Chapter 28

Chapter 28

The Shop at the Racecourse Park

[Entering the Labyrinth Personal Lobby!]

THUD!

Ryu Jin, Aris, and Poporu, who had entered the lobby, flopped over onto their backs.

“No... I can’t eat anymore! My stomach is going to burst!”

“I have reached my limit, du...! It was a difficult battle, du!”

“Ughhh.”

I rubbed my stomach, which was on the verge of bursting.

Megalok meat, which had been absurdly savory and mild.

Since I could not bring it out, I had stuffed myself to the absolute limit before leaving.

Huff, huff!

After taking deep breaths in and out, I turned to the side.

“Poporu. Do you not have a Unique Trait that raises your physical abilities when you eat a lot?”

“There was no such thing, du. But I once heard a rumor carried across the sea, du. It was a rumor that there was a demon who grew stronger the more they ate, du!”

“Ooh?”

“Boss. Ignore him. That seal lies every time he opens his mouth. He definitely made that up again to get attention.”

“That is not true, du! It really is, du! I truly heard it, du!”

“Look at how tiny his ear holes are. Could he even have heard properly?”

Ddrrrk.

Poporu’s snot bubble grew larger, and his eyes began to fill with tears.

I glared at Aris.

That personal attack just now had been a little too much.

By the way, a demon that grew stronger the more it ate, huh?

If such a being truly existed, I would definitely like to make an Oath with them.

It would create a route to become stronger besides personally getting beaten up or training.

DING!

[Settlement for Basement Floor 5 of the Labyrinth begins!]

[The First Destruction Bonus is given!]

[Due to the appearance of Megalok, Lord of the Lake, the difficulty was set to Maximum Difficulty!]

[Additional experience and rewards are given for destroying a Maximum Difficulty floor!]

“Oh, damn.”

I sprang up and clenched my fist.

I had already been thinking that it was a little too much.

Unlike with the Watcher last time, the System had not shown a difficulty-change message even though Megalok had appeared.

But for it to be called ordinary difficulty, Megalok’s majesty had been far too overwhelming.

It would not have been strange if I had really died.

‘You should adjust it quickly. So I get motivated. What would you have done if I had just run away?’

Since it had done so late, I decided to grumble only in my heart.

The System might act temperamental again.

DING!

[Player Ryu Jin leveled up!]

[Player Ryu Jin leveled up!]

.

.

.

[Player Ryu Jin leveled up! Current Level: 39 achieved!]

As expected of a Maximum Difficulty Labyrinth.

Even though it was a floor far lower than the appropriate level, I had gained six levels.

[Each stat increases!]

[The recharge time of Draw Tickets is reduced to 18 hours!]

I clenched and opened my fist.

At the movement of power that had become clearer than before, a smile formed on my face.

Whenever words like a sense of improvement or a sense of uplift appeared in shonen manga, I had wondered what they felt like.

Would it not be roughly similar to what I was feeling right now?

‘It feels good. Becoming stronger, I mean.’

Compared to Ranker-level players, it was probably a drop in the bucket, but good was still good.

[As the First Destruction and Maximum Difficulty bonuses, you acquire 1,500 Lowest-Grade Magic Stones and 100 Low-Grade Magic Stones!]

The Megalok I had barely managed to force down almost came back up.

The calculator in my head spun at tremendous speed.

1,500 Lowest-Grade Magic Stones worth 30,000 won each made 65 million won.

100 Low-Grade Magic Stones worth 200,000 won each made 20 million won.

In one shot, 85 million won had entered my pocket.

I quietly brought my hands together.

Long live Labyrinth cash farming!

DING!

[The maximum capacity of Labyrinth Energy increases!]

[Labyrinth Energy has been charged!]

[You can draw 1 book from the Unique Trait ‘Great Labyrinth Library’!]

[You can use the Unique Skill ‘Reset - Value LV3’ 1 time!]

Labyrinth Energy is consumed upon use! The amount consumed changes depending on the item’s grade and level!

I turned my eyes to the skill window.

The enhancement orb that had shattered on its own and been used just like that.

Since the only Unique Skill I possessed whose level could rise was Reset, that had gone up.

At first, I had been a little disappointed because I had intended to use it after learning more Unique Skills, but now my thoughts had changed.

Looking at it closely, this thing was overpowered.

The initial creation routes for Labyrinth-exclusive items were broadly divided into two.

Either one obtained them as rewards or drops from monsters, or they were crafted inside the Labyrinth by production-type Classes.

At that time, Labyrinth-exclusive items were randomly given additional options according to their grade and values such as attack power and defense power.

Depending on those values, items were divided from the lowest tier, called trash-tier, to the highest tier, called GOAT.

The values assigned like that would never change unless one used a disgustingly expensive Reset Scroll.

[Reset - Value LV3]

But this insane skill changed all the values at once.

Considering my luck would be added to it, values close to the highest tier would surely come out.

With one click of the skill, I could now draw confirmed highest-tier values up to Unique Grade.

‘Great Labyrinth Library is on hold for now.’

I turned to the side.

Perhaps because they had eaten so much, Aris and Poporu did not even react despite the Magic Stones being placed there.

For a moment, I thought, Should I just sell them all?! But since they would want to eat them later, I decided to set the Low-Grade Magic Stones aside.

Including the tax settlement I had just received, what remained was 1,700 Lowest-Grade Magic Stones.

Let us sell all of these.

And then bring one thing back.

A friend that could make the most efficient use of Reset.

---

The item shop “Oh My Goddess” located at Gwacheon Racecourse Park.

The shop owner, Noh Cheon-jang, who had celebrated his seventieth birthday this year, put on his magnifying glasses.

