Alone Against the Tower - Chapter 29

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

Chapter 29: Secluded Training

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I'm about as famous in the Open Community as most Rankers.

I'm the only solo player in the world, and I used to be a jobless loser who spammed the Open Community with bullshit posts like crazy.

On top of that, my unusual situation had become known outside the Tower of Trials in one way or another, so there was no way I wouldn't be well-known.

Anyone in South Korea who follows Hunter or Tower of Trials news probably knows who I am.

Still, fame and the amount of attention someone gets in the community aren't always the same thing.

The community diehards don't pay much attention to top Rankers everyone knows by name.

Those fossil-like people are strong enough that they're never going to die alone in a ditch somewhere, so no news is good news.

More importantly, if you're in the same Tower, it isn't that hard to hear about Rankers or see their faces.

But if I stay away from the community for even a little while, all news of me dries up completely. On top of that, I'm in danger in all sorts of ways.

That was probably why people were even more interested in me, but honestly, it was just annoying.

Seriously, I'd finally quit the community and started focusing on living productively. Why the fuck were they making such a fuss?

I'd blocked every annoying message I'd received, but now my block list was full, so I couldn't even do that anymore.

-Ding ding ding ding ding!

“Jesus, fuck.”

If I left them alone, the messages came in at a terror-level rate, to the point that normal life was nearly impossible.

[Author: Seo Jinhyeok#2661]

[Title: I'm Not Dead, You Assholes]

Stop sending me messages, fuck.

I had no choice but to make a post in the community and let people know I was alive. Comments poured in at an insane speed.

Why had I disappeared? If I was alive, I should at least make a post saying so. Stuff like that.

It sounded like warm concern when put that way, but almost none of the comments were missing the word fuck.

The Open Community wasn't fully real-name verified, nor was it a place where only people of a certain age group or mindset gathered, so it usually didn't have one unified atmosphere.

Yet I had no idea why every post or comment involving me had this kind of vibe. It felt less like the Open Community and more like I was reading a DC Inside gallery.

I sighed and tossed out half-hearted replies to the comments when the area near my left temple began to itch. I reached up.

-Smack.

I caught an arrow aimed at my head. When I turned around, an Intermediate Lizardman Warrior holding a longbow stood there.

What, it had already tracked me down?

I tossed the arrow to the ground, pushed the Open Community window aside, and walked toward the Lizardman. It had two stripes.

Pretty brave for a small fry. I guess combat races really were built different.

The Lizardman archer quickly drew its secondary weapon, a dagger, and charged at me.

A two-meter-tall lizardman with well-defined muscles rushing at me with a dagger was intimidating no matter how many times I saw it.

I'd seen it way too often by now, though, so I reacted without much emotion.

-Crack!

I landed a low kick that threw off its balance, snatched the dagger from its hand, and stabbed it straight into the throat.

The dagger struck its vital point, triggering a red critical-hit effect. The Lizardman's breathing stopped almost immediately.

It had already been several months since I started my self-imposed secluded training on the third floor.

Now, I could kill an Intermediate Lizardman Warrior barehanded while replying to community comments.

* * *

The training method of forcing myself into extreme situations had definitely worked.

How many times had I nearly died by now? Once it became too many to count on both hands, I stopped counting.

I kept repeating that insane gamble, but I never failed. Every time, I walked away with a massive payout.

Seo Jinhyeok Lv.50 (Warrior)

HP: 780/780

MP: 400/400

Strength: 80 (66+14)

Agility: 66 (62+4)

Durability: 71 (65+6)

Intelligence: 57 (55+2)

My level was still 50, the same as it had been months ago. The experience requirement had risen sharply, and the level gap was too large, so it hadn't gone up at all.

But as you could see, my stats had increased a lot across the board. That was thanks to a few achievements and the stats I'd raised through sheer effort.

I'd found this out relatively recently, but you could actually raise your stats through ordinary exercise.

No matter how much someone trained in the outside world, everyone started with all stats at 1 when they entered the Tower of Trials.

But any abilities they improved through training inside the Tower were reflected directly in their stats.

