A Contest of Yielding

The snakemen really went and trolled the whole fight. Jin-soo watched them thrash in their death throes and let out a bitter smile. Poison was undeniably troublesome. With exceptional mana control and high Durability and Stamina, a body could hold out for quite a long time even after the toxin had seeped in.

But the simple fact that they can't breathe freely is already a disadvantage in a fight. Merely enduring was a disadvantage in itself.

I never learned a detox skill either. There was no suitable partner to synthesize it with.Skill Synthesis did not mean he could possess every skill. It still required a compatible pair with a high chance of success. Without a well-matched partner—skills such as Sanctuary or Detoxification—even Jin-soo had no way to learn them. Another problem was that he could not raise a synthesized skill's level the moment it was made.

No matter how many points I have, buying class-change manuals and skill books without end is a waste. For that reason, he had long since pushed back the work of turning the class skills of healer, archer, tank, and mage into new synthesized skills.

For now, warrior, assassin, and summoner are enough. The skills of the other classes could be learned at his leisure once the class-level lock's value had climbed and he had accumulated enough level locks. There would be no harm in taking them slowly. Because of that, he had lately come to rely on Shin Sua's healer skills more and more. Even among healer skills, she could wield a wider variety of class skills and exclusive skills than he could, and her skill levels were higher besides. From the standpoint of efficiency, it was only natural.

Jin-soo and Cheon Museong's overwhelming martial might, Shin Sua's flawless support, and the snakemen's trolling all came together, and the dragonkin's numbers fell away fast.

I should be able to restock dragonkin teeth while I'm at it. The teeth of the lizardmen that inhabited Floor 51 had been used up long ago. Not that I would have used them even if any were left. The Dragon Tooth Soldiers summoning skill depended heavily on the quality of its materials. No matter how high he raised it, lizardman teeth from Floor 51 were utterly useless on the Tower's 200th Floor.

But teeth from dragonkin that clearly rank among the very best even on the 200th Floor are another matter. At the very least, they ought to remain a serviceable fighting force all the way to Tower Floor 300. And sometimes a fight calls for a swarm. He had raised the Dragon Tooth Soldiers skill a great deal, yet without worthwhile dragonkin teeth he had never been able to use it to its full potential.

There should be three thousand of them at the very least. Dragonkin teeth were a fairly common material drop. So common that high-level Players don't even consider them worth listing at the auction house. Low-level Players did sell them there, but teeth taken from dragonkin on the lower floors were of no use to Jin-soo. I'll stockpile as many as I can while I have the chance.

He set his thoughts in order and kept his body moving. All the while the dragonkin dwindled, until a sickening crunch split the air.

"Kyaaaak!"

In the end, they hunted down every last one of the thousand dragonkin.

The moment the mission cleared, light flared, and four Sun-Moon Divine Pellets—the Ilwol Sindan—materialized before Jin-soo's eyes.

"Take one each, for now."

He passed a pellet to Cheon Museong and another to Shin Sua.

"The one that remains should be yours, My Lord."

"Yeah. I think that's best."

One each went to Cheon Museong and Shin Sua, and the last Sun-Moon Divine Pellet was yielded to Jin-soo.

"I'll take it, with thanks."

He did not bother to refuse. He tipped one back and swallowed, and a change came over his body.

Having confirmed that the mission reward was the Sun-Moon Divine Pellet, he was maintaining his dark-affinity status window. It was the first time he had taken an Ilwol Sindan under the dark window rather than the holy one. Bone creaked. Flesh crackled. The transformation was not as dramatic as the first time he had consumed one under the holy-affinity window, but he could feel with perfect clarity that his physical ability and the efficiency of his mana circuits had risen.

Just as taking the pellet under the holy window had raised the efficiency of his Holy Body, this time—under the dark window—the efficiency of his Dark Body rose.

Good. One more. Still holding the dark-affinity window, he took a second pellet. A faint change stirred through his body.

The effect is much weaker. Just as when he had taken a second Demon Spirit Divine Pill, he could feel the efficiency drop to about a tenth. The rise in his Dark Body came with the qualifier slightly.

"My Lord, is there an effect?"

"Yes. You'll see for yourselves once you take one, but a repeat dose definitely loses efficiency. It's only about a tenth. Same as the Demon Spirit Divine Pill—if the two ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of you take a Sun-Moon Divine Pellet now, a third one won't do anything."

"But did My Lord not take three?"

"My circumstances are a little different. I'll be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠needing one more yet."

"Um, then I'll..."

Shin Sua was just about to offer him her share of the Sun-Moon Divine Pellet when a sharp fwip cut the air. Cheon Museong invoked the secret of his finger-flick art and sent the pellet he had received flying straight at Jin-soo's mouth. Jin-soo caught it neatly out of the air.

"Why were you trying to put this in my mouth?"

"This old man has received a great deal of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠My Lord's grace, yet I had no means to repay it and was sorely troubled. I merely meant to yield the Sun-Moon Divine Pellet."

