Chapter 143:
The reason why I wanted to imbue the affinity Absolute Indestructibility was for Dam Cheonwoo
After all…..
They could use multiple skills of high caliber, and a challenger that climbed until the 41st floor.
‘It’s necessary to recover the durability of Blood Demon Sword, and imbue it with the Absolute Indestructibility affinity.’
The information acquired from reaching the 41st floor must be priceless.
I was yet to hear in detail his information as a challenger, but with the rank of the sword raised, the time to have a conversation ought to increase.
‘But the issue is that the previous battle damaged the sword’s durability.’
Dam Cheonwoo’s soul ego was fragile in the first place……
This recent battle must’ve overexerted him as he was yet to speak.
I’ve attempted to wake them up using the Advanced Stealth Communication method, but nothing occurred.
With no other options, I sheathed the sword back and opened the contact store to get ready for the quest.
「You’ve purchased the Adventurer’s Handmade Gloves(B+).」
「85,000 points deducted.」
「You’ve purchased the Tracking Blindfold(B+).」
「92,000 points deducted.」
To tell the truth, there’s nothing much to get ready for, but learned one thing after the 15th floor.
After the trials of the 10th floor, humans were manifested in the trials and its frequency continued to increase.
‘Quests are in place of personal trials so it would be safe to assume that more humans would be implemented in the trial.’
So in order to be ready to face humans, it was necessary to get proper tools for it.
I had to spend a lot of my points, but the effects of the purchased items were not up to par.
‘The Adventurer’s Handmade Gloves(B+) makes it easier for me to get adjusted to new places better.’
‘While Tracking Blindfold(B+) helps me spot whoever has hostility towards me.’
Both items were honestly not worth its whopping price of close to 20 million points.
However, points did not matter to me as much as it used to and I spent the points because I could afford to do so.
‘Ah, come to think of it, I should be able to purchase more items I could use for Steel Eat from the store.’
After purchasing the gloves and the blindfold, I purchased a few more items that I could consume.
The gloves were comfortable to wreck, but the blindfold was a bit uncomfortable as it covered my sight.
Of course…….
「Activating skill ‘Fire Dragon’s Eyes’.」
It did not matter much since it was more efficient to use the skills to see.
「Activating skill ‘Steel Eat’.」
Crunch, Crunch…….
A message immediately popped up as soon as I finished swallowing the items purchased from the store.
「<03:47:59> Until complete consumption.」</03:47:59>
Perhaps because I consumed higher ranked items than before, the time limit increased.
‘Well, it’s not like it matters that much…….’
As long as the time did not increase to span a few days, it was nothing worth worrying over.
「You’ve selected the quest <savior of="" the="" end="">.」</savior>
「The 16th floors individual trial is replaced with <savior of="" the="" end="">.」</savior>
「The observation of trial from other administrators are limited, and only a selected few administrators can see the trial.」
After selecting the quest, the message stating that the 16th floors trial got replaced appeared.
On top of the message that notified of limited access of administrators.
Come to think of it, there was a message that said that quests are created based on the records of administrators previous life.
‘It would make sense, it’d be more weird to display the records of their life out to the public like that.’
And the messages about other administrators were not important so I chose to ignore it.
「Will you accept the trial of 16th floor?」
With everything ready, there was no reason to hesitate.
I immediately stepped towards the portal that appeared.
「Entering Tower of Trials floor 16.」
「Difficulty – Hard」
「The objective of the following trial is ‘Hero’.」
「We wish the challenger a satisfactory ending to their choice.」
And
「The 16th floor trial is starting.」
「 Remaining time – 48 days. 」
「 Trial success condition – Make a choice that you will not regret within the time limit.」
「 Trial fail condition – Challenger’s death or the end of remainder of time.」
「Trial success reward – Two of the selected items can be imbued with the affinity Absolute Indestructibility.」
「Trial fail penalty – None」
After opening my eyes, I realized that I was staring at an unfamiliar ceiling.
“…….”
Laying on a bed.
»————- ★ ————-«
「Starting the quest <savior of="" the="" end="">..」</savior>
「Some of the items are restricted from equipment and are sent back inside your inventory.」
「Challenger Han Sungyeun has abilities surpassing the level of the quest.」
「Every stat will be fixed into 50, and it will not change until the end of the trial.」
「However, the stats acquired from the quest can be recalibrated after the trial.」
With the start of the quest, my stats decreased over half.
Even the two swords I had equipped disappeared.
The Adventurer’s Handmade Gloves(B+) and Tracking Blindfold(B+) that I bought right before the trial remained…….
But the ‘Vampire Count’s Rusty Tail Coat(A-)’ that should’ve been protecting my body and the ‘Wind Spirit’s Boots(A+)’ has also disappeared.
‘Now this is odd.’
Every item of A- rank must’ve been sent back into the inventory, but it was absurd.
