Level 2 Player

Chapter 01

[Do you wish to challenge the 2,222nd floor?]

[Yes.] [No.]

‘Then should I just die without trying?’

Jinsu looked at the timer.

[Time remaining on the 2,222nd floor – 00:02]

There were only 2 seconds left on the timer.

‘There’s no real choice.’

Jinsu selected yes.

[You are the second player to challenge the 2,222nd floor.]

[Title – You have obtained the title of Second Challenger of the 2,222nd Floor.]

Bright light wrapped around Jinsu’s body.

[The condition to clear the 2,222nd floor is to hunt 22,222,222 monsters.]

[We wish you success, challenger.]

The light disappeared, revealing an overwhelming number of monsters surrounding Jinsu, with no end in sight.

‘No defence base either.’

The challenge wasn’t a defence task, so there wouldn’t be a base.

‘Of course, that makes sense.’

Even if there were a defence base, it wouldn’t matter much since he was challenging it alone.

‘Over twenty million monsters…’

The difficulty had been increasing dramatically with each floor of the tower.

‘Is there an end to this?’

At first, Jinsu naively thought that if he cleared 100 floors, he could meet his younger sibling.

But that wasn’t the case.

Then he cleared 1,000 floors, thinking it would finally be the last one.

But another floor appeared.

‘And here I am at the 2,222nd floor.’

All of the comrades who had climbed the tower with him, sharing both good and bad times, had died.

“Grrr!”

“Graaaa!”

Boss-level monsters like dragons, giants, and undead roared and rushed at Jinsu like crashing waves from all directions.

‘I can’t die like this.’

The only reason Jinsu was still alive was because of his comrades’ sacrifices.

The situation was hopeless, but…

‘I’ll give it a try.’

Swoosh!

Jinsu gripped his two magic swords tightly, drawing up his mana.

Boom!

Pitch-black  Jinsu rushed ahead.

His initial objective was to escape the isolation.

Ana engulfed Jinsu’s entire body.

Bam!

Boom!

As Jinsu swung his swords, crescent-shaped blades of pitch-black mana wiped out thousands of monsters in an instant.

Whoosh!

Boom! Boom!

Jinsu kept swinging without hesitation, and with each swing, hundreds or thousands of monsters were destroyed by the magical explosions.

Wrapped in pitch-black mana, Jinsu dashed forward, cutting through the waves of monsters with unstoppable force.

“Grrrrr!”

But no matter how many monsters he killed, they kept coming, one after another.

Undead monsters suddenly rose from the ground to lie in wait to attack him, and dragonkin dove from the sky to attack him.

But Jinsu’s steps didn’t hesitate.

‘Surrounded by enemies… but hey, they die even if I just swing randomly.’

Jinsu forced a smile and kept pushing forward.

Boom!

“Raaah!”

How much time had passed?

Pain like his muscles were tearing apart shot through his entire body.

His mana was almost gone.

When he forcibly pulled more mana, his mana circuits screamed as if they were about to explode.

Various curses worsened his wounds, made his body heavy, and caused his mana to backfire.

But he ignored it.

“Damn it, when is this going to end?”

He had just barely broken through the encirclement and was now facing the barrier.

“Why didn’t they make the field bigger?”

With it being this small, he couldn’t do terrorist attacks by breaking through and retreating.

“Are they telling me to stop and just die?”

It felt like the tower was forcing him to die.

“Do they think I’ll give up?”

Jinsu turned his back to the barrier and looked ahead.

He had been fighting for at least three or four days.

During that time, he had killed millions of monsters.

“Then why aren’t they getting any fewer?”

Pain, as if his muscles were tearing apart, burst again.

Forcing more mana out caused his mana circuits to scream like they were going to burst at any moment.

“Alright, come at me.”

Ignoring the pain, Jinsu forced more mana out and swung his sword.

Boom! Wham!

A storm of mana raged as blood and flesh flew in the battle.

The corpses of the monsters disappeared, and the items they dropped formed a huge barrier around Jinsu.

“Grrr!”

Monsters charged at Jinsu, breaking through the wall of items.

“Alright, come on.”

Despite his exhausted body, Jinsu kept moving.

He ignored the pain of his overheating mana circuits about to explode.

The battle continued fiercely, with piles of items and rivers of monster blood flowing all around him.

“Have I killed half of them?”

It felt like it.

“Not much left now.”

Jinsu forced a smile.

His legs were shaking, his arms were numb.

The pain from his torn muscles was sharp in his mind, and the blood leaking from his unhealed wounds dripped onto the floor, forming small puddles.

The monsters moved by the rule of the strong devouring the weak.

The first to charge at him were the relatively weaker ones.

“Grrr!”

The various dragons that had been attacking from afar and the giant and undead kings who had been watching now grinned, mocking Jinsu.

Whoosh!

Then, they suddenly charged at him, showing their sharp teeth, swinging huge clubs, and throwing curses at him.

“Those sneaky bastards.”

Jinsu realized they had been waiting for him to tire out.

“They’ve been waiting for me to get exhausted.”

Just like squeezing the last bit of water from a dry rag, Jinsu’s body, drained of all energy, was close to collapsing.

It was a body so worn out that it was almost dead.

“Do they think I’ll die easily?”

Jinsu gripped his sword tightly, dodging the teeth and clubs.

Boom!

Monsters around the spot where the club landed turned into piles of blood.

Dodging the club, Jinsu swung the sword in his left hand.

Swoosh!

“Raaah!”

With a terrible scream, the right arm of the giant king holding the club was cut off.

Looking at the panicked giant king, Jinsu swung the sword in his right hand.

Slash!

The Giant King’s head was severed.

Boom!

