After the 20th floor duel, Yoon-seok was given a month’s worth of time once more. Although it was good to train to become stronger, before that, there were some things he had to take care of on Earth.
“…”
Just now, one of the 16 dimensions was eliminated. In the future, the competition between dimensions might intensify further. Then, what should be done to prepare?
‘We might have to clear the Tower of Truth-seeker first.’
Time was always running out. To increase their chances of surviving even in the slightest, he must develop himself without wasting time. However, to manage his time carefully, he decided to clear the Tower of Truth-seeker and empower the other challengers.
Until another change occurred to the Tower, it would probably be the general challengers who took charge of keeping the dimension safe from the invaders. Thus, they had to prepare for the worst.
‘In that sense, I need to check what the other rankers are like.’
It wasn’t accurate, but the degree of evaluation given by the Tower could be checked on the ranking board. Therefore, he could roughly know the levels of the other two rankers. Dreamer was S+ and Grape Jam was SS-. But…
‘Is that all as of now…?’
He only knew their ratings and nicknames. How they fought, how they climbed the Tower, and why they hadn’t revealed themselves. Everything was unknown, which was why he wanted to meet them. Maybe they might even know important information that he didn’t.
And if they were people who would harm rather than help…
‘I’ll have to get rid of them.’
For a moment, Yoon-seok’s eyes glistened like a wolf’s watching a rabbit.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
Upon returning to Earth, Ashton greeted Yoon-seok.
“I’ll go to the Tower first.”
“Do you mean the Tower of Truth-seeker?”
“Yes.”
Yoon-seok climbed into the helicopter. It would be faster to take the ship or run, but he needed to discuss matters with Ashton first. Yoon-seok first explained that one of the 16 dimensions was eliminated.
“…It means we’re in danger, too.”
Ashton’s expression quickly darkened. It appeared he had a lot going on in his head. When Yoon-seok’s guess-based hypothesis was added, Ashton lit up and nodded.
“There’s a possibility. No one knows how strong the invaders will be in the future. So that’s why you are heading to the Tower of Truth-seeker.”
“That’s right.”
As expected, conversations with Ashton were comfortable. Following that, Yoon-seok soon moved on to another topic after explaining what he discovered.
“Anyway, did you find out anything about the Earth rankers?”
“I’m sorry. Not yet.”
Ashton bowed his head with an expression of regret. It was something he’d expected. It’s almost impossible to find someone based solely on a weird nickname they used.
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‘I want to meet them. Is there any way?’
But it was still too early to give up. When Yoon-seok stopped talking and lost himself in thought, Ashton waited quietly. Meanwhile, the helicopter arrived at its destination.
“We’ve arrived. What should we do now?”
“Time is precious, so I’ll finish my first goal first. If possible, please continue to track down the two people, Dreamer and Grape Jam, while I’m in.”
“I understand.”
“Then I’ll see you in a week.”
Yoon-seok jumped from the helicopter.
Grape Jam and Dreamer. Meeting these two challengers was important, but, first of all, he was going to finish what he could right away.
A week: Yoon-seok decided to invest that much time in the Tower of Truth-seeker. Of course, if he invested more time, he could clear more trials, but that would invert the order of things.
「The 16th-floor trial Salvation has been cleared.」
「The 17th-floor trial Lord of Heaven has been cleared..」
「The 18th-floor trial Ancient Leap has been cleared.」
「The 19th-floor trial Cataclysm has been cleared.」
「The 20th-floor trial Dimensional War has been cleared.」
Yoon-seok tried his best to shorten the time. Increased stats, spacecraft, and new skills. It was enough to say that Yoon-seok was truly incredible. But…
Nevertheless, the results fell far short of his expectations.
「The 25th-floor trial Empty has been cleared.」
「All Earth challengers’ resistances increase by 50%.」
Before, Yoon-seok reached the 15th floor in one day. Therefore, considering his growth so far, he thought he could go up to 30 floors. However, it took seven days to break through ten trials. The difficulty level was one thing, but the problem was that he was gradually using more time.
「Would you like to challenge the next floor?」
Yoon-seok stopped climbing a week later as scheduled. Of course, it was a little disappointing. However, it was impossible to keep at it while his other problems piled up like mountains.
‘Should I be comforted that all the rewards were decent?’
The Tower of Truth-seekers’ rewards were mainly given when fighting the invaders. But, there were rare cases that boosted their abilities universally, like the 50% increase in resistance attribute or magic recovery speed increased by five times. These were rewards that would help Earth challengers climb the Tower.
“At this rate, the other trial challengers won’t be far behind.’
He didn’t know about the new dimensions included this time. However, Moorim, Seheranbad, and Kilian. Among these three dimensions, the Earth was most likely to be claiming the lead. Among them, Earth was the only dimension with modern civilization.
While the Tower appeared on Earth the same day they discovered it, in Moorim, witnesses began to spread rumors only two days before the duel started. There might even be dimensions that had yet to discover the Tower.
