acquiring talent in a dungeon

Chapter 12 - Day 4, 4th Floor Drug

[The level of a talent has risen.]

[Punching Lv3 -> Lv5. Related abilities have increased.]

[Compulsion Lv1 -> Lv3. Related abilities have increased.]

[Murder Lv1 -> Lv2. Related abilities have increased.]

[Reflexes has exceeded the limit.]

[Reflexes: 11]

After killing Scratchy, more records of my history in the dungeon came up.

[Talent has been acquired.]

[Talent - Deception: The ability to deceive another person will increase according to the level. The insight, planning and emotional adjustment abilities have slightly increased.]

[Deception. LV 2. 144/200]

[Talent - Taunt: The ability to make the opponent lost their calm will rise according to the level. Eloquence has slightly increased.]

[Taunt. Lv2. 23/200]

[Planning has exceeded the limit.]

[Insight has exceeded the limit.]

[Planning: 11]

[Insight: 11]

Once no more notifications appeared, I got to my feet. I wouldn’t let myself be eaten. I finally understood the words of the man.

If Scratchy had died by my hands, his talent would have flowed into me. The man with the kitchen knife probably knew this. “This is completely... A battle royale.”

I smiled as I gazed into the darkness. I had been prepared to kill. Even so, I hadn’t thought about always killing my opponents. The ‘Persuasion’ talent existed, so I had thought about solving some things through intimidation or a conversation.

But if the system was like this then things were different. If I killed instead, then wouldn’t I get the talents of that person? Anybody who knew this would try to kill others if they had a chance.

There would be no conversation. It was the same with negotiations and deals. Who would do such ineffective things? It was impossible for faith to be established.

I needed to be prepared. From now on, there would be no self-defense.

I moved in the direction that the goblin pharmacist had escaped to. I wanted to encounter someone else after gaining Scratchy’s strength, but the fourth floor was quite spacious. The goblin pharmacist had thrown bottles. Scratchy had suffered greatly from only two bottles. If I could obtain them, then I would gain an advantage when fighting others.

[The level of a talent has risen.]

[Cartography. Lv4 -> Lv5. Related abilities have increased.]

[Opening benefits received from reaching LV 5.]

[Technique - Mental Image: A technique that allows you to record images and letters on a mental piece of paper. Only geniuses are born with this ‘talent’, but a few are able to acquire the technique through effort.]

[No level. Concentration, descriptive power, planning, the range and speed of drawing in proportion to spatial perception and the duration have increased.]

What was this? As soon as I thought about it, letters were drawn in my head.

[What is this?]

“... Uhat.”

Normally when visualizing words or pictures in my head, they would disappear after a few seconds. But this was like a piece of paper actually appeared in front of me. Even if I shook my head and tried to erase it, the image was still vivid.

I drew all types of complex shapes. After a minute, they all remained intact... Then what would happen if I tried to draw a map like this?

[Cartography. Lv5. 2/1600]

It worked. This was a remarkable advantage.

So far, my hands were always on my cell phone when moving through the dungeon. I would have to quickly put my cell phone away when a monster emerged.

Now that wasn’t necessary anymore. My hands were free! I could respond more quickly. I raised my hands into a combat stance and prepared for any bottles that could come flying. One step forward. Another step.

[Talent has been acquired.]

[Talent - Stealth: The ability to walk covertly, concentration and agility will rise according to your level.]

I walked around for 20 minutes, and my stealth was close to reaching level two. Then I stiffened as I heard a scream from outside my field of view.

It was a scream-- A woman's scream. I walked for a while and light started to appear in front of me. There was a curve in the path that I peeked around, trying to stealthily see the sights that stretched out before me.

Just like the hallway last time, the source of light were torches. There was a village in a wide space, with conical tents and goblins scattered around them.

The screams were coming from there. I had to pass through the area that the scream came from anyway. I moved my head slightly and shouted as hard as I could.

“KYAH?”

"Kyak!” The goblins among the tents reacted. I immediately pulled back. My fists were waiting in front of the curved path. Within a few seconds, the first victim popped out from around the corner.

“Kik?” My fist slammed straight into its face.

Bakak.

The hit made the goblin stumble backwards and become entangled with the ones behind it.

The terrain was good. The curve of the narrow passage was to my advantage. No matter how many goblins came at me, only one or two could attack at a time-- and there was no need to worry about things thrown from a distance.

The only thing left was for me to punch without making any mistakes in my timing.

"Pant... Pant...!” I panted harshly as the corpses of the goblins came up to my knees when everything was finished. I moved my head past the curve and yelled again.

No more goblins came out. I walked between the tents and looked carefully in each one. There was nothing. Even if there were some boxes, only japtem of E rank or less appeared.

“Ahh!”

“...!” The screams stopped for a while before starting again. But unlike earlier, the screaming sounded strange. I passed through the tents.

