Acquiring Talent in a Dungeon - Chapter 59

Chapter 59 – Day 13, 10th Floor Big Picture (3)

It was the last move of the fight.  

"Kuk…!” I kicked the big man in the abdomen, causing him to kneel down.  Blood flowed from his open mouth towards the ground. His internal organs were destroyed, so the damage was much higher than the bleeding showed.

“Strong.” A look of pure admiration crossed my face.

There was a diagonal cut across my face. It wasn’t very deep, but I couldn’t use one eye right now.

To be honest, I had to admit that I looked down on him. He was strong in this fight. The big guy using his axe had almost reversed who was strong and who was weak. I was augmented using the techniques of Ravenous Wolf Fist, but the big guy definitely had a technique that enhanced his power and speed.

It might have been dangerous if I didn’t have the leech’s bloodsucking ability. If I hadn’t avoided it with my superior reflexes, the wound on my face might be 2 cm deeper.

“Great… How resourceful.” It might be due to his Korean being poor, but the big man sounded like the main character from a Chinese historical drama.

“…Kill me.”

In fact, I wanted to end it neatly. "I'm sorry, but wait a little bit.”

“…?!”

After kicking his arms, I raised my hand to his head. Then I said to the sacred creature. "Eat.”

Even though it wasn’t until the ‘root’ of the desire, I wanted the sacred creature to eat until the big guy couldn’t even think for a few hours.

“[email protected]#%[email protected]%!!!” A scream in Chinese emerged from the big one’s mouth. I pulled my hand away from his head.

‘Have you figured out the delicious part of this person?’

-Swinging the axe.

‘…And?’

-Axe. Keep swinging. He wants to swing it.

One policy I set was to find out the unique talent before eating a person. Atlas alone certainly helped me a lot, but it had a colossal impact on my values and decision making.  It was also one of the numerous reasons why I didn’t eat Jin Soo-young. Even though I could tolerate it, I didn’t want the basic thought of ‘I want to kill a person’ attached to me. So the sacred creature would have a ‘taste’ and measure what the person’s strongest desire was.

'It is just wielding the axe?’

– Uh… And, moving strangely…

The problem was that the sacred creature had the expressiveness of an infant. I studied the big guy’s face for a while. It was completely blank now, but that guy had been very serious when fighting. Even though he was weaker than me, he enjoyed everything about it.  

"I believe you." After praising him, I ended it.

[Axe Technique. Lv 9. 23567/25600]

Just killing the one with the axe greatly increased my experience from Lv 4.  When considering that 2400 was the sum of the experience at Lv 3, it was a tremendous amount of experience that was more than 10 times larger. Even my Punching talent was only at Lv8.

[Unique talent has been acquired.]

&

‘Crazy bastard! I’ll kill him!’ Jin Soo-young cursed Kim Hee-chul as she kept running. ‘But… It was quite loud before.’

When she first ran away, she looked back because there was a thud. She saw Kim Hee-chul get thrown by something and hit the wall. ‘Is he dead now?’

Jin Soo-young thought it was possible. If the enemies didn’t think it was possible then one wouldn’t be chasing her in the first place. As Jin Soo-young realized what she was feeling, she stopped moving for a moment.

‘Crazy! Why at this time?’ However, her stamina was already near the bottom. She restored her breathing as she looked around the corridor. There was a door on the right side. ‘Please don’t have anyone in it.’ Jin Soo-young prayed as she opened the door and slipped in.  

"Kyaaak!" The Tellan woman hiding inside shrieked. Dammit. Jin Soo-young cursed under her breath.

But there was no point in murdering her.

“…Such a bother.”

The small Chinese man opened the door after hearing the woman scream. Then Jin Soo-young realized that there was a window in the corner of the room. However, the Chinese man also realized it as he stepped sidewards to block her access to the window.

“Hah.”

Now she had to fight. She felt resigned and took out her weapon.

Clang.

It was a chain. She hadn’t taken it out during her fight with Hee-chul because she had to seem crazy, but this weapon made Jin Soo-young’s fights go much more smoothly

It was the Chinese man who moved first. His sword seemed to dance as he stabbed at her belly.

‘Eh?’

She avoided it and threw the weight at one end of the chain sickle. Jin Soo-young soon realized that something was strange. 'What the, he isn’t a big deal!’

To be precise, she could easily see his strikes. In this state, he was much weaker than her.  Then why had Hee-chul been struggling? Was the big Chinese man much stronger than this one?

"Ugh!" As Jin Soo-young thought this, the Chinese man groaned. His swordsmanship was good, but Jin Soo-young’s chain sickle was flamboyant enough to overwhelm it. In addition, it wasn’t just Jin Soo-young’s weapon.

Chaeng!

She swung the end and hit the sword, while the sickle pierced straight through the gap.  This ended it.

As the Chinese man was conscious of the sickle heading for his head, he allowed her to kick his body twice. This was the result of her talent that showed her the best route to subdue the opponent. She was able to instinctively move in a complex manner during the fight, something that was mostly possible for experienced fighters.

"Sheesh.” Although she missed a critical strike, Jin Soo-young swung his chain sickle again. It was a design from a few centuries ago, but if it had been a little larger then she would’ve stabbed him in the neck. Jin Soo-young being taller than the small Chinese man helped a lot.  

