Chapter 58: First Floor Clear

The sound of air being torn apart.

And then, Levan—

“I-I survived…!”

Master Orc’s fist missed his face by the thickness of a single sheet of paper.

He had managed to trigger Hold at the very last moment.

Levan collapsed to the ground as if his legs had given out.

“Ha, hahaha…”

Had there ever been a moment as thrilling as this while playing Warlord?

He could say with certainty—never.

Levan felt the cold sweat running down his back as he stood up.

Then, he took a bookmark out from his pocket and recited the spell he’d memorized in advance.

[Freezing is activated.]

Crackle—crack-crackle!

The spell he’d memorized onto the bookmark was none other than a 44-cube Freezing.

And a 44-cube Freezing—

“It comes with magic defense ignore!”

Crack-crackle!

At the same time, it plunged the target into a state of frost.

As the Freezing took effect, Master Orc’s entire body froze blue, and Levan raised his Black Iron Mace and chanted Smash.

[Smash is activated.]

Crash!!

The sound of shattering glass echoed throughout the first floor.

Levan’s Smash struck Master Orc’s left thigh, smashing the frozen limb to pieces.

[Hold’s duration has ended.]

Kiaaaaaaaa!!!

With his frozen left thigh shattered, Master Orc screamed for the first time.

A high, piercing shriek, sharp enough to rupture eardrums.

But to Levan, that scream sounded like a ray of hope.

‘I see a chance!’

If you strike an enemy in a frozen state with a blunt weapon, the frozen part shatters like glass.

It was a tactic he’d tried several times during his days as a blunt weapon warrior.

So he wondered if it would work against Master Orc—and sure enough, it worked perfectly.

‘That’s effective!’

With the muscle-bound left thigh completely ripped off, Master Orc lost his balance and collapsed.

At the same time, his health dropped by 20%.

Levan quickly put distance between himself and Master Orc before Hold’s duration ended.

Then, released from both freezing and Hold, Master Orc spoke for the first time.

「You…! I’ll chew you to pieces…!」

“Huh? You can talk?”

That wasn’t in the interview.

It was a chilling and terrifying threat, but even now, Levan couldn’t help but smile at the thought of having more material to talk about in the interview.

Just then—

Dudududududu!!

“What? Whoa!!”

Master Orc, missing a leg, started crawling toward Levan on his belly like a cockroach—at terrifying speed!

“Augh, you crazy bastard!!”

When a giant cockroach races toward you, anyone would feel terror.

Of course, Master Orc wasn’t literally a cockroach.

But even if that blood-soaked, one-legged creature looked like a cute kitten or puppy, it’d still be grotesque.

So Levan ran for it.

「Kill you!」

He seemed furious.

With veins bulging across his entire body, Master Orc lunged at Levan.

Levan ran for his life.

He instinctively understood that if he was caught now, there’d be no next chance.

‘Time, how much time do I have left?’

Levan hastily checked his remaining cooldowns.

Freezing’s cooldown, to deal with him, had about 34 seconds left, and there were still over 20 minutes on the challenge timer for a new record.

The only silver lining was that Hold’s cooldown would be up again soon.

In other words, until Hold was ready, Levan had to run for his life from Master Orc.

“Waaaaaah!!”

Levan had assumed Master Orc’s mobility would be crippled with one leg gone, but he was wrong.

Master Orc’s physical capabilities were beyond imagination.

As Levan desperately fled, he prayed to the gods for Hold’s cooldown, and the instant it was ready, he unleashed a burst of focus to trigger Hold.

[Hold is activated.]

“It—it worked…!”

Thud!

He managed to land Hold on the monster just as it reached within inches of his calf.

In other words, he’d been caught just in the nick of time.

As soon as the 7-second countdown appeared above Master Orc’s head, Levan collapsed on the spot.

But relief lasted only a moment—he realized now was no time to be resting.

“Freezing! I need to get Freezing ready!”

He’d already torn off a leg and inflicted 20% damage; if he could repeat this four or five more times, he might actually kill it.

But just as he prepared to cast Freezing again—

[Not yet available.]

Despair washed over him as he realized the cooldown wasn’t up yet.

“Ugh!!”

Usually, the cooldown seemed short, but why did it feel so long today?

But just because Freezing was on cooldown didn’t mean he could waste time.

Levan, determined not to let a second go to waste, pulled out his emergency liquor from his inventory and drank it down.

Gulp—gulp—

[You have consumed liquor.]
[Battle Brew is activated.]
[All stats increase by 10% for a short time.]

Battle Brew—a drink taken before battle.

He’d learned this skill from Herum; while its effects lingered in his system, his stats increased by a whopping 10%. A terrifying support skill.

In an instant, Levan boosted his physical prowess, grabbed the Black Iron Mace, and chanted Thunder Strike.

“Thunder Strike!!”

Crack!!

He swung the Thunder Strike–infused mace at Master Orc’s left hand.

He would have aimed for the head or other vital points to maximize damage, but with Master Orc crawling with both hands and one foot, it was more efficient to rob him of mobility.

“Smash! Energy Bolt!”

