Chapter 20: Ruins, Corridor of the Fallen (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 20: Ruins, Corridor of the Fallen (1)
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Looking at the flashing status window, Jinhyuk's heart beat rapidly.
A single line of text that read "Perk."
Yes.
He had been wondering about this all along.
He was the first to see the top of the tower, yet there had been no reward for it.
The reason the system had remained silent until now.
All of it.
'Did they plan to give it to me along with the Reboot Update?'
Jinhyuk quickly looked around.
"Forget that. So, how much is the daily wage?"
"I'd rather have Coins than cash."
"What? Mr. Park, what are you going to do with Coins? Climb the tower or something?"
"For porters like us, cash is king. Better to have crisp cash than let Coins rot when we can't even use them outside."
Everyone was too preoccupied talking about their daily wages.
If so, then...
This meant the reward was indeed given only to him.
"Confirm," Jinhyuk muttered quietly.
Then:
[The first perk is unlocked.]
[The passive skill 'Monopoly' is activated.]
[Monopoly]
[Description: If you take the final reward for yourself without sharing it, you will obtain the best possible reward among those available.]
[The Luck stat permanently increases by +10.]
[The Adaptive stat increases by +10.]
[Cold Heart is activated.]
[Cold Heart: Allows you to maintain composure even in urgent situations. However, your human emotions may fade.]
'Unbelievable!'
Jinhyuk clenched his fists without realizing it.
To get the absolute best reward just by monopolizing it...
Things he had never even dreamed of were popping up.
This was insane.
Truly insane.
And for good reason.
In the Tower of Trials, optional rewards appeared frequently.
They called it a "choice," but it was basically rolling a gacha.
There were even cases where only one out of thousands of options was a jackpot.
But this meant he could completely bypass those ridiculous odds.
As long as he didn't share with anyone else.
And met the condition of taking it all for himself!
‘Haha.’
Thanks to the countless experiences he had accumulated so far, he wasn't easily surprised.
But this time, it was hard to swallow the cheer rising up his throat.
He had to bite his lower lip hard with his molars to keep it in.
‘The Luck stat... I can't believe they even gave me this.’
While not as broken as 'Gap', in the notoriously difficult Tower of Trials, Luck boasted incredible efficiency.
To put it bluntly, defying all logic and overturning impossible situations all depended on this Luck stat.
‘I've never seen the Adaptive stat before...’
He could only guess that it meant adapting to something.
It was an ability that hadn't existed before.
Even excluding the last one, the other two perks were practically cheats.
Moreover, the fact that this was the "first" perk meant there was at least a second one.
‘Since no more status windows are appearing, I guess this is it for now.’
After carefully checking the rewards once more, Jinhyuk closed the status window.
Just in time, the discussion about the daily wage wrapped up.
"Three hundred a day isn't bad."
"What do you mean 'not bad'? We're risking our lives here. It means our lives are worth three hundred."
"Damn it, since when did you care about that? Besides, according to Assistant Manager Oh here, a really big guild is participating this time."
The porters' eyes turned to Oh Seung-hwan.
"Yes. This raid is a joint operation. A top-ten large guild and two mid-sized guilds are participating."
A large guild.
And a top-ten one at that was incredibly high-ranking, considering there were well over ten thousand guilds worldwide.
"Plus, many solo rankers are participating as well, so you don't have to worry too much."
"Is that so?"
"Pwahaha! Then we can just hide safely in the back and carry the luggage."
"It'll take about three weeks, so even after expenses, we'll walk away with five thousand each."
Everyone cheered at Oh Seung-hwan's words.
"Alright, alright. Now that we're done, let's wrap it up here."
"Hey, Mr. Park, Mr. Kim, how about a glass of soju? With some pork belly, huh?"
"Ah, soju sounds great. I was just craving a drink."
"I know a place nearby, just follow me. They do pork belly and skin incredibly well."
Before they knew it, the atmosphere had shifted to a drinking party.
"Hey, young man, aren't you coming? You've gotta knock back a glass of soju if you want to get through tomorrow's hard work!"
"I'm fine, thank you."
Jinhyuk shook his head.
Drinking when they should be resting up and getting into peak condition...
They really had no idea.
Just how dangerous the 1st-floor ruins were.
'Thinking they can clear it just because a mere top-ten guild is going is nonsense.'
The raid team's future was already set in stone.
Annihilation, or a devastating blow close to it.
It would be one of the two.
And Jinhyuk's goal was to find the opening that only a veteran could exploit within that predetermined outcome.
* * *
Crash!
A massive desk shattered, sending wooden splinters flying in all directions.
"Whew... Whew!"
The man's shoulders heaved heavily, unable to contain his rage.
"What... What kind of absolute embarrassment is this?!"
The master of the Black Crow Guild.
Shin Geon-su.
He was absolutely furious at the news he had just received.
And for good reason.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
He had kicked away the ladder to climb higher in this newly changed world.
And it was all because of a mistake made by the guy he trusted most.
"Do you have any idea... just how many Coins and items I invested to bring the Ssaulabi Guild over?!"
"I'm sorry."
Park Ha-jin, who was kneeling on the floor, bowed his head.
"Sorry? You're sorry? If you knew you'd be sorry, why did you screw up like that?!"
Shin Geon-su grabbed a golf club.
Then, he began to beat Park Ha-jin mercilessly.
Thwack!
Thud!
"Agh! Argh!"
"We fed your sister the most well-refined Goryeo Ginseng we had."
It was a stroke of luck that was practically a miracle.
