Chapter 34
I wanted to test my physical abilities, so I decided to race the Blood Knight.
“We’re going to that wall on the opposite side.”
The Blood Knight lined up beside me.
“Ready… set, go!”
I kicked off the ground.
Kwaaaang-!
The marble floor caved in, launching me into the air.
Shwoooosh-!
It was an insane speed.
The edges of my vision blurred and swept rapidly backward.
‘Did I get faster than the Blood Knight?’
The sound of footsteps seemed to be fading behind me.
The moment I reached the center.
Thud! Bang! Thud! Bang!
A terrifying vibration caught up to me, and soon a red shadow brushed past me.
“Huh…?”
It was the Blood Knight.
It was even carrying its greatsword.
It overtook me just like that.
“So I was fast at the start because I was the one who gave the starting signal…”
Just as I was about to lose.
I muttered softly.
“Black Shift.”
Vwoom-!
Black mist rose.
In an instant, I appeared right in front of the finish line—the wall.
Tap.
I placed my hand against the wall.
The Blood Knight arrived belatedly and came to a sudden stop.
…I know it’s pathetic, but I can’t help it.
I am its master, after all.
“Hehe. I won, right?”
I shrugged with a sly grin.
It was right then.
Ssswish-!
A huge blast of wind engulfed my vision.
“Whoa!”
Crash!
Something pounced on me, sending us rolling across the floor.
I barely managed to lift my head.
It was the Sword Wolf.
It was perched on top of me, wagging its tail like a motor.
It had been watching the race between the Blood Knight and me, then chased us all the way to the wall.
It happened in an instant.
“Yeah… you’re definitely the fastest.”
I barely managed to pull the Sword Wolf off me and get to my feet.
To sum up, the Sword Wolf was first in Agility, followed by the Blood Knight, with me dead last.
Then what about attack power?
I chose the most brutish method.
“All right, let’s each take a turn hitting the wall.”
The Blood Knight went first.
Kwaaaang-!
The marble wall exploded apart, leaving behind a massive crater.
It looked exactly as it had the last time I’d seen it.
Then it was my turn.
I clenched my fist… and punched as hard as I could.
Kwaaang-!
Fragments flew in every direction.
It wasn’t as impressive as the Blood Knight’s, but it left a fairly large hole, big enough for a couple of adult men to fit inside.
Finally, the Sword Wolf.
Grrrr!
It clawed at the wall.
Ka-gang!
“Hmm…”
All that remained on the wall were three shallow marks; there was no damage worthy of being called a crater.
“So it was carrying a sword… to make up for its attack power because it’s an Agility build?”
It seemed to be the type that had gone all-in on speed.
“Good job.”
Ruffle, ruffle.
I stroked the Sword Wolf’s coarse fur.
At that, it got excited again and began moving around restlessly.
“Hey now…!”
Even during the race just now, I hadn’t given it any command to start; it had simply gotten excited and run over on its own.
It seemed to be worse at following orders than the Blood Knight.
“Sit.”
It immediately planted its rear on the floor.
But I couldn’t make even its thrashing tail stop.
Thump thump thump thump!
It was the sound of its tail striking the floor.
“I wonder if it’s going to come up from the lower floors…”
The Blood Knight, on the other hand, was different.
It had served as a timer while I slept all this time, and it would even neatly organize my belongings.
I couldn’t tell whether the difference in intelligence during life affected necromancy, or whether the difference arose during the infusion process of the Blood Spirit Tea Ceremony.
“Is being cute all it takes…?”
I grinned as I watched it panting and wagging its tail.
An idea for how to make proper use of it came to me.
“Let’s go to the next floor.”
Kkirikirik-
The door to Floor 87 opened.
[Defender: Poison Hive Mother (87F)]
A gigantic beehive-shaped monster was hanging from the ceiling.
From the open holes, poison needles seemed poised to pour down like machine-gun fire.
