Bab 4: Chapter 4 : Secrets
"Now tell me. How did you arrive on the second floor without my permission?"
Jinwoo was in a tough spot right now.
He was now standing in front of an administrator of the tower. One wrong move and he might die.
'There's no use trying to lie. I guess my best bet would be, to tell the truth or at least part of it.'
"I am not sure myself. The last thing I remember is almost dying, and when I woke up I was already here." Jinwoo explained, omitting the part about the system.
Headon stared at Jinwoo carefully, as if trying to ascertain if he is lying or not.
'Hmm...It doesn't seem as if he is lying. But I get the feeling there is more to it than what meets the eye. Well then...'
Headon pointed the stick in his hand at Jinwoo and the orb at its end started glowing. For a few seconds, nothing happened. But then, he flinched.
'I see. So it was him...'
"I think I understand your situation now." Headon told Jinwoo, as he turned around to leave. "I am looking forward to seeing what you will bring to this tower, irregular. Oh and I almost forgot."
Headon outstretched his palm, as what appeared to be a black sphere appeared.
"Not sure how you managed without it so far, probably something he did. Regardless, take it. You might need it."
With these final words, Headon vanished as he returned to the first floor.
'What was that all about?' Jinwoo thought as he fell on his bed. The day was quite a hassle for him. So he was preparing for a good nights sleep.
'I don't necessarily need the pocket since I have the system. But I guess it'll help avoid suspicion.'
'But why do I get the feeling I am forgetting something?'
Soon he fell into a deep slumber, forgetting a particular task the system had given him.
The daily quest.
And soon enough, a message popped up.
[You have failed to complete the daily quest. You will be moved to the 'Penalty Zone' for a set duration.]
Jinwoo opened his eyes when he felt a huge vibration. Before he had time to even comprehend what was going on, he was blinded by a bright light. Seconds later when he opened them, he was in a completely different area. A layer of sand covered the ground as far as he could see.
'A desert?'
*DING*
[Penalty Quest: Survive
-Survive for the required time.
Time Required: 04:00:00
Time Remaining: 03:59:59 ]
'Penalty Quest? But... Oh.' He remembered the daily quest. He had earlier put aside doing it for later. But he had forgotten all about it.
Suddenly the sand around them started to tremble. A creature slowly rose from underneath. It towered over almost all creatures Jinwoo had seen till then.
It was a giant centipede.
"Well... F*ck."
.
.
.
.
.
.
Jinwoo was panting loudly. After running away from the giant centipede for what felt like an eternity, he was teleported back to his room. His palms were sweaty, knees weak and arms were heavy. With a loud thud, he fell backwards onto the bed as a screen popped up in front of him.
*DING*
[You have completed the daily quest.
Would you like to check the rewards? (Yes/No)]
While his panting continued, he looked at the screen with a ticked off look.
"I almost died. Of course I want the rewards! "
[Rewards: +3 stat points, 1 x Random Loot Box, 1 x Runestone: 'Tenacity']
He thought for a moment about how to distribute the stats. Eventually, he decided.
"Add 2 points to strength and 1 point to vitality."
[Name: Sung Jinwoo
Level: 5
Class: None
Title: None
HP: 635
MP: 71
Fatigue: 79
Stats
Strength: 16
Vitality: 15
Agility: 14
Intelligence: 14
Sense: 14
Available Stat points : 0]
"Open Random Loot box."
Since it said 'Random', Jinwoo was not expecting anything major. But when he received an item in his hands, his eyes widened.
[Night's Edge
Rarity: C+
Type: Dagger
Attack Power: +40
A weapon said to have been forged to slay an almost invincible beast.
-Effect: When attacking, ignores defence of the target.]
'Looks like all that running was worth it after all.' Jinwoo's face had brightened. The only weapon he had till then was a steel sword used by one of his former teammates. But now, he had a weapon with good stats and a pretty useful effect.
He returned the weapon to his inventory. 'Now for the last one.' A familiar stone appeared in his hand. Without a second thought, he crushed it.
[Obtained Skill: Tenacity]
[Passive Skill: Tenacity
-When HP drops below 30%, Reduces damage received by 50%]
'A strong weapon and a skill that could potentially save my life. Couldn't ask for more.' With a smile still plastered on his face, Jinwoo closed his eyes. He had earned himself a well deserved rest.
_________________________________________________
<The Next Day>
"Next team, please enter."
The trio of Jinwoo, Lauroe and Ho entered a room for the next test. They were one of the last teams to enter. This test was a bizarre one as they had no idea of what was happening inside the room. Every now and then they heard screams coming from inside. One other regular had hinted the possibility of completing the test before five minutes. But they had no solid clue to work on.
In the middle of the room, there was a blonde guy seated on the floor, sipping a cup of coffee. The room was almost circular with a number of doors behind him.
"Welcome regulars. My name is Yu Hansung and I'm the administrator for your next test. I am actually the test director for this floor. But this time, I will be directly in charge of the test. For this test, you have to pick the correct door and enter within ten minutes. But if you pick the wrong door or won't pick a door at all within the time limit, you will be eliminated. Your time starts now. "
"Hold on. So what clue do we have to pick the correct door?" Jinwoo asked him.
