The Heavenly Demon Destroys the Tower - Chapter 58

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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 58
The Arena.
A circular battleground where you face opponents one-on-one.
A map you can’t escape until you’ve racked up ten victories.
The reason this was designated as the competitive map was simple:
fifty percent of the opponents you encountered in the Arena were other ‘Players’.
-Bronze Arena today lol people are having the worst luck
-As long as they don’t get matched with Lee Kang-han, they’re fine…
-Who knows? Maybe a Player will show up who can actually beat him
-It’s 1v1, not a 30-man dogpile lol how is anyone supposed to beat Lee Kang-han
The chat was already fretting over what Players would face against Lee Kang-han.
[You have entered the Arena Waiting Room.]
Usually, the space where he’d wait and prepare in the Tower of Infinity was the ‘0th Floor’.
But in the Arena, the space itself was officially named a ‘Waiting Room’.
And unlike the 0th Floor where he was always alone—
“Ugh… what?”
“Don’t tell me that’s Lee Kang-han?”
The sprawling waiting room held
roughly thirty Players all gathered in one space.
“Please, anything but a match with Lee Kang-han….”
“Damn it, I timed my tower entry to avoid his playing hours…!”
The Players stared at Lee Kang-han with obvious wariness.
A monster who guaranteed a hundred-percent loss if matched with him had just walked in, after all.
-He’s already lost his fighting spirit lol
-I’d do the same lmao, I feel bad for the guy who timed his run to avoid him
-How was he supposed to predict Lee Kang-han would have different match times in America lol
The viewers sympathized with the nervous crowd of Players.
That’s when a message appeared for Lee Kang-han.
[Arena matching commencing.]
[Your Arena Rank is ‘1-Star’.]
Along with it, a golden star materialized on his left chest.
The star, which clung to him like a medal, was semi-transparent and carried no physical weight.
“1-Star, huh….”
As Lee Kang-han glanced down at the star,
“Oh, I’m 1-Star too….”
“So even Lee Kang-han starts at 1-Star when he’s new.”
“Please, please, just don’t match me with him….”
Apparently many other Players were also 1-Star,
and they all stared at his star, praying desperately not to be matched with him.
-The treatment he’s getting lol the guy literally gave everyone a +1 accessory slot
-If you run into him, one loss is basically guaranteed lol
-Wasn’t it five losses before you’re eliminated?
-Yeah, you gotta get 5 wins before you hit 5 losses, and if you can’t, your rank actually drops lol
When losses outnumbered wins, TP earnings dropped to zero,
and your rank would plummet in the Arena.
So if you accidentally ran into Lee Kang-han and suffered an immediate loss, your entire run was already jeopardized.
No wonder the Players were avoiding him like this.
But contrary to their hopes,
[You are matched with Player ‘Julian’.]
“Nooooo! Why me?!”
One out of thirty.
Had been matched with Lee Kang-han anyway.
Julian, a fair-haired man with blue eyes, clutched his head in despair.
‘Phew….’
‘Thank god, I didn’t get picked.’
‘Besides, against someone like Lee Kang-han, the match’ll be over in one sweep. After that, I won’t get matched with him again—different match completion times and all.’
The surrounding Players visibly relaxed.
“Huh.”
He was being treated like some kind of plague, of all things.
Lee Kang-han’s smile turned bitter at the thought.
Flash!
Lee Kang-han and Julian’s bodies were engulfed in light, then vanished from the waiting room.
And soon.
[Combat will begin in 10 seconds.]
In a circular arena whose floor was made of earth,
the two stood facing each other, locked in a standoff.
Ever since Lee Kang-han had been matched as his opponent, Julian seemed to have already lost the will to fight.
Perhaps it was the ten-second countdown.
Between them hung a translucent barrier of blue light.
‘Honestly, he doesn’t seem like a difficult opponent.’
Lee Kang-han observed his trembling opponent for a moment.
He glanced around.
Looking over the arena.
When he’d heard “circular arena,” he’d half-expected something like the Colosseum to materialize.
“It’s not a very large arena.”
It looked to be about half the size of an elementary school sports field.
The spectator sections rose only three tiers,
and not a single spectator was visible anywhere.
For something called an arena, it felt oddly cramped.
-1-Star arenas are always like this
-The arenas get bigger as you gain stars
-Around 5-Star you actually get spectators lol
So the arena scale grew, and spectators appeared, as one accumulated stars.
