11:59 p.m.
As always, I stood in front of the Tower’s entrance, humming to myself.
An utterly ordinary routine of waiting for midnight every night.
When the time came and I stepped into the Tower’s entrance, a system message appeared before my eyes.
[Would you like to enter the Tower?]
[ YES / NO ]
I chose YES without hesitation.
In an instant, my vision warped, and that distinctive dizziness washed over me.
When my sight returned, what appeared was a stage that looked like a forest.
[You have entered the 9th floor of the Tower.]
[Remaining challenge attempts: 5 / 5]
[Time limit: 00 hours 30 minutes 00 seconds]
[Would you like to begin?]
[ YES / NO ]
Once I started, four kobolds burst out through the bushes.
The moment they spotted me, their eyes flashed, and they raised their daggers.
Looking at the one at the very front, I extended my right hand and took aim.
“Lightning Bolt.”
Lightning shot out from the tip of my right hand and struck the kobold in the head.
Crackle.
Then I aimed at another one and waited for the cooldown.
The cooldown was 1.6 seconds.
Right on time, I uttered the incantation again.
“Lightning Bolt.”
The second bolt of lightning burned away the kobold on the right.
“Lightning Bolt.”
The third. 1.6 seconds.
“Lightning Bolt.”
The lightning that fired next brought down the remaining ones.
[ You have successfully cleared the 9th floor! ]
[ Clear Time: 00 hours 00 minutes 08 seconds ]
[ An incredible feat! You have renewed the world’s shortest clear record for this floor! ]
[ As a reward for setting a new record, all stats permanently increase by +1. ]
[ The 9th floor clear reward will be given. Acquired 30g of mana stones. ]
“Four of them in 8 seconds… I could’ve cut it down a little more, though. Hm.”
After stuffing the mana stones that had fallen to the ground into my bag, I left the stage in a good mood.
Even though I had already set a new record, I still felt regretful.
“…Ah.”
Come to think of it, if I’d used Memorize, I probably could’ve shaved off 2 seconds.
“Now it’s the 10th floor.”
What lay before me now was the 10th floor.
The first boss stage. A real boss stage.
What appeared on the 10th floor was a Kobold Leader accompanied by ten ordinary kobolds as guards.
The so-called Wailing Wall for beginners.
It was an infamous section where countless people failed even when challenging it as a party.
‘…Should I ask, just in case?’
After all, they said you should tap a stone bridge before crossing it.
Once I arrived in my room and lightly wet my throat, I leaned back against the bed and opened the gallery in midair.
I was about to write a post like usual when my gaze suddenly lifted toward the button in the upper right corner.
Live chat
…Should I turn it on?
Honestly, watching everyone chatter in real time made my head spin, so I didn’t use it often.
But at times like this, when I needed advice.
“Ahem, hm.”
After taking a short breath, I activated the live chat.
As if they had been waiting, a window appeared in midair and the chat began to flood in.
- Waaaaaaaah!!
- You finally turned it on!!!!
- You knave! After leaving behind only a little flex and running away, do you only now answer this lady’s summons!!
- Gallery Master was bad! If you were going to brag about getting Memorize, you should’ve done it live!
- That’s right!
- Your character is rotten!!
- Haa, Memorize, huh. So that’s why you were so strong?
“Ugh, slow down. Type more slowly.”
Of course, it was my fault.
I’d gone to the gallery, bragged to make myself feel better, then turned it off.
But that was that, and this was this.
“Ah, first, calm down. I have to go to the 10th floor now. What should I do?”
- What do you mean, what should you do?
- Just go and clear it.
“Hey, Archmage. Explain Memorize to me a bit.”
- Hmhm, so you have finally realized my greatness and seek my teachings.
- Blech.
- Very well! I shall specially explain it to you! Listen carefully!
“Yeah, so explain.”
- Surely you do not think that Memorize’s only advantage is removing casting and letting you use magic instantly?
“…It isn’t? You store it in a stack, then use it without spending resources when you need it. Isn’t that the core of it?”
- Sigh.
- Sigh.
- Sigh, you dumbass.
Sighs burst out all at once.
As if they’d been waiting for this, they immediately started laying into me.
- Honestly, you only have talent. Your comprehension is dumb as dirt.
- That’s right. Your head’s like a mutt’s.
- Skipping the cast is a given. But the truly important thing is that you can designate the manifestation point of the magic however you like.
“The manifestation point?”
- Think carefully. No matter how you aim and fire lightning, if the enemy is experienced, they will obviously predict it by watching your actions and your gaze.
“…Mm, true.”
- But what do you think will happen if lightning bursts out from a place completely unrelated to your own position!
“So, if it’s within my line of sight, I can use the skill stored in Memorize from anywhere?”
- That is correct!
- Ohh, so that’s what it was?
In that moment, it felt as though a giant exclamation mark had popped up inside my head.
