Ex-level Player With the Greatest Civilization of All Time - Chapter 20

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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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Episode 20

The chat window had gone silent.
Naia figured there was nothing she could do about this one.
But then…
Ding—

[Purify the garden using Lake’s Clear Water—Contaminated zones 7 / 5]

She’d done it with ease.
Baek Jin-seong, who’d been stunned into silence, belatedly caught sight of the chat exploding in real time.

– Wait, that actually worked?
– But that beam attack just now was absolutely brutal though?
– Even Miller would be dead if he took a hit like that.

Of course, there was no guarantee Miller would be the one getting hit.
Baek Jin-seong’s own assessment was the same.
The power behind that strike had been terrifying.
That last blow.

[Moving to the Waiting Queue for Floor 13.]

In the waiting room, Naia and Baek Jin-seong—both soaked from the rain—naturally came together.
Even though he’d just witnessed what happened, there was something about her presence now that felt unapproachable, radiating an aura that left him awestruck.
“So that actually… worked.”
“Yeah, well. The output was stronger than I expected, honestly.”
She answered as though it were the most natural thing in the world, utterly composed.
Baek Jin-seong found himself reassessing her measure all over again.
That chance meeting, which could have ended as nothing more than chance—he’d somehow managed to cling to it, and it had turned out to be the best decision of his life.
“You’re going to tackle Floor 14?”
“Yes, that’s the plan.”
A sudden suggestion.
But he recalled who exactly was standing in front of him—Naia.
She was someone who’d routinely clear two floors a day as standard.
Three would be only natural for her.
If anything, he was eager to see it now.
What mission Floor 14 would present, and how she’d clear it.
“The viewers are just as excited. They’re already clamoring about it.”

– She’s really going all the way to Floor 14 in one day?
– Honestly, there’s no reason she couldn’t. Look at her face—she doesn’t even look tired.
– This madwoman is insane!

“Really? That’s good to hear.”
“And they’re particularly eager about something else, it seems.”
“Eager about what?”
“Since the tutorial section ended, not a single player has ever cleared three or more floors in one day.”
The world’s most formidable hunters.
Among them, only a select few had managed two floors per day on occasion.
But officially, no one had ever cleared three floors after the tutorial ended.
“Hmm, I see. So should we go set a record?”

[Challenging Tower Floor 14.]

Baek Jin-seong’s vision shifted in an instant.
The moment he entered and surveyed the field, he was more surprised than he’d been in a long time.
It was nothing like what he’d imagined Floor 14 would look like.
“Huh…? This is Floor 14, right?”
I instinctively pulled up the mission window.

[Floor 14 – Waiting Queue 2 / 100]

It was definite. Floor 14.
The viewers seemed equally bewildered.

– Can Floor 14 look like this?
– Shouldn’t it be dark enough that ghosts could pop out any second?
– Could it be because we just cleared Floor 13?

Fundamentally, the Floating Garden field worked in a specific way.
With each ascending floor, the dark energy grew steadily stronger.
But Floor 14 right now—
it was nothing like the established appearance.
It looked no different from Floor 11.
The sky that should have been black enough to suggest a gate might tear open at any moment was blue and clear.
The dark soil that should have been roiling with dark energy was simply ordinary.

– But why are there only 2 people in the waiting queue?
– No one’s entered for 3 minutes straight.
– Could this be a Hidden Floor?

A Hidden Floor.
A concealed floor accessible only when special conditions were met.
The viewers raised this possibility since no one had yet completed the purification mission that occasionally appeared on Floor 13, but…

– What Hidden Floor has a waiting queue?
– Yeah, that doesn’t make sense.
– Still, it seems connected to clearing the Floor 13 mission somehow?

The viewers were agreed that the speculation had gone too far.
But there was one point where everyone’s opinion aligned.
Clearing the Floor 13 mission had to be connected to the current situation.
Baek Jin-seong checked the chat and approached Naia.
“What do you think we should do?”
“About what?”
“The waiting queue.”

