The Legendary Regressor Devours the Tower - Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Sungwoon swung his sword, striking down at the Lizardman Shaman’s neck.

“Kireuk!”

The shaman raised the staff it had been swinging to protect its neck.

Kwajik-

However, Sungwoon’s crimson-stained sword severed the staff effortlessly and sliced through the Lizardman Shaman’s neck without hesitation.

Seogeok-

“Kireureureureuk!”

Blood gushed out as its neck was slashed, and the Lizardman Shaman stumbled backward.

‘That landed cleanly.’

The sensation in his hand was telling him.

That Ildoyangdan just now had hit successfully.

Yet, the bastard’s head didn’t fall to the ground.

‘Threads?’

Looking closely, a few threads were holding onto the bastard’s neck to keep it from dropping.

Sungwoon thrust his sword forward, severing those threads.

Only after the mana threads were completely cut did the Lizardman Shaman’s head fall to the ground.

[You have defeated the Tower Master, ‘Lizardman Shaman’.]

[75,000 EXP is awarded.]

[Your level has increased by 2.]

[Unable to obtain additional resources.]

[Calculating clear evaluation.]

[Clear Score: S+]

[‘1 Gold’ is awarded as an additional reward based on the clear evaluation.]

It was over.

‘I finished it easily thanks to Ildoyangdan.’

With the acquired EXP, Sungwoon’s level rose to 21.

As the apartment transformed into a minor tower, he managed to gain 3 levels, and even though it was an inhabited apartment, not a single casualty occurred.

“It should definitely be over there.”

Sungwoon moved his steps and stood in front of the altar where the Lizardman Shaman had been conducting the ritual.

A small fragment was glowing in front of him, and Sungwoon could immediately recognize that this was a hidden encounter.

“Was it always this small?”

However, the size of the fragment was absurdly smaller than he had expected.

When he saw the photograph before, it definitely seemed at least five times larger.

Was his memory distorted?

[Mana Heart Fragment]

Type: Consumable

Grade: A+

A part of the heart possessed by the Dragon Race.

Upon absorbing the Mana Heart Fragment, Mana increases by 20.

It wasn’t distorted.

The hidden encounter that should have originally been here was not a fragment of a Mana Heart, but the Mana Heart itself.

The Lizardman Shaman must have tried to use that Mana Heart to summon Kayak’s avatar.

“Was I too late?”

In his past life, the Lizardman Shaman must have been subjugated before it could use the Mana Heart, which was why the heart remained intact back then.

It would be a lie to say he didn’t feel disappointed.

If his strength had been sufficient, he would have cleared out even the Blood Ant Queen quickly, and he could have aimed to subjugate the Lizardman Shaman while it was still preparing the ritual.

Just in case, he conducted a thorough search to see if he missed anything, but aside from that single fragment, he found nothing else.

“I suppose this counts as misfortune too.”

Since it differed from his expected reward, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that he had suffered a loss.

At the same time.

Han Geonu was staggering around the 1st floor of the Tower of Ruin.

It was because the hallucination symptoms caused by the Clown’s Laughter he had drunk before entering had set in.

“My goodness… What’s with that crazy guy?”

Unable to even control his body properly while giggling like a lunatic, the residents of the Village of Beginnings frowned and kept their distance from Han Geonu.

“I’ll handle it.”

At that moment, the one who stepped forward was an NPC named Jayden.

He was on his way to make a report to the village chief after finishing his perimeter guard duty.

“Oh, Jayden.”

“Please. Do something about that guy.”

Jayden confidently walked up and grabbed Han Geonu’s shoulder.

“Hey there.”

At that moment, the look in Han Geonu’s eyes shifted, and he swung his fist toward Jayden.

Peok!

The fist landed squarely on Jayden’s right cheek, snapping his head to the side.

Jayden almost lost his balance, but possessing an impressive physique that didn’t lose out to Han Geonu’s, he quickly regained his balance and grabbed Geonu by the collar.

“Listen here. Just because you’re a climber doesn’t mean you can treat us like trash… Khk!”

Peok!

Jayden couldn’t finish his words.

Because Han Geonu, with his collar grabbed, headbutted Jayden in the face.

The impact was severe enough that Jayden released the collar and stumbled backward.

“I won’t become a human like you…!”

