The Legendary Regressor Devours the Tower - Chapter 17

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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 17
[Seong Un, broadcast live!]
-Floor 2 Climbing begins.
It took less than a minute for the community to be flooded with posts about “Seong Un.”
Tutorial EX Rank.
The impact had been enormous even then, but the channel name was obscure and the Climbing had started somewhat late, so viewers hadn’t rushed in.
Everything changed after he received EX+ Rank on Floor 1.
An EX+ Rank had appeared mere weeks after the channel’s opening, and as those who had watched spread posts across the community like wildfire, more and more people began to take notice of “Seong Un.”
A Climber who had broken records one after another was now broadcasting—naturally, people flocked to him.
At the same moment.
“Awakened One Seong Un has begun his Floor 2 Climb.”
As Seong Un started his Climb, Jang Byung Jun left his staff behind and returned briefly to Association headquarters to report to Choi Hyuk.
“Confirmed. He didn’t seem uncomfortable with anything?”
It was Choi Hyuk who had ordered the intensive security detail.
Though he’d locked it down, such a lock was far from foolproof.
How many people had already seen Seong Un’s face—from the Tutorial all the way to the Inspection Hall?
It was merely a supplementary measure to aid his growth.
Because of this, Choi Hyuk had no choice but to strengthen security measures, mindful even of the possibility that someone with ill intent might approach Seong Un.
“Yes, he didn’t appear to mind much.”
“Good. Still, check in frequently about whether he’s uncomfortable with anything. My standards and those of Awakened One Seong Un are bound to differ.”
“Understood.”
* * *
If Floor 1’s starting point was a village, Floor 2’s was a forest brimming with poisonous flora.
On the surface, it was so radiant and colorful it stirred a sense of beauty, but one could not touch it carelessly.
From poison poisoning?
No.
The poisonous mist drifting through the air caused no great harm to the human body, so touching these toxic plants would not lead to death.
‘It means your Clear Evaluation Score gets deducted.’
While some of these toxic plants provided necessary resources during the Climb, the Embedded Memory etched into his mind had issued an absolute warning: do not touch the poisonous flora with your bare hands.
He didn’t know why.
He simply followed the path laid out for EX Rank.
Seong Un strode forward boldly, without hesitation.
-No wait, not that way—go right straight and there’s a cave. There’s a lot of red toxic plants in front of it. Pull those.
-Why are you circling around like that?
-He can’t even follow the path to the cave after we told him lol lol lol
-Is this really EX+ Rank?
-What’s he doing, not following the strategy guide?
But as Seong Un showed no sign of exiting the forest, just circling endlessly, viewers began chiming in one by one with unsolicited advice.
-What, I came here curious because you cleared the Tutorial and Floor 1 with EX or higher, and it turns out to be a flop?
-Lol what, he can’t even get out of the forest?
-Please just read the comments here
-I’d rather not.
-b2
An hour of the same repetitive movements, and it became obvious that viewers were beginning to drop off.
Yet Seong Un paid it no mind and kept walking.
Screeeee—
Then a chilling sound reached Seong Un’s ears.
The grating shriek of metal scraping metal—the kind that made every hair on one’s body stand on end.
As if he’d been waiting for it, Seong Un drew his sword and drove it straight down into the ground.
“Keeeeeeek!”
A sharp wail erupted from beneath the earth.
-What?
-Huh?
-What was that sound?
The viewers who had been criticizing without pause collectively threw up question marks.
[The Forest’s Master, Retri, awakens.]
The Forest’s Master, Retri.
At the same moment, the beautifully blooming toxic plants withered all at once, and black tendrils shot up from beneath them.
‘Mid-Boss.’
The Forest’s Master, Retri, was both the Mid-Boss and the Hidden Boss of Floor 2.
Waking that creature was far from simple—the moment he entered, he had to follow the prescribed path and strike its weak points with precision.
Seong Un hadn’t merely wandered through the forest.
