Ch 77

Chapter 77: An oddball (3)

「 Skill ‘Demon Slayer (C-)’s Proficiency reached 100%. 」

「 Skill ‘Demon Slayer (C-)’s ranked up. 」

Skill level-up.

「 You have absorbed the soul of the Darkness Devouring Snake. 」

「 Proficiency increased by 9.7% 」

Absorbing the soul.

「 Congratulations. You have overcome the Tower of Trials floor 10. 」

「 As a reward, ‘Skill proficiency potion (B+)’ has been sent to your inventory. 」

「 As a reward, you have received ‘60,000 points’. 」

「 As a reward, you have received ‘1,000 SP’. 」

「 As a bonus reward, you have received ‘1,000 SP’. 」

「 Please move to the waiting area. 」

And…

「 Challenger Han Sungyeun has proved his contribution more than anyone else in the special task ‘Contribution’. 」

「 As a special task reward, you have received ‘10,000 points’. 」

「 As a special task reward, you have received ‘1,500 SP’. 」

Lastly, the additional rewards that I got by clearing the special task…

After glancing at the four messages that popped up, I soon looked around.

Before I knew it, all the earth snakes were gone, and only Kim Seunghoon and Oh Choonsuk remained in the field.

Kim Seunghoon was staring at me quietly, and Oh Choonsuk opened his mouth as though he was dumbfounded.

“…Just how?”

I think he was asking what kind of trick I used to break through all the debuff skills of the Darkness Devouring Snake, but…

‘I can’t really answer him because I just broke through with the skill I acquired from the skill combination.’

Since the point when I was held back and almost died for nothing in the 4th floor trial due to an innate ability, I was prepared in advance for debuff-type abilities.

A special way to break through?

There was no such a thing.

“I had a skill that I could use at times like this.”

Therefore, I answered that it was because I had the skill, without beating around the bush by making excuses.

Only then, Oh Choonsuk scratched his head in surprise and admired it.

“Huh… So there’s a skill like that? I don’t think even Seunghoon-hyungnim had anything like that…”

Of course.

Forceful Breakthrough was an original skill created by combining Sustain Battle and Contempt For The Weak.

Sustain Battle, as well as Contempt For The Weak— their ranks were low, but the value of these skills was greater than that of other useless skills.

Of course, It didn’t match well with me, so I didn’t hesitate to throw them in a combination, though.

“…Did you perhaps acquire that skill through skill combination, too?”

“As expected from someone who has the same radiance as me, you know it well.”

“Even if the difficulty is on hard, the Tower doesn’t give you such insane skills, you see.”

Oh Choonsuk said so as though he was dumbfounded and let out a deep sigh.

“Then I wouldn’t be able to acquire that skill in any way.”

I wonder what this meant?

Wouldn’t be able to learn this skill in any way…

Not because I wasn’t telling him how I got it, but he sounded like there’s no way to learn it at all.

At that, I opened my mouth after thinking for a while.

“What do you mean by you can’t acquire the skill?”

“Because that’s an original skill created by skill combination.”

“But wouldn’t the same result be obtained using the same combination method?”

“Not really.”

Oh Choonsuk smiled bitterly and continued his words.

“You can’t create the same skill created by skill combination twice.”

“What do you…”

“Looks like you didn’t ask the administrator anything?”

“…?”

“Skills created by skill combinations exist as originals. Skill acquisition methods and aptitudes don’t exist, and there’s no way to make it twice.”

“…What?”

“In a nutshell, even if I use the same combination method, I can’t make that game-breaking skill combined by you, Han Sungyeun-ssi, no matter what.”

“…”

So…

According to those words, the ‘Forceful Breakthrough’ I combined was an original skill, so it had become a unique ability that couldn’t be made twice.

And it also meant that I couldn’t learn the skill by following the combination method of other skills.

At that, I closed my mouth for a moment, then opened my mouth with a feigned smile.

“…It’s a system that only the challengers who’re active at PvP would like.”

Player vs. player.

Those who specialize in battles between challengers would love this system.

In any case, this would mean that not all potential competitors would acquire the same skills they had acquired.

Perhaps Oh Choonsuk thought so too, he smiled bitterly, and Kim Seunghoon, who was next to him, shed a bloody laugh.

“Not really. Not many people would be able to properly utilize skill combinations so…  It’s just an ability that doesn’t matter whether it exists or not.”

