“Vrrrrng”
Kim Do-hoon, who had a child at a young age and is now devoted to his job as a delivery driver.
He was a veteran delivery driver who had been responsible for this area for several years.
He hadn’t changed his territory even when the region burst open from the two Gate Burnings—that says it all.
The repeated Gate Burnings ruined the local businesses, people moved out, and the delivery market got worse, but he thought things would come back in time.
But—
‘Ugh, why is it so far? Maybe I really should leave this area. Seriously.’
That was nothing more than Kim Do-hoon’s wishful thinking.
The number of people had dropped—drastically.
If it hadn’t been for the creation of the Vulcanus Guild, which had brought some stability back to the neighborhood, things would’ve been much worse.
Without that, Kim Do-hoon would either have gone hungry or been forced to switch areas.
Today, just like any other, he was stuck running a delivery that didn’t pay well and was annoyingly far—a so-called “crap-call.”
“Ding—”
He finally heard the notification he’d been waiting and waiting for.
“It’s hereeee!”
Finishing his delivery quickly, Kim Do-hoon hurried back to the store.
The store owner’s face brightened up when he saw Kim Do-hoon.
Of course, who wouldn’t?
The owner was putting out ten pizzas at once with a single order.
“Please take care of this! It’s a VIP order, so hurry!”
“Yes!”
The GPS on his phone showed the way, but Kim Do-hoon didn’t bother with navigation.
How many times had he ridden down these roads?
He could get there with his eyes closed, GPS or not.
As soon as he finished delivering the pizzas—
“Ding!”
This time, a chicken delivery came in.
The distance was short, and the route was good.
On top of that, the order size was massive.
For the next two hours, he’d probably be coming to this house.
“Wow, I’m staying afloat just because of this place. Seriously.”
Kim Do-hoon looked up.
It was a perfectly ordinary villa, nothing special compared to other places.
‘Who on earth lived here to order so much delivery food?’
He was curious, but there was no time to think about it further.
“Ding!”
“Heh heh, on my way!”
Kim Do-hoon rode his motorcycle with a smile once again today.
He didn’t know that his delivery destination was the residence and forge of Vulcanus that was making headlines everywhere.
***
My daily life was simple.
Eat, rest, and attack the Tower.
That was the cycle.
I couldn’t order delivery of every single meal, so I’d order dozens of dishes at once whenever I did.
Once you put the food in the Space Pocket, it didn’t spoil or even get cold, so as long as I stocked up, I could last for days.
“Today I should bring a lot of chicken too.”
Not just for me.
Sure, I had to eat too, but I was talking about the Gatekeepers who guarded the Tower’s doors.
Those two statues liked seasoned chicken so much.
They were so huge, no matter how much I brought, it was never enough.
“I’m here!”
“Ohh, our great hero! Seo Jun, you’ve come!”
“Come on, you’re hyping me up again.”
“You deserve it! Seo Jun, you’re climbing the Tower faster than any hero we’ve ever seen!”
“Not just that! To climb the Tower with top evaluations on every floor! We may have chosen you as our challenger, but even we can hardly believe it!”
“Gosh, you’re making me blush. Here, I brought some seasoned chicken, try each kind.”
“What kind of seasoned chicken is this now?!”
“Lava Slime flavor, was it? Something like that?”
“Lava Slime? You mean that Lava Slime? Ugh…”
“No, it’s just a name, not the actual taste.”
“Still… hmm. Hmmm. Hm? Oh-ho! This is delicious! Who knew Lava Slime could taste so good!”
“I told you, it’s not real Lava Slime.”
Despite the chicken being tiny compared to their massive size, the two statues enjoyed it so much.
Watching them made me feel happy for no reason.
Their praise as they munched on chicken made my shoulders puff up with pride.
As we ate, a question suddenly popped into my head and I asked, “Are there ever experience point events in the Tower?”
“Experience point events? What do you mean?”
“Ever since I cleared the 7th floor, a message pops up that says I’m gaining experience through the Manager’s authority.”
That message had appeared when I cleared the 7th floor.
I didn’t know exactly what it meant, but it made me level up much faster.
Even right now, my level had skyrocketed.
I meant to ask sooner, but I’d been too busy climbing the Tower and it slipped my mind.
“Oh, Manager’s authority? Looks like Riohr is finally doing his job.”
“Riohr?”
“The Tower’s Manager, that’s his name.”
“That guy… I thought he’d sleep until the end of the world. Surprising, really.”
“Honestly, he’d been neglecting the Tower for so long, the title ‘Manager’ was meaningless.”
“But if he’s started managing things again, it seems Riohr likes you, Seo Jun.”
“Besides, boosting experience is a pretty high-level privilege even for a Manager.”
The Tower’s Manager, Riohr.
For whatever reason, it seemed like Riohr was using his Manager’s privileges to run events just for me.
When I mentioned other small details, I realized the Manager was really putting a lot of care into my Tower progress.
“That’s good, right?”
“Of course!”
“Seo Jun, all you need to do is keep climbing the Tower!”
“With even the Manager backing you up, your climb will be smooth from here!”
Indeed.
If not just the two Gatekeepers but even the Manager was on my side, clearing the Tower would become so much easier.
Nodding, I finished my meal and called my assistants together.
The Production Team and Mining Team were the same as before, but thanks to my level increasing, I’d been able to add new assistants, so the Combat Team had grown considerably.
“Everyone ready?”
“Of course, Master.”
“We’re ready, Master.”
