Chapter 36
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Lesson 9. Learning Martial Arts - 1
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As soon as the group stepped into the tower, they found themselves in Room 0.
But the moment they took a few tense steps forward, the surrounding environment suddenly warped. The number floating on their pendants began climbing one by one, soon stopping at 5.
"Room 5."
Light whispered in a low voice.
He wasn't carrying that flashy sword today, so he finally looked the part for stealthy movement.
"I was worried we'd get dragged into something weird and have to start from Room 1 again, but we're good."
"But this..."
Ban Yu-won sensed the narrow corridor—barely wide enough for two people abreast—the branching paths visible ahead, and above all, the complete absence of any monster presence. He narrowed his eyes.
Last week, they'd just hunted monsters casually, but this time, it seemed like an exploration-type room.
And the most common kind at that.
"A maze."
"I've seen it in the textbook."
"This way."
At the fork, Lucelle pointed left without hesitation.
Wondering what her basis was, Yu-won looked at her, and she nodded confidently.
But following her lead quickly led to a dead end.
Sensing the group's stares, Lucelle gave a clear explanation.
"I smelled a monster."
"You found a monster, not the path?"
—Kikik, kkigik
At least at that moment, even Ban Yu-won couldn't detect any monster traces, so in a way, Lucelle's sensing ability was truly impressive...
Robbing: Life 0.1, Demon 0.2, Flash 0.1, Cacophony 0.1, Malfunction 0.05, Reversal 0.01.
Flash, Cacophony, Malfunction, and Reversal are concepts humans cannot possess.
No sooner had he thought that than something black and sticky dropped from the shadows in the wall with wet plops.
It vaguely resembled the Cloisters from the previous Room 1, but this thing was stickier, glistened unpleasantly, and constantly emitted a revolting noise.
"Glitch."
Ban Yu-won reflexively named the monster.
"Why is something like that here already...?"
"Not that surprising."
Like all the rooms they'd cleared so far, this wasn't a monster fit for mere Room 5.
Its noise warped all human senses, and its irregular flashing light induced mental aberrations.
—Gik, kkigik
Like when a cartridge-based console glitches out, graphics and sound going haywire when everything should be fine. A reversal that breeds eerie horror.
This beast embodied that phenomenon in reality.
"Hngh!"
—Kkigigik
And the best way to avoid its effects? Smash it before it acts.
Just like Lucelle had done.
Perhaps because it was a totally different type from monsters they'd faced before, the new concepts gained were plentiful.
But what caught Yu-won's eye were Malfunction and Reversal.
Malfunction was somewhat intuitive—breaking the body—but Reversal, flipping front and back? Not something anyone would think of just seeing a Glitch.
That meant this too emerged because Yu-won knew of glitches from modern Earth.
'Like most such concepts, it's a tiny amount... but if I gather them here, bit by bit, could I reach 1?'
From his experience, a concept truly formed at depth 1 minimum.
Glitch at 100—that meant deliberately wandering Room 5 made sense...
"What now? Can't just charge through a maze."
"Guess we memorize paths as we go..."
"Ban, got any clever ideas?"
The expected question came.
Ban Yu-won replied with an ambiguous smile.
"I'll figure something out from now on. Let's move."
"Sounds good."
Yu-won ignored the myriad Wall and Path concepts visible to his eyes.
The goal this expedition wasn't blitzing the tower—it was acclimating to it!
Three hours passed like that.
"This is weird."
Dokgo Yeon said after smashing the Glitch at the dead end in one strike.
"I've memorized every path to get here, but..."
"Shapes differ, but it feels like paths we've been on."
Dokgo Yeon nodded eagerly at Light's addition.
"Exactly. Not a simple maze—the paths shift in real time."
"Textbook says that's for Room 100+..."
"Forget that damn textbook!"
Since entering the tower, that cursed textbook only matched on monster names!
"Outta the way. Smashing everything should work."
The stress built over three hours pushed Dokgo Yeon forward.
Her sleeve fluttered ominously—she meant business.
But it wasn't necessary.
"Dokgo Yeon, hold up."
Having scraped concepts from the scattering Glitch and confirmed Reversal at 1, Ban Yu-won nodded and stepped forward.
"I just figured something out."
"Right now?"
"Yeah. So..."
Yu-won passed Dokgo Yeon and pressed a spot on the wall.
His hand sank in, and from there, the wall crumbled, revealing a new path.
Robbing: Phantom Image 0.5.
A concept humans cannot possess.
Where a wall should be, a Phantom Image concept was embedded instead.
Reclaiming it collapsed the actual wall too, revealing the path.
Without precisely spotting Phantom Images, finding paths was impossible.
Dokgo Yeon, sensitive to energy, missed it because both wall and phantom shared the same mana composition.
Whether anyone but Yu-won could distinguish them was doubtful.
"Ta-da."
"...You really just figured that out?"
Dokgo Yeon's suspicious gaze pierced the grinning Ban Yu-won.
Admitting the truth might end the week's exploration early, so he shrugged innocently.
"I hate wasting time too, y'know? Kept probing and found a gap."
"Hmph."
"Path found—job done. Let's go. Sick of this maze."
"We'll hit mazes climbing the tower."
"Nah, now that Ban's got the trick, he'll crack 'em all."
Light's gaze brimmed with infinite trust.
