Chapter 13: Turning the Tide

#1

Jina, the Archmage’s Apprentice.

She wore a robe over leather armor and carried a small, wandlike staff.

A blunt brown bob.

Her sharp eyes gave her an air quite the opposite of the gentle-looking Eyas.

Blue mana rippled around her.

After surveying her surroundings, Jina glanced back at Hwanung.

“Master, which bastard do you want me to burn?”

“The strongest one first.”

Hwanung raised a hand and pointed at the jiangshi.

The culprit behind his N-rank summons being unsummoned.

They needed to deal with the jiangshi charging at them with flashing red eyes first.

While Hwanung gave his orders, Eyas drew her sword and rushed out alone.

Her passive skill activated, making her even faster.

She brushed aside the small fry swarming around her and swung her sword.

SLASH!

The jiangshi’s skin, which no one had managed to cut until now, split open, spilling black blood.

‘These creatures…’

Recalling the heavy resistance against her blade, Eyas thought back to the past.

Fragments of memory flashed through her mind.

A few of those scattered pieces began to surface, hazy and indistinct.

‘Jiangshi. Their weaknesses are—’

SCREEECH!

With a strange cry, the jiangshi clawed at her, but Eyas dodged its hand.

She bent backward until her hair touched the ground, then slashed upward.

[Wind Blade]

CRRRACK!

Jiangshi were weak to fire.

And their armpits and groins, where the chemical solution hadn’t fully penetrated.

A blade of wind aimed precisely at its armpit severed the jiangshi’s arm.

[Uuuuuurgh!]

A scream of agony rang out.

At the same time, a sharp voice alerted her to danger.

“Move!”

[Fire Spear]
[Third-circle spell, single-target attack power +250%]
[Inflicts the Burn status effect.]

Orange-red light filled the edge of her vision.

Without a second thought, Eyas leaped backward, and an enormous spear of flame pierced the spot where she had stood.

WHOOOOOSH!

Searing flames engulfed the jiangshi.

Sucking in oxygen, the heat erupted in a blast that took the nearby madmen with it.

Eyas smiled faintly at its sheer power.

With these companions, she felt she could be of great service to her lord.

[Uuuurgh…]

The jiangshi, which had seemed impossible to bring down, toppled over, charred black.

Hwanung cheered inwardly and looked at Jina.

She let out a long breath and grinned as she caught her breath.

“Well? Pretty useful, aren’t I?”

“Good work. Now let’s burn the others. Sweep through them from the back row.”

“I’ll make sure you don’t regret giving me that order.”

She swept her staff with a haughty, graceful gesture.

A magic circle took shape in time with the smooth motion of her hand.

Once those lines came together and completed the spell, the enemies would be swept away in an instant.

The other summons redoubled their efforts, as though refusing to be outdone.

Lucas’s sword steadily lopped off heads like a massive guillotine, while the Land Wolves relentlessly drove the enemies back, tearing through their ranks.

Having penetrated their flank, Eyas drew screams with every swing of her sword.

The kill count soared at a dizzying pace, until finally—

[Avatar No. 19930211: 191 kills]
[Tete and 4 others: 188 kills]

The foundation for a comeback was in place.

Was that the end of it? Hardly.

The longer this went on, the greater Hwanung’s advantage became.

His forces grew stronger every ten minutes.

“Draw.”

[N-rank Summon: shield bearer]

Now that he had taken the lead, he wouldn’t be surrendering first place again.

#2

At the same time.

The Tete Crew hacked away at the enemies in a frenzy.

Yet despite all their hard work, the result unfolding before their eyes was crushing.

Lord 93 had overtaken them, even with a jiangshi to contend with.

“Aaagh! What’s going on!? He’s overtaken us!”

“That character is so damn broken!”

The Tete Crew had plenty of support, a powerful selection of skills, and avatars with excellent Growth Potential.

But what kind of avatar had Lord 93 drawn to perform so explosively even under a penalty? Just what abilities did his summons have?

Tete bit her lip.

Her competitive streak and drive were what had earned her the position of crew leader.

That competitive spirit blazed, but she was learning all too painfully that some walls couldn’t be overcome through sheer feeling alone.

Then why had he performed like that in Stage 1?

- Wow! That’s seriously broken.

- How did he catch up?

- The thing is, Lord 93’s climbing solo.

- Yeah, this is hopeless;; So when did you say you were starting your stream?

- Hang in there, Lady Tete!

Tete glanced at the chat, then poured out her mana with even greater intensity.

Even if it meant being eliminated in the next stage, she didn’t want to let him take the lead.

[Avatar No. 19930211: 244 kills]
[Tete and 4 others: 235 kills]

“Tete! Pace yourself!”

“I know!”

She snapped back and fired an enormous beam.

WHOOOOOOSH!

The spell she had poured everything into put their kill count back in the lead.

But—

[Avatar No. 19930211: 268 kills]
[Tete and 4 others: 249 kills]
[Stage 2 has ended.]

“Ha…”

Lord 93 had gained twenty or more kills at once, ending the stage.

Tete felt all the strength drain from her body and let out a deep sigh.

- So close.

- Seriously, what the hell;; He’s that broken?

- Seems like he’s just stomping low-level players. Don’t get too worked up, Lady Tete.

- Is that really what he’s doing? I want to watch his stream.

- So close. Things are gonna get rough from the next stage onward.

