Chapter 44

There are many things that Awakeners gain as they conquer the Tower of Infinity.

Wealth and fame.

Awakeners are the vanguard fighting the unknown on behalf of humanity.

No one knows what will happen if Awakeners give up on conquering the Tower of Infinity. But whatever happens, it will not be beneficial to humanity.

Awakeners earn an enormous income that cannot be compared to that of ordinary people as they conquer the Tower of Infinity. Monster corpses, magic stones, and rare items that can only be obtained inside the Tower of Infinity.

The popularity of successful Awakeners far surpasses that of celebrities. For example, every action of Baek Dong-wook, the master of the Chiu Guild, becomes a major issue.

Even the clothes he usually wears sell out immediately if they are photographed by paparazzi.

Powerful strength.

Becoming an Awakener means surpassing human limits. Influenced by the system, they hunt monsters, level up, and increase their stats.

They strengthen themselves with weapons or artifacts obtained from the Tower of Infinity.

What makes an Awakener more like an Awakener and stronger is none other than ‘skills.’

Awakeners cannot escape the influence of skills. Having more skills and stronger skills is what Awakeners desire.

That’s why one of the most coveted items in the Tower of Infinity is the ‘Skill Stone.’

I gaze at the golden orb in my hand.

It’s definitely a Skill Stone. You can’t tell what skill is inside a Skill Stone. It randomly generates a skill belonging to the user’s job class.

“Do I really need to use it?”

I am different from ordinary Awakeners.

The skills learned by mage Awakeners are magic. Unlike me, who learns through study, they acquire magic as a reward for leveling up and through the Skill Stone in my hand.

A powerful Awakener has a skill that can represent them. But obtaining such a skill is not easy. That’s why wealthy Awakeners buy Skill Stones indiscriminately.

“Sell it?”

The trading price of a Skill Stone easily exceeds ten billion won. The drop rate of Skill Stones is extremely low. Many want them, but supply cannot meet demand.

Ten billion is an enormous amount, but even at that price, they are hard to find.

I have no intention of selling the Skill Stone.

It’s not that I lack money, and I’m curious about what skill the Skill Stone will give me.

“Surely it won’t give me some useless magic?”

I grip the Skill Stone tightly.

“I use the Skill Stone.”

– Do you want to use the Skill Stone?

“I use it.”

As soon as I finish speaking, the Skill Stone emits a golden light, turns into liquid, and is absorbed into my palm, disappearing.

– You have learned the skill ‘Enhance.’

“Enhance?”

Level: 28

Job: Mage (Origin)

Title: Disciple of the Tower Lord, Mage of the Source

Strength: 32 Stamina: 32 Agility: 32 Intelligence: 192 Magic Power: 228

Skill: Enhance

Achievements: One who has touched the Source, Orc Slayer

A new item, ‘Enhancement,’ has been added to the status window.

I touch the enhancement with my finger.

– Enhancement

Consumes mana and enhancement materials to enhance the target.

A sparse explanation.

“Enhance.”

The moment I utter the word ‘enhance,’ the world turns entirely red.

Startled by the sudden change, I deactivate the enhancement, and my vision returns to normal.

When I activate the enhancement again, the world turns red. I look around. There are things that appear blue in this red world. Notably, the shield and wand lying next to the fallen Naga Queen.

And my hand, no, my gloves and shoes appear blue.

“I understand.”

I switch the enhancement to deactivate.

“Things that can be enhanced are blue, and those that cannot are red.”

I grasp the Naga Queen’s wand and attempt to enhance it.

– Insufficient enhancement materials.

The required materials are two high-grade mana stones.

I have mana stones, but they are all top-grade. I take out two top-grade mana stones from the infinite bag and attempt the enhancement again.

– Do you want to enhance?

“Enhance.”

– You are using materials of a higher grade than required. Luck is bestowed upon the target.

The Naga Queen’s wand emits a bright light. After a moment, the light fades, and a message is heard.

– Enhancement successful. Luck is bestowed upon the target, and the spell ‘Healing Touch’ is created.

“Has anything changed?”

The wand’s appearance doesn’t seem to have changed much.

“It looks a bit more luxurious, perhaps.”

Maybe it’s just my imagination, but it feels like there’s an air of elegance that wasn’t there before the enhancement.

The spell ‘Healing Touch’ is likely a spell used by Naga shamans. Occasionally, when Nagas are injured, you can see green energy flowing from the shamans’ bodies to heal the wounds. That spell is probably ‘Healing Touch.’

“Hehe, this is a jackpot item.”

Skills or artifacts related to healing are always traded at high prices. For the awakened ones attacking the Tower of Infinity, and for patients suffering from illnesses, healing skills are like a ray of light.

On a whim, I take out the Infinity Staff from the infinite bag and activate the enhancement.

“What is this?”

With surprised eyes, he checks the message.

– The materials needed for enhancement are 1 kilogram of Harmony Metal, 50 top-grade Magic Stones, 10 Drake Scales, Essence of Fire, Essence of Water…

He is at a loss for words at the more than twenty enhancement materials.

*

31st Floor of the Tower of Infinity

Out of numerous countries, only three have set foot on the 31st floor.

The Nagas and other monsters on the 21st floor are powerful and difficult to deal with, but compared to the large monsters that appear on the 31st floor, they are child’s play.

It took the United States, the strongest country of Awakened, 1 year and 2 months to get past the 31st floor. They had to find the stairs to the 32nd floor while dealing with large monsters.

