Monopolizing Skills to the 666th Floor - Chapter 6

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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 006

6. Friend Lee Hwi Yong

“I want to change the Immovable Mind skill.”

I’d like to change Soul Strike if I could, but… I can’t.

I need Harmonion’s skill right now.

“Isn’t there another skill of the same grade besides Immovable Mind?”

There are two SS-grade skills that Harmonion can sponsor.

Either Immovable Mind or that one.

[The God of Balance Harmonion says he will change it to another SS-grade skill.]

Soon after.

[The God of Balance ‘Harmonion’ replaces the skill with the Apostle’s agreement.]

[Skill ‘Immovable Mind (SS)’ is replaced with ‘Clear Mind Like Still Water (SS)’.]

I obtained it as planned.

The skill I wanted.

▷Clear Mind Like Still Water (SS)

―Effect: Sit cross-legged to rapidly recover mana. Additional effect increases memory.

Mana is the fundamental force behind all skills.

It’s not simply energy consumed when using skills, but power itself.

‘If I can recover that mana? Nothing could be more reassuring than that.’

But what I truly wanted wasn’t mana recovery.

It was the additional effect of increased memory.

‘Even though I’ve regressed, I can’t remember every detail from 18 years ago…’

It’s realistically difficult to remember all the strategies for the 666th Floor.

I didn’t know I would regress beforehand, so how could I remember everything?

‘I might remember when I actually face them. But I can’t recall the details.’

The skill Clear Mind Like Still Water was what could cover this gap.

The God of Balance probably gave it just for mana recovery purposes.

‘Maybe he vaguely suspects that I’m a regressor.’

It doesn’t matter if he knows.

Unlike the past, I now have experiential superiority over the Three Gods.

Since he gave me Skill Copy, he can’t afford to upset me.

‘Rather, if I reveal my identity as a regressor, he might listen to me more.’

He wouldn’t spare his sponsorship either.

‘But not right now. It’s better to reveal it when the time comes.’

As for sponsorship, I can receive good ones anytime if I prove my skills.

Above all, I don’t trust the Three Gods.

‘I was forced to give items to colleagues and make sacrifices, but in the end, I alone reached the 666th Floor. The Three Gods are just ignorant fools who don’t know the strategies either.’

In the end, I must become strong alone and accomplish it alone.

There’s no need to listen to the Three Gods.

I’ll just use their power to conquer the Labyrinth.

‘Fortunately, I received Skill Copy, so becoming stronger is just a matter of time.’

▷Skill Copy (EX): Copy and use one of the opponent’s skills. However, the copied skill disappears if the target is not nearby.

Looking at the description, it’s the Skill Copy I know.

‘I heard about it before. From someone who had Skill Copy.’

He was American.

He was the Three Gods’ first Apostle and the strongest among the Twelve Apostles.

But he died before me, unable to conquer the boss on the 399th Floor.

‘He could have easily cleared it by copying the boss’s skill. Why did he die there?’

I couldn’t know, but it was a matter of my previous life.

In this life, Skill Copy is in my hands.

However.

‘This alone isn’t enough.’

Skill Copy was an overpowered skill, but it had a fatal weakness.

The fact that you can only maintain the copied skill when the target is nearby.

In other words, when the copy target disappears, the skill disappears too.

‘It can only be used when close to the opponent. Well, if there was no penalty, the previous owner wouldn’t have died on the 399th Floor either.’

I already knew about Skill Copy’s weakness.

It’s not particularly a problem.

Because I also know how to remove the penalty.

‘For that, I’ll have to do something a bit crazy… The Three Gods won’t like it.’

If I can become stronger, anything will do.

“Now that I’ve become an Apostle, I should properly tackle this…”

That’s what I was thinking.

Buzz! Buzz!

My mobile phone vibrates, interrupting me.

As soon as I saw the caller, I frowned.

[Rescue Motors Boss]

‘Come to think of it, today’s a work day, isn’t it?’

A damn life where I have to work even on Saturdays.

I answered the phone to hear what he had to say.

“Yes.”

―Yesss? Aren’t you coming to work? Don’t you want your paycheck?

“I don’t need that measly salary.”

―What?

“You’ve never paid it on time anyway, have you?”

―Has this bastard gone crazy? Just because the world changed, you think you can act up?

