Many hunters gathered on Min-hyuk’s bulletin board, but unfortunately, there wasn’t much significant information.
—I dealt with a lynx. The attack pattern is an assassin type.—
—I dealt with a leopard. Surprisingly, it was a charging type. Maybe because it used Fighting Spirit, I was scared I’d die, so I somehow retreated and got out immediately.—
—The moon bear is way faster than you’d think.—
The comments were full of useless information.
In the case of the 5th floor, the requirement is met if you endure for 5 minutes or kill one monster.
Because of that, most people took the approach of surviving for 5 minutes by any means necessary.
There are many methods.
As soon as they enter the 5th floor, they pour oil on the surrounding trees and start a fire.
It wouldn’t create a safe zone like a campfire, but it’s enough to last 5 minutes against wild beasts that are wary of fire.
Some wear gas masks and spray substances with effects similar to pepper spray everywhere to hold out for 5 minutes.
Here, a question might arise.
‘Can’t I just go in with a gun?’
Some might think this.
Basically, you cannot bring weapons from reality, but there are ways to bypass this.
Guns coated with magic stone powder.
Bombs filled with monster by-products.
By mixing in monster by-products like this, it wasn’t difficult to take them into the Tower.
The problem was that the cost-effectiveness was terrible.
And above all, the most terrifying thing was getting on the Tower’s bad side.
The Tower could twist the strategy system that had been established to some extent.
Even if it didn’t touch the monsters or the environment, simply placing later monsters at the beginning could be a disaster for a challenger.
Uh.
Experiments have been conducted for over 10 years, and the current strategy system is what was established through them.
Therefore, one must climb using only items obtained from the Tower, but since Min-hyuk wanted a Perfect Clear…
No matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn’t find an answer with items from the 4th floor and below.
Was that why?
There were many who looked at it pessimistically.
—Honestly, it looks difficult this time.—
– Yeah.
There’s a limit to dealing with the Fighting Spirit emitted by wild beasts just by enduring with mana.
You need proper skills.
– There’s a reason people skip the 1st to 9th floors.
– I think it’ll be really hard to Perfect Clear the 5th floor.
An S-grade awakener couldn’t even reach a 20% clear rate and ran away, even with a 30th-floor weapon.
– True… if it’s an ordinary hunter, they’d have to risk their life just to hunt one wild beast…
– Who knows?
The higher the clear rate, the greater the reward on the next floor.
If it’s “Nameless,” who has been doing Perfect Clears all along, there’s a possibility.
– Yeah.
He learned Fighting Spirit, and his movements were almost at the level of high-ranking skills.
Amidst various opinions, comments were steadily posted on the thread Min-hyuk had created.
Among them, useful comments received recommendations and were pushed to the top for Min-hyuk to see easily, and someone even collected fragmented information to create a plausible strategy guide.
The a mere 5th floor.
A strange phenomenon began to occur where all sorts of hunters flocked to a floor that no one cared about to create a strategy guide.
As the hunters created the strategy guide on their own, there was nothing left for Min-hyuk to do.
Conducting various experiments on the lower floors?
That was also being handled by other new hunters who were uploading strategy videos, and based on those, real-time additions were being made to the comments on Min-hyuk’s post.
“Thank you… everyone.”
Min-hyuk, who was checking the comments and the strategy board with a faint smile, immediately stood up.
He had made a request, but would they really help? Min-hyuk had been half-doubting.
However, the hunters were helping with all their might, and the only way to repay them was to Perfect Clear the 5th floor and upload the strategy video.
“I’ll have to work hard.”
He reflected on how he had taken the Tower too lightly until now.
Clearly, the 4th floor was difficult.
A difficulty close to impossible, even for him who possessed an EX-grade skill.
Would the Tower have made an impossible strategy?
‘No. There is definitely a way.’
As he had told people, it is possible if enough time is invested.
‘Skills just make it a bit easier.’
If the foundation is weak, one will eventually hit a limit.
The limit Min-hyuk encountered for the first time—after easily clearing everything by relying only on his EX-grade skill—made him decide to train by repeatedly clearing the 1st to 4th floors.
He had already done enough by-product experiments, and as for the remaining experiments, since other hunters were doing them on their own, he planned to make things using those results or buy what was posted.
He would focus everything solely on training.
“Phew… Shall I start again?”
Saying so, Min-hyuk opened the door to the 1st floor of the Tower and entered.
Repeat clears are only possible once per floor per day.
In other words, he could clear four times a day.
In the process, mana and physical strength increased slightly, but the main goal was actually to train the mana and Fighting Spirit themselves.
This was because, as he did repeated clears, the values that rose slowly would decrease and eventually stop rising altogether.
Therefore, rather than simply raising mana and physical ability, he focused more on other things.
Becoming more accustomed to Fighting Spirit.
Refining the Rabbit Captain’s Magic Combat Art even further to turn it into a skill.
Becoming more proficient at the mana compression he used on the 4th floor.
Naturally deploying physical reinforcement using mana.
There was a lot of practice to be done.
Skipping these and climbing only with the power of skills had a clear limit.
Why else would most S-grades be unable to reach the 50th floor?
Even with an EX-grade, if he neglected practice, he might not be able to enter the 60th-floor range that SS-grades had reached.
Therefore, he concentrated on calmly practicing everything he had obtained so far.
Of course, for Min-hyuk, who was still capable of growth even in repeated 1st-floor clears, his mana and physical abilities did grow, albeit slightly.
These things would also accumulate and eventually create a meaningful difference.
Focusing on clearing the 1st to 4th floors all day without even uploading a strategy video, the time to tackle the 5th floor eventually arrived.
