TRC 07

Chapter 07…

‘The Talent Detector, huh. It really is fascinating.’

Once again, I couldn’t help but marvel at the genius of the Bluestone researchers—especially Julie Pearson, who invented the artifact.

Why?

‘Because artifacts aren’t things that even the System itself recognizes.’

The System’s rewards—items.
The Tower’s relics—relics.

Those are both contained within the System’s boundaries.

Artifacts, however, are not.

Of course, their performance can’t compare to either of the first two, but it’s still an incredible feat.

‘Anyway, the fact that I got a double talent result from the detector—it was already predetermined. Nothing surprising there.’

People were making a huge fuss about a “genius being born,” but to me, it was nothing special.

I’d already experienced this before my regression.

‘Status window.’

At my whisper, the System window appeared.

[STATUS WINDOW]

Name: Kang Siwoo
Race: Human
Level: 17
Class: Tamer
Talents: Empathy (C), Beast’s □□ (?)
Skills: Taming Lv.3 (F), Blue Wolf’s Step Lv.2 (C), Nest Lv.1 (F)

Stats:
– Strength: 16 (+2)
– Agility: 32 (+3)
– Endurance: 5 (+1)
– Mana: 20 (+2)

Before my regression, I had two talents: Empathy (C) and Friend of Beasts (A).

But after regressing, the latter changed—its name, its rank, everything.

‘Anyway, I’ve confirmed that this thing is at least S-rank or higher.’

The first die must have represented “Empathy (C),” and the second one—clearly “Beast’s □□ (?).”

‘Guess coming to take this test wasn’t a waste after all.’

Know yourself, know your enemy, and you’ll never lose a hundred battles.

If I wanted to fight, I had to understand myself first.

This player test felt like the perfect opportunity to learn something new about myself.

“Applicant Kang Siwoo. The first test is complete. Please proceed to the second test area.”

“Sure thing.”

As the commotion died down, a guide approached and spoke to me.

I gave a brief bow to the officials and followed him.

He led me to a staircase heading underground.

“It’s a bit of a walk down, but not too deep,” he said, probably to reassure me.

But I knew the truth.

‘Not deep? It’s 150 meters underground.’

The second test takes place in a chamber 150 meters below ground.

Why?

‘Because it involves the use of a relic.’

An artifact of the Tower, its origins unknown—
a Relic.

It’s one of the biggest reasons players risk their lives entering the Tower.

In truth, artifacts are merely imitations—replicas modeled after relics.

Still, test or no test, I had to go through with it.

So I descended the stairs, following the guide.

Step. Step.

“……”

“……”

In the past, I’d taken the regular tests with dozens of other applicants. But this time, walking alone with just the guide made things awkward.

‘If only Seo Gyeoul were here… it wouldn’t feel this uncomfortable.’

Better to feel nauseous than this kind of awkwardness.

As I walked down the endless spiral staircase—no windows, no doors—random thoughts came and went.

Eventually, we arrived.

A steel door stood before us.

[AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY]

The guide swiped a card key and opened it smoothly.

‘Been a while since I’ve seen this place.’

Inside was a white chamber—not too large, not too small.

And in the center sat five pitch-black boxes, aligned neatly like coffins.

“I’ll guide you to the first box,” said the guide.

I stopped in front of the nearest rectangular one and stared.

‘Record Casket…’

Also known as the Coffin of Records.

One of fewer than a hundred relics in existence. For Earth, Korea actually had quite a few.

“Have you been briefed about the second test?”

Creak—

The guide opened the box as he asked.

“Yes, I have.”

“Then I’ll just summarize. It’s protocol, after all.”

His explanation was concise.

1. The Record Casket is a virtual world.

2. It records the information of the player who enters.

3. All Record Caskets are interconnected.

4. Examinees will battle against the ‘recorded players’ ranked within it.
   (Their level will be adjusted to match yours.)

‘So basically, I’ll be fighting players in their early stages.’

It was purely a test of potential.

‘Last time, I only made it to around rank 100…’

Still, that was a global ranking—enough for an A+ grade.

‘But that’s still not good enough.’

As a Tamer, my strength depended heavily on which beasts I’d tamed.

Back then, there weren’t many good beasts on Earth—or so I thought.

That’s why I’d entered the Tower so soon after the test.

‘But things are different now.’

Because I’m a regressor.

Naturally, my goals are different—
or rather, broader.

‘A high rank, sure—but there’s something else I must get here.’

Everyone else sees the Record Casket as just an arena for testing.

But—

The Record Casket’s true purpose is something else.

‘Information exchange.’

It was created to record.

It holds an unfathomable amount of information.

And when it discovers something new, something it didn’t know before—

‘It pays a price. And that’s what I’m here to collect.’

How do I know that?

I wish I didn’t.

That damned old man, Gobert Merlin—the Archmage and archaeologist.

He’d drilled it into my ears a thousand times.

—“Siwoo, just listen to me for once—what? You’re not listening? Oh heavens, this brat won’t even hear an old man’s dying words! The world’s going to hell!”
—“…You’ll listen? Ahem, good. Take a look at this relic. This is called the Record Casket—what? I’ve told you ten times already?”
—“Inside it lies players’ data. A priceless treasure! But sometimes, it spits information back out—what? That’s the twentieth time?”
—“You just have to feed it something tempting—something it doesn’t know. Then you can claim one of its stored records as your own!”
—“Isn’t that incredible?!”

‘…Please, shut up!’

I pushed the noisy memory out of my head just as the guide spoke again.

“Then please enter the box.”

I lay down inside. It was spacious enough, not claustrophobic.

