IJSS 09

IJSS

Posted by Bela, Released on July 29, 2026

Chapter 09

The surrounding scenery slowly collapsed.

After peeling away one layer, what appeared before my eyes was a vast empty wasteland with a reddish-brown color that perfectly matched the word “wasteland.”

The only things visible were a few goblins in the distance.

All of them were armed with crude wooden spears and wooden clubs.

‘No metal weapons… and there are three of them.’

I had heard that newly awakened people who had just entered the 1st floor were usually recommended to kill at least one of them first through an ambush or a ranged attack before starting.

‘Do I really need to go that far?’

They were only three goblins.

‘Well… I can at least test the new skill I got.’

Right before this, I stepped on the shadow of the Tower employee I met and engraved a new skill called ‘Stealth Movement.’

Into the new engraving slot I received as a reward.

‘The one that smelled delicious was probably some Blade something….’

The first B-rank skill I had ever seen, ‘Poison Blade.’

I gave up on it cleanly.

Since I already had ‘Seom,’ there did not seem to be enough advantage in giving up ‘Healing Touch’ just to get another attack skill.

Maybe if it was an A-rank skill, things would be different.

So this was choosing chicken instead of pheasant.

[Stealth Movement (D): Blends into the surrounding environment and minimizes presence.]

[Automatically deactivates when performing violent actions such as attacks or jumps, or when using other skills.]

‘Stealth Movement.’

When I activated the skill, I felt as if I had become a part of nature itself.

‘The feeling is good, but what about the actual effect?’

At that moment, one goblin had separated itself from its companions and was standing alone.

‘That must be the one people usually deal with first on the 1st floor. Should I try approaching it like this and finish it quietly?’

Holding my breath, I slowly approached the goblin.

One step.

Another step.

I gradually closed the distance of more than a hundred meters.

Before I knew it, I had reached right in front of it.

‘It still doesn’t know?’

At this point, it felt like I could hear its breathing soon.

Anyway, this was enough to give Stealth Movement a passing score.

‘Then it’s time to get punished.’

I turned around and cut its neck.

Slash!

The skill ‘Seom,’ which had split even the head of the gigantic Swamp Ruler in half, struck the goblin.

There was naturally no need for further explanation.

Instant death.

The goblin’s head was no longer part of the goblin’s body.

My benefit from Stealth Movement ended there.

Only after seeing their companion’s head fly away did the remaining two goblins discover me.

They screamed from far away and rushed toward me.

“Keruk!”

“Keruruk!”

“Hey, come slowly. I have something to do.”

The shadow of the goblin corpse beneath my feet was trembling uneasily.

“Is this it?”

I felt like I already knew what I needed to do next.

I moved my foot and stepped hard on the shadow.

[Detecting new shadow contact.]

[Target: Goblin]

Soon, my shadow moved on its own.

It opened its mouth and bit into the unstable goblin shadow.

“…Oh.”

[By taking a ‘bite’ from the target’s shadow, the representative skill ‘Throwing (F)’ has been temporarily engraved. (Disappears after one use)]

Exactly one bite.

No more, no less.

Eating random things could upset your stomach, but here I was tearing off shadows from a goblin corpse.

‘They said endless hunger… looks like that hunger never disappeared.’

Anyway, the test preparation for ‘Bite’ was complete.

“But if it’s Throwing, what am I supposed to throw… Oh, thanks.”

The wooden spear that the first victim had been tightly holding was perfect.

The goblins were still running toward me with their short legs, trying to eat me.

I grabbed the spear and aimed at one goblin’s head.

Thanks to the Throwing skill effect, my posture naturally became like the javelin throwers I had seen in the Olympics.

I focused for a moment, aimed…

And threw!

“Ha!”

The spear left my hand and flew far away.

It cut through the air in an arc and hit the target directly.

Thud!

“What was that sound? Like a watermelon breaking….”

The target had already fallen down with its head pierced.

“F-rank Throwing is pretty good?”

It was almost disappointing that it was only one use.

Still, this was enough as an instruction manual for Bite.

‘Depending on how I use this, it could become very useful.’

Right now, it was only a goblin’s throwing skill.

But as I continued climbing the Tower, I had no idea what kind of things would appear.

‘Would bosses work too?’

There was nothing saying it would not.

I would find out eventually.

Only one goblin remained.

“Now it’s your turn.”

I defeated the last one without using any skills.

Only with my sword.

For a performance test.

“…This thing is amazing.”

It cut so smoothly that it exceeded my expectations.

The words attached to the item name, ‘old and corroded,’ felt completely meaningless.

‘Maybe I should get it appraised.’

Anyway, the 1st floor was finished.

In the empty wasteland, the only living thing left was me.

