Chapter 186

Chapter 186 – Tutorial 35th Floor (5)

I stepped out of the spring and squeezed my clothes dry .

[Round 24, Day 2 . 6h 25m]

The clear was easier than I thought .

I made it to the 4th floor stage’s Spring of Recovery in just 25 minutes .

Regardless of the difficulty, it was much faster compared to the stages with long pathways .

In front of the Boss Room, the giant stone doors opened, and revealed a new world .

It was the mid-slope of a mountain .

Thankfully, I knew the road .

If you follow the road, a goblin fortress appears .

As I looked up from the beaten path, I could see the stars filling the night sky .

This is one of the places where stars are bright .

Just like the last time I was here, I couldn’t help but admire the view .

I admired the night sky as I slowly walked .

There was no reason to rush .

It’s going to be hard to get to the city with the goblin king in time anyway .

And even harder to kill the goblin king who will be in the center of the city within four hours .

Furthermore .

No message appeared .

There was no message telling me to take care of the goblin king or do something .

They’ve just put me in this world and let me be .

I expected this after clearing to the end of the 3rd floor boss room and nothing happened .

This 35th floor doesn’t give separate missions for each floor .

Then what do I need to do .

In the time remaining .

I eventually reached the castle walls .

From up close, the castle walls were quite high

Last time, I got up easily using the Blink Authority, but that isn’t an option now .

I could jump using a chunk of mana, but it’ll also cause a catastrophic sound .

And the goblin soldiers will notice .

Do I need to climb up the wall?

As I was pondering about this, I heard a shout from the top of the wall .

“Hey! Human!”

[Acquired Akemin Continent Language Lv . 10 . ]

Huh?

“What are you looking for in this late hour!”

Did he just yell at me?

Puzzled, I looked up at the goblin soldier atop the castle walls .

The soldier was looking directly at me .

I thought I was far enough from him to avoid his sight .

That was a mistake .

The goblins have good night vision .

Unlike humans, they can see this far without a problem .

And when I was here before, I had covert skills and the like

So, I just assumed it would be like the last time I was here and wasn’t noticed, and I didn’t think to hide my body .

[Acquired Covertness Lv . 17]

As I thought about hiding my body, I acquired the Covertness skill, though rather late .

But the goblin atop the castle walls had already found me .

I pondered for a moment, then answered the goblin atop the castle walls .

“I lost my way!”

I shouted proudly!

It wasn’t a lie .

It was… an ambiguous expression .

The goblin soldier shook his head a few times and disappeared from the walls .

I was more concerned with other things than the soldier disappearing .

I acquired the Akaine Continent language .

It means I already knew the Akaine continent language .

It was probably because of the Knowledge Before the Time of Babel skill .

I thought the Knowledge Before the Time of Babel Babel skill was a magical skill that would translate foreign

languages .

So, when I could hear, say, and use the languages I didn’t know, I assumed I didn’t know the languages .

But when I heard the goblin’s words just now, I understood as soon as I heard it .

The system judged that I already knew the language and added it as a skill .

If the Knowledge Before the Time of Babel skill isn’t just a simple translating skill, and is instead one that imbeds

the language into my head, it’s possible .

If it’s a language stuck in one’s head, it’s possible to recognize it as soon as one hears it .

Is that really how it is?

I’ll need to ask Kiri Kiri .

A small side door next to the giant stone doors opened .

The goblin soldier said to me from behind the open door .

“Come in . ”

I listened to the soldier’s words and walked into through the castle walls .

It was quiet inside the walls .

It felt weird as the memory in my mind clashed with the situation now .

“It’s quiet . ”

“Of course . It’s late . ”

And it felt weird hearing the goblin say that to me as it were a natural thing .

“How did you lose your way in the mountains this late?”“I dunno . ”

“What’s your destination?”

The goblin soldier asked me as though he were talking to a friend rather than conducting an interrogation .

I thought he would ask about me or request identification, but the goblin didn’t request anything .