‘I’ll need to earn stars.’
As that thought crossed his mind,
a chime sounded.
[Combat begins.]
With the message signaling the start of combat,
the blue barrier disappeared.
Now they could fight?
Just as Lee Kang-han began moving toward Julian,
“Defensive Stance!”
Julian, who had drawn a Longsword and a massive Shield from his inventory,
tucked his body behind the Shield.
A defensive strategy—block first, ask questions later.
He’d even activated some skill; a golden Barrier unfurled around the Shield.
‘That shouldn’t pose much of a problem.’
Shield and Barrier.
Lee Kang-han paid little mind to these two defensive measures.
They were fragile enough that he could shatter them effortlessly if he chose.
His opponent’s defensive capacity fell far short of his power.
But that wasn’t the real concern.
‘The question is how to earn the SSS+ Rating.’
An SSS+ clear reward required satisfying special conditions.
Since the Arena was ultimately another Tower variety, there had to be conditions—
but he had no sense of what they might be yet.
‘Simply overpowering the opponent is something anyone could do…….’
And he couldn’t scout the small arena itself without drawing attention.
“If I go toward the spectator section, is that an Out-of-Bounds Loss?”
-Yeah, that’s an out-of-bounds loss
-At 1-Star, the arena’s so small you get OB losses pretty often
-1-Star arenas have low spectator sections, so you randomly get knocked out of bounds
The spectator sections ringed the entire arena.
At a height of roughly one meter, the first tier of seats had been installed.
In intense combat, it was plausible that someone might be knocked beyond the seats.
‘Then there’s no point in me leaving to search the arena…….’
Swiftly,
Lee Kang-han closed the distance to Julian,
and with a sharp movement,
seized him by the throat.
“Cough, cough—!”
The barrier from Defensive Stance vanished as though it had never existed at all.
Julian remained pinned in Lee Kang-han’s grip.
‘What—where did my barrier go—!’
He’d known the gap in strength was severe.
But to have it vanish with a single gesture——!
Seized by panic, Julian thrashed and twisted, trying to break free.
“Goodbye.”
Whoosh!
Lee Kang-han hurled him directly into the spectator stands.
Then—
“Aaaahhh——!”
Julian flailed through the air, limbs windmilling.
He crashed into the stands.
Just before he hit completely—
Flash—!
Light blazed across Julian’s body, and he vanished.
-I knew he wouldn’t be a match…
-lol just like that, straight out-of-bounds loss
-asking a Bronze to face the Heavenly Demon is pretty harsh though
-still, sending him off that cleanly—I’d call that mercy
The viewers preferred this—no pulverizing his body into the wall with raw fists.
A clean throw.
Lee Kang-han had tested it to find the conditions for SSS+ Rating, true.
‘Hmm. Think I’ll throw everyone out-of-bounds this round.’
It was around then that Lee Kang-han reached that decision.
[Opponent subdued within 1 minute.]
[You may raise your Arena Rank. Do you wish to proceed?]
So subduing an opponent in a single minute was the condition for rank promotion.
Before even a second match could occur, the system was already asking whether to advance.
‘Might as well.’
Iron Rank was far too easy anyway.
Lee Kang-han accepted the promotion.
Flash—!
On his left chest—
Another golden star bloomed.
Then—
-Wait, he’s really ranking up?
-No…
-He shouldn’t have done that…
A wave of regret rippled through the chat.
* * *
Arena Rank.
A ten-tier system spanning from 1-Star to 10-Star.
It was famous for being something Players actively avoided raising.
-Why not? Each rank gained gives you an extra 5% EXP and TP bonus?
-Yeah and the loss rate jumps way higher too ^^
-The key is not stacking losses by facing weak opponents, that 5% buff doesn’t matter…
The difficulty spike felt with every single-star increase far outweighed
what 5% additional reward could offer.
So Players typically gritted their teeth at lower ranks until—
[Your level does not match your current rank.]
[Your Arena Rank will increase automatically.]
—the system collected enough combat data and forced the promotion.
Only then did they begrudgingly accept the upgrade.
But defying that very common sense,
he’d raised his rank after just a single victory——.
-you’re supposed to wait for the automatic upgrade ㅠㅠ
-now a strong opponent’s gonna show up real quick!!!
-they match with monsters too and the opponents just keep getting tougher;
So the viewers watched, sympathizing with Lee Kang-han’s choice as it stayed within the bounds of ‘common sense’.
