Chapter 6
Titles could broadly be divided into three categories.
Combat Type
Defense Type
Growth Type
Combat-type titles were, simply put, titles specialized for battle.
They could increase attack power, allow the user to activate certain skills, increase damage, and provide similar effects.
Defense-type titles specialized in survivability, offering benefits such as increased defense, recovery, and stacking buffs.
And finally, Growth Type.
These were titles that actively helped their users grow.
They could grant a random skill at a low probability upon leveling up, increase the growth speed of skills, and provide similar benefits.
The S+ title Rosalein obtained was combat-type.
She had used that combat title to easily break through the lower floors of the Tower.
I naturally assumed I'd get a combat title too.
More specifically, an SS-rank combat title one grade higher than hers.
But instead, what he received was a Title Exchange Token.
Isn't this way better?
A Title Exchange Token meant he could choose the title himself.
Having more options was extremely welcome.
If it isn't simply the rank that's higher, then the rewards afterward should probably be slightly different too.
The memoir left behind by the mysterious climber had only explained how to achieve an EX-rank evaluation.
There hadn't been a single line about the additional rewards connected to it.
Fortunately, I can roughly predict them.
Seong-un had been a latecomer.
By the time he started climbing the lower floors, most available strategy guides had already been released.
The same applied to additional rewards.
Rosalein had achieved SSS-rank and obtained an S+ title.
Spear Saint Lee Seong-hwan had achieved SSS-rank on the second floor and acquired an S-rank skill.
Seong-un knew roughly what the major rewards were.
That gave him enough information to make educated guesses.
The results shouldn't deviate too wildly from expectations, just like the title reward.
"Wow. I never thought someone from this planet would actually get EX-rank in the Tutorial."
At that moment, a portal formed nearby.
Something resembling a robot emerged from it.
It's been a while.
The Tower had Administrators.
Simply put, they were puppets controlled by the Transcendents.
Each puppet managed ten floors of the Tower.
The robot standing before him was responsible for Floors 1 through 10.
So why had an Administrator appeared here?
Probably because I finished the Tutorial with EX-rank.
Normally, Administrators almost never appeared during the Tutorial.
The Tutorial system itself was already well established, and beginner climbers almost never obtained rewards significant enough to require their involvement.
But Seong-un had surpassed SSS and achieved EX-rank.
It would've been stranger if the Administrator hadn't appeared.
"Who are you?"
Seong-un deliberately pretended not to know.
"You're pretty rude."
The Administrator pointed out Seong-un's attitude with an annoyed expression.
Seong-un simply shrugged.
"How am I supposed to speak respectfully when I don't even know who you are?"
"...So you'll speak politely once you know my identity?"
"If you want."
"I don't like you... Fine. I am the Administrator of this Tower!"
The Administrator proudly puffed out its chest as it introduced itself.
He's deliberately acting ridiculous.
Seong-un knew just how vicious Administrators could be.
As long as nobody bothered them, nothing happened.
But if someone offended them even slightly, they would mercilessly take that climber's life.
And they would do it through extremely subtle means.
Seong-un himself had nearly lost his life because of an Administrator in the late 50th Floors.
"So, what brings you here, Administrator?"
"Heh. Simple. I'm here to sell items to someone who has Gold."
Exactly.
No matter how much he disliked them, this was why he still had to deal with Administrators.
To purchase weapons, skill books, consumable items, and various other goods using the currency earned in the Tower, climbers had to go through Administrators.
Of course, it was also possible to purchase things from NPCs residing on each floor.
However, only Administrators carried the truly valuable items.
That made dealing with them unavoidable.
Seong-un currently possessed 422 Gold.
He had earned one Gold from each of the two small Towers.
Then, after finishing the Tutorial with EX-rank, he'd received an incredible 420 Gold.
That brought his total to 422.
"Before that, I'd like to use this."
Seong-un pulled out the token.