I couldn’t feel any apprehension from the goblin that guided me through the fortress after closing the small side

door .

Destination .

What was the name of the goblin city past the fortress?

I don’t remember .

“City . ”

“I assumed so . For what? Probably trade right?”

“I have something I need to find out . ”

The goblin didn’t ask me what it is that I wanted to know .

He probably thought I was a merchant sent for market research .

Instead, he asked something else .

“When do you need to be there by? There’s a carriage going to the city tomorrow afternoon . If you want, I can let you on .

Excessively friendly .

That kindness was enough to make my stomach ache .

Naturally, I thought of the deeds I had done while I was progressing through the 4th floor .

Back then, I lit the four fortresses on fire and massacred the goblin soldiers .

And once I cut their numbers, I infiltrated the city .

[The God of Remorse is watching you . ]

Well . Is this what that god wanted?

What terrible taste .

“Sorry, but your words are more than enough . Instead, could you tell me the way to the city?”

“Now?”

I nodded .

“I’m in a bit of a rush . ”

The goblin looked at me with a terrified look .

And murmured with a cackling sound .

“Damn . You were wandering the woods and have to go right away . Human trade guilds are too strict . ”

[Acquired the Kipain Area’s Native Goblin Language Lv . 10]

Turns out the language me and the goblin were using was a foreign language .

I learned the goblin’s local dialect through hearing him murmur .

“Ok but go up there and wait a bit . ”

The goblin had gestured at the watchtower .

A watchtower looking out toward the city .

“The view is pretty good . Since the stars are bright tonight, you can probably see the city a bit . It’s quite the

spectacle, so go see the sights for a bit . ”

With those words, the goblin vanished to somewhere .

Is he bringing me a map or something,

Because I don’t need one .

Once at the top of the watchtower, I could see the moonlight falling on the city from a distance, just like the goblin

told me .

The goal I had set not too long ago was wavering .

Kiri Kiri had told me to not overdo it .

That the 35th floor stage wasn’t made to be completed through combat alone .

Is this what she meant .

Once the clear goals that were given to me were gone, I couldn’t figure out what to do this time .

The first thing that came to my mind was in the end, combat .

As I climb higher, there will be numerous enemies just waiting for a piece of me .

And I can’t deal with those enemies can’t be dealt easily in this weakened body .

It’s better to become stronger while I have the chance .

And the goblins below the watchtower over there will be the perfect opponents for a faster leveling .

But should I attack those that were sympathetic towards me just because of that?

I asked myself the same question I had before .

My answer was . No .

The reason was simple .

I’m stronger .

I have the right to choose how to become stronger .

Is it the same now?

In just a few hours, a few days, I’ll be plopped onto extremely dangerous floors .

The time given to me is limited .

Because I’m running against time, I don’t have the luxury of choosing .

But still, I’m the stronger one here .

I wasn’t sure what the God of Remorse wanted to say .

But I was sure of one thing

My strength is no longer tied to the tutorial .

While the tutorial did provide the opportunity and means to evolve myself, I have already completely absorbed the

ways .

Even if I was immediately returned to my state two years prior when I was watching tv and doing nothing with my

life, I can return myself to this state without a problem .

Obviously, it’ll be harder outside of the tutorial .

But it wouldn’t be impossible in 5 or 10 years .

The 35th floor stage made me certain .

It was a doubt that I had always harbored .

No matter how much I scream and shout about how well off I am, they were abilities and power given to me by the

gods .

I was afraid that I would become nothing if and when my powers were taken away from me .

But now, those fears are gone .

My power isn’t something that is seen through the status window display of Authorities or skills or even the high

stats and levels .

And because of that I could proudly say .

I’m strong .

No matter where I am .

Even when I’m faced with opponents much stronger than me, I will always be the stronger one .

[The God of Remorse is watching you . ]

“How kind . ”

“You’re welcome . ”

The goblin came back .

With a large satchel .

