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Chapter 139




As soon as he returned to Earth, he met with Ashton. As expected, he activated the calling device to ask for his return, but.
Chak!
When Yoon-seok’s vision cleared, the agents around him drew their swords. It was because of Asura, who tagged along.
“Pet… no, it’s my summoned creature, so you don’t have to be wary.”
“I see. Sorry about that.”
Perhaps it was the first time he encountered such a creature, but Ashton quickly came to his senses and asked the agents to stand down.
“The duel tower is closed. All the challengers who were kicked out were handed over to other trials. Did it happen to you as well?”
“No. It was close, but I got on the last train.”
“Last train…?”
Phrase and ranking system, Yoon-seok briefly explained what he saw and felt regarding these two things. Fortunately, Ashton was able to understand just by asking a few questions along the way.
“…I didn’t know there were Towers elsewhere. I’m glad that Yoon-seok is here. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known that this change had begun.”
And so, their worship of Yoon-seok naturally intensified. At first, he considered it part of their socializing, but now it was a little burdensome since he knew it wasn’t.
“Ashton, I want to tell you something about that.”
Along with the distribution of people by dimension, Yoon-seok told him five challengers on Earth reached the 20th floor.
“…5 people?”
Ashton, who was tilting his head as if he didn’t seem to understand, quickly waved his hands.
“Oh, I do not doubt the authenticity of the information.”
“I know. You don’t have to explain.”
He could relate. Maybe that would be the case in the past, but challengers were now treated as heroes. It was also easy to obtain enormous financial gain and power to match if desired. But their identities remained hidden?
“…That’s why I don’t understand. Yoon-seok, do you have any idea?”
“I don’t. But they are probably far from everyone else since they reached the 20th floor, so we have to change our perspective accordingly.”
Money, honor, power, this was what ordinary people pursued. However, Yoon-seok wasn’t interested in those things as he ascended the Tower with one goal. Only then did Ashton look a little convinced.
“I see. First of all, I think we need to investigate them secretly, but I’ll refer to what you just said. Perhaps… maybe some of those who are already registered as challengers lied about their rank.”
Given Ashton’s speculation, Yoon-seok delivered the information that among the Earth’s challengers on the 20th floor, the person called Grape Jam was likely Korean.
“Korean… if that’s true, then two out of six challengers are from Korea. I’ll keep this to myself until it’s confirmed.”
“…?”
“State affairs are quite sharp. I’m sure some countries feel anxious about Korea having so much power. Don’t you think disputes can be avoided if this information isn’t disclosed?”
“I see. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“No. Mr. Yoon-seok, please focus on what you have to do without minding the political issues. I’ll help you with everything else.”
Somehow, the atmosphere felt like he would have knelt and shouted ‘Master!’ if this were the Middle Ages.
“Okay. See you in a month.”
“You mean… a month later?”
Come to think of it; he hadn’t mentioned it.
“Yes. I think I’ll probably be in Moorim for a while.”
Yoon-seok said it off-handedly as if it weren’t much of a big deal. But at the same time…
“…?”
Ashton and Asura tilted their heads.
“Cheonma-dong… if a place like that exists, it’d be right to head there in the meantime.”
As Yoon-seok explained, Ashton quickly accepted his reasoning. No, he even showed enthusiasm by offering to put challengers with sufficient LP up as a support group. It was great that low-ranked challengers now could offer support from other dimensions but, to be frank, it would be a nuisance to have them tag along.
“I’m sorry, but I’ll have to reject that offer.”
“…Alright.”
After returning to the Tower, Yoon-seok immediately approached the tablet and opened the store window page. It was his last bit of preparation before leaving for Moorim.
‘I don’t know why, but I’m nervous….’
He had been to Seheranbad through the trials, but it was a recreated space in the Tower 500 years ago. In other words, this was his first time traveling to another dimension. He had no idea what would happen, so it would be wise to prepare in advance. Plus, wasn’t Moorim a brutal enough place to even threaten Cheon-ma?
「 Your purchase has arrived.」
「Please check the lower part of the description.」
Yoon-seok purchased three bottles of the Unique Skill upgrade potion. That alone dropped his savings from 12.47 million APs to 1.22 million, but since it wasn’t a general skill but a Unique Skill, it was worth the investment.
Gulp. Gulp.
Yoon-seok drank two in a row. He always thought about this, but the taste was quite deep. It wasn’t delicious, but it wasn’t to the point that he hated it either. Well, it wasn’t important. Yoon-seok approached the tablet and confirmed the additional effects of the two Unique Skills he upgraded. Starting with b Immortality}.
{Immortality}
Rank A — When entering the invulnerable state, all regenerative powers increase by 150x, and attacks from enemies are Forgotten for 10 seconds.
Regenerative power by 150x. In other words, if the Rank B effect burst when he was on the verge of death, it meant he would fully recover in those 10 seconds.
