Climb Begins (2)
All towers had their own distinct concept.
In the case of the Tower of Life, as the name suggests, it was centered around life, meaning things that were nature-friendly would appear.
However, just because it looked peaceful on the surface didn’t mean it actually was.
Fundamentally, the tower rejected and attacked those who entered it.
The seemingly green field was filled with all kinds of plant-type monsters, and beneath them were root-like monsters lurking underground, waiting for opportunities.
In short, whether it was a field or a forest, it was essentially all monsters.
After confirming this, Seon Yul and Cheon Li Yu had no choice but to deal with the monsters using the simplest and most certain method.
***
BOOOOM!
Shells rained down across the field.
Seon Yul decided to completely devastate the entire first floor he had entered, launching bombardments in all directions.
There was no specific target.
He simply kept firing endlessly with the intention of wiping out the entire first floor.
Since he had plenty of shells and firing them was easy, Seon Yul continued his mindless carpet bombing.
[You have cleared Floor 1 of the Tower of Life.]
As a result, it only took 2 hours for Seon Yul and Cheon Li Yu to hear a system message again after a long time.
But that wasn’t all.
[You have achieved the fastest clear record for Floor 1 of the Tower of Life and obtained bonus experience and loot.]
[You will move to the next floor in 5 minutes.]
“Oh, nice.”
They felt even better after unexpectedly receiving a bonus for breaking a record.
“It really feels different inside the tower compared to the outside world. It feels like we’ve returned to the world we originally experienced.”
“Like going from a game to reality and then back into a game?”
“That’s a perfect analogy.”
Seon Yul nodded in agreement.
“For now, we’re going to climb as fast as possible, so keep up.”
He had no intention of wasting time on the lower floors.
His goal this time was to climb at least up to the 40th floor.
If someone who understood the tower well heard this, they might laugh at such a ridiculous goal… but sometimes, people are braver when they don’t know better.
Five minutes later, Floor 2 was no different from Floor 1.
And the clear condition was the most common type: an elimination mission.
There was no reason to change their strategy.
After taking position again, Seon Yul began bombardment.
Through four entrances to Absolute Space, opened in all cardinal directions, shells continuously fired outward, causing explosions across the entire floor.
BOOM! BOOOOOM!
Once again, the devastation strategy was activated.
It was, in a way, an extremely brute-force method.
But its effectiveness was undeniable.
From low-grade monsters to high-level boss monsters, nothing could survive this strategy.
Especially elite monsters… Cheon Li Yu located them using her Divine Eye, and they were precisely eliminated using a railgun, accelerating the destruction of the entire floor.
[You have cleared Floor 2 of the Tower of Life.]
[You have achieved the fastest clear record for Floor 2 and obtained bonus experience and loot.]
[You will move to the next floor in 5 minutes.]
***
Floor 2 was easily cleared.
There was nothing difficult at all.
While other climbers carefully cleared each floor step by step, Seon Yul felt like he was just riding a helicopter straight upward.
And this rapid climb continued.
The first moment that made him pause slightly was Floor 10.
“The clear condition is ‘Find the Ancient Tablet.’”
From Floors 1 to 9, all missions had been elimination-based, defeating the boss monster of the floor.
But Floor 10 was different.
A search mission…
This meant they might need to change their approach…
“Let’s just wipe everything out and find it comfortably.”
…He didn’t.
From start to finish: total annihilation.
That was Seon Yul’s strategy.
“What if the tablet gets destroyed during the process?”
“From my experience, mission-related items like tablets never get destroyed. The system isn’t that sloppy.”
“Ah…”
“So we just wipe out the floor like usual, you locate the tablet with your Divine Eye, and we pick it up. Done.”
It sounded almost too simple.
But it made sense, so Cheon Li Yu nodded.
“Then we’re doing the same thing?”
“Yeah, let’s wipe it out!”
With their decision made, they once again took their annihilation positions, and bombardment resumed on Floor 10.
After several hours, they completely cleared the floor, making it perfectly safe.
Then Cheon Li Yu used her Divine Eye to easily locate the Ancient Tablet.
Mission complete.
And naturally…
[You have cleared Floor 10 of the Tower of Life.]
