The 31st Piece Turns the Tables

Chapter 168

The Love-Hate Deer's Sachet.

It was a consumable item that cost Seol roughly 20,000 Madness, a similar price to the biometal ingots he had purchased from Janet.

While the biometal ingot provided a permanent buff, like enchantment stones, the Love-Hate Deer’s Sachet was only a consumable. Therefore, one could and should expect incredible effects befitting of that price.

‘Damn it… I needed to cook this to amplify its effects, but…’

Seol wasn’t in a situation where he could ask for time.

Grrrr…

If Seol didn't feed it now, he would have to fight the black dog deep inside Alcatron.

Grrr…

‘Did it… work?’

Sniff sniff…

The dog, moments away from tearing Seol to shreds, quickly buried its nose into the Love-Hate Deer’s Sachet Seol handed him.

Female Love-Hate Deer are rare monster that emit a peculiar scent to attract males when they are in heat.

The issue is that the pheromone they produce is so potent that it doesn’t just affect male Love-Hate Deer but a variety of species as well.

‘It’s essentially a special pheromone.’

An intense scent filled the air, so potent that it caused even Seol to momentarily lose consciousness.

[[Love-Hate Deer’s Sachet]

Quality: Madness

Recommended Level: N/A

Weight: 0.5kg

Bonus Effect: Forcibly establish a 'friendly' favorability relationship with a target, regardless of whether favorability typically affects them. Afterward, increase the rate which favorability increases with them. However, this effect cannot apply to a target if they are extremely hostile towards you. Favorability gained through this item decreases more rapidly compared to favorability gained through regular means.]

‘Please work… If things go wrong here, I won’t just have to deal with this dog, but the other monsters that might come as well.’

Sniff sniff… sniff sniff sniff…

The black dog began to shrink, as if it had managed to calm down.

“I guess… it was a success?”

Pant pant… pant pant pant…

As Seol calmed himself down as well, he began to read through the dog’s information with the Eyes of Foresight.

[[Koko, the Starving]

Rank: Transcendent

Estimated Level: 40~45

In the vast array of life on Pandea, there exist beings that defy comprehension.

In the distant past, the beings that roamed the world were far purer and simpler. And for these very reasons, they were stronger and greater than their descendants today.

The shadow wolf is one such creature that symbolizes the past. Born in the shadows, they spend their entire lives there. Their teeth, capable of tearing down mountains; their claws, capable of excavating entire lakes.

However, time has caused even the great shadow wolves to hide themselves from it.

Koko is likely the last shadow wolf in the world.

And that great being is very, very hungry.

Basic Skills: [Bite 5], [Scratch 5], [Ferocious Wolf 1], [Lonely Howl 3], [Shadow Move 2], [Charge 2], [Wallop 3], [Rip and Tear 3], [Blood Scent 1], [Passive: Shadow Beast 2], [Passive: Pack Leader 3], [Passive: Friendly Shadow 3], [Passive: Berserk 2]

Unique Skills: [Ancient Wildness 2], [Hellfire 2], [Gifts of the Wild 5]]

‘...What is this?’

Seol was dumbfounded, like he had just seen something completely absurd.

[‘Koko’ has donated 1200 Madness!]

[He survived this? God damn…]

- It’s over level 40? LMFAO! Hold on a second, guys… Other people are barely running into level 20 monsters, and Snowman’s fighting a level 40 Transcendent-rank monster? LOOOL

- How he ran into it is so funny too LOL. He just fell through the ceiling and the dog was waiting for him hahaha

- Koko: Welcome to hell, kiddo. I’ve been waiting for you.

- My name’s Koko, and I’m crazy for cocoa puffs!

- Once again, we must admit that the world is unfair.

- How did he manage to survive it, though haha

- I can’t believe he just threw something at it and lived 😡

- More importantly… It was a wolf?

‘It would have been dangerous if I fought him…’

Seol likely wouldn't have lost.

After all, Jamad was also Transcendent-rank and possessed Primal Powers, powers exclusive to the Great Shamans.

And with the Twin Knights by his side, it seemed near impossible for Seol to be defeated.

Even so, it would still be foolish for Seol to fight Koko here.

A battle between two Transcendent-ranks also implies that both parties would sustain significant damage from each other.

“Woah… so you ended up meeting the black dog. It’s been a while, Blackie.”

“Ner?”

"Hahaha… Looks like you zoomed all the way down to Floor B4, didn't you, my friend? Congratulations on the best… Well, fastest time.”

Ner appeared before Seol while scratching his cheek. It seemed that even he found the current situation ridiculous.

“Ner… does Alcatron break down like that often?”

