Chapter 560
34th floor of the Tower of Trials.
The residents of this floor possessed some of the most bizarre and incompatible personalities in the entire tower.
Absurd. Completely outrageous traits and abilities.
‘This floor was the very reason why everyone called this game a trash fire.’
Jinhyuk clicked his tongue, face twisted with dread.
Still…
This was bad.
He never expected to run into *them* here.
Even when he’d planned to clear the 34th floor later, it was through cheese strategies, not a head-on assault. Yet now he was forced to deal with these headaches directly.
He already felt short of breath.
At the same time, he grew warier of the deity behind this setup.
“Athena…”
His eyes fixed forward.
There stood the fully armored goddess of victory, Athena.
And around her—residents of the 34th floor.
[The 34th floor residents show intense hostility toward you.]
A massive green-skinned muscle monster.
A gigantic Tyrannosaurus made entirely of metal.
A halfling wearing an ancient rune-inscribed ring.
Even brothers wielding green and blue mushrooms.
Freaks walking the edge of copyright lawsuits.
“It’s been a while. Nice to see you again, Player Kang Jinhyuk.”
Athena’s face brimmed with smug satisfaction.
“I’d rather not see your face again, honestly…”
It wasn’t like they were friends or anything.
They had zero reason to meet and laugh about old times.
Even at a ten-year reunion, she’d only bring up stories he’d rather forget.
“If that’s the concern, don’t worry. This time, you won’t be waking up again.”
“So, your plan is: ‘I brought *them*, so we’re definitely going to win,’ right?”
“Oh? You recognize them?”
Of course he did.
Probably more than they knew themselves.
Still, residents of the 34th floor weren’t supposed to easily leave their own floor due to restrictions.
So what did Athena do to pull this off?
Several possibilities crossed his mind, but he had to deal with the current threat first.
“If it were anyone else, I’d call it nonsense. But with you, I can believe it. So I assume you also know that we can’t beat them in a head-on clash right now?”
“Sure. I admit we’re not prepared to clear them directly.”
But.
“You haven’t forgotten, have you? That we didn’t come here alone?”
Jinhyuk snapped his fingers.
In that moment—
BOOOOOM!
A massive hand surged up.
The Titans.
They emerged all at once from the mist at Jinhyuk’s signal.
The forest was immediately flattened.
BOOOOM! KRAKAKOOM!
The ground caved in.
Fists and weapons crushed everything in their path.
“Athena…! All we need to do is crush that slippery mutt!”
“The rest of the gods are nothing special!”
“Kuhahaha! Let’s turn her into paste!”
Upon spotting Athena, the Titans radiated murderous intent.
This was their chance to shatter one of the three pillars that held up Olympus…
…of course they were fired up.
Athena flinched slightly in response, visibly annoyed.
But that was it.
[The Cursed Plumber Brothers activate Lv35 ‘Turtle Shell Defense’!] (T/N: Super mario?!?)
Empowered arms from eating a red mushroom.
A giant spinning turtle shell slammed into a Titan’s face.
BOOOOM!
“Graaah!”
The Titan, struck in the eye, screamed.
Blood gushed out in torrents.
[The residents of the 34th floor are under the ‘Twisted Dimension’s Blessing.’]
These were protagonists who once ruled entire worlds.
That’s who the 34th floor residents were.
Though they couldn’t wander freely outside their floor due to restrictions…
They were monsters who had conquered, destroyed, and saved worlds.
Still—
“Grrrr….”
That didn’t mean they could bring down Titans.
Wounds rapidly healed.
One enraged Titan raised a log-sized axe.
KRAKAKAKAKANG!
With a single strike, the spot where Athena had stood vanished.
The wind pressure flattened the entire field.
Even seeing it again, it was ridiculous.
“Brute morons…”
Athena dusted debris off her shield.
“We have to break through this place to reach Zeus. Can you manage it?”
Jinhyuk shouted toward the Titans.
“Don’t worry. Doesn’t matter how many bugs crawl in. If I can’t handle this much, I’ve no right to face Lord Kronos.”
“UOOOOO!”
“CRUSH THEM ALL!”
The Titans launched a full-on charge.
On the other side, green muscle beasts, metal dinosaurs, hairy gorillas—giant-scale heroes took to the frontlines.
Two overwhelming forces collided at one point.
Jinhyuk quickly recalculated the plan to include the new variables.
‘I assigned Artemis to guide Kronos’s group, so no worries there.’
There were dozens of routes to reach Olympus’s peak, but only a few were safe.
Most were narrow and steep—perfect for getting zapped by Astrapē.
So they had to split forces among the most viable routes.
‘Chun Yoosung should finish with the guardians and join at the third route.’
