94. Tower of Trials Floor 26 (3)
Starting from Floor 26, you have to raid a total of three cities.
Under normal circumstances, he would have moved from place to place and cleared them one by one himself, but he could not do that now.
Because within five hours, they had to take down each city's City Ghost (B-grade).
"HunGyo."
—Yes, my liege.
"You'll head north alone. You can handle it, right?"
—Of course.
"And the rest of you head west."
At Baek Jinwoo's command, Lamba raised her tiny hand.
—Then what about you, Jinwoo? Which way are you going?
"I'll head east with the Celestial Wyvern."
—Eeh?
Lamba was horrified.
—You're going by yourself? That's way too dangerous!
"It can't be helped. Otherwise, I'd have to reset Explosive Dragon's quest."
What a pain.
But there was no helping it.
One hundred days of suffering!
If it was for the sake of obtaining an absurdly overpowered ultra-cheat skill, he had to endure it.
And strictly speaking, he would not be alone.
He had the Wyvern and the dolls with him.
"If I go with the dolls, taking down something like a City Ghost will be more than enough, so don't worry too much."
From here on out, it was a matter of control.
Baek Jinwoo could do what ordinary players could never accomplish even if they died and came back to life.
"Lamba."
—U-uh, yeah?
"Hurry up and build stacks. That side is the weakest in combat power, so if you don't carry with your stacks, you won't be able to push through."
—That's true…..
And there's no Explosive Dragon here either.
Whiwhiwhiwhiwhik!
Lamba started swinging her staff.
Now the only thing Lamba could trust was Gale Slayer.
She had to build Gale Slayer's stacks to the maximum, then go around scraping everything apart with his scythe.
"All right, there's no time. Let's get moving."
At worst, the worst-case scenario was just that Explosive Dragon's quest would reset.
That part was not a problem since he could just train for another month or so.
'It would be a little disappointing, sure.'
And there was also the matter of having to coax Hwang Jiwoo a bit more, but whatever.
She was a guild member now, so if he told her to do it, she would do it, right?
Whoooosh!
With a beat of the Wyvern's wings, Baek Jinwoo rose into the air.
"The one who finishes last loses, got it?"
—I'll head out immediately, my liege!
—Got it! I'm not losing! Let's gooooooo!
The summons began scattering toward their assigned destinations.
* * *
Shaaah!
As the refreshing wind rushed against him, Baek Jinwoo fell into thought.
Current floor: 26.
To list the rewards he had obtained so far:
[Floor 21 - Omnipotent Polish x20]
[Floor 22 - Top-grade Rune Selection Ticket (Bound) x2]
[Floor 23 - Advanced Summoning Scroll x25]
[Floor 24 - Top-grade Summoning Scroll x7]
[Floor 25 - Omnipotent Polish x20]
To get straight to the point, it had been smooth.
He had gotten exactly the kinds of things that normally dropped in the Tower of Trials!
He had hoped for something like a rare monster such as a Mind-Reading Eagle (A-grade) or a high-rank random box, but unfortunately, nothing like that had appeared.
'I can see them now.'
Had about an hour passed since he started flying through the sky?
Ghosts had gradually begun to appear.
"Wyvern."
-Kirururu!
"Fly a little lower."
Swooooooosh!
The Wyvern sliced through the heavens and descended.
Enjoying the tingling sensation in his stomach, he focused.
'I need to kill every single one of them as I go.'
That was how he could lower the difficulty of the Floor 30 final boss, Phantom (S-grade).
Srrrk!
Baek Jinwoo moved his fingers and began controlling all five dolls at once.
Fire, Water Lightning, Wood, Metal Lightning, Earth!
The five of them zigzagged through the air beside the Wyvern, unleashing elemental attacks.
Each time they did, afterimages trailed behind them!
Kwa-gagagagaga!
Kyaaaaaaah!
Kieeeeeeek!
The ghosts split apart and screamed.
'Why is this so easy?'
It was fascinating.
Did something like physical aptitude really exist?
Things that had not gone well for him back in Battle of Summoners now flowed naturally and smoothly.
'I'm definitely better suited to reality than a monitor.'
Click!
