acquiring talent in a dungeon
Chapter 11 - Day 4, 4th Floor Separation
Ching.
"Ohh?”
"What the!?" Something rose in the centre of the room. It was an empty glass tube that was approximately two metres tall.
[The total amount of HP reduced in the room will be stored.]
[Once a total of 200 HP is stored, the entrance will open.]
I seemed to be the only one who immediately understood the meaning immediately, but the high school girl and two men cried out a few seconds later.
My HP was 129 points. In other words, I needed to put a person with higher HP than me into a critical condition, or even kill them. If I thought rationally, it was possible to satisfy the conditions without killing anyone. However, I intuitively sensed that someone would be killed.
This was it. The eyes of the man with scratches who I dubbed ‘Scratchy’, moved nervously. Maybe he was thinking something similar to me.
From appearance alone, the strongest person in this place was the man with the knife. The weakest one was the high school girl. This wasn’t a game where the strongest would eliminate the weakest. The middle-ranked people-- I intuitively sensed that Scratchy and I were placed in that group.
"That...”
“This...” Just as we were both about to say something...
"Help me!” The scream of the high school girl caught our attention. She was teary-eyed but I didn’t know what she was scared of. Her finger... It was pointed towards me? "H-he raped me.”
Huh?
The situation was so surprising that I couldn’t even say anything. Tears flowed down the cheeks of the schoolgirl. "On the second floor, we met... H-he said that if I wanted to live... The other person was killed... So, so...”
She was very good. In fact, I’d seen someone being killed on the floor above. Maybe all three of the people here had their hands dirty. Even if I had done such a thing, it wasn’t actually a major issue for them. The important thing was that it was a good pretext for a witch hunt.
"This fucking bastard!” Scratchy cried out with an angry expression as he rushed straight towards me.
Fast.
Was it a technique? Was he an athlete? I hit him with my left fist, but his counterattack struck me in the face.
[Current Balance: 92/129]
One hit had caused this much havoc. The strength of his hit was much greater than I thought. Still, the exchange was successful.
“Ah...?” There was a groan. After his blow, Scratchy started staggering.
[Talent has been acquired.]
[Talent - Hidden Weapon Technique: The ability to use darts and handle hidden weapons. Concentration and dexterity will rise in proportion to your level.]
“T-t-this...” A needle was firmly embedded in Scratchy’s thigh. It was a blow I had been preparing since I saw him being so eager to fight. There was a possibility that he might have experienced the needles upstairs. Thus, I hit him with three needles at once.
“Aaaaaaack!" A scream emerged as he staggered. I hit him in the neck, chest, abdomen and the last one in the face. After using Limiter Release, I accurately punched him five times with all my strength. His HP fell to a critical state instantly.
As Scratchy tried to move his body back, I turned around.
Bam!
My fist hit something iron. I stopped the knife with my fist and was fine. I had been warily watching the other man, so I was able to take action, but I had been worried about whether I could stop the attack or not.
"Don’t believe that is the end.” The other hand of the middle-aged man caught my neck. He literally lifted me up. "I can’t let you eat it all.”
Eat? What did that mean? I grabbed his wrist. Did he think it would be that easy? Both legs and my waist. I put strength in my hands and held firmly.
“...!”
‘What is this power?’ His confusion was apparent on his face. It even surprised me. The middle aged man was strong. I had used Limiter Release but I still couldn’t win with strength.
[Current Balance: 89/129]
[Current Balance: 88/129]
Due to the fact that I was fighting beyond my original strength, I was gradually losing HP. I gazed sideways to see the schoolgirl. The bitch was chewing on her fingernails as she watched us.
She seemed to be thinking. I gently twisted the wrist of the hand that was holding the knife. As I held onto the wrist, I forced strength into my leg. But that wasn’t the end. I also poured strength into both thighs and kicked upwards at the middle-aged man.
"Ugh!" I kicked his wrist and the man winced, stepping back. At that point, I had 1/6th of my HP remaining. I quickly drank a potion bottle from my inventory. I took out three needles and looked at the girl.
“...Hik!” She stared at me with shocked eyes.
The middle aged man was still recovering. Rather than getting rid of him, I would remove the unknown risk behind me.
Kukukung.
“Ehh?” All of a sudden, the room started shaking. My foot slipped. It wasn’t just the shaking, the floor was tilting!
[200 HP has been stored.]
[Entrance opening.]
The ground kept tilting to the sides. The room was divided into four equal parts, with the floor going down at each corner. Depending on where you were standing, each person could fall in a different direction.
Peeok!
I couldn’t stay upright anymore and fell on my butt. I slid down the high slope helplessly, and darkness welcomed me.
◎
I regained consciousness and looked around. On one side of me was a dead end. The other side had a passage. I had fallen into the dead end of a maze.
"Ah, argh...”
A moan was heard from outside my field of view. I took a step and saw Scratchy leaning against a wall. He had fallen with me, while the high school girl and middle-aged man were separate. Maybe there was only one wall between us.
Still, the pain had diminished over time so Scratchy was barely moving around. He held a bottle in his hand and was bringing it to his mouth: it was the goblin’s medicine.
I immediately pushed him against the wall and snatched the bottle from his hand. At that moment, I felt a sting in my side.
“....”
Despite his half-closed eyes, I could see a faint triumph of victory flashing in them. He had pricked me with three needles. This guy obviously also had the warden’s needles.