Regret showed on his face as he spoke. The distance had been short, and Jin-soo had let his guard down; he had been certain he could pop it straight into his lord's mouth, and he had failed. I shall have to train all the harder from here on.

"I—I was going to yield my Sun-Moon Divine Pellet to you too, Jin-soo! The old man threw his right in the middle of my sentence and cut me off!"

Shin Sua raised her voice, her face full of indignation. She truly felt wronged. She had failed to give him one last time and had been determined not to let it happen again, only for the first move to be stolen from her.

"Don't eat the one the old man gave you. Eat mine..."

She thrust the pellet out toward him.

"Was young lady Sua not refused once already? To press the matter a second time is rather..."

"You tried to force it down his throat, old man! That's the bigger problem!"

Their gazes crashed together in the empty air so fiercely that it seemed sparks might fly.

"Uh..."

For a moment, their attitudes left Jin-soo dumbfounded. It's not that urgent. Why are they like this? A further dose would only carry a tenth of the effect. Waiting for another to appear later would not be much of a problem. Though there's always the chance one might never appear at all. By that measure, taking an extra one now was unquestionably better. And the same goes for the old man and Sua.

They were Players too. Even if the efficiency fell to a tenth, they had to know that eating it was pure gain—and yet here they were, locked in a fierce contest of wills, each determined to yield theirs to him. I can't say I mind. He was bewildered, but the sight of Cheon Museong and Shin Sua fighting for the right to give up their share for his sake warmed him.

In an ordinary party, they'd be raising hell to claim an extra share, even if it meant snatching someone else's. When a reward like a spiritual elixir did not come out one for each member, people usually fought to seize even one more. To inflate their own contribution they would praise themselves—I performed the best, or While you lot killed one, I killed two—and just as readily tear their comrades down. Weren't you just watching? Your heal was late, and I nearly died.

Jin-soo's party, by contrast, was busy yielding to one another. He was only human. Of course it pleased him.

"It'd really be better if the two of you just ate one each..."

"That will not do. Do not disregard this old man's sincerity."

"He's right. Last time I ended up eating mine before I knew what was happening, but not this time. Absolutely not."

They cut him off and fixed him with sharp looks, and his expression turned awkward.

"Pray partake at once, My Lord."

"Hurry up and eat it, Jin-soo."

They watched him, eyes bright with expectation.

I offered first, so he will take what I offered.

The old man offered once. I offered twice. So he'll eat mine.

Each of them sparkled with the hope that Jin-soo would eat the pellet they had given.

This is a lot of pressure. If he had his way, he would have popped one into each of their mouths. But both of them had their lips pressed firmly shut, and that was clearly hopeless. Whose do I eat?

After a brief hesitation, he switched his status window to the holy affinity and put Shin Sua's pellet in his mouth. He felt his flesh shift, faintly. This is the weakest effect yet. He had changed the window, but the body was the same. There was nothing to be done about it.

A system message appeared, announcing a slight rise in the efficiency of his Holy Body. An effect, at any rate.

"Heh."

Shin Sua wore a victor's smile. Cheon Museong's face was full of regret. In truth, the reason Jin-soo had taken Sua's pellet rather than Cheon Museong's was simple. It's a matter of efficiency. A ten-percent rise in the physical ability and mana-circuit efficiency of Cheon Museong—who could fairly be called a damage tank—was a meaningful change. For Shin Sua, a healer, a rise in physical ability might as well not exist; all that mattered was a ten-percent gain in mana-circuit efficiency. From the standpoint of strengthening the party, it was better for Cheon Museong to take the Sun-Moon Divine Pellet.

"Eating any more won't do me any good. Take it."

With those words, he passed the pellet back to Cheon Museong.

"Next time, I shall not lose."

"And I fully intend to beat you again next time, old man."

They locked eyes once more, and Jin-soo did his best to settle his baffled heart as he gathered the spoils. Nothing particularly useful among the class-change manuals or skill books. Dragon teeth, on the other hand, had dropped in abundance. Three thousand two hundred and twenty-three. For a while, he would be able to swell the ranks of his Dragon Tooth Soldiers and grind the hunt with them.

Once the party had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠collected the loot, they left the hidden dungeon and returned to the hunt.

This is quite usable. The duplicate dose had only added about ten percent of the original effect, and yet even that made hunting monsters far easier.

Are there other special elixirs out there, like the Demon Spirit Divine Pill or the Sun-Moon Divine Pellet? Before his regression, the only special elixir Jin-soo had known was the Demon Spirit Divine Pill. After regressing, he had obtained the Holy Body Pellet, the Dark Body Pellet, and the Sun-Moon Divine Pellet, and consuming them had granted him a sturdier body and stronger mana circuits.

There's no guarantee there aren't more. Being a regressor did not mean he knew everything. The Tower was vast beyond any measure of its end, and no single human could uncover every secret simply by having passed through it once. But twice is better than once. If one were given the chance to walk a path already traveled, then of course one could unearth more secrets than the first time through.

With that thought, Jin-soo carried on hunting monsters.