abcnovels
Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Rather than charging forward, Yoon-seok just pointed his sword at Lee Chang-hoon and slowly walked forward one step at a time. For some reason, Lee Chang-hoon felt like a wall made of sharp thorns was pressing on him. He unknowingly took a step backward.
“…”
Seeing Lee Chang-hoon’s move, Yoon-seok couldn’t help but laugh. An unbearable sense of humiliation came over Chang-hoon, having treated Yoon-seok as a weakling all his life. Cold sweat poured down his temples.
‘Wait, why am I scared?’
Lee Chang-hoon forced himself to calm down and stare at his opponent. He was worried about Yoon-seok’s confident attitude, but something looked wrong.
‘Why is his equipment like that?’
Except for his dual swords and boots, he had no equipment on. His clothes were the gray outfit given to all challengers by default. On the other hand, Chang-hoon had invested a lot in equipment. He recently spent 30,000 AP for some D+ rank armor. Now, his confusion was clearing up.
‘Six coins…did he spend his AP on coins?’
Other than the ones given for free upon leveling up, coins were available in the shop. It only cost 250 AP on the first floor, but its value increased by four times each time you went higher. It could explain why Yoon-seok’s equipment was poor even though he was already on the fourth floor.
‘You’re a complete asshole, aren’t you?’
Although Chang-hoon had lost three times on his way to the fourth floor, he still had three coins remaining. Importantly, he had never resorted to buying coins with his AP.
‘Then, I have the upper hand.’
He had also learned kendo professionally. There was no way he would be pushed back by a guy who could barely manage to hold up his weapons. Having regained his confidence, he hurriedly charged with a vertical slash.
His target was Yoon-seok’s right wrist.
‘I’ll stop you from using your arm first, then break you down little by little….’
He felt that his blow was swift. Surely, someone like Yoon-seok wouldn’t be able to react to it in time.
But…
Ka-klang-!
With one sword, Yoon-seok blocked his two-handed swing effortlessly. Lee Chang-hoon was stunned.
‘One hand? What kind of power…’
Chang-hoon’s strength rank was E-. With the effects of his equipment, it reached a whopping E. How could his attack be pushed away by one hand?
‘Did he do something with his strength attribute?’
Yoon-seok had been able to block it because of their difference in skill, regardless of strength. However, Chang-hoon had no way of knowing that. He didn’t even have time to think about it.
Whiiik-!
The sword in Yoon-seok’s left hand flew in just as his right blocked Chang-hoon’s sword. His target was Chang-hoon’s wrist, which was exposed under his armor. His foe quickly shouted a command.
“Steelization!”
Unique Skill b Steelization}.
It was a technique that applied the total defense power of their armor to the user’s skin. It had no cooldown time, but it had to be turned on and off according to the situation. The skill continuously used up magic power when it was on. With this…
Klang-!
Yoon-seok’s sword bounced off his wrist, and Lee Chang-hoon smiled with relief. At this point, any opponent was bound to panic. Chang-hoon didn’t miss the gap and stabbed. However, there was one thing he wasn’t expecting.
Yoon-seok didn’t show any surprise at his Unique Skill.
“Die!”
Yoon-seok avoided Lee Chang-hoon’s sword with a gloomy gaze. His sword bouncing off his opponent’s skin didn’t shock him. There was no reason for it to. He knew it must be a defensive skill.
‘I haven’t seen anything like that in the shop. Perhaps it is a Unique Skill?’
Lee Chang-hoon misunderstood the situation. He thought he had already gained the advantage and began slashing and shouting with renewed vigor.
“What do you think now? Do you regret it? Huh? You thought you could win? Bastard!”
Yoon-seok licked his lips. Lee Chang-hoon had a successful career in kendo, so he thought he could learn something from him. However, no matter how much he watched, he couldn’t see anything he could learn. To be honest, his foe seemed to be swinging at random.
‘Enough.’
Huwook-!
“Huh?!”
Lee Chang-hoon’s arm fell to the ground, along with his sword.
