I Woke Up as the Villain

Chapter 162

Yu-Seong struggled to cling to his consciousness as he gazed at the countless blue floors still spread out in front of him.

‘I can't see the end.’

Although it felt like he had come a long way, the reality was that there was still much farther to go than he had already traveled.

‘Looks like my plan to easily obtain hidden rewards has failed.’

Even if he were to recover and start running again from here, he could still encounter unforeseen danger somewhere along the way. As it was mentioned before, in a very unlucky case, there had been people who had died in a trap.

In fact, Yu-Seong didn't want to be one of those unlucky people. That was why he turned his head and smiled bitterly as he looked back at the mess he had already gone through. He muttered in good humor, "All the miscellaneous things have flown by. Is that a tissue box? It would have been okay if I was hit by that one."

Since it was the Tower of Heaven’s first floor, it didn't necessarily mean that only threatening items were coming at Yu-Seong through the traps. Of course, it would be great if he could recognize that in the situation of breaking through traps recklessly. However, to do that was practically impossible.

‘At least for now.’

Yu-Seong had not yet reached the level of ability to obtain hidden rewards. Understanding this for himself very well, he looked back at the path he had come from.

‘The traps haven't been regenerated yet.’

However, if a little more time passed, the floor would soon be filled with blue light once again. The important thing was that the regenerated traps would not change in form. That was, even if traps that caused the ground to collapse were regenerated, the ground would still remain collapsed.

‘I can't remember everything perfectly, but I can remember it to some extent. And… Yes, yes, there is a reason to do something foolish like retracing my steps through the path I've already broken through.’

The Reset was both a blessing and a curse. Regardless of how strong one was outside of the Tower, the starting point was still the same. In other words, if one could grow well within the Tower, they could also take down threatening opponents on Earth.

‘For example, the Demon King Worshipers or my siblings who threaten me.’

Naturally, there was no reason for Yu-Seong not to use this aspect of the Tower. And in order to do that, it was obvious that he had to become the strongest within the Tower. It was possible. He could walk the path of Adam Smith, the Demon King of the Tower who had been an equal match against Kim Do-Jin, the protagonist in the original novel.

‘Adam Smith was a somewhat ordinary D-rank villain before entering the Tower.’?

However, how many hidden rewards did he monopolize to gain the title of the Tower's Demon King?

‘I don't have Adam Smith's Special Skill, Secret Exploration, but... I have information from the original novel. I can do this.’

Naturally, Yu-Seong would have to endure suffering. One of the statements attributed to Adam Smith, the Demon King of the Tower, was, "At times, I've contemplated that it would be easier to die." But he eventually survived and became stronger. There was no reason why Yu-Seong couldn't do what Adam Smith did.

Yu-Seong steeled his heart, leaving behind his regrets. He quickly walked back to the entrance of the crossroads where the trap had started.

‘My injuries are slowly recovering.’

It was all thanks to his skill—Stamina Reinforcement. However, it was still not enough.

‘In a way, the real hidden rewards that the first floor of the Tower has is that acquiring all the skills is several times faster than in other areas.’

That was why Yu-Seong had advised his companions even in the car heading towards the Tower of Heaven to train as much as possible on the first floor.

‘I did tell them to avoid traps just in case, but…’

In the situation where Yu-Seong had already made up his mind and entered the Tower, the outer road was full of traps. In fact, except for the reward at the end, the road itself could play the role of a hidden reward. It wasn't just a passing thought that acquiring four different skills with only PT number 8 in six hours was a great deal.

‘If not now, I won't be able to acquire skills at this speed.’

As he was thinking about this and that, the cluttered items in front of Yu-Seong suddenly lit up and turned into traps once again.

‘Come to think of it, I should have picked up some things that looked useful on the way here.’

While looking at the disappearing traps in contemplation,Yu-Seong then shook his head.

‘No, the more baggage I have, the heavier I become.’

A baseball that he had carelessly stuffed in his pocket was enough for now.

‘I have a feeling that this will come in handy someday.’

Yu-Seong might be mistaken, but there was no reason to ignore his intuition.

As the traps regenerated, Yu-Seong noticed that he had recovered about half of his physical condition.

‘It's better to wait a little longer for recovery than to immediately take on the challenge.’

Although his slow recovery speed was irritating, he knew that moderate rest during training was also important.

