Acquiring Talent in a Dungeon

[Current Balance: 39/256]

The leeches had enzymes to prevent the clotting of blood. Blood constantly poured from the holes caused by the hairs. I moved my limbs and exited the stomach of the dead leech. The blood stopped flowing once the leech died, but the hairs were still stiff and weighed me down.

Puk!

Cold air touched my outstretched hands. My fingers touched the end of a stair. Lucky. In fact, I had been worried about the leech falling off the stairs. I took out my other arm, head, torso and legs and stepped on the stairs. I wiped off the sticky blood and mucus covering my eyes.

The first thing I saw was Yang Su-jin’s head. Her neck hadn’t grown yet, so it was just her head as she watched me with wide eyes. Her mouth that didn’t have a voice, urgently mouthed something.

’Front.’

I immediately formed a X with my arms. A kick from the front hit my guard.

[Bleeding - Anemia. Health will decrease by 9 every minute.]

[Current Balance: 19/256]

I was pushed back from the shock, but the carcass of the leech on the stairs became a cushion so I didn’t receive any damage. I lowered my guard and looked at Kwak Yu-han.

"..." He was looking at me with shock.

Don’t make such an expression. If he was trying to kill someone, don’t make a face that says ‘I didn’t want to betray you.’ I’d rather accept an apology by eating him.

"Hup!" Kwak Yu-han became fired up and his arms swelled up like a gorilla. This was a technique. The attack started straight away. I wasn’t even given time to drink a potion.

Despite his arms becoming swollen, his speed didn’t seem to slow down at all as it moved through the air with a hissing sound. It was impossible for me to avoid it since the leech carcass was under my feet.

I read the trajectory of the arm flying towards me and caught it. It looked like both hands were clasped together. In a flash, the battle turned into a contest of power.

[Muscle strength: 15]

Indeed, he was strong. It was a tight situation even with the strength obtained from Kim Ha-jong and amplified by Limiter Release. Kwak Yu-han’s arm started to twitch. It was obvious that he couldn’t maintain this technique for long.

Originally, I would hold on until the time ran out but...

“...” Kwak Yu-han quickly glanced at the top of my head. It was at my HP Bar that was still dwindling.

[Bleeding - Anemia. Health will decrease by 9 every minute.]

[Current Balance: 12/256]

This was a limitation for me so I had to make a decision. “... I’m sorry.” He said those words. I immediately kicked his side.

Peok!

His body shook and the HP Bar decreased slightly. However, Kwak Yu-han stayed upright. He was able to withstand it. I repeated the kicks. One hit. Two hits. Three hits. After the fourth time, Kwak Yu-han’s eyes finally shook. It wasn’t because of the impact. He had finally noticed.

Something was increasing ‘quickly.’

"Are you still sorry?” I asked.

“...?”

[A bleeding state. Health will decrease by 9 every minute.]

[Current Balance: 32/256]

He shook due to the confusion. Thanks to this, I was able to kick his chin. Naturally, it reduced the HP by a lot more than kicking his side.

[Blood has been sucked according to the damage. 21 health has been recovered.]

I was receiving more health.

[Essence - Shadow Leech.]

[Absorbs 30% of the damage done to the opponent as HP.]

[Increases the amount of health reduced by ‘bleeding’ by 50%. Bleeding duration and difficulty will increase by 100%.]

[The command ‘Darkness Cloud’ consumes five health per second, allowing you to cover your field of view with a darkness that only you can see in.]

[50% increase to bleeding damage.]

[Once HP is below 20%, you will become ‘anemic’ and all stats will reduce by 15%, in addition to the symptoms caused by a lack of blood.]

"There is a shortage of blood.” Kwak Yu-han stared at me with innocent and confused eyes. I raised my chin one more time. As he stared at me wide-eyed, the power in his arms was released.

"I’m sorry.” I indifferently returned the apology that I received before.

Peok!Bam bam bam!

I punched his belly multiple times and he staggered. Kwak Yu-han’s health fell to the bottom. Thanks to Blood-sucking, I recovered a lot of HP and was able to recover from the jaws of death.

[Cartography. Lv 5 -> Lv 6. Related abilities have increased.]

[Pain Tolerance. Lv 6 -> Lv 7. Related abilities have increased.]

[Grappling. Lv 1 -> Lv 5. Related abilities have increased.]

[Murder. Lv 5 -> Lv 6. Related abilities have increased.]

[Punching Lv 6. Level unchanged.]

[Compulsion. Lv 4. Level unchanged.]

[Spatial perception has exceeded its limit.]

[Spatial perception: 11]

[Concentration has exceeded its limit.]

[Concentration: 13]

[Muscle strength has exceeded its limit.]

[Muscle strength: 14]

[Sense of balance has exceeded its limit.]

[Sense of balance: 11]

I pulled a medicine bottle from my inventory and drank it. I looked at the top of the stairs. The three low ranking men and women were there.

“... Sob.” There was a small cry. It was Yoon Ji-hee. She was being strangled when I emerged. The other two were already breathless.

