Chapter 95 – How A Veteran Grows (2)

Kim Gitae was given 5 days to recruit players for the labyrinth raid.

During that time, Jin-hyuk visited various concerts and restaurants that had been prepared by Kim Hee-wong.

And his current location was the Chopin International Piano Competition.

It was a piano competition held once every five years and one of the world’s three major music competitions where people competed using Chopin’s songs.

Jin-hyuk, who took advantage of his S-rank position, fell in love with the performance of a male pianist in his early 20s.

How long was it?

The accompaniment that had reached its climax subsided, and the pianist’s hand finally fell away from the piano.

The performance was done.

‘I don’t know much about music… but it was so strange.’

So different from combat. It can be said that the beautiful and splendid melody felt like another world’s art.

Jin-hyuk, who was trembling, touched his chest.

“Phew…”

It was astonishing.

Was it like watching a movie?

It felt as if his entire body was immersed in the performance.

‘It took a lot of time, but my purpose was achieved.’

He had visited all of the possible competitions and concerts in the area.

At the same time.

[You have appreciated the masterpieces of an era.]
[You have completed ‘Go to concert No.7’.]
[You have completed the tour of the Beethoven Museum.]
Several status windows appeared, and Jin-hyuk smiled.

[The condition has been met.]
[Successfully copied the skill ‘Absolute Pitch (F)’!]
[Successfully copied the skill ‘Understanding Instruments (F)’]
Jin-hyuk wasn’t satisfied with just this, however. He wanted to combine the two low-level skills.

They were materials to create a higher-level skill. This was why he chose the Fusion ability.

“I will fuse the Blessing of the Stars with Understanding Instrument.”

Jin-hyuk immediately used Fusion.

[The skills’ Blessing of the Stars’ and ‘Understand Instruments’ are fused]
[Fusion successful.]
[You have acquired the skill ‘Heavenly Melody’]
[Heavenly Melody
Acquisition Difficulty: B
Description: ‘Bestia,’ the Goddess of music, valued harmony and peace for all, transcending races. She also believed that no matter how harsh the word is, music can serve as the medium to break down walls. This ability is imbued with the wind of the Goddess.]
[The copied skill is saved in ‘Memory of the World’.]
He wasn’t there to just waste time. All of this had been to gain the additional power he needed to climb the Tower.

It was like investing his time for gold.

‘Now it is your time.’

He needed to do two tasks before going to the Forest of the Elves.

Now all that was left was to learn to cook.

Jin-hyuk looked through the list of Michelin-starred restaurants that had been booked.

[To copy the Imperial Chef skill, the following conditions must be met.]
[One. Eat a course meal in a 3=star Michelin or higher restaurant (7/10) times]
[Two. Watch the chef cook dishes (3.5)]
[Three. Try making different kinds of dishes (25/30)]
He would go out to eat whenever there was no musical competition, so the conditions were almost met.

‘I can finish everything here and go back to Korea.’

In other words, it meant it was time to go to the 5th floor.

Citic Tower in Beijing, China.

Several men and women had gathered in the penthouse on top of the building, which was high enough to be classified as a skyscraper.

They were rankers belonging to the People’s Republic guild.

“Damn it! Again, the first attack got stolen. What kind of messed up situation is this? Surely we were confident that we could clear the 5th floor!”

A man with a large body and thick beard shouted.

Right.

The preparations were indeed perfect.

Have you ever cleared the 5th floor? No, but they had prepared a lot of veterans and rankers who could have gone through the 5th floor in one go.

In addition, the guild itself had prepared a relic that could be classified as an orange grade, so it was natural that they felt they would win.

But…

The Chinese side failed to attack the 5th floor and clear it.

Even after investing so much effort, they had nothing to show for it.

And even now, half of them were struggling while attacking the 6th floor.

Kang Jin-hyuk.

The name which brought anger to all of them.

“Everyone is talking about him. I heard that some see him as the hope of mankind. Of course, it’s stuck in the minds of those who said it.”

“I am not sure, but I think it is time we cannot leave him alone.”

“How the hell did he climb the Tower so quickly? I heard that he did it alone without support…”

“He must have been doing it for quite some time. He may have climbed all the way to the 20th floor.”

The 20th floor.

An unknown place that no human had dared to reach.

“No…”

“Are there any people who would play that crazy game until the 20th floor?”

“It makes no nonsense! Even in China, more than 500 million users shut the game down, so there is no way a person like that can come from a nation with just 30 million people.”

Everyone wanted to deny this.

The center of the world was China. They believed that only China could see the end of the Tower.

