Infinite Competitive Dungeon Society - Chapter 24 – I Can Hear Your Voice (1)
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Chapter 24 – I Can Hear Your Voice (1)

[You have reached level 20. You have obtained the qualification to challenge the Floor Master.]

[You have obtained 5 bonus stats.]

[You have reached Bronze Rank 1. If you defeat the 20th Floor Master, you will be acknowledged as a Silver Rank dungeon explorer.]

[Name: Kang Shin     

Race: Human     

Sex: Male

Class: None     

Title: Wraith Queen Slayer     

Rank: Bronze 1

Level: 20

HP – 6,270/6,270     

MP – 2,940/2,940

Strength – 55(+9)     

Dexterity – 49(+2)     

Constitution – 59(+7)

Intelligence – 20(+2)     

Magic – 47(+2)     

Charm – 31(+2)     

Luck – 10(+2)

Skills – Low-rank Martial Arts (Master), Mid-rank Martial Arts (Lv 9), Low-rank Spear Technique (Master), Mid-rank Spear Technique (Master), High-rank Spear Technique (Lv 4), Low-rank Spirit Mastery (Lv 2), Low-rank Heroic Strike (Lv 7), Low-rank Provoke (Lv 1), Peruta Circuit (Lv 2), Deific Manifestation]

“Oh, you obtained a named drop item?”

“Yes, Loretta.”

As I wrapped myself up in bandages (5 gold each) after battling for a few fierce hours, I answered Loretta’s question at the 19th Floor Shop.

Although leveling up restored some HP and MP, it strangely did not heal all my wounds. As such, I would sometimes collapse from exhaustion and pain after breaking through a floor.

She picked up the pink ribbon that I had obtained from Krunaand examined it. Then, with a satisfied expression, she offered, “I’ll buy it for 500 gold.”

“I’m not selling it,” I replied immediately.

“Eh!?”

Loretta seemed surprised by my clear-cut answer. I snorted as I tied the bandages shut.

“There’s no way I would sell a named drop item so easily. I couldn’t see the item description, but don’t you have an item that lets me see it?”

Loretta pouted cutely when she heard my sharp question. Then, she retorted bluntly.

“…You’ve grown, customer.”

“All thanks to you.”

When I poured a potion over the bandages, the wounded area heated up and then the pain subsided. Satisfied that my HP had stopped decreasing, I nodded and looked back at Loretta. Loretta, who was watching me wrap myself in bandages, looked away at the same time that I looked up at her. I didn’t yield to her complaints and asked, “So? You have it right? How much is it?”

She grumbled, “Chet. It’s 100 gold.”

“Here, 100 gold.”

Even as she groused, she took the gold from me, returning back the Headband of Wisdom along with a scroll. I had always wondered, just where was she taking these things out from?

She explained how the item worked, “It’s an Appraisal Scroll. Because items dropped by named monsters aren’t registered with the dungeon, Appraisal Scrolls are needed to check their item description. With this, you can see the description of any items! Since you can always come across cursed or magical items with unknown effects, it’s best to always carry some around.”

“Before using this, is it impossible to find out the headband’s effects?”

“A magician with the Appraisal skill would be able to do the same thing.”

Just like that, I had gained some new information. After getting Loretta’s instructions, I ripped the scroll above the headband. Then, a translucent window popped up in front of me.

[Headband of Wisdom (Rare)

Durability – 50/50

Defense – 3

Equipment Requirement(s) – Female only

Option – Intelligence +5, Magic +5, Charm +7]

“Here, let me see. Eek.”

Loretta stuck her head next to me, letting out a fragrant scent. When she saw the item description on the window, she frowned and made the sound of a frog being run over by a truck. She then murmured, “I should have bought it for 1,000 gold…”

“I wouldn’t have sold it anyways. This is good, right?”

“Setting aside the charm stat, it has the stat value of two levels. Plus, it’s an accessory. Of course it’s good.”

“It’s as I thought then. One problem though, I’m not female.”

“You can gift it to your girlfriend!” Loretta exclaimed happily.

“Loretta, are you picking a fight with me?”

As if I’d have a girlfriend! Can’t you see by the fact that I’m always in the dungeon hunting that I don’t? When I shot Loretta a look of resentment, she made a sly expression and poked my shoulder. It hurt.

“What do you mean, customer? You promised to meet with someone, remember?”

“Ah…”

She had to be talking about Palludia. That wasn’t funny, even as a joke. Why would I make a choice equivalent to throwing my life in the dumpster?

