Advancement to the Third Floor

After talking to Areum and Kyong using his pocket, Kaizen had discovered that they had passed the test. But Baam was supposedly killed by the bull and was declared to be dead. They said that most of the regulars that passed were visiting Rachel's room. But, having refused their invitation, both were in the cafeteria right now.

Reaching the cafeteria, Kaizen got a plate of food as he sat next to the two girls.

"So, what were you doing?" Asked Areum.

After thinking for a while, Kaizen had decided to tell them that he was an irregular. After all, they were fine with associating with Baam by participating in his test. So, knowing that he will have to take the guardian's test after he reaches the twentieth floor, Kaizen knew that would eventually have to tell them the truth if he wanted to stay as a part of their team.

"I have something that I want to tell you both, it is a secret, and it is related to what happened before. So, I would prefer if we use one of our rooms to talk in private instead of talking right now." Said Kaizen in an unusually serious tone.

Seeing that Kaizen seemed serious, Kyong said, "Fine, let's go to your room after we finish eating.:

Nodding to her, Areum said, "If it is a secret it would indeed be better to talk somewhere more private."

Seeing their understanding, Kaizen nodded as he continued to eat.

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In his room, both girls were seating on his bed, as Kaizen was seating on a chair near his desk.

"So, what do you want to tell us?" Asked Areum with a curious gaze.

"First, I am an irregular." Said Kaizen as he paused for a moment.

Seeing him pause, Areum said, "So, is it that important of a thing? At the very least, it is not important for me. Rather, doesn't his make things more exciting?"

Nodding to her words, Kyong said, "I also don't care much about it."

Seeing the lackluster reaction of the two girls, Kaizen just sighed before he laughed wryly for a bit and said, "Well, I thought you both would accept it, just not that fast."

Then, waving his hand as if to get rid of his own awkwardness, Kaizen started to explain, "Although I am not sure of the reason why, the floor guardian forbid me from taking Baam's test, and instead, I was given a test for me to take alone. Something that I passed and got a reward for."

Raising his right hand, Kaizen showed the ring on his index finger as said, "It is supposed to save me once when I am about to die."

"What was the test about?" Asked Areum while putting one of her legs on top of another.

"Although my memory about it was hazy, all it was about was me entering a foggy room, followed by me entering a dream. After many things happened in it, I was given choice. And from the fact I was able to leave the room and pass the test, it seems like I made the right one." Said Kaizen.

"Then, what about the ring? How does it work?" Asked Kyong with interest clearly seen on her eyes.

"Well, the test director said that it would completely heal me and then teleport me away when I am about to die. Although, it is supposed to be able to do so only once." Replied Kaizen.

Nodding her head, Kyong seemed to lose a bit of interest in it as Areum said, "Is that all?"

"Well, there is one more thing. Although I have yet to confirm it, it seems like I will have to take floor guardian's test from the twentieth floor onwards." Said Kaizen with a bit of hesitation.

Hearing the hesitation in his voice, Areum just slapped him on his arm as she said, "Doesn't that make things even better? I heard from my family members that although they are harder, the rewards of the floor guardian's tests are much greater than normal."

Nodding her head, Kyong responded, "I think we have forgotten to tell you, but we will be leaving to the third floor tomorrow morning according to what Lero Ro said."

After the three of them talked for a few more minutes, both girls left his room.

Heading towards the infirmary, Kaizen asked for the location of Rachel's room.

Entering it, he saw Rachel suddenly wake up.

Standing near her door, Kaizen started to speak, "I know that you have pushed Baam, and I know that you can walk just fine. I don't care about you nor your schemes too much."

Then, as the surrounding air started to cool down, Kaizen spoke, "If you ever target me or my teammates, know that I won't hesitate to kill you."

Then, turning his back, Kaizen left her room as the girl inside shivered for a few seconds before snorting after Kaizen had completely left.

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Waking up next morning, Kaizen could be seen taking his last shower in this floor. After he finished getting himself ready, he went to the place marked in his pocket.

There, he found a white room with a circular platform on it. On it, almost half of the regulars that passed were standing alongside Hansung Yu.

Greeting Areum, Kaizen waited for the others to come next to her.

"I think you are all ready to go to the next floor. Thank you for your efforts in taking this whole test. All of you are qualified to go to the next floor, regulars." Said Hansung Yu with his hands behind his back after everyone had arrived.

