Chapter 5: Eyas, Warrior of the East

#1

The image of a “swordsman” differed quite a bit between East and West.

A Western swordsman brought to mind a sturdy infantryman with a direct fighting style, while an Eastern swordsman evoked a nimble, swift-footed warrior.

Who knew which media had planted those images, but that was how the two had come to be distinguished.

The new summon perfectly matched the image in Hwanung’s mind, too.

[R-rank Summon: Eyas, Warrior of the East]

The name was a little odd, but what did that matter?

“I have come in answer to your summons, my lord.”

Loose Eastern clothing.

A worn straight sword.

Hair in a single braid beneath a bamboo hat.

The summon looked like an Eastern wandering warrior brought to life. Hwanung marveled at the sight.

‘Judging by that slender figure, she’s a female summon.’

Having a summon with this sort of feel wouldn’t be bad.

Her performance was what mattered, of course.

As she rose smoothly to her feet, there was something free-spirited about her.

“An unfamiliar enemy. But I can win.”

Eyas spoke softly as she surveyed the enemies.

Her voice was thin, yet somehow had an edge to it.

Hwanung quietly checked her stats.

[Eyas, Warrior of the East]
[Strength: 24 Mana: 20 Stamina: 23 Agility: 40]
[Skills: ‘Follow the Wind,’ ‘Wind Blade,’ ‘Storm Blade,’ ‘Independent Action’]
[This summon can grow.]

Among her otherwise evenly distributed stats, Agility stood out.

An Agility of 40 put her on par with a decent Gold League player.

A summon with stats like these at R-rank?

He couldn’t help grinning.

Standing now, she looked at the three enormous monsters.

Two Degenerated Ogres.

And the tower’s main boss, a Corpse Golem.

“There are only two of you, but we should be able to clear this. Listen carefully from here on.”

“Yes.”

Fortunately, Hwanung had his experience as a Sherpa.

He had watched from the back as crews cleared the Tower of Protection time and again.

He knew each boss’s attack patterns and health by heart.

Since he hadn’t participated in the fighting himself, his memories were all the clearer.

The Corpse Golem was what people called an HP sponge.

Its big, slow attacks had also earned it the name “punching bag.”

“Watch out for the Corpse Golem’s overhead smash and sweeping attack. It clasps its hands together before a smash. For the sweep, it raises an arm, then swings toward the opposite side.”

“Understood.”

“The Degenerated Ogres’ weak point is their lower bodies. Their calf muscles are weak, so get in low and take away their mobility first.”

“I shall keep that in mind.”

Lucas and Eyas crammed the torrent of information into their heads in an instant.

Hwanung had scraped by with a complete shit-tier avatar, but that had only made him work harder.

An eye for enemy attack patterns.

A mind that remembered them.

The analytical ability to use skills at the right time and place.

An eye for the flow of battle.

He had worked hard to hone them all.

‘Who knew that would come in handy?’

All his experience struggling at rock bottom was finally beginning to shine.

Lucas and Eyas charged forward together.

Taking the lead, Lucas drew the enormous Corpse Golem’s attention.

Then there was Eyas, the new addition to his forces.

[Follow the Wind]
[Enjoys acting alone.]
[When no allies are within a 10-meter radius, has a 30% chance to evade enemy attacks.]
[Attack speed and movement speed increase slightly, allowing nimble movement.]

Her passive skills were perfectly suited to operating alone.

Even with the two summons far apart, their synergy only grew stronger.

And there was one more.

[Independent Action]
[All stats +3 when facing 2 or more enemies alone.]

Agility: 43.

She moved like the wind.

Naturally, mere Bukhansan-grade bosses couldn’t hope to keep up.

Eyas leaped toward the two Object bosses.

[Uoooooh!]

An enormous roar rang out as a Degenerated Ogre swung its club.

But the club struck only Eyas’s afterimage.

For all its noise, the attack accomplished nothing.

Slash!

Her sword swept across the ogre’s calf.

Blood sprayed, and the ogre groaned in pain.

Next came the other ogre’s calf.

Another chilling sound, another spray of blood.

Both Degenerated Ogres buckled, dropping heavily to one knee.

“Blades of wind, gather here.”

She whispered as though reciting a spell.

Wind gathered around her worn sword.

Unlike Lucas’s straightforward skills, hers were elaborate and flashy.

[Wind Blade]
[Blades of wind tear the enemy apart.]
[Inflicts Status Effect: Bleed.]

“Go!”

Eyas shouted.

At her cry, a whirlwind shot forward, scraping along the ground.

Oh, a ranged skill.

Hwanung watched in admiration.

‘Right. I need summons like that, too.’

CRRRAAACK!

The blades of wind shredded the ogres’ lower bodies.

An attack like that wouldn’t have stood a chance against a normal adult ogre, but against these ogres with their damaged hides and atrophied muscles, it was devastating.

Their lower bodies were drenched in blood.

Showing grotesque scenes like these in all their glory was part of the tower’s charm.

Even as Hwanung cheered inwardly, he remembered to keep a cool eye on the battle.

‘Yes, taking out the ogres first is the better call.’

Lucas was dodging this way and that, dealing damage little by little—very little.

Even one solid hit could leave him critically wounded. He couldn’t afford any reckless moves.

Besides, Hwanung suspected that losing Lucas here would make the next tower a real struggle.

‘This tower isn’t what matters.’

There were plenty of towers to conquer.

And plenty more summons to churn out.

With only two R-ranks, he had barely taken his first steps.

Hwanung reined in his excitement and checked the time.

‘We’ve only just started.’

They hadn’t been given twenty minutes for nothing.

He would have plenty of time to draw more summons.

“Eyas, finish them off quickly and join Lucas.”

“Understood, my lord.”

