Chapter 162 Dimensional War (1)

Since Lynn’s soul was placed in the battleship and the synchronization increased, there was no need to shout the command aloud.

‘Nuclear Plasma.’

The moment he ordered the attack-

—Yeah! It’s exploding!

The lower part of the spacecraft opened, a large barrel extending out.

Whirrrrrrrrrrrrr. Clank. Clank.

The weapon prepared to fire, but as soon as he saw the spacecraft, Fahrini began to recite commands like crazy.

“I guess he’s more like a magic swordsman.’

Buff skills and activation-type magic equipment. Several effects mounted, and colorful auras overlapped on Fahrini’s body. Yoon-seok watched without interfering.

Fahrini was rating S+. It was clear that he was in the lower ranks among the 5,000, but he was curious how well the newly acquired spacecraft would perform. Soon, his question would be resolved.

Whoooooosh-!

Rays of light began to condense around the weapon, but unlike before, they were black.

Booooom!

The firing and collision of the ray were simultaneous, drawing a dark line through the air. The resulting explosion blocked his view, but Yoon-seok could tell.

‘Was it because he was a challenger who came up to the 21st floor?’

He endured the first shot. Then what about the second?

—This is the start of the second attack! If this doesn’t work out, then there will be a third!

Lynn shouted like a child in an amusement park. Although Yoon-seok also wanted to..

‘Was I being too eager?’

Time was a little tight to meet the death set just now.

‘Lynn, how many shots can you shoot at once?’

—Up to six are possible with our current power.

‘What if I use half of my magic power?’

—It’s possible to go up to twenty!

‘Not bad. Do that right now.’

Before the dust settled.

—Arghhhhhhhhhh!

Half of the bottom of the spacecraft opened, and dozens of barrels protruded out.

—This is a great explosion!

“Y-you, c-crazy..!”

Booooooooooom—!

There was nothing left.

It was confirmed in the battle against the Space Captain that Asura grew even if the time of death were wrong, as long as the cause matched. Then, why was he asked to set them all?

‘If I get them all right, there will be some additional reward.’

It was reasonable to think that way, but when it matched on the 19th floor, Asura’s strength increased, and when only the assigned death cause matched on the 20th floor, his magic increased the same amount.

So he didn’t know what that reward was. However..

「The subject registered on the list has been murdered.」

「The date and time of death matched exactly.」

「Asura’s agility increases by +1.」

「Asura is given the ability to miniaturize.」

This growth created a new hypothesis.

‘Does it mean that matching the death cause increases its stats, and a new ability appears when the time of death matches?’

Although there was the contradiction of why he didn’t unlock an ability on the 19th floor when he got both of them right.

‘Maybe it doesn’t grow every time, but a certain amount must be filled like with the Judgment Sword.’

Well, as the number of cases increased, he could confirm.

‘Anyway, miniaturize..’

At first glance, it appeared like an ability to become small, which didn’t seem helpful in duels. But Yoon-seok didn’t think this was bad either. He would be able to take Asura with him to places he wouldn’t otherwise.

「Unique Skill b Predation} is activated.」

Leaving behind the selection page of skills, equipment, and abilities that emerged from {Predation}, Yoon-seok shifted his attention to Asura.

“When will you become useful?”

“Growl?“

“Pretending you didn’t understand. Just get smaller.”

“Growl..”

When Asura used his new ability with a sulky expression, he suddenly became the size of a fist. Afraid that Asura would be squashed, Yoon-seok carefully picked him up and put him in the front pocket of his shirt.

“If you don’t have any complaints, stay here no matter what. Don’t get hit by something weird and get hurt.”

“Growl. Growllllll?“

“..Am I worried? It’s nothing like that, so don’t misunderstand.”

“Growl, growl!“

—Is that what you like, Captain?

Ignoring Lynn, Yoon-seok looked straight ahead. There was no AP reward because this wasn’t a trial of the Tower, but it was time to collect his reward.

「Please select a skill to acquire.」

Nickname, Dreamer. It was impossible to guess what kind of dream he once had, but his skills appeared. As he was skimming through, Yoon-seok’s eyes deepened. Aside from possessing more than a hundred general skills..

