100 Floors All Master - Chapter 34

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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 034

 

 

Floor 5. Monster Forest (2)

 

 

It looked like a vine hut.

But upon closer inspection, one could tell it wasn’t vines.

Something mimicking vines.

It was extremely eerie. Alien and twisted, as if it shouldn’t exist in the forest—something that wasn’t natural forcibly imitating nature.

Those with weak minds would feel their stomachs churn and experience dizziness just from looking at it. Kang Jun-hyeok stared at the vines.

In his past life, he didn’t know what it was.

But now he knew. What that thing was.

[I advise you. Do not approach that thing.]

Manbyeonggi stopped Kang Jun-hyeok for the first time. Its voice was sunken.

[That is one of the Victors of the Great War. Something twisted and broken.]

Alessandro and Manbyeonggi were The Defeated Ones of the Great War.

If there were defeated ones, there were bound to be victors as well.

What was before him now was one of the Victors of the Great War.

It was the Altar of Hunger Growing in the Cracks.

Rustle.

The entrance of the vine hut opens. As if welcoming him, as if telling him to come inside. Kang Jun-hyeok muttered.

“It’s telling me to come over.”

[It’s a trap. Normally it wouldn’t have moved. It would have judged that ordinary Players aren’t worth its intervention.]

Kang Jun-hyeok knew about that too.

In his past life, he saw the altar on Floor 5, but there was no particular reaction. He just thought it was a strange decoration and moved on.

It wasn’t just him. All Players who saw the altar said there was no particular reaction.

But now the altar was clearly tempting him.

Manbyeonggi continued speaking.

[But you are different. You have caught their attention.]

 

[The Victors show deep interest in you.]

[The Defeated Ones show deep interest in you.]

 

The system window that appeared after defeating Alessandro.

Both groups were clearly showing interest in Kang Jun-hyeok.

The altar’s change from his past life was precisely because of that.

“For Victors to show interest in a small existence like me. How gracious.”

Kang Jun-hyeok muttered with mockery. Manbyeonggi repeatedly tried to stop him.

[Those things try to kill Players. They are your enemies. That’s a trap. Even you cannot survive it.]

Manbyeonggi warned.

That it was impossible.

That he would surely die.

[You are certainly special, but you’re still immature. You cannot overcome their trap. Give up on Perfect Clear for this floor.]

“Well.”

Kang Jun-hyeok, who had been making an ambiguous expression, smiled slightly.

“Then that works out perfectly.”

[Works out?]

“You’re thinking that I’ll surely die, that I can’t survive if I approach that thing, right?”

Even Manbyeonggi, who now acknowledged Kang Jun-hyeok as special, judged it impossible.

Then it was simple.

“So what will you do if I survive the trap, if I overcome it?”

[What?]

“It’s a kind of quest.”

If he survived the Victors’ trap, then this time he should truly fulfill his duty.

“If I overcome it, I think your mind will finally change this time.”

[…]

Manbyeonggi was speechless.

Kang Jun-hyeok was actually trying to use that trap to gain something from it.

“There’s no reason to refuse anywhere.”

He hummed and stepped forward. Run away? What nonsense. If he was going to retreat from something like this, he wouldn’t have come back in the first place.

As he approached the vines, they opened like a living mouth. The eerie, writhing thing welcomed Kang Jun-hyeok.

 

[Hunger Growing in the Cracks proposes a trial to you.]

[Condition: Pass the trial.]

[Reward: Authority of Hunger Growing in the Cracks.]

[Will you accept?]

 

“Of course.”

Kang Jun-hyeok nodded. Along with that, the vines began to compress.

 

 

Creak. Crack.

With eerie sounds, the vines began to take shape.

[You really… accepted it.]

He accepted the trial.

Now there was no turning back. Manbyeonggi fell silent. In contrast, Kang Jun-hyeok was utterly calm.

‘I wonder what will come out.’

In his past life, he encountered and faced many Victors.

But he had never met Hunger Growing in the Cracks, whether it had stayed on Floor 5 the whole time. He was quite looking forward to it.

Crackle.

The vines gradually clumped together and soon formed a perfect shape.

[Growl.]

It was a dog.

No. To be precise, it wasn’t a dog. It was closer to something resembling one.

It was a human-sized beast with six legs.

 

[Trial: Defeat the Minion of Hunger Growing in the Cracks.]

 

[Grr.]

The dog glared at Kang Jun-hyeok. Eerily writhing eyes turned toward him.

Thud.

At the same time, the dog kicked off the ground.

It was fast. Extremely so. Fast enough to be superior to Kang Jun-hyeok. The bushes were trampled as the dog rushed at Kang Jun-hyeok.

Kang Jun-hyeok quickly drew his great sword.

Clang!

Blade-like legs were blocked by the great sword. Kang Jun-hyeok’s body slid backward. He couldn’t withstand the dog’s power and speed.

Fast, and stronger than him.

[Growl! Bark!]

It grabs the great sword with its legs and tries to bite Kang Jun-hyeok’s nape with its teeth. Kang Jun-hyeok moves the sword’s handle to block it. The teeth barely graze past his nape.

“Hmm.”

A frontal confrontation isn’t good.

Making a quick judgment, Kang Jun-hyeok throws his body backward. After creating distance from the dog, he brings the great sword down.

[Growl!]

