“…That’s ridiculously strong.”
At the top of the Tower of Growth.
The rabbits lower their heads and hurriedly move food and wine.
Despite being busy, the Master of the Altar leisurely savored his wine, letting out a slight chuckle.
Floor 50.
It’s not unusual for an ordinary Challenger to take several months to reach here, and even the strongest of previous Challengers, Yena, took over a week.
Sure, you could clear the easiest and most abundant Golden Rooms just by grabbing what’s inside.
But the Growth Rooms and Mission Rooms require special conditions to be met, so you need to invest a lot of time to tackle them.
Yet that nonsense of a person ascended to the 50th floor in just three hours.
“Surely it’s because of ‘that race’? They must have all disappeared or been sealed after that day, and yet they manage to remain like this.”
The Master of the Altar scoffed, tilting his empty wine glass.
At that moment, a rabbit beside him floated up and filled the wine glass.
Swish.
“Not an Outsider, but simultaneously an Outsider. That means this woman can also grant me power.”
A desperate yearning for growth. And value.
If there are only these two, even if one has been confined to the altar for a long time, they can be liberated.
‘That’s a promise with that existence!’
Swish. Swish.
“…But if that happens, she might just pass through. That would be troublesome.”
What the Master of the Altar desires is a continuous supply of resources without the Tower being ‘cleared.’
If the Tower is mindlessly cleared, there won’t even be a chance for escape, and only power will seep away.
The Master of the Altar’s hand slices through the air.
Beyond the golden portal, Lily Elbrite and Leo are visible.
“Shall I intervene a bit?”
■
Climbing the Tower of Growth wasn’t particularly difficult.
First, the easiest room is the ‘Golden Room.’
With floors filled with jewels, a whopping 35 out of the 50 floors are Golden Rooms, making it the most populous.
Strangely, monsters that are made of jewels, like golems, pop out in the Golden Rooms, and defeating them drops coins.
“Looks like we got another Black Coin.”
“What’s here!”
The coins come in black, red, and gold, and they can be used as currency in the Rest Area.
For the record, the Golden Room not only has monsters that drop coins but also several Easter eggs, so Leo and I looted every room as we ascended the Tower.
Upon entering the Golden Room, I’d take out the monsters first, while Leo would look around the room and gather various rewards.
The monster levels ranged from 120 to as high as 150, but that’s barely enough to stop us.
They weren’t particularly strong for their level, being golem types.
“Hoop!!”
Next up is the Growth Room.
As the name suggests, it’s a place to ‘grow,’ and here you need to meet specific conditions to enter the next room.
You need to achieve certain conditions to enter the next room.
The Growth Room looks like a modern gym, plastered in black with light pouring in, and it appears every 4-5 floors.
For instance, the clear condition for the 33rd floor is “Swing your weapon fifty thousand times.”
Numbers are one thing, but if you don’t maintain the correct posture, it doesn’t count, requiring long hours and patience.
But for Leo, who is as fast as lightning, it was a piece of cake, and I too filled the quota in less than five minutes.
Zzzt!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Leo, one with lightning, swings his sword so fast that even seasoned rankers can’t see him.
As a result, his growth rate skyrockets.
“How many times have you done it?”
“I stopped counting after fifty thousand.”
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
“I think I’ll just fill fifty thousand more and call it quits.”
“Hmm.”
So, in just 10 minutes, Leo filled up to fifty thousand, and we moved to the final Mission Room.
The Mission Room was a red-filled space, and we followed a rabbit’s guidance to move somewhere and clear the mission.
Out of the 50 floors we tackled, we only faced the Mission Room four times.
The 49th floor’s mission was to escape from the betrayers of some unknown kingdom after saving the princess.
The time limit was 8 hours.
The leader of the betrayers was a dark sorcerer in the late 160s, and his subordinates ranged from 140 to 150, so we had to avoid them.
Crackle!
Graaaah!!
“Got him.”
“And I caught his subordinates.”
“…? Huh?”
But as soon as Leo and I started, we suppressed all the betrayers and brought them bound before the princess.
The dark sorcerer was quite strong, more so than Jeokhye, but after whacking him with my hammer a couple of times, he calmed down.
The subordinates hung suspended in the air, caught in Leo’s water ring.
The princess looked at Leo and me with eyes that seemed ready to tear.
“How…”
“No need to escape now.”
“Yeah, don’t worry anymore!”
“T-Thank you…”
Ding!
[The Master of the Altar expresses admiration.]
[Growth’s Altar 49th floor has been conquered.]
[Great achievement! You have not only rescued the princess but also eliminated the root of the problem!]
[Title obtained: Why should I need to escape?]
[Title obtained: Perfect Victory (Legendary).]
[Three Golden Coins obtained.]
[The door to the 50th floor opens.]
“Oh.”
“Finally!”
We returned to our original spot as the door to the 50th floor opened.
Leo and I lightly flew up to the 50th floor and checked the time.
“3 hours, nailed it.”
