Chapter: 03
“Grrrrrk.”
A gurgling sound of bloody phlegm came from Jin Tae-ho’s throat.
“Tsk.”
Yujin clicked his tongue at the sight of the bastard. He had intended to snap his neck in one go, but it seemed this frail, undeveloped body wasn’t quite up to that task yet.
Well, it didn’t really matter anyway.
Because this piece of shit would never escape death.
Yujin drove his fist into Jin Tae-ho’s face, whose eyes were filled with pain and confusion.
*Crack—!*
The sensation of a nasal bone shattering traveled through his fingertips.
The sight of him toppling over backward was almost comical.
Even in that state, the bastard seemed to be trying to say something, but it was impossible.
How could someone whose larynx had been ripped out possibly speak?
Yujin raised his foot and stomped on Jin Tae-ho’s bloodied, writhing face.
*Crunch—! Bang—! Bang—!*
Once. Twice. Three times.
Before long, the surroundings fell silent.
The middle-aged men who had been exchanging heated blows and hurling insults at each other.
The women who had been crying and begging for their lives.
Even those who had been desperately trying to maintain their composure to assess the situation.
All of them stared at Yujin’s actions with their mouths shut, or gaping open.
Their expressions were uniformly filled with terror.
Even though Yujin was fully aware of this, he never stopped.
From the very beginning, he was a man who had never cared about the gazes of others.
No matter who looked at him with what expression, or what they thought of him in their minds.
He simply focused on crushing Jin Tae-ho like a bug.
—
“Phew—.”
Only after stomping on his face over fifty times did he finally stop.
*Drip, drip, drip—.*
Blood flowing from the unrecognizably shattered head moistened the floor.
The Tenth Evil, [The Smiling Man], Jin Tae-ho.
He died by Yujin’s hand in the tutorial floor, unable to even escape it, without ever understanding why he had to die.
—
“Ah, fucking hell. That was refreshing.”
After confirming that the bastard’s breathing had completely stopped, Yujin took a step back with a look of relief.
It felt as if a decade’s worth of indigestion had finally cleared up.
—
“Nine left, I guess?”
At those crisp words, everyone flinched—startled.
Yujin had been talking about the Ten Evils, but that wasn’t how they heard it.
Driven by the fear that they might be next, they began to back away, trying to put as much distance as possible between themselves and Yujin.
Especially the middle-aged men who had been sharing ‘friendly’ punches.
Just then.
“Oh my, this is a first.”
A voice rang out, filling the entire tutorial floor.
A bright, cheerful voice that was utterly out of place with the current atmosphere.
—
‘Finally here.’
Yujin knew exactly who the owner of that voice was.
The Administrator.
Among the thirteen of them, the one in charge of managing all tutorial floors—[Didaskalia].
The moment his voice rang out, the gazes of the ninety-nine people—no, now ninety-eight—that had been fixed on Yujin all turned toward that direction.
—
‘Still has that disgustingly repulsive face, I see.’
Pastel-tone sky-blue hair flowing down to his waist.
A torso covered in pure white cloth without a speck of dust.
A pair of beautiful feathered wings sprouting from his back.
And even a faintly glowing halo.
Just from the description, one might think an angel had descended, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
—
“Oh my, what’s that?”
“A monster!”
“Aaaaaaah!”
The reactions of those who saw Didaskalia’s face were all the same.
No matter how you looked at it, his face was something that stimulated primal human fear and turned one’s stomach.
Even though it didn’t look all that different from a human’s.
*Hehe—.*
Didaskalia smiled at their reactions.
Between his lips, sharp teeth were caked with red blood and flesh.
As if savoring the moment, the bastard looked down at the terrified players, then suddenly—turned his gaze to Yujin.
—
“But you. Killing someone right off the bat. What exactly is this all about? Was he someone you knew? A sworn enemy of your parents? A company CEO who ran off with your money?”
The way he spoke with a look of feigned shock was laughable.
He was probably giggling inside, enjoying this situation.
Because the Administrators of the Tower that Yujin knew were all beings filled with a madness that delighted in slaughter, no less than the Apocalypse itself.
He was likely quite thrilled to have witnessed an unexpected murder scene.
—
‘Look at those wings twitching.’
Yujin looked up at Didaskalia and shrugged.
“Well, there are some circumstances.”
An answer that made it seem like it wasn’t a big deal.
Seeing Yujin like that, the bastard finally couldn’t hold it in and burst into laughter.
“Puhahaha! You’re really something else! Thanks to you, things are going to get a lot more interesting!”
Seeing him laugh and even clap made Yujin feel a murderous urge to smash his head in just like Jin Tae-ho’s.
—
‘I’ll hold back for now.’
It was impossible right now.
He’d need to at least reach the level required for floor 90 before he could even attempt it.
Until then, he had no choice but to endure their vile behavior.
—
“You there. Uh, so… Player Sung Yujin?”
He called out the name precisely.
This was possible because the Administrator could view a player’s [Status Window] recorded in the [Akasha System].
But his expression was peculiar.
“That’s strange. Why can’t I see everything?”
He tilted his head, glancing alternately between Sung Yujin and the empty air.
—
‘Oh, that’s fortunate.’
It seemed the [Akasha System] was hiding some of his information.
If the bastard had seen the traits and skills Yujin possessed, something quite serious might have happened.
But fortunately.
Even that Administrator didn’t seem able to access all of Yujin’s information.
The reason was unknown, though.
—
“Hmm, I’ll have to look into this separately later.”
