Tower’s Richest Player: My Coins Won't Stop Increasing

KiRA was going to spend the night outside the dungeon, but the System could not have that.

As soon as he climbed the rune's stairs, a system window popped up before him.

[Ding!]

[You have reached the quest location: Runes of Tatar Holy Lands.]

[You will be transported to the starting point of the quest. Please be prepared.]

The ruins did not look majestic from the outside, all that was left of the grand Tatar civilization was a dorm building with weak foundations.

From the outside, the place seemed like it would fall apart with a single powerful blow to its base. But KiRA knew best how the looks are the most deceiving sometimes.

"The Rune quest isn't something new. It existed in the tower as well." KiRA wasn't in the territory of the unknown anymore.

The people who served Light and worshipped the goddess of light and purity in a different form were great devotees of their own beliefs.

It wasn't the goddess they served but certain aspects of the goddess that they had made into a new godly entity.

They served the Light, and the angels who represented this light were a direct element of their worship.

-Ooooooooooooooooong!

There were no indication of anything unique or related to the god or the god's messenger but when KiRA was abruptly transported inside the dungeon, at the starting point, what appeared before his eyes was completely different from the barren outside…

[{ Master! Are you ok?! }]

"Ughhh… yeah. I'm fine." He fell on his back, with his face facing the ceiling.

The ceiling above him was a colorful, ornate masterpiece of traditional ancient temple art. It was richly decorated by the mythological theme and detailed micro paintings that instantly attracted his eyes.

A great triangle was the center, framed in a crown of white lotus petals where divine figures, depictions of different humanoid creatures represented as holy beings, became a passionate highlight of power.

Their forms seemed alive, there were illusions of movements when the flickering light of the room graced them. The dome ceiling was not the only ornamented element in this place. When KiRA stood up, he realised he had entered a completely different world.

Everywhere he looked, there were carved, painted, and clay-created stories of 'gods' dancing beneath the stars-strewn skies, sages in meditation, a halo present above their heads, battles carved into the color and the lines… This place was a true representation of the ancient times.

It was like KiRA had just entered one of the ancient runes that were found inside of the Tower. The things that he was seeing right now, the impossibly vivid colors from the different elements of Mana used for these arts, as well as the powerful stories that were being told, in a way, all of this was overwhelming to him.

"It's like all of these things are looking at us." There were paintings of weapon holders, archers, different mages covered in a traditional outfit as well.

KiRA waited in the same spot he was summoned to, observing each and every one of the little details without touching anything or moving.

He did not know what kind of challenges he was going to face in this place. He did not want to fight against anything too dangerous, but the monsters would be the least of his worries.

[{ Hmm? Where are you going, little leaf? }]

"No, Uni. Don't move-...!"

Unity was right by KiRA's side but the small Fay that lived inside of her feathers suddenly got attracted to something and flew out.

The little ball of green light was too quick to catch this time and, in a matter of moments, went up to a certain green jade on the wall and interacted with it.

[Ding!]

The interaction most certainly triggered something, and a new quest window popped up before his eyes.

[You have entered the dungeon: Temple of Tatar's Lord (Stage-1).]

[Survive and reach the end of the corridor to enter the next stage.]

[Excessive injuries will be healed at the starting point.]

[Progress will reset once you return to the starting point.]

It did not take KiRA long to understand the meaning of those words.

When he realised the contraptions were already moving all around him, it had already been too late.

"Duck, Uni!"

-Swiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish!

The same paintings that were looking attractive to him this whole time started moving.

First it was the hands and then the weapons in their hands.

The bow holding archers, the wand holding mages, the sword holding knights, all pointed their weapons in certain directions.

From the front, sides, and above attacks started raining down at a speed many humans could not react to— with KiRA being an exception.

[{ "Uni! Protocol 14! We are dashing as far as we can!" }]

The corridors of Traps.

