Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Round Trip Course
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Low-Grade Skill Enhancement Rune.
The change in the Clone Art after enhancing it with that was immediately visible.
"The great one descends."
"The third one's here?"
"The baby bro's breaking out!"
The number of clones had increased from two to three.
But seriously, since when do you guys have a youngest or an eldest?
You all look exactly the same. Can't even tell you apart.
'Pulling out three of them dropped my stats to a quarter.'
My body felt just a tad heavier. Yeah, checks out.
Is this the weight of being the head of the household?
Time to see if it's worth the loss or not.
I tossed weapons to the clones.
"You had a hard time carrying them here, so you hold them now."
"Is this the weight of being the head of the household?"
To test the clones' performance, I needed a one-on-one matchup.
I sent the three charging in to lure over three orcs.
Induce them to split up and close in.
Infuse the starter sword (or whatever it is) with a skill.
'[Swift].'
It was the close-range upgraded version.
-Flash!
Swing the blade like lightning as I dashed forward.
Severing three necks in sequence.
"Speed is power. Ever been sliced by an arrow's velocity?"
They have now.
I just did it.
-Thud!
-Thud!
After easily taking out my share of three like that.
I eyed the sword tip's vibration with a hint of regret.
"Hmm, still not quite right for prolonged swinging."
The power was high.
About three times a normal swing?
Since the speed was triple, that tracks.
'But the trajectory's too straight-line.'
It was a projectile skill to begin with.
Attaching it to a sword like a jet booster.
Of course the path would be predictable.
'Okay, this is practice material too.'
I'll tweak it with arm strength bit by bit.
If that doesn't work, limit the melee version to thrusts.
Memo, memo—so I don't forget.
I bought paper and pen on the way here.
Even the 0th floor must've had some decent civilization back in the day.
"Right, fake Jeong-uks! Not done yet?"
"It's been ten seconds since we drew our swords."
That's why I asked.
Even a normie going feral with a tool in hand would have one side dead or down by now.
'Enemies left, so no gallery posting.'
Guess I'll just watch.
They say the fun in fights is watching the scrubs flail.
"Main body squad. I've never actually butchered anything either."
"Me neither? Let's cheer for our existence."
What butcher sticks a knife in a live pig these days?
They buy pre-butchered meat and slice it up.
Thud-!
Chatting while waiting, and the situation wrapped up.
The orcs' despairing faces pricked my conscience a bit.
I nodded after observing it all.
'Pretty usable. Even though it's just the numbers that increased.'
No change in individual performance.
What do you expect from bronze-tier knockoffs?
But the rune earned its keep.
In a fight, one extra body makes a huge difference.
'Performance is solid enough. And it's only +1 enhancement.'
Satisfied, I turned to the clear message.
Maybe because it's the second run.
This message was a bit different from usual.
Short.
Yeah, seeing end credits on a second playthrough would be weird.
I scrolled through the messages half-heartedly.
'Cleared faster than yesterday, but no ranking update.'
Yeah, makes sense.
Rankings only apply to first clears.
Of course no level up either.
If you leveled from repeats, why bother going to the next floor?
Skipping the expected parts.
Anything else?
"Attention. Report any issues, fake selves!"
"No issues."
"No issues."
"Main body's sword handle broke."
The youngest held out his whining sword in report.
Why a whining sword?
I'd snapped the tip off an orc spear and tossed it over.
I nodded and said,
"No injuries, and we gotta hit 7 right away, so you're good. Need a sword? Grab another spear, snap it, and use that."
"This is my main body?"
"Farming time, farming time."
Next up: drop rate on spears (glaives).
First run: six of them.
Second run: ?
"Three."
Half of the first run.
Then drop items?
This too, exactly half.
No item like that edict or whatever.
All as expected.
Farming efficiency drops the more you clear the same floor.
'That's why I didn't bother repeating floors 5 and below.'
But starting from 6?
Three runs might be worth it now.
Need to buy more skill enhancement runes too.
Tasks done, I nodded.
"Straight to third run. Fakes, prep javelins."
"Aye aye."
6th floor, third run.
Seen it all, so tossed spears with the clones first.
"You're sick of it. Fetch fresh mobs."
"Kiik?!"
"Krark!"
The orcs freaked out and raised shields.
Oh ho, blocking?
Then [Swift].
-Pew!!
The bounced spears turned at sharp angles and fired off.
Completing six orc kebabs.
Hmm.
Fourth run?
'Nah. Drop rate'll tank even more next time.'
Efficiency drops exponentially from the third run.
Don't know what exponential means exactly, but whatever.
The problem came from an unexpected angle.
"Is this a climber party or a bandit gang?"
Was the drop table spears only?
Five spears from this run alone.
Plus the weapons they already had.
All together, it was a full moving truck.
One or two spears strapped to each back, sharp weapons in hand.
We looked like a pack of filthy rich bandits.
If we added aprons, it'd be twice as ridiculous.
Gonna deal with this crap every climb?
Soloing's bad enough; this is loner hell.
'Tch. No inventory in the Tower?'
Doesn't seem likely, which is the problem.
Who knows why not.
Scared of putting porters out of business? Luddite uprising?
Drop it. No point dwelling on what's not there.
I headed straight to the next floor.
Today's real goal was right in front of me.
High End 7th floor.
The landscape was still plains.
'Normally, 7 would be indoors like the rest.'
A wide-open plain where you could breathe easy.
But the air wasn't exactly refreshing.
Heck, it even stank.
The reason was way out on the plain.
"Gyak?"
"Gya-gik!"
A horde of goblins swarming around.
Rough count: at least thirty.
And here's the breaking news.
"...All archers?"
Whoa.
Thirty archers at long range?
'Not easy.'
Sorry, whoever designed this Tower.
You really do care about mob placement.
