Chapter 35

035. Occupation (4)

The situation where the three challengers arrived at the same tile.

“…….”

“…….”

“…….”

Now, the challengers who had been hostile to me no longer said anything.

Since we had arrived at the same tile, there was no time to chat.

Thud, thud.

As I slowly walked towards the challengers, they finally moved.

“Darn it!”

And the action that followed was hard to understand.

Pierce!

“Aaaah!”

The moment I saw the male challenger pull out a short sword and stab his own hand, I frowned.

Suddenly, a burning sensation rose from the back of my left hand.

“Ouch.”

Despite my resolve not to make a sound from the pain, a groan escaped me.

The burning pain from the back of my hand and the male challenger's self-harm were not coincidental.

‘...Could it be?’

Only then did I recall the phrase that had just come to mind.

「Due to the unique characteristic 'Heart Bond,' the pain of player 'Kim Jin-hyun' and player 'Han Seong-yun' is shared.」

I understood what the male challenger's actions meant.

‘That’s right, it was called Heart Bond.’

His sudden and out-of-place actions made no sense at the time, but...

He stabbed his hand to inflict pain on me.

He was warning me that his pain would be transmitted to me.

The man was trying to protect himself by threatening me.

‘What a frustrating unique characteristic to fight with.’

Annoyance welled up as the pain did not subside.

To share pain through a unique characteristic without even touching each other.

Just as I was about to move again, feeling the anger in the way of fighting.

“Wait, wait! Don’t come any closer!”

The challenger who had used Heart Bond, Kim Jin-hyun, pointed the short sword at me and said.

“If you kill me, the pain will be transmitted to you. You don’t want that, do you?”

Annoyed by his words, I opened my mouth.

“Of course, I don’t want that.”

“Well, then...”

“But that’s not a reason not to fight.”

“Wait, wait. It seems there’s a misunderstanding. We can give up on occupying this tile...”

Before Kim Jin-hyun could finish his sentence, I moved quickly.

He didn’t even notice the opening created by our conversation and was defenseless.

In an instant, I closed the gap and swung the sword in my right hand.

“What...”

And that was the last scream of the challenger named Kim Jin-hyun.

Screech!

‘Misunderstanding, giving up on occupying the tile, you need to stop making such ridiculous claims.’

If he were stronger, would he have said such things?

I can confidently say that he wouldn’t have.

“Grr.”

The pain instantly spread to my neck, but it wasn’t something to worry about.

「The skill 'Pain Resistance' is activated.」

「All types of pain inflicted on the user are reduced by 15%.」

The pain significantly decreased as Pain Resistance activated.

My neck felt numb, and a throbbing pain remained, but...

Crack.

It didn’t affect my ability to hold and swing the sword.

“You, you’re crazy, aren’t you?!”

With Kim Jin-hyun, who was at the front, dead, the others behind him moved.

“Alright, you bastard! Let’s finish this here!”

Thinking that there would be no more retreat, he charged forward with a large shield.

It seemed he intended to knock me off the tile with the shield.

This strategy was only possible if he had the speed to match.

‘He’s slow.’

My agility, which had already reached 54, was not just for show.

Swish.

I dodged the large challenger’s charge by slightly twisting my body and extended my foot.

Thud.

“Oooh!”

The challenger who tripped over my foot lost his balance and fell forward.

To charge on a shaking tile with such low stats...

It was as if he was begging to be killed, so I decided to oblige.

“Aaaah!”

Perhaps due to his large build, he had a steel shield and armor.

The challenger with the shield slipped off the tile and fell into the sea.

Splash!

“P, phew. D, damn! G, get me out...”

At that moment, his stats were reduced, and he couldn’t struggle.

Crack.

I ended it by stabbing the challenger’s head with my sword as he struggled to lift it.

「Achievement 'Ruthless Killer' has been achieved.」

「Agility increases by 1.」

“E, eh...”

The mage behind him only shivered and took a step back, clenching his teeth.