Noh Cheon-jang skillfully accessed Labyrinth Site and skimmed through the Hot Board.

His mechanically moving hand stopped on one post.

“Labyrinth destruction again? Huh, well now.”

He let out a hollow laugh and read down through the post.

Floor 5 of the Labyrinth was destroyed again an hour ago.

Judging by the tax rate setting being 100% only for Kronos affiliates, it appears to be the same culprit.

With this, Kronos has lost a total of 6 floors from Floor 1 to Floor 6.

“What on earth is going on here?”

Although he clicked his tongue, the corners of his mouth showed no intention of lowering.

After all, this was very satisfying.

-Well... Would it not be the same?

Immediately after the Regression, people had thought that.

That most things would flow the same as before the Regression, or at least similarly, without major changes.

But before long, they realized reality was not so easy.

Because those who held power in this moment had begun monopolizing everything.

All the wealth that had at least been somewhat evenly distributed before the Regression.

The representative example of that was the global conglomerate Kronos.

Kronos had been called the greatest beneficiary of the Regression in a negative sense and had received fierce criticism.

But they ignored it and accelerated the monopolization of the Labyrinth, with Ariadne at the forefront.

Just as it seemed the post-Regression Labyrinth would become Kronos’s possession, something bizarre had appeared and begun interfering.

He lowered his eyes to the comments.

Hahahahaha. In their last interview, they guaranteed there would absolutely be no more floors stolen from them.

Maybe they don’t know what the word absolutely means? Was it that Headquarters Director Park Gang-seok or that golden brat? He looked insanely ignorant.

Apparently his temper is absolute trash. They say he has anger-control issues and pops immediately if you poke him.

No wonder he glared like he was going to kill the reporter the moment they dug in even a little.

Is this the signal of Kronos’s downfall?

Let’s not exaggerate. What downfall?

Agreed lol. No matter how annoying they are, would the world’s No. 1 ranked company really collapse? I heard their influence is greater than most countries.

It’s only 6 floors so far lol. Kronos still has 94 total, up to Floor 100, which they cleared this time.

Most players, like Noh Cheon-jang, were finding the current situation satisfying.

However, there were still no people who thought Kronos was in serious trouble or that the world’s structure had changed.

“Hmmm.”

This was something Noh Cheon-jang also agreed with to some extent.

An unidentified player who not only stole floors little by little, but even entered from Floor 6 and destroyed it without clearing Floor 5.

He knew their talent was excellent, but he wondered how long this could continue.

Ding-a-ling.

“Welcome.”

Noh Cheon-jang looked over the woman who entered.

Shabby clothes, greasy hair, and worn-out eyes.

It was a face properly ruined from being soaked in dopamine.

THUD!

The woman placed several bundles of 50,000-won bills on the counter.

“It’s 20 million won. Give me Lowest-Grade Labyrinth Equipment I can buy with this. The grade doesn’t matter, and it should be below Level 40.”

“You have already come here several times, haven’t you?”

The woman had been happy when she first came, saying she had used a Reset Scroll on Level 50 lowest-tier equipment and made a lot of money.

That one success had probably been the beginning of her misfortune.

“Why not stop? The money you lost must already be in the hundreds of millions.”

“What does that have to do with you, old man?! Just do business! Hurry up and give it to me!”

Noh Cheon-jang shrugged and took out equipment matching 20 million won.

“I wish you luck.”

The woman ran out with the Labyrinth Equipment without saying anything.

He had said he wished her luck, but the ending waiting for that woman would be a tragedy.

Was he cursing a customer? No.

That was simply how gambling ended.

As Noh Cheon-jang let out a deep sigh, the shop name entered his eyes.

Oh My Goddess.

He had tried to make the name as humorous as possible.

But seeing people whose lives were being ruined, it also felt as if he were mocking them, so it did not seem that good.

“Hmm.”

After thinking for a moment, he scratched the back of his head.

What use was hypocrisy now?

Even while fully knowing where the demand came from, he had been buying and selling only lowest-tier equipment for three years already.

He should simply pretend not to know and make money.

When the time came, he would probably be punished.

Ding-a-ling.

The next customer.

He habitually read the customer’s face.

The face was basically calm, yet carried a strangely overflowing confidence.

It was usually the sort of face worn by people who believed they had pretty good luck.

On top of that, his eyes somehow looked faintly unhinged.

He was a human who would definitely cause a proper incident later in some form.

“Hello.”

“Welcome.”

THUD.

50 million won.

This one went even further than the woman from a moment ago.

“With 50 million won, you could buy around a Level 60 Rare. You know all the equipment in our shop is lowest-tier, right?”

“Yes. But I didn’t come to buy equipment. I came to play the Draw Game. I heard it’s this week’s Limited-Time Event. Is it still going on?”

Noh Cheon-jang looked at the young man, who did not know how scary the world was.

“Do you know what I am called in the Racecourse Park commercial district? Noh Cheon-jang of Hell. It is a nickname I got because no matter how much people draw, I spit out nothing but Duds without any ceiling.”

“That sounds cool. By the way, for this Event Draw, you don’t draw from jars, but by looking at part of the item, right?”

“That is correct. But you cannot touch them. A System Window will appear. After you draw, I will show you all the equipment that was in the choices. I need to show proof that I did not scam you.”

“That sounds good. One moment, please. Let me put in my contact lenses. My eyesight is a bit bad.”

“Seeing a little better will not change the result. I clearly warned you. What kind of Labyrinth Equipment would you like?”

“Bladed weapons, please.”

Ryu Jin smiled calmly and rubbed his hands together.

At the same time, behind the colored contact lenses, something began to ripple.

The lake-blue aura of Evil Eye.