At his words, Oh Choonsuk let out a helpless laugh and nodded his head.

“That’s also true, too. In fact, if you don’t have a lot of skills, Skill Combination is an ability that can’t be used properly. Just like me right now.”

Oh Choonsuk, who was speaking in a tone that left a trace of slight regret, mumbled a little bit, and…

“However…”

Soon he turned his head and looked at me as though there were people who aren’t like that.

Following that gaze, Kim Seunghoon also turned his head to look at me, and he opened his mouth after being silent for a moment.

“…But there are exceptions wherever you go.”

I let out a bitter smile at the gaze that seemed to be looking at some kind of different race, and Kim seunghoon let out a sigh.

“And that’s what we call an oddball.”

In short, he meant that I was an extraordinary being.

***

Reaper Scans

[Translator – Ramen ]

[Proofreader – DVN-L ]

***

The three of us chatted for just a while.

At the end of our Trial, we didn’t have anything special to say, so we decided to talk lightly through the friend function and returned to the waiting room.

It was natural.

No one who climbed the Tower of Trial would be negligent or delay checking the rewards.

I also entered the waiting room right away to check and use the rewards obtained in the Trial of the 10th floor.

And…

「 More than a 1000 people have cleared the 10th Trial. 」

「 The system expansion is starting. 」

Upon entering the waiting room, the system began to expand after a long time.

「 ‘Dimension Shifting’ is being added to the marketplace category. 」

The first expansion was a ‘Dimension Shifting’ function out of the blue.

Looks like it was made to allow traveling to another dimension, but…

‘That’s a meaningless expansion.’

I wonder how many people would like to move from the Earth dimension to another dimension?

Dimension Shifting in a situation where a lot of people were dying due to challengers from another world.

In fact, it was a feature that even suicidal people wouldn’t use.

「 The [Observation Territory] of the administrator of Earth dimension is expanded. 」

「 The [Interfere Territory] of the administrator of Earth dimension is expanded. 」

The second expansion was the [Observation Territory] and [Interfere Territory] of the administrators.

「 Due to the expansion of the Earth dimension administrator’s [Observation Territory], it is now possible to communicate with the administrator who has consistently shown interest and supported the power even in the waiting room. 」

「 Due to the expansion of the Earth dimension administrator’s [Interfere territory], the challenger will be able to have additional contracts with the administrator and move to the administrator’s territory. 」

In short, communication with administrators will be available even in the waiting room, just like in trials.

And the main content was that challengers could make additional contracts with other administrators.

Of course…

「 However, at this time, the additional contract with the administrator can be made only once, and thereafter, the additional contract will be limited. 」

Restrictions existed regarding additional contracts.

“So in short, the additional contract is literally an additional contract, unlike the previous contract.”

I wouldn’t be able to cancel the original contract with the Iron-blooded Monarch since it was my first contract, but…

I could end the relationship at any time if I had an additional contract with other administrators.

‘But wouldn’t it just be the administrator’s loss in this case?’

I mean, it was good for me, but I thought that only the administrator who was going to sign an additional contract would undergo a loss in this case.

However, since the administrator is also being employed by the tower, there must be some kind of benefit.

For that reason, I immediately cleared my doubts about those and opened my inventory.

It was to check the reward that I had acquired after clearing the Trial of the 10th floor.

「 Skill Proficiency Potion 」

「 Rank: B+ 」

「 A special potion specially brewed by the Tower for those with skills. 」

「 Upon consuming it, you can arbitrarily increase the Proficiency of one of your skills by 20%. 」

Insane.

I smiled softly at the effect that I had no other choice but to say so.

A potion that increases skill proficiency?

As a matter of fact, this potion was no different from a welcome rain in a drought, as I was suffering due to the slow growth of skill ranks.

“Status.”

「 Han Sungyeun 」

「 Radiance – Conqueror ]

「 Strength – 72 」         「 Stamina – 70 」

「 Agility – 70 」             「 Mana – 67 」

「 Tenacity – 66 」

「 Innate ability – Necromancy (C) 」

「 Innate power – Skill Combination 」

「 Power – Serenity (C-), Sword Ki Master (C+) 」

「 Skill – See details 」

Would it be because there was not a single day where I neglected becoming stronger?

