CHSE 6

Chapter 6

Kwaaang!
I crossed my arms to block the blow, and cracks spread across the ice golem’s arm. The cracks spiderwebbed outward until chunks of ice began tumbling to the ground.

—Uwoooooo!—
The frozen giant, now missing both arms, let out an enraged bellow as it slowly lifted one leg.

“…Do all golems attack the same way?”
Come to think of it, the sand golem in the Busan Tower attacked hunters just like this.
Maybe that’s because they’re low-floor monsters?
This one was even slower than that sand golem. Easily dodging its clumsy strike, I swung my sword across its heel.

Craaaack!
Like an axe biting into wood, a deep fissure opened in the ice. The golem, unaware of the wound, twisted its body—and toppled over.

—Uwoooo—
Its balance broken, the frozen giant roared again. But there was nothing it could do now: its arms were gone, and one leg shattered.
Sure, as a magical lifeform it could regenerate over time…

But I wasn’t dumb enough to give it that chance.

<Finish it?>
“I’ve already gauged its level.”

I shortened my grip on the sword and, like drawing a blade, thrust forward. The golem’s body split in half along with its core.

<That was one-sided.> As the frozen giant melted away, Tich fluttered down onto my shoulder.

Leaving him behind, I circled the area one last time, observing the flow of mana.
There were times when monsters revived even after their cores were destroyed.

<Didn’t you say your powers had weakened?>
“Even elite monsters here are bottom-floor level. Experience from climbing towers doesn’t just vanish.”

<So you’re the strongest E-rank hunter now?>
“Call me D-rank. Actually… with this much, I’d say I’m closer to C.”

And with the game system backing me, I was confident I’d grow even faster.
Even my years of clicking away with a mouse as a gamer should count for something.

“Now then, let’s see…”
I kicked aside the fallen ice, searching for loot. A glowing blue crystal popped out.

“What’s this?”
I immediately checked with an appraisal scroll.

Heart of Glacier.
A consumable that temporarily granted freezing effects to gear below rare-grade.

“Trash.”
I’d seen it mentioned in hunter forums, but never actually used it.

<Useless?>
“If it were permanent, maybe. But like this? Nah. Wonder how much it sells for.”

This was the good thing about solo play.
No sharing—everything was mine.

“Anyway, didn’t you say I need influence? How much did it increase?”
I asked while slipping the Heart of Glacier into my subspace bag.

There were two reasons I was clearing the Heilongjiang Tower.

First, to increase tower contribution.
That would prevent the tower from exploding.

Second…
To gather Tich’s “influence,” which was tied to the Save Earth system.

‘Clearing new floors I hadn’t stepped on before, or defeating elite+ monsters should increase it.’

Since I’d just killed an ice golem, it must’ve gone up.
Up until now, I’d only gathered 5 influence total while climbing the Heilongjiang Tower—one per floor.

Tich seemed to check something, then replied briefly:

<56.>

…Wait.
Did I hear that right?

“You said you had 50 before, right?”
<Yep.>
“So after all this, I’ve only gained 6?”
<Yep.>
“Clearing floors, fine, they’re low level… but elites give only 1?!”

Even for low floors, that was ridiculous.

Tich wagged his finger side to side, and I wanted to grab it and snap it… or at least massage it hard.

<Influence is a high-tier power. It’s the strength to activate the Save Earth system.>
“Still, shouldn’t I be earning it faster? At this rate the world really will end.”

I’d already swallowed the red pill.
I needed the Save Earth system fully activated, and I needed the strength to climb towers to their highest floors.

And Heilongjiang wasn’t the only tower preparing to unleash an SSS-grade boss monster.

“Sigh. Couldn’t you have come to me sooner?”
I muttered.

<Then why didn’t you complete your achievements sooner?>
“…Well, uh…”

He had a point. I had no comeback.
Still, I felt unfairly blamed.

Who would’ve thought the world would actually end? I’d figured it was just game lore.

Using Infinity and the map’s functions, I pushed myself to climb nonstop.
I made sure to hunt every yellow dot too—those marked elites.

“Good, another one down.”
<Influence +1!>
“Somehow hearing that just drains my motivation.”

Anyway, I poured mana into my circuits and unleashed wave after wave of sword energy. Monsters were shredded to pieces in the storm of blades.

<Whew! That’s satisfying.>
“This is the fun of mowing down low-level mobs in bulk.”

Mana shortage?
Every beat of my heart supplied my circuits with fresh mana—thanks to Infinity.
It was like building inner energy just by breathing.

I harvested everything: frost spikes, glacial fangs, ice hearts, froststeel…
Monsters that were nightmares for beginner hunters became nothing but exp—no, influence—for Tich.

And then, a special achievement popped up:

[You cleared 80%+ of all elite monsters in the Frozen Forest. Achievement unlocked: Winter’s Massacre.]

<Oh! An achievement! That’s worth 5 influence!>
“Huh?”

I hadn’t done anything special, just flexed Infinity’s power—and yet, here was an achievement reward.

“Wait, the system gives rewards for achievements?”
In real towers, sure, sometimes.
But never influence. The most I’d ever gotten as a newbie was a potion.

<This is great! Let’s aim for more achievements as we climb!>

Tich was ecstatic.

After clearing the Frozen Forest (floors 1–10), I entered the Frozen Swamps, where crocodiles and spiders lurked.

From floor 11 onward, I proceeded cautiously—poison could be a pain.
Still, no major issues.

Soon I’d blazed through the 20s and arrived at floor 31: a canyon wracked by blizzards.

