WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 35: Party Play

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“Jeonbung-i” is a common derogatory nickname for Challengers with the Normal Class Warrior.

The Tower of Trials had already been cleared all the way to the 100th floor, and thanks to the countless carry services and Rankers, it had become a pretty comfortable place.

Naturally, advancement routes and strategies for Rare Classes had been established long ago, and advancement items were easy to buy at the auction house.

On top of that, Ranker carries made it entirely possible to climb floors or prepare for advancement without having advanced yet.

Of course, advancing to a Normal Class didn't mean you could never switch to a higher class.

Still, switching classes reset your previous mastery skills and proficiency, so the sooner you advanced to a higher class, the better.

Ah, if they were the same type of class, some skill growth did carry over. The problem was, skill growth wasn't the only thing that mattered.

Depending on the class, stat gains from leveling up could differ too, so leveling up as a Normal Class was a loss in itself.

That was exactly why I'd hesitated to advance on the first floor.

Warrior was the only class you could advance to on the first floor without any special requirements, but advancing to it also lowered your future potential.

What was worse, Warrior-type classes often had separate masteries, so very few skills carried over to higher classes.

In this situation, being a Normal Class Warrior had a simple meaning.

You had neither money nor connections, so Ranker carries always put you at the back of the line. For the same reason, you had no way to quickly advance to another class.

You also didn't have the patience to wait forever for your turn, so you were a dirt-poor Challenger who had no choice but to bite the bullet and advance to Warrior.

Combined with the class being little more than an inferior version of other Warrior-type classes, that was how the insulting nickname Jeonbung-i came about.

Still, there were surprisingly many Challengers who advanced to Warrior early just to get through the beginning.

It lowered their potential a little, but as long as they got past the early stages and switched to another class, it didn't cause any major problems with their build.

The real targets of the Jeonbung-i insult were high-level Warriors like me.

The ones who advanced to Warrior, barely dragged themselves through the early game, then still couldn't switch classes quickly because they had no money or connections.

The guys who'd accumulated so much growth by the time they had money that they couldn't give it up, the ones people said had gotten “stuck” in the Warrior class.

My circumstances were a little unusual, but I did fit the term Jeonbung-i in the sense that I'd overgrown in a Normal Class.

But fuck, where did this asshole learn to say that right to someone's face?

“What?”

I immediately frowned and asked. Kim Minhyeong, the Holy Knight, tilted his chin as if asking whether I had a problem.

Look at this bastard. He's overflowing with confidence.

He was Level 44, eight levels below me.

That was a pretty big gap, but level wasn't everything. For starters, he had a Rare Class.

The difference between a Normal Class and a Rare Class wasn't enormous, but it was enough to make up for an eight-level gap.

And just looking at him, his equipment seemed a full tier above the other two's.

I was openly wearing stuff that looked like junk, so he probably thought his class and items put him above me.

Now then, what should I do with this guy? I still had no idea how skilled he was beyond his stats.

-Tap, tap.

I lightly tapped the hand axe hanging from my waist and gauged the mood for a moment. There was no reason to make a scene out of nowhere.

Then, the first person to move wasn't that rude bastard or me.

“Hey, what's with calling someone Jeonbung-i after he gave up his spot for us?”

Kim Jina leaped up and swung her wand at the rude guy's head.

-Clang!

Oh, that was a satisfying sound.

* * *

Kim Jina immediately bowed her head and apologized over and over.

Naturally, she didn't just apologize; she also chewed out the rude Holy Knight until he apologized too.

Of course, the Holy Knight only gave a halfhearted bow as if he had no idea what he'd done wrong, but it wasn't completely unbearable.

I'd made fun of Jeonbung-is who were easy targets in the community too, so I decided to let this one slide.

I'll just assume he's the type who can't tell real life from the community.

Though judging by the fact that he didn't know my name, he probably wasn't on the community that often.

Anyway, after that, we briefly discussed how we'd move through the dungeon.

The three of them were a fixed party that had been working together for a while, so it was a little awkward for me to jump in and make suggestions.

After a short discussion, my position was decided as rear guard. I was supposed to protect Kim Jina, the ranged damage dealer, from nearby.

