The Automatic Rooting Range Is Too Wide - Chapter 191

—————

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

—————

Auto Looting Range Too Wide Episode 191

Episode 191: Manager Interview (2)

“I’m curious, but… how exactly? Are you going to summon those two people here?”
“No way, that’s not possible. Besides, those two became Middle Layer Awakened long ago. Even if I called them, I couldn’t make a clear comparison.”
“Then how do you plan to compare?”
“I was the one who examined both of them when they came to the 35th Floor. I already confirmed their abilities back then.”
“Is that so?”
“Now I just need to see your abilities. Then I’ll compare all three of you and determine who’s superior!”
Mincheol felt the wind go out of his sails slightly.
So the method of confirmation was just conjecture, nothing more.
Still, his curiosity hadn’t completely vanished.
All Managers were transcendent beings.
Just look at Ursongbarsong—hadn’t he easily crushed that incredibly powerful Grand Warlord (the fake one)?
Could he trust the judgment of someone with that level of power, at least to some degree?
“But how are you going to assess my abilities?”
“Simple. I’m going to attack you from now on. You can dodge, you can block, whatever. Just handle it however you can.”
Mincheol was terrified.
Block an attack from a transcendent being like a Manager? Was he serious right now?
“Don’t be scared. You think I’d actually kill you? You won’t even get a scratch.”
“Um, understood.”
Mincheol decided to trust the Manager’s words for now.
Thinking of Ursongbarsong, there was no way a Manager would harm an Awakened…
“So we start now?”
“Huh? I haven’t even drawn my weapon yet…”
“Surprise attack!”
In that instant, Mincheol blinked.
It was a natural physiological reaction.
For the briefest moment—0.1 seconds—his eyelids covered his eyes and then lifted.
The next moment, the world before Mincheol’s eyes had changed.
The Manager’s arm filled the entire space around him.
“…!”
Overwhelming force.
It was like an ancient tree, over a thousand years old, extending its countless branches.
A hand blade descended.
It was as if a torrential downpour driven by a typhoon was pouring down upon him.
‘This is insane…!’
How is this supposed to be a safe test?
Even as I recoiled in shock, my eyes and mind raced with calculation.
‘The spacing between the fingers is roughly ten centimeters.’
‘Slipping through the gaps is impossible.’
‘There are simply too many of them.’
‘Block them all? All those attacks?’
‘I have to strike them down before they reach me.’
‘I don’t need to deflect everything. I just need to create a space to escape into.’
Slender daggers sprouted from both of my hands like skewers.
I’d retrieved items stored in the miraculous Universal Gloves.

【’Mana Bullet Marksman’ is activated.】
【Consuming ‘700’ mana.】
【5 mana bullets are loaded.】

This was an attack from the Manager herself.
Not at full power, perhaps, but I couldn’t afford to take it lightly.
The moment I activated the mana bullets, I was about to strike at Kaela Marbenia when—
“Done.”
In that instant, every hand that had filled the air vanished.
I froze mid-motion, still poised to throw the dagger.
I asked the Manager awkwardly from my suspended stance.
“What did you say?”
“I said it’s done.”
“But I haven’t done anything yet…?”
“You were about to do something, weren’t you? That’s enough.”
My expression turned incredulous.
This is a test? Are you mocking me right now?
“Look at his face. He’s clearly thinking something quite rude.”
The Manager’s expression turned sullen.
“At my level, I can assess someone’s entire ability just by hearing their footsteps.”
“I see….”
“Hmm? You don’t seem to believe me?”
“So which of the three of you is stronger?”
The Manager rested her chin on one of the arms sprouting from her back.
She tilted her head this way and that before speaking.
“I have no idea.”
“Excuse me. Are you comparing me to—”
Just as I finally couldn’t hold back my protest—
“Now then, off you go. Do your best on the 36th Floor.”
The Manager clapped his hands, and Mincheol was instantly teleported to the Apartment.
When Mincheol returned to the Apartment, Bokdol-i asked as if he’d been waiting.
“Master! What happened? Did you pass?”
“No.”
When Mincheol expressed his frustration, Bokdol-i was startled.
“This is ridiculous! Playing with people like that!”
Even for someone like Mincheol, anger was unavoidable.

* * *

Earth’s Grade 3 Manager.
The moment the Butcher disappeared, Arane wore a mysterious smile.
There was a backlog of Awakened ones waiting for interviews, but it posed no problem.
Arane’s ability was Division.
She could create as many clones as she needed.
Right now, an enormous number of her clones were conducting interviews with the Awakened ones.
“Peculiar. Truly peculiar.”
Her claim that she couldn’t determine which of the three held the advantage wasn’t a lie.
“I’ve never seen results like this before.”
Hypothetical Foresight.
It was Arane’s other ability.
It was the power to predict the future by aggregating various pieces of information.
However, unlike its description, it wasn’t particularly remarkable.
It was impossible to foresee distant futures like prophecy could.
But when assuming specific scenarios and deriving outcomes, it proved extraordinarily useful.

[What result would occur if the Awakened ones were subjected to infinite attacks?]

To meet the conditions of Precognition, Arane brought her true body.
By facing the three directly, I satisfied the conditions and ran Precognition infinitely.
And I was able to obtain remarkably peculiar results.
“Up to the 10th iteration, Baek-ryul was unparalleled.”
Baek-ryul’s unique skill was the Martial Extreme Star.
Like Michael Alzen’s Heavenly Slaughter Star, it was a unique skill born from a special destiny.
Namely, the destiny to reach the pinnacle of martial prowess.
Because of this, no one in the realm of martial arts could surpass the Martial Extreme Star.
In fact, even comparison was impossible.
1st iteration.
Baek-ryul endured Arane’s attacks for a full 10 seconds.
3rd iteration.
Thanks to accumulated experience, the time increased to 30 seconds.
By the 6th iteration, he withstood it for a full minute.
By the 8th iteration, he survived.
And finally, the 10th iteration.
Baek-ryul broke through the attacks and unleashed a brilliant technique to reach Arane.
It was truly an extraordinary genius befitting the Martial Extreme Star.
“Go Dan-hae fell short of that.”
The pillar of Goseong.
Go Dan-hae possessed two unique skills.
Multi-casting and composite casting.
He could use multiple skills simultaneously or fuse them to display new abilities.
In common knowledge, he was known as a Champion like Baek-ryul, but in reality, he was closer to a mage.
If I had to use an analogy, I’d call him a spellblade.
“In the 3rd iteration, he endured for 10 seconds, and only by the 10th iteration did he barely reach one minute.”
Skill and talent.
Both were clearly inferior to Baek-ryul.
“The Butcher was similar to Go Dan-hae.”
Which meant the Butcher was also inferior to Baek-ryul, just like Go Dan-hae.
But the Butcher had one difference from Go Dan-hae.
“Why did only the Butcher’s results change after the 10th iteration?”
Baek-ryul and Go Dan-hae produced identical results no matter how many times I repeated Precognition after the 10th iteration.
Baek-ryul’s limit was reaching Arane.
Go Dan-hae’s limit was enduring for one minute.
The Butcher was different.
15th iteration, he succeeded in surviving.
20th iteration, he broke through all attacks and reached Arane.
24th iteration, he counterattacked against Arane.
27th iteration, he finally completely overcame Arane’s attacks.
Even Baek-ryul, who possessed the Primordial Nature, had ceased improving by the tenth cycle.
“The Butcher’s talent surpasses Baek-ryul’s? That doesn’t seem right.”
If that were the case, the results up through the tenth cycle wouldn’t make sense.
In the first place, a talent that exceeded the Primordial Nature couldn’t possibly exist.
Then there was only one possibility.
“The talent… grew?”
Arane tilted her head. Was such a thing even possible?
Talents could be developed, but they couldn’t grow.
Each person was born with a fixed vessel.
What mattered was only what one poured into it.
Yet the Butcher had expanded his own vessel.
In over a thousand years of work as a Manager, this was the first phenomenon I’d ever witnessed.
“That creature’s unique skill was… Auto Looting, wasn’t it?”
A unique skill could be called one’s essence.
It was the root of the soul made manifest.
Then what was the true nature of the Butcher, who had awakened to such an irregular skill as Auto Looting?
“How fascinating.”
I was beginning to understand why Ursongbarsong and Gangto paid such attention to this creature called the Butcher.
In this remote corner that wouldn’t even be annexed into the Tower even if it were destroyed, such an extraordinary being existed.
“This dimension won’t be boring.”
Arane hummed a cheerful tune.

