Antagonist Protection Service-Chapter 175 - The Augury Tower (2)

175: The Augury Tower (2)

175: The Augury Tower (2)

Walking over to the wide, flat circle, I couldn’t quite tell what material was used to make it, but it looked just like white bricks.

From what I heard from all the scientific analysis, it was identical to ordinary marble, but I knew that probably wasn’t it.

There had been attempts to dig it up in the distant past, to no avail.

The Tower couldn’t be destroyed with physical force, not even the Ground Floor of it that existed here, and now that I knew it was created through a mix of genius-level magic and omnipotent World Stability, I was confident that such a claim was true.

The only way to break the Tower was to clear it fully, and that’s what I’m here to prevent.

Stepping onto the platform, the world immediately twisted, an infinite amount of illusions depicting the Tower suddenly appearing all around me and following me with every step.

Just a moment later, something appeared before me, alongside a familiar voice.

[Would you like to challenge the Augury Tower?]

“…”

Perhaps only naturally, it was Leinth’s voice.

Seeing how the pop-up notification was also exceedingly similar to the style used in the Library’s Assistance Menu, it was instantly recognisable that the creators of each were in fact the same person.

Maybe because it was all of a sudden feeling a whole lot more real, I sensed my own nervousness begin to spike.

Taking a deep breath, I opened my mouth calmly.

“Yes.”

As the words left my mouth, I immediately realised my voice sounded different, recognising it as the mask modulating my voice as part of the recognition disruption property, making me sound like even more of a villain than I already looked with this sinister get-up.

Pushing the matter aside, the world shifted again, and a few seconds later, I appeared in an endless grass field.

[Floor 1]

[Mingle]

‘Hmm…

It’s like I heard.’

Online, the Tower’s First Floor was colloquially known as the Hub Floor, the place where Challengers could meet, talk, relax, and do things like find other people to make parties to clear the Tower with.

That was evident even when I looked around now, with all the tents and other facilities set up by those who came here before me, and hundreds of Challengers wandering around the place.

I think it was because nobody who wasn’t Awakened could enter the Tower that they felt like this was a safe space for them, somewhere where they could chill and interact with people who were the same as they were.

Comparing this place with what lay right outside in the unending snow, where all the media companies and other relevant Unawakened camped, it was sort of funny.

Anyway, I wasn’t here to do something like mingle, even if that’s what the Tower wanted me to do.

I was here for a purpose, and I wouldn’t leave until I made at least some progress towards accomplishing that goal.

“Take me to the Second Floor.”

The world around me distorted, and a moment later, I found myself in a dark, damp and dingy dungeon.

[Floor 2]

[Objective: Escape the dungeon while minding the traps]

“…Simple enough.”

There was only one way to go from where I spawned, so with a casual, yet still wary posture, I moved.

Thanks to Heightened Senses, I could now see in the dark without too much of an issue, and though the smell was one of the most awful things I’d experienced in a while, I kept my ears open for anything out of the ordinary.

‘It said traps, so I should be careful with where I step.

I don’t think there’ll be any monsters just yet.’

Continuing in that fashion for a while without encountering anything dangerous, I must have gotten subconsciously careless.

Click-!

Pew pew pew!

“Shit…!”

Hurriedly ducking beneath some arrows that came flying at me from a wall, I glanced to the floor at a pressure plate I couldn’t even tell slightly jutted out with a sharp glare.

Waiting for the arrows to stop shooting, I slowly stood back up, watching the direction the arrows came from carefully.

‘Close one…’

Keeping myself on high alert, I managed to avoid any more close calls from that point on, eventually reaching a stairway going up.

Climbing it, a notification appeared.

[Floor Cleared]

[Obtained Lesser Health Potion (x1)]

[Obtained Steel Shortsword (x1)]

[Obtained Leather Buckler (x1)]

“Oh…!”

In my hand, a red vial appeared, identical to the two I already carried in Storage, and on the ground just in front of me, a sword and small shield dropped.

‘I knew you could find special items and treasure in certain places on some Floors, but I didn’t expect rewards like this…’

Adding the vial to the collection and dumping the equipment elsewhere into Storage, I was teleported to what seemed like another area of the dungeon I just escaped from.

[Floor 3]

[Objective: Escape the dungeon while minding the traps and monsters]

“A repeat with monsters…”

I had just done it, so I wasn’t too worried about a second go.

Even if there were monsters, it was only the Third Floor, so they weren’t going to pose a threat.

Moving through the dungeon swiftly this time, I had already gotten a feel for the typical placements of certain traps―arrow traps in narrow corridors, flame traps in darker areas, spiked wall and roof traps outside doorways―and were able to bypass and evade them without issues.

Then, I began to encounter the ‘monsters’ part of the Objective.

‘It’s a goblin.

Classic.’

Hiding in the shadows with Sneak, there was no way such a low-level mob would be able to find me, let alone simply be aware that I was watching it.

I probably didn’t even need the Superior Presence Concealment of the Draconic Shadow.

Without a hint of concern, I summoned the Black Wisp and popped the creature once in the head, watching it collapse to the ground, instantly dead.

Making my way through the rest of the dungeon like so, I ended up taking out a dozen or so goblins before I finally found a second set of stairs.

[Floor Cleared]

[Obtained Lesser Health Potion (x1)]

[Obtained Leather Armour Full Set (x1)]

“Wow, another one?

This is just a free potion farm at this point.”

I was beginning to see a pattern with the rewards, though the armour was obviously the more useless thing for me.

Still, dumping it all into Storage and promptly forgetting about it, I waited to be teleported to the next Floor.

Not ten seconds later, I found myself in the middle of a forest, a staircase presumably leading down to the previous Floors’ dungeon lying just behind me.

[Floor 4]

[Objective: Survive the monster-infested woods and beat the Floor Boss]

Scanning over the Objective, I nodded my head and walked forward, a white blade materialising into my hand.

‘Might as well give this thing’s new upgrades a shot.’

Fortunately, I was being given the perfect target to test it out on.