Chapter 20: 2nd Floor Hidden (4)

“Oh…”

I examined the accessories. I had actually managed to get all three. If I had chosen only one, would the reward room have contained only that specific item? It seemed hidden rewards could vary depending on my actions. I’m glad I took the risk.

I picked up the necklace. It had a silver chain decorated with a small, ruby-like gemstone in the center. Only then did the item information appear.

The description matched Hailyn’s explanation. Essentially, I had to summon him, fight him, and win to use him as a familiar.

“Recommended Level 50…?”

The fact that the usage notification appeared meant summoning him was possible. However, a level 50 recommendation naturally meant he was as strong as a Level 50 entity. After clearing the hidden stage and gaining 5 levels, I was currently Level 30. If I fought him now, I’d probably die. They were giving me an item I couldn’t even dream of using yet. I set it aside for now.

Next was the bracelet—the power of a dark spirit. This was likely something I could use immediately. No specific notification popped up, so I simply put the bracelet on.

“…!”

Faint black energy began to ooze from the bracelet. It gathered in the air before me, forming a small sphere. Was this the dark spirit? I cautiously reached out toward it, but my fingers passed right through it as if it were smoke.

“…Hello?”

I tried greeting it first. Since affinity was important, I figured I should try to be friendly. The round dark spirit floated around my head as if inspecting me before returning to my front. It was a strange sensation; I could faintly feel the spirit’s mood as if we were connected. It seemed to be saying, ‘Well, you’re not too bad.’

“That’s a relief. So, you’ll let me use your power, right?”

According to Hailyn, it provided the ability to see through darkness—Night Vision. Since the reward room wasn’t dark, I couldn’t test it right away.

“Do you have any other abilities? Can’t you just show me something?”

I poked at the untouchable spirit while speaking. I stopped when I felt the spirit grumbling in annoyance. It was actually a little cute.

“Alright, sorry. Let’s get along from now on.”

Diul, the dark spirit, slipped back into the bracelet. If its only ability was Night Vision, it wouldn’t be exceptionally useful, but…

‘I should think of it as a growth-type item.’

Since more abilities could be unlocked as affinity increased, I had something to look forward to. Finally, the ring.

That was the entire description. Did it really have no effect? I inspected the ring from various angles.

“Why did this even drop?”

Since it was classified as an item, surely it had a purpose? Hailyn did mention she would grant a request if I visited the Dapria Family, but my conquest of the 2nd floor was over. It wasn’t like we’d meet again… Hmm.

Having checked all the items, I moved on to the pure reward: the Skill Stone.

Another passive skill. The rank was Rare+ rather than just Rare, befitting a hidden reward, but… I felt a bit underwhelmed.

“Why is it that no Magic skills are dropping?”

Not a single Magic skill had appeared on the 2nd floor. Although it’s said that Magic skills drop less frequently than Physical ones, I wondered if I should just consider myself lucky for getting only Magic skills on the 1st floor. I read the description for Sixth Sense again. Better detect danger—the description was vague. It seemed I’d only be able to confirm its effects when I was actually in a dangerous situation.

Hailyn’s three-piece accessory set and the Sixth Sense skill. That was the end of the 2nd floor hidden rewards. My level had also increased by 5. I had gained a lot, yet I felt strangely empty. One item was unusable for now, one was a growth-type, one was just an ornament, and the skill was a passive. It was only natural to feel this way.

Oh, right. I forgot one thing. There was also that useless Top-Grade Magic Stone. I tossed the new stone onto the pile of magic stones stacked in a corner of the reward room.

‘Well, let’s look on the bright side. It’s better in the long run.’

The necklace having a level 50 recommendation meant I could eventually tame a powerful familiar. Once I cleared the hidden stage of the 3rd floor, I’d be level 45, so it might be worth a shot then.

“The 3rd floor…”

Come to think of it, I was already treating my entry to the 3rd floor as a foregone conclusion. It was likely because clearing the 2nd floor had made one thing clear: hoping for someone else to clear this insane difficulty was a futile expectation.

