Skill: [Predation] activated.]
[Acquiring one random skill from your opponent.]
[Acquired Unique Skill: [Torture Technician].]
[Randomly plundering one piece of equipment from your opponent.]
[Plundered: Necromancer’s Crystal Ring (Rank D).]
[Absorbing a portion of your opponent’s highest stat.]
[Absorbed: Mana stat.]
The final match of the captain battle ended in victory.
For the beastman, now on his third captain battle, this was a moment he’d desperately hoped for.
He might have cheered in joy, but instead, sweat dripped down his face as he remained silent.
The woman beside him was no different.
They were afraid of Yunseok.
“……”
“……”
They were on the same team, yet even a glance made it feel like he would smash through the bars and slaughter them. Was that just their imagination?
Three battles had ended, but there were no corpses left in the arena.
The reanimated dead had been consumed by holy light, and the other was…
Shredded so finely that it was no longer even recognizable as a corpse.
And what was even more terrifying was that the man had been alive just moments before.
‘Silent people really are the scariest…’
Even as he calmly cut away flesh from fingers and toes through chilling screams, Yunseok didn’t stop until the man bled out and died, then erased his body.
And all of it was done with nothing but a sword.
The beastman shuddered again at the memory.
He had no idea about the mark of judgment or the man’s unique skill, he could only react to what he’d witnessed.
Compared to him, the reckless woman didn’t even register.
Yunseok had been a madman, plain and simple.
“…I need to take a break from climbing the tower for a while. I never want to meet that man in the arena. Don’t you agree, Miss?”
Trying to calm his pounding heart, the beastman spoke to the woman beside him.
But even after unintentionally calling her “Miss,” she showed little reaction.
She only flinched back as Yunseok glanced their way.
Step, step.
Yunseok walked toward the waiting area behind the bars.
The woman’s face turned pale.
Her earlier mistakes toward Yunseok flashed through her mind.
But regret is always too late.
Bang!
Yunseok struck the bars with his sword, making the entire arena shake.
Not a scratch appeared on the bars.
They were protected by something absolute.
But without considering that, the beastman shouted in panic,
“N-no, it wasn’t me! She’s the one who insulted you!”
He pointed at the woman.
Rather than getting angry, she turned pale and managed to stammer out an apology.
“S-sorry! I spoke badly of you. I take it all back!”
An apology no one expected from her.
Yunseok tilted his head, puzzled.
Then he realized why they’d misunderstood.
‘I was just testing if I could break the bars…’
Revenge for their words? That never crossed his mind.
Honestly, he wasn’t even angry.
As long as the mark of judgment didn’t appear, there was no reason for them to fear him.
Just as the beastman said, unless they met in the arena.
And even then, unless they were like that man, there was no reason for them to suffer a gruesome death.
Still, maybe this would make that reckless woman a little more humble, so Yunseok spoke up.
“Be more careful in the future. Words can hurt people, too.”
After saying it, it sounded like a public service announcement.
He also felt awkward, since he wasn’t someone who should be lecturing others.
But the woman nodded wildly, not noticing any of that.
“Okay. I’ll definitely do that from now on.”
Maybe it was the contrast with how she acted when they first met, but Yunseok couldn’t help but smile behind his mask.
Who knew if she’d actually change?
Still, he hoped she would.
If, when they met again, he saw a mark of judgment above her head, or witnessed her doing something evil, there would be no room for laughter.
[Victory.]
[You have received 512,000 AP as a reward.]
[Moving to the seventh-floor waiting room.]
[You have received 1 coin as a promotion reward.]
Thus ended the long, yet short, captain battle.
*
Seventh-floor waiting room.
Once again, the timer was fixed at zero.
El had told him up to the sixth-floor trial, but it seemed challenges beyond that were voluntary, not mandatory.
Back in the waiting room, Yunseok checked his tablet.
He thought the total AP reward seemed odd.
But he hadn’t misread.
[Info], [Equipment], [Skills], [Goods], [Convenience], [Chat], [Achievements], [Duel]
– Holding 512,000 AP
‘Why is the reward the same as on the fifth floor?’
1,000, 2,000, 4,000, 8,000, 16,000…
Until now, AP rewards for winning duels had doubled each time, even without promotion.
But now, after clearing the sixth floor, the reward was the same as the fifth.
What did that mean?
‘Don’t tell me the reward will stay fixed from now on?’
If so, it wouldn’t be possible to get much stronger with each win.
