Chapter 7: 7

Gulp, gulp—

As if downing a hot drink, the feeling of the catalyst flowing down his esophagus was intense . Su-hyeun put the empty bottle down beside him . He could feel the same intensity that he had felt when he first had the low-grade mana catalyst .

Focus, focus . Like a spell, he chanted it twice in his mind . From now on, the value of the catalyst would vary depending on how focused he was . The 700 points which he spent might be for naught if there was no effect, but on the contrary, it could also worth thousands of points .

Wriggle—

The catalyst that went into his body started reacting . It was the real deal now .

Rumble, rumble—

Sizzle—

The magic’s build started growing after reacting with the catalyst . Its properties did not change . If it did change, it would have meant that the magic level had increased .

Greed was taboo . Instead of the properties, it was more important to focus on the maximum amount of mana, which in this case was the magic factor .

[Your magic factor has increased by 1 point . ]

[Your magic factor has increased by 1 point . ]

[Your magic factor…]

As the magic properties increased, the magic factor increased as well . Su-hyeun tried to ignore the message that popped up in his head . If he lost focus now, all that he had done up until now would have been for nothing .

Tch—

Rumble, rumble—

At that moment, some changes were visible in the magic properties . Now is the time .

Although he tried not to be greedy, the situation changed . The effect of the catalyst was beyond his expectations . Su-hyeun quickly focused on the remaining catalyst . The magic properties changed rapidly in response to it . The color changed slowly from one to another until it was one of a better grade .

The results .

[Your magic level has increased by 1 . ]

Compared to the first time, the effect had exceeded expectations .

“Huuuu—” After the last message popped up, Su-hyeun let go of his breath, which he had held for so long . At the same time, he let go of his concentration, and the magic that gathered at the catalyst had dissipated .

But the magic that had undergone change once would not change anymore . After sweating it out, Su-hyeun laid on the floor . As expected… It’s tiring .

Extreme concentration brought severe fatigue . As his vision blurred, all his energy left his body . He needed to rest .

Great . Awesome . Unlike the fatigue in his body, Su-hyeun’s mind was feeling quite refreshed . Magic level of 3 . On top of that, he also attained a magic factor of 16 . The maximum amount of mana had definitely changed . Not only that, but the magic properties had also increased to a higher level .

I’ll rest for awhile… Su-hyeun took smaller breaths and closed his eyes .

And move on to the next floor .

Act 4

Su-hyeun headed out to the square after taking a rest . The second floor of the Tower of Trials was a city so vast it was as if it had no end . In the city existed several squares, and most of the squares had portals that were linked to the upper floors .

“Looking for people to challenge the third floor! Willing to compromise on the level!”

“Cleared level 5 challenger attempting level 4! 2-person party, looking for one more to join!”

It was as if looking at a scene from a game . There were those who were reluctant to head up to the next floor on their own . They introduced themselves and started to look for parties to head up with .

“Are you going up to the next floor?” An amiable looking young man appeared beside Su-hyeun . He looked almost the same age as Su-hyeun . It seemed like he, too, would like to challenge the next floor .

“I want to go to level 8 . Do you want to join? You seem to be quite skillful, judging by your equipment . ”

Level 8 . A fairly high-level challenger . Seeing that the young man was as well-equipped as Su-hyeun himself, it seemed that he had passed the first floor with a high performance .

Where have I met him before? Su-hyeun did not answer immediately, but instead scrutinized his face — it looked familiar . Soon, Su-hyeun was able to recall where he had seen the young man .

Choi Hak-joon .

He was labeled as a genius amongst the promising magical awakeners at a certain point in time . Unfortunately, he had lost his life in an accident . He had seen him a few times before, but he did not look this young even then . More accurately, it wasn’t just his face that was different .

His aura feels different . The Hak-joon he remembered was not this affectionate and sociable . Even his expression was different . That was why Su-hyeun couldn’t recognize him at first .

Some events had caused people to change, and it seemed that it was before the accident happened . That accident… which guild’s extermination was it?

The accident was the wipeout of the guild that he was in . It was a relatively large guild, and the future Hak-joon was a highly skilled magical awakener . News of a guild being wiped out was the talk of the town . Strictly speaking, it wasn’t strange if one had enemies amongst the magical awakeners . Hak-joon was finally acquitted when the relationship between him, the guild, and the syndicate came to light .

Level 8… Although he did challenge a higher level, Su-hyeun shook his head .

“I’m sorry . ” Hak-joon smiled awkwardly with a look of regret on his face at Su-hyeun’s refusal .

“Haha . It’s quite a high difficulty, isn’t it? If I can’t get anyone to join me today, I might have to head up on my own . ”

Most would not bother to challenge level 8 . It was because the moment one cleared level 5, the subsequent levels’ difficulty would increase exponentially . Hak-joon thought that it was because of the high difficulty that Su-hyeun had to consider joining him . But it was actually the opposite, and Su-hyeun did not bother to explain .

“Don’t you want to lower the difficulty?” Su-hyeun became curious about the man standing before him . As Hak-joon passed on too early, he never had the chance to talk to him . On top of that, the Hak-joon he remembered wasn’t such an amiable person .

