Chapter 3
1st Floor of the Beginner’s Tower.
It felt like stepping into a pitch-black cave.
Torches placed along the walls gave off a bit of light, but only in small areas.
Anywhere without a torch was impossible to see into.
And from there—
Whoosh!
Goblins suddenly jumped out of the shadows and rushed at Lee Kang-han.
The ambush pattern that beginners hated the most.
“Those eunuch goblin jerks are a pain the first time you meet them, but they keep getting worse after that.”
“Fr fr, the goblin cave map is hell.”
“Wait, the tutorial boss affects the map?”
“Yeah, the map changes depending on who the boss is.”
“If you go slow to be careful, you lose time anyway…”
Among all the maps in the Beginner’s Tower, the so-called Goblin Cave was considered one of the hardest — and this was exactly why.
But—
“I was wondering when they’d show up.”
Boom!
As if he’d been waiting, Kang-han crushed a goblin with a kick.
“Ugh, my shoe’s all dirty now.”
He frowned at the green blood smeared on his shoe.
Do these guys have soft skulls or something?
Why do they keep exploding when I kick them?
Well, it’ll be clean once I go back to reality. I’ll just put up with it for now.
Thinking that, he moved forward.
Bang! Bang!
He smashed every goblin that came at him.
After a while…
[You have leveled up.]
[Your physical abilities increase according to your stat values.]
He leveled up.
Feels like my body’s a bit lighter.
He opened his status window.
Name: Lee Kang-han
Level: 2
Trait: Heavenly Demon’s Body (Rank: F~SSS)
-
Strength: 10+
-
Agility: 10+
-
Stamina: 10+
-
Magic: 7
All stats were at 10 except for magic, and Strength, Agility, and Stamina all had a + sign.
He tapped the “+” sign to check, but the numbers didn’t go up.
Instead—
[Your body exceeds the limits of the human race.]
So it meant those stats were beyond normal human standards?
Am I really that strong?
Kang-han tilted his head.
He actually knew a bit about player stats.
“Ah crap, all my STR/AGI/STA are 5-… I’m trash lol.”
└ “Work out, you pig.”
└ “Excuse you, I’m a stick.”“Another 5-minus loser lmao.”
└ “What’s a 5-minus?”
└ “Means your body is actual garbage lol.”
Players’ starting stats were based on their real-life physical condition.
If someone had never worked out and abused their body, they’d often get a 5 with a minus next to it — the lowest possible stat.
That’s how the nickname “5-minus trash” came to be.
After the Infinity Tower appeared, fitness centers exploded in popularity because everyone wanted to improve their base stats.
But I heard getting 9 means you’re basically a pro athlete…
He looked at his body.
190 cm, 82 kg.
No fat, all muscle. Even by any standard, he was built.
When he got the “Heavenly Demon’s Body” trait—
[You possess the physique of the top 0.01% of humanity.]
That message popped up too.
Still—
“I don’t think I’m 10+ level though.”
Bang! Bang!
He crushed goblin skulls as he spoke.
If a pro athlete has stats of 9,
then someone with 10+ must be Olympic level or higher.
Maybe I did get stronger after awakening the Heavenly Demon’s Body…
He kept moving forward, wondering about it.
The goblin heads exploded even more easily now that he was Level 2.
“Kee…”
“Kee-heeek…”
The goblins were now too afraid to approach him.
They stayed hidden in the shadows.
Can’t even scratch him before dying.
They had no chance.
If they could at least understand speech, I’d make them bow to me…
Goblins couldn’t talk.
Even when he tried giving orders, they just stared blankly.
Should I just wipe them all out?
He thought about it, but then his eyes landed on the ranking display: Rank 1,524.
Never mind. Let’s go to the next floor.
It was way too easy. He figured he could shoot for the top.
And soon after, he spotted a blue portal.
This leads to the next floor, right?
As soon as he stepped in—
Shwoooosh—
[You have cleared Floor 1 of the Beginner’s Tower.]
[Proceeding to the next stage.]
Floor 2 of the Beginner’s Tower.
Looks pretty much the same as before.
The map was almost identical, just with more goblins.
A straight line walk to the end.
[You have cleared Floor 2.]
[Proceeding to the next stage.]
[You have cleared Floor 3.]
[Proceeding to the next stage.]
By the time he reached the 4th floor,
his rank had skyrocketed: From 1,524 → 822 → 101.
And now—
8th place?
He’d caught up to the top players in no time, just by doing the tutorial.
Just then:
Ziiiiing…
[You have entered the Top 10.]
[You are now one of the “10 Rising Stars.”]
[Your play will be broadcast live on TowerTube.]
TowerTube.
A global live-streaming system that appeared with the Infinity Tower.
It showed advanced tech way beyond what humanity could understand.
It covered everything related to the Tower.
I heard not everyone can get on TowerTube… so it gets auto-broadcasted if you’re Top 10?
Right as he was thinking that—
Ziiing…
A new screen popped up next to him with a green background.
And suddenly:
“Whoa, who’s this guy at 8th place?”
“Dang, I was watching 10th place and now she’s gone because of him!”
“Is that a T-shirt and running shoes? Did he get dragged here mid-jog?”
Chat messages poured in.
