Chapter 265 – The Hoarder (5)
Team: HH, thursdays, Yahiko (7/12)
[This is the 27th floor, the Lake of Ghosts.]
[You have arrived in the waiting room.]
Yeon-woo appeared with the blue portal. With the message that he had safely arrived at the next stage, Shanon’s scolding filled his head.
「You fool! How could you forget about that?!」
Yeon-woo wanted to cut off his connection with Shanon for a moment, but he knew that Shanon would return with worse nagging later, so he stopped himself.
「And aside from that, you tossed me into a burning pit? D***!」
“No one got hurt.”
「What the f*** are you……?!」
Yeon-woo moved ahead with Shanon behind him and spread his hand open. As he did, Apophis’s Poisonous Fang appeared.
When he had exploded the Wave of Fire using all his strength, Yeon-woo belatedly realized his mistake. He had been filled with the thoughts of finishing the stage and completely forgot about the Apophis’s Fang.
Because he might’ve lost the hidden piece, Yeon-woo didn’t have any other option but to force Shanon into the explosion. No, to be exact, he kicked him in.
Thankfully, the shedding of Apophis didn’t die easily, and Shanon had been able to take his fang from him when he was at death’s door.
Due to the system, Shanon wouldn’t be hurt from an explosion that his master, Yeon-woo, caused, but it wasn’t like he was unaffected. Of course he would complain.
However, Yeon-woo ignored Shanon and examined Apophis’s Poisonous Fang.
[Apophis’s Poisonous Fang]
Category: Miscellaneous
Rank: ???
Summary: A fang taken from Apophis’s shedding, the hidden boss of the 26th floor. There is poison inside of the fang, and if an artifact is created from this, it will have the poisonous property.
**There are other hidden functions, but you cannot see them. Please satisfy the conditions.
**It was heavily damaged from shock. You need the touch of an outstanding artisan to restore it.
On his left hand, he pulled out a hidden piece he had already collected.
It was a small red bead.
[Tears of Ra]
Category: Miscellaneous
Rank: ???
Summary: A treasure protected inside the center of the 26th floor’s castle walls. It is a holy artifact that the sun god himself gave to protect the castle from Apophis’s snow monsters. It has been used so much that it has nearly lost its uses as a holy artifact.
Yeon-woo poured his magic power inside the two hidden pieces. Ching. With a clear sound, it shined and shook like it was about to break. Still, Yeon-woo didn’t stop.
Then, from some point, little cracks started to appear on the surface of the two hidden pieces. When they shattered, their real forms were revealed.
There were tiny beads about the size of a fingernail. A red bead appeared where the Tears of Ra had been, and a blue one for the Apophis’s Poisonous Fang.
[You have earned ‘Ra’s Tear Glands.’]
[You have earned ‘Apophis’s Poison Glands.’]
The sun god Ra chased after the demonic creature Apophis’s tail on his chariot, and Apophis chased after the chariot to swallow Ra. The legend of how day and night came to be was reflected in the hidden pieces.
Ra’s Tear Glands and Apophis’s Poison Glands both have forms that are the opposite of each other. When these were combined, an elixir with holy power could be created.
Clack—
Like what it said in the diary, there was an infinity symbol (∞) along the curves of the beads.
[You have completed the ‘Glands of Gods and Demons’ after combining Ra’s Tear Glands and Apophis’s Poison Glands.]
[You are able to pick from holy power and demonic energy.]
[Which would you like to choose?]
You could only choose one property. If you chose holy power, it meant that Ra had hunted Apophis, and if you chose demonic energy, it meant that Apophis had swallowed Ra.
A magic organ that created magic power or demonic energy. It had its limits, but priests or contractors would be tempted to have it.
However, because I had the Dragon’s Blessing, I wasn’t able to choose easily.
His brother had coincidentally received a hidden quest while defending the 26th floor.
It was a quest that said he wouldn’t be able to guard the castle, so he should raid the source of the monsters.
Then, he had found out about Ra’s Tear Glands and Apophis’s Poison Glands, and he had succeeded in creating the Glands of Gods and Demons.
But his brother hadn’t been able to choose easily.
Holy power wouldn’t be much help to him because he already had the Dragon’s Blessing, but he felt like Kalatus would be upset if he chose demonic energy, so he couldn’t choose that.
Eventually, his brother had handed the strength over to Aether, who had desperately needed it.
Aether chose holy power and swallowed it. From then, Aether began to slowly leave Arthia. It was because he had gained the holy power he had wanted to so badly.
‘That was your mistake.’
Yeon-woo sighed thinking of his brother who liked people too much and gripped the Glands of Gods and Demons.
He had already thought of something.
“Holy power.”
[You have chosen holy power.]
[The ‘Glands of Gods and Demons’ has been modified to ‘Glands of Gods.’]
[Agares is dissatisfied at your choice.]
[Hermes nods his head with satisfaction.]
[Athena looks at you warmly.]
[Azrael looks at you strangely while stroking his chin.]