[Floor 14 – Waiting Queue 2 / 100]

No one was joining the waiting queue.
“Ah… what happens if we just leave it like this?”
Naia asked this as if only now noticing the queue.
Of course, even if we left it as is, we could still attempt the floor.
Baek Jin-seong explained that part.
“We’d just need to wait about two hours.”
This was based on examples from the top rankers of the tower.
At the tower’s highest levels, player counts were sparse enough that soloists often entered fields alone.
In such cases, it was naturally impossible to fill all 100 slots.
When that happened, you had to wait two hours before the attempt could begin.
This time would probably be the same.
“What do you want to do?”
Wait the two hours.
Or just accept that we’ve already cleared two floors today and head back without pushing further.
At Baek Jin-seong’s question, Naia fell silent for a moment before speaking.
“But I’m curious about something.”
“Go ahead.”
“If we exit now and come back later, could we get a different field when we re-enter?”
If he were to abandon the mission here today and re-enter later,
the question nagged at him: wouldn’t those two have to wait another two hours when they arrived?
Baek Jin-seong hadn’t considered that angle given the current peculiar circumstances, so he scratched his head sheepishly and spoke.
“I’m not really sure about that either, ha.”
“Hmm… well, let’s just wait it out today.”
“Yes, understood.”
“And we might set a record while we’re at it, right?”
The viewers welcomed Naia’s decision.

– That’s Naia for you.
– Nothing like that spineless Baek guy.
– But Jin-seong, move over a bit—I can’t see Naia.
– The cameraman has no sense of the shot!

In any case, Floor 14 was set to be cleared.
Anticipating two hours of tedious waiting, viewers began dropping out rapidly.

– So we just sleep and come back?
– Two hours… when are we waiting?
– I’m gonna catch some sleep too. Jin-seong.

Baek Jin-seong settled into a spot where Naia was clearly visible.
Two hours in the Waiting Queue.
During that time, Baek Jin-seong didn’t say much of anything.
That’s when the viewers’ questions came flooding in naturally.
‘Every single question is basically telling me to go to hell, isn’t it?’

[…has been expelled.]
[…has been expelled.]
[…has been expelled.]

The topics they wanted to ask Naia about were all sensitive matters.
Those people got the hammer.
‘Still, even with people leaving, it’s holding steady at 500,000?’
At this hour, no less.
This was the Naia effect.
‘Though I suppose it’s not just Koreans watching.’
Naia was already world-class.
Unlike some soccer player whose father refused to acknowledge him as world-class.
She absolutely was.
And besides, it would be pleasant afternoon hours on the opposite side of the globe right now.
Marveling once more at her reach while glancing at the viewers, a thought suddenly struck him.
‘Does that mean there’s only one floor left now?’
Baek Jin-seong felt oddly uneasy about that.
A contract spanning fifteen floors.
He’d thought there’d be more cushion initially.
At this rate, the end wasn’t far off.
That sparked a trace of urgency.
‘No, focus. Do your best with what you can control right now.’
To shake off the anxiety of not having scored any real points yet, he decided to focus on what he could do.
He kept the broadcast’s energy up by chatting with viewers about the mission.
“What kind of mission do you all think will come up?”

– Well… probably monster subjugation’s the most likely bet, yeah?
– Monster hunting’s the safest bet.
– But the field changed, so who knows?
– It’s hard to guess, honestly.

Once the conversation got going,
two hours in the unknown field passed in a flash.
Ding-
At last, a Mission appeared before them.

[Sow Seeds in the Purified Garden— Regions Untouched by Life 0 / 5]

– A Mission I’ve never seen before.
– No monsters?
– Better to be cautious either way.
– But five regions? That’s going to be pretty rough in itself, isn’t it?
– Huh? Naia’s vanished again already.
– Where’d she go?
– It’s quite a distance, but why not follow her this time and see where she keeps disappearing to?

“What’s with all this talk of following people around?”
Probing too deeply into someone as secretive as Naia was something to be scrupulously avoided.

[You have been expelled from the chat.]

“Tailing, secrets, chasing, harassment—it’s all banned. Period.”

– Oh damn, she’s ruthless…
– Wait, was there something weird mixed in there at the end?
– Naia’s back.

Naia, who returned moments later, began sowing Seeds across the Floating Garden using drones.
“To think work this meticulous is even possible….”
“What’s so surprising? Regular drones can manage this much.”
Though true enough, the execution capability was extraordinary—not operating via controller, but simply issuing commands and watching the Mission complete itself.
Once seed sacks from around the safe zone were secured to the drones, they crisscrossed the expanse, scattering their contents on their own.
The Mission finished as effortlessly as watering a vast farmland from a helicopter.