No wonder— he'd cleared most traps in the prior 3-room run, and now mazes too.
And it was spot on.
Ban Yu-won was starting to think everything in this tower besides monsters was child's play for him.
'Well, it's the tower I'll inherit, so of course.'
Harboring that brazen thought, he took point.
Once on the true path, Glitches ambushed from everywhere, but their paper-thin defense crumbled even to Yu-won, the weakest fighter.
"There."
—Kwajik
Plus, they had Lucelle sniffing out monsters.
Strike where she pointed, and Glitches were gone before flashing once.
"Beast, you okay?"
"Yeah. With Ban here."
Sniffing for unpredictable Glitches, her hair was subtly darkening again—but slower than before, and stable thanks to her faith in Yu-won.
Dokgo Yeon nodded leisurely at Ban Yu-won.
"Ban Yu-won, remember what I said earlier?"
"Dunno."
He replied listlessly while erasing another phantom.
That instant.
"Kuh?!"
"Ban!"
"Crap, ahead...!"
The surroundings collapsed, the passage vastly widening as a ridiculously huge Glitch appeared.
Elite monsters others never met—they encountered one every other room. Absurd.
The prior path was narrow, Yu-won up front—so only he could react now.
—Kkigik
"Tch...!"
As the Giant Glitch revved up noise and flash, Yu-won yanked out all his stockpiled Reversal without thinking.
Untouchable by humans directly, so liberate the concept itself!
Like wielding active Wave concept, cram mana into Reversal's string and detonate!
—Kkigigik
The effect was dramatic.
The golden string shot straight at the Giant Glitch, shining brilliantly—then everything from the Glitch reversed and struck it.
Attacks warping senses and mind hit the near-spiritual Glitch body—what happened?
Cracks rippled across its form like a fritzing screen.
"Hup!"
Yu-won lunged, thrusting his sword fiercely.
Severing Wave
The Severing-infused wave cleaved the cracking elite's torso clean in half!
Robbing: Life 5, Demon 7, Flash 5, Cacophony 5, Malfunction 2, Reversal 1, Resistance 0.5.
Sheathing his sword, Ban Yu-won let out a faint sigh.
Directly liberating language concepts was something he'd planned but hesitated to use.
It cleanly consumed them.
He'd recovered a full 1 from the elite, but...
'Super effective, sure. Maybe because I burned it up.'
Testing the new 1 on his sword applied perfectly.
Won't yield the same spectacle swinging it, but better than wasting.
He swung experimentally in air, nodded satisfied, and sorted remnants.
Issue was Demon—or rather, the 3.5 Magic extracted from it.
'Stuck.'
Despite absorbing more than enough, Magical Power wouldn't hit 200.
His pre-tower anxiety had been spot on.
Life had no such limit; Body jumped past 200 absorbing Irecto's, so he'd overlooked it.
"What's up? More enemies?"
Dokgo Yeon, speechless at his minor miracle, tilted her head at his hesitation.
"Nah. My Magical Power isn't growing."
"Magical Power? Growth... Ah, hit a wall."
Not the maze—Yu-won awaited her words.
"You're growing energy so fast, like forcibly sucking it in. Pouring water nonstop without expanding the vessel—you hit limits quick."
"Vessel... So how?"
"Don't just pile more blindly. Options exist, but... best is expel lots of energy, acclimating your body to it."
"Body acclimate to energy."
That made sense—he hadn't actively wielded Magical Power yet.
Post-acquisition, he just activated his body—like boiling water to warm hands.
Only using Wave or burning Reversal consumed meaningfully.
'Need more active concepts. Or research turning passive ones active.'
He'd focused on Lucelle over his development last week—now it bit back.
As he fretted, Dokgo Yeon smiled slyly.
"I know a good method. Want me to teach you?"
"Pass."
"Think I'm some shady con artist? It's not a big deal—no need to stress. If you're grateful, repay generously; I won't stop you."
Her gaze flicked to Lucelle for a split second before returning—Yu-won caught it.
Without All-Reading Eyes, he'd miss it.
Meaning she truly envied Lucelle's gifted clothes.
In that case.
"Teach me, and I'll learn gratefully. Expect a gift too."
"Perfect."
Clothes for advice from an unfathomable expert? Bargain.
His quick flip earned Dokgo Yeon's satisfied smile.
"Hold on, Ban. We killed an elite—no shift. Stop chatting with Dokgo Yeon."
"Actually perfect. Everyone's tired, right? Rest. I'll teach Ban Yu-won Profound Body Technique basics."
Black body-making study?
Yu-won unconsciously literal-translated, conjuring prejudiced, racist images—then Dokgo Yeon glared, reading him.
"Profound as in profound mystery—not whatever you thought."
"Sorry, teacher."
"Just know it. Despite the grand name, it's basic martial arts—easy."
"Still martial arts... Got rituals or bows?"
He'd gotten much from her, but formal instruction was first—surprisingly, she chuckled.
"Kid stuff basic breathing. No fanfare. Not even energy-building. Just honing body with innate energy. Where'd you get your martial world knowledge?"
Wuxia novels.
That'd earn a smack, so Yu-won quietly followed her lead.
He didn't know, but Profound Body Technique was Dokgo Yeon's first martial art learned at birth.
Knowing that would've shown her resolve—but like Light with teasing, he was oblivious here and swallowed it whole.