Chapter 50: Three Gateways 2

Hansoo walked on the path and headed towards the outside.

His target was the entrance to another island.

The crossroad that lead towards the starting point of the third floor was connected to the end of the 2nd floor but it was also connected to other islands.

If you follow the paths then you will reach the tunnels that are connected to the other islands.

As he expected he saw a door that had light coming out from the gaps after a bit of walking and he saw a long bridge along with a giant island beyond it.

And when he walked outside he could see someone.

'It's a clansman of Taejin. Did Mihee ask a favor?'

Hansoo didn't know the details but he knew more or less where Taejin would go.

Hansoo smirked as he spoke to the clansman:

"Did you form an alliance?"

The clansman nodded.

"Our Lord formed an alliance with that Mihee. They are together right now. That person called Yerin separated because she said she was going a different way."

Hansoo just nodded.

"I just simply suggested a few things. Figure things out on your own."

The clansman who had been messaging back and forth asked Hansoo:

"Mihee is asking. When you will come back if you go now?"

Hansoo pondered for a moment and then answered back.

"One month. If it's fast."

As he said it, only if he was fast.

He wasn't sure how long it would take exactly.

'I need to come out before the tutorial ends.'

If not then it'll really be the end.

It wasn't that they let them go to the next area just because the tutorial was finished.

If they can't make a <ship> then they would all die.

The clansmen made a sour expression.

"...I guess you'll come near the end."

50 days since they had come into the 2nd tutorial area.

After one month it'll be the stage which was the final part of the tutorial.

Hansoo laughed as he nodded.

"We might not even see each other."

Taejin's clansman nodded and then exchanged messages with the Lord above and spoke:

"He says he'll be doing just fine so have a good trip."

The clansman finished these words as he walked inside towards the crossroad.

Hansoo laughed slightly, warmed up his body and then prepared his Judgement and Justice Dekrados.

And then raised his head to look at the top of the tower, breathed in and out and stood at the outskirts of the tower.

'...To think to do such a thing. The fact that he found it is amazing.'

Hansoo thought of one of the Final Brigade's members, Ralph Lauren, as he shook his head.

Ralph Lauren, he had been dragged into the Otherworld while working as a professional rock climber.

The only thing Ralph Lauren, who had been charging through the tutorial with ease due to his strength, stamina and perseverance, thought of when he saw the tower.

<this world gave something amazing every time you accomplish something amazing. wouldn't there be something if you reach the top of this tower?>

Anybody could climb up from the inside, couldn't they?

Ralph Lauren did not have such simple thoughts.

And after he had prepared inside the tower, he started to madly climb the outside of the tower starting from the second month and finally reached the top and got into the Final Dungeon, Three Gateways.

And had came out after barely breaking through the first gateway.

After not being able to even have an attempt at the second or third gateways.

<phew. there indeed was information regarding the 2nd and 3rd gateways but... it seemed like it was written to tell me to not get killed. so i didn't go. i just came out after clearing the first one. the reward was good enough with that much.>

'First I will go up.'

Hansoo stabbed the Justice of Dekrados once at a time into the tower as he slowly climbed up.

Justice and Judgement of Dekrados basically acted as mountain climbing gear as it helped him climb up to the top.

Stab the dagger and step on top of it.

Stab the next dagger in, grab it with the right hand, fasten yourself with the chain and then retrieve the dagger which you had stabbed in before.

The action was simple but due to it being repeated very quickly, Hansoo climbed up the tower at an extreme speed like a spider climbing up a wall.

Padududk

And at the same time something started flying towards Hansoo.

Kaaaaaak!

Hansoo looked at the disgusting looking birds which were flying towards him and then frowned.

It looked like a bird but had a human's face with a wide mouth that had razor sharp teeth.

These guys existed for those who climbed the outskirts of the tower instead of going up from the inside.

'...Ralph Lauren. You were lucky.'

