Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Stat Brute (2)
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I was a little taken aback by the power of my own fist, but this was no time to relax.
*CRASH— CRASH—*
Fueled by the rage of losing its friend, the remaining troll began to rampage even more violently.
Its eyes turned red, and a crimson aura seeped into its once-blue skin.
*CRASH— CRASH—*
Its speed had increased drastically. It seemed to have truly entered a berserk state.
I didn't back down, dodging its attacks as I closed the distance.
A fist nearly the size of my torso flew at me, but instead of evading, I met it with a punch of my own.
*THUD— CRUNCH—*
The difference in weight sent me flying back a bit, but there was no pain in my fist.
*Rumble! Grumble!*
The same couldn't be said for the troll, which roared as it clutched its hand.
Taking advantage of its pained distraction, I pressed in again.
*WHOOSH—*
Sensing the threat, it tried to swat me away with its good hand, but I easily dodged and leaped into the air.
*POW— THUMP—*
My uppercut sent it toppling over, just like the first one.
[You have defeated the 8th Floor Boss, Green Troll Mart.]
[You have leveled up.]
A series of notification windows popped up.
As expected of a floor boss, the experience was sweet.
[You have acquired the achievement ‘Twin Green Troll Slayer’ for the Labyrinth Anomaly. Stamina +1]
An anomaly?
It must be some kind of spontaneous event.
Still, getting only one point in Stamina after taking down two floor bosses felt a bit cheap.
When I first defeated the Gold Lycanthrope on the 50th floor, I got two points in Agility.
Is it because of the floor difference?
Well, it's better than nothing.
Besides, experience and achievements were just the appetizer.
I still hadn't checked the main course.
I reached out and touched the troll's corpse.
[You have obtained Green Troll's Blood x20.]
[You have obtained Green Troll's Leather x20.]
[You have obtained a Blessed Weapon Enhancement Scroll x1.]
[You have obtained a Blessed Armor Enhancement Scroll x1.]
[You have obtained an Orb of Traits x1.]
A floor boss, indeed.
The loot was even better than I'd expected.
Hoping for another jackpot, I placed my hand on the other troll's body.
[You have obtained Green Troll's Blood x20.]
[You have obtained Green Troll's Leather x20.]
Tch, this one's a paup—
[You have obtained a Random Stat Orb x1.]
Or maybe not?
Ignoring everything else, I immediately took the Random Stat Orb out of my inventory.
[Random Stat Orb
Upon consumption, randomly increases a stat by 1~3.
Maximum consumption limit: 10 times.]
A simple, yet beautiful, description.
I popped it into my mouth right away.
A notification appeared before I could even roll it around on my tongue.
[You have consumed a Random Stat Orb. Agility +3]
Oh! Was it because I ate it while it was fresh?
Probably not, but I got the maximum value.
Sweet!
I was about to take out the Orb of Traits when I sensed a presence and turned my head to see Hanna standing beside me.
“Hyeon-ung, you’re stronger than you look.”
She had a surprised expression on her face.
“Well, this much is nothing.”
Haha, good thing she didn't hear me asking for help earlier.
“Your swordsmanship was terrible, though.”
Oof, hitting me with the facts is a low blow!
“It’s because the sword was bad. If I’d had a good one…”
If it had been Kalisina’s Fang, the blade wouldn't have broken.
“Don’t blame your weapon. It was a pretty decent sword. Don't you know how to reinforce your blade by imbuing it with mana?”
“Ah, Bio taught me that, but I’ve only used it a few times. I’m not used to it…”
Bio had shown me how after I beat the Gold Lycanthrope, but it was hard to move while constantly focusing on the sword, so I rarely used it.
Even without that technique, anything the blade touched—no, grazed—was sliced apart anyway.
“If you’re not used to it, you should practice until you are. Now I see why Bio took your weapon.”
She put her hands on her hips and lectured me. Since I agreed with her, I had no excuse.
“Still, the way you handled the situation without panicking was quite good.”
Well, from the moment I entered the Labyrinth, I was dragged to the 50th floor and forced to fight for my life against monsters.
A broken sword is nothing.
“And the way you advanced instead of retreating was pretty coo… never mind.”
