Conquering the Tower Even Regressors Couldn’t
Chapter 192: Fifty-First Floor, The Female Warriors of Androctones (1)

Chapter 192: Fifty-First Floor, The Female Warriors of Androctones (1)
One day after Ha Hee-Jeong took Yoonie, she returned with the unruly tail in hand, and Yoonie’s demeanor had completely transformed.

“I’m sorry, Master. I was extremely disrespectful yesterday.”

For a moment, I thought I was seeing things. I slowly closed my eyes and reopened them. Yoonie remained in the same posture, head bowed low.

I turned to Ha Hee-Jeong. “What’s going on? Why is she acting like this?”

Ha Hee-Jeong smiled serenely. “I told you I’d discipline her properly.”

Unbelievable.

Just last night at the restaurant, Yoonie had made her disdain for men abundantly clear. Even with so-called “training,” how could she change this dramatically overnight?

Floating at my side, Yoonie’s expression held not a trace of resistance or discontent. No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t make sense of the situation.

Seeming to take my silence as dismissal, Yoonie bowed even lower in midair. “Master, I sincerely apologize. Please forgive my insolence and set aside your anger.”

“Uh, no. First of all, stop calling me ‘Master.’ It’s cringeworthy. Just call me Su-Hyeok.”

“Yes, Su-Hyeok.”

Still struggling to comprehend what I was experiencing, I glanced at Ha Hee-Jeong once more.

There likely wasn’t a climber whose senses were as strong as mine, and Ha Hee-Jeong’s room was right next to mine. For a spirit to undergo such a complete transformation, something drastic had to have occurred. However, there hadn’t been a single sound throughout the night.

Maybe she had used some kind of soundproofing magic.

“What exactly did you do?”

“I told you, I just trained her.”

“And what, exactly, does ‘training’ involve?”

Ha Hee-Jeong winked mischievously. “That’s a trade secret.”

I looked back at Yoonie, still unsettled. There were no visible signs of any physical harm, although upon second thought, I realized healing magic existed.

“You didn’t resort to violence or anything, right?”

“Hey, what kind of person do you take me for? Of course not. I simply reasoned with her, calmly and quietly.”

I contemplated her words for a second. While not impossible, it didn’t entirely sit right with me.

Ha Hee-Jeong had always had a commanding presence. Even back on Earth, when she tutored students, she had a knack for keeping them in line. No one dared to skip assignments or defy her.

Still, it was hard to believe she had merely reasoned quietly with Yoonie.

She probably threatened her with something, like a ball of fire.

Ultimately, it didn’t matter. The key point was that Yoonie had returned with an entirely different attitude.

To be honest, I felt a sense of relief. If Ha Hee-Jeong hadn’t handled Yoonie’s attitude, keeping her in line would have fallen to me. Or, failing that, I would have had to hand her off to someone else.

“By the way, she’s a spirit, right? What kind of abilities does she have?”

Ha Hee-Jeong looked on with a satisfied expression, making it clear that Yoonie’s abilities were noteworthy. “Why don’t you ask yourself? Yoonie, you heard him, didn’t you? Explain.”

“I’m an objet spirit[1]!”

“Objets? Like objects?”

The term sounded familiar—something related to art—but I couldn’t quite recall its exact meaning.

Yoonie continued, “I’m a spirit of the precious things hidden within insignificant forms.”

Ah, now I understood why Ha Hee-Jeong looked so pleased with herself.

“So, if we come across something valuable, you’ll let me know?”

“Yes! I can see the hidden worth of objects!”

“Impressive, isn’t it?”

Hearing Ha Hee-Jeong’s leading tone, I nodded rapidly.

In simpler terms, Yoonie was essentially a walking treasure detector. At this rate, it felt like I was becoming some kind of eccentric collector of unique companions.

Doppy, Mung-chi, Ryun, and now Yoonie. A guide and goblin priest, a living inventory, an ent swordmaster, and a treasure detector. It was only the fiftieth floor, but four strange individuals had already joined my side. Hopefully, the group wouldn’t grow any larger.

Shaking off unnecessary thoughts, I turned back to Yoonie. “So, are you going to float beside me all the time? What if I move quickly? Can you keep up?”

“Since I am a spirit bound to you, I can automatically teleport to you if you move too far away! I can also attach myself to your body if needed!”

To demonstrate, Yoonie zipped over to my wrist, coiling around it before turning her head to look at me. She seemed to be seeking praise.

“Hmm. Having you on my wrist could mess with my flow during combat. Can you wrap around somewhere else?”

Although her weight was negligible, the sensation could still be distracting.

Yoonie quickly uncoiled herself. “I can attach anywhere! Your neck, your waist, wherever you prefer!”

“Well, we’ll figure that out later.”

Once the conversation ended, Ha Hee-Jeong stretched out wide. “Alright, let’s wrap this up and get some breakfast. We’ll need to eat well before tackling the fifty-first floor.”

I nodded. “Agreed.”

The upcoming trial wouldn’t be a walk in the park. Fortifying ourselves with a hearty meal would be essential.

***

[The fifty-first floor requires all participants to enter simultaneously.]

[4 minutes and 59 seconds until the rest period ends. Please take a rest.]

With just under five minutes remaining until the next trial, a notification window abruptly appeared in the waiting room.

[Attention: starting from the fifty-first floor, climbers may enter the next floor even if the rest time hasn’t expired, provided it is an individual challenge or party floor.]

I had already heard about this from Ha Hee-Jeong. 

While the message was somewhat verbose, it was straightforward. If the next floor didn’t require every climber to join simultaneously, climbers could proceed immediately without waiting. 

For instance, even if the tower granted nine hours of waiting time after the next floor, climbers could move directly to the fifty-second floor if it was an individual one.

Similarly, if all party members completed their previous floor, they could enter the next party floor together. This had occurred occasionally before, but it was now officially permitted for any floor that met the criteria, allowing climbers to ascend the tower at a faster pace.

Of course, the shared floors will still require some mandatory waiting.

Thankfully, the advantages far outweighed the drawbacks.

This system also enabled top-ranked climbers to advance quickly and potentially relay several floors’ worth of information to lower-ranked climbers, increasing climbers’ survival rate massively.

Of course, since my individual challenge floors were distinct from the other climbers’, I wouldn’t have much information to share.

Ha Hee-Jeong had mixed feelings about this development. She had previously grumbled that the overall skill level of the average climber had slightly declined compared to her previous life, largely because of my efforts on shared floors.

I wouldn’t simply sit back and do nothing, though. If helping people survive led to a slight decrease in power, it was an unavoidable consequence I would be more than willing to take.

Meanwhile, the other climbers seemed to welcome the change, as the Community was abuzz with joyous posts.

[Woohoo! Now we can breeze through the floors easily!]

[lmao. 😂]

[Keep talking like that, and I won’t share shit.]

[Honestly, I really believe that even the low-rank climbers will be able to survive until the end of the tower now.]

[True. The top climbers will clear the individual and party floors first and share info, while the shared floors are basically a free ride with Su-Hyeok carrying everyone.]

[Let’s face it, shared floors aren’t even scary anymore.]

[The guy above is right. Deaths on shared floors have been rare recently.]

[Aaaaargh!]

[Rule number one for surviving shared floors: Find Kwon Su-Hyeok ASAP.]

[It's truly a shame I only got to see a part of Su-Hyeok’s real abilities. What he showed in the warrior role match has got to be barely half of what he’s capable of.]

[Wait, does this mean that the shared floors will always come after rest areas from now on?]

[Oh, really? Then can you go straight to the rest area if you clear the shared floor quickly and then rush through the others?]

[Hold on, are you saying every floor from now on will be a shared one?]

One comment caught my attention. While their reasoning made sense, their conclusion didn’t hit the mark. The fifty-first floor was simply an exception, and the floors leading up to the rest areas would continue to be all-climber floors.