Didaskalia tapped his cheek with his wrinkled fingers, then spread his wings wide.
“Anyway, we can’t delay any longer, so let’s begin right now!”
Begin?
What was he talking about?
Questions arose on people’s faces.
Fear of the unknown.
It consumed the ninety-eight people, except for Yujin.
—
“The place you’re standing is called the Tower of Light.”
Didaskalia began his explanation in a very friendly manner.
“The Tower of Light consists of a total of 100 floors, and you are players who have been granted the glorious qualification to climb it.”
—
‘Glorious my ass.’
It’s a curse.
Yujin cursed inwardly.
—
“Each time you ascend a floor, you will receive a commensurate reward. It could be an item with special abilities, or it could be a type of power not permitted to humans.”
“C-can I go out?!”
Someone bravely stepped forward and asked.
Items, powers not permitted to humans.
What mattered to them right now was whether they could escape this unidentified space, wasn’t it?
“Of course! Absolutely!”
Didaskalia nodded exaggeratedly with a grand gesture.
“If you climb five floors, it becomes possible to leave the Tower. Of course, there is a time limit of one week.”
The faces that had brightened at the mention of returning home turned dark again.
The bastard, enjoying the sight, continued.
“Don’t be too disappointed. Let’s think about it together. The things you can gain here are no joke, you know? Just imagining what you could do outside with them is exciting, isn’t it?”
And it was true.
Items and superhuman power.
They brought players immense wealth and authority.
So much so that people even began to regret not being chosen by the [Akasha System].
Although one week was a short time, it wasn’t as if there was absolutely no way to stay longer.
Didaskalia continued speaking.
It was all stuff Yujin already knew well.
Basic things like levels, traits, and achievements.
Yujin, who had been listening quietly, raised his hand, apparently having heard everything he needed.
“Yes, Player Sung Yujin. Do you have a question?”
The bastard responded as if he were some kind of teacher.
—
‘I need to teach them all.’
What this Tower truly meant.
—
“What happens if we can’t climb the Tower?”
*Hehe—.*
The bastard’s mouth stretched wide, reaching his ears.
“An excellent question.”
It was a question no one had asked during the first round.
Because of that, they realized it too late.
Intoxicated by the Tower’s gifts, those who had fallen into hedonism belatedly scrambled and joined forces to climb the Tower, but…
How could that be easy?
In the end, Yujin was the only one who reached the 100th floor, and the world ended.
Didaskalia’s answer was the same.
“*KABOOM!* The world will end.”
It was the unvarnished truth.
Naturally, the people were thrown into turmoil, but Yujin only stared at the bastard.
“Player Sung Yujin. You are truly special and peculiar. Killing someone the moment you arrived, that unflinching expression, and even the system…”
He felt the bastard’s interest in him growing.
“Well, anyway! If you don’t want to see the world end, you’ll all have to work hard to climb! Does everyone understand?”
How could they possibly understand?
The people, beyond turmoil, began to fall into panic again, and Didaskalia, with a look that said he knew this would happen, snapped his fingers.
*Snap—!*
In an instant, silence descended.
No sound traveled through the air.
As if time itself had stopped.
“It seems you still don’t quite grasp the reality. I suppose I’ll have to show you properly.”
Didaskalia bared his teeth and smiled, uttering a chilling remark.
“For a taste, just try to survive for exactly ten minutes. After that, you’ll understand what I mean.”
The people looked horrified.
Survive?
From what?
Though no sound could still be heard, fear swam through the silent ocean, spreading in all directions.
—
“Gwangcheon’s Death Dragon. Come forth.”
*KROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAH—!*
Along with a colossal roar that seemed to tear the heavens and earth asunder, the embodiment of fear revealed itself.
—
‘There it is, Heukam.’
The evil dragon that devoured light, the accursed lizard bastard that was the boss of the 90th floor.
Needless to say, no one on the current tutorial floor could stand against Heukam.
That thing was a monster.
Among the dragon species Yujin had seen, it was the most powerful, except for the Apocalypse.
And they released it into a starting village full of level 1 players—how could anyone possibly stop it?
Didaskalia simply wanted to watch people get slaughtered.
—
‘About a third died during the first round, right?’
And even that was generous.
If Heukam had gone all out, everyone would have been reduced to bone dust in less than ten seconds, not ten minutes.
They couldn’t kill all the players, so they must have nerfed it to that extent.
—
“Run!”
“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
The people who had laid eyes on Heukam’s massive dark body began to flee in panic.
No one on this floor—at least—could maintain their sanity after seeing that.
Except for one person.
Yujin.
*Thud—.*
Unlike the others, he walked toward the monster instead.
—
“Eh? Are you trying to commit suicide? That would be a bit problematic.”
Seeing this, Didaskalia frowned with that disgusting face of his.
He had thought Yujin would be worth watching quite entertainingly, but he never expected him to approach instead of running away.
However, instead of answering, Yujin spoke his mind.
“I’ve been thinking about it all this time.”
While killing Jin Tae-ho.
While listening to Didaskalia’s explanation.
While watching Heukam being summoned.
He had thought, and thought, and thought without ceasing.
And he came to one conclusion.
“Yeah, I figured using it now is definitely the best.”
Didaskalia, not understanding Yujin’s words, tilted his head.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean this, you son of a bitch.”
—
■ Activating Skill 『Flashback [S]』.
—
Along with a notification from the [Akasha System],
the one who had climbed to the 100th floor alone and ultimately tore apart even the Apocalypse himself—
the God of War, Sung Yujin,
descended upon the tutorial floor.