She trailed off, her face turning red as she whipped her head away.
It seemed like she was about to compliment me. If you’re going to do it, at least finish.
“If you thought it was cool, you can just say so.”
“…Rina has probably finished treating the injured by now.”
It was a little disappointing that she wouldn't even look at me, but seeing her ears turn red, I guessed she was just embarrassed.
I walked back with Hanna to where the injured had been.
“Mister, you really suck with a sword.”
Sigh, I wasn't expecting a ‘Hyeon-ung, are you hurt anywhere?’, but for Rina to start a fight the moment I arrive… she really never changes.
Which is definitely not a good thing.
“That's why I'm going to learn diligently from our Hanna from now on.”
“O-Our Hanna? Wait a second, why is your face so red, Sis? Did that old man…”
“It’s not what you think!”
“Rina, don’t be so hard on Hyeon-ung.”
“Whatever. You’re not hurt, are you, Mister?”
Oh, she’s a healer, so I guess she has to ask.
I was about to say I was fine, but a mischievous thought struck me.
First, I took a step toward Rina, closing the distance.
“Wh-What is it?”
I leaned my upper body toward the clearly flustered Rina.
“I think it hurts a little right here.”
At my words, Rina’s expression turned serious as she examined me, then tilted her head.
“There are no wounds. You look fine.”
“It’s not from the Green Troll’s attack. It’s a wound to my heart from someone’s sharp words… Ugh!”
*WHACK—*
A blow to the chest sent me to the ground.
“Don’t you dare try your cheap tricks on me!”
Wow, that felt less like a palm and more like a sledgehammer.
“Hyeon-ung! Are you okay?”
“I… I think my ribs are broken…”
Now I think I really need treatment…
“Hmph, I went easy on you. Stop being such a baby!”
I’m not being a baby. She’s so small, but she hits harder than that Green Troll.
If I try to joke around again, there won't be enough of me left to bury.
“Um… are you alright?”
It was the man who had been covered in wounds.
He was still wearing tattered clothes, but his injuries were completely healed.
Her personality might be awful, but her healing abilities are top-notch.
“Ah, I’m fine. This is just another day for me. How are you feeling?”
Whether it was because of my high Stamina stat or because Rina really did go easy on me, the pain faded quickly.
“You saved us. Thank you for saving me and my sister.”
“Thank you.”
The girl behind the man bowed her head as well.
“We were all dragged here together. It’s only natural to help each other out. By the way, didn’t you say you usually hunt on the 3rd floor?”
If I remembered correctly, their temporary party leader had been to the 5th floor, but their main hunting ground was the 3rd.
Of course, it had been three days, so they might have leveled up and moved, but the 8th floor was too much of a stretch.
“Huh? You know us?”
Does he not remember?
Then again, some time has passed, and they weren't the ones who spoke to me. We only crossed paths for a moment, so it's understandable.
“When I was entering the Labyrinth, your party leader, Moon… something, asked me to join you…”
“Ah! I remember now. I didn’t realize back then what an incredible person you were…”
It seemed the two of them had watched me fight the trolls.
“It was nothing special. But I’d appreciate it if you answered my question.”
“Didn’t you see on your way up? The Guild Alliance is controlling floors 1 through 5 right now.”
Controlling them?
I asked him to elaborate, and he explained the situation.
Under the pretext of training this round of new recruits, the Guild Alliance was monopolizing the areas where monsters spawned quickly and frequently.
It was fine on the first day, but from the second day, they took over the 5th floor, where his party had been active.
As of today, they had monopolized up to the 6th floor, which was why they had come to the 8th.
“If they took the 6th floor, why not go to the 7th…”
“Because of the monopoly, all the users from the 5th, 6th, and 7th floors were crammed into the 7th. We couldn't find a spot to hunt…”
So they came to the 8th floor, couldn't find any monsters, and ran into the Green Trolls while wandering around.
Talk about bad luck.
The Guild Alliance was going too far.
Of course, controlling hunting grounds was common in games, but this was reality, just set in a game-like world…
“By the way, may I ask your name?”
“My name?”
“I’d like to know our savior’s name so we can repay you someday…”
Ah, is that all?
