Chapter 167 Set (1)

The air split and the red portal opened.

The Monkey King’s vestige could feel a familiar energy beyond it.

It was a sharp and heavy energy. The form was different, but it was the same as him.

And a small boy entered the imaginary world.

A mischievous smile, and a small height. Kindred kneeled and bowed his head.

Then, Kindred showed a new side of himself. Like he was greeting the god he served, he spoke with polite manners.

“Another face of the great heaven king. I’ve come to serve you.”

***

When he went outside, all the benefits he received from the dragon god disappeared and he could feel the constraints of the fifth mountain again.

However, the world he saw with Extrasensory Perception wasn’t uncomfortable anymore.

Yeon-woo swept his hair and turned his head.

‘Did they go already?’

He spread his Extrasensory Perception across the dungeon. Fortunately, he couldn’t feel Kahn and Victoria. Seeing as how there weren’t any bodies, it seemed like they avoided the Devil Army.

Kahn would definitely have known that it was foul play by Kindred since he was pretty clever.

Victoria was skilled enough to hide their presences after her magic power was  replenished.

So he widened the range of his Extrasensory Perception and searched outside the dungeon to see if Kindred or the Devil Army was still there.

But it told him that only they were there. He couldn’t find any other traces.

Then where had they gone?

Yeon-woo narrowed his eyes, but shook his head a moment later. It was a good thing they were gone. Even if they were here, it wouldn’t be hard to hide from them. It was enough if Kahn and Victoria had managed to escape safely.

He sighed in relief and headed towards where Rebecaa’s body was. It was hard to recognize her bloodied figure.

Yeon-woo felt gloomy. Even if he wasn’t that close, he was able to see that she was responsible and knew how to take care of herself.

He saw from how even though she wasn’t in the best condition, she tried to save Victoria who was in danger. The fact that she was Cernunnos’s apostle pulled him to her even more.

The god of hunting. His name wasn’t that well known, but he knew that he was among the greater gods.

‘Is there a way for me to retrieve this person’s soul?’

The Black Bracelet only allowed him to take the souls of those he killed. She wasn’t included in that.

And her soul wasn’t left here. It had probably already returned to Cernunnos.

Yeon-woo hesitated for a moment, and put her body in Intrenian.

There was a method he could try, although she might not like it. If she denied it, he could just return her to her original state.

He began walking, and ate all the pieces of the monkey statues with his left hand. Then, he damaged the plaque with the 72 Arts on it so no one could see.

As he did, he purified all the leftover vestiges. He didn’t leave behind the traces on the wall either.

‘I guess there’s no need to leave it behind.’

Yeon-woo was planning on breaking everything before he left.

The Monkey King’s vestige had said so. That the pieces of the Ruyi Bang were scattered all over the tower, and there were many successors trying to look for it.

Then they were enough. He didn’t need new rivals.

And more than anything, he couldn’t let anyone else take Heaven Things for themselves.

Especially the Devil Army.

He was going to have to himself.

And that day.

The cave in the 5th mountain that had been there for a long time collapsed. Then, Yeon-woo entered the portal to the 21st floor.

[This is the 21st floor, gate of the ‘Shadow Dojo.’]

With blue waves, a new sight came into his vision. Was it because of the freedom from the limits of the 20th floor? He felt that the outside air was refreshing his lungs and mind.

In front of Yeon-woo, there was a large building.

The Skill Archives of the One-horned tribe was smaller than this. Yeon-woo’s eyes widened.

He saw the 21st floor’s stage in the diary, but it was bigger than he thought.

[It’s been a while coming here.]

The Black Bracelet lightly shook, delivering Shanon thoughts to him.

‘I guess it was fun?’

[There was no place like here for me.]

‘I see what you mean.’

Yeon-woo thought of the information of the 21st floor he saw in the diary.

If the 20th floor is somewhere to fix yourself, the 21st floor is to check how much you’ve changed. 

You move in 33 different sections, and you have to beat the shadows in each section or endure them until the time’s over. There isn’t a better place than here to check how much you’ve improved. 

And if the shadows see that you’re someone registered on the hall of fame, then it’s a good opportunity to see their special characteristics or abilities. 

The theme of the 21st stage was basically a ‘dojo break.’

Like its name, this was a dojo for people who were training their martial arts.

The dojo was divided into an outer section and an inner section.

It was set up so people could train by themselves with the basic soldiers supplied by the Tower.

Sometimes, there were scarecrow dolls, which allowed for you to train your basic martial arts.

From the entrance of the dojo, there were 5 doors numbered 1 to 5. The higher the number, the higher the difficulty, and once you passed a door, you had to clear the 33 sections straight from there.

What you had to do in each section was simple.

Within the limited time, you had to defeat the shadow given in that section, or endure their attacks.

And the shadows were illusions that replicated the 1 to the 165th ranked player on the 21st floor’s hall of fame.