[You have achieved the fastest clear record for Floor 10 and obtained bonus experience and loot.]
[You will move to the next floor in 5 minutes.]
With 10 consecutive fastest clear records, they advanced to Floor 11.
***
Normally, average climbers took about 4–10 days per floor.
Among more skilled climbers, the average dropped to 1–3 days.
Among the absolute top-tier elite climbers, it was about 12 hours to 1 day per floor.
But such elite climbers were extremely rare… even on Earth—001.
Yet Seon Yul was clearing floors in under 5 hours on average.
And that was after the pace slowed slightly at higher floors—on lower floors, it had been closer to 2 hours per floor.
They were now on Floor 22.
Their goal this turn was to surpass Floor 40, and they had already reached the halfway point.
What’s more, only about 5 days had passed.
Since time flowed differently inside the tower, they still had plenty of time.
Reaching Floor 40 seemed almost inevitable.
But the tower was still the tower.
And the system was still the system.
Neither was something to take lightly, and Seon Yul knew that well.
So when a completely new mission appeared on Floor 22, he wasn’t surprised at all.
[You must find the entrance to the ‘Rest Area’ on Floor 22.]
[The entrance is hidden and will only open when hidden conditions are satisfied.]
[If conditions are not met properly, the floor will reset after 24 hours.]
“Hidden conditions…”
The Rest Area was like a shared zone for climbers.
Once discovered, it could be accessed anytime, and climbers from all floors could gather there.
It was a safe zone where PvP was prohibited, and time limits didn’t apply… so climbers typically used it to rest.
“I scanned everything with Divine Eye, but nothing stands out.”
“Looks like the annihilation strategy won’t work this time.”
“What should we do?”
“Your Divine Eye is fully restored, right?”
Upon entering the tower, both of their abilities had returned to their original Earth—104 state.
So Cheon Li Yu could now scan the entire floor in detail.
“You thoroughly scan the floor with your eyes. I’ll go out and look for clues about the hidden condition.”
The safer approach would’ve been to wait and move carefully.
But Seon Yul was aiming for the fastest clear.
And there was a reason.
After achieving 21 consecutive fastest clears up to Floor 22, their gains were enormous.
Seon Yul reached Level 74.
Cheon Li Yu reached Level 48.
They obtained:
798 kg of magic stones
19 kg of soul stones
42 return stones
7 unidentified complete items
All thanks to record-breaking bonuses.
“Let’s clear this floor quickly and rest in the Rest Area.”
“Got it.”
Thus began their dual search.
Cheon Li Yu scanned with her Divine Eye, while Seon Yul explored physically.
Importantly, Seon Yul didn’t wander blindly… he regularly returned to Absolute Space to gather intel from her before moving again.
After about 6 hours…
He finally figured it out.
“The hidden condition is the order of killing four elite monsters. Based on the murals in the ruined temples in the four directions, the layout of the floor from above, and the positions of the elites… we kill this one first, then this one, then this one, and finally that one… and that should clear it!”
His reasoning was solid.
“Sounds right.”
“If we’re wrong, we retry after 24 hours. Let’s try it.”
If incorrect, their streak would end… but he had done his best.
“So we just kill the elites in order?”
“Yeah. And let’s prepare to do it as fast as possible, in case timing matters.”
Just in case, Seon Yul opened four entrances to Absolute Space, one in front of each elite monster.
Since most minor monsters had already been cleared, this was easy.
Once ready, he began eliminating the elites in order.
Their method: the fastest and most destructive… the railgun.
With Seon Yul boosting its power and Cheon Li Yu firing it, even elite monsters were erased in seconds.
At least up to Floor 22.
Higher floors would be different… but for now, it worked.
One.
Two.
Three.
And the last.
As soon as all four elites were eliminated in order…
[You have cleared Floor 22 of the Tower of Life.]
[You have achieved the fastest clear record for Floor 22 and obtained bonus experience and loot.]
[You have unlocked the Rest Area.]
[When not in combat, you can open an entrance to the Rest Area at any time.]
[You will move to the next floor in 5 minutes.]
The Floor 22 mission was cleared perfectly.
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