Monopolizing Skills to the 666th Floor - Chapter 16

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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 to the 666th Floor Episode 016

16. Labyrinth Underground 25th Floor

‘I knew he’d use his skill at this timing.’

Predicting the timing of Time Regression, I threw my punch.

A perfect counter.

Once I figured out his strategy, it was a fight I couldn’t lose.

“Joshua!”

Isaac rushed over in surprise, but there was nothing to worry about.

He was just knocked out for a moment.

True to my words, after Isaac shook him a few times, Joshua regained consciousness.

He looked at me and quickly grasped the situation.

“Hah… I lost.”

“It was a good duel.”

Despite my words of encouragement, Joshua only blushed.

He was embarrassed.

He hadn’t expected to lose so easily.

“To lose even after using my skill… There was a good reason for your confidence.”

“I didn’t make it to Floor 24 by luck alone.”

“You’re truly amazing.”

Joshua dusted himself off and stood up.

His pride wasn’t crushed at all.

Instead, he looked at me with gleaming eyes.

Eyes filled with respect.

“This concludes our negotiation, right?”

“Yes. We’ll purchase the magic stones that Amon brings us at $6,000 each. With no price fluctuation for one month.”

A whole month?

I was inwardly surprised.

The price would definitely drop in just a few days.

Wasn’t this a complete jackpot?

“However, this only applies to magic stones you personally obtain. Also, we’d like you to sell us any future magic stones exclusively. Of course, price negotiations will be conducted each time. How does that sound?”

There was nothing to think about with this deal.

“Sounds good.”

“Haha, excellent. Shall we go write up the contract right away?”

The contract was concluded smoothly in a pleasant atmosphere.

After a 13-hour flight, I returned to Korea.

As soon as I arrived at Incheon Airport, I received a text message.

[Joshua: Thank you once again for contracting with our Costech. Tae Seong, next time you contact us, we’ll come to you. Please contact us once you have the goods ready.]

Since I had to write my name on the contract, I had no choice but to reveal my real name.

From then on, Joshua called me Tae Seong instead of Amon.

“The flight took a long time, but it was a very profitable deal.”

I had built a relationship with Joshua, the former predecessor of Skill Copy, and made a lot of money too.

[USD 606,000.00]

$606,000.

About 1.1 billion won in Korean currency.

Looking at my foreign currency account filled with dollars made me feel full even without eating.

‘The value of money will continue to decline. But it’s better than having nothing.’

The world changes after the Labyrinth incident.

A world where strength becomes more important than money.

What good is having lots of money when the world is ending?

Of course, there’s a way to preserve the value of money.

‘Keep extending the time until destruction.’

Currently, less than a year remains until destruction, but what if I keep conquering floors to extend it?

5 years, 10 years, 15 years.

What if I eventually defeat even Amon on the 666th Floor?

‘Then the money I’ve saved won’t be worthless. I can preserve its value.’

In that sense, accumulating money isn’t entirely pointless.

In a capitalist society that hasn’t collapsed yet, money is power.

‘Besides, if I can secure ‘that’ Transcendent Spirit’s skill, accumulating money won’t be pointless at all.’

Though I’d need to eliminate the penalty of Skill Copy first.

‘Should I try conquering Floor 25 now?’

In the dark night.

I threw myself into the familiar sinkhole.

Around the time the Labyrinth incident was unfolding.

To find humans who could stand against Amon, the Three Gods were keeping a close eye on the human world.

Then came a human, Lee Tae Seong.

He was certainly an extraordinary human.

To conquer up to the 9th Floor without even awakening.

[That’s why we appointed him as the first Apostle of us Three Gods of All Things, isn’t it?]

[Even sponsoring him with Skill Copy.]

[I never thought such a human would duel with your Apostle, Kairos.]

Joshua Everett, the first Apostle of Kairos, the God of Time.

He too was a talent who conquered the 1st Floor with an ordinary person’s body.

They hastily sent an offer before someone else could take him, and as a result.

They made him Kairos’s Apostle and even sponsored him with the [Time Regression] skill.

But.

[I never thought the two would connect like this.]

[I never thought he’d lose so futilely either.]

