The 31st Piece Turns the Tables
chapter-115

Somi felt like she was dreaming. It felt like a completely ridiculous dream.

‘Seol oppa… was that transferee?’

Kongory and Nobira.

Those two cities were located somewhere between the north and central areas of the Nevenia Kingdom.

And an incredibly famous person lives there.

A person only known as ‘Private’.

A transferee who kept all of their information and achievements hidden from others’ eyes.

However, roughly 90% of the transferees in this area were already interested in him.

It was because of the ranking system.

‘I heard… they had close to 3 million points.’

It was widely known that their Adventurer Points were nearing 3 million, a total that required an entire raid party of transferees to even attempt rivaling.

That was the case.

Private was a one-man army.

‘How did they amass so many points?’

The transferees Somi met so far also had considerably high Adventurer Points.

Because transferees shared information with each other regarding Adventures and Rests, everyone knew about almost everything.

Everyone was similar, having gone through similar experiences and embarking on similarly difficult Adventures.

After collecting all of the information, Somi arrived at one conclusion. No one could come close to Private if they continued going on regular Adventures.

‘I thought… they had to have cheated the system or something…’

One would naturally arrive at that conclusion.

Would the strange one be the one with an insurmountable point gap from others, or would it be the ordinary people who have points similar to each other?

Obviously, the strange one would be the exceptional person.

After all, everything in Pandea strangely happened in a routine and timely manner.

Unless you did something special, you would only be given a normal Adventure of a normal difficulty.

‘Like it’s all a game.’

Since there were phrases about the dice rolling from time to time, her theories were likely not too far off either.

‘But this… is practically cheating…’

If this was a game, Seol would be a player who abused the bugs.

That was the only explanation for it.

“Haha! It’s over!”

Flare…

Turiax tried blocking the attack by giving his arm, but Karen had a Peerless-quality weapon that still allowed her to deal damage even if her target blocked.

Slaaaaash!

Kuaaaaaaargh!

Slice!

After that, Karen’s swift swordplay made a clear sound ring out as the ogre’s head fell to the floor with a thud.

Thud.

The head must have been quite heavy as well. The sound it made was loud.

“Fuuu… this one’s taken care of!”

Karen sighed as if she had finished an annoying assignment.

Even though this was surprising enough, Somi was more surprised by the black knight who suddenly appeared from Seol’s hands.

Gloooooow!

Fwoooooosh!

The knight released an immense amount of blue aura before cutting down the ogre in front of him through his bones.

What was an ogre to them?

It was a large monster that was extremely difficult to take down, even with a party, unless you were a high-level Adventurer.

The ogres had a somewhat high level of intelligence that made them more challenging to face than beasts.

However, the knights in front of her had taken down one each.

Somi only realized this now, but the knights in front of her weren’t human.

‘Shadows…’

They were shadows.

The cloudy black energy flowing from them proved her hunch was right.

The transferee used shadows.

The transferee was overwhelmingly strong, even on their own.

- Can I still take you up on that welcoming party?

Somi thought to herself, recalling Seol words.

“Ah! It’s dangerous!” shouted Somi.

However, what she saw now was no longer Seol. It was a black, murky being that was facing an ogre on their own.

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

[You enter the Night Crow form with Shaman ‘Jamad, the Volcanic’.]

[You absorb Jamad, the Volcanic’s stats.]

[Your class is changed to Fighter.]

Fwiiiirl!

During that dangerous moment, Seol was engulfed by shadows in an instant and confronted Toria’s fist with his own.

Thuuuuud!

Seol was knocked back alongside a thunderous boom.

Flip!

Even so, Seol landed safely with his skills, not taking any damage from the impact.

[[Toria, the Quiet]

Rank: Rare

Estimated Level: 20~25

Forest Ogres have higher intelligence compared to other ogres.

Not only can they use simple tools, but those tools become threatening weapons in their hands against humans.

Unlike the other Forest Ogres, Toria did not fully grow. However, not a single individual looked down on Toria because of it. This was because Toria had honed a different skill set.

Despite his massive size, which was characteristic of ogres, Toria was capable of moving very quietly and stealthily. He possesses a strong sense of camaraderie, and he is at his most frightening when his allies die in battle.

Basic Skills: [Tiptoe 2], [Hold Breath 2], [Veilstrike 1], [Sweep 3], [Passive: Ogre's Hide 3], [Passive: Ignore Pain], [Passive: Sharp Senses], [Passive: Nimble Maneuvers]

Unique Skills: [Comradery 1], [Wind Hole 2]]

As Seol was being attacked, the other battles had concluded.

