The Legendary Regressor Devours the Tower - Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Ujik-

Kung!

When more than two-thirds was cut with the saw, Ritri’s main body couldn’t hold on and fell backward.

[You have defeated the hidden middle boss Ritri. Bonus points are added.]

[Damage taken is 0. Bonus points are added.]

[You have acquired ‘2’ D-rank Magic Stones.]

[You have acquired the Mark of Ritri.]

Ritri was defeated.

Bonus points added for the defeat.

Excluding poison damage, damage taken was 0, so bonus points were added again.

A good start.

Also, the most important thing—the mark.

‘You can only get this by clearing a hidden boss.’

When you clear a hidden boss, it spits out a mark just like Ritri, and if you collect 100% of these marks, it is said that you can receive a hidden item as a reward.

In his previous life, Sungwoon possessed only a single mark.

To awaken a hidden boss, just like on the 2nd floor, certain conditions had to be met, and fulfilling those conditions was extremely difficult.

‘Whether I can collect them all is still an unknown, though.’

Since it was a lower floor, the difficulty of obtaining it was relatively low, so he got it easily, but from here on out, obtaining them will gradually become harder.

The fortunate thing was that he could at least attempt it.

According to the memoirs, hidden bosses were set to appear only for those challenging the first-time clear, so Sungwoon, who had already cleared it and was climbing the higher floors back then, couldn’t even attempt it.

Compared to his previous life, the path of growth was wide open.

Hwududuk-

As Ritri’s main body died, the black vines that formed the maze collapsed limply.

The dense poison gas remained, but it was insufficient to harm Sungwoon, so he leisurely took his steps and left the forest.

Hunting the hidden boss Ritri wasn’t the end.

The 2nd floor climb was only just beginning.

Yuseong.

Among those watching through that channel was South Korea’s Awakened Association President Choi Hyuk.

“Unbelievable… Sungwoon-ssi, just what on earth is your true identity?”

Choi Hyuk, who had been watching the scene of Ritri being defeated from start to finish without missing a beat, could not contain his astonishment.

According to the report he received from Jang Byungjun, Sungwoon had packed an elixir called Tears of Belos.

An elixir that increases poison resistance.

He started watching out of curiosity about how he would utilize that elixir, but what was this?

Sungwoon had awakened a hidden middle boss that had never appeared until now.

On top of that, he cut off the boss’s breath without taking any significant damage.

“The bonus points must be insane…”

To show off such a performance right from the start.

-His preparedness is insane;;

-Is that guy even human…?

-Wow, why didn’t anything come out when I was climbing the 2nd floor?

-If it’s like this, how many bonus points has he accumulated?

-How is that a beginner…?

-When I was a beginner… I was busy just trying to stay alive.

The emotions the viewers felt were not much different from what Choi Hyuk was feeling.

‘Don’t tell me he anticipated this?’

No.

At the time, the weapons Sungwoon requested numbered over ten.

The saw just happened to be among them.

That meant his smooth defeat of the boss was thanks to thorough preparation.

“It’s unfortunate, though.”

If recording were possible, he could have rewatched it to find the answer.

But if one even tried recording with a smartphone, the system would forcibly intervene and impose a penalty, so that wasn’t an option.

When even President Choi Hyuk felt this disappointed, imagine how the general viewers felt.

“Looks like this isn’t going to quiet down anytime soon.”

Right at the entrance of the 2nd floor, before it even properly started, he cleared a hidden boss.

If he succeeds in climbing without any hitches like this, he will record an overwhelming score.

As it is, the whole world is paying attention to South Korea, and if these miraculous results continue, even the Association won’t find it easy to act as a shield.

Even so, the corners of Choi Hyuk’s mouth curled up and showed no sign of coming back down.

The fairy race Rafne.

The inhabitants residing on the 2nd floor were a race called the Rafne.

Their appearance resembled humans, but they were characterized by ant-like face shapes, pitch-black eyes, and lush, fresh leaves blooming on their skin.

