Chapter 12

012. The Trial of Competition (1)

"Absorbing the Doppleganger's command to permanently increase stats."

"Strength increased by 7."

"Agility increased by 5."

"Stamina increased by 4."

"Magic increased by 7."

I had come to expect the stat increase messages that appeared every time I absorbed a command.

But.

"Skill 'Physical Resistance (D)' acquired."

"......"

The message about acquiring a skill left me speechless.

'Physical Resistance...?'

A sensation of my mind going blank.

However, it was clear where this skill came from, without even needing to think about it.

I reread the messages that had appeared, with a dubious expression.

"Absorbing one of the skills possessed by the Doppleganger."

The message text, unchanged even upon rereading.

That meant I had absorbed one of the Doppleganger's skills.

"Was I always this lucky...?"

I felt both dubious and bewildered.

Until now, the only luck I knew was bad luck...

For the jackpot to suddenly explode like this, it felt like my sense of reality was about to collapse.

But, regaining my composure, I checked the effects of Physical Resistance.

『Skill – Physical Resistance (D)』

『Proficiency – 0%』

『Effect – Grants resistance to all types of physical attacks.』

I wasn't sure exactly what resistance to physical attacks meant, but one thing was clear.

I had obtained the most useful ability among the Doppleganger's skills.

Physical Resistance was likely a property of the Doppleganger's body.

'The technique to deflect physical impacts, I suppose.'

Inferring this wasn't difficult.

However, my mind grew increasingly complex.

'Just how good is Necromancy as a unique trait?'

I once again felt the overwhelming power of my unique trait.

If the detailed effects of just an E-rank were this significant, how much stronger would the effects above it be?

"......"

Just imagining it made my spine shiver.

And a tingling sensation running down my back told me that it would be a waste to stop here.

An unknown impulse, like when I first chose the difficulty level, dominated my body.

But.

'I mustn't delude myself.'

This was overconfidence, different from adaptation.

Overconfidence leads to complacency, and complacency often leads to mistakes.

This isn't a game; if you die, you don't get a second chance.

I need to be more careful.

With that in mind, I resumed my steps.

I had confirmed all the rewards and absorbed the Doppleganger's command, so my tasks were complete.

So...

"Moving to the waiting room."

It was time to leave this tiresome cave.

***

"Entering the 4th floor waiting room."

"All status abnormalities and injuries are perfectly restored."

"The recovery effect is permanently applied in the waiting room."

As always, the same message welcomed me back to the waiting room.

"4th floor... It's strange to see how far I've come."

Realizing I had already reached the 4th floor felt surreal.

The fact that I had already faced three trials was almost unbelievable.

I had grown stronger amidst the intense battles.

"Entering the community."

"Difficulty – Hard"

However, my body was already doing what needed to be done.

I had become accustomed to the routine in this waiting room.

"4th floor community (880/1508)"

- Kim Seunghoon: Hmm, at least this time quite a few survived. Good job, everyone.

- Oh Chunsuk: Good job, my ass. Damn, the arm I lost is still vivid. But at least the waiting room saved me.

- Lee Yongjin: Still, we only have one more floor to go before we see the light.

- Lee Seungjun: But to go back, we have to reach the 8th floor, right? Haha?

- Hyun Seokjin: Ah, fuck. How are we supposed to survive until the 8th floor at this difficulty?

As soon as I opened the community, complaints poured in from all sides.

It was understandable.

The 3rd floor trial was insanely difficult, even to me.

'The 2nd floor was manageable with some strategic thinking, but the 3rd floor wasn't.'

Even in one-on-one battles, if I hadn't grown this much, I would have been defeated.

The same would apply to others.

We were all facing the same difficult challenge.

However, the community's atmosphere wasn't one of despair.

People were actively chatting and sharing information.

- Lee Yongjin: Back in my day, no matter how hard it was, we just gritted our teeth and pushed through!

- Hyun Seokjin: Yeah, sure. Ugh, the smell of dentures is reaching here.

- Kim Seunghoon: You guys really say the weirdest things, lunatics.

It seemed that only the skilled had made it this far.

The occasional trial details and information shared confirmed this.

There were even regulars who regularly shared tips.

- Kim Seunghoon: I recommend not buying magic-related items until you acquire skills related to magic manipulation.

- Oh Chunsuk: ? Isn't magic the most important for hunters? It's consumed when using skills, right?

- Kim Seunghoon: That's what beginners think. From an efficiency standpoint, it's not. Basic skills don't use magic, and most other skills don't use much magic either.

- Oh Chunsuk: Damn, I bought magic-related items from that shop... Did I mess up?

- Kim Seunghoon: One or two is fine, but from now on, focus on items that boost other stats.

- Kang Sunwoo: Yeah, I'm a professional hunter, and he's right. Once you start selling skills, get magic-related skills and then buy related items.

- Lee Hayeon: And if you want to regain your old skills quickly, turn off the recovery effect in the waiting room and train. You can regain the skills you once had.

The tips kept coming, and everyone became more focused.

Of course, I already knew most of this, so I didn't need to pay much attention.

I might not have practical experience, but my theoretical knowledge was on par with professional hunters.

Still, I managed to pick up a few useful pieces of information.

'Skill proficiency increases better without the recovery effect in the waiting room, right?'

The same applied to skill acquisition.

