Chapter 0: Prologue

Prologue: The Summit of the Tower

Prologue

Number of Trials: 79.

Number of annihilated guild raid teams: 297.

Death toll: 315,850 people.

All these numbers pointed to one thing—failed attempts to climb the 48th floor of the 'Tower of Ordeals.'

[Time Limit: 0h : 58m : 33s]

The dim status window flickered.

Time was running out.

- Howl with a Moving Castle: Sigh... Looks like there's no more challengers.

- Amornzikda: Even the large guilds gave up. Frankly, far too many have died.

- My Lime is an Epic Orange Tree: One hour from now, it's the end of the world. The countdown has started on the news too. GG.

- Huhuhu You're Feeling It, Right?: What are you doing on the last day here? There's a party in Hongdae right now. Not going for a fiery Friday?

- Royal Bow Font: Lol, a basement dweller's got excited. Never even spoken to a girl in your life and you're on about a fiery Friday?

[Current number of players connected: 87]

The chat room that once had millions logged in now had less than a hundred left.

It was to be expected.

Due to countless failures, various guilds had collapsed.

Even individuals who challenged the Tower had long since disappeared.

Humanity was to end here, never having conquered the next floor.

That's what everyone thought when it happened.

Whooosh!

A blue light began to emerge in this place that had been devoid of human presence for so long.

There was only one occurrence that could cause this phenomenon.

[A challenger has appeared in the domain of the 48th floor 'Red Dragon Destia'.]

Only when a new challenger entered, did such a thing occur.

A man appeared in the dungeon.

His face hidden by face-distortion magic.

But in one hand he held a dagger that was 30cm in length.

Without a doubt, he was a player.

- Howl with a Moving Castle: Oooh!

- Climber123: There's still someone who will challenge!

- Royal Bow Font: Wow, is this for real? A challenger at a time like this?

- Vision Ahead, Blink Behind: Here comes Mr. Right Time. Hang up your keyboard for an hour.

The chat room came alive with the sudden turn of events.

How long had it been since a new challenger appeared?

Those who had not yet given up hope cheered.

[Current number of viewers connected: 7,588]

News spread rapidly through the community and social media.

People who had been waiting for death entered, just in case.

Soon, all attention turned to the challenger.

- Missing Mackerel No. 1: But who is he? Doesn't seem like a ranker.

- My Lime is an Epic Orange Tree: All the info is private, can't see the status window.

- Climber123: Don't tell me, a newbie has come in haphazardly at the last moment?

- Veteran Player Analyst: WTF. Everyone, shut it, and look at the dagger.

- My Lime is an Epic Orange Tree: It looks like something for picking coconuts. Why look at an item used by beginners?

- Veteran Player Analyst: Look at the color! The color!

Everyone's gaze followed that of one viewer to the dagger.

The blade was as black as obsidian.

And at the hilt was...

'Purple.'

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. Among the seven colors, purple signified the highest grade, a supreme relic that no one had yet been able to obtain.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The hearts of those watching beat wildly.

It had arrived.

A long-awaited relic, now nothing more than a rotten fossil!

***

"Grrrrr..."

The Red Dragon roared lowly at the entrance of an intruder into its nest.

A massive body stretching 30 meters.

Just being face to face was enough to make one's hairs stand on end.

"Humans, you do not know the meaning of surrender, do you? After so much loss, you still come again?"

Destia looked down on the intruder.

A look of supreme arrogance.

As if all living beings were beneath it.

Of course, this arrogance was backed by overwhelming power.

But...

"There's quite a bit to prepare if I'm to make grilled lizard. Yet, it seems I'm not too late."

The man casually met that gaze.

Bristling with insolence, Destia's brows furrowed.

"Human, do you not know that one can die far more painfully than the others?"

"Well, try if you can. But don't just talk—act."

"Fine. Dialogue with creatures such as you is meaningless anyway."

Destia slashed the air with its claw.

"...!"

The man flinched.

A high-level binding magic had been activated.

