Chapter 7
Part 6
Mincheol's vision spun.
His body stiffened.
He clenched his teeth.
I need to retreat first.
He pulled one leg back and raised his hammer.
Hummmmmm!
The weapon began vibrating wildly.
[Earth Shatter]
BOOOOOOM!
RUMBLEEEEE!
Mincheol activated the skill and smashed his hammer into the ground.
The earth shook violently.
It felt as if an earthquake had erupted beneath the canyon.
SCREECH!
EEK!
The Rock Monkeys scattered in panic as the ground trembled.
Haa... The monkeys have backed off. I should deal with the Harpies first...
Then...
RUMBLEEEEEEEEE!
The entire canyon suddenly began shaking as if it were about to collapse.
Huh...? What is this...?
Mincheol struggled to keep his balance.
This was not caused by Earth Shatter.
The tremors were at least ten times stronger than the earthquake created by his skill.
RUMBLE!
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
As Mincheol fought to stay upright...
A gigantic monster erupted from underground.
“You've got to be kidding me...”
[Lv. 74] Drogas
Mincheol's jaw dropped.
Why was a Level 74 boss monster appearing on Floor 23?
More importantly...
Why had it appeared now?
Don't tell me... Was it because of my Earth Shatter?!
CRAAAAASH!
“Hyung! Run...!”
BOOOOM!
SHATTER!
“Ugh!!”
The Giant Worm charged forward at terrifying speed.
It destroyed Indomitable Barrier in a single hit.
The impact was strong enough to nearly knock Mincheol unconscious.
Worse, the arm holding his shield screamed with horrible pain.
It might have been broken.
Shrrrrrk!
Then countless tentacles began extending through the canyon.
No...
Calling them tentacles was not quite right.
They looked more like smaller worms connected to Drogas.
Shrrrrrk!
SKREEE!
SCREECH!
The worm-like tentacles began devouring the Harpies flying above.
The other monsters screamed and tried to flee.
But the worms moved far faster.
CRUNCH.
CRACK.
“...”
The Harpies disappeared.
Then the Rock Monkeys.
Hundreds of monsters vanished in moments.
Mincheol swallowed dryly.
If I hadn't used Earth Shatter...
While he was blaming himself...
Step.
Step.
Yugeon approached from behind him.
Mincheol had not even noticed him come down.
“H-Hyung! Why are you down here?! Get back up...!”
“You did well. I'll finish things from here.”
“...What?”
Shing.
Yugeon calmly drew the cheap sword hanging at his waist.
It was one he had found at home.
Ding!
[You have activated Timeless Realm.]
Bzzzzzz.
The world stopped.
Yugeon moved his sword.
Ding!
[You have activated Heaven-Annihilating One Sword.]
FLASH!
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Whoosh.
CRACK.
“As expected. I really need to replace my sword soon.”
Time began moving again.
The sword in Yugeon's hand shattered into pieces.
At the same moment...
CRAAAAACK!
BOOOOOOM!
The enormous body of Drogas and every smaller worm connected to it split apart.
They died instantly.
What... did I just see...?
Mincheol stared blankly at the dead boss.
It had definitely been Level 74.
A monster that should never have appeared on Floor 23.
Not a normal field monster, but a named boss.
Yet the instant Yugeon moved...
It died.
How does that make any sense?
Boss monster levels were different from Awakener levels.
A Level 50 boss monster and a Level 50 Awakener were not equally strong.
Even at the same level, the boss monster would be far more powerful.
That was why Awakeners did not fully trust boss levels.
In the past, before people understood this, many Awakeners died pointless deaths.
A Level 40 Awakener would challenge a Level 30 boss alone...
And die before even managing to scream.
That was how different boss monster levels were.
At least four... No, five.
It would take a party of five Awakeners in the Level 70 range to defeat Drogas.
Then how did hyung...?
What exactly was Han Yugeon?
Mincheol knew he was strong.
But this was absurd.
“Are you okay?”
“...Huh? Ah! Yes! I'm fine!”
Mincheol quickly came back to his senses and put away his shield.
The Harpies and monkeys had already been eaten.
The boss was dead.
There was nothing left to fight.
“Go collect only the boss's Mana Stone.”
“The Mana Stone only?”
Drogas's hide was extremely tough and durable.
Many Awakeners used it to make protective equipment.
Why take only the Mana Stone?
