The 31st Piece Turns the Tables
chapter-13

As the force which rivaled Avalanche hit the mountaintop, the mad trolls scattered throughout the mountains in a mess.

Even though madness was being pulled out of them through the potion, their primal sense of fear still remained.

Sliide.

Seol’s face quickly changed from hope to despair.

After the dust had settled, Karuna and Jamad were both still standing. Tattered, exhausted, but still standing.

Did their massive skills really end in a draw?

Seol couldn’t accept it.

A draw was essentially the same as a loss.

‘Damn it… huh?’

But something was off.

The two weren’t moving at all. They were just staring at each other.

Seol only realized what was happening once Jamad spoke to him.

“Demon… no, Shadow Summoner.”

Raise.

Jamad turned his back on the glowing Karuna to face Seol.

There was a line carved deep into Jamad’s chest. It was clear that he was going to die.

And he left his final words.

“Cough… C-Collect me. I… I! I cannot perish here! I have something… something I must…”

Thud!

In the end, the moon was able to carve out the massive mountain.

Jamad fell flat on his face and withered away into the moonlight.

A few moments later, Seol received countless system messages.

[Jamad, the Mountain Shaman, holds a grudge toward Snowman.]

[Snowman is afflicted with a skin disease.]

[All stats will be decreased by 30% for a week.]

[All five brothers of the Rock Molar Tribe have died.]

[All grudges on Snowman have been dispelled.]

[You have defeated Jamad, the Mountain Shaman.]

[Your rewards have improved.]

[‘Rock Molar Treasure’ has improved to ‘Rock Molar Divine Relic’.]

[You have defeated the Five Brothers of the Pointy Mountains.]

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

The ones that came up so far were the messages Seol was expecting.

[You have earned the achievement ‘Five Unfriendly Brothers’.]

[You have earned the title ‘Demon of Early Mornings’.]

[You have earned the achievement ‘Family Feud’.]

[You have earned the title ‘Instigator’.]

[You have earned the achievement ‘I Can Do Well Alone’.]

[You have earned the title ‘Solo’.]

There were a lot of messages to handle.

What Seol didn’t know was that there were also other messages cheering for him.

[‘InTheFuture’ has donated 200 Madness!]

[Mom, when I grow up, I’ll be like Snowman! Mom, when I grow up, I’ll be like Snowman! Mom, when I grow up, I’ll be like Snowman!]

- I’ll take you in as the strongest lump of steel(Formerly Jamad)!

- Fuck! How could he make me, the indomitable man that is Oh Myeontae, cry like this… Snowman… who are you!!!

- Snowman Punch! Snowman Punch! He is a god!

[‘I was so shocked watching you while eating my soup’ has donated 300 Madness!]

[Because the soup was so good.]

- Is this an ad? Huh?! Explain yourself!

- This stream includes a paid promotion.

- Poetic Justice! I enjoyed the stream!

[‘Public reaction right now’ has donated 200 Madness!’]

[Murmur… Whisper… Murmur…]

- Their reactions are as one-dimensional as always.

- Seriously I bet everyone’s going to eventually come to this stream.

- Did this guy really get the best reward?

[‘Snowman flipped over the mountains!’ has donated 100 Madness!’]

[ (╮°-°)╮ ┻━┻ Yeet~~~!! (╯°□°)╯ ┻━┻]

- Urgh… My chest hurts… Because it was beating so much!

- What’s with the emoji lol it’s so cute

- But how was he able to get three titles? sheeesh

Snowman had received three titles from one Adventure.

Even one title in an Adventure would be considered a success but Snowman was able to receive much more than that.

‘So, what are the effects?’

[[Title: Demon of Early Mornings]

Related Achievement: Five Unfriendly Brothers (Adventure: The 5 Good Brothers)

Bonus Effect: From midnight to sunrise, all stats increase by 3%.]

[[Title: Instigator]

Related Achievement: Family Feud (Adventure: The 5 Good Brothers)

Bonus Effect: Charisma slightly increases.]

[[Title: Solo]

Related Achievement: I Can Do Well Alone (Adventure: The 5 Good Brothers)

Bonus Effect: As long as there are no allies within 100m, all stats increase by 3%.]

The titles didn’t have any incredible effects but they were useful in the long run when you’ve built up a lot of them.

Seol had successfully taken his first step.

Now that Seol had finished receiving his titles, he thought that no more messages would come up until he collected the rewards.

But he was mistaken. Change doesn’t only happen to him.

Fssss…

As the Moon’s Stage closed its curtains, Karuna lost his brilliant glow.

However, his exhausted body was still dimly radiating light.

[Great Match! Karuna awakens a new skill.]

[Karuna awakens ‘Passive: Heroism’.]

[Karuna has earned the achievement ‘Mountain Cutter’.]

[Karuna has earned the title ‘The One Who Cut the Mountain].]

[Karuna has gained experience.]

[Karuna’s stats have been unsealed.]

[Your summon can now use 40% of its original strength.]

- That’s insane. Now his summons are growing too?

- That’s supposedly the Shadow Summoner’s unique characteristic. What a strange system…

- What the fuck… 20% was strong enough wouldn’t 40% turn him into Saitama?

