Chapter: 26
The players’ forbidden mountain, Bukmangsan, eventually came to be called by another name as time passed.
Treasure Mountain.
Deep within this enormous mountain, which rarely allowed humans to set foot inside, there were quite a few items sleeping that would make players go crazy and rush in without hesitation.
Even Eugene from his first run had obtained quite a few useful things here.
But this time was different.
He had obtained far too many things from the Tutorial Floor.
Most of the things discovered in Bukmangsan could no longer provide Eugene with any help.
“Still, I should take a few things with me.”
Not for himself.
For the slaves.
Eugene searched through his memories and began collecting the hidden opportunities at a rapid pace.
If Didascalia or the administrators of the other towers had seen this scene, they would have coughed up blood and been horrified, but Eugene had no hesitation in his actions.
Rather than raising ten thousand mediocre people, it was better to properly raise two talented ones.
At least, that was what Eugene believed.
Because of this, someone else would lose their chance, but why should he care?
‘If they don’t like it, they should just be better themselves.’
If he left them alone, they would eventually die anyway.
It was a hundred times better to give them to someone who could make better use of them.
“Exactly. That’s right.”
Eugene threw away any feelings of guilt and continued forward, sweeping up every decent treasure hidden within Bukmangsan.
Unlike when he obtained 『Sword Heart[D]』, his speed was quite fast.
That was because there were far fewer things hidden deep inside.
“Let’s just skip this one.”
After briefly looking over a skill book he found along the way, Eugene quickly lost interest and continued walking.
For other players, it was an outstanding skill that would have caused a fight the moment they discovered it.
But in Eugene’s eyes, it had not even the slightest bit of value.
‘What matters is which skills you learn.’
Players who knew nothing would learn skills recklessly.
They believed that if they simply increased the number of skills they possessed, they would have more options during battles.
Eugene had been the same.
But that was wrong.
Learning a skill was something that had to be decided only after careful consideration.
Skills and traits were not things that operated independently from each other. They were interconnected.
A single incorrectly learned skill could become a massive obstacle preventing someone from reaching a higher level of power.
Eugene had realized this too late before, and through an insanely difficult quest, he had reset his skills and traits.
‘If you take the wrong path from the beginning, there’s no answer later.’
If that penalty did not exist, Eugene would have obtained everything he could from the Tutorial Floor until now.
But he did not.
Isia and Park Jihoo were the same.
There was no need to make mistakes that could have been avoided.
Eugene was moved by his own warm heart for thinking of his slaves, and raised his head.
Dawn was slowly breaking.
He had obtained 『Fighting Spirit[D]』 for Park Jihoo to use as well, so it was time to return.
“Let’s go.”
“Graaahhh-!”
At Eugene’s words, Chunbae, whose stomach was full, let out a cry.
Boom-!
Eugene kicked off the ground and leapt into the air, falling toward the base of Bukmangsan.
It had taken a long time to climb up, but going down was over in an instant.
As he looked down at Bukmangsan, burning red under the morning sunlight, Eugene suddenly stopped.
‘That is…?’
The reason this place was called Bukmangsan was because it was dangerous.
The biggest factor behind that danger was monsters.
In the early days, powerful monsters lived on Bukmangsan, strong enough to devour every player who attempted to climb it.
While searching through Bukmangsan, Eugene did not deliberately avoid them, but he also did not go out of his way to hunt them.
He simply killed them if they happened to appear.
There was little benefit to leveling up by wiping them out.
So Eugene had ignored most monsters.
But the one currently in his sight was impossible to ignore.
“It’s Hwanggo, Hwanggo!”
It was short for Golden Goblin, but it did not mean an actual goblin made of gold.
However, it was a monster that dropped items so incredible that it earned such a nickname.
“Light Ray Crow!”
A crow that existed in extremely small numbers and moved at such an incredible speed that ordinary players could not even perceive it!
Catching them was almost impossible.
Even following them with one’s eyes was difficult, so how could anyone expect to land an attack?
Nevertheless, whenever players heard that a Light Ray Crow had been discovered, they had no choice but to gather there regardless of what floor it was.
Because it dropped 『Enhancement Stone』 with a 100% probability.
Skills, items, traits.
Regardless of what it was, it was an incredible object capable of upgrading anything by one level.
‘I have to get it!’
Growing the slaves was important, but something even more important was Eugene himself.
He had to become strong enough to surpass the version of himself from his first run by far.
『Enhancement Stone』 was an absurd item capable of making that possible.
‘Can I catch it?’
Light Ray Crows were monsters that even players who had reached the upper floors hesitated to hunt.
For Eugene, who was only level 14, it seemed impossible.
Even so, Eugene did not hesitate.
Because he had 『One Mind, One Action[E]』!
A terrifying ability that allowed him to move according to the flow of his thoughts within accelerated perception.
With that, he could catch even a Light Ray Crow.
‘Even if I can’t catch it, I have to catch it!’
Eugene’s body suddenly dropped downward.
It looked as if gravity itself had become several times stronger.
Whoooosh-!
As he descended at a speed close to free fall, the sound of the air splitting apart rang out.
Creak-?
