Chapter 8: A Fine Line Between Overpowered and Bugged

#1

A storm had swept through the tower.

The towers had a truly brutal system, dealing harshly with defeat in PvP.

And the penalties were particularly severe for whoever attacked first.

As a rule, dying meant dropping one piece of equipment or an accessory your avatar owned.

On top of that, one of the stats you had raised would decrease at random.

All that time invested in raising your avatar’s stats, gone.

Still, they couldn’t fall below the values you were born with. There was that safety net, at least.

That was exactly what had happened to the Death Valley bunch.

“Oh, this is pretty good.”

[Mana Necklace]
[Mana +2]

After reassuring the summons asking after him that he was fine, Hwanung examined the dropped items.

A necklace that increased Mana.

Normally, he would have put it on without a second thought.

Instead, he settled for putting it in his inventory.

‘I don’t know where I’m supposed to find equipment made for me, but this is a shame.’

102 Mana.

He could have reached a number that was thrilling just to hear.

He had picked up various other spoils, too.

Among them, he selected a piece of equipment for Lucas.

“How about this? Can you equip it?”

“Yes. A necklace should be… Thank you, Master.”

[Strength Necklace]
[Strength +1]

Lucas equipped the necklace, boosting his stats.

It was only a difference of one, but it would feel much greater.

The rest was junk, so Hwanung tossed it into his inventory and moved on.

Soon, he would have his fourth R-rank summon.

‘I wonder how many I can draw in this tower.’

Now that someone knew about his ability, rumors would spread through the forums in no time.

But that didn’t matter.

As long as he grew stronger fair and square under the towers’ rules, no one could stop him.

Countless Climbing Clubs had thrown their weight around, restricting access and using other forms of coercion.

But that sort of thing had largely died out. Why?

It wasn’t very efficient.

No matter how hard they worked to control access, more towers appeared, allowing more Climbers to grow.

Whenever humanity tried to impose its own standards, the towers firmly rejected them.

So he wouldn’t have to worry about those problems anymore.

“They were cowards. I… The very sight of people like that makes me shake with rage.”

“Same here. My skill saved my life.”

“My family and my comrades lost their lives to people like them. I… cannot stand by and allow their atrocities.”

As they walked, Eyas began telling him what sounded like her backstory.

Hwanung listened as he went.

Summons, especially named ones, seemed to have stories of their own.

Wouldn’t it be good to hear them out?

“Sounds like something awful happened.”

“I will tell you when you have time to rest, my lord. For now…”

“All right. Whenever you’re comfortable.”

Hwanung didn’t press her for details.

Perhaps he would save satisfying his curiosity for a little diversion later.

Just then, a message appeared before him.

[Growth conditions unlocked for Summon: Eyas.]
[Defeat 10 Climbers in PvP] [5/10]
[Defeat 20 people in competitive towers] [5/20]
[??]

‘Oh.’

So she really could grow.

If he was right… would she advance to SR-rank?

Twenty people… For a pacifist like Hwanung, PvP had always been a world away.

The Climbing Clubs he had belonged to had also chosen cooperative content over competition.

He felt an instinctive aversion to PvP, you might say.

But he was confident he could handle anyone who came at him.

Time to put his experience as a Sherpa to use.

‘Then shall we leave ourselves a little exposed?’

If he put on a convincing enough act as a beginner, someone was bound to take the bait.

Then he could play like a spider, devouring the hunters who came after him.

A picture began forming in Hwanung’s mind.

Strangely, how his summons could work together in specific situations, how to use them, where to position himself…

It all came to him as naturally as flowing water.

Was it because he hadn’t had time to think until now?

Or…

‘I’ll think about that later.’

The bluff should work pretty well.

The people hunting here would all be around the same skill level.

Ambushing someone and finishing them off was probably all they could manage.

“Let’s go. Time to grant Eyas’s wish.”

“Pardon?”

“Let’s blow off some steam before we leave. Here’s the plan…”

Hwanung outlined his strategy.

After hearing it all, Eyas nodded, her expression solemn.

“I thank you for your boundless generosity. I shall devote my very soul to bringing you glory, my lord.”

“Well, you don’t have to go that far…”

She looked ready to drop to her knees on the spot, and Hwanung had to hurry her along.

Time kept passing.

And with it, Hwanung’s forces kept growing stronger.

His enemies had better be prepared before coming at him.

#2

“Whew! Finally made it!”

“You seriously want to sit around here? Seriously?”

“You think omakase is cheap? Give me at least a day, damn it.”

“Ha… What am I going to do with this shameless bastard?”

Several hours had passed since the game began.

Sigrul and Lacrosa were the first to arrive outside the boss room.

With their equipment and their avatars’ developed stats, they could have smashed through everything on the way here barehanded.

Sigrul plopped down in a corner, propped up his axe, and leaned back against the wall.

Lacrosa strode over to him.

Standing with her arms crossed, she looked as though she was thinking, ‘What am I supposed to do with this idiot?’

She clenched a fist, considered her options, then let out the sigh welling up inside her.

“You little… Fine. How are you going to tell who Avatar 1993 is?”

“They’ll come alone. Won’t they?”

“No… Are you a complete dumbass!?”

“No. If they play solo, they’ll actually come alone. Otherwise, they’re just a noob-stomper. Trust me.”

Lacrosa pressed a hand to her forehead. Finally losing patience, she smacked him hard on the back of the head.

BANG!

There was a loud crash, but Sigrul’s head was perfectly fine.

