assistirfilmes Chapter 39: Tenth Floor, Waiting Room
Chapter 39: Tenth Floor, Waiting Room
Chapter 39: Tenth Floor, Waiting Room
During Ha Hee-Jeong’s previous life, the Community, on the thirty-first floor.
[Reflections on the Tower of Ordeal, Divine Thrones, and the God of Earth.]
- Author: Jimmy Hendrick (Thirty-first Floor)
... Climbers will remember the cryptic term “Green Belt” from the message we received before entering the Tower of Ordeal. This leads many to believe that the tower is an invasion by an alien civilization.
However, no matter how much science can potentially advance, what we’re experiencing can only be described as the work of a “god.”
... Thus, it's reasonable to assume that the Divine Thrones are the gods of various planets across the universe. The classes are likely divided based on how many planets they control or how powerful their divine abilities are.
In the early floors, climbers were tricked by the Divine Thrones regarding their classes, but if we think of it as a welfare policy among the gods, it makes sense. After all, isn’t there a draft system in sports too?
... But this raises another question—where is the God of Earth? Where do climbers who have chosen the priest class draw their divine power from? Why does the priest's status window not display their holy power? Why do they consume mana when casting healing spells, unlike the other races discovered in the Tower of Ordeal?
... From this, I suspect the Tower of Ordeal is a process meant to select a god for each planet. Yet, there’s one detail that still troubles me: the phrase in the climbers’ status window that reads, "Affiliation: Tower of Ordeal." What does this really mean?
The same question applies to the true meaning of “Patron Deity” and “share percentage.” We have many guesses, but no definitive answers.
Will we ever truly conquer the tower?
... Tonight, I find myself longing to discover the God of Earth.
***
[Kwon Su-Hyeok (Earthling, C-66432)]
Title: Seeker of the Crossroads
Affiliation: None
Patron Deity: First class, Omniscient Thunder Axe (Share percentage: 1.09% (-?.??%) / 100.00%)
Strength: 90.4 (-6)
Agility: 84.7 (-6)
Stamina: 88.1 (-5)
Mana: 52.8 (-2)
Skills: Lightning Essence lvl 7... Combat Focus lvl 16 (+5), Bear’s Blood lvl 8, Natural Healing lvl 7, Iron Skin lvl 3...
My penalized stats had recovered significantly on the ninth floor, likely from the numerous battles I had fought. I was confident that once I stepped onto the eleventh floor, my stats would surpass those from before I burned the share percentage. ràɴổᛒƐs̈
Considering the stats I had gained through combat, it felt like I was getting a great deal.
And the tenth floor is a rest area.
The twenty percent stat restriction I had imposed on myself because of the pre-sponsorship hadn’t been as difficult to deal with as expected. The eighth and tenth floors felt like freebies in many ways. Even the fights on the ninth floor hadn’t been particularly challenging.
I could feel my stats were significantly higher than other climbers’.
And my skill levels have risen a lot, too.
Lightning Essence, Combat Focus, Bear’s Blood, Natural Healing, and Iron Skin had all leveled up. Floors with combat provided a much larger boost to both stats and skills.
After thoroughly going through my status window, I had nothing to do but wait.
[30 minutes 21 seconds until the rest period ends. Please rest.]
The break time in the waiting room wasn’t particularly long, probably because the tenth floor was a rest area. There had been forty-three minutes on the timer when we had arrived—the same amount of time that remained after conquering the Maze of Kashatum.
Based on the time left until the next floor, I assumed we wouldn’t enter the tenth floor until every climber cleared the ninth floor. Many climbers were still lost in the maze, and I was powerless to do anything except hope they would make it out safely.
- Seo Ha-Rin (Tenth Floor): We only have about thirty minutes left! I’m still a bit tired. Aaaah!
- Cole Grouse (Tenth Floor): I know right? Why did we get such little time to rest? Also, the time shown on the timer is the same as the labyrinth’s. Maybe the tenth floor is connected to the ninth?
- Seo Ho-Su (Tenth Floor): Hmm, could be. But from what I’ve seen in fantasy novels, there’s usually a rest area every ten floors, so it’s probably that.
- Seo Ha-Rin (Tenth Floor): Really, Dad? I hope so!
Since the rest of the party didn’t know the tenth floor was a rest area, our group chat had been busy. Seo Ho-Su, meanwhile, had accurately deduced the nature of the tenth floor. His power of insight gave me chills.
