Park Do-yoon, the Seeker climbing the tower faster than anyone else.
As he entered the 6th floor, a vast swamp spread out before him.
He saw pigs rolling around in shallow swamps and mud, with colorful mushrooms growing on their backs.
「You have entered the 6th Floor - 《Mushroom Pig's Swamp》.」
「Please select your desired trial.」
「1. Collect 10 types of mushrooms from Mushroom Pigs (Difficulty: Easy)」
「2. Collect 3 fly agaric mushrooms from Fly Agaric Boars (Difficulty: Slightly Difficult)」
"Obviously number 2."
Park Do-yoon chose the difficult trial again.
In the middle of the swamp, he followed a sign that read 'Fly Agaric Boar Habitat.'
Not wanting to dirty his shoes by entering the swamp, he used the <Sky Walk> skill attached to his boots to walk through the air.
Anyone watching would have marveled at this display of walking on air.
*Though it's a skill that can't fly high.*
As he reached the edge of the swamp, a massive cave appeared before him.
And what emerged from that cave was a giant boar the size of a truck!
"Squeeeeeal!!!"
"Whoa, bigger than I thought?"
Numerous fly agaric mushrooms grew on the boar's back, and its eyes were bloodshot red with excitement.
Its appearance reminded him of monsters whose brains were controlled by some kind of mushroom.
But Park Do-yoon didn't panic and calmly opened one of his 'Spear Bee honey pots' and set it on the ground.
Here's the amazing effect of the Spear Bee honey pot!
Inside the honey pot, made from a substance similar to the beeswax used in hives, is filled with the finest honey!
This honey is incredibly sweet and delicious, and even consuming a small amount has a quick calming effect on mind and body, with properties that soothe the heart!
"Squeal...?!"
Drawn by the sweet scent, the boar chomped down on the entire honey pot, and soon its excitement subsided and its aggression mellowed.
Meanwhile, Park Do-yoon analyzed the fly agaric boar's habits with his Seeker skill.
*If I'd touched the fly agaric mushrooms while it wasn't calmed down, poisonous spores would have burst out? Giving it the honey pot first was the right answer.*
Having finished one honey pot, the fly agaric boar stared intently at Park Do-yoon.
"Want more? Alright, eat up."
Park Do-yoon refilled two more honey pots without hesitation.
After feeding it three honey pots in succession, the fly agaric boar lowered its head with a satisfied expression and presented its back.
When he carefully collected 3 fly agaric mushrooms from the boar's back, a system message immediately appeared.
「You have cleared the 6th Floor trial!」
「For clearing the 'Collect 3 fly agaric mushrooms from Fly Agaric Boars' trial, your reward will be changed!」
「You will receive 7 'Rainbow Mushrooms' as a reward.」
「A portal to the 7th Floor will be generated.」
"These 'Rainbow Mushrooms' will be key to conquering the next floor, right?"
Park Do-yoon collected the rainbow mushrooms and entered the portal leading to the 7th floor.
The light inverted, and a vast sky came into view.
This time, surprisingly, a steep mountainous region spread out.
And at the mountain peak was a nest with a giant chicken.
A massive beast with a chicken body and a snake's head for a tail.
A bird-type monster commonly called a 《Cockatrice》 was atop the mountain.
「You have entered the 7th Floor - 《Cockatrice's Nest》.」
「Please select your desired trial.」
「1. Steal 3 Cockatrice eggs (Difficulty: Slightly Easy)」
「2. Capture 1 Cockatrice (Difficulty: Slightly Difficult)」
"Number 2 again."
Park Do-yoon selected the difficult mission again and looked up at the peak of that high mountain range.
"With the nest that high up, just climbing will be tough."
Then, a maid who had been waiting nearby approached.
"Climber who selected trial 2, do you need an explanation of the trial?"
"Sure, give me a brief explanation."
"Understood. Then—"
To summarize the maid's explanation, the Cockatrice has powerful leg strength and sharp claws, wings capable of short-term flight, and a snake's head with petrifying venom fangs attached to its long tail.
And Park Do-yoon received a capture rope from the maid.
"So the clear condition for this trial is to subdue the Cockatrice by any means, then tie it up with this rope and bring it back?"
Having perfectly understood the trial's contents, Park Do-yoon immediately took out and ate one 'Rainbow Mushroom.'
The Rainbow Mushroom's effect was... the ability to freely fly through the air for a full 5 minutes!
A rainbow-colored aura rose from his entire body as he began to float into the air.
"Oh, this is pretty nice?"