It was obviously a monster with an area-of-effect ranged attack pattern.
“Death Mark.”
[ - ]
After applying one stack, I lightly jumped onto the Sword Wolf’s back.
“If it’s fast and doesn’t listen, the best thing is to ride it around and control it myself.”
Once I climbed onto its back, the Sword Wolf happily jumped up and down in place, making a huge fuss.
Crash! Wobble!
“Sword Wolf, to the right!”
My field of vision shook like crazy.
‘If I hadn’t put points into physical stats, I’d already be unconscious…’
Not long ago, I wouldn’t even have been able to stay on this creature’s back.
But my body now could adapt to this movement easily enough.
I also had magic I could control.
What made up the Sword Wolf’s body was Blood Spirit.
Its dark red fur was congealed blood.
That meant it was a medium I could manipulate with my mana.
“Blood Command.”
Whiiiiir-!
I injected mana while rotating the Circle in my dantian.
I intended to control it completely and direct its movements.
But then an idea flashed through my mind.
“As an application of when I restored the Blood Knight… should I make reins…?”
As I infused it with mana and envisioned the shape in my mind, the Sword Wolf’s scruff clenched in my hand stretched out and hardened into shape.
“Done!”
I gripped the reins tightly with both hands.
Kieeeek-!
The Hive Mother on the ceiling shrieked and moved as if it were about to fire its poison needles.
“Blood Knight, draw its aggro!”
The Blood Knight raised its greatsword and charged straight ahead, drawing its attention away.
Taking advantage of the opening, I pulled on the reins and directed the Sword Wolf.
“Let’s go to the left wall!”
Kroaaaang-!
The Sword Wolf shot upward along the wall.
Shwoooosh-!
A speed that seemed to ignore gravity.
It slipped acrobatically between the rain of poison needles pouring down.
Even without giving verbal commands, whenever I pulled the reins to turn, the Sword Wolf reacted according to my intentions.
Also, even as my field of vision spun dizzyingly, my Senses stat continued to pick up the monster without losing track of it.
I fixed my gaze on the Hive Mother’s swollen abdomen.
Fwoosh! Fwoosh!
Every time the 13-second cooldown came around, a Death Mark was driven in.
[ - - ]
[ - - - ]
The moment the fourth cooldown came around, after three strokes had been drawn.
“Blood Knight, fall back!”
I gripped the reins tightly and made it leap into the air.
Just as the Blood Knight’s greatsword grazed the Hive Mother’s outer shell.
Fwoosh-!
The final stroke was drawn.
[⬛]
At the same moment, the character was completed.
Thump!
The gigantic beehive monster slammed into the floor.
Green liquid splattered in every direction, but thanks to the Sword Wolf’s nimble movements, not a single drop touched us.
Tap.
I landed gracefully on the floor.
[Poison Hive Mother of Floor 87 defeated successfully]
[Promotion reward: 8,600G acquired!]
[Level up! 87Lv -> 88Lv]
[3 stat points acquired!]
“Good. We’re finally starting to work together.”
I smiled as I stroked the Sword Wolf’s fur.
Our current setup was perfect.
The Blood Knight as a bruiser, the Sword Wolf as a mount with incredible mobility, and me with a ranged attack.
I couldn’t see much that could stop us here.
Even if something appeared that Death Mark didn’t work on, or that could break through both the Blood Knight’s defense and the Sword Wolf’s evasion, it would be fine.
After all, I had an instant-death skill that could kill anything as long as I merely touched it with my scythe.
Floor 88. Floor 89. Floor 90. Floor 91.
I cleared them just as easily, without a hint of tension.
Not every monster needed four stacks of Death Mark, either.
More of them simply lost one-on-one against the Blood Knight.
And finally, Floor 91.
[Mason Drake of Floor 91 defeated successfully]
[Promotion reward: 9,000G acquired!]
[Level up! 91Lv -> 92Lv]
[3 stat points acquired!]