This is definitely High End difficulty.
Piuuuu-!!
Before I could even react.
The goblins loosed arrows into the sky.
Hmm.
All told, thirty arrows.
Matches the goblin count.
"Main body! We're fucked!"
First time a clone spoke up first.
That serious a crisis.
Survival instinct overriding my control subconsciously.
I agreed.
With clone stats (identical to mine), no way to handle this.
Using them as shields, maybe?
But.
The main body—me—didn't panic.
'Thirty arrows total. All accounted for.'
Not like I counted each one filling the sky with my eyes.
Sensed them with detection.
Spread it wide the moment I spotted the archers.
Tzzzzz...
Detection blanketing the plain.
The feel of arrows etching into it.
I captured every detail.
With mana clinging to the detection.
And.
The skill was prepped ages ago.
Reach out, snap fingers.
'[Swift].'
-Kiiiiik!
The arrows painting the sky halted dead simultaneously.
[Swift] in reverse.
The acceleration robbed them of velocity.
"...Kyaak?"
"Ki, ki-gik! Kigi-gigi!"
Thirty crude arrows nailed mid-air.
The goblins witnessing it were dumbfounded or wailing like the world ended.
They're as smart as me when their mentality cracks?
Why, you ask?
-Whip!
The arrows on standby to fire.
They all reversed at once.
"If stats fall short, make up for it with control."
Watch closely, goblins.
This is how archers fight.
"[Swift] times thirty."
...Pew!
Dududududududada-!!!
The arrow rain poured down on the goblins.
Far faster than any bow shot.
Just watching from afar was refreshing.
Rain of messages and rewards.
Amid the messages and arrow downpour.
I gently closed my eyes and muttered,
"Ah, fuck, intelligence issue."
I poured... way too much mana...
-Fizzle.
Vision whiting out.
I toppled backward with a thud.
Turns out archers main MP, not agility.
Didn't know.
The clones all vanished, leaving the plain empty.
After lying there a while, I staggered to my feet and opened my eyes.
"Wasn't wise this time. Time for reflection."
First thing upon waking: self-review.
'Used mana way too lavishly. Didn't pass out from depletion even making the Tower Gallery.'
Dodged blackout.
But didn't have mana left either.
Pure grit got me through.
Makes sense.
Thirty casts to halt the arrows.
Thirty more to fire them back.
Sixty SSR skill uses total.
Having mana left would be weirder.
Impressive I didn't drop harder.
I really am a tough nut.
This one was extra bad because of education issue.
'Parabola? If I'd fired at the apex pause, thirty shots would've sufficed.'
Stuff lobbed into the sky falls from the top.
Arrows too.
Lofted shots peak and drop.
Waiting for that peak timing would've done it, but I overdid it to avoid slacking—and it backfired.
I groaned.
'Looking at it this way, mages belong in the backline.'
No other reason.
Focus gets too scattered.
Detection, concentration, senses.
All nerves on magic means more mistakes.
Especially for me?
With education issue on top, it was disastrous.
Wouldn't have messed up if I'd gone to college.
'Thanks to [Deficiency], raw talent pulls off success anyway—which is worse.'
Feels like it'll work, so no hesitation.
Failure would've snapped me awake.
Sigh, good times.
"Reflection ends here!"
I shot up, dusted my pants, and checked surroundings.
The goblin corpses were gone.
"Drops are here... Huh?"
Among the drop bows, a lone box.
Stands out size-wise.
'They were marching while guarding this?'
That's why the preemptive strike worked—they were on alert.
Makes sense.
Goblins suppressing fire like pros.
And that much vigilance means?
'Something valuable.'
Wasn't expecting much.
Goblin values probably don't match mine.
But the contents were absurd anyway.
"A cauldron."
Inside the box: a brass cauldron, neatly packed.
Leaves as padding?
Oh, right.
There was a cauldron drawing on the orc edict too?
-Snap!
Unfolded, roughly similar shape.
In other words.
'This is the key item for the High End floor.'
Reached out and lifted it right away.
Heavy as it looks.
Hmm.
Pretty grandiose name.
'Let's see. Looks like a plain item on the surface.'
Glanced over the options.
Even in games, I test first, read later.
Figured out the use quick even skimming.
'A cauldron that turns mana into food.'
Grabbed the lid, blew in some mana.
The empty cauldron filled right up.
With steaming stew.
"Ugh, baby food vibes."
Not appetizing visually.
No clue what meat it is.
Splash-!
Dumped it roughly and closed the lid.
Then headache hit.
Disappointment in the item?
Nah, wasn't expecting much.
The pain was from a more real issue.
'Carry this plus drops back?'
Can't summon clones.
More mana use means 100% blackout.
But hands aren't enough for everything.
Exhaustion on top.
"Why no inventory for real..."
Whined but somehow gathered it all and returned.
Master was out.
"Ack, my life."
-Thud.
Flopped on the floor, breathing ragged.
Met mobs or bandits on the way?
Would've been a worse scrap than the Cave Bear.
'Damn it, can't live like this.'
No-clone situations will happen again.
Without [Swift], would've been total wipe using them as shields.
Injuries possible too.
Schlepping items every time? Or ditching them?
My pride won't allow it.
I gritted my teeth and growled,
"Just you wait. I'll make an inventory myself."
But how?
Not like making the Tower Gallery—way harder.
Gallery was just illusions,
but inventory feels like sub-space creation.
Item storage skill?
How the hell do I...
"Ah."
Then it hit.
I sat up mid-roll.
'What do you know, it exists.'
A skill to reference for development.
A testbed for inventory creation.
I eyed today's haul, the [Infinite Soup Cauldron].
And got right to work.
'Hang tight, Tower Noobs.'
Your Gallery Master's adding a new feature to the Tower Gallery.