4.

For Kim Buja, dungeons had always been "Easy Mode."

When his level and stats were lacking, his skill backed him up. And when the inherent disadvantages of the Gold Maker class began to slowly reveal themselves, his items were overwhelming enough to erase those flaws. Overwhelming enough to bury even "skill," the most important factor for a player.

Because of that, Kim Buja had faced no obstacles. Even for the Gold Missions, he was paving his way by finding solutions through the Gold Shop, and he planned to fill in his lacking levels one by one after reaching VIP level 5.

Therefore, he hadn't worried about the Tower of Trials. He certainly expected that as he climbed higher, difficulties different from reality—unique challenges like the Gold Missions—would arise, but he was confident he could overcome them.

After all, it was the Tower of Trials. As long as the progression wasn't exactly the same as a Gold Mission, he could sufficiently cover it with his natural talent.

Even the moment he entered, he thought so. No, even as he confirmed he was surrounded by monsters, he believed it.

Right up until the moment he experienced the monsters' strength firsthand.

"Whoa!"

In fact, the source of his greatest confidence was the two consecutive Gold Enhancements he had performed at the very end. His remaining Gold had evaporated in an instant, but the resulting level 8 Attack Power of his weapon was honestly overwhelming enough that he would have confidently challenged a 3-star dungeon right then and there. He had objectively judged that he could achieve results far superior to other players—even while carrying the penalty of not gaining stats per level—up to at least 5-stars.

That was why he was more surprised, and genuinely impressed.

"It blocked it?"

He watched an Orc block his sword—a strike filled with killing intent—with nothing but its forearm. Its muscles were so bulging and rugged they looked like they could deflect bullets, let alone a sword, but all standards of hardness are relative. The sight of it blocking a sudden thrust, delivered at a timing the opponent couldn't have predicted, without taking significant damage was enough to change his mental image of the Tower of Trials in an instant.

And the unexpectedly powerful attack wasn't just coming from the bastard facing his sword.

Whoosh—

An attack grazed past his head, half a beat faster than he could perceive. Attacks flying in mercilessly, without a shred of concern that their comrades might get hit, changed Kim Buja's thoughts faster than the speed of light.

'Run.'

Judgment must be fast, but action must be faster.

A massive hammer materialized in the hand that had released the sword on the spot. He felt the surrounding monsters flinch for a moment. It wasn't fear. They were merely wary of the appearance of a weapon larger than the prey itself.

A very brief moment. The monsters facing him would likely drive him even more roughly. But that brief moment was enough.

Whoosh—!

Once again, the weapon floated into the air. This time, it was toward the sky.

Kim Buja, having thrown the hammer, kicked off the ground as he watched the monsters' gazes follow the weapon into the air. His figure, piercing through the monsters that were twice his height, stepped on the hammer and vaulted upward.

"You're dead next time I see you!"

Spitting out a warning that wasn't scary in the least, Kim Buja's retreating figure disappeared faster than ever.

Of course, his wish did not come true.

ROAAAAR!

Grrrrr!

"Hey, get lost! Don't follow me!"

This wasn't a normal dungeon. It was the Tower of Trials. A place where 2,000 monsters lived.

The chase had begun.

* * *

He dug a hole barely large enough to squeeze his body into the humid earth, curled up, held his breath, and simply consumed an energy bar. Even that was only possible because he had barely managed to purchase a temporary magic circle from the Gold Shop that prevented scents from spreading to the surroundings.

Sorrow welled up inside him.

"I'm someone who slept with his legs stretched out even in a 2-star Legendary Dungeon."

The monsters were fast in their pursuit, too. The fact that attacks flew in before he could even react meant that their basic stats themselves were superior to Kim Buja's, who had received the full effects of Legendary items. It might have been a natural result. The problem was that overturning such a "natural result" to create a variable was difficult.

First, before the distance closed, he had tried installing a Safety Campfire. After all, he had to kill a whopping 2,000 monsters; surely they would provide at least this level of convenience.

It was a huge miscalculation. The monsters didn't give a damn about the campfire's range and charged right in, turning it into an opportunity that only closed the distance. He learned the information that the monsters appearing in the Tower of Trials were at least level 3-star or higher, or perhaps separate entities not bound by levels, but he wasn't happy about it at all.

Fortunately, there was a large stream of water flowing in the middle, allowing him to momentarily evade the pursuit, and he was now waiting for the situation to settle down in this makeshift hideout.

"Phew."

At this point, he could understand why the rewards were so huge. He had guessed roughly, but he never imagined it would be to this extent. At least within the scope of Kim Buja's common sense, the value of "1 level" was about equivalent to one chapter of a Gold Mission.

It was the moment he regretted dismissing the Gold Mission as a mere act of catching monsters. The act of "merely catching monsters" varied wildly depending on the level of the monsters being hunted. No matter if it was Kim Buja, there wasn't much he could do against overwhelming numbers and stats.

"So that's why they gave the Clear Condition."

The Clear Condition, which had been vaguely written as "Monster Elimination" before entry, provided a precise guideline of "2,000" after entering the 1st Floor. There was no time limit or penalty. It was a difficulty setting that openly mocked the thought that it wouldn't be particularly hard, just numerous.

