Chapter 8

Power of Revolution

“Don’t drop your guard.”

Park Ju-hyeok scanned the boss with sharp, calculating eyes.

Even though the Special Task Force had stepped into the room, the boss remained seated without making a move, staring blankly back at them.

“Who… are… you people?”

The boss spoke for the first time.

Park Ju-hyeok chose not to answer the question, opting instead to gauge the situation.

If he were the normal boss, he would ask who we are.

Contrary to Ju-hyeok’s expectations, however, the boss said nothing more, simply raising the hand resting on his chair’s armrest.

“Watch out!”

Banded tight with tension at the unexpected movement, Ju-hyeok shouted a warning. Yet the boss’s seemingly ominous action ended as nothing more than raising his arm.

Ju-hyeok’s brow furrowed.

Minor details, yet every prediction kept missing the mark. Situations like this were far worse than a enemy blatantly displaying danger.

Ju-hyeok felt his nerves fraying tighter by the second.

In times like this, moving is better than standing still. Taking the initiative forces out the enemy’s true intent.

At Ju-hyeok’s signal, his teammates lunged forward toward the boss.

Wuuuung—

Mana bloomed from the tip of the boss’s fingers. A crudely formed Dark Arrow drifted slowly toward him.

What on earth is this?

Gritting his teeth, Ju-hyeok dodged the Dark Arrow, closed the distance to the boss, and thrust his sword forward.

Puk—!

The boss’s neck was pierced so effortlessly it felt anti-climactic.

Chwaaaaak!

Crimson blood sprayed wildly along with the retracting blade. Warm blood soaked his face and body.

Did we really clear it?

It was a hollow conclusion, making all his prior worries feel utterly foolish. Right before his eyes, the boss collapsed, eyes rolling back into his head.

“Everyone, good job—”

Raising his head to look around, Ju-hyeok’s eyes widened in horror.

A skeleton surging with flickering red eye-lights was ruthlessly slaughtering his teammates.

“Team… Leader……”

Puk—!

Chwaaak!

Exuding a sinister aura of mana, the skeleton plunged its bone blade into one of Ju-hyeok’s teammates, then turned its glare toward him. Though no expressions could form on its face, the skeleton clacked its jaw rhythmically, as if mocking him.

Kkadeudeok—

Ju-hyeok ground his teeth so hard his jaw muscles throbbed.

—Boss……

—Run away. I’ll hold them off here….

—I’m so… sorry…. Boss……

Flashes of past memories raced before his eyes.

The comrades he had lost during his days as a mercenary on the battlefields. The dark past buried deep within his chest as trauma began to torment him once more.

—I… resent… Boss……

“Stop! Stop it!”

Ju-hyeok clutched his head, dropping his crude sword onto the ground.

Even after returning to Korea, he had suffered from endless nightmares due to that trauma. He had driven himself to collapse from exhaustion every single day just to force those memories out of his mind.

—Boss… abandoned us.

“No! That’s not true!”

With eyes bloodshot and gleaming with desperation, Ju-hyeok snatched up the sword from the floor and lunged recklessly at the skeleton.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

His wildly swinging blade was both razor-sharp and ferocious. Yet the skeleton, while appearing to give ground, parried every single one of his strikes.

“Die! Die!”

Ju-hyeok bellowed frantically, slashing his sword. His muscles bulged to their limits from severe overexertion, but thanks to the surge of adrenaline, he felt no pain whatsoever. Right now, his mind was consumed solely by the urge to shatter the skeleton that had killed his comrades.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Yet contrary to his desperate wish, the skeleton gradually began to overwhelm him, its bone blade carving wound after wound into his body. Having lost his composure to frenzy, he could not block the skeleton’s calm, calculated strikes.

Ting!

Grip strength fading, Ju-hyeok’s sword was struck by the skeleton’s blade and knocked from his hand.

“Kuh-euk!”

Overpowered by brute force, his head slammed hard against the stone wall. His vision swam as blood dripped down his forehead.

His weakened legs finally gave out, bringing his knees to the floor, his gaze sinking lower and lower. Before him lay his cooling teammates. Their wide, unseeing eyes seemed to glare back at him in resentment.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry……”

Coughing up blood as he gasped for air, he felt utterly pathetic for letting anger blind him, leaving him broken without even avenging his team.

As he raised his head, he saw the skeleton dragging its blade along the stone floor, stepping toward him. Turning his gaze slightly, he caught sight of his fallen teammate’s face.

Right. Let’s not repeat the foolish mistakes of the past.

The bloodshot frenzy in his eyes cleared, returning to their natural state. Watching the skeleton’s movements with quiet composure, he ducked straight into its inner guard.

Give up the flesh to take the bone.

The bone blade sliced deep into his shoulder. Gritting his teeth through the searing pain, Ju-hyeok drove further inward, slamming his body weight against the skeleton.

Simultaneously, using his uninjured arm, he wrapped around the arm holding the blade, twisting the bone with every ounce of leverage he possessed.

Wududeok!

With a sickening crunch of breaking bone, the skeleton’s armed shoulder was twisted backward.

