Monopolizing Skills to the 666th Floor - Chapter 19

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

Skill Devouring to the 666th Floor Episode 019

19. Parasite

▷Parasite (S)

―Effect: Plants parasites made of mana into targets (maximum 10). As long as the host doesn’t die or the parasites aren’t removed, the target can be monitored permanently.

The reason I acted like Amon’s follower and entered the Bottomless Pit all this time?

It was all because of this skill.

‘This is what can eliminate the penalty of Skill Copy.’

The mechanism of Skill Copy requires being near the target to copy their skills.

If you get separated from the target, the copied skill disappears.

That’s the only penalty of Skill Copy.

However.

‘Parasites are a type of living being. Since they’re made from my mana, they can be considered part of me.’

What if I plant such parasites in the opponent’s body?

Skill Copy recognizes that the caster is still near the target.

It sees the parasite as part of the caster.

‘The verification is already complete. Joshua actually tried it before my regression.’

At that time, Joshua was facing the demon boss on the 310th Floor and copied his skill.

The demon skill called Parasite.

At first, he wondered what kind of skill this was and planted a parasite in the demon’s body.

‘But he said Parasite was maintained even when he got separated from that demon.’

Thanks to the parasite, it seemed to be recognized as not being separated from the target.

He seemed to have found a way to eliminate the penalty of Skill Copy.

I remember Joshua’s regretful words back then.

When the demon died, Parasite became difficult to use anymore.

‘But now Parasite has come into my hands. Permanently at that.’

With just this, it’s possible.

To copy all the skills in the world and possess them permanently.

However, there’s one problem.

‘Parasite can only plant ten parasites.’

That means I can only store ten skills.

‘To store more skills, I need to upgrade Parasite’s rank. Then the number of parasites will increase too.’

For that, I need to obtain an S-Rank Skill Enhancement Orb, which isn’t easy to get.

‘Anyway, I’ve achieved my goal.’

That means I no longer need to act like Amon’s follower.

‘Should I open the Dimensional Shop before going to the 26th Floor? I need to buy that thing.’

I wonder what kind of reaction the Specter will show when it sees me?

Feeling curious, I took it out from my inventory.

The Orb of Darkness that can summon the Specter.

[Kyahahat, to think you’d fall for my words so perfectly. What a stupid human.]

Originally, Specters are beings that only serve as guides.

They’re designed to be unable to harm humans.

The scythe is just a decoration they carry around to intimidate.

That doesn’t mean there’s no way to torment humans.

[Like now, if I lure them to the Bottomless Pit, I can kill them without anyone knowing.]

The human is probably wandering lost in the darkness right now.

Then they’ll starve to death from hunger.

[Serves them right. How dare they impersonate Lord Amon. They deserve to fall into hellfire.]

Anyway, in the Bottomless Pit, you can’t use items or anything.

That means they can’t summon me either.

[Deceiving humans is quite fun too. Hehe.]

Luster’s lips stretched into a long grin, having discovered a new source of entertainment.

But that was only for a moment.

‘What, what’s this?’

An intangible force began to bind him.

‘Th-this is the sign of being summoned by the Orb of Darkness!’

Who on earth used the Orb of Darkness?

Did someone else defeat the Giant Dark Roller?

‘This quickly?’

Before he could even feel curious, Luster’s body was warped.

Right in front of Lee Tae Seong.

[Gasp!]

“Nice to see you. Death God.”

I smiled broadly at the Death God who appeared before my eyes.

“What are you so surprised about? Did you see a ghost?”

[You, how did you…?]

“How did I escape from the Bottomless Pit?”

The smile disappeared from my lips.

“Before that, shouldn’t you apologize first?”

I wrapped mana around my hand and slapped the Specter’s cheek.

Smack!

The guy whose head turned was looking at me with even more surprised eyes than before.

[H-how? Humans shouldn’t be able to touch me…?]

He was right.

Specters are beings made of spiritual energy.

Normally, you can’t touch beings without physical bodies.

Skills don’t work on them either.

It’s like trying to cut water with a blade.

But that was only in normal cases.

‘There’s a core in his body. If I wrap mana around my hand and transmit it to the core…’

Thwack!

[Guhheok!]

‘I can inflict physical damage.’

In other words, touching the core temporarily materializes the Specter’s body.

That was why the Specter staggered from my punches.

