[11 hours 24 minutes until the rest period ends.] [Climbers may request to enter the fifty-third floor at any time.] “Yeek! Su-Yeok, how much have you eaten? At this rate, you’re going to turn into a pig!” Doppy remarked as he stepped out of the bathroom. Ignoring his comment, I continued shoving rice and pork ribs into my mouth. With my mouth full, my response came out slightly slurred. “You don’t understand. I was starving.” Regardless, my message came through loud and clear. Finally, I felt the gnawing hunger subside to some extent. Lifting my head, I glanced at the notification window. Apparently, I had eaten almost non-stop for over thirty minutes. Counting the plates piled on the table around me revealed that it had taken fifteen to sate me. I hadn’t even been aware of how much I was eating. Doppy was right in saying that I had overindulged. To be fair, with what I had endured on the fifty-second floor, it was a reasonable aftermath. Now that my stomach was more or less full, I decided this would be my last bite. Picking up the remaining rib, I turned to Doppy. “Want some?” “No way! I just brushed my teeth!” “Alright, more for me, then.” That aside, I still hadn’t heard from Ha Hee-Jeong. Not that it’s unusual. After spending nearly two days on the fifty-second floor, she had likely advanced to the next level. Chewing idly with a rib in hand, I pulled up the Leaderboard. Huh? Fifty-fifth floor? Thinking I had misread it, I blinked and looked again. Nothing changed, however, and Ha Hee-Jeong was still listed as on the fifty-fifth floor. I knew that the next couple of individual challenge floors for normal climbers weren’t considered very difficult, but conquering four floors in less than two days was impressive. Most top-ranking climbers were on the fifty-fourth floor, while those further down the rankings lingered on the fifty-third. Then again, considering she is a regressor, this much progress seems reasonable. I was curious about how long ago she had started the fifty-fifth floor, though. I wanted to talk to her about everything that had happened to me during my previous floor. Ryun didn’t know much about the tower or the gods, so I doubted I could have a productive conversation with him. Wanting to learn more about the current situation, I opened the Community. [Can I (Rank 93,000 Warrior) enter the fifty-third floor now? I heard it’s tough.] [What’s the point of waiting? Just get it over with. Warriors just have to fight a giant monster, right? ] [Man, I’m so jealous of mages.] [LMAO. Don’t they just have to decode a magic circle? Plus, didn’t Ha Hee-Jeong explain how to do that?] [Knowing isn’t doing, idiot.] [If you can’t even solve it with the answers, maybe you shouldn’t have made it this far.] [Su-Hyeok just entered the waiting room on the fifty-third floor! Looks like his fifty-second floor was rough.] The Community seemed relatively quiet, likely because most climbers were actively tackling floors. One post, however, caught my attention. It mentioned that Ha Hee-Jeong had explained the solution for one of the floors. I had initially planned to make a post asking for information, but I changed my mind after seeing that. Scrolling further, I searched for a post with a lot of comments. Before long, I found one authored by Ha Hee-Jeong. So she finished the fifty-third floor three hours ago. Based on what I remembered, the fifty-second to fifty-fourth floors didn’t take long to clear, while the fifty-fifth was much harder. Since she hadn’t been in there long, it would likely take her a while to complete the fifty-fifth floor. The desire to discuss my experiences with her burned within me—especially what I had learned about Kalain—but I would have to postpone that conversation for another time. Stuffing the last piece of pork rib into my mouth, I stood up. “Doppy.” “What do you want? Is it time to train?” “Yeah. I still need to wash, so get ready.” After a short training session, I lay down on my bed. Although I had been tempted to train against Kalain’s illusion, it wasn’t the right time yet. Even with the difficulty reduced, he had eventually become a god that dominated other gods, so fighting him would undoubtedly still be dangerous. I will give it a go after I grow stronger. Though my eyes were closed, sleep didn’t come easily; I still felt refreshed physically. Reaching the summit and entering the light had erased all of my fatigue and physical exhaustion, after all. However, even though I physically felt fine, my mind was a completely different matter entirely. Still, lying down helped alleviate some of the mental strain. As I gradually warmed up under the comfortable blankets and my full stomach brought a sense of peace, my thoughts began to wander. Naturally, they drifted to Kalain, and I internally sighed. I still didn’t know how I felt about him. Logically, Kalain—or Kal-Lain as his followers called him—was a terrible and evil god. During my journey through the tower, I encountered numerous instances of him plundering other worlds without restraint. In the process of plundering, he also subjugated their deities and enslaved the living beings of those worlds. Moreover, he had also targeted me. By trying to implant the message of destroying the tower and the gods into my mind, he had practically brainwashed me. Despite that, I understood him deep down. I had heard his story directly from his phantom. While I didn’t share his desire to annihilate the tower and the gods, I could comprehend the reasoning behind his hatred. At the time, I hadn’t fully grasped why his intentions seemed so different from the phantom’s, but I had a guess now. He probably conquers other worlds to amass followers and, through them, power. Even if a climber ascended the tower and became a god, many gods already existed. In other words, the established elite. Naturally, there would be a disparity in standing and strength. To overcome that gap, Kalain likely sought to conquer worlds and grow his influence. In his quest to crush the evil that had harmed him, he had become a villain himself. Or perhaps other gods had attacked him after his ascension. Kalain seemed like the type to repay grudges in full. It could have been an act of vengeance. Whatever the reason, his actions didn’t align with mine. Despite our shared circumstances, I hadn’t chosen the same path as Kalain. Then again, perhaps my understanding of him is due to the phantom’s influence. No, that wasn’t the case. I had shaken off the hypnosis. I understood him because his circumstances were similar to mine. I acknowledged the latent anger buried deep within me. I had been fortunate. Otherwise, I could have turned out just like