Light of Arad: The First to Walk - Chapter 142



Only Noblemtl

142

They appear as APCs and are practically treated as monsters when they are users, so their faces are somewhat familiar.

However, during the brief moment when Jinseong’s invincibility was maintained, he completely regained his past memories.

Even without their nicknames appearing above their heads, he could still tell who they were because of the skills they poured out onto him.

‘1st floor, incompetent guy Benayoun, Crusader APC of male priest occupation group.’

2nd floor, Lee Jang-G, also a Crusader APC.

3rd floor, fallen person-Asil, male gunner job group skill mixed APC.

What were their attack patterns?

What skill did you use as your main?

4th floor, long-haired Motoro, male launcher APC.

‘That kid must be it. He’s a person of interest. And the 5th floor is-.’

A Rogue APC for the Rogue class, a swordsman Bashich. A female character of the Dark Elf race.

Jinseong made a decision.

“, -.”

“Huh? Me first? Get out of my way!”

The first one to approach was the APC on the 5th floor, using a skill combo that focused on movement.

Occupying the fifth floor means that you are the most skilled of the five here.

With that confidence, Vasikh succeeded in repelling Jinseong’s attack and tried to counterattack right away.

But at that moment, Jinseong turned around.

“-, -.”

“This, this kid, really ran away-.”

“Ugh, me first?!”

By launching a preemptive strike on the fast-moving 5th-floor Rogue APC, they were able to force the enemy into a defensive position and tie up their bases. In the short space of time, Jinseong’s true target was the 4th-floor APC.

Because once you get caught up in the , the attack itself, and while Jinseong himself is rolling around, it’s obvious that the rest of the APCs will join in the attack!

“-!”

Kiiiiiiiiing─────────!

No matter how genuine you are, if you are not completely free from the ‘systematic judgment’ of the game Dungeon & Fighter, you may be in danger of losing your life if you are hit by skills that make your body float in the air or leave you defenseless.

“Eeeeek!”

On the fourth floor, the APC, with long hair, twisted his body while biting his lower lip.

Perhaps thanks to that, the fiercely spinning saw blade could only barely scrape his side.

‘Normally, this much alone would cause stiffness. Since I was injured, it would be normal to lose my mind for a moment, but-.’

Jinseong was not at ease.

The long-haired Motoro right in front of him was trying to activate his skill instead of covering his wound. This was also the reason why Jinseong wanted to deal with him first.

‘The hit recovery is fast, damn it. It’s just like before!’

The recovery period after being hit is very short.

Jinseong realized that the APCs in the ‘Tower of Despair’ in the dungeon area: Valley of the Dead were the ones who recovered and prepared to counterattack much faster than the average users in the [Arena], even if they were attacked.

“!”

“!”

In addition to the APC on the 4th floor that was attacked, the Crusader APC on the 2nd floor, ‘Lee Jang-G’, also came out and activated its skill.

From skills that restrict movement by hitting walls to anti-tank guns that fire at targets that can’t move.

The thought that it would be difficult to deal with five people at the same time crossed Jinseong’s mind.

Of course, the skill had already been activated before that.

“!”

Another invincible skill that is set aside as an individual skill.

Jinseong used Berserker’s skill, which allows him to remain invincible while jumping forward and slamming the ground.

APC on the 3rd floor, to the fallen one – Asil.

“Uh, uh-.”

This male gunner composite APC, which had been preparing to attack from behind, was lifted into the air by the dark aura that rose from the ground.

“Ah, you know-.”

“, -.”

“-Kat?!”

The APC and Crusader class on the first floor seemed concerned about their comrade and tried to treat him.

It was a blessing for Jinseong.

The activation of the ‘Kkuljab’ linkage, which can be said to be a variation or use of the skill used against Ah-hang at some point.

“-, , !”

And the combo continues.

Kwaaaa …

The dark aura that burst out from the end was enough to send the incompetent Benayoun, the APC on the first floor, flying all the way to the corner of the wall.

It was a gap where the APCs on the 1st and 3rd floors were temporarily disabled.

It was also a moment when the three people on the 2nd, 4th, and 5th floors took a step back while being cautious.

Jinseong opened his eyes wide in a moment of leisure.

‘I knew something would happen when I went to the Tower of Despair. Of course, I reset my combo settings… … .’

It can never be said to be advantageous.

The new combo setup, created in preparation for the Tower of Despair, was actually specialized for 1:1, so this situation where three remained even after subduing two could only be seen as tight for Jinseong.

“Phew…….”

So Jinseong tried to take it out.

After deliberately making a loud sound while catching your breath to startle your enemies!?

“Let me talk for a moment-.”