At the end of the tents and near another passage leading to a big and colourful tent. I went inside, then stiffened for a moment.

“Kyak?” I was looking at the back of a goblin pharmacist.

It was holding the handle of a pulley and trying to raise something so it would be ‘hanging’ off the ground. It wasn’t holding a bottle in its hand. I immediately extended my fist.

Kung.

Once the goblin died, the ‘thing hanging’ fell to the ground. I looked at it... No, I was looking at a person.

“Hi... Ugh...” The high school girl was naked and groaning on the ground. It would have been hard to recognize her if her face hadn’t been mainly left alone. The schoolgirl smelt of medications. Had she been experimented on?

There was a funnel in her mouth. There were already many empty bottles rolling around. At a glance, all the blood vessels in her body had been poisoned and her limbs were spasming.

“...Ah.” As the funnel moved inside her mouth, I could see that a section of her tongue had been cut. This was the cause behind the different screams. Her eyes were bleary with pain as she looked at me. Astonishment crossed the pain-filled face.

“Eu, euuuuh...!” Her body wriggled desperately. I took one step towards her.

“Ple... se... P-please...”

“What are you saying?”

“Hah... Don’t do i... Don’t...”

It wasn’t ‘help me’ but ‘don’t do it.’ What shouldn’t I do? It seemed she was conscious of her nakedness. She raised her knees and used both hands to cover her groin. I didn’t care about her nakedness.

She thought I would do something. The motions were something she did unconsciously. Tears formed in her eyes as she begged.

“Please... Please…”

“....”

I thought about tearing her apart. To be honest, there was still some anger remaining. Being framed for rape was a very disgusting experience. The schoolgirl still had a lot of HP left, but she was paralyzed and couldn’t move her body.

If I wanted, I could make her feel pain until she died. It was a shame that a woman absolutely didn’t want to go through. I approached her and knelt down.

"Close your eyes."

“Hi...”

"I will kill you. But I won’t do anything shameful.” Her eyes gazed at me. I raised a fist. "I'll finish it as painless as possible.”

Opportunity shouldn’t be wasted. Not only would it take time, but I was about to take her life. It was the most precious thing for a human. No matter how much I was filled with greed, I didn’t desire anything else from her.

“So... Close your eyes.”

“....” Tears flowed down as the schoolgirl closed her eyes. Fear? No, it was subtle, but it felt different. Relief... Maybe it was remorse.

“S... Sorr... Really... Really sorr...” I accepted the apology as I formed a fist.

Jaengurang.

Wuk.

I was in shock for a moment. My whole head felt wet. Fragments of broken glass feel to the ground.

I turned to look, and there was a goblin pharmacist at the entrance of the tent. There was apparently one left, but there was nothing wrong with my body.

I immediately turned and rushed to the entrance as I tackled the goblin.

“Kyakyak!”

I struck the back of its head. Two hits. Three hits. The floor was soaked with the blood of the goblin.

Blood? Why was I bleeding? Ah, a nosebleed. My body started wobbling. I raised my hand from the ground. Nose, mouth and eyes. Blood dripped on the floor, escaping from every hole on my face.

Activate. Limiter Release.

The dizziness didn’t disappear. I tried to stand up, only for my head to hit the ground.

[Current Balance: 115/140]

[Poison - Bleeding/ Nerve paralysis. Health is reduced by one every second.]

No, I still had a lot of HP left.

This is… Too much.

...

...

◎

Something was put between my lips. My eyes couldn’t open so I had no way of knowing what it was. I just knew that a bitter liquid was being poured into my mouth.

“Dri... You should drink it al...” But what was it? ...No, before that. Who? But the questions didn’t emerge from my mouth as I lost consciousness again.

◎

My eyes opened, and I sat up. I was inside the goblin tent. It was the tent where I found the schoolgirl. I turned to look, but the place where the schoolgirl had been was empty.

“...Ah.” There was a little surprised noise. I looked back and saw the schoolgirl. She was fine.

... Of course, she was naked but that was all. She was standing on her own two feet and watching me. All the poisoned blood vessels and wounds were gone.

“Excuse me...”

Her mouth only opened slightly but I was certain. Her severed tongue had grown back again. “Hey. What are you?” I frowned and approached with clenched fists. I knew the situation. I didn’t know what she was, but the girl had fully recovered from her wounds. She was the one who poured something down my throat.

But the question was why she did it. If she killed me then she could get everything. "What are you up to? If you don’t answer...”

"It doesn’t matter if you kill me.”

Eh?

"...Ah, no. I mean that it is no use if you kill me right now... That... So... I want to stay here a bit more...” The girl stuttered like she realized what strange things she was saying. "First of all, r-receive this.” She handed over a bag full of bottles.

"T-they are all safe. I’ve tried it.”

