The Monarch Who Levels Up by Devouring – Chapter 10

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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I glanced at the Wolf King’s corpse, which had its head shoved into the ground.

“I won easily because it was a simple fellow.”

Wolf King Seorin’s combat ability was a notch above the Dragon Tooth Warrior that I had fought in the [Forgotten Temple].

The Dragon Tooth Warrior… whose stats and skills had been sealed.

As befitted a being of the Tower’s upper floors, its combat sense was outstanding even with a ton of penalties attached to it.

On the other hand, the Wolf King, despite having higher stats, was swept up in my pace during our battle because of its habit of moving according to its instinct.

I had also thought about giving up one arm and melting its throat with [Acidic Blood] if I had been pushed back in that battle.

But I won more easily than I had expected.

Then, shall I exercise the rights of the victor?

Oho…

This was the first time I had obtained the Wolf King’s essence.

Before my regression, I had been busy just trying to survive the tutorial.

Back then, I couldn’t even think of raiding a high-difficulty boss like the Wolf King.

‘It was worth giving up the Wolf King’s fangs.’

A smile formed on its own.

The reason players hunted the Wolf King…

It was because of its fangs.

[Wolf King’s Fangs] were used as a material for crafting sword-type weapons, and if you used the powder from grinding the fangs, the item’s grade and attack power would rise.

If sold outside the Tower, it would fetch at least 700 million won.

In a sense, I had burned hundreds of millions of won to get a skill!

‘This is why they cursed at me while calling my skill an ability that turns gold into shit.’

I recalled the words I had heard before my regression.

Don’t worry. In this life, there would be no reason for me to be called that.

An area-of-effect crowd control skill with a 20-meter range.

It was a skill that suited me well, as I had decided to climb the Tower alone this time around.

Now that I had hunted the Wolf King, I had predated all the essences that could be gathered in the plains area without missing a single one.

But…

There was no rule that said that I could only obtain essences in the tutorial.

-If you go down to the southern part of the plains, there is a basic training ground, and if you pass the test, you can get the Patience skill.

-A skill that is recommended you absolutely get if you can. It will definitely be helpful later on when climbing the Tower, regardless of your class.

It was a part of the tutorial stage guide.

What was the [Patience] skill, you ask?

It was a skill that reduced flinching when you took damage.

Not only that, in the case of skills that required concentration, they wouldn’t be canceled even when you were hit, and it also reduced the required concentration time by 5%.

It was a useful skill that tutorial guides emphasized to ‘get it if you can get it’!

But the reason they had used that expression was…….

‘Because the place where you can get the Patience skill is inside the Silver Fangs’ territory.’

Ordinary players had to muster up quite a bit of courage just to face a group of Silver Fangs.

The Silver Fangs, whose specialty were high attack power and agility…

Although their toughness was on the weak side, the advantages of team play was reduced against them because they moved around in groups.

Was that all? Well, if the Wolf King was alive, you even had to do a boss raid.

Even I hadn’t been able to get the [Patience] skill in the tutorial stage before my regression.

‘This time is different.’

I had hunted the Wolf King alone on the first day of the tutorial.

If I went straight down from here, the basic training ground would appear.

I won’t be coming back to the plains again, so I’d have to get the [Patience] skill now so I don’t have to backtrack later on.

I stepped deep into the Silver Fang territory with light steps.

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Finding the basic training ground wasn’t difficult.

A structure soaring up in the middle of a flat land.

It was impossible to not find it, even if you tried not looking for it.

When I pushed the wooden door open, it gave way with a creaking sound.

“They could have oiled up the door a bit.”

I entered the basic training ground while furrowing my brow.

The inside of the training ground was simple.

A smoothly oiled wooden floor.

On top of it, dozens of wooden dolls were lined up while taking on bizarre poses.

As expected.

The choices were no different from the information I gathered before my regression.

The difference between difficulties was the reward.

Even if you chose [Easy], you could still get the Patience skill, but if you cleared it on a higher difficulty, an additional reward was given.

At my level, I could probably even pass the Hard difficulty just like that.

“Hard…….”

I was about to choose that difficulty without even thinking…

If there hadn’t been an additional message from the system.

Well now…

“Hellfire, you say?”

This was the first I had heard of a Hellfire difficulty in the basic training ground.

A hidden element that even I, a regressor, didn’t know about!

Come to think of it, I wonder who could satisfy the absurd condition of having to achieve a total stat points of 250 in the first week.

It was only possible for me because I had actively utilized [Predation] even before entering the Tower of Babel.

Even if a famous guild actively helped someone else, they probably couldn’t achieve that number.

‘It’s an unplanned event, but this is actually better for me.’

I chose the newly added difficulty without hesitation.

Usually, the Basic Training Master’s test could be challenged at any time even if you failed.

On the other hand, for the [Hellfire Difficulty], if you slipped up even once, you would be deprived of the chance to take the training master’s test itself.

“Sure, I’ll challenge it.”

The fact that the penalty was huge meant that the reward would also be hefty!

As I selected my training ground difficulty, a strange light flickered over the pupils of the wooden dolls.

My own shadow…

Before I could even express my doubt, a red slime covered the head of one of the wooden dolls.

The liquid wriggled a few times and then changed the doll’s form.

“That’s me.”

The form the wooden doll had taken was me.

Was the shadow the quest had mentioned referring to that?

As soon as the wooden doll copied my face, it immediately kicked off the ground.

It then grew claws to a length of 20 centimeters.

It seemed that the skill this wooden doll had copied was [Sharp Claws].

“How absurd.”

Seeing the wooden doll’s speed, it also seemed to have copied my stats as well.

You think I’ll lose to you just because our stats are the same?

Hwoong! Hung!

The wooden doll’s claws continuously cut the air.

