Chapter 159 – Tower of Infinity

The reason for choosing Hard, the most difficult among the difficulty levels, was none other than this:

‘The harder the difficulty, the more points you accumulate.’

Points are awarded for clearing stages.

Points are a kind of score, and among the difficulty levels, Hard undoubtedly gave the most points.

‘Ignorant kids will probably chicken out from the start and choose Easy or Normal.’

But for accumulating points, no difficulty is as advantageous as Hard.

‘Even if you get eliminated early, it’s more efficient in terms of score to always start on Hard.’

Moreover, due to the nature of hidden dungeons, once you enter, you can’t re-enter the same type of dungeon even after time passes.

In other words, there’s only one chance.

If it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, shouldn’t you try to clear the Hard difficulty?

‘If I do well, I might be able to clear it.’

It wasn’t baseless confidence.

It wasn’t because of the Courage characteristic either.

Currently, Min Do-jun was in such a strong state that he couldn’t even properly gauge his own capabilities.

‘Even when I solo-killed an S-rank boss, I was holding back.’

That’s how much he lacked opponents to test his limits against.

He couldn’t help but be confident.

‘In the Tower of Infinity, I can measure my limits.’

The Tower of Infinity starts from the 1st floor and clears stages step by step.

The stages were nothing special.

You just had to block waves of monsters in an enclosed space.

If you defeat the monsters like that, you automatically move up to the 2nd floor.

And then you just need to survive against the monsters that appear again.

‘I wonder how many floors I can climb if I pour out all my strength?’

Here, he could pour out all his strength and capabilities.

There couldn’t be a more suitable place to test his limits.

[Difficulty: Hard]

[Tower of Infinity 1st Floor]

[Monsters will appear shortly.]

[Please prepare for battle.]

As the message appeared, Min Do-jun took out his weapon and looked around.

Standing alone in a circular arena like the Colosseum made him feel like a gladiator.

Kuguugugung-

As the iron gates of the arena opened, monsters poured out.

The monsters Min Do-jun would face were none other than Horned Rabbits.

As monsters appear stage by stage, the easiest monsters appeared first.

‘Even if I let these hit me for hours, I’d be fine.’

Though 20 Horned Rabbits surrounded Min Do-jun, they weren’t threatening at all.

It was literally like rabbits surrounding a lion.

‘If it was Easy, 5 would have appeared, if Normal, 10 would have appeared.’

Because it was Hard difficulty, 20 appeared from the start.

Chwaaak-

As he swung his ghost sword, three or four Horned Rabbits disappeared at once.

Though blood splattered, it didn’t stain his body.

Indeed, the monsters before him were holograms.

Perhaps that’s why killing the Horned Rabbits didn’t give experience points.

‘They’re all well-made fakes.’

The Tower of Infinity was different from existing dungeons.

‘Should I call it a kind of virtual reality?’

It was like an extremely well-made VR.

That’s why he couldn’t feel the sensation of being hit or pain when attacked.

However, while there was no sensation of being hit, everything else was the same.

‘The feeling of cutting monsters, their attack power, health, behavior patterns, etc., are all exactly the same as reality.’

Min Do-jun’s skill damage and damage by hit location were all applied as they would be.

In other words, except for not feeling pain when hit, it was no different from actually facing monsters.

‘It’s good not to feel pain, but if you recklessly take hits, you’ll be eliminated in no time.’

If eliminated, there’s no second chance.

If you’re careless, you’ll end up with just a meager reward.

You need to endure as much as possible and accumulate points to get a satisfactory reward.

‘If I could use a dungeon like this indefinitely, it would be good for training.’

It’s exactly like real combat, but you don’t feel pain.

Could there be anything better for training?

‘But since I can only enter once, I can’t use it for training.’

Though there’s only one chance to enter, there’s no need to enter at a higher level.

The lower the level, the more points you get.

Chwaaak-

After slashing all 20 Horned Rabbits, a message appeared.

[You have cleared Hard difficulty 1st floor.]

[Points are calculated considering difficulty and entry level.]

[Calculating points……]

[You gain 800 points as a reward for clearing the 1st floor.]