The body of the Giant King, now missing its head and arm, collapsed helplessly.

A system message appeared, notifying that he had achieved the achievement of defeating a boss monster, but Jinsu ignored it.

He didn’t have the mental energy for it.

Even though it was the Giant King, he had only taken down one monster.

The waves of monsters kept coming from all directions.

Among them were boss monsters like dragonkin, giant kin, and undead kings.

Jinsu forced his tired body to keep moving and swung his sword.

Slash!

He cut through the giant dragon’s bones and scales and beheaded it, and dragon blood burst out.

He pierced the heart of the Giant King and shattered the core of the Undead King.

He fought on.

“Ha! Ha! Ha!”

His breathing was out of control.

His left arm and both legs had no feeling.

His body was falling apart, so it made sense.

His vision was blurry.

His right eye had lost sight, and his left eye was barely functioning due to injuries and curses.

Jinsu sat on the ground, raising the sword in his right hand.

‘I think I’ve almost finished it.’

He had probably taken down over 20 million monsters.

The problem was, there were still over 2 million left.

And those were the strongest of the strong.

“Grrr!”

The growling of the monsters sounded as if they were mocking him.

Whoosh!

A sharp claw from the dragon kin’s front paw flew toward him.

Clang!

He swung his sword but couldn’t cut through the dragon’s claws.

He only managed to deflect it.

Attacks came from all directions.

While blocking with one sword, Jinsu kept fighting.

Thunk!

The dragonkin tried to bite him, and Jinsu drove his sword into its head.

Crack!

At that moment, the club of another Giant King crushed his upper body, and a cursed bone sword from the Undead King pierced his heart.

“Gah!”

Life force and mana drained from Jinsu’s body.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Monsters attacked from all sides, biting and clawing at his body.

His body was torn apart, and Jinsu’s life came to an end.

[The second player has failed to clear the 2,222nd floor.]

‘Second place till the end?’

Jinsu gritted his teeth.

He was born on February 22, 2002.

He was forcibly brought to the tower on February 22, 2022, becoming the 22,222,222nd player.

Before all of this, Jinsu had always been second.

He was the second child in his family, in class 2-2, and his number was 22.

Even after being dragged into the tower, awakening as a player, and going through countless hardships to grow stronger, Jinsu had always remained in second place.

And now, his final failure was also in second place.

He had worked hard to get stronger.

He had worked hard to survive.

He had worked hard to return to Earth and meet his younger sister.

“Still, I was always second.”

It felt as if he had been cursed.

“Now it’s over.”

His consciousness faded.

At that moment:

[The gods, Hwangshin and Hongshin, feel a deep connection with your life.]

[Hwangshin and Hongshin sincerely regret your death.]

[With their blessing, you are given a second chance.]

[Your second life begins.]

An unknown voice echoed in Jinsu’s head.

“Haha!”

Jinsu blew awake, his eyes wide open.

“What’s going on?”

He was sure he had died.

Yet, his physical senses were vivid and clear.

“Second chance? Second life?”

He remembered the voice he heard before dying.

Hesitantly, he looked around, and he saw something he would never forget.

His parents and older brother’s memorial photos, all smiling brightly.

His little sister was asleep in his arms, her face stained with tears.

He checked the date, just in case.

February 22, 2022.

The morning of the tragic accident that took his parents and brother, and the funeral that followed immediately after.

“What time is it?”

10:22:22.

“Damn it, really?”

[Congratulations. You have been invited to the tower as the 22,222,222nd player.]

The system message he had seen long ago appeared before his eyes again.

Boom!

At the same time, a bright light covered Jinsu’s body.

[You have awakened as the 22,222,222nd player.]

[Conquer the tower and make your wish come true.]

[You have arrived on the 1st floor of the tower.]

[You have 10 days to pass through the central gate of the 1st floor and reach the 2nd floor.]

[Time remaining on the 1st floor – 10 days.]

The system messages kept popping up, and a strange yet familiar scene unfolded before Jinsu’s eyes.

“What’s going on? Where am I?”

“Ahhh!”

“Ugh, my promotion battle!”

“Why am I here?”

“Who are you? How did you kidnap me?”

People in a dense forest were panicking, confused and shouting.

Some were looking around in shock, some were screaming, some were irritated, and some were on alert.

‘A return?’

Jinsu froze for a moment.

He thought death was the end. But to think he’d actually return?

‘If only it had happened a little earlier.’

Maybe he could have saved his parents and brother from the tragic car accident.

‘No, why summon me again? Why bring me back here?’

The thought of repeating the evil life he had already lived made Jinsu’s face twist in anger.

He had already been separated from his parents and had lost his family.

Now he was again far from his 12-year-old younger sister, whom he had raised like his own child.

‘Damn it.’

But that was then, and this was now.

Anyway…

‘I got a second chance.’

He saw the blurry faces of his parents and brother in his memories again.

The tear-streaked face of his little sister and the warmth of holding her was clearly engraved in his mind.

He felt happy, angry, and frustrated.

But Jinsu wasn’t the type to dwell on the past.

‘This time, I’ll succeed.’

He would conquer the tower and make his wish come true.

‘Status window.’

Jinsu opened his status window.

It was crucial to check his current state to survive.

Name: [Lee Jinsu]
Player Level: [2]

Stats: [Strength 22] [Agility 22] [Health 22] [Endurance 22] [Mana 22] [Mental Power 22]
Blessings: [Hwangshin’s

Blessing][Hongshin’s Blessing]

‘What’s this?’

It had been so long that his memories were blurry, but he immediately noticed that the numbers on his status window were different from when he had awakened before his death.

‘Why is my level 2 and not 1?’

Moreover, all his stats were unified at 22.