“Hyeon-ung. The redhead over there is Hanna, and the kid who healed you is Rina.”
“A name as handsome as your face.”
He was probably just being grateful, but this young man, who couldn't be much older than twenty, had good social skills.
“And your names?”
“I’m Lee Soo-hyuk, and this is my sister, Soo-hyun. We’ll never forget this.”
Soo-hyuk and Soo-hyun. Easy to remember.
“Hyeon-ung, those two over there haven't said a word. Are they your summoned companions?”
They were my summoned companions, but they weren't mute. What was this about?
I thought maybe they were just shy around strangers, but it turned out that summoned companions couldn't communicate with anyone other than their summoner.
“You didn’t know?”
“I don’t really mingle with people.”
“I-I see. But to have two companions like them, you must be a very high level.”
Why the sudden change of topic?
“I don’t think my level is that high.”
“I heard the companion gacha is inefficient, so it’s the last thing people invest in. Am I wrong?”
Is the companion gacha really that inefficient?
Putting aside Legendary and Mythic, there were about 700 Normal companions, so around 70%.
There were over 240 Advanced companions, so roughly 20-25%.
About 50 Rare, so around 5%.
Five Heroes, so 0.5%.
I haven't played Elsia, so I don't know for sure, but for a mobile game, those odds are pretty generous.
Typically, in gacha games, the probability of pulling a Hero-tier character is in the second decimal place.
Games known for being ruthless sometimes start in the third decimal place.
I asked what people spent their initial 1000 jewels on, and he said most people pull for one mount and spend the rest on gear.
“Gear is the most important thing, but wouldn't it be better to just do 10 gear pulls then?”
“Every 10 floors, there’s a wide-open map, and it’s hard to get to the next floor without a mount.”
He looked at me as if I was asking something obvious. It seemed to be common knowledge among Elsia players.
“I forgot. Anyway, you two need to get back to the 7th floor. Can you make it on your own?”
We had walked quite a ways north, so it would take some time to escort them back to the 7th-floor entrance.
I could use the Red Hare to get there in a flash, but I didn't want to show it off.
“We should be fine once we resummon our mount…”
“But there are two of you, right?”
Instead of waiting for the cooldown, they could just use someone else’s.
‘Maybe they only pulled one mount since they’re siblings?’
“Uh… my mount is a Giant Turtle, which is a rare mount, but it’s only fast… in the water.”
“I see. So shouldn't you pull for a new one?”
“I have my sister, so I thought it would be fine…”
He hung his head, looking dejected.
So you can get things other than horses.
How interesting.
Fortunately, he said he could resummon it after waiting about 20 minutes, so we decided to wait with them.
It was a chance to learn things that weren't covered in the basic training, like the fact that there's a large map every 10 floors.
After fighting monsters for three days straight, I was also a bit starved for human interaction.
I was asking about things I'd been curious about when Hanna, who had been keeping her distance, approached me.
“Hanna? What is it?”
“It looks like a large group is heading this way.”
I thought maybe the monsters had respawned, but it wasn't monsters. It was people on horseback.
The person at the very front was the party leader who had invited me to join him.
He hadn't even looked back when his party members fell from their horses, so I thought he had run away to save himself, but it seems he went to get help.
Of course, even with reinforcements, the two would have died if I hadn't been here, so he could hardly avoid blame.
“Soo-hyun! Soo-hyuk!”
“Uncle Hyun-cheol!”
“Uncle!”
They had every right to be upset, but they ran to him at once. It was a completely different scene than I had expected.
Were they closer than I thought?
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Really…”
“It’s okay. It couldn’t be helped.”
“We’re alive, and that’s what matters.”
“I’m so sorry. I made a foolish decision…”
As the party leader sobbed, Soo-hyuk hugged him while Soo-hyun patted his back. They were both so mature.
Soo-hyuk was 21, and his sister was 20…
Of course, they were both adults, but plenty of people get older without their minds maturing.
I suppose their environment might have forced them to grow up faster.
The heartwarming scene made me feel a bit sentimental for the first time in a while, but it didn't last long before a spoilsport appeared.
A man in a red cape from the mounted group strode over and shouted brashly.
“Hey, you think we came all this way to watch you cry? Where’s the floor boss?”