Chapter 5
—
The tower truly has no mercy.
For newbies who had just completed the tutorial, their first monsters were goblins.
In societal terms, goblins weren’t particularly strong monsters.
If anything, they were just a bit stronger than other low-tier monsters.
The problem, however, was that the monster presented to newcomers of the tower wasn’t the weakest monster but goblins—monsters capable of using tools.
Clang! Clang clang!
“Help! Help me!”
Surrounded by three goblins, a man holding a shield shouted at his party members.
As expected of a newbie with low strength and stamina stats, the shield trembled violently every time it was struck by the goblins’ wooden clubs.
And there were three clubs battering it. For a newbie, this was clearly overwhelming.
“Help me, please!”
When no response came, the man turned to look at his party members.
It was then he realized that he was, ironically, the most competent among them.
“Ugh, ughhh!”
One party member, with his eyes shut tight, swung his sword wildly.
Another was screaming as she ran, chased by goblins.
The last one, meanwhile, quietly hid and nervously swallowed dry gulps.
It was a complete disaster.
“Damn it!”
No one in the party was capable of helping the man with the shield.
He had no choice but to deal with the situation on his own.
Desperate to act before his stamina was drained completely, he tried to think of a solution.
Though he hesitated behind his shield, flinching whenever he saw an opening, fear ultimately prevented him from making any move. He bit his lip in frustration.
‘Now what are you going to do?’
Clang! Clang clang!
Suddenly, the noise stopped.
His lips began to tremble, and the corners of his mouth drooped lower and lower.
‘Surely, a grown man isn’t going to cry.’
As if on cue, his lips quivered further, and he finally began to sniffle.
“Let’s run! Retreat! Retreat now!”
Apparently, the man with the shield was the party leader.
As soon as he loudly gave the order to retreat, the first to move was the man who had been hiding, waiting for the perfect moment.
“He says to retreat! Let’s get out of here!”
The hidden man yelled at the others as he dashed out, shouting for them to help him.
The man sprinted toward the entrance without hesitation.
He had chosen survival over teamwork.
Surely, his party members must have heard him yelling as he ran. But the man didn’t stop, vanishing into the distance.
“What a disaster.”
Though the party was composed of newbies, this group was beyond hopeless.
It was so bad that Hyukmin began to question whether it was even worth waiting for Regression Mode’s cooldown to finish.
Why had he timed it so precisely?
Because he didn’t trust human greed.
‘This reminds me of that time.’
In his past life, he had once witnessed a hidden room open before his eyes.
It had been a moment more thrilling than winning the lottery, but the problem was that dozens of people were present when it happened.
Human greed knew no bounds.
The moment the hidden room appeared, dozens of people surged forward.
Even after Hyukmin had entered the hidden room, it didn’t matter to them.
Fists flew, swords slashed, and skills were unleashed. A bloody melee broke out, staining the area with carnage.
Even now, recalling that moment was horrifying.
‘Would these people be any different?’
Ding!
[Regression Mode is now ready for use.]
With the cooldown complete, there was no reason to delay any further.
Standing in the center of the forked path, Hyukmin raised his voice.
“Everyone! Get out!”
His shout was so loud that everyone fighting, including the goblins, turned to look at him.
Hyukmin shouted even louder.
“Get out! Can’t you see I’m drawing their aggro?”
Shwip!
The goblins chasing the women turned and ran toward Hyukmin.
Now free of their pursuers, one of the women hesitated, turning to look back at him.
Hyukmin gestured with his chin for her to leave, bending down to pick up a rock from the ground.
And then—
Whish! Crack!
The rock struck one of the goblins still hammering on the shield, hitting it squarely on the head.
Thunk! Shwip!
The goblin reeled from the impact, clutching its forehead as it snarled in fury.
Shwip!
The rock had served its purpose, drawing the goblins’ full attention.
Even the goblins attacking the man swinging his sword turned toward Hyukmin.
Now every goblin at the fork in the path was charging at him.
Turning to the man with the shield, Hyukmin said,
“Leave now. You won’t get another chance.”
And then, channeling the 12 mana he had gained, he muttered softly,
“Regression Mode.”
The cooldown began to tick once more.
As the duration timer appeared, Hyukmin spun on his heel in a perfect circle.
With the roar of a rising storm, the status window shifted.
