Chapter 41
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Lesson 10. You Are My Master - 1
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Ban Yu-won stood with his companions, gazing down at the wooden chest that had appeared in the center of the rest area, murmuring in satisfaction.
"Doesn't this mean we've squeezed every last bit out of this rest area?"
"Yeah, though there could be other possibilities like streams of flowing alcohol or beds that shake off fatigue in no time. But the biggest rewards are definitely the fruits and the treasure chest."
At first glance, it was a shabby wooden box framed in gold trim.
According to the manual, treasure chests in rest areas came in grades too. The material progressed from wood, copper, silver, to gold, with better contents as you went up.
Of course, as the group was seeing now, the trim around the chest also influenced the contents.
"Wood with gold trim gives it a vibe like the top of the lowest grade. Among treasures from the 10th floor, this has to be the best, right?"
"It's pretty shameless to expect a copper chest or better after barely clearing just 10 floors."
"Ugh."
Light's face crumpled as if he'd been stabbed.
Why does this guy wear his heart on his sleeve so blatantly? Ban Yu-won was starting to worry about Light's future.
Beside him, Dokgo Yeon let out a thoughtful hum.
"Hm. Rest areas appearing every 10 floors can really be seen as reward zones that tally up our achievements from floors 1 through 9. And honestly, what we've been through isn't exactly ordinary, is it?"
"We tangled with Constellations twice."
"Elite monsters showed up more often than not."
"A-and the great labyrinth and trap zones too."
Laying it out like this, it felt like they'd crammed a whole year of what other students might experience—or not—in a compressed trial.
"No wonder they measure in 10-floor units. Bundling hardship and rewards together makes sense. Of course, our case was... a bit unusually intense."
"Harsh environments forge the self better. And with ecstatic rewards on top? I'm not complaining."
What Dokgo Yeon meant by "ecstatic rewards" was obvious from where her eyes lingered.
She wasn't looking at the treasure chest but up at the branches dangling overhead, her face showing she wanted to pluck and eat another fruit right then.
Ban Yu-won gave a wry smile and turned his gaze to the treasure chest ahead.
"Alright, shall we open it?"
"Ban, can I do it?"
"No. Let Ban Yu-won open it."
At Dokgo Yeon's declaration, Light shot her a resentful glare, but seeing Lucelle sidle up and cling to Ban Yu-won's arm, he gave up with a sigh.
"I have a feeling it'd bring bad luck if you opened it."
"I a-agree."
"That's harsh! What did I even do to deserve this?"
"Correction: You're just bad luck."
"......"
It was true—his tension spiked the moment he gripped the holy sword again, which wasn't exactly lucky.
Ban Yu-won brushed past Light, who was staring at him pleadingly, and placed his hand on the wooden chest.
In that instant, the concepts of sealing—fully fifty of them—dissolved from the chest, which opened on its own.
He snatched them up before checking inside.
There lay a pink magic wand, straight out of a kids' anime for magical girls to twirl.
"......"
"No way, a magic staff?!"
Ban Yu-won felt despair at the sight, but judging from Light's shocked reaction, it wasn't trash like he'd thought.
Lucelle's eyes were wide too, and Dokgo Yeon looked surprised as well.
"It holds tremendous energy. An artifact like this actually exists..."
"But none of us are wizards."
"It might be usable even without magic aptitude. Let's see..."
Light's hand shot out from the side and touched the wand.
His shoulders immediately slumped. Looked like a dud for him.
"Forget aptitude— I can't even call up an info window. Seems unappraised."
"Oh, for real."
Info window?
Ban Yu-won suddenly realized they had status windows!
No status window? No problem. I can read the concepts it holds and figure it out.
To prove his authority outshone any status window, he picked up the wand. Instantly, a flood of concepts filled his vision.
[Magical Power 150, Soul 200, Magic Language 100, Elemental Magic 50]
"Hm... Huh?"
"Figure something out, Ban Yu-won?"
"Yeah, but I'm still piecing together what it means. So..."
First, the staff held about 150 Magical Power.
