Kang Min had used a lot of blades before.
Legendary sabers that had elemental fury.
Rapier-thin needles that could pierce dimensions.
And heavy claymores that could level forests with a single swing.
But this one?
This one was unlike any of them.
His breath hitched as he looked at the blade resting in the crystal casing directly in front of him.
It was a sleek, dark silver, the metal seemingly absorbing the light of the surrounding nebulae.
The hilt was a matte black, wrapped in a grip that looked worn.
The reason he liked this one...the reason he had rocked with it for hundreds of floors in the old world...
...was precisely because it didn't have much fancy or flashy techniques associated with it.
To add on to its charm, he loved it for its simplicity.
That, and the fact that the blade had crazy durability.
In a world where high-tier weapons often shattered under the strain of a player's own mana.
Literally anyone could use it once they learned how to use sword aura.
But as Kang Min looked around at everything in the vast space-
The thousands of pedestals stretching toward the horizon of the cosmic void-
He still couldn't believe his eyes and what he was seeing.
How? How was all of this here?
The skill name...
...now it finally made sense.
『EXCLUSIVE SKILL: [666 ALL FLOOR MASTER]』
Being the strongest human who had ever climbed the Tower.
The man who had gathered all of the artifacts, legendary gear, and powerful items from every single floor...
...this vault was the physical manifestation of his history.
But... could he use all of these items?
That was the question that had taken root in his head.
A heavy thought that had been stuck for a while as he surveyed the infinite rows of treasures.
If he could...
...if he could actually reclaim even a fraction of this power now, then he would have to climb faster than he ever had.
Right?
He wouldn't have to worry about coins anymore.
He reached out, his fingers hovering over the glass case containing the dark silver blade.
Back then... and even now... it still didn't have a name.
The casing display showed: 『ITEM: [???]』
Immediately, the system interface popped up, the blue light flickering with a density of information he hadn't seen since his return.
『SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: ARCHIVE ACCESS』
「All items and artifacts that the story known as '666th All Floor Master' ever acquired have been sealed within this mental vault. Due to the 'Story's' Incompatibility with the current iteration of the Abyssal Tower, the host cannot use said items directly. The Tower no longer recognizes these fables as valid physical entities.」
"I knew it was too good to be true."
「HOWEVER...」
"..."
「...by utilizing Tower Coins, the host is able to take on 'Fable Trials' per item gained. To reclaim an item, the host must survive and complete the specific Fable that was used in the making or acquisition of said item.」
So he still did need coins.
The economy of the Tower was inescapable, even for a Returnee.
But what does it mean to "undertake Fable trials"?
Wait...
Now that he thought about it, he remembered the structure of the Tower's later stages.
There were certain floors that moved away from the traditional "dungeon crawl" format.
They shifted from being cleared with a simple time limit or having to kill a certain amount of monsters in order to move to the next floor.
"The 11th floor..."
That was the starting point.
Floor 10 was the final "tutorial" of the lower floors, but the 11th floor was where the true nature of the Tower revealed itself.
From here on, one had to start clearing the other floors through Fables.
A Fable was essentially a living story.
When a player entered a Fable-type floor, they weren't just in a dungeon.
They were taken to a different world; pocket dimension or a historical fragment in which their role was to participate in the narrative.
They would receive specific missions on how to clear the said floor and proceed.
It could be something as simple as "Protect this village from a monster raid for 3 days"...
...or it could escalate to crazy levels, such as...
"Lead a revolution to slay the Demon King of this world."
In a Fable, the player wasn't just a combatant but a character in a script.
To "reclaim" an item from his archive...
Kang Min would have to re-live the story of how that item was forged or found.
"Wait... could this mean what I think it means?"
A smaller window appeared in front of him.
『DO YOU WISH TO TAKE ON THE FABLE OF THE ITEM [???]?』
『[ACCEPT] / [DECLINE]』
Kang Min smiled nervously, a single bead of sweat dropping from his temple and vanishing into the crystal floor.
It was a massive gamble for a single nameless blade
But his hand didn't hesitate.
This was his favorite weapon we were talking about...there were far worse things he had gambled on and even put his life on the line for.
So why not throw a middle finger?
[ACCEPT]
The vast, starlit space was suddenly swallowed again by a rushing tide of darkness.
The nebulae, the pedestals, and the silence were torn away, replaced by a violent reconstruction of reality.
Kang Min felt a blast of absolute, soul-numbing cold.
When his vision cleared, he was no longer in the subspace.