I really didn't know what was going on.

Chapter 12 - Day 4, 4th Floor Drug

[The level of a talent has risen.]

[Punching Lv3 -> Lv5. Related abilities have increased.]

[Compulsion Lv1 -> Lv3. Related abilities have increased.]

[Murder Lv1 -> Lv2. Related abilities have increased.]

[Reflexes has exceeded the limit.]

[Reflexes: 11]

After killing Scratchy, more records of my history in the dungeon came up.

[Talent has been acquired.]

[Talent - Deception: The ability to deceive another person will increase according to the level. The insight, planning and emotional adjustment abilities have slightly increased.]

[Deception. LV 2. 144/200]

[Talent - Taunt: The ability to make the opponent lost their calm will rise according to the level. Eloquence has slightly increased.]

[Taunt. Lv2. 23/200]

[Planning has exceeded the limit.]

[Insight has exceeded the limit.]

[Planning: 11]

[Insight: 11]

Once no more notifications appeared, I got to my feet. I wouldn’t let myself be eaten. I finally understood the words of the man.

If Scratchy had died by my hands, his talent would have flowed into me. The man with the kitchen knife probably knew this. “This is completely... A battle royale.”

I smiled as I gazed into the darkness. I had been prepared to kill. Even so, I hadn’t thought about always killing my opponents. The ‘Persuasion’ talent existed, so I had thought about solving some things through intimidation or a conversation.

But if the system was like this then things were different. If I killed instead, then wouldn’t I get the talents of that person? Anybody who knew this would try to kill others if they had a chance.

There would be no conversation. It was the same with negotiations and deals. Who would do such ineffective things? It was impossible for faith to be established.

I needed to be prepared. From now on, there would be no self-defense.

I moved in the direction that the goblin pharmacist had escaped to. I wanted to encounter someone else after gaining Scratchy’s strength, but the fourth floor was quite spacious. The goblin pharmacist had thrown bottles. Scratchy had suffered greatly from only two bottles. If I could obtain them, then I would gain an advantage when fighting others.

[The level of a talent has risen.]

[Cartography. Lv4 -> Lv5. Related abilities have increased.]

[Opening benefits received from reaching LV 5.]

[Technique - Mental Image: A technique that allows you to record images and letters on a mental piece of paper. Only geniuses are born with this ‘talent’, but a few are able to acquire the technique through effort.]

[No level. Concentration, descriptive power, planning, the range and speed of drawing in proportion to spatial perception and the duration have increased.]

What was this? As soon as I thought about it, letters were drawn in my head.

[What is this?]

“... Uhat.”

Normally when visualizing words or pictures in my head, they would disappear after a few seconds. But this was like a piece of paper actually appeared in front of me. Even if I shook my head and tried to erase it, the image was still vivid.

I drew all types of complex shapes. After a minute, they all remained intact... Then what would happen if I tried to draw a map like this?

[Cartography. Lv5. 2/1600]

It worked. This was a remarkable advantage.

So far, my hands were always on my cell phone when moving through the dungeon. I would have to quickly put my cell phone away when a monster emerged.

Now that wasn’t necessary anymore. My hands were free! I could respond more quickly. I raised my hands into a combat stance and prepared for any bottles that could come flying. One step forward. Another step.

[Talent has been acquired.]

[Talent - Stealth: The ability to walk covertly, concentration and agility will rise according to your level.]

I walked around for 20 minutes, and my stealth was close to reaching level two. Then I stiffened as I heard a scream from outside my field of view.

It was a scream-- A woman's scream. I walked for a while and light started to appear in front of me. There was a curve in the path that I peeked around, trying to stealthily see the sights that stretched out before me.

Just like the hallway last time, the source of light were torches. There was a village in a wide space, with conical tents and goblins scattered around them.

The screams were coming from there. I had to pass through the area that the scream came from anyway. I moved my head slightly and shouted as hard as I could.

“KYAH?”

"Kyak!” The goblins among the tents reacted. I immediately pulled back. My fists were waiting in front of the curved path. Within a few seconds, the first victim popped out from around the corner.

“Kik?” My fist slammed straight into its face.

Bakak.

The hit made the goblin stumble backwards and become entangled with the ones behind it.

The terrain was good. The curve of the narrow passage was to my advantage. No matter how many goblins came at me, only one or two could attack at a time-- and there was no need to worry about things thrown from a distance.

The only thing left was for me to punch without making any mistakes in my timing.

"Pant... Pant...!” I panted harshly as the corpses of the goblins came up to my knees when everything was finished. I moved my head past the curve and yelled again.

No more goblins came out. I walked between the tents and looked carefully in each one. There was nothing. Even if there were some boxes, only japtem of E rank or less appeared.

“Ahh!”

“...!” The screams stopped for a while before starting again. But unlike earlier, the screaming sounded strange. I passed through the tents.