Crack! Crunch!!

With only a few seconds left, Levan fired off skills with abandon.

His target, of course, was Master Orc’s left hand.

In moments, Master Orc’s left hand became a tattered mess—even a doctor would shake their head at its hopeless state.

And moments later, the fleeting 7 seconds of Hold ended.

Kiaaaaaaaa!!!

Master Orc, released from Hold, began shrieking again.

‘Run!’

He’d done what he could; now, all that was left was to run again.

As Levan dashed away, he glanced back. But instead of giving chase as before—

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Master Orc kept losing his balance, slamming his jaw into the floor.

“No way…?”

He couldn’t even take a few steps before collapsing again and again.

Levan’s plan to cripple his mobility had worked.

Finally, a triumphant smile spread across his face.

“Yes! I’m finally safe!”

The mere fact that he no longer had to flee meant Levan had achieved something remarkable.

Levan approached the crippled Master Orc, wearing a victor’s grin.

「Human! Human! Humaaan!!」

Of course, Master Orc’s murderous intent peaked, but to Levan, now the predator, it was nothing more than the loser’s last desperate outburst.

“Let’s finish this, Freezing.”

Pop!

Levan selected the 44-cube.

The so-called Revenge Cube, the 44-cube’s record was in the 19-second range.

But no matter how much Levan focused, he wasn’t too familiar with this cube, so it’d take at least 40 seconds.

But it didn’t matter now.

Master Orc had lost all mobility.

“Yeah, not even close, huh?”

Levan backstepped, dodging all of Master Orc’s attacks.

He leisurely solved the cube.

Click, click—

The sound of the cube, like a death sentence, echoed through the first floor.

After about 40 seconds of cubing, Levan finished Freezing and pointed at Master Orc.

“Freezing.”

[Freezing is activated.]

Crack! Crack-crack!

As the magic activated, Master Orc’s body began to freeze solid white.

With Master Orc’s health down to about half, Levan raised his Black Iron Mace and murmured,

“Farewell, Smash.”

[Smash is activated.]

Compared to Thunder Strike, which ignores defense, the forceful blow of Smash was simply more satisfying.

As he chanted the skill, energy gathered at the tip of his Black Iron Mace.

With a solemn expression, Levan declared,

“I’m here to end this war.”

And he swung. Then—

Crash!!

The sound of shattering glass echoed up the stairwell as Master Orc’s head exploded into pieces.

[You have successfully hunted Master Orc.]
[You have achieved a solo kill on Master Orc.]
[You are the first to hunt a boss monster appearing in the Tower of Infinity.]
[Your challenge record is ‘9 hours 14 minutes 37 seconds.’]
[Congratulations! You have set a new record.]
[The rankings have changed.]
[Congratulations! You have set the best record on the first floor of the Tower of Infinity!]
[All beings residing in the Tower of Infinity are now interested in you.]
[Your achievement is now recorded in the Tower of Infinity.]
[‘Achievement: First Victor’ acquired.]
[‘Achievement: Master Orc Slayer’ acquired.]
[‘Achievement: Master Orc Solo Kill’ acquired.]
[‘Achievement: Calamity of Orcs’ acquired.]
[The Tower of Infinity grants you special rewards.]
[You have acquired the Infinite Chest.]
[Due to the perk ‘Time Axis Distortion,’ play time has been reset.]
[The Tower of Infinity asks for your impressions.]
[The impression you give will be permanently recorded in the Tower of Infinity and always displayed to all challengers on the first floor.]
[Please state your impressions.]

“Uh, um, my impressions?”

[Is your impression, ‘Uh, um, my impressions?’]

“No, no! Definitely not! Cancel, cancel!”

[Please state your impressions.]

A torrent of notifications poured before his eyes.

He’d never seen this many in his life.

Levan was momentarily flustered by the Tower’s sudden request for an interview.

But that only lasted a moment.

Thinking over the rewards the Tower had just mentioned, he realized just how amazing this privilege was.

‘To have my impression displayed to every user who challenges the first floor… That’s huge, isn’t it?’

Why was having his impression displayed to all challengers such a massive benefit?

The answer was simple.

As the first person to defeat the boss mob, Levan could boost his reputation with a cool line.

But Levan’s usual values were—

‘Screw looking cool, trying to look cool gets you killed!’

Strict pragmatism!

So he decided to do in the interview what he’d planned all along.

“Ahem, I’ll state my impression.”

[Please state your impressions.]

Levan cleared his throat and took a deep breath.

Then, he began to recite the line he’d prepared.

“I’m Levan, the first to clear the first floor. I’ll be uploading a first-floor strategy video on the WarTube channel, ‘Physics Basics,’ so I hope you’ll all check it out.”

[Is your impression, ‘I’m Levan, the first to clear the first floor. I’ll be uploading a first-floor strategy video on the WarTube channel, ‘Physics Basics,’ so I hope you’ll all check it out’?]

“Yes, that’s correct.”

[Your impression has been registered.]

Fwoosh!

With a flash indicating his impression had been registered, Levan’s vision lit up brightly.