Ch-280. **Heavenly Secrets Revealed**
—
— ……
— *That little crow is quite something!*
The God of Omen and the God of Calamity looked at me with eyes full of interest.
A vast plain.
Before mountains of scattered bones, I let out a loud cry.
“Caw!”
Caw!
Caaaw!
Even more *crows* circled and flew around me.
After absorbing the crow’s core, I was now honing my techniques through a *trial bestowed by the gods*.
I had no idea why they suddenly imposed a trial identical to one from the *Tower of Mystery*.
But—
*It’s easier than back then.*
That alone was something to be grateful for.
When I first became a Corpse Crow and arrived in Cramdel,
I had climbed the Tower of Mystery and fought skeleton soldiers.
And by achieving a feat even the White King had failed to accomplish, I had obtained **‘Randolph of Eternity.’**
Now, here I was again, facing the *same* trial.
*Level 4. And my stats and equipment are far better than they were back then.*
Ten thousand Level 4 skeleton soldiers.
Each individual stat barely reached 40.
Total stats of around 200—something even an average beginner could handle.
Simple-minded monsters with poor combat ability and sense.
Even if there were ten thousand of them, there was no reason someone like me—whose stats surpassed Level 10 standards—couldn’t deal with them.
On top of that, my equipment—and even the talismans slotted into it—were on an entirely different level compared to my first climb of the Tower of Mystery.
— ……
— *Kahaha! A truly splendid crow.*
The God of Omen glanced at me briefly, then turned away.
In contrast, the God of Ash burst into laughter, his mouth nearly stretching to his ears.
The reason for their starkly different reactions was simple.
*Because I consumed the core of the Ash Clan.*
I had chosen the **Ash Clan**, not the **Omen Clan**.
After all, Randolph had already become the *Dreadful Omen* and inherited the will of the Omen Clan.
More than that, the two gods seemed to have a vague grasp of my condition.
*They already know I’m a mixture of many things.*
The way they kept calling me by different names—
Pill bug, hippopotamus, elephant, cricket…
It wasn’t just because they were crows, nor because they were unintelligent.
One must never take the words of a Chief God lightly.
Their expressions differed from those of humans, and the weight carried within their words was entirely different.
Naturally, even those seemingly joking nicknames were no exception.
The two gods had seen straight through my condition—and perhaps even reached Randolph himself.
No, without a doubt, they had.
*Karas, the War God, recognized at a glance that Randolph was the Dreadful Omen. These two must have seen far more than even Karas did.*
Because of that, I had no choice but to be extremely cautious with my decision.
And when I chose the **Ash Clan**, the God of Omen smacked his lips.
— *I thought you’d eat both.*
— *Doesn’t this prove the Ash Clan is superior? Kahahaha!*
— *A wiser crow than I expected. Had you eaten both, your belly would’ve burst and you’d have died.*
— *Since “the other one” already chose the Omen Clan, now we can finally make a perfect comparison!*
Their conversation confirmed my suspicions.
Choosing a core had been part of the divine trial itself.
Had I been greedy and tried to consume both, I would’ve died.
Had I chosen the **Omen Clan**, comparison of raw power would’ve become impossible—and I would’ve been trapped here forever.
To compare the two gods, one had to know *both* sides.
*I already know the Omen Clan. What remains is the Ash Clan.*
Cold sweat ran down my back.
To say I wasn’t nervous would be a lie.
Consuming both cores, or choosing the already familiar Omen Clan—both had been real considerations.
Moreover, my eyes had been drawn first to the God of Omen.
He always spoke first, while the God of Ash merely responded.
Naturally, it seemed like the God of Omen held the initiative.
Anyone else would’ve chosen the path of the Omen Clan.
*Everything was a trap.*
Looking back, the only safe path had been choosing the Ash Clan.
The two gods had casually imposed lethal trials one after another.
Perhaps this was the difference between mortals and immortals.
Just as I let out a quiet sigh—
《You have overcome ‘Trial of Ash (2)’.》
《As a reward, you may obtain the Myth-grade Mystery ‘Ashen Crow’.》
《If not obtained, you will proceed to the next trial.》
《You have been awarded 5,000 God Points (GP).》
《Using God Points, you may learn skills possessed by the ‘God of Ash’ or raise their levels.》
《Available skills: ‘Crimson Sun’, ‘Active Volcano’, ‘Ashes’, ‘Sea of Ash’, ‘Sky of Ash’, ‘Crimson Sin’.》
《Currently learned skill: ‘Ashen Crow Summoning (Lv.5)’.》
《Using God Points, ‘Ashen Crow Summoning’ is raised to Lv.10.》
《‘Ashen Crow Summoning’ has reached its maximum level (Lv.10).》
《‘Ashen Crow Summoning’ transcends into ‘Advanced Ashen Crow Summoning (Lv.1)’.》
The path I had once walked before becoming the Dreadful Omen as Randolph.
Just like when I climbed the Tower of Mystery using Corpse Crow Summoning.
*Already the second time.*
The first **Ash Trial** had been choosing the core.
The second was defeating ten thousand skeleton soldiers of equal level.
Now it was time to break through the next trial.
And if my guess was right—
— *The next trial will be the same: defeating ten thousand skeleton soldiers. But this time, the skeletons will be incomparably stronger. Caw!*
The God of Ash laughed slyly.
As if asking whether I could win again.
— *Will you still challenge it?*
I couldn’t help but smirk inwardly.
*Seems you don’t know everything about me.*
Apparently, even the God of Ash didn’t know what achievements I had already accomplished.
That I had once climbed the Tower of Mystery all the way to the end.
If he knew, he wouldn’t have imposed the same trial again.