Slice!

Burn…

[You have defeated Turiax, the Bone Lover.]

[You have been given an additional reward.]

Gloooow…

Slaaaash!

[You have defeated Guliam, the Forest Predator.]

[You have been given an additional reward.]

The only ogre left was Toria, the ogre that Seol was fighting.

Seol’s shadow opened its mouth.

“You’ve got a good opponent there, Seol.”

“Jamad?”

“Concentrate. I want you to take control of your body from this point on.”

In that instant, Seol’s body felt incredibly free.

At the same time, he felt an incredible amount of power surge from within him.

Seol clenched his teeth, feeling more and more powerful.

“He’s pretty agile for his size. It’s practically perfect for your first opponent.”

“Wouldn’t it be difficult for me, though? I haven’t fought since elementary school.”

“...So you’ve grown up in a different environment than me. For me, living itself was a battle.”

“So, you’re sure I can do this?”

“I’ll ingrain that sensation into your body, so I want you to feel it yourself.”

As Jamad and Seol continued their conversation, Toria’s eyes started glowing red.

Kuaaaaaaaargh!

[Toria has witnessed Turiax’s death.]

[Toria’s Unique Skill: Comradery activates.]

[Toria’s stats are increased by 20%.]

[Toria has witnessed Guliam’s death.]

[Toria’s Unique Skill: Comradery activates.]

[Toria’s stats are increased by 20%.]

Toria’s ominous aura was multiple times stronger than before.

Seol could sense his horrifying bloodlust.

Seo heard Jamad’s voice once more.

However, the voice was much clearer this time. It was almost like Jamad was speaking directly into his head.

- We’ll just think of it as a crash course in fighting.

“God damn it…”

[Toria used Hold Breath.]

[Toria no longer makes a sound.]

[Toria used Tiptoe.]

[Toria no longer makes a presence.]

The large ogre had suddenly disappeared.

- Concentrate, unless you want your head to go flying.

“Need help?” shouted Karen from afar.

Seol didn’t reply.

Taking this as a sign that he didn’t want help, Karen shrugged and then walked to Somi’s party, with Karuna doing the same.

They did so in case Toria tried to aim for Somi’s party instead of Seol.

Seol didn’t pay attention to them at all and solely focused on himself.

Jamad scolded Seol after seeing his awkward stance.

- Widen your stance. Good movements start from the feet.

Slide…

As Seol was inching his feet apart and correcting his position…

Fwoosh!

[Toria releases Tiptoe.]

[Toria releases Hold Breath.]

[Toria is exhausted.]

[Toria’s damage is reduced by 30% for 5 seconds.]

Toria jumped out and tried grabbing Seol with both hands.

“Krgh…”

Hmph!

Seol leaped up into the sky, barely avoiding the attack.

- Refrain from being in the air. Only those with wings can move freely in the air.

“I know! I know, but…”

Fwooosh!

Toria swung his elbow at the still mid-air Seol.

“Hrgh…”

Spin…

Seol overexerted himself, twisting his body in the air, narrowly avoiding the second attack.

- When are you going to attack, then?

“Haah… This definitely isn’t as easy as you said it was…”

- Your lower body is weak. You might have received some of my powers, but your basic abilities are…

“Mind telling me something useful now?”

Krrrrrrgh…

[Toria used Sweep.]

[Toria’s attack radius is a bit larger now.]

- Advice that’s useful now? You should have told me earlier. Alright, since this is a crash course anyway, teaching you the fundamentals later wouldn’t be too late.

[Toria used Hold Breath.]

[Toria no longer makes a sound.]

[Toria used Tiptoe.]

[Toria no longer makes a presence.]

Hide…

Toria vanished once more.

Seol doubted if he could dodge it this time as well.

- There’s a traditional Rock Molar Tribe dish made from wild animals.

“...This is your advice?”

- Just keep listening. My voice is going straight to your head anyway, so it’s not like you wouldn’t be able to hear me just because you’re concentrating.

Fwoosh!

[Toria releases Tiptoe.]

[Toria releases Hold Breath.]

[Toria is exhausted.]

[Toria’s damage is reduced by 30% for 5 seconds.]

Toria appeared once more.

Cruuuuush!

This time, his attacks swept through the trees as well.

The fact that Toria was capable of this only proved how high an ogre’s strength was.

‘I can’t let him land even a single attack on me!’

- It’s a dish named Noori, and it uses a particularly unique pepper for the seasoning. Do you know what’s interesting about that dish, though?