[Current accumulated points: 800]

[You will move to the 2nd floor after 60 seconds of rest.]

[Time remaining: 59 seconds]

[Time remaining: 58 seconds]

……

…

After the rest ended, he moved to the 2nd floor.

Though it was called the 2nd floor, it was the same Colosseum, so there was no distinction.

He could only think, “I guess so,” because the message said it was the 2nd floor.

[Monsters will appear shortly.]

[Please prepare for battle.]

The 2nd floor wasn’t much different from the 1st floor.

Slightly stronger monsters than Horned Rabbits appeared, but they still shattered with one swing of the sword.

[You gain 1,000 points as a reward for clearing the 2nd floor.]

[Current accumulated points: 1,800]

[You will move to the 3rd floor after 60 seconds of rest.]

In this way, as he climbed to the 5th floor, his accumulated points became 4,400.

And the monsters that appeared changed from F-rank to E-rank.

Kiek- Kiek-

Seeing 20 Large-eared Monkeys appear with spears, Min Do-jun was reminded of when he was at a low level.

‘Back then, I leveled up tremendously with Lion’s Roar.’

I wonder how much the price of the Lion’s Roar skill book has risen now?

‘When I saw it before, it was 50 million won… Well, that was 5 months ago, so it must have risen much more by now?’

While having such idle thoughts, he swung his sword.

Though there were many in number, the monkeys couldn’t touch Min Do-jun even a hair’s breadth.

Not only was his movement fast, but when he swung his sword, it cleanly cut through even the spear shafts, leaving them with no effective means of attack.

Moreover.

[Current kill count: 50/50]

[All stats increase by 50%.]

[Time remaining: 59 minutes 59 seconds]

He was already strong, and now his stats were boosted by Battle Avatar.

From the monkeys’ perspective, it was natural that they couldn’t win even if they were reborn.

‘Seeing that the buff is applied, even though they’re holograms, they’re recognized as monsters?’

Except for not feeling pain, it was no different from real combat.

‘The problem is that it’s starting to get boring.’

Min Do-jun swung his sword, hoping that monsters he could exert his true skills against would appear as soon as possible.

* * *

On the 10th floor, D-rank monsters Werewolves appeared, and on the 20th floor, C-rank monsters Little Snakes appeared.

As he climbed, only mob monsters appeared, with no bosses showing up.

‘It would be less boring if even a boss appeared.’

The level of the monsters was still yawn-inducing.

It was the same even when B-rank monsters Red-beaked Ancestral Birds appeared on the 30th floor.

‘At least A-rank monsters should appear for them not to die in one hit?’

The monsters were still dying in one hit.

This was despite not applying buffs to his weapon.

‘Well, even just my strength is over 4,300 now……’

It wasn’t until he reached the 50th floor that monsters stopped dying in one hit.

Thud-

The sword that had been cutting everything in two got stuck in the body of a Rock Lizard.

‘Hooh.’

Thinking that now the boredom might subside a bit, he bisected the lizard.

From the 50th floor where A-rank monsters appeared, even a normal attack couldn’t take down monsters in one hit.

Of course, when he applied buffs to his weapon, they were bisected just the same.

‘Now stronger ones are starting to appear.’

As he climbed higher, the monsters became stronger.

From the 55th floor where Giant Centipedes started appearing, even attacks with buffs couldn’t kill them in one hit.

‘Indeed, it’s boring if they die in one normal hit.’

Instead of a normal attack, he turned them to ashes in an instant with one Magnum Burst.

[You gain 640,000 points as a reward for clearing the 55th floor.]

[Current accumulated points: 11,282,400]

[You will move to the 56th floor after 60 seconds of rest.]

As he climbed higher and higher, A-rank monsters he hadn’t faced yet appeared.

Of course, that’s in this life; he had hunted them countless times before his regression.

It was only after climbing to the 70th floor that S-rank monsters finally started to appear.

‘It starts with Sand Worms.’

The ones he had killed in the Shadow of the Desert dungeon last time.

Just like then, they were easy monsters that could be killed with a few sword strikes even now.

