CTWMA 05

Chapter: 05

Tower – Tutorial (4)

The 8th floor was a wide open area like the 2nd and 3rd floors, but there were no monsters.

Instead, there was a stone monument with grooves carved into it, and square bricks were placed in front of it.

[Complete the picture by solving the puzzle.]

“…No, seriously, is this some kind of console game?”

It was better than having nothing but battles, but I still had no idea what the Tower was actually for.

The fact that something like this existed in the tutorial probably meant there would be puzzles like this to solve while climbing, right?

Come to think of it, I had seen interviews saying that there were various ruins and dungeons inside the Tower, and people sometimes had to solve puzzles to break through treasure rooms or trap rooms.

Maybe it was like figuring out the password for a door lock?

Right now, since it was only the tutorial, it didn’t really mean anything, and the Tower was openly giving hints. But as I climbed higher, wouldn’t it be faster and easier to just smash the door open instead of solving these puzzles?

“Done.”

I filled in the empty spaces with the bricks, and as the bricks moved along the grooves, the picture engraved on them was completed.

It wasn’t a particularly difficult puzzle, but I figured someone who wasn’t good at this kind of thing could take several hours.

After completing the puzzle, I rested for a moment and went upward.

The 9th floor, the final floor of the tutorial.

When I arrived on the 9th floor, a wide open area like the 3rd floor appeared.

According to what Tower returnees commonly said, floors ending in 9 were unusually difficult.

Every ten floors, something changed in terms of level, and floors like the 9th, 19th, and 29th were believed to be difficult because they were transitional stages that exceeded the previous level.

A quest that allowed me to move to the next floor appeared on the crystal.

[Hunt the Hobgoblin.]

Hobgoblins were mutated goblins nearly two meters tall, unlike ordinary goblins that looked like elementary school kids.

No, perhaps goblins were created as mutations of hobgoblins.

Evolution was the result of biological mutation and environmental selection, and the direction of mutations wasn’t something a creature could choose freely.

Hobgoblins were naturally said to have greater strength and stamina to match their size.

Even if I knew this information, how often would an ordinary citizen like me actually encounter a monster?

Of course, after Gates appeared, the military did train for hunting monsters.

But how much could an army that made people run around training fields with rifles while shouting “Bang bang!” like they were in a real battle actually change?

At most, only a few units borrowed KCTC’s MILES equipment and training grounds for brief exercises, or they put up monster-shaped targets instead of people at shooting ranges for practice.

Just like before, the wall opened and the hobgoblin appeared.

The green-skinned monster, a head taller than me, held a machete in its hand.

“Keruk!”

The excited hobgoblin charged at me without hesitation.

I pulled out the hand axe from my pouch and threw it at the hobgoblin.

Clang!

The hobgoblin skillfully knocked away the hand axe.

The ordinary goblin had staggered slightly from the recoil when it deflected it, but the hobgoblin didn’t even move.

The hobgoblin brought down its machete with great force, and I raised my shield to block it.

“Ugh, my arm.”

What shocked me more than the impact transferred through the shield was the fact that the machete had punched a small hole through it.

Ah, so there was a thin iron plate inside the shield.

Once the shield was pierced, I could see its structure.

It was made by placing wooden boards on both sides of a thin iron plate and securing it with an iron frame.

No wonder it was a little heavy.

It seemed that because I had blocked hand axes and arrows with the shield, the outer wood had already been riddled with holes and its durability had dropped significantly.

Still, I could use it a few more times. Just as I thought that, the hobgoblin launched another fierce attack and I raised the shield again.

Because of that, part of the shield cracked and some of the outer wood fell off.

Before the shield broke any further, I blocked the hobgoblin’s machete with my sword.

Clang!

When my one-handed sword collided with the machete, I instinctively relaxed my arm slightly and held my sword at an angle.

Shrrrk!

“Huh?”

“Keruk?”

As I naturally redirected the hobgoblin’s machete, both the hobgoblin and I were surprised.

I realized my chance and swung my sword toward the hobgoblin’s exposed neck.

However, the hobgoblin pulled its body back and avoided the sword, and my blade only cut into its left forearm.

“So close!”

I could have finished it with that attack.

That redirection just now was the true usage of the Azure Wood Sword.

Originally, the Azure Wood Sword was a sword technique meant to fight with only a sword and no shield, so I couldn’t properly use it while holding a shield.

But throwing away the shield still required courage.

Just because I wasn’t afraid of death didn’t mean I wasn’t afraid of pain.

The hobgoblin’s forearm had been cut quite deeply, and it became even more enraged as it charged at me.

The first attack had been blocked by my shield, but even the wood inside the iron plate had cracked.

The bloodshot eyes, the mouth dripping with saliva like it had rabies, and the obviously stronger force.

I could tell instinctively.

The hobgoblin had used some kind of ability.

“Ker-r-r-ruk!”

The hobgoblin shouted with a phlegmy voice and swung its sword at me like crazy.

Smack! Smack! Clang!

As the shield became worn out, I also responded with my sword.

Still, the sword was made of iron rather than wood, so it was quite sturdy.

Eventually, when the shield became completely useless, I fought the hobgoblin purely with my sword.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

While swinging my sword and fighting, I felt strange.

I had never learned swordsmanship before, yet somehow I was deflecting and blocking the machete.

The hobgoblin had nearly lost its reason, so its attacks were sloppy, but I never expected I would have this kind of talent for fighting.

No, I had never even fought the local bullies in my entire life. There was no way this was talent.

