I’m Alone on the 100th Floor Episode 023
7. The Dark Side of the Black Market (3)
The 7th floor of the Tower of Trials had an atmosphere that seemed to be the interior of the castle.
So naturally, there was a prison-like place to lock up prisoners, and the ‘black market’ where bad goods, including slaves from the tower, were secretly sold was located in the ‘prison’ on the 7th floor.
“… Aaaah!”
A scream was heard from the prison.
“Okay. Next!”
“Excuse me. Please don’t do this. Let’s talk it out and resolve it slowly… …
Chewy!
Once again, the curse used in prison burns human flesh with the sound.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!” A scream was heard.
“Move quickly, you little slaves!”
The scene inside the prison could be summarized in one word: inhumane.
People wearing only rags were being whipped one after another, forcibly tattooed, or treated worse.
“Move quickly, move quickly!”
“Ouch, ugh! Stop! Stop it!”
This place, where the only sounds heard here and there were screams or shouts, felt more like hell than a prison.
Eugene and Eternal, who had entered the black market, heard screams and muttered something.
“Wow, this is brutal.”
“How vulgar.”
Eugene, who had been surveying the situation before going further inside, turned around when he felt fingers pulling at his collar.
“why?”
“I think it would be a good idea to take this with you.”
What Serin carefully held out was the level cover she was wearing.
“The reason you came here was to check if the information you found out on the top floor matches what’s happening here?”
Seo Rin, who had reconfirmed the purpose of her visit here, explained why she had handed over the level cap.
“Then I don’t think it’s necessary to go in there honking the horn. If you wander around here at level 10, you’ll definitely run into trouble… …
The scenario that Serin was worried about was the scenario where Eugene, at level 10, was wandering around and was mistaken for a runaway slave.
“Of course, I didn’t think of sticking with people here and losing. I just thought this might be a faster and easier way… …
Eugene sighed and asked, accepting the level cap that Serin offered him as her voice grew quieter and quieter.
“Should I eat you?”
Eugene, who was wearing the level cap that Serin had obediently offered, continued speaking softly.
“I’m giving you the right advice, so why are you so worried? And to begin with… the level cap is mine.”
When Eugene glanced at her as if he was upset, Serin made a blank expression.
“You were going to take it even though I didn’t tell you to?”
As Eugene, who had been grumbling, put on the level cap, his level, which was displayed as 10, changed to a question mark.
“If you were going to do something like that, you should have done it a long time ago.” Eugene, expressing his disappointment, said again.
He turned the dog around and began to observe the inside of the black market.
The areas where the torches weren’t hanging were dark and hard to see, but that wasn’t much of a problem for Eugene, who had the corresponding trait.
“Hmm… Is there really a mastermind behind this? They’re all quite high leveled?”
Aside from the slaves, there were a few level 40 or 50 climbers scattered throughout the tower.
“Guide, do you know any climbers among these?” Eugene, who was staring ahead, asked if there were any familiar faces, but there was no answer.
“Hey, just grab my clothes… …
Eugene, who had been annoyed by his collar being pulled, looked back at Serin and blinked.
U cso
“It’s not me.”
Serin’s gaze was directed to the seat next to Eugene.
“huh?”
Eugene, who had lowered his gaze, was able to spot a young child who had come close to him and was holding onto his collar.
The little boy’s behavior was shabby.
“???how?”
Seo Rin muttered with a surprised expression as she looked at the shabby-looking boy.
‘How did you touch that guy?’
The reason Serin was surprised was because of the characteristics she had confirmed when she first met him.
Its identity was unknown, but it had protective properties that could send electric shocks into the air even when it was just trying to shake hands… and the kid ignored it.
‘Could it be this kid?’
Serin took a step back, wondering if this kid was the mastermind behind the tower she was worried about, but Eugene’s reaction was the complete opposite.
“Who are you?”
When Eugene responded kindly by bending his knees and making eye contact with the child, Seo Rin stuttered.
“When you shook my hand, the lightning that flashed didn’t appear… Isn’t that dangerous?”
Eugene shrugged his shoulders at Serin’s question.
“I didn’t turn it on for the child.”
The reason the child was able to touch Eugene’s trouser leg was because he had made a promise to himself while he was on the tower.
“I decided not to lay a hand on the child.”
Eugene met the child’s eyes again and muttered to himself as he looked into her lifeless eyes.
‘It doesn’t seem like they approached me with any malicious intent…
His appearance was almost like a bruise, and he didn’t say anything at all… Above all, looking at the iron necklace he wore to prove his identity, it seemed like he had a lot of stories to tell.
“A slave… I guess. He doesn’t have any tattoos yet, but I think he escaped before that happened… …
——————
faqwiki.us
Join our Discord for new chapter updates!
https://discord.com/invite/xr7SxG5T6V
——————
Serin, feeling sorry for the child’s appearance, fiddled with the iron necklace around his neck. “Did you really have to make a child into a slave like this?” Realizing that she couldn’t remove the necklace with her own abilities, Serin looked at Eugene.
“Can you please release this?”
Eugene didn’t answer.
“Hey… are you listening?”
For some reason, Eugene forgot to answer and just stared at the child’s head.
