Chapter 11

Infinite Skill Copying with EX-Grade Interpretation Chapter 11

“Haaah... This fucking sucks. Wanna hit the sauna when this is over?”

“You don’t even know when it’ll end.”

“I don’t know. I just wish it would end soon.”

The two men wearing robes sighed as they stuck cigarettes into their mouths.

Watching the white smoke spread from their lips.

They were passing the momentary boredom with pointless conversation when.

─Rustle.

“What are you two doing?”

At the voice from beside them, both men immediately threw their cigarettes to the ground and stood to greet the senior hunter.

“N-nothing to report. No hunters approached the passage leading down.”

“Of course there wouldn’t be. Ha... Forget it. Keep smoking. Hey, got any more cigarettes?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Give me one, and a light too.”

“Yes!”

When the senior hunter put a cigarette in his mouth, silence returned once again.

No one dared speak first.

Just as they were nervously wondering what they were supposed to do.

─Huff, huff.

“The radio...”

At that moment, the radio began to ring.

“What are you doing? Answer it already.”

“Yes!”

“This is the tenth-floor exit.”

─Hey! Twentieth floor! Get to the twentieth-floor boss room right now! These bastards weren’t going down, they were heading up!

“What?”

─Bring everyone you can, now! Hurry!

The instant the message rang out through the radio, the expressions of the robed hunters changed.

They tightly gripped their weapons and began moving.

“One person stays here. Everyone else follows me. Let’s finally finish these sons of bitches.”

“Yes!”

“Move everyone who can move! Hurry!! If we lose them again, we’re all dead!”

The hunters moved quickly according to the radio message.

Maybe they were all skilled enough to move easily up to the thirtieth floor.

They didn’t seem to struggle much moving from the tenth floor to the twentieth.

Instead, they broke through the floors in an instant, and by the time they reached the boss room mentioned over the radio.

“What the...?”

It was far too quiet.

The ones who had been waiting on other floors had also come up after receiving the radio message, but instead of seeing the Scabbard Guild, only members of their own guild exchanged awkward looks.

─Thud...

“What was that?”

A sound came from somewhere.

Then, after a moment.

─THUD!!

Another massive noise began approaching them.

Having worked as hunters for more than ten years, all of them quickly realized what was causing the sound.

A monster.

And a huge one was approaching.

Among the monsters living on the twentieth floor, the ones capable of making that kind of noise were...

“A Cyclops...? When we came down, it hadn’t even respawned yet.”

─Tat-tat-tat!

“What the hell is that...”

It happened at that moment.

A single person came running toward them through a cloud of dust.

A man wearing a black mask shouted as he ran.

“Run~!! The boss monster escaped!”

Whoosh, the hunters stared in confusion at the man who shot past them and drew their weapons.

The Cyclops seemed far too angry for them to flee.

Since it was charging forward while smashing everything in sight, running away would accomplish nothing.

“Everyone, stop it first! Deal with the Cyclops, then chase them!”

“Wait. That bastard... I don’t think he’s one of ours.”

“You bastard... Huh?”

They turned around as though glaring after the motherfucker who had dragged that damned Cyclops over.

─Whoosh.

But he had vanished like the wind, as though he had never existed in the first place.

While they rubbed their eyes in confusion, wondering if they had imagined him.

“You idiots, look ahead!”

─!!

“Huh...?”

The Cyclops’s enormous club had already reached them.

_____________

“Phew, I thought I was going to get caught.”

I wiped the sweat covering my forehead and caught my breath inside the tunnel.

‘This should’ve cut their manpower by more than half.’

I called them to the twentieth floor using their radio, then dragged the Cyclops over and tied them up for a while.

It would probably take them some time to kill that boss, so they wouldn’t be coming back to the tenth floor anytime soon.

What remained was...

“Here, use my handkerchief to wipe off your sweat.”

“Thanks. How are you two feeling?”

“After drinking one more potion, I can at least hold a sword.”

“So that’s how it is?”

I wiped my sweat with the handkerchief Yuri handed me and continued through the tunnel.

We were heading to the tenth floor.

More specifically, toward the tunnel near the exit of the second passage.

“I was watching, and that was quite spectacular. Dragging a boss monster over and dumping it on someone else.”

“I’ve seen people steal other people’s monsters before, but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen someone give one away.”

Apparently, the two of them also found my bizarre behavior fascinating, because each offered their own thoughts.

Well, how many people would throw rocks at a boss monster to pull its aggro,

then dump it on someone else?

Most would probably get caught and killed beforehand,

or fail to hide and get flattened.

“So what’s the next plan?”

Now that I’d laid the groundwork for the plan I mentioned, Yuri asked about the next step.

Maybe because of what I had just done, she seemed half-excited and half-curious about what I would do next.

Obviously.

“You said you can hold a sword, right?”

“You’re not seriously...”

“We hit them while they’re weakened and break through the exit. Simple, isn’t it?”

Once we broke through the tenth floor, they had no troops below it in the first place.

