Chapter 189: Good News

They cleared the Eighty-first Floor with ease.

He had expected it to be difficult since they were flying monsters, but Cheon Seung-heon performed better than anticipated. 

As expected, accepting Cheon Seung-heon as a party member had been the right choice.

A swordsman, an archer, a mage, and an assassin.

…And he, the blacksmith!

It was a truly perfect combination, especially with his soldiers supporting them from below.

In truth, he wanted to form an even more proper party, like in a video game, but the five-person party limit was too restrictive. 

He felt that if he could just accept one or two more people, he could create an even more flawless team.

“You worked hard.”

After praising Cheon Seung-heon for his great performance, Seo Jun went to casually toss the materials from the Eighty-first Floor into his Space Pocket.

“Huh?”

Something was strange.

Usually, unless it was a boss-level or intermediate boss-level trial, getting S-class materials was the norm. 

Even though the Tower’s difficulty had increased and the quality of materials had risen, it usually only meant an increase in the quantity of S-class materials.

But through his blacksmith’s intuition, he could feel it. 

This material was not S-class.

He quickly checked the item information.

[Wing Dragon’s Wing Membrane]

Type: Material

Grade: SS

Description: The wing membrane of a Wing Dragon, a sub-species of dragon specialized for flight. Its body size is reduced in exchange for larger wings and an additional pair of wings.

“Double S!”

Sure enough, his intuition was correct.

An SS-class material instead of an S-class one.

Furthermore, it was large enough to comfortably craft an entire set of armor. 

It looked perfect for making gear for Cheon Seung-heon, who primarily used leather armor.

‘Is it possible that SS-class materials will keep dropping from regular trials from now on?’

If so, it was excellent news. 

Although not as good as SSS-class materials, SS-class materials were still considered quite rare. 

If worse came to worst, SS-class materials still displayed excellent performance when turned into cannonballs. 

Having a steady supply of such materials would be a huge help for both climbing the Tower and facing monster waves.

He happily tucked the wing membrane away.

“If everyone is ready, let’s move on to the next trial.”

They moved to the next floor. 

‘What kind of monster would appear this time?’

‘Since the theme seemed to be “Sky,” perhaps some sort of bird-type monster would show up.’

With that thought, he arrived at the next floor, but…

“Hmm?”

“This is strange.”

“It doesn’t look like a sky-related map at all, does it?”

The Eighty-second Floor consisted of a gloomy swampland. 

It was a swamp filled with a dark purple haze — a poisonous mire that looked dangerous at a single glance.

Because of the poison fog, the sky wasn’t even visible. 

‘What kind of flying monster could possibly appear here? Ah, maybe it’s an insect-type monster?’

There were flying insects like wasps that were associated with poison.

Regardless, he wouldn’t know until he started the trial. 

After making eye contact with his party members and nodding, he immediately began the trial.

[The Trial of the 82nd Floor begins.]

[Eighty-second Floor: Master of Poison]

‘Master of Poison? This trial name also didn’t seem to have much to do with the sky.’

As that thought occurred to him, another possibility came to mind. 

‘What if the theme wasn’t “Sky” in the first place? Then what could it be?’

The monster that appeared on the Eighty-first Floor was a Wing Dragon.

If he took the “Sky” element out of that…

“…Dragon.”

‘Yes. Only “Dragon” remained.’

Sure enough, as soon as the trial began…

“Kruuuuuuuu—!”

A heavy roar, unlike anything a bird could produce, echoed through the air.

The creature that soon revealed itself was, as expected, a dragon. 

However, its appearance was quite different from a typical dragon.

The characteristic hard scales of a dragon were nowhere to be seen. 

It had smooth skin like an amphibian, a long body, and short limbs. 

The creature, covered in ornate yellow patterns over a black base, was a Poison Dragon.

Naturally, it was a dragon. 

This confirmed it. 

The theme was not the sky; it was dragons. 

Every monster appearing in the 80s would likely take the form of a dragon.

“A dragon?”

“We can manage for now, but…”

“It’s only going to get harder from here, isn’t it?”

If it continued like this, the difficulty would surely skyrocket as they climbed higher. 

Dragons were typically boss monsters that appeared in Rank 9 Gates in the United States. 

Even on the Eighty-first Floor, dozens of such dragons had appeared and right now…

“Kruuuuu—.”

In the purple swamp, dozens of Poison Dragons were revealing themselves. 

‘If so, what about the Eighty-fifth Floor? What about the trial on the Ninetieth Floor?’ 

‘Just how strong would the dragons be, and how many of them would there be?’

A flicker of anxiety passed through him, but…

“Let’s begin the raid.”

For now, defeating them was the priority.

“Everyone, put on your cloaks.”

Seo Jun had crafted various resistance items to prepare for different situations. 

One of them was the poison resistance cloak. 

Being an SSS-class cloak, it blocked almost all poison-attribute attacks. 

After equipping fire-attribute parts suitable for attacking poisonous enemies, he gave the order.

“Beginning the raid on the Eighty-second Floor.”

-Dash!

The conquest of the Eighty-second Floor began.

***

[Level Up!]

[You have overcome the Trial of the Eighty-second Floor, ‘Master of Poison.’]

[Evaluation Rank: SSS]

[As a reward, you have been given ‘Poison Dragon’s Poison Gland.’]

[As a reward, you have been given ‘Poison Dragon’s Tail.’]

[The Eighty-second Floor has been conquered, and the Tower is weakened.]

The raid was more difficult than expected. 