He tried to speak. He wanted to convey his intention to be moderate and guide Soldoros.

Again, again, again… … .

However, Jinseong had to close his mouth for a moment at the sound of footsteps coming from somewhere.

It wasn’t just Jinseong.

All five APCs, including the two that had been attacked, turned their heads in the same direction.

Geeeeeeing-. The door opened.

For a moment, the wind blew and blew, and it was her waist-length wavy blonde hair.

More striking than that were the weapons he held in both hands.

A gun in each hand?

A blade protruding from under each barrel?

Or a chain connected to the end of the handle?

‘… … Gunblade. Crazy… … .’

Jinseong recognized the weapon.

And I found out who the weapon belonged to.

‘Blonde Tyler.’

The APC that occupied the 6th floor of the Tower of Despair came down to the 1st floor.

It wasn’t surprising that they came down, as the APCs that were originally on the 5th floor were all gathered on the 1st floor.

Still, there was only one reason why Jinseong was nervous.

“What’s so noisy?”

Tower of Despair, Level 6, Blonde Tyler.

Her nicknames are ‘The Melee Character’s Nightmare’ and ‘The APC That Should Have Been on the Top Floor 90+’.

* * *

How many users were killed by her?

How many melee characters had to shed tears of blood and search for a strategy guide?

“The trash downstairs can’t even protect their own floor?”

Tyler glanced at the tense Jinseong and turned his head to scold the other APCs.

All five of them, who had been glaring at each other until they faced Jinseong, had turned into dogs with their tails down.

“T, Mr. Tyler, that’s not it……”

“Or what? What is the situation now?”

“Soldo, Soldo, Soldo-.”

“Stop talking, it’s annoying.”

There were even guys who couldn’t even speak because they were so nervous when they saw the blonde Tyler.

“An outsider has come to tell you something, Lord Soldoros.”

“Huh? To Lord Soldoros? How did you know?”

“Azalea sent a message… ”

The occupant of the fifth floor barely managed to get out.

Although he was only one floor above the blonde Tyler, even the fifth-floor figure was extremely polite.

The atmosphere was completely different from when the people on the 1st to 5th floors were gathered together and chatting.

Tyler sighed, as if even that seemed annoyed.

“Haa, I’m tired, I’m tired… It’s so humiliating to be on the lower floors with these guys.”

At the same time, she glared at Jinseong.

Jinseong swallowed dryly as he watched her gunblade begin to shake slightly.

‘Fighting the guys up to the 5th floor wasn’t easy, but that’s… … .’

[Click click click, it’s possible with me, Jinseong.]

It was a threat that even the Black Hole readily mentioned.

Surely it would be possible.

They will have a hard time keeping track of Jinseong’s movements, which have become even faster thanks to the speed of the black ball, even with their eyes. If so, they may be able to defeat them.

‘That’s the problem. What if I kill them even by one chance?’

It would be fortunate if we could just subdue them.

However, Jinseong’s own speed, which he borrowed from the power of the black ball, is still difficult to control on his own.

What about in a cramped space like this? If the timing is even a little off, someone’s limb could be cut off. Would that be okay?

Considering what Jinseong himself had to do in the Tower of Despair, he knew that borrowing the power of the Black Ball to overcome this crisis was not a perfect option.

“Okay, then where-.”

“I’ve heard the rumors… about the blond Tyler.”

“-Oh my? You know me? Because of Azalea?”

So Jinseong thought.

“I knew all along that you weren’t the type of person to be in the lower levels.”

How can we break this situation without fighting?

“Huh, that’s just nonsense. I don’t feel anything when I hear that from an outsider. Rather, I’d like to hear you-.”

“No, listen to me. This time, I have to tell you something separate from what I have to say to Soldoros-.”

Blonde Tyler, you can quickly analyze her personality and tendencies that you couldn’t know in the game but saw in real life.

It also brings back all the memories of Jinseong’s time as a Dungeon & Fighter user and combines them.

“-I have a suggestion to make.”

“What is it?”

Jinseong realized that there was just one card that could possibly catch her.

“Don’t you want to be the representative of the Tower of Despair?”

A strange look appeared in Tyler’s sharp eyes.

“What a funny guy. An agent? You say such things knowing full well what the structure of the Tower of Despair is like? Are you crazy because you want to tease me… or are you crazy because you want to die?”

The Tower of Despair is literally a distribution of floor occupancy rights based on skill.

In simple terms, it means lining up from the winner to the last place, from the highest to the lowest, in the ‘martial arts competition’.

But what is the intention of me asking the blonde Tyler, who is only on the 6th floor, to remain as the ‘agent of the Tower of Despair’?