I closed the Community. It was time to enter the fifty-first floor.

***

[Welcome to the fifty-first floor of the Tower of Ordeal: The Female Warriors of Androctones.]

[Androctones is a matriarchal society, home to exclusively female minotaurs since ancient times.]

[They show no mercy—not to males of their own kind nor to those of other races. Non-minotaur women and beings they can not mate with are slaughtered outright, while men are violated before being killed.]

[Survive. Time remaining: 71 hours 59 minutes.]

I had been concerned that the shared floors would evolve into something similar to my individual challenge floors, but fortunately, that wasn’t the case.

Under the glaring midday sun, the tower began summoning every climber into a vast plain, with me being the first arrival, like usual. Here and there, Kosharks and Earthlings materialized nearby.

The Turinas and Subrens have got to be on the opposite side.

That wasn’t a priority right now, however. I couldn’t even guarantee that I could coordinate the Earthlings and Kosharks.

Thud, thud, thud—

From the edge of a distant plain to my right, a cloud of dust rose into the sky.

Our first priority was to confront the approaching minotaurs. The summoned climbers hurriedly checked their notification windows before turning their gazes eastward.

They should have a rough idea of the situation by now.

The rumble of hooves shook the earth.

It wouldn’t take the climbers long to realize the incoming enemies were the minotaurs mentioned by the floor’s description. They quickly scanned their surroundings, searching for a top-ranked individual. 

Not wanting to waste any more time, I infused mana into my throat and shouted, “Climbers! Regardless of whether you are human or Koshark, gather here immediately!”

The Earthlings who recognized my voice rushed toward me in a panic, and the Kosharks followed suit. I had a rapport with the Kosharks, and their superior mobility allowed them to reach me faster than the Earthlings.

“Great Warrior! I saw you from afar during the friendly match!”

“It’s good to see you again.”

“Wait, are those minotaurs charging toward us?”

“Most likely.”

One of the Kosharks frowned. “Last time we faced minotaurs, they were complete pushovers. Doesn’t this seem a bit too easy for the fifty-first floor?”

“Their strength varies by floor. Don’t let your guard down.”

“Well, if the Great Warrior says so...”

At that moment, the signal device at my waist clicked softly, pointing to the west. I looked forward to meeting up with Ha Hee-Jeong after dealing with the minotaurs.

Click.

I returned the signal, confirming my location. With that dealt with, I drew my axe, ready to rampage. “Prepare for battle! Maintain the basic combat formation!”

“Prepare for battle!”

As the climbers echoed my command, I gauged our opponents. Hearing about the minotaurs hadn’t conveyed the sheer intimidation they exuded in person.

They weren’t quite as massive as the Burning Neplas we had encountered on the sixteenth floor, but the sight of 2.5-meter-tall minotaurs charging on massive bulls over three meters in height was nothing short of terrifying. 

Each minotaur bore a massive cross-shaped scar carved into its chest, evidence of their species' brutality; Ha Hee-Jeong had mentioned that the marks were self-inflicted.

Formidable indeed.

Their steeds granted them exceptional mobility, and they were renowned for their archery skills. However, that didn’t mean they lacked close combat expertise. Each one would pose a serious challenge to the climbers.

“Priests, deploy your barriers! Mages, on my signal, manipulate the dirt in front of the minotaurs and create a pit!”

“Great Warrior, what about us?”

“If we engage them head-on, we’ll be overpowered. Use your agility to flank them and attack from the sides!”

Even though the bulls completely overshadowed the Kosharks when it came to physical stature, the Kosharks were far more agile than the massive bulls, an advantage we needed to exploit.

“Understood!”

As the Kosharks sprang into action, a thunderous command erupted from one of the minotaur female warriors in the distance. “Ready!”

Dozens of minotaurs pulled back their bowstrings. Their gazes, fixed on us, were filled with unbridled desire.

“Kill any unbreedables! Violate the men, then slaughter them!”