Boundless Necromancer

Chapter 70: Trial of the 10th Floor

Chapter 70: Trial of the 10th Floor (1)

「 The 10th floor trial is starting. 」 

「 Remaining time - 3 hours 」 

「 Trial success condition - Subdue the boss monster cooperatively within the remaining time. 」 

「 Trial fail condition - Teammate's death or end of remaining time. 」 

「 Trial success reward - Skill Proficiency Potion (B+) 」 

「 Trial fail penalty - Death 」 

Seeing the messages flooding the air, I immediately began to look around.

The moonlight was shining brightly on the area, which reminded me of an empty field.

Seeing that there’s no enemy despite it being a trial of subjugation, I instantly noticed that the enemy would appear only after the team members appeared.

And…

「 Team members are assigned according to the evaluation rankings. 」 

「 You’ll get a 30-minute grace period after the team members are assigned. 」

「 During this grace period, the remaining time won’t pass and you can have an extended time to meet between the challengers. 」

「 In the meantime, please prepare as much as possible cooperatively and subdue the boss monster. 」

“Turned out just as I expected.”

A system message popped out as though what I thought was the correct answer.

It was then—

「 The team members are now assigned. 」

「 Evaluation rankings of the assigned team members will be listed. 」

Whirrr…….!

Three portals were created a short distance away, and challengers appeared from there.

「 Evaluation Ranking 1st, Kim Seunghoon 」

The first to appear was a challenger wearing a black mask and putting a hammer on his shoulder—

“Another combined trial, huh… What a pain in the ass.”

「 Evaluation Ranking 2nd, Oh Choonsuk 」

The second person was a challenger with a skinny physique and a unique sullen face.

“Huh? Why, Seunghoon Hyungnim, you were also climbing the tower?”

「 Evaluation Ranking 6th, Headygongdu 」

The third and final person to appear was a bizarrely-dressed challenger in a red suit.

“Oh… Haha, everyone is a ranker here. Nice to meet you.”

Perhaps all the team members appeared since no portals appeared after that, and Evaluation Rankings also stopped listing.

“…”

I looked at them and narrowed my eyes in surprise.

‘Team members are assigned according to the Evaluation Rankings, I see…’

To think that all the challengers at the top of the Korean server Evaluation Ranking appeared.

As I was feeling surprised, Kim Seunghoon opened his mouth while fiddling with his black mask.

“I don’t think there’s anything to say during the 30-minute grace period.”

He had a slightly arrogant attitude, but I figured at once that his words contained various meanings.

Since we’d all come this far, there was probably not much we needed to know about each other, and we just needed to clear the trial properly.

As expected from the first of the Evaluation Ranking, he quickly grasped the situation, and he knew how to draw the line appropriately.

Wearing a black mask and holding a hammer…

Needless to mention about his combat power, I had an impression that he’d be on the top of the challengers of the current tower.

‘Well, I mean, that’s probably why he can proudly present his real name even if he’s the number one.’

Just then.

“Uh… I also agree with Seunghoon Hyungnim. I don’t think there’s much to talk about.”

Belatedly, with Kim Seunghoon’s words, Oh Choonsuk also agreed and lightly stepped back.

‘He doesn’t really look like second place in the Evaluation Ranking.’

Should I say he looks slightly more naive contrary to his looks?

Not befitting the Evaluation Rankings, he seemed to be unable to assert himself at all, and he had a somewhat more timid impression.

Occasionally, I saw them fussing about the only ranker who was originally an ordinary citizen in the messages, and I thought that might be the case.

And…

“Well, since you guys are all rankers, you can probably act on your own. I have no objections.”

Finally, the challenger who uses the nickname Headygongdu also meekly accepted the word.

‘Surprisingly, there are a lot of people with common sense. Maybe it’s because of the high Evaluation Ranking.’

