Monster Heavenly King - Chapter 57
Only Noblemtl
57. Maintenance (1)
It is known that the highest level of the labyrinth that mankind has conquered is the 6th floor.
Even what I heard from Sa-gong-hyeon and the information I occasionally looked up on my smartphone only covered up to the 6th floor.
But it’s the 7th floor.
‘But if it’s true, then I guess it makes sense.’
That’s all there is to it right now.
I don’t know how many floors of the labyrinth the friendly law had cleared, but he must have been a strong Awakened user, so now I think I understand why he acted so humble.
“But why is there no information about the 7th floor?”
If you went to the 7th floor, you could gain considerable wealth and fame just by doing that.
There was no reason not to reveal it.
Elena seemed to hesitate for a moment, then opened her mouth carefully.
“Since we’re controlling it on purpose, you won’t know unless you have a connection or are an Awakened person who raids the 6th floor.”
“on purpose?”
“… I can tell you. I met another race on the 7th floor. To be exact, I met elves.”
Elves are a race that always appears in fantasy.
They seemed to only appear on the 7th floor.
But, why is that a reason to control?
“We could communicate.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Yeah, I felt like I was feeling a wave of magic, and then suddenly I started talking to him.”
-Translation is magic.
It was a shock to the Awakened, as well as to Elena.
Until then, I had never thought of having a conversation with a monster, thinking that it was just a monster.
“The problem was that we could communicate.”
“that’s right.”
Until now, most Awakened people would have been getting stronger by catching monsters in a game-like manner.
If you suddenly say that your opponent is an intelligent being, it’s obvious that great confusion will ensue.
If that perception spreads, there could be awakened people who refuse to level up, claiming that monsters are living, intelligent beings.
“But, that would be difficult for the higher-ups in many ways.”
The magic stone that emerged from the labyrinth was praised as something that would lead humanity to the next level.
And a superhuman body that will find it.
For the nations of the world, the Awakened were no longer indispensable.
They even go so far as to offer numerous benefits in order to attract at least one more high-level Awakened person.
“If we could communicate, wouldn’t there have been room for negotiation?”
“I tried to talk to it, but… it wasn’t friendly to humans. The first thing it said was that if you came any closer, you’d die.”
Elena’s party tried to have a conversation somehow, but the elves attacked as if they had no more need for conversation.
And the results were disastrous.
“It was incredibly strong.”
At the time, the strength of the party she was in was one of the strongest among the many Awakened parties, but they were defeated by the elves without even being able to do anything about it.
And most of the parties that went up to the 7th floor after them also returned completely destroyed or half-destructed.
“You can’t keep hiding it, right?”
It is impossible to keep the Awakened people locked up on the 6th floor forever.
“That’s right, so we decided to block the information on the 7th floor for now to avoid causing confusion and buy time for the Awakened to grow.”
“For the time being…”
At Elena’s words, Hyunseong realized the purpose and answered in a low voice.
“You’re preparing for war.”
She nodded with a bitter smile.
I heard a pretty heavy story.
Hyunseong let out a deep sigh.
“Should I say it’s humane?”
It is because we are not satisfied and are blinded by greed.
He muttered like that and looked at Elena.
“Does your presence here mean you are against war?”
“That’s right, but I ran away here because you kept bothering me. That’s when I started my research.”
“That gentleman, Steel?”
“Well? That old man was famous as a blacksmith even when I was on the 6th floor.”
It seemed like the gentleman wasn’t having any special circumstances, but was just enjoying a genuine hobby.
Elena applauded as if the story was over, livening up the atmosphere.
“Okay, then I’ll go back to my research. Are you going hunting?”
“No, let’s stop today.”
From monster chasers to cult leaders and friendly laws.
My body was scratched here and there, but my mind was tired.
‘At times like this, I just want to take a deep breath and sleep.’
At this time, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for my body that couldn’t sleep.
Hyunseong lay still on the bed and looked at the status window.
-What makes you think so?
“No, I was wondering when the next evolution will be.”
-When was the previous evolution?
“I think it was level 6 and level 16.”
To be honest, I thought it wouldn’t evolve at level 26.
However, even though I was just about to reach level 30, there was still no sign of a message saying that evolution was possible.
-Isn’t it level 31 or 36?
“What is that random level?”
-No, the first evolution had to be leveled up by 5, the second evolution had to be leveled up by 10, and the third evolution had to be leveled up by 15 or 20.
“Are you studying math?”
So then the next evolution is to go up to level 30 or 40, and where can you hear such a terrible sound?
It was dizzying just to imagine.
“Looking at the speed at which it levels up, it seems like it would be difficult to evolve on the 3rd floor.”
I couldn’t help but feel even more regretful because I felt that there were many shortcomings in this fight against the friendly law.
-When should I go to the 4th floor?
“No, I don’t think it’s at that level yet.”
-Is the 4th floor where the undead come out?
“That’s right.”
Besides, there was a problem getting to the fourth floor right now.
If I were alone, I think I could have somehow made it to the fourth floor, but it wasn’t because of my disciples.
It wasn’t that the disciples lacked talent.
‘I’m getting stronger too fast.’
As a living thing, it is natural to become stronger without time to sleep or eat.
While I was wondering what to do,
-How about putting these guys in Awakened gear?
“…oh?”
Seol-ah’s words sounded plausible.
