Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 136

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 136. The Tower – The Golden Trial (5)

The Dragon Soldier held his blade lowered, waiting for his master’s command at any moment.
I gathered the scattered gold one piece at a time with Telekinesis and placed each on the massive scale.
As the gold accumulated, the scale’s needle shifted with each addition.
Ten grams, eleven grams, twelve grams… one hundred grams, two hundred grams, three hundred grams… one kilogram, two kilograms, three kilograms….
With each tick of the needle, the power and momentum I felt radiating from the Dragon Soldier diminished bit by bit.
“I should have mentioned this earlier—the amount of gold you must pay increases with the number of challengers attempting the trial.”
At the Golden Dragon’s words, Lee Su-young let out a sigh.
“That’s…!”
When I thought about it, it made perfect sense.
With more people, you could gather more gold, and the combat would be easier.
When the scale’s needle crossed thirty kilograms, I felt it unmistakably.
This Dragon Soldier was at the Present Realm level.
The fact that he was still at the Fire Realm level even after weakening meant a creature like me wouldn’t need to draw a blade—I’d perish with a single finger point from him.
As the scale’s needle exceeded three hundred kilograms, his aura dropped from the Fire Realm to the Early Peak level.
Even so, he remained near the peak of the Fire Realm, making him a monster of late Floor 60 caliber.
“Now I understand why the minimum requirement is Floor 65. Three hundred kilograms isn’t exactly chicken feed.”
Had we challenged this with a full six-person party, we’d have needed six hundred kilograms.
Remembering the gold coins I’d obtained on Floor 15, any climber ascending the Floor 60 range should be able to accumulate that amount of gold readily.
It was simply that the gold obtained on Floor 22 had been insane.
When the scale’s needle crossed nine hundred kilograms, his aura dropped from the Early Peak to the Peak level.
Peak Realm—the same level as the Lizardman King I’d killed, but there was no true comparison to be made.
Even within the Peak Realm, there existed a difference as vast as mountains between those on the cusp of Early Peak and those in the withered, exhausted state of Perfected Mastery.
Even if they were at the same level, unlike the Lizardman King, the Dragon Soldier was capable of prolonged combat, and I could never defeat him.
I’d barely finished the Lizardman King by dragging the fight into an extended battle and achieving mutual destruction—a tactic that would be impossible against an opponent who couldn’t suffer such attrition.
Moreover, just by his gait alone, I could easily tell that this Dragon Soldier was a master of refined martial arts, unlike that lizard who’d learned nothing.
So the gold had to continue accumulating on the scale.
When the scale’s needle hit three tons, the Dragon Soldier’s aura had finally dropped to the threshold of Peak level.
The required amount of gold kept increasing.
“Shouldn’t we stop adding more now?”
At Lee Su-young’s question, feeling the reduced pressure, I laughed lightly.
“If we fight now, we’ll be torn to shreds within ten minutes. We’ll all die if we get greedy. This isn’t the place to pinch pennies.”
The Golden Dragon hadn’t mentioned casually that lower-floor climbers would need a dozen tons or more to challenge the trial without reason.
Even though that dragon seemed greedy, he possessed eyes that saw through to the core of things.
Just because my Hardware approached First Class didn’t mean I actually was First Class.
I could never disregard Software.
When the scale reached six tons, he’d finally dropped to First Class level.
But even then, he was still effectively at Peak level.
When I paused placing gold, the Golden Dragon spoke in an almost casual voice.
“To win safely, you’d need at least twelve tons on the scale, wouldn’t you? Remarkable. A climber challenging merely Floor 23 at this caliber. I’d thought you’d need to expend at least eighteen tons.”
Beneath that smooth tone, greed seeped through subtly, raising the hair on my arms.
I ignored the Golden Dragon’s words and focused all my attention on gauging the Dragon Soldier’s current level.
“It’s true that adding more gold is safer, but opportunities to fight against such a powerful opponent don’t come often.”
I could place ten tons or twenty tons of gold.