Originally, the numbers of my stats weren’t this high, but now I’d become like a monster.

Even the skills I had in the combined Trial on the 10th floor had grown quite a bit, so in fact, my strength was greatly enhanced.

However, I didn’t open the status window to check that, but…

It was to check the Proficiency of the current skills before using the Skill Proficiency Potion.

Putting aside all the small skills, I opened the description window of only the skills with high power.

「 Skill – Triple Laceration (A-) 」

「 Proficiency – 31.7% 」

「 Basic effect – Using mana, strengthen a blade for three attacks. 」

「 Detailed effect – Upon using the skill, the cutting force of bladed attacks increases by 1.5/2.0/2.5 times after each attack. 」

Triple Laceration had high power, but it had low Proficiency, perhaps because I didn’t use it that much.

It could be said that the Proficiency was raised well since the Proficiency of an A- rank skill that wasn’t used well is 31.7%, but…

‘But that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a skill that I’ve developed well enough for me to use the Skill Proficiency Potion.’

I decided to pass on the Triple Laceration skill and moved to another skill.

「 Skill – Wind’s Blessing (A-) 」

「 Proficiency – 83.2% 」

「 Effect – Upon declaring the skill name, increase all speeds by 10%. This effect can be stacked up to seven times. Upon reaching max stacks, the skill receives a one-day cooldown. 」

It’s no exaggeration to say that the Wind’s Blessing was my main skill since I used it so often that my Proficiency had already risen this much.

‘Moreover, if I use the skill proficiency potion, it’s a skill that it’ll immediately rise up to A rank.’

In fact, it was so different that I had decided on which skill to increase my Proficiency at this point.

However, it felt like something had gone undone, so I checked out the other skills a little bit more.

But in conclusion, my options didn’t increase.

It was understandable.

「 Skill – Lighting Sword Ki (B) 」

「 Proficiency – 7.3% 」

「 Explanation – The Flickering Lightning Clan’s signature ability. 」

「 Basic effect – Lighting imbues itself onto your sword ki. This effect cannot be activated by those who can’t use sword ki. 」

「 Additional effect – Upon activation, your ability to control the sword ki increases greatly and also allows you to discharge the sword ki. 」

The skill proficiency of Lightning Sword Ki hadn’t risen much yet, as it was obtained by absorbing the soul of Baek Sunhak in the arena.

「 Skill – Ashen Blood (B-) 」

「 Proficiency – 47.8% 」

「 Explanation – An transcendent trait developed by a mutant vampire. 」

「 Effect – The user’s regeneration increases proportionally to the user’s tenacity. The regeneration is increased by 3 fold when inflicted bodily harm, and up to 40% of the pain is blocked depending on the damage. 」

Ashen Blood had a pretty high level of Proficiency, but it wasn’t possible to achieve a rank increase with a Proficiency increase of 20%.

「 Skill – Counter Shield (B)」

「 Proficiency – 2.8% 」

「 Basic Effect –  When you cast the skill, you can summon a red shield formed with mana. 」

「 Additional Effect –  The size and strength of the shield can be adjusted in proportion to the amount of mana you pour, and the generated shield can reflect 25% of damage received. At this time, as long as the shield isn’t broken, damage can be accumulated and released at once. 」

Most of the newly combined skills, including the Counter Shield, didn’t surpass 5% of their Proficiency.

「 You have consumed a skill proficiency potion (B+). 」

「 Please choose a skill to increase your Proficiency. 」

“Wind’s Blessing.”

「 Confirmed. 」

「 Challenger Han Sungyeun’s skill proficiency of ‘Wind’s Blessing (A-)’ increases by 20%. 」

「 Skill ‘Wind’s Blessing (A-)’s Proficiency reached 100%. 」

「 Skill ‘Wind’s Blessing (A-)’s ranked up. 」

“Oh…”

Since it was an item obtained as a reward for breaking through a trial, the effect was certain.

I opened the status window with anticipation at the message that Wind’s Blessing had risen up to Rank A.

No, to be precise, I was going to open the status window.

However…

The two messages that popped up forced my finger to stop opening it.

「 Administrator ‘Iron-blooded Monarch’ invites you to the administrator territory. 」

「 Administrator ‘White Crane Sword Saint’ invites you to the administrator territory. 」

I was invited by an administrator.

Not one, but two at the same time.

——