Chapter 118
Chapter 118
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 118
Chapter Title: 31. Turning Point (1)
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“No, they’re differentiating the rewards?”
Ricardo unwittingly spat out a curt remark.
He flinched and quickly glanced at Youngwoo, who had played the role of the old swindler.
All three of them had fought desperately with their lives on the line, but without Youngwoo’s bizarre performance, they wouldn’t have reached this moment.
“Certainly, the contributions differed. No need to feel slighted.”
Otavio followed up with his thoughts on the ‘individual score calculation,’ and Ricardo soon nodded as well.
“Y-Yeah, that’s true. I don’t have any complaints about the differentiation itself...”
Ricardo trailed off.
Youngwoo had figured out over time that he was the type to speak first and think later, so he wasn’t offended.
If anything, he was grateful the system was taking care of giving him extra.
‘Even tracking individual scores... It’s way more meticulous than it seems.’
The only thing was, he couldn’t wait to see what that ‘reward’ would be.
Without Dogo’s assistance, they probably wouldn’t have escaped the dungeon at all.
No matter how you looked at it, this place was designed to kill at least one on entry. They’d forced their way through anyway... What kind of prize would it give?
‘Is there even a reward prepared? I doubt anyone thought someone would clear it to the end.’
His suspicion of this world, already deep since the first golden rain, had now carved out a full valley.
Drurrruk!
Soon, gears meshing sounded from the side of the ascending stone floor passage, and a welcome sight appeared before the three.
“Oh!”
“Finally.”
The dungeon’s starting point—with its ruin-themed walls and ceiling.
The stone floor showed no sign of moving further, emitting a sound like something locking below.
Clunk, kwang!
Almost simultaneously, the bonfire announced their individual scores.
「Individual score calculation complete.」
[1st] Youngwoo – Total 172/100
-Outstanding punching bag.
-Very high equipment score.
-Scammer.
[2nd] Otavio – Total 84/100
-Outstanding supporter.
-High equipment score.
-Has faith.
[3rd] Ricardo – Total 62/100
-Outstanding fighter.
-Amazing courage.
-Somewhat dim-witted.
“What? 62 points? You bastards!”
As expected, the scores were revealed, and Ricardo cursed immediately.
Meanwhile, Otavio spotted something odd in Youngwoo’s results amid all this.
“Youngwoo, isn’t your score over the max of 100?”
“Yeah, it is.”
Youngwoo nodded.
He’d been paying close attention since it was his own score.
172 out of 100.
Even Otavio, who’d been a model participant the whole time in the dungeon, only got 84.
Which meant.
‘The normal cap is 100. The format’s set up that way from the start.’
So why did Youngwoo get 172?
‘Obviously Dogo. I pulled off something impossible otherwise.’
As Youngwoo gazed at the d20 still in his hand, the Dogo quest hanging in the corner of his vision completed right on cue.
[Quest Complete – “Selling Out Soon”]
[Reward Granted]
|Survival Guaranteed
Nothing was actually given, but for Youngwoo, it was a bizarre situation where he’d clearly received a reward.
‘Thanks to that, I definitely survived.’
Next, the problematic weapon Youngwoo had dubbed the subspace bomb melted away into the air.
Shuririt.
“Whew.”
Youngwoo let out a hollow laugh, and then the dungeon system arrived with the ‘real reward.’
「Rewards distributed by confirmed ranking.」
[1st] Youngwoo – Accessory Compendium
[2nd] Otavio – Random Narrative Gear
[3rd] Ricardo – Random Unique Gear
“Oh...!”
“Unique? Holy shit!”
Otavio and Ricardo’s fortunes diverged.
But soon, both their gazes locked onto Youngwoo’s reward.
The first place got something completely different.
“What’s an Accessory Compendium? Never seen it before.”
To Otavio’s question, Youngwoo shrugged, meaning he didn’t know either.
“Dunno. I’ve seen all kinds of gear, but a compendium’s new to me.”
“Then you’ll have to claim it to find out.”
No sooner had Otavio spoken than flashes of light burst before each of them.
Paat!
Otavio received a silver-white box, Ricardo an orange one.
So this was.
“...Random boxes.”
Youngwoo muttered to himself, and Otavio asked him.
“What about the compendium? Did you get it?”
Youngwoo realized a flash had appeared before him too, but no physical item came.
Because.
「‘Compendium’ added to Jeong Youngwoo07’s data.」
What appeared after the flash was a notification, not a box.
‘A compendium added to my data?’
Realizing the dungeon’s first prize, the ‘Accessory Compendium,’ was a kind of system, Youngwoo immediately tried accessing it.
“C-Compendium open?”
He’d just said it offhand, but since he wanted to see it, it happened.
Hwaaat!
A large rectangular window popped up before his eyes, engraved with a number.
〔13〕
‘13...?’
After a moment’s thought, Youngwoo realized it was the number of accessories registered in the compendium.
And soon, the following message confirmed his guess.
