Chapter 16 - Day 5, 5th Floor Hunger
The next mont, the stone statue lted down.
[Please step away from .]
Just like an ice cream in sumr, the stone statue beca a puddle and started to form a shape on the floor. It was a large plate that was one tre in height. The square plate filled 1/5th of the entire floor.
The stone statue, which was no much smaller than before, stood on top of the ‘stage.’ Even so, the statue was still three tres tall.
[Originally, I wanted to do a tournant but there is a space constraint. So people will also want to take a break. Those who are willing can co up at any ti.]
As soon as the stone statue finished talking, dozens of people rushed towards the stage at once. There were the words ‘no risk’ so they thought there was nothing to lose. The man who was first on the stage was the one who had neared the statue to question it. The people behind him were pushed out.
[Then, we will now begin.]
The very next mont, a number ca up in front of . The man on the stage asked with a confused expression.
“Eh? What is this number three?”
The statue answered everyone, not just the man.
[The number in front of you is the number of competitors you will have to defeat in order to get the talent on top of this stage. With a minimum of two people, the number has been assigned as fairly as possible considering your abilities and grades.]
So people were sulking.
[Now, please co up on stage to challenge this person.]
A man imdiately jumped onto the stage. He had a confident expression. It wasn’t hard to guess the reason why.
"Does he have a higher number?”
“Yes.” It was like Yang Su-jin thought. The number was the sa as a person’s strength. The man on stage had unintentionally said ‘three.’ Therefore, those with a higher number would feel confident.
[Even if your HP becos zero, there is no out. Now. Start.]
The fight began. The man with the number three was pushed back. it was almost one-sided as his health fell to the bottom.
“Eek!” He swung a fist at the opponent’s chest.
“Heh!” The opponent snorted like it was ludicrous... Then his complexion gradually changed and he spat up blood. There was a needle in his chest where the number three man had punched. Even though it wasn’t deep, the opponent’s HP decreased in a very short amount of ti.
"Poison?"
"Poison."
[You have won the match. Who will be the next challenger? If a challenger doesn’t appear in less than a minute, then he will get half the talent!]
I took my eyes off the stage and moved further into a back corner.
"Aren’t you watching?” Yang Su-jin asked. There was no need to do so. The man only had a three. Rather, it was better to wait until the fervour had died down. Didn’t they know that the poison and needles were equipnt that they were throwing away when it was needed for future dungeon progression?
[You have lost.]
It wasn’t surprising. The number three man had quickly received another challenger. He was showing signs of weariness. The opponent also knew his trick so he couldn’t use it again.
[Now! Do we have a next challenger? If your number is ‘two’ then you only have to win once!]
That was impossible. I pulled out the cloth bag. There were three thick books.
[Learn Programming Efficiently]
[The Basics of Mathematical Problem Solving]
[Advanced English: Reading]
“Ah...” Yang Su-jin’s face was filled with shock. The talents you could get inside a dungeon were limited. But... what if I took books from different fields and read them? Would I be able to gain different abilities?
"Check the situation on stage. Tell imdiately if it seems like soone is going to get the talent."
“Ah, yes!”
I started with ‘Learn Programming Efficiently.’
[Talent has been acquired.]
[Talent - Reading Comprehension: The ability to read words faster. Understand the aning of words will rise according to the level. mory, thinking power and concentration have slightly increased.]
I continued reading.
[Reading Comprehension. Lv 1. 34/100]
I didn’t receive programming. I had expected it, but it was worth trying. In the previous dungeon floors, I had tried wrestling with the air or swinging a fist at the wall. If I could raise the level of Punching then I would stay in the dungeon until I could no longer hold out.
However, it was useless. The level didn’t increase because the experience rise was too slow. A condition was that the action needed to be valid.
In the case of programming, the talent didn’t appear because I was rely skimming a theoretical book. Then... What about the second book? The Basics of Mathematical Problem Solving. It was the easiest mathematics book for beginners.
Mathematics. It was an area I wasn’t particularly good at in middle or high school, but would there be so results since it was all in my head?
[Talent has been acquired.]
[Talent - Mathematics: The ability to clearly understand numbers, volu and space problems related to various objects and phenona will rise according to the level. Thinking power, spatial perception and insight have slightly increased.]
Okay. Although it was slow, experience was definitely rising as I read the book. Now I was down to the last book. Advanced English: Reading. If I could get Mathematics then of course this should work.
