Chapter  40 – Day 11, 8th Floor 1/3

Hip-hop wasn’t hit hard.

“This fuc…!!” A spin kick. There was a blue flash as Hip-hop’s right leg left the ground and hit Yang Su-jin’s abdomen. With a loud sound like a hammer banging into something, Yang Su-jin flew back two to three metres. What was this? Hip-hop grinned despite the pained expression.

“It hurts.” He frowned as he glanced at Yang Su-jin who had flown away to the left. Yang Su-jin had a obvious hole in her abdomen.

“So why didn’t you read Romance of the Three Kingdoms?” I asked.

“…Kuk…” Blood started emerging from Hip-hop’s ears and eyes as he glared at Yang Su-jin and started dying. Actually, I had only read the manhwa of the Three Kingdoms, but I didn’t need to tell him that.

I would feed Hip-hop to Yang Su-jin. I looked at the rest of the group. There were a total of 13 people.

“Heok…” Despite their leader Hip-hop being on the verge of death, they had the numerical advantage. Some of them were already running away. There were seven entrances into the village. If they spread out, then it was impossible for me to catch them all. I wasn’t greedy and chased after the one with the best movements.

[Running. Lvl 4. 23/800]

After the massive killing on the seventh floor, I received Running Lvl 4. It was a talent that I didn’t have before. When I tested the performance of my body on the seventh floor, it wasn’t like this. The experience only went up when pursuing someone.

“Hiik!” I grabbed the collar of the man and he extended a fist. There was a flash from the ring on the man’s hand. Lightning hit my body. At that moment, my body stiffened as an electric current spread throughout my body. The man smile of satisfaction but…

Pak.

My elbow struck the man’s head. His body collapsed and I removed the ring. The ring emitted an electric current with the power to stun an adult male. Continuous exposure would lead to shock. That was the description attached to the ring.

But in the end, it was just a D rank item.

[Current Balance: 622/625]

It was the right answer to buy the Tellan book instead of the fire ring on the fourth floor. If the man’s abilities were the same as mine, then this ring would surely be a considerable advantage. However, it couldn’t cover the gap caused by overwhelming specs.

I ignored the rest of the 12 people running away and looked at Yang Su-jin who was crying out.

“Yah! My level really climbed a lot!” Yang Su-jin was delighted as she peeled the shoes off Hip-hop’s body.

“It climbed a lot?”

“Yes, there wasn’t much else. He was really good at Tellan. My reading is at level six and conversation is level three! This is a complete meal!”

I also heard it from Lee Sang-yoon. I picked up the book about Tellan that had fallen from Hip-hop’s body. Lee Sang-yoon said that there was a subtle battle between the other three men. The three of them had their own specialties that kept the other in check.

Hip-hop’s specialty was language. As could be seen by the level rise, he was very proud of his aptitude and used this as a weapon against the other two. In other words, the other two were illiterate. They wouldn’t be able to speak Tellan unless they had other books and studied from them.

“Eh… But isn’t that a disadvantage on this floor?” Yang Su-jin asked as she handed me the shoes.

She explained. “Originally he tried to talk to the residents. At first.”

After overpowering the Tellans, Hip-hop had given a few tickets to the thrilled Tellans. He was quite smart. He would know from previous experience that violence wasn’t the only answer. The Tellans were amiable after Hip-hop gave them a few tickets and revealed a lot of information.

“He pretended to be nice to get some answers…” Except for the villages, there was one more space in the forest that the Evella allowed. It was a space greater than all the villages combined and the only fertile land in the forest.

There, the Tellans grew something called ‘Kasava.’ It was the only thing that they ate in this forest.

I kicked a pile of burnt rubble. Not long after, plants similar to sweet potatoes poured out. I peeled the skin and bit one.

“Ah, me too! I’ll eat it as well!” Yang Su-jin cried out.

I chewed on a Kasava.

Yang Su-jin looked at the food like it was trash after eating it. “The taste is really dirty! How do they live on this sort of food?”