"Oh, by the way, I almost forgot to give these to you." Said Hansung yu as he manifested and handed out small boxes containing rings to each regular here.

"It is to commemorate your graduation. I thought I should celebrate this moment. So now that I have given you these rings, it Is really time to say goodbye. I hope your journey will be full of blessings. Bye-bye regulars." Said Hansung Yu as a light enveloped all regulars.

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As the light faded away, Kaizen opened his eyes to see that he is on a platform similar to one he was standing before. The only apparent difference being the woman in front of him.

This woman had long purple hair, green eyes and a big chest. She was wearing a purple dress while wearing silver trinkets on her hair and neck.

As soon as all of the regulars opened their eyes, the woman looked at each of us as she said, "Welcome regulars, I am the test director of the third floor, Nienna."

Then, she waved her hands as she said, "To advance from this floor, you will each have to buy a special ticket using your points. Also, to get more points, you will need to sell monster parts."

Then, she pointed towards the door and said, "For the rest, you will have to discover it by yourself, this door will lead to the city outside. I hope you all do well."

After the regulars had left the room, Kaizen grabbed Hansung Yu's ring that he had given to everyone before they left as he threw it in the trash. Following that, he turned towards Areum and Kyong as he said, "You should throw these rings away, they should contain a tracking device."

With their expressions a bit more serious, both girls nodded as they both trusted him. Then like him, they threw their rings into the trash.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Asked Kyong.

The group of three had separated from the other regulars, and now, they were standing in the middle of the city.

"I think we should first try to secure lodgings and food. It might take a while for us to gather enough points to reach the next floor." Said Kaizen.

"We should also ask about the price of these tickets along with how to seal the monster beasts and which monster parts do they need." Added Areum.

Nodding towards them, Kyong said, "Why don't we divide these tasks between us three? I will go ask about the information we need. Meanwhile, both of you should secure the lodgings and food."

With all three of them agreeing to Kyong's proposal, they left in different direction.

As they walked through the city, Kaizen was able to see that the buildings in it were like those of a modern city.

Asking for directions, both him and Areum reached one of the common inns. It was a tall white building with square windows on the walls of each floor. In front of it, a large sign was placed where the letters forming the word Zaiter were glowing.

Entering it, they could see that the receptionist room was quite small with only two counters, a few sofas and two screens on the walls.

Reaching for the counter where a brown-haired woman was sitting, Kaizen asked about the prices to stay in it.

After inquiring a bit, he found out that the price of a room was 100 points per day or 500 points per week. And, although each of the three could afford it, Kaizen thanked the women on the counter before he continued to search for more inns.

He wanted to be able to save points, and with his lack of knowledge of how many points he would be able to gather per day, he wanted to find a cheaper place.

Deciding it would be best for them to separate so they could check more inns, Kaizen and Areum each took a different direction as they continued their investigations.

After two hours of searching the city for a suitable inn, Kaizen got interrupted by a group of eight people consisting of two females and six males.

"Hey you, you are new here aren't you? If so, you have to pay taxes to us." Said the burly man in front of the group who had rough black hair.

Seeing the group who seemed to want to extort him, Kaizen just turned his head as he continued walking.

"Ignoring us, are you? Well, if you don't pay, we have permission to get a bit rough with you." Said the burly man as he approached Kaizen and attempted to catch him by his shirt.

Easily dodging the man's hands, Kaizen just stared at him as he said before he continued walking, "If you dare to attack me again, things will not end well for you."

Seeing Kaizen just walk away like that, the burly man's fury exploded as he moved to the front of Kaizen and cracked his knuckles as he said, "It seems that you do not know your place, our master Ha Hayoon, a member of the ten great families has ordered for us to collect taxes from everyone that comes here. But it seems like you will need to be beaten a few times before you accept this."

Seeing the obstinance of the man in front of him, Kaizen looked at the group which by now had surrounded him all grabbing their weapons. This led to him quickly reinforcing his body as a cold gust suddenly spread from his body.

Then, seeing the man in front of him attempting to punch him again, this time with his body being reinforced by shinsu, while the others surrounding him watched, Kaizen quickly ducked out of the way as he grabbed his needle from his arms inventory. Something he was able to do quickly enough due the effect his ice quality had on his shinsu reinforcement.