Unlike humans, they do not live in groups, but build houses in giant trees to live independently.

To meet a Rafne, one has to climb up a giant tree and visit their house, but most climbers bypass the Rafne to cut down on useless trouble.

The main reason was that helping them didn’t drastically boost the clear evaluation score, and they often demanded absurd things, making it widely considered a waste of time.

However, to reach EX rank, one must go through the Rafne.

‘I didn’t visit them in my previous life.’

Latecomers had no choice but to rely on the strategy guides left behind by senior climbers who had started earlier, and Sungwoon was no different from other latecomers.

‘If only I had obtained these memoirs a little earlier, the story would have been different.’

Sungwoon stopped in front of a giant tree.

On the surface, it looked no different from an ordinary tree, but his Super-sensation read the powerful mana flowing from this tree.

‘A mutant mimicking the World Tree.’

While he had never seen the ‘real’ World Tree in his previous life, he had brushed past such mutants a few times.

Regrets like ‘If only I had focused on those mutants, could I have achieved greater growth?’ had crossed his mind several times, but now there was no longer any need to make such regrets.

Sungwoon approached the tree and slowly began to climb.

-What is he trying to do this time? haha

-He’s touching every single detail that people usually skip?

-This is gonna take a long time.

-We’re in trouble… I don’t think I can trust the strategy guides anymore?

-Since he didn’t follow the strategy guide, a hidden boss popped out with a ta-da!, right?

-Yep, I burned my strategy guide.

-How do you burn a strategy guide?

-It means I smashed my computer.

-Stop bullshitting.

A play style completely removed from the strategy guides.

Even so, the results were so overwhelming that one wouldn’t dare look down on them, causing the watching climbers to begin distrusting the strategy guides.

“Don’t ignore the strategy guides. The vanguard made them for the latecomers after all.”

Sungwoon, who had climbed to the height of a six-story apartment building, sat perched on a tree branch with those words and took a short break.

-Wait, the guy telling us not to ignore it is ignoring it the most haha

-“The only one allowed to ignore it is me…” Is it something like that?

They were thoroughly mistaken.

The one who was being more faithful to the guide than anyone else was me.

Since he couldn’t explain every single detail, Sungwoon pulled himself up and climbed the tree.

“Don’t come up!”

Pwysyuuuk!

Just then, along with a sharp voice from above, an arrow shot toward Sungwoon.

Sungwoon, who was watching his surroundings with Super-sensation, moved to an adjacent tree branch and dodged the arrow.

Sungwoon raised his head and looked up.

Although it was hidden by lush leaves, the flow of mana could be felt from up there.

‘Sending a warning, huh?’

Sungwoon pulled out the dagger he had retrieved from Ritri and threw it with all his might.

Kwajik-

The dagger lodged accurately into the branch where the shooter was standing.

“Hieek!”

As if startled, a short scream burst out.

Getting startled over just this.

“If you try to block me, I’ll cut down this tree, got it?”

Sungwoon stroked the tree as he warned the guy.

“D-Don’t do that! That’s absolutely forbidden!”

“Then stay quiet. If you interfere just one more time, I’ll chop it down without mercy.”

“Shit…”

Did the threat work?

No more danger signals could be felt from the guy.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t afford to drop his guard.

Sungwoon began climbing the tree while keeping his attention on his surroundings, including the guy.

“Sniff…”

As the distance between him and the guy closed, a faint sniffling sound could be heard.

Sungwoon, who was climbing the tree, jumped lightly and landed on a branch.

“Hey.”

Hmchit!

The Rafne crouching in place flinched violently.

As Sungwoon parted the leaves with his hand, he was able to confirm that the Rafne’s physical appearance looked to be around 10 years old.

[NPC Information]

-Nickname: Dante

-2nd Floor Fairy Race Rafne Elder

His name was Dante.

And he was the chief who led the forest fairies, the Rafne.

Honestly, calling him an elder was just in name.

Because the Rafne lived independent lives, the title of elder was practically meaningless.