Something must have triggered a change in him . Exactly what had made him change? Hak-joon answered Su-hyeun’s question . “I don’t . ”

“Why must you challenge level 8 then?”

“The higher levels seem to be a lot tougher…”

“Isn’t level 8 of a high difficulty as well?”

“Of course, it is . ”

“But why?”

“Well…” Hak-joon shook his head to avoid answering the question .

“It’s nothing . If it’s tough for you, I’ll just go by myself . ” Su-hyeun also had no intention of forcing an answer from him . Eventually, Su-hyeun left Hak-joon and went into the square .

Hoping to find others who would join him, Hak-joon approached some others who were equipped well enough . Others had also expressed interest, but only for a while .

Although some saw Su-hyeun’s equipment and approached him to clear the levels together, he rejected them all .

No one would want to attempt level 10, right? Even if there was someone, he wouldn’t want to do it together .

Chuck—

Su-hyeun went into the portal located in the center of the square . His vision turned white, and he felt his body float in the air . Soon, a message appeared in his mind .

[Kim Su-hyeun, your second-floor trial starts now . ]

[Choose the level of difficulty . ]

[1~10 Lv . ]

[The difficulty gets higher as you go up the levels . The reward after you clear the level would also get better . ]

His decision had already been made . “Level 10 . ”

Although he could choose the level of difficulty at each floor, Su-hyeun had already decided on the difficulty himself . High risks, high returns . This absolute principle would never fail on its own .

[Level 10 . The second-floor trial will begin . ]

The white space in Su-hyeun’s eyes was colored again . The landscape and the temperature on his skin changed . It was not clear if the surroundings changed with Su-hyeun in the center, or if he fell into another world . But this feeling was not bad . Su-hyeun observed his surroundings .

Caw, caw—!

Hwing—!

There were the calls of some unknown species of birds and a chilly wind blowing . Before he knew it, Su-hyeun was standing in the middle of the deep forest .

[The trial begins now . ]

[You are being pursued . Your opponents are the Shayres, a species that dominates this forest . ]

[You must take the Shayres’ treasure and escape from the forest . If it is stolen or if you die, you will fail this trial . ]

[Survive . ]

[Protect the treasure . ]

As soon as the message ended, a necklace appeared in Su-hyeun’s hands . He didn’t know when he started carrying the necklace . It was most likely the treasure that was mentioned before . The treasure of Shayres .

He knew what species they were . Although they were categorized as a species, the magical awakeners identified them as monsters that moved in tribes .

Hunter-type monsters . They were excellent at tracking . It definitely would not be easy trying to escape from them in this dense forest . Although the Shayres did not have exceptional physical abilities, they were hard to deal with, especially for someone who was just about to take on the second floor’s challenge .

Click—

Su-hyeun wore the necklace that he was holding onto . There was no effect from it . It didn’t look like a treasure at all . It could also be that only after clearing the trial that the necklace show its effect .

It would have been better if the necklace were sealed . Sealed items had a far better effect than ordinary objects . Treasure of the Shayres…

Crack, caw—!

Caw—!

A terrible cry could be heard from somewhere within the woods . It was the cry of a Shayre . It seemed outraged by the fact that its treasure had disappeared .

“It seems to be quite angry . ” Su-hyeun grinned .

Protect the treasure, escape, and survive . Now he clearly understood the objective of this trial . If so… “Forget about escaping . ”

Step, step—

Su-hyeun started walking towards the Shayres’ cries . I’ll face them head-on .

* * *

A monster with an oval-shaped face, no facial features, and white skin appeared before him . The Shayres were quite intelligent monsters . While their physical abilities were not particularly outstanding, they were civilized and moved in groups, which made them a species that was quite difficult to deal with .

Crr, crrr—

Caw, caw—!

The Shayres were outraged . The reason was simple: their treasure had disappeared . Tens of Shayres sat on the trees above and looked at one side of the forest . The treasure was nearby; the Shayres knew this because a unique scent had been sprayed on the necklace for them to track it easily .

Crr, crack—

It was him . The human who had stolen their treasure . The human was coming closer — not escaping, but returning again? It was weird .

The Shayres were intelligent creatures . There was no way that the human would return here without any reason . But even so, they would not be scared enough of just one human being to retreat .

Creak, creak—

The leader of the Shayres raised his hand . The others widened their formation and got prepared . It was not for pursuit, but to prepare for defense . The culprit would soon enter their territory .

Step, step—

The human walked in slowly . He wore thin armor and had a sword and spear slung over his shoulders . He was strolling . Su-hyeun greeted the Shayres .

“I’ve heard that you are the predators in this part of the forest . ” Su-hyeun spoke as he held the sword and spear in each of his hands . “So…”

Crr—?

Unable to understand Su-hyeun, the Shayres’ leader tilted his head to one side . At that moment —

Sleek—

Plop—!

The spear came flying and pierced the Shayre leader’s head into the tree . As soon as they were angered, Su-hyeun raised his sword . “From now on, I will change the predators of this forest . ”