When he reached each waypoint, he pressed his foot gently against the earth, confirmed the faint vibrations perceptible through his Hyper-Awareness, and moved to the next location.
Once signs of the creature stirring appeared, a powerful impact would trigger its awakening—the system was designed with exacting specifications.
‘A creature I never encountered in my past life.’
The reason it had never appeared despite countless climbers ascending the tower.
It manifested only to the very first climber to enter—no exceptions.
And not even in a party; only a solo climber could trigger it.
If you deviated even slightly from the prescribed route, it would never awaken. Who could possibly wake it under such conditions?
Retri was the first monster Seong Un had ever encountered as well.
Of course, to face Retri’s true form up close, he’d first have to conquer the forest-turned-labyrinth.
—What… what is this person doing?
—Was wandering through the forest supposed to wake that thing?
—Call back everyone who left!
—This is absolutely insane…
—Place a mission bet!
—Yeah, we definitely need to place a mission bet.
The moment word spread that Retri had awakened, viewers began placing missions left and right.
[Mission Registered.]
[Floor 2 Clear Evaluation Score EX – 3,000 Gold]
[Accept?]
The accumulated Gold from such bets came to exactly 3,000.
‘That’s unfortunate.’
For the lower floors, it was a substantial sum—but compared to the audience of over ten thousand viewers, it was absurdly meager.
There was a reason for this.
‘A cap.’
Ironically, broadcast donations had a ceiling.
Floors 1 through 10: 3,000 Gold max.
Floors 11 through 20: 10,000 Gold max.
Floors 21 through 30: 50,000 Gold max.
And so on.
Once Seong Un accepted the mission, he’d be capped exactly at 3,000—no additional donations could come in until the mission either succeeded or failed and the Gold was returned.
Still, it was regrettable only in that sense.
The 3,000 Gold was no trivial amount; accumulated over time, it would be more than enough to purchase items from the Administrator lurking in the higher floors beyond Floor 11.
Seong Un accepted the mission and faced forward.
Before him, black wooden branches wove together to form a wall, blocking the passage ahead.
‘This is too simple.’
The labyrinth he’d faced in the tutorial.
The labyrinth unfolding at the entrance of Floor 2 was barely different from that one.
Yet simply sprinting to the exit wouldn’t earn any bonus points.
Lurking somewhere in the middle: Retri’s true body.
He had to kill it directly.
Seong Un entered through the opening, sword in hand.
“Kyaaaagh!”
A single black branch rushed toward him, shrieking as it charged.
Whoosh—
Seong Un swung his blade hard, cleaving the branch’s head clean in two.
With his Hyper-Awareness sharpening his senses, responding to such an obvious approach was far easier.
—That movement just now was incredible.
—He didn’t even use a skill. How is he moving like that?
Normally, when an active skill was triggered, various unique visual effects would burst forth.
But Seong Un’s sword strike just now showed no effects whatsoever.
“I’ll continue now.”
This time, Seong Un drew out his shield.
Whissh—
Before he’d taken more than a few steps, small branches shot toward him in volleys.
Seong Un raised his shield as if he’d anticipated it, and the branches assailed it eagerly—yet failed to leave even a scratch before clattering to the ground.
The Prudrof Shield, A Rank and issued by the Association, was far too sturdy for the branches’ pitiful attack power.
‘Damage from hits: less than ten.’
A harsher bonus-point deduction than Floor 1.
The silver lining was that poison damage didn’t count toward the clear evaluation score.
That didn’t mean he could afford to relax.
EX+.
To reach that score, he couldn’t allow even the smallest margin for error.
Several more traps triggered as he progressed.
Seong Un dodged each one as if he’d anticipated it perfectly, and soon five diverging paths appeared before him.
—What is this guy, seriously?
—This has to be cheating, right?
—Floor 2 was never supposed to be like this?
The viewers’ exclamations poured in without pause.
‘Too bad.’
With this level of firepower, he could’ve earned not 3,000 Gold but thirty thousand or more.
Seong Un stowed the shield and gripped his sword again, heading toward the right passage.
‘The poison concentration is thickest this way.’
With each step, he felt the poison density growing incrementally heavier.
Then the trap appeared.
The single black tendril from before had multiplied into ten, lashing out in all directions.
Even against that vicious assault, Seong Un’s lips curled upward and showed no sign of falling.
Rising trap difficulty meant only one thing—he was drawing closer to the main body.
* * *
His instinct had been right.
“Shrieeeek!”
Barely twenty minutes since entering the Labyrinth.
He’d reached Retri’s main body.
A colossal tree, ten meters tall.
On the tree’s trunk, a torn crimson eye stared down at Seong Un.
—Wow….
—He just awakened the Hidden Boss, right?
—Is this a dream? Nothing like that existed when I was climbing?
—This place used to be filled with nothing but poisonous plants!
Viewers gasped in shock at Retri’s appearance—something that hadn’t happened even once in ten years.
Seong Un closed the distance to the creature.
Black tendrils erupted from beneath the ground, coiling around him as if to devour him whole.
Crack.
Seong Un spun his body and swung his sword in a wide arc.
The rising tendrils were severed and fell to the ground.
But unlike before, as if Retri intended to win through sheer number, the tendrils kept surging upward without respite.
Crack.
Seong Un swung his sword again, clearing away the tendrils.
‘It’s trying to drain my stamina.’
But that was pointless.
Seong Un wasn’t merely cutting the tendrils.
With each tendril he severed, he narrowed the distance by inches.
Crack.
Continuing to slash through the tendrils as he approached, the distance to the main body had been reduced to barely five meters.
“Shrieeeeeek!”
Realizing it was in dire straits, Retri unleashed a different roar and spewed poison gas from its maw.
This poison was on an entirely different level from the gas that filled the Labyrinth.
Sting—
The toxin entering through his airways began ravaging Seong Un’s body.
‘Poison is manageable.’
His current Poison Attribute resistance was 45%.
Even with its potency, this was still a Hidden Boss from the lower floors.
He felt his body screaming in protest, but not enough to paralyze him.
‘According to the memorandum, when Retri spews poison gas from its mouth, its defenses are nullified.’
Seong Un drew out a Dagger and hurled it with all his strength.
The blade streaked through the air and lodged perfectly in Retri’s right eye.
“Shrieeeeak!”
Retri wailed in agony, and the black tendrils ensnaring Seong Un froze instantaneously.
At that sight, Seong Un’s lips curved into a smile.
‘Done.’
I’d dealt direct damage to the core itself, fulfilling the condition for the leap.
[Deep Poison applied.]
Since this creature also had the Poison Attribute like the boss, at most it would last a minute—but this was more than enough.
“Krrr—?!”
Retri convulsed in agony, confusion flickering across what passed for its face.
“Let me finish this quickly.”
Seong Un sheathed his blade and drew out the saw.
Now came the cutting.
‘Rotating Blade.’
The saw’s inherent skill activated, and the blade began spinning with the fury of a chainsaw.
But this was a B-Rank Tess Saw—power beyond any ordinary chainsaw’s reach.
Seong Un pressed it against the gaping wound on Retri’s surface and bore down.
Whirrrrr—
The spinning blade cleaved through Retri’s core with brutal speed.
“SCREEEEEEEEEEEE!”
A shriek tore from Retri’s throat—a sound of agony that transcended all measure.
The Legendary Returner Devours the Tower (Serialized)
Author │ Yeon Yi-yo
Publisher │ Kim Joo-hyung
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyuk
Address │ 401 Ace Techno Tower 8, 11 Digital-ro 33-gil, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Yeon Yi-yo 2026
※ This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. under contract with the copyright holder. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the express permission of the publisher and author.
Violation of this restriction may result in criminal and civil legal liability.

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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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