Kalain. What would I do if my parents were dragged into the tower and killed in a trial? Or if I witnessed Ha Hee-Jeong die before my eyes, would I be able to stay sane? It didn’t seem likely. Hatred would have consumed me as well, and I would have climbed the tower fueled by a thirst for vengeance. Kalain was like another version of me—one who had started from the same place but taken a different path. More than anything, his phantom had been an attempt to recruit allies. He probably considered any climber or challenger powerful enough to clear that mission as a future god who would understand his goals and willingly join him. My thoughts were a jumbled mess. He had tried to hypnotize me, yet there were parts of him that I couldn’t help but empathize with. Am I suffering from Stockholm syndrome[1]? A question crossed my mind. If challengers generally became gods, then why was Kalain the last climber who left a phantom? Judging by the fact that Kalain preyed on other gods, he undoubtedly held a high rank. The absence of any challengers between Kalain and me didn’t add up. Sure, not every god had to be a challenger, but countless challengers had to have come after Kalain. It was hard to believe that not one would leave an illusion. While it was true that creating an illusion required the challenger to uncover all the sanctuaries, it seemed highly unlikely that nobody would have. Am I really the first challenger to come after Kalain? If that were the case, it presented a much larger problem. I couldn’t know how long it had been since Kalain climbed the tower. However, if no one else had come before me, then he had climbed the tower fairly recently. If so, then he had grown strong enough to devour other gods in an astonishingly short period. How did he gain such overwhelming power so quickly? As the question lingered, a sudden wave of concern swept over me. If I were to conquer the tower and ascend to godhood, I would one day find myself at odds with Kalain, who sought to eliminate them all. Would I even be able to defend myself? Ugh, I don’t know. Moreover, my stance on the situation could change before finishing the hundredth floor. For all I knew, I could lose my closest friends and family and end up following the same path of vengeance. There was no definitive answer. For now, I decided to shelve these thoughts until I could discuss them with Ha Hee-Jeong. With less than fifty floors left, I had to focus on climbing the tower and looking after the people around me. Deciding to clear my head, I stood up. Moving always proved to be the best way to banish my idle thoughts. As I rose, Doppy’s head popped up, and he looked on suspiciously. Having been by my side for so long, he had grown familiar with my habits. “Get ready. We’re heading to the fifty-third floor.” Thankfully, Doppy didn’t complain this time, though he did toss his blanket aside while giving me a questioning look. “But Su-Yeok, will I even be summoned to the next floor?” Has Doppy ever skipped consecutive floors? I couldn’t remember, but I didn’t think so. Regardless, Doppy didn’t seem reluctant; he was probably just referencing what had happened on the previous floor. Without further hesitation, Doppy began donning its armor with practiced efficiency, while I opted for leather armor instead of my usual Guardian’s Will of the Underworld. Though simpler and far less durable, it was still quite reliable. “What’s this? You’re not putting on your usual gear, Su-Yeok?” “No. I think I’m going to try and push myself.” “Wait, what? Why would you skip out on such good armor?” “It’s fine. I’ve got my reasons.” The fifty-second floor had taught me an important lesson. While my mental resilience had proven stronger than Kalain’s, my physical capabilities lacked in comparison. I wasn’t sure if this disparity was due to a difference in species or simply because Kalain had endured more hardship. Regardless, I was physically weaker than he had been on the same floor, and that was all that mattered. I have to improve my physical abilities. To do that, I would have to shed my powerful armor. Crafted by one of the most renowned artisans in the universe, the set of armor had excessively high specifications. Hence, I had rarely sustained direct injuries. On the other hand, my Pain Resistance and Natural Healing skills had stagnated. Now isn’t the time for me to rely on armor. Meeting Kalain had driven that realization home. Even though the next floor would be an individual challenge floor, I no longer felt death looming overhead. Moreover, in case of an extreme emergency, Flash Strike and Two-Way Portal would allow me to escape and survive. Confronting challenges head-on would allow me to grow stronger, more quickly. Even against weaker enemies, I intended to take more risks. After all, physical growth wasn’t only a matter of talent in the Tower of Oredeal; effort and endurance mattered more. The fifty-second floor provided a perfect example: I had developed a near-immunity to extreme temperatures. The Tower of Ordeal favored pushing oneself to their limits, after all. It wasn’t too late to catch up. I needed to deliberately subject myself to pain and environmental hardships to strengthen my resistances further. [Welcome to the fifty-third floor of the Tower of Ordeal: Monster Hunt.] [Defeat the monster in the arena. Time remaining: 29 minutes 59 seconds.] The message was simple and straightforward. Like others who had faced this floor, I would need to defeat a monster. Of course, my opponent would undoubtedly be stronger. As the surroundings brightened, the first thing I felt was the icy liquid enveloping me. I was underwater. Doppy had let out a strange noise, and bubbles were rising from his mouth. He had instinctively tried to breathe as soon as we entered the floor, although I couldn’t fault him for that. I quickly pulled two small oxygen masks from the mimic and handed one to Doppy. Didn’t think I would end up using these again. I had bought them on Ha Hee-Jeong’s recommendation many floors ago, and once again, her advice proved invaluable. Feeling grateful, I glanced around to take in my surroundings. The arena resembled a dome, similar to the boss arenas I had encountered on lower floors. The key difference was that this one was entirely submerged. Yet, despite the clear water, no monster appeared. It didn’t make sense for there to be no monster. I could only come up with one explanation: the monster could turn invisible. Focusing, I heightened my sensory perception, and a grin spread across my face. The fifty-third floor wouldn’t take me long to clear. No matter what monster awaited me, I was confident I could defeat it with ease.