Chapter 13: Preparation II - Strap-On and Sewer Shot

William stood at the center of the first floor. First time down here, and it was nothing like the lord’s floor, it was just a blank canvas, lifeless and empty.

He’d expected to spot a door or some entrance for the climbers, but nope, just cold gray stone walls. The only light came from yellowish stones on the walls and ceiling, barely making the place visible.

With less than six hours to go, he figured it was time for some finishing touches. He pulled up his inventory and eyed the ’Poison Arrow Traps Blueprint.’ Just as he used it, Rollie chimed in.

[Poison Arrow Trap Blueprint Detected.]

[Resources required: 200 Wood, 600 Stone, 50 Iron, 25 Poison(low), and 10 TP.]

[Construction will take 5 minutes. Please confirm to proceed.]

William scowled at the requirements. "This is bullshit," he muttered. "Every damn thing from that deal is getting sucked up, with TP as well. That looney tunes rabbit just robbed me. Not like I can do anything about it, she’s scary as hell." Just thinking about her sent a shiver down his spine.

With no other choice, he confirmed it. The floor rumbled as the walls started closing in. William wasted no time, he bolted to the far end, not about to get pancaked between the walls. After two minutes, the side walls had shrunk the space to a single straight pathway, about eight feet wide.

Next, the floor shifted, tiles popped up along the path. Two tiles per row, stretching for nearly eighty meters. Arrow triggers hid beneath them, randomly.

For the final touch, arrows materialized, then vanished into the walls. William’s eyes went wide as he watched the trap set itself.

In five minutes, the whole floor looked completely different. William could still spot where the arrows and triggers were, maybe a perk of being the tower lord, but to anyone else, they’d be invisible. As soon as it finished, a completion message popped up.

[Poison Arrow Trap is completed]

Looking over the finished floor, he murmured, "That’s enough of a welcome. Anyone who survives this will meet us on the second floor."

Now all that was left were the two free gacha rolls he’d saved from daily sign-in. Maybe he could’ve stacked them for a Rare draw, but right now, he needed anything remotely useful.

He headed back to the lord’s floor. "Rollie! Roll both the gacha." The same process kicked in.

Twenty cards materialized before him, floating in the air in four neat rows of five. This time, he didn’t have any gut feeling, so he just picked two at random. The rest vanished instantly. Not wasting time with any pointless, dramatic one-by-one reveal, he flipped both cards over at once.

As soon as he saw what was written on them, he froze. One card: Bloodline. The other: Charm Enhancer. His hand trembled as he stared at the bloodline card.

"Di... Did I seriously just get a bloodline from a Common draw? A real fucking bloodline." There was no mention of which race it belonged to, but just getting a bloodline was enough to get his heart pounding.

Before he could even start celebrating, Rollie chirped in with her usual bubbly voice.

[Congratulations! You’ve won: Grubkin Bloodline (Common)]

[Congratulations! You’ve won: Incubus StrapOn (Common)]

The cards vanished, replaced by two items in his hands. In his left, a strap of black leather with a hollow cup. In his right, a transparent vial of greenish-grey sludge swirling in a disgusting way.

William stared at both rewards, silently, while Rollie pulled up the item descriptions.

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Item: Grubkin Bloodline (Common)

Type: Consumable

Description:

A bloodline from small wiry cave scavengers famous for surviving on things that no sane person would ever call food.

Racial Traits: Iron Stomach

Digestion: You can digest anything. Even the filthiest crap imaginable.

Minor Regeneration: Grubkin loves filth, the nastier you eat, the faster you heal.

Poison/Bacterial Resistance: Filth can mean bacteria and sometimes poison. Don’t worry, you’ve got resistance for that, too.

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Item: Incubus Strap-On (Common)

Type: Accessory

Effects: Boosts your charm by 25%, affecting anyone, male, female, intelligent race, or even the brainless monster. No exceptions.

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After reading both item descriptions, William’s face twisted like he’d just seen a wrinkly old man’s dick. His eyes bulged with rage as he exploded,

"Whaaaaaat... in the shithole kind of bloodline is this? I get to eat literal shit and not die? Fantastic. Just fucking fantastic. And here I thought goblins were as low as it got."