Baek Jinwoo turned on the recording function of the equipment he had worn.
Up until now, he had just smashed through everything without needing any strategy, so there had been no reason to turn it on, but this time, it felt necessary.
'I should show this to Song Yeonhee.'
Wouldn't it be a huge help to her?
Shaaah!
The farther he moved forward, the more frequently ghosts began appearing.
It seemed he was getting closer and closer to the city.
Naturally, he kept blowing up every ghost in his path, and as a result, their levels rose tremendously.
....
['Fire' (B-grade) has reached Level 30.]
['Fire' (B-grade)'s Strength increases by 3.]
['Water Lightning' (B-grade) has reached Level 30.]
['Water Lightning' (B-grade)'s Strength increases by 3.]
.....
'Wow.'
Already Level 30.
He had mentioned it once before during synthesis, but the level cap was 100.
But usually, the maximum level you could raise low-grade summons to through synthesis alone was around 35.
After that point, they absolutely could not be raised any further through synthesis.
From there on, it was basically all hunting, and even then, they barely leveled up.
'Getting to max level takes about five years, right?'
And even that would only be possible if you hunted every single day like a total no-lifer.
Even God Ji-nu from Battle of Summoners had only started seeing one or two max-level summons around his eighth year.
'The average level of the world rankers is probably in the 50s, right?'
Even that was incredibly high.
Later on, the experience required to go from Level 51 to 52 became greater than the total experience needed to go from Level 1 to 51!
'Song Yeonhee should be grateful.'
He was letting her devour all of this incredible ghost experience as it was.
'As for mine...'
It was fine.
In truth, Baek Jinwoo already had another doll in mind that he would use later.
It was an A-grade unique doll, one that could be bought later from the shop as a reward from the Chaos Demon Dragon.
The problem was that since it was unique, there was only one on the entire server, so there was the burden of having to get it on a first-come, first-served basis, but that was a discussion for later.
'Now focus.'
The shape of the city was gradually becoming visible.
Every single one of those things was a ghost!
'About three and a half hours remain.'
He had to destroy them all within that time to clear the floor, so he needed to move his fingers diligently.
* * *
[Defeat 3 Ghost Cities.]
[Congratulations!]
[You have conquered Tower of Trials Floor 26!]
To put it simply…..
Last place was Baek Jinwoo.
'Of course it was.'
No matter how well he controlled the dolls, how could he possibly beat EX-grade summons?
After about three hours, HunGyo had destroyed one city, and after about four hours, Lamba's team had destroyed another.
By the time Baek Jinwoo had completely cleared the outskirts of his city and was about halfway through cleaning up the inside, there had only been about 20 minutes left.
Growing pressed for time, Baek Jinwoo immediately headed for the center and defeated the City Ghost.
Well, leaving this much unfinished was fine.
If it was too easy, it would not be fun, right?
HunGyo just needed to do a bit more on Floor 30.
And then the reward arrived!
[Your reward is arriving.]
[You have obtained a 'Guaranteed Summoning Scroll' (C-grade)!]
Huh?
Wait.
What did that say?
A Guaranteed Summoning Scroll?
Baek Jinwoo's eyes went wide.
Fuck.....
"Fuck, this is ittttttt!"
With a shout, Baek Jinwoo threw both arms up in triumph.
* * *
It was already getting dark.
Rrrk!
"Mr. Jinwoo!"
As soon as he opened the Tower's main gate and stepped outside, the chilly autumn evening air filled his lungs.
As if she had been waiting, Hwang Jiwoo came running over.
'Well, well.'
A campfire had been set up in front of the Tower, and it looked like Explosive Dragon's handiwork.
"Huh? You look really happy."
"Is it that obvious?"
Haha.
He was happy.
How could he not be?
He had even told Baek Ajin about it.
If a C-grade Guaranteed Summoning Scroll or even a blueprint showed up, she was to let him know immediately.
He had told her to search every corner of the world for it.
And yet it just so happened that—
On nothing more than Floor 26!
'To think it would drop for me specifically.'
"Where's Song Yeonhee?"
"She finished training and went home. She said she'll come out again at 5 a.m. tomorrow."
Ah, right.