Buying items and skills with his 422 Gold was important.
But the title came first.
"Wow. I never thought I'd actually get the chance to bring this out."
The Administrator snapped its fingers.
A holographic window appeared before Seong-un.
More than a hundred titles were displayed in a list.
All of these are SS-rank...
Even after climbing all the way to the 80th Floor in his previous life, Seong-un had only seen SS-rank titles five times.
It was truly astonishing.
"So I can choose whichever one I want?"
"Of course. But once you choose, you can't take it back. Pick carefully."
Seong-un slowly scrolled down the list.
[Divine Descent (Beginner)]
[Godslayer (Beginner)]
[Death God (Beginner)]
Rosalein had received the title Descendant of the Death God.
Now, Death God itself, a title one grade higher, was on the list.
What do I need most right now?
He had originally planned out his lower-floor strategy under the assumption that he would obtain a combat title.
Every title on the list was beginner-exclusive.
They were designed to provide tremendous efficiency on the lower floors, but gradually became less effective as the climber ascended.
I'll have to replace it later.
Titles couldn't be stacked.
That meant he would eventually need to exchange it for something else.
If these weren't beginner titles, he would've chosen a combat-type title without hesitation.
But...
I'll take a growth title.
Growing as much as possible on the lower floors would place him in a far better position once he reached the upper floors.
And now that he could personally choose a growth title, there was no reason to take a combat title instead.
There it is.
Seong-un's finger stopped while scrolling through the list.
[Blessing of Odius (Beginner)]
Blessing of Odius.
[Blessing of Odius (Beginner)]
-Type: Title
-Rank: SS
-Equipping this title grants the blessing of Odius, God of Light.
-Clear Evaluation Bonus Score +20%
-Skill Growth Speed +30%
-EXP Gain x1.5
-Effectiveness reduced by 50% after Floor 10.
-Effectiveness reduced by 90% after Floor 15.
There was one simple reason Seong-un chose this title.
It was the only title that increased his Clear Evaluation Bonus Score.
There's no option more broken than this.
There were no hidden opportunities left in the current lower floors.
The vanguard climbers had already swept up the A-to-S-rank items.
What Seong-un needed to target on the lower floors were the additional rewards granted by high clear evaluations.
For Seong-un specifically, this could practically be considered the ultimate title.
"Hmm? Why choose that one of all things?"
The Administrator tilted its head.
This was only the third time it had brought out an SS-rank title while managing Floors 1 through 10.
The first and second climbers had both chosen combat-specialized titles.
Unlike acquired skills, titles applied their effects at a fixed rank.
For a beginner, receiving the benefits of an SS-rank title could easily double their climbing speed.
So why had this human ignored all the combat titles and selected Blessing of Odius?
"Do I really need to explain every little thing to you?"
Seong-un had no intention of telling him.
"Hah. Fine. If you tell me, I'll give you a ten-percent discount on items."
A ten-percent discount.
Pure curiosity drove the Administrator to make an unusually generous offer.
It genuinely wanted to know why Seong-un had chosen that title.
"On everything?"
"Of course."
"...Because of the special rewards."
"Special rewards? Don't tell me you're confident you'll keep getting high scores from now on?"
What an absurd bastard.
No matter how impressive his Tutorial performance had been, it was still only the Tutorial.
The higher floors would boast grotesque levels of difficulty that couldn't even be compared to it.
"Anyway, I answered you. Can we look at the items now?"
"Hehehe. Fine. As promised, I'll give you ten percent off everything."
The Administrator found Seong-un extremely amusing.
That kind of reckless confidence wasn't necessarily unpleasant.
It had seen plenty of climbers like him while managing the Tower.
And they all had one thing in common.
Their endings were never good.
There was nothing more thrilling than watching an unbreakable confidence disappear, leaving only despair behind.
The human before him would surely be no different.
Let's see how long that confidence lasts.
"I'll take this."
