Chapter 213
‘Combination Zone!’
In that moment, Park Chan-woo’s eyes lit up.
He hadn’t expected the [Combination Zone] to appear again.
The first time he ever saw a [Combination Zone] was when he met Demon God Gremory in Kim Byung-han’s Sniping Abyss.
Back then, it appeared because he had acquired too many rewards at once.
He put about twenty boxes into the zone and obtained a 7-star Gold Box.
A 7-star box.
He was shocked by a star count he’d never seen before.
And what he got from opening it was Arahan’s Golden Mystery.
‘With a single piece of equipment, I transcended my limits.’
He still remembered the thrill from that day.
Arahan—the ultimate ideal practitioners could reach.
Needless to say, the options were beyond words.
‘Both attack and defense rose by over a thousand.’
The more coins he had, the more explosively he could grow.
One piece of equipment that increased all stats by up to fifty.
Nothing about it was disposable.
It was the kind of equipment everyone dreamed of.
He had obtained Arahan’s Golden Mystery because the [Combination Zone] had appeared.
‘Stay calm.’
Endorphins were surging through his head.
Park Chan-woo forced himself to hide his excitement.
Ataraxia was right beside him.
To play the role of Dragon God Sephiro, he couldn’t be shaken by something like this.
…Why did the [Combination Zone] suddenly appear?
After rereading the message, he thought he understood.
‘The boxes I got from climbing the Tower of God… no matter how many I open, there won’t be anything better than what I’m wearing now. So I just left them unopened.’
Everything he wore now was worthy of being called overpowering enough to cover mountains and swallow the world.
Even the lowest grade among them was Legendary.
It was hard to get something above Legendary from an ordinary Platinum Box.
So he didn’t bother opening them.
He left them alone, in case there came a time to offer them to the God of Sacrifice.
‘…Jackpot.’
A massive jackpot.
He’d done nothing but leave them untouched, and fortune had come rolling in.
And that wasn’t all.
‘The Combination Zone is a miracle that lets you merge every unopened box into one.’
He had quite a lot of unopened boxes.
They had no particular use.
Boxes couldn’t be transferred, and only the person who acquired them could open them.
He had properly opened a Platinum Box when he obtained True Satyrus’ Boots.
Since then, they had piled up—how many had accumulated?
‘I’m pretty sure it’s well over a hundred.’
It was certain the number of plain boxes alone exceeded a hundred.
Maybe the [Combination Zone] appeared not only because of the rewards from climbing the Tower of God, but also because he had too many boxes overall.
With his heart pounding, he opened his inventory.
‘Four 3-star Platinum Boxes, eight 2-star Platinum Boxes, fifteen 1-star Platinum Boxes, and thirty-four regular Platinum Boxes.’
Even this was an absurd count.
Sixty-one Platinum Boxes.
Nearly half of them had stars.
Anyone who saw it would faint from envy.
Then he counted the boxes stacked in the corner of his inventory.
‘Two 4-star Gold Boxes, ten 3-star Gold Boxes, seventeen 2-star Gold Boxes, thirty 1-star Gold Boxes, and eighty regular Gold Boxes.’
One hundred thirty-nine boxes.
Not just a lot—well over a hundred.
Combined with the Platinum Boxes, it totaled two hundred.
He tilted his head.
‘Did I really have this many Gold Boxes?’
He hadn’t even noticed.
He simply hadn’t paid attention when he acquired them.
There was a ceiling to what you could get from Gold Boxes.
He had gotten Arahan’s Golden Mystery from a Gold Box, but that had been a 7-star treasure.
Naturally, he wouldn’t be satisfied with anything below that.
So without even looking, he’d kept letting them pile up.
The only good thing was that there were no Silver Boxes or lower.
‘…I’ve lost my beginner’s mindset.’
He chuckled inwardly.
Being glad there were no Silver Boxes or lower—what a thought.
Was it because he’d acquired so many extraordinary pieces of equipment?
Before Level 99, there were four main types of boxes you could obtain.
Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.
In the past, even a single Gold Box had been precious.
He used to open Bronze and Silver boxes carefully, searching desperately for the parts he needed.
‘Sixty-one Platinum Boxes. One hundred thirty-nine Gold Boxes.’
He swallowed back the whistle that nearly escaped.
Even in his past, after countless box runs, he had never collected this many.
Their grade, their level, and their quantity—none of it compared.
Before his regression, he had operated alone, but now the number of Abyss challenges themselves were on another level.
It was proof that the him before regression and the him after regression were worlds apart.
Back then, he’d been trying to clear things too honestly.
Anyway.
‘The Combination Zone lasts for an hour.’
The [Combination Zone] he’d seen before had lasted only sixty seconds before vanishing.
But the [Combination Zone] in front of him now was different.
After a brief thought, Park Chan-woo came to a conclusion.
“I’m going up to the 20th floor.”
There was still time.
Which meant he could collect even more boxes.
Especially since the 20th floor would hand out high-grade boxes.
“…Yes.”
Ataraxia replied, his face pale.
He had spent all his Mana transforming into his true form and deploying his Domain.
‘I’ve hit my limit.’
Honestly, he wanted to stop.
Considering the Perfect Black Evil God that appeared on the 10th floor, there was a high probability something even more powerful would appear on the 20th.
That meant it might be impossible to handle in his current state.
‘But I have to do it.’
