Taeho agonized over his next move.
Clang, clang!
No matter how many times he tried, attacks with no Qi dealt zero damage to the knight.
Boom!
What moved the undead was the magical energy infused within souls and objects.
Without directly influencing that energy, he couldn't defeat the knight.
Did that mean there was truly no way to defeat the boss?
Would he have to give up here?
Clang, Clang!
"Ah, so noisy."
Lying on the floor while pondering, Taeho scowled.
Despite its broken longsword, the knight relentlessly continued its ineffective attacks like a machine.
Being undead, it didn't even tire out.
Growing annoyed, Taeho fell deep into thought once again.
No. Keep thinking. There has to be a way.
Hardening his resolve, Taeho retraced his past.
What options did he still have available?
Taeho recalled everything that had happened since his regression.
After waking up in his room and assessing the situation, he entered the Tutorial Tower.
Through painstaking effort over many months, he crafted armor and a hammer, then climbed relentlessly all the way to the thirtieth floor.
…Wait. Am I missing something?
"…Ah."
As Taeho searched his memories once more, an overlooked detail struck him like lightning.
It was the memory of meeting Ari'mir, who had introduced herself as the administrator of the Tutorial Tower.
Ari'mir had taken his core at her own whim to inspect it, before suddenly plunging face-first into the ground.
The cause was the siphoning of Qi—something even Ari'mir couldn't stop.
What ultimately animated the knight's ancient armor was a soul bound by that very same energy.
Which meant…
Found it.
Taeho's eyes snapped open.
Withstanding the ineffective attacks of the knight, he stood up.
Sensing the sudden change of atmosphere, the knight temporarily stopped its attacks and backed away.
"What are you doing? Come here."
Taeho raised his hammer.
As Taeho placed the hammer over his right shoulder and assumed an offensive stance, the knight took up its own posture in response.
Spotting an opening, the knight lunged toward Taeho with a noisy clatter.
Thwack-!
The broken longsword struck Taeho's abdomen.
Sparks flew with a harsh metallic screech, but the armor remained unpierced.
However, something was different.
Releasing the hammer he was about to swing, Taeho grabbed both of the knight's arms.
Clatter!
Caught in a joint lock, the monster fell to the ground.
Meanwhile, Taeho slipped his left hand inside his own armor, retrieved the core, and pressed it firmly down onto the knight's helmet.
It was the core that had drained Ari'mir's Qi in an instant.
"Even the administrator couldn't withstand this core. Do you think a mere tutorial boss like you can?"
Rumble!
Soon after Taeho finished speaking, the core began absorbing the knight's Qi.
The knight's armor, which had not been damaged by the hammer blows, suddenly jerked and creaked.
Though it threw desperate punches and headbutted with its helmet, Taeho sustained no damage at all.
Thud!
Creaking as if convulsing, the knight abruptly stopped moving.
Without letting down his guard until the very end, Taeho pinned the knight down and jammed the core into its helmet.
Then, a notification window popped up before his eyes.
You have successfully cleared Floor 30.
Clear Rank: Unmeasurable.
You have overcome the limitation of being unable to use Qi and successfully cleared the floor.
You have earned the achievement 'One Who Transcends Limits'!
Fame increased significantly!
You are the first to clear all tutorial floors!
You have earned the achievement 'First Tutorial Conqueror'!
Fame increased significantly!
"…Haa."
Taeho, who had been pressing down on the knight with all his strength, collapsed.
Having exerted his strength to the absolute limit, he could barely move a finger.
Yet, a satisfied smile played on his lips.
"My victory. You damn tutorial."
Two achievements gained all at once.
Among them, the details of the 'One Who Transcends Limits' achievement turned Taeho's suspicion into certainty.
The floor was clearly designed to be cleared only by Awakeners with a natural talent for manipulating Qi.
Yet he had shattered that absurd limitation and successfully cleared the Tutorial Tower at long last by using a core he had crafted himself.
It felt like a reward proving his past life had not been in vain.
As Taeho relished a profound sense of accomplishment, a notification window floated before his eyes.
Having cleared all tutorials, you may now enter the Reward Room.
Would you like to move now?
On top of the achievements, he was about to receive a Tutorial Tower reward that no one had ever obtained.
There was no reason not to accept it right now.
"Yeah."
As Taeho answered, his prone body floated gently into the air.
Just as when he had first entered the tutorial, his body vanished in an instant.
* * *
Taeho stood up and surveyed his surroundings.
Before his eyes, a milky way composed of shining stars stretched across a dark sky.
A landscape impossible to behold inside the Tower.
Only then did Taeho realize where he was standing.
Is this… the top of the Tutorial Tower?
Taeho's eyes widened.
Humanity had never cleared even the Tutorial Tower, let alone the outside Tower.
Thus, he was the very first human to learn that the Tower had an end and behold this view.
