The Buffs I Raised Are Too Strong - Chapter 19

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

Episode 19.
Suffocating terror.
A body that no longer moves.
A monster.
“Gasp…… Gasp…….”
No sound would come from his throat.
It was drawing closer.
The Blue Spear hovering in empty air crackled as if taunting him.
“Urrgh……!”
If only he could move a single finger.
If only he could speak and cry out to escape this hellish place.
But he could do neither.
His limbs had no sensation.
His throat had been torn away, leaving him voiceless.
Thump, thump.
Soon it would trample him into the earth.
Or perhaps swallow him whole first.
Either way, the end was equally horrific.
He closed his eyes.
The past came flooding back—all those monsters he’d slaughtered without a second thought.
Why had he taken it all for granted?
They had always been desperate to kill the humans standing before them.
Who in this world would willingly become a monster’s prey?
No one wanted that.
They simply never realized it.
Blinded by wealth and fame placed before their eyes, they’d lost their sight.
Every single day they fought for their lives, yet they believed themselves to be hunters.
They entered this place with the excitement of stepping into a game.
After all, they could always return to reality by switching off the power, like shutting down a computer—
So the delusion wasn’t strange at all.
But once you stepped out of that fantasy—
You never wanted to go back.
Thump, thump, thump.
The ground trembled with the creature’s footsteps, and his body shook with it.
He cracked his eyes open.
A massive jaw was slowly descending upon him.
And then.
[Time Remaining: 00:00:00]
“Mm…….”
Baek Yul-heon touched the throbbing scar on his neck and let out a groan.
“……Did I fall asleep?”
A dream.
A dream from his past.
From when he was still lost in that delusion.
Perhaps it was because he’d spoken of the Tower for the first time in so long.
As memories he’d buried for ages came rushing back, a chill ran down the back of his neck.
“……Did I give bad advice?”
Regret crashed over him the moment he woke.
Yesterday’s memory was still sharp.
He’d suggested to a man who’d already challenged the Tower once and failed that he return there again—not quite a command, but close enough.
Whether Jung So-hyuk would enter the Tower or not was his choice alone.
But the fact that Baek Yul-heon had pushed him forward didn’t change.
If Jung So-hyuk ended up suffering the same experience he had—
“……No.”
Stop projecting himself onto him.
Jung So-hyuk is different.
His character, his talent.
If he could enter the Tower once more, stepping over the memory of his past failure, that alone would be proof enough of his worth.
There are things you can only understand after you’ve been broken once.
* * *
“…It’s been a while.”
A dark cave.
Damp moisture pressed down on his entire body.
Water droplets fell from the stalactites above, soaking his shoulder.
‘I actually came in.’
Insane.
Not genuinely out of his mind.
Who enters a tower straight from bed without any preparation whatsoever?
“Hah…….”
Trauma crashed over him.
Monsters would come pouring in soon.
They’d burst from every corner of this dim cave, clawing for his life.
‘Should I just leave?’
If he spoke just one word right now, he could return to his comfortable bed.
Forget the tower, slip back into a stable life.
The failure penalty would lock him out for a month, true.
But after abandoning Floor 1 twice, he couldn’t believe he’d ever set foot in the tower again.
“…….”
One word.
Just one word and he could go back.
“……Anyway, I can always return whenever I want.”
I’ll try for as long as I can.
That was his resolve.
Then.
[You have entered Floor 1.]
[Name: Jung So-hyuk]
[Affiliation: South Korea]
[Level: 1 LV]
[Ability: World Tree’s Blessing]
[Exclusive Skills: World Tree’s Blessing, World Tree’s Servitude]
[General Skills: None]
[Currently Applied Buff: World Tree’s Blessing]
“……Status Window.”
The moment he resolved to move forward, the Status Window materialized before his eyes.
Then.
[Floor 1 Mission: Defeat the Giant Ant.]
[Time Limit: 1 hour]
[Condition: Giant Ant 0/3]
[Failure: Death, Mission Abandonment]
The mission appeared.
“Ah…… I remember.”
Giant Ant.
Literally, a massive ant.
People said it was without question the tower’s weakest creature.
Just an ordinary ant that had grown enormous in size.
But.
“Huh……!”
Screech, shriek.
Holes dotted the walls and ceiling.
Beyond them came the creature’s cry.
A familiar sound.
One that raised goosebumps across his skin.
And.
―Shrieeeek!!
“It… it came out……!”
Not from the hole ahead where he’d been watching.
An ant rushed at him from behind.
‘Grotesque thing……!’
Back when he’d challenged Floor 1 before.
He had a memory of nearly fainting when an ant dropped onto his head.
Not exactly a memory worth revisiting.
But it meant I looked terrifying, for what it’s worth.
The rigid exoskeleton, the jagged mandibles.
Everything about it felt like a threat.
This is the weakest creature in the Tower?
Then what does that make me, losing to the weakest creature?
The ant approached, mandibles clicking together.
One wrong move and my arm would be shredded between those jaws—certain as death.
It had been the same last time.
I’d held my ground against it, desperately keeping those mandibles away from my skull.
Exhausted and hopeless, I’d called off the attempt.
But this time was different.
“Let’s go!”
Whoosh—!
Wind burst forth.
The moisture clinging to the stalactites scattered in an instant.
The ant, charging forward with terrifying momentum, froze mid-stride.
I could see it in its stance—naked uncertainty.
Boom!
One step forward.
Unlike that earlier version of myself, cowering and waiting for its attack,
I was the one who moved first.
Pressing down with force that could split the earth beneath me,
as threatening as I could make myself,
I hurled a warning—*I will tear you to shreds*.
The dynamic had inverted.
Now it was the creature’s fear I felt, not my own.
Close enough that my fist could reach its head.
Only then did it strike back.
—Eeeeek!!
It opened its mandibles wide, then snapped them shut in a blur, trying to sever my upper body from my lower.
I exhaled slowly.
The ant’s movement looked sluggish now.
It had left every vital point completely exposed in its attack.
For a moment, it felt like our eyes had met.
And then I threw my fist.
—Keeeee…!
Crack!!
Whoaaaash—!
The gathered wind detonated outward.
The entire cave seemed to shudder.
A few stalactites fell nearby.
I checked the ant’s condition.
My fist had connected dead-center on its head.
The result was exactly what I expected.
A corpse pooling greenish blood.
Its head was too mangled to recognize.
“Haah… haah…”
I’d killed it.
I’d actually killed it.
That easily.
“Ha, haha!”
Lightness.
Release.
It felt like a gentle breeze brushing the tips of my hair.
An old, festering resentment dissolved away.
A knot that had seemed it would never come undone,
twisted and knotted tight for so long, suddenly came loose.
My lips curved upward.
Courage bloomed inside me.
“Next.”
The words tumbled out, buoyed by a confidence that seemed to bloom from nowhere.
I looked around.
A partially collapsed cave.
Not a trace of the ants.
I focused on sound—on their sounds.
“…….”
Nothing. Silence.
A prickle of unease began to creep in when—
“……Status Window.”
[Floor 1 Mission: Eliminate Giant Ant(s).]
[Time Limit: 1 hour]
[Progress: Giant Ant 3/3]
[Failure Conditions: Death, Mission Abandon]
[Congratulations! Floor 1 Cleared.]
“???”
An impossible message hung before my eyes.
‘Cleared?’
3/3
The counter should have read 1/3, not this.
How could all three be dead?
‘How did all three ants die?’
I turned around to inspect the corpse.
One ant.
What used to be a head, a thorax, an abdomen, six legs.
I’d killed only one. That much was certain.
There were no other bodies scattered about.
And yet from the beginning, the cries I’d heard—they weren’t from a single creature, but several.
“Where in the world did the others…”
Drip.
The sound of something falling.
I turned toward the cave wall.
Holes.
The openings between wall and ceiling.
All sealed shut with rubble.
Another drip.
Not water—droplets of sickly green blood.
Seeping through the gaps in the stone.
‘The cave collapsed…and buried them in the rubble……Crushed.’
“Ha…haha…”
The monsters that had haunted me for years.
Annihilated by a tremor in the cave.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Cleared……”
I clenched my fist.
Only then did it sink in.
Floor 1.
The starting line.
I’d finally stepped across it.
I closed my eyes.
I savored the moment.
My body was drenched, my clothes stained with green blood.
Yet nothing felt wrong.
Only relief.
Three seconds, maybe.
“Ah……”
Something had changed. I opened my eyes.
I was back in the familiar Rooftop Room.
