Chapter 248 Penalty (3)
‘Damn it.’
He cursed. Albeit not knowing what penalty the Tower would give him…
’…They should’ve given it right away when I first broke in.’
He used up the last remaining Last Command, and the duel was suspended the moment victory was just around the corner.
’Why did they stand watching and stop it at the last minute?’
Yoon-seok was most dissatisfied about this over the penalty. As Lee Su-yeon said, the only way to counter the King of Steel was to have higher stats. However, the connection between Last Command, King of All Swords, and Yin & Yang was gone. If he faced the King of Steel again, Yoon-seok would have no choice but to stand in a much more disadvantageous position.
“…”
Yoon-seok bit his lips. If King of Steel was winning, would they have suspended the duel? He couldn’t shake off that thought. On the other hand, he did somehow see it coming.
’Maybe it was an unexpected situation for the Tower…’
Come to think of it; the whole situation ended about two minutes after he intruded on the duel. The Tower unexpectedly reacted to the situation, but it took time, and the timing might have coincidentally come together.
’But something still doesn’t feel right.’
Yoon-seok was convinced that matching the King of Steel and Lee Su-yeon together wasn’t a coincidence.
’No way, are they trying to set an example…?’
Yoon-seok recalled several times that Lee Su-yeon was unlucky in the dice game. If the Tower planned to have the King of Steel and Lee Su-yeon matched from the beginning and make him watch it…
Was it a ridiculous assumption?
‘…But it’s not impossible.’
The fiercest hound escaped from their leash, so the Tower set up this selection match to replace that leash. If he didn’t follow orders, people around him would die like today.
‘…It might’ve been their intention that my parents suddenly became challengers.’
Yoon-seok smiled coldly and slowly scanned his surroundings. The sunny arena disappeared, and he was stuck in a tightly closed stone chamber. It wasn’t his waiting room. There were no stone statues or the sports equipment he purchased to exercise. It was also only about half the size.
Boom.
Yoon-seok approached the wall and punched it.
’Is it the same place earlier?’
The black space he entered after breaking past the iron bars unfolded around him.
“So, what do you want me to do?”
Yoon-seok muttered aloud for the Tower to hear. He couldn’t believe they threw him in a place like this all of a sudden, even though they said they would give him a penalty.
「Dimensional interference power of Unique Skill {Devil} is changed to spatial control.」
A phrase appeared as if answering Yoon-seok’s question.
“…Change?”
It was called a change, but in other words, a downgrade. Yoon-seok’s eyes grew sharp.
’Is this even possible…’
His heart sank. Didn’t this mean they could change his other skills at any time? In this case, the plan to kill the Queen and then oppress the Tower had already failed.
‘…No. If they could do whatever they wanted, they wouldn’t have thought I was a headache from the beginning.’
Yoon-seok focused on the term rule breaker.
’There are rules in the Tower, and can they put me here only when the rules are violated, and a penalty is given? Even so, they can only touch the related skills?’
If this hypothesis was right, he could feel a little relieved. Still, Yoon-seok was at a loss. Yoon-seok couldn’t recognize it himself, but the dimension interference power would have been a very threatening ability to the Tower.
’That’s why they took it away as soon as I used it.’
But here, Yoon-seok felt hope.
‘But it’s not like there’s no flaw.’
If the Tower’s rules were perfect, it wouldn’t have been possible to have such a weapon in the first place. But Yoon-seok used this power, and he used it to act against the rules for two minutes.
’If I could aim for that gap…’
Yoon-seok stopped his thoughts. This was the place he was summoned to after the Tower gave him a penalty, so it was necessary to be careful with his thoughts.
’Anyway, how do I get out of here?’
Yoon-seok shifted his attention. If the downgrade of {Devil} were a penalty, it would have been right to send him back once it was over. However, Yoon-seok was still here.
「The penalty period has been designated.」
Could it be the penalty didn’t end there? Yoon-seok swallowed as new phrases appeared.
「All skills will be sealed for a total of 60 days.」
「During the period, you cannot challenge the exploration and adventure trials, and you cannot acquire any points.」
「Moving to the 23rd-floor waiting room.」
「Please prepare for the next duel.」
He couldn’t even laugh. Get ready, his ass. Wasn’t this telling him not to do anything until the next duel?
Boom-!
As soon as Yoon-seok returned to his waiting room, he punched the stone statue’s head.
「Unique Skill {Divine Ultimatum} is available.」
Should he say that this was a relief? Even though all his skills were sealed due to the penalty, b Divine Ultimatum} still worked. But where could he use this?
’So you’re telling me to screw myself…’
Yoon-seok let out a long sigh. Until the next duel took place, rankers refined themselves by collecting points here and there. Until now, Yoon-seok had been like that, too. However, he had to waste 60 days until this penalty went away.
’Shit.’