Impressive, but for an artifact, not insanely high.
But the 200 Soul dwelling within shocked him first.
Then 100 Magic Language, and 50 Elemental Magic.
Conceptualized knowledge fused with profound soul depth.
It meant...
"This is like a beginner's magic education tool."
"Education tool?"
"Yeah. It has a self embedded to teach magic knowledge to aspiring wizards."
The moment Ban Yu-won said that, the staff twitched unmistakably—enough for everyone present to notice.
"It's real?!"
"An artifact with a self..."
All eyes turned to Ban Yu-won.
They were probably thinking of Eve, slumbering in his inventory.
Sure, he could argue the differences between his masterpiece Eve and this artifact, but they'd never get it, so he let it drop.
Instead.
"Guys, I really want this one. Can I have it? I'll pay up, of course."
He wasn't after the self-possessed artifact per se.
Just the 'Magic Language' concept inside—it was incredibly tempting.
With his student ID pattern analysis stalled, this would change everything in a flash!
"I'm fine with it. But let's settle up after leaving the dungeon. No time to study or handle it properly now."
"I... yeah, me too. Ban's been busting his ass for us all along."
"Obviously Ban should take it."
Somehow, only Lucelle's logic had been off from the start!
Anyway, with unanimous approval, Ban Yu-won got the staff and let out a relieved sigh.
"Thanks. It has an ability that'll help me a ton."
"So you can appraise items too. Not surprising at this point."
"Dokgo Yeon aside, if it's Ban..."
He itched to extract every concept from the staff right then, but as Dokgo Yeon said, the environment wasn't ideal for mastering a new power.
He tossed the staff into his inventory for later and stood.
"Alright, time to settle up."
"Settle? For that artifact just now? You mean pay cash?"
"Nah, come on."
He grinned and pulled a large jar from his inventory.
Peach jam.
Dokgo Yeon's eyes sparkled fiercely at the sight.
"A different flavor jam! You sneaky devil, tempting me with sweetness. I know the math doesn't add up, but I can't resist...!"
"It's not just paying with jam."
Ban Yu-won reached up, and the fruits on the overhead branches all spewed golden strings of text.
"Ban Yu-won? Those vanish the moment you take them outside."
"Worst case, we lose nothing. Let's see."
As on Earth, he divided the countless fruits into cores and flesh.
The cores became raw Core concepts, massively boosting his Code Core capacity (the fruits were special, so the cores were huge).
The remaining flesh strings flowed into the jam jar at his command.
Pulling golden threads from the draped fruits, Ban Yu-won looked like a silk spinner or an orchestra conductor.
"My god, this is..."
"Whoa."
"Beautiful..."
The fruits vanished one by one as their concepts were drained.
But with each, the jar's glow intensified.
Finally, bloated like it might burst after absorbing all the life force from the rest area's fruits, Ban Yu-won sealed it.
In that instant.
You have crafted 30 doses of Life Elixir.
This elixir, born from condensing and sealing the endless life force of Eden's fruits with astonishing skill, dramatically restores and enhances the consumer's life force and Magical Power, granting myriad new possibilities. Long-term use amplifies effects, but overconsumption invites divine punishment.
"Success so far."
A smile crept onto Ban Yu-won's lips.
His companions, having watched the process, were left dumbfounded.
"Can't... record this, right?"
"Obviously. I'd get arrested."
Ban Yu-won chuckled at Light's dumb remark and stowed the jar in his inventory.
"Now to check if it holds up outside. If anyone's still wiped, we can hang out longer..."
"Let's go now. Okay?"
Dokgo Yeon pressed with puppy-dog eyes, and most people couldn't refuse her.
Overwhelmed by her intensity, Light and Lucelle nodded frantically. Ban Yu-won smiled wryly and opened the door midway along the rest area's wall.
"Let's go, then."
They left Eden—the rest area that had given them so much—without a backward glance, heading to the 11th floor.
Feeling the shift, Dokgo Yeon shot Ban Yu-won a sharp look. He checked his inventory and grinned triumphantly.