If we could just get past this cursed section, no one would be left to chase us.

However.

“We still can’t. Those guys are at least second-grade. You want us to fight them in our current condition?”

“Yeonwoo... was it? I don’t know how strong you are, but it’ll be difficult with just the two of us.”

I knew.

Neither of them had much strength left right now.

Of course they were still stronger than me, but compared to their prime, they were severely weakened.

There was obviously a limit to what potions could heal.

“Just trust me. I’ll take care of everything, and all you need to do is come in and slash them up.”

“What exactly are you planning to do...?”

“Think of it as my special trick.”

Right. Their strength alone wasn’t enough.

But.

What if they had my support?

Then it was a different story.

─Creeeak.

I opened the tunnel door and stepped out, then briefly checked the surroundings.

People were blocking the door leading down from the tenth floor.

Since many of them had left, the crowded scene I had seen earlier was gone, and now there were few enough that I could roughly count them on one hand.

‘Then...’

I whispered quietly.

“Shadow Step.”

[Using the skill ‘Shadow Step (A).’]

Hiding myself within the darkness, I quietly approached them.

The hunters were yawning and completely off guard.

Since they had heard the radio call about the twentieth floor, they apparently assumed the situation was almost over and had relaxed considerably.

I approached the ones holding weapons, joking around, and smoking cigarettes, then reached out a hand.

In a voice too quiet for them to hear...

[Using the skill ‘Weakening (B).’]

I placed a curse on them.

“Hmm?”

“What? Hurry up and play your card.”

“No, doesn’t something feel weird?”

“What does? I told you I’d cut off your hand if you tried cheating again.”

“What is it? Something feels...”

Apparently, because of the difference in level, one curse wasn’t enough to have a meaningful effect on them.

But.

What if the curse stacked?

Even that white-suited bastard from before had been reduced to near helplessness after Weakening stacked repeatedly.

This time too.

[Using the skill ‘Weakening (B).’]

“Huh... My hand feels weird.”

“I’m suddenly sleepy. Fuck, is it because I ate earlier?”

“...”

I reached out toward the ones who still hadn’t noticed anything.

[Using the skill ‘Weakening (B).’]

“Fuck, poison? What is this? Hey, everyone get up! Something’s wrong!”

When the third curse hit them.

One hunter with decent instincts shouted, and the other men hurriedly stood up in response.

‘Too late.’

[Using the skill ‘Weakening (B).’]

Four stacks of Weakening.

“Fuck...!”

With this, their strength had dropped to around my level or slightly below.

Taking advantage of the moment, I shouted.

“Now!”

─Tap.

I released my stealth, grabbed the neck of a hunter who had been shouting from behind, and drove my blade into him.

─Stab!

“...!!”

“Revenge, you bastards!”

The first to leap out was the purple-haired daughter, Yuri.

Was this revenge for what they had done to her before?

Her eyes burned as she charged in, swinging her sword and beginning to massacre the weakened hunters.

A sharp blade swept through the air.

Blood sprayed, and body parts flew.

‘Fuck... She’s insanely strong.’

Maybe being weakened by severe injuries didn’t mean her momentum disappeared.

Her sword stance and speed were anything but ordinary.

And was that all?

─Whoosh!

“F-fire!? Aaaaaagh?! Fuuuck!!”

From the staff she held in her other hand, opposite the hand holding her sword, she even fired balls of magical flame... In a way, saying that a small-scale disaster was rampaging around seemed to describe the situation perfectly.

And.

─BOOM!

“He’s been flattened.”

The middle-aged guy... No, Mr. Kleb displayed monstrous strength, splitting a person in half every time he swung his greatsword.

I watched the two of them use their swordsmanship.

Something about it felt familiar.

[The ability ‘Interpretation’ is activating.]

[Interpreting the swordsmanship of the two targets.]

I interpreted every one of their orthodox, clean, and efficient movements.

And finally.

[Interpretation complete.]

[Experience is accumulating in the skill ‘Swordsmanship.’]

[‘Swordsmanship (B)’ has changed to ‘Swordsmanship (B+).’]

As expected... People really do need to see new things in life.

As though imitating the two of them, I also took a stance and slowly swung my sword.

“Like this?”

“Aaaaaagh!!”

Cleaner and faster swordsmanship.

It felt like I had broken through another wall and moved forward.

The thought that I had taken another step toward enlightenment naturally brought a smile to my face.

The brief battle quickly came to an end.

The two, now covered in blood in a different sense than before, walked toward me with refreshed expressions.

“This actually worked? Thanks. Because of you, I got my revenge and now we can go down too.”

“Truly, thank you. I thought I might not even make it out alive, much less get revenge... Thanks to you.”

“Ah, yes...”

It was pretty awkward seeing people who had been brutally killing others just moments ago now smiling with relieved expressions.

“Let’s go down. I’m going crazy wanting to get out of this fucking place as soon as possible.”

“Ah, yeah... I mean, yes.”