Isn’t that why they called themselves a neutral group? Because they had the pride of being better.

No matter how much they tried to hide it, they had started to realize it.

There was a veteran out there who knew more about the Tower. And that veteran who knew everything was more dangerous than an entire guild.

But then silence filled the room.

Clack!

Both sides of the door opened, and a man walked in.

An impressive man with a beautiful face and clothes made of luxurious silk.

All eyes turned to the man.

“N-Namgung Cheon!”

“Have you finished talking with the murim side?”

The master of the guild and the greatest player in China.

Namgung Cheon.

That was how the man was called.

“Right… for now, it is done.”

Namgung Cheon moved across the room with a disappointed expression.

One step, and then another.

Even though he was just walking, everyone felt a chill run down their spine.

Gulp.

A few gulped, and a few sat still.

This was a natural story, but no one dared to ask why their leader was like this. Once the man sat in his chair, they all waited for him to speak.

“I got informed about the 5th floor. Who was in charge of it?”

“It is… me. Mr. Cheon! This time for…”

The man with a thick beard tried to give excuses but couldn’t finish his words.

“… Kuak!”

Slash!

Blood gushed out from the upper body, which had been cleanly cut.

“Anyone who cannot do the one thing I ask rightly doesn’t deserve another chance.”

The sword dripped with blood. The speed of it had been so astonishingly quick that no one could even see it being drawn.

Namgung Cheon turned to the rankers after wiping the blood off his sword.

“Go to the 5th floor of the Tower to do what the murim had asked us to do. That man also has to come work with me.”

Namgung Cheon addressed the main raid team.

Those who met his eyes bowed their heads.

“Then what about the 6th floor?”

“The elves will allow three S-rank players and one team. The selected ones should go to the 6th floor, take elves as prisoners and burn down the forest. The deadline is 10 days.”

The order that had been given must be done. No one objected to the method.

No questions were asked either. That was the only way you could survive here.

“Alright.”

“This time, do not disappoint me.”

After finishing all his chores in Europe, Jin-hyuk headed straight to the Tower of Trials.

There was still one day left until the raid team deadline that Kim Gitae had promised. Meanwhile, Jin-hyuk was thinking of opening the floor of the elves.

‘It isn’t easy to meet them because they are hidden deep in the forest.’

The elf race was always like this. They were a race that loved nature the most and also the most beautiful. Strangely, their personality was more of a beta compared to other races?

In other words, not only were they difficult to meet, but they were also difficult to talk to.

But that was only for regular players.

‘I am different.’

Where do the elves live?

What are their favorite fruits? He knew everything needed to get them to like him.

Jin-hyuk smiled as old memories came to mind.

‘Come to think of it, I was trying to get to know them at first, but nothing special happened…’

The memory of being chased by the whole tribe after giving chicken to the elves who only ate vegetarian food was a memory he would never forget.

If he had died, he wouldn’t be able to reconnect for 48 hours. He had played tag with them in the woods for over 17 hours.

‘Well, it was my fault.’

Meat for elves?

It was like giving him sunflower seeds. But that wasn’t even the worst case.

The most terrible memory was on the 17th of October at 11:43:15pm. That very fateful day.

‘I cannot forget it even if I die.’

He even remembered the date and time.

Jin-hyuk bit his lower lip.

After several attempts, Jin-hyuk managed to get a chance to know the elves and was invited into their village.

And that day was the annual festival for the elves.

An empty night with a lot of stars and fireflies.

Fragrant fruits and drinks that were rarely seen in the world. The atmosphere was amazing.

‘Until they asked me to play an instrument.’

He had only ever listened to musical instruments in school and often fell asleep listening to them.

Ultimately, he bought one thing in the coin exchange as a last resort.

That’s right, a recorder.

Jin-hyuk played the song ’My Heart Will Go On, an immortal song.

He had even used voice amplification in case any of the elves couldn’t hear him.

That…

Was a fatal mistake.

“Ack!”

“Stop! Stop! Please stop him!”

“A devil! The devil has descended!”

“Forest… the forest is furious! The trees are dying!”

“The spirits are leaving us!”

It was as if he could hear the elves still screaming in his head.

‘The cost of playing an instrument with all my might was disastrous.’

He had felt possessed by Leonardo DiCaprio and performed a song filled with emotions, but it ended up being a trash performance.

Permanent deportation.

His charge was that he had inflicted irreparable damage to the souls of the elves who lived in the forest.

‘This time… it will be different.’

Because he had prepared everything to make up for the disgrace.

Woong!

His view was dyed black as Jin-hyuk entered the 6th floor of the Tower of Trials.