Chapter 186 - Tutorial 35th Floor (5)
Chapter 186 – Tutorial 35th Floor (5)
I stepped out of the spring and squeezed my clothes dry.
[Round 24, Day 2. 6h 25m]
The clear was easier than I thought.
I made it to the 4th floor stage’s Spring of Recovery in just 25 minutes.
Regardless of the difficulty, it was much faster compared to the stages with long pathways.
In front of the Boss Room, the giant stone doors opened, and revealed a new world.
It was the mid-slope of a mountain.
Thankfully, I knew the road.
If you follow the road, a goblin fortress appears.
As I looked up from the beaten path, I could see the stars filling the night sky.
This is one of the places where stars are bright.
Just like the last time I was here, I couldn’t help but admire the view.
I admired the night sky as I slowly walked.
There was no reason to rush.
It’s going to be hard to get to the city with the goblin king in time anyway.
And even harder to kill the goblin king who will be in the center of the city within four hours.
Furthermore.
No message appeared.
There was no message telling me to take care of the goblin king or do something.
They’ve just put me in this world and let me be.
I expected this after clearing to the end of the 3rd floor boss room and nothing happened.
This 35th floor doesn’t give separate missions for each floor.
Then what do I need to do.
In the time remaining.
I eventually reached the castle walls.
From up close, the castle walls were quite high
Last time, I got up easily using the Blink Authority, but that isn’t an option now.
I could jump using a chunk of mana, but it’ll also cause a catastrophic sound.
And the goblin soldiers will notice.
Do I need to climb up the wall?
As I was pondering about this, I heard a shout from the top of the wall.
“Hey! Human!”
[Acquired Akemin Continent Language Lv. 10.]
Huh?
“What are you looking for in this late hour!”
Did he just yell at me?
Puzzled, I looked up at the goblin soldier atop the castle walls.
The soldier was looking directly at me.
I thought I was far enough from him to avoid his sight.
That was a mistake.
The goblins have good night vision.
Unlike humans, they can see this far without a problem.
And when I was here before, I had covert skills and the like
So, I just assumed it would be like the last time I was here and wasn’t noticed, and I didn’t think to hide my body.
[Acquired Covertness Lv. 17]
As I thought about hiding my body, I acquired the Covertness skill, though rather late.
But the goblin atop the castle walls had already found me.
I pondered for a moment, then answered the goblin atop the castle walls.
“I lost my way!”
I shouted proudly!
It wasn’t a lie.
It was… an ambiguous expression.
The goblin soldier shook his head a few times and disappeared from the walls.
I was more concerned with other things than the soldier disappearing.
I acquired the Akaine Continent language.
It means I already knew the Akaine continent language.
It was probably because of the Knowledge Before the Time of Babel skill.
I thought the Knowledge Before the Time of Babel Babel skill was a magical skill that would translate foreign
languages.
So, when I could hear, say, and use the languages I didn’t know, I assumed I didn’t know the languages.
But when I heard the goblin’s words just now, I understood as soon as I heard it.
The system judged that I already knew the language and added it as a skill.
If the Knowledge Before the Time of Babel skill isn’t just a simple translating skill, and is instead one that imbeds
the language into my head, it’s possible.
If it’s a language stuck in one’s head, it’s possible to recognize it as soon as one hears it.
Is that really how it is?
I’ll need to ask Kiri Kiri.
A small side door next to the giant stone doors opened.
The goblin soldier said to me from behind the open door.
“Come in.”
I listened to the soldier’s words and walked into through the castle walls.
It was quiet inside the walls.
It felt weird as the memory in my mind clashed with the situation now.
“It’s quiet.”
“Of course. It’s late.”
And it felt weird hearing the goblin say that to me as it were a natural thing.
“How did you lose your way in the mountains this late?”“I dunno.”
“What’s your destination?”
The goblin soldier asked me as though he were talking to a friend rather than conducting an interrogation.
