My Selfish Skillbook
Episode 67
The demonic beasts, each the size of a medium dog, spewed flames and lightning from their mouths. The lightning and sparks erupting from them crashed against the barrier incessantly.
"If it weren't for you, Hwajin, we would have been done for......"
Hyeri said in a dispirited voice.
"What should we do? It's good that we're holding them off, but like this we can't even move."
O Seyeon had already drawn her long sword. The vice guild leader and the middle-aged man were also glaring at the demonic beasts, holding a shield and an axe.
"Hyeri."
I called out to Hyeri, who had lost her spirits.
"Please cast physical strength enhancement and MP regeneration buffs on everyone."
"Ah, yes."
"After that, I'll remove the barrier. Then immediately cast Slow debuffs on that pack of dogs. Everyone else, please commence combat."
Everyone answered that they understood.
Hyeri said she had finished casting all the buffs, and after counting to three, I removed the barrier.
"Slow!"
As Hyeri swung her staff, the demonic beasts' movements noticeably slowed, and the flames and electrical discharges that had been continuously surging at us ceased.
"Bisection Slash!"
The middle-aged man, who had charged in first, fiercely brought his axe down, pulverizing the demonic beasts. Several demonic beasts that couldn't overcome the impact rose into the air.
"Hah!"
O Seyeon swung the long sword with both hands. The bodies of several dozen dogs in the front split in half, and a bloody wind blew. As ever, it was refreshing and powerful.
'Flame Spear, Thunderbolt Spear.'
I imbued my demonic spear with skills and swung it.
'What!?'
Despite flames and lightning sweeping over them, about half of the dogs stood as if they hadn't taken much damage.
Instead of swinging my spear, I leaped at the dogs and cut them down directly. Even without Flame Spear or Thunderbolt Spear, I had the [Spear Master] skill, so my attack power was sufficient.
Under our combined assault, the dogs' numbers visibly dwindled.
I chased after one dog trying to flee, inserted a bookmark, and cut it down.
[You have defeated an opponent with a bookmark inserted.]
[Analyzing the opponent's skill.]
[Analysis complete. Failed to acquire a new Word.]
Perhaps because I already possessed
However, I hadn't inserted the bookmark to obtain a Word.
After the few remaining dogs fled, I summoned the book.
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-Status-
Thunder Dog
(Immune to lightning attribute)
HP: 0/400 MP: 0/110
Vitality: 20 Strength: 18 Magic: 11 Spirit: 13 Sense: 26
Unique Skill: [Lightning Summon]
--------------------
'As expected. It's living up to the name Thunder Dog.'
Attribute immunity. It was an ability I hadn't seen in any demonic beasts until now.
[You have acquired 4,200 RP.]
As I dismissed the book's summoning, a voice identical to the one I'd heard when entering the World spoke.
"As expected, the demonic beasts here give RP."
The vice guild leader said.
"Since one skill costs at least about 5 million RP, we've got a long way to go though."
From the middle-aged man's words, I learned for the first time the price of skills sold in the RP shop.
I looked at Hyeri. She should have been in a good mood since she had obtained the RP she wanted.
But Hyeri wore a dark expression.
"What's wrong, Hyeri?"
I wondered if it was because the RP gained was too little compared to the skill prices.
"Ah."
Hyeri slightly opened her mouth, then quickly put on a smile.
"It's nothing."
'Nothing my foot.'
It was obvious she was lying, but I didn't press further.
"For now, we've safely taken our first step, so shall we proceed with exploration?"
At my words, everyone nodded.
"O Seyeon. Check that bound item that showed our location in that world."
O Seyeon quickly placed a hand on her ring. But soon shook her head.
"No good. There's no reaction at all."
I had hoped it might serve as a guide, but it seemed it wouldn't work.
"It can't be helped. First, let's find traces of people passing through. The scoreboard said someone reached the 2nd floor."
We surveyed our surroundings and began walking across the vast plains.
True to the field's name of "Plains," there was really nothing but grass and flatland around us.
Occasionally, a pack of dogs would attack from out of nowhere, but after fighting them once, they posed little threat.
The middle-aged man even welcomed the dog packs, saying that RP was charging right at us.
Unable to find any traces of people no matter how far we walked, we carved large marks into the ground using our weapons. This was to indicate that this was the path we had come through.
We had repeated combat and exploration until each of us had earned about 20,000 RP.
"There's something over there!?"
The middle-aged man shouted.
A red light was visible in the distance.
We ran toward it.
'It's a circle.'
It was the circle I had seen when coming here from the Safety Field.
"Is this something like a door to the next floor?"
Hyeri said.
"I think it probably is."
I gripped my spear with both hands.
"Demonic beasts might attack the moment we go to the next floor. Everyone, prepare yourselves."
Everyone put on tense expressions.
I stepped into the circle.
[Would you like to move to the next floor?]
When I answered internally that I would, my surroundings brightened.
[You have entered Plains Floor 2.]
'Mana Barrier.'
Thinking that it would be too late if we were attacked again, I immediately deployed the barrier.
However, no attacks came even after some time passed.
"......Fortunately, there are no demonic beasts."
