The More the Healer Gets Hit the Stronger He Become

19 – Hasty Team (3)

“Fire Fist!!”

Before his surprised mind could settle, the original items were swept aside, making way for new products to fill the screen.

[‘Don’t waste money on useless things, just buy this.’ – Blessed Short Sword (Short Sword) 7,300 points → 3,900 points]

“Insane!”

The long-missing Fire Fist returned, accompanied by an unbelievable half-price sale.

[Blessed Short Sword (Short Sword)]

[Created under the threat of ‘Asper’s Fire Fist.’ The well-forged blade effortlessly cuts through tough orc leather. / Additional Effect: Increases healing abilities by 7%.]

Clicking on the detailed description of the short sword revealed dazzling phrases.

“Whoa!”

Without a second thought, Kangwoo clicked the purchase button before thoughts could register in his brain.

[You have purchased the Blessed Short Sword (Short Sword).]

[3,900 points will be deducted.]

A simple black short sword with no overly elaborate decorations, almost rustic in its simplicity.

However, when the sword was drawn from the scabbard, a dazzlingly beautiful sword spirit appeared.

“Crazy….”

The wallet that had been generous as a reward for the 10th-floor trial was quickly emptied. However, how could one resist not shouting after seeing the phrase, ‘increases healing ability by 7%’!

The percentage effects of the same stat on each item do not overlap. However, amusingly enough,

[Health Belt]

[When worn, increases the wearer’s healing effects by 8%.]

The Tower did not classify ‘increasing the caster’s healing ability’ and ‘a person other than the caster receiving healing ability’ as the same stat.

In other words, when Kangwoo used a heal, the blessing-imbued short sword increased the ‘healing effect by 7%’, and when he received that heal, the Health Belt’s effect ‘increased received healing effects by 8%.’ So, using a heal resulted in a total of 15% stat increase.

Lost in the ecstasy of the upgraded specs, Kangwoo fixed the short sword, which someone might snatch away, onto the holder of the Health Belt.

“Phew.”

Kangwoo, who held his breath, looked ahead. In front of him, the special sale items that had not disappeared despite purchasing goods were spread out.

“What the heck is this? Why did it suddenly appear without a word all this time?”

After the half-price sale in the 1st-floor safe zone.

Kangwoo, who passed the 2nd-floor trial, had complained about the lack of a half-price sale, and as a result, he opened a sale that reduced ‘Hard Bread 5 points → 4 points.’

At that moment, Kangwoo realized.

Ah, that perverted guy has been watching me.

Since then, Kangwoo.

Whether it’s a thought, a strange trial, being alone and bored, or whatever else. He incessantly spoke to the Hard Bread without any response. However, no matter how much he spoke, the Hard Bread remained silent. With Hard Bread as his last interaction, Kangwoo had somewhat given up on hearing his response.

But then, to suddenly bring about such a tremendous event at an unexpected timing.

“I knew you were staring like a pervert, but….”

Kangwoo, who was retorting with sarcasm, swallowed his words.

The phrase indicating a special sale item silently guarding its place with emptiness caught his attention.

Unlike the first time when the line disappeared after giving away the initial items, now, even though there was nothing left to sell, the window didn’t vanish.

As if especially determined to answer the questions you’re asking this time.

‘Question.’

Kangwoo closed his eyes, calming his mind.

‘The one I wanted to ask the most.’

This golden opportunity shouldn’t be dismissed with a simple brush-off.

After a short while, Kangwoo, slowly opening his eyes, spoke.

“…Is what you desire for me to prevent the destruction of this world?”

Twinkle.

And then, the window sparkled.

As if it had been waiting, new items appeared.

[‘Recommended by ‘That’s Right’ – Water 1.5L 6 Points → 3 Points]

“!!”

Before he could recover from the shock, items continued to appear in succession.

[‘Conquer the tower and block the gate to the modern world. It’s something only you can do.’ – Recommended by ‘That’s Right’ – Jerky 1 Pack 15 Points → 8 Points]

“So, back then… Why? What’s going on? Are you still tired? Shall we leave tomorrow?”

Lost in thought, Kangwoo snapped out of his reverie at Yooseung-Ah’s words.

“No, I just have something to think about.”

“Not tired?”

“No, I’m fine.”

The time was 7:30 in the morning.

Against the backdrop of the dreary safe zone, the two sat on the floor, earnestly munching on jerky.

“Anyway, can you believe I thought Tower was insane? Orcs! Orcs on the 10th floor trial!!”

Kangwoo burst into laughter at Yooseung-Ah’s enthusiastic display.

It reminded him of his past self reflected in her lively demeanor.

“I thought the exact same thing. No matter how sick I was, Orcs are crossing the line for real.”

“Yeah!! So our whole team was like…”

Yesterday evening, as Kangwoo stepped out of the tent to organize his thoughts, he coincidentally ran into Yooseung-Ah.

The sociable Yooseung-Ah approached without hesitation, and Kangwoo, who was reluctant to engage in conversation due to his complicated feelings, found himself smiling and chatting with his own reflection.

Being the same age, their communication flowed effortlessly, and the cheerful conversation with Yooseung-Ah helped heal his weary heart as he climbed the Tower alone.

“…So I’m trying to figure something out, but no matter how tough the leather, arrows won’t pierce it, and the Orcs are just going crazy.”

“Orcs really are like monsters.”

“Yeah! Even if the arrow had pierced, it would have been paralyzed by the poison…”

Attempting to console the disheartened Yooseung-Ah, Kangwoo was taken aback.

