Chapter 116: The Festival Where Moonlight Dwells (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 116: The Festival Where Moonlight Dwells (1)
[To learn the 1-Star Barrier 'Optical Refraction', you must arrange three runic words...]
That's easy.
Before the explanation could even finish, Jinhyuk drew the runes in the blink of an eye.
The 'Mark of the Moon' engraved on his shoulder instantly burst into a dazzling light.
[You have acquired the 1-Star Barrier 'Optical Refraction'.]
[You have won the Cookie Bag Event!]
[750,000 Coins have been refunded!]
[Would you like to attempt learning the next barrier?]
It was a process where new information was added to his existing knowledge.
Like a form of rote learning, new details about Optical Refraction seeped into Jinhyuk's mind.
Oh? So Optical Refraction could be used in this way too?
An intrigued smile brushed across Jinhyuk's lips.
Even if he already knew 99% of it, if there was just 1% of freshness, that alone made learning the ability well worth it.
This was why it was good to choose a class he had never played before.
For the first time in a very long while, he was learning things about the Tower he hadn't known before.
Acquiring it officially definitely helps in understanding the barrier more perfectly.
Jinhyuk immediately unlocked the next barrier.
[To learn the 1-Star Barrier 'Darkness Underfoot'...]
A trap-type barrier this time?
Just like before, Jinhyuk drew and arranged the runes before the explanation could even get halfway through.
There was no need to even listen to hints about the basic formula.
Something of this level...
...was a level of difficulty he could do in his sleep.
Well, it is only a 1-Star, after all.
Muttering half-heartedly, Jinhyuk received the next task.
Thus began a countless cycle of taking on challenges and getting his Coins refunded.
For most players who chose the Barrierist class, these were difficult puzzles they would have to rack their brains and groan over just to barely solve.
But to Jinhyuk, they were the absolute basics of basics.
Time passed.
The number indicating the star-rank of the barriers rose.
[2-Star...]
[3-Star...]
The status window flashed rapidly.
As the difficulty rose, the speed at which he acquired the barriers actually grew faster.
The veteran was gradually getting into his groove.
Eventually...
[Stop it already, you crazy bastard!]
[Do you think we run this business on dirt?!]
[How is this guy draining everything we have without spending a single Coin! You little punk...!]
The system, pushed past its limit, began to run wild.
His actions completely disregarded any sense of business ethics.
Since he was infinitely repeating the process of giving and taking back a whopping 750,000 Coins, it was only natural for the system to get pissed off.
However, Jinhyuk lightly brushed off the system's warnings.
"Wow. This place is a goldmine. At this rate, even the Giving Tree would look like a pushover compared to you guys."
Whether they took a loss or not was their problem.
He was merely exercising his rights fairly under the established rules.
Jinhyuk accelerated his pace even further.
The incredibly complex barriers were all conquered one by one.
And finally...
[You have acquired the 117th barrier.]
He had cleared every single learnable barrier.
It had taken him a mere two and a half hours.
* * *
The 6th Floor of the Tower of Trials.
Having finished all his business outside the Tower, Jinhyuk headed to the meeting place to participate in the elves' festival.
It's nice and quiet, but this makes me feel like the protagonist of an apocalypse.
It was already a place players rarely visited, but after the news of the 10th Floor's clear spread, it had turned into a complete ghost forest.
Then again, only those who received permission from the player who cleared the 10th Floor could enter it.
Naturally, everyone was bound to be searching frantically for Unknown.
To be precise...
For Cheon Yu-seong, whom they believe to be Unknown.
A sly grin spread across Jinhyuk's face.
He had already scattered bait all over the community forums suggesting that Cheon Yu-seong was Unknown.
Although the posts were purely circumstantial, he had added plausible hypotheses, which successfully hooked quite a few fish.
Though he couldn't know for sure, Cheon Yu-seong was likely surrounded by countless reporters, guild officials, and obsessive fans right now, creating a scene that would put Haeundae Beach in August to shame.
He had intentionally excluded Cheon Yu-seong's presence from the 10th Floor raid video for exactly this reason.
I should probably apologize to him later or something.
It wasn't like this was the first or second time. If he apologized with utmost sincerity, Yu-seong would probably understand.
Probably...
Most likely.
Jinhyuk wiped all thoughts of Cheon Yu-seong from his mind.
Considering what that tiresome swordsman had put him through in the past, this didn't even qualify as revenge.
Instead of dwelling on troublesome thoughts, Jinhyuk pulled his cute pet out of his dimensional subspace inventory.
Waddling out, Goguma eagerly looked around.
Since he was a newborn, everything must look fascinating to him.
"Green mogi!"
"Yes, yes. That's called grass."
Jinhyuk watched Goguma sniffing the grass with a warm, pleased expression.
Watching the black Goguma wriggle around, he felt a sudden desire to visit a snowy floor with him someday.
After all...
...roasted sweet potatoes always went best with winter.
A happy and peaceful atmosphere ensued.
At least, until Goguma tried to stuff a poisonous mushroom into his mouth.
"Wait! You can't eat that!"
"Red mogi!"
Goguma munched and swallowed the fly agaric.
It was useless to stop him.
He shook his head vigorously, determined not to let it be taken away, so how could Jinhyuk possibly stop him?
Of course, an Ancient Species wouldn't get sick from eating a single poisonous mushroom, but...
"Sigh."
Jinhyuk let out a sigh filled with complicated emotions.
This must be why parents say you can't take your eyes off a child for even a single second.
After the brief commotion, Jinhyuk strolled through the forest with Goguma.
There were about three hours left.
He had to hurry to arrive on time.
How long did they walk past the familiar trees and foliage?
Finally, the two arrived at the designated meeting spot.
However...
Damn elves.
