Chapter: 219
Before going up to the 31st floor.
Yujin looked at Kang Moo-hyun.
He was holding the 『Dawn[C]』 that Yujin had given him as a gift, wearing a complicated expression.
He had been climbing harder than anyone else, only to suddenly be ordered—no, asked—to create something called a guild and train the players….
‘No wonder he doesn’t like it.’
Yujin understood.
From Kang Moo-hyun’s perspective, he was dissatisfied, and he probably couldn’t understand why he should follow that request in the first place.
Even so, Yujin entrusted him with training the players.
There wasn’t any major reason.
It was simply because the difficulty of conquering the tower rose sharply starting from the 31st floor.
For now, Kang Moo-hyun and his companions might have been able to somehow continue climbing with their current abilities, but things would be different from here on.
They would never be able to climb using only their own strength.
Even if they could, they might suffer irreversible losses.
There was a reason the 30th floor required fifty players.
It was a sort of consideration from the tower, telling them to meet here, work together to conquer it, and make companions.
They had to gather more people and increase their numbers….
‘Only then can they climb even one more floor.’
Yujin clicked his tongue and looked away from Kang Moo-hyun.
Come to think of it, he had been destined to die on the 30th floor.
At least, that was what had happened in his first life.
Alone, holding nothing but an old spear.
He had stabbed the Ruling Dragon to death and given up his own life in the process.
Yujin didn’t know the exact circumstances because he had never fought alongside him.
But because of Kang Moo-hyun, more than forty players had probably been able to survive and make it to the 31st floor.
‘Still, you survived this time. So just think of it as a bonus and don’t try so desperately to keep climbing.’
Otherwise, he might die again.
In any case, clearing the tower was Yujin’s and the Three Noh’s job.
It was enough for them to gather the remaining players and focus on building a powerful force.
“Let’s go.”
Yujin could feel the intense gazes of those remaining behind them, but he simply ignored them.
The Three Noh casually stretched and began climbing the stairs after Yujin.
“Ah, I wonder what kind of place the 31st floor is.”
Isia scratched her head as she spoke.
It wasn’t exactly a question directed at Yujin, but she clearly seemed to expect an answer.
Yujin knew everything about the tower that nobody else could possibly know.
She wore an expression that seemed to assume he would naturally be able to answer this time as well.
‘Tsk.’
Yujin clicked his tongue inwardly.
After casually revealing everything he knew without thinking about it until now, they were practically treating him like an AI.
Like they could just poke him and immediately get an answer.
Well, it wasn’t exactly wrong, but Yujin was beginning to worry that he might eventually be exposed as a regressor.
‘I don’t care if these guys find out.’
The problem was the administrators.
If they noticed, a situation incomparable to anything that had happened so far would unfold.
Considering Didascalia’s reaction the last time, it was obvious that the tower was extremely wary of beings who were regressors.
That meant it wouldn’t be strange if, instead of sending one or two people at a time, every remaining administrator came rushing at him all at once.
Then, no matter how powerful Yujin was, he could never survive.
Even if he used 『Deus Ex Inominata[EX]』, at best he would be able to kill two, or three if he was lucky.
In the end, he would inevitably die.
‘I can’t let them find out I’m a regressor.’
At least until he had completely regained the power he possessed in his first life.
But what if Yujin reached the same level he had attained when he killed the End and watched the destruction of the world all by himself?
‘Well, then it wouldn’t matter anymore.’
The End, the administrators, whatever.
He could simply catch every last one of them and kill them.
Shaking off the stray thoughts that had briefly surfaced, Yujin opened his mouth.
“There’s nothing special about it. It’s the same as what we’ve been doing so far. Monsters appear, we beat the crap out of them. Then we kill the boss and move on to the next floor.”
The only difference was….
“They’re quite a bit stronger.”
But such a minor difference could never become an obstacle for Yujin or the Three Noh.
They already possessed levels and power that transcended their current floor.
Just judging by their levels, they were already high enough that it wouldn’t have been strange if they had climbed beyond the 50th floor.
It was all thanks to Yujin’s Spartan training and the party system.
“So there’s nothing special?”
At the follow-up question, Yujin searched his memory.
But for the time being, there was nothing else to do besides kill, kill, and kill.
“You guys just need to focus on hunting and leveling up.”
“What about you?”
Isia tilted her head, apparently sensing something strange in Yujin’s words.
She was certainly quick-witted.
Unlike Park Jihoo, who simply took everything in stride, or Vivian, who seemed to have nothing going on in her head, Isia could detect something off even from a single word.
“Looks like you have something else to do, Uncle?”
“That’s right.”
Yujin nodded.
There was something far more important to him than raising his level.
Finding the 『Fragment of Akasha』 and the Sky Demon series.