“What…happened?”
He didn’t even see Yoon-seok’s attack coming in. Also, he had kept b Steelization} on in preparation for a counterattack.
“Ugh…!”
Slowly, the pain began to engulf him. He had fought for his life several times in the Tower, but he couldn’t get used to the pain. Lee Chang-hoon hurriedly stretched out his remaining hand and screamed.
“Wait! Wait a minute! Yoon-seok-ah!”
“…?”
Yoon-seok readied to finish him off, suddenly stopped. Chang-hoon already lost his weapon, and he had already proven that his Unique Skill couldn’t stand against b Weapon Enhancement} and b Multiply} combined. The game was already decided, so he could afford to listen.
“I apologize! I’m sorry!”
Yoon-seok quietly nodded and raised his sword. Lee Chang-hoon, who was almost in tears, shouted with a puzzled expression.
“Hey! What are you doing?! I already apologized!”
“…?”
Yoon-seok tilted his head.
‘What is this guy hoping for? Did he think I would quit because he apologized?’
“I only have one coin left. Yoon-seok-ah…if I die this time, I’m dead. This is murder!”
Yoon-seok wanted to laugh. He didn’t know whether what Chang-hoon said was true or not. However, he wondered how low this guy was going to go to appeal for sympathy.
“So?”
“So, you mistook me for Kang Hyung-woo. I didn’t do anything wrong, but I am going to die!”
Yoon-seok shook his head at that pathetic reasoning.
‘How can he be so shameless?’
“So?”
“Didn’t you say you have six coins? Can you spare me this once? Please?”
Yoon-seok wasn’t even angry now.
“You know Hyung-woo listened to me, right? As soon as I get back, I’ll say something to him and make him apologize. Huh? What?”
Events during their school days flashed before Yoon-seok. With Hyung-woo, Lee Chang-hoon did many really bad things to him and passed it all off as a joke. He shook his head and laughed.
“Why are you laughing?”
“It’s just that you’re so funny.”
“…”
“It’s not that I hate you so much that I want to kill you, but…do you think I would die for you?”
“This kid…”
Lee Chang-hoon clenched his teeth furiously, but all he could do was stare at the incoming blade. Meanwhile, Yoon-seok’s expression was firm and dull. He gave back what they had given him before, but it didn’t feel satisfying or fun.
‘How did they enjoy this?’
“You bastard! I will kill you….”
Before Lee Chang-hoon could finish another scorn-filled word, Yoon-seok cleaved his head off.
“Victory.”
“You will receive 64,000 AP as a reward.”
?The unique skill {Predation} is activated. ?
?Acquire one of your opponent’s skills at random. ?
“Acquire Iron Mastery (Rank E-).”
?Randomly plunder one of your opponent’s equipment. ?
“Loot the Khan Workshop Magical Engineering Suit No. 322 (Rank D+).”
?Go to the waiting room on the 4th floor. ?
“Please prepare for the next duel.”
As he looked at the rewards, Yoon-seok had a realization.
‘It’s much more enjoyable to face the strong head-on than to torment the weak.’
* * *
“Arghhh! Fuck that bastard!”
Fourth-floor waiting room.
Lee Chang-hoon patted his neck, confirming it was now intact and began screaming.
“You dare play with me?!”
It was his fourth defeat in the Tower. More so, the person who defeated him this time was Yoon-seok, who was beneath him. Lee Chang-hoon felt more ashamed and angrier than ever.
“Fuck, just wait. I will get revenge.”
He only lost one coin. If he kept going up the Tower and continued to increase his skills and AP, he wouldn’t lose anymore. He still had two coins left. However…
As he examined himself, he quickly turned pale.
“What…what the fuck! Where did it go?! My armor!”
The armor he invested 30,000 AP in was gone. Moreover, considering its synergy with b Steelization}, it was as if his power was cut in half. Lee Chang-hoon’s eyes darkened.
“It’s…fucked up.”
He realized his chances of surviving his next battle had just been stolen from him.