Linear and simple.

Perhaps because it had copied my stats as they were, its speed was considerable.

But it seemed like it couldn’t do anything about its stiff joints, so it was obvious where it was aiming.

I cut off the elbow of the wooden doll that was stretched straight forward.

And I dug into the chest of the staggering shadow and cut its nape.

Seogeok!

The head of the wooden doll that had my form floated into the air and then tumbled to the floor.

Even if it was a fake, it wasn’t a pleasant sight to see myself like that.

Fortunately, it returned to the wooden doll’s head after a few seconds.

“Is this the end?”

Of course, it wasn’t.

If you’re going to intimidate me by giving a difficulty the name [Hellfire], you have to conduct a test befitting it, right?

Just in case, I placed my hand on the wooden doll’s body.

It was almost impossible to recover stamina and mana with [Predation] during the battle.

Well, it wasn’t like I only had Predation.

Thanks to the [Blessing of the Earth Mother Goddess], my stamina and mana recovery speed increased by 50% just by standing still.

Wait a minute…

‘Already finished collecting the essence…?’

I mulled over the system message several times.

The skill the wooden doll had copied was [Sharp Claws], the essence of the Silver Fang.

But you know…

If there was a shadow that had copied an incomplete one like the [Primeval Species’ Essence]…….

‘Couldn’t I predate that essence?’

That thought suddenly came to my mind.

It was worth checking out.

I crossed my arms and waited for the time to pass.

1 minute later, the two wooden dolls in the training ground turned their heads and looked at me.

Red slime covered their heads.

The number of shadows that looked exactly like me had increased to two.

“Haaaaaaa-!!!”

A voice loaded with mana rang out thunderously in the basic training ground.

The two wooden dolls flinched.

A debuff skill that didn’t distinguish friend from foe.

But since I was alone, there was no need for that when I used Howl.

Though 10% might not seem large…

When you actually fight in a real battle, a small difference like that can sometimes be instrumental.

Like now.

Udeudeuk!

My two ‘shadows’ tumbled to the floor without being able to properly use a single skill.

I used Predation on the two fallen wooden dolls.

This works?!

“Crazy.”

I let out a word of admiration.

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Ujik!

One wooden doll was shattered with a loud noise.

“Another one goes to the Lord’s side.”

I shattered the wooden dolls with a beaming smile.

I had obtained some [Primeval Species]’s essence in an unexpected place.

The essence of a primeval species could only be obtained on Earth, and since intact fossils were originally expensive, it was impossible for me to obtain some as I currently was.

‘This is a completely fortuitous encounter.’

As I repeated the battle, before I knew it, only 11 of the dolls were left standing intact.

It seemed like the Hellfire difficulty would only end when all of the wooden dolls in the basic training ground were shattered.

If it had been a normal player, they would have been defeated when the number of wooden dolls increased to five at maximum.

It was because I was the one taking the test that I was still fine.

‘The skill copying mechanic was actually helpful.’

When players received the Tower’s invitation, they were universally granted one trait and one skill.

As for me, I got Predation and that was it.

Although you could get skills while going through the tutorial, getting about 5 was considered on the high side.

But I had increased the number of my skills like crazy with Predation.

‘It means that it’s meaningless if a shadow copies a skill that isn’t active.’

For example, like [Dragon’s Heart] or [Dissolve].

In fact, during the battle, there were quite a few wooden dolls that were shattered after fighting only with their own abilities without being able to use a single skill.

When the waiting time was over, the last group of wooden dolls remaining in the training ground glared at me.

One wooden doll suddenly opened its mouth wide.

Wait a minute…

-Haaaaa!

Damn it.

For a moment, my balance was shaken.

It seemed that one wooden doll had copied [Howl].

However, the other wooden dolls also flinched after hearing the howl.

“Ah, did you use it without knowing that it doesn’t identify friend from foe?”

Except for the wooden doll that had used Howl, all of them received the debuff.

It was good that it randomly took my stats and one of my skills, but…

“Even if there are many of these idiots, they’re still no match for me.”

I weaved through the group of wooden dolls while kicking off the ground with [Agile Hind Legs].

One wooden doll raised its guard.

A gray carapace covered its forearm.

I clenched my fist and struck the forearm clad in carapace with [Monstrous Strength].

Kwaaaang-!

The wooden doll’s arm exploded with a loud noise.

“Agh, that hurts like hell.”

I broke the back of the wooden doll that had lost both of its arms while furrowing my brow.

Just because it was a carapace didn’t mean that it was invincible.

If you had enough strength, you could shatter it like this.

Although it was strong against piercing attacks or stab wounds, its durability was easily shaved off by heavy attacks.

Well, there was a way to compensate for that shortcoming with the synergy effect of essences.

“That’s a problem to think about when the time comes.”

I kicked the floor with [Agile Hind Legs].

My right arm was trembling from the aftereffect of Monstrous Strength.

The wooden dolls rushed to the spot where I had been standing just before.

One of them slightly crouched down, as if to imitate my running start, and then chased after me with [Agile Hind Legs].

Even so, it didn’t have any other skills.

So I tore it apart with [Sharp Claws].

It didn’t take me long to shatter all 11 wooden dolls.

“Now, let’s end this.”

Ujigeun!

I shattered the last wooden doll into pieces.

Now, what reward will you give me?

I swallowed hard in anticipation.

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T/N – You know, I just had a thought. What if the MC predated one of these dolls that had copied another player’s stats and skills? Too bad the MC can’t come back to the tutorial area after this, and there probably aren’t any players in the current tutorial who can fulfill the requirement. Though maybe there will be other doppelganger trials in the future with other players.

Also, damn, so even system messages do cliffhangers now? That’s brutal. 😅

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