Monopolizing Skills to the 666th Floor - Chapter 42

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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 042

42. Winterstone Energy

[Did you just ask what we could give you…?]

[Ha… this insolent…]

[Are you trying to bargain with us right now?]

All three had the same expression.

A face of disbelief.

It was only natural.

How common could humans be who demand compensation from gods?

Of course, I had my reasons for acting this way.

“Is there nothing you can offer? Then I’m afraid I can’t tell you either.”

I needed an excuse not to reveal the solution.

‘There’s no need to tell them I eliminated the penalty with Parasite.’

Anyway, the gods here don’t even know what skills are in my Status Window.

Stats and skills are thoroughly protected by the system.

It’s like personal information that can’t be casually peeked at.

‘The principle is to only reveal necessary information.’

If there’s no benefit coming back, there’s no need to tell them.

“Anyone else have something to say?”

[…]

“No? Then I’ll be going now.”

[Tae Seong. Let me ask just one question.]

Kairos, the most composed of the three, spoke up.

[Joshua and Park Se Hee passed the qualification test. They became Twelve Apostles as you wanted.]

I already knew this.

I watched it all through Parasite.

“That’s good news.”

[We even sponsored them with the exact skills you specified.]

“You did well, really.”

[But you see, I’m starting to wonder if there’s a need to raise the Twelve Apostles.]

It was an unexpected question.

Among the three, Kairos was the one who had been most insistent on the Twelve Apostles.

[Even if you remember your past life, breaking through to the 59th Floor already is beyond expectations. Among humans, it’s absolutely overwhelming.]

“Thank you for the compliment.”

[There’s no disagreement that you’re the only solution to defeat Amon. Both Orcus and Harmonion here share the same opinion.]

[What nonsense! My thoughts are different…]

“Please get to the point.”

Orcus, whose words were cut off, glared at me, but my gaze was directed toward Kairos.

I could predict what he was going to say.

[What I’m saying is this. If you’re the only hope to face Amon, wouldn’t it be better to sponsor just you alone rather than bothering to assemble the Twelve Apostles?]

[What do you mean by that? You want to concentrate all sponsorship on that human?]

[Kairos, that would break the balance. We should give opportunities to other apostles too.]

The other two gods opposed him.

One because they didn’t trust me, the other because they prioritized balance.

In fact, even Kairos who raised the question probably had no intention of backing me.

He just wanted to resolve his own doubts.

“Concentrating sponsorship would be better? That’s a reasonable doubt. There’s no guarantee that gathering the Twelve Apostles would make them as strong as me. Moreover, if I’ve even eliminated the drawbacks of Skill Copy, it’s natural to question whether other people are needed.”

[Exactly that.]

“Right. But if I told you not to assemble the Twelve Apostles, would you really not do it?”

[…]

“Let’s try a show of hands. Those in favor of concentrating sponsorship on me?”

No one raised their hand.

Even Kairos, who had suggested concentrating sponsorship, remained quiet.

“See? You’re all opposed. How could I ask you to concentrate sponsorship only on me in this situation?”

[You… knew this would happen?]

“Of course, I’m a Regressor. I already know how the Three Gods would react. Besides, sponsorship isn’t a system that can be concentrated on one person anyway, is it?”

Sponsorship is given systematically at predetermined times.

It’s not something gods can give whenever they want just because they wish to.

‘Usually it’s given once every time you clear the 80th Floor.’

Moreover, the quantity of sponsorship is limited, so even if they want to give more, they can’t.

They can only select good items from the rewards they have and sponsor them.

“In this situation, raising only one Apostle would be a loss in many ways. That’s probably why other Sponsoring Spirits are expanding their contracts like an octopus.”

[Hmm, I won’t deny that.]

“So if you want to raise the Twelve Apostles, compose them with the members I suggested. That’s the way to increase survival rates.”

[I understand. I’ll do as Tae Seong says.]

‘You must have learned through this opportunity. The terror of a Regressor.’

Not only strategy information, but even understanding their tendencies?

The Three Gods must find it chilling.

‘For a while, they won’t be able to object to my words. They must have properly felt the wall.’

I thought I heard grumbling sounds when leaving the Eternal Room, but it doesn’t matter.

I’m confident I can lead the Three Gods’ opinions according to my will.

Beep beep beep beep― Beep!

As I entered the shabby studio apartment, Seo Mina’s semi-basement house suddenly came to mind.

An environment not much different.

However, there’s a big difference in the money and abilities we possess.

‘Should I check what she’s doing for a moment?’

I wonder if she actually took my advice and entered the Labyrinth?

When I checked, Seo Mina was already inside the Labyrinth, in the middle of conquering it.

‘This is the 5th Floor? It hasn’t even been half a day since I gave her advice, and she’s already climbed this far?’

Moreover, she’s utilizing Mind Control quite well.

She shows no hesitation in killing monsters either.

‘Honestly, she’s beyond expectations.’

At that level, she’d be talent worthy of being one of the Twelve Apostles, but….

‘It’s impossible since she’s already contracted with a Transcendent Spirit.’

It’s difficult to make her an Apostle of the Three Gods at this point.

Even if it’s regrettable, I can only watch.

‘I should enter the 60th Floor starting tomorrow. But before that, I need to dispose of Kang Hee Seong’s corpse left in the cabinet.’

