HRMCT 33

Chapter: 33

The 2nd Floor is a jungle.

It is a completely different type from the 1st Floor, which consisted of the vast city called Terra and wide-open plains.

The temperature soars well past 40 degrees, and the humidity is over 90% as well.

It was an environment close to a stifling steam bath, making it hard to breathe.

Naturally, this imposed considerable restrictions on the players’ movements.

The forest, where you couldn’t even see an inch ahead, made it easy to miss monster ambushes, and the sweltering weather continuously chipped away at stamina.

If there were a river flowing, you could get in and feel cool for a while, but there was nothing like that here.

An endlessly sprawling jungle and monsters that hid their forms.

It was truly a floor that could be called a Green Hell.

Of course, that was the story for ordinary players.

Eugene, however, looked no different from usual.

‘Green Hell, my ass. Compared to the 82nd floor, this place is heaven.’

Eugene shuddered as he recalled his memories from the first run.

The 82nd floor.

The true green hell that only Eugene had ever experienced.

There, even the great Eugene had to struggle desperately just to survive.

It was such a harsh environment that fighting powerful monsters would have been far preferable.

“Ugh, just thinking about having to climb that place again pisses me off.”

It was still a distant future, but just imagining it put him in a bad mood.

Eugene spotted a monster hiding among the dense trees and drew his [Fire Dragon Sword (E)].

No, he swung it the moment he drew it.

Flawless, perfect draw-and-slash technique.

The monster that had been lying in ambush was split in half and fell to the ground, along with a flash of the blade’s light.

“Hm? It was a Wood Ape.”

The corpse of a monkey covered in bark-colored fur came into view.

Its size was only about 1 meter?

Similar to a Red Goblin.

But its danger level was on a completely different scale.

With good timing, it possessed enough strength to tear apart a level 15 player in an instant.

An inexperienced player would meet their death in the blink of an eye.

“Is this a Wood Ape habitat?”

He looked around.

It seemed he had wandered into their territory while his mind was elsewhere for a moment.

“Tch, what a pain.”

The truly frightening thing about Wood Apes is that they live in groups.

And not just one or two.

At least 50 of them.

It wasn’t as many as a Red Goblin wave, but dealing with enemies that used the surrounding environment to launch surprise attacks was quite troublesome.

“Can’t be helped.”

Eugene clicked his tongue and kept his guard up.

Once you entered their territory, there was no way to leave without fighting.

Besides, he had already killed one of them.

They would probably keep attacking relentlessly until either Eugene died or they were all annihilated.

‘I’ll have to do the daily quest later.’

This morning, Eugene’s first daily quest was to collect 10 [Isaiah’s Leaves (D)].

It was an item that was like finding a needle in a haystack in this vast and complex jungle.

But Eugene wasn’t particularly worried.

He knew exactly where the colony of the Isaiah plant was located.

‘I must have taken a wrong turn while lost in thought.’

He should have gone slightly east from here.

But since he had to hunt anyway, he decided to just change the order of things.

Screech- Screeeech-!

The enraged cries of monkeys echoed from above.

The group of the one he just killed was swarming in.

‘They are quite troublesome opponents.’

Camouflage abilities and agile movements.

Plus, unpredictable and irregular attacking patterns.

Wood Apes were once considered a calamity by players, they were that dangerous.

Of course.

“Not to me, though.”

Eugene’s figure vanished.

At least, that’s how it appeared to the Wood Apes.

The effect of [Body Blessed by God (S)] was not something that mere 2nd-floor monsters could comprehend.

Screeeech-!

They let out warning cries towards their group.

But it was too late.

Eugene was already standing in the middle of them.

*Pabababababababat-!*

Space split apart.

It was such a fast series of slashes that for a moment, that optical illusion occurred.

Dozens of times per second.

Everything in the path of the blade was cut.

The massive trees.

The leaves that covered the sky.

The Wood Apes that had gathered to attack Eugene.

There were no exceptions.

In the blink of an eye, as many as 20 Wood Apes fell lifeless to the ground.

The forest trembled in fear.

No, the Wood Apes, shocked by the unimaginable sight, were fleeing.

“Huh?”

Weren’t these guys supposed to be like the Red Goblins, who would flip out and charge in for revenge?

Wood Apes running away…

Completely unexpected behavior from them, and Eugene didn’t even think to chase.

“Huh, well.”

It seemed that unlike Red Goblins, Wood Apes chose the option of fleeing when faced with an enemy they absolutely couldn’t handle.

“First time knowing that.”

It was a fact Eugene couldn’t have known during his first run, as he hadn’t possessed this level of power back then.

“Well, whatever.”

If the daily quest had been to kill Wood Apes, it might have been different, but he had no intention of hunting them down while traversing this jungle.

“The important thing right now isn’t hunting.”

The daily quest.