I’ve never expected that my items and stats would be locked up for being unfit for the level of the trial.
I merely assumed that it was because this was not a typical trial, but a quest.
Since this has never happened before.
“…….”
After raising the upper half of my body from the bed, I surveyed my surroundings to find out that I was inside a tent.
It was rather on the large side, but it did not feel like a military tent like before.
The moment I attempted to figure out my situation.
“You’re finally up, Neal..”
While looking at my surroundings, a woman estimated to be in her twenties approached me.
With an expression asking for clarification, I opened my mouth.
“What kind of situation is this?”
It was a question disregarding the role I was tasked with..
Perhaps this would lead me to figure out the story of the quest on my own…….
But I had no desire to find out the plot of the quest doing bothersome things.
But as if the stars had aligned itself for me, the woman with a sunken expression said something unexpected.
“……So in the end, this is how it ended up. Did you forget everything, Neal?”
I didn’t do anything but the situation set itself for me.
So I went with the flow and nodded my head.
“……It seems like it. I can’t remember anything. Who I am, and why I am on this bed here.”
Some of them were lies, but the woman wearing a black robe nodded as if she expected this.
“……The after effects are severe, there’s nothing else I can do.”
“After effects ……?”
“……We have no time so I’ll summarize it. Neal, you’re a hero. The only apostle of Church of Dragon with a mission to save this world”
“…….”
“You were, no, we were on an adventure to defeat the demon lord. And in that process during a battle with the great demon, you sustained a great injury.”
“And that’s how I lost my memories?”
The woman nodded as an answer.
‘What kind of situation…….’
Putting aside the convenient memory loss trope, it was rather absurd.
War with a demon lord?
It was the trope you’d commonly see in decades of manhwa books..
However, seeing the woman’s haggard expression, and those depressed tone of voice, the battle must’ve been arduous unlike the stories from manhwas.
And when I asked her why we had to kill the demon lord, she frowned.
“……How disastrous. To think you’d even forget this.”
She then immediately went to explain in a depressed voice.
“Listen well. There’s countless reasons, but the demon lord serves the demon god.”
A god was involved in this too.
“They’re planning on manifesting the demon god in this world. And if that happens, this world as we know it will go extinct.”
On an entirely different scale than the 15th floor.…….
In any case, I had every intention to do my best and clear this trial.
So when I said my intentions out loud in very sweetly coated words, the woman’s eyes widened in surprise and turned back to dispirited.
“……Good, good. You’re the chosen hero after all. Just because you lost your memories doesn’t mean that you get to rest.”
I couldn’t even question her self reproaching tone.
“Wait here, I’ll go call the other companions.”
Because she suddenly left the tent saying that she’ll call over the others.
I stared at the ceiling of the tent in silence.
‘……It said that the quests proceeded according to the life record of the administrator.’
Putting me, who is going through this in the form of a trial, aside. The administrator who went through this themselves must’ve lived a depressing life.
「Administrator ‘Iron-blooded Monarch’ is saying that they know this story already and expressed their boredom.」
「Administrator ‘White Crane Sword Saint’ says that it’s interesting to see the story in real life.」
「Administrator ‘Hero of a Fallen World’ is looking at you in silence.」
However, the two administrators must’ve been acquainted with the administrator who commissioned this quest seeing their recognition over this story.
Well, to tell the truth. Despite having no relations at all, I could see the overall flow of this quest.
After all…..
‘No good ending would be there with the title of ‘hero of a fallen world’.’
The tower increased the quest common on the 16th floor, and informed me that the quests are progressed according to the life records of the administrator.
So feeling a sense of foreboding from the title of the administrator was a natural occurrence.
Either the demon god manifested, or the demon lord couldn’t be defeated…….
Regardless of whichever happened, the life of the administrator would’ve not met a good ending.
Thus is the reason for trial completion being to ‘make a choice that you will not regret’.
In any case, this would not be easy.
However, seeing the all stat sealed penalty, the difficulty would most likely be of mental difficulty than physical.
‘But can this trial really be that challenging mentally?’
It seems like a simple enough quest defeating the demon lord trying to manifest the demon god.…….
I could not understand why it was set up to be so mentally challenging.
But that sentiment only lasted a little.
“Neal, here are the rest of them.”
I realized after seeing the other companions entering the tent, completely breaking the silence.
“Dear lord! Neal! You’re finally up! What a relief! As expected of the apostle chosen by the Dragon Lord!”
“……It’s a miracle! I never doubted that you will rise again, o savior hero!”
Why this quest was set up with the focus on mental challenges.
「Multiple hostile enemies detected near the user.」
「Activating ‘Automatic Tracking’ the exclusive effect of Tracking Blindfold(B+).」
‘……Now what kind of situation is this?’
Three of the companions gave off a crimson hue through the Tracking Blindfold.
As if they held a very strong hostility towards me.
[To be continued.]
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel