Difficulty Increase
Difficulty Increase 038
Baengnae and I sprinted through the monkey forest. With power surging through us, we never slowed even on the roughest terrain, clearing every obstacle in our path. Roughly an hour later, after cutting through countless monkey packs, we finally reached the maze wall. Since this was fundamentally a maze, we were bound to hit a wall eventually. It was pure luck we had not been blocked until now.
The snake pointed beyond the wall. The way its tongue flicked sharply suggested our destination lay just on the other side.
“Going around would take too long, wouldn’t it…?”
The barrier stretched endlessly left and right. Detouring could easily waste several hours. Not a reasonable option.
I studied the maze wall. It resembled a rammed-earth rampart built from packed soil and timber more than any modern structure. If I focused, I could find handholds among the embedded roots and branches. Normally I would never consider it, but climbing seemed the most efficient strategy available.
“Baengnae, want to stay inside?”
“Baengnae do too.”
Baengnae looked fired up after eating the apple. This would be good exercise for her as well. Just in case, I lashed our waists together with nearby vines. The wall stood about fifty meters tall. The old me would never have attempted it, but now it felt doable. My brain had already accepted that I had left the realm of ordinary humans behind.
According to community intel, the wall held no special traps or dangerous creatures. Surprisingly, the information came from the lifestyle board. Many Stage 4 users found life atop the walls safer than on the flat ground. In a way, the walls were a proven safe zone.
‘Though it depends on the wall…’
We began scaling the monkey habitat wall bit by bit. Whenever we lacked a grip, I used the Golem Ring to shape small stone handles. We reached the top without any real trouble.
‘Much easier than I expected.’
The view from the summit was spectacular. From this height I could see other walls layered in the distance, with dense forest filling the spaces between. As long as the forest continued, we were still inside monkey territory.
“It really is a fine view. I can see why so many live up here… but how do they get food? Do they beg?”
“Hee… monkeys down there.”
Below where Baengnae pointed, our target lay right at our feet. A monkey troop lived pressed against the wall itself. Yet these monkeys differed from the ones we had seen before. They had built crude huts using the surrounding trees, clearly influenced by a special artifact. After settling here, their numbers had grown and a society had formed. When an artifact was guarded by native creatures rather than standing alone like the White Tower, this was the usual outcome. The creatures themselves were affected by the growth effect, so prolonged exposure caused their packs to swell. Numbers were one issue, but with high-grade artifacts the creatures’ individual strength could also increase dramatically. That was the main reason Stage 4 grew more dangerous over time.
‘Of course, the difference isn’t that big yet.’
I analyzed their formation. This was the largest group we had encountered, but none of the individuals felt particularly strong. I placed a hand on Baengnae’s shoulder.
“Stay inside for a bit.”
“Madda.”
The moment I thought about storing the zombie, Baengnae vanished from the spot as if sucked away. Time to descend—or rather, climb down the wall. I used the Golem Ring to create two sturdy stone hooks.
‘Whew… looking down while going makes it feel completely different from going up.’
Crunch—thud—crunch—
I slid downward, hooking the grapples onto roots or scraping them into the earthen wall. Whenever a section looked risky I drove a hook deeper and paused. As expected, the monkeys soon spotted me.
“Ook-ook! Ooo!”
“Wak-wak-wak! Ooo!”
They hurled stones, trying to knock me off. Too late. I was already halfway down the wall. Thirty meters put me well within summoning range.
Slither—slither—
Zombies began appearing one by one near the base of the wall where I stood. Baengnae, freshly summoned, drew her sword and shouted.
“Let’s go!”
The zombies charged the monkeys. The melee began. I continued my leisurely descent. Automatic hunting was remarkably convenient, regardless of how strong I felt. I could understand why users turned into lazy bums. As stages rose, users became superhuman. In my case I also had proper training and extra growth from Stage 3 resources, but the fact remained that every user had grown far beyond their Earth-era selves. Still, only a minority fought directly.
‘I need to stay careful too.’
The zombies were merely tools. I could not afford to grow completely reliant on them fighting for me. I would never hand everything over to those scrawny things anyway.
Thud—
My feet touched the ground. No living monkeys remained. The moment I landed, the talking zombies crowded around, each chattering at once.
“Baengnae did it!”
“Master! Can we eat the monkeys?”
“They were faster than usual.”
“My arm hurts.”
‘Having this many talkers is exhausting.’
Human nature was truly fickle. When I only had idiots, I had wished for zombies that could communicate. Now that plenty of them could talk, it just felt tiring.
I ordered the zombies to eat one monkey each and examined the boot that had complained of pain.