He had already heard roughly which floor the former was hidden on, and once he reached that floor, he could cooperate with the Information Guild to obtain it.
The problem was the Sky Demon series.
There was no guaranteed way to obtain it.
However, just as he had suspected before, there was one method that seemed highly likely to work.
“I’ll be going around taking care of hidden dungeons and bosses.”
“Like earlier?”
This time, Vivian asked.
She had seen Yujin go somewhere else alone instead of heading to the [First King’s Tomb].
At Vivian’s gaze as she stared directly at him, Yujin nodded.
“Fortunately, there’s one of those on the 31st floor too. It’s not some ridiculously powerful one, but just in case.”
“Why are you looking for those?”
“I think there’s a higher chance of finding what I’m looking for in hidden dungeons or from hidden bosses. It’s still just a hypothesis, though.”
“An item? Or a skill?”
“A skill. More precisely, a way to fight Akasha.”
At Yujin’s answer, the faces of the Three Noh became slightly serious.
They had deliberately pushed thoughts of Akasha to the back of their minds and tried not to think about it, but they had just been reminded of it once again.
“Can we really win?”
Vivian’s expression remained as usual.
That was to say, there was barely any change in her expression.
But the anxiety contained within her was unmistakable.
Akasha.
A god.
The one who would destroy the world.
Could they really win against such a being?
Were they merely clinging to false hope and making a meaningless final struggle?
Wouldn’t it be better to give up on everything and spend whatever time they had left to the fullest?
It wasn’t just Vivian.
It was a thought shared by all three of them.
Yujin pondered for a moment.
What should he say to them…?
That they could win?
That they shouldn’t worry?
If he said that, their hearts would become a little lighter.
It would allow them to set down even a tiny portion of the enormous burden that had suddenly been placed upon their shoulders.
But.
Yujin decided to answer honestly.
“I don’t know.”
“Hmm.”
He saw the corners of Vivian’s eyes droop slightly.
It was an extremely subtle change, but Yujin caught it.
For some reason, he felt proud of himself for noticing.
He smirked.
“How am I supposed to answer when we’re going up against someone I’ve never even seen before?”
Yujin shrugged and continued.
“Honestly, it’s not just some monster. They say it’s a god. Saying I can beat it without a second thought would be a lie.”
He didn’t want to put on that kind of bravado.
But.
“There is one thing I can tell you for certain.”
Yujin stopped walking and looked at the Three Noh.
Then he spoke.
“I don’t know about gods, but I’ve fought beings similar to gods a few times, you know? And those bastards weren’t anything special.”
The Fire God, Nar.
The Mad God, Zabala.
Both of them were merely remnants of gods who had been killed by Akasha.
But regardless, weren’t they still similar to gods?
Yujin wasn’t lying.
“Why should Akasha be any different? I’ll just cut its head off like I always do. It’s not like there’s no way to fight it. There is one, after all.”
It wasn’t bravado.
Yujin wasn’t kind enough to put on such an act just because the Three Noh were worried.
He genuinely meant it.
Akasha or Aisher.
They were all the same to Yujin.
“If it messes with me, it’s fucking screwed. God or whatever, what’s so special about that?”
He looked at them with an expression that seemed to ask, Isn’t that right?
Vivian avoided his gaze.
She looked as though she had just discovered a lunatic.
Park Jihoo gave an awkward smile….
And Isia?
“Why are you nodding?”
“I just don’t think you’re particularly wrong?”
Of the Three Noh, the person most similar to Yujin was Isia.
Especially when it came to personality and character.
The fact that they both used swords was another similarity.
Well, neither Yujin nor Isia would ever admit it, though.
“Anyway, that’s why. While you guys hunt and conquer the floors, I’m going to go around beating up some hidden stuff.”
“Got it. Doesn’t sound like a big deal.”
Isia nodded.
Fight monsters and climb the tower?
Just as Yujin had said, it was no different from what they had been doing until now.
It simply meant they had to continue doing what they had always done, so there was no reason to worry about it.
“Then let’s hurry up and go. I want to go first this time. Uncle always gobbles up the first-clear rewards.”
“…Suit yourself.”
Yujin stepped aside with a slightly uneasy expression.
Through the opening, Isia flashed a bright smile and shot upward.
Honestly, Isia no longer needed first-clear rewards from these lower floors either.
Even so, the reason she acted like that was….
“She’s a good kid.”
Vivian spoke.
“Good? Who? Her?”
Yujin let out a hollow laugh and asked, and Vivian nodded.
“She’s good, so be nice to her.”
After saying that, she walked past him.
Yujin thought he heard her mutter something along the lines of, ‘Though her personality is a little strange.’
But he simply pretended not to hear it.
“Let’s go up too.”
After patting Park Jihoo on the head, he slowly climbed the stairs.
And after a short while.
They finally set foot on the 31st floor.
