Chapter 5
I charged into Floor 3.
[Defender: Giant Rat (3F)]
It was a cat-sized rat.
“What the… It’s not even a goblin?”
Squeak!
With that cry, it leaped at me.
I lightly stomped my foot and swung the scythe in a wide arc.
Swoosh-!
Squeak squeak!!
The rat tumbled across the floor.
Blood splattered, but it evaporated almost immediately.
“That was too easy…”
It was absurdly simple.
Simple enough to make all my earlier worries seem ridiculous.
[Successfully defeated the Floor 3 Giant Rat]
[By winning the duel against the floor’s owner, you become the owner of this floor.]
[Promotion reward: 200G acquired!]
“Oh. They give more money?”
That was 100 gold more than I had received for defeating the slime.
It seemed to increase by 100 gold every floor.
At this rate, I’d be making an insane amount of money later on.
[Level up! Lv. 2 -> Lv. 3]
[Acquired 3 stat points!]
I was still putting them into Strength, Agility, and Senses.
[Strength increased by 1.]
[Agility increased by 1.]
[Senses increased by 1.]
“If it’s this easy, then Floor 4 should be…”
Thinking that, I immediately stepped onto the stairs leading to Floor 4.
Floor 4.
[Defender: Cave Bat (4F)]
This time, it was a bat.
A bat would definitely be more troublesome than a giant rat.
“They really are getting stronger little by little…”
Flap!
The bat flew around the ceiling, tracing an irregular path.
Swish-! Swoosh-! Slash-!
I swung the scythe around like a fly swatter, and before long, I managed to land a hit.
“Got you!”
Screeech-!
The bat, sliced by the scythe, dropped to the floor with a thud.
[Successfully defeated the Floor 4 Cave Bat]
[By winning the duel against the floor’s owner, you become the owner of this floor.]
[Promotion reward: 300G acquired!]
[Level up! Lv. 3 -> Lv. 4]
[Acquired 3 stat points!]
Again, Strength, Agility, and Senses.
[Strength increased by 1.]
[Agility increased by 1.]
[Senses increased by 1.]
“Oh. I can actually feel something…”
It was subtle, but my body felt lighter.
“All right, let’s go!”
There was no need to open the gallery again.
I wasn’t tired, and they had said there was no information on anything below Floor 100 anyway.
Floor 5.
[Defender: Poison Toad (5F)]
A grotesquely swollen toad was about to spit something out.
“Ugh!”
I lifted my foot and dodged.
It was the first ranged attack I had encountered.
But its charge-up was far too slow.
Crack!
I stabbed it with the scythe before it could finish swelling up.
The toad split in half from the head down and melted away.
[Successfully defeated the Floor 5 Poison Toad]
[By winning the duel against the floor’s owner, you become the owner of this floor.]
[Promotion reward: 400G acquired!]
[Level up! Lv. 4 -> Lv. 5]
I wasn’t even out of breath.
574F’s claim that I could push through with mindless basic attacks had been correct.
For now, I’d come this far.
I floated the hologram panel in the air.
____
Title: Cleared Floor 5. It’s pretty easy when I dump everything into Strength, Agility, and Senses.
Author: ㅇㅇ(5F)
{Photo of defeating the Floor 345 monster}
Floor 5 parking complete.
Just like 574F said, it was easy.
______
The comments started pouring in as soon as I hit refresh.
[Comments]
ㅇㅇ(418F) : ???????????????
ㄴ Fenrir : No fucking way, it hasn’t even been an hour and you’re on Floor 5?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(211F) : Fucking genius talent monster ㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(148F) : Four floors in one day is fucking insane LMAO
ㅇㅇ(741F) : How the hell are you beating monsters four floors above you?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(339F) : The monsters on the lower floors were just fucking pushovers all along LMAO
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(574F) : That’s what I’ve been saying.
People were beginning to trust 574F’s theory.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(431F) : If it weren’t for 574F, we would’ve had to watch the newbie meditate for a week.
But there were still voices expressing concern.
ㅇㅇ(435F) : No, but isn’t this way too reckless? You’ll die if you slip up even once.
ㅇㅇ(505F) : Slow down a little, newbie;;
Macanong : Don’t push yourself too hard ㅠㅠ
Just then, a familiar username appeared in the comment section.
“Ugh…”
Captain Death Note : Start meditating immediately!
ㄴ Captain Death Note : Don’t you want to learn an instant-death ability?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(143F) : ‘That bastard’ has entered the chat.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(431F) : Let the newbie climb a few more floors first LMAO
Instant-death ability.
The word itself had an incredible allure.
Captain Death Note : Did you know that the Reaper race can learn instant-death abilities with just one circle?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(651F) : He’s starting the marketing campaign LMAOOOOOOOO
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(344F) : But is that really true? An instant-death ability with a first-circle spell?
