100 Floors All Master - Chapter 311

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

All Master of 100 Floors Episode 311
71st Floor. The Foolish Blacksmith (2)
[Title: Something… I feel something like that.]
[It’s like those who were defeated in the past are transferring their power to us. My shoulders feel heavy, though?]
[Hermes’ Shoes]
[Slot: Footwear]
[Grade: Supreme]
[Speed + 30]
[Defense + 60]
[Movement Speed + 30%]
[Shoes infused with Hermes’ Divine Authority. One may travel the world freely. Though a Great God’s Authority dwells within, components from the Victors are also intertwined. That is surely a terrible paradox.]
[Equipment Ability: Move freely through empty air.]
[Equipment Ability: Once per minute, accelerate to explosive speed.]
An equipment ability has been added.
It was an ability related to mobility—the capacity to accelerate explosively once per minute.
What mattered was understanding the level of that speed. Kang Jun-hyeok, now wearing the shoes, stepped out onto the vast ground. He bent his legs and took a stride.
[Hermes’ Shoes.]
In that instant, the core embedded in the footwear activates.
All energy bursts forth. Kang Jun-hyeok’s body surges past the horizon, the sound of shattering accompanying him.
“Whoa!”
Kang Jun-hyeok tries to halt, panic rising. But his body doesn’t obey, sliding forward relentlessly. Only after hurtling several hundred meters further does he finally come to a stop.
“……This is.”
A speed beyond what he could easily manage.
At this point, it was five times his maximum velocity. In terms of pure speed alone, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it surpassed even the One-Point Pierce.
“It’s not easy to control.”
Because the speed exceeded conventional boundaries, even his Control Skill couldn’t manage it perfectly. He tried several more times afterward, but each attempt ended in failure—he couldn’t stop at his intended point.
Kang Jun-hyeok shifted his approach. Don’t control the speed. Calculate instead. Set a target point, analyze the process to reach it, predict the future.
Kang Jun-hyeok takes a step.
[Hermes’ Shoes.]
Crack-crack-crack-boom!
The ground explodes beneath him. Five strides in total. Kang Jun-hyeok succeeds in arriving at his intended location.
“I’ll have to use it this way.”
Immediate response to every situation and variable is difficult, but without doing it like this, there’s no way to use it properly. Having finished his verification, Kang Jun-hyeok returns to the Madman. The Madman whistles.
“I thought that speed would be hard for you to control, but you’re using it well? Is that the power of your skill?”
“Yes. Thank you for the excellent equipment.”
Despite its drawbacks, it was an extraordinarily fine piece. To be able to draw out five times his maximum speed once per minute—it had applications not only in combat but in countless environments.
The enhancement of the equipment was complete.
Now it was time to enter the Tower.
“Shall we go?”
Kang Jun-hyeok’s eyes grew serious. He entered the 71st Floor.
It was an arid plain.
As though drought had persisted for eons, not a trace of moisture lingered. Heat rose from the cracked earth like a shimmer in the air.
He was not alone in this place.
“So this is the 71st Floor… It’s different from the 70th.”
“I don’t sense enemies nearby. What kind of quest is this?”
Other Players looked around with tense expressions.
There were five of them in total.
All were faces Kang Jun-hyeok recognized from memory. Some were Players he had cleared the 70th Floor with.
“Ah. Kang Jun-hyeok!”
“You made it in too!”
Dang Jung-ryeong and Astra approached with delighted expressions. The other Players’ faces changed.
“Is that the one called Kang Jun-hyeok?”
“The Perfect Player?”
Following his clearance of the 70th Floor, Kang Jun-hyeok’s name had become known more widely once again.
Dang Jung-ryeong and Astra actively promoted accounts of Kang Jun-hyeok’s exploits on the 70th Floor, and the vanguard, well aware of that floor’s horrible difficulty, could do nothing but react with shock.
A gaze colored by shock, bewilderment, and awe.
Astra spoke with evident joy.
“I don’t know what the 71st Floor’s quest will be, but if you’re here, we’ll be able to clear it. Of course, I’m not thinking of dragging you down. I’ll stake my life and support you!”
“I appreciate the sentiment, but that likely won’t be necessary.”
“We know we’re weak compared to you. The difference between an adult and a child would be smaller. Still, we’ll do our absolute best……”
“No.”
Kang Jun-hyeok shook his head. That wasn’t the issue.
“From what I can see, this doesn’t look like a Floor where we need each other’s help.”
“Ho. Sharp fellow, aren’t you.”
A voice came abruptly out of nowhere.
The Players flinched and scattered.
There stood an elderly hunchbacked man holding a small hammer, his clothes worn and threadbare. The old man chuckled to himself.
“Not as skilled as those who went before you, but your movements aren’t bad. Still, you’re far short of what’s needed.”
“…Who are you?”
One of the Players swallowed hard and asked. The hunchbacked old man tapped his lower back.
“I’ll spare you the formalities. The System Window will explain it anyway.”
[Defeated One of the Great War. The Foolish Blacksmith has appeared.]
The Players’ eyes widened.
The System Window was identifying the being before them. Its meaning was unmistakable.
“An NPC…?”
“I don’t much care for the name these blood-specks use.”
The hunchbacked old man clicked his tongue but didn’t deny it.
The quick-witted ones grasped it then—that the old man was not their enemy. Dang Jung-ryeong asked cautiously.
“Might I inquire about you?”
“A courteous one, I see. The System’s already told you about me, so you’re really asking about my role here.”
The hunchbacked old man raised his hammer and pointed it at the Players.
