
You can’t collapse already.
‘I need to try out my ability!’
This was my chance to measure the power of the aura that had wrecked my house.
-Smack!
I slapped them across the face and shouted,
“Hey! I’m not gonna kill you, so could you at least stay conscious and put up a fight?!”
“What the hell are you saying, you crazy bitch…!”
“You have a nasty mouth.”
I clenched my fists and looked down at them.
Just as I was about to teach them some manners—
-Clang!
Something struck the back of my head.
“Hmm?”
I turned around to see what was behind me.
The runt, who’d been giving the boss CPR, had attacked me by surprise.
“W-what? I stabbed you with a sword, so how are you still alive…?”
“You little shit, you’re in for it now.”
He was apparently so scared of me that he couldn’t move.
He’d make a good practice dummy.
‘Aura.’
Black mist gradually spread around me.
I tried to move the aura and hit him with it, but—
“Ghk…!”
He was pressed down by the mist, his face turning deathly pale, and finally passed out.
‘…You couldn’t even withstand that?’
Disappointed, I looked at the others, but they were all in the same state, unable even to breathe.
‘They’re way too weak.’
Disappointed, I pulled my aura back in.
Now, the only ones left in the house were four unconscious men and one girl who looked like she might be in middle school.
“Hmm.”
What was I supposed to do with these guys?
They’d definitely trespassed in my house, but if I reported them to the guild, I’d obviously get arrested along with them.
As I was racking my brain over what to do—
“…Huh?”
I realized the four of them looked familiar.
I took a picture of their faces with my phone and searched for them.
[Level 3 Most Wanted—Murder, Robbery, Violent Sexual Assault]
“What.”
I’d learned they were heinous criminals.
‘Then this is easy.’
I could just dump them at the guild and let them deal with it.
I found some rope in the house and tied all four of them up together.
‘Let’s go, guys.’
-Rrrr…
I dragged them along the floor toward the Hwasan Guild.
***
The next morning.
“Hup!”
I stretched and leisurely got up from the soft bed.
‘Nice house.’
The furniture was clean, and the whole place was pretty spotless.
Thanks to that, I was feeling great too.
‘Today’s my Floor 10 climb, right?’
A boss appeared every ten floors in the Tower.
I was a little nervous, but with my stats, I should be able to take it down easily.
[Title: Off to fight the Floor 10 boss.]
Author: WokeUpAsATSGirl
The boss is random, so I don't know exactly what'll show up,
but I’ll take care of it quick and come back
-Why does this guy always live-commentary the Tower climb?
└Upvote lol, they always say they’ll clear it in 10 seconds
-PureAndLovely*) I wanna climb the Tower too
└DaggerTechniquePro) For real;; Being stuck in my inner world all the time is boring enough to make me wanna die
└PureAndLovely*) Huh, is training your aura boring? I think that’s just you…?
└GreatswordFan) Then train, you lazy bitch lol
└DaggerTechniquePro) At least I have a color, unlike some people, so I can take it easy ㅇㅇ
└GreatswordFan) You fucking asshole
“Hmm.”
I headed for the Tower while looking at the gallery, peaceful as ever.
***
My first time entering a boss floor.
I was excited, but also a little scared.
‘What if a dragon suddenly shows up as the boss?’
It was ridiculous, but I couldn’t rule out the possibility.
A High Orc showed up in the tutorial. Why couldn’t a dragon appear on Floor 10?
‘I should be careful.’
Thinking that, I entered Floor 10, and—
[You have cleared Floor 10!]
[Final score: 30,000 points]
[The world record for the Floor 10 rankings has been updated from ‘22,090 points’ to ‘30,000’ points!]
I killed the High Orc that had appeared so confidently about six seconds after the fight started.
And I hadn’t even used my newly learned aura ability.
“Hmm…”
Well, it was only natural, if you thought about it.
‘What a letdown.’
I hadn’t felt even the slightest excitement from climbing the Tower.
With my current combat ability, I’d need at least a B-Rank monster to be a match for me.
‘And you don’t get those until at least the late twenties.’
I hated the system that only let you climb one floor a day.
I was feeling dejected and skipping the system’s notifications when—
[The Tower is impressed by your achievement.]
[The system grants you a temporary ‘Divine Rank.’]
A strange message appeared.
[Would you like to enter the Hidden Stage—‘The Forest Without an Exit’?]
*Warning! Your Divine Rank will disappear upon clearing the Hidden Stage.
Divine Rank. The Forest Without an Exit.
I’d never seen any of those terms, not even online.
‘Am I the first to get this too, like with the tutorial?’
Thinking that, I looked over the message carefully.
‘It says the Divine Rank disappears if I clear it?’
I wanted to enter, but I didn’t know what the Divine Rank was, so I couldn’t just rush in.
What if it was important?
“What happens to the Divine Rank if I don’t enter?”
[Your Divine Rank will disappear if you do not enter the Hidden Stage.]
It actually answered me.
Was it watching me?
‘…To be impressed by me, it must’ve watched me fight in the first place.’
Anyway.
If the Divine Rank was going to disappear no matter what, then I might as well enter the Hidden Stage.
‘It doesn’t say what the reward is this time, though.’
I was bored anyway, so there was no harm in going in.
This wasn’t even something I needed to ask the gallery about.
“Enter.”
After saying it confidently, I gently closed my eyes to avoid being blinded.
‘…What?’
Unlike usual, nothing happened.
Just as I was about to open my eyes, wondering if something had gone wrong—
-Whoosh!
“Kyaaa!”
A flash of pure white light slammed into my eyes.
***
“…Is it over?”
I cautiously opened my eyes, worried the light might burst out again.
A forest packed with trees stretched out before me.
[Hidden Stage—‘The Forest Without an Exit’]
[Objective: Leave the forest by any means necessary.]
