Conquering the Tower Even Regressors Couldn't-Chapter 333: Eighty-First Floor, Monstrous Might and Malevolent Spirits (1)

Chapter 333: Eighty-First Floor, Monstrous Might and Malevolent Spirits (1)

Time at the rest area passed swiftly. Perhaps it was because the seventy-ninth floor had also been a place of respite. From the outset, the tower hadn’t been particularly generous with the time in the rest area, but the atmosphere was livelier than ever.

The eightieth floor marked the conquest of eighty percent of the tower. There was a collective sense that the summit was finally in sight, that the end was within reach.

Caught up in the excited mood, I spent time with my party, enjoying the moment. I also met Park Sang-Hyuk, the climber who had gathered and passed along the achievement points from lower-ranked climbers.

He is a bit of a fanatic, honestly.

Of course, I was sincerely grateful that he supported me. That sort of admiration added to my divine strength, after all.

Still, locking eyes with me and exclaiming, “Ooh, Light Su-Hyeok!” right to my face—

Well, that is dizzying in its own way.

Of course, just because we were in a rest area didn’t mean I spent all my time relaxing. I joined in just enough to match the mood, but my focus remained elsewhere.

I sparred with fellow climbers, including Alexei, devoted myself to training, and deepened my bond with my spirits.

I even went through my third bout of mana depletion, and each occurrence seemed to grow more painful than the last.

The cracks began reaching deep into the core of my circuits.

Thanks to the divine power that filled them, however, both my mana circuits and physique were becoming increasingly resilient.

Seeing me suffer so much, my party members also began training with renewed intensity. Ha Hee-Jeong stayed close and offered quiet support. She remarked that at her level, magical training could be done entirely in her head.

She sat beside me while I lay worn out, chatting with me and sharing meals.

It was a good time.

For the first time in a while, we revisited memories from university—back when we were twenty—and were far less experienced than now.

It felt good. Even the moments we had once considered embarrassing had turned into cherished, nostalgic memories. The happier ones felt all the more precious.

After the rest area ended, Ha Hee-Jeong and I finally purchased the item we had been aiming for—it cost us 1.5 million achievement points. A staggering amount, yet not a single point felt wasted.

To be honest, even if it had cost us 2 million points, we would have borrowed what we needed to buy it.

The message updated, pulling me from my thoughts.

[Welcome to the eighty-first floor of the Tower of Ordeal: Monstrous Might and Malevolent Spirits.]

[Explore the world. Time remaining: 167 hours 59 minutes.]

[However, the climber is required to hunt at least one Great Yokai[1].]

My vision remained blank white, and I still felt like I was floating. I focused my attention and read the system message carefully. There was nothing particularly unusual about this trial.

A free-form trial, huh.

There was no fixed objective. Actions taken within the trial would be freely determined, with each choice translating into achievement points.

However, one condition still had to be met—slaying a Great Yokai wouldn’t immediately end the trial, but it had to be done within the time limit.

In a way, it resembled a survival-type floor, but the atmosphere felt distinct.

The real goal will be uncovering hidden missions.

Free-form trials often housed multiple concealed challenges. Taking down the Great Yokai was merely the minimum requirement.

That meant I would have to try and find the most rewarding objective or attempt them all.

At times like these, learning about my surroundings and the world I had been teleported to was my top priority. I had to quickly assess the situation and base my actions on any irregularities I discovered.

A full week could seem like a long time, but for a trial of this kind, it wasn’t all that much.

Just then, I felt my senses functioning normally again. My feet met solid ground, and cool air filled my lungs. A beat later, my vision adjusted, and the world came into focus.

It was the dead of night. The tower had summoned me on the side of a mountain, and nestled at its base lay a vast village.

Hmm. What is this?

The village’s appearance had caught me off guard—it looked oddly familiar. Some houses were made from bundled straw, while others had tile roofs.

Of course, they weren’t identical to the traditional Korean homes I had seen back on Earth, and the differences were obvious.