*Unique Skill

Venom (A), Overlapping Enhancement (A), and Incarnation (A).

He had three Unique Skills. How did he get them? Did he enter the other trials because he had sufficient achievement points? Or was there another way? Several questions came to mind, but they weren’t immediately resolved. Yoon-seok turned his attention elsewhere.

‘It’s hard to choose..’

It was a shame that he didn’t have Rank S skills. However, he didn’t intend to choose the general skills sold in stores. He would most definitely choose a Unique Skill.

‘Should I not use the ship..?’

The duel ended in three seconds, so he had no information on their abilities aside from their names.

‘I kind of know what {Overlapping Enhancement} is like.. but I don’t know anything about the others.’

b Venom} and b Incarnation}. The rank was the same anyway, and the effect was unknown, so he decided to leave it up to luck.

“Sura, left or right. Pick one of the two.”

Asura raised his left hand. Yoon-seok chose the right option.

“Growl..?”

「Acquired Unique Skill b Incarnation}.」

Based on the name alone, he wanted this more from the beginning. Didn’t it sound pretty powerful? Well, unless the opponent he fought wasn’t strong at all.

—You have a very bad personality.

‘He probably doesn’t even know that I chose the other one.’

—That’s worse.

‘..’

After picking a stat and equipment, they returned to Earth. Rather than moving back, the description that his mind seeped back into his original body felt more correct. A salty ocean breeze brushed his cheeks.

Slappppppp-!

Time began to pass again as the world regained its color.

Shaaaaaaaa.

At the place where Fahrini stood, only gray dust remained, but not for more than a moment before it scattered over the ocean.

“W-where did he go?”

“Did he leave already?”

The ten challengers witnessing the scene were confused, but only Ashton could guess. The dust flying away was the challenger who made them tremble using just his eyes.

‘So I misunderstood him..’

Ashton trembled at the realization. He had no intention of abandoning this world from the start. Rather, he did what he had to do to protect this place without a second thought.

‘Now I know. What I have to do for this person.’

He couldn’t do much for him yet, and perhaps he never would be able to. After all, this was all just an excuse.

“I hate complacent people, but in reality, I’m not that different.’

He was determined to throw himself in the pit if that was what it took. So he would support this man.

‘First of all, I need to change the Challenger Management Department.’

It was hard work, and in the process, countless people would be sacrificed. But he must do it.

So this brilliant light could shine brighter.

‘Does that mean I can’t meet that challenger..’

Now the only Earth’s ranker except himself was Grape Jam. He wanted to meet them once, but he couldn’t stay here waiting for them. He needed to check the rewards earned from b Predation} and invest more time in becoming stronger.

‘But I can’t just leave like this..’

Seeing how the Kartan Empire sent Fahrini as an envoy, he knew. The Tower was an era of cataclysm, and he couldn’t predict what would happen when he wasn’t here.

As he was contemplating what to do with a heavy heart, he had an idea.

‘Lynn, can you stay on Earth even if I leave?’

—It’s possible unless you want to use this skill.

Unable to convert engine power and magic and unable to communicate. Aside from these conditions, there were other small restrictions, but it was possible. Yoon-seok asked Lynn to treat Ashton like the temporary vice-captain and cooperate well to protect the Earth while he wasn’t there.

—Rejected. I won’t accept someone of his color.

Yoon-seok was disconcerted by the unexpected personality reveal that Lynn was racist, but fortunately, she complied when he said it was an order.

“I’m vice-captain..?”

Putting aside Lynn’s prejudices, Ashton was quite pleased with the promotion.

“Then Ashton. Please do me a favor.”

“What do you mean favor? It’s my pleasure. If Lynn remains here, it will be of tremendous help.”

He was worried about entrusting this power to one person, so he asked Lynn to take care of some things in the first place.

「Moving to the waiting room on the 21st floor.」

He felt less worried now. Yoon-seok, returning to the waiting room with a lighter mind, approached the tablet to confirm the rewards. But..

‘What? It’s a dud?’

