Chapter: 16
Mounts played an enormous role inside the Tower.
Each floor was unimaginably vast.
Especially at low levels, when players had no convenient movement skills, traveling without a mount could take forever.
If you wanted to save even that much time, getting one was essential.
‘Well, that’s not the only reason.’
Anyway, if you wanted the fastest and most reliable way to obtain a mount on the First Floor, this was the perfect place.
After scratching his head and putting away Black Wing [A], Eugene looked toward Tailrun.
‘The King of Trash.’
He was definitely over Level 100.
He was one of the rulers who controlled Terra alongside Cupiditas.
‘Not someone I can handle yet.’
He quietly measured the gap between their abilities.
Even if he used every skill he possessed, he still wasn’t strong enough to defeat him.
“So you’re just as fearless as I heard.”
Noticing Eugene’s gaze, Tailrun let out an amused chuckle.
“Aren’t you the same?”
The other side had been testing him as well.
The moment Tailrun casually waved his hand and sent the lump flying away, Eugene had also felt an incredibly subtle flow of mana sweep over his body.
“Sharp senses.”
Tailrun showed no concern that his probing had been noticed.
If anything, the curiosity and interest in his eyes only deepened.
“I received a report that you just came out of that damned pervert’s den. So what brings you here? Judging by the timing, you came to see me immediately.”
As expected of the King of Trash.
His information network was beyond imagination.
At least on the First Floor, he might even surpass the Information Guild.
“I want to get a horse. A strong one, preferably fast.”
“A horse?”
A trace of surprise crossed Tailrun’s face.
It was true that one of his businesses involved horses.
However, only a handful of NPCs even knew that.
There was absolutely no way a playerāespecially one who had only been summoned todayāshould know about it.
Yet Eugene had asked so naturally that Tailrun found himself speechless.
“Who told you…? No… never mind. If you managed to extort that from Cupiditas, then I suppose you’re capable enough.”
Tailrun looked meaningfully at Chunbae, who was hanging from Eugene’s arm, before nodding to himself.
‘No, I only know because I remember it from my first playthrough.’
Still, there was no disadvantage in letting Tailrun misunderstand.
So Eugene simply stayed silent.
“I have as many horses as you want. Pay the proper price, and I’ll give you one.”
Unexpectedly, Tailrun spoke casually.
Pay money.
Buy a horse.
That was why this was the fastest and easiest place to obtain a mount.
“How much?”
“Three Coins.”
“You damn highway robber.”
During his first playthrough, a horse had cost only one Coin.
Even then, very few players bought one here.
Coins were incredibly rare items.
On these lower floors, seeing even a single one was difficult.
But three?
That was triple the original price.
“…What did you just say?”
Tailrun frowned and dug at his ear, convinced he’d misheard.
But he hadn’t.
Eugene met his eyes directly and repeated himself.
“I said you’re a damn highway robber.”
Trying to overcharge him because he thought he didn’t know any better?
Calling him a robber was only natural.
“Heh.”
A laugh like metal scraping echoed from Tailrun’s mouth.
“It’s been a long time since someone in this dump dared say that to my face.”
Estimated Level: over 100.
On the First Floor, he was practically a god.
Beginning players couldn’t even bring themselves to make eye contact with him.
Yet this rookieāwho had only cleared the tutorial yesterdayāwas openly calling him a robber.
From Tailrun’s perspective, it was beyond absurd.
Still…
It also made him curious.
First Cupiditas.
Now himself.
Eugene had sought out two of the Five Lords and acted however he pleased.
“What exactly gives you the confidence to be so arrogant?”
Either he believed completely in his own strength…
Or he was insane.
“What confidence? I just trust my own abilities.”
Eugene flashed his teeth.
“Your abilities…”
Tailrun snorted.
“So you’re just an ignorant brat after all.”
He admitted Eugene was exceptional.
Facing Cupiditas inside the Alchemists’ Guild and surviving was impressive enough.
But that was all.
No matter how talented or special Eugene might be…
He was still just a rookie.
“You’ve gotten drunk on the power you gained in the Tower and forgotten your place.”
Every now and then, people like Eugene appeared.
Those who mistook their success in the Tutorial Floor as proof that they were specially chosen.
Some grew faster than others.
Some obtained extraordinary items.
The reasons varied.
But they all shared one thing.
They became conceited and overestimated themselves.
And then?
“People like you die young.”
They ran wild…
And disappeared without anyone even noticing.
Tailrun lost interest in Eugene.
If the kid had Coins and wanted to buy a horse, that would be one thing.
But judging by the conversation, he was obviously broke.
“Take care of him.”
He had no idea how Eugene had escaped Cupiditas alive.
But expecting another miracle here…
‘That’ll be your mistake.’