I simply followed as Yuri smiled brightly and led the way.

______________

─Shine.

The moment I stepped outside, I squinted at the bright sunlight pouring down.

Warm.

Had sunlight always felt this pleasant?

“We’re out...”

Everyone nodded at Yuri’s quiet remark.

Even I had to admit it had been an incredibly eventful journey.

Who would have imagined that someone who had been a scavenger just a few days ago would steal a boss kill and even cooperate with a guild?

“No, we need to report this right away.”

“Huh?”

“Mister, and you too. Hurry up and follow me. We need to report this to the guild.”

With those words, Yuri grabbed my hand and Kleb’s and dragged us toward where the Scabbard Guild was located.

A guild...

Was this my first time going to a guild?

Ordinary people almost never had reason to cross the threshold of a guild.

At most, wealthy people would commission requests under the name of quests.

That was why going to a guild felt unbelievably unfamiliar.

Following Yuri’s quick steps, we arrived at a massive building.

Should I call it a martial arts hall... or a modern building?

It was a strange structure that blended the two styles together.

More importantly.

For some reason, it also felt familiar.

That...

‘It feels similar to the Plum Blossom Guild... or am I imagining it?’

The memories I had obtained before gave me a sense of déjà vu.

“Why aren’t you coming in? Hurry up. You said earlier that you wanted me to arrange a meeting.”

“Right... now? I didn’t expect it to be this immediate.”

“We should do it while we can. Things are going to get busy from now on anyway.”

I nodded at Yuri’s words.

I agreed with her and simply followed.

Naturally, since it was called a guild, there were many members inside.

There would also be guards protecting the guild...

“Ms. Yuri? Mr. Kleb? And the person behind you is... No, more importantly, your expedition wasn’t supposed to return until—”

“The person behind me is our benefactor, and the expedition was wiped out.”

“What? What do you mean—”

With those words, she simply kept walking.

Crazy woman.

That was the only thought running through my head as I followed her.

‘These stares are no joke.’

The gazes gathering on us as we walked through the Scabbard Guild’s halls were intense.

Two seriously injured hunters. No, the guild master’s daughter and a veteran hunter.

On top of that, people who were supposed to still be away on an expedition were standing here, so how could they not be shocked?

And then there was me, a former scavenger, following behind them.

The scarier part was.

‘Every single one of them is on a completely different level from me.’

The place was full of people I couldn’t read with Interpretation.

They were on a completely different level from the loan sharks I had encountered until now.

‘If I act cocky in the wrong way here, they won’t even find my bones.’

With that thought, I stuck close behind the two of them.

After walking without thinking for a while, we arrived in front of an enormous room.

Even I could instinctively tell.

Ah, this is where her father is... the guild master’s office.

Only then did it finally feel real.

I was actually going to meet a guild master, someone ordinary people could hardly ever even see. First, I should think about how to start the conversation...

─BANG BANG!!

Yuri pounded roughly on the door.

And.

“Dad, it’s me! I’m coming in!”

─Creeeak.

She kicked the door open without waiting for a response, and I ended up following her inside.

Mr. Kleb seemed to accept this as though it were an everyday occurrence.

The guild master’s office we entered was dark, but bright enough to make out the interior.

A work desk, and a middle-aged man sitting behind it.

‘They look exactly alike.’

A man with the same features as Yuri, who stood confidently in front of him, though his purple hair was a slightly duller shade, looked toward us.

“The expedition isn’t scheduled to return yet.”

His first words were simple.

Why had they returned now? His stiff tone sounded more businesslike than concerned about his injured daughter.

Ignoring that, Yuri took a moment to catch her breath before speaking.

“We were wiped out. Some fucking bastards attacked us.”

Silence followed for a moment.

The man called the guild master also looked over us, then clutched his head as though he had a headache...

“This is serious. The guild youths were wiped out... There could hardly be a greater disaster.”

“What, you’re not worried about your daughter? I barely made it back alive too, you know?”

Yuri deliberately held out her arms, showing the injuries she had suffered today.

He merely frowned at the wounds that had been severe but had barely been treated with emergency potions.

“I see. I’ll call a healer.”

“No... Ha, forget it.”

“Yes. There are guild matters to deal with right now.”

A single sentence that made the air seem colder than silence itself.

Yuri apparently couldn’t respond to that either. She moved her lips wordlessly, then closed her eyes and froze like a child being scolded.

This is a family...?

My own parents borrowed money in my name and ran away... but even to me, this didn’t look like a normal family.

At the very least, worrying when your own child is hurt is supposed to be part of a proper family relationship...

─Zap.

Huh?

[The ability ‘Interpretation’ has activated.]

[Interpreting the true intention behind the words.]

True intention? Interpretation?

Huh?

“If you’re finished talking, you should leave. I have many things to deal with.”

[Before your wounds worsen... hurry and get treated. I’m so worried I can’t concentrate on my work.]

Bullshit.

All I could do was let out a hollow laugh.

Did I just hear that wrong?