With a wet pop, the giant larva collapsed to the ground.
Shortly after, a message window appeared in front of Taeho.
Giant Larvae Defeated: 10/10
Time Remaining: 2 hours 43 minutes.
You have passed the trial on Floor 1.
Clear Rank: S
Rewards will be granted according to your clear rank.
"An S-rank."
S was the highest rank among the seven.
Even outside the Tower, society relied on these ratings to judge a challenger.
Securing the highest evaluation right out of the gate brought a satisfied smirk to Taeho's face.
Moments later, a blue system window appeared to display his rewards.
Reward: Lowest-grade Qi Fragment x100, Lowest-grade Fire Rune x1, Lowest-grade Ice Rune x1, Broken Box Key Fragment (1/5).
"Runes right from the first floor? What a good start."
Runes were rare materials containing special power.
Using them during crafting allowed one to impart elemental attributes.
Thanks to these properties, they were in high demand among blacksmiths, mages, and alchemists alike.
They were even popular as pet snacks, making them highly sought-after among druids and elementalists.
However, something else caught Taeho's eye.
It was the broken box key fragment.
I have seen this before. They definitely said it was a key used to open treasure chests.
Climbers would sometimes come across hidden treasure chests in the Tower.
Naturally, these chests were always locked.
Forcing one open meant shattering it, unleashing a cloud of poison or curses.
To make matters worse, the chests would vanish in a puff of smoke if left unopened for too long.
That was why having a key was essential.
They said finding a chest is hard, and getting the key to open it is even harder. Yet here it is.
But Taeho only had a fragment.
He needed to find four more to complete a whole key.
If I can't find the rest, I can just sell it. Key fragments are always in high demand and fetch a steep price.
After confirming the rewards were safely in his inventory, Taeho turned and started walking.
Since he made no attempt to exit the Tower, a system window flickered into view.
You have cleared the trial and may remain for the rest of your allocated time.
Would you like to remain?
The time limit for the first floor was 3 hours.
Thanks to clearing it so quickly, over two and a half hours remained.
"Sure."
Dismissing the message window, Taeho expanded his Qi perception.
Spreading outward like a net, it gathered the loose energy scattered around the area.
Though the amount was small, he busily channeled the Qi into his circuit.
Qi can only be obtained inside the Tower. I have to gather it whenever I can.
Taeho reviewed the battle he had just fought.
Even though it had been reinforced with Qi, his physical capabilities were far stronger than expected.
Added to that was a combat technique he had never learned, yet acted upon instinctively every time he swung his hammer.
Taeho could tell that this was an ability of the War Smith class.
A War Smith… The name is not just for show.
Yet that alone did not explain how he had hunted the giant larvae so easily.
He could guess the reason for that to some extent as well.
Even if combat power comes from the class, the absurd power boost to my body from using just a tiny bit of Qi must be due to Total Rebirth.
Thanks to that, Taeho used only a tiny amount of Qi and did not feel fatigued at all.
No, in fact, the more Qi he gathered, the more overflowing with power he felt.
He was itching to take action.
I need to climb diligently.
Feeling the Qi slowly filling his circuit like dripping water drops, Taeho tightened his grip on the hammer.
* * *
In just a few days, South Korea had become a country drawing global attention.
The reason was the absurd actions of a single Awakener.
Notice: 22nd S-rank clear achieved on the 12th floor of South Korea's Tower.
System notices rarely appeared unless something monumental happened.
Yet for the past few days, Awakeners had been receiving them every single morning—each one announcing another consecutive S-rank clear from the same unknown challenger.
Awakeners worldwide learned of Taeho's existence immediately through these announcements.
Rising like a supernova, Taeho's unbelievable run was also setting Tower.com, the world's largest Tower community, ablaze.
—Fking crazy. Has to be a bug.
ㄴchecked the timestamp on yesterday's notice. bro cleared Floor 12 in 25 mins. How tf is that even possible?
ㄴTF is going on in South Korea? Who even is this guy??
ㄴNo clue lol. If you guys ever figure it out, pls let us know. Plz orz.
It had been several years since the Tower first appeared.
As online communities grew alongside it, even regular people who followed the Tower were surprisingly well-informed.
Floors 1 through 10 were where beasts rather than monsters appeared, such as giant larvae and ferocious poisonous centipedes.
While those beasts were still extremely dangerous, Floor 11 marked a whole new level of difficulty as actual monsters like goblins began to appear.
Though weaker in raw power than beasts, they were a species with far higher intelligence and coordination.
On top of that, the trial on Floor 12 involved facing 20 forest goblins, a sub-species variant.
Swinging through trees like monkeys and using blowdarts, they were infamous monsters among challengers.
Up until now, only 21 people in the entire world had received an S-rank on this floor.
Yet this challenger had managed to snag an S-rank on that very floor as well.
What's more, he slashed the average clear time from a full hour down to just 25 minutes!
—Not missing an S-rank all the way through Floor 12. South Korea's future is looking bright!
ㄴWhy isn't he registering as an Awakener though? A guy at that level would get tons of benefits.
Awakeners received various benefits.
Not only were bodyguards provided, but free rental apartments or studio flats were also available.
They were even offered cheap rentals on items needed for climbing the Tower.