Tailrun turned around and waved his hand.
His subordinates immediately moved.
“Hmm.”
Eugene glared at Tailrun’s back in annoyance.
If the price had still been one Coin like he remembered, he wouldn’t have bothered making trouble.
But things were different now.
“Wow… now even trashy street punks like this are looking down on me.”
He let out a dry laugh.
Tailrun?
King of Trash?
Estimated Level 100?
None of that meant anything to Eugene.
Back in his first life…
These were people who couldn’t even raise their eyes to meet his.
Things were certainly different now.
But that didn’t mean his pride would tolerate being looked down upon.
“Fine. Let’s do this.”
“I am getting a horse today.”
He wasn’t paying any Coins.
He only had two anyway.
Which left only one option.
‘I’ll take it.’
Mana poured into Black Wing [A].
Compared to the power he had used to slice apart the lump earlier…
This was on an entirely different level.
What was Eugene’s greatest strength?
King of All Diseases [S]?
Body Blessed by God [S]?
Inner and Outer as One [E]?
Or perhaps the Black Wing [A] in his hand?
Any one of them was powerful enough to shake the Tower.
Possessing even one guaranteed reaching at least the 30th Floor.
But…
None of those were his greatest weapon.
“These bastards really think I’m a joke?”
The experience of reaching the very top of the Tower…
And tearing the apocalypse itself into pieces.
Thatā
Eugene considered that to be his greatest and strongest weapon.
Level 100.
Level 1,000.
“So what? Does having a high level make knives bounce off your stomach?”
His thoughts sharpened into perfect focus.
With concentration bordering on supernatural ability…
The world slowed.
Step.
He took a single step forward.
Thanks to Inner and Outer as One [E], Eugene’s body moved at the exact speed of his accelerated thoughts.
‘They’re all pretty strong.’
As expected of those guarding the King of Trash.
Every one of them seemed to be somewhere between Level 20 and Level 50.
On the First Floor of Terra, they were powerful enough to be called Grim Reapers.
Of course…
Not to Eugene.
The black sword sliced through space.
Having turned away, Tailrun walked back toward his usual seat.
Thenā
He suddenly stopped.
‘What…?’
A chill ran down his spine.
An inexplicable sense of dread surged within him.
‘This is…’
It was an unfamiliar emotion.
During the hundreds of years he had been bound to the Tower…
He had experienced it only a handful of times.
Fear.
The crushing weight pressing against his chest…
Was unmistakably fear.
‘Why?’
He hadn’t felt this even when fighting the other Lords, including Cupiditas of the Alchemists’ Guild.
Almost instinctively, Tailrun turned around.
And then he saw it.
A pair of black wings cleaving through space…
Summoning a raging storm.
KRAAAAAAAASH!!
It was sword aura.
The mana flowing along the blade of the black winged sword transformed into tangible energy and swept across the battlefield.
Its power wasn’t especially great.
Perhaps equivalent to Level 10.
Growing that much in only a single day was astonishing enough.
But considering Tailrun’s own level, it wasn’t worth worrying about.
Even so…
Tailrun’s eyes widened.
“This… this is insane…”
It wasn’t merely a sword swing.
It looked casual.
Careless, even.
Yet the profound mystery hidden within every movement was something he couldn’t even begin to comprehend.
Level 100?
Level 200?
No.
If it had been only that, he wouldn’t have been so shocked.
At minimum…
Level 300 or beyond.
Unbelievablyā
Seong Eugene was wielding a swordsmanship that belonged to such an impossibly high realm.
Drip.
Cold sweat trickled down his back.
‘What the hell is that monster?!’
When he’d heard Eugene had toyed with Didaskalia on the Tutorial Floor, he’d been a little surprised.
But he hadn’t cared.
If anything, he’d simply enjoyed hearing that one of the Tower’s administrators had been humiliated.
Even after Eugene survived meeting Cupiditas in the depths of the Alchemists’ Guild, Tailrun had dismissed him as merely lucky.
But now…
Watching Seong Eugene grin while swinging his sword at his subordinates…
The feeling he had sensed moments earlier only intensified.
Seong Eugene wasn’t an ordinary player.
Surviving Didaskalia and Cupiditas wasn’t luck.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
His subordinates, each two or three times Eugene’s level…
Collapsed like rotten bundles of straw.
Scarlet blood painted the air.
Screams echoed through the battlefield.
‘…A monster.’
That was a monster.
Their eyes met.
A bottomless abyss.
Madness dissolved within its depths.
Just looking into it made one’s heart plummet.
“Lower your damn eyes.”
“Before I gouge them out, squeeze the ink from them, and make you hand-copy the Tripitaka Koreana.”
The flippant threat wrapped itself tightly around Tailrun’s heart.
