But immediately the white clouds before him vanished. In its place appeared a vast emerald forest stretching as far as the eye could see.
His wristwatch lit up, projecting a hologram.
Floor 1
Aster frowned in confusion, but before he could process what had happened...
Pat... pat... pat...
The sound of hurried footsteps echoed through the forest.
The bushes suddenly rustled as five goblins burst out from the shadows, launching a surprise ambush.
System: Lazy Inspection
Name: Goblin
Level: 01
"Palm Strike."
Five golden palm strikes materialized in an instant, each locking onto a target before crashing into the goblins.
Boom!
The five monsters were obliterated without even getting close.
"Only Level 1? Well... this is only the first floor."
Aster summoned Aegis Fang and activated Grapple.
Without taking a single step, his body shot through the forest as invisible grappling forces pulled him from tree to tree. Every goblin that appeared along the way was instantly cut down by a simple Slash.
Within minutes, Aster reached the opposite end of the forest.
Standing there was a massive stone door identical to the one he had used to enter the tower.
Guarding the entrance stood a muscular hobgoblin gripping an enormous wooden club.
System: Lazy Inspection
Name: Hobgoblin
Level: 05
"So this is the floor boss."
"Solar Slash."
A blazing golden slash erupted through the air.
Before the hobgoblin could even raise its weapon, the slash sliced straight through its body, killing it instantly.
System: Passive Collection
Acquired: Wooden Club
"A wooden club? What kind of skill does this give?"
Aster summoned the club into his hand and waited for the system notification.
Nothing happened.
"No new skill? It probably shares the same attack pattern as a hammer. Since I already have Smash, the system didn’t grant anything new."
With a shrug, he casually tossed the club aside. His gaze shifted toward the stone door.
The instant he stepped through it, the familiar sea of white clouds appeared once again.
For only a brief moment.
Just like before, the mysterious space vanished almost instantly, replaced by another lush green forest.
"Whoever built this tower must have used some kind of skill or formation similar to my Slumber Domain."
Aster silently observed his surroundings before another thought crossed his mind.
"If that’s possible... then maybe my talent can eventually manifest things in the real world as well."
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"That’s definitely worth experimenting with... later."
Aster activated Grapple, soaring through the forest without taking a single step. Pulled forward by invisible grappling forces, he sped across each floor while effortlessly cutting down every monster in his path with Slash.
Floor after floor fell behind him. Before long, Aster reached Floor 10.
From this point onward, monsters above Level 30 began to appear. Standing before him was a huge ogre.
System: Lazy Inspection
Name: Ogre
Level: 32
"Solar Slash."
Five blazing slashes erupted through the air, tearing into the ogre.
Boom!
The monster didn’t even have time to scream before its massive body was reduced to ashes.
System
Solar Slash has reached Level 30.
Grapple has reached Level 30.
Slash has reached Level 45.
"Every time I use Solar Slash, my Slash use increases as well. When Slash reached Level 25, the number of slashes I could manifest per second increased. I wonder how many I can unleash now."
Aster continued forward until he arrived at the end of Floor 10.
Waiting before the exit stood the floor boss a gigantic one-eyed ogre clad in heavy armor. Its muscular frame towered over Aster like a mountain.
The moment it noticed him, the monster let out a furious roar and lifted an enormous stone boulder.
The boulder was nearly three times larger than the ogre itself, while the ogre was several times bigger than Aster.
With a deafening roar, it hurled the massive rock toward him.
"Crab Hook."
Two gigantic orange crab claws materialized out of thin air.
Swap!
In an instant, Aster exchanged positions with the ogre. The boss froze in confusion. A massive shadow suddenly fell over its body.
It slowly looked up. Its own boulder was plummeting straight toward it.
BOOM!
The gigantic stone slammed into the ogre’s face with overwhelming force.
Blood exploded in every direction as the impact crushed its eyes and shattered its skull. The giant staggered wildly, roaring in agony as it thrashed about blindly.
Aster calmly raised a hand.
"Solar Slash."
