It was a message that warmed the heart. Suhyun was pleased to hear that he had passed the trial perfectly. His decision to eradicate the Shayres was justified.

Gradually, his stats and magic coefficients increased by a few points each, and his achievement points were also on the rise. Needless to say, he had gained more stats and achievement points from the battle with the Shayres last month. The improved proficiency of his Leap skill meant the time spent was not wasted.

I’ve stayed too long. Though I wanted to move on to the next floor, there were still tasks to complete.

Creak, creak-

Watching the remaining Shayres flee, Suhyun turned his gaze to their chief and then…

“Transformation skill.”

The moment he had been waiting for arrived.

[The transformation skill is used on ‘Shayre Chief’.]

[Some of the target’s characteristics will be absorbed.]

[Characteristic: ‘Berserk’ has been acquired.]

Fierce. Suhyun was aware of this characteristic.

“It’s a trait that increases physical abilities in proportion to fatigue, health, and the amount of bleeding.”

It was a quite useful trait. Naturally, as fatigue and health worsened, physical abilities would decline. However, the berserk trait could exponentially reverse these effects. It seemed quite useful in emergencies.

Learning the transformation skill, capturing the chief, and acquiring this trait was worthwhile.

There was no need to change traits for the time being.

The Shayre chief was a monster similar to the boss of the Shayres. The characteristics of a monster boss could not be compared to those of ordinary monsters. If there was only one characteristic to gain through the transformation skill, other traits would be useless for the time being.

Anyway, I’ve been here too long.

There were only two floors. There were many more floors to climb. Suhyun chose a higher difficulty for better rewards, but he couldn’t stay on the lower floors any longer.

It’s time to speed up. Over the past month, Suhyun had increased his stats by hunting Shayres. His magic level hadn’t increased, but his magic coefficient had. His stats had also significantly improved, as had his achievement points.

With this amount of achievement points, he could acquire a few more useful skills. Climbing the tower would be much easier. Next year.

Suhyun’s eyes narrowed. The goal was… the 10th floor.

Having a clear goal and a concrete plan made things easier. Suhyun quickly sorted out his future plans and goals in his mind. Having made up his mind, Suhyun finally spoke.

“Next.” He immediately advanced to the 3rd floor. He spent a month there, as well as on the 4th and 5th floors. Suhyun continued to climb the stairs without rest. A year had passed.

December 7, 2019, Wednesday. It was a day that captivated many students’ hearts. Some were satisfied with their results after long hardships, but most were disappointed and frustrated.

It’s okay. Suhyun checked his report card that arrived in the mail, then went outside.

Dining out… It was rare for Suhyun and Sin Soo-young to eat out. On special occasions, Sin Soo-young would prepare a lavish feast, but Suhyun would excuse himself, claiming he had to study.

But now, he could no longer use that as an excuse. The exams were over, and Suhyun’s study results had been revealed to Sin Soo-young. I couldn’t afford to use part-time work as an excuse anymore.

He thought it would be better to live independently. Otherwise, he would reveal the truth.

Hiding the truth for a year was not easy. Moreover, Suhyun felt guilty about it. He left home and took the subway. Sin Soo-young worked late, but Suhyun went to her workplace directly.

Suhyun took the bus and arrived at the subway station, boarding the line towards Suwon Station. Despite being past rush hour, the station was still crowded.

A deep rumble-

A screeching sound-

It was noisy. Suhyun had his earphones in, but he couldn’t focus on the music.

Soon… will it be 2020? Suddenly, it was December 2019. Time flew by quickly.

1

Suhyun looked out the window of the crowded subway. The densely packed buildings and the people passing between them seemed peaceful at that moment.

Crash-!

Shards-

Before his eyes, the world turned upside down, and everything was destroyed. Buildings collapsed, and people who had been smiling brightly were covered in blood. The sky turned black, and hot flames rose from the ground.

Part of the world was destroyed. Perhaps it would look like this even decades later.

Again…

Suhyun closed his eyes tightly. One, two, three. He counted to three and then opened his eyes. Fortunately, the world was still as it was.

