100 Floors All Master - Chapter 28

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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All Master of 100 Floors Episode 028

4th Floor. World of Insects (3)

Kang Jun-hyeok organized his thoughts.

“Killing them physically is impossible.”

That wasn’t an option from the start. It was closer to a trap.

There must be another way.

“There’s something else, and you know it too, right?”

Manbyeonggi remained silent, but that silence itself became an answer.

He needed to find the answer.

But wandering around looking for the correct answer was also impossible. This was an entire world. Even if he somehow found the answer, it would likely take several years. He couldn’t afford to waste that much time.

“So for now, let’s start with observation.”

[Observation?]

Manbyeonggi’s voice showed confusion.

Instead of answering, Kang Jun-hyeok grabbed the cliff and descended to the ground again. As he moved, it wasn’t long before a group of ants rushed toward him.

[Screeech!]

Crunch.

Kang Jun-hyeok crushed and killed the ants. That part wasn’t much different from before. But his actions afterward were different.

Drip drip drip.

Kang Jun-hyeok picked up fragments of the fallen ants and lifted them above his head. The body fluid from within the fragments dripped down onto Kang Jun-hyeok’s body, covering his entire form.

[What are you.]

Manbyeonggi still didn’t understand why Kang Jun-hyeok was doing such a thing.

Covered in body fluid, Kang Jun-hyeok moved again. Before long, he discovered a group of ants. It was a small group of about twenty ants moving together.

Kang Jun-hyeok approached them.

Until now, the ants would immediately burst into cries and try to attack the moment they spotted Kang Jun-hyeok.

But this time was different.

[Squeak.]

[Screech.]

Instead of showing hostility, the ants slowly approached Kang Jun-hyeok. They waved their antennae as if puzzled.

[…Is this what’s called pheromones.]

“That’s right.”

Kang Jun-hyeok said calmly.

How do ants distinguish between allies and enemies?

It was through pheromones.

If you cover yourself in body fluid, the ants recognize you as kinfolk. Kang Jun-hyeok already knew this fact. In his previous life, there were those who cleared the 4th Floor by avoiding combat as much as possible this way.

[Squeeeak.]

Soon the ants backed away. They had recognized him as kinfolk. Kang Jun-hyeok joined them. He became a member of the ant colony.

Kang Jun-hyeok walked with the group. He quietly traveled with them while observing what they did.

[Squeak.]

The ants buried their heads in the ground. They dug through the dirt, and after a moment, small ants came pouring out.

Ants of normal size that you might see on Earth.

Those began entering the mouths of the giant ants.

“So the smaller ants are food. It really is a world of insects.”

[Squeeeak.]

After that, when the ants met other groups, they waved their antennae at each other. It was behavior like greeting, seeming to confirm each other’s existence. And when they approached bushes, they rubbed their bodies against them. It seemed like movements to leave pheromones.

Kang Jun-hyeok took in each and every detail.

He understood the ants’ habits, accepted them, and began living like kinfolk.

“There’s a saying that you must know yourself and know your enemy.”

Observe and analyze the ants.

Manbyeonggi quietly asked.

[Do you think you can find the answer this way?]

“Well.”

Kang Jun-hyeok couldn’t be certain either. After all, he didn’t know about this place.

But his instincts as a Player were telling him.

That this was the correct answer.

[If you still fail despite this?]

“Then I’ll have to find another method.”

Kang Jun-hyeok said calmly.

So what if he failed? He could just challenge it again and again.

At that attitude, Manbyeonggi was momentarily speechless.

He had been broken the moment he failed and couldn’t think of challenging again.

Kang Jun-hyeok continued following the ant colony.

When the body fluid on his body began to dry up, he would find other ant groups, kill them, and cover himself with their body fluid before returning. The ant colony welcomed him back by waving their antennae.

It was when Kang Jun-hyeok was resting in the bushes with the ants.

[Squeak.]

One ant approached Kang Jun-hyeok. It placed the small ants it had been carrying in its jaws in front of Kang Jun-hyeok and waved its antennae.

At the gesture that seemed to say ‘eat,’ Kang Jun-hyeok chuckled and patted the ant’s head.

“I’m not hungry. It’s okay, Charlie.”

[Charlie?]

“That’s this guy’s name. The friend with one short antenna.”

[You gave it a name?]

“After spending several days together, I grew attached.”

[…]

He was receiving concern from an ant that he should have cut to pieces the moment they met, and he had even given it a name.

Manbyeonggi let out a hollow laugh.

And at that moment.

“…Why isn’t he coming out?”

Two people stood in front of Kang Jun-hyeok’s house. Baekdusan and Kim Tae-yeon were waiting in front of the door.

A week had already passed since they started waiting, but Kang Jun-hyeok’s door remained firmly closed. The two who had initially been engaged in a war of nerves were now half-sitting on the ground with tired faces.

“A week. Has passed, right?”

“…It just passed.”

“Strange. Until now, it was at most 4 days. Why is it taking so long this time…?”