Oh ho. So instant-death abilities weren’t ultimate moves, but something you could learn right from the beginning.
ㅇㅇ(513F): You can tell he was obviously planning to explain that later, but he’s saying it now because he got desperate LMAO
Captain Death Note : If you had invested all your stats in Intelligence, the time required to learn it would have been considerably shorter! It would have been reduced by no less than twenty percent!
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(635F) : He started throwing out a concrete number after posturing LMAO
Twenty percent or not, there was no need to regret it.
I was going to put points into Intelligence from now on.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(5F)(Author) : I’ll begin meditating, Master.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(431F) : Why did the newbie suddenly become so respectable?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(317F) : Just keep climbing. You said everything was a one-shot.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(5F)(Author) : I’m going to climb. But I want to try meditating, too.
It wouldn’t be wise to keep provoking that Reaper.
I still had a lot to learn from him.
So this was…
In other words, relationship-building.
I turned off the hologram and sat down on the floor of Floor 5.
“Let’s see how it feels, at least.”
Of course, I had absolutely no intention of meditating for a week.
I didn’t know when the hero might come up from below.
I was just going to sample it.
I sat cross-legged and closed both eyes.
‘Focus on my danjeon… retrieve the circle…’
I took a deep breath in and slowly exhaled.
Silence descended.
One minute.
Two minutes.
Three minutes.
“Ah, fuck…”
My eyes flew open.
This was driving me crazy.
With no progress whatsoever, I grew so restless I couldn’t stand it.
“Okay! I give up! I’ll meditate after putting points into Intelligence.”
I sprang to my feet.
Off to get some stats.
‘First, I’ll spend the stat points I have left.’
[Strength increased by 1.]
[Agility increased by 1.]
[Senses increased by 1.]
“Oh… something… my vision…”
Strangely, I could feel the difference every time I allocated a stat point.
If a single point made this much difference, how powerful would I eventually become?
‘Apply for a promotion match.’
With light steps, I climbed the stairs toward Floor 6.
[Defender: Horn Beetle (6F)]
A gigantic bug covered in a hard, gleaming shell.
Clang-!
The scythe blade I brought down as I leaped tore the shell apart.
[Successfully defeated the Floor 6 Horn Beetle]
A one-shot.
[By winning the duel against the floor’s owner, you become the owner of this floor.]
[Promotion reward: 500G acquired!]
[Level up! Lv. 5 -> Lv. 6]
[Acquired 3 stat points!]
“Hmm. Maybe I don’t need to allocate stats anymore.”
That thought occurred to me.
If the monsters that appeared were this weak, there was no need to invest in Strength, Agility, and Senses.
And although I would need to raise Intelligence from now on, there was no need to spend the points in advance.
‘It’ll be a safety net.’
There might be an emergency where I had to pour everything into stats like Vitality or Strength.
And when I opened the gallery next time, a different direction or more suitable path might present itself.
‘It’s not that I don’t trust my Reaper teacher, but…’
For now, I headed upward.
Floor 7.
[Defender: Cave Spider (7F)]
Hiss!!!
It was another insect.
Ah, spiders were arthropods, weren’t they?
The spider spewed a white solid from its mouth.
I hacked it to pieces along with its web.
“I’m definitely overpowered.”
Kieeeek!!!
[Successfully defeated the Floor 7 Cave Spider]
[By winning the duel against the floor’s owner, you become the owner of this floor.]
[Promotion reward: 600G acquired!]
[Level up! Lv. 6 -> Lv. 7]
[Acquired 3 stat points!]
‘Hold the stat points.’
Floor 8.
[Defender: Death Worm (8F)]
It burst out through the ground beneath my feet.
If this had happened when I was Level 1, I would have panicked, but the power of just four additional points in Senses was incredible.
‘Strength, Agility, and Senses had really good efficiency.’
I drove the scythe straight down into its emerging head.
[Successfully defeated the Floor 8 Death Worm]
[By winning the duel against the floor’s owner, you become the owner of this floor.]
[Promotion reward: 700G acquired!]
[Level up! Lv. 7 -> Lv. 8]
[Acquired 3 stat points!]
It was still a one-shot.
There was no reason to hesitate.
‘Apply for a promotion match.’
Floor 9.
[Defender: Dire Hound (9F)]
It looked somewhat fierce.
It charged straight at me, baring its teeth.
But it was only as fast as a puppy.
Crunch!
[Successfully defeated the Floor 9 Dire Hound]
[By winning the duel against the floor’s owner, you become the owner of this floor.]
[Promotion reward: 800G acquired!]
[Level up! Lv. 8 -> Lv. 9]
[Acquired 3 stat points!]
After clearing Floor 9, I was breathing a little harder.
‘I want to put these into Strength, Agility, and Senses.’
I felt that impulse, if only for a moment.
Up through Floor 5, I had been able to feel the scythe growing lighter and my body growing faster.
