The Goddess of the Hidden Temple
"Whoa. Ian, are you trying to sabotage my business?"
Park Siwoo asked, his arms crossed as he tilted his head slightly.
"Do you want me to show you what real sabotage looks like?"
Seo Ian didn't back down, stepping forward to retort.
"...No."
It didn't take long for my feelings to shift from 'serves you right' to 'I feel sorry for you.'
"In that case, I'll take two."
And so, I ended up buying two capsule recovery potions.
As Seo Ian handed them over, she asked what my main weapon was. When I told her the truth—that it was a light bowgun—she said that someone who only dealt chip damage from the back didn't need to bother with doping in a special floor. She claimed that a regular drinkable recovery potion would be more than enough to cover me. She even added some advice, telling me to save the capsule potions I bought today for when I climbed the Tower on my own later.
"Come to think of it, Mr. Hwang Gyubeom was a melee dealer using a greatsword, right?"
From his perspective, doping was necessary even in a special floor, which was why he had told me about it. Since things had turned out this way, I figured I might as well practice doping in advance. It felt like a bit of advanced learning.
I had planned to dope anyway, since the mortality rate tends to spike from the 10th floor and up. However, it turned out that for a ranged dealer in a special floor, it wasn't strictly necessary.
Perhaps Seo Ian was right. When I returned to my spot, Hwang Gyubeom scratched the back of his head and spoke to me.
"I should have asked what weapon you use first. I'm sorry..."
"It's fine. It was a big help, thanks to you."
I gave him a bright smile to ease his apologetic expression and pulled out a capsule recovery potion.
"Oh, wait! You!"
As I opened my mouth wide and used my phone screen as a mirror to try and wedge the capsule between my teeth and gums, Hwang Gyubeom rushed toward me.
"Yes?"
"Doping is supposed to be done at the very last second! Anyway, is that all you bought from that armor-clad woman?"
He asked.
"Yes."
"It would have been great if you'd bought an experience potion, too."
He said, looking at me with regretful eyes.
"...I've never heard of that."
Unlike the system, our Mr. Hwang Gyubeom wasn't unkind. When I said I didn't know, he hit the nail on the head and explained everything about experience potions. To summarize, it was a potion that doubled experience gain. Because it was difficult to craft, it wasn't available in normal situations and was only traded occasionally in special floors where experience efficiency relative to level was maximized.
"Excuse me, Park—I mean, Awakened Seo Ian!"
I spoke to the wholesaler, not the retailer.
"Huh?"
"Could you possibly sell me an experience potion as well?"
"Give me 500 T.C."
"Is it possible to get two?"
"Then give me 1,000 T.C."
It was the same when we met during an intrusion, but Seo Ian was the textbook definition of a clean, no-nonsense trader.
"But you only need one, right? An experience potion lasts for 30 minutes. You'd be better off using the remaining T.C. to buy stats."
She was worried about my wallet.
"I still need two."
I naturally expected her to ask "Why?" since she was Seo Ian. But today, she didn't ask and just handed over two of them. It seemed like it was finally time for the boss to appear.
"Thank you!"
In truth, it was a gamble. A 30-minute 2x experience potion. Plus, the application of the Weakening God skill. 'Surely it won't just double the time to one hour instead of doubling the experience?'
Ah. Thinking about it made me anxious again. What's the best way to resolve the anxiety of an unknown result? Obviously, just trigger the result as quickly as possible!
Returning to Hwang Gyubeom's side, I started gulping down the experience elixirs.
"Ugh...!"
It wasn't just tasteless; it was bitter. It was truly the worst. It felt like chugging a liter of Panpyrin with the bitterness amplified fivefold. It felt like I was going to die.
As I grimaced uncontrollably, Hwang Gyubeom approached me, checking my complexion with concern.
"Are you alright?!"
"Guh..."
I tried to say "I'm fine," but my tongue felt paralyzed by the bitterness, and only saliva came out.
"I forgot to tell you! Experience potions are meant to be taken with resolve because they're so bitter!"
Ugh! Mister! Please don't forget to tell me things!!
I silently screamed my resentment.
At that moment. As everyone began to settle into their positions and finish preparing for the boss fight.
Seo Ian moved to a quiet spot and beckoned Park Siwoo over.
"What?"
"Hey. Is that guy Kim Uju?"
The special floor. A place only A-rank or higher Awakened could enter. A place everyone scrambled to get into because of the lucrative rewards. A newcomer who showed his face there for the first time today. Naturally, that meant he was an A-rank or higher Awakened who hadn't been awakened for long, and the only high-ranking Awakened who had awakened recently...
As far as Seo Ian knew, the only person who came to mind was Kim Uju, who had broken her 2nd-floor record and placed his name at the very top.
"That's right."
Park Siwoo, who had become the top enchanter in the country after Zhuge Qing ran off to China, had his position within the Association even more solidified. That meant the depth and breadth of information he could access had expanded significantly. Including, to some extent, personal information about Awakened.
"What's his trait?"
"He wouldn't tell me."
"..."
Seo Ian, who had been rubbing her chin as if lost in thought at Park Siwoo's answer, rolled her eyes to scan the newcomer up and down.
"...That guy. His voice is so similar to Rabbit's? I was so startled while hammering that I almost dropped my T.C."
Seo Ian's eyes scanned the newcomer even more persistently. Perhaps he felt that gaze; he looked toward Seo Ian for a moment before scurrying away to hide behind Hwang Gyubeom.
"Is it really that similar?"
Park Siwoo, who had never met Rabbit inside the Tower, asked.