‘Why are you doing that?’
Serin followed Eugene and looked over the child’s head to see the three-letter name and number.
I was able to check the bell.
[Free Pre]
[Level: 11]
The child’s level was 11.
“It’s one level higher than yours.”
Serin asked if this might be the reason why Eugene’s gaze was fixed on her, but that didn’t seem to be the right answer.
“This child’s name… … Eugene was about to ask something, but changed his question in the middle.
“Do you remember the names of the restaurant workers we saw?”
Serin nodded.
“I remember that.”
It wasn’t that long ago, and it left quite a strong impression, so of course I remembered it.
“It was Ms. Mirami, right?”
Eugene nodded and asked a second question.
“When did you start seeing slaves on the tower?”
“That was about a year before the climbers were summoned to the top… right? Then why all of a sudden?”
“Among the names of the slaves I’ve encountered since then… If there are any names you remember, tell me.”
“The names of the slaves?”
Serin frowned and muttered the names she remembered.
‘So… Miss Aria, Mr. Drod, Hirahi, Mr. Stealth and… …
Serin stopped talking as she recalled the names of the slaves, folding her fingers one by one.
“Wait a minute. There’s something strange about these names.
The slaves’ names had something in common.
“Huh?” The common denominator among the names of Freef, Mirami, Aria, Drod, Hirahi, and Stealth was that they were all three letters long, and they were pronounced the same way from the beginning.
“Is this a coincidence?”
“Or maybe he wore a name badge?
“No, that can’t be true. Name tags aren’t that common. This is… …
“This is not a coincidence.”
Eugene continued speaking, placing his hand on the head of the shabby child in front of him, Freef.
“At first I thought it might be a coincidence. These slaves… No, correction. These ‘people’ are not climbers. I can be sure of that now.”
Eugene, who had been staring intently at the child’s name, muttered softly.
“He’s the top guy.”
“Top person?”
When Serin asked again, Eugene explained.
“The people who live in this tower, appearing from the 50th floor onwards.”
50th floor?
Serin, who was listening to Eugene, frowned and raised a question.
“Wait a minute, the current top rankers haven’t even made it past the 48th floor yet… …
“no.”
Eugene cut off Serin’s words.
“Someone woke up.”
“Someone you don’t know has already broken through the 50th floor.”
Eugene, who started from the 100th floor of the tower and came down in reverse, stopped at the 77th floor until Serin called him out, so it couldn’t be applicable.
“That means… …
“The problem is, why are the people you can meet on the 50th floor on the 7th floor? They wouldn’t have been able to get down on their own.”
Eugene muttered with an expression of incomprehension, then lowered his gaze from the child’s name to meet her eyes.
“Freef, right?”
The child named Freep was unable to speak for some reason.
“It’s okay. We’re on your side. By any chance, can you tell me where you’re from?”
At Eugene’s words that he was on your side, her lips that had been tightly shut trembled slightly, but no answer came out.
Even though it must have been automatically translated thanks to the blessing of the tower, Freep shook his head and only revealed the complex meaning.
‘Do you not remember? Or do you not believe me?’
The child, who seemed to have a lot of stories as expected from first impressions, looked to be less than 10 years old.
“Could it be that you can’t speak because of the necklace?” Serin asked, reaching out to Freef’s necklace, but Freef trembled, holding on to her own necklace as if it were her life.
“The necklace isn’t the problem.”
In Eugene’s opinion, the problem wasn’t with the necklace.
‘It seems like a matter of the heart…
Eugene had seen those lifeless eyes, as if they had been wounded, before.
So I could tell.
I could guess that the child had gone through some kind of situation and that it was the reason he couldn’t speak.
“First of all, if you take off this necklace, the child will die.”
With Eugene’s strength ability, he could have grabbed an iron necklace this thick and ripped it off like cotton candy, but he couldn’t do that recklessly.
“Even though the top people can’t use spears like climbers, they can still train their abilities and skills. This is probably something they put on to prevent that.” This stupidly designed iron collar contained a large amount of gunpowder.
If I tried to force this or tear it apart, I definitely wouldn’t be able to see a good picture.
“Then what should we do?”
Eugene’s eyes lit up at Serin’s question.
‘Should I turn it over?’
Not far away, a bunch of level 50 climbers were walking around, pretending to be prison guards.
‘Just leave everything here to be destroyed?’
When Eugene’s expression distorted as if he was feeling uncomfortable, Freep, who had been holding onto his collar, noticed the strange atmosphere and took a step back.
“It’s okay… It’s okay… …
Serin, who had been hugging the back of the child who was backing away, calmed down the free-spirited child and looked at Eugene.
‘What are you going to do?’
Serin asked with her eyes.
‘Even if we destroy this place, we’ll only be cutting off what’s visible, not uprooting it.’
Eugene, who had been rolling his head while meeting Serin’s gaze, seemed to have made a decision and straightened his bent knees and stood up.
“Eternal.”
〈I am listening… … .>
Ssssss, an ominous black gas appeared in response to Eugene’s call.
“Stay with the guide for a moment.”
〈Are you going to move alone?〉
“uh.”
Eugene took a step forward and muttered faintly.
“I’m going to sweep this place away.”
