Chapter 70

Chapter 20. 1st Floor (2)

The moment Bahal stepped out of the cafe, the players who had been controlling the surrounding traffic gathered around him.

Flame Beast.

They were also known as Bahal's personal guard, a combat unit of the Red Dragon.

Bahal frowned slightly as he looked at the quiet street.

"Blocking the way again? I told you not to do unnecessary things."

"There are many who target you, Bahal-sama. It's not a bad thing to be cautious."

Bahal shook his head at the captain's words.

In truth, they were called his personal guard, but they were originally one of the special units directly trained by the leader of the Red Dragon.

As a result, Bahal was only in charge of commanding them, and they often did not follow orders in detail.

Especially when the atmosphere inside the tower was chaotic, like it was now, their insubordination was even more severe.

Rankers were the only measure of a clan's strength.

Losing someone like Bahal was absolutely unacceptable.

Bahal thought such things wouldn't happen in areas outside the tower, but the Flame Beast didn't listen.

Of course, he wasn't particularly annoyed by this.

After all, he could move more smoothly because they were by his side.

"By the way, didn't you come with the Parasite?"

"He said he would consider it positively."

The captain frowned, displeased.

"A novice, huh? A presumptuous one at that."

Having lived his life with loyalty to the Red Dragon, the captain seemed unhappy with Yeonwoo, who had rejected the clan's offer.

Bahal chuckled and waved his hand lightly.

"Don't be so harsh. He's just in his prime, after all. You and I were the same at that age."

"Still, it's rude..."

"Enough. The higher we go, the more he'll have to think about the current offer."

The captain nodded silently.

In the beginner's area, it might be different, but the tower was a place that no one could climb based on the tutorial alone.

"And the purpose was also to prevent others from approaching. Who would dare to touch me when I'm here? In the end, the only place to go is our clan. And..."

Bahal waved his hand to lighten the mood. A sharp flame flickered over his usually gentle expression.

"How about the investigation?"

The captain nodded.

"It seems to be as we expected."

"Is that so? Ha, ha! Leont, that guy hasn't changed a bit. He's truly a consistent friend, even after all this time."

In fact, Bahal's heavy steps to the area outside the tower were not just to scout Yeonwoo.

Sending one of the Flame Beasts would have been enough for that.

He used this as an excuse externally, but in reality, he had a different, true purpose.

The pursuit of Leont.

Recently, the Red Dragon's investigation team received a strange piece of information.

It was about Leont, who was supposed to become a god in Cheonghwado, secretly planning something in the tutorial.

The Red Dragon had long known that Cheonghwado operated the Arangdan, but they hadn't interfered with it.

Such secret organizations needed to be monitored, and it was best to strike all at once when necessary.

However, new information emerged that the Arangdan was actually Leont's private organization, and that they were kidnapping players to create something in secret.

The Red Dragon decided that an investigation of the Arangdan was necessary and entrusted Bahal with full responsibility for the investigation.

Given that Bahal had once worked with Leont in Artia, they believed he would understand him well.

From then on, Bahal led the Flame Beast to track Leont and the Arangdan.

They investigated everything, from the flow of funds and resources to the personnel dispatched to the tutorial.

And the conclusion they reached was:

"Creating a new magical organ by sacrificing hundreds or thousands of players... I thought it was just an old fairy tale. I didn't expect him to actually do such an absurd thing."

Bahal still hadn't figured out exactly what object Leont was trying to create.

But he could infer its function to some extent.

Magical organ (魔力器官).

Or sometimes called a magical mechanism (機關).

Every player climbing the tower has magical energy within their body.

This container for magical energy is called a magical organ.

However, since the magical organ is part of the body, there is inevitably a limit to the amount of magical energy it can hold.

It's said that when a ruler or top-ranked player reaches a high level, their body is restructured, significantly increasing the total capacity, but only a very few reach such a level.

Even for them, the total capacity of magical energy was always a problem.

Therefore, many players tried to create a magical organ that could supply magical energy from the outside.

The first result of this was the creation of potions.

After that, various items were produced in rapid succession.

Magical tools (魔道具) with various options, magical sources (魔力源) that could store magical energy separately, and even skills classified as 'energy drain' for stealing magical energy were created.

But even these couldn't satisfy the players' greed.

They wanted to create an organ that could supply more, and even an infinite amount of magical energy.

Bahal suspected that Leont was trying to create such a magical organ.

The purer the magical energy, the more efficient the energy it produces.

The easiest way to extract such magical energy is by squeezing human flesh and soul.

However, this method ultimately failed.

While it might be possible to create pure magical energy, if the process involved the curses or lingering thoughts of the dead, it would be unusable.

Many necromancers and alchemists failed for this very reason.

But Leont was willing to take such risks and attempt something new?

And he was doing it in the tutorial, which most players didn't pay much attention to?

Bahal thought Leont must have found a 'method' to prevent curses and lingering thoughts.

'Could it be the 'stone' that's only spoken of in legends?'

There was a legend among alchemists that a universal material, comparable to the magical circuit possessed only by the dragon lineage (龍種), the masters of mana, existed.

They called it a 'stone' or a 'heart.'

