The Late Cook Ascends the Tower - Chapter 51



51 – Episode 51. Something more valuable than training

TOE seems simple, but it is a complex game.

Since it is a game with real-time turn-based combat using penalty time, card system, and action added, there are more than hundreds of types of job skills.

It’s not enough to hold a special lecture for a week to teach that to Tilda and Dana.

Even though they only teach the basics now, the training continued until sundown.

There is no time to rest after training is over.

Now it’s time for practice.

“The entrance is over there. It will come out on the opposite side of the road.”

“Chef, I heard there are over 30 dungeons on the second floor? Since we can recover, can’t we all stop by?”

“If I say yes, do you really want to go?”

“hehehe… I was just asking. Pure curiosity!”

From the look on Tilda’s face, it seemed that I had asked in advance because I was afraid I would do it for real.

But even if I wanted to, I couldn’t.

TOE’s system is designed to push climbers upward no matter how hard they try to stay in one place.

That’s the same even if you have the ability to reverse the tower.

Even if you reverse the tower several times on the 1st floor, you only get one reward.

Retrogression is only effective when you re-gain rewards you missed, collect japtem, or interact with other climbers.

The same goes for the second floor.

There is a fixed number of times you can enter the dungeon here.

“Depending on the dungeon size and difficulty, the number of dungeons you can go to is fixed. If you only go to weak dungeons, you can enter up to six, and the strongest type only takes two.”

“What happens when you fill in all the numbers?”

“I am forced to go to the third floor. Even if you go backwards and return to the second floor, you can’t enter the dungeon.”

“Then, since we are on our way to the Sen dungeon, it takes only two turns to reach the third floor, right?”

Tilda seemed happy about that.

I have to go into the dungeon because I want to become stronger, but the thought of entering it six times is terrifying.

But we don’t go around the dungeon twice.

“Goblin Nest is a special dungeon, so you will come to the 3rd floor as soon as you clear it.”

“Yes? It’s over in one go? That… Sounds like twice as hard as the hardest dungeon? Isn’t it?”

“More than that.”

Then, the blood disappeared from Tilda’s face, which had been flushed red from training.

“Don’t be afraid of monsters. It’s only on the second floor now.”

Simply in terms of combat power, it wasn’t up to 2x, but Goblin Nest was definitely a difficult dungeon.

While other dungeons on the second floor feature strong monsters such as bears and trolls, the goblins in Goblin Nest are intelligent.

In game, it was just cheating or reacting to end-of-turn penalties, but how clever it must have been in the real world.

Nevertheless, we must break through the Goblin Nest.

Because this world is not a solo game like TOE.

What I’m worried about right now is not monsters or dungeons, but other players climbing towers like us.

The second floor is like a highway.

Anyone can break through if they put their mind to it.

So I can’t see the players right now, but it’s obvious that there are a lot of people on the 3rd floor as we passed the 2nd floor quickly.

Even though other players may be warriors or wizards familiar with combat before coming into this world.

We’re a party of cooks, porters, and villagers who’ve never been out of town in their lives.

From now on, either learn how to fight other players, or get the power to overwhelm them.

If it’s not one of the two, you’re bound to be swayed by the other players.

And I intend to get both.

Now Dana, who is the strongest in the world based on the 2nd floor, has entered our party, and I can fill in the fighting method.

If Dana and Tilda overcome the Goblin Nest, they will both get it.

Continuing to walk in the opposite direction of the road, a rocky cliff appeared at the end of the plain.

There are no roads anymore, and the cliffs are not as high as the rocks of yesterday to climb.

At that time, Dana put her chin on my shoulder and asked.

“Dohyeon, you are lost.”

“Somebody want to wear my shoulder. And it came right This is the right entrance.”

“Really? I can’t see anything.”

“There you are. Your own handle.”

“A handle?”

“Where are you? Where is the entrance?”

I dragged them to the cliff.

There is still no such thing as a door, but if you look closely you can see a faint gray circle drawn in the middle of the cliff.

This is the entrance to the Goblin Nest.

A gimmick discovered on the first day of the game’s release, but left unattended for half a year.

Unlike TOE’s many other secret devices, this entrance was not prevented from not knowing how to open it.

I just didn’t deserve to open.

[Inflict 10 or more damage with 1 normal [Attack] Card,]

This was the qualification to enter the Goblin Nest.

In order to achieve this condition without the help of other buff cards, you must take a job that specializes in combat even after sweeping all artifacts with strength.

As far as the odds are concerned, it’s so slim that even I was the last one to go in a year ago.

Currently, it can be combined with one party member.

“Dana. Circle the basic attack card.”

“Does the door open when you hit it?”

“Yes, but only you can do it.”

“Really? That means you can eat twice as much today!”

“You guys didn’t do that at first, so why are you getting more and more obsessed with eating…”

“Because you keep giving me delicious food. Then I’ll hit it!”

I don’t even need to wear a weapon.