Furthermore, if an elder was a child like this, there was even less reason to follow him.

“Ah, so you were the elder.”

At the mention of the elder, Dante lunged at Sungwoon as if he had been waiting for it.

“An opening!”

Ah, he intends to knock me off from here.

But that shallow trick won’t work.

Tak!

Sungwoon easily subdued Dante by grabbing him by the throat.

“Keoheok! Kkeueok!”

As the subdued Dante struggled to escape, Sungwoon’s grip tightened, and water began to pour out of Dante’s eyes and mouth.

Even though public sentiment among the viewers was plummeting rapidly over such excessive treatment toward a child, Sungwoon didn’t even bat an eye.

‘This isn’t a game.’

The tower clearly warned.

To achieve victory over the elite corps.

It meant it wasn’t just about solving their troubles and hunting monsters to go up.

Of course, that didn’t mean the Rafne lurking on the 2nd floor were the elite corps.

Because the corps that needed to be wiped out would begin in earnest from the 30th floor onward.

‘And that guy named Dante is a lackey of Arut who resides on the 2nd floor.’

Arut.

The first elite corps that could be encountered upon reaching the 30th floor.

Although they weren’t Transcendents, they were guys who held back humanity for a whopping five years in his previous life.

And Dante right in front of him was that very Arut.

The reason why Arut was on the 2nd floor rather than the 30th floor was that they held sway over the lower floors.

The 1st floor couldn’t be invaded because it was the Village of Beginnings, but from the 2nd floor onward, they blended in with the races of that floor and served to monitor the climbers.

Eudeudeok-

At that moment, unable to endure any longer, the sound of bones and muscles twisting began to arise from Dante’s body, and he gradually began to swell up.

Only then did Sungwoon release the strength in his grip and step back slightly.

Even so, Dante’s transformation continued.

When his entire body, which had inflated like a balloon, deflated into a slim frame, he took on the form of an adult male.

“So you intentionally took on the appearance of a child?”

Sungwoon deliberately reacted as if he didn’t know.

“…Rude human. How dare you attack me even while knowing I am the elder?”

Dante stroked his neck with a furrowed brow.

It seemed it had been painful enough to prevent him from keeping his identity concealed.

“Who was the one trying to kill me first again?”

“…So what is the reason you climbed up here?”

Dante fell silent for a moment, then shifted his attitude and attempted a conversation.

Unlike his child appearance, not a shred of hostility could be found from current Dante.

‘He probably doesn’t want to reveal his true identity easily.’

Because their role wasn’t to clash with the climbers, but to stay far away and monitor them.

“Ah, because I got curious about something.”

Dante tilted his head.

“You got curious?”

“Yeah. What kind of outcome happens if I kill the elder of the Rafne?”

Originally, the condition to clear the 2nd floor was to pass through the giant maze beyond this place and defeat the boss.

Looking strictly at the maze’s difficulty, it belonged on the lower side, but the boss’s level was considerable, so without resistance to poison, the likelihood of losing one’s life was high.

In fact, a significant number of the vanguard who climbed without any information sacrificed their lives.

-Huh?

-Attacking an NPC?

-It’s not impossible, but… doesn’t doing something like that impose a penalty?

-Crazy guys have already tested that out, so why test it again!

At Sungwoon’s comment, the watching climbers reacted as if flabbergasted.

“Ha? What a ridiculous guy. As much as we are pacifists, we aren’t weak enough to endure while suffering such humiliation.”

Dante drew a sword, his eyes glaring fiercely.

‘He’s nervous.’

It couldn’t be helped.

There had likely never been anyone who came at him so recklessly until now.

Even so, Sungwoon had something different from them.

‘Poison keeps attacking me.’

It was when he parted the leaves with his hand and discovered Dante.

A minute poison, barely perceptible even with Super-sensation, entered his respiratory system along with the air and began eroding his body.

But what to do about this?

‘You can’t stop me with just this.’

The corners of Sungwoon’s mouth slowly curled up.