From within the swirling dust emerged the monstrous form of Hyukmin from his past life.
= = =
A hand burst out from the swirling dust, grabbing hold of a goblin’s head that had hesitated in the wind.
Pop!
With just the strength of his grip, the goblin’s head exploded before it could even let out a scream.
Whoosh.
A gust of wind blew past.
Hyukmin from his previous life emerged from the dust, the force of the gale created by the swing of his leg.
Thunk!
With one kick, a goblin turned into blue chunks of flesh, scattering everywhere.
That marked the beginning. Hyukmin’s body moved at an incredible speed, extinguishing the lives of the goblins with just a flick of his hand or a single kick.
In the blink of an eye—barely enough time to blink three times—the goblins were gone.
Drip, drip.
The remains of the goblins were no longer identifiable as bodies but had turned into indistinct blue lumps of flesh.
“So, there’s still over two minutes left. Is it proportional to mana?”
Only about two seconds seemed to have passed, yet the remaining time showed 2 minutes and 10 seconds.
This led to the reasonable assumption that for every 1 point of mana, the duration of Regression Mode extended by 1 second.
In this situation, where every second counted, Hyukmin continued walking toward the location of the hidden room, checking both the status window and the skill duration.
Click.
Pressing a small button hidden between the rocks revealed the hidden room’s entrance.
“It really exists.”
Whoosh!
A brilliant light illuminated the narrow space between the rocks, revealing a vast white chamber.
He didn’t enter immediately but turned around to look behind him.
The shield-wielding man and his party were still standing where they had been.
Hyukmin locked eyes with the shield bearer.
‘Unbelievable.’
This was proof that human greed truly knew no bounds.
Gulp.
The man must have seen Hyukmin tear apart and crush the goblins moments ago.
He should have clearly understood the overwhelming power difference, realizing how hopelessly outclassed he was.
Yet, the man’s eyes were fixed on the glowing hidden room, filled with greed.
His trembling hands and restless, darting eyes betrayed the battle between reason, urging him to charge forward, and instinct, warning him that doing so would mean death.
Even with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity before him, those eyes reflected the madness of greed in this situation.
A thought crossed Hyukmin’s mind.
What if he hadn’t used Regression Mode to open the hidden room?
‘Would those people have just stood there watching?’
Hyukmin shook his head.
‘No chance.’
For beasts like them, he needed to make things perfectly clear.
He picked up a rock from the ground.
Then, with all his strength, he hurled it toward the shield bearer.
Crash!
The force of the throw created a loud explosion as the rock barely missed the shield bearer’s head and slammed into the wall.
Dust and debris fell as the violent impact left everyone frozen in fear.
Satisfied with the terrified expression of the shield bearer, Hyukmin’s cold, threatening words pierced the air.
“Aren’t you leaving?”
= = =
If a first-place lottery ticket were lying on the ground and over ten people knew it was a winner, would everyone just leave it alone?
Of course, some might.
But one thing was certain:
Eight or nine out of ten would rush to grab it.
“They only listen when they’re threatened.”
They’d forgotten the fact that Hyukmin had helped them moments ago, consumed instead by their greed.
While clearing dungeons and towers, Hyukmin had lost count of the times he’d realized how inherently evil people could be.
This was why he insisted on entering the hidden room alone and waited for Regression Mode’s cooldown.
Leaving the fleeing newbies behind, Hyukmin stepped into the hidden room.
“Now I can relax.”
After all, who knows?
“What if Regression Mode deactivates when I step outside the hidden room?”
Even if they were just newbies, Hyukmin couldn’t leave any uncertainty, which justified his forceful attitude.
Anyway!
Finally able to relax, Hyukmin approached the chest placed in the center of the hidden room.
“At last, I’ve found it: the Immortal Warrior of the All-Master.”
In his previous life, there had been a man named Nicholas, an American ranked second in the world.
Known as the All-Master, Nicholas had roamed the globe, collecting hidden pieces and titles to master everything.
Though a monster among monsters, ranking among the world’s elite, he was also a maniac, obsessed with strength and willing to do anything for it.
No one knew how far Nicholas had climbed the tower, but the fact that he found a hidden piece on the 6th floor, despite being the second-ranked player globally, was proof of his abnormality.
“Even with this hidden class, he couldn’t surpass the first-ranked player, though.”
