Thud...
Dekkan staggered backward. A white diagonal scar had ford across his upper body.
The crimson light that had flickered in his eyes quickly began to fade.
Dekkan’s body slowly collapsed to the ground.
And at the sa ti, life seed to drain from my own.
[You have defeated the boss monster!]
[Level Up!]
[Lv.43 → Lv.45]
Thankfully, just as life began to slip away, it suddenly surged back.
I seriously thought I was going to die.
My torn body reknitted itself like hundreds of threads weaving together, and it was restored.
['Strength' stat increased by 12.]
['Agility' stat increased by 13.]
['Stamina' stat increased by 10.]
['Mana' stat increased by 9.]
Gray smoke began to rise from Dekkan’s feet.
Ssshhh...
His body was vanishing.
Through the strands of his white hair, I saw a pair of dull golden eyes.
My eyes widened.
Dekkan’s gaze, which had been murky, had beco clear once more.
“Dekkan?”
I leaned down and looked into his face.
“Thank you,”
A faint voice.
“Disciple... of the Great Pioneers...”
That was all.
The clarity in his eyes vanished imdiately.
His mouth closed. His eyes followed.
Fwaa—
Dekkan literally disintegrated into light.
A disciple of the Great Ones.
By “Great Pioneers,” he must have ant the senior mbers of the Transcendent Gallery who had taught him techniques and martial arts.
But since he was already gone, I couldn’t ask.
That interpretation would have to be left to the seniors.
I picked up a sword that had fallen to the ground.
One of the items Dekkan left behind.
Shhh—
[Tooth of Eucaletta]
It felt like a fair exchange for the completely shattered greatsword Carnavalte.
I placed Dekkan’s sword into my inventory.
The other item was a book.
“......”
A sword manual.
[Valsenarz Sword Manual]
It was the manual of the swordsmanship that Absolute Monarch had once taught to Knight Dekkan.
I added the manual to my inventory as well.
[You have cleared the 10th Floor stage.]
[Calculating Player – Han Yuseong’s 10th Floor Stage Score...]
[Hidden Quest selected and completed – Bonus score applied.]
[Bonus condition ‘Defeated a Strong Enemy’ t – Bonus score applied.]
[Strong Enemy Defeated: 'Glorious Knight – Dekkan']
The usual 10th Floor ranking window appeared.
1st – Strategy Union Leader: 892 points
2nd – Black Star: 801 points
4th – Still Chasing: 793 points
5th – LifeIsPainByDefault: 747 points
⋮
⋮
[Score calculation complete.]
[Han Yuseong: 4,578 points]
“Huh?”
4,578 points?
What is this absurd score?
Up until now, even the best players had only managed scores slightly over double the record of the usual first place.
But this? This blew that out of the water.
[You will be automatically transferred to the 6th Floor Waiting Room in 3 minutes.]
Shff! Rustle!
While I was still staring at the score, I heard soone pushing through the underbrush in the distance.
Two silhouettes burst through the foliage at the sa ti.
Yunes the mage, and Resellin, Commander of the Lucerna rcenary Corps.
Resellin looked at the landscape where the giant trees had been sliced apart and now leaned at odd angles, then looked at .
“...What happened to Knight Dekkan?”
They both seed breathless from running.
“He disintegrated.”
Resellin checked the scorched ground and appeared to believe imdiately.
Then, suddenly, she rummaged through her bag and held sothing out.
“This is an identity token. Use it instead of a rcenary badge, in case of ergencies. It’s engraved on the back with the commander’s seal and our endorsent. On the continent of Valtera, no one will dare touch you lightly.”
After explaining, Resellin let out a sigh.
“Do you know how crazy it is to not have a rcenary badge? It’s a miracle no one’s tried to track your identity yet. But when you randomly ‘pop’ back into the world again, make sure to get one from the Imperial rcenary HQ.”
She must have hurriedly prepared this after I told ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) her two days ago that I didn’t have a badge.
“Thank you.”
I replied, turning over the round silver token in my hand.
[Lucerna rcenary Identity Token]
Type – Accessory
Description: A token given by the commander of the Lucerna rcenary Corps of the Ermain Empire to an individual whose identity is directly guaranteed.
It was technically just a proof of identity, but sohow it felt like I’d received sothing much more aningful.
I looked at Yunes.
“Ah, Yunes. The artifact worked perfectly. Thank you.”
Yunes smiled at .
“Keep it. With mana recharge, you should be able to use it around nine more tis.”
That item played a huge role in helping close in on Dekkan instantly.
No reason to refuse.
“Thank you.”
Then Yunes spoke again.
“Are you going to ‘pop’ out again?”
That word again—“pop.” She picked that up from Resellin.
“Yes, seems like it.”
“Next ti we et, please tell how you used magic to pierce through the darkness.”
“I will.”
Resellin spoke from beside her.
“Will you disappear again and co back a year and a half later next ti?”
“I’ll have to see when the ti cos.”
Yeah... the real problem was, even I didn’t know.
Ti was up.
A white circle of light began to glow beneath my feet.
“See you next ti.”
[Recording for 'Visographica' has ended automatically.]
***
A post uploaded to the Transcendent Gallery began to attract a flood of comnts.
Title: Yeah, I survived.
Author: ㅇㅇ*
Dekkan was strong as hell.
Attached file: 8908092347.mkv
ㄴ He’s back.
ㄴ You saw the 10th floor ranking change on the Climber Gallery, right? Holy shit, how do you even get a score like that?
ㄴ This guy~~~~~ca back alive~~~~~~
ㄴ How the hell did this lunatic survive that?
ㄴ Ice Queen) Frozen! The ti that had stopped... has begun to flow again... Freeze, unfreeze!
ㄴ Rankings spoiled that he survived.
ㄴ Not even surprising if he’d died, honestly.
