Monopolizing Skills to the 666th Floor - Chapter 165
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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 165
165. Black Circle
A basement somewhere in Eastern Europe.
Men wearing black hoods were all checking news articles on their mobile phones.
[Amon’s Labyrinth conquest, first ever to break 500 million subscribers!]
[Amon’s conquest video reaches 150 million views within 24 hours of upload!]
[Amon Channel’s monthly revenue estimated at 2 million dollars… Highest earnings among Korean ViewTubers!]
“Look at this. Amon makes 2 million dollars a month.”
“2 million dollars?”
“That crazy bastard, seriously.”
“Ah… it makes me sick.”
The sickening news wasn’t limited to just that.
[Amon selected as candidate for Time Magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’… ‘First Korean ever’.]
[Amon Guild’s phones paralyzed by interview requests from media worldwide.]
[Korean stock market rises 200 points after Amon’s appearance. ‘National brand effect’.]
[4,874 days remaining until destruction, effectively safe for 13 years!]
Amon’s popularity worldwide showed no signs of cooling down.
“I’m jealous…”
“Haah, damn it…”
Being envious was only natural.
He was the complete opposite of them, who wore black hoods and held secret meetings in basements.
However.
“Being envious isn’t the issue right now. Look at this.”
The mobile phone screen that one man showed.
There was a headline that couldn’t help but be shocking.
[Amon successfully conquers up to Floor 490. At this rate, Floor 666 could be conquered within a month…]
“A month?”
“In just one month…”
“Our abilities will disappear?”
“At this rate, our Black Circle will also disappear…”
Black Circle.
An international criminal organization composed of Apostles.
It was a group that not only united to strengthen their power, but also pursued profit by committing various crimes.
In short, they were society’s evil, but they weren’t well known to the public.
They always lived in the shadows and made contact and acted cautiously like now.
But even that power was about to disappear.
With Amon conquering the 666th Floor.
“What happens to us if Amon conquers up to the 666th Floor?”
“Won’t the Magic Stones and all the powers we possess be extinguished?”
“That’s possible. We might return to being ordinary humans.”
“All the Magic Crystals we obtained from the Labyrinth will become ordinary stones.”
“We need to come up with countermeasures quickly. We only have a month left!”
The Gods didn’t distribute power based on human good and evil.
Whether good or evil, they gave power fairly as long as one appeared strong.
As a result, those who gained the most power were, in a way, criminals.
Their characteristically evil and strong nature had drawn the opportunity.
The opportunity to give wings to crime.
But even that would crumble in just a month.
One of Black Circle’s executives spoke.
“Calm down. We can’t definitively say that conquering the 666th Floor will make our abilities disappear, can we?”
“But… we can’t just sit here doing nothing! We need to come up with some countermeasures!”
“Countermeasures… do you have something in mind?”
“Well… killing Amon…”
“What? Hahahaha!”
The executive who had burst into open laughter suddenly stopped laughing.
“You’re joking, right? Kill Amon?”
“I-if we all combine our strength…”
“Don’t talk nonsense. We’re stuck around the 120th Floor at best. Do you think we can defeat a monster who’s climbed close to the 500th Floor? Even if we combine all our strength?”
“Th-that’s… we won’t know unless we try…”
“Ah, fine. Let’s say we can win if we combine our strength. But how will you find Amon? Do you know where he lives?”
“If we search through Korea…”
“You all speak so easily.”
“…”
Despite the executive’s mockery, the Organization Members couldn’t really offer any rebuttal.
Because there wasn’t a single thing he said that was wrong.
“Boss, what will you do?”
All eyes focused on the man with the massive build sitting in the innermost seat.
Black Circle’s leader ‘Volkov’.
A powerful Apostle from Russia who had conquered up to Floor 140.
“Hmm…”
Volkov fell silent for a moment, then suddenly his eyes flashed.
“There is a way.”
“A way?”
“We’ll cross over to Korea and terrorize the Amon Guild.”
“The Amon Guild?”
“But if Amon isn’t inside, it would be useless…”
“It doesn’t matter.”
The corners of Volkov’s mouth twisted upward.
“No matter how strong that bastard is, he can’t protect all his comrades. If we take the guild members hostage, even Amon won’t be able to do anything about it.”
If you can’t find the location, just draw them out.
Volkov’s plan was simple yet vicious.
Avoid direct confrontation while targeting Amon’s weakness.
“That’s quite a good method.”
“When will you start preparing?”
“We start immediately. Gather all information about Korea and track the movements of the Amon Guild. Find out who comes and goes, who the key figures are, completely investigate their residences and family relationships. The more hostages, the better.”
Volkov gave his orders with a sinister smile.
“We execute the operation within a week.”
“Understood!”
A malicious plan began in the darkness.
After finishing my deal with Joshua, I immediately returned to the Labyrinth and resumed my conquest.
[You have entered Labyrinth Underground 491st Floor.]
《Type: Collection》
《Condition: Within 5 hours time limit》
《Mission: Collect 10 Mana Crystals.》
[You cannot exit until you clear the mission.]
From Floor 491 to Floor 499, all were collection missions.
Each floor required collecting specific items, but it wasn’t particularly difficult for me.
Sweep away monsters with Lightning Spear and collect the target items.
A simple but reliable method.
Crack!
Lightning flashed and the Guardian Golems shattered to pieces.
Glowing crystals rolled out from the debris.
[Mana Crystal Collection 10/10]
[You have cleared Labyrinth Underground 491st Floor!]
