"Keh... gek...."
Thud.
"Phew....."
I used every last magic stone as frugally as I could, then barely managed to kill all the goblins by swinging my sword myself with my exhausted body.
[Remaining Goblins: 0]
"Finally...."
I clenched my fist at the clear notification that appeared before my eyes.
It had been harder than I expected.
Honestly, I’d underestimated them at first.
They were just goblins, weren’t they?
And their chief had gone down in one swing?
Swordsmanship, parrying, magic, the Wiki’s walkthroughs....
I thought I’d win without much trouble, considering all the tricks I had up my sleeve.
I nearly died even while fighting on favorable ground.
I experienced firsthand just how important numbers were.
Even after cutting down dozens of them through water magic and lightning magic in combination, it had still been dangerous.
Honestly, I couldn’t call my current self strong by any means. But compared to when I first arrived, I’d become ridiculously stronger—and even so, I still had a long road ahead.
Crackle—
So it does turn out like this.
When I crawled out of the hole and looked around the cave, all the goblin corpses vanished at once.
More precisely, they flickered into blue holograms and disappeared completely, down to the bloodstains they had shed.
The blood on my body didn’t disappear, but still.
It didn’t matter anyway, since the clothes I’d originally been wearing were replenished every day at midnight.
Blink—
When I blinked, I was transported into the dark interior of the tower.
With faint light illuminating the way, I slowly stepped toward the two doors standing wide open.
[Tower of Trials]
-30-
Ding!
[Tower of Trials, Floor 30 Clear - TP +3,000]
[Cleared After Killing the Chief First - TP +1,000]
"That’s stingy."
Even with the bonus, it somehow felt insufficient.
The magic stones I’d used on the thirtieth floor alone had cost 1,800 TP.
The magic stones’ effects were certainly great, but I had a feeling this couldn’t go on.
Low-grade magic stones are manageable, but....
I could somehow afford to buy and use mid-grade magic stones too, but if I later bought more expensive skill books that required high-grade magic stones or better, I’d be in trouble.
At first, I’d wondered what the problem was. But after going through it myself, the efficiency was just too bad.
Being able to use magic with a click is its biggest advantage, though.
A secret weapon, or a last resort.
For now, it seemed best to prepare it and use it only to that extent.
My TP income was far too poor to make magic my main focus.
I’d need more ways to replenish TP, or learn how to use magic without magic stones, before I could use it as my mainstay.
Actual combat really is different.
I keenly felt the importance of swordsmanship and stamina.
Rather than pouring TP into magic stones like water into a bottomless pit, it seemed better to prioritize equipment and swordsmanship first.
Though I still had to buy magic stones.
[???]
-Functions are currently restricted. Once the conditions are met, ‘???’ will become available.
[Tower of Trials 30/50]
[Tower of Wisdom 50/50]
[Tower of Mindscape 30/50]
[Tower of Fate 30/50]
What this turns into will be important.
Sixty more floors until the new function unlocked.
I’d climbed a lot, yet the fact that I still had so far to go made me laugh bitterly.
"So what could this be...."
I had no clue what might appear.
With both StarWiki and Starpang available, it felt as though I already had everything I needed.
If I expanded the scope to the internet, too many possibilities came to mind. But if I narrowed it down to something useful for the tower, it felt like there was nothing at all.
Whatever it was, I hoped it would be something broadly useful.
First, I should get some rest....
My whole body ached. I was still fine, perhaps because the adrenaline hadn’t worn off yet, but the arm holding my sword was still trembling.
From the looks of it, I’d probably have to lie down for two days before I could barely walk around again.
Click!
Still... I have to do what needs doing....
After taking a picture of the featured-post ticket floating in the communal area, I headed for my hideout.
[Water Magic Really Is Better lol;]
[Author: KingGodWiki]
(Verification photo of clearing Floor 30 of the Tower of Trials)
(Photo of numbers and a timer floating in midair)
No objections accepted lol
[Comments]
Water > Fire: What a joke; have you even used it before saying that? Fire is obviously the best.
┗ Water > Fire: You haven’t used water magic either lol
┗ Water > Fire: I have, though? Fire was better.
┗ Water > Fire: Sure thing~ lol
┗ Water > Fire: Ah, fuck.
Baldness Not Stopped Even by a Ninth-Circle Archmage: Are you seriously using magic? How the hell are you doing it??
┗ KingGodWiki (Author): I’ll tell you if you take me on as your disciple.
┗ KingGodWiki (Author): By the way, what run are you on?
┗ Baldness Not Stopped Even by a Ninth-Circle Archmage: 2400.
┗ KingGodWiki (Author): I’ve been waiting for someone just like you... Please take me on as your disciple, Master..!!
