Chapter 1866
In short, it was amazing. The tower built by Eat Spicy Jokbal became a new landmark of Reinhardt.
Peak Sword clicked his tongue when he witnessed the endless procession of people. “They seem to be coming from all over the continent. It is a reaction beyond imagination. If outsiders want to use the tower, then don’t they have to sign a one-sided contract with Eat Spicy Jokbal?”
“It is similar to any other dungeon. Some of the experience and rewards obtained from entering the tower will be handed over to Eat Spicy Jokbal.”
“Are there still people?”
“Of course.”
The tower got stronger as a person went up, so the biggest strength was that it was good to use when stuck. If they leveled up, then the experience obtained from existing hunting grounds would decrease significantly. If they didn’t have enough specs to use the higher hunting grounds, then they could visit the tower and significantly speed up their growth rate. It wasn’t a loss even if they had to give a few percent as compensation to Eat Spicy Jokbal. Additionally, the proportion of compensation transferred by individuals decreased significantly as the number of users of the tower increased.
“I think I should live life like Jokbal.”
If he built a few dungeons, he could put his hands behind his back and experience and money would roll in on their own...
It was truly the dignity of a building owner.
It happened as Peak Sword felt his stomach cramp with envy and frowned...
“It isn’t that much. If I was making such a huge profit as you think, would I be living like this?” Eat Spicy Jokbal approached and explained. “Most of the money I earn goes to maintaining and repairing dungeons.”
Of course, every act of working in the dungeon was a valuable experience for Eat Spicy Jokbal. Thanks to this, Eat Spicy Jokbal always maintained the top ranking even if he didn’t partic.i.p.ate in raids or hunting.
“If I want to make money properly, I have to run a dungeon as a trap... You know, I’ve quit doing such things since I joined the Overgeared Guild.”
“Didn’t you not do that in the first place?”
“You are mistaken. I didn’t do it at all.”
There was a time when Eat Spicy Jokbal shoveled directly. He could make dungeons and towers on a whim now that he was a legend, but in the past, Eat Spicy Jokbal used to dig at the ground by hand and build dungeons one by one using tools. He might’ve been the head of the notorious dark gamer group called Blood Carnival, but he didn’t have time to commit evil acts.
Of course, this didn’t mean Eat Spicy Jokbal’s past should be glorified. Eat Spicy Jokbal was reflecting on himself, which was why he gave people dungeons and towers. Of course, he was paid for the use...
In any case, there were many players who could breathe thanks to Eat Spicy Jokbal. One of the figures who greatly contributed to the image of the Overgeared Guild was Eat Spicy Jokbal.
“By the way, the guild members are having a surprisingly hard time.”
He remembered the days when he was active under the cool stage name of Dark. Eat Spicy Jokbal remembered being beaten to death by Grid, who suddenly broke into the dungeon, and changed the topic.
He opened the ranking list. There were very few Overgeared members on the list of people who had climbed up high.
Lauel shook his head. “I’m afraid it can’t be helped. They are in a much more disadvantageous position compared to ordinary players.”
The Overgeared Guild had fought against strong enemies. The level of the boss monster they raided recently was at least a high ranking great demon, so they had a hard time breaking through the upper floors of the tower. In particular, the members who partic.i.p.ated in the h.e.l.l expedition recently were struggling.
They all failed to break through the 10th floor. The enemy they faced when they got to the 10th floor was the red lump of flesh, Asura, or King Daebyeol.
“Use vulgar words to say we are screwed. I’m not G.o.d Grid. How can I defeat King Daebyeol alone...?”
Of course, the tower gave all types of buffs. It was from ordinary buffs that increased their stats to buffs that increased their ‘status’ or suspended death. Together, they had a very powerful effect.
Right away, Peak Sword was much stronger inside the tower than he was outside. He was even lucky to gain several of the best buffs while climbing from the 1st to the 9th floor. Putting it together, it was enough to treat himself as a high-ranking transcendent.
However, the enemy was an Absolute G.o.d. He might’ve been reduced to a ‘soul body’ and was far short of his prime, but he wasn’t someone Peak Sword could face alone.
“This is completely wrong. We are all doomed unless you improve the system in a way that allows you to set the boss we encounter on the 10th floor.”
It was obviously good for the players to grow, but the Overgeared Guild couldn’t be left behind. Peak Sword expressed concern, but Eat Spicy Jokbal responded with disapproval.