“The one acting up is you, Boss. Wage theft, concealing product defects, using inappropriate materials, verbal abuse, and more. You do all kinds of bad things, don’t you?”

―How do you know that…

“I’ll contact the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Fair Trade Commission, and even the Police Station about everything, so I hope you’ll live honestly from now on. Goodbye.”

―Wait a minute…

Click.

I hung up after saying what I needed to say.

I even blocked his number, settling my past connections.

‘I was such a fool. I should have said this and left long ago… What was I thinking, working so desperately just to earn some money?’

Maybe it was because it was my first job right after turning twenty.

Or maybe I was intimidated by the boss’s scolding.

‘The stress I got from this place probably accounts for more than half of my anger issues.’

Something I should have quit long ago, I’m only settling now after regressing.

‘While I’m at it, should I settle things with this bastard too?’

I checked my text messages.

[Lee Hwi Yong: Hey. Did you get the Transcendent Spirit message too?]

Lee Hwi Yong.

An irreplaceable friend I’ve been close with since middle school.

That’s what I thought.

Until the world became like this.

‘Judging by what he’s saying, he awakened as an Apostle?’

It was the same before my regression.

This guy who awakened as an Apostle gave me all sorts of advice and crazy proposals.

‘Should I meet him once? To confirm I really returned to the past and test Skill Copy while I’m at it.’

Will he look down on me like before?

Curious, I sent him a text.

Suggesting we grab some drinks.

“Tae Seong! Over here, over here!”

Lee Hwi Yong, who had already secured a table and was drinking, waves his hand.

Look at this? He’s already ordered expensive side dishes he won’t even pay for and is eating them?

“Sorry. I thought you’d be late so I ordered first. But you came right away?”

“I didn’t have anything else to do.”

“Why don’t you have anything to do? You work on weekends too.”

“I quit.”

“Huh?”

“I said I quit the factory.”

He stops picking at the side dishes and looks at me with surprised eyes.

“You were doing fine there. Why?”

“Fine my ass. Like I could keep working under a boss who hurls abuse every damn day.”

“…”

Shocked by my rough language, my friend can’t close his gaping mouth.

“You… look different? Are you really the Lee Tae Seong I know?”

“Can’t you tell by looking?”

“Did you awaken as an Apostle by any chance? Is that why you quit?”

He seems to think my rough speech, unusual for someone who’s normally quiet, is a change due to awakening…

“No.”

I didn’t tell him the truth.

“I’m not an Apostle.”

I was curious what he would say, so I said the exact same words I had said before my regression.

“I got the message, but I didn’t know what an Apostle was and I was scared, so I just… rejected it.”

“You rejected it? A message from a Transcendent Spirit?”

When I nodded, he asked to confirm.

“So you’re still a regular person?”

“Uh…”

At those words, the corners of his mouth turned up.

An expression as if he had heard the answer he wanted.

This is how he originally was.

A bastard who considers others’ misfortune as his own happiness.

Especially finding comfort in seeing me, who’s worse off than him.

He probably called me out now to confirm that too.

“Ha… you pathetic bastard.”

“What?”

“I’m talking about you, you stupid bastard. Why would you reject an Apostle’s proposal? Are you an idiot?”

Relieved that I wasn’t an Apostle, he came at me roughly.

‘In the past too, his attitude completely changed when I said I was a regular person… still the same.’

As soon as he became an Apostle, he changed.

Ignoring and looking down on me.

He even made the crazy suggestion that I should become monster bait and do herding.

Could such a person really be called a friend?

‘I’m such an idiot too. To think I believed this bastard was a friend.’

Let’s say not helping when he knew I was being bullied by delinquents in high school was understandable.

We went to different schools.

Let’s say borrowing money and not paying it back was understandable too.

He might have been busy with real life and forgot.

But trying to use me as monster bait after hearing I was a regular person crossed the line.

‘The difference between regular people and Apostles is stark. But that can’t become a class system.’

Yet falling into elitist consciousness and endangering regular people while committing crimes was his future.

Looking at him now, it seems like he’ll do the same in this life.

‘So even after regression, the same events happen?’

To see more of his reaction, I added a bit of acting.

“Why did I reject it? Just… I don’t want to become something that dangerous.”