ㄴ We’ve done death rites hoping Pandemonium would finally kill him, but nope.
ㄴ Demon King) Beltui—has it finally arrived? My joy, my theater, my hope, my light and salt! (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و
ㄴ I had RIP typed and ready but deleted it after seeing the score update. Sorry, lol.
ㄴ Shrine Maiden) Hawawawa, it was a situation where suspicion was warranted. But this maiden chose to trust regardless.
“Phew...”
[Shrine Maiden]
Soyo-hwa looked at the talismans pasted on the wall.
There were clearly more than a dozen of them.
“I’m glad I prayed.”
They were all proof of prayers made for the climber’s survival.
ㄴ Video’s about 7 minutes total. How long is the fight?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) Roughly 4 minutes.
ㄴ About average.
ㄴ Average for what, dying ti?
ㄴ Damn, should I save this and savor it?
ㄴ He actually killed Dekkan? How? Drugs?
ㄴ Suwang) How do you drug a death knight who’s already dead, you bastard!!!!!!
ㄴ ?? Fuzzball’s freaking out. Sounds like he actually tried it.
ㄴ Suwang) No I didn’t!!! You little shit!!!!
ㄴ Bro really sounds like he did.
ㄴ How does a Fourth-Rank kill a Sixth-Rank? Like, how?
ㄴ Pioneer) Everyone hit play. Group screening ti.
ㄴ 3, 2, 1—BAM!
On a blank wall next to the one covered in talismans, footage was projected via the Transcendent Gallery terminal.
The mont showed Dekkan slamming his sword down vertically—
Han Yuseong blocking it with Libra.
“Hrm hrm, that was a clean block.”
Soyo-hwa humd as she picked up a dumpling.
She poured white liquor into a glass beside it.
Then slowly took a sip.
“This is what life’s all about. Munch...”
Even after clearing that damned tower and returning, she still had to hold the line against yokai on the frontlines.
In such a grim life, this climber was like salt to a tasteless dish.
It was the first ti in a while that Soyo-hwa’s eyes and spirit both enjoyed so entertainnt.
THOOM!
The footage now showed Dekkan slamming his magic-charged shield into the ground, unleashing Heaven and Earth Seal.
Han Yuseong t it with a similar technique—using sword aura to cast a counter-domain.
ㄴ Absolute Monarch) Good. You did it just like I explained.
ㄴ Spear King) The hell? You call that “just an explanation”? That’s not normal.
ㄴ Absolute Monarch) Of course it’s not.
ㄴ I couldn’t pull that off in a hundred days.
ㄴ A hundred days? I’ll wager a year.
ㄴ A year? Five.
ㄴ Jesus, you maniacs...
ㄴ Ice Queen) Frozen...! I an, in five years you should at least be able to do that, right?
ㄴ Translation: If you can’t do that in five years, are you even human?
ㄴ And that’s why purity is the scariest evil.
ㄴ Pure Evil GOAT
ㄴ You can be a solid fighter, but if you don’t have the talent for aura micro-control, you’ll never pull sothing like that off.
BOOM! CRASH!
Soon after, the scene showed Han Yuseong getting blasted back by Dekkan’s attack, crashing into the distance.
ㄴ BANG!!
ㄴ That ragdoll flight though lmaooo
ㄴ Can we not get a first-person version of this? Oh wait, that’s premium.
ㄴ Admin) Yeah, probably not until you reach Floor 30.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ*) Wait, you have to pay coins for first-person replays? That’s hilarious.
ㄴ Gutter Swordsman) Nothing’s free in this world.
ㄴ First-person POV would make vomit, but I still want it.
ㄴ That’s the thrill of it.
ㄴ Elf Guy) You should just be grateful you even got this much. Chill out.
ㄴ Grateful? GRAAAATEFUL? You call yourself an elf? What happened to freedom? Slave mindset confird.
ㄴ Elf Guy) When the World Tree gives a prophecy, it's super helpful for organizing the younglings.
ㄴ No wonder elves are going extinct. This is what leads them.
[Sword of Light]
Elena de Brinier watched as Han Yuseong, in Doombringer state, retreated from Dekkan.
Right after that, Dekkan raised his sword vertically—preparing his Sphere.
And what Han Yuseong did next caused an explosion of comnts.
ㄴ ?
ㄴ Man’s a lunatic, confird.
ㄴ He saw the Sphere prep and didn’t run. Just stabbed Extre Breath into his ribs imdiately lmaoooo
ㄴ Didn’t even hesitate. Went for the stacked limit break like a madman.
ㄴ INSANITY!!!!!!
ㄴ This dude ain’t ever goin’ back to the starting line~~
ㄴ That ntal fortitude though.
ㄴ Gutter Swordsman) If I were Fourth-Rank, no way I’d have done that.
ㄴ So you really gotta go insane to break past the mundane, huh?
Maybe I’ve been living too sanely. Starting tomorrow, I’m headbutting a tree 100 tis before training.
ㄴ Pioneer) That’s not just insane. That’s brain damage.
ㄴ Shut it, glorious hard-mode overlord. You don’t understand the heart of the plebs.
Elena looked down at the ground.
There lay the broken fragnts of a sword.
“......”
The Holy Sword, Ecclesia.
She’d summoned an imperial dwarven blacksmith, handed him a hamr, and had it smashed to pieces.
Complete weapons couldn’t be transmitted through interdinsional trade.
So she had to reduce it to a shard small enough to pass approval.
The dwarf had raged at her for destroying a sacred sword—but if it ant giving the climber a shot at victory, it didn’t matter.
Besides, they had another one anyway.
Elena smiled as she watched the projected screen.
He was soone worth risking everything for.
Soone worth doing “crazy” things for.
Onscreen, Han Yuseong began moving again.
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