Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Mini Dungeon (4)
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"Whoa, really? That works?!"
The one who had actually created the clones, Kang O-su, was stunned.
Eun Joo-ah and Choi Han-pung were just as shocked.
Dokgo Hyun grinned.
"The hint came when you, Kang O-su hyung, were selected as the 'Master of Handshakes.'"
During the first preliminary mission, Kang O-su's main body hadn't shaken hands at all.
Instead, he'd made a ton of clones that looked just like him and had them do all the handshakes.
In other words, even though only clones—not his main body—had shaken hands, the system recognized it and even named him the 'Lone Master of Endless Handshakes.'
"That's when I saw the potential. Clones share the same attributes as the original. Meaning, if you create a clone of a player, it becomes a clone with that player's exact attributes. So what if you make a clone of the boss monster?"
"It becomes a clone with the boss monster's exact attributes...!"
In short, they could keep claiming the clear rewards from killing it over and over.
Of course, the number of clones and Kang O-su's mana were limited, so they couldn't repeat it forever.
Plus, if the target player's power exceeded Kang O-su's capabilities, replication was impossible.
But monsters had almost no such restrictions.
No matter how regenerative the twin-headed ogre was as a boss-grade monster, it was still a mission-made creature, so its rank was lower than a player's.
"Alright, one more clone, please!"
Kang O-su created another clone of the boss monster.
Dokgo Hyun killed it right away.
Puuk!! Puuk!!
Puuk!! Puuk!!
"Urgh, you bastards, what are you...!"
Midway through, the twin-headed ogre trapped in the pitfall tried to resist.
"Shut up."
Smack!! Smack!!
Choi Han-pung mercilessly smashed its heads with his reinforced palms.
In that way, they repeated the process nine times total, earning 18,000 coins.
"Urgh. This is exhausting."
The clones Kang O-su created were technically his own clones in disguise, so each death drained his stamina inevitably.
Dokgo Hyun handed him a healing potion.
"Now for the original one last."
Dokgo Hyun activated [Instant Acceleration] and stabbed it to death in [Venom Mode].
Puuk!! Puuk!!
"That makes a total of 20,000 coins earned."
Adding in the coins from the trash mobs they'd taken down along the way brought it even higher.
'Still a gap with Lee Hyun-jun, but not impossible to catch up.'
At that moment, something unexpected happened to Dokgo Hyun.
'Huh?'
It was a special message that popped up when you racked up 10,000 coins in a short burst.
'This is great.'
In truth, you didn't need to learn special skills on purpose—they came naturally as skill proficiency and mana grew.
Like a young guy who went to an MMA gym just to learn boxing, but got swept up in the vibe, joined full MMA training, and gradually unlocked his innate MMA talent...
'Eh, bad analogy? Anyway!'
Still, it was an enormous gain.
Picking and learning a special skill directly was different from stumbling upon it through accumulated experience or rare situations.
"What's up? You froze."
Kang O-su asked.
"Well..."
Dokgo Hyun shared the system messages he'd received with everyone.
"Whoa, there's something like that."
"10,000 coins, huh."
The team members marveled.
The issue was distribution.
They had just over 20,000 coins total.
Dokgo Hyun needed to spend 10,000 of them all on stat boosts to unlock the special skill selection.
That would leave about 10,000 for the other three to split—hardly fair.
The moment Dokgo Hyun tried to decline,
"Just do it."
Kang O-su said.
"Huh?"
"Take the 10,000 coins. We'll split the remaining 10,000 three ways. No complaints, right?"
Kang O-su checked with Choi Han-pung and Eun Joo-ah, who both nodded.
"Ahem, as I said before, it's only right for the leader to take the bigger share."
"I think it's better for the leader to get stronger too. You need the power to lead us properly."
Choi Han-pung and Eun Joo-ah spoke as if Dokgo Hyun taking half the coins outright was the better option.
"Uh, guys... aren't you being too nice?"
Dokgo Hyun finally asked outright.
The three widened their eyes, then burst out laughing.
Choi Han-pung soon turned serious and addressed Dokgo Hyun.
"Ahem, Team Leader Dokgo Hyun. Do we look like naive pushovers who hand out favors without a plan?"
"...No offense, but it kinda feels that way."
"We've found our own optimal survival strategy. For example, what if the next mission is a leader battle? Only leaders fight, winning teams live, losing ones die. What then?"
"I... can't deny that kind of mission is possible."
"That's just one example. Check the mission window again. Success bonus coins go to the 'team leader.' If you die mid-mission? Even if we clear it, no coins. No leader to receive them."
