Monopolizing Skills to the 666th Floor - Chapter 26

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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 026

26. Labyrinth Underground 30th Floor

On the airplane returning to the United States.

Joshua looked down at Korea growing distant and made a wistful expression.

‘I’ll have another chance to taste it again, right?’

The food he tasted in Korea was perfect for his palate.

Especially the pork belly he ate for dinner was still memorable.

‘But there’s even more delicious food than that?’

Just before leaving, he heard from Lee Tae Seong.

―Next time you visit, I’ll treat you to my favorite food.

Food more delicious than pork belly….

He looked forward to the day he’d meet Tae Seong again.

‘Above all, to give me such a precious gift….’

Joshua recalled the spear carefully stored in his inventory.

[Worn-out Spear (F)]

―Classification: Weapon

―Durability: 72/100

―Effect: None

―Usage Restriction: Apostle who has cleared 1st Floor or higher

―Description: Too worn out. Not sure if it’ll be useful.

Looking at the information, it was definitely a weapon.

‘A weapon from the Labyrinth. Even I, who pride myself on clearing faster than others, have never seen anything like this….’

While clearing up to the 16th Floor, no notable items had appeared.

Only things that looked like miscellaneous items occasionally came out.

‘That’s why I was in the situation of picking up and using a Hobgoblin’s Machete….’

Now there was no need for that.

Thanks to Amon, he had a weapon.

However.

‘He’d really be happy if I gave this to him.’

Joshua had no intention of using the spear.

He planned to give it as a gift to someone else.

A more suitable person than himself came to mind.

‘I’ve ended up owing Tae Seong a huge debt, haven’t I?’

From readily accepting the duel to giving such a precious gift.

Personally guiding him when he visited Korea was truly touching too.

‘Of course, I refused at first. I hadn’t done nearly enough to receive something so precious.’

Joshua had waved his hands dismissively at Tae Seong who readily offered the spear.

―Y-you don’t need to give me something like this.

―Take it. You said you don’t have a weapon.

―But if I take this, then Tae Seong….

―I have a weapon.

―Y-you do?

―Yes. So don’t feel burdened and take it. It’s an item I don’t need.

He had a separate weapon.

He was curious, but the gift he received was so significant that he couldn’t even think to ask.

‘I wanted to give him a proper gift too….’

He did give some miscellaneous items he had, but they were just miscellaneous items after all.

They couldn’t compare to a weapon like this.

‘Next time a useful-looking item comes out, I should keep it and give it as a gift.’

With such thoughts, he returned to his homeland.

As soon as his mobile phone connected, he made contact.

The first person Joshua sought out was?

None other than his friend Jason.

“Joshua! What’s going on? What’s this urgent matter?”

“I have something to give you.”

“What…?”

Disappointment appeared on Jason’s expression.

“The reason you called me is just because you have something to give? You said it was urgent, so I thought something had happened!”

“It’s not ‘just.’ You’ll be shocked when you see it.”

“What is it?”

Joshua grinned and opened his inventory.

Jason, who had been watching with a displeased expression, soon.

“Wh-what is that?”

His face became one of surprise at the appearance of the long weapon.

“Th, that’s a spear?”

“Yeah.”

“You got it from the Labyrinth…?”

“Yeah.”

He clearly saw it come out of the inventory.

That meant it was a weapon from the Labyrinth.

Even if it was worn, having a weapon was something, wasn’t it?

When even Joshua, who had cleared the 16th Floor, didn’t have a decent weapon.

“Here. Take a close look.”

Jason, who received the item, examined the old spear from all angles.

He also checked the Item Information.

Though the durability had worn down from Joshua’s use, it still looked usable.

“I’ll give that to you as a gift.”

“You’re… giving this to me?”

“Yeah.”

Jason looked like he was about to hug him any moment.

“Hey. Don’t come near me. That’s disgusting.”

“Th, thank you. Joshua.”

“Don’t mention it.”

He had the Master of Spearmanship as his Transcendent Spirit, but lacked that crucial weapon.

Because of that, every time he entered the Labyrinth, he had to crudely craft a spear to use.

