The Late Cook Ascends the Tower - The Late Cook Ascends the Tower chapter 18

18 – Episode 18. Build-up start

『1St floor, Kronos’ labyrinth/ hidden passage, 3rd room.』

It is complete darkness.

Even though I scan the wall with my fingertips, it’s so dark that I can’t even tell the shape of the wall with my eyes.

I hear something crying not far away.

Whoaaa…

The distance is about 6 meters.

Thinking of the lingering footsteps… Now straight ahead.

Now.

Tadadak-!

Covering his face with his left arm, he rushed at full speed toward the cry.

I feel something touch my elbow.

It’s teeth.

Ignoring the unpleasant feeling, I pushed my arm deeper into my mouth.

I rushed at it vigorously, but I had no intention of attacking.

I can’t even see it, but I don’t think I’ll get hit because I’m swinging at random.

Instead, I blocked the guy’s mouth with my arms that were shielded.

[Defense/Battle Card: Creates a shield that reduces attack damage by 6. The shield is destroyed at the start of the next turn. ★]

Kwajik! Awesome! Wood deok!

Geuuu…

[All accumulated shields are destroyed.]

[Takes 1 damage!]

A slight pain is transmitted to the arm. The feel of sticky saliva and teeth.

The identity of the enemy was a ghoul.

A guy who appears regularly in the third room of the secret passage.

It’s a type that hides in the dark and attacks, so it’s difficult to counter, but the attack pattern is fixed, so it’s easy once you figure out the location.

The first attack is an unconditional damage of 19 [Bite of Corruption].

That just spilled to the shield, now it’s my turn.

[The turn end time is over.]

[Recovers all costs.]

The attack starts now.

From this moment when I pinpointed its location in the dark.

I pulled out the arm I had pushed into my mouth. Instead, he grabbed his neck.

Put the knife through his throat with his right hand.

The cards to use are 3 [Attack].

[Attack/Battle Card: Inflicts 6 damage to one target. ★]

Kwajik! Kwajik! Kwajik!

Something bounces like a fountain with a wet touch on top of the dagger.

[End the turn.]

[Your actions are restricted for 3 seconds.]

Then, a violent struggle was transmitted from his left hand that gripped the guy’s neck.

The fact that a guy who only looks forward and runs does the action of shaking his body…

It means that the counterattack pattern [Quick Attack] Is coming.

After leaning back as much as possible, another two seconds before lunging forward.

An amazing pattern came out just in time for the end of my turn.

That attack is a typical high risk high return, so it becomes my attack timing in the super close state.

So it’s a situation where even if we attack with all our might, it won’t be enough.

I pulled him by the neck and at the same time walked behind him.

Very slowly.

Now this is the top speed.

When you end your turn in TOE, you cannot use cards for 3 seconds and receive a penalty of 80% reduction in movement speed.

It was an iron rule that was applied in common to all monsters and classes that existed in TOE.

So how well you pass this penalty time determines the perfection of your deck.

Now I know the ghoul’s attack pattern and walk slowly, but from now on, it might become a beehive within 3 seconds.

If you don’t like that, you should come up with a deck concept as soon as possible.

[The turn end time is over.]

[Recovers all costs.]

The ghoul’s attack delay and penalty time follow one after another.

I grabbed him by the back now, and thrust a series of knives into the back of his neck.

Hook! Hooked! Hooked!

Push this profit!

Whether it’s blood or flesh, now the whole body is covered with cold liquid.

No matter what it was, it must have been rotten as it smelled foul.

I was hesitant to take this route because I was afraid it would happen.

Still, I can’t help it.

This time, you only have one life, so it’s much better to meet enemies you know than random ones.

Thanks to that, I passed through the room without much damage as planned, and now if I catch this guy, I will come to the safe zone.

But…

[The turn end time is over.]

[Recovers all costs.]

f*ck.

The problem is that I failed to draw a defense card.

If 5 cards are drawn out of 14 cards each turn, what is the probability that none of the 5 defense cards will come out?

It’s like pine nuts, but I can’t help but complain. Because TOE is originally such a sh*t game.

If you run away, you’ll miss the ghoul’s location.

The next attack is not something you can avoid.

I can’t help it.

‘I have to grit my teeth and get hit.’

This dead end was also one of the attributes of the TOE.

If there is a part that needs to be beaten inevitably, getting hit in advance without wasting time is the dignity of a master.

I made up my mind and waited for the pain to come.

‘Hmm…’

But when are you coming?

Is the attack speed slow in the real version?

At that moment, I felt helpless in my left hand that was holding the guy’s neck.

His shoulders droop. Soon, his entire body began to tilt.

Ahh…

Thump!