By sending stimulation to the core, I changed the nature of this spiritual being.

‘The effect is good.’

Finding the location of the core isn’t difficult.

With good Mana Manipulation, you can find the Specter’s weakness, the core.

It’s the same principle as finding Irregulars with Magic Stones.

It meant it wasn’t an empty boast that I could subdue him with just a handful of mana.

“Get up. It’s not over yet.”

[…]

“You have to pay the price for screwing me over, right?”

[D-damn it!]

The guy cursed and flew up into the sky.

“Abandoning your pride and running away? You made quite a big decision. But…”

I took out the Orb of Darkness from my Inventory.

“Do you think you can escape from me?”

I used the Orb.

Flash!

His body warped in front of me.

[Huh…?]

“As long as I have the Orb, you can’t get away.”

I swung my fist filled with mana.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

[Guhheok! Kkeueok! Keok!]

He was just taking the relentless punches.

He wouldn’t even dare to think about running away.

“How dare a mere Guide try to kill an Apostle?”

[I-I was wrong. Stop it! I-I’m going to die at this rate!]

“It might be good to kill you while I’m at it. The first human to kill a Death God… I wonder what kind of Achievement would pop up?”

[S-save me! Please!]

It seemed like I was beating him mercilessly, but I was controlling my strength in my own way.

If this guy dies, how am I supposed to use the Dimensional Shop?

Thinking this was enough, I stopped punching.

When our eyes meet, he flinches and averts his gaze.

He probably doesn’t even dare think about running away now.

“Open it.”

[Wh-what….]

“The Dimensional Shop, what else?”

At my words, Luster’s expression instantly brightened.

If the shop is used, the Orb of Darkness will disappear.

He’s welcoming it because he thinks he won’t have to see me anymore.

[You’re thinking of buying something? That’s a good decision, human!]

“Whatever, just open the shop. Unless you want to get beaten again.”

[….]

Luster falls silent for a moment.

He must feel like shit about the reversed situation, but what can he do when reality is like this?

He has to submit.

Flash!

As expected, the guy opened the Dimensional Shop.

Countless item lists unfold before my eyes.

[You have used the Dimensional Shop for the first time.]

[As a first-time user commemoration, you receive 10,000 credits.]

The Dimensional Shop’s currency is credits.

I can buy any item I want with this.

‘Though I can only use it once.’

Until I obtain another Orb of Darkness, I won’t be able to open the Dimensional Shop.

So for now, the wise choice is to spend all the credits without leaving any.

However.

‘There’s no rush. I’ll buy only what I need and keep the remaining amount.’

There are other ways to open the Dimensional Shop, so there’s no need to be hasty.

Swipe swipe—

I was browsing through the list by touching it when I stopped at one point.

‘For now, I should only buy this.’

I pressed the purchase button for the item without hesitation.

[You have purchased the item ‘Withered Branch’.]

[6,000 credits have been deducted.]

The specter’s eyes widened instantly.

[H-human! What the hell are you doing?]

“Why?”

[Even if you’re stupid, how could you buy such a trash item! You’ve lost your mind….]

When I glared at him, the guy’s mouth went quiet.

“You’d better watch your mouth in front of me. I have a pretty nasty temper.”

[I thought you were a polite human for sure….]

Ignoring his muttering, I checked the Item Information.

[Withered Branch (F)]

—Classification: Possession

—Description: A dried and twisted, useless tree branch.

The description says it’s useless, but.

‘Why would they sell something useless in the shop?’

I know the true value of this item.

I also know it’s the highest efficiency item that should be purchased first.

[Aren’t you buying other items? Human?]

“Yeah. This is the end.”

[Really? Can I go now?]

The shop can only be closed after receiving confirmation from the user.

“That’s what I said. Now get lost.”

Despite the dismissal, the guy hastily closed the shop window with a grin stretching from ear to ear.

[What a nasty-tempered human! Let’s never meet again!]

Perhaps because it was the last time, the specter disappeared while leaving behind curses.

“Jason. Let’s have a duel.”

“Sigh, I was wondering when you’d say that.”

While grumbling, Jason put on his gloves.

Joshua watched this and waved his hand.

“No, not with fists. Use a weapon.”

“You’re going to let me hold a spear?”

“Yeah.”

“What are you going to use?”

Joshua raised his gloved fists.

“This is enough.”