Perhaps it heard the sound?
The Light Ray Crow, resting on a tree branch, lifted its head.
Blink-.
Eugene could see it blink.
That meant he had gotten that close.
The Light Ray Crow tilted its head as if trying to understand the situation, then spread its wings.
Flap-!
One beat of its wings.
For an ordinary bird, it was an action that would not even allow it to rise into the air.
But the Light Ray Crow was different.
With just one flap, it had already moved more than ten meters forward.
A terrifying movement speed.
Even Eugene briefly lost sight of it.
But!
He concentrated.
He discarded everything else and focused every bit of his attention solely on the Light Ray Crow.
Then his falling speed slowed.
No.
It was not his speed that slowed.
Time itself had simply become slower.
His extreme concentration accelerated his thoughts, making everything appear to move slowly.
At that moment, 『One Mind, One Action[E]』 activated.
Eugene’s movements changed.
Like the Quicksilver from old superhero movies.
Inside a world where time had slowed endlessly, he alone began moving at his normal speed.
Bang-!
He kicked against the air, causing compressed air to burst out and change his direction.
He could see the Light Ray Crow slowly turning its head.
In that brief moment, it had already moved another twenty meters away.
A speed worthy of the name Light Ray Crow.
But now Eugene was no slower.
‘Ugh!’
While chasing behind it, Eugene frowned.
With a body that was only level 14, it was impossible to completely endure the strain of moving back and forth in moments shorter than an instant.
One second?
Two seconds?
Just moving for that short amount of time caused pain as if his entire body was being crushed.
‘Endure!’
The Light Ray Crow was an opportunity among opportunities.
A treasure so incredible that he would not exchange it even for a million 『Sword Hearts[D]』 or 『Fighting Spirits[D]』!
He could not give up because of mere pain.
Eugene gritted his teeth and moved.
His muscles tore, and his joints creaked.
Yet he did not stop.
10 meters, 5 meters, 3 meters, 1 meter.
And then, right beside it.
Only then did the Light Ray Crow completely turn its head around, meeting Eugene’s eyes.
If emotions could exist in the eyes of a bird, then shock would have filled the Light Ray Crow’s pupils.
Eugene curled up the corners of his mouth.
His internal organs seemed damaged from the tremendous pressure, causing a stream of blood to flow down his cheek and scatter behind him.
‘I caught it!’
He reached out his hand.
Perhaps in the monster’s eyes, his hand looked like a flash of light.
Even while the Light Ray Crow tried to change direction and dodge, Eugene grabbed its neck.
Crack-!
Mass multiplied by acceleration equals force.
According to the laws of physics, Eugene’s current hand contained tremendous power.
Meaning the Light Ray Crow’s neck bone had broken.
Kreeeak-!
The Light Ray Crow let out its final cry and died.
“Huff!”
Only then did Eugene deactivate 『One Mind, One Action[E]』 and return to normal time.
Kuwaaaaaaang-!
An enormous shockwave rushed in from behind.
It was the backlash from moving faster than the air itself could be pushed away.
“Ghh!”
Completely drained of strength, Eugene could not avoid it and took the entire impact.
With a force that felt like his body was being torn apart, he was slammed into the ground.
Kuwaaang-!
The dirt collapsed downward, and Eugene’s body sank into the earth.
If players on Terra had been in this situation, it would have been no surprise if they died several times over.
But Eugene endured.
All thanks to 『Body Possessed by a God[S]』.
On the other hand, this also meant that even with such a trait, he had pushed himself so far that he could not completely endure the damage.
But that was not important.
What mattered was something else.
“Heh, hehehe.”
He caught it.
The Eugene from his first run had never caught a Light Ray Crow.
He had only once seen one from afar.
But now, its corpse was in his hand.
“Wow, seriously, is this real? I actually caught this?”
Even after doing it himself, he could not believe it.
That was how rare the existence of a Light Ray Crow was.
Even while feeling as if his entire body was breaking apart, Eugene lifted his hand and brought it before his eyes.
The limp Light Ray Crow was visible.
And then.
Something dropped with a thud.
A small, brilliant purple jewel about the size of a fingernail.
It was 『Enhancement Stone』.
Its appearance perfectly matched what Eugene had heard about.
He tried to hold it back, but he simply could not.
Laughter leaked continuously between his blood-red lips.
“『Enhancement Stone』…”
Where should he use it?
A skill would be good.
A trait would also be good.
No matter where he used it, Eugene would achieve tremendous growth.
“I’ll have to think carefully about this.”
It was unexpected luck.
Therefore, there was no need to rush.
The priority was finding the method that produced the greatest effect and efficiency.
“This is going way too smoothly.”
What he obtained from the Tutorial Floor was beyond imagination.
Had he not already encountered the Sword Empress and the Fighting Demon on the first floor?
And now, 『Enhancement Stone』 as well.
Everything was going almost too perfectly.
“Let’s go all the way to the 100th floor like this.”
The apocalypse, the end, whatever it was.
He would devour everything.
In the mountain at dawn, Eugene burst into laughter filled with madness.
It was such a terrifying laugh that even the countless monsters living in Bukmangsan hesitated to approach.