However, the nutrients in it were phenomenal. Except for the monsters that lived among the bushes, there was no imbalance in the Tellans that ate it. They used the fertile soil to grow this miracle plant.

“There is a sacred altar.”

“Eh? Oppa knows as well?”

“I don’t know exactly what it is.”

“I’m the same. The people here don’t seem to know exactly what it is.”

The Tellans I encountered had also given me that information. In fact, the Tellans had no choice. If they wanted to find out what it was, they would have to dig out the field that was their livelihood. It was impossible even if they had a lot of food stored up.

Of course, it also wasn’t known to the explorers. In any case, it was clear that the sacred altar was the key to clearing this floor. In order to do that, we had to get rid of the method keeping the Tellans alive. Therefore, Hip-hop chose to kill all of the Tellans here. He used the shoes.

[Falen Boots – 204th Limited Edition. Equipment item. Rank B]

[Limited edition model boots created by the professional manufacturing studio, Falen. It boasts stability and a semi-permanent magic power source that makes it different from conventional booster boots. Due to the complexity of the creation process, only a few pairs were manufactured and it didn’t reach the stage of mass production. These are only the boots, not the whole body equipment.]

[Gives an addition four points of ‘muscle strength’ to the wearer. For those with a default muscle strength of ‘20’ or higher, it will only increase by two.]

[Increases agility by three points.]

[The electric current generated will be in proportion to the kicking impact.]

[Prevents damage to the joints/muscles in the area worn.]

The numbers were quite big. The kick that hit Yang Su-jin boasted tremendous power. The smell of barbecued meat was due to the electricity.

“Isn’t this a surprisingly nice design? It suits Oppa very well.” I didn’t say anything as I put the boots on. It resembled roller-blades with small wheels. I loosened the locking mechanism as much as possible and put my foot in.

“…”

“…”

It didn’t fit. It was too small.

“Um… Uh… Well, your feet are a little longer.”

“… You wear it.” Although it was a bit big for her, it wasn’t a big inconvenience once Yang Su-jin tightened the locks. She jumped higher than usual and shrieked with delight. 

“This is so cool!”

“I guess so.”

With Yang Su-jin behind me, I explored the ruins. There might be one person whose breath wasn’t completely stopped. Not long after, I heard little whimpers from a half-collapsed cabin. I kicked the rubble aside to see a dying man and a girl guarding him.

“F-Father…” The Tellan girl trembled as she saw me and embraced the man next to her. The man had already lost a lot of blood and only looked at me with blurry eyes.

“Eh… I’ll finish it. Oppa?” Yang Su-jin asked from behind me.

I looked at her and she shrugged before speaking. “Um… This isn’t… I thought about it. There isn’t anything to gain from killing them. I mean, at least let them die quietly…”

“I didn’t say that there was nothing to gain.” I could practice my Punching, Grappling or Torture. If I was vicious enough, then I could eat them.

I approached the girl. Then I spoke in Tellan. “If you say ‘Yes’ then you will be able to live.”

“I will do it!” The girl screamed and Yang Su-jin belatedly made a noise from behind me.

“Eh?” Yang Su-jin was moaning stupidly. I turned my head. Her expression looked just as stupid as her face.

“Leave it. This is good enough.”

“Yep.” Yang Su-jin replied positively with her hands behind her back.

I sighed as I looked at the words above the heads of the girl and man. The words were slightly different for each person. I looked at the ones above the girl’s head.

[Waruda.  Tellan. Sex- Female, 15 years old. Health Status – Good.]

[Citizenship can be granted with the command ‘Grant Citizenship.’]

[Citizenship can be removed with the command ‘Remove Citizenship.’]

[In the case of Tellans who have been granted citizenship, the coordinates of the territory belonging to the monarch will be communicated. They can move through the stairs to the corresponding area.]

The girl and man shivered as I granted citizenship to them. The words about whether to accept the citizenship or not appeared before them. The man seemed to understand the meaning. The girl agreed along with her father.

[‘Waruda’ has become your citizen.]

[‘Kagon’ has become your citizen.]

I took their hands and pulled them up. Unlike the man who completely entrusted himself to me, the frightened girl stumbled.