Another volley of blazing slashes flashed. The ogre’s cries came to an abrupt end as its body was sliced apart and engulfed in flames.
Ding!
System: Level Up!
Aster had spent a long time inside the tower, and even he don’t fight physically, the constant battles had begun to wear him down mentally.
"Let’s take a break before challenging Floor 11."
He stepped through the stone door.
For a brief moment, the familiar white clouds appeared before him before fading away once again.
This time, however, the scenery was completely different.
Instead of another lush forest, an endless golden desert stretched toward the horizon.
"This looks similar to the dungeon everyone and I cleared before... I’ll explore it later."
Aster glanced around in confusion.
"How do I get out?"
The moment the thought crossed his mind, a stone door materialized behind him.
"Oh... so I just have to think about leaving."
Scritch... Scritch...
A faint scraping sound echoed across the desert.
Aster turned around.
Countless giant scorpions compared to normal ones, were swarming toward him, their sharp legs scraping against the sand as their tails swayed menacingly.
"Eeeeh..."
Aster grimaced in disgust.
"I’ll deal with you guys later."
Without another glance, he stepped through the exit.
Aster returned to the tower entrance.
Captain Gareth was nowhere to be seen, so Aster walked out scanning his wrist watch.
As he left the tower, he noticed the exchange counter where he could sell monster materials for credits.
"My Passive Collection has gathered a mountain of materials. They’re useless to me anyway, so I might as well sell them for some extra credits."
He walked over to the counter.
The female staff member, dressed in a neat military uniform, greeted him with a professional smile.
"Hello, sir. If you’d like to sell your monster materials, please place them on the counter."
"Sure."
As she said, Aster emptied his inventory.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
A massive pile of monster materials instantly covered the entire counter.
Although the staff member maintained her polite smile, Aster could tell she was struggling to hide her irritation.
He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Sorry... could you check all of these?"
"Of course, sir. Please give me a few moments."
As she examined the materials one by one, her expression gradually shifted from professionalism to disbelief.
"Every single material is perfectly harvested... Not even a tiny scratch. Whoever collected these has incredible precision."
She couldn’t help but glance at Aster with newfound admiration.
"This student is amazing."
A few minutes later, she completed the appraisal and transferred the payment to Aster’s wristwatch.
A hologram appeared.
+50,000,000 Credits
"Fifty million... in just half a day?"
The staff member smiled.
"Your materials were in exceptional condition, so we paid a premium price. You can also use these credits to purchase weapons, armor, and other equipment."
Aster immediately remembered the endless swarm of scorpions on Floor 11.
"Hmm... I really need a skill that can attack a large area. Palm Strike only covers a small radius, while all my other skills are focused on single targets."
He looked at the staff member.
"Can you show me some weapons with area-of-effect attacks?"
She thought for a moment before nodding. "I believe we have a few. Please follow me."
She led Aster into the armory and presented four different weapons.
The first was a massive war hammer capable of smashing everything within a wide radius.
The second was a greatsword that unleashed a broad horizontal slash capable of cutting through multiple enemies at once.
The third was a staff that released a powerful shockwave.
Aster’s attention, however, was drawn to the fourth weapon a crimson magic staff resting quietly in the corner.
"What does that one do?"
The staff member hesitated.
"It can cast Fireball, but it has a flaw. The spell continuously consumes mana, making the fireball larger and larger. Since it can’t stop on its own, the user can’t control its size. Most people run out of mana before they can use it effectively."
Aster’s eyes lit up.
"After obtaining Mana Recovery, I don’t have to worry about mana consumption anymore. Besides... the bigger the Fireball, the better."
A smile spread across his face. "How much is the magic staff?"
The staff member looked at him in surprise.
"It’s worth 20 million credits, sir. Are you sure you want this one?"
"Yes. I’m sure."
She sighed helplessly before deducting 20,000,000 Credits from Aster’s account.
The moment Aster grasped the magic staff, system notification appeared before his eyes.
Skill
Fireball level 1: Manifest 1 Fireball per second for holding the magic staff Range 1m