Being a dropout doesn’t necessarily an you’re a good person.
They just gave up on climbing for various reasons—because they were weak, afraid of losing their life, or for other reasons.
A bad person remains a bad person.
The 5th floor has good infrastructure.
If you have money, you can settle down without any inconvenience.
For those who have survived the 3rd and 4th floors, it was like heaven.
The problem is that even the trash thinks the sa way.
‘This guy and that guy, they’re the sa.’
I went to find the Citizen Gang, wary of the Earthlings.
The gang had set up their base on the outskirts of the city.
Perhaps aware of their situation, they were located at the far end of the floor.
“Do you think the police won’t co if you’re in this abandoned factory?”
“They don’t co, actually.”
“Hmm?”
The floor administrator isn’t a real policeman.
There’s no reason to maintain law and order.
Whatever players do, they leave it alone.
If soone dies or is kidnapped, it’s the player’s responsibility to deal with it.
“So, they only show up when a thief’s stack is wiped out?”
“Yep.”
The man who introduced himself as Riz’s father, David, nodded.
He was walking ahead with a stiff face.
“It’s over there. That’s where Poison Coffin is.”
“Poison Coffin…”
Are they the ones who use poison?
I quietly approached the abandoned factory.
I could hear sounds coming from inside.
It was the chatter of the thugs on guard duty.
“I heard the Poison King died. Is that true?”
“Are you believing the rumors spread by thieves? Geez, it’s not like we’ve been on the 5th floor for just a day or two.”
“No, there’s no reason to lie about the Poison King. They wouldn’t want to die either.”
“Then, the Poison King must have spread the rumor on purpose. He made it up himself.”
“Oh, that could be it.”
They didn’t seem to think the Poison King was actually dead.
“The boss said the Poison King is going to start climbing the tower soon. He just cleared his mission, so he’s probably planning to go up.”
“So?”
“He’s probably planning to take care of the trash on the 5th floor who are hostile to him before he goes. It’s clear. If he leaves them behind, who knows what will happen later.”
Alice’s story actually turned out to be helpful.
I was able to understand the principles behind the Poison King’s actions.
‘Ti flows differently on each floor. No one knows how much the players will grow by the ti they show up.’
When you’re stronger than your opponent on the sa floor, it’s better to take care of them whenever possible.
I glanced at David.
‘That applies to this guy as well.’
The golden dagger whispers to , as if urging to strike before being betrayed.
“Wait here for now.”
I decided to sneak in, leaving David behind.
There are too many variables if I get betrayed in the middle of a fierce battle.
Though I got Hers' shoes, I can’t say I’m invincible.
Crowd control skills are still a threat.
‘Maybe the Earthlings are setting up to take the fall?’
It’s not good to assu that the Citizen Gang is automatically bad.
They might have their reasons too.
“Wait, hold on!”
I walked confidently toward the abandoned factory.
I heard David trying to stop , but I ignored him.
“Stop.”
The Citizens who spotted beca wary.
Each one gripped their weapons and asked with tense expressions.
“This is Poison Coffin’s territory. You know who we are, don’t you?”
“Are you famous?”
“......”
Two Citizens exchanged glances.
“Are you a newbie? How long has it been since you ca to the 5th floor?”
“I just got here.”
“…Then I guess you wouldn’t know.”
The opponents didn’t let their guard down.
They were at the level of barely understanding, still aiming their weapons at .
‘They’re walking the fine line.’
Should I say they’re leaving room for doubt?
They didn’t exclude the possibility that I might be an unmanageable powerhouse.
That way, they’d have a reason to talk later.
I proposed a choice to the two.
“I heard you guys are kidnapping people. Is that true?”
“......”
The corners of their mouths twitched.
They couldn’t deny my question.
“You’re like the Whitebone Pirates, huh?”
“You bastard. What, you think we’ll be scared just because you ca strong?”
With a sneer, I activated my skill.
The ground beneath froze.
Though I had cybernetic enhancents like a cyborg, what I was really using was a skill from the Soul System.
“He’s going to fall. Then we’ll shoot him at the sa ti and kill him.”
“Okay!”
When did they contact each other?
The gang poured out of the factory in droves.
They imdiately activated their ranged skills.
“I ca here to talk, you know.”
I was wondering if I might be misunderstanding sothing.
But they didn’t welco .
As soon as I got to the point, they took the first strike like a thief who had been caught.
I activated Frozen Prison toward the throng of enemies.
Zzzzt-
I wanted to use Hatchling Breath, but there might be kidnapped victims inside the factory.
“Ugh!”
The thugs trapped by the ice wall died without even being able to scream.
They couldn’t withstand a re 500 elental damage and perished.
“They’re too weak.”
“Why isn’t he falling? Why isn’t the stun working…?”
I fired a grenade at the muttering one.
Boom-!
The venomous needle was regrettable.
Since we were facing off at range, I didn’t have any ranged control skills, so it felt a bit frustrating.
The gang mber hit by the grenade died.
With fixed damage of 1,000, they couldn’t survive.
“That bastard used two skills!”
“He won’t have any skills left now.”
The gang shouted loudly.
From their perspective, only two were dead, so they weren’t terrified to the point of being overwheld.
Instead, they were preparing for a counterattack.
It was an interesting process.
‘Every player has limits. There’s a limit to the number of skills.’
The Soul System is fair.
Even the strongest are bound by the restrictions of mana.