Eyas was a nuker, a damage dealer who overwhelmed enemies with explosive bursts of damage.

Her other skill charged up.

WHOOOOOSH!

This time, the gathering wind was fierce enough to see and hear.

Sensing danger, the ogres tried to evade, but their shredded lower bodies left them unable to move properly.

All they could manage was to move their arms in an attempt to stop Eyas.

“Too late, you filthy creatures.”

[Storm Blade]
[Can be used as a follow-up to Wind Blade.]
[Eyas becomes a blade of storm winds, darting among her enemies.]
[Randomly attacks enemies within a set area.]
[Attack power increases with Strength + Agility.]

Clear a path with Wind Blade, then become a storm and crush the enemy.

Eyas became a streak of cutting wind, darting back and forth between the two ogres.

With a sound that tore through the air—WHIRRRR!—her blade howled like a spinning chainsaw.

SPLURT!

Having finished her attacks, Eyas withdrew from the area.

At the same instant, blood erupted from all over the ogres’ bodies.

[Grrrrrraaaaah!]

The ogres writhed in pain.

There was no further resistance.

Blood poured out, splashing across the ground.

A creature deprived of its lifeblood could only return to death.

The two ogres’ lives guttered out completely.

“Whew. Perhaps it’s because I haven’t stretched my limbs in so long, but I’m not what I used to be.”

Rolling her shoulders lightly, Eyas set off to carry out the order of her lord, Hwanung.

Building some camaraderie with her new comrade wouldn’t hurt, either.

#2

THOOOM!

After a grueling fifteen-minute battle, the Corpse Golem fell.

The ones responsible were Tete and her companions, not Avatar 1993.

“Whew! Great work, everyone!”

“Well done. Our teamwork was good today.”

“Feels like we’re finally getting in sync, huh?”

—Agreed, agreed.

—Good run today.

—What about Lord 93? Did they come first?

—They had two Objects spawn. Obviously we’re winning this one.

—They lost Stage 2 too, so yeah.

The chat alternated between talk of the Tete Crew and Avatar 1993.

Just how well had he done?

He had given them good footage for YouTube, so the Tete Crew didn’t see him in an entirely negative light, either.

If anything, he had fired up their competitive spirit, helping them climb with more focus than usual.

At last, the results appeared.

Where had the Tete Crew placed? Had they taken first?

[Results have been calculated.]
[1st: 15 minutes 43 seconds – Avatar No. 19930211]
[2nd: 15 minutes 44 seconds – Tete and 4 others]
[A special reward will be granted to 1st place.]
[Congratulations.]

“No, how does that make any sense!?”

“One second? Wow… That’s such fucking bullshit.”

—Lmaoooo

—Still faster, though, weren’t they?

—Wow;; Gotta give them that.

—Lord 93 really knows how to deliver content.

One second.

Tiny actions added up to make a difference.

A tenth of a second ahead, or a tenth of a second behind.

Those tiny differences had piled up to create a gap of one second.

For a moment, Tete felt emotion boiling up inside her chest.

Her expression hardened without her even realizing it.

Her head swam and her heart pounded.

It had to be her competitive spirit, mixed with the frustration of losing.

“We’ll have to win next time. No matter what.”

—She’s mad.

—Serious mode on?

—Just do better next time~.

The viewers took her reaction positively, too.

Perhaps her expression was so earnest that they didn’t even feel like teasing her.

If she had moved just a little faster.

If she had stayed just a little sharper.

If she had just…

‘I got complacent.’

Tete decided that this would be their last run for the day.

If she climbed another tower in this state, her emotions might get the better of her.

“Whew… It’s a shame, but I think that’s it for today’s climbing. We’ll check the rewards, then end the stream.”

“Yeah. That rattled me a bit, too. Let’s take the rest of the day off.”

“We can run more tomorrow. Good work, everyone.”

The shocking result seemed to have left the rest of the crew mentally drained as well.

If they kept going, stubbornness and the urge to win would be all they had left.

That could lead to hurt feelings, so they needed to know when to call it a day.

“Ugh… They had two Objects over there, too, right? That is impressive.”

“Yeah. We’ll really have to stay on our toes.”

“Ugh… We were so fucking close!”

Right.

Credit where credit was due.

Their opponent had won despite the penalty.

They had lost fair and square.

#3

[Please check your rewards.]

The first-place rewards were quite generous.

Ten pieces of low-grade Lux.

Two equipment items he could bring into reality.

And even a skill book.

[Stamina Boost]
[Increases Stamina by 3 for 5 minutes upon use.]

“Wow…”

It was a low-level buff skill, but pretty useful for a beginner.

Would it fetch about a million won?

That should be roughly the going rate.

Hwanung looked at the rest of the equipment and smacked his lips.

If only he could take all of it, he could make so much more money.

“Shame to leave these behind.”

“My lord, forgive my presumption, but I believe I could use that sword.”

“Huh?”

That was quite a revelation.

Standing beside him, Eyas had just told him something astonishing.

A possibility flashed through Hwanung’s mind.

‘What if summons are treated as avatars, too?’

Then they could use equipment obtained in towers.

Hwanung held up a sleek hwando.

[Well-Forged Hwando]
[Strength +1] [Agility +1]

“Can you equip this?”

“Yes. It is a weapon well suited to me.”

She discarded her worn sword and equipped the new weapon.

Her stats rose along with it.

At that moment, a message appeared before Hwanung’s eyes.

[You have acquired a hidden ability.]
[You can now equip your summons with equipment.]
[Each summon has suitable equipment types. Find and equip them accordingly.]
[The number of items each summon can equip varies by rank.]
[If a summon evolves while wearing equipment, that equipment will also disappear.]

“Holy shit.”

He couldn’t stop here.

He had another reason to climb towers even harder.