“Oh… so the chat shows up like this. Can you guys hear me too?”
“Yup, we hear you.”
“LOL newbie’s kinda cute.”
“But where’s your weapon? Are you a mage?”
“Dude’s too ripped to be a mage.”
“Fr he doesn’t even look Korean, that body’s crazy.”
Despite just starting, the viewer count hit 621.
Must be because of the Top 10 broadcast… That’s a lot of people already.
The number kept climbing.
Seeing that, Kang-han answered a question.
“Weapon? I lost it after beating the tutorial boss.”
“Wait, you beat the boss??”
“Don’t lie just because you’re live now.”
“How’d you beat the tutorial boss lol.”
“Tbh, there are rare cases, but those guys are usually ranked 1st.”
“Eunuch Goblin Chief is one of the hardest bosses. No way he beat it.”
No one believed him.
That boss was infamous for its cruelty and difficulty.
Even if someone did beat it, they should be ranked 1st, not 8th.
“His body’s solid but…”
“What a waste of a good face.”
“You don’t need to lie to get into a guild. Just stay Top 10.”
“Just show your trait. We’ll estimate your salary lol.”
Wow, they seriously don’t believe me.
They were acting like he was making stuff up.
But that started to change—
as he reached the 4th floor’s Goblin Defense Zone.
“Ooh, this floor’s a bit different.”
Until now, goblins hid in the dark.
But here, they built little barricades out of logs to block the path.
Behind the defenses, goblin archers were stationed.
Normally, you’d throw stuff or use a bow to lure them out.
But Kang-han?
Step. Step.
He just walked straight to the front gate.
“What’s this guy doing? He’s walking right into the goblin camp?”
“Dude, use a ranged attack to lure them!”
“Nah, he’s probably gonna cast a spell.”
“Let’s see what kind of magic he uses lol.”
They were sure he’d cast something.
Instead—
Whoosh!
Kang-han charged into the barricade.
“KIEEEK!”
Boom! Boom!
He kicked goblin heads until they popped.
Snap!
He grabbed a spear with his hand and broke it in two.
“???”
“What the heck?”
“He’s not a newbie??”
“Wait, are goblin heads always this weak?”
“Nah I was watching 7th place too, and even a mace couldn’t break them.”
“So his dirty shoes were from popping goblin heads???”
Everyone was stunned.
“Huff… Huff!”
“KIEEEEEK!”
The goblins who attacked all started running away.
“The goblins are retreating lol.”
“They sometimes run but not in tutorials like this.”
“Well yeah, if they’re getting obliterated like that…”
“Still, wouldn’t using a weapon be better?”
“A weapon, huh… theirs are too small.”
Kang-han looked around and spotted a large tribal flagpole near the entrance.
That’ll do.
He grabbed it—
Swoosh!
Pulled it out.
Crack!
Snapped the flag off and rested it on his shoulder.
It became a proper wooden staff.
“How’s this?”
With that weapon, his attacks became even faster.
He smashed through the next goblin camps with ease.
“Is this guy playing a different game??”
“How are goblins exploding this easily lol.”
“Yo… what’s your Strength stat??”
“Strength? Just 10.”
He answered, leaving out the + part.
“10?! For real?!”
“Are you an athlete? That’s national level strength!”
“Nah. I’m unemployed. Just work at a warehouse when I need cash.”
“How does an unemployed guy have 10 Strength lol.”
“If I didn’t see him pop goblin heads, I’d switch streams.”
“Maybe he’s not a pro athlete… but what kind of workouts do you do?”
“I sleep a lot.”
“Bro seriously?? You got that body by sleeping??”
“Dude’s ripped af and says he just sleeps???”
“Saw your abs under the shirt earlier, you ain’t fooling anyone.”
“Why pretend you don’t work out when you clearly do?!”
The chat went wild.
No one’s gonna believe in Tower Syndrome anyway.
Some people did gain or lose weight from sleeping 12 hours due to the condition.
But Kang-han was the only known case of gaining muscles from it.
Though I should be sleepy by now… I’m wide awake.
Normally, he’d get sleepy around 5 PM.
But in the Tower, his body and mind were fully alert.
Yeah, the Tower and the Syndrome are definitely connected.
He kept smashing through goblins.
“He’s OP af lol. Just steamrolling everything.”
“Feels like this guy’s gonna win the whole thing.”
“I’m watching all Top 10 at once. He’s the only one playing a different game.”
“Did Korea finally get a real rising star?”
The viewer count started soaring.
Among the 10 live-streamed Korean rookies,
Lee Kang-han was clearly the most dominant.
“So what’s his Trait??”
“He still hasn’t revealed it.”
“Keeps spouting BS like ‘I got ripped from sleeping.’”
“Said he beat the Eunuch Goblin Chief too lol.”
Even though he told the truth,
Kang-han already had a liar image.
Man, this is kinda unfair…
Maybe he should start pretending he works out 3 hours a day?
As he thought that—
Boom!
He destroyed the final goblin defense line.
Then—
[You have leveled up.]
[Your physical abilities increase according to your stat values.]
[You are now Level 5.]
A new system message appeared.
And after that—
[You can now access the “Demonic Combat Mode.”]
A new feature had unlocked.