“Hmm…”
The boot had lost three arms back in Stage 3. Since then, steady monkey consumption had slowly regrown the missing parts. Yet the arm the boot claimed hurt was one of the intact ones. I noticed something odd.
‘A needle?’
A long needle was embedded behind the boot’s elbow. I called Nareun-i and asked about it. She reported that one of the monkeys had been able to shoot needles.
‘Hmm…?’
The monkey habitat had seen plenty of user traffic, so information was abundant. Yet there had been no reports of needle-shooting monkeys. The only notable individual in this area was the giant Monkey King.
‘Is this because of the difficulty increase? This is… good, right?’
Strong individuals meant strong zombies. As long as they did not become an overwhelming threat, the appearance of powerful specimens was always welcome.
“When the needle-shooting monkey revives as a zombie later, bring it to me. Let’s see what makes it special.”
“Ah… well, um.”
“Why?”
Nareun-i pointed at Baengnae. Apparently the monkey Baengnae was currently eating had been the needle-shooter. When I looked over, Baengnae waved.
“This is delish!”
‘She somehow always picks the strongest one to eat…’
“Never mind. Another one will show up eventually.”
I pulled the needle from the boot’s arm and ordered it to eat two more monkeys. The boot looked delighted at the increased meal.
“Eating! Monkeys are great!”
“Yeah, eat plenty and heal up fast.”
I left the zombies to enjoy their meal and headed toward the monkeys’ huts. Following the snake’s direction, I found a flat circular stone slab five meters across inside one of the structures. Once I checked the slab’s information, I understood why it had been kept indoors.
[Cool Slab]
[Standing on the slab grants a small Agility increase every 4 hours.]
‘They really have all kinds of things.’
The huts seemed built to shelter against rain and other environmental hazards. Imagining the monkeys taking turns sitting on the slab was oddly amusing. Without further delay I used the storage skill.
Hum—hum—
Cracks spread across the stone. From the center sprouted a bamboo shoot as thick as my forearm. I examined the plant’s information.
[Cool Slab’s Fruit X]
[An item harvested through a highly unusual method. Consuming it grants the skill ‘Wind Stride.’]
‘Huh…?’
I tilted my head. Even a low-grade item producing a skill was excellent news. Yet something did not add up. As far as I knew, skills never appeared from low-grade artifacts.
‘Is this also an effect of the difficulty increase?!’
First the needle-shooting monkey, now a change in the Fruit of Good and Evil. Cat-nim had mentioned improved quality of the fruits. I had assumed it only meant bigger stat gains, but it seemed fundamentally superior rewards were now possible. A smile crept onto my face without my realizing it.
Every ranker on the community stressed the importance of skills. Even if a summon’s raw power was slightly lacking, a single skill could flip the outcome of a decisive moment. I agreed completely. I did not have to look far for an example. Altos and the purple dwarves had nearly killed Baengnae and me despite their trash-tier bodies, hadn’t they? The ability to create variables was extremely useful when facing stronger opponents.
‘I don’t know what Wind Stride does, but having it is definitely better than not having it.’
I yanked the bamboo shoot free from the slab and raised it to my mouth, then hesitated.
‘Wait… can users also get skills?’
I had no idea. The possibility seemed low. If skills could be granted to users, the community would definitely have mentioned it. A strong feeling told me it would not work.
‘Tch… if it fails I just waste the reward…’
It would be the same as receiving only a summon’s item as compensation. Just then Baengnae walked in.
“Baengnae’s here.”
She had finished her assigned monkeys and come looking for me out of boredom—or more likely to beg for another one. The latter seemed far more probable. I handed her the bamboo shoot. Baengnae held it with both hands and looked up at me, puzzled.
“Eat it.”
She did not know what it was, but the instruction to eat made happiness bloom across her face.
“Hehe. Madda!”
Chomp-chomp—nom-nom-nom.
She ate without even asking what it was. If it was food, everything was good to her.
“Baengnae.”
“Hm?”
“If a bad uncle says he’ll buy you candy and tells you to follow him, what do you do?”
There was a famous Earth video about teaching children to shout “No!” if a stranger offered candy. Baengnae, still chewing the shoot, grinned and answered.
“Um. Give uncle candy too.”
‘Ah, right… the one who needed to be careful was the bad uncle.’
It had been a stupid question. The uncle was the candy. I took out the apple I had stored earlier and bit into it.
Crunch—
‘Yuck, still tastes awful… huh?’
Then I noticed very good news. The snake bracelet on my wrist. Among the snakes, the green one had lifted its head high and was flicking its tongue. A mid-grade artifact was very close by.