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nTranslator : Ekdud

nTL Check : KobatoChanDaiSuki

nChapter 23 – Sky Road (2)

nHududuk.

nHansoo rose out of his seat and looked around.

n‘Those evil things’

nWhy would the fairy leave friendly and strong people together in a group for them be enjoy.

nIn the small white room, ten people were looking around.

nAnd they were actually rather calm and composed about it and weren’t shocked. Just like how people who went through the first tutorial should be like.

nBe cautious of your surroundings but do not make it obvious.

nBut then one of these people grumbled.

n“Godammit… there’s only ten”

nAnd everyone made a slightly unsatisfied expression as if they agreed.

nThey were dropped in an unknown place.

nThey didn’t know each other but if there were going to be in harsh conditions wasn’t it obvious that having eleven was better than ten.

nThe man who complained before talked.

n“Well. Let’s at least introduce ourselves. Since we will probably be working toge…”

n

nBefore the man finished talking, the fairy’s voice came out from thin air in the room they were at.

nAnd as soon as the fairy’s voice came out, everyone didn’t say what they were going to and instead focused on the fairy.

n

n“…?”

nEveryone made a confused expression at the fairy’s words.

n

n“…”

nEveryone made a sigh of relief.

nTheir room had 10. If they were going to balance the numbers then they would probably kill off one person in one of the rooms with eleven people and then start.

nAnd if that happened they might get injured during the fight and even if they manage to kill somebody off without getting injured then they would be cautious of each other.

nBut the fairy crushed everybody’s expectations.

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n“…Fucking bitch of a fly. I wondered why it was moving things along so smoothly”

nOne person spat out curses while everyone who had been sighing in relief started to be cautious of everyone else.

nAnd at the same time they looked for the person who was likely to be the weakest to of all.

nThere probably won’t be anybody who they can easily.

nIf they searched then they might find some but most of them had already been dropped off at the 1st tutorial area.

nThe people here were people who would not die alone, they would at least stab them back before they die.

nAnd because of this, it was important to find the weakest person to attack with the nine and kill them instantly.

nDaechul, who was the first to curse, mumbled inwardly.

n‘Fuck… there’s no way to know since you can’t judge from appearances’

nIf they were all normal existences then you could judge very simply from their appearance.

nSince females were generally weaker.

nBut if you went on like this in this place you neck will fly off.

nSince if they had collected runes zealously because they were weaker, crushing any decent male was possible.

nBecause of this Daechul instead searched for the existence of weapons.

nSince if they didn’t have a weapon, they would be the weakest.

n‘The one without a weapon…damn. They all have it.’

nDaechul mumbled.

nEveryone was gripping intensely onto their well sharpened blade that was shining in the light.

nBut in this situation, one person was out of the ordinary.

n‘…Who’s that guy holding the needle’

nOn the waist of the guy standing leisurely in the corner there was a long needle.

n‘Is he crazy?’

nDaechul swirled his tongue.

nThat thing was sharp but from one look one could see that it was harder to use than a blade with a sharp edge.

nAnd unless that guy was at the level of a fencing athlete there’s no way he would pick such a weapon.

nBut he couldn’t act carelessly.

nBecause if he acted with just that as the basis, the chances of danger was too great.

nAt that moment a female in the corner looked around as she spoke.

n“Aren’t we going to act together from now? Let’s try to appeal each other. To show each other how much they’re worth”

nEveryone started to nod at those words.

nSince it was still very pressuring to act if they think somebody looked weak.

nBecause they might be the only one thinking like that.

nAnd if they’re unlucky and get into a one on one then things become even more of a headache.

nBut on the other hand, if they were to talk things out in a circle like this, they can somewhat judge.

nAs to who was the most useless one here.

nSince they were going to act together from now, it was better if they were stronger or have a unique ability.

nBut on the other hand, if they didn’t have such merits then they were useless.

nThen the nine could just kill them.

nAnd if that happened then they probably won’t get injured.

nDaechul pondered for a moment then raised his sword.

nIt was a little regrettable to show his hidden card but if he hid it and then get ganged upon because he seemed weak then he would just die.

n“I’m called Daechul, I’m not sure if you’ve seen something like this.”

nAnd then a humming sound came out of his hands as a shining energy started to flow off from the sword on his hands.

nAnd Hansoo’s eyes shone as he saw this.

n‘Reinforce’

nThere was a very unique skill among the runes.

nIf you learned it then you could raise all your other stats while using your mana.

nThis was called Reinforce.

nThe user would continuously use mana while raising the other stats for a set duration.

nAnd a few better ones of those people could infuse mana into weapons like that which increases durability and sharpness.

nWell, the Reinforce rune that could be attained in the tutorial area wasn’t that good in terms of efficiency but it was better having it than not.

nSince it raised the battle power as a whole.

nReinforce was part of the runes that were very useful and high priced even out of the numerous skill runes.

nThe people who had seen this looked around cautiously as they fought each other in words in order to appeal to others.

n“I can heal”

n“With just that huh. I can…”

nThey argued as they talked back and forth but since it was a problem with their lives on the stake so the atmosphere turned darker.

nIf they lost in this dumb show off competition then it meant death.

nBut Daechul made an expression of leisure.

n‘It’s definitely not me’

nIt seemed that he wasn’t the strongest.

nBut the skill he had, reinforce, was better than anybody else’s.

nAs long as he wasn’t last place.

nAnd that the same time their eyes collected on two people.

nIt was Hansoo and the girl who first suggested to appeal themselves.

nDaechul made a leisurely smile as he spoke.

n“I don’t think the lady over there has spoken yet”

nThen the girl stared at Daechul as she spoke with a laugh.