‘I'm not sure how much time is left, but it's better to climb as slowly as possible to gain the most benefits.’

In the beginning, Yu-Seong had some sense of time, but as time passed, even that began to fade away. Without a clock to reference or any knowledge of the outside environment, his sense gradually became dull. Such a situation was a little frustrating, but Yu-Seong decided to let go of his impatient mind.

‘This is inside the Tower so there aren't many immediate threats. I’ll just have to move forward slowly and steadily. Oh, come to think of it…!’

Suddenly, something came to Yu-Seong's mind, and he immediately took a cross-legged posture.

‘If I use the skill—God's Chakra, my recovery speed may increase.’

The effect of God's Chakra also included strengthening Physical Reinforcement through the imposition. Instead of simply accepting the skill, it seemed like a good idea to expect a recovery effect when performing deep breathing.

‘I haven't used the direct breathing method of God’s Chakra much since its effects are already great, but in this case, it's worth a try.’

Yu-Seong immediately performed the direct breathing method using God’s Chakra and felt his condition quickly improving. He stood up from his seat with his eyes wide open.

‘My condition is at its best.’

He laughed at his rapid recovery. Then, he looked over at the single path of the trap with a blue-covered floor.

‘This time, I should focus on sensing my surroundings rather than blindly running ahead.’

It wasn't necessary to look at everything. In fact, relying on his senses might be more effective. To do this, Wind Control was more effective than Wind Flow.

‘Now I know that it is impossible to break the boulder in one go with the Wind Flow.’

Yu-Seong breathed deeply, took slow steps, and stepped on the first trap. He then took another step and examined the object that had flown towards him.

‘A pencil?’

It was an item that could cause fatal injuries if hit in an unfortunate place at a high speed, despite its weak durability.

The baseball that had attacked Yu-Seong earlier was the second thing that came at him. Dodging the baseball with the Wind Control and converting Pharaoh’s Caprice into a spear, Yu-Seong parried the wooden fragment that flew at him from the next trap and continued to move forward without rest.

‘I have about…500 meters left to reach the safe zone where I arrived earlier.’

His first goal was to reach the place where he had first arrived, recognizing and getting rid of each trap one by one. With that in mind, when he saw the round steel plate flying towards his left shoulder, he quickly swung his spear.

‘A frying pan?’

As he had blocked the melee weapon that had absolute influence in many games, even deflecting bullets, the shock that was transmitted to his entire body through the spear was not light. The shock ringing in his mind almost made him collapse, but thanks to his newly acquired skill—Strong Willpower— it was not difficult for Yu-Seong to regain his composure and take a step forward.

‘I did it!’

Feeling excited, Yu-Seong let the flying tissue box hit him and confidently went forward.

‘Check carefully, don't miss anything…’

It was important to capture as much as possible in his field of vision.

‘A baseball from the left, a cushion from the right—which I can ignore—and wait, there is something else behind the cushion…’

Yu-Seong confirmed three of the pencils flying towards his left chest after piercing the thick cushion with his spear. Thus, he had no choice but to rotate his spear to block the flying pencils. What he gained in return was the impact of a baseball hitting his back.

"Argh-!" Yu-Seong let out a scream and managed to avoid falling flat on his face. He quickly took a few steps back.

Thud.?

With a somewhat lumpy posture, a bitter laugh escaped from his mouth as he rubbed his sore buttocks.

‘I assume that there's still about 300 meters left.’

Yu-Seong couldn't even make it to the safe zone he had challenged with just the Wind Flow before. No, he hadn't even yet encountered a trap where the ground collapsed. Although he felt disappointed, he had reached his limit for now.

While smacking his lips, Yu-Seong slowly got up and started heading back to the entrance of the trap-filled road.

‘But if I keep trying, I'll definitely get better results. Let's try again after I recover.’

His willpower was on fire.

.

***

Three more days had passed. Yu-Seong couldn't keep track of time, but he remembered exactly how many times he had challenged the narrow road that was filled with traps.

‘This is the 132nd trial.’

His clothes were torn apart and his hair was a big mess, but Yu-Seong was brimming with confidence.

‘I'm going all the way this time.’

It wasn't excessive confidence. In his previous 131st challenge, he had confirmed the far end of the trap-filled road filled with blue light from afar before returning to this spot.