"Still good. Success—"
"You did it, Ban Yu-won!"
Dokgo Yeon instinctively cheered and hugged him tight.
She snapped back to her senses and retreated faster than she'd approached.
As Ban Yu-won just blinked, Light gaped at her.
"Dokgo Yeon, you just hugged Ban—"
"Shut it."
She was pretending it never happened.
—Scrape, scrape
As they all tacitly agreed to move on, the 11th floor's monster finally appeared.
A beast-type monster with insectoid armor plating—one of the tower's common species called Armored Beasts.
Common didn't mean weak.
Variants existed with countless abilities based on armor and beast patterns, making them unpredictable foes anywhere, anytime.
Monsters that truly fit the tower's infamous reputation, much like tower spiders.
Or so they should have been.
"If I hustle and digest these fruits faster, I can have some jam!"
With that flimsy logic, Dokgo Yeon charged ahead, making them vanish like 1st-floor fodder.
Ban Yu-won figured Eden's fruits weren't that simple, but for now, he stayed back.
"Oh, then me too."
"Light, put the sword down already."
"Ah, aaaah!"
"You didn't think you could sneakily fool her... did you?"
From the 11th floor on, relatively straightforward rooms continued, with the most common post-50th floor combo of monsters and traps showing up often.
Of course, the monsters weren't low-floor caliber, but that was par for the course now.
Ban Yu-won had no way to rein in Lucelle's rampages, so he avoided relying on her power and moved actively himself.
Light without his sword wasn't great either, putting more burden on them, but Dokgo Yeon covered every gap.
By 11 p.m., they'd conquered up to the 14th floor.
"Why... why am I not hungry at all?"
Dokgo Yeon muttered in near-despair.
Incredibly, Eden's fruits' satiety lasted over ten hours.
"Anyway, I'm done moving."
"Damn, if only I had my sword..."
"Huff, huff..."
Meanwhile, the rest panted, exhausted from matching her relentless pace.
Ban Yu-won felt pushed to his limits,
Light had groped for his holy sword every three minutes,
Lucelle, even after breaks to calm her, stayed with black hair, teetering on rampage.
If alone, Dokgo Yeon would've run till hunger hit, but she relented for her drained party.
The 14th floor's last monster (steel tower spider) was trussed up with Ban Yu-won's spare rope off to the side.
"Fighting nonstop for hours? That's already insane."
"Come to think of it..."
They weren't Energizers.
Mental drain in harsh confines was huge, especially endless foes in a tower—physical toll immense.
Yet from 11th to 14th with barely breaks, Eden's fruits proved insanely potent.
"No need for dinner. Wash up and rest. We've come far. Scout 15th tomorrow."
"Everyone watching the footage will freak."
Yeah, freak seeing how lame you are without your sword, Light—not just one or two.
Ban Yu-won desperately swallowed the quip, pulling wash tools from inventory.
"Wash up with these."
"You?"
"Gonna focus on Manifestation Technique. I'll get dirty training anyway and wash then."
"Hm."
Dokgo Yeon looked pleased.
"Worth teaching. Yes, Manifestation Technique's completion depends on qi strain—go for it. Beast, over here."
"Grrk?!"
With that, she dragged Lucelle behind the simple tent Ban Yu-won had set up.
Ban Yu-won plopped down to focus on the technique. Seeing Light standing awkwardly, he said,
"What're you doing? Go in and wash."
"Together?! I-I'm a guy!"
"Right. Then strip and wash here."
"How vulgar!"
Whose tune was he supposed to follow?
Ban Yu-won closed his eyes, eagerly awaiting Act 3, and concentrated on the technique.
"Ban, that 'vulgar' wasn't calling you vulgar— even same gender, can't just bare it casually in front of others... Ban?"
"......"
"Asleep...? Sigh."
—Rustle
That night, Ban Yu-won ran the technique sleeplessly.
Not because he'd mistaken him for asleep, stripped, and denied reality seeing Light's flat chest. Not at all.