“I’m finally at the second hill.”
I opened the stat distribution window.
I distributed the remaining points, one each, to Strength, Agility, and Senses.
[Strength stat increased to 79.]
[Agility stat increased to 79.]
[Senses stat increased to 79.]
Strength, Agility, Senses, Intelligence.
The four stats were now all at 79.
“Hmm…”
But I didn’t feel the same harmony or exhilaration I’d felt when I’d first brought Strength, Agility, and Senses to 74.
Intelligence and Magic Power.
These two stats were truly disappointing.
Even when their values rose or they changed to match the others, I couldn’t feel any immediate, intuitive difference.
Compared to the physical stats, they were less thrilling.
But things would be different from now on.
“I can reduce Death Mark’s cooldown.”
I’d been told a spell’s cooldown was inversely proportional to the Intelligence stat.
Therefore, since I would be raising Intelligence alongside them from now on, I’d be able to feel the difference.
If I continued growing like that, I should be able to reach the final hill as well.
The hill of Magic Power.
My Magic Power continued to rise through the stackable earring effect even without me investing stats into it directly.
It should be over 230.
If a 100% charge was the final limit, I’d eventually catch up, but for now, it was still a distant summit.
“Should I leave a record of this first?”
Still riding on the Sword Wolf’s back, I extended one hand and turned on the holographic camera.
Click.
______
Title: Pulled a New Undead Entity & Reached Floor 91
Author: ㅇㅇ(91F)
{Photo of a silver-haired smiling girl riding a red wolf alongside the Blood Knight}
Made a second undead entity.
Shooting Death Marks while riding around is incredibly comfortable.
And my current status.
Strength, Agility, Senses, and Intelligence flattened to 79.
[Status]
Race: Reaper (死神)
Floor: 91F
Level: 92
Condition: Normal
Strength: 79 (▲5)
Agility: 79 (▲5)
Vitality: 16
Senses: 79 (▲5)
Intelligence: 79
Magic Power: 232 (▲5)
Luck: 11
Defense: 13
Magic Defense: 14
Remaining Stat Points: 0
Trait: Unawakened
Unique Skills: [Death Sentence - Slash (斬)], [Death Sentence - See (視)]
Weapon: Death Scythe
Equipped Items: [Arcane Strength Ring], [Adventurer’s Ring], [Magitech Azure Earring (+2 / Charge: 75%)], [Twin-Tail Black Ribbon]
______
I pressed refresh to check the comments.
[Comments]
ㅇㅇ(312F) : Looks like you’ll break through Floor 100 today? LOL
ㅇㅇ(643F) : I’m fucking curious what’s on Floor 100.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(543F) : Probably best not to get your hopes up. If there’s anything amazing, Newbie will die and we won’t hear about it…
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(227F) : Can’t you just take it a little slower…
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(466F) : Just give up on that now lol
ㅇㅇ(519F) : So you really are maxing everything…
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(635F) : Seriously, these stats are legendary. ;;;
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(148F) : Wait, has no one among the gallery users ever raised all their stats?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(643F) : We already decide where our stats are headed as soon as they’re assigned, so we can’t balance our stats like that…
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(148F) : True.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(465F) : But isn’t Taehuh Immortal Cultivator putting points into all his defensive stats too?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(643F) : He did say something about All Things Being Unable to Penetrate, so maybe.
ㅇㅇ(247F) : Whoa, you made another undead entity. The wolf is cool.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(351F) : Can’t you keep making undead entities as you go? Why only that one?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(647F) : I think that guy from Floor 702 said you can only maintain one per Circle.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(351F) : Huh? Then have you already stabilized the Second Circle???
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(647F) : I guess so…
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(351F) : That’s fucking insane;;
People were stunned to see that I was really flattening my stats.
There were also comments marveling that I was already using the Second Circle.
After that.
A username that showed an especially strong reaction appeared.