Monopolizing Skills to the 666th Floor - Chapter 129

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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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Skill Devouring Up to Floor 666 Episode 129

 

129. Joshua’s Worry

 

[What?]

 

The Three Gods were flustered.

 

They made expressions of disbelief and soon retorted.

 

[Does that make sense! You want us to give you Terra to satisfy our curiosity!?]

 

“It’s something that might change the future, so I can’t tell you for free.”

 

The gods glared at me with eyes that seemed to think I had become addicted to money, no, addicted to Terra.

 

Well, I couldn’t say I didn’t understand.

 

Since I kept threatening them to hand over their most precious things, it was natural for them to show dissatisfied expressions.

 

“Alright. I won’t ask for much. Just give me 100 each from the three of you.”

 

[What? You want 100 for information?]

 

[Then, Regressor, aren’t you taking 300?]

 

“It’s less than when I demanded 140 each… Why? Don’t you like it? If you don’t like it, there’s nothing I can do. I don’t want to risk changing the future for no reason either.”

 

I shrugged my shoulders with an attitude that showed I had nothing to lose.

 

Then, perhaps falling for my cunning rhetoric, they began to look contemplative.

 

‘To think they’re worrying so much about getting information that might not even be real.’

 

The Three Gods were definitely easy to handle.

 

[Give us some time to think.]

 

[We’ll talk among ourselves and come back.]

 

“Yes, please do.”

 

While the three gathered and whispered among themselves, I waited leisurely with my arms crossed.

 

I already knew how they would react given the Three Gods’ personalities.

 

Eventually, the Three Gods returned after reaching a conclusion.

 

“How did it go?”

 

[Ahem, we’ll give 100 each.]

 

“You made a good decision.”

 

Knowing the Three Gods’ personality of being unable to contain their curiosity, I was able to easily extort Terra from them.

 

[Unknown energy is flowing in.]

 

[Analyzing energy.]

 

[Please wait a moment.]

 

[Analysis complete.]

 

[The inflowing energy is ‘Terra’.]

 

[Preparing to accept Terra.]

 

Originally, when Terra entered, I would feel pain like a blade scraping my blood vessels.

 

But for some reason, I felt no pain at all.

 

‘What’s this? I was in pain when I received it last time, so it’s not like I’ve gotten used to the pain.’

 

There was one thing I could guess as the reason.

 

‘Is it because I became a demigod?’

 

My body naturally accepted the Terra.

 

As evidence, not even a warning message appeared.

 

‘Originally, all sorts of threatening warnings about souls being devoured would have appeared…’

 

Now there were no warnings and no pain.

 

[Successfully accepted Terra.]

 

After receiving from the three gods, I checked my Status Window.

 

《Terra : 1,140》

 

【Stats】

 

●Strength : 1,319 / Penetration : 1,320

 

●Durability : 1,319 / Agility : 1,319

 

●Life : 1,319 / Mana : 1,319

 

●Regeneration : 1,319 / Resistance : 1,319

 

●Dark Magic: 1,319

 

My stats exceeded 1,300.

 

After becoming a demigod, Terra’s efficiency reached its peak.

 

I spoke with a satisfied smile.

 

“Now that Terra has come in, I’ll tell you. How I was able to comprehend the core and become a demigod.”

 

The lie I had prepared in advance.

 

 

Day by day, Costech continued its winning streak.

 

Thanks to securing exclusive rights to magic stones, they were able to dominate the market, which directly led to rising stock prices.

 

“Joshua! Don’t we have more D-Grade Magic Crystal supplies? There are corporations lined up willing to pay a fortune for them right now!”

 

“Ah… I’ll try contacting Tae Seong once.”

 

Joshua’s father Isaac was in a good mood.

 

Thanks to Tae Seong, the company’s stock price had skyrocketed ridiculously.

 

“Ask as politely as possible. Don’t make him feel bad. Tae Seong is our company’s benefactor.”

 

“I understand…”

 

“But why have you been making that expression since earlier? Is there something troubling you?”

 

He didn’t want to worry his father if possible, but at his father’s question, Joshua had no choice but to open up.

 

“It’s because of the Labyrinth.”

 

“What about the Labyrinth?”

 

“I’m worried. My next floor is a raid mission, and I’m not sure if I can clear it alone…”

 

“Ah.”

 

Isaac knew from what he’d heard.

 

That his son had finished clearing up to the 69th Floor.

 

That he had completed the battle mission with the best record of 10 consecutive wins.

 

But he hadn’t heard anything about the next mission.

 

This was the first time they were discussing it.

 

“I don’t know what a raid mission is… but if it seems difficult alone, couldn’t you find a party?”

 

“For that, they’d need to be on the same floor as me, but it would be hard to find an Apostle who’s cleared up to the 69th Floor.”

 

“Is it that high?”

 

“Yes. Your son has climbed to such a high floor. Of course, it’s nothing compared to Tae Seong.”

 

Where in the world would there be an Apostle to compare with someone who had surpassed the 200th Floor.

 

Even so, Joshua’s record was second only to Amon.

 

Since the majority of Apostles were currently stuck on the 40th Floor.

 

“Why don’t you try posting on that place called Transcendence Net? Maybe there are hidden strong ones?”

 

“Should I…?”

 

Even at his father’s advice, Joshua’s expression didn’t brighten.

 

He was skeptical about there being Apostles similar to himself.

 

“Or how about trying to clear it alone?”

 

“That’s impossible. It’s even shown in Amon’s ViewTube videos. That raid missions should absolutely never be cleared alone.”

 

“But Tae Seong did it, didn’t he?”

 

“That’s because he’s Amon.”

 

He did it because he was Amon.

 

There was no more convincing statement anywhere.

 

“Then what do you do? Is there no way?”