They were right.

She was gasping for breath, and her mana was running on fumes.

They might climb towers in avatars, but every sensation except pain felt completely real.

She had a lot to think about if she was going to get through the coming stages.

Some people said it was just entertainment, that you could always climb again if you lost, but her future was riding on this.

They said the way someone approached one task told you how they would approach ten thousand others.

She wanted to give every single climb her best.

“Ugh… I guess we’ll have to try to keep up from the next stage onward.”

“That’ll be tough… But let’s give it a shot.”

“Okay.”

The viewers began cheering her on, too.

But everyone knew.

A comeback was already unlikely. They were only trying to lift her spirits.

Even so, none of them intended to give up.

Those who refused to give up would reach great heights someday.

Even if they never reached the very top.

Tete clenched her fists and gathered as much mana as she could.

She needed to recover every little bit if she wanted to survive to the end.

#3

[New Personal Record]
[Stage 12]
[Avatar No. 19930211]
[Summons unsummoned in the Tower of Madness can return immediately in the next tower.]

He had burned himself down to white ash.

He now had eight R-rank summons, with another eight N-rank summons neatly stocked in his inventory.

All the new R-rank summons were generic types.

He had decided he might as well try for the top record and pushed as far as he could, reaching Stage 12.

Thanks to that, he had obtained a piece of Intermediate Lux, along with accessories that increased Mana.

Those accessories went to the Priests and Jina.

He distributed the miscellaneous items without much fuss and brought the good ones back to sell for cash.

“Whew… That was fun.”

Watching his summons fight while giving them orders himself was enjoyable.

When he was transported to the tower lobby, someone suddenly appeared in front of him.

A female avatar with blue hair.

A familiar face to Hwanung.

“Hello! My name is Tete!”

“Hello. Uh… I’m Lord 93.”

“It’s an honor to meet you.”

Caught off guard by the sudden greeting, he had responded reflexively.

As people realized he was Lord 93, their gazes began turning toward him one by one.

Among them were scouts dispatched from various countries.

Tete glanced around and got straight to the point.

Some people disliked being stared at, so she spoke as quickly and concisely as possible.

“Sorry to bother you. Would you be willing to accept my Climber card?”

“Yes. But I can’t give you mine. Is that all right?”

“Yes! Of course! I-if you’re thinking of streaming, please get in touch. I can help.”

- Oooh, making a move.

- What’s this, what’s this?

- Seriously, you’re just swerving in without signaling?

- Huh? Lord 93’s really nice. lol

- Tete, you little minx!

“N-no, it’s not like that! Just shut up for a second! Ahem… S-sorry. I’ll send you my Avatar Card.”

“All right.”

A card containing Tete’s basic personal information was registered.

Hwanung hadn’t accepted it without thinking, either.

She belonged to a fairly well-known Climbing Club and tackled towers at roughly the same level as he did.

She could give him firsthand advice on how to get started.

He had already made up his mind to begin streaming.

If he showcased his summons’ personalities more than his own, they might each attract their own fans.

In any case, he concluded that making connections couldn’t hurt.

“Sent. Thank you for your time. Oh, and would it be all right… if I uploaded the video?”

“Yes, go ahead. But I’ll have to ask you for some help in return later.”

“O-of course! Please contact me anytime! I’ll be waiting!”

Something about her scrupulously polite manner reminded him of his old self.

Hwanung gave her a brief farewell and returned straight to reality.

Appearing somewhere near the tower, he immediately set off for the payout office.

A chunk of Intermediate Lux was a material with endless uses.

It supplied electricity to buildings, formed the basis of industrial facilities, and powered enormous pieces of heavy machinery.

That made it fairly expensive, too.

A million won or more apiece.

Just two or three pieces of Intermediate Lux would earn as much as a month of part-time work.

And that was after the market price had fallen considerably. When Intermediate Lux first appeared, its starting price had been at least five million won.

‘I should be able to buy my equipment soon.’

He would use his savings to get equipped, then tackle his most important task.

Eyas’s growth quest.

He had no choice but to enter a tower focused on PvP.

What had brought this on?

From Stage 10 onward, he had felt that progressing with R-rank summons was becoming too much of a struggle.

Their limits were plain to see. Even the skills of Eyas, who had the highest individual stat, hadn’t been particularly effective against the enemies.

If he wanted to climb higher, he would have to gather more R-rank summons or develop his named summons.

‘How should I make my streaming debut?’

He could collaborate with her if he wanted.

But for now, it would probably be better to focus on uploading videos rather than livestreaming.

Whatever you did, it was best to follow a path others had already walked.

There was a reassuring steadiness to it.

“It’s late. I’ll get some sleep… and give it a shot tomorrow.”

He wondered what kind of summon Eyas would become when she evolved.

Would she jump straight to SR-rank?

Or would she become a new variant?

Once he got home, he sent Tete a DM to say hello and touch base.

Roughly speaking, he said he looked forward to getting along and hoped they could compete again from time to time.

Her reply came immediately.

- Of course! I look forward to working with you!

“She’s polite.”

Not a bad first impression.

It would be good if they could help each other out.

He thought she would make a perfectly serviceable stepping stone.

“This is the place for tomorrow.”

The tower that drew the biggest crowds in the Sobaeksan grade.

Tomorrow, he would challenge it and make the name Lord 93 known far and wide.