Offering him advice.
But then.
“A formidable opponent, huh…….”
Whoosh!
Second match.
“Ugh, uggghhhh……! Why is the Heavenly Demon doing this!!!”
A 2-Star Player went flying through the air.
And another star appeared on Lee Kang-han’s left chest.
Third match.
“Growl, grrrrr……!?”
A massive wolf too was sent hurtling skyward in an instant.
Lee Kang-han’s stars increased to four.
-So they were formidable after all?
-I saw even Silver struggling against that giant wolf lol
-As soon as the match starts he’s just throwing them out lol
The pattern held true — stronger opponents appeared as the stars accumulated.
But Lee Kang-han was already a Record Breaker in the Iron Rank.
No matter how many more stars were added, no matter what formidable foe emerged.
None could stand against him.
‘This is too easy.’
Whoooosh……!
By the fourth match,
after he’d hurled even a colossal mud golem into the spectator stands,
Lee Kang-han’s stars swelled to five, then
a brilliant light flashed——
the five stars merged together, becoming one.
“With five stars clustered like this, they take on substance.”
Until moments ago, the stars had clung together in a translucent form.
But once the five unified into a single star,
he could now feel its weight distinctly, even touch it with his hands.
-Reached 5-Star in just four matches lmao
-What formidable opponents, lol…
-He’s casually throwing a 5-meter-tall golem around
-No need to worry about the Heavenly Demon lol
-At this rate by the time he hits 10 wins he’ll be 10-Star?
There was no need to worry about the Heavenly Demon.
The viewers felt this keenly.
Swish, swish, swish…….
The landscape of the Arena where Lee Kang-han stood began to shift.
“Ah. Spectators.”
Just as the viewers had said, the Arena grew larger upon reaching 5-Star.
And spectral figures began to materialize one by one in the stands.
“But the spectators…… they look like ghosts somehow.”
The spectators had no solid form — just wisps of pale vapor coalescing vaguely.
The Arena had expanded and the stands with it.
Yet the phantom audience filling the seats seemed to number fewer than ten.
-That’s how it normally appears btw, other 5-Star players look like ghosts too
-But like 10 spectators… that’s pretty sparse
-??? What? That’s actually a lot
-For real originally when you hit 5-Star you get like 1 or 2 spectators lol
Ten spectators was considered quite a crowd, apparently.
As Lee Kang-han accepted this and gazed at the phantom audience,
Ding.
[You have encountered entities from your affiliated Universe.]
[You equip the Title: Record Breaker.]
A message materialized before his eyes.
‘Another Universe reference here?’
During the promotion match rewards,
Lee Kang-han—who had set a new record as the top-ranked player in his affiliated Universe and earned an EX-class evaluation—
After that, I’d searched for information about the Universe, but there was barely anything to be found.
I never expected this message to appear before the Arena audience.
‘Wait—Record Breaker became a Title too?’
Lee Kang-han had surpassed the previous Record Breaker, Heracles, and claimed the title for himself.
He’d thought it was simply his name being inscribed on a single line in the Tower of Infinity.
He hadn’t expected it to become a Title.
Actually, come to think of it—
Title equipping didn’t seem to exist for other Players at all.
‘Do I really have to equip the Title?’
There was no need to announce it first—that I’m the new Record Breaker.
Lee Kang-han thought this as he looked at the message asking if he wanted to equip the Title.
[‘Record Breaker’ cannot conceal their Title.]
[Title is now equipped.]
Along with a message stating that the Record Breaker must reveal their Title,
a brilliant flash—!
Above Lee Kang-han’s head,
[Universe 101 – Record Breaker]
massive letters of pure white light materialized.
-???
-What’s that all of a sudden lol
-Record Breaker means Record Breaker then?
-But what’s Universe 101?
The moment the viewers saw the letters hovering above Lee Kang-han’s head,
confusion rippled through the broadcast.
Murmurs and whispers spread—
Outside the spectator section.
The seating area, which had held only about ten spectators, suddenly grew noisy.
Flash! Flash!
Light burst forth from every corner as
‘The spectators… they’re multiplying?’
the phantom audience in the stands began swelling in an instant.
The Heavenly Demon Shatters the Tower (Serialized)
Author │ Yeom Bi
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyung
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ 204, 288 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Daelung Post Tower 1st Building)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Yeom Bi 2025
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder, and the contents may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and the author.
Violation of this may result in criminal and civil legal responsibility.

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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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