BFBT 18

Chapter 18

Preparation

After Hwang Kang-ung returned to his duties, May entered the room.

Heavy dark circles hung conspicuously beneath her eye sockets.

“What is that?” Lee Shin asked, squinting.

A skeleton with dark circles? It was nothing more than mana manipulated to mimic the appearance of exhaustion.

“Haha…” May chuckled weakly. “I have compiled and categorized the texts regarding the ancient language as much as possible. I’ve separated the characters by context and stroke order, so you can use this reference for your deciphering work for the time being.”

“Good work. But I already know the ancient tongue, so you don’t need to put on such a theatrical show.”

“…No, Master. It is quite alright.”

If you’re fine, why go out of your way to stage a protest about how hard you worked?

“Regardless, I’ll take over from here. Go rest for a while, or spend your time instructing the residents of Undermost.”

“Understood.”

Once May left, Lee Shin turned his attention to the materials on the ancient script.

Compiling a database like this wasn’t something that could be completed in a day or two; it was a grueling task that normally required several months. May had only managed it because she was an undead skeleton who required no sleep.

‘To think the inscription on that stele would be written in the ancient language.’

Scanning the notes confirmed his suspicion—the symbols on the stele Hwang Kang-ung found were indeed ancient script. The timing couldn’t have been better. He could focus entirely on deciphering them for the coming days.

“Hey, you idiot! If you climb the Tower with form like that, you’ll be beaten to death before you even clear a few floors!”

“Yeah, put some backbone into it! The kid has zero grit, zero! Are you really a former MMA fighter?”

“Argh! How am I supposed to—AAAGH!”

While Shin Ha-neul was momentarily distracted by Baek Hyeon and Kang Ji-hoon’s jeering, Worri struck his wrist with the flat side of his blade.

“You have enough leisure to look away during a duel?” Worri chided. “It seems I was far too soft on you. I gave you too much room.”

“No, wait, that’s not—!”

Worri offered no response to the excuse. Instead, his offensive turned exponentially sharper.

Swish— Swish— Swish—

Shin Ha-neul contorted his body like a mollusk, barely dodging the flurry of incoming strikes. Sweat drenched his clothes as his nerves stretched to their absolute limit.

A single misstep meant Worri’s blade would run him through.

There was not a shred of hesitation at the tip of the skeleton’s sword—no fear of accidentally impaling his opponent. Facing that ruthless precision, Shin Ha-neul felt a horrifying chill down to his bones.

“Gasp!”

Shin Ha-neul’s rear end came frighteningly close to being severed from his body.

The sharp edge narrowly grazed his flesh, but saving his backside cost him his balance. Watching the sword hurtle toward his exposed neck, his life flashed before his eyes, and he shrieked at the top of his lungs.

“AAAAAAGH!”

He screamed hysterically, but no pain followed.

Opening his eyes, he realized Worri’s blade had stopped a fraction of an inch from his throat, and he let out a massive sigh of relief.

“Pfft, look at him. He’s gonna cry again. He’s totally gonna cry.”

“What a pathetic excuse for a man! How are you going to climb the Tower when you blubber over a simple drill?!”

“Damn it! I am NOT crying!”

As Shin Ha-neul shouted in protest, the squeak of rusty door hinges cut through the noise.

Creeeak—

Lee Shin stepped into the training hall.

“Is he crying again?” Lee Shin asked, glancing at Shin Ha-neul.

“I said I’m not crying!” Shin Ha-neul snapped, on the verge of a breakdown.

Ignoring the outburst entirely, Lee Shin looked past him. “You all know we’ll be clearing the 1st Floor and ascending the Tower soon, right?”

“We know,” Baek Hyeon replied.

“That’s why we came to train with Worri.”

“I’ll spar with you instead,” Lee Shin said calmly. “Both of you, come at me together.”

Startled by the offer, Baek Hyeon and Kang Ji-hoon scrambled to their feet.

Lee Shin had been buried in his research for months and had hardly overseen their training. It had been a long time since they had seen him fight in person.

They were eager to show off the fruits of their grueling practice.

“We aren’t the same as before.”

“Prepare to be surprised.”

Determination burned in their eyes.