“You felt a wall on the 70th Floor, didn’t you?”
“……”
They fell silent.
The old man was right. All but one had felt that wall on the 70th Floor.
In their current state, they couldn’t even be considered combatants in the Great War of old. That harsh reality swallowed them whole. The hunchbacked old man nodded as if he understood.
“What lies ahead is treacherous. Walls await that are nothing compared to the 70th Floor. At your current strength, you’ll die.”
“But we will grow stronger. We’ll train and build our—”
“No. You’ll still die.”
The hunchbacked old man cut them off flatly.
There was no denying the certainty in his voice.
“Your enemies are no trifling matters. You’ve grown in power climbing the Tower, but even that won’t suffice.”
“……”
“But don’t worry too much. I’m here for that reason.”
The hunchbacked old man grinned wickedly.
“I am the Foolish Blacksmith. I’ll strengthen you. I’ll forge the path to victory for you to walk ahead.”
[71st Floor Quest.]
[Strengthen yourself with the aid of the Foolish Blacksmith.]
* * *
“Huh?”
“What?”
The Players’ eyes grew wide at the Quest Window that appeared.
The Quest was simply to grow stronger.
It was an entirely different objective from all the Floors before. Seeing the confused Players, the hunchbacked old man laughed with delight.
“Yes. That’s the face I wanted to see. A supply station met by chance in the midst of climbing a treacherous cliff. I’ve taken my place here just to witness that expression.”
Beyond the 70th Floor, it wasn’t trials alone that awaited.
From this point onward, the Defeated Ones began actively aiding the Players.
Accordingly, there also existed Floors where the Defeated Ones purely strengthened the Players.
The Pantheon on the 77th Floor was one such place, as was the Fortress of the Defeated Ones on the 72nd Floor.
And the 71st Floor had the Foolish Blacksmith.
Without such aid, the Players would have accomplished nothing.
Dang Jung-ryeong asked with care.
“Does that mean you’ll strengthen our weapons?”
When one heard “Blacksmith,” one usually thought of the refinement of steel.
But this was an arid desert. Neither the scent of iron nor the heat of a forge emanated from the hunchbacked old man. He smiled.
“No. I’m no ordinary Blacksmith. What I strengthen is you yourselves.”
“Us?”
“Your bodies, your souls, your Internal Energy, your Mana. All of it.”
He refined and strengthened the very quality of those things.
That was the power of the Foolish Blacksmith.
Players hammered by the Blacksmith here experienced an elevation in the quality and concentration of their Internal Energy and Mana, a purity that refined itself. In martial arts terms, the effect resembled the Eight Meridian Purification technique—a considerable enhancement indeed.
“Well, if that’s the case, we’d be most grateful!”
The bewildered Players soon cried out in rapid succession. They didn’t understand the details, but if their strength could be reinforced, that was a good thing.
Before the 70th Floor, they might have resisted relying on another’s hand, but facing this wall, they had no room for such pride.
At the Players’ attitude, the hunchbacked Old Man broke into a satisfied smile.
“You have the right disposition. The ones before you showed a most disagreeable attitude. Despite that, they were exceptional and passed through in no time. Tsk.”
The hunchbacked Old Man shuffled toward them, muttering.
“I will strengthen you. But you are not capable of it in your current state.”
The Old Man raised his hammer and swung it toward Dang Jung-ryeong.
In that instant, a shattering sound rang out. Dang Jung-ryeong’s face contorted. He crumpled to the ground with an expression twisted in agony.
“Gaaahhh! Gaaahhhhhhh!”
A sensation as though both body and soul itself were being shattered.
Pain unlike anything he had ever felt before. At the sight of Dang Jung-ryeong’s suffering, the Players held their breath. The hunchbacked Old Man chuckled softly.
“Your bodies and minds are insufficient to withstand my hammering. Had you not been Players, that strike would have killed you outright. There should be several mirrors at the Western End. They are no ordinary mirrors—they allow you to confront yourselves and pull yourselves upward. Go there, train yourselves, and return to me.”
The 71st Floor did strengthen Players, but it was no easy layer to pass. Even clearing the benchmark was difficult.
“Understood.”
“Yes, understood.”
The Players departed one by one toward the west.
Before long, only Kang Jun-hyeok and the Foolish Blacksmith remained. The Blacksmith regarded Kang Jun-hyeok with puzzlement.
“Why don’t you go?”
“There is something I wished to confirm with you.”
“……You.”
The hunchbacked Old Man, after studying Kang Jun-hyeok for a moment, let out an exclamation.
“You. That one renowned throughout the Universe. Now that I look closely, I recognize you. We take considerable interest in you. If it’s you, there’s no need to train yourself. I’ll strengthen you at once.”
The hunchbacked Old Man moved forward to hammer Kang Jun-hyeok. But Kang Jun-hyeok shook his head.
“That is not what I seek.”
“Hm?”
“I have something to show you.”
Kang Jun-hyeok drew out a Small Hammer.
The hunchbacked Old Man’s eyes widened as he examined it.
“You, you—that’s!”
[It’s been a while, Foolish Old Man. Still pounding on scraps of fabric, I see.]
A voice laced with mockery rang out. The hammer expanded and space tore open.
A Giant emerged, his entire body covered in rippling muscle. From him emanated the scent of sulfur and the heat of a smithy.
The complete opposite of the hunchbacked Old Man. The Old Man ground his teeth.
“Child of Heaven’s Gift! What brings you to this place!”
“Simple. Foolish Old Man. Your strength makes it impossible to strengthen him.”
The Heaven-Gifted Blacksmith spoke calmly.

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