“You don’t need a map right? Just follow the highway leading down straight . It’ll take about half a day if you’re on

a horse . And these are some fruits, bread, and drinks . Snack on it during your trip . ”

I asked the kind goblin .

“Why are you being so nice to me?”

The goblin was a bit taken aback at my words .

“Just . Well . It’s amusing . I also felt bad when you said you had to leave right away when you were lost in the woods

until just now . ”

“Amusing?”

“Seeing a human . It’s been a while . Usually, human merchants take the fortress doors over there . ”

He was interested as though he were seeing a foreigner .

He acted as though he saw humans every day on the way to work, but he

I took the satchel from the goblin .

“Thanks . ”

“No problem . ”

I got him to repeat the directions .

The goblin opened the small side door toward the city, and I started off towards the road .

As I’ve walked out, I felt the goblin’s gaze on my back disappear .

I stopped for a moment and stretched .

Originally, I hadn’t planned on going to the city .

There was quite a distance to the city, and there was no reason to if I thought about the time I had left .

Especially when I had no reason to take care of the goblin king .

But now, I had a reason to go and see the goblin king .

I had something I wanted to ask .

I haven’t tried to exert my mana to its maximum capacity since start of the 35th floor .

There was a bit of mana I needed to save to further increase my mana capacity .

Above all, it was dangerous .

I say this again, but it’s dangerous .

But now, I had a reason to give it my all

I mustered up as much mana as I could .

And instead of focusing it onto my limbs or back muscles, I spread it out in my body, and activated the circuit .

What I need right now isn’t to strengthen or lighten my body, or even protection through mana .

But to awaken my body .

Pang!

As I kicked off, my body shot out like an arrow .

The cold dawn winds brushed my face, but I ran on .

Towards the goblin city .

“Phuek . Hooooo . ”

When I took my breath, it sounded like a dog panting .

I wanted to breath as quietly as possible, but it wasn’t under my control .

I checked again to make sure the goblins by my feet wouldn’t come to .

Thankfully, both were dozing off in the dreamland .

Huaaa .

It was hard .

I ran through the plains between the fortress and the city, and snuck in by climbing the castle walls .

I did the same for the inner castle walls

And the same to get to the goblin king’s bedroom .

Since I had already infiltrated into the goblin king’s bedroom once before, I could find it without any trouble .

I didn’t need to worry about being caught by the goblin soldiers .

If they could see through Level 17 Covertness, they wouldn’t have appeared on the 4th floor .

Anything over level 15 goes beyond just quietly hiding and moving; it was enough to not be noticed while using up

mana at the max potential right in front of someone’s eyes .

[Round 24, Day 2 . 7h 15m]

It only took 50 minutes to dash through the plains on horseback, and sneak past the city’s outer and inner walls to

this center spot .

I used everything I had .

In the aftermath of the violent workout, white steam emanated from my body .

I thought about using the rest of the mana to calm it down quickly, but I decided to let my body cool off by itself .

I quietly opened the door and entered the bedroom .

The bedroom was a bit humid and hot .

It smelled a bit .

It was a large enough room to where I couldn’t immediately locate the goblin king .

Instead of using my eyes, I focused on my hearing .

If I can locate his breathing, I can easily find where he is .

Once my hearing is strengthened by mana, it can locate any minute noise .

Through my ears ready to hear any small noise in the room, I heard breathing .

There was a problem .

There were three .

Three including me .

There were two goblins breathing heavily on the bed .

That’s when I realized some of my questions could be answered .

Why there were so few guards near the bedroom .

Why the room was so humid and hot .

And why it smelled .

I knew .

The goblin king was performing nighttime labor .

I remembered the goblin king’s children .

And the sight of an old goblin king .

He had a white beard down to his chest, but he’s quite vigorous for his age .

I covered my face with my two hands, dumbfounded at the unanticipated situation .

Unable to do anything and agonizing over what to do, I coughed .

“Khm . ”

End

Gandara