It was a week of conducting Jo Seohui's tournament.
We exchanged many stories during that time.
With time on our hands, it was inevitable.

Each time, Kim Min-seong subtly hinted at something.

─ Why are you so strong? Is there a reason?
─ There’s a recurring theme in novels; do you know what it is?
─ There must be a reason why you go out of your way to spare me.

The reason I spared Kim Min-seong?

It was nothing special.
It was because he didn’t look down on me.

But it seemed Kim Min-seong had misunderstood.
I didn’t correct him.
I felt no need to.

It wasn’t a loss for me.

‘So, it comes back around.’

Regressors.
Those who have returned to the past after experiencing some event.

Anyone who has adapted to the Tower of Struggle to a certain extent and is perceptive would immediately recognize what it means to be a regressor.

‘I’ve shown overwhelming strength, so he’s probably trying to piece together the current situation in some way.’

Sure enough, his expression changed.
He had found his light.

‘He’s just like Kim Min-seong.’

How should I describe that look in his eyes…?

‘…Chosen?’

Yes, it felt exactly like that.

His demeanor shifted to one of submission.

He seemed to move beyond just surviving by spilling everything he knew.
He was almost deluded enough to think he would become my ally by telling a regressor everything.

Of course, that possibility was nonexistent.

I had gathered just enough information on the second floor.
I could see how things operated and the structure of it all.

“…So, there are quite a few teams like yours?”
“Yes. That’s right. Everyone forms teams to take on matches. The competition for matches with the Elimination Prevention option is fierce, so ordinary players can’t even touch them.”
“Can’t you participate individually?”
“Some teams control that too. If you catch their attention, it’ll be hard to survive.”

I could see rage flickering in his eyes.
It seemed he had suffered quite a bit.

But that anger soon turned into exhilaration.
It seemed he held onto hope now that he knew I was a regressor.

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

Did he think I was asking for cross-validation?

‘…He might think so.’
Pow-.

After extracting all the information, I killed him.
I had no intention of sparing someone who had tried to disregard me and kill me from the start.

‘Since I let the other races go, I shouldn’t run into any trouble.’

I didn’t touch any players from other dimensions just in case.
I had only killed Earthlings.

‘So, it’s okay to kill Earthlings.’

I found myself dismissing the Earth dimension without even realizing it.
If I, an Earthling, could act like this, what about the others from different dimensions?

“Hmmm…”

I didn’t linger long over how to dispose of the corpses.

I went straight to find Daimus.
He was the only power on the second floor I could reasonably ask for help from.

“A few dead Earthlings are nothing. You don’t need to worry about the Error Player.”

After assessing the state of the tavern in disarray, Daimus cleared away the Earthling corpses with a casual wave of his hand.

“If you need help, feel free to ask anytime. I can’t help with anything related to climbing, but I’ll help as much as I can with everything else.”
“Thanks.”
“…If you want to avoid unnecessary conflict, it’s best not to appear as an Earthling. At least if you take on the appearance of an elf, you won’t fall prey to the filthy tricks of Earthlings.”
“I appreciate the advice. I’ll keep that in mind.”

The tavern was cleaned up.
It returned to the state it was in before I caused chaos.

After Daimus left, I turned to look at the tavern owner.

“……”

The tavern owner avoided my gaze.
He likely wanted to kick me out, but he didn’t have the strength to do so.

The image of him ordering around the manager felt more effective than I expected.

“Is there a place to rest? Just for one night.”
“…Y-yes. There’s a room inside…”

I slept deeply and awoke.

“I’ll be sure to pay next time.”
“……”

Had I somehow learned telepathy overnight?
I could almost hear the tavern owner’s thoughts whispering in my ears.

I made an effort to ignore his inner feelings and left the tavern.
I headed straight toward the Colosseum.

The gladiator penalty meant I had to participate in a match once a week.

But there was something more urgent at hand.
It was money.
I needed living expenses.

‘What about extorting money from Daimus?’

Considering his reaction last night, it seemed entirely possible.
He himself said to ask for help if needed.

‘…There’s no need to increase the risk.’

Jo Seohui told me that what the manager gives to players isn’t free.
For instance, Jo Seohui risked his life to distribute points.

Kim Min-seong spoke about causality and probability.
I think that was the influence.

I didn’t think Daimus would be any different.
He must have his own penalties as well.

I didn’t know how severe they were, but.

‘There must be something he wants from me.’

I’m not a real dragon.
I couldn’t afford to meet his demands.

It would be best to draw the line right here.
The Golden Dagger and the clean-up from last night.
That’s as far as I’d go.

I thought that was a fair price for having summoned a dragon for entertainment.
Clearing it out.

