Chapter 13

013. The Trial of Competition (2)

Potion of Steel.

A potion that generates special stats, given as a reward for the 3rd floor trial.

It's a high-end item, so valuable that its name alone can fetch a price...

"You have consumed the Potion of Steel."

"A special stat 'Durability' has been generated."

"Your body will be imbued with the will of steel, and as your Durability stat increases, so will your physical resilience."

Such things no longer felt important.

What truly mattered was whether or not he could break through the 4th floor trial.

『Han Seung-yun』

『Strength – 34』 『Stamina – 29』

『Agility – 33(+5)』 『Magic – 20』

『Durability – 10』

『Unique Trait – Necromancy (E)』

『Skill – View Details』

Seeing the more clearly increased stats and the newly generated Durability stat made him feel proud.

However, due to the tension, the sense of achievement wasn't as great as before.

'I have to win this 4th floor trial competition, no matter what.'

Victory or defeat.

The 4th floor of the Trial Tower was a crossroads.

If he lost, he would die; if he won, he would grow stronger and ascend.

Only those who chose to fight without hesitation would survive.

'I don't know if I can win the fight...'

But at least he wouldn't avoid it.

Strangely, as he climbed the Tower of Trials, he gained confidence.

The belief that he could become stronger and not live a weaker life.

With that belief alone, he felt he could advance further.

Thus, there was no more hesitation.

At least, he wouldn't avoid the incoming fight.

And he decided to fight and win, just like that.

That simple resolve quickly calmed his mind and made his tasks clearer.

Among them, the first priority was to consume the Potion of Steel.

"Indeed, the higher the grade, the better the effect."

The changes in his body came immediately, and the sensation of his skin changed.

It was no longer soft and weak, but rough and hard.

It felt as if his body was truly turning to steel, imbued with the will of steel.

Not only that, but he could clearly tell that his physical resilience had increased significantly.

Although it was a bit disappointing to see the reward disappear instantly, there was no choice.

He immediately began checking what he could use and started preparing for training.

However, he decided to be more frugal with his points.

Except for a few potions and food items, he would save and not use them.

He judged that this would be more efficient.

'I have a return stone, and they say skills will be sold later.'

It would be better to save and use them later rather than now.

The equipment he had was sufficient to endure.

And from the atmosphere, it seemed that the theme of the 4th floor trial was indeed competition.

'If it was just a trick to ruin the atmosphere, someone would have said so.'

But since that wasn't the case, it was this quiet.

He could infer this information without wasting his questioning rights.

"Three-person teams..."

He suddenly recalled the method of the 4th floor trial and narrowed his eyes.

It was the first time he had met others since entering the Tower of Trials.

In the Tower's trials, contact with others was impossible.

So he was more tense and also more excited.

'Have the other challengers grown as much as I have?'

Without a reference, it was hard to truly feel his own growth.

Of course, he knew his growth rate was quite fast.

But.

He was curious about how much the other Tower of Trials challengers had grown.

He didn't know much about the people who had entered this tower.

It was a natural ignorance.

Even in the past, when he was active, he didn't casually announce what he had obtained in the community.

However, one thing was certain: since they had also broken through three trials, they wouldn't be easy opponents.

'Even if I have grown, I shouldn't be overconfident.'

He calmly resolved and finished preparing for training.

Actually, there wasn't much to prepare.

It was just a matter of confirming the skills and equipment he had obtained and setting a training direction based on them.

And that was about it.

「Would you like to deactivate the recovery effect in the waiting room?」

「Y/N」

Using the information he gathered just before the community went quiet.

Well, it would consume some points, but it was worth checking.

「The recovery effect in the waiting room has been deactivated.」

「Physical fatigue will accumulate, and physical damage will not heal.」

It was said that deactivating the recovery effect would make it easier to increase skill proficiency and acquire new skills.

If that was true, it would be quite helpful in this situation.

He had confirmed all the rewards and consumed the Potion of Steel.

So now he needed to prepare to make full use of everything.

Just as he had done so far.

***

As he honed his skills and adapted to his strengthened body, a message appeared, signaling that it was time to make a decision.

「Would you like to participate in the 4th floor trial?」

A holographic message simply asking if he would participate in the trial.

He stared at it, breathing heavily.

"Phew, phew."

Damn, without the recovery effect, training was tough.

'The difference between having and not having the recovery effect is so significant...'

Physical fatigue accumulated from swinging his sword and rolling on the ground.

His whole body ached, and he felt numb to the bone.

Of course, it wasn't just that.

「The skill 'Rapid Regeneration' has been activated.」

He had tested the Rapid Regeneration skill by making large cuts on his skin.

Thus, the fatigue accumulated even more.

The self-harm made him tired, which was natural.

It also put a mental burden on him.

But the results were quite satisfying.

『Skill – Rapid Regeneration (E+)』

『Proficiency – 27%』

『Effect – Quickly heals wounds except for critical injuries.』

The proficiency increased bit by bit as he inflicted minor self-harm.