He quickly learned the sensation of floating in the air by moving around in various directions, then immediately flew toward the Cockatrice's nest!
Upon reaching the nest, a male Cockatrice flew across the sky in place of the female brooding the eggs.
"Kshaaaaaaaa-!!!! Trulalalala-!!!!"
The Cockatrice's sharp claws and snake fangs simultaneously attacked Park Do-yoon.
But Park Do-yoon calmly threw a 'Rabbit Grenade' at the Cockatrice and flew away.
Click!
"Tru-?"
-KWAAAAAAAANG!!!!!!!
Point-blank explosion.
The Cockatrice fainted and fell below the cliff—
"Oops, I need to capture it."
Park Do-yoon flew back, caught the Cockatrice, and brought it to the ground.
After tying up the Cockatrice tightly with rope and bringing it to the maid, a system window announcing the clear appeared.
「You have cleared the 7th Floor trial!」
「For clearing the 'Capture 1 Cockatrice' trial, your reward will be changed!」
「You will receive 10 'Cockatrice Eggs' as a reward.」
「A portal to the 8th Floor will be generated.」
The climb continued.
「You have entered the 8th Floor 《Fur Snake's Jungle》.」
「Trial: Pick up 2 Fur Snake molts (Difficulty: Slightly Easy)」
"No choices here?"
In a jungle literally inhabited by giant snakes with fur all over their bodies, Park Do-yoon moved quickly.
Various fur-skinned snakes threatened him by opening their large mouths along the way, but when he threw them Cockatrice eggs one by one, the snakes went crazy and began devouring the eggs.
Some snakes even started fighting over a single egg.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Park Do-yoon successfully found and picked up 2 molts shed by fur snakes in the jungle.
The trial was immediately cleared.
「You have cleared the 8th Floor trial!」
「Select your reward.」
- Curly Hair Snake Leather Coat
- Stiff Hair Snake Leather Pants
- Straight Hair Snake Leather Shirt
"Ho, I can choose the reward?"
Park Do-yoon pondered for a moment, then selected the Curly Hair Snake Leather Coat.
「'Curly Hair Snake Leather Coat' will be provided.」
「A portal to the 9th Floor will be generated.」
"Good, so from now on it's truly uncharted territory."
From now on, truly incomprehensible territory.
He took a deep breath, then entered the portal.
---
「You have entered the 9th Floor - 《Twisted Nether Rabbit Garden》.」
---
"-Huk!"
Park Do-yoon opened his eyes.
Wind brushed across his cheek.
Blue sky, gray city buildings.
...Not the tower.
Outside the tower.
He had collapsed on the street near My Home Tower.
His breathing was rough, and his fingertips were soaked with cold sweat.
Something was wrong.
"...Did I die?"
Park Do-yoon stared silently at the sky for a long time.
And slowly—
Strange afterimages of memories echoing in his head surfaced.
My Home Tower's 9th floor.
Bizarre scenes he witnessed there replayed in fragments.
A mackerel rabbit swimming through the sky.
A spider rabbit crawling on walls with 8 legs.
A heavy bear rabbit with a bear's body.
A crow rabbit flapping black wings as it flew.
A cat rabbit that was flexible and agile like a cat.
A rabbit-rabbit with two bodies attached.
A rabbit-rabbit-rabbit with three heads...
"...What was that."
They only shared the appearance of 'rabbits,' nothing more, nothing less.
Something that shouldn't exist in this world.
And... at the center of that group,
There was one strange being.
—A rabbit beastkin in bunny girl attire.
She was leisurely munching on snacks that looked like potato chips.
But behind her back, a grotesquely shaped rabbit was drooling and growling.
The rabbit beastkin had said something, definitely content that provoked me.
And—
His memory after that was blank.
"...How did I die after that?"
Park Do-yoon couldn't remember his death at all.
Cold sweat ran down his spine.
Goosebumps rose all over his body.
Deep somewhere in his brain, fear and curiosity were tangled and writhing.
"...Fascinating."
He quietly let out a hollow laugh.
A sensation he'd never felt once while climbing so many towers and breaking through trials.
Unknown beings, incomprehensible beings had always existed.
But the Seeker's power had always dismantled, interpreted, and organized them.
Strange, but ultimately all 'understandable things.'
But this time—
He couldn't figure out anything.
Truly unknown.
Incomprehensible.
Something existing outside cognition.
For the first time in his life, he had failed at 'seeking.'
But—
For that very reason,
He wanted to dig into its true nature even more.
"Tomorrow, I'll prepare again and challenge it...!"
A faint thrill arose in Park Do-yoon's eyes.