“Don’t worry, Waruda.” I whispered.

“…!”  The girl calmed down at my words.

I headed for the stairs in the centre of the village. As soon as the two people were placed on the stairs, they disappeared.

“That, did they go to Talia? The seventh floor?”

“Yes.” The ones who were there first would heal the man.

I had wondered when I first encountered the Tellans. Were they monsters of the dungeon? Or were they prey to be killed in order to eat their talents? None of that. They were a type of resource. I could take advantage of this floor.

“Those sent through the stairs didn’t come back. It is probably a one-way path.”

Shortly after I had noticed the  message, I offered a deal to the Tellans. Granting them citizenship didn’t mean they were puppets who would follow my words. But they wanted to get out of here. I told them the story of the City of the Sun, and they were totally captivated as some people disappeared through the stairs.

“There will be room in Talia for them to grow the Kasava. I told them I would grant them citizenship if they followed my instructions.”

After sending away some useless seniors for free, it was quite spectacular as village after village fell to their knees before me. This was the solution to the eighth floor.

Maybe the Glasses, Macho and Hip-hop trio also had something similar to citizenship. Their stage on the seventh floor was a huge factory. No, maybe it was an industrial city?

But at the start, the three of them were scattered. Hip-hop might know the language but he obviously didn’t have the right to grant citizenship. If not, there was no way he would make the village like this.

“Walk around the ruin and see if there is anyone else remaining.”

“Yes!”

I started looking through the ruins with Yang Su-jin for Tellans who were in a critical state. It might have been a waste of time. The Tellans who couldn’t go to Talia were no use to me. But I had nothing to do as I waited.

&

Wajik!

There was a furious sound as a punch was thrown and a hole was created in the Evella vine. Before the vines could recover again, Hwang Jong-gyu moved through them. Hwang Jong-gyu, who was also known as Glasses, looked at the party following him.

Kwak Cheol-jin. Macho was at the very rear. ‘That gorilla bastard.’ Even in the midst of moving quickly, he was looking out for himself.

But in the end, when it came to fighting, he was needed to kill the guy who took Hip-hop’s talent. Glasses clenched his teeth. Somehow he had to reclaim Hip-hop’s talent and the shoes that he was wearing.

The seventh floor. Factory City of Falen. The rewards were distributed to all three of them to reflect their struggle when clearing the city. Due to Glasses having the weakest combat power, he received the magic armour that wrapped around his whole body.

Hip-hop was the speaker and he claimed the shoes to aid in his evasion. The most powerful of the three, Macho, had to be satisfied with having the authority of the ‘mayor’and could control the facilities of the factory city.

‘It isn’t just that.’ It was strange that Macho had no complaints despite receiving the most useless reward on the seventh floor. There was clearly a hidden feature. So despite the fact that Glasses joined Macho early, he couldn’t attack him first.

Glasses kept watching and it was clear that there was something more. In the village they found, Macho had watched the indigenous people they oppressed with something like anticipation.

The result was really eccentric. Macho said something in the other language and the indigenous people suddenly disappeared down the stairs. They didn’t come back again. Glasses asked what had happened, but Macho just sent him a stern look. He couldn’t ask the natives. Hip-hop wasn’t here.

Still, Glasses believed that his armour would protect him from Macho. Then they encountered a party member who was breathing heavily. He announced the death of Hip-hop. It was at the hands of a man and woman.

The party started running. No matter what, Glasses had to reclaim Hip-hop’s talent. The person who regained it would become the dominant one between the two.

Wajik!

The armored fist crushed the wall of vines. Glasses breathed out as he looked at the sight before him. A smashed village. Hip-hop’s body covered with blood.

“That was faster than I thought.”

“…!”

On the other side of the village, Hee-chul grinned at Glasses, Macho and their group.

“It was worth leaving 12 people alive.” Hee-chul raised both palms to the sky. “Didn’t I say it? I would see you inside the dungeon.”

With an expression of relaxation and humour that was different from when they saw him in reality, Hee-chul beckoned with both hands.

“Come.”