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Chapter 17
Battle Tower (3)
The Battle Tower often has floors with special gimmicks.
On such floors, triggering the gimmick increases both the difficulty and the rewards.
The 15th floor is one of them.
However, the 15th floor’s “Scarlet Moon” gimmick was known only in name—its activation conditions remained a mystery.
So most people assumed it triggered at random.
But in truth, that’s not the case.
The activation condition for the Scarlet Moon is time.
If you open the boss room door but don’t enter—just stand there and wait until the red moon rises—it will trigger.
Once the red moon appears, the werewolves change tactics.
Up to now, the strategy was to chip away at their evasion buff by repeatedly hitting them.
But werewolves empowered by the Scarlet Moon are the opposite.
Like tempered steel, the more you hit them, the stronger they become.
They get faster, tougher, and sink their sharper teeth into challengers’ throats.
On top of that, the Scarlet Moon grants them an additional passive skill.
[Flight of the Scarlet Moon]
Description: Due to the influence of the red moon, werewolves’ base stats increase by 30% and evasion by 30%. Each hit taken increases both values by 1%, stacking up to 20 times.
For already fast werewolves, such a buff is the final nail in the coffin.
That’s why the 15th floor has a reputation among beginners as the “Wall of Wailing.”
But, as always, there’s a way.
“Master, the enemies’ condition is unusual.”
“I know. I’ve already prepared a new strategy.”
The method is simple:
Take out the boss—the Scarlet Moon Wolf King—first.
Once he’s dead, the rest lose morale, and the buff disappears.
The problem is that while it’s an obvious plan, actually pulling it off is hard.
Unless you massively outgear the place and can kill the Wolf King in one blow, your success rate plummets.
But for me, it’s a different story.
“Her.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Bring that beast who dares call himself king before me.”
“…! As you command…!”
* * *
The Scarlet Moon Wolf King, Carmin—awakened by the red moon’s power.
An irresistible urge to slaughter coursed through him.
With a delicious-smelling human before him, he could hardly contain himself.
I can’t just stand here drooling. I’ll rip out their throat and drink my fill of their blood.
Carmin had no thought of losing.
He was stronger and faster than before, thanks to the red moon.
With this power, what couldn’t he do?
And his opponents looked pitiful.
At first, the sight of a huge golem walking toward him startled him.
But the golem was cowering, clutching its own head in fear.
A golem quailing before a werewolf—pathetic.
“I’ll send you off without even feeling pain.”
Carmin ordered his underlings to attack the enemy in front of them.
AWOOOO!
It had been so long since he’d tasted fresh human blood.
Now he would drink it and bring honor to his kin.
…Or so he thought, but something felt wrong.
Despite his orders, none of his underlings moved.
“What are you doing?! I said attack them!”
“Boss, w-we can’t move.”
“What?”
What nonsense was this?
To be unable to move with the enemy right there?
Carmin ground his teeth.
Werewolves were famed for their courage, feared even by other races.
And now, to think they were frozen in fear before only five enemies?
It was beyond pathetic.
“Fools. Then I’ll move myse—”
Strange.
His feet wouldn’t move.
Was he… afraid without realizing it?
No—that was impossible.
Empowered by the red moon, Carmin could never feel fear.
So what was going on?
Before he could figure it out, a woman in high heels stepped forward and snapped her fingers.
Snap!
A black shroud filled the boss room, and fine black threads pierced every werewolf’s heart.
“Gahk!”
Before they could even register the pain, she snapped her fingers again.
Snap!
A massive vortex pulled in every werewolf—starting from the rear lines to those hiding—and dragged them all to the center.
Even Carmin couldn’t escape.
D-damn it! What kind of magic is this?!
In Hertia’s vortex of death, Carmin felt himself drawing closer to the end.
But he couldn’t die like this.
Could the Scarlet Moon Wolf King really fall to only five enemies?
That would be a disgrace to his kind.
Carmin ordered his strongest werewolves:
“Drink the blood of dying comrades! Survive no matter what and kill them!”
He bit the neck of a dying underling before him, draining their life.
Then, fueled by that blood, he stubbornly withstood the vortex and landed on the central path below the cliff.
From above, his kin dropped like rain.
Thud, thud, thud.
Carmin scowled.