If they secured this area too, their odds would improve significantly.
He’d leave the large targets to the Titans and aim for Athena instead.
Jinhyuk gave a nod to Teresa and Andrea.
“Yes!”
“Got it!”
They instantly understood his intent.
Using their smaller frames and agility, they flanked and broke through the side.
Fwoosh!
Crunch!
Red plants with jagged teeth spat fireballs, while blue-skinned aliens on pterosaurs rained down arrows and spears.
Damn it.
He couldn’t freely call their names due to the restrictions.
And he hadn’t brought the specific items required to counter them.
Fighting them individually in this condition was tricky.
Jinhyuk snapped a poison arrow in half, grinding his teeth.
No choice.
Avoid them as much as possible.
Wooooong!
Mana gathered at his feet.
As attacks flew in—
FLASH!
Two skills activated at once.
Jinhyuk narrowly dodged every attack by the slimmest margin.
“How is he moving like that…?”
“Stop him! Don’t let him in any further!”
“He’s even harder than a Titan!”
By blending [Phantom Shadow Swordsman] with [Heavenly Demon Dominance Footwork]—
It felt like fighting a ghost.
All predictions missed.
He was almost there.
Athena was within range.
But then—
Beep, beep-beep-beep… beep-beep.
A familiar melody struck his nerves.
No way. *That* guy too?
“Everyone, get ba—”
Jinhyuk tried to warn them, but it was too late.
“ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ. This is gonna be fun.”
The air filled with cutesy emojis.
At the same time—
[‘N’s special ability – ‘Premium Subscription Model’ has activated!] (T/N: WTF. Netflix?)
[Fictional projection of popular content initiated!]
[Theme: Octopus Game.] (T/N: And now Squid Game?)
Everything around them began to change.
A wide playground.
A blue sky.
And then—
[Red light… green light.]
Even the doll with its head turned in the distance.
Too familiar.
He knew exactly what this game was.
Jinhyuk sucked in a breath.
From this point on, he could not move.
⁕⁕⁕
Meanwhile.
Thud.
Alice arrived at Signiel and entered the house.
Throb! Throb! Throb!
Her head spun wildly.
Her body burned with fever.
But she couldn’t collapse yet.
One task remained.
“If I just drink this…”
She opened the vial and downed the purple liquid.
A foul taste filled her mouth.
And then—
“…!?”
Something was wrong.
THUMP!
Her heart sank.
A disgusting, nightmarish sensation gripped her mind like never before.
“This is…”
Her body knew it even without words.
The bond with her contractor was rapidly weakening.
She gathered all her mana to resist—
But the foreign force had already spread through her veins.
Each passing second dulled her mind.
‘I have to stop this. Somehow… aaah…’
Her pupils blurred. Her unfocused eyes grew sharper and more feral.
Her fangs extended.
Her instincts devoured her reason.
And finally—
[The contract has been severed.]
The contract that had lasted so long was gone.
She was now completely free.
At the same time—
“Kuhahaha! Good. It’s done!”
The warped space twisted, and Ares revealed himself with a triumphant laugh.
He had waited, pretending to blend in among the filthy humans.
Suppressing his thirst for bloodshed and war.
He had endured, waited—
And now, it was time to reap the reward.
[Ares activates the administrator’s relic ‘Forced Contract Scroll’!]
A long parchment unfurled, glowing with violet light.
Beams of energy instantly wrapped around Alice’s entire body.
Once the new slave contract was signed, the progenitor would become their pawn.
Everything would be completed.
But—
“What… what the hell?”
Ares mumbled in confusion as he attempted to force the contract.
It made no sense.
It shouldn’t be possible.
The contract had clearly been broken.
He saw it with his own eyes.
Yet Alice was still resisting.
‘What’s missing? Did I mess something up…?’
They’d given her the drug.
Prepared the ideal location.
Even used barriers to control the situation.
So how?
Could their bond be strong enough to resist even a broken contract?
His mind reeled in confusion.
“Forget it. I’ll just kill her. It’s a waste, but at least we’ll take out one of his main assets. That’s not a total loss.”
Ares grabbed his spear.
Mana began to gather at the tip of the razor-sharp weapon.
Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t have stood a chance.
As the head of Ataraxia, she was no longer the same.
But just as Ares hurled the spear—
[Threat detected at modern-world base.]
A massive shadow loomed outside the window.
Click—
“So the Master was right. Do you even know where the hell you are, lifting that filthy paw?”
T-Bone drew his sword atop a fully completed Bone Dragon. (T/N: Lets go T-Boneeeeeeeee!!!!)
“ROOOOOAAAAR!”
The Bone Dragon’s roar rattled the entire building.