[You've discovered the Second Stage of the Beginning Tower]
[Difficulty has been automatically set to God Mode]
Malik exhaled deeply as he stepped through the only door in front of him. His tattered robe from the previous trial had been replaced by the system with a plain white robe. It carried no stat enhancements—neither buffs nor nerfs.
"Not that I need any increase anyway…" Malik murmured as he clenched his fist, the audible kacha sound ringing out like thunder in a silent field. A testament to how monstrous his strength had become.
"I think I'm unofficially a Tier 1 player now. That's why the system wanted to skip all these floors and just dump me on the fifth."
"I wonder what 'challenging the talent' even means. But for now... I need to focus."
"Gul said the opponents would be adjusted to match my level. Does that mean they'll have stats equivalent to mine?"
He chuckled darkly to himself. "Right now, I'm packing stats on par with a Level 40 Tier 2 player—without a weapon. I could probably one-shot a player like the old me with a single flick. Ha!"
"The system in the Western Region was outdated and adapted to my progress instead of limiting it. Honestly... starting from level zero wasn't such a bad deal."
"But in the end, all this is thanks to the Goddess of Luck… and my Physique." Malik balled his fist again, this time with a sense of reverence.
What he didn't know was this: his Luck stat was actually zero. The Goddess of Luck had nothing to do with his progress. And his physique didn't just trigger on a whim. Every power surge, every moment of breakthrough, had come from one thing only—his willpower and relentless effort. If Malik hadn't risked everything, his physique would've stayed dormant. He would've been forever stuck in the Apprentice Realm.
But Malik continued to build his fantasy, unaware of this hidden truth… until he met his next challenge.
A golden dummy. Sword in hand. Lifeless eyes, yet brimming with simulated menace.
The moment Malik entered its attack radius, the dummy lashed out—swinging its blade cleanly toward his face.
Malik ducked and dodged, the blade whistling past his cheek by a hair's breadth. The dummy wasn't giving him any space to breathe; it pressed forward with a flurry of follow-up slashes.
"It's getting faster... It's learning!" Malik's eyes widened in disbelief as a blade grazed his cheek, drawing blood.
"What the heck?! It's forcing me into a defensive state? That won't do... I've got to take initiative!"
Malik made his move. He ducked low, sliding beneath the dummy's next strike, grabbing its leg, and yanking it to the ground with brute force.
"Eyes of Insight!"
He activated his Grade-A skill. Lightning crackled in his gaze as everything slowed—the world rendered in layers of data and vulnerabilities. Then he saw it: a faint black spot on the dummy's head.
"That's it. The weak point."
Before the dummy could get up, Malik launched a brutal kick with his left leg, slamming into the black spot. The head caved in instantly.
BOOM!
The golden dummy shattered like glass.
"The system tried... but there are some things it just can't mimic." Malik grinned with a cruel edge as he strode forward.
Next came two dummies. He eliminated them easily.
Then three. They fell with little resistance.
"I should temper myself..." Malik muttered as he deactivated Eyes of Insight. He moved forward with cautious confidence.
This time: six dummies.
It took him five minutes of sweat, reflexes, and raw power to take them down.
Then came a wave of twenty.
This time, he had to activate Eyes of Insight and the active effect of King of Nuturers to scrape through.
Pheew... Malik exhaled, beads of sweat glistening on his brow. "I hope that's the last of them. No way I'm wasting Black Lightning Art on dummies. That'd be a disgrace to my prestige."
Laughing, Malik walked forward with a tyrannical air. The exit to the second stage was in view. He stepped forward—
And froze.
His ears twitched. A faint whisper.
"…What? There's no one here. So where's that sound coming from?"
Malik scanned the room, but his perception failed to detect anything. His eyes narrowed.
A sly grin formed on his face.
"Eyes of Insight."
Lightning danced in his pupils as he scrutinized the walls.
"There…" he whispered. One spot was darker—infinitesimally—but enough to catch his gaze.
"A hidden room... To think I almost missed this opportunity. Hahaha!"
With a booming punch, Malik struck the wall.
RUMBLE!
The stone trembled and split apart, revealing a golden room bathed in a tremendous, suffocating aura.
[You've discovered the Hidden Room of the Second Stage of the Beginning Tower]
[As the second person to discover the hidden room, you will not receive a special reward.]
"The second person?" Malik muttered, surprised. "Without Eyes of Insight, I wouldn't have seen this… so who the heck discovered it before me?"
But his thoughts stopped abruptly. His gaze locked on a throne inside the room.
A golden silhouette sat upon it.
As Malik stepped forward, the golden figure began to shift—flesh taking form, eyes gaining light. It was mimicking him.
By the twentieth step, the transformation was complete. Standing before him… was Malik himself. Dressed in a white robe, same physique, same aura.
[Golden Dummy – Hidden Boss
Tier: 1
Level: 45
HP: 2,500]
"A boss that mimics not just my strength... but my very appearance and skills?" Malik grinned with clenched teeth. "This is gonna be tough. I've got to give it everything."
Suddenly, the Golden Malik vanished.
WHOOSH!
It reappeared instantly before Malik, aiming a finger jab at his eye.
Malik explosively retreated.
But what he hadn't expected… was the Black Lightning trailing the attack.
"Black Lightning Art!" Malik retaliated, stabbing with his own lightning-imbued finger.
But his lightning was swallowed by the replica's—consumed completely.
CRACK!
The explosion sent Malik flying. He slammed into the wall hard.
-500 HP
"His attack… It's stronger than mine. Even its defense is tighter…"
"This… this doesn't make sense. There's something off."
He turned around sharply—and then he saw her.
A Level 17 female player, crouched on the floor, trembling, barely holding onto 30% of her HP.
"So... you're the cause?" Malik's expression darkened. His aura surged.
The girl immediately collapsed to her knees, fear shaking her bones.
"Please… Please don't kill me."