They had given Park Ha-na the only Goryeo Ginseng that showed a refinement rate of over 50%.
"All you had to do was tag along and blow the trumpet when Park Ha-na got an A-rank."
His emotions poured into the violence.
Crack! Thud!
Back, shoulders, head.
Wherever his hands could reach, a merciless beating ensued.
"But you couldn't even do that one simple thing? Huh? Was it really that hard?!"
Whoosh!
Crack!
With a sound that sliced through the air, the golf club struck Park Ha-jin's head.
Red blood splattered across the floor.
"Ugh..."
Eventually, Park Ha-jin's body collapsed.
Only then did Shin Geon-su stop swinging and throw the golf club to the floor.
"That bastard who interfered. Who is he? Tell me what he does."
"H-He... goes by the name Kang Jinhyuk."
Kang Jinhyuk?
It was a name he had never heard before.
"His rank?"
"..."
Park Ha-jin didn't answer.
To be precise, he couldn't.
"I can't hear you. I asked what his rank is!"
As Shin Geon-su reached for the golf club again, a crawling voice finally leaked out.
"...It's F."
"F? F?!"
For a moment, Shin Geon-su felt as if he had been struck on the head with a hammer.
"Haha, this is absurd. So, you're telling me you got absolutely trashed by a rookie who got an F-rank?"
...What an idiot.
At this point, he was too dumbfounded to even be angry.
"Whatever. That bastard is going to take the second test soon, right? Take some guys and clean him up. There won't be any evidence left inside a dungeon anyway."
A kill order.
Shin Geon-su decided to mobilize the guild.
"Understood."
Park Ha-jin clenched his fists.
He had been caught off guard before, but this time would be different.
Now that Shin Geon-su had given the green light, a group of B-rank players would be mobilized.
'I'll play with him for as long as possible, just like he did to me... no, even more, before I kill him.'
Park Ha-jin's mind was filled with thoughts of Jinhyuk crying and begging for his life.
* * *
At 4:30 AM the next day.
Jinhyuk headed to the meeting place, the Tower of Trials.
"Ah, you're here. You're Mr. Kang, right?"
"Over here! Come this way."
Even before the sun had risen, the porters and miners had already arrived.
Since they had to ensure the players could focus solely on combat, the non-combat personnel had to move diligently.
Assistant Manager Oh Seung-hwan was nowhere to be seen.
'Well, he was just the broker manager.'
Instead, there were far more people waiting than the porters he had met yesterday.
After about ten minutes, someone cleared their throat.
"Ahem! Ahem! I'm Kim Kyung-yeol, the foreman in charge of provisions. You can just call me Foreman Kim."
A man who looked to be in his early fifties introduced himself.
"Our job is to carry a week's worth of food and other supplies for the 300-man raid team. In terms of weight, it'll be about 70 to 80 kilograms per person. It won't be easy, but the schedule is tight, so let's all do our best. Where else are you going to get paid three hundred a day if not here?"
Foreman Kim brought up the daily wage.
However, most of the faces were grim.
"Damn it. It's going to be heavy as hell."
"My back is going to break. You're saying we have to carry that all day?"
"Well, the weight will decrease as time goes on, so..."
"Stop complaining. Go to the front of the truck and get your stuff in order. They said we have to arrive by lunchtime."
Various voices chimed in.
They grumbled, but there was nothing they could do.
They had already signed a formal contract.
Soon, the porters were handed heavy-looking backpacks from the truck.
"Sh... Shit."
"Ugh!"
People grimaced as if they were carrying the weight of the entire world.
"Here, take it. No exceptions just because you're an F-rank, so don't play weak."
Foreman Kim handed a backpack to Jinhyuk.
But.
'Huh?'
Jinhyuk tilted his head as he slung the backpack over his shoulders.
It was light.
Excessively so.
'I can barely... feel any weight.'
But did this make sense?
His level had remained the same since the labyrinth.
Since decapitating the Mangrove, he hadn't raised his Strength stat further, so there was no way a backpack weighing over 70 kilograms should feel this light.
Could it be?
Something flashed through Jinhyuk's mind.
He immediately opened his personal status window.
--------------------------------------------------
Name: Kang Jinhyuk
Gender: Male
Age: 27
Level: 1
Stats: Strength 8, Agility 8, Stamina 8, Mana 11, Gap 100, Luck 10, Adaptive 10
Available Stat Points: 0
Coins: 12,740
Class: None
Unique Ability: Fusion
Skills: Lv2 'Fire Element', Lv2 'Eye of Truth', Lv1 'Communion', Lv2 'Brand of the Flame Soul', Lv1 'Monopoly', Lv1 'Shallow Breathing'
--------------------------------------------------
Only one thing.
Had changed.
The three perks given along with the announcement of the second update.
And among them, the last stat whose purpose was unknown.
[Adaptive Stat +10]
Yes.
This was it.
'Since I'm working as a porter, I adapted to it, making the weight feel light.'
If he assumed that, everything made sense.
Furthermore, if he could receive the same effect during combat or in other situations...
This was a stat incomparable to even Gap or Luck.
It was then.
Wait.
Hold on a second.
'This is a stat given only to the person who saw the top of the tower, right?'
No matter how abysmal the odds, there was always a way for someone to obtain other stats.
But the Adaptive stat was an exception.
'There is absolutely... no way to obtain it.'
For anyone.
Except for me.
As his thoughts reached that point, goosebumps broke out all over his body.
It seemed he had truly obtained the opportunity of a lifetime.