My assistants had been upgraded to match my level, reinforced with materials found in the Tower, and had learned combat, tactics, and strategy from the two statues every time we left the Tower.
Because of that, I could visibly see my assistants’ combat power rising every time I prepared to enter the Tower again.
With a proud smile, I nodded and said, “Let’s do our best and climb today!”
“Yes, Master.”
Once again, I headed for the Tower.
I could use the Gatekeeper’s power to enter directly, but I enjoyed being welcomed in person by the two statues opening the doors.
The two statues, caught up in their excitement, didn’t notice at all.
“Rumble—”
As the door closed.
The dust started falling from the Tower, and the ominous sound of the cracks widened.
***
I’d been climbing the Tower all this time.
The higher I got, the fewer floors I could clear in a day, but fortunately, I hadn’t yet faced a trial as deadly as I’d originally feared.
Honestly, for me, the Trial of the Fifth Floor still felt the most threatening.
Now, I know the Trial of the Fifth Floor wasn’t actually that hard, but at the time, when I was still underestimating the Tower, it was a huge challenge.
Anyway, after all that climbing, I’d made it to—
[Beginning the Trial of the 35th Floor.]
The 35th floor.
And by now, I’d started to get a sense of the Tower’s patterns.
The Tower was divided into floors, but every ten floors or so shared a common theme.
The first ten floors were basically the tutorial area, featuring the “monsters” you’d typically imagine.
From the 11th to the 20th floor, giant beast-type monsters appeared.
From the 21st to the 30th floor, it was mostly giant insect-type monsters.
And now, in the 30s—
[35th Floor: Adamantium Mine]
Fitting for a place called a mine, golem-type monsters appeared.
On the 31st floor, there were Mud Golems made of earth; on the 32nd, Sand Golems made of sand; on the 33rd, Stone Golems made of rock.
And now in the 35th floor’s trial, a “quasi-boss monster trial,” featured—just as its name implied.
“Rumble rumble rumble rumble~!”
An S-rank ore.
An Adamantium Golem, made entirely of Adamantium.
Its whole body was Adamantium, and even though there was only one, it boasted tremendous power.
“Uuuuuuuuuu!”
“Bang!”
Honestly, I’d faced plenty of strong and massive monsters before but the reason this Adamantium Golem was so threatening was its characteristic toughness and weight.
“Ting!”
It was hard enough to deflect even the spears and swords of the Combat Team.
The Adamantium Golem, swinging that massive body, was like a tank.
Blunt attacks worked to a certain extent, but sharp weapons like spears and swords hardly scratched it.
The only thing that managed to hurt the golem was Combat 1.
“Slice!”
“I’ll handle this, Master.”
An EX-rank exclusive weapon.
No, calling it just an exclusive weapon didn’t do it justice.
A divine weapon, the powerful Durandal, which unleashed sword aura with every swing—even an Adamantium Golem couldn’t block it easily.
On the other hand— The Production Team, centered on Combat 5, managed to block the Adamantium Golem’s attacks, but it wasn’t easy.
Honestly, the fact they could block it this well showed just how impressive my assistants were.
Then, Combat 4 and Combat 20, who specialized in magic rather than physical attacks, launched their spells.
But—
“Uuuuuuuuuu~!”
Even magic barely affected the Adamantium Golem.
It was so tough, even spells had little effect.
How was I supposed to defeat something like that?
You’d think it was hopeless, but actually, I had another trump card besides the Combat Team.
Starting from the 31st floor, my disciple had been performing beyond all expectations.
Let’s go!
“Go, Mining Team!”
Led by Mining 1, the Mining Team.
Ever since they were created, they’d been swinging pickaxes in Zone 1, mining ore and fighting “golem” monsters made of minerals.
When it came to fighting ore golems, no one was more of an expert.
The Mining Team dashed forward and nimbly climbed the massive Adamantium Golem.
And then—
“Whack!”
They swung their pickaxes powerfully.
The pickaxes sank deep into the Adamantium Golem’s body, which had repelled almost every other attack.
With a pickaxe stuck in its knee, the golem couldn’t move its leg and stumbled.
“Whack!”
With a pickaxe in its elbow, the golem lost its balance and toppled completely.
Then, while all my assistants pinned the golem down so it couldn’t get back up, the Mining Team gathered their strength and swung their pickaxes at its chest.
The golem’s hard body started to crack, and something shining was revealed in its chest.
The moment Mining 1’s pickaxe struck there—
“Crunch!”
“Uuuuu…”
The light that had been flowing from the golem’s body faded, and the golem stopped moving.
I had cleared the 35th floor.
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[You have overcome the 35th floor trial, ‘Adamantium Mine.’]
[Evaluation: SSS] As a reward for your clear, you will receive an ‘Earth Crystal.’
[With the 35th floor trial cleared, the Tower is weakened.]
Normally, as your level rises, it gets harder to level up.
But the experience you gain in the Tower is so huge, my leveling speed hadn’t slowed down at all.
At this rate, I might not just be the number one in the forge rankings, but the number one level in Korea, period.
“Mining Team, move out!”
“Yes, Master.”
Next, I started mining in various parts of the 35th floor trial area.
As I’d learned on the 10th floor, you could gather materials in the Tower by mining.
Not everywhere—just on the fifth and tenth floors.
Sure enough, when the Mining Team got to work—
[Adamantium]
S-rank Adamantium poured out from all over.
“Heh, who cares if the Tower is weakened? Am I not practically conquering the entire Tower on my own?”
Stashing as much Adamantium as I could into my Space Pocket, I immediately headed for the next floor.