“Eh... What is this?” He had only been acting pathetic.
[Pain Tolerance. LV 6. 339/3200]
I sincerely said thank you. "Thank you. I received experience thanks to you.”
“...”
The victory changed into an expression of despair. "Give me all your items.”
“...?”
"The gloves on your hand and everything you got from the second floor. If you follow my instructions then I will accompany you to the stairs to the next floor.”
I pulled out all the needles I had from my inventory. "Or do you want to lie here and moan a bit more?”
"I-I’ll give it. Here.” He pulled out 14 needles. I also took the three goblin medicines he had remaining. There were some coins and even an unknown bottle.
"Is this a medicine bottle?”
"I don't know." I waved the needles in his face.
"I-I really don’t know! Someone else took it and just died.”
“...”
It took me a moment to understood those words. I really wanted to prick him with all the needles and abandon him here but… “Stand up.”
“Eh?”
“Lead the way. Stop and report to me if you see anything." I would use him as a shield.
Unlike the dungeon, the corridor was pitch black. In this situation, I wouldn’t be able to see if there was a ranged attack such as the warden’s wind gun.
“Gi... Give me one bottle of medicine. Right now I don’t have much health left...”
"Take the lead instead of saying such nonsense.” After he stood up, I seized the gloves from him.
[Kung Fu Apprentice’s Glove. Equipment item. Rank E.]
I read the explanation, but it didn’t say much other than it protecting my muscles and joints. Instead, I examined the rank. E. Did this mean an ordinary standard?
Monsters or items belong E rank were nothing special and could be found in reality. But once it reached D rank, there were things like the pills that helped relieve fatigue for 8 hours.
E rank was commonplace, it was something that just wasn’t that great. From F rank downwards, the quality was worse than ordinary. From D rank and above, things started to go beyond the ordinary category. That was an approximation, at least.
“Hey! I-I’m going!” Scratchy shouted at me. I was just about to walk forward when...
Jaengurang!
A bottle flew from outside my field of view, hit Scratchy’s chest and broke. A strange odour spread through the passage. Scratchy started moaning.
“...Eh?” I could finally see the enemies, and there were three of them.
[Lime Goblin (Warrior). Type: Ajin (Demi-human). Rank E.]
[The middle and upper class of the Lime Tribe that monopolizes the majority of the supplies. Due to the extra nutrition, the development of the bones and muscles is different. In the case of warriors, they have the physical ability to fight against adult human men.]
Indeed, they weren’t at all comparable to the small workers and wardens. The bulging belly and strong upper body reminded me of a small gorilla. And... There was one more behind them. I could only see a fuzzy shape in front of me.
Jingle.
It shook something and threw it towards me. The upper body was revealed due to its throwing motion.
[Lime Goblin (Pharmacist). Type: Ajin (Demi-human). Rank D.]
[Responsible for the production of drugs, which could be called the lifeblood of the entire goblin species. The drugs made will vary depending on the traditions and environment in which the material is procured.]
I couldn’t let myself be hit by that bottle. I hurriedly turned my body and it flew in an arc and broke behind me. The smell was enough to make my nose protest. What was it?
“Ah, ahh... Ahh...” After being hit by the bottle, Scratch was flopping helplessly on the ground and moaning.
Then the goblin warriors came rushing in, each of them with a rusty knife in their hands.
I plunged forward.
Bam!
I turned on Limiter Release and punched the face of the enemy in the lead. I followed up by striking its neck and chest.
“Kyahh...” Was it still standing? Although it was obviously in pain, the goblin didn’t collapse. Then another one aimed at my side. I avoided the swinging knife and smashed it in the face.
It wasn’t an easy fight, but the narrow passage worked to my advantage. It had allowed me to see the bottle flying towards me and avoid it.
Once one of the goblins couldn’t fight properly, the other two were quickly joined his misery. At that moment, the goblin pharmacist disappeared out of view.
“Kyah!”
I heard the sound of fleeing feet; It was running away. Maybe it lost all the bottles that it was holding. Either way, I soon got rid of the goblin warriors and then it was time to chase the pharmacist.
“It hurts! Hurts!” I looked back at the scream that reminded me of a child crying and was shocked. It hadn’t even been one minute. What had happened in that time?
Scratchy was a bloody mess. Eyes. Nose. Ears. Mouth. Blood was pouring from every visible hole. There were two bottles on the floor. Was he hit by the one I avoided?
“Hurts... P-please help me, medicine...” But there was nothing I could do, so I turned my back on the crying person. He deserved to die.
“It hurts! Mother! Mother!”
...Dammit. I turned back towards Scratchy. There was only one thing I could give him, but I was reluctant to do it. I turned Limiter Release back on and gathered strength in my fist.
Then I put all my weight into it as I punched downwards. It felt like a watermelon breaking open.
[Talent has been acquired.]
[Talent - Murder: The damage given, emotional control and karma will increase according to the level. Willpower and charisma have slightly increased.]
It was a talent that I had expected. ...I just hadn’t wanted to obtain it like this. However, I hadn’t thought that more messages would pop up.
[All the talents and experience of the loser will belong to the winner.]
The notifications filled my view.
[TL Note: I've made a glossary of common Korean honorifics and terms that will pop up in my novels, so that I don't have to repeat the explanations. There is a link on the TOC for all my novels and I will add it here as well. Check it out if you're confused by any of them e.g. Noona. ]