n“I’m called Jimin. What I’m good at…I will show you now”

nThan the girl stood up and started to head towards Daechul.

nDaechul’s caution exploded as he saw the girl move towards him suddenly.

nUsually it was a walk that would make his heart beat but his heart rate increased for a different reason at this moment.

n“What are you doing? Don’t come close.”

n“I said I’ll show you what I’m good at.”

nAnd then the girl pulled out a dagger from her inner thigh.

nA blackish dagger that did not look normal.

nDaechul spat out curses.

n“Fuck! Are you all just gonna watch? This is just a crazy bitch!”

nBut everyone just pretended to listen.

nIt seemed like that would start fighting each other, why would they butt in.

nIt didn’t matter who died out of the two and even if one did not die, injury was sure to happen so they could just finish them off after.

nDaechul, who was looking at this, crumpled his face as he rose the power of the skill he attained, to the max.

nThe 27 mana that was surrounding his body started get converted quickly into Daechul’s stats.

nThe strength that was around 45 rose to 50.

nNot only Stamina, Agility, Perception were raised but even Magic power, physical and magical resistances also rose.

nOne of the advantages of Reinforce, it raised the stats of resistances which were hard to obtain in the start.

nDaechul even added mana onto his sword and swung down with his raised stat.

nKuduk

n“Huh?”

nDaechul, who had seen the female disappear right in front of his eyes, searched for her in a hurry but then looked towards his chest as he felt a warm sensation surge out from the area of his heart

nAnd in that area the girl had already stabbed the dagger in her hand onto where his heart was.

nThe girl looked at Daechul as she whispered.

n“I’ll use the skill well. It seemed like that your skill seemed the best out of these. And even so to the point where it didn’t fit your level”

nAnd at those words Daechul realized why she asked them to appeal themselves.

n‘Fuck…’

nDaechul fell soon afterwards and Jimin smiled as she saw the numerous runes and the one skill rune drop from his body like corn.

n“My luck is good. It didn’t seem like they dropped on a 100% chance. I will take the skill? Ah yes, we should share the stat.”

nIf you monopolize then you will get sick.

nJimin only took the skill rune she wanted and the rest shook their heads while they picked up the runes on the ground.

n‘Crazy bitch. What did she go through in this one week… at least go crazy nicely’

nHanchul, a man who had been watching the girl, clicked his tongue.

nIt wasn’t that he didn’t have to confidence to win.

nBut it’ll be tiring if that crazy bitch charged at him because of a few words so he decided to shut his mouth.

nAnd it seemed like a few others had the same thought as him.

nBut the fact that that Daechul died wasn’t really unjustified.

nSince he had a skill that was too good for his level.

nThe skill Reinforce did really look good.

nBut it needed to be used by someone who could use it well.

nEven if Jimin didn’t kill him, one of the others would’ve.

nKilling the weak wasn’t the answer.

nIf they killed randomly with no reason then they would attain hostility and die but in a situation like this where a reason existed, it was basically acting like a thankful cleaner.

nIt was best if you could kill somebody strong when there was a reason to if you can kill them.

nSince if you had to kill somebody anyway, it was best to kill somebody who would spew out the most.

nJimin had lowered them into nine and didn’t want to struggle anymore so she sat in the corner.

nAnd soon a voice came out of the air again.

n>

nSky Road.

nThe road to the sky.

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n“…Crazy Bitch.”

n“Bitch.”

nCurses were mumbled out from the surroundings.

nThe fairy’s voice continued in the air as if it didn’t hear those sounds.

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nSky Road.

nA road where you had to go from the 1000 starting points and head towards the topmost single area.

nThere wasn’t only one path.

nIt was a setup where you would get split up and collide into the people from other starting points.

nThough there was something very unique about it.

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nAnd then a large amount of light and wind started to pour in from the outside.

n“What is this…”

nEveryone made a ridiculous expression as they looked at the outside.

nThe room they were at was currently floating high up in the sky.

nA scene that would turn make an acrophobiac shrivel up.

nA vast sea could be seen thousands of meters below and in the distance outside the white room a large floating island that seemed much larger than Yeouido.

nThere was a long bridge connecting their room and the island.

nA few other rooms just like theirs were also connected to the island and there were many other islands floating about the same height as theirs.

nAnd the thousands of islands that were floating above them in layers.

nThe people cried out in gloom as they saw the islands that looked like stairs but too far apart to be called stairs.

n‘It’s been a while’

nHansoo mumbled as he saw the stairs of islands in his view.

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nMove by moving between the islands floating in the air.

nAnd continue to climb higher and higher.

nEvery island had rewards you could attain and had special rules or beasts.

n‘And there’s also a trap’

nThe thing Hansoo needed to do on Sky Road was simple.

nHe needed to prepare as much as he can in order to pass the final parts of the dungeon. (*Dungeon: Mentioned in chapter 3)

nHe needed to find every hidden piece and important factors as he climbed the Sky Road.

nAnd the most important thing on the first level of the stairway island was one thing.

nHe didn’t care about the other things but this was a necessity.

n‘First I need to attain ’

nAs Hansoo set his goal and started to move out, everybody cautiously moved along the bridge.

nThe width of the bridge was short but it wasn’t dangerous because there were side rails.

nAnd while they were doing so, Hanchul spoke to maybe lighten up the mood.

n“Well. At least it feels good, it’s like an adventure. Let’s do well together. If we don’t go crazy and move cautiously and slowly…”

nKugugugu

nBefore Hanchul’s words were finished, a faint tremble was felt from the island.

nWhile everyone got shocked and grabbed onto the side rails, a fairy’s voice was heard from above them.

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n“Bitch-like Fly”

nCurses came out of Hanchul’s mouth as he could not keep calm anymore.

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