Tower of Gamer Chapter 8

Setting down a cup of tea, next to an exciting novel about a group of students imprisoned in an academy where the only way out is by successfully killing someone without getting caught, Hachi opens the book at the marked page, intent on continuing where she left off, interested about who killed the protagonist's childhood friend.

As she brings the tea cup up to her lips, she is interrupted by someone rapidly knocking on her door. She gives a frustrated sigh and opens the door to see who interrupted her, although she could already guess which idiot it was.

"What do you want Bolt?" she asks in a deadpan tone as she glares at the simpleton smiling at her with a megawatt smile. The idiot didn't seem to take anything seriously, and kept addressing her with the annoying nickname he made up.

"Yo Bee-8(1), have you seen Ed?" Bolt asks, oblivious to the spike of murderous intent from Hachi.

"I think I saw Edward heading towards the sparring arena with Androssi." Hachi answers, wanting to get back to her book. She had a suspicion that it was the occult bum.

"Thanks, bye!" Bolt says, starting to sprint towards the direction of the sparring arena. Hachi closes her door, returning to her book, a content smile on her face. Now the jock would be Edward's problem.

After a short sprint from the Regular's Dormitory, Bolt stops in front of the sparring arena's door. As he moves to open the door, someone else opens the door from the inside. And that someone is none other than Androssi, with an oddly happy and satisfied expression on her face as she exits the door with a spring in her step.

"Hey, umm... Ms. Androssi, do you know where Ed is?" Bolt asks, a little bit scared of the smile on the Zahard's Princess' face. That smile was something that you would find on the face of a cat that just finished a satisfying hunt.

"He's in there, cooling down from our spar." The way that Androssi said that, just sent shivers running up Bolt's spine as Androssi walks away, the clicking of her heels echoing throughout the hallway.

'That is one scary lady.' Bolt gulps, entering the arena, wondering what level of destruction he would find.

"..." Bolt is left speechless as he looks around the arena, or rather, what's left of it. Cracks and craters covering the surface of the ring and then there's Ed, lying against the wall, a web of cracks originating from his location.

Honestly, if he wasn't groaning in pain, or his chest wasn't rising and falling, Bolt would've thought that Aka-Oni(2) killed Ed.

"So...good spar eh?" Bolt awkwardly asks, attempting to lighten the mood, only for the hammer to start glaring daggers at him.

"You...could...say that." Edward answers with a ragged breath as he gets back up, using his hammer as crutch. At least something good came out of that beating, as his [Physical Endurance] started leveling up like crazy, reaching 20 at the end of the "spar". On the other hand, his HP isn't looking so hot.

"Hey, you should go see a medic." Bolt says, looking at Edward's condition. The guy looked as if a gust of wind could knock him over right now, so he definitely wasn't in any condition to do anything except lay down and rest.

"Nah, I just need to get to a bed." Edward says, disregarding Bolt's worries.

=Actually, I think I have something that'll heal you.= Edward's hammer speaks up. That hammer's still a complete mystery to Bolt. The damn thing seems to be alive, able to transform, and now it apparently can heal people! What's next, is it going to start vomiting high-grade Suspendium?

"Well, no harm in trying if it saves me the trip to bed." Edward shrugs, sitting down before grasping his hammer with both hands as both him and his hammer close their eyes. After a few minutes, Bolt raises his eyebrows in surprise as a blue aura covers Ed and his weapon, wind circling their feet. Bolt sees that Edward's wounds start slowly closing up, bruises disappearing and small cuts closing up.

But as Bolt keeps watching the spectacle in front of him, he can't help but feel a bit light-headed, as if the air is getting thinner.

"Hey Ed, is...it just me...or is the air...getting thinner?" Bolt barely manages to ask, collapsing onto the floor.

[15 Minutes later...]

"Aaw yeah, that felt good." Edward sighs contently, opening his eyes as Haensing shrinks down to pocket-size. He notices something odd, mainly Bolt lying on the ground, breathing with some trouble.

"Oi, wake up, this isn't a place to sleep at." Edward nudges Bolt's body with his leg, only to get no response. Shrugging, Edward walks away from the unconscious Regular, and heads towards the gym.

=Some people just pick the weirdest places to sleep.Haensing scoffs as Edward closes the door.

After a while, air starts re-entering Bolt's lungs, revitalizing the young man. He groggily gets up, holding his head in slight pain, feeling like he got run over with a truck.

"Ugh, wut hapened?" He slurs, drunkenly stumbling towards the door, only to pass out just short of reaching the handle.

[Evankhell's mothership, Gym...]

