Chapter 22
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Lesson 6. A Master's Grace is as Vast as the Heavens - 1
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Following the elite monster in Room 1, no further anomalies like that occurred in succession, whether by fortune or misfortune.
Ban Yu-won withdrew his sword once he sensed no more monsters were coming. As if reading his intent, Eve transformed its body into iron chains, binding up the remaining few monsters completely.
"Then shall we take a break?"
"Huh?"
"If we kill these, the shift will probably trigger right away. So the idea is to tie them up without killing them and rest."
"What an intriguing notion."
Ban Yu-won had only observed the shift condition when moving from Room 1 to Room 2.
Once the monsters' presence vanished completely, the condition was met, triggering the shift to the next room.
Any Korean gamer worth their salt would naturally think to beat the monsters to near-death, tie them up, and rest before the shift!
"Now that you mention it, it's the kind of idea a returning student familiar with the tower would come up with instantly. The surprising part is you, a freshman, thinking of it."
"Like I said before, the world I came from had all sorts of games... People got clever just trying to enjoy them comfortably."
Ban Yu-won pulled a sports drink from his inventory and took a sip.
It was one of his successful creations after experimenting post-Elixir Jam. One gulp restored your condition at an astonishingly rapid pace.
Plus, like the jam, it was just concentrated pure energy, so no side effects to worry about.
"......"
"Hm...?"
As he went to store the bottle back in his inventory after a sip, he noticed stares fixed on it.
Turning his head, Lucelle was staring openly, Light was sneaking peeks, and Dokgo Yeon was pretending not to while eyeing his drink.
He panicked and made excuses to the group.
"Uh... This isn't an elixir."
"But it smells so fragrant."
"They sell stuff like this outside."
"You can go outside, but we can't, Ban."
Come to think of it, yeah.
And subtly, he'd just publicly confirmed his 'outside access privilege' that everyone had suspected but never voiced!
Lamenting his foolishness, Ban Yu-won firmly shook his head.
"This is for when you're worn out, so not now."
"Worn out... Then I'll handle Room 3."
Dokgo Yeon, who made no secret of her sweet tooth, rolled up her sleeves openly.
She seemed to have forgotten whatever she'd said earlier to leave him to hunt alone.
"Calm down, it's not even Friday afternoon yet. We'll see, but if Room 3 looks doable solo, I'd like to hunt it alone."
"To hog that sweetness all to yourself!"
"Ban brought that drink originally, Dokgo Yeon."
"Eek!"
"What? Why me?! "
As Dokgo Yeon vented her frustration petulantly at Light—unable to express it outright—Ban Yu-won finished resting perfectly and reviewed his internal codes.
It was a feast of codes that made him think he'd profited big today, even if he passed out now.
'Am I crazy? At this rate, I'm already at academy average levels.'
That was a slight exaggeration. From discreetly mingling with students over the past week, he'd learned averages were Life around 140-150, Body 70-80, Magical Power 90-100.
Most from higher dimensions had stronger Magical Power than Body, it seemed. Thanks to Rooms 1 and 2, Ban Yu-won had barely scraped academy entry level in both.
...Of course, if others knew how much he'd grown in just five days, it'd cause an uproar.
'But more than that...'
Beyond the basic set that rose naturally from hunting monsters, he felt more attachment to Martial Arts, which he'd raised through his own efforts.
To be precise, it'd shot up from repeatedly assuming stances and swinging his sword.
Excluding the Pierce Dokgo Yeon taught him, had he already surpassed his older sister's pure swordsmanship skill?
The sparring next Tuesday might come down to this Martial Arts stat.
'Irecto's Body was a whopping 300. No way to close that gap by weekend, flat out.'
His Magical Power was only around 120.
High for academy average, but lacking compared to Life 250 and Body 300.
To beat him, he'd need to exploit that discrepancy.
The means? Martial Arts and sword.
'If Dokgo Yeon taught me one more move... No, no.'
Spotting his reliance on her, he snapped to attention and shook his head.
She was overwhelmingly strong, but depending on her blindly was trouble.
He needed an equal relationship with her, absolutely.
If the scales tipped her way by mistake, nothing good would come for Ban Yu-won.
"So, satisfied with your growth?"
"Like I said, not enough."
Dokgo Yeon spoke at the uncanny perfect timing, as if reading his mind.
Ban Yu-won replied firmly, standing up.
"Let's head to Room 3 now."
"We're ready."
Confirming even Lucelle's nod, Ban Yu-won signaled Eve. It instantly tightened the chains, slaughtering all the spirits.
The shift began that instant.
First, ceiling and floor flipped inverted.
"Eve!"
The others besides Ban Yu-won wouldn't suffer much from an inverting ceiling.
Without him calling, Eve—already wrapped around him—lifted him into the air, protecting him unscathed.
But Dokgo Yeon stood unmoving, feet planted on the floor (now ceiling), while Light unfurled stylish light wings and floated midair. Lucelle alone was tossed defenselessly.
The moment Ban Yu-won spotted it, Eve—reading his thought—shot a chain, catching her.
"Kyaa! Th-thank you......"
"Seriously, you."
The elite from Room 1 got obliterated before Dokgo Yeon could act, yet here she floundered helplessly.
He wanted to say something, but her innocent expression up close silenced him.
"Stay put there or you'll die."
As the two shared an odd mood, Dokgo Yeon—hanging from the ceiling (how did her hair not fall upside down? Incomprehensible.)—said casually.
Then Ban Yu-won felt right and left walls swap, and above his head, golden strings fell:
[Beheading]
"Ha...!"
