Chapter 158 Apocalypse (1)

Yoon-seok’s magic amount had already reached the system limit, although that couldn’t stop him from improving further due to his ability to break through the limit. And for Yoon-seok, his magic was never enough no matter how much he had. In that sense, with this mutual transformation of magic and engine power, the value of this ability was a little different.

‘The stronger the spacecraft, the more magic will increase.’

Furthermore, that wasn’t all. The opposite was also possible. What if he activated

u0007b Demonify} and converted his infinite magic into ship power? Although there was a 3-minute time limit, during that time, the ship could fire its rays freely.

‘Then it’s a real spacecraft…’

As Yoon-seok was impressed.

“Yoon-seok, what do you think about Mirinae? Like the Milky Way.”

Ashton, who had been searching through a dictionary on his smartphone, recommended another code name. Milky Way. Well, the nuance wasn’t bad, but pure Korean was also good. But…

—Milky Way? That’s a very lame name.

Ashton screamed ‘Arrgh!’ and jumped when a girl suddenly appeared before him.

“W-who are you?”

—The last weaponized creature in the universe. The ancient people who created me named me Saint Lynn.

“Saint Lynn…? Weaponized creature…?”

Ashton looked confused while Yoon-seok was taken aback. He didn’t expect them to have a figure. However, Ashton’s attitude changed when he realized what this girl was.

“I can’t believe the AI is a young girl… what a powerful spacecraft.”

Sadly, he couldn’t relate to that. What did this girl’s appearance have to do with being powerful? Yoon-seok’s ability to understand him was still lacking. Leaving behind Ashton, who was making a fuss, Yoon-seok approached the girl wearing a white dress.

“Is this your real body?”

—If you’re asking if I have physical power, the answer is yes. Eating and sleeping, as well as anything humans do, I can do.

“You can do everything…”

—Human, what are you thinking?

Surprisingly, the silver-haired girl’s gaze was filled with contempt. Yoon-seok hurriedly explained under the abnormal pressure he felt.

“I mean, it sounds like you can also do what ordinary humans can’t.”

—Of course. Human, can you do this?

The girl’s body disappeared, and she reappeared sitting atop a pillar outside the captain’s room.

—This is teleportation.

She proudly lifted her tiny shoulders. Even if this technology didn’t seem to be a big deal, it was explained to be the result of a combination of quantum mechanics and bleeding-edge technology.

“…I can do it, though?”

—What did you just say?

“I can also do that.”

—Oh, okay. Is this what human pride is?

Well, it would be faster to show it in person. Yoon-seok teleported beside her using the power of Enhanced Speed and picked her up from the pillar.

—…

“…”

An awkward silence settled between them. Was it because it was their first meeting, so she wanted to show her abilities and be acknowledged? Looking at her expression, she looked somewhat disappointed. Of course, it was only for a second. The silver-haired girl proudly crossed her arms as if nothing had happened.

—Are you just a captain in name? You’re a little different from your barbaric look. But you won’t be able to do this.

The silver-haired girl spread her palms. Her skin grew bumpy and distorted-.

Whoooosh!

She transformed her arms into guns.

‘Is it physical transformation this time…?’

—What do you think, human? Can you feel the power of ultra-high biotechnology?

‘Well, I would’ve been really surprised if this were before I arrived at the Tower….’

To be honest, it was more of a ‘so what?’ Was it because she looked like a child, or was she behaving like a child? Yoon-seok decided not to feel discouraged but to get this over with. There was just one thing he didn’t expect.

The girl was very sensitive to emotional changes.

—What with that gaze?

“Hm?”

—That’s right. You look tired of having to deal with the garbage around you.

“No, I didn’t think anything that extreme….”

—Then why did you look at me like that?

How should he say this? Yoon-seok sighed and eventually answered honestly.

“I can’t change it whenever I want as of now, but I can do something similar. That’s all I thought about.”

—You’re human. I don’t believe it.

Seeing was believing. This time, it would be faster to show it in person than to say it a hundred times. Yoon-seok used {Demonify}. His bones and muscles swelled, and wings sprouted from his back.

—…

When the girl compared her arms to Yoon-seok’s powerful transformation, she returned to her original form with a sulky look.

—It’s not just mere shapeshifting. I can feel the infinite magic flowing in. This… is my complete defeat.

“Uh, Yoon-seok…?”

Ashton called out to Yoon-seok. He said nothing more, but it seemed like he was asking if he had to win a match against a child. It was a strong impression from the get-go, but for some reason, he turned into a pretty annoying character from the moment he boarded the spacecraft.

Yoon-seok avoided Ashton’s gaze and approached the girl.

“Hey, Saint Lynn… that’s your name, right?”

—No.

“…?”

Yoon-seok tilted his head. Then, the girl’s face reddened as if she were angry.

—…You can call me Lynn if you’re the captain.

It felt like the conversation was heading south. But what was harder to understand-

“…”

-was Asura and Ashton’s expression, who continued to nod along as if they were watching a heartwarming scene.

After a quick debriefing.

“Lynn, can you go to space and take a lap around the Earth?”

—That’s a piece of cake.