Just how many fantasy novels has he read to become this sharp?
Maybe that was why he was adapting so well to the Tower of Ordeal. According to Ha Hee-Jeong, he was also excellent at choosing which stats to allocate points to.
If I had known that I would end up in a strange tower, forced to fight for the fate of the Earth, I would have watched combat tutorial videos on UTube...
What was the other thing she suggested? Mimic capture box?
I re-entered a name into the search bar, and the shop window refreshed.
[Mimic Capture Box]
- Price: 1,000 points
1,000 achievement points?
Not exactly cheap, but it wasn’t a huge burden either. In fact, considering that it would be my makeshift inventory for the foreseeable future, it seemed like a pretty reasonable investment.
As soon as I purchased the item, a small box appeared on the table in the waiting room. It was slightly smaller than the baby mimic I had been carrying around.
[Mimic Capture Box]
- A box that can capture baby mimics.
- Cannot capture adult mimics.
Hmm, how was I supposed to fit the mimic into a box that was clearly smaller than it?
I started to worry about how I was going to transfer the mimic. Sure, it couldn’t escape from this tiny waiting room, but I wanted an inventory now.
Just like always, asking Ha Hee-Jeong was the quickest solution.
- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Tenth Floor): Hey, Hee-Jeong. How do I transfer this thing? The capture box is smaller than the baby mimic.
- Ha Hee-Jeong (Tenth Floor): It’s easy. Just open the capture box, put it over the mimic, and it’ll get sucked in on its own.
Transferring the mimic was simpler than I had imagined. There was no need to wrestle the mimic into the smaller container or even pick it up.
After all, the only thing I had seen in the mimic’s box was an endless void. Even if I had wanted to grab the mimic’s real body, there wouldn’t have been anything to hold onto. It was as if the inside of the box was its own dark, unreachable space.
I opened the box and pulled the baby mimic out from where it had been tucked inside my quiver. The little creature had been peeking out from the slightly open treasure chest lid, its eyes gleaming with curiosity. However, as soon as it saw me approaching, it hurriedly ducked back inside the box, trying to hide.
It would probably be easier to knock it out first.
Gripping the baby mimic, I shook it rapidly up and down with my right hand, hoping it would pass out.
“Screech...”
The creature let out a strange, high-pitched screech. The sound became fainter as I shook it harder, and eventually, the mimic went limp, knocked out cold. Now, it was time to move it.
I opened the capture box and placed the baby mimic’s box upside down over it.
Whoosh—
There was a soft hissing sound like air escaping, and just like that, the baby mimic was sucked into the capture box.
Is that it?
The process was so simple that it left me feeling a bit underwhelmed. I had expected it to be more complicated, but it was over in an instant. Just to make sure, I sent Ha Hee-Jeong another message.
- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Tenth Floor): Hee-Jeong, the mimic just got sucked in, no problem. Is that really all there is to it?
- Ha Hee-Jeong (Tenth Floor): Yep, that’s it. Now you just have to tame it. It won’t listen to you at first, but once you train it, you’ll have your own living inventory.
- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Tenth Floor): Tame it?
- Ha Hee-Jeong (Tenth Floor): Yeah, and it’s actually kinda cute ????When it doesn’t listen, just give it a shake. That’ll do the trick.
Hmm, even though it's for our convenience, isn't this clearly animal cruelty?
Sure, I had shaken it before, like on the ninth floor, but somehow I felt slightly reluctant this time. It was as if I were training it with a whip, and I didn’t want to train it like that.
Eventually, the mimic would come to understand my heart as I raised it. Imagine a mimic that would spit out items on command; it would practically be an automatic inventory. How fun would that be?
I stuffed the mimic into the quiver. Luckily, the smaller box fit better than the original chest.
- Kwon Su-Hyeok (Tenth Floor): How’s the search for armor going?
- Ha Hee-Jeong (Tenth Floor): I’m still looking, but it’s hard to immediately decide on one. We don’t have much time left, so let’s talk about it when we get to the rest area.
***
[Challenge Kwon Su-Hyeok’s Party is now entering the tenth floor: Rest Zone 1.]
[The tenth floor is a rest area for climbers. All aggressive actions are prohibited within the rest area. Climbers are invited to rest and relax as much as they would like. Time remaining: 35 hours 59 minutes.]