He was standing in a gargantuan chamber that looked like a boss room carved out of solid moonstone.
The walls were a blinding, polished white and silver, reflecting a light that seemed to come from nowhere.
Frost patterns climbed up the pillars like frozen ivy, and the air was so cold that his breath turned to concentrated mist.
『NOTIFICATION: FABLE SYNCHRONIZATION』
「You have entered the Fable: [The Nameless Smith].」
「Objective: Survive the trial of the Silver Guard. To acquire the item [???], you must partake in the same challenge as the Hero of the who died to forge the blade.」
『THE FABLE'S OUTCOME CAN CHANGE DEPENDING ON HOW THE PLAYER CLEARS IT.』
"It's just as I thought..."
He hugged himself, his 30 Stamina barely keeping his heart from freezing in his chest.
The ground beneath him began to rumble with the force of an earthquake.
From the walls of white ice, massive shapes began to detach themselves.
Silver Ice Golems.
They were terrifying, easily ten times his size, their bodies made of reinforced glacial diamond that shone with a metallic luster.
They carried spears made of frozen lightning and heavy shields that could crush a tank.
They moved with the precision of elite knights, standing guard before a tall towering gate at the end of the hall.
『THE EXTREMITY OF THE ORIGINAL FABLE CANNOT FULLY BE SIMULATED AND HAS BEEN GREATLY REDUCED.』
『DUE TO THE NATURE OF THE FABLE FROM FLOOR 512, THE DATA DENSITY EXCEEDS THE CURRENT SYSTEM'S PROCESSING CAPACITY. EXTREMITY HAS BEEN GREATLY REDUCED.』
『DUE TO THE PLAYER'S CURRENT LEVEL, THE FABLE FROM FLOOR 512 IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE HOST'S CURRENT SOUL VESSEL. EXTREMITY HAS BEEN GREATLY REDUCED.』
Kang Min watched as the Silver Golems, which had been glowing with a terrifying divine light, suddenly flickered.
『THE CURRENT ABYSSAL TOWER CANNOT RECONSTRUCT THE COMPLEXITY OF A 500TH-FLOOR STORY.』
『NOTICE: NO HUMAN IN THE CURRENT ERA HAS CLEARED THE REQUIRED NUMBER OF FABLES TO SUSTAIN EXTREMITY.]
『 THE FABLE'S EXTREMITY IS ENOUGH TO MAKE THE MODERN HUMAN MIND COLLAPSE.』
The messages continued to scroll, faster and faster, filling his vision with a wall of red text.
『EXTREMITY REDUCED BY 90%...』
『EXTREMITY REDUCED BY 95%...』
『EXTREMITY REDUCED BY 98%...』
Kang Min's eyes showed a bit of horror, his pupils widened.
He could feel the reality around him fraying at the edges.
The white and silver room was cracking, showing the black void underneath.
The system messages repeated their warnings, pounding into his brain ten times over.
『REDUCING EXTREMITY TO PREVENT SOUL DISSOLUTION...』
『REDUCING EXTREMITY TO PREVENT SOUL DISSOLUTION...』
『REDUCING EXTREMITY TO PREVENT SOUL DISSOLUTION...』
Finally, the text turned a deep, bloody crimson.
『CRITICAL FAILURE: THE FABLE'S EXTREMITY IS BELOW 1% AND CANNOT BE SIMULATED ANY FURTHER!』
『PLAYER WILL NOW BE FORCEFULLY REMOVED!』
"Wait! Just a second!"
Min shouted, reaching out toward the gate.
But it was too late.
The silver boss room shattered like a mirror hit by a hammer.
The cold vanished, replaced by the familiar, muggy air of the Seoul sector.
Kang Min stumbled, his boots hitting the cracked asphalt of the Floor 1 Slums.
He looked around wildly.
He was back on top of the shipping container.
The T1 drone was still there, hovering in standby mode.
The purple sky was exactly as he had left it.
System messages began to cascade down his vision.
『SKILL: [666 ALL FLOOR MASTER] — STATUS: CANNOT BE USED!』
『SKILL: [666 ALL FLOOR MASTER] CAN BE USED AGAIN AFTER COOLDOWN.』
『COOLDOWN:
02 DAYS : 23 HOURS : 59 MINUTES : 58 SECONDS』
Min stared at the countdown.
The final message made his stomach drop into his shoes.
『100,000 COINS HAVE BEEN CONSUMED FOR PARTAKING IN THE FABLE OF THE ITEM [???].』
『RESULT: FAILURE.』
"Eh?!"