I Raided the Demon’s Treasury

Chapter 83

As soon as Se-woon entered the Tower, he was greeted not by a low ceiling, but by a sky that felt even higher than during the tutorial.

White clouds floated leisurely across, and the bright sun shone on his cloak, illuminating the golden embroidery.

No matter how large the Tower was, it was still a place that defied common sense.

‘This is the Tower, after all.’

Expecting logic to apply in the Tower itself was nonsense.

This place was called a “tower,” but each floor was as big as a building at minimum, and as vast as a small planet at its widest.

The environments within it were just as unique.

Some floors housed divine beasts that were said to exist only in fantasy, while others held graveyards where corpses rose and writhed.

That is the Tower.

And those who overcame all its trials and climbed the Tower were the players.

“Whew…”

As soon as he entered the Tower, Se-woon took a deep breath.

Even though he had entered the Tower’s interior, for some reason the air felt purer than outside, filling his lungs completely.

While he looked around, recalling memories, messages welcoming him to the Tower appeared before Se-woon’s eyes.

– Congratulations!

– You have overcome all the trials of the tutorial and taken your first step into the Tower.

– You have entered the first floor of the Tower, the ‘Sanctuary.’

– All personal merit points accumulated during the tutorial will be reset.

– For passing the tutorial ranked first, you have earned a new base merit of 100,000 points.

The reset of personal merit points. Given that Se-woon had amassed an impressive 1.5 million points, it was hard not to feel some regret.

However…

‘This is still a profitable deal.’

As rewards from the tutorial, he had obtained a key that seemed to be a Master Key, along with an S-rank item: the Battle Robe of Emperor Taejo Mu. These were rewards that more than made up for the 1.5 million merit points.

Moreover, the system messages didn’t stop there.

– The achievements you have made during the tutorial lay the foundation for a legendary tale.

– Legend Title: Blood Wolf Legend.

– Player ‘Jung Se-woon’ has acquired an additional name, ‘Blood Wolf.’

– Due to the new title, all stats increase by 10.

– Due to the new title, you gain potential related to ‘Fear’.

‘So, it ended up being solidified this way.’

Well, he had anticipated it. The achievements Se-woon had accomplished during the tutorial were more than enough to inspire a legendary tale.

The question was how these achievements would manifest as a title.

It seemed that the system had recognized the nickname that Park Jung-pil, who didn’t even know about titles, had casually given him.

‘Well, it’s not bad.’

It wasn’t that he particularly liked the title.

It was the potential.

With titles and legends, there’s always power that comes with them.

Even though Se-woon hadn’t seen a player with the potential of fear, he had already used it several times on the battlefield.

Considering his battle style, which often involved one-against-many combats, the effect of fear that could break a group’s will seemed to suit him perfectly.

Moreover, an increase of ten in all stats suggested that it was definitely an S-rank title.

Before regression, a previous title he had obtained only increased his agility by about ten.

‘Now, I need to find the clan.’

Just as he was considering perhaps grabbing someone and asking, a person caught Se-woon’s eye and approached him.

A man with a burly frame, equipped with decently prepared gear, and scars etched on his face creating a menacing atmosphere.

“What’s this? Are you just now completing the Tutorial? You’re late. Were you hiding in some corner?”

“Who are you?”

“Hahaha! Great question. I, with a three-digit rank from the Tutorial, am a ranker! My name is Hedrick!”

The moment he introduced himself, Se-woon could tell. The man in front of him was like an extra character soaked in bravado.

If he truly had confidence in his rank, he wouldn’t have mentioned something vague like ‘three-digit rank.’

Judging from his roundabout speech, Se-woon assumed he was around the upper eight or nine hundreds.

“You look weak, but your equipment seems pretty good. Fine, I’ll do you the favor of welcoming you into my clan. Consider yourself lucky.”

Occasionally, there were people like him. They stationed themselves at the tower’s entrance to recruit anyone they could to fill their clan’s numbers.

They would bow their heads to strong players, hoping they would join their clan, but approached weaker players with coercive attitudes like now.

Even a weak player could be quite useful to a clan simply by doing menial tasks. If not, they could act as a meat shield in battles.

“What if I refuse?”

“Hahaha! Looks like you’re still out of touch because you entered the tower late. This isn’t a place you can survive behaving so recklessly. But if you still say no…”

The man who introduced himself as Hedrick came closer to Se-woon’s face.

The smirk on his face quickly distorted into a grim expression, combining his large frame, dirty appearance, and the scars on his face to create quite an intimidating atmosphere.

“You’d better hand over a few items as a form of initiation to join.”

He threatened, placing a hand on the scabbard at his waist.

When he first took a quick glance, he didn’t realize it, but upon closer inspection, the sword seemed quite usable, though it was nothing comparable to Durandal.

Still, it looked usable as a disposable weapon to extract the treasures from the warehouse.

Upon realizing this, Se-woon’s face, which had been stiff as a board, broke into a gentle smile.

“I think you’re mistaken.”

“What do you mean by that…?”

Thud!

“Gah!”

The hilt of Durandal struck Hedrick’s abdomen with a solid thud.

Though it was he who had his hand on the sword, before he could even draw it, he was struck by Se-woon’s attack.

Just one hit with the hilt had him unable to breathe properly, collapsed on the ground, his hands supporting him as he tried to gain his composure.