“I don’t have the authority to change the system... How can I intervene in the set system when it is even impossible for Grid? For example, even Grid will only end up with a wooden sword if he uses wood as a material for a sword...”
Eat Spicy Jokbal was using Grid as an example to make it easier for Peak Sword to understand, only to suddenly shut his mouth. It was because the wooden sword made by Grid seemed to be able to cut through even a small iron sword.
“Um... There might be room for intervention as the tower’s level increases...”
Eat Spicy Jokbal was changing his words only to close his mouth again. It was due to the notification window that just appeared.
[Player ‘Kraugel’ has broken through the 10th floor of the tower.]
“Wow, how did he do it?”
All the Overgeared members who partic.i.p.ated in the h.e.l.l expedition were stuck at the 10th floor. Kraugel’s situation was the same. He would’ve also met King Daebyeol as the boss for the 10th floor. Did he break through?
“15 hours...? Did he take advantage of the inability to recover debuff?”
Eat Spicy Jokbal noticed something after checking Kraugel’s clearance time. In the list of buffs that could be obtained from the tower, there was a buff that ‘applies an unrecoverable state to the target every time you attack the target.’ It was a buff with an ordinary performance so the selection rate was low compared to other buffs that were so excellent that they didn’t exist in reality. However, under such circ.u.mstances, Kraugel used it to successfully climb to the 11th floor.
“What?”
Peak Sword learned the inside story after hearing Eat Spicy Jokbal’s explanation and admired it in many ways. It was hard to believe he succeeded in the raid by only hitting the target for 15 hours... In order for that to be possible, there was the prerequisite that combat sustainability had to be preserved for 15 hours. In other words, Kraugel couldn’t allow many hits from King Daebyeol. He also had to use the smallest movements possible to preserve his stamina.
“It is all in the realm of control so it isn’t a big surprise. They will have to retry several times to succeed, but there are many people in the Overgeared Guild who can do it as well as Kraugel.’
The part where Peak Sword greatly admired Kraugel was his mind, not his physical ability. Perhaps Kraugel paid attention to the fact that the tower’s buff boasted an absolute effect.
A debuff that applied an unrecoverable state to the attacked target. It was a debuff that most monsters in reality were resistant to. Very few tower climbers would’ve chosen it as a reward.
However, Kraugel chose it. He predicted from the start that the boss of the tower wouldn’t be able to resist the concept of absolute effect within the tower.
“That guy is amazing... He deserves to be called the next G.o.d Grid.”
Peak Sword’s motivation was aroused. “I should also start over.”
It was like he hadn’t even climbed to the 9th floor. The determined Peak Sword reset the status of the challenge. Then he started climbing the tower again from the 1st floor. He was going to repeatedly play it until the unrecoverable debuff popped up on the rewards list.
On the other hand—
“I was lucky.”
Inside the tower, Kraugel was taking a breather. The low-level reward that he unluckily obtained on the 9th floor—he hadn’t expected that he would succeed in breaking through the 10th floor thanks to this unrecoverable debuff. There was no other way to explain the situation than to say he was lucky...
“It will be faster from the 20th floor onwards.”
There were as many as seven rewards obtained from raiding King Daebyeol on the 10th floor and four of them were buffs applied to his current tower run. Thanks to this, his attack power had become many times more powerful.
King Daebeyol, whom he would meet again on the 20th floor, would be stronger compared to the 10th floor King Daebyeol, but it was unlikely his health and defense would be exponentially multiplied. Therefore, Kraugel judged that it would be possible to defeat him quickly.
***
“The cheetah was just laughing...”
“Yes...”
In the last week, ordinary players were enjoying the greatest joy ever.
Tower That Grows Stronger As One Climbs It—Eat Spicy Jokbal’s new game... no, it was because there were very few Overgeared members on the dungeon ranking list. Under the same conditions (?), they weren’t inferior to the Overgeared Guild. Many people mistakenly thought this and felt a great deal of pride.
Then three days ago.
Kraugel suddenly rose to the top of the rankings. Then today, the entire ranking list was changed to the Overgeared Guild. In just three days, an extreme change took place.
People were forced to admit it. The Overgeared Guild were just late starters.
They watched us from the starting point as if we were cute and then started climbing slowly.
At this point, they became curious. Grid still wasn’t on the ranking list. He seemed to be neglecting the tower to enjoy his newlywed life, but how fast would he rise to first in the rankings...?