Wouldn’t it be a bit easier to find the stairs to the 32nd floor if we followed the traces left by the American Awakened?

Nonsense.

Not only would the American Awakened never do that, but the ‘mystery’ of the Tower of Infinity automatically restores damaged areas after a certain period of time.

The reason why the number of monsters does not decrease no matter how many the Awakened kill is also because of that mystery.

All spaces except for the cities built by the Awakened cannot escape the influence of the mystery.

He sneaks into the base city on the 31st floor, hidden by invisibility. Compared to the cities he has passed through so far, it is a very quiet city.

Awakened from the three countries attacking the 31st floor must be stationed here.

They must be going back and forth between the city and the outside world, procuring supplies for the expedition. The Chiu Guild members he saw on the 25th floor not long ago must also be somewhere here.

The base city is divided into three zones.

These must be the zones of the three countries occupying this place. He walks towards the side that looks unmistakably Korean.

“The Chiu Guild failed to secure the base again?”

“Do you think securing the base is easy? The monsters destroy everything we build. It didn’t even take two ogres five minutes to turn the base our guild worked hard on for a week into a flat land.”

“I saw them return yesterday, and their shoulders were all slumped. Even Master Baek Dong-wook’s face was stiff.”

Two people are talking.

From the guild emblems on their chests, he can tell they belong to the Cheonghae Guild and the Haedong Guild.

The Cheonghae Guild is supported by the large corporation Cheonghae Group, and the Haedong Guild is led by Kwon Dae-young, an early Awakened famous for his nickname ‘Iron Wall’.

“How do the Americans hold out on the 35th floor for over a month?”

“They must have their know-how. And I heard from a reliable source that the Americans have broken through to the 36th floor.”

“Really?”

“I heard it from a trustworthy informant.”

He listens to their conversation a bit more before turning away.

‘Already?’

The 36th floor is where I intend to make my refuge.

The place I plan to use as a refuge is quite far from the entrance of the 36th floor and is a location that people cannot find, but it seems I need to hurry a bit more than scheduled.

In the area of the awakened Koreans within the base city, familiar Hangul characters are frequently seen.

On one of the particularly large buildings, there is a signboard that reads ‘Daechiwoo Guild’.

I deactivate my invisibility as I move. If someone had seen me, they would have screamed at the sudden appearance of a person, but there is no one around.

Knock- knock-.

I knock and wait.

After a moment, the door opens and a man steps out. The man, who appears to be a member of the Daechiwoo Guild, flinches when he sees me.

“Who… are you?”

A black robe and a golden mask.

It’s an appearance that anyone would find strange.

“I’m here to see Master Baek Dongwook.”

“Master? Who are you to want to see the Master?”

The man’s voice grows a bit harsh.

It seems he is wary of an unknown visitor suddenly asking to see the Master.

“I have a commission from Master Baek Dongwook.”

“A commission from the Master?”

“Yes. Could you tell Master Baek Dongwook that the Tower of Kraksha, who received a commission through the Dark Merchant, has come to see him?”

“The, the Tower of Kraksha…”

The man, startled, asks in a trembling voice.

“Are you really the Tower of Kraksha?”

“Whether you believe it or not is up to you. Will you convey my message to Master Baek Dongwook?”

“Please wait a moment.”

The man rushes inside.

After a while, Baek Dongwook, the Master of the Daechiwoo Guild, whose face I have seen many times on TV, comes out with several awakened ones.

Baek Dongwook looks at me with a peculiar gaze.

“The Tower of Kraksha?”

“Yes. I am the Tower of Kraksha. I came because I heard you made a commission through the Dark Merchant.”

“By commission, do you mean… the healing artifact?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

“Please, come inside.”

I enter the guild house with Baek Dong-wook.

In the spacious reception room, a dozen or so members of the Chiu Guild are seated. They are all staring intently at me. Some of them have their hands on their weapons.

“The atmosphere is… nice?”

“Please understand. We are having difficulties with the 32nd floor strategy, so the guild members are a bit sensitive.”

“I understand. It can happen. But, you know.”

I say, looking at the Chiu Guild members with their hands on their weapons.

“Do you think that will be a threat? I think you are mistaken. I came here with goodwill. If I had come with malice…”

I make eye contact with everyone gathered in the reception room.

Finally, I look at Baek Dong-wook and smile.

“Everyone here would already be dead.”

From noble mtl dot com

– ……

The atmosphere turns chilly.

Some guild members fidget as if they are ready to pounce at any moment. The hostility of the Chiu Guild members grows.

“Does it sound like a joke? Shall we really try it?”

Sss-.

As I extend one finger, a flame ignites in front of the face of the guild member with his hand on his sword.

Crack-.

This time, I create an ice blade in front of the face of the guild member with a grim expression.

I create as many spells as there are Chiu Guild members in the reception room. As each spell materializes, the expressions of the Chiu Guild members turn pale.

There must be awakened mages in the Chiu Guild as well.

But as my master said, they are only half-baked mages.

The magic I perform is on a completely different level from theirs.

The Chiu Guild members realize this too.

Especially Baek Dong-wook, who is reacting so intensely that his body is trembling.

As I withdraw my hand, the spells disappear as if it were a lie.

“I came with goodwill. So, relax your expressions-.”

I raise both index fingers to the mask where the mouth is and gently lift them upwards.

“Smile.”

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