[That human Lee Tae Seong won so casually.]

[How can someone counter an opponent who has Time Regression?]

The Three Gods couldn’t help but question the result of the duel.

[Joshua was a human we planned to consider as a candidate. To make contact with such a human so quickly.]

[What a curious coincidence?]

[Maybe it’s not a coincidence at all.]

[What do you mean by that, Harmonion?]

[Are you saying he approached deliberately?]

[It’s possible. There’s no such thing as coincidence in this world.]

Harmonion spoke with certainty.

Soon, he brought up a plausible argument.

[That human Lee Tae Seong, could he be a regressor?]

[A regressor? Tae Seong?]

[That’s impossible. Time Return is our Three Gods’ exclusive authority.]

[That’s exactly why he could be a human we made regress. We just don’t remember it.]

[…!]

[Ah…!]

It certainly seemed plausible.

It felt like all the mysteries so far were being solved.

[I see. So that’s how he could climb to Floor 24 so dominantly?]

[Come on, would we be crazy enough to make such an insolent human regress?]

[If not that, it doesn’t make sense. The power he’s shown so far, and of all the many Apostles, making contact with Joshua specifically.]

[Hmm….]

Kairos, the God of Time, fell into contemplation.

[If he went to the 666th Floor and failed, we would have made Tae Seong regress.]

[Do you really believe it, Kairos? That he’s a regressor?]

[It’s not time to make definitive statements yet. However, the possibility is high.]

In times like this?

It would be faster to ask.

Directly to the person involved.

[You have entered Labyrinth Underground 25th Floor.]

When I entered the hot and humid environment, another message came in.

[The Three Gods of All Things say they have something curious and want to talk.]

[Through Orcus, God of the Underworld’s authority, you can briefly use the ‘Eternal Room’.]

[Would you like to enter the Eternal Room? Y/N]

As soon as I saw the message, I let out a chuckle.

‘They must have been quite curious about whether I’m a regressor. Seeing how they’re even opening the Eternal Room using their authority.’

The Eternal Room is a room where you can converse in spirit form.

In other words, you can talk face-to-face with the Three Gods without message restrictions.

‘It seems they saw my contact with Joshua and deduced my identity….’

I pressed the N button to decline the offer.

I had no intention of revealing that I was a regressor yet.

‘I’ll reveal it when necessary. Now is not the time.’

As soon as the Three Gods’ message window disappeared, the mission window appeared.

《Type: Survival》

《Condition: Within the 1-hour time limit》

《Mission: Survive from the monsters.》

[You cannot exit until you clear the mission.]

This was also a survival mission.

However, the environment was very different from before.

‘Hot and humid. If hell exists, it would really look like this.’

An environment like a volcanic zone that was hot and humid with flames shooting up everywhere.

Because of this, my body temperature rose, but there was nothing to worry about.

Flap!

I had the Tattered Hood prepared for times like this.

‘The effect is definite? It’s not hot at all.’

Rather, inside the hood was as cool as if the air conditioning was on.

Thanks to the Tattered Hood’s temperature regulation function.

‘It’s a survival mission so I have to defend here too, but….’

I had no intention of making traps or fighting while running away like last time.

There was something I needed to obtain here.

‘An item that can summon Specter. I need to get that.’

To do that, I had to catch Ball Bugs as quickly as possible.

‘It was catching 100 of them, right?’

I moved my body while recalling the hidden mission I remembered with Clear Mind Like Still Water.

I could see a monster rolling toward me from far away.

‘Here it comes. Ball Bug.’

The exact name was Dark Roller.

Since it looked like a bug and moved by curling up its body, I casually called it Ball Bug.

Of course, it was quite large for a bug.

About the size of an adult crocodile?

‘If you get hit by something like this, you won’t even be able to collect your bones.’

But I knew how to deal with Ball Bugs.

“Kururururu!”

Looking at the Ball Bug rolling toward me while making strange sounds.

Tsuzsz―

I summoned the Worn-out Spear.

Its shell was hard and it attacked by rolling, so I wondered if there was anywhere to pierce.

‘There’s always a way.’

Taat!

When I suddenly launched my body and disappeared.

