Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 181

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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 181. The Tower – Night Walker (2)

We’d barely stepped out of the secret chamber where the elevator was hidden when I sensed a faint ripple of magical energy.
“Something’s awakened.”
Everyone turned to look at me.
Lee Su-young, positioned at the rear, asked cautiously.
“W-what’s awakened?”
“No idea. The moment we entered here, something stirred. Probably that vampire-like thing, or maybe a Bio-Weapon that managed to survive this long.”
As if to confirm my guess, I began to sense movement—slow, deliberate movement—drawing closer from all around us.
“Everyone, prepare for combat.”
I clipped the flashlight onto my coat’s shoulder strap to free both hands, then drew a sword in my right hand and a staff in my left.
“Is that really where you’re supposed to put the flashlight?” Lee Su-young asked.
I let out a bitter laugh at her question.
“Not exactly, but back in the Military, I used to do this all the time.”
Mostly during winter night duty—it was dark, so I needed the light, but my hands were freezing and I didn’t want to hold the flashlight, so I’d wedge it between the shoulder straps or clip it in place like this.
Cheap gloves couldn’t protect your hands against a midwinter Gangwon Province freeze.
Of course, it was only something you could manage once you’d put in your time.
Truth is, my Ki Sense had developed enough that I didn’t really need the flashlight at all.
I carried it mainly to help the others, who relied so heavily on their sight.
“They’re coming.”
The moment I finished speaking, skeletal, withered creatures that looked like mummified corpses came rushing toward us.
“Are those Bio-Weapons? Zombies?” Lee Su-young asked.
“They’re too shriveled and twisted to be zombies,” another voice called out.
Diana channeled Holy Power into both her Mace and my sword in her hands, as well as Mano’s Crossbow, and Mano scattered a murky silver Holy Power toward the withered mummy-like things pouring toward us.
The mummies rushing toward us visibly slowed in the face of Mano’s Holy Power.
At the same time, continuous damage from the Holy Power left burn marks on their bodies as faint smoke began to rise.
So this was what it meant to weaken an enemy—it was extraordinary.
Mano half-secured the crossbow to his shield and issued a warning.
“These don’t seem like ordinary monsters.”
Diana and I nodded at his warning and began cutting and crushing the surging creatures.
“Even up close, they’re not draining souls.”
“Still, they’re definitely taking real damage from the Holy Power.”
The wounds I carved into them erupted with silver flames, incinerating the withered creature and causing it to vanish.
Since I hadn’t done anything special—just slashed—Diana deserved the credit for her Holy Power.
“The problem is there are way too many of them!”
Diana and I slashed and struck relentlessly against the endless tide of creatures.
Behind us, Rachel burned what she called a Memorize Card, and it transformed into a brilliant sphere of light.
The light sphere cast a warm glow like the sun itself, illuminating the entire space.
At the same time, the creatures that had been smoking faintly from Mano’s Holy Power began to writhe as if thrust into a blazing inferno, and severe burn marks erupted across their bodies.
“Sunlight is definitely effective!” Lee Su-young cried out.
Rachel panicked at her exclamation.
“Sunlight should turn them to ash instantly! Why are they still moving?”
I called back to Rachel’s anxious cry.
“It’s not real sunlight! We’re still doing real damage, so keep it going!”
“Ah, this is such expensive magic….”
Expensive? Did she mean it consumed a lot of mana, or was it difficult magic?
Manifesting the magical properties of sunlight was certainly high-level magic.
The odd phrasing nagged at me for a moment, but I pushed aside those thoughts as I dealt with the flaming creatures rushing toward us.
“Path is clear! Go, go!”
I ran ahead, kicking aside the creatures turned to ash.
The objective marked on the Mini Map was quite far from here.
I spread my Ki Sense to track the positions of the incoming enemies while sending my Mage’s Eye forward to scout the path ahead.
“Kyaah! They’re coming from behind too!”
Lee Su-young screamed as she unleashed Water Orb Projectiles using her Water Whirlwind technique.
While flowing water was supposed to do damage, compared to sunlight or Holy Power, it didn’t seem to be very effective.
The physical impact of the Water Orb Projectiles actually dealt more damage.
“Diana, cover the rear.”
At my words, Diana asked worriedly.
“Are you sure you can break through alone?”
Guarding the rear meant running from the approaching monsters and creating distance, but leading from the front meant charging headlong to carve a path.
“I’m fine! Come on!”
I shouted at the monster that had closed to melee range, my body ablaze, while Diana slowed her pace and fell back to protect Lee Su-young and Rachel.
I tripped the monsters’ legs with magic and cut them down with my Holy Power-infused sword, again and again.
“What in hell—how many monsters did this insane research institute breed?”
Mano spat curses as he ran at full strength, scattering Holy Power in all directions, while I carved through the path ahead.
A true massacre, running through silvery ash that burned with brilliant light.
As I cut down monster after monster, something began to feel off.
“Where are all their souls? Did these things never have souls to begin with?”
Vampires periodically drain the life force contained in blood.
Because of their near-infinite lifespan and immense strength, life force drains rapidly.
In simple terms, their basic metabolism is extraordinarily high—without constant feeding, they starve to death.
Then why did these soul-devouring monsters consume souls at all?