‘With my recovery ability now, I could have rested there for a bit and challenged it again to get the hidden reward, but…’

In fact, Yu-Seong’s goal was clear.

‘I have to break through from the entrance in one go.’?

With that in mind, he returned to the entrance with the summit in sight. This was when the blue light of the traps had not yet even regenerated.

Catching his breath, Yu-Seong checked the skill window that had been enriched by his previous 131 challenges, and a smile of satisfaction spread across his lips.

Skills: Stamina Reinforcement, Physical Strength Reinforcement, Flexibility Reinforcement, Pain Tolerance, Bleeding Resistance skill, Physical Strike Tolerance, Vision Reinforcement, Intuition Reinforcement, Resilience Reinforcement, Concentration Reinforcement, Leap, Balance Reinforcement, Nimble Hand Movements, Quick Footwork, Basic Weapon Skills, Strong Willpower.

The once-empty skill window was now full.

‘In fact, it’s safe to say that I’ve acquired all the skills that can be obtained on the first floor.’

If it weren't for this situation, Yu-Seong wouldn't have even considered attempting the path filled with traps in the first place. Nevertheless, there was a reason for him to challenge it.

‘Now I can obtain both hidden rewards.’

When the blue light began to glow brightly in front of him, Yu-Seong began to run without any hesitation.

‘From start to the end…’

He had to run without hesitation. He deflected threatening objects flying towards him, and even took a few hits that his body could handle.

He didn't need to memorize everything as his Vision Reinforcement allowed him to read most of the threats. Even if he missed something, it didn't matter. Thanks to his Intuition Reinforcement, his body reacted naturally, and he was able to deflect the threatening objects from the traps.

If the ground collapsed, he could use Leap skill to jump to a higher location. Although his landing had been somewhat unsteady before, with the help of his Balance Reinforcement skill and Concentration Reinforcement skill, it was no longer a problem for him.

Unlike three days ago, Yu-Seong could easily navigate the traps now. He continued forward with a twinkle in his eye using Wind Control.

‘Now I’ve reached the trap upgrade zone.’

After passing about half of the path, the difficulty of the traps rose significantly beyond what the Tower’s first floor could offer. It was also common for ten pencils to fly at a time, or for the floor to rise where there was nothing.

It was not an exaggeration to say that Yu-Seong had continued to challenge the traps 132 times as a result of the unexpected increase in difficulty.

‘And thanks to that, I've gained a lot of skills.’

The rising scaffoldings were used as pedals. Pencils, wood fragments, baseballs, and sometimes threatening daggers or basketballs flew at Yu-Seong, but he recognized and deflected or dodged them all.

‘I'm almost there.’

With natural movements, Yu-Seong had overcome an enormous number of traps. He blinked at the green floor that was visible only from a far distance. Previously, he had become too excited upon seeing the floor, which had led him to losing his composure, making a mistake, and having to go back to the beginning. However, it was different now.

‘100m!’

As Yu-Seong carefully and surely avoided the traps and continued forward, a huge stone pillar suddenly appeared in front of him.

‘What the hell? I can't jump over this with even Leap.’

Surprised, Yu-Seong quickly looked at his surroundings.Then, he could see something red flashing around the center of the tall stone wall.

‘That is quite suspicious…’

In fact, there was no time to hesitate. Instinctively, Yu-Seong took out the baseball that he had put in his pocket and aimed it at the red light. The moment the red light was hit, the tall stone pillar began to collapse.

‘That was the right answer as expected. Now all I have to do is avoid it…’

No, he wouldn’t be able to avoid all of it. The attacks from the other traps continued to pour out through the falling rocks too.

At that moment, Yu-Seong made a clear choice. In fact, going back from here wouldn’t guarantee him a better answer.

‘Forced breakthrough!’

Yu-Seong gritted his teeth and activated Wind Control skill while enduring the shock that pounded his whole body.

Thump-ump-!

The painful ache spread throughout his body once again. However, as a result, Yu-Seong could arrive at his destination, the green footboard. He couldn’t help but smile brightly.

- You have passed the trial's single path for the first time! Rewards are being calculated.

- From the entrance to the exit! You have achieved an amazing record. Additional rewards are being calculated.

With the message, the injuries throughout his entire body began to recover at a much faster rate than before. It was thanks to the activation of the hidden reward.