[Sow Seeds in the Purified Garden— Regions Untouched by Life 5 / 5]

The fourteenth Floor cleared with striking ease, all the waiting rendered pointless.
Baek Jin-seong was beginning to wonder if there existed any Mission Naia couldn’t accomplish.
Even if such a thing did exist, he couldn’t think of one at the moment.

[Moving to the Waiting Queue for Floor 14.]

As they arrived at the Waiting Queue, Baek Jin-seong felt a twinge of anxiety.
He wondered if Naia might suggest clearing Floor 15 right now.
‘I still need more time….’
Once Floor 15 ended, the contract would expire.
Of course, there would be the matter of selling the byproducts from the Lava Hound, so they could stay in touch afterward.
But he harbored no naive assumption that this would preserve his position as her partner.
Tense and braced, his full attention fixed on whatever words might come from her mouth, it was precisely then—
“Shall we call it a day?”
“Phew….”
Baek Jin-seong released the breath he’d been holding.
At least the worst scenario hadn’t unfolded—a mercy in itself.
“What was that reaction? Did you want to clear Floor 15 too?”
“No, ah… I was just startled. To be honest, I’m feeling a bit worn out. Here, the rewards from clearing this Floor.”
“Yeah, good work.”
Naia collected what was owed and slipped quietly out of the Waiting Queue.
“Then I’ll wrap things up for today too. See you tomorrow, everyone.”
Left alone, Baek Jin-seong returned to Peronta and ended the broadcast.
Rather than leaving the Tower, Baek Jin-seong secured lodgings in Peronta and settled in for the night.
He had things to do when he woke tomorrow.
Specifically, the consignment sale that Naia had requested.
“This is an opportunity.”
Tomorrow I’ll sell everything for the highest price possible… and prove my worth to my brother.

* * *

After leaving the tower, I showered and collapsed onto my bed.
It was 4 a.m.
The clear itself hadn’t taken that long overall.
The waiting queue had eaten up most of the time.
“Still, I got a pretty decent haul, didn’t I?”

[Lv.13 Kang Sun-woo]
Job: Subspace User
Grade: EX-grade

First was my level.
When I’d entered moments ago I was level 11—two ranks climbed already.
There had been some overkills along the way, some bonus achievements, but not the explosive jumps I’d seen before.
Still, there was no denying the leveling pace was remarkably fast.

Strength: 10 [+]
Agility: 10 [+]
Magic Power: 35 (+10) [+]
Mana: 35 (+10) [+]
Stat Point: 6
Magic Power: 35(+10) → 38 (+10)
Mana: 35(+10) → 38 (+10)

“So the security clearance requirement was level 20 with 50 Magic Power and 50 Mana—we’re not far off, are we?”
Once I hit the level, hitting the Magic Power and Mana caps wouldn’t be difficult; it was just a matter of acquiring the right gear and accessories.
The truth was, I couldn’t help but wonder why I’d inherited this ability in the first place, so the security clearance had also become a short-term goal of mine.
“Well, the clearance can wait for now…”
I opened my inventory next.
Honestly, I was more excited about this than the level gains.
Running a city didn’t come cheap.
Reward boxes that could rake in serious money were the kind of thing that made your mouth water.

【(Floors 11-15) S-grade Reward Box】 x4
【(Floors 11-15) S-grade Material Box】 x4

“Should I open them right now?”
If I could get another sacred relic like last time, that’d be amazing.
I rubbed my hands together, steadied my nerves, and opened a material box first.
Crreeeak.
The sound of the box opening, and there appeared the item.

【Gardener Krim’s Scissors】

A dud.
Having already hit the jackpot before, materials worth around a hundred thousand won got treated as consolation prizes.
“Okay, I’ve still got three more left~”

【Gardener Krim’s Scissors】
【Gardener Krim’s Scissors】

Feeling like the tower was playing games with me, my fists clenched and my head suddenly flushed hot.
Had my luck just been too good up until now?
I’d definitely been milking the S-grade boxes for all they were worth.

“So all I can do is hope the Lava Hound materials sell for a good price?”
When your mood is low, sleep is the only cure.
I’d decided to crack open the remaining reward boxes and force myself into sleep.
“Let’s just tear through the reward box already.”
Creak-click. Flash—
It happened as I opened the box without much expectation.
A spectacle unfolded much like the one that had accompanied the holy artifact.
Emerald light spilled from the box.
And then the equipment appeared.
“…Heroic-grade Equipment?”

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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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