Perhaps they were depleting their own souls in the process.
From a Magical Studies perspective, the soul approaches primordial essence rather than mere energy, so what they absorbed and consumed was closer to the spirit—the energetic component—rather than the soul itself.
If so, these monsters might have exhausted their own souls long ago.
Then how were they moving?
Right now, these creatures were no different from corpses.
If so, they shouldn’t have been able to move at all.
Moving corpses—had they been turned into Undead?
It wasn’t impossible.
But Undead without independent will required a sorcerer to continuously maintain and control them.
These monsters might have been tethered to the research institute like Golems, set to automatically respond when intruders were detected, but their movements seemed too proactive for that explanation.
“Ugh! That startled me!”
A monster hiding in the corner lunged at Lee Su-young, but she unleashed dozens of Water Orb Projectiles, turning the creature into a porous mass and shattering it completely.
A monster without will lying in ambush—it was behavior as though someone were controlling it directly.
I tracked where these monsters were pouring from using my Mage’s Eye.
“These bastards—they’re coming down from the upper floors.”
Everyone’s brow furrowed at my words.
“Is the research institute’s security system detecting us and sending monsters?”
I answered Mano while continuously cutting down the creatures.
“I don’t think the research institute has such an impressive system.”
The research institute, for all its name, was hardly different from ancient ruins.
Of course, one could theoretically construct such a system with magic, but I sensed nothing remarkable in the way magic permeated this place.
Rachel’s expression darkened at my answer.
“Then who’s controlling them?”
“Perhaps?”
Everyone’s expression soured at my conjecture. The possibility of encountering an unexpectedly formidable opponent in this quest was not a welcome thought.
“Maybe it would have been better to take our time dealing with these monsters slowly on the way down.”
Mano was saying the exact opposite of what he’d said when we’d descended through the elevator shaft earlier.
His tone carried a note of regret, though it didn’t feel like blame directed at me or Rachel.
He seemed to understand that since he’d also agreed to the plan, any mistakes were ones he shared responsibility for.
In most situations like this, people would resent whoever made the initial proposal, even if they’d consented—but this man had a firm backbone.
I laughed cheerfully and swung my sword.
“Haha, there’s nothing for it now. The enemies are already pouring in. Since we’re committed, let’s think of it as a Shop Points fever event.”
The rate at which Shop Points accumulated in real time was staggering.
These monsters weren’t 28th-Floor level but rather 30th-Floor range—each kill netted 200 or 300 points instead of the usual 80.
For reference, 10th-Floor level monsters yielded 1 point, 20th-Floor level yielded 10 points, and 30th-Floor level yielded 100 points.
The reason we could leisurely slaughter 30th-Floor early-range monsters was thanks to Diana and Mano’s Holy Power and Rachel’s Sunlight Magic.
With double debuffs applied and constant critical hits, they were mowed down like grass before a scythe.
Of course, we had to guzzle Mana Recovery Potions accordingly, but the points accumulated faster than the potion costs.
Looking at the Mini Map, we were now drawing close to the objective.
Then Rachel’s Sunlight Magic expired and faded.
As Rachel pulled out another card to restart the spell, I stopped her and called out.
“We turn here!”
Relying on the light from the flashlight slung over my shoulder, I carved a path at the front and called out directions.
We slipped into a chamber that held stone statues and closed the door behind us to prevent the monsters from entering.
Once inside the dim chamber, Rachel pulled out a card and froze the door with Ice Magic, encasing it in thick ice so the monsters couldn’t break through.
As we caught our breath, a deep male voice echoed from the center of what appeared to be a vast research laboratory.
“Welcome, unwelcome intruders. I am the guardian of this place….”
Before the chilling voice—one I’d never heard before—could finish, Rachel didn’t hesitate or question. She triggered five Sunlight Magic cards simultaneously.
“Aaaagh! You goddamn bastards! I was only introducing myself, and you hit me with solar magic right off the bat!”
Wait, um… did we get this wrong?
Rather than think it through, I checked the Mini Map’s marker for the stone statue’s location and sprinted forward, swinging my blade wrapped in sword energy.
“Such barbarians, completely lacking in courtesy!”
The man in white robes—dressed like a researcher—burned under the Sunlight Magic, his flesh searing, yet he stretched his arm like a whip and lashed out at me.
I sidestepped easily and slashed the stone statue with my sword.
Crack—! Bang!
But the statue was protected by some magical ward; a fierce spark erupted and hurled me backward with tremendous force.
“Damn it. We could’ve ended this quickly with a sneak attack.”
As I clicked my tongue, the man in researcher’s garb conjured shadows from magic to shield himself from the sunlight, then his body warped and twisted grotesquely as he screamed.
“Yes, it was foolish of me to even consider conversation with such trivial prey! If you have no desire to talk, then I shall simply drain your souls without further ceremony!”
The researcher—likely also a test subject of this Research Institute—stared at us, drool dripping from his snout as if he were starving.

(To be continued in the next installment)

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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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