Episode 16: Tower of Strife (2)
《You have entered Floor 11 of the Tower of Strife: Barren Rock Forest.》
The air shifted upon entering Floor 11.
Unlike the ordinary forest scent of previous floors, the air here was heavy, laced with the stench of metal and beastly musk.
The forest Itself felt unnatural.
Trees, far from vibrant green, were ashen gray, twisted as if writhing in pain, their thick roots prying through rocky crevices.
The rocks were sharp and cold, like cliffs, covered in ancient moss and black fungi.
Even the summons felt the eerie atmosphere.
Cowardly Golem Iron, standing idly at the front, trembled visibly.
“Tch-this is the werewolves’ territory, isn’t it?! D-Do I really have to stand upfront here too? I can’t do it!”
“Then what? Get melted down as my test subject?”
“W-What?! I haven’t done anything up to this point…”
True.
Iron hadn’t done a thing up to Floor 11.
That was intentional—to keep him calm.
“You don’t have to do anything going forward either. Just stay in the front.”
“R-Really?!”
“What, you want to fight?”
“N-No! I’m good with this!”
Look at that.
Now he’s volunteering to stay upfront.
I only need him for one moment.
Until then, he just needs to stand there, doing nothing.
“Good. Keep holding the front.”
“Yes!”
Iron’s settled. Now it’s time to use Temina.
I picked her for one reason: she exploits the werewolves’ weakness.
‘Werewolves’ weakness is attack frequency.’
In Legend Seven, there’s a concept of ‘hit count’—tracking how many hits a skill delivers.
This is strategically vital, especially against fast enemies like werewolves.
Their agility gives them a speed advantage, and they start combat with an evasion buff.
But that buff isn’t permanent—it loses one stack per hit taken.
Temina’s perfect for stripping that buff.
Without her, my highest hit-count attack is Hertia’s second skill, Dark Veil.
It delivers one hit when threads pierce hearts and 5–8 hits from the Vortex of Death.
Up to 9 hits total—not enough.
Temina’s hit count?
‘100.’
From the summer event Midsummer Night’s Vacation!, Temina’s limited-pickup weapon is a parasol… disguising a machine gun.
When opened, its barrels unleash a barrage.
A single attack delivers 100 hits.
She was popular for handling specific gimmicks, but being a late-game summon, lack of info worked in my favor.
If her details were widely known, I’d never have gotten her for 15 million KRW.
“Hertia.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Prepare the vortex. Gather those dogs in one spot.”
“Yes!”
“Temina, you finish them.”
“Is that necessary? Caligo and I are more than enough.”
Hertia’s not wrong.
With those two, Temina’s barely needed.
But I brought her for a specific reason.
‘If you two kill them, the bodies won’t stay intact…’
It’s about money.
Hertia and Caligo are overkill.
Even with restraint, Hertia’s explosions or Caligo’s corrosive poisons ruin enemy materials.
Temina’s multi-hit attacks strip speed buffs cleanly and kill in a way that leaves bodies relatively intact.
Intact bodies mean a higher chance of material drops.
“Hertia, I’m counting on you.”
“Yes!”
“Locations: three behind the red rock to the right, two in the front forest, four on the rocky hill behind. Gather them all in front.”
“Your will is my command!”
Snap!
Hertia’s finger snap summoned a black curtain.
Snap!
A second snap unleashed a black vortex, herding the enemies to our front.
“Hertia, activate the artifact. Target: Temina!”
“Yes!”
《The artifact Heart of the Bloodied Covenant Tainted by Nightmares triggers Flame Veil Temina’s joint attack.》
Temina leaned back, pointing her folded parasol forward.
As she opened it—
“Let me show you something hot, you beasts.”
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
Clink-clink-clink!
The sound of gunfire and falling casings filled the forest.
《Flame Veil Temina has defeated Starving Werewolf.》
《Acquired Werewolf Pelt x2.》
…
《You have cleared Floor 11 of the Tower of Strife: Barren Rock Forest.》
《Unbelievable record!》
《Clear time: 00:44》
***
《An unidentified adventurer cleared Floor 11 of the Tower of Strife in 00:44.》
《An unidentified adventurer cleared Floor 12 of the Tower of Strife in 00:44.》
《An unidentified adventurer cleared Floor 13 of the Tower of Strife in 00:50.》
Floor 11. Floor 12. Floor 13.
Just how far does this rookie plan to climb in one go?
Lee Jung-yul was beyond shocked—she was dumbfounded.
‘Is this… even possible?’
Floor 11 and beyond are notoriously difficult.
They’re called the “Wall of Tears” for new adventurers.
The world record for Floor 11 is over 15 minutes.
Yet 44 seconds?
Not just Floor 11—44 seconds for Floor 12, 50 seconds for Floor 13?
If this were a game, she’d suspect a bug.
Her teammate Park Tae-gyun, investigating entry records, was equally stunned by the numbers on his monitor.
“Team Leader, this… we’re screwed, aren’t we? With records like these, it’s out of our hands, right?”
Jung-yul managed low-level content records, but news like this spreads fast.
Foreign spies lurk in the Tower of Records, and in the face of profit, nationality flips like a coin.
“Keep digging—”
《An unidentified adventurer cleared Floor 14 of the Tower of Strife in 00:58.》
“Uh… Floor 14 in under a minute too? Will they hit 15?”
“Wait. These are clear times. Check the clear ranks.”
“Right! I’ll look… Uh, Team Leader, you need to see this.”
Jung-yul was certain.
Fast clears often result in lower ranks.
The current Floor 11 record, over 15 minutes, earned an S-rank.
A clear this fast might not even hit A-rank.
But when she saw Tae-gyun’s data, her jaw dropped.
“All… SSS-rank. From Floor 1 to now.”
“So they’re fighting properly. What the hell…”
***
《You have entered Floor 15 of the Tower of Strife: Crimson Rock Forest.》
Reaching Floor 15 went as planned.
Better, even—my conservative estimates made the records sweeter.
I always plan for the worst-case scenario.
“Master, shall I open it now?”
Before me stood a massive door, adorned with a wolf mane emblem—the mark of a boss room.
“Open it. But don’t move without my orders.”
“Yes.”
“Oh!”
Caligo let out a cheer.
Hertia nodded, gripping the handle and pulling with force.
Clank!
Creak!
As the boss room door opened, a towering rocky mountain and cliff came into view.
Atop the cliff, under fierce winds, a massive werewolf glared down at us.
Far larger than any werewolf we’d faced.
A boss, indeed.
But it didn’t move.
It couldn’t.
Hertia’s authority had completely stripped its initiative.
“…”
Time passed slowly.
I recalled my earlier instructions to the summons.
- Until their manes turn red.
I was waiting for Floor 15’s hidden gimmick.
The clear sky above would gradually turn red.
As the sunset draped over the rocky mountain and fully set, the red sky should turn dark blue.
But—
“The sky… it’s getting redder,” Hertia noted.
“Yes. Wait a bit longer. You’ll see something interesting.”
Suddenly, a round shape rose.
Not the sun, but something else, emerging where the sun had set.
A red moon.
The Mad Moon, said to drive onlookers insane.
《A change occurs in the boss room.》
《The boss Resilient Werewolf awakens as Carmine, Wolf King of the Mad Moon.》
“Now that’s worth fighting,” I said, smiling with satisfaction.