Only My Skill Tooltip Is Strange

35 – 2nd Floor, Griffin Hunt.

A week of Joo Sohee’s tournament.

We shared many stories.

Since we had time to spare, it was inevitable.

Each time, Kim Minseong subtly hinted.

─ Why are you so strong, hyung? Is there a reason?

─ There’s a common theme in novels, do you know what it is?

─ There must be a reason why you insist on keeping me alive.

The reason for keeping Kim Minseong alive?

Nothing special.

Because he didn’t disregard me.

But it seems Kim Minseong misunderstood.

I didn’t correct him.

I didn’t feel the need to.

It wasn’t particularly disadvantageous to me.

‘So it comes back like this.’

Regressor.

One who has experienced something and returned to the past.

If he’s quick-witted and has adapted to the Tower of Struggle to some extent, he would immediately understand what a regressor means.

‘I’ve shown overwhelming power. He’ll try to piece together the current situation somehow.’

Sure enough.

His expression changed.

I found the light.

‘Just like Kim Min-seong.’

How should I describe those eyes….

‘…Chosen?’

Yeah, that’s exactly it.

His attitude became submissive.

He went beyond just spilling everything he knew to survive.

It was almost a delusion that he would tell everything to the regressor and become his ally.

Of course, there was no possibility of that happening.

I roughly gathered the necessary information from the second floor.

It seems like I can see how things are structured.

“…So. There are more teams like yours?”

“Yes. That’s right. Everyone forms teams and competes. The competition is fierce for games with the elimination prevention option, so most players can’t even get a chance.”

“Can’t you participate as an individual?”

“Some teams control that too. If you get on their bad side, it’s hard to survive.”

Anger flickered in his eyes.

It seemed he had suffered quite a bit.

But that anger soon turned into joy.

He seemed to have hope knowing that I was a regressor.

‘If I were a real regressor, would I be asking you this?’

Did he think I was asking for cross-verification?

‘…I guess he could think that.’

Thud-.

After extracting all the information, I killed him.

I never intended to spare the guy who ignored and tried to kill me from the beginning.

‘I spared all the other races and let them go. There shouldn’t be any trouble.’

Just in case, I didn’t touch the beings from other dimensions.

I only killed Earthlings.

‘So it’s okay to kill Earthlings.’

Unconsciously, I disregarded the Earth dimension.

Even I, an Earthling, feel this way, so how much worse must it be for beings from other dimensions?

“Hmm…”

It didn’t take long to decide how to deal with the corpses.

I went straight to Daimus.

The only authority figure I could ask for help on the second floor was Daimus.

“…A few dead Earthlings are nothing. You don’t need to worry about erroneous players.”

Daimus, after checking the chaotic state of the tavern, cleared away the Earthling corpses with a simple wave of his hand.

“If you need help, just let me know. I can’t assist with climbing-related matters, but I’ll help as much as I can with other things.”

“Thank you.”

“…If you want to avoid minor disputes, it’s best not to appear as an Earthling. At least if you appear as an elf, you won’t be subjected to the Earthlings’ vile tricks.”

“Thanks for the advice. I’ll keep it in mind.”

The tavern was cleaned up.

It was back to the state it was in before I caused a ruckus.

Daimus left.

I looked at the tavern owner.

“……”

The tavern owner avoided my gaze.

He probably wanted to kick me out, but he didn’t have the power to do so.

The scene of me ordering around the manager like a subordinate was more effective than I thought.

“Is there a place to rest? I just need one night.”

“…Yes, there is. A room in the back…”

* * *

I woke up after a good sleep.

“Next time, I’ll pay to use it.”

“……”

Did I somehow learn telepathy overnight?

It felt like I could hear the tavern owner’s thoughts.

I ignored his inner thoughts and left the tavern.

I headed straight for the Colosseum.

As a gladiator, I had to fight one match a week.

There was something more urgent than that.

Money.

I needed living expenses.

‘Extorting money from Daimus?’

Judging by his reaction last night, it seems quite possible.

After all, Daimus himself said to ask for help if needed.

‘…No need to increase the risk unnecessarily.’

The administrator said that what they offer to players is not free.

For example, Joo Sohee risked her life to distribute points.

Kim Minseong spoke of causality and probability.

I think it’s because of that influence.

I don’t think Daimus would be any different.

He would have his own penalties.

I don’t know how big they would be.

‘He must want something from me in return.’

I am not a real dragon.

I can’t meet his demands.

It’s best to draw the line here.