Ralph Lauren had started from the 4th floor when he climbed up so he had to deal with much less dangers.

But he didn't have enough time to go through the insides of the tower so he needed to climb up from below while going through all sorts of random beasts.

Since the time it would take to cross the Final Dungeon for him who needed to go through all 3 gateways would be longer than that of Ralph Lauren, who only went through one of the gateways.

The expected time of 1 month was just a prediction, it may even take longer.

'Charge through.'

Charururuk

And soon the Judgement of Dekrados, which was tied around Hansoo's body, sliced through the air ruthlessly.

..................

"When the clansman comes we will head out."

Taejin, who had finished communicating, spoke to Mihee.

Taejin, who had seen Mihee nod slightly, shouted loudly towards the surrounding people:

"Are you all ok?"

And everyone who was below the Cross nodded their head as they breathed in and out roughly.

A slight amount of regret was mixed in the eyes of the people who were gathered here.

Since that Cross was a chance to revive somebody they love.

Taejin had hesitated as well.

<who will you kill to revive somebody? and even if you did revive someone else they will be in a state of a tabula rasa, are you even able to advance forward by working their share as well? i won't stop you from doing whatever you choose but you cannot if you want to be with us.>

And a few people who could not stand it instantly left the group.

Mihee did not stop those people.

Since if she had someone she loved. And this was the last chance to save them then even she wouldn't be able to stop herself.

And then Taejin looked at Mihee as he spoke:

"All the people here gathered after looking at you. Be the center properly."

He had come here from Hansoo's suggestion but he would've left right away if he didn't like it.

It was the same for those who were here.

There was almost nobody left who had hopes of Hansoo joining back here.

'He has so many things to do. Will we be able to see him before we get out?'

He actually wasn't a great leader or something.

Since he would go with them if they followed but will just leave them if they aren't able to follow.

And there weren't many people who were of the level where they could follow him.

As if Taejin's words gave her strength, Mihee smiled slightly as she shouted at the people around her:

"Prepare yourself. We will resume after 10 minutes."

Hansoo was Hansoo and they had things they needed to do.

'I will keep as many alive as I can.'

Mihee clenched her teeth.

That was the greatest resistance that she could do against this damnable world and the fairy.

Save as many people as you can on the way up.

And soon, about 200 people started to head towards a different area after getting through the third floor.

.............

'It took a whole day just to come up here.'

Hansoo retrieved the dagger he had been standing on as he looked at the small door at the top of the tower.

A very real-like moon despite the fact that it was located a few thousands meters up on the top of a tower.

And only a door was floating in the air, there were no other buildings behind the door.

Hansoo breathed in and out as he opened the door.

Kachak

And soon he could see a dark area on the insides of the door.

'It's real huh.'

Hansoo, who was going against the rough wind, stepped into the door and then closed the door.

And then he looked around the darkness and then looked towards the weapons that were hung around his body.

7 double-edged swords and eight blades.

18 medium and small-sized swords and the Dekrados Set.

Seven Striped Cape and other defensive gear.

Nurmaha's ring and eight smaller rings.

One necklace around his neck and a circlet.

These were all the best versions of their category which he could gain in the tutorial before the third floor.

And even the Demonic Jade Crystal as well as the Philosopher's stone that he gained at the treasure hunt.

Preparations were complete.

Hansoo touched his ear.

'...As I expected... it's very inefficient'

[Kang Hansoo] Strength (Colorless): 60.8%

Stamina (Colorless): 61.1%

Agility (Colorless): 66.7%

Perception (Colorless): 67.7%

Mana (Colorless): 58.7%

Magic (Colorless): 58.7%

Physical Resistance (Colorless): 58.7%

Magic Resistance (Colorless): 58.7%

The clansmen of the Dark Mad Lord were much stronger than other adventurers and there were over 150 of them.

But despite eating all of those he could only raise his stats by around 40%.

Even if it was inefficient, it was a number that could never be reached by simply hunting monsters.

