Game 20: The Tiger That Refused to Stay in the Frame
If there was one thing Han Tae-yang had learned about this tower, it was that people loved to show off.
Some used weapons, others threw lightning streak, and then there was Kim Roji, little miss princess with a backpack stuffed full of creepy Egyptian statues, parading them around like a street vendor selling souvenirs nobody ordered.
Right now, she had just released four of them at once.
The statues didn't simply drop onto the cracked arena floor. No, the ground trembled as they landed. Each replica of Anubis, the jackal-headed god of the underworld, shook like a beast waking from centuries of slumber. Black smoke hissed from their carved seams, as if the stone itself exhaled curses in a forgotten language. Their ruby eyes flickered alive, one after another, until the space looked like someone had lit four blood-colored lanterns in the darkness.
📢 System Notification:
[Kim Roji's Divine Statue Replicas: Anubis Guardians have been summoned.]
The words glowed across every hunter's vision, dramatic as usual. The system never missed a chance to act like a theater director.
Han Tae-yang stood near a toppled column, hands in his pockets, and let out a low whistle. It was not admiration so much as mock applause, the kind of sound a man made when watching cheap fireworks at a street carnival.
Kim Roji, chest puffed and chin high, smirked with all the pride of a child who had just won a school contest. Her eyes demanded recognition.
"How about that?" she asked, smug dripping from her voice. "Let's see if you can still laugh."
The four Anubis statues aligned themselves behind her like personal bodyguards outside a shady nightclub. Each clutched a long spear etched with hieroglyphs, shafts humming faintly as mana surged through their stone bodies. They weren't props. They were designed to kill.
Han Tae-yang tilted his head, lips curving lazily. "They're… decent."
That single word pierced her like an insult.
Truthfully, he was impressed. Summoning one statue was already impressive. Two would make most players sweat buckets. But Roji had managed five in total, counting the first from earlier, without collapsing on the floor. Her control over mana was sharp, her efficiency remarkable. She had compressed enough power into each statue to make them both sturdy and responsive.
Han Tae-yang's thoughts flickered. This brat isn't a pushover. She's on par with that lightning old geezer earlier. Looks like quite a few of them are crawling out of the beginner stage already.
Kim Roji's smirk faltered into something harder to read. She had expected fear, not calm analysis.
"Decent?" she repeated, eyes narrowing.
"Yeah." Han Tae-yang waved a hand like he was explaining the price of vegetables at a street stall. "Not trash, not excellent. Somewhere between passable and good."
He lowered his hand to about waist height, showing a gap in midair, as if measuring how tall her ego stood in comparison to reality.
Kim Roji's lips twisted in disgust.
"Stop trying to act cool and tough," she spat. "I don't like you."
Han Tae-yang gave a theatrical sigh, tilting his head back. "Ah, so tragic. Another woman who doesn't like me. Guess I'll add you to the long list and cry myself to sleep later."
He leaned forward, grin sharp. "But really, you want to see cool? Fine. Let me show you."
Inside, his thoughts sharpened. She won't understand the gap if he only tells her. She needs proof. A lesson she can't forget.
Han Tae-yang bent down and picked up the forgotten painting of a tiger from the dusty floor. Same painting he had picked Earlier. The sheet was wrinkled, smudged with dirt, edges curling, but the inked tiger still glared fiercely from the page. Even damaged, the beast drawn within felt alive, its stripes flowing with captured momentum.
"Still intact," he murmured, brushing the surface with his thumb. "History deserves respect, y'know."
Kim Roji snorted. "You're seriously playing with trash art in the middle of a fight?"
"Not trash," Han Tae-yang corrected, tossing the paper lightly into the air. "Masterpiece."
The painting fluttered upward, slow and weightless, rotating like a leaf drifting in autumn wind. For an instant, the tiger's eyes seemed to glimmer.
Han Tae-yang lifted his hand.
Mana surged from his core, threading through his arm like veins catching fire. Blue-white light coursed to his fingertips. When it struck the painting, the tiger drank greedily, every brushstroke absorbing the energy like a starved beast inhaling meat.
The arena brightened, shadows stretching long and deep because of the bright light.
The tiger glowed, stripes of molten gold blazing across the paper.
📢 System Notification:
[Mana infused into: Pine Forest Tiger Replica.]
A ripple burst outward from the painting, strong enough to kick up dust and tilt loose stones. Hunters shielded their eyes. Even the Anubis statues trembled, red eyes flickering uncertainly, as if some ancient instinct within them recognized what was coming.
Then it came.
A roar.
Not just sound, but force.
The noise hit the crowd like a physical wave, pressing into their chests and shaking bones. It cracked through the arena, rolled up the broken walls, and carried beyond the horizon like thunder dragging mountains with it.
The painting bent outward, no longer flat, warping like a door being pushed from the inside. From the glowing sheet, a massive silhouette tore free.
Shoulders wide as boulders. A head crowned with black-striped gold. Fur that shimmered like sunlight breaking through storm clouds.
The tiger stepped out.
Each paw sank into stone, leaving spiderweb cracks in the arena floor. The air around it shifted, sharp with the scent of pine needles and cold mountain streams. With every breath, the beast exhaled a forest. The ruined arena became an alpine slope, echoing with phantom winds and whispering leaves.
📢 System Notification:
[The Ruler of the Mountains has appeared.]
Kim Roji froze. Her Anubis guardians, spears raised, staggered back one step, their red eyes dimming. Even the arrogant crowd of Players who had been ready to jeer fell into silent awe.
And Han Tae-yang? He folded his arms, grin unshaken, eyes gleaming like he had been expecting this moment all along.
Authors note:
Important Broadcast of Clone Number One.
Oi oi oi, humans! This is Clone Number One speaking live in the shadow dimension of the author (yes, I escaped again... do not ask me how). You should pay attention to you before you get lost like a noob in a 100-floor dungeon before you dive into this chapter.
All the chapters of this story are being rewritten!
Our writer, the great Little LYTA has blasted through and is in Chapter 40 of the great re-editing crusade. All that precedes 40 is glossy, smooth and full of new surprises, and in case you miss it, you will surely get lost. Don't say I didn't warn you. Re-read. Re-READ. RE-READ!
[?][?] The protagonist is no longer Kim Do-hyun, but the ultimate, spicy, clone-abusing Han Tae-yang. It is the same world, the same mess but everything is new as a respawn point at dawn.
Current stats:
There were 82 chapters in Story originally.
Re-write entire: 40 chapters (and more).
Skeleton? Rebuilt. Muscles? Buffed. Comedy? Overdosed.
Now for the fun part:
ALL top supporters, commenters, gifters, voters, readers, golden ticket droppers, and active fans have been... ahem... absorbed into the story as characters. Yes, you, yes you reading this, your name might be canon. Wish to be remembered when this novel explodes? Leave your mark. Stand out. When the book goes mythical, your name will be heard in the annals of webnovel history.
Side note: Little LYTA is in webnovel account restrictions (ask me not, long story with a coffee spill and possibly a cursed system administrator), and therefore cannot respond to your comments. BUT, he sees everything. So support, lay aside your thoughts, and in case you have questions that are burning, or fan missions that are a secret...
Join the Discord: @lyta17
Every member of the server will receive special fan rewards (believe me, it is worth it, most likely).
Alright, that's all from your humble servant, Clone Number One. I'm off to convince Tae-yang not to send me to work at "Crazy Tom Logistics" again. My back hurts, man...
[?][?] Let's do this, fans. Re-read, support, and leave your mark. The tower awaits.
.Clone Number One, signing off [?]