The Monarch Who Levels Up by Devouring – Chapter 11

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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“They called it Hellfire, and the rewards are just as hot.”

My lips twitched on their own.

I checked the rewards with a satisfied expression.

To think I would get the [Cold Blood] skill in the tutorial…

Cold Blood was the superior version of [Patience], the skill that could be obtained at the basic training ground.

‘How important it is to maintain composure in battle?’

Impatience.

Excitement.

Fear.

Anxiety.

Human emotions could create synergy in battle, but they universally acted as an unstable factor.

Having the Cold Blood skill meant that I wouldn’t be swayed by emotions!

Was that all?

It also came with the hard-to-get Mental Resistance effect.

Mental Resistance was treated as precious the higher you climbed the Tower.

You could block physical attacks in many ways, but you couldn’t even run away from something that dug into your mind.

It was a good option for later, rather than for now.

‘Normally, it’s a skill that can only be obtained on the 30th floor or higher.’

I burst out laughing, ha ha-.

Before my regression, even in the future when most of the Tower’s hidden elements had already been discovered, there was no information about a ‘Hellfire difficulty’ for the basic training ground.

This too was a positive change due to my regression.

The Cold Blood skill was worth the hardship(?).

My heart pounded.

My heart, which had been pounding with excitement, returned to its usual heart rate.

“…….”

Damn it, I had forgotten.

The effects of Cold Blood was the same in daily life.

If any of the emotions — joy, anger, sorrow, or pleasure — rose above a certain level, Cold Blood would be activated.

Dating was out of the question for the time being.

I checked the second reward with a bitter smile.

It was a small doll that was about the size that could be held in one hand.

I blinked repeatedly while looking at the wooden doll.

I even tried rubbing my eyes with the back of my hand while wondering if I had seen it wrong.

But no matter what I did, the item information didn’t change.

“Crazy.”

So the real reward for the [Hellfire Difficulty] was something else.

The Cold Blood skill I had gotten earlier was also amazing, but it wasn’t as good as this item.

At least, not for me.

‘I can summon a wooden doll at any time?’

As a test, I firmly pressed the button on the doll’s nape.

Chwaaaak!

The wooden doll had grown to the size of a person.

Slime covered the doll’s head and then, in an instant, it changed into my face.

“Nice to meet you.”

The moment the wooden doll exuded killing intent, I struck its neck without hesitation.

I grabbed the neck of the doll that was tumbling on the floor.

It was the same reaction as the wooden dolls I had broken so far.

“This is a jackpot.”

The wooden doll that copied one of the player’s skills…

If I was lucky, I could also get the incomplete essence of a primeval species.

A normal player would find it difficult to find a use for it other than for skill proficiency training.

But for me, it was an item more valuable than any other reward.

After packing up the training ground’s rewards, I pushed the closed door open.

Faint moonlight seeped in through the open doors.

I didn’t even know how much time had passed while I was taking the training ground’s test.

“Is it nighttime already?”

A clear sky without a single cloud.

A silver-tinged moonlight faintly illuminated Rainbow Island.

I looked up at the sky.

A moon that was about 4/5 full, based on the right side.

In a day or two, I would be able to see a full moon, without any darkness.

This was good.

A faint smile colored my lips.

A hidden space discovered by the explorer Laurent.

In order to get the hidden piece of the so-called ‘Moon-Viewing Cave,’ I had to prepare in advance.

A day was enough.

After looking up at the sky, I moved.

Before going to Mount Emirate…

There was a place I had to stop by first.

‘If I go to the lakeside, I should be able to meet that fellow.’

I put strength into my steps.

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Lake Sunein.

It was a lake located in the center of Rainbow Island.

As I went near the lake, I saw day 1 players gathered in small groups, resting.

‘Because this is the safest place.’

It was one of the standard strategies for Rainbow Island.

Because this island was more dangerous at night than during the day.

Even in the plains, the Silver Fangs, which had only stayed in the south, would expand their sphere of activity to the north.

A powerful enemy that a day 1 player could never handle!

Was that all?

In the wasteland, the Antlions would widen their sand traps even more.

Besides those, the top predators of each region began to move in earnest when the sun went down.

A tough environment for beginners.

Of course, that didn’t apply to the top-ranking rookie players.

If you hunted monsters at night, you could acquire additional points, so they would often move at this time to get a higher score.

In a sense, it was high risk, high return.

I didn’t pay it much mind.

As for 1st place in the tutorial, I could secure it without difficulty if I just kept going like this.

What was important were the essences and hidden elements that could only be obtained on Rainbow Island.

It was a space that couldn’t be visited again, after all.

I had to predate everything I needed to get here without missing a single one.

To do that…

‘Meeting the merchant is a priority.’

I walked around the lake while retracing my memories.

The destination was the island in the middle of the lake.

To see the merchant in the tutorial stage, you had to cross the lake with your bare body.

While walking around the lake, I found a place where the water was shallow.

I submerged my body into the lake.

It was cold.

As I moved my arms and legs, the water was pushed back little by little, and I moved forward.

Before my regression, I had experienced all sorts of environments.

Splashing around in the water was nothing for me.

Rather, what I had to be wary of was…

‘These guys.’

I glanced at the area below the lake.

A black object was faintly visible.

There were several black things that seemed to be 5 meters long.

The monsters of the lake.