The question was, what would the result show up as?
[Talent has been acquired.]
[Talent - Language Acquisition: The ability to learn languages other than your native language. Language acquisition will beco faster and more accurate. Thinking power has slightly increased.]
[Talent has been acquired.]
[Talent - English (Reading, Writing): The ability to read and write English will rise according to the level. Thinking power, reading comprehension and planning have slightly increased.]
[English (Conversation) will be corrected according to the level.]
There was also this. I read the book without hesitation.
[Reading Comprehension Lv 2. 177/200]
[Language Acquisition Lv 2. 4/200]
[English (Reading, Writing) Lv 2. 99/200]
[Concentration has exceeded its limit.]
[Concentration: 12]
Suddenly, a small water bottle was pushed in front of my face. It was Yang Su-jin;s doing. "Your lips, they are dry.”
I beca aware that I had a really sore throat. I opened the lid and asked, “How much ti has passed?”
"Well. Two or three hours?” So quickly?
"It is the first ti I’ve seen soone concentrate like this. Not even the best student in my class..."
I ignored the burdenso gaze and looked towards the stage. "Ah, that’s right!" There was a clap as Yang Su-jin started looking through her bag. I had given one of the two bags to Yang Su-jin so she would be able to bring what she needed in with her.
Her brain was young and quick so she might bring sothing that I would never think about. I was half filled with expectation. Yang Su-jin pulled out sothing that I never imagined from her bag.
"Voila."
There were two very big thermos. No, it wasn’t a thermos... They were heated lunch box tins. Although I accepted it unconsciously, the water bottle was also strange. As soon as Yang Su-jin opened the lid, the scent of hot steaming food wafted out.
"What is this sll?”
"Soy sauce stew...’ As the sll of food spread, gazes moved from the stage towards this area. They looked dumbfounded. I was also the sa.
“What? What is with that look? I brought this.” Yang Su-jin clearly wasn’t a normal schoolgirl in many ways.
"Well. I would have brought a book like Oppa if I had thought about it. Honestly, I ca up with this the mont I received the bag.”
"I se...e.”
"It isn’t instant food nor does it have MSG. Everything is homade. Except the atball! They are the three minute ones.”
I... I picked up the box. In fact, I was hungry. Two or three hours had passed, and it was a lot more ti then I had spend on the 1-4th floors. As long as it filled up...
“Eh?” A sound erged from my mouth.
“How is it? Delicious. Is it delicious?” It wasn’t because of the flavour. Letters had appeared the mont I took a bite.
[Hunger has recovered by two.
[Current hunger: 58/100]
I looked at the water bottle. I had forgotten to drink it after opening the lid due to the appearance of the lunchbox, but if I drank it now...
[Thirst has recovered by 20.]
[Current thirst level: 91/100]
"Is it that delicious?”
Seeing was believing I picked up a atball and held it out to Yang Su-jin.
"No... Uh...”
"Why are you paying attention to the surroundings? Eat it quickly.”
“....”
She blushed, sweeping her hair behind her ears as she opened her mouth... Sothing was strange but I kept holding it.
“..!”
Yang Su-jin made a shocked expression. I was conscious of all the people looking at us. Anyway, it was nice that she brought so food. This discovery was quite aningful.
So far, clearing the dungeon floors had only taken one or two hours at most. If there were no problems on the fourth floor then it would have only been one or two hours.
But what if the space kept expanding? Or there might be a ti consuming event like this one.
"Eat as much as you can now. As long as you can still move.”
“Yes.” I looked over at the stage.
"Excuse , but is it delicious?”
There was a policy that people couldn’t challenge the ring a second ti, but this was still taking an unexpectedly long ti. The reason for the constant fighting was that the number of opponents couldn’t be precisely known. If I remained idle then there was a chance the ga might be over.
In fact, I didn’t think it was a good idea to jump in at the beginning. I had seen the first fight. I would jump in once the number of competitors decreased. I also wanted so ti to read the books since I didn’t know what would happen in the future. But now I was decided.
"What is your number?”
"? Well... Seven. I don’t have many capabilities other than my regeneration ability.”
I nodded and waited. Once everyone was hungry...
Otherwise...
[Twenty-two.]
I wasn’t confident about fulfilling this nonsense number. I wasn’t a martial arts hero.
◎
The ti had co. I climbed up to the stage.
Reviews
All reviews (0)