Ch. 8 Returning to the Beginning (2)
by AfuhfuihgsChapter 8 – Returning to the Beginning (2)
“Moonlight Sword Radiance… W-why would someone like you be here alone…?”
The girl, who had been frozen, turned her body and head with an awkward movement that seemed like it would make a creaking sound.
Her small and slender frame, similar to Kim Ji-eun’s, and the shorts she wore under her crop hoodie made it clear that this thief was a dark-skinned girl.
‘A demi-human.’
Her trembling eyes, visible under the hood, were golden, and I clearly saw the long, pointed ears peeking out from her hair.
“I hide because if I don’t, people more annoying than you will swarm me.”
“I-I’m sorry! Please, just this once, show me mercy! I really didn’t know it was you!”
As I took off my cap, she quickly knelt on the ground and held out the wallet with both hands.
She’s quick to judge. In a panicked situation, she found the best course of action and immediately acted on it without hesitation.
“…What’s your name?”
I retrieved the wallet from her trembling hands and pulled off her hood.
Her body flinched violently as I forcibly removed her cap.
As expected, the girl with long ears sticking out from her short ash-gray hair was clearly an indication of a dark elf from Samael, another world connected to the Tower, just like Earth.
“My name is Shadis. But please, don’t report me to the Alliance! Punish me personally if you must, but please don’t report me!”
“Judging by how scared you are, I guess you’ve been sanctioned before.”
Shadis, now terrified, grabbed my pant leg and begged.
The Alliance Council sanctions criminals. You might think it’s impossible for mere residents, who are second-class citizens, to sanction first-class citizens like challengers, but it’s possible.
They represent the people who keep the Tower’s ‘social system’ running, even if they’re just residents.
Challengers also want to enjoy an organized system and civilization, so they actually cooperate with the Alliance to maintain order.
In other words, the Alliance isn’t just a residents’ union—it’s the mainstream power of the Tower itself.
“If you’re so scared of the Alliance, why are you using a challenger’s power to commit crimes? The money you stole from my wallet is nothing compared to what you could earn by raiding a single dungeon.”
I couldn’t help but lecture Shadis.
While it might be easy to commit crimes using powers beyond ordinary people, crimes committed by challengers are subject to harsher penalties.
Rather than committing crimes, it’s much more advantageous to make a living by raiding dungeons.
“…You’re right. Someone like you wouldn’t understand. You’re too strong and too amazing, someone who climbed straight to the top without any obstacles.”
But Shadis, after hearing my lecture, lowered her head and muttered through clenched teeth.
It seemed I had touched a nerve.
Well, there’s no one without a story. The problem is whether others will acknowledge it, which ultimately depends on the person themselves.
dss
“You don’t understand people like us…”
“I get your feelings, but don’t get cocky. You only know about me from a few articles written by journalists and some rumors spread by gossips, right?”
I smirked and helped Shadis to her feet.
Her eyes, now firmly shut, were far from friendly. I knew that look all too well.
After all, I used to look at the protagonist, Jung Chan-soo, who I could never catch up to no matter what I did, with the same eyes.
“‘Punish me personally if you must.’, you clearly said that.”
“Eek.”
As I smirked and slightly lowered my sunglasses, scanning her up and down, she flinched and covered her body with her hands.
I don’t know what misunderstanding she’s having, but I just plan to use her for my own purposes.
According to the guide posted by a community user, I need an assistant to gain the new power I’m supposed to acquire here.
I was wondering who to get, but now someone who won’t talk no matter how harshly I treat her has appeared.
I’ve avoided external activities and exposure so far, but being in such a position, I can’t ignore image management.
“Be prepared at the specified location and time tomorrow. If you’re even a minute late, I’ll consider it an escape and report your identity directly to the branch manager for arrest.”
“O-okay…”
Knowing the weight of my threat, Shadis nodded reluctantly, unable to refuse.
She seemed completely defeated, so I doubted she’d try to escape.
Satisfied, I watched her retreating figure, walking away with a lifeless gait, before putting my cap back on and walking through the streets.
There were things I needed to do with Shadis, but there was also something I could do alone, so I planned to do that today.
[To properly train both Gale Sword and Crushing Sword, you must acquire two abilities on the 30th floor: Echo Instinct and Quick Step.]
ㄴ“Quick Step makes sense, but Echo Instinct? Don’t you have to grind in a 2-person dungeon to get that?”
ㄴ“If I had known and gotten it as a reward in the Tower, I wouldn’t be suffering like this now.”
ㄴ“They’re just E-grade and D-grade abilities, but who knew they’d have such synergy now?”
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One thing the users arguing about the guide agreed on was the need to acquire new abilities on the 30th floor.
Abilities are a step below traits, a kind of passive skill.