"It's not just similar, it's exactly the same!"
Seo Ian answered without a moment's hesitation. However, Park Siwoo didn't find that credible. Seo Ian had a habit of exaggerating sometimes. Besides, Kim Uju's voice was a common, ordinary voice of a man in his late 20s. It meant there was nothing special about his voice, nothing that could identify him specifically.
"Sure. If you say so, then it must be."
Park Siwoo replied vaguely and nodded.
"And hey! You too, are you trying to rip off a newcomer? You, the one who was always going on about 'noobs, noobs'?"
Seo Ian was someone who could be more generous than anyone to promising Awakened. She believed that while it was good for Awakened to compete and develop, it was better to move toward a mutually beneficial relationship in the future. And hearing that, Park Siwoo felt wronged. Very much so.
"I wasn't trying to rip off a newcomer; I was going to give him a discount after chatting for a bit. But you just barged in without reading the room."
For an enchanter, the most important thing is, above all else, 'materials.' And to obtain those materials, T.C. is necessary. Of course, they handle more T.C. than Awakened who climb the Tower through crafting and sales. But the problem was that they spent just as much. That was why a connection with Awakened who climbed high floors was more important than anything else for an enchanter. To get better materials, and more of them!
And Park Siwoo had been interested in Kim Uju from the moment he first saw him. In most cases, when you ask about a 'trait,' they are busy bragging about it, but there are occasional exceptions. When one's own trait is so powerful that it can't be told to others. Fearing that they might be secretly targeted by spies from other countries or competitors while they were no different from ordinary people outside the Tower.
'Just what is his trait?'
At first, it was curiosity. That turned into conviction the moment he saw Kim Uju's 2nd-floor record.
'At the very least, he's material to become a top-tier player in South Korea!'
So Park Siwoo wanted to build a close relationship with him. And if he grew later, he wanted to establish a relationship as a good business partner. He had thought about buying his favor by showing a little kindness today as a foundation.
"Anyway, that guy, I'm sure he's Rabbit..."
Voice, physique, the way he stood, the way he walked. To Seo Ian, everything pointed to Kim Uju being Rabbit. But Park Siwoo didn't think so.
"He's just ordinary, isn't he? If you're right, people who could be identified as Rabbit would be all over the streets of Seoul."
In Park Siwoo's view, Kim Uju was a combat-type Awakened hiding a powerful attack trait. Even if he didn't know what that powerful attack trait was.
"But aren't you drinking too much?"
There were already eight empty transparent bottles rolling around on the floor.
"I suppose so. I'm full."
I answered honestly and wiped my mouth.
'Wait, can I even run in this state?'
The elixirs I brought in today: two bottles each of Boss Damage (hereinafter, Boss Dam) 20% increase, Intelligence 5 increase, and Defense Ignore Damage (hereinafter, Def-Ignore Dam) 50%. A total of 6 bottles. I had hurriedly made them yesterday to use today. Plus the two experience elixirs added today. I had just downed them straight.
Homework you don't want to do is always best handled quickly to put your mind at ease. My mind was at ease, but my stomach felt bloated.
'Status window.'
Checking if the Weakening God had been applied correctly, I saw the overlapping, enhanced effects.
The time had also been doubled. Experience duration increased from 30 minutes to 1 hour. The other elixirs increased from 5 minutes to 10 minutes. The efficiency was better than I thought?
My lips curled into a smirk. I had a good feeling about today.
I was looking at the status window with a swelling heart when, suddenly.
-Kugugung!
The text shook. Immediately after, the floor rose, and something in the shape of a statue revealed itself from within. A goddess statue at least seven stories high. But they didn't give me a chance to admire it. The other Awakened who had entered with me, that is.
-Whoosh! Bang!!
Not a single word, not even the sound of breathing could be heard. All that brushed past my ears were the sounds of wind being sliced and the impact of something massive exploding. Attacks followed in a rapid tempo. Just as my gaze was stolen by the flashy spectacle of skills made of mana...
Something floating above the goddess statue's right side caught my eye.
1st: Hong Jehun ??%
2nd: Seo Ian ??%
3rd: Im Jihwan ??%
"Was this really a damage meter?!"
Names shifted positions dozens of times in just a few seconds. Still, the 1st and 2nd places were only trading blows between the two of them, so it was less dizzying.
"No, now isn't the time for me to be admiring that!"
Contribution! I braced myself and pulled the light bowgun. Naturally, I added the Rapid Fire skill instead of basic attacks. They said mana wasn't consumed when using skills, even though basic stats were fixed at 1. Was there any need to use basic attacks?
-Shoosh! Shoosh!
Two arrows flew like lightning. They hit the goddess statue precisely. Since it was standing still, it was easy to hit, right? I thought my contribution would come out higher than expected.
-You lowly human! How dare you pierce the defense of me, the goddess!
At that moment, the goddess statue staggered and delivered a line. Had its health dropped to a certain point? It was a common phenomenon when transitioning phases. But why? This feeling that the stone eyes were looking exactly at me...?
"Huh?"
"Eh?"
"Oh?"
As the goddess statue spoke, some of the Awakened who couldn't hold it in let out dumbfounded noises. At the same time, everyone's attacks stopped abruptly. As if fearing something, they stumbled backward. The only ones standing firmly in place were Seo Ian, positioned in front of the goddess statue, and Hong Jehun, who looked like he was blocking the retreat behind it. Ah, I had been standing still too, but that was because I was flustered. Not because I didn't value my life.
"...Huh. Shit, why is that thing suddenly speaking?"
And that silence was broken by Seo Ian's incredulous tone.