He couldn’t disappoint his master.
If he stopped here, his master’s interest would end here.
He had to go on, even if it meant dying.
Truthfully, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d pushed himself this far.
Ding!
[Entering the 20th floor of the Tower of God.]
[You have broken the record for the highest climb!]
[The quests completed before entering the 20th floor are displayed.]
[You have completed ‘The One Who Challenges All Trials’.]
[You have completed ‘Without Resting Even Once’.]
[You have completed ‘A Single Climb’.]
[You have completed ‘Top Climber’.]
[You have completed ‘Never Avoid a Fight That Comes Your Way’.]
[You have completed ‘Pioneer’.]
…
[You have cleared 15 quests.]
[Fame greatly increases.]
[The Hall of Fame ranking increases by one level (98th place).]
[Level increased (-60Lv).]
[‘Limit Break Quests’ are no longer omitted.]
[You must complete the ‘Limit Break Quest’ to advance to the next level.]
[One of the five wills of the Tower is watching closely.]
[Completing the trial on the 20th floor will complete the ‘Epic’.]
[The ‘Stigmata’ is determined according to the completed epic.]
[The trial on the 20th floor is based on the traces you have collected so far.]
[‘Bone Dragon (135Lv)’ appears!]
—
“….”
The moment they entered the 20th floor and faced the Bone Dragon, Ataraxia frowned.
A colossal dragon made of nothing but bones, just as its name implied.
A black magician had turned a dead dragon into an undead.
“…How dare you.”
He couldn’t allow it.
Rage surged up on its own.
Each and every dragon was precious.
Their numbers were few, and a dragon’s pride was enough to pierce the heavens.
But something was strange.
Dragons left only their hearts behind when they died.
When they died, their bones and flesh vanished.
There could be no black magician who turned the Twelve Species into undead.
In other words—
‘He made it undead while it was alive.’
If there was a method, that was the only one.
He had gradually turned it undead while it still lived.
Of course, it could be some kind of created illusion.
But Ataraxia had realized something while climbing the Tower of God.
‘Only things that truly existed and were destroyed are placed in this tower.’
That meant the Bone Dragon had existed as well.
Then… it meant this was his ancestor.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
At the core of the Bone Dragon, the dragon’s heart was intact.
Mana from that heart was moving the enormous bones.
And there were four hearts.
Only Ancient Dragons could have more than two hearts.
Dragon God Sephiro had twelve hearts, and the Primordial Dragons were known to store Mana in at least six.
‘Even I only have three hearts.’
Four hearts.
Only a tribe leader could possess that.
Meaning, this Bone Dragon had originally been a tribe leader.
‘Who is it?’
He searched his memory.
Four hearts were the symbol of a leader.
Had there been a tribe leader who disappeared, or was kidnapped?
…There had been.
‘During the Great War.’
Many dragons had died.
The tribe leaders who led them couldn’t avoid death.
After that, the Species Wars were revised, and tribe leaders no longer died.
In other words, this was one of the leaders who died or vanished back then.
“Arcana of Despair.”
“…Ah.”
At that moment, Ataraxia trembled.
Arcana of Despair.
It was the name of one of the former leaders of the Tribe of Despair.
Dragon God Sephiro had spoken that name.
But Arcana of Despair was a dragon known to have died long ago.
So long ago that even the Tribe of Despair no longer bothered remembering it.
Yet Dragon God Sephiro remembered?
If so, there was no greater emotion, no greater honor.
Didn’t that mean he was paying attention to the Tribe of Despair itself?
「He was the leader of the Tribe of Despair. Arcana—he’s quite familiar with the evil spirits I deal with. I never dreamed he’d become a Bone Dragon. No… maybe he became like that on his own.」
Of course, there was no way Park Chan-woo would know that name.
Only his Shadow, Chronos, had told him.
「He was a great guy who looked down on the sky, but now he looks much more ridiculous. His heart is broken, his body is weak, and his Mana is low-quality. Tsk, tsk.」
Chronos seemed lost in fond memories.
Park Chan-woo stared at the Bone Dragon.
That appearance really was too pathetic to call it a tribe leader.
It wouldn’t be strange to call it a disgrace to the dragon race.
‘Ataraxia can’t step in anymore.’
A former leader of the Tribe of Despair.
It would be difficult for Ataraxia, the current Dragon of Despair, to deal with it.
His Mana was running low, and it seemed he couldn’t even transform into his true form.
Had the will of the Tower intervened?
To prevent him from receiving Ataraxia’s help any longer?
Or perhaps it had prepared Arcana of Despair as the final trial, based on everything Ataraxia had solved so far.
Either way, Ataraxia couldn’t clear this trial.
And Park Chan-woo couldn’t handle the Bone Dragon alone either.
However—
“Arcana. A guy so great that he looked down from the sky has fallen ugly.”
Park Chan-woo borrowed Chronos’ words to continue the act.
He was Dragon God Sephiro now.
If he was the master of dragons, he could not lose his majesty.
He could not hide, and he could not run.
Park Chan-woo raised his hand.
“Chronos.”
At the same time, through his Shadow—
Clap, clap, clap, clap!
「Excellent. Truly excellent! And thank you. Thank you for my turn—for allowing me to put that guy to sleep forever!」
Swooooosh!
The Shadow Spirit and Shadow Reaper, Chronos, emerged into the world.