Chapter 21

Yoon-seok’s training ended after four days. It was enough for him to get used to the dual swords and have a vague understanding of the {Heavenly Body}.

‘The vitality of Mother Nature.’

No matter how much he moved for those four days, he never felt hunger, thirst, or fatigue. Moreover, his stamina was always at the maximum. The effects weren’t only physical, either.

‘My magic power hardly wears out.’

Yoon-seok’s magical recovery rate had increased absurdly. It wasn’t infinite, but it had increased by over ten times. Thus, he had no problems using b Weapon Enhancement} and b Multiply} for hours.

Thud-!

“Oh..I think I hit you too hard this time.”

Yoon-seok licked his lips in regret. He thought he could squeeze out a few more days of training, but the Beast-Warrior seemed to have reached his limits.

“This..damn..human.”

The Beast closed his eyes and couldn’t open them again.

“Victory.”

“You will receive 32,000 AP as a reward.”

「The unique skill b Predation} is activated. 」

「Acquire one of your opponent’s skills at random. 」

「Acquire the skill War Stomp (Rank F+). 」

「Randomly loot one of your opponent’s equipment. 」

「Acquired Great Warrior’s Double-Edged Ax (Rank E+). 」

「You will receive 1 coin as a promotion reward. 」

「Go to the waiting room on the 4th floor. 」

“Please prepare for the next duel.”

Yoon-seok, who had been tirelessly working to improve his skills, found himself on the 4th floor. He was curious about what the chat room was like at this level, but first of all, he had to organize his rewards.

‘Other than AP, there’s not much to see this time.’

For the first time, b Predation} brought him a general skill rather than a Unique Skill. Because it acquired skills at random, Yoon-seok knew that this would happen someday. Everyone on the lower floors concentrated on equipment and abilities, so their number of skills was low. But the higher he made it, the more skills his opponents possessed. He now had four general skills, although they were all F-ranked ones.

Yoon-seok regrets that he didn’t even get to know the Beast Warrior’s Unique Skill because they couldn’t fight properly. More so, the equipment he had looted was something that he couldn’t use.

‘I’d rather have gotten his armor. It looked pretty good.’

Yoon-seok let out a heavy sigh and began to check out the shop. Soon, he found something that he had seen before.

*Cheolpo Ginseng (Rank E+) – A body training technique devised by a blacksmith. You can absorb equipment to increase your durability.

The growth value is fixed at 50% of the equipment’s AP.

Selling price: 6,000 AP

For Yoon-seok, it wasn’t a bad skill. It complemented his b Predation}, giving him a way to use the unnecessary equipment he obtained. However, he had no intention of learning this skill right away because it wasn’t something urgent.

He then turned to his newly acquired skill, War Stomp. The effect of the wide-area stun was quite attractive. However, against an opponent with anti-magic, it was completely useless. Even without anti-magic, it could easily be avoided just by jumping away from the stomp’s echo. So, his final evaluation was:

‘I don’t think it will help much. There are too many weaknesses.’

Yoon-seok continued to search through the store with meticulous eyes.

‘I have to be more careful the higher I go.’

His amount of AP was growing exponentially, and the gap between him and other challengers depended on how he used it.

‘It makes me anxious.’

After much deliberation, he had two main options. Should he invest long-term by upgrading b Predation} once more, this time costing 30,000 AP? Or should he invest in attributes and skills to achieve substantial growth in battle right away?

Yoon-seok weighed his options for a while before choosing the latter. Although his last opponent was nothing like the Heavenly Devil, there’s no way there wouldn’t be another monster like her in the future. He needed to be stronger than his level to fight them.

*Elixir of Skill (Rank F) – When taken, the rank of one general skill less than E-Rank increases by one stage.

Selling price: 1,500 AP

After making the decision, Yoon Seok didn’t hesitate to purchase three Elixir bottles and poured them into his mouth.

「The rank of anti-magic (Rank F-) rises. 」

「The rank of anti-magic (Rank F) rises. 」

「The rank of anti-magic (Rank F+) rises. 」

It had reached E-rank, but the change didn’t end there.

「You can select the characteristics of anti-magic (E-).」

Upon reaching E-rank, a new fork in the road appeared. A total of two selectable attributes appeared before him.

—Talent 1: Spell Break – Anti-Magic is 1.5 times more effective on magic-type skills.

—Talent 2: Mind Barrier – Resistance magic for resisting all types of mental interference techniques.

‘I haven’t heard anything like this in the chat room.’

After some consideration, Yoon-seok chose the Mind Barrier feature. He had not yet been subjected to any kind of mental interference, but it sounded very intimidating. Also, he didn’t feel the need to have a 1.5 times more efficient anti-magic when he wasn’t sure if his next opponent would be a magic-user.

