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Kim Hajun yawned and stretched out his arms. He didn’t have a residence to stay in since he hadn’t agreed to join the Extreme Heat Clan, but that didn’t mean he had to sleep like a grunt. He had ordered the VIP room in the inn after a long day of drinking. People weren’t machines; celebrations were required. If he couldn’t relax after accomplishing a major goal, eventually, he’d make a mistake in the future due to his pent-up stress.
Kim Hajun kicked off his blanket and exhaled before sitting with his legs crossed atop the bed. He raised his arms up to chest level, keeping them apart by the distance of a basketball. His eyes narrowed, and flames blossomed into existence in the empty space between his arms. Like most skills, if he didn’t use the Heart of Fire every day, he wouldn’t improve and might even get worse at it. After half an hour of manipulating fire, Kim Hajun lowered his arms and climbed out of bed, letting the flames dissipate on their own as he headed towards the shower. He had paid for the VIP room, so he’d definitely use everything offered to get the biggest bang out of his buck.
The shower wasn’t just a shower. The water was actually diluted potion, and it was doing wonders for Kim Hajun’s hangover. As the water flowed down his body, his mind raced as he planned out his day. The second floor was easy enough to pass. As someone who had already experienced the floor through his prophetic dream, he already knew what the perfect weapon was for him. Defeating the instructor in one-on-one combat was simply a formality. As for hidden pieces and opportunities, there weren’t many of those on the lower floors that were worth taking. …Right?
Kim Hajun stared at the tiled ground as he recalled how many hidden pieces came out of the first floor, each one of them overpowered skills capable of carrying their users to the thirtieth floor at the very least. He didn’t know about those despite his prophetic dream. Who knew how many other hidden pieces he had passed by? Then again, worrying about things that might not even exist was something he couldn’t afford to spend energy on. He had to focus on the concrete and tangible gains he could make. The war between towers was still ongoing, and although it’d be dangerous, if he could clear a few missions, the item he had planned on purchasing with geums to clear the twentieth floor could be obtained much earlier.
It was settled then. Kim Hajun turned off the water and dried himself off before dressing himself in his suit. It wasn’t the same suit as yesterday, but it had the exact same appearance. When he was done, he checked the room one last time, making sure he had everything with him, and opened the door. Something pressed against Kim Hajun’s stomach, and he lowered his head just in time to see a white flash of light coming from a talisman attached to his suit. His vision shifted and turned, almost causing him to lose balance. If he hadn’t been teleported by transfer talismans in his prophetic dream, he certainly would’ve fell on his butt.
Kim Hajun furrowed his brow and withdrew two ant mandibles from his root bracelet as he took in his surroundings. He had been transported to an arena; it must’ve been someone’s personal residence. But why? Who would waste a life-saving talisman on ambushing a second-floor beginner like him? There was no one around to answer his questions, the seats reserved for the audience members completely empty. The sounds of chains moving drew Kim Hajun’s attention to the side where a metal gate was rising.
A three-headed, six-armed monstrosity that resembled a human chimera appeared from beyond the gate. Its skin was charred and blistering, and it honestly didn’t look to be in the best of shape. Perhaps someone else had been sent here earlier to fight against it, and it didn’t have time to recover from its injuries. The chimera grinned at him with its bat-like head. “What’s wrong?” the creature asked. “Your whole body is trembling.”
So, it was sentient. Kim Hajun narrowed his eyes at the chimera. “Where am I?”
“Isn’t that obvious?” the chimera asked as four swords appeared in its arms—only the ones that had thumbs. “This is your grave!” The chimera dashed forward and hacked at Kim Hajun, slicing downwards with the two swords held in its upper hands.
Kim Hajun raised his ant mandible and deflected the blow while retreating backwards. He grimaced as he steadied himself. Although he held the mandible at the perfect angle to deflect most of the chimera’s strength, his hand was still throbbing in pain. The chimera’s strength matched its size. If he continued to clash against it like this, it’d only be a matter of time before he lost. Luckily, he had been a bum and freeloaded a skill from Vur’s group on the first floor. Kim Hajun stowed his ant mandibles before concentrating on his right hand. A small flame appeared, and with some more of Kim Hajun’s concentration, it elongated and grew into a sword.
“I don’t know why you want to kill me,” Kim Hajun said as he raised his flaming weapon and pointed it at the chimera. “But it’s not going to happen.”
“Flames again?” the chimera asked, its three heads showing pained expressions. “Can’t you annoying pests be more original?” It charged forward, stabbing and swinging its swords at Kim Hajun. “Why is it always flames?”
Kim Hajun swung his sword while retreating, parrying and deflecting the string of sword attacks coming at him. Unfortunately, the chimera didn’t show any openings despite only frantically attacking; it was clearly experienced in combat.
“Try blocking this,” the chimera said. A shield appeared in the tentacle underneath its arm, and it swung towards Kim Hajun from the side in a wide arc. The well-dressed man’s eyes widened, and he bent his torso backwards as if he were dodging bullets in a movie. The tentacle swept over his head, and Kim Hajun thrust upwards with his sword, cutting half the tentacle off. Black liquid spurted out of the tentacle and landed on Kim Hajun’s face, causing a wave of dizziness to wash over him. Was the chimera’s blood poisonous?