Chapter 296 Emptiness is Form (2)
[For balance, the stats of the challengers are adjusted to F-Rank.]
[Get ready. The duel will begin soon.]
Yoon-seok couldn’t help but remember the first day he was dragged to the Tower. A message like this appeared before him. Coincidentally, his opponent was also an Orc. They even looked similar to this Orc in front of him.
“Human, Khieek! Humans have trapped me!”
He didn’t remember, but he thought that Orc said something similar.
‘What the hell is this?’
[The countdown begins.]
Yoon-seok couldn’t deny it as a dream.
‘Illusion? Well, is it something like that?’
He had been through too many unrealistic phenomena. He couldn’t understand, but it must be related to the system. And on top of that, {Divine Ultimatum} and b Transcendental Muscle}, both of which must exist, disappeared…
[3]
[2]
[1]
Whatever it was, but let’s beat him first.
[START!]
As soon as the duel started, the Orc rushed forward.
“I-I kill you!”
Looking at this made him more certain. This was the memory of his first duel. It must be something like reconstructing scenes based on his memories.
‘But I was this weak…’
Unlike the time when he was frozen by the Orc’s charge, Yoon-seok had enough time to slowly check his current status.
‘It’s somehow fascinating.’
His mana had shrunk to the size of a pea in his stomach and showed no signs of moving, and his forearms, which had the power to shatter anything, were now like twigs. He was even shorter as his height decreased. Of course, it didn’t take long to adapt.
Whoosh!
Yoon-seok, who easily avoided the Orc’s fist by bowing his head, stepped back. Then…
“How did I do it then?”‘
He swung an uppercut at the Orc’s jaw. At first glance, it looked the same move as it was back then, but the results were completely different.
Bam!
The Orc was laid out with that single punch.
[Victory.]
It was instant death.
[You will receive 1,000 AP as a reward.]
[The unique skill b Predation} is activated.]
[You acquire one of your opponent’s skills at random.]
[You acquire the unique skill b Weapon Enhancement}.]
1,000 AP… it was a shabby reward. As Yoon-seok smiled, his vision darkened.
[Moving to the waiting room on the 1st Floor.]
[Please prepare for the next Duel.]
What should he do? It wasn’t like he was back in those days.
* * *
A stone room of about ten pyeong greeted him. It was empty except for a single stone statue holding a sword and shield.
‘There’s even a waiting room?’
What should he do to get back to reality? No way, it wouldn’t end after he repeated everything, right?
Yoon-seok approached the tablet and opened the store. Then he glanced over the list and picked a sword.
*Black Longsword (Rank F) – Nameless sword. It’s hard and sharp. Price: 1,000 AP
Before, he chose a thin sword in the form of a rapier, and he used it well in his way, but…
At that time, Yoon-seok did not know the weapon called a sword. Now, this worked best.
[The purchased item has arrived.]
[Please check the lower part of the statue.]
‘I can buy it.’
Yoon-seok, who opened drawers and checked the sword he had purchased, let out a heavy sigh. Was it because an error occurred and the notification was broken? Or maybe the Old Pocket Watch was malfunctioning, and he went back to the past?
He even started to wonder about that.
[The purchased item has arrived.]
[Please check the lower part of the statue.]
Following his hunch, Yoon-seok decided to purchase a one-day return ticket. He was given 1000 AP for winning, but they also started with another 1000.
‘Since the ticket is 300 AP, there’s 700 left now.’
Buying tickets with precious AP on the first floor was foolish, but… Yoon-seok didn’t care. No matter who fought him in the next duel, he was confident he’d chew them up with a single sword. It was much more important to check the current situation right now.
[You used a Return Ticket (Rank F).]
[You will return to Earth.]
Soon after waking up on a bench in a park located in Jong-no, Yoon-seok was filled with despair.
‘The Tickets can also be used…’
He laughed for a while. Then, looking around, a strange feeling of nostalgia bloomed inside him. Come to think of it; everything started here after taking Kang Hyung-woo to the hotel. He was called by the Tower while waiting for the bus to save some money.
This was a monumental place for Yoo-seok. However…
“It’s gone now…”
Later, Invaders poured in, and Seoul was destroyed. Of course, thanks to a timely evacuation, the casualties were minimal, but the city was turned into ruins.
“…”
Yoon-seok stood from the bench and started walking. He didn’t have a destination; he just wanted to check it out. If he came into the reconstructed world based on memory, what if he went to a place he’d never been to?
Tap-tap.
The morning was slowly dawning, and the streets were starting to fill with people going to work. Yoon-seok’s current location was the Seong-buk district. He had lived in Seoul all his life, but this was an area he had never lived or visited. After all, most of Kang Hyung-woo’s range of action was limited to the Gangnam area.
‘Thinking that way kind of annoys me.’
Why was he being so stupid then? Did he have to spend this peaceful daily life in hell because he was afraid of that guy?
‘Let’s keep going for now.’
Yoon-seok continued walking, examining the faces of those passing by. Some were full of worries, and those who wore lively smiles, but they all looked real.
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“Well, it was the same for the NPCs I’ve seen in missions.”
Everything was realistic, but Yoon-seok wasn’t deceived. Wasn’t it the Tower’s main specialty to reproduce something identical to the real thing? Everything he saw now was undoubtedly a lie. However, he had no idea what to do to return to the real world.
But for now, Yoon-seok decided not to be impatient. As always, time would solve this, too.
* * *
Yoon-seok wandered around downtown Seoul until it was time to return. He didn’t learn much, but it was a fun time.
[Ticket (Rank F) has expired.]
[Moving to the waiting room on the 1st floor.]
Returning to the Tower, Yoon-seok spent time meditating until the timer reached zero.
His next opponent was the unknown elf from Seheranbad. Not Cheon-ho from whom he learned what martial arts were for the first time.
‘…My opponent must have changed because I’ve been to Earth.’
Yoon-seok, who cut off the fairy’s head as soon as the duel started, continued to climb the Tower. Though the first duel was nearly the same, what would happen later was completely different.
[Victory.]
Even those who wished to commit suicide after being deceived.
[Victory.]
Even the regenerating demon.
[Victory.]
Even Cheon-ma, who taught him what a sword was, and with whom he had a stronger bond than anyone else today.
[Victory.]
Even the prisoner nicknamed who taught him that training was possible even in the arena.
[Victory.]
Even Lee Chang-hoon, whom he met using a Nomination Ticket.
[Victory.]
Even Ragna Hambledon.
[Victory.]
The King of Steel wasn’t there to give him the bitter taste of defeat. Everyone Yoon-seok fought he was seeing for the first time, and the skills he acquired were completely different. Of course, there was one thing that didn’t change.
[The contract between the Challenger Choi Yoon-seok and the Lady of Liberation has been established.]
Elizabeth Lorwen. The woman spent 500 years alone in a hut to reunite with her former love. Perhaps because he chose her without hesitation, there was no intrusion from the Heavenly Warrior.
Yoon-seok, who entered her home peacefully, asked.
“Elle, do you know anything about what is going on with me?”
“Huh, how did you know that name? …Do you remember your past life?”
“So, you don’t know either.”
He kept climbing the Tower just in case, but Elle also couldn’t give him any clues. Therefore, Yoon-seok continued to climb the Tower. He didn’t even bother going to the square on the 6th Floor or to Earth, where his parents would have been kidnapped by now. Now that he had been through a lot, he might be able to solve the case in a different way than he did back then…
But it wouldn’t be meaningful.
[Get ready. The great battle will begin soon.]
Rather, he accelerated his pace after completing the administrator’s contract. It was for a simple reason. Unlike the lower floors, where he had to wait a day, from the 6th Floor onwards, he could fight whenever he wanted.
[Victory.]
[Victory.]
[Victory.]
[Victory.]
[Victory.]
Yoon-seok focused solely on climbing the Tower without going on missions or expeditions. And as a result, he achieved the feat of reaching the 20th Floor a day after hitting the 6th Floor.
[You have obtained the Royal Road achievement.」
Was there such an achievement?
[This is the 4th time this achievement has been achieved in this round. The reward LP is reduced by half.]
Three others had already beat him here? The Tower was truly full of monsters. And though the reward was cut in half, it was still a whopping 2,000 LP. However, Yoon-seok couldn’t enjoy it since he didn’t believe this was the real world.
He then checked the tablet.
[The number of challengers who reached the 20th Floor has not been met.]
[The current number of people is 7,621/10,000]
The ranking system hadn’t been activated yet. Well, that was natural. He first entered the Tower on February 9th, and on July 10th, he entered the 20th Floor and became the 10,000th Ranker. If it proceeded as the previous history, it would take at least four more months to fill the vacancy.
‘By the way, how the hell am I supposed to go back?’
He spent about ten days focusing only on climbing the Tower. Having reached the 20th Floor, Yoon-seok returned to the starting point.
Did he get it completely wrong? He thought there would be a clue as he headed upward, but there was no such thing. Yoon-seok didn’t think it would be much different if he waited four months for the ranking system to be activated.
“…”
Sitting in an empty stone room and organizing his thoughts, Yoon-seok suddenly felt lonely. He hadn’t felt this even when he died tens of thousands of times in the expedition.
‘…I didn’t come back, did I?’
The more Yoon-seok went through it, the more it felt real. Even though he thought it couldn’t be, Yoon-seok wondered if he regressed.
‘First of all, it’s not bad in terms of power.’
Although it wasn’t b Divine Ultimatum}, he received a similar inner Qi ability through Skill Synthesis and replaced his other abilities with similar ones. Excluding experience or realization of swordsmanship, it wasn’t much different from when he just reached the 20th Floor.
Moreover, because he arrived early, there was a lot of time left, and he had plenty of LP left, so whether it was exploration or mission, he could become much stronger than before. However…
“…”
As a result, all the relationships he had formed while struggling to live disappeared. Although Elle, his administrator, remained, she remembered nothing.
Yoon-seok suddenly had a thought. Would it have been different if he had followed the original history without tearing a Ticket on the 1st floor?
‘No, it wouldn’t have been much different.’
Yoon-seok sighed and shook his head. Even if he pretended to be a talented novice who was just getting into swordsmanship, Cheon-ma would have been able to figure it out right away. Rather than being pleased with him, she would’ve felt somehow reluctant.
‘…Let’s stop thinking about nonsense and find a way back.’
Yoon-seok shook his head hard to clear his doubts. In the first place, the distinction between real and false was meaningless. He was weak at the time, he made many mistakes, and he didn’t always deliver the best results. But because he lived every moment more fiercely than anyone else, he was able to create such relationships and come this far.
Those things were real to Yoon-seok. Therefore…
Baaaaaaang-!
Yoon-seok drew his sword and raised it. When he turned his head to the sound of the explosion, he could see the entire wall on the side of the waiting room collapsing. This had never happened before, so what was new?
Swooooosh.
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A gust of wind blew through the collapsed wall and drove away from the dust. Then, a man appeared.
Yoon-seok smiled without realizing it.
“Oh, isn’t it the Devil! Could it be that you were also trapped here after following that little boy?”
It was a more welcome face than ever.