He didn’t handle the situation as well as the two who had died before.

“I, I’ll go to another tile! P, please!”

Squish...

There were no exceptions, and soon the mage’s neck was submerged in the sea.

「Achievement 'Iron-Blooded Climber' has been achieved.」

「1,500 points have been obtained.」

They say that killing can lead to a massive accumulation of achievements.

Indeed, just by killing three more, I gained many achievements.

‘One-hit kill’, ‘Ruthless Killer’, ‘Iron-Blooded Climber’.

Three achievements from the sixth floor alone, clearly, the challengers had reason to go mad.

If one were to abandon humanity to stack achievements here...

‘One would gain that much in achievements and grow that much as well.’

However, I didn’t want to kill that much.

I would kill those who tried to fight me, but I didn’t want to kill more than that.

I could see the result of completely abandoning humanity.

“I, I didn’t do anything wrong... It’s the one who got hit who’s wrong!”

“H, hahaha, I, I passed! Damn, I’m alive!”

“What a bunch of lunatics, killing all their teammates like that.”

“How much are these achievements worth... With this much, I’ve broken even.”

Low emotions filled the sixth floor stage.

The scent of blood mixed with the sea breeze, enveloping my body.

It seemed that everyone had already settled their affairs, as there were only corpses around the tiles.

「Remaining time - 4 minutes 17 seconds」

In just under 10 minutes, most of the challengers who entered the sixth floor were dead.

Although they died faster than expected, it made sense.

Most of them had started by killing their teammates with their own hands, so they couldn’t have put up a proper fight.

Those who had teammates in the defense ultimately won.

Of course, there were those who betrayed at the end to secure one more achievement.

The sixth floor trial made me think about many things.

Distrust of others, the reality of lower-ranked challengers, the darkness caused by the Tower of Trials, and so on...

However, even after seeing all of this, my thoughts did not change.

No, rather, seeing this made my thoughts more resolute.

‘Without pretending, I will obtain everything I can.’

However, I won’t kill others if it’s not necessary.

But if it’s something designated by the trial or essential for climbing the tower?

「Time is up.」

「The occupation of the southern tile is complete.」

‘Then I will do whatever it takes.’

Even if I have to do something as disgusting as they did, I can do it.

I won’t abandon my humanity.

But my conclusion is that I won’t commit unnecessary killings.

「Congratulations, you have cleared the sixth floor of the Tower of Trials.」

「As a reward for clearing, a 'Random Draw Box (B)' has been transferred to your inventory.」

「As a reward for clearing, you have obtained 8,000 points.」

「Please move to the waiting room.」

‘Now my mind feels clearer.’

A refreshing feeling as if all the thoughts I had while climbing the Tower of Trials were organized.

「You have absorbed the command of player 'Lee Song-jun'.」

「You have absorbed the command of player 'Kim Jin-hyuk'.」

「You have absorbed the command of player 'Song Jin-wook'.」

「You have absorbed the command of player 'Han Seok-jun'.」

Then, the necromancy symbols scattered around were all absorbed, and the message I wanted appeared.

「Proficiency increases by 12%.」

「The proficiency of the unique characteristic 'Necromancy' has reached 100%.」

「The level of the unique characteristic 'Necromancy' has increased by one.」

The unique characteristic had grown.

Of course, I had expected this to some extent, so I wasn’t surprised.

I calmly cleared the message and stepped into the portal created on the southern tile.

「Moving to the waiting room.」

It was time to return to the familiar waiting room.

***

「You have entered the waiting room of the seventh floor.」

The waiting room I returned to was as empty as always.

Well, that’s not important, so I was about to turn my eyes from the message...

「System expansion has begun.」

The message that appeared made me snap to attention.

“...Wasn’t system expansion supposed to be on the eighth floor?”

It was an unexpected change, so I was taken aback, but the system message continued.

「Achievement viewing has been opened.」

“Oh.”

I thought it would be some special system, but it wasn’t that special.