Jinseong swallowed dryly as he watched the tendons bulging in her hand holding the gunblade.

There was no time to hesitate.

“I’m saying this because I know what the Tower of Despair is like. Or are you just going to stay on the 6th floor your whole life? Are you someone who always says, ‘This is not my place, I have to go up’?”

“What, what? How did you-.”

When the Tower of Despair was still a live content, the blonde Tyler who occupied the 6th floor used to fight users with APCs, she said as soon as she met the users.

It’s a shame that such a great woman like you is down there like this.

“I want to go up. I’m confident that I have the skills to do so, but I don’t… … I know how that feels. I also know what ‘what’ is scary.”

It might just be a systemic limitation.

Since he is an NPC and cannot change floors arbitrarily, Tyler may be on the 6th floor.

But what if that’s not the case?

Do you have such a proud personality?

“I’m telling you this because you, Tyler, are so helpless. Right now, in your situation, you’re one of the agents of the Tower of Despair.”

It would be scary.

The inevitable consequence of a challenge is the realization of one’s own limitations.

Since Jinseong was able to read her heart, which was greedy but not determined, from the reality she was facing now, he was able to make a suggestion while recalling memories from the days of the game Dungeon & Fighter.

“… …What are you talking about?”

Tyler asked.

Just by the change in her tone of voice, Jinseong knew that he had penetrated her to her core.

“The Tower of Despair will elect three representatives. One from each of the High, Middle, and Low levels. At that time, Mr. Tyler, if you remain here, I will help you get elected.”

So Jinseong was able to come out even stronger.

“How did you do that-.”

“I can do it. Genesis, the center of memory. I will approach that powerhouse myself.”

Even if it’s not the distant past of Dungeon & Fighter when the Tower of Despair was the main content, there is a quest that even users who have recently started playing would have experienced at least once.

‘Newbies who have been playing for a month or two won’t know. It’s different for each character now. But the period of time I’ve been doing awakening quests here is quite long. Almost all of my characters were like that. Most users will remember.’

The main scenario quest, [True Truth: Awakening or True Truth: Awakening], opens when you reach level 95.

It is a quest for the third job advancement for those who have reached the end of the second job advancement.

It has been renewed in the current version of Dungeon & Fighter, but until relatively recently, users had to come here, the Tower of Despair, to complete the quest.

Here, you will face the figures of the records in the Tower of Despair, pulled from the center of memory, the power unit of the Tower of Despair = Genesis, and one of the three APCs that appear at that time is the blonde Tyler!

‘Yeah, it was the same when I introduced DnF to my friend back then. He was the one who grumbled that it was too easy even when dealing with apostles, that epic quests were supposed to be this easy, that DnF wasn’t that great… … . The place where he was so flustered that he was typing on the keyboard… … .’

The main scenario quest itself is very easy in difficulty, so it is a place where users who do not feel any difficulty are confused, and in a way, it is the place where you die for the first time and spend coins.

Jinseong could say this confidently because he remembered that Tyler would naturally take on that role in the future without Jinseong having to step forward himself.

“Blonde Tyler on the 6th floor, Rising Zhao on the 46th floor, and Pungwolju Bihwarang on the 78th floor. I would recommend these three people. They will be the gatekeepers of the Tower of Despair in the future, testing those who come here.”

Blonde Tyler probably doesn’t even know what Genesis is.

You probably don’t even know what the center of your memory is or what your power source is.

You may not even understand how Jinseong makes it possible.

However, one thing about Jinseong’s statement cannot be denied.

“… … Did Azalea say that? Or was it related to the fact that you’re going to Lord Soldoros right now? No, even if that’s the case, you wouldn’t have known the exact floor number.”

Since Tyler is more interested in floors than anyone else, he would know about those floors and the people assigned to those floors very well.

Jinseong drove the wedge in while looking at her with wavering eyes.

“If you don’t guide me, I might just force my way over. If that happens, and I ‘beat’ you, Tyler, you won’t be chosen as one of the agents of the Tower of Despair.”

It was a tone of voice that would have made her rush straight in, but she couldn’t move an inch.

Psychological vulnerability.

Confirmation of the unknown.

Exercise of skill.

Because I was completely caught up in the truth and pretense mixed together.

Ultimately, Tyler had only one choice.

* * *

Again, again, again… … .

The sound of footsteps was followed by a light knock on the door.

The woman wearing a feathered fedora cleared her throat carefully.

“Soldoros, I am a guest with a message from Azalea. May I come in?”

The owner of the 73rd floor of the Tower of Despair, nicknamed ‘Matan 6 Reina’, who was introduced to Jinseong by blonde Tyler, asked.

Jinseong’s heart was beating like crazy.