But really, nothing much would change.
Maybe it was just equalization.
After all, Yunseok’s competition would be challengers with the same combined score.
Still, whether it was skills or stats,
The weight of reaching A-rank had only grown.
‘B-rank elixir is 380,000, A-rank is 1,530,000…’
If the seventh, eighth, and ninth floors each only gave 500,000 AP, he’d have to win three times in a row without spending anything just to level up to A-rank.
It added more variables, but Yunseok stopped thinking about AP here.
No point in overanalyzing.
He’d find out more as he climbed.
Complaining wouldn’t change the rewards. He just needed to use them efficiently, as always.
‘Let’s check the other rewards first.’
Before spending AP, Yunseok checked the stats gained from [Predation].
This time, he’d absorbed agility, strength, and mana.
But there was no stat increase.
[Agility 63,500/96,000.]
[Strength 63,500/96,000.]
[Mana 31,500/96,000.]
He couldn’t tell what formula determined how much was absorbed from the highest stat.
But with all his stats already above C-, he didn’t rank up.
He let go of his disappointment.
‘Fine, let’s check the equipment.’
Yunseok opened the drawer under the statue.
Inside were the items plundered through [Predation].
Normally, he’d check the shop for identical items, but with [Appraisal], he didn’t need to anymore.
– Wasteland Leather Boots (Rank D+): Masterwork boots crafted by dwarves. Increases bracing power when both feet are on the ground.
– Druid’s Origin Bracelet (Rank D): Increases efficiency of all four elemental attributes by 30%.
– Necromancer’s Crystal Ring (Rank D): Mana +1 if mana is below C-rank.
Yunseok took off his old Mercenary Boots (Rank F+) and put on the new boots.
Increased bracing power.
Did that mean all downward physical force was reduced?
The description was vague, but the higher rank made them look much more durable than the reinforced Mercenary Boots.
‘Might as well recycle the rest.’
He converted the Mercenary Boots and other plundered items into Endurance with [Iron Body Refinement].
The only element he used from the four attributes was fire, through the random seven elements of [Slashing Enhancement].
And +1 mana was nice, but useless with the C-rank limitation.
[Endurance (D-) rank has increased with Iron Body Refinement.]
Once again, [Predation] brought AP.
He’d reached D-rank Endurance without spending a single point.
Finally, Yunseok checked his acquired skills.
Spear Mastery (Rank C-).
Spirit Affinity (Rank C-).
Regular skills from the lizardman and fairy swordsman.
The ranks weren’t bad, but they weren’t useful for his style.
But Yunseok wasn’t disappointed.
He had ways to recycle skills, too.
‘I’ll just save these for synthesis later.’
Then he checked the unique skill he’d acquired for the first time in a while.
[Torture Technician]
Rank E – All attacks inflict “Fear” status for 10 seconds.
Rank F – All attacks make the target feel pain at 20 times normal intensity.
Definitely a useful combat ability.
But the effect itself was disgusting.
To get a unique skill like this after so long…
He should have felt disappointed, but instead, Yunseok felt great satisfaction.
It was ironic.
He’d wished he could have caused more pain to the man he’d just judged, and now he had a skill like this.
It felt as if someone unseen was telling him,
That what he was doing was right.
To judge those who did not fear God, over and over, and become a figure of terror.
*
[Mana (C) rank has increased.]
[Mana (C+) rank has increased.]
[Agility (C-) rank has increased.]
[Agility (C) rank has increased.]
[Agility (C+) rank has increased.]
He invested a total of 480,000 AP to raise mana and agility to B- rank.
With that, all maintenance was done.
He still had about 30,000 AP left, but decided to keep it for now. He didn’t see any good skills to synthesize, so that could wait.
He got extra LP from the “A Cut Above” and “One Hit Kill” achievements, but there was nothing to spend it on.
Yunseok opened the chat window.
[Current participants: 37/987]
Total capacity: 987.
There had been about 800 on the fifth floor, so about 200 more now.
Why was the number higher, the farther up he went?
The answer was simple.
There were that many people stuck here.
‘But way fewer are active…’
Only 37 were actually participating.
So the chat was silent.
Yunseok wondered if he should try to get information about the next trial, but quickly closed it.
He could guess where most of the inactive ones were.
[Moving to the seventh-floor plaza.]
The sixth-floor plaza had been a place of utter depravity.
What about this time?
Yunseok could only hope it would be different.
Depending on what he found there, what he would have to do might also change.