…Right. I should give up on those hopes now. It was time to make a firm decision.

—

After resting for a day, I immediately re-entered the 2nd floor for repeated clears. Now that I had finished the hidden stage, I needed to organize and upload the information for the 2nd floor. I needed to verify the exact locations and number of illusionary platforms. This time, I planned to jump on every single one to check if there were any others besides the fourth one.

I moved to the third platform using Leap and Teleport. Standing before the fourth illusionary platform, I stroked my chin.

‘The mechanism was that the hidden platform appears only after the illusion disappears, right?’

If so, maybe I didn’t need to step on it directly? Could I just trigger it from a distance? I fired a Flame Strike at the illusionary platform. The fireball passed right through the illusion and flew off into the distance. The illusionary platform vanished, and the hidden platform beside it appeared.

“It works.”

With this method, one wouldn’t even need a skill that allowed movement in mid-air, though they would need some kind of long-range attack. I jumped toward the platform.

“Ugh.”

I had intended to succeed without using Teleport, but I failed. I had to use Teleport to get onto the platform. Even after trying again, it wasn’t easy. Maybe I should use this place for training to sharpen my physical senses? It was something to consider.

I stepped on the subsequent platforms one by one. Five, six, seven… they were all normal platforms, not traps. Then, I reached the eighth and final platform before the large floor.

“…?”

I felt a strange sensation in front of the eighth platform. A slight feeling of discomfort? That discomfort was clearly originating from the eighth platform. I soon realized the cause.

‘Wait, is this… the effect of the Sixth Sense skill?’

Better detect danger. I already knew the fourth platform was dangerous, but I hadn’t known about the eighth one. Given this feeling, it must also be an illusionary platform. I fired a Flame Strike. Sure enough, the platform vanished like a phantom, and a hidden one appeared.

‘So this is how the skill activates.’

It was quite impressive. Of course, Sixth Sense hadn’t told me exactly what was dangerous or how. Since I already knew platforms could be illusions, I put the pieces together; if I had no information, I probably would have just felt a vague sense that something was wrong with the eighth platform. Even so, it was incredibly useful.

The greatest burden in conquering the Tower is the lack of information—the complete unknown where you cannot tell what kind of danger lies in wait. While later Climbers might have it easier, it was a burden the first person to clear a floor had to bear. With a skill like this, that risk could be significantly reduced.

‘Nice. Very nice.’

Satisfied after confirming the effect of my new skill, I crossed over to the large floor. I confirmed that the fourth and eighth platforms were illusions in the first section, and then proceeded to verify the remaining traps. The glowing platforms were in the same positions as the last two times, as were the protruding floor tiles.

After finishing my inspection, I entered a few more times to see if the trap locations changed. They didn’t. If there were differences between individuals, there was nothing I could do about that, but I’d have to include a warning. However, considering every minor detail had been identical for everyone on the 1st floor when I discussed it with Mr. Rhino, the 2nd floor would likely be the same.

“Time to upload.”

It took quite a while, but I finished organizing the information. Returning to my room, I lay on my bed and began writing a post on the Nightmare Communication Window.

—

Several days had passed since the 2nd floor of Nightmare Difficulty was cleared. Public attention was focused solely on the identity of the person who had cleared it. The Nightmare Communication Window had remained silent, and there was no news through the media. Only the USA had released an official statement, clarifying that it wasn’t them.

Unlike the 1st floor, the importance of external support from the 2nd floor onward was immense. The prevailing—and logical—opinion was that other Climbers receiving national support were more likely to have cleared the 2nd floor than Person123, the first Nightmare Conqueror known to be an Unregistered Climber. While he would have received first-clear rewards, could that really compare to the Skill Stones, enhancement stones, and items poured into a candidate at a national level?

Amidst the flood of speculation, a single post appeared on the Nightmare Communication Window.

Just like a year ago, the post began with a simple, concise sentence.