Now there was no need for that anymore.

“But when did you get a weapon like this? You didn’t tell me about it. Looking at the durability, it seems like it’s been used for a while…”

“I didn’t get it myself.”

“Huh?”

Joshua pondered at this moment.

Whether to honestly say that Amon gave it to him or not.

But.

‘That’s something I shouldn’t say.’

Though there hadn’t been a request to keep it secret, he had that much sense.

If he revealed it was Amon, Tae Seong would be in trouble.

“I got a new trading partner recently, an Apostle. That person gave it to me as a gift.”

“A partner? Ah… the business contact you texted about recently?”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

“I thought you had gotten a girlfriend or something… it was really a business contact?”

“What girlfriend. Where would I have time for that?”

“True. You’d be busy with work, clearing floors, and dueling.”

“Hey. Since we’re talking about it, let’s have a duel.”

“Ah…”

Another duel?

Jason blamed himself for having a loose tongue.

However.

“You’d want to test the effects of that spear too, wouldn’t you?”

Joshua’s following words changed Jason’s mind.

“Hmm… should we?”

“Okay. Let me just unpack my stuff for a moment.”

“Um, but.”

Jason stopped Joshua and asked with a dead serious expression.

“The person who gave you this spear as a gift, who exactly are they? Where did they get a spear like this? Are they higher level than you? Are they a former unit member? American?”

Questions poured out, but Joshua didn’t answer any of them.

He just smiled and said one thing.

“It’s a secret.”

On the way home.

I checked the items I received from Joshua.

[Random Orb Fragment 2/8]

―Category: Possession

―Description: An extremely small fragment of an orb. Collecting 8 fragments converts them into 1 piece.

[Mana Leaf (F)]

―Category: Possession

―Description: A leaf containing mana. Indistinguishable from ordinary leaves.

‘Why is he giving me all this stuff.’

Perhaps feeling bad about receiving it for free, Joshua gave me these things, calling them miscellaneous items.

Even if they were miscellaneous items, they were materials that would come in handy later.

‘With this, I’ve collected up to 5 Random Orb Fragments.’

The fragments were also materials for Random Orb pieces, so they couldn’t help but be important.

‘But weapons would be more important than that.’

I could get them as first clear rewards, but they would be hard to obtain with regular clears.

People won’t be able to obtain equipment items for quite a while.

‘Around the time they clear Floor 160. So they’ll only get equipment when the Orb of Darkness is released into the world.’

In other words, it’s hard to obtain unless it’s from the Dimensional Shop.

It’s natural for Joshua to react like that.

“I never saw him use a spear in my previous life, but… well, it should help.”

I don’t regret it.

Compared to what he did for me in my previous life.

Thanks to the information Joshua gave me, wasn’t I able to remove the penalty of Skill Copy?

‘Even though they’re miscellaneous items, I received items like this too.’

Beep beep beep beep— Beep!

After returning home and taking a shower, I checked my computer.

‘Let’s create a ViewTube channel.’

Why am I starting ViewTube?

Because from Floor 30 onwards, the strategies are hard to explain in writing.

‘Uploading videos would be a hundred, a thousand times easier to understand.’

Many people uploaded Labyrinth videos to ViewTube.

Some uploaded videos explaining Apostle skills, others uploaded strategy guides.

‘I should start too. Before it’s too late.’

I already bought an action camera to film videos.

Now let’s create a ViewTube channel.

‘The nickname for ViewTube will be [Amon]. The channel name will be [Amon’s Labyrinth Strategy].’

The setup is complete, but what about the first video?

I happen to have a prepared video.

The video I filmed revealing the identity of the fake Amon.

‘I need to clear my name.’

[Upload completed.]

Now shall I go clear Floor 30?

What’s currently known about the Labyrinth is this:

1. No matter which sinkhole you enter, it leads to the Labyrinth.

2. Even ordinary people can enter.

3. You can bring personal items like mobile phones or action cameras.

4. Items classified as weapons cannot be brought in.

5. Obviously, there’s no internet connection.

6. You can’t escape until you clear it.

7. People who cleared the same floor can meet if they enter the same sinkhole.

This is the basic information that’s known.