Seong-un selected a book.
Its price was a staggering 450 Gold.
Since the Administrator had promised him a ten-percent discount, it would cost 405 Gold.
"The Book of the Sword? You should keep your confidence within reason."
The Administrator chuckled.
The Book of the Sword.
This wasn't an ordinary skill book.
It was a special skill book that granted a random skill based on the user's natural talent and current proficiency.
If both talent and proficiency were exceptional, the resulting skill would be equally exceptional.
If they weren't, the user would simply receive a basic skill.
"405 Gold, right?"
"You really don't intend to listen to my advice, do you? Fine. 405 Gold."
The Administrator grinned and produced the Book of the Sword.
It was looking forward to seeing Seong-un's face filled with despair.
[You have purchased Book of the Sword.]
[405 Gold has been deducted.]
After 405 Gold disappeared from his balance, the Book of the Sword appeared in Seong-un's hand.
The appearance of EX-rank.
It was only the Tutorial, but the world's first appearance of an entirely new evaluation grade threw the entire world into chaos.
South Korea in particular erupted when news spread that the person who had achieved EX-rank was Korean.
[Wait, EX-rank actually existed?]
-WTF? Didn't someone get SSS-rank on Floor 12 two years ago? Wasn't that supposed to be the highest?
Online communities became completely flooded with discussion about EX-rank.
└Wow... And it was in the Tutorial.
└Someone who hasn't even had their invitation for long got EX-rank?
└Fuck, how did they even do that? I memorized the entire strategy guide before going in and still got pushed around by everyone else and finished with B-rank.
└That's normal... Tutorial Mode belongs to people who already have skills.
└What kind of skill do you even need to get EX-rank?
└No idea. One thing's certain, though. That climber has nothing but a brilliant future ahead of them.
└Every big guild is probably going after them LOL. I'm so jealous ㅠㅠ
└They'll probably get treated like royalty.
└I can't even imagine.
Just as they said, the major guilds were desperately searching for the person behind EX-rank.
"Did you investigate?"
"I'm sorry. We weren't able to discover anything."
At the unsatisfactory report, Team Leader Yoo Jin-seok frowned and tapped his fingers against the desk.
"We'll use Mr. Han Geon-woo to search throughout the entire country."
If Han Geon-woo had heard that, he would've been horrified.
The employee said it without hesitation.
Only then did Yoo Jin-seok's frown ease.
"How long will it take?"
"We'll find him within a week."
"This is your last chance."
Normally, Yoo Jin-seok would've rejected such an extreme method.
But this wasn't the time to worry about appearances if they wanted to recruit a monstrous rookie.
Han Geon-woo had possessed Indomitable and been fully equipped with defensive gear.
Yet someone had overwhelmed him in an instant using only a single dagger.
That meant the person had likely acquired a skill of at least SS-rank.
SS-rank or higher.
Just imagining it made Yoo Jin-seok's heart pound.
Every climber ranked within the world's top fifty had acquired at least an SS-rank skill at the moment of Awakening.
And even those people hadn't finished their Tutorials with SS-rank or higher.
In other words, this monstrous rookie's potential was proof that he stood far above even them.
We absolutely have to recruit him.
They had to move while he had only just finished the Tutorial.
If they waited too long, he would soar so high that they could never reach him.
"Remember this. We have to find him before anyone else."
Balhae.
He'd heard that the rookie they recruited had participated in the same Tutorial.
That meant their rookie must have seen the monster personally.
Balhae would never simply ignore someone who had finished with EX-rank.
Cheonha had to find him first.
"Yes!"
The employee answered loudly before leaving the office.
Left alone, Yoo Jin-seok rested his chin on one hand and looked at the framed emblem hanging on the wall.
The guild insignia was displayed inside it.
His father, Yoo Dae-ho, had personally designed that emblem.
It represented his will to place everyone beneath his feet.
I will bring Cheonha to the very top.