Even though he had arrived right on time, Silvia was nowhere to be seen, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Did living for over a thousand years make them view being an hour or two late as some sort of artistic leisure?
He seriously began to wonder if she would still take punctuality so lightly if he hung her upside down for that amount of time... He really wanted to test it.
But Jinhyuk soon shook his head.
Forget it.
Discussing the value of time with creatures who lived like carefree immortals would only be a waste of his own breath.
I might as well finish what I couldn't wrap up at the hotel.
He had originally planned to do it after entering the elven village.
But since he had some free time, taking care of it now wasn't a bad idea.
Jinhyuk immediately activated his status window.
——————————————————
Name: Kang Jinhyuk
Gender: Male
Age: 27
Level: 35
Strength: 20 / Agility: 20 / Stamina: 20 / Mana: 80 / Gap: 100 / Luck: 10 / Adaptive: 78
Stat Points Available: 15
Coins: 127,558
Class: Rune Interpreter
Unique Abilities: 'Fusion', 'Grave of Swords', 'Blessing of the Stars', 'Judgment of Anubis', 'Blood Demon Qi', 'Mandala', '1-Second Invincibility'
Skills: Lv6 'Fire Element', Lv5 'Gluttony's Eye', Lv4 'Communion', Lv5 'Brand of the Flame Soul', Lv4 'Monopolize', Lv4 'Shallow Breathing', Lv8 'Glacial Shaping', Lv4 'Daylight', Lv2 'Giant's Grasp', Lv3 'Soul-Chasing Sword', Lv1 'Double Agent', Lv1 'True Grand Purity Hwarang Heart Method', Lv2 'Sword Demon Emperor Stepss', Lv1 'Faint Body Scent', Lv1 'Mental Barrier', Lv1 'Heavenly Melody', Lv1 'Another World Restaurant'
Barriers: The number of learned barriers is too high; switched to 'Collapsed' state.
——————————————————
A thoroughly packed status window.
All of this was the proof of how hard he had run to get here.
Since there are so many types of barriers, I guess they're displayed like that.
The important thing was distributing the stat points he had obtained from defeating the Rock Giant.
Jinhyuk's eyes narrowed.
Until now, he had mainly increased his Mana, but from here on, he needed to mix things up a bit.
Since I skipped four floors at once, I'll need to balance my other stats starting from the 11th Floor.
Especially Stamina.
To synergize with his passive skill, 'Shallow Breathing', it was best to raise his Stamina stat.
This was because battles would only grow longer or devolve into chaotic brawls more frequently in the future.
[Strength increases from 20 → 22.]
[Agility increases from 20 → 22.]
[Stamina increases from 20 → 31.]
He raised the other stats slightly, but placed the heavy emphasis on Stamina.
With that, the stat distribution was complete.
I'm getting stronger and stronger.
His experience as a veteran, his rapidly filling skill list, and on top of that, the massive stat rewards from first-ever clears.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Jinhyuk's heart began to beat rapidly.
Watching himself grow to a level that no one could dare hope to match, he found it hard to suppress his excitement.
Yes.
I will continue to stay at the very front.
Without a single mistake, he would produce the best results through the most optimal path.
After all, that was why he had reached the summit of the Tower in the past.
And...
Because if it's not me, no one else will ever see the summit of the Tower.
No one else could do it.
Only one person in the world.
The only one who can climb this Tower to the very end is me.
Jinhyuk steeled his resolve once more.
But right then...
"Oh! You're here early!"
An elf with short hair and pointed ears emerged from beyond the bushes.
It was the ranger, Silvia.
Jinhyuk's eyebrows twitched into a frown.
"...Early?"
She said early?!
"W-what's wrong?"
"Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting here?"
"Huh? Well, I'm not entirely sure..."
Silvia shook her head slightly.
Sigh.
You walked right into this one.
"Do you see this? I've been waiting so long that mushrooms are starting to grow on my body."
"Uh... I don't think I see anything..."
"Quiet! What gives you the right to raise your voice right now? Huh?! And on top of that, my kid got an upset stomach from eating those!"
Jinhyuk pointed his finger at Goguma's mouth.
"Red mogi!"
Leftover crumbs of the fly agaric were still clinging to the corners of Goguma's mouth.
It was an utterly absurd claim that defied common sense, but under Jinhyuk's rapid-fire barrage of words, Silvia's face turned pale.
Her lips trembled as if her soul had completely left her body.
Teasing an inexperienced rookie ranger was child's play.
It was like the difference between a hundred-year-old sly serpent and a newly hatched yellow chick.
In the end, Silvia had to pay a heavy price for being about thirty minutes late.
"I-I see... I-I'm so sorry. I thought I came quickly. I had no idea you'd been waiting for so long."
"Let's be more careful in the future. Understood?"
"Yes, yes! I'll make sure to be on time next time."
Silvia nodded her head rapidly.
Seeing her completely submissive, Jinhyuk's mood improved slightly.
When it came to relieving stress, nothing beat teasing a frightened newbie.
"By the way, why were you so late?"
"Ah. Actually, I had some work to do regarding the festival. It might sound like an excuse, but I was incredibly busy."
"Well, gathering 'Swamp Figs' is indeed no easy task."
At Jinhyuk's words, Silvia's pupils shook violently.
"H-how do you know about that?"
How did he know?
He knew because he had been permanently banished from their village in the past.
He remembered how the elves had worked themselves to the bone back then just to gather those fruits.
"I just overheard it somewhere."
Giving a vague excuse, Jinhyuk turned toward the forest.
"T-the village is to the left..."
Tsk, tsk.
And she calls herself an elf.
"This way is much faster."
Silvia reached out her hand, but Jinhyuk didn't even pretend to listen as he took the lead.