I cried out confidently,
“I accept the challenge—caw!”
At that moment—
《The challenger attempts a higher-tier trial.》
《Achievement unlocked: ‘Reckless Challenger Who Defies the Myth of Ash’.》
Clatter!
Clatter!
At the same time, the fallen skeleton soldiers rose once more.
《The ‘Skeleton Soldiers’ levels match the challenger’s level.》
《The ‘Skeleton Soldiers’ gain an opposing attribute due to ‘Void’.》
With an opposing attribute!
When I first encountered these things in the Tower of Mystery, how shocked I’d been.
Now, a smile naturally formed on my lips.
The end of the trial.
And I was certain the reward waiting at the end would be incomparably sweeter than before.
Moreover, it wasn’t just God Points I gained with each trial.
Even the *Mysteries* obtainable in the Tower of Mystery were continuing to transcend.
The same trials—but under entirely different names.
I steadied my breathing.
*Let’s see the end once more.*
—
—
The moment the name **‘Park Hyunmyung’**, the first to clear the 20th floor, appeared—
— *What?*
— *Park Hyunmyung?*
— *Tutorial Rank 1 from ‘God’s Island’?*
— *Why is that name suddenly popping up here?*
Everyone was stunned.
The name belonged to a second-generation Awakened who had only just finished the tutorial.
— *Can second-gen Awakened even climb the War God’s Tower?*
— *Yeah, they can.*
— *As Pangaenia’s collapse rate increases, dungeons and towers have been appearing all over Earth. There are several entrances to the War God’s Tower too.*
— *True. Second-gen Awakened have the same main quest list.*
— *But isn’t ‘Climb the War God’s Tower’ Main Quest 9? How did he already get there?*
— *Yeah. Did he already clear that far?*
— *Wasn’t that mission basically impossible?*
No matter how hard they tried to understand, it didn’t make sense.
Why Park Hyunmyung was already climbing the War God’s Tower—and how he had cleared the 20th floor.
— *It’s not completely impossible. If you have power beyond the level cap, you can clear it.*
— *That’s easy to say.*
— *Which is why you need preparation. Training skills, funneling equipment. Big guilds and alliances probably caught on already.*
— *Ah, brute-forcing it with gear?*
— *Something like that. But who’s backing Park Hyunmyung?*
After finishing the tutorial, Park Hyunmyung had vanished.
Even after reclaiming first place over Randolph, he had lived like a recluse.
Yet suddenly, he appeared in the War God’s Tower.
People began speculating that some *major power* stood behind him.
Especially since those backed by major powers were now climbing the tower one after another.
And around the seventh day—
A massive wave of 20th-floor clearers appeared simultaneously.
《‘Gracia’ has cleared the 20th floor of the War God’s Tower!》
《‘Lucifer’ has cleared the 20th floor of the War God’s Tower!》
《‘Choi Kangnam’ has cleared the 20th floor of the War God’s Tower!》
《‘Kueku’ has cleared the 20th floor of the War God’s Tower!》
《‘Isabella’ has cleared the 20th floor of the War God’s Tower!》
《‘Hudson’ has cleared the 20th floor of the War God’s Tower!》
《‘Serengeti’ has cleared the 20th floor of the War God’s Tower!》
《‘Isaac’ has cleared the 20th floor of the War God’s Tower!》
《‘Balte’ has cleared the 20th floor of the War God’s Tower!》
《‘Saintess Seia’ has cleared the 20th floor of the War God’s Tower!》
《‘Issera’ has cleared the 20th floor of the War God’s Tower!》
《‘Lucaria’ has cleared the 20th floor of the War God’s Tower!》
……
……
《‘Raiga’ has cleared the 20th floor of the War God’s Tower!》
《‘Sansha’ has cleared the 20th floor of the War God’s Tower!》
《‘Aaron’ has cleared the 20th floor of the War God’s Tower!》
《‘Ant King Pheromone’ has cleared the 20th floor of the War God’s Tower!》
《‘Dark Elf Lord Cassandra’ has cleared the 20th floor of the War God’s Tower!》
《‘MintChocoIsDelicious’ has cleared the 20th floor of the War God’s Tower!》
《‘Aria’ has cleared the 20th floor of the War God’s Tower!》
《‘Gunggi’ has cleared the 20th floor of the War God’s Tower!》
《‘Medusa’ has cleared the 20th floor of the War God’s Tower!》
《‘Great Earth Dragon’ has cleared the 20th floor of the War God’s Tower!》
Of course, among them were some truly unexpected names.
Names no one had anticipated.
Naturally, every community related to Awakeners exploded.
— *How many people cleared the 20th floor in a single day?*
— *Wow, even Choi Kangnam and Kueku made it. What are the first-gen Awakened doing?*
— *Gracia’s there though.*
— *Mint Choco too!!!*
— *Rise again, Mint Choco faction!*
— *What about Issera and Lucaria? No way… those are aliases, right?*
— *Even monsters ruling Cramdel are there.*
— *Then they got the Phase 2 hint too?*
— *Please, someone share it!*
—
—
《You have cleared the 20th floor of the War God’s Tower. A ‘hint’ for Phase 2 is granted.》
“……”
Those who had barely managed to clear the 20th floor stared at the hint—and frowned simultaneously.
Naturally so.
Phase 2.
The hint regarding the Blade Dragon God’s weakness was utterly absurd.
Worse yet, it was painfully brief, giving no clear condition at all.
After immense preparation and barely surviving to reach this point—
“Is *this* what you’re calling a hint?”
“That’s all?”
“What the hell are we supposed to do with this…?”
Everyone scowled as they looked again at the hint floating before their eyes.
《Hint: Randolph》