Dana put on her gauntlet and twitched her shoulders like someone who had never used a fist before.

“Yaaa!!”

And with an incredibly cute spirit…

Kwaang-!!

The cliff was shattered into dozens of boulders.

Fragments of rocks and stones fly to the sky and to the ground.

When a thick cloud of dust engulfs the party, and the dust is gone.

Still, there is a door.

『The entrance to the Goblin Nest has been opened.』

“Can I do it this way?”

“Uh… Yes. Good job.”

Originally, the cliff wasn’t broken, but the hidden revolving door turned…

Is this what happens when you put damage that exceeds the conditions…

Anyway… I hope it opens.

Supper should really be doubled.

“Let’s go in.”

**

[2Nd Floor Peaceful Field/Goblin Nest Dungeon Area 1.]

The structure of the dungeon is no different from the game.

As you break through the goblin dens connected like ant burrows one by one, cut off the goblin chasers that occasionally return from behind and the scouts who periodically tour the tunnels.

So there is no time to rest even after the fight is over.

“It’s time, get up. Now there will be patrols coming from the front. The composition is the same as before, one archer and two fighters.”

“I think I’ve got a sense of it now. Please take care of the avant-garde!”

I’ve already fought three battles with goblin hordes, and the results were completely different from what I expected.

Even if Tilda’s assassination mission was done so well, it’s less than expected.

The surprise was Dana.

“…”

No matter what she usually does, she was always friendly.

As soon as he entered the battle, his expression immediately disappeared.

Her eyes are strange.

She doesn’t feel any guilt, embarrassment, or awkwardness from the battle, and looks straight ahead with her eyes, which only feel the intent to kill.

A goblin warrior appeared from the crypt ahead.

When they were not even aware of us because they were chatting with each other, Dana silently ran towards them.

Tadadadadak-!

Kyaha! Kkeek!

When the goblin finds Dana, he panics and stabs her bone spear in front of her.

Kang!

[Forgotten Sword Master’s Gauntlet/Rare]

– When using an offensive combat card, you get 5 shields.

– When the attack hits, the shield disappears.

The bone spear is uselessly blocked by the gauntlet’s automatically generated shield.

f*ck-!

At the same time, another fighter next to him was punched and pinned to the wall.

Kuhek!

Corn and blood ooze from his mouth.

But now the attack is just a means to activate the effect of the gauntlet.

Dana immediately ran further inside, ignoring the other fighters remaining.

There is an archer behind the warrior.

The arrow is caught on the string, and the tip of the arrow is already pointing at Dana.

Between two goblin fighters and an archer ready to attack.

Dana stopped her steps and caught her breath briefly.

Like buying an archer time to aim.

hehehehe!

Twoong-!

In that short amount of time until the arrow left the demonstration and hit Dana.

This time, there was an insanity-like shout that wasn’t cute at all.

“aaa!”

And then Dana’s fists shot up into the sky for a moment.

I immediately crashed to the ground.

Goblin fighters and archers, and beyond them, the vast expanse of land is shattered.

Kwaang-!

Screams in the language of monsters, dirty cries.

Goblins are scattered through the fragmented land like a spider’s web.

It was a minefield.

[Minequake/Battle Card: Slams the ground, dealing 3 damage to enemies within a circular range and binding them for 2 seconds. The range increases by 50 cm for each strength level. Once the turn ends, it cannot be used in this battle. ★★]

If you add Dana’s strength value to the basic range of 1 meter, the minefield’s range is a whopping 8m in diameter. Damage is close to 9.

Is there a party within the 10th floor that can handle this range?

And the arrows shot by the archers were blocked by the shield created by the minefield and rolled on the floor.

Minemines are instant attacks, so the shield generation time could be 0.2 Seconds or not… To block arrows with that short timing…

As far as combat goes, Dana was just perfect.

Not only the orders I gave, but also make accurate judgments in all situations.

Even so, when a situation came in which they had no choice but to be attacked, they waited for the attack with an expressionless expression without fear.

It is ideal for TOE, but Dana had a boldness that Tilda, Flick, and even Grow did not have.

Maybe it’s more like anger than boldness.

She has been waiting for people from the village to return, and the monsters in the tower are preventing them from returning.

Her anger accumulated over hundreds of years may have turned her into her weapon.

Looking at the goblins squirming on the floor, I suddenly had a different idea.

We are steadily preparing to fight other climbers…

On the contrary, are those people well prepared?

If you get hit properly by Dana, it’s going to hurt three times more than her damage.

Well, it’s because I’m not right.

And as the mine’s restraint time ends, the goblin archer tries to raise her body.

Sureung…!

Puck…!

With the sound of the blade cutting through the wind, the archer’s neck soared into the sky.

This time it was Tilda.

“Did you see my sister!? Chef, did you see this!”

I was going to be satisfied with breaking through just two rooms today.

Anyway, it seems that our party is ready to go to the third floor.