“Thinking about it now, it’s really ridiculous. The difficulty of the 1st floor is like this, and they put non-awakened people in here?”

Were the goblins I met in the swamp yesterday unusually strong?

Or were these goblins unusually weak?

No.

That did not seem right.

‘I became stronger.’

The difference of one skill.

The difference of one experience.

It made this much difference.

‘At this speed… I could probably climb one floor every day for a while.’

If the 1st floor difficulty was only this much, I felt like I could climb several floors a day.

The only unfortunate thing was that the Tower’s rules only allowed one floor per day.

“The Tower is easy.”

As expected, if something starts difficult, everything afterward becomes easier.

Soon, messages appeared one after another.

[You have conquered the 1st floor of the Tower.]

[Clear evaluation: S+]

[Every time you conquer a new floor of the Tower, your basic stats increase.]

[Basic stats have increased.]

[The loot obtained from this floor has been automatically stored.]

[Crafting Materials]

▶ Green Leather Fragment (2)
▶ Tough Green Leather (1)

[Equipment]

▶ Oak Club (Low-grade)

“Oh? Equipment appeared too?”

I immediately opened my inventory and checked the equipment option.

[Oak Club]

Rank: Low-grade

Category: Blunt Weapon

Description: A crude club made by a goblin carving wood.

The craftsmanship is terrible, but its impact is definitely strong.

It was not an amazing item, but it was still something.

“Low-grade weapons are around 300,000 won in market price, but since this is a club used by a goblin… maybe around 100,000 or 200,000 won?”

I had only swung my sword for a few minutes.

Yet it was an amount of money that would be difficult to earn even after working hard all day.

No wonder everyone wanted to become an awakened person.

Of course, the death rate among all professions was also the highest.

“Let’s see, the material items…”

“The fragments and leather are probably materials. The leather seems like an upgraded version of leather fragments.”

Then the material rewards were not bad either.

Actually, loot was loot.

But what I needed to pay more attention to was the increase in basic stats.

‘It only happens when you conquer a floor for the first time, not repeated clears.’

I had received it twice as a reward from yesterday’s kidnapping event, but I did not know what it was, so I studied it separately.

If skills and items gave awakened people their individuality, then these stat rewards were responsible for their basic physical foundation.

Even if someone who struggled against goblins on the 1st floor obtained good items and skills, could they climb to around the 50th floor and fight a flying dragon that breathed fire?

Probably not.

Basic stats fixed that problem.

Of course, not every awakened person became strong in the same way.

Even with the same stat increase, their growth direction differed depending on their initial awakening ability.

Some became stronger physically.

Some gained more magic power.

Others became faster.

‘…In my case, am I growing closer to a warrior type?’

My body felt strangely lighter.

My energy felt overflowing.

‘Yesterday, I didn’t know what it was, so I couldn’t feel it properly. But now that I know, even the 1st one is noticeable.’

‘But the clear evaluation is a little unexpected. This is S+?’

Because I tested every new skill and equipment one by one, it took quite some time to clear.

So I did not know how much trouble other people had on the 1st floor or how long it took them.

But from my perspective, that was the case.

‘If I had only focused on speed… one minute? No, maybe even within 30 seconds.’

Just now, I spent more than a minute approaching the first goblin using Stealth Movement.

‘Is time not that important in the evaluation? Or does it value the method more than speed?’

While thinking that, a new message appeared before my eyes.

[The Tower’s Watcher grants a new opportunity to the watched target. ▶ Favor of the Watcher (1)]

“Hm?”

The Tower’s Watcher.

Since the kidnapping event, it had appeared unexpectedly whenever I almost forgot about it.

Seeing it again here felt strangely familiar.

“A chance without a trial? Is that allowed?”

Either way, since I received a reward, checking the effect first was obvious.

[Favor of the Watcher]

Description: A small fragment containing the power of the ‘Watcher.’

Effect: When consumed, grants a basic stat increase equal to the reward from conquering a floor of the Tower.

It had the same effect as conquering one whole floor.

“As expected… a chance!”

Despite the grand description, its appearance was just a small pill.

There was no better explanation.

Since it was an item that worked by eating it, the Tower seemed to have put some effort into making it.

‘The consumption part is slightly suspicious….’

Still, it probably would not give me something strange.

The Tower was scary when giving trials, but from my experience, it was not a bad existence.

“Thank you. I’ll eat it well.”

I at least gave my thanks.

Since it was the ‘Tower’s Watcher,’ it was probably watching from somewhere.

Gulp.

The moment I swallowed it, another message appeared.

[Basic stats have increased.]

‘The effect is fast.’

With this, my basic stats reached 4.

I had only climbed the 1st floor, but now I had the same level of basic stats as someone who had conquered the 4th floor and was preparing for the 5th floor challenge.