'No, that's unlikely. If it were possible, it would have been created long ago.'

However, he definitely needed to secure the method and the object Leont had created.

'It will be a great help in the future. To the Red Dragon and to me.'

Bahal lightly licked his lips.

"Where is Leont?"

"He is currently moving to the tutorial and is expected to pass through here soon."

"Good. Then we'll head there immediately. As I said, the goal is the object and Leont. If it's difficult to secure both, you may kill Leont. But no matter what, you must obtain the object."

"Understood!"

"Understood!"

"Let's go."

Thus, Bahal and the Flame Beast began to move.

To hunt Leont.

Unaware that the object they sought had already left Leont's hands.

* * *

Yeonwoo put on his armor, crossed his greatsword and Karshuna's dagger on his belt.

He hung a pendant with the Goblin King's eye and the five-colored monster gem around his neck, and slanted Vigrid on his back.

And.

He took off the white ghost face he had been wearing throughout the tutorial and instead covered his face with the magical iron mask.

Click!

The mask stuck to his face with a pleasant sound.

Unlike the hard and cold white ghost face, it felt as if he wasn't wearing anything at all, very comfortable.

As if Heneba's touch had directly reached him.

Hum-

The magical circuit he had continuously trained for the past month moved smoothly.

Magical energy infused vitality throughout his body. A pair of will-o'-the-wisps burned through the black mask.

Yeonwoo slowly stood up.

All rest and preparation were over.

It was time to climb the tower.

* * *

"Heneba."

"What is it, brat?"

Heneba was truly Heneba.

He never called him by name, even after being taught.

Still, Heneba looked at Yeonwoo with a rather proud expression.

It had been a long time since he had seen a player armed with the artifacts he had prepared.

Yeonwoo smiled lightly and then spoke in a calm tone.

"I don't know how long it will take to climb this time."

"Hmm."

Heneba's body twitched slightly, but he pretended to be indifferent, puffing out his belly.

"Of course, it's natural when you start an expedition. Coming and going is your choice. Why tell me this?"

Yeonwoo hesitated, then shook his head.

"No, it's nothing."

Did Heneba know?

That this was a farewell.

'Getting any closer would only harm this person. There's no need to drag him into my affairs.'

He already understood why his brother had followed him so closely.

So, it had to end there.

The path he had to take was long and perilous. Those around him would inevitably be dragged into the thorny path.

Yeonwoo didn't want that.

As he had told Galliard.

'This war is my war.'

It couldn't be left to others.

"Thank you for everything."

Heneba brought his pipe to his mouth and waved his hand as if it was a bother. But it was easy to see that it was his way of telling Yeonwoo to be careful.

Yeonwoo bowed to him again and moved towards the tower.

* * *

As he had felt many times before, the tower was incredibly tall. It stood so high that it seemed to pierce the clouds and support the sky.

A mysterious place where those who reached the final floor were said to become gods.

He stood in front of the massive iron gate leading to the entrance.

At that moment, he heard the sound of someone running frantically from behind.

"Sto-o-op!"

A large hand suddenly shot out from behind and grabbed Yeonwoo's hand as he was about to open the iron gate.

He-he, the owner of the hand panted heavily.

Taller than Yeonwoo by a head, it was Pant.

His face was flushed red, as if he had run a long distance in a hurry.

"Hey, when I was singing to get you to enter the tower, you didn't even pretend to listen! What's the sudden rush? If you're going to enter, at least give us a heads-up!"

Yeonwoo tilted his head, not understanding.

"Why, exactly?"

"Ugh! Really, this guy."

Pant pounded his chest with his large fist, as if in frustration.

Yeonwoo narrowed his eyes.

"I don't know what you think of me, but I don't have time to play with you. Playtime is over. I'm busy enough with my own path."

Pant had many things to say in response to Yeonwoo's cold tone, but he couldn't easily open his mouth.

The two will-o'-the-wisps visible through the black mask.

The intense gaze reminded him of the Yeonwoo he had met in the G-sector of the tutorial.

Strong, arrogant, and focused only on moving forward.

And that gaze was similar to the one his father, the War King, had before going to war.

'What are you planning to do...!'

Before Pant could answer, Eodora arrived late.

She swept her sweat-drenched hair back and smiled.

"Then, big brother, go ahead."

"Hey!"

Pant turned to Eodora with a puzzled look. Yeonwoo also frowned, not understanding her intentions.

Eodora's smile grew wider.

"But we'll chase after you in our own way. Since chasing is our choice, you won't stop us, right?"

Pant laughed, thinking it was a good idea.

Yeonwoo glared at the two siblings for a moment, then shook his head and turned around.

"Do as you please. But if you fall behind, I'll leave you behind."

"Ha-ha! Don't worry. I'll destroy everything that gets in the way. I've already been to the 1st floor once. If you have any questions, just ask me."

"Showing off. You made a mess of the rules and the board."

"Shut up. It's fine to fail the first time and do better the second."

Yeonwoo, listening to Pant and Eodora's bickering, pushed the iron gate open with all his might.

Creak-

The tower's door, leading to the 1st floor, opened wide.

It was his first entry.