「Anti-Magic is given the mental barrier property. 」

Then, Yoon-seok turned to improve another skill.

「The rank of Sword Mastery (Rank F-) will increase. 」

「The rank of Sword Mastery (Rank F) will increase. 」

「The rank of Sword Mastery (Rank F+) will increase. 」

Sword Mastery, the essential skill of a swordsman, had also grown to E-Rank. Now, his attack speed increased to 2.25 times, and the attribute selection window appeared once more.

—Talent 1: Berserker – Attack speed is increased by up to 3 times in proportion to lost HP.

—Talent 2: Master of Surprise -Attack speed increases by 1.5 times when performing a stabbing attack.

It was a harder choice compared to his options in Anti-Magic. After hesitating for a while, Yoon-seok made a decision.

「The Sword Mastery is given the Berserker attribute. 」

It was a characteristic that would be helpful in times of crisis. While Master of Surprise could help him finish off an easy enemy quickly, Berserker would give him a chance against enemies he wouldn’t normally be able to defeat. Besides, Berserker would go well with his b Blood Pact}. Now, Yoon-seok had a total of 23,000 AP left.

‘This is still a lot.’

He first purchased two bottles of 1,500 AP Elixir to grow his strength and stamina to E-, and then focused on his main ability, Agility.

* Elixir of Agility (Rank E) – When taken, the agility value below D-Rank increases by one rank.

Selling price: 6,000 AP

‘Finally, a D-rank attribute.’

D-rank agility was achieved by spending a whopping 18,000 AP. The increased Agility, combined with the attack speed of his Sword Mastery, was an enormous advantage. But now, all he had left was 2,000 AP. He decided to take a break and check out the chat room first. Now that he was on the fourth floor, it was important to check the atmosphere.

[Enter the chat room on the 4th floor.]

[Currently participating 791/2,847]

There were 9,000 people on the third floor, so the capacity was reduced to a third. However, the current participation rate was very high. The atmosphere was different from the lower floors. First of all, there was no one bragging about their abilities. The dwindling capacity was enough to make the challengers feel like everyone else was a competitor.

Suddenly, a keyboard battle started in the chat room.

-The Red Ghost of the Shadow Isles: Looking for a woman to cook for me. Nomination rights are your responsibility.

-Iron Blood Emperor: Disgusting bastard. If you are so hungry, why don’t you buy a ticket and return to your world?

-The Red Ghost of the Shadow Isles: Why are you fighting with me? In the end, you’re in the same situation as me.

-Iron Blood Emperor: The reason I do not return to the royal palace is that I have a mission here.

-The Red Ghost of the Shadow Isles: Mission? Bullshit. Were you called a mad tyrant?

-Lord of the Abyss: Ah, watching humans fight is fun. From my point of view, the Iron Blood Emperor is the loser here.

Looking at their nicknames, Yoon-seok had the sense that they were like middle schoolers. Another challenger posted a similar impression.

-Grape Jam: Iron Blood? Red ghost? Lord of the Abyss?

-Lord of the Abyss: What’s wrong with using the name everyone gave you out of awe?

-Grape Jam: Awe hahahahahahahahahahahaha

-Iron Blood Emperor: Although I know it’s a name, my title is what history and the people gave me. Who are you to be so rude?

-Grape Jam: Huh hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

-Red Ghost of the Shadow Isles: Where are you from? Moorim? Seheranbad? Killian? I think you’re a newcomer, so just come up and see. Wait, and I’ll write a nomination ticket for you.

-Grape Jam: Oh, oh, oh, right? Our Red Ghost seems to be upset hahahaha

Whoever Grape Jam was, he was very successful in vexing the others. The Red Ghost seemed to hesitate as he didn’t respond for a while.

-May’s Knight: Wow, do you know what kind of people they are? It’s not a joke, is it?

-Hurray for the Thieves Guild: Based on the filter, they are from Earth. What kind of confidence do they have?

-8 Circle Archmage: I’m considering either one. Either he doesn’t know what the right to pick is, or he’s an idiot overconfident in his skills.

-Kalopa: What is a nomination right?

-8-Circle Archmage: An item that can be used to match with the desired challenger. Both sides must have the same combined score

Suddenly, Yoon-seok, who was having fun while watching the chat room, flinched. It wasn’t because he was surprised by the existence of the nomination right. It was because he saw a familiar name.historical

-Kalopa: Oh, that’s right. Thanks for the info!

‘Kalopa.’

It was the name of the game character that Hyung-woo made him play every night.

‘Is it just a coincidence?’