- Why the hell are summons getting titles too LMFAOOOO

- Info) The Great Match system rarely if ever triggers since the conditions are so strict.

- Fact) But it activated just now.

Seol quickly confirmed Karuna’s new skills.

First was Heroism.

It was a passive that had the effects of: When the stats of the enemy are 20% or higher than your own, all stats increase by 10%. (Applies to only one enemy at a time.)

‘So it means that it only triggers when they’re considerably stronger than you.’

It was an okay skill.

Since Karuna’s monstrous stats were sealed when he became a summon, these effects were quite efficient.

Next was the title.

[[Title: The One Who Cut the Mountain]

Related Achievement: Mountain Cutter (Adventure: The 5 Good Brothers)

Bonus Effect: Obtain 15% more experience from stronger enemies.]

- Isn’t letting him gain more experience taking it too far???

- At least it’s bonus experience from bosses and not trash lol

- Ah that’s true lol I doubt there’s many more bosses stronger than Karuna right now…

- How scary, Snowman!

Seol let out a sigh after equipping Karuna with the title.

“Fuuu…”

There were only 2 things left to obtain from this Adventure now.

The first was to obviously open the rewards he worked his ass off to acquire and the other was what he was about to do right now.

Shadow Summon.

Seol hesitated for a second in front of Jamad’s corpse. He hesitated because of Jamad’s last words.

- Cough… C-Collect me. I… I! I cannot perish here! I have something… something I must…

Normally, monsters despised becoming a shadow summon.

It wasn’t because they simply preferred not to become one either. It was because they believed the action forcibly pulled them from the peace of death to serve the person who killed them as their master.

But, Jamad asked Seol to collect him.

‘Why?’

What regret did he have?

Seol thought Jamad was an irregular.

Irregulars were the starting points that destroyed the flow of the game board by taking unexpected actions.

And that was what Seol was worried about.

Would collecting an irregular be a blessing or a mistake?

‘No, I don’t have a choice. I have to take Jamad.’

This Adventure could only be called a half-success if Seol didn’t collect Jamad.

Seol pointed his palm toward Jamad and sent his energy.

“Serve me.”

His voice was cold and apathetic.

Fsss…

Wriggle!

Jamad’s muscles writhed.

Just like how Karuna was given a new life back then, Jamad was being reborn as a shadow.

Writhe…

Jamad opened his eyes and stood up.

His entire body was covered in a black shadow.

He looked down at Seol with his now crimson eyes.

“Fuuu…”

Jamad let out a long breath.

[You have successfully summoned Jamad the Tyrant’s shadow.]

[Passing on the skills.]

[Jamad’s shadow has successfully copied Rock Armor.]

[Shadow Summon is very low ranked.]

[You supplement it with your high wisdom stat.]

[Rock Armor has been fully passed on.]

[Jamad’s shadow has successfully copied Earthquake Stance.]

[Shadow Summon is very low ranked.]

[You supplement it with your high wisdom stat.]

[Earthquake Stance has been fully passed on.]

[Your summon maintains only 32% of its original strength.]

Even though the skills had finished passing on, Jamad showed no reactions.

He just continued to stare at Seol.

‘Did something go wrong?’

And just then, Jamad said something.

“Oh demon, I will walk with you.”

Seol’s anxiety faded and he gathered himself once again.

But, Jamad hadn’t finished talking.

“But, I have something left to do.”

“Something left to do?”

Jamad’s condition was something quite simple.

Jamad wanted to collect the corpses of his brothers including Magata.

Magata’s corpse had already been burned to a crisp but Jamad was somehow able to find that as well.

Fwoooo…

[Jamad used shamanic absorption to absorb Magata’s shamanic spells.]

[Your summon can now use 34% of its original strength.]

……

…

Jamad absorbed his brothers’ strength. It was clear that this was not an ordinary power.

Seol confirmed his unique characteristic.

[[Jamad the Tyrant]

Title: N/A

Rank: Heroic

Race: Shadow

Level: 3

HP: 300/300

MP: 200/200

Unallocated Stats: 0

Strength 26 Dexterity 19 Constitution 30

Intelligence 18 Wisdom 20 Spirit 16

Talents: Troll Language, Shamanic Absorption]

‘So it was because of Shamanic Absorption. As expected from an irregular…’

Jamad had a special talent that players couldn’t get themselves.

The description essentially said that it let you steal the powers from a dead shaman.

- That’s fucking cheating!

- But there aren’t a lot of shamans anyway…

- Then it’s just cheating!

- Just cheating!

Jamad gave a bitter smile when he finally reached Kron’s corpse.

“At least our day of death was together.”

Fwooo…

[Jamad used shamanic absorption to absorb Kron’s shamanic spells.]

[Your summon can now use 40% of its original strength.]

“The mountain… will hold you.”

Jamad closed his eyes for a moment before turning around to Seol.

* * *

Translator - goguma

Proofreader - Karane

* * *

“Run away! Jamad is dead! The other brothers are all dead too! Rock Molar is finished!”

“The end! It’s the end!”

“Death still lingers at the summit!”

Rumble Rumble Rumble!