At the end of the tents and near another passage leading to a big and colourful tent. I went inside, then stiffened for a moment.

“Kyak?” I was looking at the back of a goblin pharmacist.

It was holding the handle of a pulley and trying to raise something so it would be ‘hanging’ off the ground. It wasn’t holding a bottle in its hand. I immediately extended my fist.

Kung.

Once the goblin died, the ‘thing hanging’ fell to the ground. I looked at it... No, I was looking at a person.

“Hi... Ugh...” The high school girl was naked and groaning on the ground. It would have been hard to recognize her if her face hadn’t been mainly left alone. The schoolgirl smelt of medications. Had she been experimented on?

There was a funnel in her mouth. There were already many empty bottles rolling around. At a glance, all the blood vessels in her body had been poisoned and her limbs were spasming.

“...Ah.” As the funnel moved inside her mouth, I could see that a section of her tongue had been cut. This was the cause behind the different screams. Her eyes were bleary with pain as she looked at me. Astonishment crossed the pain-filled face.

“Eu, euuuuh...!” Her body wriggled desperately. I took one step towards her.

“Ple... se... P-please...”

“What are you saying?”

“Hah... Don’t do i... Don’t...”

It wasn’t ‘help me’ but ‘don’t do it.’ What shouldn’t I do? It seemed she was conscious of her nakedness. She raised her knees and used both hands to cover her groin. I didn’t care about her nakedness.

She thought I would do something. The motions were something she did unconsciously. Tears formed in her eyes as she begged.

“Please... Please…”

“....”

I thought about tearing her apart. To be honest, there was still some anger remaining. Being framed for rape was a very disgusting experience. The schoolgirl still had a lot of HP left, but she was paralyzed and couldn’t move her body.

If I wanted, I could make her feel pain until she died. It was a shame that a woman absolutely didn’t want to go through. I approached her and knelt down.

"Close your eyes."

“Hi...”

"I will kill you. But I won’t do anything shameful.” Her eyes gazed at me. I raised a fist. "I'll finish it as painless as possible.”

Opportunity shouldn’t be wasted. Not only would it take time, but I was about to take her life. It was the most precious thing for a human. No matter how much I was filled with greed, I didn’t desire anything else from her.

“So... Close your eyes.”

“....” Tears flowed down as the schoolgirl closed her eyes. Fear? No, it was subtle, but it felt different. Relief... Maybe it was remorse.

“S... Sorr... Really... Really sorr...” I accepted the apology as I formed a fist.

Jaengurang.

Wuk.

I was in shock for a moment. My whole head felt wet. Fragments of broken glass feel to the ground.

I turned to look, and there was a goblin pharmacist at the entrance of the tent. There was apparently one left, but there was nothing wrong with my body.

I immediately turned and rushed to the entrance as I tackled the goblin.

“Kyakyak!”

I struck the back of its head. Two hits. Three hits. The floor was soaked with the blood of the goblin.

Blood? Why was I bleeding? Ah, a nosebleed. My body started wobbling. I raised my hand from the ground. Nose, mouth and eyes. Blood dripped on the floor, escaping from every hole on my face.

Activate. Limiter Release.

The dizziness didn’t disappear. I tried to stand up, only for my head to hit the ground.

[Current Balance: 115/140]

[Poison - Bleeding/ Nerve paralysis. Health is reduced by one every second.]

No, I still had a lot of HP left.

This is… Too much.

...

...

◎

Something was put between my lips. My eyes couldn’t open so I had no way of knowing what it was. I just knew that a bitter liquid was being poured into my mouth.

“Dri... You should drink it al...” But what was it? ...No, before that. Who? But the questions didn’t emerge from my mouth as I lost consciousness again.

◎

My eyes opened, and I sat up. I was inside the goblin tent. It was the tent where I found the schoolgirl. I turned to look, but the place where the schoolgirl had been was empty.

“...Ah.” There was a little surprised noise. I looked back and saw the schoolgirl. She was fine.

... Of course, she was naked but that was all. She was standing on her own two feet and watching me. All the poisoned blood vessels and wounds were gone.

“Excuse me...”

Her mouth only opened slightly but I was certain. Her severed tongue had grown back again. “Hey. What are you?” I frowned and approached with clenched fists. I knew the situation. I didn’t know what she was, but the girl had fully recovered from her wounds. She was the one who poured something down my throat.

But the question was why she did it. If she killed me then she could get everything. "What are you up to? If you don’t answer...”

"It doesn’t matter if you kill me.”

Eh?

"...Ah, no. I mean that it is no use if you kill me right now... That... So... I want to stay here a bit more...” The girl stuttered like she realized what strange things she was saying. "First of all, r-receive this.” She handed over a bag full of bottles.

"T-they are all safe. I’ve tried it.”

I really didn't know what was going on.