* * *
―Brrrrrring
“……Hmm?”
Baek Yul-heon was still at the Guild, processing leftover paperwork.
“There shouldn’t be any calls at this hour.”
He answered without much thought.
His hands still held a pen and a stamp.
“Hello……”
—Guild Master!
Thud. Clatter.
The stamp slipped from his careless grip and fell.
A sharp ringing noise pierced his ear.
“……What’s going on.”
—It’s, it’s an emergency! An emergency, sir!
“An emergency?”
Baek Yul-heon’s previously relaxed expression grew grave.
News important enough for an employee—who should have left by now—to call about.
What on earth could it be.
—Could you check the Leaderboard right now, sir?
“……The Leaderboard?”
It was a term he hadn’t heard in ages.
He’d barely paid attention to it even during his active years.
A bulletin board displaying the rankings of Awakeners.
“What, did the world’s number one change? Or is there a new name in the top ten?”
—No, sir. Not the global one—I mean the Floor 1 limited Leaderboard!
“……Floor 1?”
A floor-specific Leaderboard would be
a ranking of those who cleared that floor fastest.
“Floor 1, right? Not Floor 10?”
—Yes, Floor 1. Please don’t be shocked when you see it.
“……Why Floor 1.”
He pulled up the Leaderboard.
Names that hadn’t changed in years caught his eye.
He scrolled past the names he’d heard so often they’d become familiar,
toward the floor-limited rankings.
He clicked on Floor 1.
‘Floor 1’s always cycling through new names anyway. What’s all the fuss about?’
The strategy for Floor 1 was so widely known that
there had even been a trend of teaching newly awakened Awakeners the strategy in detail and having them clear Floor 1 as quickly as possible—a practice known as speedrunning.
The top record had never been broken, though.
The top ten names changed fairly often, he’d expect.
‘Maybe a new second place showed up?’
With that thought, he gazed at the Leaderboard.
“……?”
[1. Unknown: —00:00:23—]
[2. Maverick: —00:00:24—]
[3. Vasilisa: —00:01:12—]
[4. Han Rin: —00:01:13—]
[…]
[…]
“Un……?”
He couldn’t manage another word.
Maverick.
The world’s greatest Awakener.
A record that had shown an incomparable gap above second place
had been—broken?
Originally, once a floor has been cleared, one cannot challenge it again.
Thus, Floor 1 is equal for everyone.
Though there are differences in ability, at Level 1 excluding Buff Type Awakeners, one cannot possess any skills.
They must fight with nothing but a naturally enhanced body.
Apart from Maverick, the names on the Leaderboard were all Buff Type Awakeners.
Therefore, beyond Floor 10 where most skills unlock, his name could not be found on the Leaderboard.
Then why did Maverick, who wasn’t even a Buff Type, hold such a dominant record?
Because he was a 2nd Awakener.
Starting from Floor 1 with Combat Type skills,
who could possibly catch up to that record?
Therefore, it became conventional wisdom that no one could ever surpass the Floor 1 first-place record.
―Sir, Guild Master!
“Hm? Yes.”
Baek Yul-heon, lost in thought, snapped back to attention.
Right—he was on a call.
―Have you confirmed it?
“……Yes.”
―Then you must have seen the name too.”
“……The name?”
Undecided.
Not yet set.
A name that was the only one changeable later.
The kind novice Awakeners frequently chose.
“It’s not there.”
―No, look carefully, Guild Master.
“?”
―There’s no parenthesis next to it, is there?
‘……Parenthesis?’
The parenthesis next to a name indicated the holder’s affiliated nation.
Maverick, being American, had English.
Vasilisa, being Russian, had Russian.
Then no parenthesis meant…
“!”
Bang!
Baek Yul-heon shot to his feet.
“South… Korean?”
I Raised a Buff Too Powerfully
Author |
Naengmyeon Hwachai
Publisher |
Samyang C&C Co., Ltd.
Editor-in-Chief |
Editorial Department
Published by |
Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. — Dreambooks
Address |
7F, Kwangsung Building, 28 Bongeunsaro 114-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea
UCI |
G720:N+A063-20260731072
Blog |
blog.naver.com/dreambookss
Twitter (X) |
@dreambookss
Submissions |
[email protected]
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any means without written permission from Samyang C&C Co., Ltd. — Dreambooks.

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