I thought he would ask about me or request identification, but the goblin didn’t request anything.
I couldn’t feel any apprehension from the goblin that guided me through the fortress after closing the small side
door.
Destination.
What was the name of the goblin city past the fortress?
I don’t remember.
“City.”
“I assumed so. For what? Probably trade right?”
“I have something I need to find out.”
The goblin didn’t ask me what it is that I wanted to know.
He probably thought I was a merchant sent for market research.
Instead, he asked something else.
“When do you need to be there by? There’s a carriage going to the city tomorrow afternoon. If you want, I can let you on.
Excessively friendly.
That kindness was enough to make my stomach ache.
Naturally, I thought of the deeds I had done while I was progressing through the 4th floor.
Back then, I lit the four fortresses on fire and massacred the goblin soldiers.
And once I cut their numbers, I infiltrated the city.
[The God of Remorse is watching you.]
Well. Is this what that god wanted?
What terrible taste.
“Sorry, but your words are more than enough. Instead, could you tell me the way to the city?”
“Now?”
I nodded.
“I’m in a bit of a rush.”
The goblin looked at me with a terrified look.
And murmured with a cackling sound.
“Damn. You were wandering the woods and have to go right away. Human trade guilds are too strict.”
[Acquired the Kipain Area’s Native Goblin Language Lv. 10]
Turns out the language me and the goblin were using was a foreign language.
I learned the goblin’s local dialect through hearing him murmur.
“Ok but go up there and wait a bit.”
The goblin had gestured at the watchtower.
A watchtower looking out toward the city.
“The view is pretty good. Since the stars are bright tonight, you can probably see the city a bit. It’s quite the
spectacle, so go see the sights for a bit.”
With those words, the goblin vanished to somewhere.
Is he bringing me a map or something,
Because I don’t need one.
Once at the top of the watchtower, I could see the moonlight falling on the city from a distance, just like the goblin
told me.
The goal I had set not too long ago was wavering.
Kiri Kiri had told me to not overdo it.
That the 35th floor stage wasn’t made to be completed through combat alone.
Is this what she meant.
Once the clear goals that were given to me were gone, I couldn’t figure out what to do this time.
The first thing that came to my mind was in the end, combat.
As I climb higher, there will be numerous enemies just waiting for a piece of me.
And I can’t deal with those enemies can’t be dealt easily in this weakened body.
It’s better to become stronger while I have the chance.
And the goblins below the watchtower over there will be the perfect opponents for a faster leveling.
But should I attack those that were sympathetic towards me just because of that?
I asked myself the same question I had before.
My answer was. No.
The reason was simple.
I’m stronger.
I have the right to choose how to become stronger.
Is it the same now?
In just a few hours, a few days, I’ll be plopped onto extremely dangerous floors.
The time given to me is limited.
Because I’m running against time, I don’t have the luxury of choosing.
But still, I’m the stronger one here.
I wasn’t sure what the God of Remorse wanted to say.
But I was sure of one thing
My strength is no longer tied to the tutorial.
While the tutorial did provide the opportunity and means to evolve myself, I have already completely absorbed the
ways.
Even if I was immediately returned to my state two years prior when I was watching tv and doing nothing with my
life, I can return myself to this state without a problem.
Obviously, it’ll be harder outside of the tutorial.
But it wouldn’t be impossible in 5 or 10 years.
The 35th floor stage made me certain.
It was a doubt that I had always harbored.
No matter how much I scream and shout about how well off I am, they were abilities and power given to me by the
gods.
I was afraid that I would become nothing if and when my powers were taken away from me.
But now, those fears are gone.
My power isn’t something that is seen through the status window display of Authorities or skills or even the high
stats and levels.
And because of that I could proudly say.
I’m strong.
No matter where I am.
Even when I’m faced with opponents much stronger than me, I will always be the stronger one.
[The God of Remorse is watching you.]
“How kind.”
“You’re welcome.”
The goblin came back.
With a large satchel.