The reason why Brin said on the second floor that using a weapon that was too good was poison was because he could defeat the enemy with just his own strength.
However, if the opponent was clearly stronger than you, using tools appropriately was not necessarily a bad thing.
‘It might actually be possible to improve your skills even more.’
Because he was fighting an opponent much stronger than himself.
“Come to think of it…”
I remembered that I hadn’t checked the items I had obtained by defeating the golem.
Other awakened people would check what kind of item they got when they saw it, but Hyunseong didn’t really care what came out, so he didn’t have a habit of checking.
“First, I need to check what we have.”
Hyunseong muttered as he reached into his bag.
* * *
“hmm…”
Lee Su-ho, Labyrinth Association’s Homeless Squad.
I was looking through files among countless bookshelves.
I was trying to find out about the phenomenon that Hyunseong was experiencing, but I couldn’t find anything suitable.
“I guess this kind of case never happens.”
Or maybe he just can’t find it.
Since it was such a unique case, I had no idea where to ask.
“What have you been looking for since you came back last time?”
An arm suddenly placed on my shoulder.
His colleague and fellow Korean awakener, Jinwoo Jeong, rested his chin on Suho Lee’s other shoulder and looked at the file in his hand.
“Is this a monster-related incident?”
Jeong Jin-woo couldn’t help but tilt his head in puzzlement.
Lee Su-ho is a homeless patrolman.
There wouldn’t have been any particular reason to be interested in the monster case files.
“I have something to find out.”
“What is it? This hyung will find out.”
“No, it’s okay.”
“Hey, you. If you need anything, just tell me.”
“thank you.”
Lee Su-ho covers the file with a thank you note.
I put the files back where they were and left the archives.
Jung Jin-woo, who followed Lee Su-ho, opened his mouth and pretended to drink something.
“Want to have a drink today?”
“No, I have a day off starting tomorrow. I’m going to go outside the labyrinth for the first time in a while.”
“Tch. Traitor.”
“Hey, I haven’t breathed air outside the labyrinth for three months.”
No matter how much the labyrinth city changed to make it a better place for people to live, the inside and outside of the labyrinth were bound to be different.
“What’s the big deal about three months? I haven’t gone out for half a year.”
“That’s because you took a vacation and didn’t go out.”
Rather, he said, a labyrinth is more comfortable.
Sometimes, when I saw him, I wondered if he was an awakened person like me.
“If you want to get some fresh air, just go to the third floor. You work on the third floor.”
“Are this and that the same?”
“So you’re not going to drink?”
“Oh, don’t drink it.”
In the face of Lee Su-ho’s strong will, Jeong Jin-woo had no choice but to back down, his mouth watering.
So, leaving his coworkers behind, Lee Su-ho headed out of the labyrinth.
“Ugh.”
Lee Su-ho stretches in the warm sunlight outside the labyrinth.
The pungent smell of the city entering my nostrils could not have been more welcome.
He looked around for a moment and then headed off somewhere.
“It’s still the same here.”
The first place he looked was a weapons store.
Most of them have now moved to the Labyrinth City, but there are still shops like this outside the Labyrinth.
Lee Su-ho opens the door and goes in.
“hello.”
“Oh, what is it, it’s Suho. When did you come back?”
“Yes, Master, I just arrived.”
The reason he came here.
This was because the president of this place was his master.
The inside of the store was still incredibly deserted.
“Boss, this weapon over here—ah. Is Suho oppa here?”
“Yeah, just now.”
A girl checking out items at the store greeted Lee Su-ho with a smile.
Lee Su-ho felt as if all the fatigue in his body was gone as he looked at that smile.
The president next to him clicked his tongue and muttered at the sight.
“Hey, the one and only disciple didn’t come to see his master, but to see the part-timer. He’s no different from other customers.”
“Huh? Another guest is coming to see you?”
“What the heck?”
The president, who was taken aback by the tone of voice that said that he really wasn’t in the girl’s sight, looked at the girl and said.
“Ha-eun, what should I do with this unfilial son of a bitch?”
Part-timer Kim Ha-eun smiled bitterly, wondering if this kind of playful conversation had been going on for a day or two.
At that moment, the door opened and a man came in and spoke loudly to the manager.
“Instructor! I have some good stuff coming in. Would you like to take a look?”
“Oh really? I’ll go out and come back, so please look after the store.”
“Okay, I understand.”
The president followed the man out, leaving only Lee Soo-ho and Kim Ha-eun behind.
“Suho oppa, I heard you had something to do in Labyrinth City this time?”
“Work? Oh… That’s what you mean.”
There was only one thing that happened in Labyrinth City recently.
An incident where a monster escaped from the arena.
“Are you okay?”
“Oh, I’m not hurt. I was on another floor at the time on business.”
“thank god.”
“You’re still very interested in mazes.”
Outside of the labyrinth, it’s something you wouldn’t know about unless you looked for it.
She answered his words as if it were a matter of course.
“I will join someday, so I can’t let the information be late.”
Although she had not yet awakened and could not enter the labyrinth, she clenched her fists as if she was ready to enter at any time.
Although he did not want to recommend it as he knew the reality of the Awakened One, Lee Su-ho could not help but smile bitterly because her will seemed firm.
“First, I have to graduate.”
“There’s still a long way to go.”
“What do you want to do after becoming an Awakened One?”
In response to her own question, she opened her mouth with eyes full of determination.
“There is someone I want to find.”