Han Geonu looked at Jayden with contempt in his eyes, turned around, and promptly collapsed on the spot.

“Jayden!”

“Are you okay?!”

The residents watching from afar ran over to Jayden, and Jayden waved his hand as if to say he was fine, but blood was streaming down from both of his nostrils.

“I’m fine… I’ll throw that thing outside and come back.”

“Let’s treat you first!”

“No. It’ll be a pain if that guy wakes up. It’s better to deal with it quickly.”

Jayden covered his nose with his hand and approached Han Geonu.

Damn bastard.

You better end up as food for the goblins.

“Kkeu-eung…”

The world was spinning around.

His head throbbed as if it were going to split open, but remembering that he had entered the tower, he forced his body up.

“Ha, that dog-like old man.”

If I knew it would be like this, I wouldn’t have drunk that elixir.

Drinking it just to gain 1% dark resistance before starting turned out to be poison.

Still, the digestion seemed to have been successful, as the 1% dark resistance was attached.

“But why am I here…?”

The place he woke up in was not the Village of Beginnings, but the entrance of the forest.

Han Geonu’s face turned pale white.

It was a place where goblins appeared; if he had woken up even a little later, he could have been killed by goblins.

He quickly got up and looked toward the village entrance.

At the entrance, guards were looking at him as if he were utterly repulsive, allowing Han Geonu to realize that he had caused trouble inside.

“It wasn’t a dream.”

Han Geonu placed a hand on his forehead.

The hallucination he experienced through Clown’s Laughter had been an old memory.

When he was young, he was eating tteokbokki and chatting cozying with his younger sister in a small snack bar run solely by their omma.

It was one of his few happy memories.

He was boasting loudly that he would succeed later and fulfill his filial duties, when someone placed a hand on his shoulder.

At the all-too-familiar size, Han Geonu relentlessly swung his fist.

When he hit it dead on, but instead of collapsing, the person grabbed his collar, he headbutted them with the mindset of dying together.

“Ha, I hit an NPC.”

Who would have thought that was an NPC.

If you deal damage to an NPC, the clear evaluation score drops.

He didn’t know how Sungwoon was able to reach EX+, but that must have been an exceptional case.

Han Geonu scratched his head vigorously and pulled out the A-rank greatsword he had received from Sungwoon.

“Clearing it through NPCs is already dead in the water. In that case, it’s better to clear it by killing goblins quickly.”

There was also the method of reaching the goblin chief before killing 100 goblins like Pyo Byeongwoo, but honestly, decapitating the chief with only Bulgul was unreasonable.

But still, wouldn’t he be able to approach the goblin chief to some extent?

“I will finish with an A-rank or higher no matter what.”

Han Geonu’s eyes blazed fiercely.

Strengthening his resolve, he stepped into the entrance of the forest.

Having finished the subjugation of the tower, Sungwoon walked down via the stairs.

On the 12th floor, bodyguards including Jang Byungjun were waiting for him.

“Sungwoon-ssi!”

Seeing Sungwoon safe and sound, Jang Byungjun’s face brightened.

“Were you worried?”

“You’re asking the obvious. Why on earth did you think about entering alone?”

He approached closely and asked while checking Sungwoon’s physical condition.

“I judged that dragging out time wouldn’t do any good.”

“That may be true, but honestly, this time was a bit reckless.”

The Blood Ant Queen’s level was 32.

It was a monster of a level too overwhelming for Sungwoon, who had only just climbed the 2nd floor, to face.

When something surpassing even that Blood Ant Queen was lurking inside, entering alone without any information must have looked so reckless.

“There will be many more situations like this in the future.”

As he goes higher, the level gap will become extreme.

Even climbing lower floors repeatedly to level up will eventually hit a limit.

That’s why weapons to overcome that gap are needed.

It could be equipment, it could be skills, or it could be experience.

“…Even so, please leave it to us next time.”

He didn’t want to lose Sungwoon here.

Eight years ago, he lost the woman he loved to the tower and climbed the tower to seek revenge.

However, he was blocked by the wall of the 15th floor, and Curtis, who was a named figure at the time.

The guild Jang Byungjun belonged to was annihilated.

As the sole survivor, he fell into despair once more and tried to give up everything, and the one who extended a hand to him back then was Choi Hyuk, who now sits as the association president.

Not power and authority, but erasing the tower.

