159. Tower of Trials, Floor 54 (1)
"Huahhhhhhh!"
Rachel shouted as she stretched both arms up toward the sky with all her strength.
"Finally! At long last!"
They had been sleeping rough for a full two months.
No matter how much the Archmage washed them up and HunGyo cooked delicious meals, fatigue was bound to pile up.
Because they were modern people.
But.
Now, right in front of them, stood a massive gate.
Beyond it, they could see a civilized city where 'real' people lived.
Step, step.
As they approached the gate with their summons, the soldiers scouting from atop the wall shouted down.
"Stop!"
"They're survivors!"
What was fascinating was this: Their voices were automatically translated as they reached his ears.
If it could do that, it should've done the same for Rachel too.
"Are they monsters?"
"No, open the gate, quickly!"
Unless one was a powerful demon, one could not even approach the Holy Kingdom.
That was because a sacred barrier surrounded the fortress itself, and by its setting, only humans or pure beings could pass through it.
That was why it had been able to become the only kingdom left surviving on the continent.
Rrrrrrk!
With the turning of the pulley, the massive gate opened, and Baek Jinwoo stepped inside with Rachel.
Beyond the gate stretched a majestic city, and on the faces of the citizens moving through its streets, fear and tension coexisted.
And then.
One of the heavily armed soldiers waiting by the gate approached them.
"You seem to have survived outside for a long time. I'm sorry, but according to kingdom regulations, you must undergo an inspection first."
Right.
Now he remembered.
This was where Floor 54 began.
It was nothing special.
As long as they passed through the holy aura emitted by the priests, entry would be approved without issue.
After a brief procedure, they were able to fully enter the kingdom.
* * *
"Haa. To think the day would come when I'd actually see something like this with my own eyes instead of just in a game."
Rachel looked around in admiration.
The inside of the city was astonishingly full of life.
It was a completely different world from the desolate landscapes they had seen until now.
Merchants striding through the streets.
The innocent laughter of children running through the narrow alleys.
Construction and repair work underway throughout the city.
The soldiers patrolled while keeping their guard up, watching the passersby.
Looks like public order is pretty decent too.
"Look at this, it's overflowing with life. Ahh, this lively feeling! How long has it been? After seeing nothing but monsters every day, I finally feel like I can breathe again."
Rachel could not hide her joy.
But Baek Jinwoo's expression remained serious.
"So what do we do now?"
They knew the route through Floor 54.
Even if one searched the entire world, there was probably no one who knew it as well as they did.
"Hmm."
Rachel stroked her chin in thought.
"How did you clear this place?"
"Me?"
Baek Jinwoo recalled old memories.
The mission here was to encounter Arkelion, the cowardly Holy King hiding away!
"The underground route."
"Ah, that one."
Rachel nodded.
She knew it too.
She just did not prefer that method.
"The route where you solve the basement secret, pump the kingdom soldiers full of buffs, and earn the Holy King's trust?"
"Yeah."
"But if you do that, those guys get all pumped up for no reason and rush off saying they're going to fight Asmodeus."
"Right."
".....Then it just gets harder and harder to clear as you go up the floors, doesn't it?"
Rachel was right.
The soldiers, intoxicated by the buff, would immediately try to fight, and in the end they would be annihilated by Asmodeus.
And then?
Starting from the next floor, things would become a headache.
Because in all the battles against monsters and demons, they would no longer be able to borrow the strength of the soldiers here.
"It wasn't that hard, though."
"...."
Rachel pouted.
What an annoying bastard.
Then again.
For a genius like God Ji-nu, maybe being alone was actually easier.
Whether it was an archdemon or crossing over into the Demon Realm.
He'd be able to handle anything by himself.
Back then, God Ji-nu had been a monster beyond even the level of a thug.
Still, that method had its advantages too.
As the reward for solving the secret, blessings would descend upon the summons.
Blessings that permanently increased their stats!
Because of that, back then even among veteran players there had been endless debate over which route was better.
"Your method might've worked in the old days, but it won't now."
Rachel said with confidence.
"It's way harder now than the game we knew. You know that too."
"I do."
Baek Jinwoo nodded.
He also knew what method Rachel had chosen.
'Just go on an all-out rampage.'
If they showed just how overwhelmingly powerful they were?
The Holy King would get scared and approach them himself.
So he could use them as his royal guards.
"Hmm."
Baek Jinwoo closed his eyes.
What should they do?
For now, he agreed with Rachel.
If this were still a game, he really would have gone solo and steamrolled everything, but now the situation had changed a lot.
It felt as though the monsters' strength had been set to be ten times greater, so they absolutely had to go with a strategy of borrowing the Holy Kingdom's power all the way to Floor 60.
In that case?
'We need to let the people here know just how strong and great we are.'
Still.
The buff was hard to give up too.
After thinking for a moment, Baek Jinwoo finally spoke.
"Let's just do both."
"Both?"
"Yeah, I think there's a way."
* * *
The Holy Kingdom's military strength was beyond imagination.
If you persuaded the Holy King properly, you could make very good use of it even after descending to the Demon Realm on Floor 58.
But?
The moment they received the buff, they became impossible to control.
It was practically not the blessing of an angel, but the blessing of a berserker.
Their eyes turned bloodshot, their faces transformed like fanatics, and they became ready to charge in that very instant to exterminate demons.
The idea was simple.
'Back then, once you reached Floor 57, you couldn't return to Floor 54.'
But now it was different.
There was no distinction between floors anymore.
They had to move while fully experiencing one giant world.
