Solo Max-Level Newbie

Throb! Creepy!

Heavy pressure could be felt all over his body. Every blood vessel in him seemed to be screaming.

Jin-hyuk frowned.

As expected

‘Is this the aftermath of using a SS rank unique ability?’

Until now, except for the Element of Fire, he had never used a combat-type ability, so he didn’t realize it. But now he could feel it clearly.

The importance of how much magic he had. If he wanted to use Teresa’s unique ability later.

No matter how much magic he had, it would fall short.

Another reason to fully absorb the Frozen Tears.

‘For now, I will have to end this as soon as possible.’

If he dragged on this fight any longer, he wouldn’t be able to handle it. So he gathered up all of the magic he had left over.

Wheik!

Black energy fluttered at the tip of his sword. It was the sword that the Sword Demon was able to use.

Although it wasn’t even 1/10th of the actual attack, it would be enough for now.

Clench!

Chun Yuseong began biting his lip, and blood began to flow out, but he couldn’t feel the pain.

‘Never…. I cannot accept this.’

He tried so hard, even in the game.

Even outside the game…

However, no matter how hard he trained or suffered, he couldn’t defeat the guy in front of him.

The result was always the black and white screen with the red letter saying [You Have Died] that told him all of his efforts were in vain.

And 1 year, 2 years…

So much time had passed that he couldn’t even count how many times he read the message about him dying.

He had spent years forgetting and giving it all up. And right when he had.

The [Tower of Trials] became real life.

It was this!

If only he could start back up from scratch. There would never be any reason to be pushed around by this man.

Their gap was simply because they had started the game earlier and dominated with their excellent performance.

But…

Even after completing all the preparations and being sure of himself…

Why?

Did he only see despair?

Chun Yuseong roared loudly.

‘Soul Chasing Sword Dance.’

His sword split itself into dozens of pieces.

‘1st form.’

Blue-colored magic began to flow from him.

‘Soul Chasing Beast Sword’

Never… he will never admit this!

“I will not admit this!”

Chun Yuseong shouted and swung his sword.

Like the claws of a beast, those dozens of swords went towards Jin-hyuk.

Kwakwakwang!

The ground was being cut up like it was paper. Such was the attack’s overwhelming power.

The absurd physical force was accompanied by wind. Thick layers of dust began to rise up where the wind was swirling.

“Haa… Haa…”

Chun Yuseong let out a raspy breath, his heart pounding hard. He had made full use of what he could, so it should have worked this time.

But…

“What kind of skill brings up so much dust?”

In the thick dust.

Step.

Jin-hyuk appeared without a single wound.

The attack wasn’t blocked, nor accepted, just avoided.

“W-with that… you read all the movements?”

Those dozens of attacks?

It was absurd!

Even he who wielded the sword all the time couldn’t do it.

“It isn’t that the Soul Chasing Sword is bad, but I have been fighting with someone who uses something faster and stronger than this.”

Not on the first floor but someplace higher. And he was the only one who had faced the absolute being who ruled the tower.

“It is funny. There are no more ascending martial arts on the top other than the Heavenly Demon.”

“How did you know? Did you fight with him?”

“Till the fucking end, you need to be sarcastic!”

Chun Yuseong drew his sword horizontally.

At the same time.

From above…

… to below.

Jin-hyuk lowered his dagger.

Kwang!

Swords with different paths collided together.

Papak!

The clash of qi and energy.

Blue sparks scattered in every direction, but the balance in power didn’t last long. The fully manifested Black Moon Night swallowed Chun Yuseong’s strength in an instant.

“Kuak!”

Chun Yuseong groaned.

Although he had poured his magic to the point of being drained, he was still fine.

It wasn’t a difference in magic, skill, or unique ability. This was the difference between how the two enjoyed and liked this world.

Finally…

Thud!

Chun Yuseong knelt down to one knee.

“Kuak!”

Kwang!

The subsequent blow knocked out the iron sword in his hand. The sword rotated in the air before becoming stuck in the ground.

Finally, the victory was decided.

“I think I’ve won quite too many times. I don’t know exactly, even how many times.”

The number was long forgotten. It must have been over double digits too.

“13…8”

138.

That many times?

“Next time, it will be 139. Of course, that is if you think you will have another chance at winning.”

At Jin-hyuk’s words, Chun Yuseong raised his eyes.

“Next?”

“Right. Next time! If possible, I want to come back stronger than now.”

There was a 90-day cooldown before he could copy another ability from the same target.

And…

If the Chun Yuseong that Jin-hyuk knew still had the same character, the next time he came, he would come with more useful abilities than now.

‘In fact, it is possible to make it into a business trip buffet deal.’

Why bother looking around for abilities to copy when there was someone who would become stronger every time they fought?

He could slowly devour this guy.

‘Later on the 15th floor, I will get that skill.’

Jin-hyuk couldn’t hide his smile when he thought about copying the skill only a swordsman could get.

Of course…

“Kill me. There is no need for sympathy.”

From Chun Yuseong’s point of view, he had no choice but to accept those words as cheap sympathy. It was true.

Even if he said he would wait, he knew that no one in the world would do such a thing.