“Wait, wouldn't it be better if I did that?”

“You need to tank at the front.”

“Yeah, we said we'd stick to how we usually do things.”

The rude Holy Knight put up a little resistance, but since there was no reason to change positions, he was quickly shut down.

I could roughly see why that bastard had been picking at me.

He wanted to show off in front of a girl. I get how he feels, but he'd better know I won't let it slide next time.

[Would you like to enter?]

People were waiting, so once we'd settled our positions, we entered the portal.

“Yes.”

Beyond the portal stood a massive golden ruin.

* * *

The dungeon's overall style wasn't much different from the Lizardman ruins on the third floor.

The main differences were that it looked much larger, and gold ornaments were attached all over the place.

Could that stuff really be gold? I wondered how much it would sell for in the outside world if I stripped it all off.

Of course, you couldn't just take items from the Tower of Trials with you after clearing it, but still.

“Based on the information released in the community, the main monsters here are Golem-type monsters.”

Kim Jina was explaining. I'd only fought a Golem once before.

The field boss in the fourth-floor desert area had been a Sand Golem.

Its whole body had been made of rock and sand, so it hadn't felt like my attacks were doing any damage.

After I smashed what seemed to be its head three times in a row, it stopped regenerating and collapsed.

“Have you ever fought a Golem monster?”

“No.”

“It isn't difficult. You just have to find and destroy the core, and they go down easily.”

I see. Then that Sand Golem must've had its core in its head. I'd killed it completely by accident.

Maybe Kim Jina liked explaining things she knew, because she kept rattling off all sorts of facts about Golems.

I gave vague responses as I walked beside her, matching her pace, when I heard the rude Holy Knight at the front click his tongue.

“Tch, you've never even fought a Golem at that level...”

It was irritating, but it didn't seem like he was saying it for me to hear, so I let it go for now.

A little while later, the ground began to shake as a huge Rock Golem appeared.

It was a little bigger than the Sand Golem from the fourth floor. It stood about three meters tall to the top of its head.

As soon as the Golem appeared, the three quickly moved into position and immediately began fighting.

“Hah!”

The Holy Knight acting as the tank moved first, raising his tower shield and slamming into the Golem with Shield Bash.

Seeing the shield flash, it seemed to be one of the Holy Knight's skills. But it didn't look like the Golem took much damage.

Next, Kim Jinseok, who'd said he was a Gladiator, drew his twin swords and charged at the Golem.

The two equal-length swords flashed as he activated a skill. It struck six times in a row.

Judging by the chunks of stone being carved away from the Golem's body, the damage seemed pretty strong.

While the two melee fighters held the Golem's aggro, Kim Jina, the Mage, cast a skill.

“Magic Missile!”

-Boom!

Pure white magical projectiles flew out one after another and blew apart a large section of the Golem's chest.

Embedded in the destroyed area was a round, bright red stone. That must've been the Golem's core.

The two melee fighters didn't recklessly attack the exposed core. They held their positions and continued tanking.

By then, Kim Jina's second Magic Missile was ready. It shot out quickly and shattered the core to pieces.

-Thud!

[Guardian Golem's Rock Fragment]

[Festival Coin]

The Golem collapsed, and the dropped items appeared before my eyes. I hadn't done anything, but the items came to me.

So that was why they'd made it sound like such a favor when they offered to hand over the party-leader position. The system let the party leader steal all the rewards.

“How was it, Jinhyeok? What did you get?”

“I got one material and a coin.”

It seemed coins didn't always drop from regular monsters. Kim Jina smiled brightly and said I was lucky.

“More importantly, how were we? I told you we were a good party, right?”

Kim Jina suddenly asked while drinking a mana potion. Did she want me to praise them or something?

They definitely held their positions and fought calmly, which was pretty good. But if I had to judge their skill, well.

“Yeah, you are.”

I gave her some lip service and let the thoughts in my head pass.

I couldn't exactly call myself socially skilled, but I wasn't rude like some Holy Knight asshole.

I couldn't just openly tell them they were fucking weak.

Footnotes:

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