Only My Skill Tooltip Is Strange

Chapter 96

The Yongbong Guild on the 7th floor is held once a month. Players who achieve a certain ranking are qualified to ascend to higher floors.

“Surprisingly easy difficulty.”

Not all players participate. Only those who want to challenge the Yongbong Guild submit their applications.

If they’re lucky, weaker players might meet each other and secure their qualifications.

This was the same on the lower floors. In the Tower of Struggle, luck plays just as important a role as ability.

“As obvious as it sounds, many don’t move up.” “…For martial artists, this floor must feel familiar. I’m sure there are martial artists who prefer to stay here.”

“That’s right.”

Of course, not all martial artists feel that way. There are players who leave the nostalgic 7th floor, which reminds them of their hometown dimensions, to find more advanced ones.

Having tasted the benefits of civilization on the lower floors, it’s hard not to seek more.

‘I also took over half a year to reach the 7th floor. How about the weaker martial artists?’

The longer you stay in the Tower of Struggle, the more your feelings for your home dimension fade. There’s no reason to settle on a floor that doesn’t offer any advantages.

In that sense, the 7th floor was one with good turnover. People didn’t stay long, so new players constantly joined the Yongbong Guild.

“So, signing up this time was a bad move. No matter how strong my Poison Arts are... Jeomchang Gwang, no, Seomgwang Geomhui... is a bit much. It’s best to avoid her if possible...”

Namgung Hyuk’s face twisted as he thought of Seomgwang Geomhui.

“That woman’s insane. Anyone who’s faced her knows. My shoulder still aches.”

“Why?”

“She doesn’t accept forfeits.”

I didn’t understand what he meant at first.

“Isn’t that the administrator’s authority?”

“There’s a martial artist from the Jeomchang faction among the administrators. They subtly take Seomgwang Geomhui’s side.”

“……”

He looked scared, clearly having suffered under an administrator from the Jeomchang faction.

“Aren’t the Gu Paibang and the Five Great Families close allies? They’re from the righteous sects, right?”

I remembered hearing that from Kim Min-seong. After parting ways with him, some martial artists I met later also formed alliances, claiming to be from righteous sects.

Namgung Hyuk shook his head.

“The families are a bit distant from the Gu Paibang. They belong to the righteous faction, tied to the Martial Alliance, but...”

Namgung Hyuk trailed off and looked at me with half-open eyes.

“…I’m surprised. I didn’t think the Great Hero would have the same misconceptions as other Earthlings.”

“You suspect I’m an Earthling?”

It’s the thief who’s afraid of being caught. I immediately raised my voice and denied it.

“If I were an Earthling, how could I have such a close relationship with Elder Tang?”

“……”

“Does Confucius have to eat shit to understand its taste? Should I show you the taste of my Poison Arts before you recognize my connection with Elder Tang?”

Poison oozed from the tips of my fingers. The greenish hue was menacing.

Namgung Hyuk recoiled and took a step back. I liked his reaction.

I canceled the Poison Arts and said.

“I’m a bit hungry. By the way, do you happen to have any money?”

“……”

What’s the point of being from a prestigious family if you’re still weak?

‘He’s weaker than me.’

I casually took the money.

“I know a tavern with a great chef’s hand. Follow me.”

Namgung Hyuk had no choice.

The street. We entered a building located in the same area where the delicious smells had come from earlier.

Namgung Hyuk’s steps were very natural. It seemed like he had been here more than once.

“Welcome!”

The staff greeted us with a bright smile. He wasn’t a martial artist. He had pointed ears—an elf.

Just because the floor was based on the martial world doesn’t mean everyone has to be a martial artist.

Namgung Hyuk extended his fingers toward the elf.

“Two servings of somyeon, please.”

“Understood.”

Somyeon. Is it something like ramen?

I waited eagerly for the meal. A few minutes later, the somyeon arrived.

“……”

The somyeon was steaming. I glanced back and forth between the somyeon and Namgung Hyuk.

‘It’s a bit salty, huh?’

It was like a poor man’s version of banquet noodles. Even calling it a poor version is a luxury.

It looked like something thrown together with somyeon boiled at home and poured over some beef bone broth. Of course, there were no toppings.

‘...How much would this cost? Maybe around 1,000 won.’

A small bunch of somyeon, enough for one serving, would be about 500 won. And the beef bone broth would be 900 won.

‘Is he trying to disrespect me?’

Namgung Hyuk served me somyeon and was trying to settle everything with just that one bowl. This shabby gesture really pissed me off.

I couldn’t hold back my anger. I immediately called over the staff.

“Don’t you have any meat here?”

“We do. Our chef is a master at cooking duck dishes.”

“Duck!”

I shot a glance at Namgung Hyuk. His expression twisted, but I ignored it and placed my order.

“Bring me that.”

“Yes, sir!”

The staff quickly headed to the kitchen. I’m sure they’ll take the order before I change my mind.

“…Great Hero. The duck dishes at this tavern are quite expensive. It might be a little awkward ordering them without any money, don’t you think?”

“Hyuk, my younger brother. It’s our first meeting today. How can you not even treat me to this? I’ll pay you back once I make money.”

I boldly went for it. With martial artists, it’s better to show no shame.

They’re the kind of people who won’t understand you if you don’t act like this.

‘Since I’m getting it for free, I might as well get the expensive one.’

Does pride feed me?

I learned that in the Tower of Struggle. What protects pride is strength. Those with strength are not seen as obnoxious, even if they act that way.

Look at the Swordmaster. He acted like that, and no one dared to say anything.