Eve couldn't match that speed.
Eve rapidly uncoiled chains, flinging them into the air. With no choice, Ban Yu-won drew his trump card.
—Vroooom!
"Iron flying through the sky...?"
"What is that thing?!"
Lilith launched with a refreshing exhaust roar.
Immediately after, the chill of a blade grazing past his head.
Lucelle clung tightly to his waist from behind, mouth agape.
"Alright, Room 3 is a trap section. Everyone, stay calm and handle it like Professor Yumina taught."
"That's not the point! I'm dying to know what you're riding!"
"First time seeing a hoverbike?"
"First time even hearing of one!"
Chatting like that, the group dodged the rampant traps.
Normally traps waited passively, but in this twisted Room 3—front-back-left-right all warped—it was like someone deliberately triggered them: spearheads, poison arrows, massive blades, poison gas everywhere.
Unreal traps with physical force but no substance.
"Ban, poison!"
"It's fine!"
He couldn't absorb the earlier falling blade.
But the spraying poison gas? As he focused, it turned to golden strings, sucked into his hand.
"Ha!"
"Totally unpredictable."
Truth be told, Ban Yu-won on Lilith was a total menace here.
His ability let him observe language concepts before traps manifested; Lilith read his thoughts and moved swiftly.
Any absorbable ones? Game over.
"So how do we end this?"
"Textbook says endure a set time. So how does that metal chunk even float?"
Was she seriously asking for the principles of hoverbike flight right now?
He could've analyzed concepts nonstop for an answer, but lazily went with 'magic.'
"Magic, huh."
"Ooh, wow......"
Meanwhile, Lucelle took a liking to the hoverbike, now properly seated and leaning against his back.
Light watched her incredulously (effortlessly evading traps with fluttering light wings, like a stroll). He suddenly frowned, asking Ban Yu-won:
"Ban, ever heard of trap sections this early?"
"Tower changes every time. What's to calculate?"
"Even so, absolute difficulty by room depth doesn't vary much."
"True."
Ban Yu-won nodded in agreement.
Monster forms and powers changed, but overall strength scaled similarly—that was the tower's rule.
Otherwise, climbing would be a lottery.
"Textbook says traps start at least after Room 20."
"A full trap-only section like this?"
Without Dokgo Yeon's absurd power (casually batting away incoming blades in place), Light's wings, or Ban Yu-won's dungeon-hoverbike, a normal freshman couldn't survive.
"At least Room 50... Damn! Can't even talk!"
Light had changed a lot in days.
Ban Yu-won banked Lilith airborne to evade a devouring wave surging at him, thinking that, when...
"Shururut!"
"Ah, right right. Acid, got it."
He reached toward the wave slinking back, failed hunt over.
The black wave vanished instantly; he gained over 10 Acid, plus equal Waves.
'Wave? As in ripple...'
Unexpected gain.
He'd expected Water at best, but absorption state drastically altered the concept.
This might be key for crafting and wielding language concepts ahead...
"Ban, above!"
Light shouted urgently then.
Ban Yu-won looked up—perhaps from dodging the wave high—the ceiling closer than thought, and beyond it:
[Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash]
Dense golden strings sprouting.
Visible.
"Seriously, you need to fix that habit of getting distracted!"
"Ban, I'll smash 'em—fall back fast as you can...!"
"Kyaaaaah!"
Death instinct hit; no sounds reached Ban Yu-won's ears.
Reason knew he wouldn't die.
Dokgo Yeon promised aid; Light's light beams should destroy blades.
Above all, Lucelle plastered to his back would unleash her power if truly endangered.
'What can I do? What... Ah!'
But death looming stripped calm analysis.
Ban Yu-won focused solely on the strings' flow.
Even unabsorbable, he could manipulate them—realization struck.
[Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash]
Crammed ceiling Slashing strings—he reached, overlapping some.
Pointless against the attacking horde? But instinct and emotion drove him now, not reason.
[Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash]
Individual strings bloated; total count dropped.
Scattering fragments.
Physical force, but no blade or sword substance—mixing Slash concepts collapsed form.
[Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash]
"What?!"
"The traps directly..."
"Kya, kyaaaak...!"
Others clamored unheard.
He concentrated on swiftly merging concepts.
[Slash][Slash][Slash][Slash]
[Slash][Slash]
Weaving concepts relentlessly.
Finally, merge the two massively hypertrophied ones—enough to cleave the room.
Overlapping concepts have been synthesized into the superior concept Severing Slash!
All blades shattered into fragments, vanishing. One synthesized concept remained, floating tamely—no longer functioning as trap.
Confident he could claim it now.
Ban Yu-won reached out, securing it.
Interfered with external concepts to create a newly synthesized language concept.
All-Reading Eyes depth has reached 120. Soul depth has reached 360. Magical Power depth has reached 105.
Absorbing Severing Slash 20. A concept humans cannot possess.
Each new feat via his powers grew Soul and Magical Power together.
Made sense—they were core influencers.
Safely absorbing the concept, Ban Yu-won exhaled in relief and looked up. Dokgo Yeon stared, flabbergasted, hand outstretched toward him—or the ceiling—poised to strike.
"If you could do that, do it sooner. You made me worry unnecessarily."
"Come on, that's too much from someone who barely survived."
"Way too close, Ban. Probably awakened a new ability..."
Dokgo Yeon and Light grumbled, but knowing it stemmed from concern, Ban Yu-won just smiled.
The team felt solid now; class president pride swelled.
"I could've snagged that sweet drink."
"Space shifting again. Room 4 should give us more chances to shine."
...Surely concern for him, right?