The golden dagger and last night’s cleanup.

That’s it.

I think it’s a fair price for mistakenly summoning a dragon for entertainment.

Settlement complete.

“Stop pushing. Why do you keep pushing?”

“Kerrek. This is my spot. Watch where you’re going!”

The gladiator registration office was still crowded.

I passed by them and approached the bulletin board.

Newly updated recruitment notices were posted.

Various monsters, gladiator duels.

Among them, I saw something familiar.

The griffin hunting notice I saw yesterday.

[Griffin Hunt]

Today at 1 PM.

The timing wasn’t bad.

How would it compare to the Giant Black Lager?

Is the Griffin stronger than the Black Lion?

As I browsed the bulletin board, I saw a match against the Black Lion.

Twenty participants, a prize of 30 Nero Cooper.

The Black Lion is stronger than the Griffin.

I guess that’s a fair assessment.

‘No points for winning.’

Points are as important as money.

But to earn points, you have to win a match without the elimination prevention option.

If you want to go up to the third floor, you have to risk your life.

‘This is for later.’

From noble mtl dot com

I set my priorities.

Money over points.

I decided to participate in the Griffin Hunt.

If I win the prize in this match, I can spend the evening and night without any worries.

So, how do I apply?

Should I take the recruitment notice with me? I pondered for a moment.

“Hey. You.”

I heard a voice calling me.

When I turned around, a dwarf was standing there.

The dwarf glanced at the recruitment notice in my hand and asked,

“Are you thinking of participating in that match?”

“Yes.”

Speaking informally on the first meeting.

I responded in kind.

The dwarf didn’t seem to mind and gestured for me to follow.

‘Again?’

I followed nervously, wondering if the same thing as yesterday would happen.

Since the opponent wasn’t an Earthling, I couldn’t afford to be as relaxed as I was yesterday.

Several players were waiting at the place he guided me to.

‘A team?’

Six in total.

Including the dwarf and me, there were eight.

‘A variety of races.’

Goblins, orcs, lizardmen, beastmen…

There were humans too.

But they wouldn’t be Earthlings.

Middle-worlders.

Or maybe superhumans.

‘Not bad.’

From my perspective, eager to participate in the match immediately, there was no reason to reject this team and look for another.

A team that could adequately cover my skill damage was all I needed.

It looked much better than the Earthling teams.

A goblin asked the dwarf.

“Kerrk. Ritoll. Who’s that human?”

“A human who was watching the griffin hunt. I brought him because he seemed like a martial artist.”

The players scrutinized me.

Their eyes seemed to be observing me closely, tearing me apart.

“A martial artist?”

There are different types of beastmen.

The beastman in this team seemed to be of the canine type.

Like a dog beastman, he tried to learn about me through his sense of smell.

When the beastman girl, who looked like a human, brought her nose close, it became quite an uncomfortable situation.

I pushed the beastman away and said.

“Yes, I’m a martial artist.”

It’s much more convenient to live as a martial artist than as an Earthling.

So I didn’t deny their misunderstanding.

‘I also learned martial arts.’

Cheolpo Samgong and Samjaegeombeop.

I think having two is enough to call myself a martial artist.

“If you’re a martial artist, which sect do you belong to?”

The orc asked me.

I answered confidently.

“Shaolin.”

“……”

Cheolpo Samgong is a martial art of Shaolin.

“Shaolin, you say.”

The dwarf snorted and glared at me.

“All monks of Shaolin are bald.”

Their gaze turned to my hair.

Far from being bald.

“Why are you lying? Keruk.”

“Indeed.”

The goblin and lizardman cast suspicious looks at me.

I asked them back.

“Why do you think Shaolin monks must be bald?”

“That’s…”

None of them would know in detail.

They’re not from the Central Plains.

At best, they’ve only seen it in the Tower of Struggle, so what.

‘It’s the same with the Korean military. The hair length varies by unit.’

The same goes for Shaolin monks.

“I’m not just a monk. I’m a renegade monk. So I can grow my hair.”

Renegade monk.

I’ve heard of it somewhere.

I don’t know what they do, but I knew they were damn strong monks.

So, he claimed to be a renegade monk.

‘In the end, I just need to prove that I’m a martial artist.’

Though our reasons are different.

I, like them, just need companions to join the griffin hunting game.

“I will show you the absolute defense of Shaolin. Then you will believe that I am a martial artist.”

He prepared to activate the Iron Armor Technique.

“Anyone, come and hit me. See with your own eyes what an iron block is.”