Due to it, those who approached Kaizen seemed to be slowed down for a bit as long as they stayed near him. Something Kaizen had only discovered in his last few spars before leaving the second floor.

Seeing Kaizen quickly move out of their encirclement, three people among those who had surrounded him threw spears at him while one girl other took out her lighthouse in an attempt to momentarily freeze Kaizen.

Unfortunately for them, Kaizen was able to easily resist the effect of the light house dodging both spears and the punch that came for him from the burly man.

Taking the chance where the man was still slowed down, Kaizen was able to counter-attack in time as he stabbed his needle into the man's abdomen and retracted it as he moved towards the two other slim men that started to run towards him with knives in their hands the moment they saw the burly man being stabbed.

At the same moment, the other girl ran away immediately after whispering something to the light bearer.

Just as they approached Kaizen, he suddenly took a turn towards the one in the right between the two as he ducked from his attack, something possible only due to them being slowed down.

Following that, Kaizen used his reel to make the scout on the left lose his balance as he stabbed the one in front of him in his lower abdomen.

Seeing what was happening, the spear bearers that were afraid of hurting their allies all started to charge at Kaizen. This in turn forced him to quickly retract his needle as he jumped back and released his reel that was attached to the scout.

Taking the opportunity as he saw Kaizen jump back, the spear bearer in the back of the group of four which were charging at him threw his spear at Kaizen. Something that he had barely managed to dodge as he got grazed by the attack which teared a part of his shirt an left a trail of blood in the left part of his abdomen.

With the shinsu reinforcement being capable of speeding up the regeneration of wounds, Kaizen's small cut quickly stopped bleeding although it was still stinging a bit.

Having experienced greater pains in the past, Kaizen was able to maintain focus as he quickly dived into the group of four. Something that surprised all four of them giving Kaizen the opportunity to stab the other scout while barely being able to retract his needle and move towards the spear bearer in the back.

Still, his dodging was not perfect, and although neither of the spears had reached his vital points, one of them managed to leave a big wound on his left arm.

Not hesitating even, a bit, Kaizen stabbed the spear bearer in the back in his upper abdomen as he quickly grabbed the body of the injured spear bearer to act as a shield.

Not wanting to harm their comrade, both took a second to try and move towards each of Kaizen's side. Thus, before they could reach him, Kaizen left the body of the unconscious spear bearer fall down as he quickly moved towards the other while grabbing the spear which had fallen down near him.

Seeing Kaizen heading towards him with a spear in hand, the spear bearer attempted to swing his spear at Kaizen.

With his opponent's movements slowed down by a bit, Kaizen was barely able to dive below the swing as he rose from the ground with great speed and flexibility and stabbed the man in his lower abdomen.

Seeing another comrade of his fall, the last spear bearer did a mistake. Instead of attempting to throw his spear at Kaizen who had his back turned towards him while attacking the other, the man was instead overcome by the fear of dying. Thus, instead of taking this opportunity, the man whose thoughts were already clouded kneeled into a kowtow as he started to beg for his life.

Seeing that he was the only one left standing aside from Kaizen was her, the light bearer quickly kowtowed as she also started to beg for her life. Throughout the fight, she had attempted to freeze Kaizen multiple times using her light house. But, with all her attempts having failed, she succumbed to the fear inside of her.

With many grazes and small cuts on his body, and a large cut on his left arm. Kaizen chose to not attack the two begging for their lives. Instead, remembering that he might have killed actual people, Kaizen was barely able to hold himself from vomiting as he started to fear if he will ever be forced to kill people in the future.

Looking at them Kaizen retrieved his needle as he said, "None of them have died yet, if I were you, I would take them to the hospital. As long as you both do not attack me again, I will spare you."

Then, moving away from there, Kaizen headed to the nearest inn as he payed for a night there and spent some time alone to heal his wounds by using the shinsu around him.

By the time fifteen minutes had passed, Kaizen notified Areum and Kyong about his circumstances through his pocket as he told them that they should meet in the morning of the next day.

Then, tired of everything that had happened today, Kaizen fell asleep while he was nursing his cuts.

Alternative Title: A New Beginning - An Example of Bad Foreshadowing – Arrogance Can Always Be Bad