[You gain 1,840,000 points as a reward for clearing the 70th floor.]

[Current accumulated points: 30,482,400]

[You will move to the 71st floor after 60 seconds of rest.]

‘Now I’m starting to breathe a little harder.’

Until now it had been boring and only sighs came out, but now he was somewhat out of breath.

Not that it was particularly difficult, more like he had just run a light lap around a track.

‘Was it when I was around level 2,800 that I entered the Tower of Infinity in my past life?’

At that time, Min Do-jun was a one-handed sword warrior with 5 years of experience, and he cleared up to the 73rd floor before failing to overcome the wall of the 74th floor and being eliminated due to excessive damage taken.

‘If I go a little further, I might break that record.’

Even though it was the same Hard difficulty, his condition was completely different from then.

He felt like he could easily clear the 74th floor.

Sure enough.

[You gain 3,680,000 points as a reward for clearing the 74th floor.]

[Current accumulated points: 42,442,400]

[You will move to the 75th floor after 60 seconds of rest.]

“Huuuu.”

He finished the 74th floor with one long exhale.

‘I remember barely exceeding 30 million points in my past life……’

The level of points gained was clearly different, probably because he entered at a lower level.

‘By the way, to easily surpass that record at a lower level.’

Min Do-jun felt anew how strong he had become.

‘Well, according to combat power, my current level is about 4,000 in my past life.’

But Min Do-jun’s current combat power wasn’t a figure created by exerting his full strength.

‘I haven’t used the Reflection characteristic, and I haven’t involved the ghost wolf in combat.’

In other words, even the current combat power doesn’t fully reflect his current abilities.

‘Let’s see how far I can go.’

And so, Min Do-jun fought monsters and broke his past life’s record.

S-rank monsters he hadn’t even met in this life appeared, but he skillfully avoided their attacks and targeted their weaknesses.

After all, he had killed them many times in his past life.

[Using Frenzy.]

[Strength and Agility increase by 1.5 times.]

[Strength+2,184 Agility+2,373]

[Time remaining: 2 minutes 59 seconds]

He hunted monsters while amplifying his strength and agility to nearly 7,000 with Frenzy.

“Huff, huff.”

After passing the 80th floor, he finally started to breathe heavily.

‘I can’t give up like this.’

This level of difficulty was nothing to Min Do-jun, who had experienced death.

Whoosh-

He controlled magic to accurately hit the monsters’ weak points.

Slash-

Simultaneously avoiding attacks, he cut off the head of the monster in front.

‘Awoo, attack!’

[Grrrr!]

He had long since deployed the ghost wolf in combat.

[You gain 5,600,000 points as a reward for clearing the 89th floor.]

[Current accumulated points: 98,242,400]

[You will move to the 90th floor after 60 seconds of rest.]

“Huff, huff, huff.”

The 1-minute rest felt short.

‘Just a little more. I have to endure as much as possible.’

Having come to test his limits, he had no intention of falling easily.

‘Reflection.’

Ting-

In a moment of crisis, he blocked attacks with the Reflection characteristic he had been saving.

Ting- Ting- Ting-

Since it could be reused within 20 seconds if successful, he freely reflected the monsters’ attacks.

“Huff, huff. Have I killed them all?”

[You will move to the 100th floor after 60 seconds of rest.]

He had finally reached the 100th floor.

‘I wish it would start right away without rest.’

If he doesn’t use the Reflection characteristic within 20 seconds, he has to wait for a 24-hour cooldown.

[The opportunity to use Reflection has passed.]

[Time remaining until reuse: 23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds]

‘I can’t use the Reflection characteristic anymore.’

Perhaps because of this?

Min Do-jun ultimately couldn’t handle the 60 S-rank monsters that appeared on the 100th floor.

[The damage received has exceeded your health.]

[Your record ends at the 99th floor.]

[Final record – Difficulty: Hard]

[Tower of Infinity 99th floor cleared]

[Calculating final points……]

[Your record will be registered in the Hall of Fame.]

A moment later, looking at the record that had been uploaded to the Hall of Fame, Min Do-jun couldn’t help but be surprised.