The dog howls and leaps. It twists its body sideways to dodge the great sword while aiming for Kang Jun-hyeok’s legs.

Clang clang clang!

He blocks that attack by moving his great sword. Kang Jun-hyeok’s mind races at high speed.

‘Strong and fast.’

Strength and speed. It has the advantage in both.

‘But it’s not unbeatable.’

The Goblin King on the 2nd Floor also had an overwhelming advantage in strength over him, but Kang Jun-hyeok had won. At this level, he could definitely win.

Clang!

Kang Jun-hyeok is pushed back by the dog’s attack. The great sword’s movement slows by one tempo. The dog doesn’t miss the opening this creates and aims for it.

[Growl!]

The dog aims for Kang Jun-hyeok’s neck.

But that was exactly what Kang Jun-hyeok was aiming for.

[Thrust.]

Kang Jun-hyeok’s collapsed stance is forcibly corrected as he strongly thrusts at the dog. The charging dog recoils in shock and pulls its body back. Kang Jun-hyeok steps forward.

[Instant Acceleration.]

For 5 seconds, Kang Jun-hyeok’s speed becomes 1.5 times faster.

Clang clang clang!

[Yelp, whine!]

Panicked by the sudden acceleration, the dog moves its six legs but can’t hold out. All its legs are knocked away and its body opens up. Kang Jun-hyeok steps forward fiercely and strongly thrusts at its body.

Squelch!

A perfect attack that was impossible to dodge or block.

Just as the great sword was about to accurately pierce the dog’s chest.

Swoosh.

The dog’s form disappears as if being sucked away. The great sword cuts through empty air. Kang Jun-hyeok’s eyes widen.

[Growl!]

The dog that had disappeared appears behind Kang Jun-hyeok. Its teeth sink accurately into his nape.

Crunch.

“Mm.”

Kang Jun-hyeok lets out a short groan at the pain that penetrates through his Pain Resistance. But his body reacts immediately. He puts away the great sword and draws his dagger to stab the neck of the dog biting his nape.

Swoosh.

At that moment, the dog disappears once again.

This time it appeared at Kang Jun-hyeok’s side.

[Grrr!]

Clang clang clang!

He quickly moves his dagger to block the teeth, but the claws scratch Kang Jun-hyeok’s body. Just as Kang Jun-hyeok tries to kick the dog, its body disappears like smoke again.

The dog reappeared in front of a tree far from Kang Jun-hyeok.

[Grrr…]

Kang Jun-hyeok clicks his tongue.

“Right. For something called the Victors’ trial, it couldn’t be that easy.”

 

 

After that, it was a similar flow.

Whenever Kang Jun-hyeok somehow tried to find an opening to counterattack the dog, the dog’s body would disappear as if being sucked away.

And whether behind him, to his side, or in front, it would appear anywhere and attack again.

There was no delay or time lag whatsoever. It freely repeated disappearing and appearing as naturally as breathing.

Kang Jun-hyeok muttered.

“Authority.”

 

[Your Observation proficiency has increased.]

 

[That’s correct.]

Manbyeonggi answered quietly.

[That is precisely the authority of Hunger Growing in the Cracks.]

“I understand what it is.”

It’s probably an authority true to its name.

Cracks in bushes. Gaps between dirt. Spaces between wood grain. Gaps between leaves.

It seemed able to move through all the crevices that exist in the world. Though it repeatedly appeared and disappeared countless times, he could tell because it had never once appeared above Kang Jun-hyeok’s head.

If he were to name it, it could be called Crack Movement.

That itself wasn’t particularly special.

Spatial Leap or instant movement were certainly powerful, but they weren’t unheard of. Magic had Blink and Teleport, and Spatial Leap existed among superpowers too. Advanced technology could also leap across space.

It just required considerable consumption, delay, or preparation time.

But the Crack Movement the dog activated was different.

The Crack Movement the dog activated had no delay, no time lag, no cooldown, nothing at all.

It freely repeated disappearing and appearing.

[The Victors are not beings of this universe.]

Manbyeonggi said quietly.

[They are beings from ‘outside.’ They don’t follow the order of this place. They impose their own endlessly selfish laws and wield them.]

Hunger Growing in the Cracks was the same.

Its authority, Crack Movement, moves through gaps. No delay or cooldown exists. It could be freely activated in any situation.

[I definitely told you. To run away.]

It wasn’t a matter of strength.

It was a matter of that alienness.

How could one possibly defeat a being that freely disappears and appears? No matter how much one aimed for openings, it was meaningless. It could simply hide its body in the cracks. It was like telling an ordinary human to defeat a ghost.

No matter how much Kang Jun-hyeok resisted, his stamina would just slowly be consumed.

At least in Manbyeonggi’s judgment, there was absolutely no answer.

And that wouldn’t be different even for Kang Jun-hyeok. Thinking this, Manbyeonggi half-gave up and looked at Kang Jun-hyeok’s face.

[You?]

And hesitated.

Kang Jun-hyeok was smiling.

[Why are you smiling?]

“Don’t smile? Isn’t that too much?”

The trial’s reward was the authority of Hunger Growing in the Cracks.

Then if he won this time, it meant he could obtain that power.

How could he possibly resist that? Greed flashed in Kang Jun-hyeok’s eyes. Manbyeonggi was momentarily speechless.

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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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