 

“It’s not that there isn’t one. There’s the method of waiting until other Apostles reach the 69th Floor…”

 

Then Joshua’s growth would stagnate.

 

For Joshua, who craved power, it was a fatal situation.

 

As if understanding without words, Isaac patted his shoulder.

 

“I know you’re frustrated. I also know that you want to become stronger than anyone.”

 

“…”

 

“But isn’t safety the priority above all else? If you push yourself too hard going up, you’ll fall from the tree. Sometimes you need to rest too.”

 

“Tae Seong doesn’t rest though.”

 

“Hey! You should compare comparable things. If you’re at the mountain’s base, that person has reached the summit.”

 

“That’s true. You’re right.”

 

Joshua let out a small laugh.

 

Isaac looked at his son with a worried expression and comforted him.

 

“I understand your feelings, but think of this as a rest period. Wouldn’t training with Jason and building your skills also be growth?”

 

Though dueling with Jason anymore wouldn’t improve his skills.

 

“Yes, thank you for your words.”

 

Joshua didn’t bother to voice this out loud.

 

“Oh, I just got a text from Tae Seong. It must be about the Magic Stone deal.”

 

“Is that so?”

 

“Yes. He wants to meet at the gymnasium, so I’ll head there first.”

 

“Go ahead. And tell Tae Seong thank you from me too.”

 

“Yes, I’ll be back.”

 

 

As I exit the Eternal Room, the stopped time begins to flow.

 

‘The gymnasium.’

 

Jason catching his breath and resting.

 

Me sitting across from him without any dishevelment.

 

Though the situation was unchanged from when I entered the Eternal Room, there was definitely a difference.

 

‘I obtained 300 Terra.’

 

Thanks to that, all my stats increased by 300 each.

 

I had become stronger, but there was something slightly bothering me.

 

The fact that I had lied to the Three Gods.

 

‘The Three Gods probably won’t notice the lie.’

 

The Three Gods who had been curious about how a human could awaken a core.

 

My answer to that was this:

 

—I asked Lord Orcus about it before, didn’t I? About karma. When I analyzed that energy, it seemed good for awakening cores. I used that. I used the karma that each Apostle possesses to awaken cores.

 

Of course, it was a hastily made-up lie.

 

I don’t really know whether karma was used to awaken the core or not.

 

‘Still, it’s somewhat true.’

 

The most effective lie is mixing 1% falsehood into 99% truth.

 

It must have seemed plausible since the Three Gods seemed to believe what I said.

 

Instead, a barrage of additional questions came pouring out as if they were nitpicking, but they shut their mouths at the single mention of paying extra fees, so there was no real problem.

 

‘They won’t ask more questions just because they’d hate to waste Terra.’

 

Just then, the gymnasium door opened and Joshua entered.

 

“Jason! Tae Seong!”

 

“It’s Joshua.”

 

“Oh, you came?”

 

When I waved my hand, Joshua also faced me and waved back.

 

“Tae Seong, did you come by Spatial Movement again?”

 

“Of course.”

 

“I don’t know where you got it, but you really obtained a great skill. It’s really nice being able to see you often.”

 

“I also like being able to trade frequently. Here you go.”

 

As soon as I finished speaking, I poured out D-grade magic stones from my inventory, and Joshua’s eyes widened.

 

“There’s even more this time?”

 

“I’ve been working hard on conquering floors lately.”

 

“I saw the message too. You conquered up to the 209th floor, right?”

 

“Yes. What floor have you reached, Joshua?”

 

“The 69th floor.”

 

“Then your next mission will be a raid type.”

 

“Yes… that’s right.”

 

Joshua’s expression darkened as he spoke.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“I’m not sure if I can defeat the raid boss alone.”

 

“The boss alone?”

 

I defeated it alone because I had the skills, but another Apostle facing a boss one-on-one?

 

I absolutely wouldn’t recommend it.

 

It’s not a boss designed to be defeated alone in the first place.

 

Why else would it be called a raid mission?

 

Gathering as many people as possible to conquer it is safer and more reasonable in many ways.

 

Even Joshua with Time Regression would struggle in a one-on-one.

 

Perhaps seeing my expression, Joshua asked cautiously.

 

“You wouldn’t recommend that either, would you, Tae Seong?”

 

“Yes. Raid missions can’t be cleared alone.”

 

“But Tae Seong, you…”

 

“Hey, Master is an exception.”

 

Jason chimed in from the side.

 

“Yes. I’m a special case, so I wouldn’t recommend it to most people.”

 

“Sigh… Then I’ll have no choice but to take a forced break. I can’t do anything until other Apostles reach the 69th floor.”

 

I immediately objected to Joshua’s dejected words.

 

“Why wait?”

 

“Huh? Well… there are no other Apostles who’ve reached the 69th floor besides me, so I can’t form a party. Jason is only at the 49th floor now…”

 

“Hey, ‘only’ the 49th floor? I’m pretty fast for my level, man.”

 

Was that what he was worried about?

 

That his growth would stagnate?

 

I smiled reassuringly and patted Joshua’s shoulder.

 

“Don’t worry about that. I saw this coming and prepared everything.”

 

“Huh? Prepared what?”

 

“Among the people I know, there are several Apostles positioned in the 60th floor range.”

 

Joshua’s eyes lit up at those words.

 

“…There are others besides me? In the 60th floor range?”

 

“Yes. Did you think you were the only one in the 60th floor range?”

 

“To be honest… yes. I thought I was special.”

 

“There are surprisingly many strong people in the world.”

 

I had three people in mind.

 

“I’ll introduce them to you. You should be able to party together in a few days.”

 

However, I can’t guarantee whether Joshua will get along with them.

 

There were a few with really shitty personalities.

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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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