[You can challenge the 5th floor. Would you like to proceed?]
In the past, Min-hyuk would have started the challenge immediately, but this time, instead of going to the 5th floor, he chose a repeated clear of the 1st floor.
On the 1st floor, he practiced physical reinforcement and mana utilization against slimes.
On the 2nd floor, he trained with the rabbits using Magic Combat Art.
On the 3rd floor, he trained to handle Fighting Spirit more naturally.
On the 4th floor, he engaged in the challenge using all of these.
On the first day, it was so hard it felt like he would die, but now he had the skill to hunt easily on at least the 1st and 2nd floors.
[Your mana stats and physical abilities will no longer increase through repeated clears on the 1st floor.]
Even when such a system window appeared, he continued the 1st-floor clear.
It was still quite useful as a practice partner for physical reinforcement.
Most of all, he had to secure as much slime mucus as possible.
That was because, while he was dedicated to training, some hunters roaming around the 1st floor had found a way to strengthen the recovery power of slime mucus.
A thorny grass growing in the area where the Slime King is located on the 1st floor.
Like other materials on the 1st floor, it was toxic; if pricked, one would develop a fever, and it had the effect of strengthening the magic poison of the Slime King and the poisonous energy of the nearby forest.
However, after boiling it with the mucus and letting the toxic energy fly away, it showed the effect of purely enhancing only the slime mucus’s effect.
It was still at a level inferior to low-grade potions, but it was showing rapid effects in treating wounds.
That wasn’t all.
Other hunters had already begun experiments to create higher-tier poisons by mixing other poisonous herbs from the 2nd floor with the toxins from the 1st floor.
To Min-hyuk, who was filling up his arsenal one by one with weapons to conquer the 5th floor based on what appeared on the strategy board, the system finally issued a direct warning.
[15 days remaining until the time limit for the first attempt at clearing the 5th floor.]
[※ You can use an Emergency Escape once every 10 floors.]
[※ You may be expelled from the Tower if you do not enter within the time limit.]
It was telling him to enter the 5th floor for now since there was an Emergency Escape, even if he was nervous.
Despite this, he stubbornly focused only on repeated clears for 14 days, and the last day arrived.
[Warning! You may be expelled from the Tower if you do not enter by today.]
[Would you like to enter the 5th floor?]
“Yes.”
As if waiting for Min-hyuk’s answer, the door to the 5th floor swung wide open.
Then, as always, Min-hyuk entered the Tower wearing a white T-shirt and shorts.
As he felt a heavy pressure as if his entire body was being constricted by mana, he truly felt that he had entered the 5th floor.
“Phew…”
The moment he let out a long breath, system windows began to appear one after another before his eyes.
[You have reached Level 5. Mana and physical abilities will grow significantly.]
[As a reward for the 4th-floor Perfect Clear, the power of a giant bird is inscribed on your legs.]
[※ Imbued with the power of wind, your movements become lighter every time you use mana.]
[※ Upon reaching a certain level of proficiency, you can walk through the air.]
[You have awakened ‘Slash,’ which releases compressed mana through a blade. It can be turned into a skill upon reaching proficiency.]
Normally, it would end here and the 5th-floor objective would appear.
But this time, it was a bit different.
[You have had a profound impact on challengers below the 5th floor. Accordingly, a special objective is set.]
[※ Achieve consecutive Perfect Clears through the 5th floor.]
[In addition to individual rewards, special rewards will be given to everyone belonging to your nation.]
Looking at the different objective, a smile formed on the lips of the momentarily flustered Min-hyuk.
It was because he felt that his efforts had been recognized.
“Phew…”
The system windows disappeared, and feeling the significantly increased mana and physical ability from reaching Level 5, as well as the power of the wind dwelling in his legs, he stared straight ahead.
*Slash!*
In one stroke, he cut down a lynx—a creature like a slightly large cat—that had attacked by surprise.
It had certainly rushed in at a very high speed, but it was just a lynx.
They were creatures that other hunters could manage enough to hunt and then run away.
As the creatures—originally set to mindlessly charge in for the minimum clear condition of the 5th floor—died instantly at Min-hyuk’s hands, fierce glares emitting Fighting Spirit began to surround him.
The true masters of the forest, meant for challengers seeking more than just the minimum condition (which was practically a courtesy of the Tower), revealed themselves.
“Right. So it’s starting now, huh?”
Normally, he would have broken into a cold sweat at the pressure felt from all sides.
Just as the hunters had warned, the 5th floor, composed entirely of wild beasts, felt much more dangerous than the 4th floor.
He felt the reason why hunters said the 6th to 9th floors were better than the 5th.
This was because starting from the 6th floor, it changed to a survival type where the terrain itself became an extreme environment rather than just animals, so in terms of pure combat, the 5th floor was more dangerous.
“Grrr…”
Thinking he was intimidated when he hesitated at the Fighting Spirit, a leopard emerged from the forest and began to charge at a ferocious speed.
Then, as if afraid their prey would be stolen, other wild beasts also emerged from the forest and rushed toward Min-hyuk at high speeds.
In that moment, mana erupted from Min-hyuk’s body, and his physical abilities began to maximize.
‘I can see it.’
The charging beasts felt slow, and he could see numerous lines to strike them.
The moment he confirmed that the lines of all the beasts except for a few were clear, Min-hyuk’s lips curled into an arc.
It was the moment his past efforts were proven right.
Following the lines reflected in his eyes, he swung his greatsword at the leopard that lunged first.
*Slash!*
Min-hyuk took a step forward, cutting clean through the leopard that had lunged first.
Immediately, a sense of wariness began to dwell in the eyes of the beasts that had thought of him only as prey.