'Right before descending to the Demon Realm on Floor 58, we come back here and get the buff again.'
Until then?
They would go with Rachel's method.
"HunGyo."
— Yes, my lord.
"How are the stacks?"
— I believe they were reset. I felt it the moment we entered the kingdom.
Just as expected.
When they left the library on Floor 51.
When they moved to meet Rachel on Floor 52.
He had definitely felt the stacks reset.
The world was integrated, but it seemed to clearly distinguish floors depending on the location.
"Hoo."
Letting out a short sigh, Baek Jinwoo glanced at the fairy on his shoulder.
"Lamba."
— Hweeeeeeeek!
Lamba clutched her head with an expression that said she had known this would happen.
"Sorry about this."
— Again? I have to swing the staff again? My arms feel like they're about to fall off nowww!
"If you're not here, we can't beat them."
Glance.
He looked at the patrolling guards walking past.
Just as the monsters had become stronger, the soldiers here had also become more than ten times stronger.
Ordinary soldiers were manageable somehow, but to deal with paladins or higher, Lamba would need to build up stacks for at least five hours.
HunGyo, Aso, and Gale Slayer.
Spread evenly across the three of them.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!
— Alright, alright! What would our Jinwoo ever do without me, seriously!
Rachel watched the scene with fascination.
"No matter how many times I see it, this one's such a cheat. So with this, attack speed just keeps increasing by 3% each time?"
"Yeah. It makes no sense, right?"
"Seriously. What a monster. Lucky bastard."
"For now."
Baek Jinwoo looked around.
"Should we find somewhere like a restaurant first? We could fill our stomachs."
"Shall we?"
Rachel's eyes sparkled.
She was starting to get hungry.
They did not have any currency used in this place, but that did not matter.
They had already decided they were going to cause a scene anyway.
Had they walked for about ten minutes?
From somewhere, a rich, savory smell drifted over.
A bustling restaurant district.
"Here it is."
Baek Jinwoo stopped walking.
"Wow, it smells sweet."
Rachel swallowed hard.
The air was full of the smell of meat browning over the fireplace and the aroma of hot soup.
There were quite a lot of people too.
People who looked as though they belonged in the medieval era were noisily chatting as they enjoyed their meals.
The two of them confidently took a seat at a suitable table.
They had left their huge summons like White Tiger and Jaggeo outside on the road for a moment before entering the restaurant.
"What would you like to order?"
When the server came over and asked, Baek Jinwoo smiled.
"The most delicious thing you have here. Bring us all of it."
"All of it, sir?"
The server looked slightly surprised, but seemed rather innocent.
Soon, the server nodded and went off to place the order.
Not long after, one lavish dish after another began filling the table.
First came grilled pork ribs.
The outside was crisp, the inside moist and tender, and the large, hearty portions were piled high with sauce.
Next came lamb stew!
The lamb, simmered for a long time in the rich broth, came apart softly.
With potatoes, carrots, and onions mixed in, it gave off a warm and hearty feeling.
Then came crusty bread and butter!
After that appeared a whole roast chicken stuffed with herbs, lemon, and garlic.
On top of that, there was salad and cold draft beer as well!
Gulp.
Rachel swallowed her saliva, but still looked apologetic.
"Is it really okay for us to just eat all this for free?"
"...It'll probably be fine."
According to the setting of this world.
They were heroes who would save the continent from Asmodeus.
Surely it was fine for them to be treated to a meal like this, right?
"First, bread."
Whoosh!
Baek Jinwoo tore apart a freshly baked loaf and tossed it to Lamba.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Lamba was still swinging wildly like mad.
"You can eat slowly while doing it. We've got plenty of time."
— Waaah!
Even while swinging the staff, she apparently could not give up the bread and eagerly chomped it down.
At this point, he had given up.
In a vast world like this, rather than struggling to get out quickly, it was better to clear it safely and cautiously.
He only had one life.
'I do miss Yoo Jia, though.'
But wouldn't it be better for her too if he got there alive rather than quickly?
They leisurely enjoyed their meal.
Especially when drinking the cold beer...
"Kh."
Rachel clenched her fist tightly and trembled.
It must have been quite moving for her.
And then.
After they had been chatting for around two hours.
"Customers?"
The server approached again and spoke carefully.
"I'm sorry, but there's a time limit for table use. Could you please settle the bill first?"
"...."
Baek Jinwoo and Rachel met each other's eyes.
It seemed the time had finally come.
Filling the full five hours would have been ideal, but...
It seemed the server had begun sensing that something was off too.
The bill?
Sorry, but they did not even know the currency used here.
Creeeak.
Baek Jinwoo dragged his chair back and stood up.
Just as the server's expression was about to turn strange.
"I'm sorry, but we don't have any money."
"Excuse me?"
"I said we don't have any money."
The server was flustered by Baek Jinwoo's bold declaration.
Sorry.
Once they met the Holy King later, he would make sure this shop was compensated.
"...Y-you people!"
The server's face rapidly began turning red.
"How dare you dine and dash here of all places! If you don't pay, I'll have no choice but to call the patrol guards!"
"Yes, go ahead."
"Excuse me?"
From the server's point of view, it was utterly absurd.
He was really telling him to call the patrol guards that confidently?
Were these people completely insane?!
"You could go to prison! To think you'd commit a crime in the Holy Kingdom. Aren't you afraid of God?"
God?
If something like that had actually been doing its job, this continent would never have ended up in such a state.
And prison?
Sorry, but that was not going to happen.
From here on out, step by step.
He was going to smash everything to pieces.