Just then, the door opened once more.

A man with sharp eyes, a rugged aura, and a sword strapped to his waist walked in. Park Joo-hyuk bowed respectfully to Lee Shin.

“Join them,” Lee Shin instructed.

“Understood.”

With Park Joo-hyuk joining the fray, the motivation in the room surged even higher. Baek Hyeon, in particular, locked his eyes on Park Joo-hyuk. In his mind, his ultimate rival in Undermost was neither Kang Ji-hoon nor anyone else—it was Park Joo-hyuk.

“Come,” Lee Shin gestured with a flick of his fingers.

The moment Baek Hyeon unsheathed his sword, a surge of sword aura materialized, slicing through the air toward Lee Shin.

It was more of a makeshift trick utilizing mana than true sword aura, but the execution was surprisingly lethal. Simultaneously, the spear strapped to Kang Ji-hoon’s back spun rapidly as it hurtled forward in a deadly streak.

“Ho. Not bad.”

Lee Shin’s mana flowed into the ground, raising a dense stone wall from the floor that absorbed the sword aura and deflected the spear’s trajectory.

Anticipating the block, both men seamlessly transitioned into their next combination attack.

Lee Shin flashed a satisfied smile, though neither opponent had the leeway to notice it.

BOOM! BANG!

Though they had briefly held the offensive, control of the battle was seized back in an instant. The two were quickly forced onto the defensive, struggling frantically to parry Lee Shin’s incoming counterattacks.

Dozens of ice spears materialized beneath the ceiling, raining down in a terrifying volley.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

While bombarding the pair, Lee Shin kept a close eye on Park Joo-hyuk.

Unlike Baek Hyeon and Kang Ji-hoon, Park Joo-hyuk’s swordplay was strictly practical and efficient—a silent, assassin-like movement devoid of wasted motion. Yet beneath that stealth lay a tyrannical, fierce edge.

Ice spears rained from above, stone pillars jutted from below, and shockwaves of compressed air detonated in midair.

Triple Casting.

Though the spells deployed were merely low-tier spells of the 2nd and 3rd Circles, the casting speed and tactical versatility were completely out of this world.

While Lee Shin maintained a relaxed composure on the surface, he was inwardly clicking his tongue.

‘My mana rank is only Lv. 2, which caps my spells at the 3rd Circle. I can’t cast anything higher…’

He lacked a definitive high-tier finisher. Spells of the 4th Circle could easily wipe out all three at once, but with his current mana limitations, he had to string together multiple low-tier combinations, which was mildly annoying.

Still, it was merely inconvenient, not difficult.

Dozens of ice spears rained down directly over Baek Hyeon’s head.

“You call yourself a Magic Swordsman, yet you threw away your magic to rely solely on your sword?! Draw a spell formula with your left hand while swinging your blade with your right to forge a path!”

On the other side, a massive wall of fire swept toward Kang Ji-hoon.

“Spinning your spear to disperse flames is fine, but are you only going to block what’s in front of you?! What about your back?! Your flanks?! Above you?! When flames envelop you from all directions, what good does blocking one side do?! How many times have I told you to use wind magic when countering fire, huh?! Think about how to use your mana efficiently!”

The two gritted their teeth, enduring the barrage.

Behind them, Shin Ha-neul’s snickering was grating on their nerves.

‘I am NOT getting humiliated in front of that kid!’‘If I mess up here, I’ll never hear the end of it! I have to show him how a senior fights!’

Meanwhile, Park Joo-hyuk resembled a marionette dancing on invisible strings, forced to contort and evade the ambient Air Bombs detonating without warning around him.

“I told you to master your mana!” Lee Shin shouted toward him. “Right now, your head is filled with nothing but your [Power of Transformation]! Master basic combat before relying on that! Is your mana control still at such a novice level?!”

Park Joo-hyuk clenched his jaw so hard his teeth thundered.

He had trained like a madman, yet he was still nowhere near enough. And this necromancer hadn’t even drawn upon his primary strength—dark magic.

As their concentration reached its absolute peak, the spar neared its conclusion.

Inwardly, Lee Shin was thoroughly impressed by the trio.