“I’ll just pass through here.”
I glanced upward. High above, ice birds circled.

“Damn.”
Hunters who relied on swords—like me—hated those things.
A single misstep could send you plummeting to instant death.

So I killed only what blocked my way, cleared objectives, and moved on.

<Why can’t humans fly? You won’t be able to fight those.>
Tich smacked his plush lips in regret while watching the great birds soar.

“They look elite…”
But I gave up.
Alone, there was no way to take them down safely.

“With a support hunter’s buff, maybe. But solo? Impossible.”
<Support hunter?>
“Yeah. Hunters who buff or debuff. Some can even grant flight.”

They were vital in tower raids—every party had at least one.
We had one in our rookie group too.

‘Choi Soo-jung.’
The only girl among us.
She loved drinking, always charging us ₩10,000 per buff to pay for the next group dinner.

I must’ve lost at least ₩10 million to her… though it all just went into our stomachs.

“I wonder how she’s doing.”
I used to see my guildmates every day. But since leaving, it’d been months.

‘She texted a few times while I was gaming… I said I’d reply later and forgot.’
If I met her again, I’d probably be in trouble.

But through the community I’d still heard about them.
They were challenging floor 72 again, last I checked.
Climbing hard, even without me, trying to take down Karas.

For a moment I smiled at the thought of my friends—until Tich spoke up.

<If buffs and debuffs are a problem… why not just cast them yourself?>
“…What?”

I almost laughed at the absurdity.

“If I could, I would’ve long ago—”
Wait.

Could it actually be possible?

When someone first awakens to mana, their circuits develop and their trait manifests within an hour.
There are eight main types:
Defense, Martial, Assassin, Elemental, Magic, Healing, Support, and Crafting.

Hunters could only use their own trait’s powers.
Circuits were too different to handle others.

True, there were rare dual-trait hunters.
But the mana costs doubled, making it nearly impossible.

But I had Infinity.

“…Wow. I’m an idiot.”
I’d dismissed the idea out of hand. That’s how dangerous fixed thinking was.

“When I get out of this tower, I’ll test it.”

The main drawback of dual traits was the insane mana cost.
But with Infinity, that wasn’t a problem.

Dual?
Why stop there? Triple, quadruple—why not all at once?

Sure, mana consumption wouldn’t decrease.
But if I expanded my circuits, boosted my capacity… that could be solved.

If I could build multiple circuits at once?

“I could climb towers solo.”

I’d buff myself.
Heal myself.
And kill everything myself.

Just imagining it made my heart race.

Past the Blizzard Canyon, I reached floor 41.

<So quiet.> “They’re preparing for an erosion event.”

Indeed, not a single Chinese hunter was around.
With military patrols so strict, sneaking in was suicidal.

‘This is China… punishment here would be severe.’

The 40s of the Heilongjiang Tower were ancient tombs filled with frozen warriors.
Undead roamed the narrow corridors.

“Looks like close-quarters battles are unavoidable.”
And I’d need to avoid being surrounded.

As I stepped inside—

<Watch out!!!>
A green spear shot out from the wall, grazing past my face.

“Relax.”
<When did you dodge behind it?!>

I didn’t survive all these years for nothing.
And this wasn’t even a particularly clever trap.

But—

<Right side! Skeleton soldiers!>
“Dammit, again?”
<Trap!>
“Ah, shit!”

Traps and mobs attacking nonstop was exhausting.

“Huff… huff… Why am I out of breath just dodging this?!”
<Because you’re old?>
“I’m still in my twenties!”

Thanks to Infinity, my mana circuits churned endlessly.
But my physical stamina was barely D-rank at best.

‘That’s the problem.’

Most D-rank hunters raided floor 40s in parties.
I was compensating with experience and Infinity.

<Elite incoming! Skeleton General!>
“Let me clear the surroundings first.”

At least, unlike the Blizzard Canyon birds, this one I could take.
Even tired, I had endless mana for offense.

Elite?
With terrain advantage and space to fight, I could handle it.
Didn’t mean it would be easy.

Whoooosh!
The skeleton general’s greatsword swung down—
I leapt aside.

Kwaaaang!
“Ghhk!!!”

The impact sent stone shards spraying into me.
Dust filled the air—then a flash of steel.

Clang!
Our blades met.

“Kh…!”
The tenth clash already.
My arms felt numb from the accumulating shock.
Still, gritting my teeth, I pushed back with everything I had.

<Hang in there! You can win!>

Easy for Tich to say.
He was just flapping around annoyingly.
That’s one month of cherry peppers gone, buddy.

—Sssaaaaah—
Locked in a struggle, the skeleton general suddenly swung its skull forward.

“You’ve got to be kidding?!”
Pain exploded as my vision turned red.

‘A headbutt?’
Even as a corpse, it was pulling dirty tricks.

But I stayed calm, predicting the next move.
The sound of air rushing—

Claaang!
I raised my sword in time, deflecting the blow.

Focusing mana into a single point, I flicked the general’s blade upward and dashed inside its guard.

“You thought a headbutt was enough?!”

My sword blazed blue, vibrating as mana surged like a storm.

—Skaaaah—
The skeleton general, silent until now, roared in panic.

It swung reflexively—
I slipped past and drove my blade into its chest.

Then unleashed my mana.

Craaaack! Craaack!
Cracks spread through its entire body.

The hulking frame shattered like a collapsing domino.

Its skull rolled to my feet.
I kicked it away without a second thought.

Climbing the tower alone…
was proving tougher than expected.