"S-save me!" Lee Jong-soo begged for his life, but Min-jun’s reply was cold. "Why should I?" "If you have a problem, file a lawsuit with that splendid law firm of yours." "W-wait—guah! Gaaahk!" A sickening crunch echoed through the clearing as the branch constricted. The tree trunk crushed Lee Jong-soo with tremendous pressure, and the man who had committed such vile acts died without ceremony. And I felt no remorse. "Looks like even trash can be useful sometimes," Min-jun mused aloud. Everyone else had already fled. "Now I can take my time." Tak. With most of the tree’s branches occupied absorbing nutrients from its fresh kill, Min-jun leaped toward its main body. Of course, not all of them were busy. Swish! Two thick branches lashed out, cutting through the air with an audible whistle as they aimed for Min-jun. If he were caught, he’d end up just like Lee Jong-soo—a mangled sack of fluid and bone. Min-jun merely tilted his head. Too easy. He dodged, letting the branches that sliced through the air collide with each other. Pap! The wood shattered on impact. Thirty-five degrees to the right. Twenty-two degrees to the left. The exact angles, the precise direction—there was no deviation from what he had experienced countless times in the game. His movements were timed to perfection. Instead of hitting their target, the tree's own branches slammed into the mangrove’s trunk. Min-jun smiled. That was the trick. Finding the exact path to make the monster attack itself had been the hardest part to master. "Gooooo!" The Tamyog-ui Namu let out a heavy groan. All that groaning, but it can barely feel a thing, Min-jun thought. The tree's bulk was a distraction. A novice would see its size and think to douse it in oil and set it ablaze. Min-jun grabbed a jagged piece of wood that had splintered off. "How about I tie you up so we can pass the time quietly?" This was an event-based encounter; there would be no experience points. At most, he’d get a day-one entry into the Myeong-ye-ui Jeondang. It was far more effective to get what he needed and move on than to fight it to the death. "Gooooo!" the mangrove roared again. The meaning was lost on him, but it was clearly unhappy with the turn of events. Can't be helped, then. If it wouldn't cooperate, he would just have to knock it down. Min-jun leveled the sharp point of the wood he was holding. [Mangrove Tree of Greed uses the skill Heup-hyeol Deong-gul!] Woong! Woong! Dozens of vines shot out at once. No matter how skilled he was, dodging them all was impossible. But changing their direction a little… That’s possible. With that thought, Min-jun’s eyes narrowed. At the same time, he moved the piece of wood in his hand, matching the timing of the vines flying toward him. Kagak! The first vine whipped past, its trajectory altered as it brushed against the stick he’d planted in the ground. And that was the start. Puak! The real fight began. Clutching the thirty-centimeter length of wood, Min-jun stepped forward. Kwakwakwakwang! As the distance narrowed, the tree's attacks seemed to accelerate. Puak! It was a tense dance where a single misstep meant death. Min-jun deflected and parried each of the tree's attacks. Just ride the rhythm. He had to find its unique breathing pattern, adapt to its movements. There was no need to be afraid. He had repeated this process too many times to feel fear now. Eventually, the distance closed to a single meter. One more leap and he could reach inside. Ba-dump. Ba-dump. He could feel the surface of the trunk pounding. Through the cracks in the bark, he could see a human heart. Its weakness. But then… Woong! Something erupted from among the branches. Nabi. Thousands of them, their wings a brilliant, shimmering blue. The sight of them taking flight, shedding a glittering powder into the air, was breathtaking. Ugh. Min-jun stopped breathing. Jamjaneun Nabi. Monsters that used a potent sleeping dust as a defense mechanism. The effect was immediate upon inhalation; he'd been rendered helpless by them more times than he cared to remember. In other words, as long as he didn’t breathe, he wouldn’t be affected. Min-jun took one last, deep breath and lunged for the mangrove's main body. He twisted the piece of wood in a counter-clockwise motion… Puak! …and pierced the mangrove's heart. "Kaaaaa!" A scream of pure agony split the air, causing the branches to flail wildly as Min-jun forced the makeshift stake deeper. Puak! Puak! After a moment, the screaming stopped. The tree went still. It was over. "Phew." Min-jun let out a long, ragged sigh. He was slick with sweat, his lungs burning, his heart pounding in his chest. This was what it felt like to be alive. "Haaa." To think all those years of studying patterns and memorizing timing would pay off like this. For the first time, he felt a flicker of gratitude for his obsessive past. [The first 'Mangrove Tree of Greed' has been defeated.] A status window appeared with a congratulatory message. Ah, right. It hit him then. He must be the first in the world. And the system… [Your achievement will be recorded in the 'Myeong-ye-ui Jeondang' for one day from tomorrow.] [Please input the player's name.] There it was again. The system begging for personal information just to put you in its Myeong-ye-ui Jeondang. "I have no name. Keep everything private," Min-jun answered without a second thought. The request for personal information was a system default. If an achievement like this became public, the player would be swarmed with attention. [Name unknown. The player's face will be censored, and voice will be adjusted.] So the system wouldn't allow for complete confidentiality. Guess I’ll have to compromise for now. Of course, his anonymity wouldn't last. In these early stages, a new number one would replace him soon enough. Still better than last time. He cringed, remembering his peak in junior high, when he’d entered the Myeong-ye-ui Jeondang with the avatar of a barbarian wearing a coat and chomping on a cigar. "The sun is setting…" This was a stroke of luck. If the game had been more popular, he would have been stuck here for much longer, competing with others. Damn it. Forget it. Just thinking