But there was one thing holding him back. Just as there was still a hole in Namgoong So-so’s waiting room, the effects were irreversible. If Yoon-seok broke the wall, he would have neighbors who could freely come over to his waiting room any time. But Yoon-seok decided without hesitation.

‘It’s okay. There’s nothing to steal anyway.’

The only furniture he had was the exercise equipment, and all his valuables were put away in his subspace bag. He didn’t spend much time in his waiting room anyway.

Booooooooom-!

Yoon-seok punched the wall opposite Namgoong So-so’s waiting room. Someone shouted over the loud booming.

“A-Argh! Ssi! Ugh, this, mercy, mercy.. h-human?”

Was there a problem with the translation system as part of the penalty? He wasn’t sure but seeing how they looked at him with wide eyes; they must be his next-door neighbor. Yoon-seok was worried that they would suddenly take out their weapon, but he never expected them to react this way.

’Ah, this must be human-to-human affection.’

Yoon-seok wore a satisfied smile as he picked up the wall fragments and chewed them. He was a little curious about what kind of person his neighbor was.

「Ingested A75447.」

「Unique characteristic of A75447 Surveillance is applied for an hour as the first stage.」

「If you look closely at the challenger, you can find additional information.」

All his skills were sealed except for {Divine Ultimatum} due to the penalty, but the power of New Human was still intact. Yoon-seok quickly read the information that appeared through Surveillance. There was nothing of note.

“Ah, uh, uhm, uhm..”

This neighbor, who was pointing at him and stuttering like a broken robot, was Barson Paroneci.

’12th-floor exploration.. seems that it doesn’t have to be duelers only.’

“It’s nice to meet you, and I’m kind of too busy to chat now.”

“Uh, uh..”

“Can I pass by?”

“Uh, y-yeah...”

The owner nodded in a daze. Yoon-seok immediately began his expansion work after receiving permission.

Boooooooooooom.

“Uh, huh..?”

“Do you have something to say?”

“Oh, n-no..”

When Yoon-seok turned around, the man shook his head violently and stepped aside. He could just speak his mind. What was with that reaction?

’It’s not a translation problem, so he has speaking difficulties..’

Yoon-seok went over to the next waiting room.

‘It’s empty.’

No one was present, but it was decorated with a princess-style bed and numerous cute dolls. They might be out coincidentally or had died and left it vacant.

Booooooooooom-!

Yoon-seok moved on without regret. The third neighbor he met after Namgoong So-so and Barson Paroneci was an elderly man named Fayul. He was a mission ranker who reached the 28th floor.

“As expected, there were people over the wall.”

“..You’re not surprised?”

“I am very surprised.”

That was what he said, but there was no movement in his expression.

“Then can I pass by?”

“I don’t know why the conversation turned out this way, but please do. Who can stop the desire to pursue secrets?”

The old man, sitting cross-legged, closed his eyes again after saying that. He was a unique person.

Boooooooom-!

Anyway, he’d received permission again, so Yoon-seok moved on and continued to meet new neighbors.

“Ahhhhhhh! Fuck, who are you?”

“It’s not good to curse upon your first meeting.”

“..I-I’m sorry. It’s because I was so surprised. S-Save me.”

“Anyway, can I pass by?”

“O-Of course!”

Despite his initial worry, most of these new neighbors let Yoon-seok pass by when he asked for their cooperation. Yoon-seok discovered the walls of these waiting rooms were obstacles that hindered communication and harmony between challengers.

‘There are several vacant rooms.’

There were many unexpectedly empty waiting rooms. When he thought about it, it was natural. Unlike Yoon-seok, ordinary challengers couldn’t do much in their waiting room.

Booooom-!

Yoon-seok continued to move forward, and occasionally, he encountered new neighbors.

“W-Wait! Before you go, please tell me one thing. Which one should I buy between this and this?”

Flustered momentarily by Yoon-seok’s appearance, a woman from the exploration trials fearlessly asked for his opinion on equipment selection.

“Predator.. I heard rumors about you. Can you fight with me once?”

Saying it was good that the wall broke, one mission ranker requested a duel with him.

“B-Blood Lord..?”

Another was a Bloodseeker Sect member exercising alone in the waiting room. He seemed like the wise old man named Fayul. Certainly, there were many unique challengers.

’Is it because there are only about 1,000 of us left? I haven’t found any duelists.’

He smashed a total of 741 walls in one direction, and he met 64 challengers on the way. Not one was a duel ranker.

’Is it because I can be picky right now?’

Well, there was a strong possibility that it wouldn’t be a problem even if they fought.

’742nd.’

Boooooooom-!

Yoon-seok continued to create a path. And for the first time, there was a change.

’It’s not a waiting room.’

At first, he thought it was a cliff. It was so deep that he couldn’t see to the bottom when looking down, and it was the same when looking up. And then-

Swaaaaaaaaaa-!

Something like a gust of wind reached from below. When the wind touched his skin, Yun-seok felt a chill.

’..So what is this place for?’

First, Yoon-seok estimated the diameter of the outer wall. Unlike the endless height, the diameter was narrow at about 300m, and there was a spiral staircase like a wick in the middle.

’Is this the center of the Tower?’

He didn’t know, but Yoon-seok jumped to the stairs without hesitation. At the same time, the wall that Yoon-seok broke was gradually restored, unlike the waiting rooms. Before it was completely restored, Yoon-seok jumped back, took a piece, and chewed it.

「Ingested ZB231.」

The material name was different from the general waiting room wall. Yoon-seok tilted his head.

「Unique characteristic of ZB231 Absolute Recovery is applied for an hour.」

「You have to delete code immunity and regenerate quickly upon destruction.」

Delete code immunity? He couldn’t guess what the effect was, but when the wind touched his skin, his reluctance disappeared.