“Kuru… ru?”

The confused Ball Bug stopped moving.

Due to its heat-sensing nature, it stopped rolling since it couldn’t feel its target.

‘I don’t target the shell. The only place I aim for is.’

Puuk!

‘The eye.’

Using the descending force, I precisely pierced its eye.

“Kuruuuuuu!”

After letting out a shriek, it collapsed limply.

One-shot kill.

[You have obtained an F-Grade Magic Stone.]

[Obtained items are stored in inventory.]

I knew a Magic Stone would drop since it was a creature with blocked magic veins.

‘Let’s catch 100 of them like this. Then.’

A hidden event would occur.

Puk! Puk!

One shot per creature.

I caught the approaching Ball Bugs using my spear.

Utilizing the Ball Bugs’ characteristic of only detecting heat on the ground.

Whoosh!

I jumped a lot.

Puk!

“Kururu!”

If I could handle the work quickly, I could endure any amount of trouble.

[Shield has been charged.]

[Current stack 9/10]

Every time I killed 10 monsters, a shield from Achievement would stack up.

I had caught over 90, but there was no need to use the shield.

It was that easy.

‘If I catch this one, that’ll be 100?’

A single Ball Bug rolling around before my eyes.

Despite the corpses of its kin scattered around, it charges at me fearlessly.

I immediately jumped and stabbed its eyeball to kill it.

[You have defeated 100 Dark Rollers.]

[Hidden Event: Giant Dark Roller appears.]

This is exactly the event I was talking about.

The Giant Dark Roller that appears when you meet the condition of killing 100.

As the name suggests, it’s an enormously large Ball Bug.

Sure enough.

Kugrgrgrgrg.

Not being a gentleman, it appears by rolling.

“Kururururururu!”

Even curled up in a ball, it’s over 4 meters in massive size.

It’s definitely going to be a tough one to catch.

It wasn’t meant to be caught in the first place.

The mission’s objective was survival, after all.

‘I could clear the mission by running around and enduring. But…’

That thing was my target from the beginning.

I need to kill it to get the item that can summon a Specter.

‘Shall I show off my skills a bit?’

First, I threw my body to dodge the giant Ball Bug rolling toward me.

It barely grazed past me.

As if it wouldn’t let me escape, it immediately changed direction and rolled at me again.

It would need to unfurl its body for me to have a target, but there’s no opening.

‘If there’s no opening, I’ll just make one.’

I used Skill Copy on the creature.

[Target has only one skill, so attempting direct copy.]

[Skill ‘Rolling’ has been copied.]

▷Rolling(F)

―Effect: Rolls whatever it may be.

I obtained its signature skill.

‘I’ll use this to kill it.’

When it came so close I worried I might get crushed.

Ziing―

I used the Time Stop skill.

During the frozen time, I escaped from its line of sight.

Shortly after.

“Kururu?”

Not sensing my body heat, the creature unfurled its curled-up body.

At that moment.

Thunk!

Falling from the air, I drove my spear precisely into its eyeball.

“Kuru!”

‘Too shallow.’

Knowing this wouldn’t be enough to kill it.

With the spear embedded, I used Rolling.

Whirrrr!

My body spins in the air.

The spear I’m gripping tightly also rotates, driving deeper.

“Kururururu!”

The Ball Bug writhes in pain.

‘Rolling. Rolling. Rolling. Rolling…’

Since it’s a skill with no cooldown, I cast infinite rolling.

The spear spinning with me in the air burrowed in like a drill.

Chwachwachwachwachwak!

“Kurururuuuuuu!”

With a death cry, the giant Ball Bug finally collapsed.

The spear had penetrated almost to the end.

[You have defeated the Giant Dark Roller.]

[Rewarded with ‘Orb of Darkness(D)’.]

[Rewarded with ‘Random Orb Fragment 1/4’.]

[Acquired items are stored in Inventory.]

The rewards are generous, befitting a boss-level enemy.

To think a D-rank item would drop on a floor crawling with F-rank ones.

Even though I haven’t completed the mission yet, it’s giving me this much reward.

‘Now with this Orb of Darkness.’

I will summon it.

The Specter.

Right here, right now.

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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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