The Rock Molar tribe awoke from their madness and saw what they had done. After they confirmed the deaths of their leaders as well, they started to run away to the outskirts of the village.

[The Pointy Mountains have been freed from the Rock Molar Tribe.]

[Secret Labyrinth ‘Frozen Ruins’ has opened.]

[Secret Labyrinth ‘Moving Sky’ has opened.]

‘A changing world.’

That was also another characteristic of The World of Eternity.

The world continuously changed.

Whenever a player sets an achievement, the world would change accordingly to match it.

The scale that it would change was hard to guess but this was definitely part of the reason why Seol was able to enjoy this game for 17 years. There was no way you could ever get tired of an ever-evolving game.

Just when Seol thought there wouldn’t be any more messages, even more came up.

[Snowman's great achievements have caused changes in the world.]

[Large and small changes happen in Pandea, The World of Eternity.]

[Snowman’s actions of causing the Rock Molar Tribe to disband from the Pointy Mountains is made known to all of Pandea.]

[Snowman’s name echoes from the corners of Pandea.]

[The Gold and Carriage Merchant Association praises Snowman’s achievement.]

[Kongory, the free city, is saved from the Rock Molar Tribe’s danger.]

[Citizens of Kongory will remember Snowman’s name.]

[Earth Dragon Tancreed cannot bear the Rock Molar Tribe’s sad news.]

[Pandea’s power balance braces for change.]

[All players can now select the ‘Pointy Mountains Road Construction’ Adventure from the base.]

[All players can now select the ‘Pointy Mountains Remnant Cleanup’ Adventure from the base.]

[With the increase in fame, all sorts of secret adventures are unlocked. However, you must discover these yourself.]

[You have acquired adventurer points.]

Seol achieved everything he set out to do.

Not only did he clear the Adventure by himself, he was even able to get the best rewards possible.

“Haah…”

Before Seol realized it, it was already noon.

He thought of the cigarettes he quit smoking.

“Finally, it’s the last one.”

- There’s still some left?

- Guys I think I’m going to go crazy!

- Why the hell does more keep coming out >:(

Seol messed with the interface in front of him and suddenly, a box decorated in bones came out.

Click.

Glooooow!

Seol didn’t hesitate to open the box. A bright light made all of the items inside of it shone.

[You open the Rock Molar Divine Relic, the best possible reward.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have received skill points.]

[You have acquired Divine Relic: Mountain Fists.]

[You have acquired Garment of Stone.]

[You have acquired Spirit’s Root.]

[You have acquired 20 medium red potions.]

[You have acquired 8 medium blue potions.]

……

“Mountain Fists!”

- Mountain Fists!

- Mountain Fists?

- That dropped?

- He got that?

[[Divine Relic: Mountain Fists]

Quality: Divine Relic

Recommended Level: N/A

Damage: 43

Durability: 50/50

Weight: 5.0kg x 2

Divine Relic of the Rock Molar Tribe bestowed by Tancreed. Receiving the power of the earth, it awakened to a new level. Because it has a strong frame, it can continue to awaken.

Basic Effect: All stats +3, Core Stats +5

Bonus Effect: MP regeneration per second +5, Destructive power of shamanic spells increases by 50%. Attribute Awakening (Level 1: Mountain)]

- That’s insane!

- That item’s broken! It’s not fair!

- What if you got it though?

- It’s a god game. I would’ve jumped through my ceiling lol

- Stalin: Our items.

Seol gave the Mountain Fists to Jamad.

Click.

[You have equipped Jamad, the Tyrant, with Mountain Fists.]

Jamad swung his fists around a bit but didn’t give much of a reaction other than that.

[[Garment of Stone]

Quality: Rare

Recommended Level: 3 - 10

Defense: 30

Durability: 45/45

Weight: 0.2kg

A sturdy and luxurious garment.

Basic Effect: Wisdom +5, Constitution +1, Spirit +2

Bonus Effect: Constitution increases by 10%. Won’t become dirty.]

‘Not bad.’

Seol took off his shoddy clothes and changed into ‘Garment of Stone’.

With the Full Moon Staff and the Garment of Stone, he looked like a completely different person.

- Why does he look like a high-level player now?

- Don’t get too strong too fast, Snowman!

[[Spirit’s Root]

Rank: Special

Recommended Level: 1 - 5

Weight: 0.1kg

Bonus Effect: Can be consumed in lots of ways. Its effects are unknown.]

- This is way too much…

- Not only the Moon Seed but also this now…

Seol collected the Spirit’s Root.

He was obviously going to cook this before eating it.

‘I really got some good rewards with this.’

And like that the Adventure came to an end and his body was swept up in light before disappearing.

* * *

Bzzzzz

Seol arrived at a new location.

It was filled with people.

People who didn’t look like were native to this place.

The people shouted at each other in caution, almost like they were sent here just now.

“I-Is everyone here Korean?”

“Where am I?”

“Hyein! Hyein! Mommy’s here! Where are you?”

It was rowdy like a marketplace.

But, their cautions were instantly taken away by a single message.

[Next is the Points Leaderboard for Adventure 2. The 5 Good Brothers.]