Chapter 64
“He, he opened his eyes!”
“Hey! Are you alright? Can you hear me?”
A cold wind. Noisy voices.
Kim Byung-han barely opened his eyes and looked around.
Just a moment ago, he was definitely on the 10th floor of the Tower of Arrogance.
“Where am I…?”
“You’re outside the Tower of Arrogance!”
“People suddenly poured out from the entrance!”
“What on earth happened in there?”
Questions rained down without pause.
Among them were reporters, who had come directly to the scene to cover what happened inside the tower.
‘The entrance of the tower.’
It wasn’t far from the entrance.
Members of the Seoul Union who had climbed the tower with him were nearby as well.
However, Kim Byung-han’s circumstances were quite different from theirs.
Unlike him, who was left outside, the real members—led by Lim Chang-yeol—were being carried somewhere on stretchers.
Kim Byung-han’s expression soured.
‘These bastards. Am I not a real member, or what?’
You couldn’t ask for worse discrimination.
When recruiting party members to climb the tower, they treated him like a VIP, but now that he’d outlived his usefulness, they didn’t even look at him.
‘Wait. What about my rewards?’
He hurriedly checked his inventory and status window.
And sighed in relief.
The rewards he earned by reaching the 10th floor of the Tower of Arrogance were all still there.
Plenty of coins and Arrogance Chests.
Just looking at them made him feel full.
‘Looks like the 10th floor was cleared. I must have gotten extra rewards.’
He had 42 Arrogance Chests when he first reached the 10th floor.
But there were 50 in his inventory now.
It meant the fight between Kankun and Adora had ended.
Still, there was some confusion.
‘What actually happened?’
…He honestly couldn’t remember a thing.
He was sure he’d reached the 10th floor with Lim Chang-yeol and the Seoul Union.
The problem was after that.
He had no memory of how Kankun and Adora fought or how things ended.
He didn’t even know who won.
There weren’t any system messages either.
‘…I saw the Prophet. He was there.’
The only thing he remembered was the Prophet.
The one who gained the upper hand against the game master Andariel on the first night and nurtured Lee Hyuk-soo.
Later, he was also the savior who rescued Kim Byung-han in the Sniper Abyss.
The Prophet was with Adora, the Witch of Death.
And then…
Wait.
A scene suddenly flashed through Kim Byung-han’s mind.
‘That’s right. I remember. Kankun and Adora fought. Kankun was caught by Adora, and after that…’
Stab!
The Prophet’s heart was pierced.
By Kankun’s invisible sword.
Kankun was a Mind’s Eye user.
But isn’t it strange?
Kankun didn’t target Adora, but the Prophet.
Why?
‘…Could the Prophet be dead?’
All memory after that had been completely erased.
But if Kim Byung-han was certain of what he saw, the Prophet couldn’t have survived.
Kankun’s Mind’s Eye sword was truly terrifying.
Not a single monster survived after being struck by that sword while climbing the tower.
So, it was only reasonable to think the Prophet died too.
‘No. That can’t be. The Prophet, who toyed with Creators and devils, couldn’t possibly die to someone like Kankun.’
But Kim Byung-han denied it.
The Prophet he met always made miracles happen.
No matter how powerful Kankun was, he couldn’t kill someone like a god.
In a world where he could trust no one, the Prophet was the only one Kim Byung-han trusted.
Still, the last scene seared in his mind wouldn’t go away.
Was the Prophet dead?
Or did he survive by some other miracle?
Who won the fight between Kankun and Adora?
And why were they all kicked out of the tower?
What will happen to the Tower of Arrogance now?
‘…Survival of the fittest. I need to survive first.’
There was no time to get lost in confusion.
Kim Byung-han steeled himself.
Even someone as great as the Prophet faced danger in this world.
If he didn’t keep his wits about him, he’d be swept away by the raging storm.
‘The foundation for me to reach the top is already set.’
Still, he was fortunate.
With the rewards he earned from climbing the tower, he could now rise above everyone else.
‘Everyone’s eyes are on me. If I open the Arrogance Chests here and get top-grade equipment, I could become the main character of this epic.’
A huge crowd was gathering around the tower.
Everyone was curious about what happened inside.
Every word he said would become big news across Korea.
Kim Byung-han intended to be the protagonist.
He would be the center of this grand saga, the Tower of Arrogance.
After all, he was certain no one had gathered more Arrogance Chests than him.
“Everyone! I, Kim Byung-han, have conquered the Tower of Arrogance!”
“Huh!”
“Is… is that true?”
“Could you tell us in detail what happened inside?”
“What happens next?”
“So the protected zone is going to disappear too?”
People crowded in.
Many reporters had notepads out, ready to jot down every word.
Now was his chance.
A hero—a main character’s chance.
No one else could give a more detailed account of the tower.
“The tower had ten floors in total. Countless traps and monsters tried to choke the life out of us. And the Witch of Death, Adora! After overcoming all those trials, I obtained a legendary weapon.”
He also had 50 Arrogance Chests.
If what the messages said when he first entered the tower was true, the more chests he collected, the better the rewards.
And 50 was an unprecedented number.
‘At least [Legendary]. Maybe even higher.’
Equipment in the Abyss is ranked by grade.
So far, [Legendary] is the highest known.