Since his skills were sealed, he couldn’t use {Predation} for development. He couldn’t challenge other trials or even obtain WP. Yoon-seok had to remain in the same place while other rankers grew stronger.
But the penalty didn’t end there.
「1,559 hours until the next duel.」
About 65 days. Not only was it ten days shorter than the waiting time of 75 days Lee Su-yeon mentioned… there would only be five days left after the penalty.
’What is this?’
Yoon-seok felt something was out of place while watching the timer. The time was weird. It was common to start at 59 minutes and 59 seconds after the duel.
’But why is the minute arrow placed at ten?’
Yoon-seok had spent less than five minutes in the penalty zone.
—Oppa, what happened? The duel suddenly ended as it popped up that there was a penalty or something?
—You’re okay, right?
—Please reply as soon as you see these.
—Mister Ashton is worried too.
Yoon-seok paused as he saw messages arriving one after another like a smartphone that had been turned on after a long time.
—It’s already been three days, but why haven’t I heard from you?
—Please, you’re okay, right? Nothing went wrong because of me, has it?
Just as one month in the mission was equivalent to ten days, time in the penalty zone was twisted.
’I was only there for five minutes…’
Yoon-seok let out a frustrated sigh. Then he set to reading Lee Su-yeon’s messages one by one.
—Your name is still in the rankings. I’ll assume you can see but not reply, so I’ll keep sending you messages.
—Don’t worry about Earth. There is no spacecraft, but Mister Ashton is in charge. When the rifts open on a larger scale, I’ll help too.
—Today, a challenger believed to be from Taklan was found on Earth. I couldn’t get any information because they ran away, but how did they get past the Planet Guardian to Earth?
—Haah… it’s already been ten days. I don’t know what’s happening, but I trust you. Hang in there.
Lee Su-yeon thought Yoon-seok was in a very difficult situation. Well, she wasn’t wrong. Not only was he forcefully tied up for 60 days, but another ten had also been ripped from his hands. Was there something more terrible than this?
“…”
Yoon-seok trembled at the Tower’s viciousness. It’d been a while since his head spun this much.
’Yeah, if they put restrictions on my growth at this time, it won’t be a big threat in the future.’
Yoon-seok smiled brightly as his blood boiled.
—I’m fine.
Yoon-seok first sent a message to Lee Su-yeon. A reply came immediately.
—Oppa, are you okay? Where are you right now?
—Waiting room.
—I heard you’re getting a penalty. What happened?
—I have something to check now, so I’ll explain the rest in detail later.
Yoon-seok ended the conversation with Lee Su-yeon after reporting back. Then, he approached the tablet and checked the prizes. The reward was 30 million AP, the Unique Skill b Strife}, a Rank S+ ax, and a random power called Howling Storm.
’I can’t check the power effect now, so I’ll check with Elle later…’
The Unique Skill {Strife} had many vague phrases, so he would have to use it to confirm its effects.
’I can only throw the ax away after the penalty is over… there’s nothing I can do right now.’
Yoon-seok, thinking of going to Elle, turned his back to the blue light that suddenly burst as letters were being written down in the Personal Skillbook.
—25th day.
[Transcendence] [Overcome] [Head-on Match] [Berserker] [Rule Breaker]
Just after the 25th day ended, the representative keywords appeared.
’Rulebreaker?’
It was the word the Tower used when screwing him over. Yoon-seok rubbed his chin while smacking his lips.
’…Was I wrong?’
After thinking that the Personal Skillbook could create the skill he wanted, Yoon-seok worked to create an extreme growth-type skill. Now he was skeptical after experiencing first-hand the Tower’s treatment.
‘Even so, it can be useless at critical moments.’
Then, what should he do to plot for revenge? The answer was rather simple. He needed something beyond the standard to smash the rules set by the Tower.
’There are only twenty-five keywords left until the Personal Skillbook is completed…’
Five days left. If he filled up the remaining keywords, there was a high possibility that a skill related to growth would appear. However, there may still be room for that growth’s direction.
’Rulebreaker…’
While thinking hard about that word, Yoon-seok’s eyes glinted. How could he get more of that keyword? Even if he doesn’t know, the more unexpected his action was to the Tower, the higher the chance.
’Nice.’
Yoon-seok slowly pulled up his magic.
Whoooooosh-!
All his absurd skills had been sealed, but it didn’t matter. The key point b Divine Ultimatum} was fine.
‘Break what can’t be broken.’
Yoon-seok approached the wall of the waiting room and gently touched the surface. Come to think of it; he’d been curious for a long time. If he kept breaking this wall…
Booooooooooooooom-!
What would remain at the end?
Swishhhhh.
When he saw the text in the book, Yoon-seok smiled gently.
—Used {Divine Ultimatum} to destroy the waiting room wall in protest of the Tower’s penalty.
*******Underdog temperament is strong.
When someone screwed you over, you should be prepared to give the same back.
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