These abilities, which can be obtained as rewards while climbing the Tower, are one of the core components of a challenger’s combat power. When combined, they can create powerful synergies or, conversely, become fatal weaknesses.
I, too, used my transmigrator knowledge to maximize efficiency and synergy, and I’ve been reaping the benefits so far. But the problem is that the so-called ‘meta’ keeps changing.
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ㄴ“Are the guys above all newbies? lol There’ll probably be more of this in the future. As the Tower repeats, more things will be added, and more discoveries will be made.”
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Even Constellations watch their juniors climb the Tower and notice things they missed or didn’t realize, using that to create new formulas or training methods.
As a transmigrator, I only knew about the one Tower introduced in the story.
Through the Constellation community, Fate Road, they share data and experiences from countless Towers I couldn’t even imagine.
And they’re constantly evolving in real-time.
Even the latest sword styles, Gale Sword and Crushing Sword, might be surpassed by better, more efficient styles in the future.
‘Right now, I have 30 abilities, the maximum at my current level. According to them, I need to discard more than half and replace them with better ones.’
Glancing at my status window, I recalled the guide I had memorized and began sorting out what to keep and what to acquire.
While the debate over Gale Sword vs. Crushing Sword was likely still ongoing, there were overlapping abilities.
The ones I needed to acquire now were those overlapping abilities.
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「Dungeon Entry: Collapsed Underground」
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Reaching the dungeon entrance, where many challengers were preparing for battle, I entered alone without hesitation.
The dungeon was set in a ruined subway.
The enemies were weak monsters appropriate for the 30th floor—swarms of mutated spiders, with the small ones the size of children and the large ones as big as bulls.
‘Do I need some time to adjust?’
In the dimly lit, eerie subway, with only flickering emergency lights, giant spiders began crawling down the walls and ceiling, baring their fangs at me.
Holding an ordinary sword with no power imbued in it, I naturally began the battle, but I couldn’t help but laugh at how much heavier my body felt compared to before.
The backlash from the drastically reduced stats was significant.
Of course, that didn’t mean I’d lose to these bugs.
Trait: Radiance (S).
This power, which I was determined to acquire after seeing this world in advance, is one of the magic conversion enhancement traits that transforms and amplifies the nature and form of my power.
“—!”
With a whirlwind enveloping my body, a brilliant yet subtle light erupted from my sword and entire body, burning and purifying the spiders and the poison they emitted.
The monsters of the 30th floor melted away just from the pure, noble moonlight before my sword even touched them.
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[That Radiance trait is the biggest variable. No one knows how it’ll change in the future.]
ㄴ“Even the admin didn’t know it had such power. They were strongly against it when Reina insisted on getting it.”
ㄴ“Stop mentioning it. It’s a dark history.”
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Seeing the light of Radiance illuminating the darkness and burning the enemies, I recalled what the fan gallery users had mentioned.
While some rewards are the same across Towers, new rewards also appear.
These new rewards are an unknown realm, with their true power and effects not fully understood even by the Constellations of Fate Road.
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ㄴ“The noble moonlight knight, that’s so cool. That’s enough.”
ㄴ“Agreed lol Plus, it fits her personality perfectly.”
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It was one of the few elements that both I and they could watch with excitement and innocence.
Thinking about the effort I put into acquiring this power, I couldn’t help but smile.
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“Just die already.”
“—!”
The dungeon boss was a queen spider that had made its nest in the ruined subway.
The queen, as large as a subway car, couldn’t be killed just by emitting light, as befitting a boss.
Instead, after purifying all the poison the queen emitted, I swung my sword, cutting off her front legs, then her fangs, and finally splitting her head in half.
‘…I really need to adjust quickly.’
Around that time, a slight dizziness hit me.
I had forgotten about the stat reduction and used my magic liberally, as usual, causing a temporary magic deficiency.
Now I understand why rankers or those close to rankers often get into accidents on lower floors.
The stronger you are, the more severe the backlash.
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「Ability Selection Ticket (E)」
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Still, I got the reward I needed. A ticket to choose one of several E-grade abilities.
Now, I needed to acquire the 「Quick Step」 ability, as recommended by the guide.
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「Would you like to take a photo?」
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But before that, I paused and opened another status window.
It was a camera set up to take a photo of me right after completing the dungeon.
“Ugh.”
It still feels awkward to the point of death, but there’s no choice.
I still have a mountain of questions I want to ask them directly, and to get sincere answers, I need this!
Author Note
A/N (Author’s note):
I like it.
Translator Note
T/N (Translator’s note):
Selling yourself for faster progression, how crude~Reina just needs to ask the lewd saintess on how to improve on that aspect!
Actually, maybe not, I hope she remains wholesome.
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