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Chapter 35: Capture the Flag (4)
I landed on the tile that the three challengers were on.
“…”
“…”
“…”
The challengers standing across from me were silent all of the sudden.
I guess they didn’t have that peace of mind anymore.
Step, step.
I strutted towards the challengers and they finally started to react.
“F-fuck!”
I couldn’t fully comprehend what the man decided to do at first.
Shaak!
“Arrrrggghh!”
He pulled out a dagger and stabbed himself in the hand.
All of the sudden, a burning sensation in my left hand.
“Ah.”
I tended to keep my suffering to myself, but a little sound managed to slip out.
The sensation I felt on the top of my hand, and the man’s act of self-harm weren’t unrelated.
‘Is it…?’
I just remembered the message that I waved away a second ago.
「 Due to the innate ability ‘Heart Solidarity’ player ‘Kim Jinhyun’ and ‘Han Sungyeun’s pain will now be shared. 」
His actions seemed a lot more reasonable now that I remembered that.
‘I see, he called it Heart Solidarity.’
I was wondering what stabbing himself was all about but…
I guess it was to cause me pain.
To warn me that all pain inflicted onto him would be directly transferred to me.
He was trying to guarantee his safety by threatening me.
‘What a fucking annoying innate ability.’
The pain didn’t fade and settled itself in like an unwelcome guest.
It wasn’t anything physical, it was purely just the pain.
As I was about to take another step—
“Stop, stop! Don’t come any closer!”
The challenger who cast the spell on me threatened me while pointing a knife at himself.
“Y-you’ll feel my pain if you kill me. You don’t want that right?”
What a fucking prick.
“I don’t want that.”
“T-then…”
“But that’s not a reason to avoid a fight.”
“W-wait. I think you’re misunderstanding something, we can just give up on th…”
I started moving before he could even finish talking.
He hadn’t even realized that he was revealing all his openings while he talked.
I closed the distance in an instant and swung my sword lightly.
“Wha…”
That was challenger Kim Jinhyun’s lost words.
Stt—!
‘A misunderstanding, giving up… what a load of bullshit.’
Would he have said those things if he was stronger than me?
I could guarantee that he wouldn’t have.
“Ugh.”
Pain spread through my neck to a suffocating degree, but I paid no attention.
「 The skill ‘Pain Resistance’ is active now. 」
「 All forms of pain the user feels will be reduced by 15% 」
The pain went away as quickly as it came.
My neck was still aching and I felt like throwing up but…
Grip.
It wasn’t enough to affect me swinging this sword.
“H-holy shit. This guy is batshit crazy!”
The people behind Kim Jinhyun started moving as soon as he fell.
“Alright, let’s go, you bastard! Someone’s gonna die here!”
He held up his giant shield and rushed toward me because he knew I wouldn’t let him retreat any further.
His plan was probably to push me off the tile and get me in the water but…
That only worked if you could outmaneuver your enemy.
‘He’s slow.’
The number 54 next to my agility wasn’t there just for show.
Fssh!
I slightly twisted my body to dodge his blitz and stuck my foot out.
Tink.
“Wooaah!”
The challenger tripped on my leg, lost his balance, and fell flat on his face.
Dashing forward on a floating tile, especially with those stats…
It was like he was begging me to kill him.
And so I did.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
Maybe it was because he was a big man with a fitting steel armor and shield but—
The challenger’s body proceeded to slip straight into the ocean after falling.
Ploop!
“Bua— aghha— F-fuck! H-help m…”
With the reduction in his stats, he could barely even stay afloat.
Crack!
I ended his misery by shoving my sword into his barely floating head.
「 ‘Merciless Murderer’ achievement unlocked. 」
「 Agility increased by 1. 」
“Uh, uuhhhhh…”
The magician in the back inched backward while shaking.
He was worse than the two that preceded him.
“I-I… to d-different tile! P-please!”
Skt…!
The magician’s head fell into the ocean as it slowly sank into the abyss.
「 ‘Cold-blooded Climber’ achievement unlocked. 」
「 Agility increased by 1. 」
「 You have received 1,500 points.’ 」
***
***
Some people did mention that murder was the number one way to unlock more achievements.
I just killed only three more people, but I acquired a bunch of achievements.
‘One Punch Man’, ‘Merciless Murderer’, ‘Cold-blooded Cilmber’.
I’d already received three achievements from the 6th trial.
I could tell why the other challengers were going crazy for it.
If I could give up my humanity and just farm achievements…
‘I’ll get that many more achievements and grow that much stronger.’
But I didn’t want to be that bloodthirsty.
I’ll kill the ones who try to fight me but I didn’t want to go any further than that.
Because the results of throwing away your humanity were right in front of my eyes.
“I-I didn’t do anything wrong… It’s their fault for getting killed!”
“Ha… hahaha, I-I did it! Fuck, I’m alive!”
“Crazy bastards, they literally just killed their teammates as well.”
“Look at all these achievements… The trial is already worth it.”
These despicable emotions were felt throughout the entire stage.
The smell of blood mixed with the salty scent of the ocean passed me by in a refreshing breeze.
Looking at the corpses on the tiles, it seemed like all the fights came to their own conclusions.
「 Time Left – 4 min 17 secs 」
It hadn’t even been 10 minutes, yet most of the challengers were already dead.
This happened earlier than I expected, but that’s that.
There was no way a proper fight could occur when most teams started off by killing each other.
The teams that worked together ended up taking the win in the long run.
Of course, there were still people trying to get the betrayer achievement at the end.
The 6th trial brought upon a lot of things to ponder over.
