episode_0054

54. One-sided Massacre.

The man in black, Otakhoon, was currently guarding the side of Kang Sik-moon, a plant-based magician. He gazed at the desolate landscape, as if a tsunami had just passed through.

“Hey, Sik-moon. Could you even do something like that?”

“······You don’t mean that sincerely, do you?”

“Of course not. How could you ever do something like that?”

“······.”

Kang Sik-moon was slightly hurt, but he couldn’t say anything since it was true, and only opened and closed his mouth.

Seeing that, Otakhoon spoke in a tone that was hard to tell whether he was comforting or teasing him.

“It’s okay. Man. If you keep raising your magic stat, you’ll reach that level someday.”

“Haa······.”

Kang Sik-moon looked at Otakhoon as if he were pathetic and took a deep breath.

“It’s not just possible because you have a lot of magic. It’s just talent, talent.”

“Oh, really?”

Otakhoon replied indifferently. It was a reaction that could only come from someone who wasn’t a magician.

Kang Sik-moon felt like he was talking to an orangutan, so he turned his head away.

“By the way, if you hadn’t told me the weak points of the vines in advance, I wouldn’t have been able to escape.”

“Of course. That crazy guy put shields on every single vine. You could have gotten out if you spent enough time, but you would have been swept away by the wave before that.”

“······That’s kind of horrible.”

Otakhoon actually shuddered. He had only seen small-scale spells like Magic Missile or Dig.

The only time he had seen spells of this scale was when the natives used them during the Wave.

‘Even that was supposedly some kind of Elder level? Is Team Leader the same level?’

Judging by appearance alone, they seemed to be in the same weight class.

However, even though the truth was right in front of him, prejudice acted as blinders, preventing him from seeing it. Otakhoon’s thoughts seemed ordinary.

Kang Sik-moon, seeing Otakhoon lost in thought, said:

“Let’s go back. Our goal is to take at least six districts by the end of today, so we have a long way to go.”

Hearing that, Otakhoon thought for a moment and spoke. His mask twitched.

“A long way? Forget six, I think we could do ten?”

“······That’s true.”

“······.”

***

After making the 30th and 31st districts his subordinate districts, Yohan’s momentum was truly unstoppable.

Like the battle just now, if there were teams tangled together, he would wipe them out in one blow with Kang Sik-moon’s combined attack.

If he ran out of magic in the middle, he would use his newly recruited comrades to invade the districts, and if necessary, Yohan would do some cutting himself.

He had below-average close combat skills, but [Thought Acceleration] was more useful than he thought. The opponent’s perception speed remained the same, while Yohan’s perception speed was amplified, increasing the number of attacks.

‘It’s useful in magic, and it’s useful in close combat. I got a good trait.’

Clang!

Yohan thought as he deflected the thrown weapon. There were two ways to use [Thought Acceleration].

One was to consciously amplify the speed, and the other was to automatically activate in urgent situations, like a danger detection sensor.

It was a trait that was a jack-of-all-trades, with both passive and active concepts.

If he had to mention a disadvantage······

Throb-!

“Kuh-euh······.”

Yohan resisted the urge to grab his head and swung his longsword.

Everything was good, but whenever the trait was activated by a sudden attack like this, his head hurt too much.

It wasn’t as cost-effective as consciously activating the trait in many ways.

However, he couldn’t ignore it, because it often helped him block unexpected attacks.

Thud, Smack!

Just like now. A woman in a ninja outfit similar to Otakhoon’s. He used his left arm to wrap around the low kick she swung like a whip and slammed her into the ground.

“Keuh!”

She let out a faint groan, but the impact was smaller than he thought.

This was partly because the acceleration was weakened by the woman’s resistance, and more than anything, her physical flexibility was quite outstanding.

For guys like that, strikes were better than grounding.

Pwee-ing- Kwang!

A stream of bright blue Magic Missiles poured out of Yohan’s wide-open mouth.

If someone saw this scene, they would think that Yohan was spitting out blue vomit.

Kwang! Kwang! Kwakwakwang!

Of course, the aftermath was beyond comparison to mere vomit.

Yohan pushed aside the blue spear that appeared in front of him and looked around.

“Keuheok!”

“Where did these guys suddenly come from!”