The absence of any penalty led to an increase in difficulty, becoming a greater penalty in itself. The most unfair part was that, despite all this, it wasn't impossible.

"It really is a trial."

If he tried to clear it, it seemed he could. What came to mind for that purpose was, of course, the Gold Shop.

Regret washed over him.

'I should have saved a little Gold.'

If he hadn't lost his mind and enhanced twice in a row, but just pressed it once, he could have covered about 1,500 monsters with Gold. The remaining 500 or so could have been filled by rolling around diligently. Even while thinking that, the criteria for it being "doable" was only established after achieving Weapon level 8, so he couldn't feel too bad about it.

If his Attack Power had been lacking in the first place, he wouldn't have even been able to entertain the thought of clearing it through suffering and rolling around. Ultimately, it meant he had the optimal investment and situation.

"Haah."

Conversely, it meant there was no way to use tricks to clear it comfortably here. Still, thinking positively, it wasn't bad. He could see the angle for a clear.

How long had it been since he had this thought?

It would proceed in a slightly servile, dirty, and messy manner, but that was how Kim Buja had lived his life so far, how he had raised his character, and the means by which he gained profit by calculating efficiency.

Let's return to the beginning. Compared to the days when he repeated a single dungeon for 14 hours just to fill his daily wage, his current growth was luxury itself.

Always humble. Frugal.

"Next time, I'll earn like a dog and spend Gold like water to clear you."

Pledging for the future, Kim Buja, covered in mud from head to toe, began to move.

5.

A monster's scream echoed in the middle of the city. Along with it, the crowd parted in all directions. The incident reported on the 9 o'clock main news was no longer a momentary happening.

One month had passed since the Dungeon Break update proceeded. As winter passed and the warm season of spring approached, the nightmare people faced was deepening day by day.

Thanks to Fly's video, players' participation in Dungeon Breaks was active, and the cleanup time was faster than ever—to the point where one wondered if players had ever been this united—but the speed and volume of Dungeon Breaks accelerated to match. Anxiety was slowly creeping in that, at this rate, there might really be monsters they would miss.

No, it was already impossible to block every Dungeon Break. In large cities or downtown areas, monsters were conspicuous and thus not difficult to clean up, but completely sealing off a Dungeon Break that erupted in a location difficult to detect beforehand was no easy task.

Furthermore, monsters didn't have restrictions like being unable to leave a certain area. To seal a Dungeon Break of that dungeon, they had to find monsters that had gone who-knows-where.

What if such monsters mixed and mingled, gradually expanding their influence?

Just as players united regardless of level to subjugate monsters, the monsters would also break free from the shackles of levels and move according to the principle of survival of the fittest. High-level monsters controlling, and countless low-level monsters following. The difficulty need not be mentioned, and the cost of cleaning up and the damage that would occur were terrible even to imagine.

That was why the players strove harder. There were already plenty of precedents. It had only been a month, but in countries that weren't properly controlled, monsters were already running rampant, and phenomena occurred where humans gathered in certain areas to defend against monsters.

Monsters are cunning. The moment these cunning creatures took root in the environment called Earth, they acted and lived according to the characteristics of Earth, not a dungeon.

A war without promise, knowing not when it would end. Repetitive defense and movement. In a situation where everyone was slowly getting exhausted, a ray of hope emerged.

—They say the Dungeon Break ratio has stabilized as of the one-month mark?

—Wow, thank god. Can we breathe a little now?

—Even so, the number of Dungeon Breaks is huge. We should just be satisfied it's not increasing anymore.

A stabilization period!

Of course, it was merely "not increasing"; considering the Dungeons created daily, the Dungeon Breaks, and the number of monsters leaking because they couldn't be stopped, it wasn't news that could be viewed only positively. But in the current situation, that was the only indicator to look at favorably. In fact, experts and players alike breathed a sigh of relief.

At least they could breathe. They didn't have to suffer the same fate as other countries that faced the worst-case scenarios, where even the military had to be mobilized alongside players to defend. What happened in just a month had lowered people's rationalization to that point.

'Let's clean up little by little.'

'There must be a way.'

'Since the number of players is also noticeably increasing, surely the day will come when Dungeon Breaks become targets for players' farming.'

'At least the hologram didn't push us to the absolute worst.'

'Even if it gives the next trial, surely it will give us a minimal chance to grow.'

People's analysis and judgment based on experience were accurate.

One week. With the stagnation of the Dungeon Break growth, the world regained a surprisingly distinct stability.

Humans are animals of adaptation. It was a short time, but people striving to prepare for the given destruction adapted with more than human capability, reaching the point where they shared methods to analyze and even exploit Dungeon Breaks.

The incident exploded then.

[Fused Dungeon Break]

▶ Grade: Special Mission

▶ level: ★★★★

▶ Content: Closure of Fused Dungeon Break.

▶ Reward: 20P, Stat Point (1), Large amount of EXP

As always, in that very moment when they let their guard down.

* * *

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