“Little bastard.” Jin Soo-young spat out the phlegm caused by smoking and said. That was her mistake.  Even if the language was different, it was obvious that he had picked up some parts.

“…”

"Do you understand? This kid’s face is turning red.”

“…Damn bitch.” The Chinese man rushed at her and the attacks that Jin Soo-young received were different from before.

Chaeng!

“Ack!” The chain that pulled tightly to block the blade vibrated many times. The skin of her palm was peeled away by the vibration of the chain. He had suddenly become stronger. His power and speed had doubled from what they previously were.

“%%@%!!!”

The bloodshot eyes reminded her of when she had been acting crazy. However, the sophistication of the sword that split through the air didn’t decrease even a little bit.

"W-What the?”

Even Hee-chul wouldn’t be able to avoid it easily. However, her nerves were tight and she somehow managed to avoid the sword… The real problem wasn’t Jin Soo-young’s strength but her stamina. If there hadn’t been the unnecessary chase, she might have been able to cope with this suddenly changing situation.

But that hadn’t happened. Her stamina was less developed than her reflexes, meaning she was already breathing heavily. It wasn’t just the enemy in front of her, but anxiety that Hee-chul could join and kill her at any time. Being cool-headed in this type of emergency wasn’t a common skill. It was the big advantage that Hee-chul had over Jin Soo-young.

Finally, the blade swiped past and cut her knee. At the same time, numerous people popped up in her head.

Their images revolved around her like a kaleidoscope.

'I will die.’ In the end, the genius murderer was still a mere creature. Her whole body and eyes spasmed with fear.  As the Chinese man kicked her belly a few times, she just wanted him to end it quickly.

Jin Soo-young closed her eyes.

“Mother.” She muttered as she felt the small wind caused by the blade.

Tang!

There was a sound resembling a gunshot. "You came too far down.”

Hee-chul’s voice was heard from the window. After having the sacred creature smell her position, he had climbed down the cliff.

Duk.

As Hee-chul entered the room through the window, he frowned as he stared at the short Chinese man. “Why are your eyes like that?”

“…You killed Yan?”

“I guess? Am I not right here in front of you?” Hee-chul shook his head and glanced at Jin Soo-young. “Hold on for a moment.”

“…”

Jin Soo-young understood the reason Hee-chul had been thrown to one side when she ran away. Now Hee-chul could overwhelm the little man who had been weakened. Hee-chul was killing two birds with one stone.

“Dog… The same… Bastard…”

It was uncomfortable. But at the same time, she was relieved. She didn’t feel any pangs in her stomach.

Was it the joy from surviving? Perhaps.

The man watched Hee-chul as he picked up his sword from the floor. The sword had been what was hit by the explosion, so the Chinese man had no injuries at all. Hee-chul didn’t attack until he had picked up the sword and lowered his posture again.

“You… Are you looking down on me?” The Chinese man asked.

"Huh?”

There was a sound. “Aha.” Hee-chul narrowed his eyes like he realized something. He said,  "Of course. You look soft and easy.”

“…!!”

He shouldn’t do that. Jin Soo-young tried to say. Every time the Chinese man was mocked, he unleashed a tremendous power.

“%#@%@!!!” Hee-chul wasn’t able to understand the words as the little man swung his sword.  Just like what happened in Jin Soo-young’s case, his power and speed had doubled. However, the sword still didn’t lose its sophistication.

"It’s great, but…” Hee-chul’s eyes calmly read the trajectory of the real  sword among the myriad of fakes.

Neither the Chinese man or Jin Soo-young wouldn’t have thought that Hee-chul would dare to stick his finger in the blade of the sword.

"Indeed, your talent is likely to be damaging if I eat it.”

“…!!!”

Hee-chul’s hand held the blade. Just a few minutes ago, he had caught a big axe, but there was a difference in the speed and movement of an axe and a sword…

[Unique Talent – No.008. Warrior]

[Through a constant desire to become stronger, constantly develop your techniques and reach a higher place.  In a rationally advanced civilization, it would be natural for martial artists to lost their status. But what should you do? This type of romance is an instinct for you.]

[Comprehension of body/ weapon related martial arts has increased to the maximum. The same applies to the techniques of others.]

[Self-improvement of body/weapon related martial arts is possible.]

"Your friend was kind enough to give this to me.”

It was how Hee-chul could predict such a dazzling trajectory so easily.  The Chinese man tried to act, but it was impossible. Maybe it was a lesson learned or his new talent impacting his senses, but Hee-chul didn’t give the man a second chance.

Wooduk!

A neat hand grabbed the Chinese man’s neck lightly enough to prevent death. It was a bold yet amazingly accurate adjustment of his strength. "It was too much for you to deal with this one.” As the Chinese man started foaming at the mouth, Hee-chul stood in front of Jin Soo-young.

“Ohu… Hey.”

“…Bas…bastard.”

"Blood is dripping down… Is it possible to stand up with that knee? It would be good if you have some regeneration abilities.” Hee-chul talked to Jin Soo-young as he pulled her up.

“Let go… This…”

"If you say it one more time then I really will do it.”

“…”

"Now let’s see what it looks like.”

Hee-chul left the collapsed Chinese man on the floor and headed up the stairs. He planned to go back to the top. The Chinese hadn’t noticed, but the treasure of this floor was there.