┗ Baldness Not Stopped Even by a Ninth-Circle Archmage: Are you actually insane?
Not an Eraser🔸: Great work, Wiki...!!
┗ Not an Eraser🔸: (Sticker of a bizarre creature giving a thumbs-up)
*
[Search by Author: KingGodWiki]
[Cleared Floor 35 of the Trials Tower] (34)
[★ Cleared Floor 40 of the Fate Tower] (131)
[★ Cleared Floor 35 of the Fate Tower] (52)
[★ Cleared Floor 40 of the Mindscape Tower] (73)
[★ Cleared Floor 35 of the Mindscape Tower] (43)
"Wiki...."
I looked bitterly at the posts that came up in the search.
Why was he climbing so urgently?
Was it confidence in his own abilities? Or the desire to obtain Irregular as quickly as possible?
I left comments congratulating him and telling him he’d worked hard every time, but I couldn’t help worrying.
One floor a day was more than enough, but he was climbing three, four... sometimes even more than five floors in a single day.
He had the ability for it, and he was probably climbing because he could, but it still worried me too much.
If he breaks down like that... if he fails, I don’t want to imagine what will happen....
I knew Wiki was different from the people I’d seen so far, but I also knew all too well how far someone with a strong ego could fall when they broke.
I’d seen more than hundreds of people climb the tower like mad just to prove themselves.
And I clearly remembered how they all ended.
Ding!
[New Post by KingGodWiki]
"...He climbed the tower again, didn’t he?"
[Cleared Floor 40 of the Trials Tower lol]
[Author: KingGodWiki]
(Verification photo of clearing Floor 40 of the Tower of Trials)
(Photo of numbers and a timer floating in midair)
Hah.. I’ve gone and "proven" myself again...
Is there truly no one anywhere who can stop me...?
Just as expected, it was another verification post showing that he’d climbed the tower.
He’d reached Floor 35 of the Tower of Trials yesterday, and today he had climbed five more floors.
He was climbing somewhat frantically—enough to make me wish he’d get some rest.
[Comments]
1210th Run: lol If this bastard stood in front of me, I could make him bark like a dog for real.
┗ KingGodWiki (Author): I’ll send you a cola if you bark like a dog.
┗ 1210th Run: Woof! Bark bark!! Grrr!! Arf!!
┗ 1210th Run: Whine! Yip yip!!
┗ dd: LOOOOOOOOL
┗ Anonymous: Seriously, there’s no bigger dog bastard than him.
Not an Eraser🔸: Amazing...!! You didn’t get hurt anywhere, did you??
┗ KingGodWiki (Author): I’m good thanks to the head mod.
┗ Anonymous: What did the head mod do for you?
┗ KingGodWiki (Author): Sends me boob pics while you guys are all asleep.
┗ Anonymous: Head mod, explain yourself, fuck.
┗ Not an Eraser🔸: If I’d really uploaded them, everyone would have screenshotted them...!! Stop lying!!!!
"Hah...."
I couldn’t help laughing.
Whether I should say it was fun to watch, I wasn’t sure—but even when he was replying to someone other than me, it made me smile.
He really was a strange person.
Too strange, but I didn’t dislike it.
He was a newbie who hadn’t even been here for a year, let alone ten, yet he gave me the sense of familiarity of someone who had been here since ages past.
"...That only makes me worry more, though."
Putting aside the fact that I’d made him lose Irregular, I was simply very worried about him as a person.
He was someone who hadn’t experienced failure since entering the tower, so I couldn’t predict how he would react when he did fail.
And when this person who made me and the people in the gallery laugh every day became depressed, I couldn’t think of anything I would be able to do for him.
I found myself selfishly hoping that he wouldn’t push himself too hard.
Ding!
"..."
[Check My Form]
[Author: KingGodWiki]
(Video of a faceless man continuously swinging a sword)
This is something I just learned, but something feels off.
I can tell something isn’t right, but I don’t know what exactly is wrong.
Tell me what I need to fix.
[Comments]
Anonymous: Your steps.
dd: Looks like an issue with your stride length?
Two Hundredth Swordmaster: Relax your shoulders more too.
┗ Two Hundredth Swordmaster: No, is it because the sword is heavy?
┗ KingGodWiki (Author): It is heavy, but it’s the best one I have.
┗ Two Hundredth Swordmaster: Then don’t force yourself to swing it and ruin your form. Build up your strength first.
Superiority of Dual Swords: That’s what you get for carrying something as worthless as a shield!! Use dual swords!!
Infinite Swordsman: Wow, compared to the beginning, you actually look kind of human now.
