Chapter 11 - Day 4, 4th Floor Separation (1/2)

Chapter 11 -  Day 4, 4th Floor Separation

Ching.

”Ohh?”

”What the!?” Something rose in the centre of the room. It was an empty gla.s.s tube that was approximately two metres tall.

[The total amount of HP reduced in the room will be stored.]

[Once a total of 200 HP is stored, the entrance will open.]

I seemed to be the only one who immediately understood the meaning immediately, but the high school girl and two men cried out a few seconds later.

My HP was 129 points. In other words, I needed to put a person with  higher HP than me into a critical condition, or even kill them. If I thought rationally, it was possible to satisfy the conditions without killing anyone. However, I intuitively sensed that someone would be killed.

This was it. The eyes of the man with scratches who I dubbed ‘Scratchy’, moved nervously. Maybe he was thinking something similar to me.

From appearance alone, the strongest person in this place was the man with the knife. The weakest one was the high school girl. This wasn’t a game where the strongest would eliminate the weakest. The middle-ranked people-- I intuitively sensed that Scratchy and I were placed in that group.

”That...”

“This...” Just as we were both about to say something...

”Help me!” The scream of the high school girl caught our attention. She was teary-eyed but I didn’t know what she was scared of. Her finger... It was pointed towards me? ”H-he raped me.”

Huh?

The situation was so surprising that I couldn’t even say anything. Tears flowed down the cheeks of the schoolgirl. ”On the second floor, we met... H-he said that if I wanted to live... The other person was killed... So, so...”

She was very good. In fact, I’d seen someone being killed on the floor above. Maybe all three of the people here had their hands dirty. Even if I had done such a thing, it wasn’t actually a major issue for them. The important thing was that it was a good pretext for a witch hunt.

”This f.u.c.king b.a.s.t.a.r.d!” Scratchy cried out with an angry expression as he rushed straight towards me.

Fast.

Was it a technique? Was he an athlete? I hit him with my left fist, but his counterattack struck me in the face.

[Current Balance: 92/129]

One hit had caused this much havoc. The strength of his. .h.i.t was much greater than I thought. Still, the exchange was successful.

“Ah...?” There was a groan. After his blow, Scratchy started staggering.

[Talent has been acquired.]

[Talent - Hidden Weapon Technique:  The ability to use darts and handle hidden weapons. Concentration and dexterity will rise in proportion to your level.]

“T-t-this...” A needle was firmly embedded in Scratchy’s thigh. It was a blow I had been preparing since I saw him being so eager to fight. There was a possibility that he might have experienced the needles upstairs. Thus, I hit him with three needles at once.

“Aaaaaaack!” A scream emerged as he staggered. I hit him in the neck, chest, abdomen and the last one in the face. After using Limiter Release, I accurately punched him five times with all my strength. His HP fell to a critical state instantly.

As Scratchy tried to move his body back, I turned around.

Bam!

My fist hit something iron. I stopped the knife with my fist and was fine. I had been warily watching the other man, so I was able to take action, but I had been worried about whether I could stop the attack or not.

”Don’t believe that is the end.” The other hand of the middle-aged man caught my neck. He literally lifted me up. ”I can’t let you eat it all.”

Eat? What did that mean? I grabbed his wrist. Did he think it would be that easy? Both legs and my waist. I put strength in my hands and held firmly.

“...!”

‘What is this power?’ His confusion was apparent on his face. It even surprised me. The middle aged man was strong. I had used Limiter Release but I still couldn’t win with strength.

[Current Balance: 89/129]

[Current Balance: 88/129]

Due to the fact that I was fighting beyond my original strength, I was gradually losing HP. I gazed sideways to see the schoolgirl. The b.i.t.c.h was chewing on her fingernails as she watched us.

She seemed to be thinking. I gently twisted the wrist of the hand that was holding the knife. As I held onto the wrist, I forced strength into my leg. But that wasn’t the end. I also poured strength into both thighs and  kicked upwards at the middle-aged man.

”Ugh!” I kicked his wrist and the man winced, stepping back. At that point, I had 1/6th of my HP remaining. I quickly drank a potion bottle from my inventory. I took out three needles and looked at the girl.

“...Hik!” She stared at me with shocked eyes.

The middle aged man was still recovering. Rather than getting rid of him, I would remove the unknown risk behind me.

Kukukung.

“Ehh?” All of a sudden, the room started shaking. My foot slipped. It wasn’t just the shaking, the floor was tilting!

[200 HP has been stored.]

[Entrance opening.]

The ground kept tilting to the sides. The room was divided into four equal parts, with the floor going down at each corner. Depending on where you were standing, each person could fall in a different direction.

Peeok!

I couldn’t stay upright anymore and fell on my b.u.t.t. I slid down the high slope helplessly, and darkness welcomed me.

◎

I regained consciousness and looked around. On one side of me was a dead end. The other side had a pa.s.sage. I had fallen into the dead end of a maze.

”Ah, argh...”

A moan was heard from outside my field of view. I took a step and saw Scratchy leaning against a wall. He had fallen with me, while the high school girl and middle-aged man were separate. Maybe there was only one wall between us.

Still, the pain had diminished over time so Scratchy was barely moving around. He held a bottle in his hand and was bringing it to his mouth: it was the goblin’s medicine.

I immediately pushed him against the wall and s.n.a.t.c.hed the bottle from his hand. At that moment, I felt a sting in my side.

“....”

Despite his half-closed eyes, I could see a faint triumph of victory flas.h.i.+ng in them. He had p.r.i.c.ked me with three needles. This guy obviously also had the warden’s needles.

“Eh... What is this?” He had only been acting pathetic.

[Pain Tolerance. LV 6. 339/3200]