But now, I couldn’t feel myself growing at all.
If I had put all the points into Strength, I would have become a monster capable of swinging this scythe without any recoil by now.
But at present, I was merely crouching there.
And then, finally…
I opened the door to Floor 10—
I didn’t. Instead, I opened the gallery.
The number ten felt dangerous somehow.
Every monster so far had been a one-shot, but even so.
According to the universal rules of decimal notation, it could be a floor with a mid-boss.
It might even be stronger than Floor 11.
I opened the gallery.
I wrote a post.
______
Title: [Humanoid Face Warning] Situation Report.
Author: ㅇㅇ(9F)
{Full-body photo of a silver-haired girl with a giant scythe slung over her shoulder.}
[Stats]
Race: Reaper (死神)
Floor: 9
Level: 9
Strength: 18
Agility: 23
Vitality: 7
Intelligence: 15
Senses: 22
Magic: 16
Luck: 9
Defense: 3
Magic Defense: 13
Remaining Stat Points: 12
Traits: Unawakened.
Skills: None.
Weapon: Death Scythe
I pushed through to Floor 9 because I was getting restless while meditating. Sorry, Master.
But everything was a one-shot, so I don’t think you need to worry?
I put one point each into Strength, Agility, and Senses up through Floor 5, then saved all my points from Floor 6 onward.
Is there a sudden difficulty spike starting at Floor 10?
Can I dump the 12 points I’ve saved into Intelligence and start meditating now?
______
The comments came flooding in as soon as I hit the Register button.
[Comments]
ㅇㅇ(148F) : ????????? Did you take an elevator?
ㅇㅇ(418F) : Floor 9?????? No fucking way, you reached Floor 9???
ㅇㅇ(599F) : No, please report after every floor, will you?
ㅇㅇ(248F) : T h e n e w b i e i s u s i n g t h e s k i p - f l o o r t e c h n i q u e
ㅇㅇ(312F) : I guess everything below Floor 100 really is a fucking pushover ㄷㄷ
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(134F) : That’s true, but the newbie’s starting to get a little cocky, which is pissing me off. Don’t overpraise them.
ㅇㅇ(741F) : Saving all your stat points and getting a free pass to Floor 9 is fucking ridiculous.
ㄴㅇㅇ(431F) : For real, I’ve never even seen the concept of saving stat points before;;
The first comment to appear among them was from an enraged teacher.
Captain Death Note : You foolish child! Focus on retrieving your circle immediately!
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(612F) : The newbie’s about to die…
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(341F) : They’re asking what happens if the hero comes while they’re meditating LMAO
A comment appeared below it, as if wiping away cold sweat.
Fenrir : Whew;;;; holy fuck, I thought my heart was going to drop out. You did the right thing by stopping before Floor 10. Catch your breath there for now.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(9F) : Is there a sudden power spike every ten floors?
Fenrir : Nothing like that. Let’s just rest for a bit ;;;;
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(414F) : They say they’re anxious the hero might come up LMAO
There didn’t seem to be any sudden power spikes every ten floors.
Then a long comment appeared.
Captain Death Note : It is infuriating that you disobeyed your master’s command and acted on your own… but I shall praise the courage with which you did not fear death.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(431F) : Did he suddenly get tranquilized?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(621F) : Looks like he’s coaxing her LMAO
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(351F) : He’s doing everything he can to make her meditate. This is honestly kind of pathetic LMAOOOOOOOOOO
Captain Death Note : Pour all twelve of your remaining stat points into Intelligence! If you do so, the time required for meditation will be drastically reduced!
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(9F)(Author) : I’m sorry, Master ㅠㅠ If it’s a drastic reduction, exactly how much shorter will it be?
ㄴ Captain Death Note : It will be shortened by at least half.
“If it’s fifty percent…”
If I had any talent, that meant three and a half days.
“…Maybe I can manage that?”
With Floor 9 between me and the entrance, my anxiety about the hero had eased somewhat.
After fighting the monsters, I had even started wanting to learn some skills.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(9F)(Author) : I’ll accept your teachings from now on, Master!
ㄴ Captain Death Note : If you act on your own one more time, I shall cast you out.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(377F) : Look at him turning the tables as soon as the newbie starts being polite LMAO
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(315F) : It’s going to happen twice, three times, four times LMAO
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(9F)(Author) : I’m seriously going to work hard ;;
I promised to keep my word and was about to begin meditating.
But then.
A username appeared that cut the flow off at a stroke.
ㅇㅇ(574F) : Hmm.
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(312F) : ?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(418F) : Why is this guy acting unsettling again?
ㄴ ㅇㅇ(199F) : The Brain Emperor has entered the chat.
Refresh.
ㅇㅇ(574F) : If everything was a one-shot, you could probably push all the way to Floor 50. Don’t rest—go go.
A bomb had been dropped.