However.

‘They don’t know that there are floors where rule 7 doesn’t apply.’

Even if you want to enter together and clear it, you can’t.

Trap-type floors are originally like that.

[You have entered Labyrinth Underground 30th Floor.]

《Type: Trap》

《Condition: Alone without help from others》

《Mission: Find the exit.》

[You cannot leave until you clear the mission.]

A simple mission to find the exit without anyone’s help.

Not being able to receive help means you can’t enter together.

‘That’s why many people die here.’

Before my regression, people utilized Transcendence Net earlier than expected.

‘Posts about people who cleared the same floor meeting each other flooded the board.’

They formed parties like that and easily cleared difficult floors.

Because they realized that clearing together was overwhelmingly more advantageous than alone.

‘But not from Floor 30 onwards.’

Even if they wanted to clear it together, they couldn’t.

Because of that, many people died.

It seems like a simple mission to find the exit, but it’s not easy.

There are countless doors and the pattern changes every time.

‘The mission itself is similar to what I cleared in the Bottomless Pit.’

Among the countless doors spread out now, only one is the correct answer.

The rest are all traps that trigger.

‘Even if you find the correct answer, another door appears. You have to keep finding doors continuously.’

The mission is to reach the final exit this way.

What’s different from the Bottomless Pit?

There’s no limit on attempts or time, so you can challenge it as many times as you want.

‘However, if you take too long, you might die.’

Whether you die from traps or starve to death because you can’t find the way.

That’s the scary part about trap-type missions.

So it’s better to find the way and escape as quickly as possible.

The reason for filming a strategy video is to show that method.

Since the positions of doors that change patterns each time can’t be explained in writing.

‘Among several doors, there are ones with slightly different shapes. That’s the correct answer.’

In short, you just need to be good at spot-the-difference.

I plan to film and share which parts are different.

‘Since this is a floor that measures records, sharing the video might risk losing my title…’

But I’m not worried.

I’ll upload the video after 10 days pass, which is when the title defense period ends.

‘By then, I’ll have already permanently obtained the Achievement effect. Even if I upload the video, there’s no worry about losing it.’

Even if 10 days haven’t passed, it would be hard to break my record.

How could someone immediately find the positions of doors with changing patterns?

‘It’s impossible unless you identify them in advance with Clear Mind Like Still Water like I do.’

In the end, since the door patterns are different for each person, sharing wouldn’t be much help anyway.

‘Still, knowing that such patterns exist would be helpful.’

Now, shall we begin?

The record video for Floor 30?

Beep—

I turned on the action camera and looked ahead.

Paths spread out in a pure white space and countless doors.

A maze-like space where you have to choose which way is the path each time.

Anyone would fall into contemplation, but I know.

The method to distinguish the different door.

‘Here, the pattern on the handle is different.’

Click—

When I opened the handle of the first door, the next space appeared.

If it had been the wrong path, a trap would have appeared.

‘This one has a different surface material.’

Click—

I opened the second door without hesitation too.

‘Only this door has a small stain.’

Click—

The third one too.

Click—

The fourth one too.

I advanced avoiding traps as if I knew the answers.

Even while opening countless doors, I never got caught in a trap even once.

As a result.

[Floor 30 Clear Time: 11 minutes 12 seconds]

[You have cleared in the shortest time!]

[Achievement will be unlocked as a record clear reward.]

I was able to set a record.

[Achievement ‘Where I Go Becomes the Path (F)’ has been unlocked.]

[If a new record appears within 10 days, you must return the Achievement.]

[If no new record holder appears, you will permanently acquire the Achievement effect.]

▶Where I Go Becomes the Path (F)

—Acquisition Path: Labyrinth Underground 30th Floor

—Effect: When faced with a crossroads, you can instinctively find the path closest to the correct answer.

—Time remaining until permanent acquisition: 9 days 23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds

An Achievement helpful for these trap missions appeared.

Faster strategy runs should be possible.

‘Should I push forward to the 39th Floor with this momentum?’

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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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