“Really? Then do it as slowly as possible.”

With stealth mode activated, the ship, code-named Saint, began to move. It was all for Ashton.

“…This is incredible.”

Ashton was amazed as he watched the surface of the Earth pass by through the screen. Yoon-seok, who gave him time to enjoy it for a while, explained to Ashton the last duel. His foe’s nickname, Space Captain, and the dimension Taklan. He started with the way he fought, to the reasonable assumption that the things sold in the stores were different from those from other Towers.

Although half of his attention was on space, Ashton engraved all of Yoon-seok’s words in his mind like a proper pro.

“Since the first duel is over… then, 5,000 out of 10,000 challengers are left. Have you checked the ranking?”

“No. I was going to check the reward first. Originally, I was planning to go back after I confirmed what I earned.”

In short, he left everything aside because of the spacecraft and came to Earth.

“…I understand.”

Ashton nodded silently. After going around the Earth, Yoon-seok dropped Ashton off where they had started and returned to the Tower. For some reason, his trip took a little longer, but now that he’d checked the rewards from

u0007b Predation}, it was time to move on.

‘Is it 11.42 million AP…?’

He kept 1.22 million AP from the previous round with 15 million AP as a reward, and 4.8 million had been spent to enhance the spacecraft.

‘This is a little tricky…’

It wasn’t enough to raise one Unique Skill to Rank S. However, when thinking about upgrading Rank S strength or agility, he felt reluctant.

‘It’s hard to choose…’

Yoon-seok took out the blue beads he obtained after killing the snowfield monster on the 19th floor to change his mood.

*Core of Koadunus (Rank SS) — The core of ancient life.

First of all, it was looted equipment, but there was no further explanation. Since the selling price and purpose were unknown, it was left unattended until now. However, after using {Metallurgy} a few times, he could guess the purpose of this object.

‘Is it an item related to production?’

The Tower had manufacturing skills. For example, this Magic Scarf was made by the Knitting skill Cheon-ma had. Perhaps this core was a material akin to the threads she used.

‘Since I’m thinking of it, should I check it out…?’

Yoon-seok chose the Create category after using

u0007b Metallurgy}.

Weapon Defense Accessory Special

He was thinking about which of these four items to choose. Yoon-seok chose Special as he was most confused about what it contained.

Martial Arts Magic Special Abilities Machine Tattoo Spirit

‘This is way more than I expected?’

In addition to these six most noticeable selections, there were several more, but he now had a grip of what this was. Yoon-seok pressed Machine. Then, there came a message to present the material to be used.

「Rare Material: Search for special machine recipes using Core of Koadunus.」

The recipe search began, and the core appeared on the production table.

*Teslan Dimension Transmission Device (Rank SS-)

*Gravity Gloves Protective Suit (S )

*K78-A9 Power Generator (Rank SS )

…

None in the list were available for immediate production. It was a given as it only searched all the recipes containing the material. At least a few more materials were needed for actual production.

‘But almost all of them are new to me….’

After watching Cheon-ma’s Knitting, Yoon-seok skimmed through items related to materials in the store window. There were countless materials he heard for the first time, but there were certainly no ALT Light Alloys or Port Recognition Circuit Boards.

“…”

Afterward, he checked the recipes for special equipment within the Martial Arts and Magic categories. Millennial Steel, Dragon Bone, Adamantite… unlike Machine, most of the additional materials needed were those that could be purchased in the store.

‘I don’t think they sell machine-related materials in our store.’

After much speculation, Yoon-seok stopped searching. He had enough to pay for the production cost, but he didn’t even know what effect it would have. It was also a little questionable whether it would be worth investing in just by looking at the equipment names and rank.

‘As expected, skills are better than equipment.’

In the end, Yoon-seok decided to invest in skills this time. Of course, his Unique Skills could not be touched. Even if he wanted to, the only thing he could up-rank was Rank B {Metallurgy}. As of now, he couldn’t even use Skill Synthesis.

There was only one thing that he cared about synthesizing, and that was the useless

u0007b Frozen Heart}.

‘But thinking about it again, I didn’t get much on the 19th floor.’

Wasn’t the ancient creature he met on the 19th floor easy to deal with anyway?

‘Should we get started?’

Yoon-seok spent 4.6 million AP on upgrading the skill he used the most often to Rank S.

「Rank of the Judgment of the Ruined Monarch (A-) increases.」

「Rank of the Judgment of the Ruined Monarch (A) increases.」

「Rank of the Judgment of the Ruined Monarch (A ) increases.」

His first general skill to reach the Rank S milestone. Yoon-seok was also desperately hoping the characteristic selection would appear again this time.

“…?”

He spaced out at the message appearing.

「General skill has reached its limit.」

「 Judgment of the Ruined Monarch evolves into a Unique Power.」

Come to think of it… had he ever seen a Rank S general skill while using Predation?

“Damn…”

Come to think of it; he didn’t think he had.

「The same skill can no longer be acquired.」

However, was it lucky or a disaster?

「Analyzing the characteristics of skill and how the owner used it.」

「Complete.」

「Please select an additional effect to be applied to your Unique Power Light of the End.」

He would know once he examined it.