He couldn't increase the proficiency of endurance skills through self-harm, so his pain endurance proficiency remained the same.

Even if he could, the activation condition of pain endurance was a problem.

It only activates when he felt extreme pain, so increasing proficiency would be like torture.

Fortunately, skills like pain endurance have a restriction that prevents proficiency from being increased through self-harm.

If that weren't the case, he would have had to force himself to increase proficiency at some point.

However, Rapid Regeneration is a skill that activates automatically when he is injured.

'Increasing the proficiency of Rapid Regeneration was a stroke of luck.'

Many skills don't allow such tricks.

Of course, it consumed a lot of stamina to heal small wounds, so he couldn't increase it much.

There was a risk of collapsing from lack of stamina.

And the more wounds he had, the less likely Rapid Regeneration would activate.

Of course, he could turn the recovery effect back on when it became dangerous, but the problem was always the points.

'If I had more points, I could turn it on and off, but I can't do that now.'

Still, there were quite a few other benefits.

Without the recovery effect in the waiting room, training became more efficient...

He got tired more easily, unnecessary movements were eliminated from his body, and the performance of his skills was more evident.

The effects of the Durability stat he gained from the Potion of Steel, and the increased cutting power of the dagger skills he gained from the additional breakthrough rewards, were clear.

Especially the increased cutting power of the Hunter-style dagger skills was clearly felt by his body.

The first time, the increased cutting power nearly severed his wrist, so it was natural to feel it.

Hmm, recalling those mistakes makes him shiver.

However.

'But it was a better training method than expected.'

Adapting was faster due to the trial and error.

In a sense, not using this training method would be a loss.

He could clearly understand his limits and train in a way closer to real combat.

'Even if it's not just for increasing skill proficiency, there are enough merits to use it.'

If he wanted to prepare for the trial, this was a necessary function.

Entering the trial without knowing his limits would be a sure way to die.

"..."

After a brief rest.

He took a deep breath, looked at the message asking if he would participate in the trial, and turned the recovery effect in the waiting room back on.

Immediately, points were consumed, and vitality surged through his body.

His wounds healed, his sore muscles relaxed, and his fatigue was restored.

Now, with this, all the elements that could hinder the trial were gone.

The use of skills, the inspection of rewards, and the elimination of physical fatigue were all completed.

There was no longer any reason not to participate in the trial.

So now it was time to challenge the 4th floor trial.

Some might say it was too soon to challenge after just finishing training, but it wasn't.

'If I hesitate, I might not advance.'

One of the things he realized while climbing the Tower of Trials.

If he didn't act immediately when he made a decision, he would fall behind.

He had experienced this firsthand while climbing to the 4th floor, so he tried to shake off his hesitation as much as possible.

To survive and to climb higher.

「Would you like to participate in the 4th floor trial?」

「Y/N」

The choice in front of him was obvious.

'If not now, I'll never advance.'

In the end, there was only one choice.

After making the choice, a hologram he hadn't seen before appeared in his field of vision.

「Matching challengers...」

「Please wait until the matching is complete.」

「Current number of matched challengers – 18/30」

He had wondered what they meant by assigning trials through a matching system.

'Now I understand what this matching system is.'

It's about gathering a set number of people and dropping them into the 4th floor trial.

'Simple.'

The Tower of Trials always gives challenges in an intuitive form to the challengers.

It seems to only consider the routes that make it easier for the challengers to grow...

Thinking about this, a curiosity arose.

'What is the purpose of all this?'

Even at just the 4th floor, he had become stronger than an average low-level hunter.

Considering his special stats and the equipment he had, the gap was even greater.

The higher the floor, the more vicious the difficulty, and the more rewards and higher-level environments the tower provided.

"..."

He didn't think the tower was giving him this growth for free.

If it promoted growth, there must be a corresponding price.

'What does the tower expect from me?'

It must be a lofty goal, given the scale.

Just as he was about to think more concretely about it.

Kiiing!

The sound of machinery engaging rang in his ears, snapping him out of his thoughts.

「Current number of matched challengers – 30/30」

「The matching of challengers has been completed.」

The environment for the 4th floor trial was set up.

And at the same time, a portal appeared in the waiting room, urging him to move quickly.

He stopped thinking and immediately moved toward the portal.

'I'll think about complicated things later; now I need to focus here.'

From now on, if he didn't focus properly, he might die.

「Entering the 4th floor of the Tower of Trials.」

「Difficulty – Hard」

「This trial is a special trial involving 30 challengers.」

「The theme of this trial is 'Competition'.」

「May the chosen hardships lead to a satisfactory result.」

Wooom!

The scenery around him changed, revealing a scene that could be from the medieval era.

The interior of a massive castle, decorated with paintings and built with bricks.

But there was no time to admire the scenery.

「Assigning team members.」

As the community had mentioned, team members were being assigned randomly.

「You and your team members have a close relationship.」

「Cooperate with them to pass the trial faster than other competitors.」

After a brief explanation, a sudden change occurred.