Joy surged within him as he prepared to deliver the finishing blow, but he was forced to barely duck aside as the skeleton’s left fist came flying at him, widening the distance between them.

Wududeok— Wuduk—

“No way…”

The skeleton casually popped its backward-facing arm straight back into place.

In contrast, Ju-hyeok’s left shoulder was shattered beyond utility. The pain he hadn’t felt moments ago flooded through his senses all at once. His entire body creaked and refused to obey.

It hurt.

He wanted to give up.

These thoughts relentlessly tormented Ju-hyeok. The skeleton’s flickering red eye-lights swayed as if laughing at him.

As his head drooped from exhaustion, the sight of his fallen teammates met his eyes once more.

Kkadeuk—

Forcing his creaking body to move, he gripped the sword lying on the floor. His arm trembled violently and his hand lacked proper grip strength, but surrender was not an option. He swore to drag this skeleton down into hell with him.

Clang!

“Keuh-heok—!”

A single slash from the skeleton knocked the sword right out of his hand again. A front kick to the abdomen sent him flying backward, vomiting blood as he collapsed.

Is this the end?

The skeleton’s bone blade was descending toward his head, but he possessed no strength left to dodge.

Am I going to die like this? What about avenging my comrades? My past regrets? Did I really fail to change in the end?

I don’t want to die like this. I want to change. I want to overturn my past regrets. I want to fight! My will is still alive!

As if soaked in madness, tears of blood streaked across his face. Immediately, a golden light erupted from his body, enveloping both him and the skeleton.

“Wh-What is that?”

Watching the duel between Ju-hyeok and the skeleton, Lee Shin’s jaw dropped as he witnessed the golden light bursting from Ju-hyeok’s body.

That light… don’t tell me?

[Unique Ability awakened.]

[Acquired ‘Power of Revolution’.]

“Power… of… Revolution…”

Through blurred vision, Ju-hyeok saw the sudden system notification floating before him. Time felt as though it had frozen in that exact moment. He didn’t know what it was, but it felt like the answer to this hopeless situation.

“…ion.”

Golden energy flooded his vision, and in an instant, their positions completely inverted.

Before he realized what was happening, Ju-hyeok—who had been lying defeated on the ground—found himself pinning the skeleton down from above, raising his sword to strike.

How it happened didn’t matter. Right now, he just needed to crush the skeleton in front of him.

“Die!”

Ju-hyeok swung his sword downward with everything he had.

Kah-k!

Thud—

However, completely depleted of stamina, Ju-hyeok had no strength left to swing. His sword bounced uselessly off the floor, and he collapsed limply over the skeleton.

“Team Leader!”

“You bastard skeleton!”

His teammates—whom he thought were dead—were perfectly fine. They hurriedly rushed over, pulling Ju-hyeok back to inspect his condition. Fortunately, he had merely collapsed from exhaustion; his injuries were not fatal.

“Good work, Worry.”

“Thank you, Master.”

Worry stood up casually and retreated behind Lee Shin. Lee Shin observed the team as they nursed the battered Ju-hyeok.

What Ju-hyeok had seen was a minor trap crafted using pre-purchased Hallucination Grass. The herb induced vivid illusions that triggered the deepest traumas of anyone who inhaled its scent. In truth, the teammates had simply been beaten unconscious by Worry and Lee Shin; not a single person had died.

“Head back. And tell your team leader to come see me once he wakes up.”

“Why… didn’t you kill us?” asked the woman tending to Ju-hyeok, glaring sharply at Lee Shin.

“Hear it from your team leader later. Now leave.”

“……”

Biting her lip, she glared at Lee Shin with anger before turning around to leave. Lee Shin merely scoffed at her retreating figure. It didn’t matter whether she passed the message to Ju-hyeok or not; the party involved would inevitably come seeking answers out of sheer curiosity anyway.

[You have defeated a challenger.]

[You have defeated a challenger.]

[You have defeated a challenger.]

.

.

.

[Mana increased by 80.]

Once they left, Lee Shin recalled the battle between Worry and Park Ju-hyeok with a serious expression.

“He definitely called it the ‘Power of Revolution’.”

Power of Revolution…

This wasn’t a power Park Ju-hyeok had possessed in his past life. In fact, Lee Shin had never seen anyone use such a skill before.

The battle had clearly ended when Worry kicked Ju-hyeok down. Yet along with that golden light, the outcome had been completely inverted.

While he would have to wait for Ju-hyeok’s arrival to learn the exact details, what he had witnessed was already an absurd power.

A power that defies reality… No, saying it defies causality is far more accurate.

The sudden burst of golden light and an ability outside common sense—this was undeniably the awakening of a Unique Ability.

“Awakening a Unique Ability, huh…”

Interesting.

Having partially recovered his body, Park Ju-hyeok visited Lee Shin’s boss room.

Lee Shin had constructed a reception parlor inside the inner area of the boss room, where the two sat facing each other.

“So, you’ve finally woken up?”

“……”

Lee Shin casually sipped his tea while looking at Ju-hyeok, who struggled to speak with a conflicted look on his face.

“…Thank… you.”

