Endless Evolution As A Skeleton In A Game-Like World
Chapter 12: [12] Purification

Chapter 12: [12] Purification

[Harvest successful! You have successfully removed impurities from Enchanted Rusty Crowbar]

[Enchanted Rusty Crowbar has been upgraded!!]

[Enchanted Rusty Crowbar >> Enchanted Steel Crowbar]

The crowbar had completely transformed right Ark’s hands. While his right hand held the crowbars, his left hand was filled with brown rust as well as some other rough particles.

The weapon which had been rustic-brown was now gleaming silver, as clean as thorough it had just been pulled out of the furnace.

Ark tested the balance and smiled. Now that the weapon was smoother, he could swing it with ease, without worrying about rust chippings in his hands.

And even better, although it was still F-Rank, Ark was sure the attack of the weapon had improved.

He placed the weapon back in his inventory and hurried back into camp.

’I wonder what else I can use this ability for...’

<•••>

"So do you plan on walking around naked?" Soo-jin asked with a curious stare, her voice low. They had left the camp and were back on their mission, trying to find the tower.

She smiled. "You may be a skeleton, but you’re also a human, you know?"

Ark sighed. "I don’t think I have much of a choice in the matter."

Her gaze moved past him, and when he turned, he caught Olivia’s stare. The girl immediately averted her gaze and stared at the side—

"..."

A few seconds passed in silence.

"Do you have anything to say? You’ve been staring for—"

Ark was suddenly interrupted by a sharp chirp that nearly made him jump out of his bones.

Then Olivia stormed toward them, her cheeks tingled red and her entire posture stiff.

"This does not mean I acknowledge you or anything, s-so don’t go having a big head!" She dumped a folded up cloth in Ark’s hands. "Now we are even."She said before

storming off.

Ark could have sworn he heard her mutter thank you, but after thinking about it for a few seconds, he shook his head.

Olivia thanking him? Pigs would sooner fly.

"It looks like you have your first fan." Soo-Jin’s voice came out colder than usual, but when Ark glanced at her, she still had that stoic look on her face.

"More like a mortal enemy..."

He unfurled the garment and was pleasantly surprised.

The material felt soft and extremely light. There was embroidery done with red thread lining the sleeves and sides, and fortunately it was a cloak, which meant he could wear it.

’So they make beginner clothes this nice? Why was I the only one given sack cloth??’

The only reason Olivia was able to gift him this was because she came with a better D-Rank cloak, but Ark appreciated the sentiment.

’I should thank her later...’

They continued onward in silence. The brothers were the only ones who spoke, and a few times, Isabella would ask Soo-jin for instructions.

So far, they had not encountered another monster. Ark would have considered it lucky, but after what they experienced with the goblin attack, he knew that there was nothing lucky about this tower.

’I wonder how the others are doing?’

"So... what do you think about the tower?" Soo-Jin turned to stare at him. Since they began their walk, she had stuck next to him like glue.

Her excuse was that they had to protect their mage, but Ark knew it was just for her amusement.

"I honestly didn’t think it would be this hard." The academy had been very transparent about how awakening trials went...

Only sixty percent of students survived the trials, and that was only the national average, meaning there were trials where even less survived.

But even then, the goblin attack that they had experienced was far too illogical. Seventy goblins barely a few minutes after entry?

Soo-jin, Isabella and to a lesser extent, Olivia were class wonders, that was the only reason they had survived.

What about other groups? Were they also facing similar levels of difficulty as them? If that was the case, then Ark was sure not up to twenty percent of the class would leave this place alive.

The thought of that made a cold feeling settle in his metaphorical stomach.

"It is almost as if we aren’t even meant to survive it..."

"It isn’t meant to be this hard." Soo-jin replied. She waited for a few seconds, either allowing her words to sink in, or goading him...

"Ark, do you think the towers are fair?"

It was a question that hinted at something, she clearly had information that he wanted, but she was taking her precious time to reveal it.

Ark caught a stare from Isabella. Was it something only the top families were privy to?

’Are the towers fair? Hmmm...’

When the towers first arrived, half of humanity was extinguished. Humans were tossed into portals and forced to go through hell just to save their continent.

But at the same time, the system gave just enough information to survive, just enough knowledge to thrive in this strange world.

"Yes and no." Ark replied calmly.

"Oh? That is an interesting answer. Why do you think that is the case?"

"Realistically, there is no tower or dungeon that cannot be beaten, that is one of the fundamental principles of the tower." Ark explained.

"But at the same time... the situation in the towers are never balanced. In some towers, entire parties are extinguished in the first five minutes, while in some, they pass without losing a single person."

The worst part of it was that there were cases of experienced players dying on silver rank towers, while players who were worse in every regard succeeded in gold ranked towers.

Ark stroked his sharp jaw. "It is almost as if the difficulty of each tower, regardless of the rank, is... different?"

Soo-jin chuckled, her voice as pleasant as a warm summer breeze. "Like the levels of a video game right?"

In video games, it was possible to adjust the level of a stage, meaning a stage one could be realistically several times harder than a stage two, all because of the setting...

Ark glanced at her. "Are you trying to say..."

"Hell level difficulty." Soo-jin’s crimson eyes sparkled.

"How unlucky right?" She smiled, but Ark could see the uneasiness hidden behind the facade.

Soo-Jin, ranked class number three, was... afraid?

Her laughter died down. "That is the nature of the tower we have stepped into."