These famous trap zones were one of the deadliest areas within any kind of dungeon. They weren't limited to just this ancient dungeon, there were many places that would have these unique death traps.

-Swish! Swish! Swish!

KiRA already knew he was going to face traps, but a corridor wasn't the first thing that had in his mind. Usually, the corridors were considered to be the advanced trap zones so they were part of the second or third stage of any Stage-divided dungeon.

-Oooooooooooooooooong!

Usually comprised of three stages, each one being more difficult than the last, these unique dungeons were dangerous areas where one could not rely simply on brute force or normal skills.

-Swish!

KiRA had defensive items but instead of using them, he used his movement skill to flip forward, diving forward to change his current location.

Then he used his movement skill once again and avoided the poisonous arrows by a hair's breadth.

-Oooooooooooooong!

Following that, he did splits to lower his body and moved his head to the side to avoid the incoming sword which were as big as real swords.

He had been through such situations so his senses and instincts were sharpened beyond normal human limits. He did not have to move after going through the process of Perceive, Sense, Realize, Send Signals, and Move.

The moment his senses detected it, the muscles would move on their own without a dedicated signal.

It was not at the level of a divine sense, or what was also called Ultra instinct where physical movements happened right after the subconscious perceived something, and it was also not as fast as the trained knights or mages.

He was good, but not at a very high level… and yet, the way he moved shocked each and every one of the eyes that were fixed on him right now.

-Zaaaaaaaaaaa…!

Sometimes flames were thrown out of the smallest of the pictures, but they did not affect him thanks to Unity's protective blessing and the resistance item on him.

When small needles with powerful poison were used against him, he stuck to the wall to avoid them by the smallest margins.

When the two sides of the walls smashed into one another to squeeze everything on that platform, he used his movement technique to Blink forward.

He wasn't even a mage but his technique seemed the same as a mage's magic.

-Booooooooooooom!

Sometimes he would slam his face into the wall to avoid the crescent blades coming his way, sometimes he would throw away his burning clothes that caught onto fire, getting semi-nakid. The items that he was carrying were heavy so just to get lighter, he reduced the items, and started switching between the different items.

By the time he was halfway through the traps, the intensity of the attacks had increased several folds.

There were three dozen arrows of actual size being thrown at him from all sides. Fire, water, earth, wind, there were all kinds of magic spells being thrown at him just to slow him down.

Sometimes the ground would vanish and reveal a bottom filled with sharpened, pointed spears.

There would also be sections where big bull statues inside of the wall on two sides would swing their axes– KiRA avoided death by jumping just enough to pass through the small gap between the two axes.

The traps by the end were far more creative.

There would be no rhythm to the incoming attacks, there would be gaps, a break in the tempo, some empty areas to confuse the challenger, and some illusions that would kill anyone that took a wrong step.

The corridor was straight, the objective was to reach the end of this sight path, to do so, one just needed to get past these traps by understanding the algorithm that they followed.

The most common way to deal with a corridor would be to get back to the starting point where you get healed. You observe different sections of the corridor, make your strategies, and move in a way that gives best chances of survival.

The tower guide created by the players in the past suggested this method, however, there were always anomalies who did something different.

Some mages with powerful attributes created indestructible shields, some knights covered their bodies in Aura to become invincible, some priests managed to create miracles of time that stopped all of the traps, and some Magic Engineers would use their unique skills to disarm every trap present around the place.

There were all kinds of anomaly players, but few were like KiRA, ones who faced the traps the way they were supposed to be faced.

Using instincts, calculated movements, using the right set of items in right places and moving at the right pace with the right steps, while utilizing the right strategies was something only those with exceptional experience were capable of.

Most did not face the traps like KiRA did, not even the tower's natives did so, making KiRA's performance a highlight among the higher beings who liked watching people go against these strange contraptions.

[Ding!]

[You have cleared the (Stage-1) of Temple of Tatar's Lord.]

It took him around 6 minutes.

Perhaps it was a new record even for him…