He was used to the reactions of the gods and demons, so he didn’t feel much when he saw the messages.
Yeon-woo tossed the Glands of Gods into his mouth. As soon as it touched his tongue, the Glands of God melted and began to seep down his throat.
At the same time, something warm awoke inside of him. A bright white light shined above his skin.
[The sleeping God’s Blessing has been awakened.]
[The amount of the blessing is overtly lacking. You must gain more of the blessing to wake the holy power sleeping inside of you.]
The God’s Blessing that was left inside of his body after he swallowed Brahm gladly accepted holy power for the first time after it was awakened.
It was nothing compared to the Dragon’s Blessing or Demon’s Blessing he had, so the God’s Blessing just settled down again, not doing much.
However, to Yeon-woo, the most important thing was that he had it, so he didn’t care. Until he could keep the balance, he would steadily climb the Tower to swallow hidden pieces with God’s Blessing inside of them.
‘Alright, then this is enough.’
Yeon-woo glanced around, stretching. His exhaustion from the 26th floor was all gone.
Right now, he was in a small room that was about 10 pyeong wide.
It was a simple room with a bed, a small table, a chair, and a frame on the wall.
Unlike the other floors, when you arrived in the start zone as soon as you entered the stage, this time, a message that he arrived in a waiting room popped up.
This was that waiting room.
The reason that the 27th floor was different from the other floors was because the trials after it would be completely different from those before it.
On the lower floors, most trials are set up in a single world.
However, from the middle floors, there is a single large trial, but there are also smaller trials that make up sections. I had a lot of sub-quests that supported the large trial on the floors that made up the different sections.
Trials like these began between the 27th and 30th floors…..
…..According to the policy of the Tower that tests a players ability based on their performance on the 10th floor, the 30th floor was the final floor that tested the accomplishments of the players from the 27th to the 29th floors.
You couldn’t make a single mistake on the 3 trials of the 27th to the 29th floors.
A single wrong step would heavily impact the next floor, and you could receive a ridiculous difficulty on the 30th floor.
They were trials that influenced all of us. It wasn’t complete after finishing it like before. We really felt like we were going to die.
Most players focused on finishing a trial on a single floor.
But from that point on, they had to worry about the trials of each floor and the large trial that continued until the 30th floor, so there were too many things they had to keep in mind.
For the players who had spent a month on the 26th floor, this was death.
However, Yeon-woo had other thoughts.
They said that the trials were separated, but technically, there had been a place like this before.
‘The Tutorial.’
Seven Stages that were made up in Sections A to G. The scale was only a bit larger than before; their task didn’t change.
They had to get more with a higher score.
Yeon-woo opened the waiting room door and stepped out.
* * *
The outside of the waiting room was a colossal island.
It was an island that had a large ocean in its background. There were soft sand and large palm trees like the Mediterranean islands on Earth.
However, he didn’t think it was as fresh as on Earth. It was similar in how it was hot and humid, but the air was heavy like he wouldn’t be able to breathe, and the ocean wasn’t blue but an ashy color.
[The trial of the 27th floor is beginning.]
[Trial: All lives will move onto the Beyond when they live out their lives. However, it isn’t easy for the dead to move onto their shelter, the Beyond.
It is because they have to cross a large river alone. The River of Souls which is called Samdocheon, Styx, Erebus, and Emptiness in their respective myths is always rough, and because it is boiling, there is no simple way to cross it.
Right now, you have become a soul. Cross the River of Souls safely within 49 days. If you don’t arrive at your destination in time, your qualification as a reincarnator will be taken, and you will become a ghost that roams around the nine celestial bodies forever.
Escape the island safely from the various dangers.]
A time limit of 49 days.
The destination was the 30th floor. That meant that in two months, you had to overcome at least 3 trials.
Considering that there were players who spent years trying to clear a stage, it was ridiculous.
The problem was that if you went beyond the time limit, your qualification would be revoked.
That also meant that you couldn’t challenge stages anymore. Like on the 20th floor, a lot of players fell on the 30th floor.
As if to speak for this truth, players were already busily looking for ways to cross the River of Souls.
There were approximately 500 players. This same thing was probably occurring in other islands along this large ocean, no, river.
“You look like you need my assistance.”
Yeon-woo turned around at the voice.
An old ogre with wrinkles was standing there. But it wasn’t a monster.
He was wearing a tuxedo, the symbol of the Guardians. However, the large hammer that hung on his back looked strange.
“I’m a Guardian and a boatsman, Charon. Do you need my help, traveler? If you can give me some of your life, I can show you the way to cross this river easily.”
Charon had a wide smile on his face. However, no matter how widely he smiled, his canines were showing, and he came off as scary. He was even more threatening because he was probably about 5 meters tall.
Charon the Hideous. He was the High Guardian who handled the floors in the twenties. He was known as the money-loving miser out of all the Guardians.
Yeon-woo spoke looking at his bright face.
“No. I don’t need it.”