To make a corpse disappear without a trace requires many supplies and time.

But that’s only by old standards.

Nowadays, with more awakened Apostles, it’s not such a difficult task.

‘One skill shot using magic power. That’s enough.’

Fortunately, I have a range skill called Dragon’s Breath.

If I burn it cleanly with this, finding traces would be nearly impossible.

‘Let’s go. While avoiding CCTV as much as possible.’

Using Camouflage, I flew up into the sky with my Flight Skill.

After cleanly disposing of the corpse without being caught by anyone.

I returned home and went to bed.

And in the morning.

I woke up stretching and habitually sat in lotus position.

Though I usually enjoy meditation, this time the purpose was different.

‘I need to recall the strategy for the 60th Floor.’

From the 60th Floor onward, solution-type missions are given.

Since it’s not a mission of just hunting blindly, I need to recall it with Clear Mind Like Still Water.

‘I remembered it. The strategy up to the 69th Floor.’

After awakening my mind with a cold shower, I preheated the frying pan.

I was thinking of simply making egg toast for this morning’s meal.

Just then, ding― a text message arrived.

When I checked who it was, it was Isaac.

Perhaps out of consideration for me, he sent the text in Korean.

[Hello, Tae Seong. It must be morning in Korea now. Good morning. The thing is, several corporations that purchased magic stones are curious about who the supplier is. They want to meet you, so I wonder if you have any intention of meeting them? It’s fine if you refuse. I just felt I should relay the message.]

There are corporations that want to meet me?

I understand.

They must be curious about who the supplier of magic stones is.

‘But to ask Isaac about that so openly… They must be quite urgent?’

Would Isaac be crazy enough to tell them?

It would mean sharing his monopoly rights.

‘Wait, should I ask if that corporation is included too?’

There’s one corporation I’ve had my eye on for a while.

The name was simple enough that I didn’t need to recall it with Clear Mind Like Still Water.

I sent a text message first.

[Could you please let me know the list of companies that want to meet with me?]

A reply came back soon after.

Various company names filled the text window.

There were even Gugul and Abazon among them.

But there was only one place I was interested in.

[Winterstone Energy]

‘This one I’m willing to meet.’

Winterstone Energy was a company I had planned to meet after Costech.

Just as I had to copy Joshua’s skill, there was an Apostle there with a skill I needed to copy.

‘Since I have two Parasite slots remaining…’

I should fill one slot with that person.

Tap tap tap—

I sent Isaac a reply in English.

A positive reply saying I would meet them.

“Hmm.”

At the man’s gesture as he wiped his mouth with a napkin, the chef approached.

“Did you call for me?”

“The steak came out more cooked than usual.”

“I’m, I’m sorry, Chairman. I’ll prepare a new one right away.”

The chef hurried into the kitchen in panic.

The Chairman clicked his tongue briefly at the sight.

“To make such a mistake when he knows my taste, tsk.”

“Why make such a fuss over that, Father? It tastes fine to me.”

Watching his son devour the steak greedily, the Chairman frowned.

“Eat with some refinement. What will the other employees think if they see you?”

“We’re the only ones in the dining room, what refinement?”

“Talking back to your father so boldly, honestly…”

Soon a new steak was prepared and brought out, and the Chairman’s expression relaxed after taking a bite.

“Yes, this is the taste I’m used to.”

“Father. About the deal we concluded this time.”

“You mean Costech?”

“Yes. Has there been a reply from them?”

“Not yet. If we wait patiently, it will come.”

“Surely they wouldn’t dare ignore our Winterstone family?”

“Of course not.”

Winterstone Energy of England was a massive corporation with branches in 40 countries worldwide.

Originally focused on oil and gas business, they had recently been expanding into renewable energy.

Then they learned about magic stones through Costech’s contact, and despite the expensive price of $10,000 each, they concluded a contract.

This was because of the advantage of securing priority rights to new magic stones.

However.

This contract alone made it difficult to expect significant profits.

The best method would be to meet the supplier directly and make a new contract.

If they could receive magic stones before Costech?

They would not only dominate the energy market but also accumulate enormous wealth.

That’s why they asked.

Whether they could meet the supplier.

No reply had come yet, but.

“Unless they’re fools, they wouldn’t tell us who the supplier is. It’s their livelihood at stake.”

“Well, it’s what we expected. We should listen to their excuses first and then prepare the next step.”

Chairman Lawrence nodded and was savoring his steak when.

“Oh!?”

“What’s wrong now? Does it taste strange?”

“No, I got a text message.”

Lawrence took out his mobile phone from his pocket to check.

His eyes wavered at whatever he saw.

His son Oliver asked curiously.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“A reply came from Costech.”

“What do they say? Don’t tell me they revealed the supplier? Do they really know Amon?”

“Nothing like that is written.”

Oliver looked disappointed.

But only for a moment.

“Instead, they say the supplier wants to meet with us.”

“Huh…? Really?”

“But they’re asking us to come to them.”

Oliver, who had been amazed, soon became serious.

“How arrogant. Asking us to come directly when they know how big our company is. Hah…”

“It’s fine. Since we’re the ones who need something, it’s proper for us to go to them.”

“Where did they say to come?”

Lawrence said a word while reading the email.

“Korea.”

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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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