2 hours, 59 minutes, and 42 seconds.
I had hit the exact time I mentioned.
[Wow.]
[Just really kill it.]
[LOL, cleared it in three hours! Haha!]
ㅋㅋㅋ
ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Wait, why are we capturing the princess instead of helping her escape?]
[Why is it so easy?]
[It’s hilarious that the princess is frozen.]
[Escape? We can just beat them up, right?]
[This is too easy.]
[Let’s kill the rabbit; it doesn’t seem like a big deal.]
“Lord Leo, how did it go?”
“Hmmm… it was easy. More than I expected. That Dark Sorcerer at the end was a bit strong, but Lady Lily took care of it.”
“If you faced him, do you think you could win?”
“…With Spirit Ascension and a few of those Mythical cooldowns? Maybe? But it seems a bit too much…”
Leo responded with a hesitant reaction.
He had become stronger through his contract with the Spirit King, but he was still in the process of growing.
If he could contain two Spirit Kings in one body, he could probably just overpower a Dark Sorcerer without a problem.
Creeeak…
The door to the 50th floor opens.
Ding ding ding~
Ping! Ping! Ping!
Swoosh.
The first sound that greets them is reminiscent of a casino.
The interior is filled with red, gold, and black.
Boasting its extravagance, slot machines whirl all around, and in the distance, a rabbit in a golden suit looks down at the challenger across the table.
For reference, that challenger is Yena.
Yena, who is incredibly distressed.
Ding!
[Welcome to Growth’s Altar, Rest Area on the 50th floor.]
[Here, you can use the coins collected so far to buy various items or use the facilities.]
[Fighting inside the Rest Area is not allowed.]
Phew!
–Kiki!
As soon as I entered the casino, Kiki popped out automatically.
Kiki twitched levers back and forth while staring at me intently, and I waved my hand.
“Sure. Play as much as you want.”
–Kiki!
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[She’s excited because her friends are here.]
[Wait, is Yena gambling again?]
Leo and I slyly approached Yena.
Yena held two cards, and from the cards laid out in front of her, it seemed like she was playing card games.
There were five cards on the table. Four of them were already open, and one remained hidden.
Yena clasped her hands together and prayed fervently.
“Please! Please turn over!”
“Alright. I will reveal it.”
Thus, the last card was flipped over.
“You have lost.”
“Ahhh!!”
With the dealer’s victory, Yena lost all the coins she wagered.
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Yena, Yena…]
[Didn’t you say you wouldn’t gamble again?]
[Wow, the level… ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
Whoosh!
The black, red, and gold coins on the table all go into the rabbit’s pocket.
Yena, covering her face as if doing a dry wash, suddenly tilts her head back and turns to look.
I turn around.
“Uh.”
“Did you enjoy the gambling?”
“…You came early, didn’t you?”
“There are two of us. We should be able to go straight up to 50 floors.”
“No. No, there’s no way to go up like that. Especially not with the time at the last 49th floor…”
“I just caught it, though?”
“??? What do you mean, caught it?”
“Dark Sorcerer. I caught it right as it started and brought it to the princess, and poof, it broke.”
“????????”
Yena looked at me with a shocked expression but eventually nodded and lowered her head again.
“Well, I guess we shouldn’t align our standards with Lady Lily.”
Mhm mhm.
Sniff sniff.
“How much did you lose this time?”
“…It wasn’t money. I just put a bit on the reward…”
“Coin?”
“Uh. Of course, it can be exchanged for money, but still, it wasn’t my money, just a brief moment of fun. I’m definitely not a gambling addict or anything.”
“Addicts usually say that.”
“……Let’s go! You wanted to see the Growth Coin, right? We get it over there–”
“How about we try this first?”
Thud! I plopped down right next to Yena.
As I sat down, Leo also jumped and sat beside me.
“Do you want to proceed with the game?”
“Yup.”
“Yes.”
“The method is Texas Hold’em. I will explain from now on.”
While the rabbit explained to Leo and me, Yena glanced at me and gasped in surprise.
The red pattern engraved on my palm.
“What is this? Growth rate 61%…?”
“Is that high?”
“What have you been doing? The limit is 50 at most!”
“It just worked for me.”
“…So in simple terms, the person who creates the highest combination using their two cards and the five cards on the table wins. Do you need any additional explanation?”
“No.”
“That’s enough!”
“Then let’s begin.”
Swish!
With the rabbit’s skillful hands, the cards are quickly shuffled, and I receive two cards.
Whoooosh…!
At the same moment, a special form of shield is created over the cards and the entire table.
It’s likely a defense mechanism to prevent cheating.
For a challenger reaching the 50th floor, switching or discarding a card should be an easy feat.
While it’s possible for the dealer to pull off a trick, someone as perceptive as Yena can catch at least a cheat.
It all seems fair enough, but there is one problem…
Ding ding~
♠A ◆A
‘Lucky me.’
Right now, I’m feeling very lucky.
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