“Phew-” He was tired of it. Sometimes, he thought everything was an illusion and that the world had been destroyed. That everyone else was dead, and the world had turned to ashes.

He might still be dreaming, and upon waking, a destroyed world could appear before him. He had seen this illusion countless times and was always afraid.

He feared being left alone. He was afraid that all these days were merely lies.

However, having seen these illusions several times recently, the situation had improved. Perhaps it would be easier if he were in the Tower of Ordeals.

Has it been a month? By now, he should have accepted reality.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t an illusion. The destroyed world and the rest of this world were all real. It didn’t need to be taken badly. He just had to check that the illusions he saw did not become reality.

A deep rumble-

The subway had already arrived at Suwon Station. Suhyun got off the subway and walked towards Sin Soo-young’s store.

“Suhyun, are you here? Just a moment.”

Ms. Sin Soo-young was closing up the store. Suhyun helped her and asked,

“Did you sell a lot today?”

“Why does it have to sell a lot? My salary will still be the same.”

“Isn’t there a bonus?”

“The boss is too stingy. He’s wealthy but really a miser.” She half-joked.

Now, Suhyun often smiled while talking with Sin Soo-young. He had changed quite a bit over the past year.

They walked to a nearby barbecue restaurant. It had been a while since they cooked meat on charcoal instead of an electric grill.

As soon as the meat was cooked, Sin Soo-young said, “Eat a lot, son. You’ve worked hard studying.”

Feeling guilty for lying, Suhyun still nodded. “Thank you for the meal.”

“Right. How were the results?”

Sin Soo-young seemed to have not forgotten that the results were due today. Unconsciously, Suhyun shrugged his shoulders and pulled out the report card from his bag to hand it to her, just as he was about to put a piece of wrapped meat into his mouth.

“My goodness, son! Is this really your result?”

“You surprised me. Did you think I’d stolen someone else’s?”

“My goodness, my goodness!”

Without noticing the meat burning, Sin Soo-young looked at the report card and smiled brightly. The tiredness of after work didn’t show on her face. Suhyun had never seen Sin Soo-young smile so brightly before.

“Son. I hope you graduate from college, but it’s okay if it’s a regular college…”

Most parents would want their children to attend a good college. His mother in his previous life felt the same. Attending college doesn’t guarantee a bright future, but having a higher education can be beneficial.

College. It might become meaningless in a few years, but Suhyun wanted to fulfill his wish. Thus, Suhyun started to use some of his sleeping time to study a month before the exam. It wasn’t difficult. After all, he had done the same in his previous life.

There was no need to go to a prestigious college.

Suhyun had attended Dongha University in his previous life, one of the top three universities in South Korea. Studying hard hadn’t been difficult for Suhyun then.

“The meat is burning. Let’s see.”

“Oh dear, I’m too full to eat. I’m proud of you, son!”

Still smiling brightly, Sin Soo-young seemed uninterested in the meat. Suhyun blushed at the continuous praise. He couldn’t properly taste the meat.

How happy she must have been. She couldn’t hold back any longer and started to brag to someone over the phone. Watching this, Suhyun eventually bowed his head and sighed.

Suhyun thought the results were not that good. He thought it was enough. But what if it had been his college from his previous life? No. It was enough to get him into a university in Seoul. As time went by, achieving such high scores in his previous life seemed more challenging.

Should I have tried harder? If she was happy with these results, what if he had achieved even better?

She would have been smiling from ear to ear. Just the thought made him feel good. A smile spread across Suhyun’s face.

Suddenly, a voice reached his ears.

“I thought you could do better…”

It wasn’t Sin Soo-young’s voice but from his previous life. His mother’s words. The results were much better then. But why…?

Why did she look so disappointed? Was it because he didn’t meet her expectations? He hoped she would be happy because he had done his best.

I don’t understand anymore. Suhyun shook his head.

I have no intention of attending college religiously.

He had taken the exam solely to make her happy. Suhyun had no real plans to pursue college seriously.

Because soon… as Suhyun glanced at Sin Soo-young’s smiling face… he realized he needed to take action here as well.