’I don’t know what it is, but let’s take it.’

Yoon-seok broke the wall again and filled his subspace bag with the shards. Then, he jumped again and landed on the stairs.

There were no railings or center pillars on the spiral stairs. They were floating alone in the air, blatantly ignoring the laws of physics.historical

Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

After waiting for a bit, the broken wall restored itself, and Yoon-seok noticed numbers written on it.

571-9782

It wasn’t only the wall Yoon-seok broke that had numbers either. The entire outer wall was painted in red. The left side was marked 570-9782, and the right side was 1-9782.

’Do the numbers indicate a zone..?’

The first number seemed to mean row, and the second number was the unit? Of course, even if he was correct, Yoon-seok didn’t know why these numbers were needed. But..

’That’s good.’

Yoon-seok memorized the numbers. With this, it would be easier to return.

’Then where should I go?’

When he first broke the wall, he honestly felt more determined to give the Tower a hard time. But at this point, Yoon-seok was just curious. What was this space, and where did this staircase lead?

’Let’s go up for now.’

Thinking about the direction for a while, Yoon-seok decided to go up first.

It would be faster without the stairs.’

After running up the stairs for a long time, Yoon-seok jumped off and sprinted through the air to save time.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

How long had he been running?

571-30000

Once he hit 30,000, no more was written above it.

’Is this the top?’

Probably not. Otherwise, these stairs would have to end too. Yoon-seok continued to climb without stopping.

Swaaaaaaaaaa-!

The higher he went up, the stronger the wind blew, but he didn’t feel chills anymore.

’Is it because I ate that earlier?’

If so, it might be dangerous when the maintenance time of an hour ends. He would have to wait another week to get the characteristics he took just now.

「An abnormal being’s approach was detected.」

Yoon-seok, who was shooting up, suddenly stopped in the air. A familiar phrase appeared before him. As a result, he went down instinctively in surprise.

’Is this off-limits..?’

Yoon-seok couldn’t just brush off the phrase and move on. If so, wouldn’t the Tower drag him back to the room, saying it would give him a penalty? Although he didn’t mean to back down so easily either.

「An abnormal being’s approach was detected.」

Yoon-seok carefully repeated going back and forth based on the boundary line, and he was unsure.

’According to the rules, I don’t think the Tower can interfere as long as I don’t cross over.’

Penalties couldn’t be unconditionally imposed. They were imposed only when he ignored the warning and crossed over deeper.

’Problem is that there’s no way to get past and see what’s on top..’

Yoon-seok clicked his tongue and rubbed his chin. He couldn’t let go of the idea that something important was hidden up there. However, if he received another penalty here, his skills might be sealed until the next duel. Perhaps the Tower was hoping he would go deeper so that a penalty would be given.

’Do I have no choice but to give up right now..?’

Yoon-seok let out a long sigh.

’..Huh?’

The Personal Skillbook that had been following him around tirelessly appeared before Yoon-seok.

—Continues to repeat the impossible by crossing the restricted zone.

The Personal Skillbook referred to it as an impossible task.

*********Very interested in an unorthodox approach.

Maybe there was a way.

Following that, Yoon-seok repeatedly moved back and forth between the boundary.

’Very interested in taking an unorthodox approach.’

All so that he could engrave several of the same phrases in the Personal Skillbook. However, when the duration of New Human ended, the blowing gust of wind sent chills down his spine.

’It’s dangerous.’

His instincts alerted him to the threat, and Yoon-seok broke the wall next to him and entered. Unlike earlier, no numbers were written down, but the inside was an ordinary waiting room.

‘I guess it’s okay here.’

Yoon-seok reached out his hand from the vacant waiting room. The more his hands touched the wind, the stranger he felt. It.. sort of felt like his existence was gradually being erased starting from his fingertips.

“..”

He was reluctant, but Yoon-seok held back and measured the time to test it. Meanwhile, he tilted his head.

‘I’m fine, though..?’

After five minutes, then ten passed, his hands were fine. The moment he thought so-

Swoooooooosh.

His extended index finger turned into powder and disappeared. He felt no pain, and blood didn’t flow from the clean-cut surface. Yet it was impossible to recover even with b Divine Ultimatum}.

’Is it a permanent loss..?’

However, Yoon-seok continued to experiment, believing that if the characteristic of complete recovery were obtained again a week later, his disappeared finger would regenerate. And through the experiment, he discovered one thing.

‘I can last up to twelve minutes.’

After twelve minutes, the exposed parts turned into powder permanently and disappeared, but nothing happened if he returned to a safe place before that. However, recovery time was needed. If he was exposed for ten minutes, he needed to recover in a safe place for at least twenty.

「An abnormal being’s approach was detected.」

「An abnormal being’s approach was detected.」

「An abnormal being’s approach was detected.」

「An abnormal being’s approach was detected.」

Yoon-seok, confirming his safety several times, continued to experiment.

—26th Day.

[Rebel], [Illegal Intrusion], [Absolute Recovery], [Destroyer], [Lawless].

—27th Day.

[Rule Violator], [Underdog], [Intruder], [Tough Being], [Nuisance].

—28th Day.

[Established Destroyer], [Strong Will], [Ignoring Constraints], [Unremovable], [Irregular].

—29th Day.

[Extraordinary person], [Transcendental Being], [Definite Being], [Great Invader], [Strenuous body].

—30th Day.

[Rebellious Blood], [Skywrath], [Usurper], [God of Destruction], [Ruler].

「The duration of Personal Skillbook (Rank SSS) has ended.」

「The performance of the skill to be completed increases drastically.」

「The skill to be completed can select additional effects from Rank D onwards when ranking up.」

「Combining the 150 keywords acquired.」

.

.

.

「Acquired Unique Skill b Transcendental Muscles}.」