“Before we start, I’ll ask a few verification questions.”

“Go ahead.”

“Confirm your name—Kang Siwoo?”

“Yes.”

“Class?”

“Tamer.”

“Tamer…? Excuse me, Tamer?”

He sounded like he couldn’t believe a Tamer had cleared an unclassified gate.

“Ahem. My apologies. Current level?”

“Level 17.”

“……”

‘Yeah, that’s the reaction I expected.’

A newly awakened player clears a gate and comes out level 17—as a Tamer?

That’s like giving birth to a fully grown adult.

The guide looked stunned, but to his credit, he proceeded professionally.

“All right. That’s all the questions. Are you ready?”

“Yes. Let’s start.”

“Then we’ll begin the second test. Observers will be watching from the viewing room.”

Of course—they’d be watching closely to see if I was just a pretty face with good stats.

‘Let’s do this.’

Creak—

The lid closed, and darkness swallowed me.

When I opened my eyes, I stood in a white, empty field.

‘A virtual world…’

Anyone could tell this mirrored the underground chamber.

An artifact could never replicate the mystical quality of a relic like this.

Soon, translucent messages began to appear before me.

[Recording user data.]
[5… 4… 3… 2… 1…]
[Unidentified code detected!]
[Analyzing…]

Ding!

[Analyzing…]

Ding!

[Analyzing…]

‘What the… why’s it acting weird already?’

I had a pretty good guess, though.

The only “unidentified” thing about me was that *Beast’s □□ (?)” talent.

[Analysis failed.]
[However, unidentified code is linked to the user’s soul.]
[Interesting discovery!]
[As compensation, you are awarded 1 “Record Transfer Ticket.”]

‘…Huh? Already?’

The Record Transfer Ticket.

That was exactly what I came here to get.

With it, I could take one of the records stored within the Casket and make it mine.

‘I even prepared a separate piece of bait to feed it, but… well, two’s better than one.’

Smiling, I loosened up my body.

[All user data except the unidentified code has been recorded.]
[All stored players’ levels are adjusted to 17.]
[There will be five battles in total.]
[These battles will assess and record your combat ability.]
[Recording begins now.]

Ding!

A bell rang—just like the start of a boxing match.

‘Time to focus.’

I’d thought about this beforehand: no need to fight myself when my beasts could do the work.

‘I’ve already revealed I’m a Tamer, so why bother? Once I release Gerry and Freki, they’ll handle the fighting on their own.’

Yeah, that was the plan—

until I saw the next message.

[Opponent: Rank 872, Jang Seonghan.]

A massive frame.
A fittingly large mace.
And a face begging to be punched.

A grin spread across my lips.

“Wow, damn! Thank you, Record Casket. I’ll give it my all.”

Without hesitation, I dashed forward.

Karambit blades gleamed in both hands.

Jang Seonghan swung his mace in a wide arc as I closed in.

Whoosh—

The air howled as the weapon grazed my face.

‘Most people would panic and back off here…’

Not me.

Do what your opponent expects, and you’re already losing.

‘In times like this—you get closer.’

I took a big step forward.

No need to use Blue Wolf’s Step.

‘Would just waste mana.’

The wind from the swing brushed past me, ruffling my hair.

Now I was in range.

“Time to die.”

I sprang upward like a coiled spring.

The karambit fangs tore into his neck.

No blood.

Just pixels scattering like dust.

“Now that’s satisfying.”

I sheathed my blades and muttered.

[Rank 872, Jang Seonghan — Defeated.]
[User’s combat ability assessed as exceptionally high.]
[Adjusting for next match.]

[Matching opponent…]
[Opponent: Rank 104, Liam Gamwell.]

The jump from 872 to 104 meant the Casket had rated my performance highly.

‘Liam Gamwell—Britain’s No. 1 Archer.’

I could never forget that name.

He was the one who’d handed me my first true defeat in my past life.

Well, not him, exactly—his recorded copy.

‘Guess it’s time for payback.’

But he was no easy opponent.

Archers were a Tamer’s worst matchup.

‘Still, the difficulty’s only going to keep rising. No point whining now.’

Each match, the Casket updates data and gives me increasingly challenging opponents.

Whish—

An arrow sliced the air.

“?!”

He’d appeared and fired instantly.

Fair enough—greetings weren’t necessary between us.

“Grrr—!”

“Rrraaahh!”

Sensing danger, Gerry materialized first, his blue tail whipping aside the arrow.

Meanwhile, Freki charged in, closing the distance in an instant.

‘That won’t be enough.’

A skilled archer’s movement is top-notch.

Sure enough, Liam dodged by bending backward at an impossible angle.

“Gerry, help him!”

“Woof!”

Gerry vanished, then suddenly reappeared beneath Freki—as if teleporting.

Not my skill—theirs.

[Two Become One]
– Rank: S–
– Level: Max
– Description:

1. The twin souls are never apart; they can be together anywhere, anytime.

2. [—Locked—]

3. [—Locked—]

‘As expected from an S-rank skill.’

Thanks to that first effect, they could enter the Nest together—and even perform moves like this.

“Rraaaagh—!”

Caught off guard, Liam took a bite to the thigh.

And when Gerry bites, he never lets go.

Liam struggled to break free, but—

‘An archer who’s lost mobility is just prey.’

Freki lunged and clamped onto the other leg.

Liam was completely immobilized.

I didn’t waste the chance.

Thud!

The karambit pierced his heart.

[Rank 104, Liam Gamwell — Defeated.]

“Phew…”

At least I’d kept my promise to Seo Gyeoul.

An overall A+ rating—guaranteed.

Now, three matches remained.

Three more I had to win.