"So, how did you heal me?" Edward asks as he starts strapping weights to his body, intent on taking full advantage of the gym's Stat training boost. After a bit of examination, including a peek into his stats, he had found out the Haensing managed to change his meagerly 10 HP to a respectable 160.

=I just sucked the Shinsoo out of the air.= Haensing answers, happy that he isn't getting shoved into that place again. He had managed to convince (read: beg) Edward to not put him into the [Inventory], as it would raise questions if he pulled him out of thin air, without Edward having an Arms Inventory.

"Oh, okay." The tone of voice which Haensing answered with was so calm and nonchalant that the context flew over Edward's head, but after processing what Haensing said, he reacted accordingly.

"Wait, you did WHAT!" Edward says, looking the Ignition Weapon in the eye, a nervous twitch in his own. He must've misheard what Haensing said, as what he said would be too good to be true.

=As I said, I sucked the Shinsoo from the atmosphere to heal your wounds.= Haensing repeats.

=Wasn't easy though, one small mistake and boom, all that Shinsoo blows up in our faces.= He explains further, as Edward's mind processes the new information. So, while Haensing can use the Shinsoo from the air to patch him up, it isn't something that would make him into this untouchable juggernaut that would keep getting back up time after time.

"Well, I suppose that explains why Bolt was unconscious." Edward mumbles, holding his chin in thought. While that ability could be used to knock people out, it should only be used when there wasn't any allies near him, as they could also die from asphyxiation. Heck, if Haensing absorbs too much Shinsoo, they could be responsible for an event similar to what Eurasia Blossom caused(3).

Actually, now that he thinks about it, he should only use that feature of Haensing as a last resort, when all other methods fail.

[Through realizing the grave possibilities and responsibility of the power you, or more specifically, your weapon has, you gain +2 INT and +2 WIS!]

"Hey Haensing, you do realize how dangerous that ability is, right?" Edward asks, getting onto the treadmill. Hiding his Irregular status would be useless if Haengsing started sucking people dry or suffocating them at his leisure.

=Yeah, yeah, I get the message.= Haensing grumbles, getting what his wielder meant. If he started gulping down the Shinsoo in a crowded area, they'd get real high up on everyone's shit-list faster than you could blink.

"Good." Edward nods, starting up the treadmill.

[One training montage/session later...]

[Running on the treadmill has increased your AGI by 8! The usage of weights has increased your STR and VIT by 8!]

Getting off the treadmill, Edward starts taking off the weights, feeling like he's had enough training for today. So now his AGI should be 16, his STR should be 29 and VIT should be 24.

Now, what should he do? He definitely isn't going to even try to look for another sparring partner, And he doesn't feel like training any more for today.

...

Maybe he should try and socialize with some of the "people of interest", such as Koon, Ship, Hatsu, Laure and the others. After all, befriending them would get himself involved in the plot. And although it would no doubt be a path filled with dangers and hardships, it's one with events he can prepare for.

Besides, there's so many golden eggs in this batch of Regulars, so establishing a friendly relationship with them would only be beneficial.

"Now, where would they be?" Edward wonders, opening the Map function of his Pocket as he tries to figure out where the important people are. Laure's more than likely sleeping in his own room, no idea about where Ship could be, and Koon's probably keeping an eye on Baam, either that or bothering Rak.

"Hey Haensing, can you... I don't know...smell where Koon, Ship and Laure are?" Edward asks, unsure if his partner could track people by their Shinsoo. He just figured that Haensing could do that, since the Ignition weapon could apparently eat Shinsoo to heal his wielder.

=Huh, wha-No, no I can't smell their Shinsoo, since I don't know what their Shinsoo smells or tastes like.= Haensing replies drowsily, before going back to his nap.

"Well, that was a bust. Might as well head to Baam's room, since Koon or Rak might be there." Edward sighs, pocketing Haensing before leaving the gym, deep in thought. No matter what Position he would end up in, he would have to eliminate one of the Regulars, if only so that the numbers would be even for the Hide and Seek test.

But he would have to make them look like accidents, so that rules out the Light Bearer, Wave Controller, and Spear Bearer courses, as those courses didn't show any tests that would allow Regulars to harm one another.

Scout's a maybe, as the Manhwa didn't show how Quant "trained" the regulars. So, his best, and possibly his only option is also the most dangerous one: the Fisherman course, specifically the one where the regulars have to fight on pillars. All he would have to do is kill, or if he's able, injure one of them to an extent that they'll have to drop out.

Perhaps he should target the guy that Koon smuggled in, he seemed weak enough.

"Hey, got a minute?" Edward is snapped out of his thoughts by a girl speaking up behind him. Turning around to look at the speaker, he sees Hwa Ryun, wearing a pink hoodie with the E13 logo on it. This could prove to be either a disaster or a fruitful event he could use to secure his place in the graduating class. He would just have to watch what he says, as Hwa Ryun's loyalty is quite an enigma.

