Chapter 92: Forced Exit

Kugugugugu-!

At the sudden alert, Levan was startled, but before he could even respond, the third floor challenge had already begun.

[Achievement, ‘First Winner’ is applied.]

[Achievement, ‘Second Floor Winner’ is applied.]

[All stats increase by 25%.]

The increase in stats from the achievement effect.

The third-floor raid had truly begun.

Krrrk, krrrk!

The monster that appeared on the third floor was a Gnoll.

At the edge of a meadow-like hollow, yellow, small, furry creatures began to appear.

‘What the heck is this?’

Gnolls weren’t particularly scary.

No matter how strong a gnoll is, it’s still just a gnoll.

The problem lay in the challenge that had begun so suddenly.

‘Ah, this is a bit much.’

Just in case, he checked his inventory to see if the third-floor ticket he received as a reward was still there.

Fortunately, the ticket was safe.

So this was literally a challenge that started automatically when the waiting time ran out.

‘Tsk, what a hassle.’

Let me say it again—he absolutely did not want to challenge the Tower of Infinity in an unprepared state.

So, scratching the back of his head, he raised his hand and shouted,

“I forfeit the challenge.”

[Do you wish to forfeit the challenge?]

“Yes.”

[You have forfeited the challenge.]

Saaaaa!

At the moment he forfeited, the distant gnolls all vanished at once.

Instead, the portal that had disappeared earlier reappeared, and Levan had no choice but to get ready to be ejected.

Because if you fail or forfeit mid-challenge, the tower forcibly expels the challenger.

Before being sucked into the portal, Levan quickly took out and put on his animal mask and fireproof cloak.

[You are being transported outside the tower.]

At that moment, the peaceful-looking portal instantly transformed into a black hole and mercilessly sucked Levan’s body inside.

Thud!

“Ouch, geez…”

It was the same as last time; no matter what kind of landing technique you use, it’s not much help when you’re thrown out of the tower.

The tower spits out failed challengers just like someone spitting out chewed gum.

But though the landing hurt, it wasn’t so painful he couldn’t stand up.

Levan, who had been sprawled on the ground, slowly got to his feet.

“When is he coming out, anyway?”

“I heard the challenge ended?”

“Man, that guy Levan is something else. How long has it even been since he cleared the first floor, and he’s already cleared the second?”

As he stood up, he could hear the voices around him.

When he turned his head, he saw an enormous crowd filling the area around the Tower of Infinity.

Everyone had gathered to see Levan, who cleared the second floor.

‘Good thing I prepared in advance.’

Unless someone rolled out a staircase of glory for him, this kind of crowd was a bit overwhelming.

After all, Levan was just a streamer, not a politician running for office.

Pressing his animal mask down tightly, Levan quickly slipped away.

Leaving the tower behind, he arrived at the same inn room where he always rested.

Once assigned a room, Levan tossed aside his mask and cloak and threw himself onto the super single-size bed.

“Phew, what a mess this is…”

To have cleared the second floor so splendidly, only to get thrown out.

Finding his own situation strangely funny, Levan chuckled as he lay there.

‘Enough messing around, let’s get to work.’

There was no need to rest.

The moment he was ejected from the tower, his stamina fully recovered, and he hadn’t done anything that could really be called labor anyway.

Raising his upper body, Levan sat on the bed and cleared his throat.

“Murha! Hello, this is Levan.”

Having been kicked out so suddenly, even the camera setup he left running was still as it was.

Levan stared into the camera and continued his commentary.

“My original plan was to hunt the Leader Goblin and review the rewards right inside the tower, but the waiting time was shorter than I thought and it automatically pushed me to the third floor. So I cleanly forfeited the challenge, and what do you know? I got thrown out in style. Funny, right? To be the first to clear the second floor, only to get thrown out… That’s why I’ve moved the reward review to here instead. Let’s get started with the second-floor reward review.”

After his introductory remarks, Levan pulled up his unchecked system notifications.

“First, let’s take a look at the achievements. Check undiscovered achievements!”

Pabat!

[Leader Goblin Defeated Solo]

-Condition: Defeat the boss monster, Leader Goblin, solo.

-Option: Highest current stat +5.

[Leader Goblin Slayer]

-Condition: Obtainable upon defeating Leader Goblin.

-Option: Highest current stat +10.

[Second Floor Winner]

-Condition: Obtainable by defeating the master of the second floor of the Tower of Infinity.

-Option: All stats +5% in combat within the Tower of Infinity.

Highest current stat +5.

[Calamity of the Goblins]

-Condition: Obtainable upon clearing the second floor of the Tower of Infinity.

-Option: High chance to overwhelm goblin-type monsters. Attack Power +20%, Defense +20%.

“Wow…!”

There were four achievements obtained for defeating the Leader Goblin.

And the permanent stat boosts from these four achievements alone totaled 20 points!

All of them were applied to Strength.

Thanks to that, Levan’s Strength stat finally surpassed 200.

“Nice. My Strength stat is now over 200. Pretty amazing, right?”

For a character not even level 100 to have a Strength stat over 200—that was truly overwhelming.

But Levan didn’t overdo it and instead recited it in a calm, matter-of-fact way.

As if it was only natural.

“Other than that, it’s not much different from when I cleared the first floor. If there is a difference, it’s that when I run the Tower of Infinity now, I get a 25% stat bonus instead of 20%. I can’t say for certain, but at this rate, it looks like every time I defeat a floor master, the stat bonus goes up by 5%.”

That was enough for the achievement review.

After all, all Levan could do was recite the achievements and add his own commentary.

‘If I act all silly, the quality of the review will just drop.’