Yohan’s team members were brutally massacring the enemies. In a way, it was only natural. Each and every one of them was an elite member of each district, personally selected by Yohan.

Even the worst districts had one or two usable gems, and Yohan skillfully distinguished them.

‘Ah, it was a little difficult when I swept them away with the wave.’

That was if he didn’t do a large-scale massacre at once. When he occupied the 30th and 31st districts, there was some difficulty in recruiting allies.

In the end, he chose the method of first making the team leaders of each team his allies, and then recruiting allies with their input. There’s always a way to do everything.

“Keheeee······.”

“No, stop······ Keheok!”

Before long, they were turning into particles of light one by one. The one who showed the most outstanding performance among them was Otakhoon.

He was dressed in a ninja outfit that looked like it came out of a Japanese anime and succeeded in the most kills.

‘Is it not killing? They said they don’t die.’

What he was sure of was that this trial was easier than the previous floor or the tutorial stage. At least they didn’t die.

‘It’s just a postponement of death anyway. I don’t know what will happen on the next floor.’

After all, power was the most important thing in the Tower, and if he didn’t get proper compensation on this floor and went up, he would soon be left behind.

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer; the ones who already have it get more.

Thud.

“Shall we keep going up, Team Leader?”

“Let’s rest for a bit. We’ve already reached today’s goal.”

“Understood.”

As he said that, they had just occupied the 22nd and 23rd districts.

Yohan now owned a whopping nine districts. It was the result of doing it with a terrible headache and a body on the verge of magic exhaustion.

Poong-!

Yohan stuck his butt on a water droplet created through Dew Magic. He made one for each of his comrades who had worked hard so far.

They laid down on the mattress-like comfortable water droplets and enjoyed a brief rest.

It was a scene that contrasted with the bloodstains visible everywhere around them. Even if they teleported to a safe place right before death, the flesh and blood they shed didn’t disappear.

“Keueueue······. Team Leader. How on earth do you freely transform your skills? Isn’t this a Dew spell?”

The plant-based magician, Kang Sik-moon, said with a pleasant groan.

Yohan replied calmly. It wasn’t a difficult thing to do.

“That’s right.”

“Huh, it’s a basic spell that anyone can easily learn, but······. Are you perhaps a native? You’re Korean, right?”

“Haha, I’m Korean. Until recently, I was attending high school. If you want, I can even tell you the name of the high school.”

“······Yes? High school? I thought you looked young, but I didn’t think······.”

Kang Sik-moon looked at Yohan with amazement. For a student barely twenty years old to be so active in such a cruel environment, his heart was very firm.

‘Is it because he’s young and adapts quickly?’

He speculated while thinking it was absurd. Kang Sik-moon, who had been lost in a strange thought for a moment, pursed his lips. Soon, he cautiously said.

“Do you perhaps have any tips? Any know-how about magic, or anything like that······.”

“Eum······.”

Kang Sik-moon’s lips were parched. He didn’t expect much.

Who would easily share their vision? They might not even see each other again after leaving the second floor.

Even in modern times, where it was good to live, people didn’t easily show kindness, and it was even harder in the Tower, where only power mattered.

Still, he asked shamelessly. What wouldn’t he do to survive even a little longer?

“······.”

Yohan smiled inwardly as he looked at him. He was trying his best to hide his expression, but Yohan ‘remembered’ all of their usual behavior and small habits.

Understanding the other person’s psychological state was too easy for Yohan. So Yohan deliberately paused.

“Hmm······ It’s not that I don’t have anything······.”

“······Really!”

“That’s right. It’s not like I was good at it from the start. I was lucky enough to be taught about magic by a native.”

“Ooh······.”

That was a lie. Yohan had an excellent understanding of magic from the start. However, the statement that he had been taught knowledge was true.

In fact, Jeri’s teachings were very helpful to Yohan. It didn’t go from 0 to 5, but Jeri’s help was effective in going from 5 to 7.

“What, what kind of knowledge is it?”

Kang Sik-moon’s face turned red with excitement. Magic was a fascinating field of study, and he was deeply fascinated by it.

It was a desire that combined the desire to survive and academic passion. It wouldn’t easily subside.

Soon, Yohan’s lips moved.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you.”