Episode 33: What Floor?
《KR Server has successfully contained Athenica, Wreathed in Ashes!》
Oh Hyun-woo stopped Athenica, Wreathed in Ashes.
With that, the Twilight Colosseum leaderboard updated.
【Twilight Colosseum Leaderboard】
1. Unaffiliated Unknown Adventurer: 4,428
2. Fire God Guild Seo Ju-hyun: 3,353
3. Revolution Guild Im Yul: 3,219
⁝
The reaction was explosive.
The despair-filled Twilight Colosseum entrance erupted in cheers.
As Hyun-woo emerged after his clear, camera flashes rained down.
Reporters swarmed, their spokesperson thrusting a bundle of mics forward.
“Adventurer! Have you seen the clear message?”
“Yes, I have.”
“How do you feel right now?”
“Disappointed.”
The reporter’s face froze.
“What?”
“I’m still lacking.”
“You saved Korea by surpassing the containment line and took first place, and you’re still not satisfied?”
Hyun-woo’s expression was full of lingering ambition.
“My score fell far short of what I aimed for.”
“What do you mean…?”
“I’m not content with being Korea’s best. I’ll keep pushing until I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the global powers.”
His calm but resolute voice hinted at his true goal.
He wasn’t chasing mere rankings.
He aimed higher.
With that, Hyun-woo walked away with a determined look.
But he paused, turned back, and casually added to the reporters:
“By the way, strategies for Floors 11 to 20 of the Tower of Strife will be posted today. Check Ascend’s official account.”
Never missing a chance to promote Ascend, Hyun-woo checked the global leaderboard on his phone.
‘My score’s outside the top 200 globally.’
He had a long way to go.
Even topping Korea, he was still a speck on the world stage.
But his ultimate goal wasn’t the global powers.
His true rival—the mountain he had to surpass—was his past self, Lucifer.
‘I wonder if I can surpass the old me. Or not.’
***
Korea’s media was ablaze.
The hot-topic adventurer Oh Hyun-woo outscored Seo Ju-hyun, the top-ranked member of a major guild.
Above all, single-handedly averting a dungeon break carried massive implications.
[Korea’s Hero Rises! A Miracle in the Twilight Colosseum]
[A Battlefield Thought Lost, Rewritten by the Unknown Adventurer]
[The Man Who Shattered the 4,000-Point Wall! Ascend’s Adventurer Turns Despair to Hope]
- Damn, Unknown Adventurer’s life is straight-up hip-hop lol.
└ Free guides, free comps, saving the nation for free lmao. This guy’s a god.
└ “Guy”? You buddies with Unknown Adventurer or something?
- That global power flex was epic. He’s a webtoon protagonist fr.
└ Pure light light light light.
└ Greatest of All Time in organic history. I worship him.
- Why’s he still “Unknown”? No name or personal info yet?
└ Not even on the wiki.
└ Government’s hiding it, maybe?
└ What, is he a secret agent?
└ With his feats, wouldn’t be surprised.
The media and communities were in a frenzy.
This signaled a shift in the power balance of major guilds.
It was no longer about pride.
A single adventurer resolved a national crisis that the major guilds failed to stop, shattering their credibility and the profits built on it.
To counter this, a meeting of three of the four major guilds—excluding Radiance—was held: Sword Realm, Fire God, and Deathside.
“The situation’s bad. Our influence is slipping.”
“Influence? Seo Ju-hyun, Korea’s top hunter, is being torn apart! That’s the priority!”
“That’s Fire God’s issue, not all of ours!”
“What? I guess Sword Realm has nothing to lose, huh? You didn’t even crack the top 10 this time. Did you even participate?”
“Watch your mouth!”
“Did I say anything wrong?”
“Enough!”
Bang!
Deathside Guild Master Sun Sung-tae slammed the table.
The situation irked him deeply.
First the hidden Floor 50 boss, then new strategies, and now the Twilight Colosseum—the major guilds were a mess.
Rumors said Ascend was opening an academy, which could siphon trainees from their guilds, a major operational issue.
“We can’t pick and choose anymore. It’s time to crush him decisively.”
“Crush? You mean kill the adventurer?”
“It’s not like we haven’t done it before.”
Sun Sung-tae’s words silenced the other masters briefly.
But a practical issue arose.
“He took first in the Twilight Colosseum. Who could kill him?”
“Even if we managed, it’s risky. He’s too high-profile. We’d be the obvious suspects.”
True, they had to tread carefully.
First place wasn’t a fluke.
“Then we find another way. We don’t need to dirty our hands—socially ruining him works too.”
Thus, Sun Sung-tae decided to dig into his identity first.
“We need his name and what he was doing before. Everything.”
He was also curious about the adventurer’s undisclosed summons.
‘If that person’s words are true… he’d never reveal them.’
So, Sun Sung-tae planned to expose the adventurer’s true face by any means necessary.
“I’ll draft the plan and share it later.”
***
Collapsing onto my bed the moment I got home, I wasn’t exhausted from the strategy itself—far from it.
The interview in front of all those people was what drained me.
The tension melted away at home, replaced by a wave of fatigue.
‘Look at all these messages.’
My phone was flooded with cheers from people I know.
The most surprising was a long text from CEO Son Tae-ha.