┗ KingGodWiki (Author): Hah.. My talent frightens even me.. lol
┗ Infinite Swordsman: You could probably give a decent match to a seven-year-old now.
┗ KingGodWiki (Author): ?
It’s not like he only climbs the tower, either....
There weren’t few people who trained in the tower, but Wiki’s diligence was particularly remarkable.
I’d thought perhaps he was a mage learning swordsmanship, but he wasn’t a mage either.
Still, he could use magic, and if he was a swordsman, he wasn’t skilled enough to be called one.
He was a person whose identity was impossible to grasp, but everyone knew at least one thing: he was making an incredible effort.
[Check My Form]
[Is There Better Magic for Chaining Attacks?]
[Form.]
[Ah Fuck, This Sword Is Heavy as Hell]
[Day 1 of Praying to Gain Mana@]
There weren’t many people here who learned from others.
But he was someone who tried to learn everything, without discriminating between one thing and another.
That’s cool....
I wasn’t making any effort like that at all.
I was simply... living however things went.
Even if the end came someday, I felt as though I would just brush it aside lightly, thinking, Oh, so it’s here.
Did I try to escape at first too?
It had been far too long since I gave up trying to climb the tower.
Endless boredom, the mindset that if I couldn’t do it, then I couldn’t do it, had filled me before I knew it.
The unimaginably long span of fifteen hundred years had broken my spirit.
"Wiki, don’t break. Escape, no matter what."
I’ll support you with everything I have.
Get back the Irregular you lost because of me, and return to your happy old world.
Ding!
[New Comment by KingGodWiki]
"Ah...!"
My eyes widened at the new comment on the suggestion box.
Though I knew I shouldn’t, the corners of my mouth twitched upward on their own.
KingGodWiki: I’ve sent this week’s tribute, Boss ^^7
┗ Not an Eraser (Author)🔸: Why am I the boss...!!
┗ KingGodWiki: I’ll delete the comment so I don’t get banned, Boss ^^7
"I’m... not... the boss...."
[Post Comment]
[The comment has been deleted.]
"I haven’t even replied yet...!"
He must have sent food again.
Before long, a loud noise would ring out through the communal area, and food that they had gone days without receiving would appear.
Honestly, it would be fine if I didn’t accept it. The gallery was full of people who had never received anything even once.
Yet even so, I couldn’t bring myself to tell him he didn’t need to send it.
I could no longer refuse the precious food that had become one of my only joys.
It feels like I’m being tamed.... But thank you, Wiki....
I could only feel grateful in so many ways to Wiki, who treated me so kindly despite the wrong I’d committed.
Rumble—!!
"What will it be today...?"
I’d like to eat something like a sandwich too... Should I casually mention it next time...?
*
-1-
[Doomsday 303:04:12:33]
[Interval 1:04:12:33]
[197 / 63]
"Urgh...!"
I stretched as I looked at the timer floating in the communal area.
It had already been two months since I entered the tower.
Three weeks since I faced the goblin horde.
I climbed and climbed the tower diligently to unlock the new function.
Of course, I hadn’t neglected my training in the slightest either.
It’s not like I have anything else to do.
If I just lay around browsing the gallery, there weren’t enough topics compared to the number of people, so the same things got posted over and over.
[???]
-Functions are currently restricted. Once the conditions are met, ‘???’ will become available.
[Tower of Trials 49/50]
[Tower of Wisdom 50/50]
[Tower of Mindscape 49/50]
[Tower of Fate 49/50]
"...Phew."
I took a light, deep breath as I looked at my phone screen.
The preparations were complete.
Today, I was fully prepared to clear all the fiftieth floors in one go.
Swoosh—
This thing really is fucking heavy.
I let out a hollow laugh as I lifted the steel sword I’d diligently swung for the past week.
A steel sword that cost a full million won, bought with the TP I’d amassed after clearing Floor 40.
When the sword changed, my form changed with it.
It took me quite some time to get my form back down for [Royal Palace Knights Basic Swordsmanship Form 1], which I had only barely learned, and Form 2, which I was newly learning as well.
In fact, that was why my tower climbing had slowed down for a while.
[Create Post]
[Something Big Is Coming Today lol]
[Author: KingGodWiki]
Look forward to it lol
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Honestly, I’m not sure if I can clear them all in one day....
Still, I believed I could somehow climb them without dying.
"All right, let’s go~."
I’d posted some bait, and I had gathered everything I needed.
I’d rested all day yesterday to stockpile my stamina, and I was fully buffed up on everything from Cheongsimhwan to energy drinks.
Rumble—!!
Trusting that Wiki would unlock another insanely awesome function this time, I stepped toward the doors that opened with a thunderous roar.
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