"Ah...!"
Now that he looked, it was true.
If the leader died, even if the rest somehow cleared it, they might miss out on success bonus coins.
"There are other examples too. Centripetal force theory, trust issues, etc. Plenty of reasons why favoring the leader helps our survival. But you get it without me spelling it out, right?"
"Yeah. I get it now."
Dokgo Hyun looked at Choi Han-pung anew.
He seemed like just an ordinary uncle, but he'd cleared the tutorial too.
He had the smarts to think through and act on what best aided his survival.
Maybe Dokgo Hyun had underestimated him, blinded by his overly kind demeanor.
"Then, without shame, I'll take the 10,000 coins."
"Yeah, yeah, hurry up and boost. I'm curious what happens."
"Got it. Status window!"
His status window popped up, with Strength and Speed lagging a bit behind Stamina and Mana.
'I've said balanced growth many times, but...'
Dokgo Hyun decided to gamble.
'What happens if I push one stat to 100?'
There was no guarantee anything special happened at 100+ stats.
'But it feels like something will.'
In this death game blending reality and RPGs, achievements like 'First Player to Reach 100+ in a Stat' wouldn't be surprising.
"Boosting stats!"
"Yes!"
Now, every skill used less mana and had a wider range.
The downside was his ultimate [3-Minute Regression] stayed the same, but the improvements elsewhere made him plenty satisfied.
'Perfect. This is the main event.'
A list of options appeared before Dokgo Hyun's eyes.
The acquisition chances next to each seemed to reflect the odds of naturally unlocking them through [Time Distortion] proficiency growth.
'[Psychometry] has the highest odds.'
Meaning, even without picking it now, he'd likely get it eventually just from using [Time Distortion].
'Alright. Best to weigh acquisition chance against the most overpowered skills.'
That narrowed it to two.
'[Future Peek] looks good too. But I already have [3-Minute Regression].'
[Future Peek] let you glimpse 5 minutes into the future.
Nice, but it overlapped a bit with [3-Minute Regression]'s rewind power.
'Only one left!'
Before finalizing, Dokgo Hyun tapped the skill description lightly for details.
It expanded with an explanation.
"[Time Stop]: Acquisition Chance 4.5%." "Stops time indoors for 3 seconds. Only the activator can move freely within the stopped time." "Consumes both stamina and mana while active."
⟨ [Time Stop] ⟩
The cooldown was long, but with [Time Distortion] specials like [Zero Cooldown], he could chain it as long as stamina and mana held out.
It could also be applied limitedly to objects or phenomena, but only indoors and required high proficiency.
Finally, possessors resisted others' [Time Stop].
"Pretty cautious description..."
"Shh. Don't pressure him."
"Nah, uncle. Pile on the pressure."
Eun Joo-ah, Choi Han-pung, and Kang O-su watched Dokgo Hyun as they chimed in.
"Thanks for waiting."
Dokgo Hyun made his choice.
Dokgo Hyun's heart pounded.
'I wanna test this ASAP.'
Then—
Bubble bubble bubble...
Bubbles rose from the dead boss monster's corpse.
"Ah!"
"No way, boss phase three?!"
"Tch."
Team 41 tensed up.
But the boss's body just bubbled and melted away.
"Huh?"
"Do boss mobs dissolve after death?"
As the foam from the dead twin-headed ogre cleared, a pure white door appeared beneath.
"Ah!"
'The hidden door from the mission hints.'
This door couldn't be found normally.
It only appeared after leaving the boss corpse untouched for a while as it slowly melted.
Most players either returned to the exit right after killing the boss or hurried off chasing loot.
Only those who lingered in the boss room after victory found it.
"A door appeared."
"Should we... open it?"
Eun Joo-ah asked cautiously.
Written on the white door were the words:
'[Mana Circulation Technique] Training Hall.'
Dokgo Hyun approached without hesitation.
Clank!
The door in the floor opened, revealing stairs.
"I'll go first. If I don't return in 3 minutes..."
"Don't play hero. Everyone come down."
A grumpy old man's voice echoed from inside.
"..."
Team 41 exchanged glances and descended the stairs.
It resembled an Eastern etiquette academy.
An elderly man in training robes sat in perfect seiza without even a cushion.
"You know what this place is, right? A hidden spot to teach clueless players like you the [Mana Circulation Technique] after you fumble around firing skills blindly."
The old man scanned Team 41 and clicked his tongue.
"Looks like only the youngest one's properly mastered the [Mana Circulation Technique]. Right?"
He looked at Dokgo Hyun as he spoke.
"What do you think is the most important thing in life?"