I slurped up my somyeon and began distributing my stats. 25 bonus points. How should I allocate them so that people talk about how well I did?

‘Survival instinct says it doesn’t matter what I raise. But I’m not invincible.’

I saw the Swordmaster’s power with my own eyes. Sword power. It was a force incomparable to mere sword aura.

He even managed to inflict damage on a dragon.

‘Can I endure that sword power? With my health?’

My current health stat is 31. I have 28 points, but it increased by 3 due to Soul Absorption. I got quite a bit of luck.

‘Without luck, the additional stats would have only been 2.’

It raises what should increase by 0.01 by 0.02 or even 0.03. As it builds up, it adds up to huge numbers.

The power of luck. Joo Seohui’s recommendation of luck was a long-term perspective.

‘First, 9 points into health.’

I bumped my health to 40. My life force went up to 400.

The higher the health, the better. As long as I can avoid a one-hit kill, my survival instinct will help me turn things around.

I didn’t touch my strength at all. It stayed at 13, but I’ve never felt frustrated due to lacking attack power, so it’s fine.

‘Now, agility and luck are left.’

Intelligence and wisdom are sufficient, thanks to the Illusory Ancient Book. They’re excessive compared to my other stats.

‘The bonus points are 16. Hmm. 25 still feels a bit lacking.’

Human emotions are strange. When I first got the points, I was worried about how to spend 25 points.

But once I started spending, they were gone before I knew it. It feels like they vanish in the blink of an eye.

‘Agility to 50, and the rest to luck.’

My current agility is 43. My base stat is 37, and the additional 6 from Soul Absorption. I invested 7 more points to bring it to 50.

The rest went into luck. My luck is now 24.

“Phew.” “Is the food to your liking? The somyeon at our tavern is among the best in the area... I didn’t bring you here for no reason…”

“Go!”

I cut off Namgung Hyuk, whose chatter was dragging on.

“Shut up and get the money out. When the duck dish comes, pay for it.”

I was feeling stronger today. Maybe I can even dodge the Swordmaster’s attack?

I had confidence now.

‘Maybe I can even win.’

The Swordmaster is on the 6th floor. No one knows when he’ll ascend.

The time flow is different on each floor, so it’s possible we’ll never meet and part ways like this.

‘I guess we’ll never settle it.’

It looks like the Swordmaster’s luck is pretty high. For him to avoid meeting me with how strong I’ve become, it’s no simple feat of luck.

Namgung Hyuk frowned and swallowed his somyeon. He kept glancing at the kitchen, clearly not pleased with the duck order.

“Looks like you’re not happy. Got a problem with it?”

“…No, it’s fine.”

He then began checking his pockets. I couldn’t believe how blatant his gesture was.

“Isn’t the Namgung Family rich?”

The Namgung Family is one of the Five Great Families. What does ‘Five Great Families’ mean? It means being one of the top five.

But he can’t even buy one duck dish?

“…Well…”

Namgung Hyuk hesitated to speak. It seemed there was something he didn’t want to mention, but couldn’t bring himself to.

“Here! The pride of our tavern, roasted duck!”

“Wow!”

Just as I was about to dig into the roasted duck, a group of martial artists walked into the tavern.

“I heard there’s a bug from the Namgung Family here.”

“Heh heh, there he is.”

These weren’t Earthlings in martial artist cosplay. They were real martial artists. You could tell just by looking.

‘…I guess that’s what a real martial artist should look like.’

I reflected on how I had mistaken some of them for martial artists just because they caused a bit of a fuss.

‘But this is strange.’

The martial artists are coming over here?

The confusion didn’t last long. The martial artists were men of action.

“Namgung Hyuk! Didn’t I warn you that if you act like the Namgung Family, I’d kill you?”

The man at the front suddenly grabbed Namgung Hyuk’s neck and slammed him down hard. The somyeon bowl shattered with a crash.

Namgung Hyuk tried to dodge their hands but couldn’t.

He struggled hard, but it seemed there was a big difference in strength.

One of them chuckled and said.

“Are you still blabbing about the Namgung Family against a dumb Earthling? You just bought him a bowl of somyeon?”

“There’s never been a dumber idiot than this. This isn’t Anhui Province. This is the Tower of Struggle!”

“Heh heh. This guy looks cute, though.”

A man who looked like a bandit stared at me. His eyes were filled with vile desire.

Honestly, I didn’t mind if they had desire.

People’s preferences are really diverse.

‘He might even be gay.’

But what made me uncomfortable wasn’t that.

‘It’s been a long time since I’ve felt like this.’

Even on the 7th floor, there are still assholes who look down on Earthlings. Shouldn’t they be cautious, thinking an Earthling who made it this far must be someone special?

‘Or maybe climbing the tower is easier than I thought?’

Well, it’s not something I need to worry about.

I wrapped my right hand around the Force Strike and slapped him hard across the face.

Whack!

“This...!”

Surprisingly, the martial artist didn’t die from the single blow!

My strength was 13. I wasn’t armed with a golden dagger, just keeping it in my inventory.

My attack power was 13. The damage formula for Force Strike is about 1,500% physical damage.

It wasn’t strong enough to guarantee a one-hit kill. This is the 7th floor. There might be players who can withstand a single Force Strike.

‘But.’

My agility is 50. That’s close to the peak of martial artists.

Wham!

The powerful slap hit his left cheek, followed by a series of rapid blows. A light slap to his right cheek, almost caressing it with the back of my hand.

‘In other words, a double slap.’

In less than a second, my attacks landed. The damage dealt was a whopping 400!

“You... bastard...!”

One of the martial artists collapsed.