"All the clues were already given. There are no more clues." Hansung calmly replied.
"What?!"
"If there are no clues, then let's just simply pick a door at random." Lauroe said.
"But what if it ends up being the wrong door?" Ho and Jinwoo were doubtful.
"You got a better idea?"
"Well, no. But..."
Unfortunately Lauroe didn't wait for a reply. He marched to the closest door and kicked it open. For a second both his teammates were shook. But even after some time, nothing happened.
A slow clapping of hands bought their attention back to the test director.
"Congratulations. You have passed the test."
"Wait. So all we really had to do was to pick a door at random? " Jinwoo was surprised and a little bit irked at the criteria for passing.
"To be more precise, you had to pick any door within five minutes." Hansung answered. "You may think this is an unfair criteria. But going up the tower you will face many situations where you have to make quick decisions in life-or-death scenarios. If you remain neutral despite that, you will lose a lot more than you think. This test was a reminder for that. "
"I see..." Jinwoo calmed down a bit.
"You can go now regulars. Let's meet each other again in a higher floor, if fate allows it." He bowed.
Jinwoo returned a nod, and the three of them left the area. Hansung however continued to gaze at the team, or to be more precise, one of the members of the team.
'A member from the Eurasia family, the lone survivor of an exterminated clan... And then there's him, the complete unknown. Sung Jinwoo, was it? He did seem a bit different from others.'
He continued to sip on a cup of coffee.
'Quite an interesting bunch.'
__________________________________________________________
Currently Jinwoo and his team were resting in a lobby. They were told that the details for the next test will be provided later, and they were waiting for it. While waiting, Jinwoo decided to make some small talk with his teammates, since they knew next to nothing about each other. And since one of them was currently sleeping, there was only one person to talk to.
"How was your life before all of this?" Jinwoo asked Ho.
Ho looked at Jinwoo for a moment, probably thinking of how much he should reveal. Eventually, he relented.
"I lived in a small village in the outskirts of the outer tower." Ho told him, reminiscing about the past. "It was peaceful. There were no conflicts of anything of the sorts. For me, it was a utopia. The sound of children playing, the villagers chatting with each other... You could give me all the treasures of the world, and I still wouldn't exchange it for that life. It was all I ever wanted. To live among them, grow old and die peacefully. " A small smile appeared on his face. But it vanished as soon as it came.
"I should have known better. That good times like those never last long. I woke up one night to the screams of my people. A ranker had attacked our village, claiming that we hid a dangerous fugitive among us. Without discrimination he slaughtered everyone - The elderly, the kids, the women - all of them. I myself only managed to escape because Headon selected me as a regular. If it weren't for that..." He trailed off.
For a few moments, there was silence.
"From the place where I came from, I was a hunter." Jinwoo started telling his own story. "Our jobs were simple enough. To protect the civilians from monsters that threatened us. We were in...a rather secluded area. So there were no rankers or any of the sorts among us. Losing our lives was common in our line of work." He made sure to omit the part that he was not even from the tower.
Ho listened, now a bit intrigued by his teammate's story. Surprisingly enough, even Lauroe seemed to have woken up to listen.
"A few days ago, me and a group of hunters were doing our routine job. But suddenly, we were... attacked by a monster the likes of which we had never seen before. A lot of us died. There was a chance for the rest of us to escape. But due to the cowardice of one person, I was forced to remain as bait while the rest of them escaped. I was sure my time was up, but... You know the rest."
"I guess both of us are survivors then." Ho commented.
Jinwoo chuckled. "I guess we are."
Once more, silence covered the area around them. But unlike before, this was a comforting one.
The silence was broken by a familiar examiner they met the day before. The examiner for the Shinsu Barrier test, Lero Ro.
"Did you get enough rest, regulars? Well, I have an announcement for all of you. On orders from the test director, a bonus game will be available for you to play right now. You can choose to either play or skip this bonus game."
"But if it is not essential, wouldn't it be better to skip the game to save energy?" A guy in a purple track-suit asked.
"Indeed. But as you might know, for the final test of this floor, your performance from the first test till the end will be evaluated. So wouldn't it be better to increase your odds by winning an extra game? And as a matter of fact after today, you will be given three days of break. So you wouldn't have to worry about saving energy. "
'Hmm... If what he says is true, then it indeed would be better for us to play this bonus round.' Jinwoo thought to himself. The murmurs from the surrounding regulars indicated that they too were thinking along the same line.
"So exactly what game will we be playing for this bonus round?" Jinwoo noticed that it was the blue-haired guy he met earlier, Khun, that had asked the question.
"This game is called 'The Crown Game'." Lero Ro replied. "The rules will be explained after you enter the arena. Interested teams, follow me."
"Are you both in for this?" Jinwoo asked his teammates.
"Absolutely."
As if on cue, a screen popped up in front of him.
*DING*
[Bonus Quest: 'The Crown Game'
Win the bonus game issued by the test director.]
__________________________________________________________
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
IRTendor
IRTendor As some of you may have noticed, there are some canonical changes made to the crown game. Instead of a direct pass, it acts more like an extra point system. You'll see why later on in the story.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone