The Late Cook Ascends the Tower - Chapter 41



41 – Episode 41. Easy mode_(3)

The incense of burnt straw and dry firewood.

And soot created by burning oil.

A fish caught on a skewer.

Before he came here, Glow used to eat his fill in front of a campfire.

After the hunt, grill the meat and gulp down the honey wine you exchanged for leather.

I fell asleep among drunkenness, fire and stars.

From the moment I entered the tower, I just kill, kill, kill.

Instead of resting and eating, the days of survival and killing continued.

So that sweet scent makes me dizzy.

‘Gulp…!’

Grow swallowed the fatal temptation with saliva.

The deed the prey were doing and this sweet scent were all illusions.

An illusion scattered by prey to preserve their lives.

In the eyes of a hunter, it was no different from a rat playing dead at the feet of a bobcat.

‘Where do you go? No matter how hard he struggles, he falls for my trap.’

Then he boldly stepped out the door.

With this one step, the returning soldier is 78.

There is no cure for returning sick anymore.

‘The booty this time will be incomparably more valuable than the 5 Returned Soldiers. Don’t expect it.’

At last the hunter and the prey are in the same room.

The battle has begun.

“The promise is still valid. Which of the two will sign the contract?”

As the hand was reset, 5 cards were put into Grow’s hand.

And the same goes for the opponent.

But they didn’t respond.

Not even with the signal to start the battle, and with Grow’s words.

“Tilda, smoke is coming. Try fanning hard.”

“Aww… My eyes are so stingy!”

“I’ll let you eat two at a time.”

“aaa! It’s real! I promise!”

But that peacefulness was also an illusion.

The expression of black hair is infinitely relaxed, but pink hair is not.

Since the battle began, Grow has sensed an inconceivable fear in her expression.

Even the uneasy eyes that occasionally shed themselves.

Those are the eyes of a typical prey.

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They weren’t doing anything else because they had too much free time, they were wasting their time.

The reason, of course, is to complete their own victory formula.

And… I don’t know about them yet.

It was Grow who presented the winning formula.

‘You’d think you would win if you start by pouring meditation and fireballs… you don’t even know who gifted you that card. Stupid guy.’

When hunting climbers, he always monopolized all the rewards, but he handed over the [Small card box] To the old man.

In order to give the enemy the tremendous cards that the old man had: Fireball and Meditation.

The reason I’m afraid of the tower is because I have to deal with an unknown enemy.

Grow knew that all too well, and he thought it was easier for a known strong man to win than an unknown weak one.

So I deliberately handed over the undeserved victory formula to the enemy.

Because the longer the opponent waits to use the fireball, the higher your win rate will be.

If you know the opponent’s winning formula, you can’t lose.

If you take time for each other, the winner will eventually be yourself.

The secret was the only grade card obtained at the end of the Death Corridor.

[Dance of the Reaper/Battle Card: Destroy the enemy’s soul with the power of the Reaper. It deals 12 damage for each card in your hand. ★★★]

When I put the old man in front of me and passed on all the trap curses, and finally got this card.

Glow shuddered.

As long as I have this card, I will be able to crush whatever the opponent does with power.

If you can fill your hand with 10 cards, the damage of Shinigami’s Dance is 120.

That meant that you could slaughter every enemy you encountered up to at least the 5th floor with a single card.

That’s regardless of the enemy’s shield.

Of course, holding 10 cards in your hand isn’t easy.

That was solved by luck.

The answer was the trash card I picked up carelessly as soon as I came to this world.

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

Grow used [Deceptive Communication] As soon as the battle started.

Now, as soon as the enemy answers even a single word to his words, a conversation is established.

On your next turn, ten cards will come into your hand.

Even this time, as soon as the battle started, I picked up [Dance of Death] And [Communication of Illusion] At the same time.

Luck was also on his side.

‘I’m sorry, but it looks like the god of the tower chose me, kid.’

And that moment.

The black hair’s eyes turned to Grow for the first time.

Then his mouth opened naturally.

“What are you looking at? Are you excited to sign a contract? Don’t be a jerk and eat some sh*t.”

“Ha ha ha, that was a good conversation, you idiot.”

The conversation was established the moment the black hair spoke for the first time.

‘Three more seconds.’

From now on, everything that happens here loses its meaning.

Each other’s power difference, the enemy’s victory formula, luck.

There will be no avoiding the pre-determined ending.

Now, with just one step, everything is over.

‘Broken black hair at the end of penalty time. I make a contract with the pink hair to steal everything.’

Grow’s back was bent.

So much so that his head touched the floor.

Hand on the handle of the sword.

The forearm muscles and veins of the right hand are shaking as if they are about to burst.

Kiki-Kki-Ik-Kirik-!

The power condensed inside the scabbard creates a bizarre friction sound.

And according to the following signal…

[The turn end time is over.]

[Recovers all costs.]

Ta- ang-!!

There was a rush.

With just one step, the enemy comes within range.

Sureung…!

And the moment the sword escaped from the scabbard, Grow was convinced.

The pink hair’s mouth, eyes, and nostrils expand fivefold.

At the same time, I saw that the back of the black hair did not even move.

I’m pretty sure he couldn’t pick up fireball and meditation at the same time.

“This is it, kid.”

The blade draws a crescent moon.

Finally, the tip of the sword touched the dark-haired neck.

There were no variables.

The hunt is a success again.

You will get a lot of money without losing even a single point of health.

Now, the lesson learned from retrogressing the tower, the unique grade card, and the hunter’s precision.

And this kid’s money.

I will guide myself to a higher place.

Glow laughed.

**

“Chef. Is this kid laughing?”

“So, are you excited about eating eel? I was swallowing a lot.”

“But are you really dead?”

“Maybe not? Seeing how hard he was talking to me, it seemed that he had even gathered his soul in one shot. Try it.”

7 Seconds passed since Grow came over the room.

He rushed in with great vigour.

He was now sprawled on the floor.

Your eyes only show the whites of your eyes disgustingly, and you smile like Tilda said.

Poor Sri.

I can’t eat eel because I’m dead now.

Tilda tapped Grow with her foot, confirmed he was dead, and asked me.

“Huh… He’s dead. I’m really surprised! You thought the chef would die at the end.”

“Still, you believed until the end. I will praise you.”

“Uh…? Actually, I was a little scared, but is it because I didn’t move?”

“That too. You didn’t use [Slow starter] Until the end.”

[Slow Starter/Power Card: Gain +7% movement speed whenever you use 4 cards in one turn. ★]

If Tilda got scared and disobeyed me, she would have started using [Slow Starter].

If you only write slow starters, you can prepare for failure.

But Tilda didn’t do anything as I told her to.

I’m proud of myself.

“Huh? I didn’t use the card, but how do you know that?”

“When I use [Slow Starter], My body glows golden. If you wrote it, Grow would have found it.”

“Uh… If it was like that, please tell me in advance… What if I was scared and wrote it…”

“Trust me.”

“That was… Ah… You believed me. hehehe… I’m glad it helped! Uhhhhh… Did I do well?”

“You endured well. We ask well.”

“Yes! But why did Glow die? From my point of view, it was Grow who attacked, and Chef did nothing… Didn’t he? Did I not see it?”

“I didn’t see it. Grow died because he couldn’t see what I did.”

“What did you do to kill the attacking Grow? Is that all at once?”

“As promised, I will show you my deck. If you see it, it will explain.”

As I handed over the dog tags, Tilda stared up at me with her twinkling eyes.

Then he smiled and grabbed the dog tag.

“It’s a real party now! See you!”

After concentrating on the dog tags for a while.

I suddenly screamed.

“What! Where did the fireball and meditation go!”

“I didn’t pick it up.”

“Then… You lied to me!?”

“You’re lying, I never said I picked up that card.”

“Uh… Is that so? Come to think of it… Is that so? But… When the store sister talked about the fireball, she stayed still…”

“Of course you should stay still.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want people I don’t know to know my deck. Do you know what it would be like if the deck was discovered?”

“How does it work?”

“Like that.”

Pointing her finger at Glow, Tilda looked back and forth between Glow and me, giving her a completely panicked look.

“Did Grow tell the chef his card? When?”

“When I sent the wizard grandfather to the village. He even wrote a note and let me know.”

“I saw that note too, but there was nothing about the card…”

“Not that. I’m talking about the curses my grandfather had.”

“A curse?”

“You’ve never seen a curse card before, have you?”

“Yes. I didn’t even see him being dragged around by Flick. Not even one.”

“Yes, curses are not common. Even more so on the first floor. There is only one place on the 1st floor where you can collect 20 curses.”

“Oh?”

“It is a place called Corridor of Death. And you can get a unique grade card there?”

I told Tilda about the [Dance of the Reaper], And she nodded her head with a dazed expression.

“Ah… That’s how you figured out Grow’s card.”

“And what that bastard persistently talked to was the [Deceptive Communication] Combo. You can fill your hand just by talking. If it wasn’t for that, I would have attacked as soon as the battle started.”

“Wow… Did you even think about that just by looking at the curse card? But that doesn’t explain Grow’s death.”

“You showed me the deck. Think again.”

“Uh, okay. Don’t tell me, I’ll find out!”

Tilda looked at the deck tilting her head for a moment, then she suddenly gasped and looked at me.

His mouth is twisted, and he looks shocked.

“Chef, you brought the curse card from that old man!?”

“Correct answer. The way to attack Grow is rainbow reflection.”

As Tilda said, I took two curse cards from my grandfather’s deck.

One is the one that killed Grow.

[Iron Maiden’s Curse/Curse Card: You take 1 damage each time you draw this card during battle. When used, gain 20 Recall and reflect the enemy’s next attack. Can only be used once per battle. ★]

And the other one is this.

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[Curse of Nosferatu/Curse Card: Gain 1 Bleed while this card is in hand. Takes 5 damage when used and gains 3 Strength for this battle. ★]

“No, the chef is crazy!? Fireball and Meditation are great cards! How can you throw it away and pick a curse!”

Why?

It’s quite an old person, but how do you pick up the card that the newbie sent as a trap?

I’d rather die.

Of course, if you pick up a curse, your deck will be irreversibly twisted.

It’s okay for this episode.

No, I’d rather have a house to my heart’s content.

The build I’m going to use this time around is the curse build!

There is no build like that in reality, but I’d like to try making a new one from now on.