Hwang Jiwoo was camping here because of the contract, but Song Yeonhee had no real reason to stay around with them.
"Aren't you tired?"
Come to think of it, he really was grateful to Hwang Jiwoo.
No matter that it was a contractual relationship, it still meant she had to stay tied down here, deprived of her own freedom, all because of Explosive Dragon.
"It would be a lie to say I'm not tired, but I'm also happy enough that it makes up for how hard it is."
"Happy?"
"Yes. I was lucky enough to end up standing in a place every player would want to be."
Good grief.
Even the way she talked was that pretty.
With that kind of mindset, good fortune would fall into her lap even while she slept.
"Explosive Dragon's been doing well too, right?"
As he walked over to the campfire and sat beside her, Explosive Dragon answered with a smile.
—Yes, Mr. Jinwoo. I've been communicating with Ms. Jiwoo this whole time. Should I go to the next floor?
"Yeah, you need to go….. but before that, hang on a second."
Swish!
First, he took out the Guaranteed Summoning Scroll.
"Let me do the summoning first."
—Yeah.
It must have been miserable enough camping out here all alone, so he might as well enjoy a good show.
[Guaranteed Summoning Scroll]
[Grade: C-grade]
[You can guaranteedly summon the C-grade summon of your choice.]
Aaah.
No matter how many times he looked at it, it moved him.
The list of remaining EX-grade summons currently looked like this:
1. Little Giant (C-grade)
2. Dampir (C-grade)
3. Aso (A-grade)
4. Magic Cat (A-grade)
5. Ruination Dragon (S-grade)
Those were their original grades, but since they had been patched, they would be EX-grade in reality.
'It's between Little Giant and Dampir…..'
Little Giant was a tank, and Dampir was a healer.
The problem was that if you only had one of them, they were almost treated like trash, but if you used the two together, they became insanely overpowered.
'It's a little disappointing that I have to use just one first.'
If Baek Jinwoo had to choose one first, it would definitely be Little Giant.
'Let's do this.'
Riiip!
Baek Jinwoo boldly tore the scroll.
[Using Guaranteed Summoning Scroll (C-grade)!]
[Player 'Baek Jinwoo' is selecting a summon!]
Fwoosh!
It was the same as before.
An enormous number of cards covered Baek Jinwoo's vision.
[Picture the summon you want!]
Baek Jinwoo immediately pictured the appearance of Little Giant.
For short, Jaggeo.
It was such a contradictory name.
A giant meant someone big, but then it was also little….. And do you know what the funny part was?
The thing was not even a person.
It was a golem.
A completely ordinary stone golem with weeds growing here and there all over its body.
Shff, shffrrrk!
The cards shuffled, and soon only a single card remained.
['Little Giant' (EX-grade)]
Kya!
As expected, EX-grade!
Without hesitation, Baek Jinwoo grabbed the card.
[Player 'Baek Jinwoo' has acquired the summon 'Little Giant' (EX-grade)!]
A legendary masochistic tanker that recovered both HP and MP the more it got hit!
That very same guy who had once formed a mountain-like tank line in combination with Dampir appeared before him.
—G, gwoooh?
Boom!
A small golem roughly 3 meters tall tore through empty space and appeared.
It was holding a massive shield.
[Summon: Little Giant]
[Race: Golem]
[Grade: EX-grade (Isolated)]
Isolated after being identified as a balance-breaking element under certain conditions.
[Level: 1]
[Stats]
Strength: 1, Intelligence: 1, Vitality: 1, Agility: 1
HP: 1,000, MP: 0
Critical Hit Chance: 20%
Critical Damage: 20%
[Skills]
-Indomitable: Restores HP equal to 20% of damage received.
-Magic Absorption: Restores MP equal to 20% of damage received.
—Gwo! Gwooooh!
Unlike Gale Slayer, this was one he could not communicate with.
"W-what is that?"
"This guy?"
At Hwang Jiwoo's question, Baek Jinwoo smiled.
"Say hello. You'll be seeing Jaggeo a lot from now on."
Gwoooooooh!
It was the first meeting with Jaggeo, who from now on would reliably guard Baek Jinwoo's front line.
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