“You don’t need a map right? Just follow the highway leading down straight. It’ll take about half a day if you’re on
a horse. And these are some fruits, bread, and drinks. Snack on it during your trip.”
I asked the kind goblin.
“Why are you being so nice to me?”
The goblin was a bit taken aback at my words.
“Just. Well. It’s amusing. I also felt bad when you said you had to leave right away when you were lost in the woods
until just now.”
“Amusing?”
“Seeing a human. It’s been a while. Usually, human merchants take the fortress doors over there.”
He was interested as though he were seeing a foreigner.
He acted as though he saw humans every day on the way to work, but he
I took the satchel from the goblin.
“Thanks.”
“No problem.”
I got him to repeat the directions.
The goblin opened the small side door toward the city, and I started off towards the road.
As I’ve walked out, I felt the goblin’s gaze on my back disappear.
I stopped for a moment and stretched.
Originally, I hadn’t planned on going to the city.
There was quite a distance to the city, and there was no reason to if I thought about the time I had left.
Especially when I had no reason to take care of the goblin king.
But now, I had a reason to go and see the goblin king.
I had something I wanted to ask.
I haven’t tried to exert my mana to its maximum capacity since start of the 35th floor.
There was a bit of mana I needed to save to further increase my mana capacity.
Above all, it was dangerous.
I say this again, but it’s dangerous.
But now, I had a reason to give it my all
I mustered up as much mana as I could.
And instead of focusing it onto my limbs or back muscles, I spread it out in my body, and activated the circuit.
What I need right now isn’t to strengthen or lighten my body, or even protection through mana.
But to awaken my body.
Pang!
As I kicked off, my body shot out like an arrow.
The cold dawn winds brushed my face, but I ran on.
Towards the goblin city.
“Phuek. Hooooo.”
When I took my breath, it sounded like a dog panting.
I wanted to breath as quietly as possible, but it wasn’t under my control.
I checked again to make sure the goblins by my feet wouldn’t come to.
Thankfully, both were dozing off in the dreamland.
Huaaa.
It was hard.
I ran through the plains between the fortress and the city, and snuck in by climbing the castle walls.
I did the same for the inner castle walls
And the same to get to the goblin king’s bedroom.
Since I had already infiltrated into the goblin king’s bedroom once before, I could find it without any trouble.
I didn’t need to worry about being caught by the goblin soldiers.
If they could see through Level 17 Covertness, they wouldn’t have appeared on the 4th floor.
Anything over level 15 goes beyond just quietly hiding and moving; it was enough to not be noticed while using up
mana at the max potential right in front of someone’s eyes.
[Round 24, Day 2. 7h 15m]
It only took 50 minutes to dash through the plains on horseback, and sneak past the city’s outer and inner walls to
this center spot.
I used everything I had.
In the aftermath of the violent workout, white steam emanated from my body.
I thought about using the rest of the mana to calm it down quickly, but I decided to let my body cool off by itself.
I quietly opened the door and entered the bedroom.
The bedroom was a bit humid and hot.
It smelled a bit.
It was a large enough room to where I couldn’t immediately locate the goblin king.
Instead of using my eyes, I focused on my hearing.
If I can locate his breathing, I can easily find where he is.
Once my hearing is strengthened by mana, it can locate any minute noise.
Through my ears ready to hear any small noise in the room, I heard breathing.
There was a problem.
There were three.
Three including me.
There were two goblins breathing heavily on the bed.
That’s when I realized some of my questions could be answered.
Why there were so few guards near the bedroom.
Why the room was so humid and hot.
And why it smelled.
I knew.
The goblin king was performing nighttime labor.
I remembered the goblin king’s children.
And the sight of an old goblin king.
He had a white beard down to his chest, but he’s quite vigorous for his age.
I covered my face with my two hands, dumbfounded at the unanticipated situation.
Unable to do anything and agonizing over what to do, I coughed.
“Khm.”
< Tutorial 35th floor (5) > End
Gandara