Mana Crystals were ingredients for the cooking I sold to Lawrence this time.
‘I can earn more money.’
Floor 492, Floor 493.
As I progressed through the conquest, profitable materials accumulated.
Not just cooking ingredients, but even S-Grade Magic Crystals appeared.
By the time I cleared Floor 499, I had collected over 100 S-Grade Magic Crystals.
‘If one was worth 27 billion, that’s about 2.7 trillion earned?’
That’s how valuable S-Grade Magic Crystals were.
The purity and reactivity of the energy contained within was different from ordinary magic stones.
‘I’ll sell them to Joshua when I meet him later, and enter Floor 500 right away.’
From Floor 500 to Floor 509 were survival missions.
The mission time limits ranged from 3 hours to as long as 10 hours.
Therefore, it took several days to clear them, but from Floor 510 onward, I could clear them quite quickly.
Since I had done trap missions once before my regression, they weren’t difficult.
[You have cleared Labyrinth Underground 519th Floor!]
In less than a week, I was able to clear nearly 30 floors.
But there was something strange.
‘The Administrator is unusually quiet.’
The one who would normally try to ambush me by opening dimensional rifts had been silent while I conquered 30 floors.
‘Did they give up perhaps?’
Or were they planning something else?
‘Well, it’s fine.’
I was curious, but if they didn’t appear, it was good for me.
Though I said I wanted to fight them, they were an opponent I couldn’t guarantee victory against in an actual battle.
‘Should I check on the guild members’ situation with Parasite after a long time?’
I closed my eyes and checked the condition of the guild members.
Soon, I couldn’t help but open my eyes.
At the moment Lee Tae Seong was using Parasite.
The Amon Guild was having busy days as usual.
The phone rang incessantly.
“Yes, this is Amon Guild.”
“Is this about guild membership? Sorry, but we’re not currently recruiting additional members…”
“Ah, yes. An interview request. I’ll check the schedule and get back to you.”
The Heeseong Faction organization member who put down the receiver let out a deep sigh.
“Soon Gu hyung, this is really driving me crazy. I feel like just unplugging the phone line.”
“Hey, we’re still officially Amon Guild, so we have to do this kind of work.”
“But Amon is always busy, and all we do is reject phone calls…”
“Still, someone has to do it. Amon can’t handle it directly.”
“But we’re not accepting guild members anymore. We can’t help with labyrinth clearing either…”
The organization member was right.
Amon Guild was practically losing its meaning.
It had become nothing more than a simple Heeseong Faction hideout.
“None of the guild members come to visit either.”
“Right. We haven’t seen Action Captain Weihao hyung for days…”
“Well, he’s busy clearing with his team.”
Amon’s guild members were also busy with their own labyrinth clearing.
Because of that, Amon Guild had been pushed to the back burner.
“I wonder why we haven’t seen Hee Seong hyung lately.”
“Soon Gu hyung, have you heard from Hee Seong hyung?”
“No.”
They looked like Amon Guild staff, but in reality they were Heeseong Faction organization members.
As such, they followed their boss Kang Hee Seong, but their boss wasn’t answering calls.
Where he was or what he was doing.
“Well… he must be busy.”
That’s when it happened.
Knock knock knock.
A knocking sound came from the guild entrance.
“Didn’t you put up a sign on the door panel saying we’re not accepting guild members?”
“I did.”
“Then why is someone visiting again?”
“I don’t know either.”
“Sigh…”
Soon Gu sighed and opened the door.
Two foreign men in suits were standing there.
“Ah… maybe because we didn’t write it in English?”
He thought they were people who came to join Amon Guild.
“Hello. We’re from Global Media Group.”
Surprisingly, they were people who came for different business.
Their Korean was fluent too.
“Is this an interview request?”
“Yes, that’s right. We’ve come a long way for an exclusive interview with Amon.”
But something was strange.
Their suits were neat, but the men’s eyes were cold and sharp.
They felt more like soldiers or mercenaries than reporters.
“Sorry, but the Guild Master isn’t here right now. He also said he doesn’t give interviews…”
“Ah, I see.”
The man nodded as if disappointed.
But Soon Gu didn’t miss his hand stealthily moving toward his pocket.
‘What?’
The moment he was looking suspiciously.
Swoosh!
The man’s hand moved like lightning.
Soon Gu instinctively dodged and looked behind him.
The organization members who had been sitting at the desk just moments ago were collapsed on the floor.
“Guys!”
“They’re just paralyzed with Invisible Poison Needles. Don’t worry.”
Sparks flew in Soon Gu’s eyes.
“You bastards! Who are you? What do you want?”
“We want Amon. You’ll be our hostages until he comes.”
“What…?”
Taking us hostage?
Us?
It was the moment Soon Gu’s head went blank.
Crack!
One of the infiltrators was slammed head-first into the ground.
Blood stained the floor.
“What are you doing blocking the way in front of the entrance? Tsk.”
Weihao appeared at the entrance with an irritated expression.
Startled, the infiltrator quickly wrapped his arm around Soon Gu’s neck and turned around.
“Don’t come any closer! I’ll kill him!”
“What are you saying? Speak in Chinese.”
“I said I’ll kill him if you come closer, you bastard.”
When he spoke in Chinese, Weihao understood, but the infiltrator heard something he didn’t expect.
“Oh, kill him.”
“What?”
“I said kill him. If you want to kill him.”
Weihao said nonchalantly.
“Whether that guy lives or dies, what do I care?”
It was the infiltrator who became flustered by those words instead.
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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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