If I were truly gifted, I would have cut off the hobgoblin’s head already.

Then was it the power of the Azure Wood Sword I gained from the Ability Stone?

I see. They said even seemingly useless small abilities could be worth hundreds of millions, and I suppose this proved its value.

After deflecting the machete, I swung my sword toward the hobgoblin’s abdomen.

But the half-crazed hobgoblin still hadn’t completely lost its reason. It stepped back halfway, and my sword only managed to deeply cut its thigh.

“Keruk!”

Clang!

“Ugh!”

The enraged hobgoblin brought down its machete with all its strength, and I blocked it with my half-broken shield.

Even though it was injured and blood was pouring from its forearm and thigh, strangely, the hobgoblin’s strength had grown even stronger.

Thanks to that, the shield split completely in two, and my left arm felt like the bone had broken.

The impact on my left arm was severe, but strangely, the pain was mild.

Because I was excited from fighting, my adrenaline had surged, numbing the pain and activating my sympathetic nervous system.

I swung my sword at the hobgoblin, which staggered backward after striking with excessive force.

“Hiss!”

I cut its chest, but I couldn’t break through its ribs, so the damage was less than expected.

The hobgoblin staggered from the massive blood loss and swung its machete to kill me.

I threw myself aside and avoided the attack.

“Ugh!”

As I rolled on the ground, intense pain surged from my broken left arm.

No matter how much adrenaline numbed pain, it couldn’t block the pain caused by such violent movements.

After rolling, I moved behind the hobgoblin, quickly turned around, and cut its Achilles tendon.

“Keruk!”

When the hobgoblin staggered and tried to turn around, I stepped back, held my sword in my mouth, pulled out the hand axe from my pouch, and threw it.

I aimed for its heart, but because of the pain and the shaking caused by stepping back, it lodged into its lower back instead.

It was only because the distance was close that it hit. Otherwise, it would have flown completely somewhere else.

I shouldn’t throw things when I’m far away if possible.

I grabbed the sword I had held in my mouth again with my right hand and charged forward.

The hobgoblin, which had even been hit by the axe, swung its machete at me from an awkward position.

Because it was in an uncomfortable stance, it was easier to redirect the machete.

Shrrrk!

After redirecting the machete, I thrust my sword straight into the center of its chest.

The hobgoblin, with a hole in its heart, collapsed while vomiting blood, probably because its lungs and stomach had also been cut.

“Aaaaah! Damn it! It hurts like hell!”

To deal with the pain, I opened the ability window and selected absorption.

Fortunately, enough time had passed, so the absorption cooldown had finished and I could use it.

Otherwise, I would have had to wait around with a broken arm or buy and use an expensive advanced healing potion from the shop.

After creating another clone, not only my injuries but also the dirt and hobgoblin blood covering my body disappeared, leaving me clean.

After absorbing this clone, along with Avatar Points, the level of [Multidimensional Avatar] reached 10.

At the same time, a notification window appeared.

[Multidimensional Avatar has reached level 10. A new function has been activated.]

[‘Third-Person Avatar’ has been activated.]

[‘Reincarnation’ has been activated.]

Because the Azure Wood Sword had reached level 15, the growth value increased the level of Multidimensional Avatar accordingly.

But even though the Azure Wood Sword was level 15, it only increased by 3 levels.

Well, considering it was an ability that created clones and used them like a real body, it made sense.

Looking back, the shield had actually been interfering with my swordsmanship growth.

Without the shield, my movements were more natural.

I threw away the battered shield and collected the mana stone and weapons.

“Huh? Is this another Ability Stone?”

There was another green mana stone beside the hobgoblin’s mana stone.

What was this? They said Ability Stones were extremely rare.

I was about to absorb it immediately but decided to hold off for a moment.

I had to consider the possibility that I might not be able to earn immediate living expenses from these pieces of metal.

When I got the Ability Stone from the Horn Rabbit, I was so weak that I could have died to the Horn Rabbit itself, so I thought I needed any ability I could get and used it.

But now I was on the 10th floor.

After reaching the 10th floor, I should think about getting proper equipment.

The one-handed sword worked well, but its edge was already chipped in several places, and the blade had bent slightly from the hobgoblin’s strange strength.

“Hmm, still, if the ability is good, I should use it myself.”

I opened the shop window and exchanged all the mana stones for shop points.

The mana stones I had collected numbered 22.

In other words, I had hunted 22 monsters.

Both the Horn Rabbit and the Hobgoblin gave only 1 point each from hunting, and each mana stone was exchanged for 1 point regardless of what monster it came from.

“Even if goblins don’t count, shouldn’t hobgoblins be worth more?”

I complained while checking the remaining 50 points after subtracting the 4 points I had spent buying the sword and shield twice.

Then, preparing for any unexpected situation, I left 10 points and bought advanced healing potions with all the rest.

The 40 bottles of advanced healing potions would become my emergency savings.

If I couldn’t sell the Ability Stone or ended up using it myself, I would sell these to cover my living expenses.

For now, I had heard that the current shop window was selling items cheaply for the tutorial.

Even if I had been tricked, I could just sell them outside the Tower, so there was no problem.

Rather, if the rumors were true, I might regret not spending those 10 points now.

Even if the purchase price became 10 points, it wouldn’t be a tenfold loss.

I placed my hand on the crystal and headed to the next floor.

[You have reached the 10th floor. Multidimensional Avatar ‘Slot 2’ has been activated.]

(To be continued in the next chapter)