Because their goals aligned, he swore his loyalty, and watching Sungwoon now, he harbored hope as well.

That the only person who could save the world from this damned tower was Sungwoon.

Therefore, he had to assist Sungwoon to the best of his ability by his side until Sungwoon grew strong.

“I will do so.”

At his serious expression, Sungwoon nodded.

After Jang Byungjun came Choi Hyuk.

The apartment managed by the association was swallowed by a fragment.

In an emergency state, Choi Hyuk rushed to the apartment late and only felt relieved after confirming that Sungwoon was safe.

In particular, when he was reported that casualties were zero, he rejoiced greatly, saying that luck was on their side.

‘I will strengthen security.’

Adding security personnel, he ordered them to be deployed on every floor so they could respond immediately even if a fragment were to swallow the apartment again.

Thus, as the apartment’s security was upgraded by 1 stage, a day passed and the misfortune debuff expired.

Coincidentally, having received a report that Han Geonu finished his 1st-floor climb, Sungwoon summoned him briefly.

“B+?”

“Yes.”

“Why B+? I even gave you an A-rank greatsword, so shouldn’t you at least bring back an S-rank?”

Even though he failed to get the tutorial rewards, with Han Geonu’s physical stats, Bulgul, and even an A-rank greatsword, he should have comfortably received an S-rank, shouldn’t he?

Especially since a guy called Little Yuseong was said to have cleared the 1st floor with an SS+.

Because of that, he heard that latecomers were finishing their climbs easily getting S-rank or higher.

But why wasn’t it even an S-rank, but a B+-rank?

Han Geonu began stammering out excuses.

“That is… I started after drinking the elixir that damn old man gave me…”

“Are you crazy? If you suffered pain once already, shouldn’t you drink it later?”

“It loses its effect after level 5.”

“Then you should have drunk it before going in.”

“Time was delayed so much, so out of impatience, I just…”

“Ah, so that’s why you finished with a B+?”

“Yes…”

Who would have thought he’d assault an NPC and get kicked out of the village.

Although such cases happened a few times in the early days, ever since strategies spread widely, no one unless they were a total lunatic would commit such an act.

Since it was already done, scolding him was meaningless, but it would be problematic if this repeated.

Right now it caused no harm since he was only using him as an errand boy, but later on, he would need to handle tasks of considerable difficulty.

If he couldn’t do that, there was no reason to keep him around.

“By the way. Why are you so obsessed with power?”

To say he did it simply because he was stupid felt somewhat off.

He had already suffered pain once through an elixir.

He should have learned his lesson, so what made Han Geonu so impatient?

“That… Do you know about Paldo?”

Han Geonu slowly opened his mouth.

“Paldo? A guild?”

Han Geonu searched for Paldo on his smartphone and showed it to Sungwoon.

A guild ranked 54th in South Korea.

The guild master position was held by Han Sangjin, a tank who had climbed up to the late 17th floor.

“It’s a guild led by the bastard who calls himself my father. Of course, I’ve cut ties with him.”

“He was your father?”

“…Yes.”

The fellow had a story of his own.

Han Geonu had suffered domestic violence since childhood.

His father, Han Sangjin, was a human being who spent every single day soaked in alcohol, swinging his fists whenever he had the chance.

Not long after the tower appeared, that person received an invitation, awakened, abandoned his family, and left.

“So you tried to get stronger even a day faster to destroy Paldo?”

“Yes. Over my dead body will I watch that damn human living large.”

As rage welled up within him, strength could be seen gathering in Han Geonu’s fists.

“From the 2nd floor onward, finish with an S-rank or higher.”

“Pardon?”

At that statement, Han Geonu’s eyes widened.

“The guild I establish will be greater than any other guild. To be a founding member of the guild, your skill needs to back it up, doesn’t it?”

At the statement filled with confidence, the look in Han Geonu’s eyes changed.

Even though it was a statement coming from a beginner who had barely cleared the 2nd floor, the reason it could inspire him was simple.

Because the one who uttered those words was none other than Sungwoon.

A founding member of the guild founded by the Irregular Sungwoon.

That title was something whose value could hardly even be measured.

Han Geonu’s eyes began to surge with powerful desire.

“So I just need to get S-rank or higher?”

“Yeah.”

“…I will succeed no matter what!”

A booming response resounded throughout the entire apartment.