He thought it would be easy since they were wearing poison resistance cloaks, but while the cloaks could handle the fog or long-range attacks, they struggled to block attacks that directly injected poison.

The swamp terrain was difficult to move in, and the bodies of the Poison Dragons, which resembled salamanders, were covered in a unique mucus that made attacks less effective. 

No, even without that, a raid involving dozens of dragons could never be easy.

‘The difficulty is spiking too suddenly.’

He had thought they could easily climb through the 80s with their current strength, but at this rate, it might get dangerous. 

They could probably handle up to the Eighty-fourth Floor, but a truly perilous situation might arise on the Eighty-fifth Floor.

‘It’s good that the materials are high quality, though.’

He wasn’t the only one thinking this. 

In fact, his party members — the Rankers — were even more worried.

Unlike him, who watched from the back, they were the ones directly clashing with the monsters, so their concern was naturally greater. 

Having experienced countless battles with monsters, they all realized how dangerous the current situation was.

“Let’s stop here for today.”

“Already?”

“I’m going to custom-make new armor sets for everyone first. It looks like even those in the rear could get hit if we go any further.”

“Thank you, Master Vulcanus.”

“I was actually starting to feel uneasy.”

Even just thinking back to the recent battle confirmed it. 

When a Poison Dragon swam beneath the swamp and burst out right under Cheon Seung-heon, not only Cheon Seung-heon but the entire party had been terrified. 

If Cheon Seung-heon’s reaction had been even a moment slower, a truly dangerous situation would have occurred. 

If this had happened to Cheongryong instead of Cheon Seung-heon, it would have been difficult to react properly. 

A mage’s agility was not that high, after all.

“Let’s disband for now. We’ll meet tomorrow at the same time.”

“Good work, everyone.”

“Good job!”

“Get some rest, Master Vulcanus.”

“Ugh, I’m so sticky. I need to wash up immediately.”

It was a shame they only cleared two trials, but it was not a wise choice to keep taking risks like this. 

The party members would be anxious, and if an accident occurred, the plan for the rest of the climb would completely collapse. 

It was better to properly re-equip and try again tomorrow.

‘I should try to finish the L-grade armor sets by tomorrow.’

It looked like he wouldn’t be getting much sleep again today. 

As he prepared to leave the Tower with that thought…

[The Manager of the Tower intervenes with the Climber ‘Jeong Seo Jun.’]

A figure appeared along with a sudden system message. 

Since he had experienced this before, he wasn’t particularly surprised.

[The Manager of the Tower descends to the 4th Floor.]

The Manager of the Tower, Riohr.

He had appeared.

“Greetings, Climber!”

“It’s been a while. Is something the matter?”

“Of course! I’ve come with some very good news!”

‘Good news, he said.’

He wondered what it could be. 

Riohr was the Manager of the Tower, so it was unlikely he had come just to joke around. 

Seo Jun perked up his ears in anticipation.

“By exercising my authority as the manager to the fullest, I have succeeded in increasing your party size limit!”

It was news he hadn’t even imagined.

Truly “very good news.” 

Just this morning, he had been wishing he could increase the number of party members. 

Did this mean it was now possible?

“Really?”

“Would I come all this way just to tell a joke? ‘Sigh’, do you have any idea how much I had to dig into the System to pull this off? In the process, half of my administrative authority was actually damaged.”

“…Isn’t that a huge problem?”

“What does authority matter? If the Tower collapses, it’s all over anyway. Losing half my authority is a huge bargain compared to that.”

He didn’t know what it meant to “dig into the System,” but good was good.

The important thing here was…

“How many can I have now?”

He wanted to know how much the party size had increased. 

If it increased to six, he would probably have to add the Spirit Emperor. 

Although the Spirit Emperor’s rank was lower than Park Kang-chul’s, the Spirit Emperor, who dealt with spirits, would likely be more versatile in trials. 

If it increased to seven, adding Park Kang-chul would be best.

Any more than that… he wasn’t sure. 

But it was definitely a good thing. 

No matter who he added, clearing the Tower would become much easier.

Riohr’s answer, which came amidst his anticipation, was…

“Do not be shocked. It is ten people!”

It was enough to truly shock him.

“Ten people?”

“That is twice the original limit!”

“Can I start right now?”

“Of course! You can go out right now and put together a party of up to ten people. And please, remember this great feat of Riohr!”

“Of course! Next time I come… no, wait. Have this. It’s the fried Chicken I mentioned before.”

“Fried Chicken?”

“No, I’ll leave some other things too. Try them all, and if there’s anything you like, let me know. I’ll bring more next time.”

“Munch, munch. Ohhhh! What is this! It’s delicious! Culture shock!”

Seo Jun handed over some emergency rations he had packed in his Space Pocket to eat during the trials. 

He had stocked up on them because ordering more was a hassle. 

Thanks to the effects of the Space Pocket, they hadn’t lost any of their warmth even though time had passed. 

They were precious rations, but he wanted to do something for Riohr, who had done him a great favor.

‘Who should I add to the party?’

Even after adding the Berserker and the Spirit Emperor, three slots would remain. 

He considered inviting the talents of the Vulcanus Guild, but although the team leaders were strong, they were a bit lacking compared to the current Rankers. 

It wasn’t that they were unskilled, but rather that their levels were simply lower.

Then should he recruit other established Rankers? 

However, he was a bit hesitant to suddenly accept Rankers whose skills and personalities he didn’t know.

The moment he exited the Tower while mulling over those thoughts…

— “Master Vulcanus. Are you available for a call?”

Without a moment to catch his breath, a message from Nam Bora arrived.