It simply meant that the existing 'Achievement System' could now be viewed.

No further message indicated any changes.

Well, such a minor element couldn’t be called a system expansion.

I could somewhat accept it.

“Achievement viewing.”

「Achievement List」

「S-Rank Achievement - First Return」

「A-Rank Achievement - None」

「B-Rank Achievement - None」

「C-Rank Achievement - One-Hit Kill」

「D-Rank Achievement - Iron-Blooded Climber」

「E-Rank Achievement - Fire Endurer, Ruthless Killer, Goblin Hunter, Traitor」

「F-Rank Achievement - None」

“...I didn’t get as many as I thought.”

Of the six achievements, three were obtained from the sixth floor trial.

In other words, I hadn’t obtained many achievements before that.

‘Indeed, I gained many achievements from killing.’

However, the most important part was the ‘S-Rank Achievement’.

“First Return, it was indeed not an ordinary achievement.”

I had thought it was extraordinary since it granted an A-rank skill, but seeing it made me even more impressed.

To give such an achievement just for returning a bit faster than others.

Looking through the achievements, a sense of satisfaction spread.

Then, I pressed the ‘One-Hit Kill’ achievement, and the explanation appeared.

「One-Hit Kill」

「Rank: C」

「An achievement obtained when a challenger is killed in one hit.」

「As a reward, you obtain 'Contempt for the Weak (F)'.」

“Oh...”

Previously, I could only guess the conditions for creating achievements.

But seeing it like this made it more understandable.

「Fire Endurer」

「Rank: E」

「An achievement obtained for enduring the pain of burns severe enough to cause unconsciousness.」

「As a reward, you obtain 'Burn Resistance (F)'.」

「Iron-Blooded Climber」

「Rank: D」

「An achievement obtained when five or more challengers are killed in a trial.」

「As a reward, you obtain 1,500 points.」

「Ruthless Killer」

「Rank: E」

「An achievement obtained when challengers are killed without hesitation in succession.」

「As a reward, agility increases by 1.」

「Traitor」

「Rank: E」

「An achievement obtained when a challenger assigned as a teammate in a combined trial is killed.」

「As a reward, strength increases by 1.」

I had viewed all the achievements I was curious about.

“Hmm, is this all?”

I looked through the other achievements, but there was nothing special.

I checked if there were any other systems, but there was nothing.

‘It was just an expansion to allow viewing of achievements.’

Feeling a bit disappointed, I opened my inventory with a wry smile.

I had confirmed what the expanded system was, so it was time to check the rewards from the sixth floor.

However...

「Random Draw Box」

「Rank: B」

「A box wrapped in a red ribbon that allows you to randomly draw an item.」

「When the box is opened, you will randomly obtain one item ranging from F-rank to B-rank.」

“A random draw box.”

On the fourth floor, all stats were slightly increased, but this time it’s a draw.

Of course, after reading the description, I put away my expectations.

“From F-rank to B-rank, it’s almost the same as not getting anything.”

It’s a luck-based system, so I didn’t expect much.

If my luck is a bit off, I’ll get an F-rank item.

‘Of course, if I can sell it in reality, it would be fine.’

If lower-tier items flood the market and cause inflation, even that would be difficult.

Since I cleared it easily, there were no additional rewards, so I didn’t get much from this trial.

‘Well, the Tower of Trials wouldn’t give additional rewards for passing so easily.’

I decided to focus on the significance of clearing the floor cleanly and let go of any lingering thoughts.

I thought I would need to climb higher to get useful rewards.

“Let’s just draw and absorb the commands.”

With that conclusion, I untied the ribbon of the random draw box.

Swoosh.

I had some hope, but hoping won’t make anything good happen.

As I tried to let go of my lingering thoughts and opened the box...

Whoosh!

A bright light burst from inside the box, and a message appeared.

“Eh...?”

「Congratulations!」

「You have drawn an item of the highest rank from the random draw box!」

In other words, it was a B-rank item.