His avatar was a tank through and through.

“Ow! That only hurt me!”

“Hehehe. So behave yourself. I booked a place in Cheongdam-dong.”

“Whew… That is the only reason I’m putting up with you.”

In the end, Lacrosa planted her own weapon in the ground and plopped down beside him.

The two waited and waited for someone to appear “alone.”

Then a thought struck Lacrosa.

“What if they’re not in our session?”

“Who knows?”

“Seriously, you…”

They knew this was a stupid approach, but what else could they do?

They had no better options.

That was how the towers worked.

Unless someone chose to reveal themselves, investigating their identity was impossible.

“Why don’t we just wait until they start streaming?”

“Wait that long? It’ll be too late. You know how many jackals there are in this business.”

“So you’re going to keep wasting your time like this?”

“Just for today, then we’ll call it quits.”

He really was hopeless.

Oh well.

If sitting around here was what it took to get her omakase dinner.

The two kept waiting for a lone Climber to arrive.

But did they know?

Hwanung wasn’t traveling alone, nor did he have any intention of climbing quickly.

Time simply continued to pass.

#3

“Guh…”

“You clearly don’t value your life. Kindly die.”

“Aaagh!”

Meanwhile, Hwanung was on the twelfth floor, busy fighting griefers to the death.

They used much the same approach as Death Valley.

Ambush Hwanung from behind because he looked weakest, then swarm the rest with numbers.

It was so predictable that detailed orders weren’t worth the effort.

Eyas and Lucas tore through them, with the N-rank summons providing plenty of support.

Their opponents’ average stats ranged from 20 to 30.

Against Eyas, whose Agility was well over 40, they fell like autumn leaves before the wind.

[Defeat 10 Climbers in PvP] [10/10]
[Defeat 20 people in competitive towers] [12/20]
[??]

“Y-you’re exploiting the system! I recorded everything! Let’s see what happens when I post it for everyone to see, you bastard!”

“Go ahead.”

So rattled they were just spouting whatever came to mind.

It went without saying, but exploits, hacks, and bugs couldn’t exist in the towers.

Hwanung’s reply was unconcerned.

Though, after seeing summons tear through space and pour out, he could hardly blame them for thinking that.

But what could he do?

Just as they had relied on luck, luck had made Hwanung what he was.

There was only a fine line between an overpowered character and a bugged one, after all.

“Shouldn’t have attacked me, then.”

“Damn it…”

The griefer vanished without accomplishing a thing.

After collecting the spoils, Hwanung used Draw again now that it was time.

He had deliberately been stockpiling N-rank summons and now had nearly fifteen. It was about time to evolve ten of them into an R-rank.

He had relied on quantity so far. Now he would raise the quality a little.

He selected ten summons and evolved them. This time, what emerged had a very different feel.

[R-rank: Land Wolf]
[Strength: 15 | Mana: 0 | Stamina: 28 | Agility: 33]
[Skills: ‘Pack Hunting,’ ‘Self-Sacrifice,’ ‘Alpha Male’]

“Awooo!”

“Oh, wolves this time.”

Two small wolves and one enormous wolf.

True to the name Land Wolf, their brown fur stood out.

The large one came up to the waist of Hwanung’s avatar, which stood a little over 180 centimeters tall.

It was noticeably bigger than what people usually imagined when they thought of a large dog.

If it charged and pounced at speed, reacting properly would be difficult.

Hwanung stroked the Land Wolf’s head as it rubbed its face against him.

It nuzzled him affectionately, as though trying to memorize its new owner’s scent.

“Good wolf. We need to pick up the pace now. I’d like to at least get a look at the boss.”

“Are we finished hunting?”

“Yeah. We’re out of time.”

The twelfth floor.

Fifteen people remained.

In terms of crews, that meant only three could make it this far.

Now it was a race to see who could find the way up fastest.

Just then, the Land Wolves began sniffing and padding off somewhere.

“Looks like they’re finding the way.”

“Clever creatures.”

“Let’s follow them.”

Hwanung decided to keep all his summons out from now on.

Hiding his avatar would be impossible at this point.

Not that he had been particularly intent on hiding it.

One way to keep enemies at bay was to make yourself look bigger.

People might think he was teaming or exploiting the system, but so what?

An argument between people who didn’t know the truth was bound to die down eventually.

Hwanung shook off the stray thoughts simply by quickening his pace.

The thirteenth floor brought nothing special, just another summon.

The fourteenth was uneventful, too.

Thanks to the Land Wolves, he found the route on the first try without getting lost, quickly dispatched the monsters, and headed toward the boss room.

‘I’ll be able to get one more now.’

He had nine N-rank summons.

Now it was time to draw his fifth R-rank.

As he reached the end of the fourteenth floor, he heard a voice that was both familiar and unfamiliar.

How strange.

A voice that was familiar yet unfamiliar.

But that was what it was.

A voice that gave him a sense of déjà vu, though he had never heard it in person.

“Wow… Looks like our predictions were completely off.”

“Yeah. I had my doubts, but that would definitely make solo climbing possible.”

“You’re…?”

He already knew.

Sigrul and Lacrosa.

Two powerful opponents he stood absolutely no chance against right now.

The items they used, the growth they had achieved.

Together, those probably put their average stats at around 50.

Even if Eyas and all his other summons attacked at once, they wouldn’t be able to beat these two.

“You’re Avatar 1993, right?”

“…”

Somehow, it seemed his identity had been exposed in an instant.