Subedei’s body was now covered with many small wounds, soaked in blood as he lay unconscious.

  Eventually, his body slid lightly from the dead tree and fell onto the ground.

  It seemed Subedei had woken up. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around. His vision was blurry, and everything in front of him trembled.

  One of his eyes had become completely dark, as if it could no longer see anything.

  However, he did not have the clear mind to understand any of this.

  Lying on the ground, he muttered a few words.

  “For some reason… I feel incredibly sleepy.”

  “I just want to sleep…”

  As he slowly began closing his eyes again, the ground started trembling as if something enormous was walking toward him from the distance.

  Hearing this sound, his eyes suddenly opened again.

  Realizing what had just happened, he understood that the Skeleton Golem was walking toward him.

  When he tried to move his body, it felt as if every muscle had been torn apart.

  Grinding his teeth, his arms trembling, he barely managed to move and slowly stood up while leaning against the dead tree.

  One of his eyes was closed and covered in blood.

  His entire body trembled as he stood there, looking as if he might collapse at any moment.

  When he turned to look, the Skeleton Golem had already come almost right beside him.

  Subedei’s blurry vision had improved slightly. As he took a step forward, determined to fight until the end—

  He suddenly thought of his older sister waiting at home.

  Grinding his teeth, Subedei quickly turned around and began walking.

  He knew he could not defeat the Skeleton Golem, so he began fleeing in order to survive.

  But every muscle in his body ached and his bones throbbed, so he could barely move.

  Each step caused pain to surge through his body, and he struggled to breathe, yet he continued moving while clenching his teeth.

  However, the Skeleton Golem behind him was far faster.

  Suddenly, Subedei felt a massive shadow looming over him from behind and quickly realized that the Skeleton Golem was right behind him.

  He did not even have time to turn around.

  Using all his strength, he immediately jumped upward.

  The Skeleton Golem had already raised its arm to strike him.

  Because his body was in terrible pain, he could not jump very high.

  But perhaps luck was on his side—the Skeleton Golem’s strike barely missed his legs.

  Seeing this, Subedei took a deep breath and realized that he could not escape.

  Grinding his teeth, he landed on the Skeleton Golem’s arm and immediately jumped toward his spear.

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  He barely managed to reach it and quickly grabbed it tightly.

  Subedei placed both his feet above the skeleton’s eyes and tried to pull the spear toward himself with all his strength.

  He pulled with everything he had, the veins in his arms bulging.

  But the spear did not move even an inch.

  Instead, because he was exerting so much force, the blood flowing from his body increased.

  Still refusing to give up, Subedei continued pulling the spear with all his strength.

  At that moment, the enraged Skeleton Golem raised its arm to strike him.

  When a cold wind blew from behind, Subedei realized what was happening. He immediately let go of the spear and dropped to the ground.

  The Skeleton Golem’s attack passed right beside his head.

  The Skeleton Golem struck its own head and became motionless for a moment.

  Before collapsing, Subedei faintly saw that his spear had pierced completely through the Skeleton Golem’s skull.

  As he stared at this in shock, a notification suddenly appeared before him.

  [You have killed “Skeleton Golem.”]

  [You have leveled up.]

  [Your Strength +1, Speed +1, Soul +1, Perception +1. You have gained 5 unassigned attribute points.]

  [You have killed the 8th Floor Boss “Skeleton Golem.”]

  [Do you wish to ascend to the next floor?]

  [Or do you wish to leave the tower?]

  “Yes.”

  “No.”

  At that moment, the Skeleton Golem before him began to fall apart from its head, its bones separating and dropping to the ground.

  Eventually, all of its bones collapsed, leaving only a pile of bones before him.

  Seeing this, Subedei finally felt relieved and looked at the notifications.

  But the notifications did not stop. They continued appearing.

  [You have reached Level 10. Congratulations.]

  [Your class has become “?? King.”]

  [Warning.]

  [Warning.]

  [Your body is not suitable to receive this class. Your body will now change. Please wait.]

  At that moment, mana began to flow rapidly through his body.

  It was not only flowing through his body, but also through his organs, bones, and blood.

  Blue mana completely enveloped his body, and the speed of its flow gradually increased.

  As the mana flowed faster through his body, it felt as if his body was being rebuilt.

  His skin tore apart and quickly regenerated.

  His bones shattered into many fragments and new bones formed again.

  Every organ in his body burned as if on fire, and his body grew unbearably hot.

  Unable to endure the pain, Subedei suddenly began screaming.

  “AAAHHHHH!”

  He clenched his teeth, trying not to lose consciousness, but eventually he fainted.

  Even after he lost consciousness, the mana circulating through his body did not stop.

  Instead, it began spinning even faster.

  His entire body was surrounded by dense blue mana as he was reborn.

  Meanwhile, notifications continued appearing endlessly before him…

  At that same time, somewhere far away, a vast number of people had gathered inside a large conference hall.

  An old man stepped forward to the center of the hall, took the microphone, and began speaking.

  “Thank you all for coming here.”

  “I believe everyone here already knows why you have been gathered.”

  “With this meeting, we officially announce the establishment of the International ‘Sky Climber’ Association.”

  “Only talented awakeners or those who have entered the tower will be allowed to join this association.”

  “All people who enter the tower will be divided into several ranks.”

  The old man paused for a moment and slowly looked around the hall before continuing.

  “Ranks will be given depending on how many floors of the tower a person has climbed.”

  “This is the newly revised international ranking system.”

  “Those who have reached the 15th floor — ‘First-Class Hunters.’”

  Hearing this, people in the hall began whispering to each other in shock.

  “Is that even possible?”

  “Has someone actually reached the 15th floor?”

  Ignoring the murmurs, the old man continued speaking.

  “Those who have reached floors 12 to 14 — ‘Second-Class Hunters.’”

  The voices in the hall grew louder.

  The old man suddenly shouted loudly.

  “Silence!”

  At that moment, an enormous amount of blue mana surged out from his body.

  Everyone felt the overwhelming mana, and the entire hall fell silent.

  Some people had sweat running down their faces, clearly nervous, while a few others sat with faint smiles.

  “Those who have reached floors 10 to 12 — ‘Third-Class Hunters.’”

  “Those who have reached floors 6 to 9 — ‘Fourth-Class Hunters.’”

  “Those who have reached floors 1 to 5 — ‘Fifth-Class Hunters.’”

  “In the future, as people climb higher floors, their ranks will change accordingly.”

  “You must continue climbing the tower quickly in order to maintain your rank.”

  At that moment, someone arrived outside the hall’s door.

  He stood there smiling for a moment before gently opening the door and entering.

  Hearing the door open, everyone turned around in surprise.

  A tall, muscular middle-aged man wearing a traditional Mongolian deel stood there with a smile.

  Everyone stared at him in surprise and began whispering among themselves.

  Ignoring all of them, the middle-aged man who had just opened the door suddenly disappeared.

  While people were still shocked, he appeared in the center of the hall and stood directly in front of the old man.