The amount he had raised by staying here for 50 days was a mere 25%.

Even if he focused on hunting for the last month, he would've reached at most 50%.

Since he had to decrease the efficiency with the Rune Eater Snake and had to raise the Nurmaha's Ring as well.

'Though it's a bit risky... I'm going in.'

His stats were good enough to go through the 2nd gateway of the 3 gateways so it was good enough.

The 1st gateway was hard but it was just the reward for those who had climbed up the tower.

According to Ralph Lauren's intel, the difficulty raised significantly starting from the 2nd gateway and the problem with the runes will be solved if one could clear the 2nd gateway.

'It's the start.'

Hansoo jumped down towards the inside.

............

"These crazy times. Phew... they're all very zealous. Just to save somebody they know. Right?"

Jimin sighed tiredly as she looked at the few tens of people they had forced to kneel beneath the Cross.

Yerin chuckled at Jimin's words.

Since it would've been hard for her too if her clan wasn't made of special forces.

Standing on the same side as Taejin in Central Island was a stroke of good fortune.

If not then she would've shared the fate of the nine dead Lords among the eleven of them.

"But why have you told us to suppress the non-clansmen? We have already reached the limit of how many we can have in the clan."

Yerin laughed quietly as she spoke.

"Bigger sister has something she thought of. Let's see..."

Yerin breathed in deeply as she shouted towards the clansmen.

"Bring nine of the non-clansmen people over there."

"Pardon?"

Yerin pointed at the cross as she giggled.

"And let's save these guys here."

"Pardon?"

"These guys were Lords."

And then Yerin pointed towards the nine people out of the countless in the Cross.

Nine Lords who had gone missing along with Guktae in Central Island.

She hadn't known if they had died or not but it seemed like they did since their faces came up on the cross.

'This is a jackpot.'

She didn't know if the psychic powers would come back or not.

But according to the fairy's words they will have the memory and physique of themselves before coming in here.

Which means the chances of them manifesting such things like the psychic powers were very high.

She couldn't do anything about those she didn't know but how could she let go of these people who had the chances of becoming a Lord.

"Uaaaak!"

"Aak!"

Yerin made a content smile as she looked at the nine people getting <eaten> in the grave below the cross.

Even if she didn't put them into the clan, what would they be able to do if she always looks after them with blades up against their backs.

And with this the amount she will be able to control will increase tenfold, to one thousand from one hundred.

'Very good.'

A newcomer shouted towards Yerin at one of somebody in the cross while she looked at the nine Lords who were growing out of the ground.

"Oh yeah. Lord. This guy is probably a Lord too."

"This guy?"

Yerin made a strange expression as she looked at the man who had just appeared in the Cross.

'It means he just died.'

The clansman who had been speaking to Yerin nodded.

"Yes. I noticed him because I had come to the tower a bit earlier and I saw people move in a large group with this guy as the center... this guy is probably a Lord too. It seemed like he had quite a lot of people but... it seems like he died in the tower."

It wasn't weird even for a Clan Lord to die since it was very dangerous.

Since the 3rd floor that they had gone through was that dangerous too.

There was a chance where the injured forces from the 2nd floor could die while crossing.

"Yeah? Then drag one more over here."

And then another person was shoved into the grave as another man grew out of the ground.

Jimin made a content expression as she looked at the 10 male and female Lords in Total.

She asked the last guy who had come up because she wanted to know his name.

Since she knew everyone else's name but didn't know the new guy's.

"What is your name?"

The man made a confused expression and then muttered out his name.

"Wongyung... I'm called Wongyung. But where is this? I was clearly with Ahee in Myungdong..."

"Wongyung... Good."

Yerin smiled contently again at the 10 people.

'I hope we can meet more people from now on.'

If an empty space appears, you need to fill it up.

And that won't be much of a problem.

Since there will still be plenty of people in the tower.

'From now on... I'll lead.'

Yerin laughed coldly.