"What a trivial ending this will be."

Destia's claw, high up, dove towards the man's head.

His body was swallowed by the shadows.

And in that very moment,

The claw descended.

Boom!

The ground split open with a crack.

Rock shards scattered in all directions.

Yet...

"Hmm?"

There was no expected sensation.

No feeling of bones breaking, of flesh being crushed.

"After the binding, a physical attack... Isn't that pattern a little too obvious?"

It was then the man's voice came from behind Destia.

Impossible.

"He interrupted the skill... before it activated?"

In that brief instant?

"Well, I could guess what you'd do just by your hand movements."

"Don't spout nonsense!"

Destia stood upright.

Its head rose almost to touch the cave ceiling.

"There will be no more accidents now."

Flames began to form in its wide-open jaws.

Kukukuku!

All moisture in the air was dried up.

The ultimate power to reduce an enemy to ashes.

A dignity that only dragons possess.

"Expected as much, a breath attack."

The man muttered.

The reason why raid teams had failed was exactly because they couldn't block that stream of fire.

Kukukuku!

The flames grew wilder and wilder.

Shortly, when the condensed magic energy is released...

Not even a corpse of the human would remain.

"There's nowhere to hide."

For the whole dungeon was under the command of the dragon's breath.

And of course...

"There's no need to escape either."

He didn't come here to run.

Much less to die.

He came to win.

To survive and advance to the next floor.

And to see the end of this world.

["Reading 'Memories of the World'.]

Behind the man, a brilliant fog poured forth.

The infinite repository containing all skills.

The grand library holding the truths of the world.

This was the man's power.

"I'll call forth 'Hellfire' and 'Black Tears'."

Along with his short declaration,

Fwoosh!

A fireball about a meter in diameter appeared in his left hand.

Drip! Drip!

Black liquid dripped from the dagger in his right hand.

- Howl with a Moving Castle: That's Hellfire, isn't it? Maria's signature skill, a ranker from Europe!

- Veteran Player Analyst: The liquid falling off the dagger. It's a skill owned by the 'Witch of Lament' on the 15th floor.

- Climber123: Good heavens... There's a player with a copy skill?

- Royal Bow Font: So what? Spam S-rank skills all you want, they're not going to work against it?

- Vision Ahead, Blink Behind: Hoped for something, but as expected, it's as expected.

- High School Girl Veteran: Ah, my precious time.

Viewers began to log off from the channel rapidly.

It's not surprising.

Hellfire or the Witch's Curse.

Neither could surpass the dragon's breath.

It was a fact proven by countless failures and defeats.

"Foolish human. You spoke so boldly, trusting in only those weak skills?"

Destia sneered.

Right.

Skills of such a level certainly wouldn't suffice.

So, he simply had to create.

'A skill greater than breath, integrating one formed in the left hand with.'

And one from the right hand that could even cut through dragon scales.

The man dropped a black droplet onto the Hellfire.

The moment it made contact.

[The skill 'Hellfire (S)' is fusing with the skill 'Black Tears (S)'.]

The two disparate skills merged, igniting a deep crimson spark.

[The fusion was successful!]

[You have acquired 'Breath of the Void Dragon Etherion (SSS)'!]

Kwakwakwa!

A black flame of a completely different caliber than the Red Dragon's breath blazed.

Different in the quality of magic.

Different in the temperature of the flame.

"That, that's!"

Fear trembled in Destia's eyes.

It couldn't not know.

How could it not?

Etherion, one of the ancient species, and the mightiest breath wielded by that great dragon.

"You... You human! How is it possible that a mere human possesses such power...!"

Destia stammered.

Beyond curiosity, it was fear.

That's why it had to ask.

"Just who are you?"

At Destia's question, the man slowly opened his mouth.

"Kang Jinhyuk."

I am a veteran player.

Worn and worn down until nothing was left.

"And this won't be the first time I've killed you."

At the same time, I am the only player who ever reached the summit of this Tower.