“Paralyzed? The arrow didn’t penetrate?”

“Yeah! You have it too. Those goblins’ arrows looted on the 7th floor, right? They’re poisoned, you know!”

“Oh, uh, yeah.”

“Ah! You haven’t shot the arrows yet! I tried, but they don’t stick to orcs. No damage, no nothing.”

Nodding in agreement with Yoo Seung-ah, who smoothly answered his questions, Kang-woo found himself lost in another thought.

‘The arrows don’t stick? So even with poisoned arrows, Seung-ah couldn’t catch the orc?’

The conversation with Yoo Seung-ah was enjoyable in itself, but there was another advantage.

Because of his solitary journey, he naturally acquired information he didn’t know.

“Hey, Seung-ah.”

“I was at that time… Huh?”

“You shoot a bow, right? Does your strength increase a lot?”

“Oh, not really. It’s only 9.”

Seung-ah, lowering her voice, whispered, “Seo-hee unnie is 11. Impressive, right? Even if the strength is just 10 on the 10th floor, going up to 11 is something.”

“Oh, I see. But is it okay for me to know this?”

Kang-woo, who didn’t expect to hear about Choi Seo-hee’s information, showed discomfort. Then, Yoo Seung-ah, bouncing up, playfully hit Kang-woo’s arm.

“Are you kidding me right now? We’re a team. We’ll disclose everything anyway. What’s the difference if you hear it now? It doesn’t matter as long as those people don’t know.”

Slap, slap.

Dodging Kang-woo’s subsequent attacks, Yoo Seung-ah pointed towards the direction of the tents belonging to the members of the Korean Guild.

‘They’re disclosing their stats among team members too.’

If Yu Seung-ah hadn’t heard it now, he would have been flustered when someone else asked about the stats before departure. After all, he didn’t know the average stats of the people who formed parties and came up.

“They said in the association that we just need to disclose our abilities.”

Back when he studied at the Awakened Ones Association before entering the Tower, he learned, “Forming effective tactics through sharing the abilities of those in the party is the basic.”

But when did they start sharing detailed stats?

As if hearing Kang Woo’s question, Yu Seung-ah spoke.

“I wonder what the 11th-floor trial is like. It feels too much as we go higher. With the Tower like this, we should stick together, even among ourselves. What else can we do?”

Muttering, Yu Seung-ah pulled out another piece of jerky and chewed on it.

‘Is the atmosphere of sharing abilities formed naturally as we pass each floor’s trial?’

Organizing his thoughts, Kang Woo checked his stats.

[Name: Choi Kang-woo

Strength: 19.8

Endurance: 11

Agility: 10

Intelligence: 7

Magic Power: 10]

‘Having strength 11 is remarkable.’

Considering Yu Seung-ah’s broad statement, it was likely not just her personal opinion but a high probability of being an average figure.

Kang Woo checked his strength. After the battle with the orc, his strength increased by 0.6, reaching an astonishing 19.8. Assuming the average strength of dealers who passed the 10th-floor trial is 10, this was nearly twice that value.

Not only strength but also endurance, agility, and magic power were on the higher side, not just ordinary.

‘Is it because my strength is low that I couldn’t pierce through orc leather?’

The most shocking piece of information from the conversation with Yu Seung-a was that her arrows couldn’t penetrate the orc’s leather.

Even Kang Woo himself had shot arrows relentlessly, taking down orcs up to the tenth floor.

So, unconsciously, he had thought that with goblin poison arrows alone, a sick orc could easily be defeated. But Yu Seung-a, despite having poison arrows, not only couldn’t kill the orc but couldn’t even pierce its leather.

The only difference between her and Kang Woo was just one thing: a strength stat difference of 10.8.

And this meant that unless one had strength as high as Kang Woo’s, it was impossible to inflict wounds on orcs with poison arrows. Well, not just arrows, even a well-forged sword wielded by a skilled swordsman would find it challenging to deal effective blows.

Even Kang Woo, with a strength of over 19, had to make several slashes to end an orc’s life.

‘… If I boasted about killing an orc on the tenth floor, it would have been a big problem.’

After that, he spent a considerable amount of time listening to her stories, responding, asking questions, and with 30 minutes left until the planned meeting time of 9 o’clock, Kang Woo parted ways with Yu Seung-a and returned to the tent.

“…”

Being alone in the silent tent, his mind became complicated once again.

Finally, he understood the reason.

‘The Fist of Asper showed him a future where the world would end in three years, gave him an absurd ability that increased his strength every time he healed, and intervened to prevent him from leaving the tower.’

‘Prevent the apocalypse? Me?’

He entered the tower idolizing an Awakened, but it was merely because he was good at it, not to become a great person connected to something as serious as the end of the world.

Showing him the future arbitrarily, intervening arbitrarily to prevent him from leaving the tower, and again arbitrarily notifying him of an unbelievable story.

“You bastard. At least give me a detailed explanation.”

His chest felt suffocated. He wanted to believe that everything the Fist of Asper said was a lie, but Kang Woo knew. There was no reason for a being like the Fist of Asper to lie to him.

– [‘Letter from the Fist of Asper’ ended on April 16, 2045.]

The system doesn’t lie.

“Yeah. To make this world keep spinning, it just had to be me tumbling down like this.”

His parents, who spent each day in worry while waiting for him at home, weighed heavily on Kangwoo’s heart.

“Surely…”

With wide-open eyes, Kangwoo directed his words towards the perverted jerk who even now was staring at him.

“I have to. I must be able to prevent the destruction.”

Current time: 9:00.

It was time to challenge this doggone trial.