“It's not efficient.”
Drogas's hide and teeth were useful.
The problem was processing them.
Materials from Drogas were extremely difficult and expensive to process.
And their performance was not good enough to justify the cost.
“Your current equipment is more efficient than anything made from that.”
“Ah...”
“The Mana Stone is different.”
“I understand! I'll get it right away.”
Mincheol nodded.
He pulled a dagger from his bag and began dismantling Drogas.
It was not especially difficult.
Yugeon had already cut the boss cleanly in half.
Squish.
“Hyung, I got it.”
“Good. Keep it. Sell it somewhere with low fees.”
“?”
“What?”
Yugeon tilted his head when Mincheol stared at him.
“Um... You're giving this to me? I can keep it?”
It was a Mana Stone from a Level 74 boss.
Not Level 7.
Not Level 4.
Level 74.
An A-rank Mana Stone.
Even if sold cheaply, it would be worth at least three hundred million won.
The usual market price was somewhere between five hundred and eight hundred million.
And Yugeon was simply giving it away?
“I don't need it.”
“...But I can't just accept this. The boss appeared because of me in the first place...”
“I knew it would appear.”
“Excuse me?”
“Drogas believes its territory is being invaded whenever it senses powerful vibrations. That's why it comes out.”
“...”
Mincheol had so many questions.
Why did Yugeon not need the Mana Stone?
How had he known the boss would appear?
Why was a Level 74 boss hiding on Floor 23?
He wanted answers to everything.
And most of all... who exactly is hyung?
Yugeon glanced at him.
“You look like you have a lot of questions.”
“Haha... I'm not very smart, so there are things I don't understand.”
“Originally, the Tower didn't have boundaries between floors.”
“What do you mean? No boundaries?”
“It wasn't divided into Sector 1, Sector 2, Sector 3 and so on. Originally, Floors 1 through 100 were all connected as one place.”
“?!!”
Mincheol's eyes widened.
Then what exactly had countless Awakeners been doing by clearing one floor after another?
“It was changed. The floors were divided so someone could see more things... and watch more dramatic scenes.”
“...”
Mincheol tilted his head.
He did not completely understand.
But more than that...
Yugeon's eyes had become terrifying while saying those words.
For an instant, Mincheol saw deep anger.
He could not tell who that anger was directed toward.
“Anyway, there used to be no concept of separate floors. That came later.”
“Then...?”
“Powerful creatures like Drogas are hidden on many floors. Where does the Tower begin?”
“Sector 1, Floor 1.”
“There used to be a Level 90 monster there.”
“W-What?! Wouldn't that be a disaster?!”
“Don't worry. It's already gone. It was close to the end of its lifespan.”
“...”
“I know what you're thinking, but don't worry too much. Most of them are forced into hibernation by the Tower's laws. Unless someone forcibly wakes them up like today, they won't appear.”
“Ah... S-Sorry. This happened because of me...”
Yugeon smiled.
He lightly patted Mincheol on the back.
In truth, he had brought Mincheol here today specifically to summon Drogas.
I needed an earthquake strong enough to wake it.
If Drogas had not been killed today...
Hwang Mungi would die to it.
The item Mungi was searching for happened to be one of Drogas's favorite foods.
The moment Hwang Mungi found it, the sleeping Drogas would immediately awaken.
Drip.
Drip.
“Ugh...”
“The smell here is horrible.”
“Hyung, why did we come here...?”
Mincheol covered his nose while shining a flashlight ahead.
They were now on Sector 1, Floor 5.
[Waste Storage]
Immediately after finishing their business on Floor 23, they had come down here.
“There's something I need.”
“There's something worth getting here?”
Then Mincheol remembered something.
In the center of Waste Storage was a gigantic mountain of garbage.
Food waste.
Broken appliances.
All kinds of trash had been piled together without any order.
“Don't tell me we're going to the garbage mountain.”
“We are.”
“Is there really anything useful there...?”
Mincheol had visited it before.
But he had never found anything worth taking.
There were weapons and armor mixed into the trash.
But every one of them had been worthless.
“There's no better place to hide treasure than inside filth.”
“Hmm... If you say so, hyung, I'll trust you.”
Mincheol smiled and continued walking.
After dealing with attacking monsters and traveling for quite a while...
A gigantic circular chamber finally appeared.
And in its center...
A mountain of garbage rose before them.