Mistrust of others, the reality of low-ranked challengers, the aura of despair throughout the tower…
But even after seeing all that, my thoughts didn’t change.
No, seeing all of this strengthened my preexisting beliefs.
‘Let’s not pretend to be innocent. I’ll take everything I can get.’
But I wouldn’t kill people for no reason.
If that’s what the tower required from me to climb to higher floors?
「 Time over. 」
「 You have captured the northern tile. 」
‘I guess I have no choice then.’
Even if it forced me to commit the horrific acts that I’d seen just now…
I’d do anything as long as my humanity remained intact.
Only committing murder when necessary was my answer to all of this.
「 Congratulations. You have overcome the Tower of Trials floor 6. 」
「 As a reward, you have received ‘Random Box (B).’ 」
「 As a reward, you have received ‘8,000 points.’ 」
「 Please move to the waiting area. 」
‘My head finally cleared up.’
A refreshing feeling of all my concerns disappearing.
「 You have absorbed the soul of the player ‘Lee Songjoon’. 」
「 You have absorbed the soul of the player ‘Kim Jinhyuk’. 」
「 You have absorbed the soul of the player ‘Song Jinook’. 」
「 You have absorbed the soul of the player ‘Han Sukjoon’. 」
Another message popped up after absorbing all of the nearby souls.
「 Proficiency increased by 12% 」
「 Innate ability ‘Necromancy’s’ proficiency reached 100%. 」
「 Innate ability ‘Necromancy’s’ ranked up. 」
My innate ability ranked up.
I had kind of expected this, so I wasn’t too surprised about it.
I moved the message to the side and made my way to the portal on the northern tile.
「 Moving to the waiting room. 」
Time to go back to my trusty waiting room.
***
「 You have entered the 7th floor waiting room. 」
As empty as always.
Well, it wasn’t that important, but as I was about to step away…
「 The system expansion is starting. 」
The following message startled me wide awake.
“…Wasn’t the expansion scheduled for the 8th floor?”
The unexpected message surprised me, but the system continued to notify me.
「 List Achievements has been created. 」
“Ah.”
I thought something important was going to happen, but it was just the achievements.
Only a notification that I could now look at the achievements in more detail.
There weren’t any follow-up messages saying that anything changed.
This shouldn’t even count as an expansion.
“List achievements.”
「 Achievement List 」
「 S Grade – The First Returnee 」
「 A Grade – None 」
「 B Grade – None 」
「 C Grade – One Punch Man 」
「 D Grade – Cold-Blooded Climber 」
「 E Grade – Endurer of Fire, Merciless Murderer, Goblin Hunter, Betrayer 」
「 F Grade – None 」
“…Not as many as I thought.”
Three of the six achievements are from the 6th trial.
Which meant I hadn’t gotten that much before that.
‘I guess you do get a lot from murdering others.’
But the most important part was the S-grade achievement.
“Just as I thought, it wasn’t a normal achievement.”
I had assumed that it was rare from the fact that it gave me an A-class skill but… wow.
I couldn’t believe I got something so good for just returning a little earlier than everyone else.
A little sense of pride arose while looking through these achievements.
I selected the ‘One Punch Man’ achievement and looked at the details.
「 One Punch Man 」
「 Grade: C 」
「 An achievement for killing a challenger in one hit. 」
「 Achievement generates ‘Contempt for the Weak (F)’ skill. 」
“Ooh…”
I was just guessing how I got these before but…
They seemed much less mysterious now that they explained everything.
「 Endurer of Fire 」
「 Grade: E 」
「 An achievement for staying conscious in a painful fire. 」
「 Achievement generates ‘Heat Resistance (F)’ skill. 」
「 Cold-Blooded Climber 」
「 Grade: D 」
「 An achievement for killing at least five challengers. 」
「 Achievement rewards 1,500 points. 」
「 Merciless Murderer 」
「 Grade: E 」
「 An achievement for continuously killing challengers with no hesitation. 」
「 Achievement rewards 1 agility point. 」
「 Betrayer 」
「 Grade: E 」
「 An achievement for killing a challenger designated to be your teammate. 」
「 Achievement rewards 1 strength point. 」
I opened all the achievements that I was curious about.
“Hm, is that it?”
I looked at a couple of other achievements, but there wasn’t anything special.
There wasn’t anything more to the listing.
‘I guess all it does is show you more information about the achievements.’
Slightly disappointed, I opened my inventory to check the trial.
But—
「 Random Box 」
「 Grade: B 」
「 A box decorated with a red ribbon that generates a random item. 」
「 Upon opening, you receive an item from F to B-grade. 」
“A random box, huh.”
The 4th trial increased my stats by a bit, but this reward was just a lottery.
I had zero expectations after reading the description.
“If it’s F to B, I’ll basically get nothing from it.”
There was nothing I could do about anything luck-related.
‘I could probably get a good price for this on Earth but…’
If a bunch of low-grade items inflated the market, that would become difficult too.
Maybe I didn’t get much because I used minimal effort in this trial.
‘Eh, I guess it makes sense that the tower didn’t give me any bonus rewards.’
I’d have to go higher to get anything of value.
“Whatever, I’ll just use it and then absorb the souls.”
I pulled at the ribbon from the box.
Slip.
I still had some hope, but that just made me prone to disappointment.
After pulling off the lid from the box…
Flash!
Streams of bright white light poured out from the box and a message popped up.
“Huh…?”
「 Congratulations! 」
「 You received the highest possible grade item from the box! 」
I just won a B-grade item.
PR Note: Mid-chapter credits weren’t included in previous chapters. New chapters will now contain mid-chapter credits, with no other changes to the material. Thanks!
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