‘Around the same level as Jincheol hyung.’

‘Is it really okay for this to happen?’

Still, if something was given freely, refusing it would be stranger.

My business on the 1st floor was finished.

As if afraid I would refuse to leave, the wasteland sky was already collapsing from the far distance.

“Already telling me to leave? You’re cold.”

I still had more time than I expected.

But there was no reason to waste it.

“Then… it’s obviously that.”

This was the perfect time to proceed with the equipment crafting I had planned.

At that same moment, on the highest floor of Korea’s Tower.

“Damn… failed again.”

Using the sword stuck into the ground as support, Shin Yuseong barely managed to stand.

The area around him looked like hell itself.

Lava flowed like a river across the ground.

Sulfur smoke rose thickly.

The corpses of countless monsters scattered everywhere completed the horrifying scene.

Even Shin Yuseong himself was covered in wounds from the aftermath of the battle.

“Haa… haa…”

His rough breathing echoed.

Among his expensive equipment that had burned away, his skin was scorched and glowing.

He had sweated so much that he felt dizzy and could collapse at any moment.

But his opponent, his final target, the monster called ‘Avatar of Hellfire,’ was still completely fine.

It was not a monster.

It was hellfire itself.

A gigantic flame taking human form smiled mockingly.

A bitter defeat.

Another line was added to Shin Yuseong’s endless record of failures.

‘I already understand every pattern of the boss.’

‘I can dodge them even with my eyes closed.’

‘But even then, I still can’t win?’

If only he could find a way to reach it.

If he could, the strategy would not even be difficult.

But he could not approach those flames.

Not even him.

The strongest awakened person in Korea.

A crushing feeling of defeat.

A feeling of helplessness.

Since Shin Yuseong began climbing the Tower, he had never once felt this powerless.

‘In the end, is it impossible without the Frost Giant’s Heart?’

‘No… I should say it is impossible without those seven days.’

Even now, the second hand continued ticking.

Tick-tock.

Moving steadily toward the Tower’s collapse.

When the previous collapse crisis happened, that ticking clock had felt unbearably cruel.

The required time was 30 days.

But they had only been given 25 days.

Because of a difference of just five days, most of the capital area of Korea was at risk of being lost.

If he delayed announcing another failure any longer, even evacuation would become difficult.

And right before he revealed that terrible reality to the public…

He appeared.

An unexpected variable called the “Abundant Seat.”

That mysterious awakened person, mocked with a ridiculous nickname, had turned back the countdown to destruction.

A countdown that had never once moved backward except through conquering the Tower.

People were excited about the “blessing” that came before those seven days.

But Shin Yuseong clearly knew.

Those seven days were not just an ordinary week that passed in the blink of an eye.

They were the only number that could save Korea.

‘If it weren’t for those seven days…’

‘In the end, I would not have been able to stop the collapse with my own strength.’

No matter how many times he challenged it every day from now on, the result would not change.

Until now, he had always stopped the Tower’s collapse and protected the country with his own hands.

But this time…

Even he could not find a way.

The defeat.

The helplessness.

No one could understand that feeling.

No one except Shin Yuseong himself.

‘…The Watcher disappeared too.’

The being that first appeared around the time he became one of the top ten awakened people in Korea.

After that, it had always been his climbing companion.

That unpredictable friend, the Tower’s Watcher, had also gone silent.

As if it was no longer watching him.

‘Did it move?’

‘To find someone else.’

He already knew who that person was.

‘That unknown awakened person.’

A bitter smile appeared on his face.

It felt like an actor who had played the main role for a long time had been pushed aside and was now watching the appearance of a new protagonist from behind the stage.

The strongest in Korea.

Guardian deity.

Sword Saint.

All those titles became meaningless at that moment.

‘Is Shin Yuseong’s era ending here?’

His grip on the sword tightened.

‘No.’

‘Not yet. I still have my role.’

Simply being strong was not enough.

If strength was everything, then just like the strongest person in Korea before Shin Yuseong, someday he would either collapse under that burden or leave to protect only himself.

‘This crazy world needs hope.’

‘No, it needs a symbol of hope.’

The belief that even if the present was miserable, the future could become better.

The will to go to work and protect the people they loved despite their exhausted bodies and minds.

In a world that would collapse in a hundred days, no one could imagine such a future.

The world needed a pillar that people could believe in.

Something that allowed them to dream of tomorrow.

A position only allowed to someone standing at the top of the Tower, carrying the fate of an entire country on their shoulders.

That was the throne Shin Yuseong believed he had protected.

‘I cannot leave it empty.’

That was why he could not accept a vacancy on this lonely throne.

Until that unknown awakened person fully grew and either took this position by force or inherited it…