It couldn’t be helped. With a small sigh, Jin-hyuk retrieved his dagger.

“As you know, the Tower of Trials isn’t a merciful place. Rankers die the moment they get careless, you know.”

Talking about the tower’s difficulty would only make their mouths hurt. In particular, now that the variable of people was added, the difficulty had only gone up.

“That is why we need as many strong players as possible. Especially if they are particularly strong ones like you.”

“Particularly… strong players?”

Chun Yuseong’s eyes trembled slightly. A strange look.

Was it the feeling of a Count’s foolish son who was ignored his whole life finally getting recognition from his father?

And now…

Jin-hyuk reached out to Chun Yuseong. At the same time, he activated another skill.

[Lv2' Communion' is activated.]

[The target's hostility towards you has been lessened.]

[The affinity has slightly increased.]

Chun Yuseong stood up, holding Jin-hyuk’s hand, and wiped the dust off his body.

“… you aren’t wrong. But keep in mind. Next time the results will be completely different from now.”

Well, it won’t be boring.

“Right. I am looking forward to it.”

Jin-hyuk smiled.

Chun Yuseong, who was trying to break the barrier, stopped.

“But, I still don’t know your name.”

“We won’t be seeing each other too often, so there is no need to use our real names, right?”

Hey, you, that one guy was good enough.

Why use personal names?

“Right. I get it. Then let me call you how I know of you.”

Huh?

Why did something feel like it was going wrong?

No…

“Wait! Don’t call me that!”

Jin-hyuk exclaimed.

He will tell you, so don’t!

Don’t say it, you bastard!

“Captain Timo.”

Ah, I said to not call me that!

Jin-hyuk touched his forehead.

He again realized how much a ripple that username he had made for fun was still causing in his life.

Reality was so harsh.

Just as Jin-hyuk finished his battle with Chun Yuseong and was in the process of acquiring the items.

Another strange thing was happening within the ruins.

The raid team was resting after a battle.

“Cheon-hwa hyung! Didn’t all the monsters ahead already get taken down?”

A magic-type player who could use detection magic tilted his head and asked.

“Uh. Kwang-il took a few others and swept them away an hour back.”

“Really? Hm…”

“Why?”

“Nothing, it is just that the detection magic keeps beeping up. Seems to be one or two…”

“It cannot be. They were checked three times daily to be sure they were dealt with. Show me.”

Song Cheon-hwa approached the player.

It was true.

There was a red dot on the translucent screen.

“Ha. Kwang-il, this brat. It looks like he is slacking off.”

Song Cheon-hwa scratched his head. Sometimes such things did happen.

There were cases where one or two monsters were missed, such as the ghost types.

But then…

“Uh? Wait! It is moving.”

“What do you mean moving? They aren’t supposed to move on their own. They should stick to one place, right?”

“I mean it! They are coming too fast! And towards us!”

At that moment…

Thud! Thud!

Pounding steps could be heard, and the sound of such things couldn’t belong to a ghost.

Song Cheon-hwa began to panic. If this was what was happening…

What if it wasn’t a ghost but something else entirely?

And what if no one noticed until it broke through the outer boundary and approached them in this short time?

Goosebumps rose on his back.

“Right now… wake everyone who is resting!”

“A-All?”

“Yes, everyone!”

Song Cheon-hwa shouted.

A few moments later, a giant golem 3 meters in height appeared in front of the raid party.

A massive body made of rock.

However, what bothered them was the white-haired man sitting on its shoulders.

“Hmm. Hello humans?”

A sweet voice filled their ears as the man smiled at Song Cheon-hwa.

“Y-You can talk?”

“Damn it. It is a monster with intelligence.”

“The golem isn’t a normal golem but an iron golem. It wouldn’t get caught with our weapons.”

All the players mumbled.

A monster with intelligence had a reputation for being difficult to deal with. Among them, human-like entities were the most avoided.

“You are the master of the ruins?”

Song Cheon-hwa asked, covering his body with his giant shield.

“Haha. My name is Belus. I simply belong to the blood race who are servants of the true master of these ruins.”

“Blood race? If it is blood…”

Song Cheon-hwa was shocked.

“N-No.”

There was only one monster that could be this beautiful and human-like.

“Vampire…”

And if that was true.

The one who ruled these ruins were…

Gulp

Song Cheon-hwa gulped.

A True Ancestor.

One of the strongest beings in the Tower of Trials.

And this was its territory.

‘We have no chance of winning.’

He never imagined that there would be such a powerful monster on the first floor.

No matter how much Teresa was forced to fight, even if she had a secret weapon, a True Ancestor was an exception.

‘At least the level will be over 500.’

At this point, it was impossible to hunt it with just the unique ability of relics.

Song Cheon-hwa struggled to speak.

“What do you want from us? You wouldn’t have come here for no reason, would you?”

“Well. You are a pretty smart human. Right. The reason I came all the way here is to make a suggestion.”

Belus jumped off the shoulder of the golem.

Tap.

A light landing that defied gravity.

“Suggestion?”

“I will give you a choice. You can choose one of the two. First, Would all of you like to follow me quietly? If not…”

Red magic began to form on Belus’ palm.

“Would you like to be led like cattle after half of you are killed as an example?”