Hyukmin now stood before the hidden piece that had been the cornerstone of Nicholas’s power.
Crack!
Hyukmin crushed the lock with his bare hands.
Opening the chest, he found a small cutter knife and an old book inside.
[Immortal Demon Technique]
[Immortal Demon Blade]
This was the moment when Hyukmin claimed the hidden class that had propelled the All-Master Nicholas to second place in the world rankings.
= = =
As soon as Hyukmin stepped out of the hidden room, he left the 6th floor behind and walked straight out of the tower.
The moment he saw the bright outside world, he immediately turned around and re-entered the dark entrance of the tower.
[You have entered the tower.]
[The highest floor reached is ‘6th floor.’ Which floor would you like to proceed to?]
The outside world was a jungle filled with countless dangers.
Unfortunately, with Regression Mode deactivated, Hyukmin lacked the power to protect these items in that jungle.
This place, where he could be alone, was the only safe space to safeguard the items in his hands.
“Now, let’s calmly inspect them.”
A worn book and a small cutter knife.
Hyukmin examined the descriptions of the two items he had brought from the hidden room.
= = = = = = = = =
[SSS-Rank] Immortal Demon Technique.
- To die is to live, and to live is to die.
- Upon successfully registering the class, all damage absorption through life-steal increases by 30%.
- When using the skill, life-steal increases up to 50%, at the cost of blood being consumed every second.
[E-Rank] Immortal Demon Blade.
- Could you even kill anyone with this? A worthless cutter knife with meaningless effects.
- Cutting power: 3.
- All damage life-steal: 10%.
- Experience: 0 / 100.
= = = = = = = = =
Hyukmin couldn’t help but laugh.
Without hesitation, he placed the worn book into the status window.
[Would you like to learn ‘Immortal Demon Technique’?]
[Upon learning ‘Immortal Demon Technique,’ your class will change to ‘Immortal Warrior.’]
[Yes / No]
When Hyukmin pressed the ‘Yes’ button, the Immortal Demon Technique disappeared, and his status window updated.
The previously empty job section now proudly displayed the title ‘Immortal Warrior.’
In addition, the skill section, which had only contained Regression Mode, now included the SSS-Rank skill Immortal Demon Technique.
However, the real treasure wasn’t the class or the skill.
“The most important thing is this.”
Hyukmin smiled in satisfaction, looking at the small cutter knife in his hand.
To the untrained eye, it was merely an E-Rank weapon.
While its effects were decent for its rank, that was all there was to it.
With a cutting power of just 3, it was nothing more than trash among trash.
If others saw it, they would undoubtedly question why he was so pleased.
“That’s something only people ignorant about this weapon would say.”
In truth, this weapon had a unique quality.
At the very bottom of its description, there was an ‘Experience’ section—a feature that weapons shouldn’t possess.
This was the reason Hyukmin had been so determined to enter the hidden room.
“Who would believe it?”
That this tiny cutter knife was one of only ten such weapons in the entire world.
When Hyukmin tapped the ‘Experience’ section in the description, additional details appeared.
[Growth-Type Weapon]
- Upon filling the experience gauge, the weapon will evolve into the next stage.
This was the very reason Hyukmin had gone to such lengths to enter the hidden room.
What had the weapon carried by the All-Master been like in the past?
The Immortal Demon Blade that Nicholas had wielded wasn’t some tiny cutter knife like this.
It had been an enormous weapon, as massive as Nicholas’s own hulking frame, with a blood-red hue that radiated an intimidating aura, overwhelming all who saw it.
A weapon so legendary it deserved to be called an artifact of myth.
And now, that weapon was in Hyukmin’s hands.
“Perfect.”
How could he not be thrilled?
Click.
He pushed the cutter knife’s mechanism upward, extending the blade.
The flimsy edge of the blade protruded awkwardly, its inadequacy plain to see.
Even so, Hyukmin confidently faced the prompt displayed by the system while holding the Immortal Demon Blade.
[Which floor would you like to proceed to?]
“Alright, let’s wrap up the day.”
Hyukmin’s plan wasn’t over yet.
“6th floor.”
[You have selected the 6th floor.]
[Teleporting now.]
As the surrounding scenery changed, illuminated by the bright flames of the torches, Hyukmin’s smile deepened.
“Let’s use Regression Mode three times and see how far we can go~.”
—
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