‘We’ll probably survive a little longer and become stronger with this.’
It wasn’t enough to be strong alone. Adventure, Exploration, Mission: the challengers in the other trials must also achieve progress upward. In addition to the duel, the Tower made those trials for a reason.
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Didn’t the Tower analyze other trial challengers before it ruled there was no chance? The other trials had their roles.
Whoooosh-!
Soon, his vision darkened, and the space changed. Breathing in the hot air through his nose, Yoon-seok looked down. Challengers aboard a docked ship around the Tower of the Truth-seeker were looking up at him. Jovan and Maria, alongside several other outstanding challengers on Earth.
They were of no use this time, but they were on standby to be called in for trials requiring colleagues, such as on the 10th floor.
“…”
Yoon-seok tilted his head, feeling an ill-fit sense of darkness between them.
Thud.
When Yoon-seok landed on the ship, Ashton, wearing a sad complexion, approached.
“Yoon-seok, I need to tell you something.”
For the week he spent clearing trials, something must have happened.
“Kartan Empire sent an envoy.”
Kartan Empire, the largest state of Seheranbad, was human-centered. For reference, it was quite famous that the empire had a long relationship with St. Leon, the home of the Holy Trinity Cult. It was unclear whether that remained true as that was information from 500 years ago.
“Envoy?”
Anyway, they sent a diplomat, marking Earth’s first contact with another dimension’s society. This alone was a big event that could be recorded in human history, but that wasn’t the end of the surprise.
“Yes. But the envoy was from Earth.”
It was said that the envoy for the empire was from Earth and who Yoon-seok was looking for. The duel challenger used the nickname Dreamer.
‘Who knew they would go to a completely different dimension?’
Yoon-seok laughed.
“That’s why we couldn’t find him here. So, what does he want?”
“He’s asking for an alliance, but he said he’ll talk about the details once he meets you in person.”
Dreamer was a ranker who had gone through the duel once. In addition, as he was from Earth, he would be familiar with the situation here. There was no way the empire wouldn’t know that while sending him here as a diplomat and that Earth wasn’t strong enough to ask for an alliance.
‘They call it an alliance on the surface, but is it me who they want?’
Of course, even this wasn’t guaranteed.
“Fahur, a native of Seheranbad, personally confirmed he’s speaking the truth. He said that the card he has with him represents the royal family of the empire.”
For now, the basic facts have been verified. Of course, there was a possibility that he robbed the empire, but there was no end to holding such suspicions.
“So, where is he?”
He decided to meet them first. There was no reason to refuse in the first place.
“I don’t know where he is. However, if we contact him later, he said he would come this way himself.”
“Tell him to come now.”
“Okay.”
When Yoon-seok clearly expressed his intent, Ashton immediately made a phone call. And about three minutes after that.
Whoosh!
A magic square appeared in the air, emitting light, and a man appeared through it. He projected an overwhelming presence. Watching him slowly appear, the challengers on the ship swallowed nervously. Yoon-seok smiled behind his mask.
‘I guess it’s not an act.’
No, even if it was an impersonation, it didn’t matter now. How could they give off such a presence? Even if it wasn’t Dreamer himself, wasn’t it clear that he was at least a duel ranker?
“You must be Predator. Nice to meet you. My name is Leto Fahrini. In the Tower, I use the nickname Dreamer.”
A white man with a kind impression extended his hand. He sensed Yoon-seok’s power as readily as Yoon-seok had sensed his.
“I’m Choi Yoon-seok.”
Yoon-seok shook his hand. At the same time, he raised his senses so that he was ready to draw his sword at a moment’s notice. Although the man looked like he couldn’t kill a bug on his own, he couldn’t judge a book by its cover.
This man was a 21st-floor duel challenger. He killed countless people until now, and as if to prove this point:
[Good: 782,000] [Evil: 2,400,900]
As soon as he put his hand on the Judgment sword, his karma appeared. However, to show he didn’t enjoy killing people, the phrase that he encountered evil didn’t appear.
“…?”
“Oh, wait. I guess I was nervous without realizing it.”
Feeling Fahrini’s wary gaze, Yoon-seok took his hand off the sword handle. Then Leto smiled again, pretending nothing had happened.
“I understand. I felt that way as soon as I saw you.”
“Thank you for saying that.”
“Yes. It can’t be helped for people like us.”
While saying that and glancing at the challengers around him, Fahrini’s eyes were similar to those of a beast looking at prey. Was that why? Even though he didn’t let out his magic, the challengers’ backs were drenched with cold sweat.
Yoon-seok did nothing.
“People like us…”
He dwelled upon it and muttered. Although it was unpleasant to hastily regard him as the same kind of person without knowing anything else…
“Well, that’s enough.”
It wasn’t important right now. Was that all to his planning? He would have to figure it out first.
“Anyway, you’re here to form an alliance?”
The fate of this man would be decided based on his answers.
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