She helped or rather, will help to deliver Baam to F.U.G, but she also helped in getting Baam out of F.U.G. The training that Baam got from the organization did make him stronger, and grant him the Thorn, so perhaps he should let it happen? He'd just have to ensure that Baam could be recovered.

Let the F.U.G buff the little chestnut up, and he would reap the rewards.

"Sure." he replies, allowing her to lead him to another part of the ship, which was surprisingly enough, a giant library with actual books lining the shelves. They take a seat at one of the tables meant for studying in the library.

"So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?" Edward asks, wondering what reason would she has to interact with him. To suggest an alliance perhaps? Or maybe she came to fish some information for the Coffee Addict? He highly doubted that they would have any info on him prior to his appearance on the 2nd Floor.

That might actually be a big factor in identifying Irregulars, but considering what little info the manhwa and the wiki gave on the Tower's middle area, there is a lot of people with no proper ID.

She stays quiet, as if contemplating whether she should pursue her line of thought or leave the mystery be.

Eventually, she speaks. "Who and what are you?" Edward is caught off-guard by the question, but looking at Hwa Ryun's face, he can't see anything that would hint at her joking. This wasn't an unexpected question, somebody was bound to ask something similar eventually.

"I'm Edward Smith, first name: Edward, last name: Smith, and as far as I know, I'm human." He cheekily replies, having a feeling of what she really meant by her question.

"That's not what I meant." she states bluntly, glaring at Edward with slight irritation.

"Okay, so I take it has something to do with your Guide abilities?" he asks, apparently hitting the nail on the head, as Hwa Ryun nods in confirmation.

"How do you know that?" Ryun asks. Although she hadn't really made any attempt at hiding her Red Witch heritage, she didn't expect anyone on the Floor of tests to know about her race.

"I know many things, Ms. Hwa. Including that you're here on orders from the F.U.G."Edward chuckles with a sinister smile on his face, feeling the control of the conversation start shifting to his favor as Hwa Ryun's cold, near-emotionless face takes on an expression oozing with alarm and caution for a brief moment.

"How do you know that?" She asks, managing to calm down. Yu Han Sung was in charge of this floor, at least until Evankhell came back, so he could make this guy "disappear" and reveal how he knows of her orders.

"Simply put, I have a bit of skill in being a Guide. It's only one path though." Edward says, shrugging. Even though the F.U.G would know of his "Guide" Abilities, they couldn't plan around him planning around their plan completely, as they don't know how far and wide into the future his knowledge stretches.

Hwa Ryun nods, part of the mystery plaguing her mind finally unraveled. That explains how the two Regulars managed to pass the test. Although Guides that weren't part of either the Red Witches or Silver Dwarfs weren't common, they still occasionally did pop up every now and then, before they were poached by the 10 Great families and other organizations, but it would seem like one slipped through the cracks.

Usually, one of their ancestors was either a Red Witch or a Silver Dwarf, although looking at the young man in front of her, he definitely doesn't have dwarf blood in his veins.

"How far do you see?" She asks, not really expecting him to answer. Most Guides that she met weren't comfortable with revealing the information the paths showed them, whether it be due to the information being too dangerous to reveal, or it being simply too embarrassing to tell with a straight face. Depending on the info that he knew, she might have to report him to Han Sung, but hopefully it doesn't come to that.

It's always sad to see a Guide outside of the Red Witches and Silver Dwarfs to be silenced before they can see the end of their paths.

"Eh, I only see this floor, and even then, when I'm just reaching the final tests of this floor, the information stops." Edward lies, not showing his full hand. Even if the damn Coffee Addict and the walking Riceball weren't on the same side, it didn't mean that the Coffee Addict wouldn't use the Riceball to hold him off before Rachel managed to get rid of Baam, so it's best to pretend that he doesn't know the endgame.

"That's quite sad for a Guide." Hwa Ryun notes solemnly. She had met a few Guides, from both her own clan, the dwarfs, and those outside of them, who could only see their near future, about 2-3 weeks ahead of the present, and she had pitied them slightly.

"Yeah, but it also makes it interesting, not knowing how a story will end." Hwa Ryun couldn't help but agree on that point. Being able to see the outcome of events made life... boring. Safe, but quite boring, nothing surprised her anymore.

"I suppose you have a point. But, I do have something else to ask of you." she says, eliciting a raised eyebrow from Edward. What else could she want to know? Perhaps she saw something about him, and wasn't sure of what it was?