“Cough, you cowardly!”

“Cowardly? If I seem cowardly, why don’t you take a proper swing?”

“You think just because of your equipment you can do that, but such a trick won’t work twice on a three-digit ranker like me!”

Despite crawling on all fours moments ago, he quickly caught his breath and stood up, wielding his sword with confidence and charging.

To Se-woon, he seemed no more than a moth flying towards a flame.

Clang!

“You… you’re insane?”

Se-woon hadn’t even drawn Durandal.

He felt no need to use a sword, so he swung his fist sideways at Hedrick’s charging blade.

The blade shook violently, escaping from its owner’s grip, and clattered to the ground.

Perhaps due to the rebound, he clasped his right wrist, enduring the pain.

‘Weaker than I thought.’

Having initially intended to give him a few light taps, he considered that in this state, he might accidentally kill him.

In that case, he had no choice but to change his approach.

Slap!

“Ouch! Hold on a second.”

Slap!

“Stop!”

Smack!

“I’m sorry!”

Smaack!

“Please spare me!”

Unable to withstand even five strikes from Se-woon’s palm, Hedrick bowed his head, his cheek swollen red.

He later learned that, as suspected, Hedrick was a ranker in the 900s. To be exact, he was ranked 998th.

* * *

“Hehehe, please follow me. You must be tired after finishing the Tutorial, but fortunately, I know a good place!”

After just a light punishment, Hedrick’s demeanor had changed a complete 180 degrees from when they first met.

No wonder, his red and swollen cheek had yet to subside.

He thought he had controlled his strength, but the impact seemed greater than anticipated.

“Never mind that. I need to find a certain clan.”

“Oh, do you have a clan? You should have mentioned it right away! I’m quite well-known on the first floor. I know most of the clans here.”

“Really?”

“Of course! What’s the clan’s name?”

“I don’t know the name.”

“What? How can you not know the…”

“What?”

“N-nothing! It’s possible not to know the name! Hahaha! Do you have any distinctive features or famous players in the clan?”

Hedrick quickly changed his tone as soon as Se-woon’s eyes slightly frowned.

Watching him made Se-woon think of Park Jung-pil for some reason.

‘Features, huh…’

How should he describe the clan?

He deliberated for a moment.

Among them, the most conspicuous person would definitely be Kang Han-cheol…

“There’s someone named Kang Han-cheol, who’s even bigger than you…”

“K-Kang Han-cheol? You’re talking about ‘Violence,’ right?”

“… Violence?”

Before Se-woon could continue explaining, Hedrick reacted first.

Given Kang Han-cheol’s personality, he thought he would’ve kept a low profile on the first floor, but it seemed he was well upon mentioning.

Moreover, Violence? Had a fight broken out on the first floor?

“Explosive strength! There can’t be anyone who doesn’t know Kang Han-cheol of violence!”

“Could it really mean ‘explosive power’ in that sense?”

“Of course! Isn’t it truly impressive? I wish I could have such a name!”

Violence… There was no way Kang Han-cheol named himself that.

It seemed unnatural to think the system would give him such a name.

In that case…

‘Must be Park Jung-pil’s doing.’

It had to be Park Jung-pil. He was the one who first coined ‘Blood Wolf’ for Se-woon.

Compared to Violence, ‘Blood Wolf’ was a hundred times better.

When he arrived at the clan, he thought the first thing he should do was console him.

“Are you part of the Diablo Clan, by any chance?”

“… Diablo?”

“Yes! It’s the clan where the Tutorial’s strongest players have gathered! I understand now why you’re so strong if you’re from the Diablo Clan!”

Diablo Clan, was it? This seemed a bit different from Park Jung-pil’s naming sense.

Whatever the case, if Kang Han-cheol was in this clan, then it was likely Se-woon’s clan.

His assumption was confirmed by Hedrick’s continued explanation.

“The hundreds of monsters slaughtered in their wake brought forth a bloodstorm, the tempestuous Yoo Seo-ah! The reanimator of corpses, creating a tidal wave of death, Baek Hyun!”

“…..”

“There’s probably no player on our floor who doesn’t know their legendary feats! Oh, especially…”

Just as Se-woon was feeling sympathy for Yoo Seo-ah and Baek Hyun, Hedrick paused, and a sense of unease crept up within him.

It seemed Park Jung-pil had been roaming around the first floor, spreading tales of their deeds. If that’s the case…

“A solitary wolf clothed in blood, the ruler of the Diablo Clan! Lord Blood Wolf!”

Before he knew it, Se-woon had covered Hedrick’s mouth.

He had expected something like this, but it had gone beyond what he had imagined.

Finally breaking free from Se-woon’s grip, Hedrick looked into his eyes and promptly sealed his mouth shut.

Because flickering in Se-woon’s eyes was a killer’s aura incomparable to what he exhibited during their previous ‘education.’

“Lead the way.”

“Y-yes!”

Se-woon’s fists were tightly clenched.

After not seeing him for a few days, it seemed his memories of Park Jung-pil had been too optimistically revised. As expected, the saying ‘people can’t change’ must be true

As soon as he arrived at the clan, Se-woon decided that he would properly ‘educate’ Park Jeongpil, and his steps headed toward the Diablo Clan.