I thought that there might be some people who’d like to go on a rampage like in the 6th floor or in the public area…

But it was a pretty good situation for me because no one seemed to have their personality worn out to that extent, and they only had one goal in their mind, which was to clear the trial together.

「 Administrator ‘Iron-blooded Monarch’ tilts her head at the surprisingly easy-going situation. 」 

「 Administrator ‘White Crane Sword Saint’ pouts at the unnecessary peace. 」 

Of course, the two administrators who immediately started observing me as soon as I entered the Trial didn’t seem to like it.

“I agr…”

It was then, when I was about to agree with his statement while feeling a sense of relief—

“By the way… Apart from not having any objections, I have something I want to ask you all.”

All of a sudden, HeadyGongdu cut me off and started talking about something else.

“Don’t tell me, you guys will all stay still just because the theme of the trial is [Cooperation]?”

It was Kim Seunghoon with a black mask, who was the first to respond to those words.

“…What do you mean by that?”

HeadyGongdu smiled and continued talking, as Seunghoon was looking at him as though he was asking for further explanation.

“I’m meaning it literally. The theme of the Trial is definitely [Cooperation]. All we have to do is team up along with the challengers and defeat the boss monster… Yes, it’s a theme that’s not a competition. But does that mean that the next trial will be the same?”

With those words, Oh Choonseok rubbed his chin and then answered while shaking his head.

“Mm… Probably not. Since the theme of each trial changes in the Tower of Trials.”

“Exactly. Did you see the message that just appeared?”

“It mentioned that the team members are assigned according to the Evaluation Rankings. This means that from now on, the level of the combined trial will change according to the Evaluation Ranking. Don’t you get it? This means that everyone is also a potential competitor.”

“What are you…”

At the same time, as Oh Choonseok frowned, Headygongdu said as though assuring him.

“Ah, of course, that probably doesn’t apply to you, Oh Choonseok-ssi. As well as Kim Seunghoon-ssi. You two seem to be friendly with each other, making it even more so. There’s no need for you guys to fight, as you’ll cooperate to some extent in other trials too. But however—”

HeadyGongdu said so, and then continued with a fishy smile. 

And…

“Wouldn’t it be a little different for ‘Hunter’, 3rd place in the Evaluation Ranking?”

After he finished speaking, I had no choice but to stiffen my face.

***

Reaper Scans

******

For Kim Seungjun, deceiving others was a daily thing.

To provoke a fight with others with the fact that’s not deceiving was the best way for him to survive.

His way of life didn’t change from when he was young until he worked as a C-Rank hunter.

He falsely divided the team so that someone couldn’t receive the reward that was supposed to be shared for him to get a bigger share.

When he found a way to join a good guild, he drove his fellow teammates to another place and even went in by himself.

Don’t they say that by nature, humans are more prone to being deceived by the lies they hear from others than the truth in front of them?

Others' fighting had always benefited him.

And it could also be used in a foreign place called the Tower of Trials.

After starting to use the nickname HeadyGongdu, he prevented information from being shared by encouraging quarrels between challengers as much as possible through the community function.

Thanks to this, Kim Seungjun took advantage of the lack of interaction between challengers for a long time and benefited greatly from the combined trials and personal trials.

And it was the same in the combined trial on the 10th floor.

「 Administrator 'Deceitful Clown' smiles with his lips torn off at the contractor’s deception.」

HeadyGong, no, Kim Seungjun enjoyed the atmosphere that turned cold and laughed inwardly.

‘I can’t stop doing this because of this.’

 The pleasure rushed in to see the hardened face of everyone as though they had never thought of it.

「 Administrator 'Master of duel' frowns at your speaking skills. 」

「 Administrator 'Seeker of Deception' Looks at your deceitful act with pleasure. 」

「 Administrator 'The one gazes at darkness' Comments on your actions as a unique survival technique. 」

Even the administrators who had been watching began to have an interest in him.