Ah, the tips about skill acquisition wouldn't be very helpful for me, as I don't have a skill affinity.

But there were quite a few interesting pieces of information.

They were actively sharing everything they knew about the Tower of Trials.

Most of it would be a waste not to use.

- Hyun Seokjin: Oh, right. There's another way to get skills besides trial rewards and training.

- Kim Seunghoon: You mean the skills the tower gives?

- Hyun Seokjin: You knew about that? That's right.

- Kim Seunghoon: I noticed that the tower often gives skills for unique actions or outstanding achievements.

- Lee Hayeon: Thanks to that, I got two minor skills. Achievements are really good.

- Hyun Seokjin: I just kept taking hits... and got one endurance skill. Sigh.

- Kim Seunghoon: But endurance skills become increasingly powerful in the later stages, so keep improving them. You might need to go even higher.

When I got the fire resistance skill, I wondered what it was for...

'It must be a system in the tower.'

It seemed that performing certain actions would generate skills.

Of course, I didn't know the specific conditions, but just figuring this out was a significant gain.

'Skills are generated based on the actions you take.'

Even though I was somewhat familiar with the mysteries of the Tower of Trials, this was still surprising.

As I was savoring the information flowing through the chat,

- Kim Seungjun: I have something to say about the 4th floor trial.

"......?"

A chat message caught my attention amidst the flow of information.

- Kim Seungjun: The 4th floor trial is not an individual trial but a combined trial.

- Oh Chunsuk: Combined trial? What's that? A special trial?

- Kim Seungjun: Everyone here will face the same trial.

- Oh Chunsuk: ...Am I the only one who doesn't understand this?

- Kim Seunghoon: I don't get it either, explain in more detail.

The moment one challenger mentioned the 4th floor trial, the community's focus shifted to it.

- Kim Seungjun: I used my question right to find out about the trial I would face.

He explained that he had used his question right to discover the content of the 4th floor trial, as the trials in the tower were too difficult to figure out on his own.

- Kim Seungjun: When I asked about the content and theme of the 4th floor trial, I was told it was a combined trial.

In other words, all the challengers on the 4th floor would face the same trial.

- Kim Seungjun: Upon further inquiry, I learned that 30 people would be matched together for the trial.

This was something the challengers had never considered.

Until now, it was impossible to cooperate to overcome the trials.

But the 4th floor trial was different.

Once 30 people were gathered, the trial would place them in a trial space and begin.

This was the special trial that would take place on the 4th floor.

After much deliberation, this challenger decided to share the information.

Like others, he wanted to contribute useful information to the community.

- Kim Seungjun: That's why I'm typing this chat message in a hurry to inform everyone.

The other challengers seemed to understand.

- Oh Chunsuk: Ha, my past actions are coming back to me.

- Kim Seunghoon: Please stop making noise and be quiet.

- Lee Hayeon: Still, it's interesting that 30 people will face the 4th floor trial together.

- Han Jin-yong: With 30 people, the difficulty will likely increase, damn it.

Some said the difficulty would increase with more people, making it more troublesome.

Others said it would be easier with 30 people.

But those speculations were quickly dismissed.

- Kim Seungjun: It's probably not a trial where all 30 people cooperate to complete it.

The challenger who knew about the trial explained.

- Kim Seungjun: The theme of the trial is 'competition,' so we might end up fighting each other.

The meaning of competition was clear without much thought.

Competing for the same goal.

'And if there are 30 people...?'

It could turn into a bloodbath.

Whether the trial explicitly required killing or not.

The penalty for failing the trial was usually death.

So, even if they didn't want to fight, the challengers would likely engage in bloody battles to survive.

- Kim Seungjun: The administrator didn't reveal all the details of the trial, but it's roughly like this.

According to the challenger, the trial would proceed in a team format.

Teams of three would be formed, and they would carry out the trial objectives.

The team formation would be randomly assigned by the system.

- Kim Seungjun: However, I couldn't get more detailed information due to a lack of question rights.

He also mentioned that he couldn't get more detailed information.

- Kim Seungjun: If anyone learns additional information about the 4th floor trial, please share it.

However, after that, no more messages appeared in the community.

Someone might use their question right to find out more, but...

'They won't share the information like before.'

Everyone now understood how things worked.

I couldn't figure out why this challenger revealed the 4th floor trial.

Did he think the community would remain like this even after revealing the information?

'That's impossible.'

But speculating about his intentions was pointless, so I quickly dismissed the thought.

From his words, it didn't seem like he was lying, but it was hard to guess his intentions.

Even if I understood his intentions, there was nothing I could do.

A bitter taste filled my mouth.

'If what he said is true, we'll have to fight, whether we like it or not.'

This was different from dealing with monsters in the trial space.

The weight of potentially having to commit murder pressed down on the community.

The losers would die, and the winners would move on to the next floor.

This simple truth squeezed my heart.

"......"

Looking at the community, where no more messages appeared, I thought.

Can I really harm others to survive?

This was a different issue from killing monsters.

'I don't know, but... '

I didn't plan to die easily either.

In the end, no matter how much I agonized, I would have to act for my own survival.

So...

To survive, I need to do what I need to do now.

Check the rewards and train to prepare for the battle.

Nothing had changed in what I needed to do.

Prepare for the trial and overcome it.

That was all.