The vice guild leader said. I dispelled the barrier.
Floor 2 was also an endlessly wide plain with nothing but grass, making it impossible to properly distinguish the surroundings.
"How long has it been since we entered?"
"About 40 minutes."
The middle-aged man asked, and the vice guild leader answered.
"Then we haven't made it onto the scoreboard yet. Let's go."
We moved our feet to search for the circle, whose location was unknown.
We chose the method of searching in a spiral from the place where we had first appeared.
During the search, dogs would charge at us from out of nowhere as expected, and each time we fought and earned RP.
About two hours later. We finally found the circle.
"Hah. I'm tired."
The middle-aged man let out a deep sigh and said.
I was of a mind to sigh too. Wandering the seemingly endless plains searching for a circle of unknown location was mentally exhausting.
Moreover, combat with the demonic beasts had become simple work and was no longer fun.
"Shall we rest a bit? Everyone's MP must be running low."
No voices objected.
I moved my hand to my inventory.
"Hwajin, what's that?"
The middle-aged man asked, seeing the cube-shaped object I held.
"It's a tent."
"A tent?"
I placed the fist-sized cube on the ground and pressed a switch. Then the cube's lid opened, and light poured out from within.
"Ooh."
The middle-aged man's exclamation rang out. The others also had their mouths open.
A large tent big enough to fit ten people had been erected before us. It was shaped like a cone placed atop a cylinder.
I lifted the cloth door and peered inside. There was a stove in the center, and sleeping bags were spread out radially around it.
"It's simple, but quite cozy."
"A comfort I can't quite describe can be felt."
The middle-aged man and the vice guild leader muttered.
"They say there's an effect where HP and MP recover faster when resting inside."
I spoke, recalling the description I had seen in the RP shop. The tent cost 70,000 RP and had 3 uses.
I used the skill [Monster Detection], which I had created to find O Seyeon when she had turned into a demonic beast.
"I've activated a skill that detects demonic beasts, so we'll know immediately if any approach. Let's rest a bit and head out again once our MP is full."
At my words, everyone nodded.
"Don't you think we could make some money if we took this outside and sold it?"
"You're right."
Hyeri answered the middle-aged man with a smile. But when the middle-aged man turned his gaze away, she quickly erased her smile.
'Hmm......'
Hyeri's appearance like that weighed on my mind.
After confirming everyone's MP had recovered, we exited the tent. When I pressed the switch on the outside, the tent returned to a cube.
"With this, we'll definitely make it onto the scoreboard. Since we'll be the first to reach floor 3."
The middle-aged man said.
"Let's go."
I stepped toward the circle.
[You have entered Plains Floor 3.]
'Mana Barrier!'
Boom!
This time, we hit the jackpot the moment we entered.
"What are those?"
The middle-aged man said, looking outside.
Outside the mana barrier was filled with dwarves holding round objects. Every time the dwarves threw the round objects at the barrier, explosions erupted and the barrier shook. The area was filled with black smoke from the continuous explosions.
"They look similar to the dokkaebi series I saw in the dungeon before."
I nodded at O Seyeon's words.
"Maybe they're called Bomb Dokkaebi."
"Could be."
O Seyeon answered, glaring at the dokkaebi.
"Hyeri. I'll ask you to do the same thing as before."
"Yes."
After receiving buffs, I dispelled the barrier.
"Kuk!"
"Ugh!"
The moment the barrier was dispelled, the middle-aged man and O Seyeon, who had been charging forward, suddenly cried out in pain and fell to their knees.
The next moment, I realized the cause. As I inhaled the smoke that spread toward us the moment the barrier was dispelled, my body stiffened and my breath was choked.
'It's poison!'
I tried to use the [Detox] skill and froze.
'No......'
Dozens of bombs were flying down over our heads. The dokkaebi had thrown bombs without missing the gap when our movements stopped.
It was a crisis.
'Haste!'
Without delay, I activated the saved 9-word skill [Haste]. The movement of the flying bombs slowed infinitely.
I moved to the middle-aged man and O Seyeon, grabbed their arms, and threw them far away. Then I also threw the vice guild leader and Hyeri, who had likewise breathed the smoke and stiffened, to the same place before moving there myself.
'Mana Barrier!'
Because there was no time, I created a barrier of minimum size that could envelop everyone.
I could see dokkaebi rushing toward us from afar.
Ignoring the dokkaebi, I checked my companions.
'What the......!'
Everyone's bodies were gradually turning into metal. I too was finding it increasingly difficult to move.
"Detox!"
I quickly used the skill on the others. However, even using [Detox], the transformation into metal didn't stop.
I moved my hand to my neck. I touched a glass bottle. Holding Crook's Elixir in hand, I first took a drink myself. Then my stiffening body became free.
'It works!'
I immediately tried to feed the elixir to the others as well.
'No......'
O Seyeon's and the middle-aged man's entire bodies had turned to metal. It was clearly because they had inhaled the smoke first.
I moved my gaze to the vice guild leader and Hyeri. The vice guild leader's neck and above was turning to metal, and Hyeri's arms were turning to metal.