“Hey.”

“Hi... Hik.” She closed her eyes and reacted as I stretched out a hand to her.

"Hey, it’s me."

“Kyak!”

... Indeed, it was natural that she wouldn’t feel relieved. My whole body was scarred and covered in blood and saliva. However, there was no time to let her intimidation die down. I grabbed Yoon Ji-hee’s arm and dragged her up.

"I-It hurts.”

“If it hurts then stop blubbering and stand on your own.” I turned back towards the bottom of the stairs.

Before I knew it, Yang Su-jin’s upper body had been restored. She was turned towards this side and her eyes were asking ‘is it over?’

"Are you shy now?”

“... What are you...? Don’t look as much as you can. I am going to take off my clothes.”

Then I turned her head without touching her neck. I quickly stripped off my clothes. If I thought about it, Yang Su-jin’s body was covered but she was essentially naked. I didn’t know if it was funny or creepy.

If I acted in this situation then I would be a real pervert. By the time I finished changing clothes, most of Yang Su-jin’s body had regenerated.

"That is fast.”

"I can slow down my regeneration rate. I was in a decapitated state so there was no point in regenerating right away.”

“... You should have regenerated when being stabbed earlier.”

“Ah, I held my hand to be chest and still pretended to be hurt. Aren’t I a genius?” Was she really calling herself a genius?

“That... Excuse me...” Yoon Ji-hee approached me.

"That, can I go down first?” The darkness of the leeches was lifted and they could see the peak that the staircase led to. The staircase to the seventh floor leading down from the peak was there.

“What about the deal?”

“That... Please tell me later... I can’t stay here anymore...” She showed a nauseous expression at the end of her words. There were dead bodies, blood and mucus strewn all over the place. I winced and nodded.

"Then go down first and headed to the student union dining room tomorrow afternoon. 1 p.m. If you don’t, I will kill you on the seventh floor.”

“I-I’ll come. I will definitely come.” She ran down the stairs as soon as she received permission. She gave a small scream as she stepped on the carcass of a leech and Yang Su-jin shook her head with disbelief.

"Why is she still alive?”

"There is a reason.”

"I heard you talking as you came down... Is she the daughter of a wealthy house?” She was sharp.

"You heard that?”

"I was listening. Well... It is because I care.”

“...” I got goose bumps.

"If she doesn’t give big money directly then... No, isn’t it better to just kill her? I think that she will just be a burden.” Yang Su-jin made a grumpy expression.

"When I was in the decapitated state, I looked at the weak people... They didn’t even think of resisting. That woman will 100% be a cancer, a cancer.”

"You might really get cancer as karma.”

"Fine, then she is a sweet potato?” Yoon Ji-hee had disappeared down the staircase heading to the seventh floor. The stairs were still falling down so we should head down quickly... I searched through the corpse of the leech.

"What are you looking for?”

“...” I found what I was looking for in the lower part of the body. I approached it and wielded my sword with all my strength. The firm, hard skin was torn and the thing inside was revealed.

“...” I could hear Yang Su-jin sucking in a deep breath. Despite being beheaded, she was still capable of being shocked. Yoo Su-jeong was almost like a living corpse. Her eyes were staring blankly into the air and were discoloured like the pigment had been sucked out of it.

“...Ah...”

“Euh. Finish it quickly. I feel bad.” Yang Su-jin spoke quickly as she gazed at Yoo Su-jeong. I grabbed Yang Su-jin’s wrist.

"Why? Just start eating. First...”

"You eat her.” Yang Su-jin’s eyes widened. Just like last time when she received the essence of the goblins, she made a face like she couldn’t believe it..

“You are giving her to me? Really?”

"Didn’t you say it? She is cancer.” In order to continue the partnership in the future, Yang Su-jin should have more capabilities. There was no guarantee that she wouldn’t be separated from me in between. Even though her method was brutal, Yoo Su-jeong was the ‘woman’ who reached the third rank. It seemed appropriate to have Yang Su-jin eat her talents.

Well, she also helped and in the meantime, I wanted to continue making a good impression on her.

"Oh yes!" Yang Su-jin cheered and pulled out a bottle from the inventory. She looked back to see how long she had until the stairs would collapse and poured the bottle on Yoo Su-jeong’s face.

“Ah... Euhhhhhhh!!!!” An incredible scream emerged.

"I don’t remember that. Is it poison?”

"Nope. This is vinegar.” Indeed, the smell was familiar.

"It looks like it hurts a lot... Oh, are you wondering why I am enjoying this? It is payback for stabbing me twice with the knife earlier.”

"I see.” Well, as long as I wasn’t the one receiving it... I waited silently.

“The stairs are almost collapsed.”

“Yep.” Yang Su-jin threw the empty bottle of vinegar away and kicked Yoo Su-jeong. Yoo Su-jeong’s two daggers and some coins fell just as the staircase was about to collapse. It was a close call, but we arrived at the peak.

[6th floor clear.]