"Go ahead." Edward answers, motioning for her to continue as he looks around the library. So much information about the Tower, all right here on the 2nd floor. Would anyone notice if one of the books would "mysteriously disappear"? He should probably start off by learning a book that has multiple copies of present, to test whether the people running the floor will notice.

"What are your intentions with that boy?" Hwa Ryun asks. All the paths that she saw Edward take involved Baam, Rachel and those children of Arie heritage, mainly focusing on the one with those hungry and evil eyes.

But no matter what, Edward's path always showed Rachel and the evil-eyed Arie boy as enemies to trample underfoot, sometimes showing Baam attacking Edward soon after, shouting at him for killing Rachel, and sometimes showing Edward get rid of Rachel when Baam wasn't around, claiming to Baam that there was an accident.

Edward stays silent for a few moments, before chuckling as if he heard a funny joke. "Nothing malevolent, I assure you." he answers. Which is true, he isn't going to be the one who'll hurt Baam. Well, hurt him and let the naive boy know that he was the culprit, that is.

"Your superiors won't have to worry about me ruining their plan of acquiring Baam." he finishes. It's what comes after they acquire the little chestnut that they would have to worry about, especially if he does decide to warn Koon about Apple's and Michael's statuses as F.U.G agents. Although that did carry the risk of altering the timeline, everything he did already caused small ripples in the timeline.

"Thank you." Hwa Ryun says, walking away from the table, having no doubt in her mind that Edward wasn't telling everything that he knew. But, she didn't feel like telling Han Sung about her suspicions. She actually wanted to see what he would do, but if it threatened to veer the events too much off-course, she'd intervene.

=Do you think she actually believed the BS you were selling her?= Haensing asks from Edward's pocket, waking up in time to hear the end of their conversation.

"No way in hell, but I hope she doesn't think I'm big enough of a threat" Edward sighs, taking another look at the neatly organized books lining the shelves, his thoughts returning to that one stray thought he had during the conversation.

If the people running the library didn't notice any of the books missing, he might make an occasional visit to the library and absorb a book, and come again some other day to absorb a more valuable book. He would absorb a miscellaneous book with a useful non-combat skill occasionally, as to not form a pattern with the rarity and information of the books.

If they did notice however, then he would simply learn the best books here just before the final test, hopefully out of their jurisdiction once he enters the next floor, and from there on out, he'll rinse and repeat the process.

"Well, I guess taking a look at what this library has to offer wouldn't be a bad idea." Edward notes to himself, glancing over the different titles, which are thankfully in English, or "Macsethian" as the locals call it. After a while of skimming over the books, he sees a few books that might be worth taking a look at, such as a guidebook about the weapons of the Tower, a sewing and crafting handbook, and a book about poisons, that might come in handy, especially if it has the recipes for the antidotes.

But now might be an appropriate time to head to the mess hall, as his stomach is grumbling, and it wouldn't hurt to check if the food is free before the training period starts. That food that was shown in the manhwa didn't look half-bad.

As he walks towards the mess hall, guided by his Pocket, Edward can't help but notice the changes that the [Gamer's Mind] skill has made to his mind. Although, depending on who you ask, they're improvements. He feels more...calm when talking or thinking about things like fooling people, and using them as mere chess pieces in his plans. Before all this, such a though would've out somewhat of a strain on his moral fiber, but now he didn't feel anything about it, no guilt, no happiness, just nothing.

Although to be fair, if all, or at least most of the things went according to plan, most of the people would walk way happy. Hopefully Murphy's Law won't rear it's ugly head.

And even killing someone doesn't weigh down on his mind, the whole event feeling like nothing more than a regular, everyday event. Sure, people might threaten others online, especially if they're playing a game that gets their blood pumping, but actually considering the different methods of execution and body disposal, such as having Haensing eat the cadaver, or attempting to shove it into the [Inventory] causing no burden on his conscience, or what's left of it at this rate.

Hell, even the fact that he died once already doesn't stick out that much in his mind, when really, it should have caused at the very, very least a severe case of anxiety or some sort of mental problems truly spoke measures of how much the [Gamer's Mind] truly affected his mind. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing, as everyone else is the Tower is, or will be quite comfortable with the concept of killing.

"When in Rome, as they say." he whispers to himself, walking past the mess hall door, once he spots a "closed" sign hanging from the handles.

=You say something, partner?=Haensing asks.

"It's nothing. I should probably head to my room to grind the ID's before going to sleep." Edward answers, changing direction to his room.

-Setting down a cup of tea, next to an exciting novel about a group of students imprisoned in an academy where the only way out is by successfully killing someone without getting caught, Hachi opens the book at the marked page, intent on continuing where she left off, interested about who killed the protagonist's childhood friend.