Staying unregistered was basically leaving money on the table.
Even more so if that challenger was someone who scored S-ranks every single time.
With fame like that, he could enjoy top-tier perks to his heart's content.
Yet, as with all things, where there was a bright light, an equally deep shadow was bound to follow.
ㄴTsk tsk, you are not an Awakener, are you? Registering isn't strictly a good thing.
A common misconception among people was that being an Awakener was strictly a positive thing.
But that was only half true.
Because Awakeners were directly tied to national security, the government took great measures to protect them.
The problem was that this "protection" amounted to assigning permanent bodyguards and housing them together in dedicated residential complexes.
Unless a challenger was already a celebrity or high-ranking official, they were just ordinary civilians whenever they weren't climbing the Tower.
But the moment a security detail was assigned, living a peaceful, normal life became practically impossible.
Above all else, personal safety itself became the real issue.
—True. Remember when a rival country literally sent Awakeners on assassination runs back in the day just to collapse a whole nation?
Though the shared problem of the Tower had emerged, it failed to unite humanity.
Humanity was still in conflict over various issues, including religion and economics.
In the era before the Tower, war was what broke out when these conflicts accumulated and festered.
With the arrival of the Tower, however, a new shadow war emerged—one fought long before open conflict could ever erupt.
If a nation failed to break its highest floor record within the time limit, a gate was spawned as the penalty.
And if the gate was not destroyed in time, monsters poured out into reality.
Hostile nations exploited this exact vulnerability by assassinating or kidnapping a rival's strongest Awakeners, intentionally triggering a gate.
In fact, as many as three countries had been destroyed through such methods alone.
—Honestly, I hope he keeps his identity hidden. So many Awakeners act like celebrities, get spoiled, and completely ruin themselves.
ㄴlol facts. They shoot a couple commercials, get addicted to easy money, and stop climbing the Tower entirely, lmao.
ㄴThink he can hit S-rank on Floor 13 too? I bet 500 on yes.
ㄴBro is literally gambling on an Awakener risking their life in the Tower. Enjoy the report.
People commenting on Tower.com hurled insults and condemned the person gambling.
Yet the exact same curiosity took root in all their minds.
Could he really hit an S-rank on Floor 13?
A floor that only 14 people in the entire world had ever achieved an S-rank on?
* * *
With a heavy thud, half the tree shattered.
As the tree fell, two forest goblins shooting blowdarts from above tumbled onto the ground.
Keralhu! Kekek!
Scrambling to their feet, the creatures frantically reached for the axes at their waists.
But the hammer arrived faster, smashing the heads of both forest goblins together at once.
Kerek!
From a distance, multiple loud shouts resounded.
Recognizing their chief's roar, the remaining forest goblins scrambled back, creating distance between themselves and Taeho.
A colossal boulder burst into view, snapping trees like matchsticks as it rolled straight toward Taeho.
Rumble!
Weighing several hundred tons, it was a classic goblin trap—brutal, deceptive, and designed to catch their prey off guard.
But without even thinking of dodging, Taeho stood his ground and readjusted his grip on the hammer.
As he focused on his hammer, its skill information appeared.
「Destructive Strike」
Details: Destroys the target with an instantaneous release of Qi.
Ignore 50% of the target's physical defense.
On hit, has a 30% chance to stun the target.
Taeho channeled his Qi into the hammer.
Reading his intent, the system immediately popped up a message.
Using Active Skill, 「Destructive Strike」.
Cloaked in 「Destructive Strike」, the head of the hammer drove straight into the giant boulder.
BOOM!
The thunderous shockwave sent the startled goblins tumbling over one another.
The goblin chief was the first to recover, timidly poking its head out from behind the tree where it had cowered in terror.
Its eyes bulged in utter shock—the colossal stone was caved in and fractured on one side.
Keralhu! Ke—
Bam!
The goblin chief's screeching orders cut off mid-shout.
Closing the distance like a gale, Taeho took the chief's head off in a single strike.
Bang! Wham! Crunch!
A relentless barrage of brutal impacts echoed through the clearing.
The goblins surrounding their leader were slaughtered before they could even react.
Taeho hurled his hammer into the back of the last fleeing creature.
As the monster crumpled, a system window flashed in front of him.
Forest Goblin Chief Defeated: 1/1
Forest Goblins Defeated: 50/50
Time Remaining: 7 hours 55 minutes.
You have passed the trial on Floor 13.
Clear Rank: S
Rewards will be granted according to your clear rank.
Rewards: Lowest-grade Qi Fragment x200, Goblin Leather x50.
"The rewards seem to be getting stingier."
As he climbed the floors, the quantity of rewards increased.
Yet special rewards like runes or key fragments had not dropped even once since then.
Gathering Qi as usual while skimming through his inventory, Taeho stroked his chin.
My inventory is almost full.
Inside the inventory, rewards received while climbing up to the thirteenth floor were piled high.
Without registering as an Awakener, there was no legal way to sell items—and with his bank account balance dangerously low, he needed cash fast.
Even just to earn money, I can't delay registering any longer.
He had dragged his feet on registering, put off by a packed schedule and a general reluctance to deal with the hassle.
But now, his hand was forced.
Recalling the things to do once outside, Taeho's gaze darkened with solemn resolve.
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