Chapter 169
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 169
Chapter Title: Life-or-Death Victory
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The backdrop was some uncivilized ancient China, yet they spoke Korean and wrote with Hangul mixed in alongside Hanja. It was a bizarre world setting.
Maybe this was meant to represent the world of Hwan-guk?
I suddenly recalled how my youngest sister had giggled while explaining the ancient Hwan-guk War to me back in the day.
That was the same mischievous laugh she always made when teasing or tricking me, so I'd told her not to mess with me... but as usual, Mom and my sisters all teamed up with one voice: "You don't even know that? Wow... you don't know about the Hwan-guk War?" I pretended to know and listened intently to what my little sister had to say.
Then I went and bragged to my friends, only to get told I was talking nonsense. That's when I realized I'd been duped by the united front of the women in my family again.
...Anyway, maybe this world was one where Hwan-guk existed, having lost the Hwan-guk War to those dinosaur outlaws.
Why? Because these barbaric Chinese kids were speaking Korean and using Hangul with Hanja annotations.
It could just be because the game developer was a Korean company, but I decided not to limit my infinite imagination.
Victory in life-or-death duel or battle. 5 points awarded.
Defeated a third-rate martial artist in sparring. 3 points awarded.
Defeated Heavenly Demon Cult Reserve Warrior No. 3762 in life-or-death duel. Fame increased by 3.
Fame reward: Plum Wine item awarded. Next fame reward at Fame 5.
'Plum wine as a reward? Even for a first-time bonus, that's ridiculous.'
6th Floor Trial: 'Win the Sparring' completed.
6th Floor Trial completion reward: 'Multi-Intent Heart Technique Lv.1' awarded.
Multi-Intent Heart Technique Lv.1: A secret martial art allowing one to cultivate multiple internal energies within a single body. The superior upgrade to Dual-Intent Heart Technique. (Martial Skill)
6th Floor First Additional Trial: 'Win the Life-or-Death Duel'.
Simply win a duel where your life is on the line.
Entry to 7th Floor Trial now possible.
Since I'd won the sparring match, the 6th Floor Trial had cleared.
By the way, was this floor one that rewarded martial arts as trial completion prizes? It'd be nice if they threw in some spirit herbs too.
6th Floor First Additional Trial: 'Win the Life-or-Death Duel' completed.
Absorbing Star Great Law Lv.1: A supreme energy absorption technique that drains an opponent's qi. Excessive absorption can wither them to a mummy-like husk. (Martial Skill)
6th Floor Second Additional Trial: Achieve Fame 100.
Raise your Fame stat to 100 or higher.
Since the sparring that cleared the 6th Floor Trial had been a life-or-death duel, the additional trial auto-completed as well.
Multi-Intent Heart Technique and Absorbing Star Great Law. Even as a martial arts noob, these sounded like pretty impressive techniques I'd heard of somewhere.
To gauge their value, I checked the upgrade costs in the shop window.
Multi-Intent Heart Technique Lv.2: A secret martial art allowing one to cultivate multiple internal energies within a single body. The superior upgrade to Dual-Intent Heart Technique. (Martial Skill)
Upgrade Cost: 200,000 points
Absorbing Star Great Law Lv.2: A supreme energy absorption technique that drains an opponent's qi. Excessive absorption can wither them to a mummy-like husk. (Martial Skill)
Upgrade Cost: 200,000 points
Three Powers Sword Technique Lv.2: The foundational sword art incorporating three forms based on the principles of Heaven, Earth, and Man. (Martial Skill)
Upgrade Cost: 20 points
'Huh? What's this? Feels like there's some trash tacked on at the end.'
I rubbed my eyes and double-checked the Three Powers Sword Technique upgrade cost.
It was the first skill I'd seen with a tens-place point value like that.
Out of curiosity, I invested my spare points to upgrade it.
20 points, 30 points, 40 points...
Oddly enough, martial skills seemed to cap at level 12, and hitting Lv. Master popped up at 12.
'Is this reflecting how martial arts in typical wuxia novels max out at 12 tiers?'
After burning a total of 770 points, the Three Powers Sword Technique reached max level.
It was the first skill I'd ever maxed out.
Three Powers Sword Technique Lv.Master: The foundational sword art incorporating three forms based on the principles of Heaven, Earth, and Man. (Martial Skill)
'Hmm... yeah, now I feel like I can handle horizontal slashes, vertical chops, and thrusts pretty well.'
But was maxing this out a smart move? Especially blowing 770 points on it.
Something felt off, but I chalked it up to a cheap experiment and decided to forget about the Three Powers Sword Technique.
"...Ahem, anyway, we'll continue the life-or-death duels."
The training instructor, who had been flustered by the might of my unique martial art, announced the resumption and restarted the life-or-death duels.
I quietly waited my turn.
In the meantime, a few girls approached me, expressing curiosity about my martial art.
Subtly pressing their breasts against me, that is.
...Actually, on second thought, they were outright rubbing their soft bodies against mine while asking their questions.
"...Hey, what was that just now...?"
"Was it some kind of magic trick? Yeah, right? Something just popped out of thin air..."
I kept my mouth shut and said nothing.
But I didn't let the girls who approached and rubbed up against me, trying to seduce me with their honey traps, off the hook either.
To these temptresses trying to sate their curiosity with their soft, squishy bodies, I decided to teach the simple truth that the world holds bitterness and that everything comes at a price.
I placed my hands on the pussies of the girls grinding their breasts against me.
"...Ah."
"Hngh, uh...?"
The moment I suddenly reached down and started fondling their pussies, the girls looked flustered. But as I kept up my flashy fingerwork on their slits, they gradually began letting out lewd moans.
"Haah...♡"
"Heut, haaang...♡"
I wanted to keep teasing their pussies like this, but apparently the matches ahead of me had wrapped up, because the training instructor called my name.
"Hey, No. 1999. ...Cut it out and get ready for your duel."
"...Hmph, the duels are done already? ...Hey, you girls. Masturbate until I get back. I'll fuck your pussies after this round."
I shook off the pussy juices coating my fingers and headed to the makeshift dueling arena in the center of the training grounds.
"...No. 1999. I had no idea you possessed such a unique martial art. They say you never know a man even after ten years on the road."
'...Huh? Does this guy know me? Hmm... oh, right. Almost forgot. Gotta buy this floor's memories.'
Tower 6th Floor Virtual Memories and Experiences.
Price: 0 points
I purchased the 6th Floor memories and experiences from the shop window.
Suddenly, No. 1999's memories began flooding into my mind.
It felt like I'd lived a virtual life—as if my time in the Tower's 6th Floor was etched into my memory.
I'd grown up wealthy and happy as the scion of a righteous sect martial family, but it all started going wrong when the Heavenly Demon Cult kidnapped me.
The other kids kidnapped by the Heavenly Demon Cult were so young when it happened, and through relentless brainwashing and manipulation, they forgot their parents or deluded themselves into thinking they'd been abandoned.
They fell completely for the cult's false propaganda, convincing themselves that the Heavenly Demon Cult had rescued pitiful orphans discarded by their families—and that deepened their loyalty.
But No. 1999 never forgot. He clung to those faint memories of his parents and his happy early childhood, vowing revenge against the Heavenly Demon Cult someday, and he'd survived this long on that fire alone.
That was the gist of this game's player character, No. 1999—his memories and experiences.
'Hmm, having lived through the memories firsthand, I can kinda see why No. 1999 hates the Heavenly Demon so much. ...Not that it matters to me. ...Man, his mom from those old memories was a total babe, just like in the illustrations. Too bad she got killed by the Heavenly Demon ages ago... tsk.'