"Not at all... That was a first for me too, so I was also shocked. It was never this bad, even when Stompy threw a tantrum..."

“...Stompy?”

“Yeah, Stompy. You need to be careful of Stompy, though. He’s different from the black dog. He’ll probably try to kill you the moment he sees you.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Because he’s killed any prisoner that went close.”

“......”

"Still, Stompy's lazy, so he tends to linger in one area for a while. He also doesn’t move around too much, even when he decides to."

Seol thought about asking Ner for more information, but… the message before his eyes immediately stopped him.

[Koko's favorability towards you has decreased.]

“...Hey, Ner?”

“Yeah?”

“He’s not a black dog… He's a wolf.”

“Oh, really? You learn something new every day.”

"His name is Koko... Do you have any tips on how I could get him to like me?"

“Hm… that’s an easy question. Blackie likes to eat food.”

“I know that too… Wait, eating?”

"Yeah, he's one of the predators on this floor. Whenever the other prisoners see Blackie, they run away, afraid he might eat them."

“Hm… if it’s eating, then…”

With an idea, Seol began pulling out ingredients from his Ingredients Pouch.

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

Around that time, an individual had just reached the staircase between Floor B2 and B3.

“...Found it.”

It was Frannan, an Aspect Magician of Libra.

He was likely the person who was descending Alcatron the fastest, excluding unique cases like Seol.

“Damn it… What was the rumbling from earlier?”

Frannan could not have possibly known that the rumbling earlier caused Seol to fall down to B4 on his own.

And just then… Frannan noticed a presence in the dark.

“Fucking… Who is that over there… Wait, Aspect Magician Frannan? Is that you, Frannan?”

“That voice… Yofimba? Are you Yofimba?”

"Hahahaha! I'll have you know, Frannan, I almost died multiple times back there!"

"I'm glad to see you too. I couldn't have asked for a more trustworthy person in this situation."

“Aw shucks… still, wouldn’t you prefer your student over me?”

Frannan nodded while laughing after thinking of Seol.

"Obviously, he would be great as well. But there's no need to mention him when you're here, right? More importantly, have you learned anything?"

“Of course.”

“What did you learn?”

Yofimba shared some of the information he managed to uncover.

"This place seems to be a prison to lock something up, and I sense a strange blend of present and ancient matters."

“I agree on the prison part, but… what do you mean by the blend of present and ancient?”

“Well… First, the unpredictable architectural methods and the mechanisms that frequently activate aren’t techniques that are commonly used nowadays. They felt… unnatural.”

“Hm… those are the characteristics of ancient ruins, though. What do you mean about the present blending?”

"It's in way too good condition to be considered ancient. Not to mention... the fact that the prisoners are still alive."

"I thought it was strange as well. No living being has ever achieved immortality. And if it really is an ancient structure... it wouldn't make sense for the prisoners here to still be alive."

"Precisely. And that's why I... hm... That's why I was thinking it's almost as if someone snipped Alcatron from the past and brought it into the present..."

“What a funny theory…”

"If not, it could also be a structure that has lasted all this time, but everyone has forgotten. And if that's the case, then..."

“As expected from someone from the Artifact Association. Any other theories?”

Yofimba scratched his head.

"Unfortunately, I can't think of any because I'm too hungry. However, I've noted the other special points of interest here."

“Really? Let me… Watch out!”

“What? …Hrgh!”

Clatter!

Chains sliced through the air.

A prisoner appeared, chains wrapped around their wrists, and left a crack in the ground with their previous attack.

CLAAANG!

After barely dodging the attack, Yofimba pulled out something massive from his inventory in rage.

It was a gun. It looked shoddy, but it definitely resembled a gun.

“You bastard! Eat gunpowder!”

Click…

Bang!

Ffft!

The prisoner wobbled for a second after taking Yofimba’s attack before disappearing.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

Click…

Bang!

Click…

Bang!

The prisoner was faster than Yofimba expected.

It didn’t take long for him to realize that the prisoner was likely from the 3rd floor rather than 2nd.

‘Damn it… did they come up from B3? Where the hell did someone like them…’

Yofimba then discovered something else about the prisoner.

Inhale…

The prisoner gathered both of his hands in front of them.

“Wh-what…? Don’t tell me…”

Click

A sound that shouldn’t have been heard came out from their voice.

Frannan’s eyes grew wide in shock.

“Dodge it!”

Bang!

Thankfully, Yofimba had just enough time to dodge and roll away from the prisoner’s attack.

“Haah… Haah… That’s insane… Where the hell did someone like them come from…” said Yofimba.

"Did they only catch guys like them in this prison? It's just getting more and more ridiculous the further you go down... Anyway, step back,” warned Frannan.