Finishing the achievement review, Levan immediately took out the Infinite Chest.

“Now that we’re done checking achievements, let’s not drag this out. Time for the Infinite Chest opening ceremony.”

It’s not the finals of some audition program; if you drag things out pointlessly, people will just get annoyed.

After finishing his remarks, Levan opened the Infinite Chest without hesitation.

[Do you wish to open the Infinite Chest?]

“Yes.”

[You have obtained the Elixir of Condensed Experience.]

[You have obtained the third-floor ticket.]

[You have obtained the Floor Keeper’s Seal.]

[You have obtained Leader Goblin’s Sleep Gun.]

[You have obtained Leader Goblin’s Bone Powder.]

Five items emerged from the chest.

The contents were similar to when he fought the Master Orc.

That made reviewing them easy—except for one item.

Levan picked up the unfamiliar ‘Floor Keeper’s Seal’.

“The rest look similar to the Master Orc rewards, but this one’s new. Though the name sounds grand, it just looks like eyedrops. So I’ll review this one last.”

Save the best for last.

And save the most curious thing for last, too.

Like how the most popular singer comes on last at a university festival, the highlight of the review naturally comes last.

Levan set down the Floor Keeper’s Seal and checked the other items first.

“Check unidentified item info.”

[Leader Goblin’s Sleep Gun]

-Rank: Unique, Boss, One-of-a-kind.

-Restriction: Only usable by Leader Goblin Slayer.

-Durability: 1,500/1,500

-Options

Physical Attack Power +400.

#Can use Sleep Gun.

[#Sleep Gun]

-Effect: Fires a dart laced with powerful sleep toxin, consuming 2% of total health.

Sleep toxin only works on living creatures and is affected by the target’s resistance.

[Leader Goblin’s Bone Powder]

-Rank: Unique, Boss, One-of-a-kind.

-Restriction: Requires Advanced Materials Science or higher.

-Options

Bone powder from the naturally strong Leader Goblin. It gives off a mysterious aura for some reason.

If handled by someone with low material understanding, the bone powder’s true power may not be revealed.

The Elixir of Condensed Experience and third-floor ticket were essentially the same as previous versions, just with different names.

Naturally, Levan’s attention focused on the ‘Leader Goblin series’.

‘Not bad.’

The Sleep Gun, in particular, was quite nice.

The Sleep Gun was a blowgun resembling a small flute, just like the Leader Goblin used. Although Levan wasn’t familiar with using a blowgun, so he probably wouldn’t use it often, it would still make an excellent backup weapon.

‘As for the bone powder… I honestly don’t know, but if I hand it over to the Masterials, they’ll figure out what to make.’

Even if he was ignorant about materials, he had a solid connection in the Masterials now, so there was nothing to worry about.

Just as with the achievements, Levan finished the item review calmly, then picked up the highlight of this review: the Floor Keeper’s Seal.

“Finally, it’s this guy’s turn. First, let’s check the info. Floor Keeper’s Seal, check item info.”

Pabat!

[Floor Keeper’s Seal]

-Rank: Legendary, Unique, Bound.

-Restriction: Levan only.

-Option

A seal held by the master of a floor.

Apply it to the Winner’s Badge to enhance its rank.

The Floor Keeper’s Seal was Legendary.

But it was also bound to Levan, so it couldn’t be traded.

‘Winner’s Badge… does that mean the badge?’

The Gold Badge comes with an explanation that it’s the Winner’s Badge, given only to those who defeat the master of the first floor.

So the ‘Winner’s Badge’ mentioned by the Floor Keeper’s Seal was likely the Gold Badge.

So, without hesitation, he pulled out the Gold Badge.

“Looks like the ‘Winner’s Badge’ refers to the Gold Badge. Well then, let’s apply the Floor Keeper’s Seal.”

What would happen to the badge if he applied the Floor Keeper’s Seal?

Having never seen such an item before, Levan was very curious.

He set the badge down on the floor, then opened the eyedropper-like container of the Floor Keeper’s Seal.

Pop!

As he opened the lid, a light sound rang out.

Without hesitation, Levan poured the seal onto the badge.

[Using the Floor Keeper’s Seal.]

He poured every last drop from the container onto the badge.

It was only a few drops anyway.

Then, a new notification appeared.

[The dignity of the winner is added to the badge.]

…

A brief silence.

No further notifications appeared.

Levan waited a few more seconds, then, realizing there was no further change, awkwardly picked up the badge.

“That was really simple. Let’s check the badge’s info. Gold Badge info, check.”

[Gold Badge +2]

-Rank: Legendary, Unique, Bound.

-Restriction: Levan only.

-Option

Winner’s Badge, given only to the first person to defeat the master of the first floor.

*Master Orc’s Seal.

*Leader Goblin’s Seal.

The used Floor Keeper’s Seal had disappeared, and the badge’s information had changed.

But even after using the seal, the only difference was a few extra words in the item info; there didn’t seem to be any major change.

‘How anticlimactic.’

He felt deflated by how underwhelming the result was.

If things kept going like this, even the video would feel flat.

So he picked up the Elixir of Condensed Experience.

“Hmm, that was a letdown. Well, let’s wrap up this video by using the experience elixir.”

The Floor Keeper’s Seal had a disappointing result, but the experience elixir would be different.

After all, the elixir he received for defeating the Master Orc raised his level by a whopping nine.

Expecting another big boost, Levan brought the bottle to his lips.

The system asked if he wanted to use the elixir, and Levan replied confidently that he did.

[Your level has increased.]

[Your level has increased.]

“…?”

Two level-ups.

That was all.

(Continued) The Magician Doesn’t Hide His Power