Yoon-seok frowned. Did he pick the worst of the three Unique Skills? There was no increase in stats or any effect that could be relied on. It was a skill that adds flame as a buff to the system’s skills and abilities, but..

‘This can’t help me.’

But he thought it would be useful for synthesis. b Frozen Heart} with ice attributes and b Incarnation} with fire attributes. If he added just one more attribute here, he felt he would get something good.

‘If I knew this would happen, I would’ve listened to Sura.’

It was a shame, but he couldn’t go back. Next, Yoon-seok checked the looted equipment, realizing that he had hit the jackpot in an unexpected place.

Harmonious Sword (Rank S+) — A sword produced by a Mudang Sect elder with metallurgy hobbies.

Was this the support of the empire that Fahrini mentioned? All attribute increases, including strength and magic recovery, increased cutting force during combat, decreased consumption.. there were countless effects attached. Including..

*High Protect: Cannot be destroyed.

The same unbeatable option is attached to the Judgment Sword.

‘I think it’ll be better if I strengthen it with b Metallurgy}?’

Without thinking twice, Yoon-seok loosened the Plum Blossom Sword +1 (Rank A+) from his waist and strapped on the Harmonious Sword. When he tried to receive points back by exchanging Plum Blossom Sword with b Metallurgy}-

“Grrrrrrrr..”

Suddenly, Asura, who escaped from his pocket and returned to his original size, began to make a strange sound.

‘..Well, it’s not like I can buy anything even if I throw it away.’

When Yoon-seok threw the sword to him, Asura rushed to catch it and smiled brightly as if he had everything in the world. He looked so happy that he couldn’t imagine how happy he would be after giving him a weapon for each of his six arms.

‘By the way.. what should I do now?’

He had about 23 days until the next duel. Thanks to Lynn, there was no need to devote any additional time to Earth. Yoon-seok picked up his new sword to train and think of his next move. historical

But then a message appeared.

「Cheonma-zl Zone wants to register you as a colleague.」

「Would you like to accept?」

This was a party function sold for 100LP in the achievement store. Using this function, colleagues could be invited to the waiting room at any time if both parties agreed.

‘She said she’d call me from time to time. So this was what she meant.’

Yoon-seok agreed to the request, thinking that she had a higher understanding of the system than he thought. Then, as if she had been waiting-

「Cheonma-zl Zone invites you to the waiting room.」

「Would you like to accept?」

An invitation arrived. But what he didn’t expect was..

「Lady of Liberation is calling you.」

「Would you like to accept?」

‘But since this side came first..’

After contemplating for a moment, Yoon-seok accepted Cheon-ma’s invitation. He’d been to Elle’s cabin often, but this would be his first time in Cheon-ma’s waiting room. He was a little curious about what it would look like. But..

‘It looks normal, though?’

There was nothing special about it, but there was furniture and even small decorative items. To be honest, he thought it would be a lonely waiting room without any furniture like his own..

Feeling a little strange, Yoon-seok slowly stepped forward.

“You’re here.”

Onto an embroidered carpet. Cheon-ma sat calmly at a table and sipped tea.

“It’s been a while. Just grab a cup of tea.”

Since he had a history of eating and sweating with her in Moorim, Yoon-seok didn’t feel awkward as he sat with her and sipped at the tea. But he suddenly froze.

‘..It’s sweet?’

The tea was sweet, and the scent was quite fresh. It was perfect for his tastes. However..

“I thought you wouldn’t like something so sweet.”

“..As you grow older, your tastes change.”

“I see.”

He thought Cheon-ma preferred salty and spicy things, but what could he say? Yoon-seok sipped the tea that suited his taste without a further word on the matter.

“By the way..”

Her voice grew subtle. Was there a reason why she called him other than to chat? Yoon-seok put down the teacup and stared at her.

“..Why are you looking at me like that?”

“It seems like you’re trying to say something important.”

“No, that’s not it.. I mean. It’s just...”

Cheon-ma suddenly lifted her hat off the floor, put it on her head, and pressed it down hard. Then, she pulled something out of her pocket.

“I-I just happened to have these...”

She held two mission tickets.