And even that doesn’t officially exist in Korea.
If he obtained something above [Legendary] right here, he’d become a superstar overnight.
Given the scale of the tower, the rewards should be equally massive.
“Witch of Death!”
“A legendary weapon?”
Everyone’s attention was on Kim Byung-han.
Hundreds of thousands of people fell silent as if on cue.
“From today, the history of Korea will change. Because of me, Kim Byung-han! I promise! I will protect you all!”
Kim Byung-han intended to stand at the pinnacle.
Today was the beginning.
‘Open.’
He took out all 50 chests from his inventory and opened them at once.
[You have gathered 50 ‘Arrogance Chests.’]
[With 50 chests gathered, the reward grade is set to ‘Legendary~Eternal.’]
‘…Insane!’
It was unbelievable.
At least [Legendary] grade!
And [Eternal] grade?
‘I’ve never even heard of [Eternal] grade before!’
Thump thump thump!
His heart pounded like crazy.
His mouth went dry.
He was on the express train to becoming the main character.
‘What if I’m the first to get an [Eternal] grade?’
If he did—
He could truly become the master of Korea.
Just the thought of it was thrilling.
Every man dreams of something like that at least once.
[Rewards will be revealed.]
Ah!
A thrill ran through him.
A bright, pink-golden future unfolded before his eyes.
Royal road.
It was as if the road to becoming emperor was right there.
It was done. Everything was done!
Kim Byung-han opened his eyes wide.
And then—
[‘Tower of Arrogance’ has been declared bankrupt.]
[You cannot receive any rewards.]
“…Huh?”
—
The next day, the Tower of Arrogance disappeared.
With news of the tower’s bankruptcy, it vanished as if it had never existed.
Abyssal encroachment began again.
Park Chan-woo was finally able to return home.
Kkyu!
Kkyuing!
Boksil happily jumped from his arms and ran around the house.
Of course, since Boksil was a Divine Beast, not a speck of dust clung to him even without a bath.
After watching Boksil for a while with a soft smile, Park Chan-woo took a shower and started cleaning.
Afterward, he sat on the bed and took out the Star of Arrogance.
‘No matter how many times I look at it, I can’t get used to it.’
The detailed information of the Star of Arrogance.
He checked it over a hundred times on his way home, but it was astonishing every time.
Soon after, a related window appeared in the air.
Name: Star of Arrogance
Level: ∞
Grade: Quarter God
Description: Final relic. Presumed to be a fragment of a god.
Equipment Slot: Necklace (jewel)
Durability: Indestructible
Unique Options:
(1) Fully restores all mana once per day.
(2) Mana regeneration increases by 250%.
(3) Magic casting speed decreases by 25%.
(4) Magic critical hit rate increases by 25%.
(5) Double casting chance for magic increases by 25%.
(6) Magic effects are enhanced by 25%.
Wow, every option was a gem.
No wonder the Black Witch cherished it so much.
Even calling these options insane was an understatement.
‘As your level and mana rise, it becomes harder and harder to fully recover all mana.’
For mages, the higher the level, the more important mana regeneration becomes.
Sometimes, using a high-grade spell meant your mana wouldn’t fully recover for a whole week.
But this lets you recover all mana once a day.
On top of that, mana regeneration increased by 250%.
And—
‘Casting speed reduction, double casting chance…!’
Magic critical and effect boosts were amazing, but those two stood out even more.
A mage’s dream.
The endless spectacle of casting magic with no casting time.
Even with chantless magic, there’s still a lag before magic manifests as a phenomenon.
This option reduced that lag.
‘Even I’ve never had equipment with effects like this.’
And even when he did, the options were only 1% to 5% at best.
But 25%!
‘Quarter. One fourth.’
It was a final relic and called a ‘fragment of god.’
Maybe there were three more like it.
He had never even seen the grade Quarter God, and thinking this might not be the end left Park Chan-woo breathless.
‘Now that I think about it, the winged egg restored my mana. Will that egg hatch?’
He didn’t know.
Every day when his mana was restored, the winged egg would appear, circle around him, then disappear, but it didn’t show signs of hatching.
Maybe it would hatch if he gathered more Stars of Arrogance?
For now, he didn’t know.
In any case, Park Chan-woo smiled softly.
He had gained more than just the Star of Arrogance from climbing the tower.
‘Eternal Sword, Perishing Magic, and Fame.’
He had a good grasp of those as well.
Especially the ‘fame’ he gained by opening the Mystery Codex was overwhelming.
In the Abyss, there are two main uses for fame.
First, if your fame is high, you can enter special regions of the Abyss.
Or, certain quests only appear if you have enough fame. Especially high-rank quests require a lot of fame.
Lastly, fame can be spent at the ‘Fame Shop.’
It doesn’t appear often—more like a rare event—but you can exchange fame for useful items there.
And the ‘Fame Shop’ would appear tonight.
‘I’ve prepared a lot for today.’
Star of Arrogance, Magic Swordsman class, Eternal Sword, Perishing Magic, and so on.
He had nearly 100 coins and sky-high fame.
Preparation was perfect.
Park Chan-woo looked up at the sky.
Before he knew it, it was evening.
A night with a full, round moon.
At last—
[The ‘Second Night’ has begun.]
The moment he had longed for had finally arrived.