“Stop pushing me. Why do you keep pushing?”
“Kerekk. This is my spot. Look where you’re going!”

The registration office for gladiators was still crowded.
I passed by them and approached the bulletin board.

Newly updated recruitment announcements were posted.
Various monsters, duels between gladiators.
Among them, something familiar caught my eye.

The recruitment announcement for the Griffin Hunt that I had seen yesterday.

[Griffin Hunt]

Today at 1 PM.
The timing wasn’t bad.

How would it compare to the Giant Black Rager?
Is the Griffin stronger than the Black Lion?

As I scanned the bulletin board, there was also a match against the Black Lion.
Twenty participants, with a reward of 30 Nero Cooper.

It could be concluded that the Black Lion was stronger than the Griffin.
That was reasonable to assume.

‘They don’t give out victory points, huh.’

Both money and victory points are important.
But to earn victory points, you have to win matches without the Elimination Prevention option.

That means you have to risk your life if you want to ascend to the third floor.

‘That’s for later.’

I set my priorities straight.
Money over victory points.

I decided to participate in the Griffin Hunt.
If I entered this match and received the prize money, I could comfortably spend the evening and night.

With that in mind, how do I apply?
Should I tear off the recruitment notice and take it with me? I pondered for a moment.

“Hey, you.”

I heard a voice calling me.
When I turned around, there stood a dwarf.

The dwarf glanced at the recruitment notice I was holding and asked.

“Are you planning to join that match?”
“Well…”

Using informal speech right off the bat.
I responded in kind.

The dwarf didn’t seem to care as he gestured for me to follow him.
It was a sign to come along.

‘Again?’

I was nervous, wondering if the same thing that happened yesterday would occur again, and I followed him.
Since he wasn’t an Earthling, I couldn’t afford to act nonchalantly like I did yesterday.

He led me to a place where several players were waiting.

‘A team.’

There were six total.
Including the dwarf and me, there were eight.

‘A variety of races, too.’

Goblins, orcs, lizardmen, beastfolk…

There were humans too.
But they were unlikely to be Earthlings.

Midgardians.
Or perhaps they were psychics.

‘Not bad.’

From my perspective, wanting to join the match immediately, there was no reason to refuse this team and look for another.
As long as they could adequately protect my skill damage, that was enough for me.
It seemed much better than a team of Earthlings.

The goblin asked the dwarf.

“Kerekk. Litol. What’s up with that human?”
“He’s the human who was keeping an eye on the Griffin Hunt. I brought him because he seems to be a Murim person.”

The players scrutinized me.
Their gazes felt like they were dissecting me.

“A Murim person?”

There are different types of beastfolk.
The beastfolk belonging to this team seemed to be of the dog type.

True to their dog-like nature, they tried to sniff me out.
When a humanoid beastfolk girl pushed her nose close, it became quite uncomfortable.

I pushed the beastfolk away and spoke.

“I’m a Murim person.”

Being a Murim person was much more convenient for living than being an Earthling.
So I didn’t deny their misunderstanding.

‘I’ve learned martial arts too.’

With Cheolpo Samgong and the Three Calamities Sword Technique.
With those two, I thought it was sufficient to claim I was a Murim person.

“If you’re a Murim person, which sect do you belong to?”
The orc asked me.
I replied confidently.

“Shaolin.”
“……”

Cheolpo Samgong is a martial art of Shaolin.

“Shaolin, you say?”

The dwarf scoffed and glared at me.

“Shaolin monks are all bald.”

Their gazes turned toward my hair.
I was far from bald.

“Why would you lie? Kerekk.”
“Exactly.”

The goblin and lizardman cast doubtful looks.
I countered them.

“I don’t understand why Shaolin monks must be bald.”
“That’s….”

Among them, no one would know the details.
They weren’t from Zhongyuan.
At most, what they had seen was from the Tower of Struggle, so what did it matter?

‘The military in Korea is the same. Each unit has different regulations for hair length.’

The same goes for Shaolin monks.

“I’m not just any monk. I’m a disobedient monk. So it’s okay for me to grow my hair.”

Disobedient monk.
That sounded familiar from somewhere.

I didn’t know what they did, but I knew for sure they were extraordinarily strong monks.
So I claimed to be a disobedient monk.

‘In the end, all I need to prove is that I’m a Murim person.’

For different reasons, we all needed to have a teammate to join the Griffin Hunt match.

“I’ll show you the absolute defense of Shaolin. Then you’ll be able to believe that I’m a Murim person.”

I prepared to activate Cheolpo Samgong.

“Anyone can come and hit me. Witness what Iron Block is.”