Even if just to check what the reward would be, he had to focus on obtaining [Isaiah’s Leaves (D)].

“Let’s see.”

Eugene, recalling his memories, slightly adjusted his direction eastward.

It was so long ago that he wasn’t sure, but it should be roughly correct.

Eugene moved forward with his sense extended wide, just in case he got caught up in another nuisance again.

How long had he been walking like that?

“Oh, there it is.”

A giant tree, several times larger than the surrounding towering trees, came into view.

And growing around it were plants that looked similar to perilla leaves.

“[Isaiah’s Leaves (D)].”

A D-grade material item.

It’s a plant usually used in making sedative potions, and its effect was excellent, befitting its high grade.

If you chewed and swallowed an entire leaf, your heart would calm down so much it would actually stop.

With 10 such leaves, you could make about 300 sedative potions.

Eugene whistled as he began collecting them one by one.

There was nothing particularly difficult about it.

Even though it was a good material item, there wasn’t a guardian protecting it or anything.

Thanks to that, he was able to collect 10 leaves in an instant.

At the same time.

■ Collected 10 [Isaiah’s Leaves (D)].

■ Daily quest completed.

■ Quest completion reward: Experience points

*Whoosh-!*

A halo of light appears, and his level rises.

Considering he had leveled up not too long ago, the experience points given as a daily quest completion reward were enormous…

“Ah, never mind.”

He had just killed 20 Wood Apes a moment ago.

“Hmm, well, it’s a bit ambiguous then.”

It wasn’t a small amount, that’s for sure.

But it wasn’t enough to make his eyes pop out either.

“Well, it is a reward given every day.”

It was a little disappointing, but still satisfactory enough.

At least, he would be able to achieve an incomparably faster growth rate compared to his first run.

“Alright, shall I head back now?”

Ishia and Park Ji-hoo were probably busy fighting Mantises right about now.

Since it was a monster that was reasonably manageable and gave fairly generous experience, they might have even gained a level or two by now.

As he stepped forward with that expectation…

“What exactly have you done, Player Sung Eugene?”

A familiar voice.

But definitely not a welcome one.

A repulsive voice was heard.

Right behind him.

Without needing to think, Eugene turned around and swung his [Fire Dragon Sword (E)].

It was an absolute speed, using Acceleration of Thought and even [Inside and Outside as One (E)].

But he didn’t feel the sensation of cutting anything.

The guy who had been right behind him had dodged it.

“Attacking without a word. You’re still very aggressive, aren’t you?”

Pastel-toned sky-blue hair reaching down to the waist, a torso covered by pure white cloth.

A pair of beautiful feathered wings sprouting from the back and a faintly glowing halo.

And a face that seemed to be molded from the very essence of disgust.

“Didascalias.”

This fucking Tower Administrator bastard.

“You even remember my name. This is an honor.”

The bastard smiled.

Revealing sharp teeth stained with red blood and flesh.

“Don’t smile. It makes me want to rip all your teeth out.”
“Oh dear. You really need to show me a bit more courtesy.”
“Fuck your courtesy. The fact that I’m not ripping your head off right now *is* the courtesy, you piece of shit.”

If he had the ability, he would have done that and more.

Did it sense Eugene’s killing intent?

The face of Didascalias, which had been wearing an infuriating smile, hardened.

“Can you, though?”
“Why? You think I can’t?”

Right now, it’s definitely impossible.

Unless he could use [Lantern (S)] again.

But even so, Eugene bluffed.

He thought he knew why the bastard had come looking for him.

‘It must be because of the 【Akasha System】 reinforcement.’

There was no other reason.

The 【Akasha System】 was practically the very foundation of the Tower.

From the perspective of the Tower Administrator, Didascalias, there could be nothing more important than that!

So, the bastard must have come because of 【Akasha System 2.0】.

“Your face says you’re full of questions, huh? You have no idea what I’m capable of, do you?”

Eugene asked with a chuckle, and Didascalias’s expression twisted.

“Player Sung Eugene. You are truly an incomprehensible being. In all my long years managing the Tower, I’ve never encountered a player like you.”
“I do have that side to me.”
“So I had some discussions with other Tower Administrators. About your existence.”
“Oh, really?”

The Administrator Council.

Eugene already knew about that.

“A council being convened over just one player is unprecedented. Especially when that player has only reached the 2nd Floor!”

Didascalias’s eyes gleamed with murderous intent.

“So? What did you talk about?”

Eugene asked, slightly tightening his grip on the [Fire Dragon Sword (E)].

“About the disposition of Player Sung Eugene, of course.”

The bastard’s shoulder twitched slightly.

It was a trivial movement, but Eugene could tell.

‘He’s attacking!’

Didascalias’s next move was an attack aimed at Eugene.

“Irregulars are to be eliminated. That is the conclusion the Administrators have reached!”