about that old avatar made him want to kick the dead tree. Let’s just get what I came for. Min-jun bit his tongue and began searching through the cracks of the dead mangrove. His fingers brushed against something small and solid. It was a green pill, about a centimeter in size. [You have acquired the essence of 'Namu Guseul.'] "Finally." A smile spread across Min-jun’s lips. If each of the mangrove’s fruits increased a single stat by +3, the Namu Guseul granted a bonus of 12 stat points. Considering a level-up only gave about three points, this was the equivalent of leveling up four times in one go. Insane. Honestly, there was no better item for the cost, not even on the 50th floor. Gulp. Min-jun popped the orb into his mouth. A warm energy spread through his stomach. Now, let’s see if it was fully absorbed. Min-jun activated his status window. > Name: Park Min-jun > Gender: Male > Age: 27 > Level: 1 > Strength 5 | Agility 6 | Stamina 7 | Magic 5 > Unassigned Stat Points: 12 > Occupation: None > Unique Ability: None > Skill: None Level 1. But with 12 free stat points… The strongest level 1. There was no other way to describe it. About an hour had passed. A message popped up in the [Tower of Judgment] Myeong-ye-ui Jeondang, announcing that the Tamyog-ui Namu had been slain for the first time. Video related to this achievement will update in the next 10 minutes. The Korean server's bulletin board, which had been dormant for a long time, suddenly exploded with activity. > Sacheonwon: Phew! Did anyone die? > Jeoktoma PC Bang: Absurd. Can you even kill that tree? Back when I played, I must have tried a hundred times before I gave up. > Barambaram: How the hell did someone kill that thing? > Tokki Gongju: I bet it’s some grinder who’s been dying to it for the last 11 years, on that game everyone else quit after one. > Tokki: Must be a bug or something. That guy must be a weirdo. There's no normal way to take down that tree! > Ppabak91: Exactly! > SarangKkureomi7: ^This > Geurimja Geom: ^^This The comments came flooding in. Aside from a few initial posts, the reactions were mostly disbelief. They were calling it luck or an exploit. Most thought it had to be one of the two. But their tone quickly changed. [The video has been updated.] The commenters' doubts vanished the moment the video was uploaded. They had no choice. They had seen the entire thing with their own eyes. > Kimdoochil123: Wow. > Dokgojin: Holy… > Ppabak91: I’m speechless. > Wang-wi Gyeseungja: Seriously, is that even human? Look at those movements. > Babamba: Look at him with that piece of wood. It's like Gukbong Jeonsa. > Tokki Gongju: I can only admire him. Insane. Absolutely insane. I made it to the 7th floor, but watching this is just… wow. I could die and be reborn a hundred times and never be able to do that. There were good and bad reactions, but the general response from those who saw the video was the same. > Daepyonim: I am Park Hosik, Director of Ohsung Semiconductors. I’m offering 1 billion won as a signing bonus and 100 million a month. > J-Yong: I will match that offer. Please contact me when you see this. > Baekjiga Matda: I am gathering a team right now… The recruitment offers poured in, one after another. Min-jun savored the feeling as he read through them. Was it really that great? Of course, beating the Tamyog-ui Namu at level 1 was no simple feat. Usually. But it’s not that surprising. Ah, well. Most players had never experienced the mid-to-late stages of the tower, so they were working with limited information. Min-jun smiled bitterly. But, 100 million won… Seeing such an unrealistic amount brought his past rushing back. A life that was difficult to put into words. Rent delayed more times than he could count. Starving himself for days just to prepare for a single mukbang broadcast. If that money had been offered just one day earlier, he would have taken it without a second thought. But now… even for a billion won, he had no intention of sharing what he knew. Money isn’t what’s important. Right. That wasn’t important anymore. Min-jun searched for the National Museum of Daehan on his phone. It was a large museum located in Yongsan, Seoul. In the game’s lore, the appearance of the Tower of Judgment had caused magic to overflow throughout Seoul. Most things were unaffected, but relics were a different story. Historical artifacts outside the tower had been transformed into holy relics. The genuine articles, those with true mythical power, were inside the tower itself. But he was talking about the replicas. Duplicates. Copies. And that place has the most replicas in one spot. The National Museum of Daehan was a treasure trove. But that was also the problem. He wouldn’t be the only one aiming for it. Unlike the Tamyog-ui Namu, which had appeared in seven different locations in Seoul alone, there was only one museum. People from all over the city would converge there, looking for relics. And, of course, many of them would die there. I need to get ready. Min-jun shoved his phone into his pocket. He waited for the last of the spectators to disperse before moving under the cover of darkness. He stopped by an Daebak Mart at Yongsan station. There was still time to shop before the city was completely swallowed by night. "Where is it? Some Korean paper would be good." He put about five 30-centimeter-long rolls into his cart. Is this enough? They were a bit disappointing as weapons, but they would be useful in other ways. A hammer, on the other hand, would make a nice weapon. Min-jun pushed the cart and headed for the checkout counter. At the same time, breaking news about the tower flashed across a nearby TV. [The government is now actively investigating the situation…] [The president convened an emergency meeting with all ministers, including the Minister of Defense, this afternoon…] [Experts in various fields are being consulted…] But trying to come up with countermeasures was useless. Attempting to apply logic and reason to a supernatural phenomenon was a futile effort. Min-jun looked out the window. The sun was sinking behind the mountains. The day was over. The night was coming.

Chapter 3: Timed to Perfection