“Aspect Magician Frannan? W-We should face them together—”

“It’s fine. I’m more than enough.”

Crack…

Frannan cracked his neck to warm up before saying a few words to the prisoner.

"I just came up with 163 methods to kill you right now, and I chose method 151. Have fun dying."

Hum…

Frannan created magic circles in each hand, each with a hexagram at its center.

Thuuuuud!

The prisoner began to be pushed downward.

“......”

Clench…

The prisoner glared at Frannan with bloodshot eyes. Frannan, with a disinterested look, prepared his next spells.

Hum…

Hummmm…

Hum…

In an instant, Frannan readied and casted more than three spells.

Rumble rumble…

Just as the prisoner was on the brink of being flattened like a bug, they began to retaliate.

Crackle…

“Oho… Trying to get out, are you? So you interpreted my spell, huh?”

Crackle… Crackle…

Yofimba readied his gun as the prisoner began to free himself from Frannan’s spell.

“F-Frannan! Isn’t this too dangerous?”

“Just watch.”

Crackle… Rumble…

And then…

Poooooop!

The prisoner’s head flew off of their body.

“...What?”

“Hmph, so the most they could do was copy. How pathetic.”

“Wh-what just happened?”

"He copied my spell for a moment, but that was all he could do. Power isn’t everything in magic. Without understanding the theories and application behind it, a spell could backlash and kill the caster instead. It’s one of the basic principles of mana."

“So you predicted that far… You are incredible. And to think you had 163 methods.”

“Did you think just anyone could become an Aspect Magician? And also, that was a lie.”

“...What?”

“I only came up with… 3 methods?”

“Ahem… hm…”

"Regardless, let's head down. That rumbling from before still worries me. There’s… definitely something wrong with Alcatron."

The two slowly headed down the stairs and into Floor B3.

* * *

Nom nom nom…

Pant pant…

“You knew how to cook?”

“I know how to do a lot of things.”

Nom nom nom…

[Koko's favorability towards you has increased.]

[Koko's favorability towards you has increased.]

Koko devoured Seol’s food in an instant, as if he were a vacuum.

Thankfully, Koko's favorability also rose just as fast, but Seol doubted that this situation would last for long.

‘How much more is he going to eat… I’m almost out of ingredients.’

At this rate, Seol would run out of ingredients, and he would end up becoming Koko’s next meal.

“I think… something’s coming from over there,” said Ner.

“What?”

“I think a prisoner nearby smelled your food.”

Grrrrr…

A lizard with massive tusks appeared, bearing human-like features, resembling a lizardman.

‘...They look strong.’

They appeared incomparably strong compared to the prisoners Seol had encountered on the 1st and 2nd floors.

[[Cro, the Bleary]

Rank: Legendary

Estimated Level: 33~37

Cro, grown through eating the damp energy of the swamp, preys on nature. Cro is…]

Before Seol could even read through its information, something moved faster.

Fwoosh…

Slaaash!

Splaaaaatter!

“Kraaaaah!”

Seol was shocked after seeing Koko, who had just been enjoying his meal, tear a Legendary-rank monster to shreds in an instant.

“......”

Cro’s blood splattered on Seol’s face.

- Our dog doesn’t bite. 😇

- He just kills you.

- Look at his face LMFAO

- He must have had a moment of realization haha

- Are you crying? LOOOL

Koko had killed Cro in an instant, before they could even retaliate.

‘Is this a good situation or a bad one?’

Seol didn’t know what to make of it, and rushing to a decision wasn’t the answer either.

Trying to defeat Koko would cause a commotion, potentially attracting other prisoners, while Seol would be defenseless after their fight. Seol wasn’t sure if he could defeat them in that vulnerable state.

However, that also didn’t mean Seol had some surefire way of clearing Floor B4 either.

‘It’s not like I could just cook all day for Koko either… haah…’

But then, something unexpected happened, catching Seol off guard.

Pant pant…

Koko brought Cro’s severed torso to him.

“You want me to cook it?”

Pant pant…

“Did you think I was your personal chef or something—”

[Koko’s Unique Skill: Gifts of the Wild activates.]

[Koko gifts you with a portion of his prey’s, Cro, the Bleary’s, stats.]

[You receive the Gifts of the Wild.]

[Your Wisdom increases by 3.]

“...because you’d be completely right, no doubt about it. At least for a while.”

- My dream was to become a housewife.

- You’re a chef now, Snowman!

- Why did his stats have to increase LMFAOOO

- Don’t tell me this activates every single time… right?

- He’s farming MORE stats???

“You’re a good boy, aren’t you, Koko? Do you like walks?”

Pant pant…

Koko’s tail began to wag like a propeller.

[Koko likes you.]