After the Tower was created, countless strong players passed through it and left records.

Of them, this was the hall of fame that only the top skilled players would be able to leave their mark.

All players wanted to put their name on it, and only a few were able to have this honor.

So normal players felt extremely pressured when entering the stage.

Even if they chose the lowest difficulty door, it had the illusions of the players ranked from 165th to 133rd. Among them, there were Lords or apostles.

If there was a relief, it was that you could still pass if you endured the attacks. And if you were hurt, it was possible to heal yourself and try again.

And like what the diary said, you could see the younger selves of the rivals you might meet in the future, and this was a good place to study them.

Of course, those whose illusions were left had to train again because they didn’t want anyone else seeing their weakness. But if you’re name was on the hall of fame, it was a good thing in many ways.

However, what was an honor to most didn’t really matter that much to Yeon-woo.

Until now, except for the 10th floor, Yeon-woo had placed first in all the floors. And on the 10th floor, he was only a few points away from Edora, who was first, so he had still accomplished a great feat.

So people thought that Yeon-woo would clear this floor easily.

However.

Yeon-woo couldn’t simply accept that.

‘A replication of the players.’

Yeon-woo was deep in thought, and he popped up the message of people who were on the hall of fame.

[21st Floor Ranking]

1st. Bivasbat

2nd. Lo Wei

3rd. Hugh

Yeon-woo slowly scrolled down with a shaking finger.

4th. Cha Jeong-woo

***

He didn’t enter the trial right away,.

Because he was on the 20th floor for such a long time, he had some errands to do. And someone to go say hi to.

As soon as he moved out of the Tower through a red portal, he headed straight for the One-horned tribe’s village.

“Hm? Who’s this? Isn’t this Yeon-woo, who’s harder to see than a flying pig?”

When Phante heard that Yeon-woo returned, he dropped everything and came running. He greeted Yeon-woo with narrowed eyes.

Had he been farming? He had a straw hat on, and there was a rake on his shoulder. His skin that had been pretty dark from being out in the sun a lot was darker than ever.

Yeon-woo just looked at such a Phante then turned to ask Yanu.

“What about Edora?”

Phante shouted in anger.

“Aren’t you being too unfair to someone who’s talking to you!”

“Got it, that’s enough. How did it go with the Legendary Beast?You said that it was time for it to hatch soon.”

Phante sighed, knowing that Yeon-woo wouldn’t take his complaints. He felt that he was being ignored by everyone in the village these days.

“The Legendary Beast woke up a long time ago.”

But he still looked a bit angry at Yeon-woo.

Of course, it didn’t work on Yeon-woo.

“Where?”

“Follow me.

Yeon-woo followed Phante to the outskirts of the village.

Everyone that they passed by said hi to Yeon-woo. He didn’t remember some of them, but they all felt familiar, so he said hi back.

Then, they arrived at some cottage.

But the cottage was already crowded with people. He could see the elders running around with smiles on their faces.

They had been like this when Krrung was hatched too. It seemed they were curious about the newborn Legendary Beast.

With Phante’s help, he managed to get by all the people and enter. Then, he coincidentally looked someone in the eye.

“You’re…..?”

The guy narrowed his eyes at Yeon-woo and frowned at him. Then, he coldly laughed.

“Ah, I heard the Legendary Beast was related to you. I thought it looked stupid. And just big. Makes sense now.”

He clearly expressed his enmity to Yeon-woo and left.

After, they were able to smoothly pass by the people.

“What a strange guy.”

“Hehe. Strage. His face completely changed when he saw you. I heard that he suffered a lot because of you, so he probably hates you a lot.”

Yeon-woo tilted his head.

“Hm? Do I know him? Who is that?”

“Huh?”

Phante stared at Yeon-woo to see if he was joking, and when he saw that he was being serious, he burst out laughing.

“Hhaahahah! I guess you’re not laughing. That Jang fellow’s gonna be steaming when he finds out. Heheh. I guess you don’t have to remember the face of someone you defeated. Your personality is good in that relaxed way.”

“Jang?”

Yeon-woo was able to remember who that was after hearing his name.

When he first entered the One-horned tribe, this was the guy that he had beat pretty easily. He was supposed to be in the running for a king along with Phante, but after that, his reputation had taken a dip. He remembered that he was the son of the Baekson family.

After that, he never saw him in the village, so he had almost forgotten about him.

Yeon-woo had a pretty good memory of people he met, though. He didn’t see the guy he knew in the past in that guy’s face.

“Well, I suppose it’s understandable you didn’t recognize him. Since I was surprised when I first saw him as well. I don’t know if he’s taking drugs or something, but he’s definitely different.”

Phante seemed to think that it was strange, but he just shrugged like he wasn’t that interested.

Yeon-woo looked towards where Jang disappeared and narrowed his eyes.

‘Demonic energy…..’

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