「Welcome to your compendium, Jeong Youngwoo07!」
「The compendium is a support system for adventurers who explore the world far and wide.」
「The Accessory Compendium can store all types of accessories, and once registered, you can use their functions without wearing them directly.」
In other words, you could apply item effects without cluttering your body with gear.
Youngwoo was already running out of fingers for rings, and bracelets were maxed out.
Compasses and talismans that needed to be carried were piling up too.
Beyond storage issues, the biggest risk was losing them in intense combat.
‘Now I can buy infinite items. Even 100 rings would be like wearing them all.’
That was probably the compendium system’s true value.
Why it was only for the top contributor in this hellish dungeon.
‘Weapon or armor compendiums would be the most useful. Can’t carry more than four weapons no matter how bad you want them.’
Even Youngwoo, with remote weapon retrieval, could only count his belted weapon as active gear.
Armor was similar.
No matter how good new gear was, if it was a helmet, top, or pants, something had to go.
With a compendium like this, you could collect same-type gear purely by performance without worry.
‘Basically removes the combat power ceiling.’
As someone who’d streamed games, Youngwoo quickly grasped the new system’s potential.
‘Wonder if there are collection rewards in the compendium?’
The moment he wondered internally, the next message followed.
「Each compendium has unique collection effects. Exceeding certain completion thresholds grants amazing blessings or skills.」
‘Oh ho.’
A satisfied smile finally crossed Youngwoo’s face.
Exactly what he’d hoped for.
‘Blessings are probably permanent buffs.’
The system rarely used words like ‘amazing,’ which piqued his interest.
[Collection Effect: 10]
|All accessories’ uses +1
Finally, the compendium’s collection effect was displayed as announced.
‘Effects per 10 items? Wait, hold on.’
Youngwoo pulled an item from his pocket.
Suk.
The doping agent ‘Blue Blood.’
「Blue Blood」 - Mutation Drug
【Strength +30% for 10 minutes.】
【Uses: 2】
‘Unchanged. Drugs don’t count as accessories. Makes sense.’
On the other hand, the whistle around his neck seemed affected.
「Amber Whistle」 - Legendary Necklace
【Calls friends.】
|Youngtae, Taejun.
A book icon was attached to the right of the tooltip when touching the item.
‘Originally twice a day... Now up to three?’
As Youngwoo fiddled with the whistle, Otavio and Ricardo, who’d been staring blankly, finally spoke up.
“What the hell is it? Tell us too.”
Only then did Youngwoo realize.
They couldn’t see the compendium he had open.
“It’s like the compendium systems in games. So this is...”
Youngwoo tried to explain briefly, but the dungeon system didn’t allow it.
「Dungeon closing in 10 seconds.」
「Participants, please exit via portal.」
“Huh.”
“What...?”
No proper goodbyes, and it was splitting them already?
「9」
The bonfire above counted down meanwhile.
「8」
Otavio pounded the wall to open the portal and asked Youngwoo.
“If another dungeon opens tonight, would you join again?”
Implying if Youngwoo did, he’d bet his life again tonight.
「7」
Youngwoo had been mulling a second dungeon run moments ago, but after seeing the first-place compendium’s power, he’d mostly made up his mind.
「6」
“Yeah. Not sure if tonight, but if the chance comes, I’ll head back in.”
「5」
Otavio nodded at Youngwoo’s answer.
“Got it. See you if fate allows.”
「4」
Otavio turned to the portal but whipped back around.
“Youngwoo!”
“...?”
“You’re from South Korea, right? Just checking.”
「3」
“Yeah. South Korea. In Seoul now.”
“Ahh.”
Otavio’s face lit up like it all made sense.
「2」
He left final words as he stepped into the portal.
“Meeting outside the dungeon isn’t impossible! If you can cross Eurasia fast!”
Paat!
「1」
With one second left, as Youngwoo just entered the portal, Ricardo’s gruff voice rang in his ear.
“Survive and let’s meet again! Youngwoo!”
Shyaaa!
Leaving the South Americans’ farewell, Youngwoo passed through the portal and felt his vision darken instantly.
And.
Kurung!
Amid roaring thunder, obsidian rain pelted the ground.
Back in Paju, where the dungeon first opened.
“Back already.”
As Youngwoo blinked, the golden goblin and Negig, who’d waited at the entrance, came to greet him.
-Kkwiik!
-Kikit!
Youngwoo mounted Negig, draped his cape over the goblin, and checked the time.
‘7:52 AM.’
Time for sunrise, but bizarre weather kept the sky dark.
‘The dungeon vanished without a trace. Like a dream.’
But summoning the compendium brought up the accessory interface just as before.
Everything in the dungeon had been real.
Which meant Otavio and Ricardo, who’d gone through the opposite portal, had returned to their home countries.
“......”
Youngwoo thought of the two spending the night’s end in Italy and Brazil, then turned his gaze north.
Time to visit the closest foreign country now: North Korea.