Chapter 85: Deal With the Devil

****(POV)

On the ground, a small item had appeared in a red glow.

Just seeing it made him remember all that he had gone through. He had been a useless child, he had been a useless student, was almost a useless monk, and he was seemingly destined to be a worse than useless Climber.

But just now, he had gotten his first item! He could earn! He would be able to buy whatever he wanted. He didn't want much after all. Perhaps he'd even get a girlfriend!

What about the curse? Screw that curse! He had already managed the E-Rank curse of distraction. Why wouldn't he be able to deal with an F-Rank one? Plus, he had a secret weapon: money! Any Climber was already a sacred existence to the common populace.

What about the temple's teachings? Well, it didn't especially prohibit love. He could always take his sweet time and find a successor to take care of things.

As soon as he observed the item, he found his vision getting blurrier and blurrier. That was a given with all the tears that had begun flowing freely. He could feel them drip onto his cheeks before falling right next to it. Yet, he could still perfectly distinguish the item that had dropped.

It was an accessory that was dark black and noble-looking. His hands were trembling as he slowly picked it up to inspect its description. He really hadn't expected such a thing!

<- Dog Collar. No effect.>

- Completely useless. You may as well throw it away.

In fact, this dog collar actually had a lot of history in the Tower. It was always the first item to drop on Floor 1. He had been arduously risking his life over and over and over only to get a dog collar.

This item was widely considered the first "Fuck You" from the Tower itself (no love at all). It was possibly meant to ruin the Climbers' mood. Or perhaps was it to cordially remind them that they were just that: dogs. Ones that the Tower reared.

His still trembling hands were now solidly clasping the item. So hard, in fact, that they were becoming white from the lack of blood. Yet, he didn't care. No, there was a feeling that was slowly rising from inside him.

No, it wasn't slow anymore. It was very profound, and it had incredible momentum. It was waiting to burst out. He couldn't help himself as he raised the dog collar slowly high up in the air and then he….

Had there been a gallery here, they would have been cheering. They would have screamed: "Throw that piece of shit collar so far it lands on another Floor!"

He raised it, and amidst his tears, he…put it around his own neck. His face was about to cramp from his huge genuine smile. Many would have disdained such a crappy item. Many would have hated it. But to him, it was great. It was just like him, useless.

It was a dumb reason? Who fucking cares! He didn't. No, he kept standing there enjoying the moment, feeling the heat on his skin. That's when he heard the roars. More creatures were coming to devour him.

He was in such bliss that he kept smiling as he killed them all one after the others. He kept smiling when his laughter attracted more. He kept smiling as he killed those too. He kept smiling as this cycle of attracting and killing continued. He even kept smiling as he suffered injury after injury.

Finally, he smiled as he had to exit the Tower before he'd die of blood loss. He was even smiling when the realization kicked in. This would likely be the end of his path as a Climber simply because nothing had dropped even after hundreds of creatures were slaughtered.

This curse of poverty was more potent than he had initially believed. It was only F-Rank, but if it meant him not getting any drops, he would never make a profit.

Was he simply doomed? Perhaps but he hadn't given up yet. The next day he showed up at the Tower with another sign that simply stated: "Power-leveling Floor 1 for 10 credits."

This time he was straightforward with his demands. He wondered in passing what had happened with the Sarah girl too. It was another long day with seemingly no customer. He finally managed to convince a naive group to show them the ropes.

To make it sound believable, he explained that he was simply killing time waiting for a friend to arrive at Metropolis C. They bought it.

Once inside, there were way fewer cerberuses. There were only 10 per packs. Yet, that was enough to send the others in a frenzy. One even cried for his mother. The monk simply got to work.

They marveled at his skills. They started calling him big brother. They were completely convinced he was some veteran truly killing time. They couldn't believe their luck!

Not long later, they really couldn't believe their luck anymore, or their lack of rather. No item at all was dropping. After a full farming session that rendered all but the monk unable to move, they finally got one item.

It was a single cerberus skin. Yes, a material with barely any value. Needless to say, everyone got out of there alive, but he didn't get paid.

In the following weeks, he cleared Floor 1 over and over with random groups. But soon people came to realize that it wasn't the Tower that had changed. No, it was a single man that was the bearer of abysmally horrible luck.

It didn't take long for him to be out of business. Well, Climber business. He had still been creating amulets to sell on the side for a paltry sum, except that this too came to a stop soon.