But chances to fight a strong opponent who’d fallen to a level I could actually challenge didn’t come easily.
At my words, the Golden Dragon clicked his tongue lightly, as if something had been resolved.
“You’ve already made up your mind, and yet you waver uselessly. Your gold is desirable, but I find the spirit within you—refined like gold through your own effort—pleasing. A beauty comparable to gold is as rare as radiant courage.”
I felt the Golden Dragon’s gaze toward me shift to something more favorable.
“If you’d stopped adding gold out of greed, without the ability to back it, like that girl over there, I’d have been displeased.”
At the Golden Dragon’s glance, Lee Su-young looked between him and us with an aggrieved expression.
It seemed she’d thought it wasteful to see the gold mounting on the scale.
Probably she wouldn’t have felt so regretful if the gold had been used to strengthen the reward instead.
She was likely anxious, unable to gauge how much gold it would take to strengthen the reward.
I turned to the Golden Dragon and asked.
“If I may be so bold—would it be acceptable for me to proceed with the challenge as things stand?”
I understand myself, but I don’t know the Dragon Soldier.
Yet the Golden Dragon knew the Dragon Soldier well and possessed eyes that saw through my level.
The Golden Dragon paused at my question before answering.
“Judging by your level and your rough capabilities, if you challenge alone the gold would be far too much, but if all three challenge together, this timing is just right.”
Challenge alone, he said.
“Wait, I can challenge alone? Then don’t the other two miss out on their rewards?”
“The choice to challenge is yours to make. Whether one challenges, or two, or all three—it matters not. With other trials this would be impossible, but the Golden Trial allows for a certain loophole: even a solo challenger can receive full rewards shared among all.”
A loophole unique to the Golden Trial?
“Ah, I see—I’d pay the gold on behalf of the other two, receive the rewards, and distribute them to everyone.”
Since gold was needed separately from what the trial consumed, to enhance or increase rewards, it seemed a viable method if gold was sufficient.
Because it involved ‘gold,’ it was less an act of strength and more a form of purchase—a permissible loophole—whereas the other trials he mentioned likely had no such workaround.
At my reasoning, the Golden Dragon smiled and spoke.
“That I cannot tell you.”
Even this much counsel was probably walking a razor’s edge within the Tower’s constraints.
Yet perhaps the Tower allowed even this much advice because securing the favor of the Golden Dragon counted as a climber’s own ability?
I turned to Lee Su-young and Diana, putting my heads together with them briefly.
“What do you both think?”
Lee Su-young spoke in answer.
“The most important thing is what you think. From what this dragon said, it seems like bringing the Golden Altar we dug up from that pit is the decisive reason we ended up here.”
So she was saying the choice was mine—since coming here, gaining the Golden Trial, and acquiring enough gold to proceed smoothly were all thanks to me.
“Diana and I are fine fighting together, but you want to try fighting alone, don’t you?”
“That’s true enough. But a safe yet genuine life-or-death battle against the Dragon Soldier isn’t something you get every day. You’re really okay with that?”
Lee Su-young looked at me as though I were some strange creature.
“No, honestly—it’d be better if we didn’t have to risk our lives at all. Do you think we’re battle maniacs like you?”
Battle maniac? That’s unfair!
I was simply thinking of it as a precious opportunity to receive good teachings as a martial artist!
The Galactic Martial Arts World was full of monstrous masters like Siu, the Principal, and Cheon So-yeon’s parents, yet those who would engage in near life-or-death combat with their power restrained were almost nonexistent.
Among my circle, there was no madman who casually thrust a blade at children.
Thinking it through like this, I did feel a bit insane myself.
But I have Regeneration, and if needed, I can recreate my Clone, so there was that.
“Besides, if you’re frugal with gold here, there’s more left for the rewards. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
At Lee Su-young’s words, I let out a soft laugh and joked.
“That’s your real motive, isn’t it? How greedy.”
“No, that’s not it!”
As Lee Su-young and I traded jabs, Diana asked with a worried expression.
“Taking on the trial alone—are you sure? You don’t have to do it solo.”