The arrogance…
He would show them the price for such insolence in his territory.
He turned to Hertia, clad in black, and shouted:
“Is that all you’ve got?!”
“…”
“I don’t know what tricks you used to get the first strike, but I’ll give you credit. However, from now on, it’s our—”
Carmin froze.
The enemy’s attack was over—yet his feet still wouldn’t move.
Hertia answered his unspoken question.
“Foolish thing. Iron, your turn.”
“Eeeeh?!!”
“If you don’t target him right now, I’ll send you to Caligo’s lab.”
“Uh, um, that’s…”
Iron trembled in fear, but Hertia’s artifact forced his body forward.
“Stop being pathetic and smash that thing’s head in!”
“Eeek!”
At her sharp command, Iron suddenly dashed forward.
“W-wait! P-please move out of the way!”
His right fist swelled as it flew toward Carmin’s face.
《I’m scared, but! Skill Effect 1 activates.》
《Forced to the frontlines, Iron delivers a full-powered blow!》
Iron’s special effect—Trauma.
When in the frontlines, all his stats are poured into HP and Defense, and his attacks deal HP-proportional damage.
Which meant—
“W-wait—”
BOOOOM!
The deafening crash sent up a fog of dust.
“Grgh…”
Inside the dust cloud, Iron backed away, trembling.
“I-I think I hit something. S-sorry!”
Hertia didn’t answer. She turned and approached Oh Hyun-woo.
“Master. It seems to be over.”
At her words, Hyun-woo smiled brightly.
《Devastating Blow!》
《‘Scarlet Moon Wolf King Carmin’ has been slain in one hit.》
《With the leader’s death, the werewolves’ morale collapses.》
The remaining strong werewolves stared, terrified, at Carmin’s mangled corpse.
“The leader’s dead. Caligo, Temina—clean up the rest.”
“Oh-ho! My turn at last!”
“I’ll make it nice and hot.”
With no will to fight left, the werewolves were quickly wiped out by Caligo and Temina.
When the last enemy fell, the system message appeared:
《You have cleared Battle Tower 15F ‘Scarlet Rock Forest.’》
《Unbelievable Record!》
《Clear Time: 1 minute 00 seconds》
《You have set a new record for fastest clear.》
《Clear Rank: SSS》
《You have set a new rank record.》
《Level up! Your Adventurer Level is now 28.》
The messages about his record and level-up were followed by the flood of rewards.
Sweet! So sweet!
* * *
《An unidentified adventurer has cleared Battle Tower 15F in 01:00.》
Two people clapped their hands over their mouths.
The time on the monitor was so unreal they did it without thinking.
“Team leader… is this right? How does someone clear 15F in one minute?”
“And it’s not just any 15F, is it?”
They already knew from Tower records—
This was no ordinary 15F.
It was the gimmick-activated 15F.
《An unidentified adventurer has triggered the Battle Tower 15F gimmick, causing the red moon to rise.》
The difficulty of gimmick-activated 15F is off the charts.
Even a level 40 veteran adventurer would struggle.
Only with top-tier gear could one even try—and this person cleared it in a minute.
“Tae-gyun, what’s the fastest record for gimmick-activated 15F?”
“Uh… the best is over an hour.”
“An hour? So this guy’s sixty times faster?”
“Exactly—and that’s the best record. Everyone else is slower. This isn’t just a super rookie—this is a monster.”
“Definitely not normal.”
“So… do we hide this too?”
They debated whether to report it now or delay.
But this kind of record can’t stay hidden.
It was only still unnoticed because it was on a lower floor.
At this pace, the adventurer could reach floor 100 within a month.
Soon, everyone would know.
Which means foreign powers will hear about this—it’s only a matter of time. We have to move first.
Lee Jung-yul’s goal didn’t change:
To recruit this unidentified adventurer into the government’s fold.
No matter the cost.
“Tae-gyun, I’ll report this right now.”
“Oh! Yes, sir.”
Now they were certain:
This adventurer had their own strategy.
It wasn’t just good summons or luck.
You can’t explain this record without knowing both the 15F gimmick and an undisclosed strategy.
It’s certain. This adventurer is one of the Legend Seven. And a top ranker at that.
Which meant they had to secure him—
Even if they had to invest everything.