Still, the village resembled it enough to stir something in me.

“Whoa, this is amazing! I’ve never seen a place like that before!” Doppy exclaimed, eyes wide with wonder.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t echo his excitement. From the village center all the way to where we stood, the air was thick with something peculiar.

A strange, sticky sensation clung to everything. I had traveled to many worlds, but this one’s environment felt odd and unfamiliar.

It reminded me of the strange energy Hyun used when practicing his old curses.

Since the trial mentioned yokai, I assumed this was the result of their power. That power blanketed the village and extended all the way to our position. The peaceful appearance of the village was clearly an illusion.

“This isn’t the time to be impressed.”

“Is something wrong?”

“That’s an illusion.”

My serious tone silenced Doppy. He narrowed his small eyes and stared at the village intently, though his expression said he still didn’t understand.

“The village itself is real. But the way it looks right now is an illusion.”

A faint metallic tang of blood drifted in the air, subtle enough that Doppy hadn’t noticed it.

I stepped forward. “Let’s head down.”

Still tense, Doppy responded, “O-okay.”

I immediately activated Master of Shadows, cloaking us in darkness.

Given that the floor’s description message mentioned yokai, I could already guess why the village was shrouded in illusions and reeked faintly of blood.

There was no need to reveal ourselves to our enemies right away. Observation came first.

Even if a yokai isn’t behind the illusion, the principle remains the same.

In a free-form trial, swift and accurate information gathering was essential, especially when the tower hadn’t given an explicit target. Being treated as an outsider would only hinder us.

Besides, I had no intention of settling for just one Great Yokai.

Even if the illusion existed to protect the village and the scent came from animal blood, I still needed to observe the villagers’ behavior.

Whatever the case, I need to approach with care since I was summoned nearby.

Doppy and I advanced in silence, but strangely, the village never seemed to get any closer. It felt as if we were walking in circles. My senses were already on high alert, so I quickly picked up on the weirdness.

What is this?

It wasn’t just an illusion.

Is there a barrier blocking the path?

I sharpened my gaze and attuned myself to the flow of mana.

Since magic wasn’t my strong suit, it took some time. Thankfully, I eventually began to perceive a distinct shift in the atmosphere. It wasn’t a mere illusion.

The illusion is overlaid on top of a barrier, keeping outsiders from entering.

Now I had to figure out how I would break through ot. This wasn’t exactly my area of expertise, and no obvious method came to mind.

Still, I didn’t panic. No illusion was perfect, and the same applied to barriers.

Besides, I just entered the trial.

It probably wasn’t a high-level barrier. There had to be a solution.

I steadied myself and focused fully on the barrier. I couldn’t say how much time passed, but the flow of the yokai's power gradually became visible to me. It looked like there was just enough space to slip through.

I guided my mana gently into the stream of the yokai’s power. When I shifted the flow ever so slightly, an opening appeared in the barrier.

Time was limited.

Grabbing Doppy’s wrist, I dashed through, and the gap closed behind us.

A heavy, oppressive atmosphere settled around us. The yokai’s power was thick, unpleasant, and clinging. The eerie pressure weighed down on my mind.

What the hell.

The radiant village from before had vanished. Only a few torches flickered here and there while everything else was steeped in darkness.

Beneath the unsettling gloom, the village entrance was littered with corpses. Some lay crumpled in the dirt, and others dangled over rooftops.

My gaze followed the trail of bodies upward, and at the village’s center, I spotted a towering pile of corpses. Beside the pile, a grotesque creature sat atop a roof and gnawing on a body.

So that is a yokai.

Though my mind raced, I moved with deliberate caution as I suppressed my presence.

The sight of so many corpses stirred my anger, but I held the rage back, keeping it buried. The moment I allowed emotion to show in my eyes, the creature would undoubtedly sense it. Even at a glance, it clearly possessed considerable strength.

Gradually and silently, I began to close the distance.

Three meters. Holy shit, it is hideous.