If a skill is on cooldown, they have to fight with their base strength.
Swordmasters or peak martial artists could manage with just that, but for most players, without skills, they beco extrely vulnerable.
“Kill him!”
Vines rose from the ground and grabbed my ankles.
I couldn’t move.
[Status Effect ‘Binding’ is applied.]
Status effects from the Soul System cannot be broken by strength.
Even a Swordmaster must remain bound for the duration indicated in the tooltip.
[‘Herald’s Step Lv.1’ weakens the ‘Binding’.]
But not for .
“I can’t move! Shoot!”
Arrows flew toward .
Magic and bullets rained down.
‘Bullets?’
They’re firearms summoned by a skill like a grenade launcher.
The weapon disappears after a single shot.
I dodged all those skills.
“Shit! That bastard, how’s his ‘Dodge’ triggering so well!”
I clearly said it.
Skills cannot be dodged.
Skills from the Soul System are generally accurate.
So, the strong never underestimate skills.
But they’re not foolproof.
Agility stats!
Agility seems to have no additional options.
Strength increases attack power, Health affects life and durability.
Intelligence increases spell power, Wisdom affects mana and resistance.
Agility and Luck don’t have visible traits.
I already know the value of Luck.
I’ve definitely seen the effects.
What about Agility?
‘I’ve been seeing the effects until now.’
Agility affects both accuracy and evasion.
This is an option that isn’t listed in the status window.
Ping-!
Not everything can be dodged.
It’s a matter of probability.
Fwoosh-!
“Can’t even hit this? You fucking idiots. I’ve already put the bind on!”
“Bastard, he never got hit by the bind, so what the hell is this nonsense!”
‘Dodge’ is affected by luck.
I have higher luck than most players.
With higher agility and luck, the two factors combined triggered a dodge check with a high probability.
‘It’d be easier to hit without relying on the correction.’
For example, shooting an arrow without using a skill.
Whoosh-!
The arrow flew toward my head.
It was a sniper shot.
“Steel rod.”
On the 5th floor, I’m the Earthling King, but previously, I was active as Steel Rod.
Ping-.
An arrow with just simple physical force was easily blocked by Cheolpo Samgong.
“Are you crazy…”
“This doesn’t work either?”
I displayed the trick of deflecting the arrow with my forehead.
The gang looked at with faces filled with despair.
“Now it’s my turn.”
Imdiately following was self-injury.
Not 3 vs 500, but a 3-second 270 boost.
[‘Survival Instinct (D)’ is activated.]
My stats shot up.
My evasion rate soared, and the enemy’s skills automatically missed.
Still, I surged forward and shoved the Golden Dagger into the gang leader’s neck.
Blood spurted out.
My attack power was overwhelming.
No one could withstand a single blow.
With every swing of the Golden Dagger, people collapsed.
The scene was bizarre.
“Crazy. What the hell is this.”
“Save . I… I didn’t have a choice…”
A quick-witted gang mber imdiately begged for rcy.
“When you were throwing skills, did you think we’d be scared?”
I swept through the Poison Coffin.
‘Not everyone who crawled out is here.’
The gang’s leaders should be inside.
The heads usually show up last.
I killed all the thugs and entered the abandoned factory.
“Did you co to take this bitch?”
“Ugh!”
I confird the photo and checked her face.
The woman held hostage was indeed David’s daughter.
“Do you think I’ll be scared just because you have a hostage?”
After all, it’s the Earthlings who are aiming at my back.
It’s laughable that they’re nervous because of a hostage.
“Riz!”
“Ah, Dad!”
David, who had ignored my words and followed into the factory, scread in rage after checking on his daughter’s condition.
“Y-Yujin. What the hell is going on? Wh-What did we do wrong!”
Yujin.
From the reaction, it seed that the man holding Riz was nad Yujin.
‘Are they familiar with each other?’
Is David and Riz also part of Poison Coffin?
Or are they separate?
“Why did you betray us and join the Coffin!”
David scread.
Thanks to that, I finished assessing the situation.
Yujin smiled slyly and said.
“I guess they wanted Riz’s skill from Poison Coffin.”
“David. You really went and rescued soone? It’s pointless, you know.”
Standing next to Yujin was a Citizen who seed to be a leader of the Poison Coffin.
A man heavily implanted with cybernetic equipnt.
His face looked rough.
It seed to be a side effect from the cybernetic implants.
“At this point, there’s no helping it. We’ll just have to do it.”
The man drew a knife and imdiately tried to stab Riz.
“No!”
David rushed desperately.
But with the slow speed of an Earthling, he couldn’t stop the man.
I quickly used my 90 agility and caught Yujin’s back in the blink of an eye.
“Can’t you see with those eyes of yours?”
“?!”
If they were going to kill Riz to take her skill, they should have done it before I arrived.
‘What is this bullshit in front of ?’
Are Poison Coffin and David in this together?
Are they trying to trick ?
‘It’s definitely a possibility.’
I pretended to be rescuing Riz while keeping an eye on whether she would burst out.
The knife was about to stab Riz’s neck.
Riz showed no sign of noticing.
‘What is going on?’
First, I blew the head off of the Poison Coffin’s apparent leader.
With my strength stats so high now, I could burst a person’s head open.
“AAAHHH!”
Riz scread.
I didn’t take my eyes off the back of her head.
‘When are you going to start? Co at already.’
I cald my pounding heart and waited for their betrayal.
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