These fellows were predators of the tutorial on par with the Antlions.

With my current specs, I would be torn to shreds by them in less than a minute.

Nevertheless, the reason I could think of swimming across the lake was because of their habits.

‘To think a fish would be diurnal.’

The monsters that stayed in the lake, unlike in other regions, were only active during the day.

That was also the reason why I had visited the lake at night.

‘Still, I can’t be careless.’

I swam while preparing for any unforeseen variables.

Fortunately, there were no fish or anything that woke up from their sleep until I reached the island.

“What, a player has already arrived here?”

A gruff voice echoed in my ear.

A short, stout man.

A dwarf merchant was looking at me with his brow deeply furrowed.

Above his head, the name [Joik] was floating in green letters.

“That’s right.”

There was no need to refuse a reward that was being given to me on its own.

I let the system’s voice flow in one ear and out the other and focused on the dwarf’s movements.

“Hey, player. Isn’t it the first day of the tutorial right now?”

“That’s right.”

“You’re a bold one. To think you’d cross the lake on the first day.”

The dwarf burst out with a dry laugh.

When I recalled the monsters that lived at the bottom of Lake Sunein, it was indeed a reckless act.

“Are you the only one?”

“What?”

“The company people.”

“Heh heh heh, since you came here knowing everything, then you’ll be easy to talk to. Come this way.”

The dwarf moved his short legs diligently and went ahead.

A house was standing alone on the island.

The dwarf who had walked ahead threw open the main door.

[Riron]

[Hairin]

The elf and the gnome who were in the house were startled as soon as they saw me.

“A player?”

“A human?”

It was a similar reaction to this dwarf I had met earlier.

“As you can see.”

I smiled leisurely.

These three were NPCs.

They were residents of another dimension who helped with the operation of the Tower of Babel.

Playing the role of an NPC was, in my country’s terms, like doing a high-paying part-time job.

I remembered the information from before my regression and then shifted my gaze to the three merchants.

“The name’s Joik. Though you probably know that since my name is above my head.”

“I am Player Yoo Jinho.”

“Gwah hah. I’m in charge of weapons. The pointy-ear next to me handles magic, and the shorty fellow handles miscellaneous goods.”

“Sh-shorty, you say? I-I’m b-bigger than a d-dwarf, you know?!”

“As expected, the race of the earth is vulgar.”

The three of them growled at each other with me in front of them.

Although they were under the name [Midron Company], they were actually residents of different dimensions.

Even if they were from the same company, the points each species got depending on their sales were different, so they were competing for a customer.

“T-today… is the f-first… day. Th-the c-customer p-probably doesn’t… h-have… m-many… p-points.”

The gnome said everything he had to say even while stuttering.

The eyes of the elf and the dwarf narrowed.

“Now that you mention it…….”

“I got happy for nothing.”

The merchants of the Tower traded with two things: CP and mission points.

CP was a currency unit you got every time you cleared a mission.

Mission points referred to your score upon clearing a mission.

There was no way a player who had just entered the tutorial would possess CP, and what they wanted were mission points.

The problem was that since it was the first day of the tutorial, they probably thought that I hadn’t accumulated many mission points yet.

It was natural for the three merchants to be disappointed.

“Gnome ahjussi.”

“Y-yes?”

“Please give me 32 Moonstones.”

“Th-that is… Customer… M-moonstones… are 20 p-poi… nts… each.”

Goodness, he stutters a lot.

“Do you know I have a little over 600 points right now?”

“J-just a moment.”

The gnome merchant checked my points while stuttering.

“P-Player Yoo… Jinho-nim… your points…… Heek?!”

The gnome merchant hiccuped.

It was understandable to be surprised.

Because it was normally impossible for beginners to collect 600 points on the first day of the tutorial.

I had already broken 400 points when I defeated the hidden boss and the Deep Slime, and on top of that, I had also hunted Wolf King Seorin.

My points were overflowing.

The elf and the dwarf looked at me with strange eyes.

“Hey, shorty.”

“What’re you so surprised about?”

“No, th-this person… It’s the first day, but he has over 600 points.”

The mouths of the elf and the dwarf dropped open.

“600?!”

“Is that a number that’s possible on the first day?”

“I-if you’re… c-curious… ch-check… for… y-yourselves!”

The three merchants made a fuss.

A number that would have been impossible without the knowledge from before my regression.

It was natural for them to be surprised.

I maintained my composure as much as possible and opened my mouth.

“If you don’t want to trade, then it’s fine.”

“Of course I do!”

The startled gnome forgot to stutter and held out the Moonstones.

A consumable item useful only for escaping crises.

On top of that, it was full of useless options like the ‘tutorial only’ usage restriction.

It was an item I didn’t have much need for.

But you know, if you took this Moonstone to Mount Emirate, it could be used for a different purpose.

‘I just have to wait until the full moon rises.’

I held back my laughter.

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T/N – I’m excited to see what’s in this Mount Emirate.

As for that Cold Blood skill, it reminds me of Momonga’s undead passive in Overlord. I always did believe that Momonga only got as far as he did because of that passive.

Also, the MC got real lucky with that doll, though I guess it balances out with the 12 hour cooldown. Can’t believe it isn’t destroyed when it’s predated though. Maybe the MC can also have it copy other players so he can predate their skills through the doll…

If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in the comments.