‘I don’t know what this Forgotten is… but it’s probably not bad.’
Yoon-seok, thinking that it was an ability for emergency purposes, confirmed the next Unique Skill. This one was a little ambiguous too.
{Decapitation}
Rank A — When using a sword to kill, a non-resurrection state is applied.
Non-resurrection? It was an ability he worried might never be used. However, Yoon-seok decided to accept it as positively as possible. Wasn’t there an ability related to resurrection during his power selection? Ten thousand challengers reached the 20th floor so that one might have something similar. Or, if not among them, he might meet an enemy with skills related to resurrection one day.
‘Then the final question is….’
First of all, Yoon-seok pondered over the last bottle. Now it was time to choose between the two. Would it be b Non-verbal magic} or {Metallurgy}? It didn’t take him long to decide as he didn’t think the effect of refunding AP would be strengthened even if he upgraded b Metallurgy}.
{Non-verbal magic}
Rank A – During usage, magic consumption increases by 10x for 10 seconds, and the wait time for reusing all skills disappear.
Was this the right answer? For Yoon-seok, it was an incredible effect. A handicap that consumed more magic? There was no reason for him to worry if it were used in conjunction with b Demonify}, as the constraints related to magic would be meaningless anyway.
Yoon-seok closed the store window and opened the achievement store.
*Dimensional Registration – Additional registration of one dimension of Seheranbad, Kilian, Moorim, or Earth. You can choose one when using a return ticket.
Price: 500LP.
It cost the same as taking another trial, but once registered, he could permanently enjoy the effects, so it wasn’t a waste. However…
‘Is there another way to go to the added dimension?’
Despite the fusion, it was strange that there were no changes to the dimensional registration in the achievement store. Was it completely impossible? Or would it unlock once he ascended? No point wondering about it now.
「A new dimension has been registered.」
「You can use the return ticket to move to the registered dimension now.」
Yoon-seok used LP to complete the dimensional registration, and he bought four Rank E-Tickets for a week each. It didn’t matter if he only needed one, but it prevented him from returning to the waiting room during a critical moment.
’28 days is plenty of time.’
Tearrrr.
The four tickets were stacked and torn at the same time.
「Returning to Moorim.」
Though he wasn’t returning.
Flash.
The moment when the four overlapping lights burst around him, Yoon-seok took his first step into an alien forest.
“…”
Even if it wasn’t Cheonma-dong, he felt excited.
Yoon-seok opened his eyes to the fragrant smell of pine. The sound of water flowing, the chirping of birds and insects. The sky was clear during the day, and the surrounding trees were lush. He couldn’t sense anyone.
‘I must be in the middle of the forest.’
Nature was certainly lively, but it wasn’t much different from Earth. But Yoon-seok took a slow step while regarding everything with curious eyes. Any direction was good since the first point of arrival was random.
‘I should find people and collect information first.’
Yoon-seok didn’t know much about Moorim. He heard from the Sword Demon that the main quarters of the Demon Cult were in a place called the Hundred Thousand Mountain, but he didn’t even know where that was.
‘I guess there’s no need to rush.’
Judging that adjusting to the world of Moorim came first, Yoon-seok slowly strolled through the woods while enjoying the scenery. And then…
「Heart of Liberty neutralizes the effect of mental suppression.」
Yoon-seok’s eyes narrowed.
‘What is this?’
There was no sign of anyone around. Except for the occasional strange jade-colored monuments set to the side, nothing looked harmful.
‘…Is it because we’re in a different dimension?’
Common sense was meaningless as the dimensions were different. Perhaps these trees emitted a mental suppression effect.
‘Still, if they go through this all the time, it explains why Moorim’s duelists were particularly strong mentally.’
Yoon-seok, a little more guarded, continued walking. Sometime later, he could sense a presence.
‘It’s way sooner than I thought.’
Yoon-seok sped up. He was reaching the end of the forest where the dense trees became sparse, and beyond them were about 100 swordsmen wearing blue dopo. Seeing how they had their swords drawn, it appeared they were waiting for someone.
‘…What a coincidence.’
Yoon-seok raised his arms to show that he had no intention of fighting as he continued walking closer. But…
“Stop!”
He didn’t know why, but their bright eyes turned more murderous. Yoon-seok shouted, touching the back of his neck as if he was embarrassed.
“You don’t have to be wary. I don’t know who you’re waiting for, but I was walking through….”
“Shut up, Mask!”
Was the person they were waiting for a mortal enemy or something? The person who appeared to be the commander of the group cut off Yoon-seok’s explanation.
“It’s a coincidence that you broke through the Tributary of the Sky and intruded into the manor? Don’t try to fool us with your nonsense and reveal who you are!”
“…?”
Yoon-seok’s eyes widened.
Tributary of the Sky? He didn’t know what that was. There was nothing like that in the forest.