"And the strap-on, what am I supposed to do, greet climbers by whipping out my dick and hope half of them drop dead from nosebleeds? This fucking gacha is a joke."

While William raged, Rollie chimed in.

[Any reward you get from gacha is based on your luck]

Still fuming, he snapped at Rollie, "Yeah, fucking luck. Which is ZERO! What the hell am I supposed to do with these?"

[Calm down, babe. You’re not thinking straight. Every item you get from gacha has some use. Take the Grubkin Bloodline you’re whining about, it grants poison and bacterial resistance.]

William grudgingly calmed down after what Rollie said. But when he looked at the disgusting sludge in the vial, he growled, "Oh hell no. Not in a million years am I drinking this shit! What if I look like some rat licking slimes off rocks? I actually like being human, especially after getting this body," he muttered, thinking the bloodline would turn him into a freak.

[You’re underestimating your physique. Even a god’s bloodline wouldn’t change a single strand of your hair. Absolute Origin Physique is one of the most superior physiques in existence, so chill, you’ll look exactly the same.]

He kept staring at the vial, changing every shade of disgust on his face. He’d expected the path to strength to be brutal and bloody, but no one warned him it’d be this damn gross.

First, he threw the strap-on into his inventory. There was no way in hell he was turning into some male stripper, even if it’s the last line.

Then he brought the vial closer and muttered, "How the hell am I supposed to drink this? It looks like sewage water scooped from a century-old abandoned house."

He stared at the vial for a long moment, then, hand shaking, popped it open and took a cautious sniff. The stench hit him hard. He jerked back, gagging—

’Bleghhhhhhh!’ 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

He almost threw up on the spot. It smelled like the shitiest shit to ever come out of any hole.

Once he’d recovered from the stench, he steeled himself. He grabbed some fruit from his inventory, pinched his nose, and clutched the vial in his other hand. "Mango Slush... Mango Slush... Mango Slush..." he chanted, desperately trying to trick his brain.

Eyes shut, he gulped it in one go. The second it hit his tongue, he howled, "NOOOO! IT’S BAD! It’s really, really bad!" Cent and Lumina turned around, their eyes wide, looking equally worried and terrified.

For William, it felt like his tongue had just been violated. He frantically grabbed the fruits and started stuffing them into his mouth, but the vile taste clung on like a curse.

Tears streamed down his face as he choked down the last piece. His taste buds went numb as his tongue begged for mercy. While William waged war against the aftertaste, Rollie cheerfully chimed in.

[Grubkin Bloodline detected...]

[Absolute Origin Physique absorbing the detected bloodline...]

[0%...3%...6%...]

He didn’t give a shit about the system messages flashing in front of him. All that mattered was getting rid of that hellish aftertaste.

After a solid minute, the taste finally faded. William collapsed to the floor, letting out a shaky sigh of relief. "No way in hell am I drinking something like that again, even if it gives me extra lives. My taste buds are dead. I’ll be lucky if I taste anything ever again."

[Grubkin Bloodline has assimilated with your physique.]

[Racial Trait is now available in your status.]

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As the first tower trial drew near, the entire tower expanse buzzed with tension. Every tower lord was scrambling for survival, fear gnawing at their hearts. Who wouldn’t panic, trapped in some death game?

Each lord did what they could, some scattering troops across every floor, others clustering their forces around the tower core and themselves.

Time didn’t give a damn, now there were only a few minutes left. System notifications flashed like warning sirens, reminding everyone that the trial was about to begin.

[Greetings, tower lords.]

[In five minutes, the tower trial will begin.]

[Tower Management unlocked.]

[You may now view any floor from anywhere in the tower, and monitor climber status through Tower Management.]

[Climber’s Path unlocked.]

[Tower lords may select and exclude specific floors for climbers.]

[Note: Lord’s floor cannot be excluded from Climber’s Path.]

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[A/N]: Please consider supporting by sending some Power Stones and Golden tickets. Your support means a lot and really helps me continue writing.

Loila’s character design is attached in the comment