The items he crafted were curse too! There was no way around it. He tried many exorcism methods, but every time his status screen would appear the same, laughing at his efforts.

#CURSES#

- E Distracting Curse

- F Calamity Attractor

- F Forever Alone

- F Poverty Stricken

This plan of him had backfired. He had begun to realize his dream, only for it to turn into a nightmare right off the bat. He couldn't Climb. He couldn't even take care of the temple.

He didn't care about leaving it. He, in fact, wished for that. But he wouldn't just let it be destroyed. But no one wanted to take over. That is when he got the crazy plan to begin a cult.

He had incredible power. Just that it wasn't a power suited for creation. He couldn't sell his amulets as blessings, but it could sell wonder as curses. He would be able to generate funds through such a tactic easily.

He simply didn't want to use it. He couldn't work any normal job either with the curses. Even in his poverty and with his constant hunger, he didn't fall to the dark side. No, he would only do it if the city wanted to demolish the Temple.

In such a case, he would pay the rent out of his own pocket and tell them a story about a random traveling benefactor. As long as they got the Credits, they wouldn't even bother looking into it.

So there he was, sprawled on the floor, waiting for time to pass. Really all that he needed was a way to increase his luck for a short time temporarily. There were three collecting missions up to Floor 10. One had a good chance to awaken a skill there.

He simply needed to get one skill to reduce the intensity of his curses, and he would be fine. That was all he needed. It was a huge gamble, but he didn't have much to lose in any case. Then again, that's what he had initially thought about picking a Class…

He couldn't help but glance regretfully at his empty rice basket while absentmindedly touching the collar at his neck. He could have sold it to eat, but he wouldn't. It was only worth a few Credits. He could get lots of regular food with that, but it wouldn't solve the temple issue.

That is when he heard something. *KNOCK KNOCK*

As soon as the sound of knocking came, it was replaced by the sound of footsteps. There were three individuals. Someone that was probably leading the way and a couple. Who would bother visiting his place?

He looked upward and froze. There were two men and a woman. But his eyes instantly stopped on one of them. There was something weird to him, extremely so.

He was the handsome but relatively ordinary type. He was the kind that could be overlooked at first glance. He was simply wearing a grey suit that didn't make him appear especially rich or valiant.

Yet, right now, he looked extraordinary to him. His piercing eyes were peering straight at him as if they could see the very secrets he held dear. But that wasn't the worst. No, it was his smile. He was smiling at him so brightly, so warmly, but yet it chilled him.

At first, he was only uncomfortable, more than he had ever been in his entire life. But then he realized what it was. The man was looking at him with greed. Yes, greed. Toward him, a poor monk!

It was time to find an excuse to get them out. No, just him was sufficient! That is when he heard a subservient man in front say softly, "Sir, as I've said earlier, there really isn't any luck to be found here. This place and this monk are both cursed."

Yet the man simply shook his head sideways. He didn't care about such trivial things. That is when the monk figured out he could use that! He simply went: "Yes, yes! There is currently a curse affecting my temple! I am working hard to cleanse it. Please stay away. I wouldn't want you guys to be affected!"

That was bound to work! Now he would leave him alone, and…

"Oh? What kind of curse exactly? If it isn't a dangerous one, it won't matter much, right?" The man calmly said.

That failed?! The man was a Climber for sure. What could he use to scare him off? Distracting curse? Hard to fathom without experiencing it. Forever alone curse? Climbers were so popular and rich they could buy anything and anyone! Yes, that also excluded the poverty-stricken curse.

But the last one was bound to send any sane Climber running far away in panic. The monk forced himself to shiver as he enunciated, "C-curse of C-calamity. It attracts monsters until death happens!"

This was bound to….The man took a step inside, apparently breathing in the air whole-heartily. Was he trying to get cursed?! Then he looked straight at him while grinning.

"I heard of you. Don't you want to save both yourself and your temple? Serve me, and I will teach you. There will also be plenty of food."

That is when the monk understood. This man was not human. He was the Devil himself. He was here to propose him a deal, his soul in exchange for all he desired. Accepting was obviously foolish. But even then, it was too tempting. After all, he was already cursed beyond redemption…

That is when the monk became the subordinate of the Devil. Would he come to regret it? Perhaps, perhaps not, but the world would for sure!…