I Became a Disaster-Class Newbie by Stealing Abilities - Chapter 69

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 69. Dungeon ‘Jamsil World Tower’ (4)
[Entering the 100th Floor!]
There are two conditions to clear the top floor.
The first is to hunt that massive dragon flying through the sky.
Though it’s incomparably weaker than a true dragon, hunting it is practically impossible nonetheless.
For one thing, it’s airborne—I can’t even figure out where to start.
On top of that, it possesses five Area of Effect Skills and eight Crowd Control Skills, among other terrifying abilities.
Even with exceptional luck, I’d need at least ten hours of raiding.
For someone who needs to clear this in under seventy hours, that’s a choice I absolutely cannot make.
So then….
My gaze turned toward the center of the rooftop.
The second method is simple.
I simply walk toward the exit.
Except that’s not exactly a comfortable option either, because….
Whoooooosh!
A wind beyond imagination tore across the rooftop.
Yes, this wind is the problem.
It makes even a single step feel like climbing a mountain, and it continuously drains body heat.
If I collapse from cold or fall into an incapacitated state, I get kicked back down to the 99th Floor.
‘And I’d have to wait another seven hours there.’
That’s why this final 100th Floor is commonly called the Gate of Lamentation.
Each failure adds seven hours straight.
“Hnngh!”
Erman wrapped his entire body in various support spells.
“Sir!”
“Ah, I’m still managing fine. No, I can’t give up now when the summit is within reach!”
Erman displayed the vigor of a true veteran.
Step. Step.
He advanced steadily forward.
Even through the cutting wind fierce enough to make an adult falter, he kept his eyes fixed ahead.
So the two of us moved forward gradually together.
[Body temperature drops by 1 degree.]
[Due to the Frost Flame Ultimate Sword’s effect, cold damage is reduced.]
[Body temperature rises by 0.45 degrees.]
Wielding a frost blade let me cut the damage roughly in half.
It wasn’t complete protection against the cold, but this much was sufficient.
[Current time: 67H:29M:33S]
A perfect chance to meet my target of clearing in under seventy hours.
It was at that very moment.
“Hey, that thing there. It looks like it’s watching us…?”
Erman whispered while staring into the empty sky.
“It’s probably an illusion. That thing has a Non-Aggression property—it will never attack first.”
“Are you certain?”
“Absolutely certain.”
Or so I said.
But something felt off.
Those pumpkin-yellow eyes were definitely aimed straight at us.
[Guardian of the Summit reacts to the Transcendent-Grade Artifact!]
A red status window flashed at that very instant.
Damn it.
Could it be because of the Lens that Erman is carrying?
Did an artifact capable of identifying traits trigger the dragon’s collection instinct so thoroughly?
Or did the system classify it as a threat—I can’t be sure.
But what I do know for certain is….
That just now, the difficulty of clearing the 100th Floor, the final floor, has skyrocketed.
Kuku-kuku-kuku!
The dragon’s maw opened wide.
[The Extinction Dragon ‘Karshephon’ activates the Draconic Language Skill ‘Meteor’!]
“M-Meteor? Really?”
Erman exhaled a dry breath as he watched the sky darken to black.
Any mage worth their salt would understand it.
The true meaning of that spell.
Soon enough, everything beneath the detonating inferno would turn to ash.
But here’s the hopeful part.
At least he hadn’t unleashed his breath.
“It’s just an inferior version of a true dragon! Even Meteor won’t trigger an instant-death verdict!”
“You speak in earnest? You’ll stand and fight rather than flee?”
Erman’s question hung in the air.
“I didn’t come this far to surrender to a mere lizard.”
I answered.
A direct charge through. That was the only path.
There was no wavering, no hesitation in that resolve.
Only a single-minded obsession: to conquer the summit of the tower.
“Truly mad. Even seasoned knights would tuck tail in circumstances like these, yet here you stand unshaken.”
Erman withdrew an enormous staff from subspace.
A Sacred Relic studded with the finest Magic Stones.
“My edge has dulled from years of research alone, but it’s far from useless. Let us hope—for everyone’s sake—that your conviction proves true.”
A torrent of blue light surged forward.
Seven buffs and ten auxiliary spells materialized in an instant.
Befitting an 8-Star Rank support mage, the effect was staggering.
Vitality surged through me. My body felt weightless—I could feel it happening in real time.
This was support on an entirely different scale from the modest aid I’d received before.
‘So this is why mage support is called broken.’
A reassurance I’d never known soloing.
Suddenly, the path ahead seemed clear.
I swapped out Cabalado’s Short Sword for Malkrim as my primary weapon.
[Magic Resistance increased: 62 → 82!]
[Auxiliary magic effects grant +25 comprehensive resistance to fire attribute!]
And then.
With the trait Legion’s Shield activated—reducing skill-based damage by up to 50%—every preparation was complete.
In that moment.
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!
Flames engulfed my entire vision in crimson.
[Wind currents amplify the firepower of the flame magic by 20%!]
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
Damn it.
My face contorted in agony.
The heat was so intense it felt like my bones themselves were burning. A scream threatened to tear from my throat at any second.
Hisssss!
The auxiliary magic Erman had cast evaporated—over 80% of it just gone.
Thank the heavens this was an inferior version. If it had been the true Karshephon, I wouldn’t have left even a soul behind.