For a fledgling management company to outshine major guilds and claim first place in the Twilight Colosseum—and he still found time to send this amid his hectic schedule?
After reading the messages, I skimmed today’s headlines and community posts.
As expected, it’s all worship.
It felt good at first, but I quickly sobered up.
I’m not satisfied with this result.
‘Globally, the big shots aim for 10,000 points.’
The gap in caliber is clear.
The global leaderboard shows the 10th place at 9,800 points, and the top score exceeds 14,000.
Naturally, they’re all from powerhouse nations.
‘Lucifer’s peak was just over 20,000, wasn’t it?’
I can’t settle here—I need to push harder.
Especially after declaring I’d stand shoulder-to-shoulder with global powers.
‘Time to check the rewards.’
I’m not thrilled, but I did take server first, so the rewards are hefty.
《Twilight Colosseum Rank 1 rewards granted.》
《Received Mystic Crystal x150.》
《Received Hero Material Selection Box x50.》
《Received Legendary Material Selection Box x30.》
《Received Mythical Material Selection Box x10.》
Mystic Crystals are for boosting unique skill levels.
With a max skill level of 15, I can max out 10 skills—a massive haul.
At level 15, summons become a whole different beast.
The material selection boxes for gear or skill unlocks are also insanely valuable.
But the resources needed to unlock the Seven Sins’ Apocalypse-grade skills are still nowhere to be found.
‘At this rate, clearing Floor 100 will be tough.’
I’d hoped to unlock Hertia and Caligo’s third skills—their ultimates—before reaching Floor 100.
But Apocalypse-grade summons are no joke.
I’m starting to wonder if those materials were even meant to be obtainable.
‘There’s a limit to strengthening my current roster. So…’
It’s time to prepare the next step.
With less than 10 days until the Episode 8 update, it’s time to recruit the next Seven Sins member.
***
《Cleared Floor 96 of the Tower of Strife: Bound Cathedral.》
《Time taken: 73 hours, 12 minutes, 46 seconds.》
《New record for clear time ranking: 1st place.》
《Clear grade: C》
The major guild alliance party collapsed, exhausted.
“Man, is this right? How’s the difficulty this insane?”
“Probably because we don’t know the strategy well. Anything from Radiance?”
A Sword Realm adventurer’s question was answered by Radiance’s Son Tae-yeon.
“No, we haven’t found anything either.”
“This is bad. Episode 8’s update is around the corner, and we’re still four floors away.”
The party was grim.
Powerhouse nations weren’t sharing strategies or contracts, hesitant to project strength before the update.
A young Radiance adventurer spoke up.
“If we don’t clear the Tower before Episode 8 starts… isn’t that dangerous?”
Everyone shared the thought.
No one knew what Episode 8 would bring.
Recalling the chaos of the Cataclysm’s first day, a dungeon break could hit without warning.
They wanted to prepare for anything.
The young adventurer continued.
“What about asking Ascend for help? They’ve got that guy, the Unknown Adventurer. He just crushed it in the Colosseum.”
But the other guilds, except Radiance, weren’t keen.
“Real subtle. Trying to cozy up because Ascend’s parent company is tied to Radiance?”
“Let them piggyback at the last minute? Have some shame—we’ve been in this together.”
“Typical Radiance, acting all pure and noble every time…”
“What?! What’s that nonsense?!”
As tempers flared, Son Tae-yeon stepped in.
“Si-woo, stop. Sorry, I’ll handle him. Apologies for the discomfort.”
“Watch your words, huh? Don’t drag down our joint effort.”
“Let’s call it and head down.”
“Ruined my mood. Tch!”
As the tension settled and the team descended, someone spotted him.
“Hey, that guy…”
The Unknown Adventurer they’d been badmouthing stood at the Tower’s entrance.
While the grumbling adventurers glared, Radiance’s young adventurer, Yoo Si-woo, approached without hesitation.
“Unknown Adventurer? You’re him, right?”
“Yes.”
“Greetings! I’m Yoo Si-woo from Radiance Guild! Behind me is the Tower strategy team.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Despite the mention of the strategy team, Hyun-woo seemed uninterested, staring at his phone.
“It’s cool to meet you like this. Are you here to climb today?”
“No, I just finished a strategy and came down.”
“Oh, nice. You were at Floor 50 last time, so maybe around Floor 55 now?”
Hyun-woo finally looked at Si-woo, confidently saying:
“Just came from clearing Floor 80.”
The crowd stirred.
“W-what floor?”
“Floor 80. Cleared Fortress of Golden Circuits.”
“Oh…”
“Where’s your team at?”
“We… just cleared Floor 96.”
Hyun-woo gave a faint smile, nodding knowingly.
“Bound Cathedral is tough. Good work.”
“Haha… it was rough.”
“I’m planning to hit Floor 90 tomorrow, so I’ll head out now.”
“Sure, take care—wait, what floor?”
By the time Si-woo looked up, Hyun-woo was already walking away.
“…Noona, did he just say Floor 90?”
“Yup.”
“But didn’t he say he cleared Floor 80 today?”
“He did.”
“So he’s climbing 10 floors in a day?”
“Given his track record, it’s probably not a bluff.”
Hearing this, the strategy team members grabbed their phones, contacting their guilds.
They all shared one thought:
‘We can’t let him steal the first Floor 100 clear title!’