The media started to speculate about it. The cast of some famous entertainment programs even made a bet during the broadcast. It was a bet about how many days it would take for Grid to take 1st place from the time that he first appeared on the ranking list.
World star Hallyu idols, Hollywood actors, and so on. It became a hot topic because the list of people involved was so glamorous.
Grid felt like he was going to die. “Leave me alone...”
Grid returned after a well-deserved rest where he gave a generous amount of love to Irene, Mercedes, Basara, and Marie Rose. Grid had grasped the trend and had been thinking about slowly climbing the tower, but he quickly lost his motivation.
Looking at the atmosphere, it felt like he would have to climb the tower without a break as soon as his name appeared in the ranking list. Of course, no one forced Grid to be a ranker, but there was such an atmosphere. It was a matter of pride.
-Kraugel, isn’t it time for you to go to eat?
-It is okay. My mother went on a holiday with some of her friends.
-...She’s made new friends in the United States. It is great.
The news that a friend’s mother had completely recovered her health and became as normal as everyone else made Grid genuinely happy. It warmed his heart and made him smile.
But that was that and this was this.
‘No, please take it easy.’
The 227th floor—Grid was frowning as he reconfirmed Kraugel’s unrivaled lead, only to suddenly smile. Old memories came flooding back. How long had it been since he was in the position of challenger?
“It is Grid.”
“Wow.”
“A true cheetah is finally rising...!”
Tower That Grows Stronger As One Climbs It—the group of people were buzzing after discovering that Grid had arrived there. Due to this, Grid emerged from his reminiscence to realize reality, but he couldn’t frown because he was a G.o.d. He tried to keep the smile on his face as he responded to the enthusiastic cheers.
“I hear that top stars line up for your autographs when you go to the broadcasting stations?”
“That is a rumor you made.” Grid happened to encounter Peak Sword at the tower and failed to manage his expression.
Peak Sword laughed. “I was just telling the truth. Oh, my~ I’m tired. I reached 9th in the ranking, so I’ll take a good rest today. Ah, come to think of it, are you parked on the 9th floor, G.o.d Grid? The two of us are the ‘same’ number. Haha.”
“…….”
“Take your time, take your time. There is nothing special about being a ranker here, so there is no reason to be enthusiastic, right? Didn’t Mir confirm the reincarnation of King Daebyeol? Take it easy when you should be resting. The air below is clear and good, right?”
Peak Sword and the members of the Overgeared Guild were people who loved games. They liked the game so hard that they tried hard. Thanks to it, they connected with Grid after becoming rankers and had reached this point. Basically, there was a strong sense of compet.i.tion.
That’s right. Right now, Peak Sword was sincerely encouraging Grid to rest, but was also keeping him in check. The provocation was a bonus. There was no malice in it. It was just a natural gamer’s disposition. It wasn’t a matter that Grid could simply pa.s.s over.
“Peak Sword, you are the one who needs to get some clear air below and rest. Sooner or later, the 190th floor will be the below area.”
“Wow.”
One by one, numerous witnesses started to log out. It was to quickly deliver Grid’s declaration of war to the community. Grid responded to the public’s attention in a different way than intended...
Peak Sword clenched his hands tightly and his expression stiffened as he belatedly regretted it. “Truly G.o.d Grid... You are a true superstar.”
“......”
Grid returned from his vacation. He walked into the tower that was very tall, unlike the first day he saw it.
At the same time, h.e.l.l...
“Why aren’t there many visitors...?”
The 1st ranked Archangel, Raphael, had a.s.sumed that the Overgeared members would focus on defeating the remnants of the demons in h.e.l.l. They planned to snipe at Jishuka in order to recover the power of King Daebyeol and they had already been staying in h.e.l.l for nearly ten days.
Everything was quiet. The desired situation never happened. They were already nervous about how long they would have to stay in this filthy and uncivilized place that was unlike Asgard.
The great demon sisters who were working with Raphael made eye contact and smiled.
The Black and White sisters—originally, they became great demons to eavesdrop on the 1st Great Demon, Baal, but they missed the opportunity to stand out and wandered for a while. They honestly regretted making such an extreme choice.
But now it was fun.
The number one Archangel, Raphael. Compared to the 1st ranked Great Demon, someone worthy of being targeted came rolling in on their own.