Aron waited patiently.
A few seconds later, a beam of light appeared in front of him and split into five.
Then the five beams of light grew and expanded, transforming into five creatures.
The creatures' skin was bright green. The shortest ones were 6 feet tall. Two teeth protruded downward from their upper jaws. On either side of their bald heads were two long, pointed ears.
Their bodies were even more muscular than Aron's.
Every part of their bodies looked as if it had been sculpted by a master craftsman.
They had four fingers on each hand.
Their nails were several inches long and sharp.
They wore only a piece of cloth covering their private parts.
All five of them held thick clubs made of some unknown wood.
Their red eyes looked at Aron as soon as they appeared, and they were hostile.
A second after they appeared, they jumped toward Aron.
Aron was ready. He had taken his stance. He knew he would be in trouble the moment their names appeared on the system interface.
[Green Army Five, Lv. 10]
Their names weren't written on them, only on the head of the figure in the middle.
Aron dodged them the moment he saw them jump at him. He could feel their power in the loud noise and vibration they made when they hit the ground.
Each of the five was powerful, but Aron was ready. He was confident in his own strength.
He started with his most powerful attack.
He stabbed his sword into the ground, but it couldn't penetrate the hard concrete. However, it was enough to use his ability.
"Flame Strike!" Amon shouted, and a wave of flame formed from the tip of his sword, cutting through the ground toward the five. He looked at the five after several pieces of rock formed spontaneously on the ground with his ability. Four of them were able to retreat when they saw the attack coming, but one was too late.
He was the last to jump, so he landed last, which caused him to be caught by Aron's attack.
Suddenly, his legs broke, and then his entire body disappeared in the wave of flames that swept across the ground.
"One down..." Aron didn't stop when he said that. He held his sword sideways and made a sweeping motion, gaining some concealment thanks to the cloud of dust rising from the ground.
Then he lunged forward. He swung his sword widely. His goal was to kill the remaining four in one go.
His sword cut into the belly of the green creature in front of him as he had intended, but he couldn't push it all the way through. The moment his sword touched the creature's bone, he realized that he couldn't break or cut it easily, so he pulled back. Fortunately, one more creature had died.
But now new attacks awaited him.
He saw one coming from the right, one from the left, and the last one coming right from the middle.
The one on the left was the fastest. With all its strength, it swung its club just like Aron had done. Aron responded with his sword and turned sideways to fend off the attack of the green creature coming from the opposite direction.
This allowed him to make his body smaller.
He pulled his sword back and aimed at the exposed head of the second green creature attacking him in the middle.
Only the sound of the sword hitting the ground could be heard. The creature's neck had been cut like butter, but Aron had no position left to defend himself against the creature attacking from the right. At the same time, an attack was coming from the left. The creature on the left had opened its mouth wide and stretched its head forward to bite him the moment Aron let go.
Aron thought about what to do in a split second and decided on the most logical course of action.
He was going to take a hit.
He couldn't let the creature on his left sink its teeth into him, so he took a step back and took his sword in his left hand, defending himself against the club with his right hand.
"Boom!" Aron had never felt such pain in his life.
He thought his arm was broken, but when he took his sword back in his right hand, he realized it wasn't.
This made him even angrier.
His berserk level was increasing, but he was sure that he could take down the two remaining green creatures even if it wasn't at 25%.
After defending the club blow, he punched the green creature on his left with his left hand.
The creature that had extended its head pulled back in pain when it received a solid punch to its nose.
Aron parried the club blow coming from the right again with his sword.
This time, he felt no weakness in his strength, and, ignoring the pain in his right arm, he swung his great sword with all his might.
His target was the green creature on the left. It had taken a long time to recover from Aron's punch, and one of its eyes was still closed.
Aron's large sword passed in front of the creature's neck, cutting only two inches. Still, it was enough to sever its carotid artery and trachea, causing it to die in agony.
Aron was unprepared for the attack from the right because he was swinging his sword with his right arm, so all he could do was turn his back and let the club hit him.
"Boom!" He took another blow to his back. Aron felt his breath catch in his throat. Fortunately, this was the last green creature.
Aron immediately got up, grabbed his sword with both hands, and counterattacked, but he didn't have enough strength behind him because he had just recovered from the previous attack.
The green creature also swung its club, and the two weapons met in midair.
Then they entered into a power struggle.
Although Aron had killed four green creatures, he had not felt any of them to be very strong, but the last one was able to resist him with such power. Although this surprised him, it was not enough to shake his determination.
Aron pulled his head back a little and headbutted the creature with all his strength.
The creature staggered a few steps, its face contorted and its eyes closed.
There was no way it could resist Aron's attack.
Aron raised his great sword above his head and, using all his strength and the weight of the sword, cut the creature in half.
Then, realizing he was out of breath, he leaned on his sword and rested while standing.
As the fifth creature died, he heard a notification that he had gained experience points.
"You have defeated the Green Army Five!" [You have gained 1000 EXP!]
After catching his breath, he walked over and checked the console.
"Congratulations, you passed the first trial! Reward: 100 SC + 1000 EXP!"
Aron saw on the system screen that he had earned a total of 2000 exp by killing the creature and completing his first attempt.
"This tower is very rewarding. But the risk is too great. I don't know what I'll face in my next attempt. Creatures similar to these, but even slightly stronger, could threaten my life."
Aron looked around.
He saw that the creatures had turned into white specks of light and disappeared into thin air, and even the remains of his attacks were gone.
"Best to get out and talk to the others. I'm afraid more than half of us will die on the first try."
Aron turned back and touched the large door to confirm the notification.
When he went outside, he couldn't see anyone. He was the first one out.
He immediately went and sat down on a camping chair next to a car. He hadn't suffered any serious injuries, but the places where he had been hit with the clubs were sore.