『You defeated a rare monster ghoul!

Acquire a card as a reward.

Choose a reward from among the three cards.』

Then my eyes brightened, and three gray cards appeared in the air.

The card reward popped up means you killed the ghoul.

What kind of situation is this? Killing a ghoul in just 2 turns?

It’s too fast even if it’s fast.

‘Hmm, it’s so different from a game…’

Originally, it used to take about 5 turns to catch a ghoul.

Moreover, since I only have basic cards, there is no way to reduce my turn.

But, like the ghouls, the [Ghost Birds] And [Corrupted Monkeys] That I met before coming here also fell down too quickly.

The feeling of battle is different.

The monster’s attack pattern was as I knew it, but it was a completely different battle compared to the game.

For example, when attacking a monster’s wings, the wing is cut off and incapacitated, or when a knee kick is placed on the head of a corrupt monkey, it becomes incapacitated.

The way the turns and cards are used is the same as the game, but it feels like a sense of reality is reflected there.

It’s the same as the ghoul just now.

The stabbing of the knife to his throat may have been the fatal blow.

If this prediction is correct…

It must have been a jackpot to trade meat and daggers in the village.

[Dull Dagger]

– An old dagger you picked up from the tower.

– It’s worn out and its power has declined.

– Changes the attack type to slash or thrust.

Since a dagger would be much better than a fist to inflict fatal wounds, it was several times more profitable than the 100 gold that was the price of meat.

Maybe the dagger will bleed like the stun the monkey got.

It feels like a sudden windfall.

However, the changed combat environment did not always work as an advantage.

If this is the case, it means that I can die in one shot when I am hit by a weakness.

The game has become easier, but at the same time, the risk also increases.

From noble mtl dot com

‘If I am attacked by surprise, I will not be able to resist. I have to be careful.’

Still, I passed the first hurdle with the ghoul.

After defeating all three monsters in the secret passage, go outside the door and you’re in the safe zone.

While defeating the monster, I also obtained the [Corpse of the monster].

It looks awful, but if you cut off the neck and take off the feathers, it will look just like a chicken.

When it comes to the finest ingredient for chicken soup, the boss mob [Cockatrice] Comes to mind, but considering that it is described as a common ingredient in Dana’s memory, I think this might be the correct answer.

A rogue bird is one of the most common monsters in the early part of the first floor.

Successfully acquired the main material as soon as it started.

And one more reward remains.

Finally!

It’s time to check out my first card reward!

I see… What kind of build will this episode be?

Even if only a rare card comes out, I feel comfortable, and even a normal card is welcome if it is a 0 cost card.

Let’s try it!

[Deceptive Communication/Skill Card: Attempt a peaceful conversation with the enemy. End your turn. Cards owned this turn are retained until the next turn. ★★]

[Continuous Attack/Battle Card: Inflicts 6 damage to an enemy twice in a row. ★]

[Full Swing/Battle Card: Inflicts 20 damage to a target. Casting delay 1.5 Seconds. ★★★]

The result is…

Tsk.

Unfortunately, it’s a joke.

In fact, in the game, communication of seduction was a pretty good card.

It’s easy to fill your hand with cards, and you can rotate important cards quickly because fewer cards are discarded.

But here again, the difference between the game and reality becomes an obstacle…

This was information I found out while experimenting with Tilda’s card.

Unlike the game in this world, one feature is added to the skill card.

What that meant was that just using a card didn’t activate what was written on it, but you had to take the appropriate action.

For example, if you use the [Dash] Card, you must run a certain distance unconditionally.

It’s not like you can cancel after using a card, just because you don’t want to run, you have to run forcibly before you can use the next card.

Then, how about [Communication of Deception]?

If you don’t talk to your opponent, you might get stunned.

Wow.

That’s why you can’t choose a full swing that takes 1.5 Seconds to gather energy.

Therefore, only one option remains.

Hey heck… The first card is this…

『I acquired a [Continuous Attack] Card as a reward.』

It’s not a very good card, but it’s 200 times better than a normal attack.

And there’s something I felt after going through three battles…

Because the battle here is different from the game.

Considering the difference between the game and reality, this card might be a fraudulent card.

For some reason, I feel that way.

I’ll have to experiment with it later to find out exactly… But it might be better than most rare cards.

Now the remaining HP is 78.

I can’t seem to get food from the ghoul’s corpse.

The pain was tolerable because I was only subjected to minor attacks.

Then let’s go out now.

Before leaving the room, I put my ear to the exit and checked for signs.

I don’t like it when someone finds out the secret passage, and it’s a hassle to meet the climber hunter like last time, so I’ll have to go out when no one is around.

Do you know? Someone might be waiting in town after seeing what I did.