[Clear Reward: Obtain a permanent ‘Stigma.’]
“?”
They’d thrown me into a forest with no exit, and the objective was to escape it?
I stared blankly at the system, dumbfounded, when—
‘…What’s a Stigma?’
I was curious about the Stigma listed as the reward.
This was something I should ask the gallery.
[Title: I beat the boss and ended up in a Hidden Stage]
(Photo of the system window showing the objective and reward)
Forget the bullshit about escaping a forest with no exit,
Stigma<<what the hell is this?
-Wait, shit, a Stigma??
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) What is it? Is it good?
└I don’t know either
└Is this idiot for real? lol
-PureAndLovely*) Just slash through space and escape. Why can’t you do that? lol
└Isn’t spatial slash the head mod’s exclusive skill?
└PureAndLovely*) Exactly, so send a help call. Who knows, maybe the head mod will fire a remote spatial slash for you?
Unfortunately, the comments weren’t useful at all.
‘Remote spatial slashes? That’s ridiculous.’
Just as I was thinking I’d have to clear this Hidden Stage with my own strength—
-GreatswordFan) Huh? I’ve been in there before
└There goes their memory again;;
└GreatswordFan) No, I’m serious. I got a Stigma as a reward, too. I’ll post proof
[Title: Stigma proof]
(Image of a Stigma engraved below the ribs on their chest)
See the Aquarius symbol?
That’s a Stigma
-Greatsword big sis’s massive boobs, ohhh…
└Maybe it’s from wielding a greatsword, but they’re seriously huge ㅎㄷㄷ
-GeniusSwordMaiden) …Your chest must get in the way when you swing your sword.
└GreatswordFan) Sword Maiden, you must be glad your chest never gets in the way!
└GeniusSwordMaiden) Accept my spar request.
└Flat as a board, Greatsword Maiden lol
└GeniusSwordMaiden) Accept my spar request.
The gallery was ablaze over GreatswordFan’s enormous chest, but only for a moment.
-WokeUpAsATSGirl) So what kind of power does a Stigma have?
└GreatswordFan) To put it simply, it lets you warp reality.
└GreatswordFan) You know the abilities you use with aura? They ignore the laws of the world. It’s something like that
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) …Aura abilities ignore the laws of the world?
└PureAndLovely*) Ah, right, I forgot to tell you that lol sorry
I wondered if it was really okay to learn from the blue-tag mod, but decided to focus on what mattered more for now.
└GreatswordFan) My Aquarius Stigma lets me summon water
└DaggerTechniquePro) Even a one-star mage can summon water, you dumbass lol
└GreatswordFan) Daggercel, shut up. I’ll make a post and show you the ability in a video
[Title: Stigma video]
(Video of water suddenly gushing out of an empty meadow)
(Video of water continuing to gush out)
(Video looking down at a vast ocean from the sky)
This is roughly what happens when I use my ability
-What happened to the meadow?
-You’re making an ocean, and you’re not even a great mage
-Water mages are crying lol
-PureAndLovely*) But why haven’t you used that ability when sparring all this time?
└GreatswordFan) Stigmas go against the spirit of the greatsword…
└Is this person actually insane? lol
└You have to be this crazy to wield a greatsword…
-WokeUpAsATSGirl) Holy shit, that’s amazing. I want a Stigma too
└GreatswordFan) Want me to tell you how to get out?
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) Yes, Master. Please help me.
└GreatswordFan) You die
“…Huh?”
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) No, seriously, what do you mean;;
└GreatswordFan) I starved to death in there and ended up here?
└PureAndLovely*) So the mystery of how GreatswordFan died is finally solved…
└Now we know why they kept it secret, shit lol
Everyone in the gallery was laughing, but I couldn’t.
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) No, seriously, please stop joking around
└GreatswordFan) I’m serious. I wandered around for about 130 years, and there really is no exit lol
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) Then are you saying I’m supposed to starve to death here?
└GreatswordFan) Pretty much, yeah
└Can’t they enter their inner world either? If they die, that’ll be it for them.
└PureAndLovely*) Then that’d be a shame
“Haaah…”
This was a genuine emergency.
What on earth was I supposed to do about this?
‘…Let’s read the objective again.’
Clinging to the faintest hope, I reread the system window over and over.
[Objective: Leave the forest by any means necessary.]
I had to leave a forest that couldn’t be escaped.
Maybe I was supposed to teleport to another location.
‘There’s no way something like that is possi—’
…There was.
And there was an easy way I could use right now.
‘When you spar with someone in the gallery, you get dragged into their inner world.’
The moment I realized that, I left a comment.
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) Guys, can anyone send me a spar request?
[‘PureAndLovely’ has requested a spar.]
*By the administrator’s authority, you will be transported to ‘PureAndLovely’s’ inner world in 15 seconds!
As soon as I posted the comment, the blue-tag mod sent me a request.
└Someone already sent one, so you can’t?
└Holy shit, who requested a spar already?
└PureAndLovely*) I always keep spar requests enabled lol
└This blue-tag mod just wants to kill people, yeah
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) Hey, shit, at least let me reject the request
└PureAndLovely*) The blue-tag mod can forcibly abduct people for a spar once a month~
[You are being transported to ‘PureAndLovely’s’ inner world.]
Just as I was about to curse out the blue-tag mod, everything before my eyes turned black.
And then—
[The climber has escaped the forest.]
[Objective complete!]
[Hidden Stage cleared!]
[You will be transported to the reward room shortly.]
When I came to, I was in a pure white space.
└PureAndLovely*) ?? It says the spar was suddenly canceled. What’s going on?
└WokeUpAsATSGirl) lol
└PureAndLovely*) No, what the hell? It didn’t even reset my abduction cooldown!!!!
I had won.