159 – Returner becomes stronger (4)

“… “

After seeing the number [25], I got straight into the elevator without any explanation and entered [5]. Other players couldn’t stop me. Can I just come in? Okay. The woman with glasses who understands the rules will explain it to me.

Wow.

“Hmm… “

During that short time when the elevator was moving, I was lost in thought.

Actually, deep inside I knew who the traitor was. This is because he lied from the very first test.

Except for me, the other four are colleagues. In other words, it is highly likely that it will be a colleague who suffers damage from his betrayal.

Several facts can be inferred from here.

First of all, he doesn’t really like his colleagues. Whether or not his colleagues suffer losses, he probably feels that it is more important for him to benefit himself.

And second. He clearly guessed that the 12th floor would cause conflict between players. And once he had lied, he would have watched the situation and thought about how to respond. Otherwise, he has no reason to lie from the first test.

In fact, didn’t other players look at the 11th floor and guess that the 12th floor would have a similar structure? It was the same for me too.

So, by lying from the beginning and creating the perception that ‘there are liars’… Afterwards, if you do proper politics, it will not be a problem to impeach even one person. Fine details can be adjusted based on the situation.

In other words, liars are quite gutsy and smart. If he were a dumbass, once he figured out the structure of the test, he would start lying on the second test. The fact that he lied from the first test proves that he is a smart guy.

Ding.

When the elevator door opened, I stopped thinking and walked towards the black mannequin with cold air radiating from my body.

-Tall.

The mannequin, who was trying to get up from his seat, froze in his awkward posture when exposed to my cold magic. This power also works on mannequins.

The fact that a mannequin, which is closer to a machine than a human, can also harden suggests many possibilities. It also meant that it would be effective when challenging enemies of more difficult difficulty in the future.

Soak.

After lightly piercing the forehead of the immobile mannequin, I returned to the elevator and continued my thoughts from before.

What do you think is the reason why the criminal chose [20] In the last test? Maybe… I guess it’s because I look so damn strong, right? It is highly likely that he paid the highest compensation out of the thought, ‘Wouldn’t he be able to carry this much?’ If I didn’t have regression, it might actually have been possible to carry.

“In the end, there is no one culprit but one person.”

In other words, the traitor is the woman with glasses. The short-haired woman is confident in her own abilities, so she has no reason to lie, and the mole-haired man and the acne-prone man are not smart enough to gamble through such complex thought processes. Her culprit is none other than herself.

“Hmm… “

But the problem is that there is no way to confirm my guess. Since the woman with glasses had already realized her fear and stopped lying, this betrayal on her part was completely unheard of. Even if she said to her now, ‘You were going to betray me like this, right?’, She wouldn’t get a proper answer.

Also, hitting a woman with glasses just because she recognized the culprit is also problematic. You’re a traitor, you’ve put me through a hard time, so I’m getting annoyed? If she is to give her the disposition she deserves, on what basis should she base it? According to Korean law? Or on my own? I don’t think it’s appropriate to do anything.

Moreover, all these betrayals have disappeared beyond time. If you harass her now, you’re just teasing her. She doesn’t know why she’s being treated, and George must be wondering if this is happening to him too.

Oh, maybe there’s a way to hide her power until she tells her lies, and then reveal her power the moment she betrays him and expose her. Then it would be possible to punish her betrayer and find out what thought process led to her betrayal. But isn’t this too much like Cider Pass? ‘I want to threaten you, but since you won’t betray me, I will wait until you betray me and then I will terrorize you!’ Even in my opinion, this is a truly diabolical idea.

Wow.

“That… Are you here? “I think we figured out the rules. Would you like me to explain them to you?”

“It’s done.”

The elevator door opens. Ignoring the woman with glasses who was a bit warm to me, I sat down on the metal chair and started to think about the concept again. The fact that the liar changed his mind does not simply mean that one troll has disappeared.

According to information provided by the association, the difficulty of the next test was determined according to the reward selected in the previous test. To be precise, it is determined based on the highest reward selected in the previous test.

However, the woman with glasses, who should have lied and chose [10], Lost her mind, and I also chose [5]… The highest reward has become [5].

This was revealed when the second test began after all other players had finished testing.

[5] Elixir of experience (small)

[10] Custom Item Box (A- ~ C+)

[15] Elixir of experience (medium)

[10] Reward and [15] Reward are rewards that were also present in the previous episode… [20] Rewards disappeared, [5] New rewards were created. This is the snowball that the glasses woman gave up on choosing [10].

“Mmm.”

The second test has many overlapping rewards. But what if I choose [15] In this test? What if [15], [25], And [35] Come out as rewards for the next test?

Perhaps, a reward never seen before will appear. In other words, it also means that new possibilities that have never been seen before are opening up.

After thinking about it, I chose [15] And the protective shield disappeared. I ignored the other players who had very stern expressions and turned my head towards the elevator, and the number written down was [60].

“Well, I chose [15]… “

“We chose [10]… !”

It seems that only the short-haired girl chose [15], And the rest of the players chose [10]. According to the big data I have accumulated so far, it is a level of difficulty that can be easily beaten without getting hurt.

“I will go first.”

After making my decision, I quickly got on the elevator and entered [15]. I quickly knocked down the mannequin and returned. The black mannequin froze and could not move just by being exposed to my ‘cold magic’, probably because the difficulty level was low and it had no resistance.

This power, it seems that there is no power like this in Yanghak. Without saying a word, he just radiated cold air, making weak people unable to move.

Anyway, as I returned to the starting point and set the mood, the remaining four players finished their small meeting among themselves and boarded the elevator. It’s a bonus that I weakened the intensity of the fog out of fear that I might not be able to show off my skills due to the chill I gave off.

“If this is enough… “It’s not difficult.”

“Whoa, I was nervous for no reason.”

Players who easily cleared the second test as I expected. A feeling of ‘arrogance’ seemed to creep up in their eyes, but when I radiated a little stronger cold air, that impure feeling disappeared in an instant.

-Okay, before we start the final test, let’s choose our own rewards. Please everyone please take your seats.

“Let’s sit down.”

“Yes, yes.”

Players sit in their seats while paying close attention. Since I was originally sitting in a chair, I didn’t really need to move.

As I sat like that and waited for a while, I saw a protective shield surrounding me and a message window appear before my eyes.

[15] Teleportation Order Form

[20] Book of Possibilities (Unique)

[25] Order of Emotions

“Hmm?”

Obviously, in the last test so far, the numbers went up by 10… This time, for some reason, it goes up by 5. Could it be that the reason the number went up by 10 was a penalty for choosing only the hardest difficulty level? Originally, it was standard to increase by 5.

Anyway, that’s not important. What’s important is that the ‘Book of Possibilities’ I wanted is still on the [20] Difficulty level, and new [15] And [25] Rewards have appeared.

“… “

But this new reward is something I really want. The instantaneous movement spell is a spell that allows you to move to a space within 50 meters the moment you tear it, and the emotion spell is a spell that allows you to appraise all things in the world, even if they are not items, and see detailed explanations.

“But now it’s [20].”

Although the other two rewards were quite desirable, I pressed [20] First. The reason I was conducting the test in the first place was to determine the direction of training through the Book of Possibilities.

-All climbers have been selected.

After making the selection, the number written on the elevator was [90]. The short-haired girl chose [25], I chose [20], And everyone else chose [15].

More than that, the short-haired woman always chooses her reward according to her own beliefs. This is because if she has strong strength and mental strength, she will be less affected by the ‘Awe’ trait.

“Well, then…” Would you like to go in first? “It doesn’t matter if we go in later.”

“… “

However, when I tried to challenge an enemy on difficulty level [20], I couldn’t help but feel like something was missing. [20] As for the difficulty level, wasn’t it easy to defeat it even before cold magic was properly handled? Now that you have become even stronger, it is clear that you will clear it very easily.

Yes, it should have an appropriate spiciness. Without delay, I got on the elevator and immediately entered [40].

“Uh, huh?”

“40?”

In the past, a man with a mole told me not to take away the opportunity to grow. Sorry. But this time, I have to take some away. It’s not like killing people, it’s something that will disappear when we regress, so please take a look at this.

With the noise of the elevator moving in the background, I checked my physical condition. The time that magical power can be unleashed is at most 3 seconds. But this time, I plan to aim to fight for a long time without using all my strength.

Wow.

The elevator door opens. In the white space, the black mannequin was already standing up. That posture, holding the spear with both hands, is clearly a posture of preparation for battle.

“It’s been a while.”

A tingling sensation that I haven’t felt in a long time. You can tell just by looking at their posture. That mannequin is strong. If I had to evaluate it, it was just below the top players I met on the 11th floor. He looks like a top-tier player.

There was no need for detailed explanation between us. The moment I got off the elevator and drew my sword, a mannequin holding a spear rushed at me.

Paang! A spear piercing where my head was. I tried to avoid the stab and snatch the spear handle, but the mannequin spun the spear around and retracted it, so I couldn’t grab it with my hands. But this created a gap.

Hold the sword tightly and cut with very little magical energy. The ice particles falling along the sword’s trajectory are beautiful.

“… !”

The mannequin, which tried to block my slash at first, must have sensed something and put away its spear and bent back to avoid the slash. I have to say it’s excellent for an improvisation.

Bah!

Even the sword damage cannot avoid my kick. The mannequin that got hit on the shin by me bounces a couple of times on the floor and flies away.

“Hmm… “

The overall flow went according to my plan, but I couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling. Something… Something is different. First of all, I thought I would have to fight a little more to find out.

An intense battle continued for about 5 minutes. Our fight ended with a deep cut on the mannequin’s chest.

The black mannequin stopped moving, and the elevator door opened. But I stood still and looked down at the black mannequin.

On the outside, it may have seemed like I defeated the mannequin after an intense battle, but in reality, I was dominating it from start to finish. To the point of being a little excessive.

“It’s strange.”

The overall movement of the mannequin was awkward. The action was half a beat slow, the stepping feet were sometimes in strange positions, and the force on the spear was weak. What should I say… The technique is excellent, but it feels like your body can’t keep up? Compared to the momentum I felt at first, I won very easily.

As I was pondering what the problem might have been, my eyes fell on the white fog covering the floor.

“Ah.”

There was a reason why I couldn’t move properly. The black mannequin was unable to fully resist my ‘cold magic’.

But if we say that even a mannequin of this level cannot resist.

Those who are strong below a certain level… Wouldn’t it be so easy to win?