Madmen, all of them.

The two who had been trapped on the 1st Floor the longest possessed skills that stood out even within Undermost. Despite receiving no guidance from him over the past few months, they had achieved remarkable growth entirely on their own—without relying on the Tower’s automated stat rewards.

That was the crucial distinction.

Challengers who climbed the Tower naturally grew dependent on system rewards, which ultimately stunted their personal skill development. Eventually, such challengers hit an insurmountable wall on higher floors, perishing against sudden spikes in difficulty and unforeseen variables.

“That’s enough. Good work. You’ve all improved considerably,” Lee Shin said, looking down at the three men sprawled breathlessly across the floor.

Despite their physical exhaustion, their faces were clear and refreshed.

“Don’t get arrogant, though. You’ve only grown this strong because of the time you were forced to spend on the 1st Floor. Even if you break records on the lower floors when you resume your climb, high rankers like Cha Yu-min will catch up to you as the floor numbers rise. Tower Rankers aren’t Rankers for nothing. Keep training without end.”

“Understood!”

“We’ll keep that in mind.”

Lee Shin turned toward the door, then paused.

“Ah, and Shin Ha-neul.”

“Y-Yes?!” Shin Ha-neul flinched, sitting up straight.

“Once we leave the 1st Floor, I’m genuinely worried you’ll get beaten to a pulp wherever you go. When you start climbing, keep your head down and don’t draw attention to yourself. With your current skill, either a fellow challenger or a Tower monster will send you to the afterlife in the blink of an eye.”

“Ugh… okay…” Shin Ha-neul’s shoulders slumped in utter defeat.

When he first entered the Tower, he had envisioned himself as a brilliant rising star conquering the floors with flair. But after realizing he couldn’t even stand up to the average resident of Undermost, his confidence had completely evaporated. He had even struggled momentarily during a recent spar against Auntie Kang’s son.

‘I’m gonna cry for real now…’

Hearing Lee Shin’s blunt assessment, the prospect of climbing the Tower suddenly felt terrifying.

[2,136,320 / 3,000,000]

A massive system display hovered over the central plaza of Undermost.

Toing sat in front of it, collecting points directly from the residents.

“Yey! Thank you very much, kb!”

“Woah! 5,000 points?! Mr. Jang, you’ve been working super hard, kb!”

“Woooow! So many points are coming in, kb!”

Three million points—the target fund to purchase the Soul Plunderer’s Heart.

The goal was finally within sight. Watching the number rise daily fueled the residents’ motivation, spurring them to earn points with even greater ferocity. Meanwhile, the outer walls of Undermost were nearly complete.

Upon hearing that the point collection was nearing its final stage, Lee Shin accelerated the construction of the replacement boss.

“This part… hm, looks good. We won’t need a brain as complex as May’s, right?”

“Master,” May asked with a hint of concern, “isn’t this replacement boss far too powerful compared to the previous 1st-floor boss?”

“It is. The previous boss wouldn’t stand a chance against this one.”

“Why are you making it so strong? If it’s this powerful, won’t new challengers arriving on the 1st Floor be unable to clear it, forcing them to remain stuck here just like the others?”

“That’s the entire point,” Lee Shin replied evenly. “Even after I leave, the 1st Floor needs a boss capable of forcing incoming challengers to grow. Clearing the 1st Floor without building a solid foundation is absolute foolishness. If they won’t train voluntarily, we’ll just have to force them to.”

“I see… But won’t the new challengers resent it?”

“You still don’t understand human nature, May. People who have suffered always want newcomers to go through the exact same trial. When fresh challengers arrive, how do you think the current residents of Undermost will treat them?”

“Ah… They will take it upon themselves to train the newcomers, just as they were trained.”

“Exactly. And even after we leave, the early arrivals won’t be able to abuse their authority or hoard resources unchecked, because a precedent has already been set that high-floor rankers can descend back down to this floor.”

“As expected of Master!”

“Ha! At this rate, we’ll be able to leave the 1st Floor before the Dimension Gate reopens.”

When the next Dimension Gate cycle arrived, the shockwaves across the Tower would be immense.

The global ranking leaderboard was about to be turned entirely upside down.