“......”

- Since you’ll be listening anyway, you don’t need to respond. The wild animals we used to create Noori all had an awful gamey smell. Since we used goral, boars, roe deers, and rabbits, it was inevitable. However, even though we used different types of meat each time we made Noori, the taste didn’t change too much. Not only that, the foul, gamey smell had disappeared entirely. Why do you think that happened?

Slaaaam!

“Urgh… I feel like… I can almost see him now…”

- The key was the seasoning, and Noori’s taste mostly came from it. And in my eyes, you’re a wild animal. You’re lousy, and you have an awful gamey smell.

Kuaaaaargh!

[Toria’s Unique Skill: Wind Hole activates.]

[Any attacks made using Toria’s body will now create a hole.]

Crush!

Toria’s fists missed Seol and landed on a tree. The tree not only had a fist print imprinted on it but also a hole.

“That’s a bullet… not a punch…”

- But it’s fine. After all, the great Jamad’s combat experience is the greatest seasoning in the world.

“To the point! He’s about to turn me into a donut!”

- What I felt last time when I used your body was that your movements were faintly imprinted into it. Still, they were so poor that I made your body forget it in an instant.

“Then that means…”

Fwoooosh!

Cruuuush!

Seol was still only dodging.

However, his movements were slowly improving.

- Some of my movements are still imprinted into your body. I want you to use my combat experience to get rid of your lousy movements.

“You should’ve said this from the start!”

Seol found a path to break through and took it to avoid Toria’s attacks.

‘And from here…’

Fwip!

Kuaaaargh!

Toria screamed in anger as he kept missing his target.

Seol nodded to himself after escaping Toria’s grasp.

‘Jamad was right.’

Jamad’s instincts remained in Seol’s body. He was just too tense to properly use it.

The Seol now, who had realized this, was a completely different person from before.

To the point that this training was practically pointless.

Kuaaaargh!

Toria pulled back his right arm before releasing another punch at the standing Seol.

It was clearly a powerful attack, but it was filled with openings.

- Do you see it?

Jamad was referring to the huge openings in Toria’s movements.

However, Seol had already been running into Toria’s attack before Jamad had explained it to him.

- Get in there. Get in there if you’re not a coward.

“Obviously…”

Fwip!

Seol was right in front of Toria’s chest.

“I’m not!”

However, something unexpected happened as it was Seol’s first time attacking.

‘Is this enough?’

A question formed in Seol’s head. Would Toria really be defeated by just a simple punch?

Jamad, catching that, gave Seol the answer.

- Rather, it might be too much.

[You have changed to the Volcano Stance.]

[All attacks will spread flames.]

[An explosion will occur at the impact point of each attack.]

[Passive: Moving Flames is applied.]

[Passive: Heat and Warmth is applied.]

Seol focused on his movements so much that he had forgotten to change into the Volcano Stance. And for that reason, Jamad tuned the fine movements.

But that wasn’t the only thing that happened.

Shadow Hand swelled up out of Seol’s right arm. It was a completely different feeling than before.

Rumble!!!

Seol could feel that he had used the entirety of his mana.

It was Jamad’s work.

“You idiot! Then that means after this…”

[Shadow Hand is influenced by Passive: Moving Flames.]

[Shadow Hand is influenced by Passive: Heat and Warmth.]

[Master of Shadows’s Bonus Effect activates.]

[You create a new skill.]

‘...What?’

Seol’s arm grew until it was even bigger than Seol’s body. Not only that, he swung that massive arm effortlessly.

Fwooooosh!

The attack landed perfectly on Toria’s jaw. And in that moment, Seol realized.

- There is no, ‘after this,’ when I do something.

It was something Seol didn’t even need to worry about.

BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!

CRUUUUUUUUUUSH!

CRUUUUUSH!

CRUSH…

Crush…

Seol had blown off Toria’s head with his massive fist. The decapitated head flew off and pummeled through several trees before finally stopping.

[You have defeated Toria, the Quiet.]

[You have been given an additional reward.]

[You have successfully cleared the Sudden Adventure.]

[You have earned the achievement 'D-Don't Panic'.]

[You have earned the title 'Problem Solver'.]

[If the Remaining Time runs out or if you choose to take your reward, you may choose to finish your Adventure here.]

Seol saw a lot of messages on his interface.

[Awakening! You awaken a new skill.]

[You awaken Night Crow: Iron Fist Rule.]

[Night Crow: Iron Fist Rule is born!]