A few minutes later, someone came out. It was Jared.
He was covered in bruises, and his clothes were almost torn to shreds.
As soon as he came out, he fell to his knees.
"Damn it."
Aron immediately ran over and supported Jared.
"Are you okay?"
Jared replied breathlessly. "Huff... I'm fine... puff..."
"Damn, you don't look good, buddy. When I first saw you, I thought you were fighting a truck. How did you get like this?"
Jared looked at him with a strange expression behind his swollen eyebrow. "How? This damn tower isn't fair. The space is limited, and I had to fight five green bastards in that limited space. Luckily, they didn't have any sharp weapons, but they beat me up pretty badly."
Aron stifled a laugh. "Relax, buddy. You're safe now."
"My ass is safe!" Jared reached out into the air, and a healing potion appeared.
"Damn it! I was saving that for a rainy day."
He then drank the healing potion. Fortunately, it did its job, and he quickly recovered. The swelling on his face went down within ten minutes.
While Jared was recovering, Tobey came out from inside. Tobey was in even worse shape than Jared. What's more, he didn't have any money to buy a healing potion. He had spent most of his money on quality drinks and a few techniques.
Aron took a healing potion and gave it to him. Tobey's arm was broken, and several sharp bone fragments could be seen protruding from the edge.
Jared held it, and Aron straightened the arm. Then they forced the healing potion down Tobey's throat as he fainted from the pain.
A few minutes later, when he woke up, Aron asked Jared to take Tobey to the shelter.
It would be good for Max to look at him because if the bone healed incorrectly, he might not be able to fight again.
Aron waited... and waited... and waited.
Until evening.
No one came out of the tower.
Tears welled up in Aron's eyes, but they didn't fall.
He couldn't cry.
Because he was the one who had encouraged them.
He was the one who had started all this.
Aron wanted to go back into the tower. He hoped to find the 27 missing people. He approached the door and tried to enter. But then he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around in fear and confusion.
He was ready to draw his sword and attack.
But he couldn't bring himself to do it when he saw who it was.
He was a man slightly shorter than himself. He had short hair and was wearing a black tank top that clung to his upper body.
Underneath, he wore nothing but military pants and boots.
His face was strangely calm.
The man grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him along with him as if he were a toy doll.
He forced Aron to sit in the chair where he had been sitting with Jared.
This person was Marcus.
Everyone knew his name, saw him from time to time, but no one ever spoke to him.
Aron had heard stories about him in the shelter. Marcus had even saved him from the mansion.
He had seen him fighting zombies that day. He was completely crazy. Aron wanted to be like him. Like Marcus, crazy, strong, and ruthless.
After Marcus sat down, he didn't say a word. He just stared into Aron's eyes.
After a while, Aron started talking on his own.
"I... I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to be like this..." Now the floodgates had opened.
Twenty-seven people... Twenty-seven... It's easy to say...
Aron began to scream with guilt.
"They all… They all died because of me…" He then tried to get up and run toward the tower, but Marcus grabbed him by the shoulder again.
He couldn't escape Marcus's grip.
Marcus's strength was undeniably superior to Aron's. Moreover, Marcus had recently leveled up a few times.
Even though he always stayed in the background in the shelter and didn't get involved in most things, everyone knew he was there.
They knew he sat quietly in a room and meditated day and night.
Aron shouted, "Please let me go... I have to save them."
Marcus spoke for the first time. "No."
Then Marcus forced Aron to sit down in the chair. Again.
"Tell me. What happened inside?"
"I... we... I don't know. We just went in, and I killed five creatures! But that's not the problem; these creatures are level ten. The real problem is that once you accept a trial, you can't leave until you finish it."
Aron bowed his head. "They must be dead. They all must be dead. Martin, Samuel, May... Alisse... they all must be dead..."
When Marcus heard this, he shook his head and stood up.
He slapped Aron on the shoulder.
"Normally, I would have to kill you, Aron... You killed twenty-seven citizens of the shelter for nothing."
He turned his head and forced Aron to look him in the eyes.
"Are you regretful?
Aron saw Marcus's dark black eyes blur as he looked at him.
"Yes... YES, I'M REGRETFULL!"
Then he bowed his head and began to cry again. This time, he sobbed... struggling and raging.
He was angry at himself.
"Then you will live. You will live and take on the task that twenty-seven people should have done on their own."
After saying this, Marcus entered the tower without even looking back.
Aron raised his head when he saw Marcus leave.
He was about to follow him into the tower.
But again, a voice stopped him.
A girl was standing a few meters behind him.
She had short yellow hair and slightly narrow eyes.
She had a thin body and, in inverse proportion to this, a sniper rifle on her back that was twice her size. She spoke with the candy still in her mouth.
"Hold on there, big guy. We need to have a little chat."
Aron then encountered several faces emerging from the woods. They were all people he didn't want to see, people who restricted him.
"Mick, Min-Jun, Jason, and, ah, Eliza? What are you doing here, guys?
Aron was still unable to shake off his remorse when he saw a chubby guy with glasses come out from behind one of the trees, adjusting his glasses.
"We thought a little fun wouldn't hurt."
Eliza hit Saleem on the head. "Stop acting so mysterious!"
"Ah! Miss Eliza, please, I just washed my hair..." Saleem held his head with both hands, but there were only a few strands of hair under his hands.
"Saleem, you gotta stop acting like that, buddy. Hahaha!" Mick laughed fatherly and walked over to one of the camp chairs and sat down.
Then he motioned to Aron. "Would you like to sit down, young friend?"
Aron had no choice. With the pain of losing his friends still fresh in his mind, he had to fulfill his responsibilities to these people.
"Tell us. What happened inside?"
Eliza asked.
Aron bowed his head and began to speak.
...