I woke up today to something new. Unlike all other days the admins of the tower had a message for us.

「Admin Announcement

Players, today the shop will receive a new update. The new update regards a new page. The skill page. In the Skill page you will be able to buy skills with coins. Every day the skills will change.

Another Announcement we have is new players joining the tower. The village will get bigger. More shops will be added, and more when the players arrive.

We expect that the first players will arrive in 2 days time.

Gold Transfer: You can give gold to other players by shaking hands and stating the amount for transfer.」

This is good. Gaining more shops for me is good. The skill shop is also something I was hoping they would add. I'm not going to give gold to anyone so that doesn't matter.

"Shop"

「Store

Weapon

Armor

Consumable

Room

Skills」

"Skills"

「Skills Page

Tracking: 300G

Eagle Eyes: 250G

Skill Combination: 1000G」

Skill Combination is the most useful one there. I have 1560 so I can buy everything. I already have 'Heat Sensing' which makes up for the other two.

"Skill Combination"

「Buy 'Skill Combination'?」

"Yes"

Combining Skills that are comparable should do. I'm not going to combine something like 'Bone Forge' and 'Heat Sensing'.

"Combine 'Meditation' and 'Composure'"

「New Skill

Serene Mind: Make decisions calmly, protects you from status affects affecting the mind.」

This will be good. Fast thinking won't be such of a burden now. If I combine the two it would be better.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Combine 'Serene Mind' With 'Fast Thinking'"

「New Skill

Parallel Processing: Handle multiple streams of information or tasks simultaneously without a drop in efficiency.」

This is good. I can challenge the 9th Floor now. When I get back the people should be done with the Tutorial. As I'm walking towards the tower I can hear something by the Alleyway. I turn and see the same person from awhile ago.

He's with another player, probably forcing him to Gold Transfer or give him equipment. Well it doesn't concern me and I walk off to the tower.

「Choose Floor

...

Floor 7

Floor 8

Floor 9」

"Floor 9"

I get teleported and notice someone to my left.

「Floor 9

Objective Beat the other team」

It seems the tower wants us to do a 2v2 battle. Hopefully the people have good skills. If my teammate has a good one I might kill him.

"Hey the one in the hide armor. Get over here before it starts."

"Shit my bad."

I briskly walk over to him while look around me. It's in a coliseum, around 400 feet in diameter; plenty of space. I look in the middle, there is a barrier separating us from the other team. I can see their smile and feel their blood lust leaking.

Looking at my teammate he seems scared. Happy to see I'm a little more skillful than the average player.

"Don't worry you can just stay back."

"Are you sure?"

''Yeah, their easy pickings."

「Floor 9 Start

3

2

1

GO!」

The other team breaks off into two going opposite directions while still chasing. I rush over to the one on the left; the stronger one.

"Barrier!"

I see a transparent green barrier cover him, I can break it. I continue rushing at him, I can see his smile fade.

"Heavy Strike"

I can hear the barrier shatter, like glass on the floor. He tries to run and I don't let him. I cut his right ankle off as I hear him scream in pain. I leave him there to go fight his teammate.

I slam my foot into the ground, breaking the stone into peaces. Picking it up I throw it in his direction. A rock hits his arm as his sword drops. He doesn't cower in fear.

"I commend you, are you perhaps on the Leader Board?" I ask.

"I am, but not even comparable to you."

I don't respond with words but with my body. My scythe cuts him in half. He doesn't even scream. He accepted that he was weaker.

I walk up to him, his soul bigger than the average monster.

"Absorb"

「Intelligence +4 」

「Floor 9 Clear

Congratulations on Clearing Floor 9

+ 150 XP Level Up!

+1,000 Gold!

New Skill:

Battlefield Perception: Enhanced awareness of the battlefield, including predicting enemy movements and exploiting weaknesses.」

The skill was worth the trouble. I guess the other person died too.

"Hey Teammate!" He says in an ecstatic way. " Can I have your name, you were really strong."

"My name is Kim."

"Thank you, I will remember you!"

I return back to the Lobby. It's gotten bigger. I see more people in the lobby. The dirt roads have a new layer of dirt. Smelling the scent of freshly plant flowers. I can hear the liveliness of the village with all my senses.

As I got back to my house, there was no crowd today. I guess the people who wanted to shower in my house finally climbed the tower.

"Shop"

「Store

Weapon

Armor

Consumable

Room

Skills」

"Room"

「Room Shop

Smithy: 5,000G

Improved Bed: 300G

2nd Floor: 2000G」

"Improved Bed"

The bed inside my room crumbles up and a new one gets teleported in. Feel the softness in the bed already diminishes my fatigue. Laying down on the bed my body starts sinking inside. I immediately fall asleep.

I wake up to some unexpected noise coming from outside. I open the door and it's another person being robbed. Crazy how they are doing it in the open. I hear the person scream for help as I close the door.

_____________________________________________

「Status Window

Name: Kim Yeon

Level: 16

Skills: Soul Absorption, Corpse Summon, Heavy Strike, Low Tier Regeneration LV2, Appraise, Bone Forge, Battle Instinct, Vampire Grasp LV2, Soul Reaping, Silent Movements, Heat Sensing, Heightened Senses LV2, Skill Combination, Parallel Processing.

Stats:

Strength: 19

Agility: 27

Intelligence: 26 (5)

Stamina: 19 (2)

Available points: 32

Gold: 2260」