While Taeho stood mesmerized by the serene and beautiful sight, he heard the soft sound of someone landing lightly on the ground behind him.
"Congratulations, child. You truly… managed to reach this place."
Turning around, he saw Ari'mir, the administrator he had met at the Tower entrance.
Ari'mir's eyes trembled slightly as she looked at Taeho, echoing the subtle quiver in her voice.
"It is truly astounding. To clear the final floor despite being unable to use Qi… I never thought it was possible."
As an administrator, she knew that the minimum requirement to clear the thirtieth floor was using Qi.
Therefore, upon realizing Taeho could not use Qi, she had not expected him to clear it.
However, even through long hours of agonizing, Taeho had done his utmost to find a way, ultimately overcoming what should have been an impossible obstacle to reach this height.
Ari'mir had watched every bit of it.
Yet Taeho's response was blunt.
"Yeah. It really was a diabolical floor."
"…Are you still upset?"
Ari'mir let out a sigh.
Taeho remained cold because she had taken his core without a word during their first meeting.
But that was already half a year ago.
She thought he would have forgotten all about it while crafting items in the tutorial.
"Did you expect forgiveness without an apology? How naive. It's the exact opposite! I haven't forgotten that day for even a single second."
Taeho replied, his eyes gleaming fiercely.
It was the truth.
During the six months spent forging armor and a hammer, Taeho fought against hunger and solitude, along with the agony of getting his hands crushed and burned due to his body reverting after regression.
What kept him going through that long stretch was Taeho's will to undo past failures, as well as his rage at having his core stolen by Ari'mir without being able to resist.
Ari'mir flinched at his genuine rage.
He really is furious. This won't do…
The reason Ari'mir had waited so desperately for Taeho's success was to make a request that only he could fulfill.
To think he would still hold a grudge.
Pondering her options, she looked at Taeho with a resolute expression.
"I am sorry. While I was merely fulfilling my duty as the administrator, if I offended you, I apologize."
"Forget it. What good is an apology now?"
Taeho snorted.
Ari'mir's fists trembled slightly at his reaction.
To offer a rare apology—something she had done only a few times in her entire life—only to receive such a sullen response?!
Taking a deep breath to quell her anger, Ari'mir composed her expression.
"Right. Since you cleared all the tutorials, you should receive your reward. Take a look."
At the word 'reward', Taeho's eyes gleamed.
He was also looking forward to a Tutorial Tower reward that no one had ever obtained.
At Ari'mir's gesture, three items radiant with brilliant light floated up before Taeho.
Looking over the secret rewards himself, surprise spread across Taeho's face.
Trash like this… is the reward for the first Tutorial Tower clear?
Furthermore, he could inspect their details even without a class.
All three items were Hero-grade, corresponding to the highest tiers.
Given the opportunity to receive Hero-grade items before even entering the main Tower, anyone else would spit blood and call it an unfair advantage.
Yet only disappointment showed in Taeho's eyes.
Not bad, but that's all. I can craft stuff like that later as long as I have materials.
Taeho was a blacksmith who had spent his entire life crafting items.
And not just any ordinary blacksmith, but a man once hailed as a Transcendent Blacksmith.
His standards for items were on a completely different level compared to other Awakeners.
As Taeho tried to swallow his disappointment, a nervous Ari'mir glanced at him and asked:
"How are they? Excellent gear, no?"
Taeho almost blurted out, 'You put me through all that hell…' but managed to swallow his words.
Though he still held ill feelings toward Ari'mir, he had no intention of crossing the line.
Yet even without an answer, Ari'mir knew Taeho's inner thoughts all too well.
"Though I suppose they don't satisfy you."
Ari'mir stared intently at Taeho's armor and hammer.
Unlike Taeho, who could not view item details due to lacking a class, as the administrator, Ari'mir could see right through the details of the items Taeho had crafted.
And the items she saw were…
It makes no sense. Yet what I am seeing right now is real.
Ari'mir had previously written Taeho off, assuming he could craft Uncommon-grade items at best.
Now, she realized just how foolish that assumption was.
Facing it head-on, she had to admit it.
Taeho's six months of effort had produced results far beyond expectations.
Having confirmed Taeho's disappointment, now was the most critical moment.
"If you don't mind, I would like to offer a different reward as an apology. What do you think?"
"…A different reward?"
Hearing the mention of a different reward, Taeho perked up.
After all, Ari'mir was the administrator of the tutorial, a figure whose existence had been unknown until now.
The reward offered by her was highly likely to be far rarer and more valuable than these.
"…What kind of reward is it?"
Ari'mir cheered inwardly, glad to see his curiosity piqued.
She pulled something from her coat as if waiting for this exact moment.
"It's this."
"…An egg?"
Taeho was bewildered upon seeing the egg Ari'mir held up preciously in both hands.
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