“It’s a chance to gain superhuman power. But you threw it away with your own feet…! Do you know how Apostles are treated now?”

Hwi Yong showed me community reactions as if he would inform me of this opportunity.

└What’s good about becoming an Apostle?

└You get a status window and inventory. You can exert power that transcends humans with things like skills.

└My friend is an Apostle and says you get rewards like stats when you clear each floor?

└It’s definitely better to become an Apostle than remain a regular person.

└I want to become an Apostle too. Damn.

└Apostle-nim, please clear the Labyrinth and save humanity!

“Look. Everyone’s dying to become an Apostle, but who are you to reject it? You’re an orphan with absolutely nothing, you know.”

He was hitting me with facts, but I endured it.

Rather, I looked at him with curiosity.

He was spitting out the exact same harsh words as before my regression.

“Loser bastard. That’s why you get cursed at in the factory. Tsk tsk.”

He had a habit of liking to raise his own status by criticizing others.

Especially thinking of me as a good sucker to play with.

As evidence of that.

“Hey. Since it’s come to this, let’s work together.”

“What kind of work?”

“I found out that regular people can enter the Labyrinth too? So I was thinking… want to try some monster herding?”

Wasn’t he spouting bullshit about being bait with a regular person’s body?

“I’m too scared to do that kind of thing.”

“Come on, it’s not dangerous. I’ll protect you, so what’s dangerous about it? I’m an Apostle. Want to see?”

He looked around and then summoned blades.

Swoosh!

Seeing the blades that suddenly appeared from thin air, I acted surprised.

‘He has the Blade Reaper as his Transcendent Spirit.’

I already know about Transcendent Spirits.

Even what skills they have.

“How’s that? Pretty cool, right?”

“Wow…”

“I cleared up to the 3rd Floor with this skill, you know? But the 4th Floor is a bit difficult? So I looked into it and there were many people like me… anyway, think of it as a part-time job and try it once. Since we’re friends, I’ll pay you well. 10 million won! How about it?”

“I appreciate the offer, but… I’m too scared to do it.”

There was nothing to be scared of, but I reenacted the same reaction as in the past.

As expected, Hwi Yong looked at me with contemptuous eyes.

“I knew it from before, but… this guy’s a complete coward? What exactly is there to be scared of… ha.”

It’s probably an attempt to scratch at my pride, but it didn’t work then and it doesn’t work now.

‘I didn’t know back then. Why he made such a proposal to me.’

But now I know.

It was all revealed later.

“Sigh, I called you to make a good proposal and you kick it away. Fine. Live like a coward for the rest of your life, you pathetic bastard.”

Hwi Yong stood up from his seat.

“Since you ruined the mood, you pay for the drinks.”

He left his seat as if fleeing, leaving behind only that ridiculous nonsense.

‘Got the drinks for free. Hehe.’

Lee Hwi Yong came out of the bar, grinning as he entered the alley.

He had forcibly pushed the drink bill onto his friend and left, but it was a bit disappointing.

Coming out too early.

‘There were some side dishes left, what a waste. Well, I ate enough.’

He filled his belly for free, but couldn’t get the beater he wanted.

“I confidently said I’d bring back a sucker… Ha, if I knew this would happen, I shouldn’t have made such bold claims.”

In middle school, Hwi Yong had an intuition.

That guy Lee Tae Seong would be perfect to use like a sucker.

Just looking at his introverted, weak, and unconfident personality, you could tell.

That he was a kid with the qualities of a sucker.

‘I started getting close to him on purpose from then. I was only thinking of using and discarding him.’

Having a pushover friend has many advantages.

You can find comfort looking at his unfortunate environment without parents, or recover your fallen self-esteem.

When I heard he was getting beaten by delinquents in high school, this was the first thought that came to mind.

‘Those guys recognized it too. A sucker.’

Lee Tae Seong, who was tormented by delinquents during school and got chewed out at the factory, seemed pitiful.

But…

“To be so timid as to refuse even the Apostle’s proposal… what a cowardly bastard.”

It seemed like all the misfortune in the world had gone to that guy.

His shoulders naturally started dancing with joy.

“Having nothing at all, yet rejecting the Apostle and rejecting my proposal too? Just damn!”

“Just damn, what?”

He was startled by the voice he suddenly heard.

When he turned around, Lee Tae Seong was there.

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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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