Still, I’d survived the first salvo.
The real problem comes next.
‘Head-on won’t work.’
Even an inferior version would boast at least 400 Magic Resistance.
Any magic-based ability would be useless against it.
The Black Sun—a non-targeting skill—wouldn’t reach it either. And fighting something in the air with a melee weapon was pure folly.
But there was no time to think strategically.
It moved again immediately.
[Karshephon activates the Draconic Language Skill: Space Binding!]
An Area of Effect Crowd Control Skill.
Targets within a 3-meter radius would be immobilized for two seconds.
Get caught and it’s over. The follow-up attack would be an instant-death technique, guaranteed.
Whoosh!
I barely slipped free of the radius and moved frantically.
Crash! Boom-boom-boom-bang!
I zigzagged, alternating my pace, throwing off its timing with every erratic shift I could manage.
But as time wore on, the situation grew steadily worse.
I was inching closer to the exit, yes—but that was all.
There was no certainty that I could evade Karshephon’s assault and escape unscathed.
Right then.
“This is as far as you go.”
With the old man’s low, gravelly voice.
Hum!
An alien magic flooded in.
[Erman activates the skill ‘Penta Slow’!]
Joo Sang’s body slowed to a crawl.
* * *
Slow—a debuff-class spell.
Penta Slow stacks it more than five times over.
“What… are you doing?”
“I truly am sorry. This invention is a treasure that must be preserved for the future of the Empire and humanity. They say it must be taken out by any means necessary.”
His words apologized, but his expression was utterly serene.
Right.
This was The Emperor.
A world where you could stab your allies in the back without warning, no matter how much you trusted and relied on each other.
Suddenly, all the time they’d spent together felt hollow and meaningless.
“You’re planning to use me as bait to escape.”
“I tried to create an escape route countless times, but didn’t they all fail? Since there’s no hope in sight, I had to settle for the next best thing.”
He hadn’t planned to betray from the start.
He would’ve preferred to escape together.
But if they were both going to die anyway, shouldn’t one of them survive?
Naturally, in a choice between two paths, one had to pick oneself over anyone else.
“I will remember your sacrifice.”
Remember, my foot.
He had no intention of sacrificing himself.
And he wasn’t about to let the old man slip away peacefully.
“I’m afraid that won’t happen, sir.”
In fact, he’d known Erman would betray him.
[Plunder Condition: Fulfill the lifelong wish that Erman desires in his stead.]
[Reward: You may plunder the most precious thing the target possesses.]
A status window had appeared moments ago, responding to his killing intent.
That’s why he’d deliberately spent only stamina and conserved his magic.
He’d been timing the activation of his trump card.
[The trait ‘Calamity Incarnate’ activates!]
A unique trait he’d plundered from Kyung.
Truth be told, he’d wanted to avoid using this if possible.
It drained a hundred magic per second and was extremely difficult to control.
And if Erman caught wind of this ability, explaining it later would be a nightmare.
But now that things had come to this, there was no point in hesitation.
Hehehehe!
An ominous aura crashed over everything.
[All debuffs are forcibly dispelled!]
[All stats increase by +400 respectively!]
About five seconds.
That was how long he could exist as Calamity Incarnate.
“My… my slow magic, all of it negated? What is this sinister power?”
Erman staggered backward, losing his footing.
When his trump card became meaningless, he couldn’t hold onto his sanity.
-1 second.
Black wings unfurled from Joo Sang’s back.
A dark crown materialized upon his head.
[Calamity Incarnate ‘Joo Sang’ manifests!]
What would Joo Sang look like if he became Calamity Incarnate?
The answer to that question stood before his eyes.
-2 seconds.
Cabalado’s Short Sword traced hundreds of crimson afterimages.
In terms of time, there was only one chance to land a strike.
Because of this.
He had to stake everything on one final, perfect blow.
-3 seconds.
He manifested it.
The very will to extinguish the stars.
Extinction Star Style, 4th Form.
This was the blade that bore the name of extinction itself.
-4 seconds.
Star Breaking.
A sword that shatters stars.
* * *
Crash-crash-crash!
Flames erupted across the black outer shell.
“Roooaaarrr!!!”
A massive wound opened across Karshephon’s scales.
The gash itself wasn’t terribly deep, but it had struck with precision at the exact location of the dragon’s heart.
Ju-sang calmly brushed away the fragments clinging to his blade.
“I’m not your prey. Hunt what you were originally chasing instead.”
It was a warning.
If it came at him again, he would take at least one limb with him.
“Grrr.”
Karshephon’s gaze, which had been fixed on Ju-sang for a moment, shifted toward Erman.
“Now, wait. Hold on. With that much power, you could easily bring down this dragon and both of us could walk out alive. Let me help—let’s join forces once more.”
No. That wouldn’t happen.
With Calamity Incarnate, which he could sustain for barely five seconds, he couldn’t bring Karshephon down.
The most he could do was drive its wariness to an extreme and give it a taste of genuine pain.
“I will remember that you labored for the sake of the Empire and its future, sir.”
When you intend to kill someone, you must also be prepared to die yourself.
“Ah, no. I can’t die. How hard I’ve worked to create this….”
Erman flailed desperately, scrambling toward the exit.
“Roooaaarrr!”
But he could never be faster than Karshephon’s breath.

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