In other words, what the Archmage was saying was this.
As long as my gaze reached it, I could draw out and manifest a stored skill anywhere.
It meant I could launch a surprise attack from an enemy’s blind spot.
“…This skill really is absurdly broken.”
Wherever my gaze reached became my range, and it gave me a means of attacking in an instant without any visible tell.
That was the true essence of Memorize.
- Now you understand! Kyahaha! You should bow to this genius three times a day!
“Aren’t you not supposed to bow to a ghost?”
- ….
“Ah, sorry.”
- …That was really mean.
“Ah, ahaha. For now, I should test out Memorize.”
- Gallery Master is changing the subject. So mean.
Ignoring the chat that continued to mutter, I turned my head.
Then I activated my mana core, envisioned Lightning Bolt, and stored it in the Memorize skill.
Seeing the first orb glow, indicating 1 stack, I opened my mouth.
“Good. With this momentum, one more.”
I was just about to draw up my mana again and store a second Lightning Bolt.
[ Warning! A skill identical to an already stored skill cannot be stored in duplicate. ]
“Huh?”
An idiotic sound slipped out of me without realizing it.
- Fool.
- Looooool, you thought that would work?
I rolled my eyes back to the system message.
[ Warning! A skill identical to an already stored skill cannot be stored in duplicate. ]
Hm, it was still the same sentence.
So in the end, since all I had was Lightning Bolt, I couldn’t fill both stacks.
Hahaha, how pitiful.
“Goddammit.”
- Looooool, serves you right.
- A pie in the sky, huh? lol
“Well, I’ll use it as best I can.”
Just being able to use it in an emergency already made it plenty useful.
**
Once again, it was 00:00.
I had entered the dungeon and was inside the 10th floor stage.
The 10th floor stage was an arena in the form of a massive circular colosseum.
[You have entered the 10th floor of the Tower.]
[Remaining challenge attempts: 5 / 5]
[Time limit: 01 hours 00 minutes 00 seconds]
[Would you like to begin?]
[ YES / NO ]
I activated Regia and gathered mana. At maximum output.
Then I pressed the system window floating in midair.
[ YES ]
Rumble—!
The moment I pressed the button, the iron bars on the opposite side of the arena began to rise with a thunderous noise.
Ten kobolds poured out from within, cutting through the cloud of dust.
And among them, a massive figure three times their size revealed itself.
The Kobold Leader, its entire body covered in red scars.
In its hand was a gigantic mace.
“Grrrrrk!”
At the Leader’s roar, the kobolds began charging toward me all at once.
Under ordinary circumstances, I would have prepared to meet them.
But I still kept my right hand extended and quietly uttered the incantation.
“Lightning Bolt.”
At the same time, blue lightning shot forward from my fingertips.
Crackle, kwa-gagagagak—!!
A white flash stole my sight. A roar hammered my ears.
The ten kobolds at the vanguard were swept up in the massive lightning and collapsed on the spot without even letting out a scream.
Smoke rose from all directions.
A moment later.
Just as I expected, a huge shadow burst through the smoke.
“Kraaaaaak!!”
Its flesh was burned black, and one of its arms had been blown away.
Despite its ghastly state, the Kobold Leader leapt forward, pouring out its ferocious momentum without hesitation.
It swung the gigantic mace with its remaining hand.
That fleeting instant felt far too long. 0.3 seconds. 0.5 seconds. 0.7 seconds.
I could see the mace falling toward me from midair.
In this moment, when the beast was wholly focused on attacking.
I looked past the mace at the Kobold Leader.
‘Now.’
Looking at the crown of the Kobold Leader’s head, I designated the coordinates. Then I thought of drawing out and manifesting the skill stored in the Memorize skill book.
[ Memorize: Lightning Bolt ]
Flash—!!
At the location fixed by my thoughts and gaze, a sphere of blue lightning formed, then plunged straight down.
“Kr, kue… krrk…?!”
The Kobold Leader froze as it was.
At the same time, the mace that had reached right in front of my nose also stopped.
Because the lightning bolt had struck its head directly, its head had disintegrated without leaving a trace.
Just like that, the beast’s enormous body lost its strength and collapsed at my feet.
Thud.
The fallen body twitched for a moment, then stopped moving.
“…Whew.”
Only then did I slowly straighten my back and readjust my stance.
“So that’s what it means to be a boss.”
[ You have successfully cleared the 10th floor boss stage! ]
[ Clear Time: 00 hours 00 minutes 14 seconds ]
[ An incredible feat! You have renewed the world’s shortest clear record for this floor! ]
[ As a reward for setting a new record, all stats permanently increase by +1. ]
[ The 10th floor clear reward will be given. ]
Listening to the system notifications ring out one after another, I took one deep breath.
Then I looked into the air, grinned broadly, and said,
“Easy.”
I wonder what skill will come out this time.