“He’s not dead, is he?”

If a Player who entered the Tower didn’t return after several days, there was a very high probability they had met their death in the process of climbing.

But Baekdusan snorted.

“Would he be dead?”

“Well… I suppose not.”

Kim Tae-yeon agreed. She hadn’t said it seriously. No matter how she thought about it, he didn’t seem like he would be dead.

Then why wasn’t he returning?

Kim Tae-yeon, who had been thinking blankly, muttered as if something had occurred to her.

“…Even killing all the ants in the cave was only 0.001%, right.”

“That’s what it was.”

“What if that percentage refers to the number of ants?”

“…There are more ants in other places we don’t know about?”

“Probably.”

The Quest on the 4th Floor was to kill as many ants as possible.

Then what must be done for a Perfect Clear?

Baekdusan made a displeased expression.

“…Are we killing them all?”

“It’s possible.”

“Damn it.”

Then just how long would they have to wait?

But they couldn’t retreat. If they did, the enemy would approach first.

In the end, they had no choice but to wait indefinitely. Baekdusan and Kim Tae-yeon sat down on the ground with dying faces.

Three more days passed after that.

Kang Jun-hyeok had already been staying on the 4th Floor for over 11 days. He had spent more than half of that time with the ant colony.

[So.]

Manbyeonggi, who had been quiet, asked.

[It seems like it’s about time to find some kind of answer.]

“An answer. There is something I have a feeling about.”

[You have a feeling about something?]

Manbyeonggi was rather more surprised by that fact. He had also stayed by Kang Jun-hyeok’s side and watched, but they were just ants. He found an answer in this?

Kang Jun-hyeok slowly organized the facts he had discovered.

“The planet’s rotation cycle is about 48 hours. Of that, night is 12 hours.”

[You figured that out well without any clock. Your Time Perception Ability is excellent.]

Manbyeonggi muttered as if amazed. The information Kang Jun-hyeok just mentioned was similar to the characteristics of Brutalcain that he knew.

“And the ants’ sleep time is about two hours per day. Meal time is twelve hours. The rest they spend moving around marking pheromones or resting.”

The basic living patterns were similar.

But there were clear differences between each individual. Kang Jun-hyeok raised his finger and pointed at the ant with short antennae, Charlie.

“Charlie is affectionate. When he’s eaten enough, he yields food to his kinfolk. Even when resting, he rests outside the shade.”

Kang Jun-hyeok pointed at another ant.

“And Alpha is greedy. He eats excessively much food. Because of that, his movements slow down and he often ends up at the rear of the formation.”

“Omega is the leader of the group. He always stands at the front and plays the role of discovering land where prey exists.”

“Beta doesn’t do anything. He doesn’t look for food or shade. He’s close to being a kind of lazy ant.”

Kang Jun-hyeok continued talking about the characteristics of the ants. Manbyeonggi realized.

The twenty ants existing in the colony.

Kang Jun-hyeok had grasped all of their individual characteristics.

[Impressive.]

Manbyeonggi was genuinely amazed. It was remarkable observational ability.

[So what did you find there?]

“These guys, each one has their own individual personality.”

While there was a big framework of acting according to instinct, each one clearly had their own personality.

“But there’s something strange.”

[Something strange?]

“Look.”

Kang Jun-hyeok approached the ant with short antennae, Charlie. Charlie was eating small ants with his head buried in the ground.

Kang Jun-hyeok stood still and watched Charlie. And soon, not long after, a change occurred.

Charlie’s two antennae stood up straight and pointed in one direction.

It was really just an instant. In terms of time, less than a second. The antennae immediately began moving normally again.

Kang Jun-hyeok muttered.

“This is what’s strange.”

At first, he didn’t pay much attention to it. For ants, antennae were their eyes and ears. There were many cases of them going wild in all directions, and many cases of staying still. Pointing in one direction for about a second wasn’t strange at all.

“But if all the ants behave that way, then it becomes strange.”

[All the ants?]

“Yes.”

The twenty ants in the colony.

All of them had times when their antennae pointed in one direction like that.

The timing itself was different for each ant. But once a day, their antennae would definitely point toward a specific direction.

“As if they were receiving or transmitting information.”

[….]

“I figured this out a few days ago, but I was watching a bit longer for confirmation. Now I’m certain.”

Then from now on was the next step.

What were the ants pointing at?

Was it a simple direction, or somewhere on the planet?

Kang Jun-hyeok followed the ants for a few more days to confirm this. The ants continued moving, and their positions changed accordingly. And as a result, Kang Jun-hyeok was able to know.

That according to the ants’ positions, the direction of their antennae was changing very slightly, little by little.

At that moment, Kang Jun-hyeok realized.

The fact that the ants were pointing somewhere on the planet.

And that there, the answer he was looking for existed.

As if that guess was correct, a system window appeared before Kang Jun-hyeok.

[You have acquired Passive Skill: Observation.]

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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