If someone who had been a scrawny weakling before entering the Tower got personal training and became strong enough to hit a 500-kilogram total across the big three lifts, their Strength stat would rise accordingly.

But the difference between even one or two points of Strength was much greater than people thought, so raising stats through exercise alone was extremely difficult.

It wasn't like raising them that way came with any special extra effects, either.

Still, by risking my life, trading blows with Lizardmen barehanded, and sticking to my routine, I'd managed to raise quite a few stats.

My displayed level was 50, but my actual stats were above those of a level 60 Challenger.

Add in the skills I'd gained and all the improvement in my fighting ability, and there would be a considerable gap between me and Challengers of the same level.

It was about time to clear the third floor and move on.

* * *

I already knew where the boss room was, but there was somewhere I needed to visit first.

Where Lightning Sleeps, the very ruins where an Expedition Team Member had struck me in the back of the head.

I'd already completed the ruins exploration up to its final stage. All that remained was to kill the ruins boss I'd been saving for later.

The ruins boss was technically classified as a field boss, but it was probably the strongest monster in the entire third-floor area, including the boss room.

That was because the third-floor boss battle, unlike those on the first and second floors, was a group battle against multiple Lizardmen.

Apparently, a shaman Lizardman selected the greatest heroes of the old Lizardman tribe, revived them with shamanic magic, and made them fight.

The ruins boss, on the other hand, was expected to be a single entity. It handled the boss role alone, so it was naturally going to be the strongest.

I put on leather armor enhanced entirely for [Durability], then fastened a dagger and hand axe at my waist as secondary weapons alongside my main sword.

Small weapons like these were easier to use when I kept them out like this instead of storing them in my inventory.

I tore off and ate only as much White Roll as I could digest, finished preparing, and headed for the ruins.

-Rumble!

The wall blocking the final section of the ruins opened, revealing a large cavern beyond the stone door.

Like the other boss rooms, it was a very empty space. At the center of the cavern, a Lizardman was crouched down.

It was the white-bodied Lizardman I'd seen in the mural, but I couldn't see the ‘weapon that wields lightning’ depicted there.

The boss battle messages that appeared before me explained why.

[The greatest weapon is neither sword, bow, nor spear, but the martial training a warrior has built up over a lifetime.]

[That is why the Lizardmen regarded their greatest warrior as a single weapon.]

[The warrior born with the power to control lightning, feared by every Lizardman, must be the ‘weapon that wields lightning.’]

What had been sealed in the ruins wasn't some treasure. A notification window flashed, telling me that the ruins exploration quest had been completed.

[BOSS - Kiennul, Ruler of Lightning]

Electricity crackled in the Lizardman's eyes as it picked up a spear and stood.

* * *

The first thing that came to mind when I saw the white Lizardman was the Expedition Team Member who had struck me in the back of the head.

Those idiots who said they had to assassinate me because I might take the treasure from them.

Take what treasure? There had been no treasure to begin with, just one incredibly dangerous-looking Lizardman.

Even if they'd managed to kill me and make it here, they would've just died to that pale lizard anyway.

There was no point dwelling on it, since they were only Non-Player Characters, but it was still funny.

-Grrrr...

The Lizardman watched me with a low growl. There were no stripes on its shoulders.

Still, it definitely had skills beyond those of a High-Rank Warrior. I could get a rough idea just from the way it held its spear and watched me cautiously.

Even without its lightning abilities, it was probably among the stronger monsters around.

Let's test it first.

I pulled two rocks from my inventory and hid them behind my shield. Then I waited for the right timing and hurled them.

It might be able to knock aside one rock by swinging its spear, but the second wouldn't be so easy to block.

[Throwing Lv. 6]

After throwing rocks so much that I'd gained the Throwing skill and raised it all the way to level 6, this was my ultimate breaking ball.

The rocks curved sharply through the air, but the Lizardman ignored them and began charging toward me.

Then, just as the rocks and the Lizardman got close enough, there was a crackle and a flash.

-Bzzzt!

Electricity burst from around the Lizardman's body, intercepting both rocks and smashing them apart.

What the hell, was that an electric barrier?

If I got close, I'd end up fried golden brown.