“No, it’s still a good opportunity. I just wanted to ask if it’s okay that we’d get considerable Experience Points from defeating the Dragon Soldier, even though it’s not his real body.”
In the Tower, combat was the foundation of growth.
Challenging the trial alone meant monopolizing the growth element for two people.
Moreover, I received almost no benefit from the Tower unlike the two of them, which made me even more reluctant.
That was when the Golden Dragon spoke.
“This ‘Experience Points’ you speak of—it’s the kind you only obtain by killing your opponent completely, so you won’t gain any even if you defeat my minions. But how did you know this isn’t his real body?”
“I could tell by observing. So it’s fine if I fight alone. I’ll take on the battle myself.”
Conserve the gold, I get good teachings, and the two of them can just ride the bus without fighting.
Any way I looked at it, fighting alone was the best deal.
At my bright answer, the Golden Dragon looked at me incredulously.
“It’s quite remarkable that you call that ‘the best deal.'”
With my choice made, the Golden Dragon snapped his fingers.
Lee Su-young and Diana were instantly transported to a space near the Golden Dragon and trapped within a barrier.
It seemed designed to prevent them from helping me.
At the same moment, the Dragon Soldier’s power plummeted dramatically.
Since I alone was undertaking the trial, the amount of gold I had to offer was reduced to a third.
So six tons meant I’d effectively given eighteen tons.
The Dragon Soldier’s power dropped instantly from the First Class Peak level to the beginning of Second Class.
The gap between challenging alone and challenging with allies was this vast.
Of course, a martial artist at the Present Realm could hardly be called an easy opponent even with Second Class power.
The Golden Dragon removed gold from the scale and restored the Dragon Soldier’s power.
“Let me see—thinking of your abilities, I’ll need to reduce this considerably.”
At the Golden Dragon’s words, I asked.
“…Can you see my abilities?”
Did he have some kind of status window-reading ability?
“I don’t see your abilities directly. I see the Karma of Combat you’ve accumulated. The karma from recent struggles, if I concentrate, sometimes becomes quite clear. So you fought that foolish lizardman who carried the False Dragon’s blessing.”
Was it the False Dragon who gave the Lizardman King intelligence and strength?
“I’ve watched you fight, endlessly regenerating as though driven to exhaustion. Overall, I’d say you could afford to lose about four tons.”
The Golden Dragon watched the gold descend beneath the scale, his expression grim as though he were cutting away living flesh.
“Isn’t that… adding rather a lot?”
The Dragon Soldier’s strength was climbing back toward First Class—
“You’ll have to stake your life, and you’ll suffer wounds that would kill you many times over. But that hardly troubles you, does it?”
“It does trouble me, actually.”
I’m human too. I don’t like pain.
The Golden Dragon spoke, dismissing my words.
“I hold your mettle and courage in high regard. The Tower truly sends worthy trials. It has been long since I’ve met a warrior to my liking.”
But it does trouble me, I’m telling you—
At the Golden Dragon’s words, the Dragon Knight nodded.
For some reason, the Dragon Knight’s gaze toward me seemed to have shifted favorable as well.
I wondered if I’d just been reckless.
As I exhaled softly and reached to put the gold back into the subspace, the Golden Dragon let out a small cough.
“You’ll use it later anyway—there’s no need to put it away now, wouldn’t you say?”
Did he really love gold that much?
Still, the fact that he’d decided I could win the trial even with less gold wasn’t an unpleasant thought.
The Dragon Soldier’s power, reduced to just over two tons of gold, landed at First Class, just shy of Peak.
Hardware being First Class didn’t mean the software went anywhere, so it was incredibly dangerous.
Unlike me—whose Realm was Early First Class while my body was Third Class—the Dragon Soldier would have both his physique and the strength he could exert at Peak level.
I took my stance, preparing to fight the Dragon Soldier.
The Dragon Soldier raised his sword, assuming his own ready position against me.
“Then, let us begin the Golden Trial. I trust you won’t die.”

(To be continued in the next part)

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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