Of course, there was one administrator who didn’t really like him, but…

In any case, seeing the ‘Deceitful Clown’, the administrator that Kim Seungjun signed a contract with, was having fun, so it wasn’t a bad reaction.

‘Maybe I can get a new power if I make the situation a little more interesting?’

Thinking those made him excited and even made Kim Seungjun’s mouth lighter at once.

He glanced at the messages floating in the air, then turned his head to look at ‘Hunter Han Sungyeun’ on the other side.

‘Looking at his face stiffened up, he must be bewildered.’

King Seungjun knew him well as he recently acquired his skills through all kinds of duels while revealing his name in the public area.

He was a person who took out powers in the public area and acquired numerous skills through all kinds of duels using it as bait.

He felt more hostile towards him because he had seen the scene in real-time in the public area as well as in the chat room.

‘This bastard will become insanely strong if I let him be any longer…’

If he climbed the tower a little more, Han Sungyeun could become stronger and later come up as a threat to Kim Seungjun in the combined trials. 

Therefore, Kim Seungjun thought that he needed to get rid of Han Sungyeun as soon as possible in this 10th floor combined Trial.

Of course, if he was alone, it would’ve been different rather than provoking a quarrel with Han Sungyeun, but…

“The ‘Hunter’, who always hid himself without even chatting, is quite famous these days. Not only did he gain skills by betting his power in the arena, but he was always part of the rankings in the trial evaluations, so I always observed him with interest.”

Currently, in this combined trial, in addition to ‘Kim Seunghoon’, the first place in the Evaluation ranking, ‘Oh Choonseok’, the second place was also here.

Which meant?

That Kim Seungjun could kill Han Sungyeun depending on how he played the game.

“You must’ve acquired quite a number of skills already… I don’t know about the cooperative-themed trials, but what about other trials? Can you guarantee that you won’t be a threat to Seunghoon, or Choonseok? No, right?”

Kim Seungjun used exaggerated gestures as much as possible, acting as though they had to get rid of him immediately.

However…

“So you were the one who was acting up on the 4th floor combined trial.”

Kim Seunghoon, who was quietly listening to him, said that as if he was dumbfounded.

“Was it Kim Seungjun or something, who said that competition was essential for the 4th floor combined trial?”

“…”

“If you like moving your mouth that much, I recommend you do it in front of a mirror.”

“Haha, how could you put it like…”

“It doesn’t matter whether you kill the other challengers or not, but you’d better not involve me in it.”

When Kim Seunghoon finished his words to that point, Oh Choonseok said as though adding to it.

“Uh, mm… I agree with Seunghoon Hyungnim’s idea. I don’t really want to fight that much.”

“What are you talking about? If we can get rid of the hunter here then…!”

“But in the end, I don’t think that has anything to do with me.”

“…What? What do you mean?”

“Ultimately, I think you just don’t have to climb the tower if you’re not even sure of that.”

“…”

Kim Seungjun then felt that something was going wrong and started to drip cold sweat.

「 Administrator 'Deceitful Clown' clicks his tongue at the contractor’s clumsiness.」

「 Administrator 'Master of Duel' laughs at your speaking skills. 」

「 Administrator 'Seeker of Deception' Enjoys the result of your deceitful act with pleasure. 」

「 Administrator 'The one gazes at darkness' scoffs at the result of your unique survival technique. 」

‘Fuck… I think I’m kinda fucked.’

But he somehow kept his composure and continued his words.

“I have a special skill. I’m sure we can kill him easily. When we kill him, I’ll give up all the remaining equipment. How does that sound? In addition, I’ll share with you all the information that I have gathered through questioning the admin.”

It was to somehow make them agree to kill Han Sungyeun together.

But at those words, everyone remained motionless and stared at Kim Seungjun silently.

And…

“Then, are you done talking?”

A man who had kept his mouth shut till now opened his mouth in a silent field.

“You were blabbering something quite interesting… I wonder how you’ll take responsibility for that.”

It was Han Sungyeun.

——

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