Jason, who had been staring blankly, grinned.

“You’re going to regret this?”

“I’ve won every time, so there should be this much of a penalty.”

“You know who my patron spirit is, right? The Master of Spearmanship.”

“Stop talking and come at me.”

Jason drew his training spear and stood confidently.

But that was only for a moment.

Crack!

“Ugh!”

Jason dropped his spear without even exchanging a few moves.

“Damn… You’re even worse than usual.”

“Sorry. Did I put too much force into it?”

“Did you raise your stats recently? Your movements are different from usual.”

“Just. I guess I’m a bit on edge.”

“Why? Did something happen?”

Even at the question, Joshua kept his mouth tightly shut.

“What happened?”

“It’s nothing. I just thought I need to get stronger.”

The duel with Amon last time was a shock itself for Joshua.

‘I couldn’t win even using skills.’

It wasn’t simply because of a stat difference.

Technically and in every aspect, Amon was superior.

‘Someone like me was just a greenhorn compared to Amon.’

It was too early to be complacent about reaching the 10th Floor.

He had to climb more floors and become stronger than anyone.

Getting stronger was Joshua’s only goal to begin with.

Just then.

[Someone has cleared Labyrinth Underground 25th Floor!]

[Labyrinth Underground 26th Floor is now open.]

[10 days have been added to Earth’s destruction countdown.]

[Time remaining until destruction: 276 days 2 hours 40 minutes 54 seconds]

A welcome clear message appeared.

“Wow. That guy already broke through Floor 25. Isn’t that just insane?”

Jason let out a hollow laugh, but Joshua couldn’t laugh.

‘Even Amon, who’s already practically the strongest, is so focused on clearing floors, but I…’

He had to work even harder.

He couldn’t settle for reality.

“I’m going to enter the Sinkhole.”

“Huh? You’re going to clear floors now?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s 4 AM though?”

“I don’t have time to rest.”

Joshua took out his supercar from the garage and drove off.

Vrooooom!

Jason clicked his tongue at the sight.

“That guy got stimulated.”

He could guess who had stimulated him.

“It must be Amon.”

At this rate, he might fall behind too.

To continue being Joshua’s sparring partner, he had to work even harder.

“I can’t be the only one falling behind.”

Jason also placed his spear on the weapon rack and drove his car to the Sinkhole.

[Would you like to descend to the next floor? Y/N]

[If you select N, you can return to Earth.]

‘Of course it’s yes.’

I have no intention of going home yet.

I plan to clear straight through to the 29th Floor.

More importantly, I need to test the item I bought from the Dimensional Shop.

‘The opportunity to use this item is only until before the 30th Floor.’

That’s why I hastily bought the Withered Branch.

If I go past the 29th Floor, the opportunity will disappear.

[You have entered Labyrinth Underground 26th Floor.]

《Type: Survival》

《Condition: Within 1 hour time limit》

《Mission: Survive from the monsters.》

[You cannot exit until you clear the mission.]

In the past, when the Orb of Darkness became known and the Dimensional Shop was actively used.

Someone had accidentally tested the effect of the Withered Branch.

That’s when it was discovered.

The fact that the branch evolves when stuck into liquid-type monsters.

‘But that information was revealed after the 240th Floor. Since liquid-type monsters didn’t appear much, it was hard to make proper use of it.’

Since there weren’t sections where they appeared enough to test, it was difficult to confirm the branch’s true value.

However.

‘Here on the 26th Floor, I can utilize it to the fullest. For one hour straight, what keeps coming out are liquid-type monsters.’

It’s about time for them to appear.

The prey for my branch.

“Uwooooo…”

A monster appeared, writhing – Dark Mud.

Its movement is slow, but like slimes, physical attacks don’t work on it.

A creature that can only be killed with skills.

That’s why avoiding them is the best strategy, but.

Dash!

Far from running away, I actually charged at it.

With the Withered Branch drawn in one hand.

“Eat this.”

Stab!

I stuck the branch into its body.

Then immediately.

Slurrrrrr!

A reaction appeared.

Its size shrank as if being sucked into a vacuum cleaner, and finally.

Slurp!

The Dark Mud disappeared without a trace.

It was absorbed completely.

By the branch.

“This is pretty good?”

Soon I smiled at the sight of Dark Muds sliding toward me.

The nutrients to grow my tree were coming to me on their own.

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