* * *

Though I’d been toyed with by the Manager, I had no time to dwell on my frustration.
There was simply too much to prepare for the Martial Arts Layer.
I had to study the materials Bokdol-i had prepared, acquire antidotes for the poisons commonly used by martial artists, and purchase various healing potions and emergency rations besides.
Since this was a layer that would take an extended period to clear, there were many necessary supplies.
—Son, what’s going on? What? You have to enter the Tower for an extended period again?
“Yes, an event has opened up. Apparently, rare medicinal herbs are flourishing there in large quantities. I’m planning to make a good profit this time.”
I’d called Mother ahead of time as well.
To let her know not to worry if she didn’t hear from me for a while.
And so the day of the challenge arrived.
“Then shall we depart?”
“Yes, Master!”
I placed Bokdol-i into my Inventory first.
Whoosh—
I didn’t forget Whitey either.
Finally, I settled Kkwaekkwi on top of my head.
“Kkwaaaaaak!”
Kkwaekkwi cried out powerfully, as if to say trust only in me.
“I challenge the 36th Floor.”

【The 36th-40th Floors are bound together as a single Stage.】
【After entry, you cannot return to Earth until the story concludes.】
【Do you wish to challenge the 36th-40th Floors?】

When Mincheol pressed accept, a burst of light enveloped his body.
A moment later, when I opened my eyes, I found myself in the Martial Arts Realm.
“Kraaagh!”
“Aaaaagh!”
And right in the middle of an active battle, no less.
“Huh?”
My eyes went wide.
I’d heard that the summoning location was random.
But dumping me directly into a combat zone?
“Ahahaha! So our bitter feud with the Red Wolf Sect ends today!”
“Qingyun Sect! You hypocritical bastards! How dare you righteous sects launch a night raid!”
Warriors in blue robes were massacring warriors in red robes one-sidedly.
The Red Wolf Sect and the Qingyun Sect.
These names weren’t on the sect list I’d researched.
In situations like this, it was always one of two things.
Either they’d been eliminated early, or their forces were too insignificant to record.
‘I have no idea what’s happening here. I can’t get involved.’
I tried to slip away quietly.
It was something I’d learned while studying with Bokdol-i.
Never get caught up when factions are fighting each other!
But before I could extract myself, the Qingyun Sect warriors spotted me.
“What is that?”
“Is he a guest of the Red Wolf Sect?”
“Who cares, kill him!”
The Qingyun Sect warriors rushed at me with long swords in hand.
It didn’t seem like a situation where dialogue would work.

【Activating ‘Dark God’s Speed’.】
【Consuming 210 mana.】

Mincheol rose onto one knee.
The martial artists of the Qingyun Sect sneered at the sight.
“A retreat technique? How pathetically laughable!”
“First, I’ll sever that leg of yours!”
The Black Divine Speed was a technique that moved the feet rapidly to evade attacks.
However, it was not used solely as an evasion skill. The Five Strings Flying Swallow Kick was a divine art that combined both movement and striking techniques.
Mincheol’s feet multiplied.
The sole of his foot struck the solar plexus of each charging martial artist in rapid succession.
Attacks so swift that the time gap between them was barely perceptible.
“…!”
Pain bloomed across the faces of the Qingyun Sect martial artists.
Mincheol’s assault did not end there.
The legendary-grade equipment I had obtained previously.
The skill embedded in the ‘Commander’s Military Boots’ activated.

【Skill ‘Joint Breaking’ activates.】

Boom-crack!
With a deafening explosion, the Qingyun Sect martial artists were hurled backward.
In that instant, silence fell over the battlefield.

—————

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

—————