Chapter 28 - Intrusion (1) (1/2)
Chapter 28: Intrusion (1)
I spent my last day on Earth doing more research about the tower.
One could look at this as wasting my precious time on Earth but…
My initial goal was to get a leg up on everyone else, so I didn’t mind.
There wasn’t anything I needed besides the food and sleep I got.
‘Too much rest is a luxury I don’t need.’
I tried finding out as much as possible about the status of all the challengers on the 6th floor.
And—
The mainstream media had picked up on the scent.
That just helped to show how many challengers came back from the tower.
‘And that means more people have enough points to spare the 500 on the return stone.’
That also meant I was starting to fall behind compared to the other challengers.
“I’ll be busy once I get back.”
I’d have to clear the 5th trial as fast as possible.
A familiar message popped up as I was lost in thought.
「 You will be returned to the tower soon. 」
Return, as though the place I belonged was the tower.
…but I didn’t have anything to say against it.
‘I guess return is the correct term.’
I was returning to become stronger, and to survive.
Back to the tower.
Badump, badump.
My heart raced as my body longed to go back.
‘I guess it’s not so bad that I’m so accustomed to the tower.’
The tower had changed me.
But that allowed me to grow and survive.
Maybe that’s why…
「 Time over. 」
「 Returning to the Tower of Trials. 」
I was looking forward to the next trial.
***
“…I’m back”
The large stone waiting area was there, just as I left it.
Realizing that I had returned, I searched my body for my items.
‘I was holding on to it when I was in the studio so…’
The tips of my fingers grazed something hard mid-thought.
「 Krocken Magic Tower’s Repair Box 」
A black box with gray engraved stars like constellations, an item I bought at the hunters’ market.
And just around the corner—
「 Cleansing Stone 」
An azure pyroxene stone.
Another item I bought outside.
「 Assassin’s Cloak 」
And even the item I get from the 2nd floor.
“…Items are free to travel back and forth, huh.”
No matter where you got them from, as long as the item had a rank associated with it.
I still didn’t have anything like my phone or wallet, but that was fine.
Just knowing this information was a huge advantage.
‘This cleansing stone is gonna take a weight off of me.’
Same with the repair box.
Now I know to just go buy items and bring them back if they didn’t have them in the marketplace.
It was then—
「 ‘The First Returnee’ achievement unlocked. 」
「 Acquiring the skill ‘Eye of Truth (A)’ 」
“…?”
‘The first returnee?’
I had to read that a couple of times to get a full understanding of the situation.
“I must have been the first person to go and come back.”
It made sense since I used it almost immediately after getting to the 5th floor.
It was amazing that battles weren’t the only place you could unlock an achievement from.
However, what was more amazing was this skill.
Just the fact that it was an A-ranked skill was making me shake with excitement.
I collected my breath and opened the status window to see the details.
And—
「 Skill – Eye of Truth (A) 」
「 Proficiency – None 」
「 Effect – Uses mana to obtain information from a specified object. Can also determine whether or not the target is telling the truth. 」
I got chills reading the description.
It wasn’t a battle-related skill, but one could argue it’s even more useful.
‘Information on the specified target huh.’
What could top a skill like this?
I hadn’t heard of anything that lets you obtain information like what the first part of the skill said…
Though I could guarantee that the latter effect would be useful.
It didn’t have a proficiency so it wouldn’t be possible to rank it up, but it’s a great skill regardless.
Especially in the group trials with other challengers.
‘It isn’t very descriptive but I’ll figure it out in time.’
Most active skills tended to work similarly anyway.
I held the cloak in my hand and opened my mouth.
“Eye of truth.”
「 Activating the skill ‘Eye of Truth’ 」
「 Retrieving information on the following object. 」
The activation message was followed by another message.
「 Assassin’s Cloak 」
「 Grade: D 」
「 A cloak-type item that’s specialized in instantaneous acceleration. 」
Mana slipped from my body as I smiled at the message that appeared while
“Not bad.”
Not that much better compared to the original item description but…
「 Waiting Area 」
「 Grade: ◻ 」
「 A private area provided by the Tower of Trials for the challengers. 」
「 Currently being provided to challenger Han Sungyeun. 」
I can even see information like this so it’s probably useful.
“No, I actually hit the jackpot.”
Being able to extract information out of everything was a huge advantage.
Though I still couldn’t check the latter half of the skill.
‘I need someone to talk to for that part to activate at all.’