The yokai’s skin was a tarnished bronze, and its face resembled that of an ogre or a yaksha[2]. Crimson hair spilled wildly across its shoulders.

It wore a deep blue robe, the kind nobles or high-ranking officials would have worn. However, it was stained with blood, giving off a grotesque and menacing aura.

A massive axe, propped against the rooftop, rested beside it. Seeing that, a competitive spirit stirred within me.

The closer I got, the more tension coiled in my chest.

They said trials get harder starting from the eighty-first floor.

My personal floor seemed especially intense. The power radiating from that creature was no joke.

Still, that couldn’t be a Great Yokai. There was no way such a foe would appear right at the beginning. The Tower of Ordeal wasn’t that generous. It would likely take at least two or three days for the subject of the minimum requirement to appear.

Keeping out of the yokai’s sight, I slipped through a side alley. Scattered along the corpses in robes were spears, swords, and various farming tools.

Hmm?

Just as I was moving past a half-collapsed thatched house, I sensed something strange. The feeling was similar to the yokai’s power I had picked up on earlier.

This wasn’t mana, nor was it a yokai’s power, however. It carried a faint, mysterious resonance, like an echo of some unknown force.

It was so subtle that, if I didn’t focus all my senses, I would have missed it entirely.

Something is there.

I immediately changed direction and examined the area, but found no clear traces. Still, the air felt off, as if something was undeniably out of place.

Is there another illusion here?

This one was on a completely different level from the one earlier, though. I was certain that something or someone was hidden here, but I couldn’t even begin to decipher the structure of the barrier, let alone trace its source.

Abandoning passive observation, I expanded the range of Master of Shadows.

Midnight surrounded us. With the complete darkness cloaking everything, the shadows were more potent than ever. Not a single sound escaped.

“Who’s there?”

No one replied.

Still, I didn’t give up. If something or someone was hiding in a place so close to a yokai, odds were they were an ally.

“I’m here to help, but I need information to hunt the yokai.”

Silence lingered.

Yet, at the edge of that silence, I felt a shift in the strange energy. Subtly, the barrier began to unravel.

“Kghhh—”

With a sick, wet sound, someone emerged—a man in his late thirties and dressed in a white martial robe, soaked crimson with blood. He was missing his right arm, possibly severed by the yokai’s axe. His side was torn open, intestines spilling out grotesquely.

He has lost too much blood.

Beneath him, a dark red puddle had begun to pool around his waist. Even from a glance, it was clear he was moments from death.

In his left hand, he gripped a twisted and broken fan. He lifted his head with great effort and met my eyes, but couldn’t speak.

Only a pained groan escaped his lips. “Ughh...”

His pupils were glazed, unfocused. The shadow of death already loomed across his face.

I turned to Doppy. Doppy was already examining the man’s condition with a serious, focused gaze.

“Can you save him?”

“Hmm. Yes, I can!”

Using divine spells here would undoubtedly alert the yokai to our presence, but that didn’t make me hesitate in the slightest. That thing was going to have to be dealt with eventually. On top of that, someone’s life was at stake.

Doppy was waiting for my cue. I tightened my grip around the handle of my axe.

“Then do it.”

He chanted, “Oh, radiant light, descend!”

Brilliant light filled the space around the fallen man, and divine energy cascaded over him.

Even with Shadow Veil, there was no way to conceal something like this. I dispelled the barrier and climbed onto the rooftop of a nearby building.

The yokai hurled the corpse it had been chewing aside, then reached down and picked up the massive axe beside it. With a metallic clink, it slung the weapon over its shoulder. Its mouth stretched into a disturbingly wide grin.

“There you are!”

1. Yokai are mysterious creatures or spirits from Japanese folklore, ranging from playful tricksters to scary monsters, often tied to nature or old superstitions. ☜

2. A yaksha is a kind of nature spirit from Hindu and Buddhist myths, sometimes friendly and protective, other times a bit scary and powerful. ☜