However, regardless of what Loretta said, Palludia was still mad at me. If I gave her a gift, she might forgive me.

The only other female explorer I knew was Shina, but I was much closer to Palludia than Shina. Alright, it was decided. I made up my mind to give the Headband of Wisdom to Palludia the next time I saw her. After returning the hairband to my inventory, I spoke to Loretta again.

“Loretta, I want to buy 20 Floor Master Battle Vouchers.”

The shopkeeper blustered, “20!? T-That’s 60,000 gold!”

And it was also 102 million won. Yeouch, after doing the mental math calculations in my head, I felt slightly pained thinking of how much money that really was. However, it wasn’t such a big amount compared to how much gold I actually had.

Excluding the few items that Loretta forced on me, I never used my gold or exchanged it for won. As such, I had a massive pile of gold in my inventory. For reference, the lizardmen from the 19th floor gave 170 gold for every three that I killed. It meant each of them gave over 50 gold, or, in other terms, 100,000 won.

“It’s fine. I still have about 500,000 gold saved up.”

That was equivalent to 1 billion won.

“Amazing, customer. Just when did you get so much?”

“It must be from all those Floor Masters I hunt every day. Alright, hurry up and give them to me before I change my mind.”

“Customer, I’m seeing you in a different light. You’re a man when you want to be!”

“Just fork it over!”

I snatched the twenty battle vouchers from Loretta. Since I could only use two per day, I had bought enough to last for the next ten days. After taking the 60,000 gold from me, Loretta gave her money bag a slight look of reluctance. Then, she sighed and returned 10,000 gold to me. I held the money with a confused look.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s a discount, customer. Discount. Don’t you know?”

“I know what a discount is, but why?”

I could not understand why Loretta would give me such a benefit, especially given what she said earlier about them being sold at the break-even cost. However, after handing over the gold, Loretta looked almost relieved as she replied with a light smile.

“I was a little mean last time. No one buys them anyway. Humans are truly too weak. Even though the dungeon guarantees to save their lives, no one dares to adventure or challenge themselves. For hundreds of years, everyone has only thought to climb higher while avoiding Floor Master battles. Even in this First Dungeon where the brave and strong have been gathered… Ah, I can’t say anything more than that. Regardless, customer is a Hero I haven’t seen in a while. I shouldn’t be punished for supporting you this much.”

“Why are you calling me that too, Loretta? I’m not worthy of becoming something like a Hero. It’s just that I’m not desperate right now. I can be adventurous because I’m not afraid of losing a week’s worth of time.”

“Huhu, customer, you see…”

As if it was a secret, Loretta lowered her voice to near silence, bringing her lips to my ear. As I was about to tear myself away, Loretta seemed to have read my thoughts as she whispered,

“The more desperate the situation, the more necessary it is to adventure.”

I held my breath after hearing that. She was right. In fact, my existence proved she was right.

I understood her cryptic hint. The explorers who said that their continents were in dire straits, or that every second is important, were just giving themselves excuses for their own cowardliness. Some of them claimed that they had never had the chance to see Muscle Compressing Elixirs or Soul Tempering Pills, but there had to be people other than me who came across them and consumed them.

Yet, the thought of dying and wasting a week caused them to give up on re-challenging the Floor Master, and they continued their climb. I, on the other hand, was different. That’s how I got stronger. Although I was likely weaker than them now, I would continue to grow stronger. I was confident that I would surpass them one day.

“Now do you get it? The fruit of adventure is always sweet…Hero-nim.”

Loretta whispered sweetly with small teardrops hanging from the corners of her eyes. Seeing her bewitching figure, I couldn’t help but gulp down a mouthful of saliva. Wait, was she…

“Are you that sad about the 10,000 gold? You shouldn’t have given it to me then.”

I seemed to have hit the bull’s eye, as she yelled with her teardrops flowing midair.

“Don’t say it! I was trying to forget about it, but now it’s on my mind again!”

“What’s done is done. Thanks.”

“Hmph, meanie.”

The Floor Shop owner, Loretta, had a cute personality. It seemed the playful relationship between me and her would continue.

“Whew, alright. I’m going to start my Dark Ratman conquest today.”

“Customer, are you going for a complete conquest again?”

Complete conquest? If that referred to consuming the Thunder Crystal to the limit, collecting the Dark Ratman equipment set, and defeating the Dark Ratman alone, then my answer was clear. Although I debated over the benefits of consuming Thunder Crystals, I no longer hesitated since Loretta had already confirmed the path I was walking was right.

“Of course. See you later!” I waved.