Sip—

Hearing the expression of gratitude, Lee Shin maintained a brief silence, taking another sip of tea.

Ju-hyeok found the silence uncomfortable. What is he thinking right now? What on earth is this man’s true identity? Is it really right to sit here having a conversation with a mere floor boss?

He had tried to organize his thoughts before coming, but no matter how much time passed, his mind remained a tangled mess. Ultimately, he realized he would only find answers by facing him directly.

“At least you have basic manners.”

“Why on earth did you do that to me?”

That was his biggest question. He knew this man was different from the other inhabitants of the Tower. But putting that aside, why treat him differently from all the other challengers?

“Just because.”

“Pardon?”

“I said, just because.”

Ju-hyeok frowned, staring at him. Is he playing with me right now?

Yet there was no sign of playfulness on Lee Shin’s face. He might be maintaining a poker face, but he clearly had no intention of elaborating further.

“Even after talking to the other villagers, you only acted differently toward me. As if you knew something about me.”

“I was simply playing a trick on you.”

“…Is that so?”

Ju-hyeok didn’t buy it for a second. However, realizing further questioning would be pointless, he dropped the topic.

“Thanks to that, you awakened your Unique Ability, didn’t you?”

“Was that intentional as well?”

“…Was what intentional?”

Ju-hyeok—who had subtly tried to pry into Lee Shin’s intentions with wordplay—flinched at the response. Lee Shin curled one corner of his lips into a faint smirk and took another sip of tea.

“As if.”

“I… see.”

Ju-hyeok decided it was best not to provoke Lee Shin any further.

staring intently at him, Lee Shin spoke up.

“What are you waiting for?”

“Pardon?”

“Share the info.”

“Ah.”

He demanded the information on the Unique Ability with shameless naturalness. Ju-hyeok had intended to show it to him anyway, but he hadn’t expected him to be so blatantly direct.

“I will share it.”

Lee Shin was secretly surprised that Ju-hyeok shared the information so submissively, having half-expected some resistance. Was he always this obedient?

Tiring!

With a crisp chime, an information window detailing his Unique Ability popped up before Lee Shin’s eyes.

[Power of Revolution]

Alters an established outcome.

Generates Revolution Energy.

Consumes Revolution Energy proportional to the power required to alter the outcome.

Scanning the information window, Lee Shin couldn’t help but freeze in shock for a brief moment, even though he had already guessed its nature.

Alters an established outcome.

This is absurd.

In battle, a single move could overturn victory and defeat or rewrite the outcome of an entire war. This ability meant that even if he lost by a hair’s breadth, got outplayed in a battle of wits, or died from a momentary mistake, the outcome could simply be overturned.

When Worry parried Ju-hyeok’s sword and kicked him down, that exact result had been completely inverted.

“Ha… Hahaha… Hahaha!”

Lee Shin burst into a disbelieving laugh.

To think I’d stumble upon such a treasure here.

Park Ju-hyeok had never been part of his plans; Lee Shin had assumed having him around as minor extra firepower would be enough. As it turned out, he was a hidden gem.

“Come see me here every morning starting today.”

“What do you mean by that all of a sudden?”

“Don’t you want to become strong?”

Ju-hyeok’s puzzled expression instantly hardened. The memory of helplessly losing his comrades was the single strongest driving force behind his decision to enter the Tower. He wanted to grow powerful so that such a tragedy would never happen again.

“I want to become strong.”

Resolute determination rang in his voice.

“Good. Then come find me every morning. I’ll make you strong.”

“Can my teammates join as well?”

To Lee Shin, Ju-hyeok’s teammates weren’t worth spending time on.

Still… should I spare a bit of time for his sake?

“You are the main focus of my attention. I won’t stop your teammates from coming here to train, but I won’t be giving them detailed guidance.”

Ju-hyeok’s face brightened significantly at those words.

“That is more than enough.”

After Ju-hyeok left, Lee Shin took another sip of tea, sinking into thought.

Come to think of it, is it around the time for the Dimension Gate to open?

With no new blood climbing up from the 1st floor, the people on the upper floors were probably losing their minds. He needed to resolve this issue soon, as only Korea’s side of the Tower was trapped in this predicament.

If other nations caught wind of this situation, Korea would find itself in a dire position.

The National War was set to take place across floors 21 through 29, set within the world of the Isocia continent. Korea boasted national power ranking within the top five on Isocia. However, their supply of new manpower had been cut off for nearly a year now. The dynamic of the National War had likely shifted dramatically.

Once the Dimension Gate opened, Korea’s weakened state inside the Tower would be exposed to Earth, and other countries might start placing pressure on Korea like never before. In this world, the strength of a nation’s challengers was synonymous with national power.

Hororok—

The warm, fragrant tea soothed his mind and body.

“Mm, nice aroma.”

Well, whatever. There’s no need to worry.

No matter how difficult things got for Korea or how hard the high-floor veterans were pushed… the moment these guys in the 1st-floor waiting room were unleashed, it would be game over for the US, China, the UK, and everyone else.

The plan was proceeding smoothly.

These challengers would become sharp weapons capable of threatening the gods themselves.