Chapter 3: I Became Hoaquin (3)
I looked up.
Is there no princess out there willing to save this poor soul?
Of course, since this was Hoaquin's childhood era, Yuri hadn't even been born yet — so there was no hope.
Which meant I had to handle everything alone.
That realization made me grip the sword tighter.
I looked past the iron bars.
Beyond them was Barracuda, the trial I had to face.
And there was the Ball, the goal I had to claim.
If I took this test as-is, I could really die.
My instincts screamed danger, warning me of imminent death.
Cold sweat gathered on my forehead; my mind strained just to keep from flinching under that monster's gaze.
It was already a miracle I wasn't trembling.
My heart pounded violently — honestly, I was terrified.
But even so—
"Hmm… young man, would you like to give up now?
If you forfeit the Second Floor ticket, I could lower the difficulty again, you know."
"No, let's begin now."
Despite everything, I felt thrilled.
Even with my life on the line, the thought of drawing my sword against that beast, of somehow clearing this test—
It excited me to madness.
Was this Hoaquin's nature, or mine?
Though sweat rolled down my body, adrenaline surged endlessly.
I didn't know what kind of expression I was making,
but judging by the strange look Headon was giving me,
I must have been smiling.
So this is the Tower.
Survival of the fittest.
A place where you could die any moment.
It felt completely different from just reading about it in the webtoon.
One step.
Two steps.
Three.
Four steps in, and I was inside the testing chamber.
The Barracuda, which had been endlessly ramming the bars trying to break them, froze when it noticed me.
The most ferocious divine sea creature in the Tower — so the rumors were true.
Without any hesitation or observation, it immediately opened its enormous jaws and lunged straight toward me.
What should I do?
That thing wasn't the white armored eel.
If I went into its mouth, I'd just become its next meal.
I didn't know the Shinsu density of this testing area,
but thankfully, my movement wasn't restricted at all.
As it charged, I charged back.
It wasn't human, so I couldn't read its expression — but it must've been surprised.
Its prey was running straight into its mouth, after all.
But I wasn't aiming to dive inside.
As the distance between us closed, I swiftly drew my sword.
My target was its mouth — no, the sides of its mouth.
Roughly where the corners of lips would be, if it were human.
That was why I ran toward it — to strike there.
"Ugh—Aaaah!"
I swung the sword with all my might.
Though I'd never trained with a sword in my life, the swing felt right.
Perhaps Hoaquin's talent as an Arie still lingered in this body —so this is what they mean when they say the body remembers.
Crash! Krrrkk-kakak!
What the hell— why did it sound like I hit metal instead of flesh?
Honestly, I hadn't even cut it.
Its scales were so damn tough that saying I hit it would be more accurate than saying I slashed it.
Still, it worked better than expected.
Barracuda, charging in a straight line, took the hit on its side and veered off course, crashing into the floor instead of me.
At least I'd deflected it.
But—was my physical strength really this good?
Even as a child, I'd just forced a massive divine sea creature off balance?
Taking advantage of the moment Barracuda hit the floor, I enhanced Hoaquin's body and dashed toward the Ball.
Unfortunately, the creature recovered instantly, shaking off the impact.
It came charging again.
The Ball was still far away, and at this rate, it would catch me within seconds.
I tried to anticipate its attack so I could counter,
but that plan quickly fell apart.
Instead of charging straight this time, Barracuda began circling me, weaving around, eyeing my blind spots.
Damn it—what kind of fish has battle sense like this?
It was clear it meant to exploit my openings.
At this close range, I had no time to react —
if I even tried to turn to dodge, I'd be swallowed before I could move.
The creature circled faster and faster.
The flow of Shinsu around it grew more violent —
it was trying to restrict my movements.
The currents twisted into small whirlpools, wrapping around me.
A fierce wave of Shinsu engulfed me completely.
This… is Shinsu.
I'd felt it since entering the First Floor, but here, where the Shinsu density was so high, it was overwhelming.
It was breathable, like air on Earth, but every breath felt subtly different — moist yet airy, something mysterious flowing through me.
Thanks to the whirlpools Barracuda had created,
the flow had become even stronger — and easier to sense.
As I focused more deeply on that current, my eyes closed naturally, like in meditation.
It was insane to close my eyes in a moment where death could strike any second—but somehow, I felt… safe.
As if time itself had slowed.
Even though I'd been thinking for a while, in reality, less than a second had passed.
I could now feel every detail of the whirlpool's movement —the spin of the vortex, the flow of each strand of Shinsu forming it, even the movement of every single droplet.
Next, I reached beyond it.
Outside this chaotic swirl, the Shinsu flow was much calmer.
The contrast made it easy to sense both inner and outer currents.
It felt as if roots were spreading from me in every direction.
Sensing the Shinsu flow was a strange and wondrous feeling.
My perception extended farther and farther —beyond the test chamber itself, even to where Headon stood watching.
My roots touched him.
I could feel Headon.
And judging from the disturbance in his Shinsu flow,
he had noticed what I was doing — and was quite shocked.
That was enough.
I had grasped all the Shinsu on the First Floor.
Now, it was time for practical use.
Slowly, I opened my eyes.
Barracuda was just now lunging at me —a back attack, aimed at my blind spot.
Normally, I would've been eaten before I could react—
"If you can feel the Shinsu… then it's time to use it."
Instead of merely sensing the flow, I began to control it.
The awareness I'd spread throughout the chamber bent the currents to my will.
Compress, compress, compress… compress…
I forced the surrounding Shinsu to converge into one point —and soon, a solid, glowing sphere took shape.
This must be a Bang.
Boom! Boom!
I fired the Bang straight at Barracuda.
Again, I targeted its side.
The impact threw it slightly off balance, its movements momentarily restricted.
Apparently, the Bang's power was quite decent.
While it staggered, I rushed toward the Ball.
While sensing Shinsu earlier, I had also realized that it flowed through my own body.
If I controlled that internal flow and accelerated it,
that would be Shinsu Body Reinforcement.
I immediately tried it — and sure enough, a rush of power flooded my limbs.
I pushed off the surrounding Shinsu and burst toward the Ball at high speed, all while firing Bangs to keep Barracuda at bay.
I had to destroy the Ball before it adapted.
Finally, I reached it.
"Ha!"
I swung my sword with all my might, slicing at the Ball.
With that, this grueling test should have been—
Ah, for f*ck's sake. Why is it like this?
The sword was stuck in the Ball, not even budging.
The Ball didn't burst — didn't even twitch.
I had even poured Shinsu into my sword for reinforcement, and still, nothing.
This was hopeless.
What is this thing, the Maxeth-brand S+ Special Defense Ball or something, you bastard Headon?
My face twisted in disbelief.
I pulled, straining to free the sword—and then, a shadow loomed over me.
Ah, I'm screwed.
Focused entirely on the sword, I hadn't noticed Barracuda closing in.
Its massive jaws opened wide—
—and snapped shut.
----------------
If you want to read 10 advance chapters ahead.
Visit my patreon: patreon.com/Leonzky