Chapter 83 – Turning Point (2)
The auction house’s network was connected to all the other tournament venues, so the point bags sold out really fast.
That was an effect created by the escalated reward system.
Anyone would roll the dice at least once if they had nothing to lose.
Even users whose ranking wasn’t going to change either way bought a bag just for fun.
「A-amazing…!」
TarrTarr couldn’t hide his surprise.
「It sold out…」
In a tournament with 150 thousand participants, hundreds or even thousands wasn’t a high number.
After the items sold out, there were some people that put out the same item for an even higher price.
Those were put out by some people who’d bought many copies of Hyun’s item.
「See, I told you not to worry.」
After he pressed the pay-out button, a number of around a million got converted into points after discounting the commission.
[You’re ranked 1st! You currently have 2981385p points!]
It was an overwhelming number of points.
But thanks to buying «Trick» in the VVIP marketplace, people just saw a number of around 100 thousand in the rankings.
Everything had worked as he had planned from the moment he entered the tournament arena until then.
[Soul Replication Elixir]
– You can generate a 2nd skill tree slot permanently.
– Each slot consumes skill points separately.
(Price: 2.5 million points)
“Th… Thank you.”
The price of the Soul Replication Elixir was 2.5 million.
The moment one sold, it went out of stock.
‘Hmm?’
When Hyun was about to close the buy interface, he noticed something.
Because he was using «Assimilation», he immediately knew.
TarrTarr’s sight was fixed in a certain item.
TarrTarr’s easy-to-read reactions made Hyun laugh.
「What, you want that?」
[Reversal of Potential]
– Except for the awakening skill, you can reset all the skills and points invested.
(Price: 100 thousand points)
「I… Was wondering if you were going to use the remaining 400 thousand points.」
「Say it clearly. You want it or not?」
「O-of course I want it! You said that my skill tree was ruined!」
Hyun paused for a while and then started speaking again.
「Let’s think about it slowly. Items that reset your skill tree are extremely rare. If it weren’t for me, would you even be able to unlock the VVIP marketplace?」
The truth was that there were some other ways to reset the skill tree… But there was no need to talk about those right then.
TarrTarr struggled for a while but then finally answered.
「It would’ve probably been impossible… Right?」
「Of course! Getting a Lucky Chip isn’t an easy feat. Of course, if you’re at my level, the story changes.」
「Y… Yeah…」
TarrTarr followed Hyun’s words with an uneasy look on his face.
He was expecting his wish to be denied, but the flow of the conversation had suddenly changed.
「But we’re collaborators. Did you think that I wouldn’t even do something like that for you?」
Hyun left enough points to retain the ranking and then bought three copies of ‘Reversal of Potential.’
Why wouldn’t he use points that were going to disappear either way?
From the beginning, that was the only thing worth buying from the VVIP marketplace.
So there weren’t any other options.
「Fufu… Big brother is going to be generous with you. You don’t need to pay me back immediately. I’m going to take a cut from your salary in the future. Okay?」
From the three, he gave one to TarrTar and kept the other two.
Checking out what those were worth was very easy… He could just upload one to a marketplace and then take it out.
Seeing TarrTarr happy made Hyun feel relaxed, and a warm smile was drawn on his face.
[The point calculations have ended!]
[1st place! You’ve won the tournament!]
[Congratulations! You’ve received an invitation to the Duke’s party!]
As he received the message with the results, the 4th tournament organized by the Abyss ended.
Translator – Daniel Shin
Proofreader – ilafy
* * *
The party began at night.
It was still afternoon.
Hyun decided to use his free time to finish some things.
The moment he used the Soul Replication Elixir he bought in the Darkness’s Rest Area, his body was covered by light.
Hyun felt as if he’d woken up after being unconscious for a short while.
Then he finally received the message.
[An extra skill tree slot has been generated!]
[You have 132 unused skill points in the 2nd skill slot!]
Hyun smiled after seeing the empty skill tree.
It was hard not to smile.
‘Things are going faster than planned.’
Even in the game’s latter half, there weren’t many ways to add another skill tree.
He was sure that, even among Asra players, he was the only one who knew about the Soul Replication Elixir.
And the fact that he was able to get it at level 100 was an incredible achievement!
That basically meant he could use double the number of skill points compared to others.
Until then, most skill points were invested in the «Vision Sword», and he had used the remaining ones to level up other skills.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he’d used «Assimilation» for everything.
‘It wouldn’t be bad to pick skills with another concept.’
He wouldn’t rely only on «Assimilation» anymore.
Just when he was questioning his identity, he had gotten a massive amount of points.
“You’ll have to wait a lot because it’s probably going to take me a while,” Hyun said to TarrTarr, who was looking at him from the side.
As soon as the tournament ended, TarrTarr had reset his skills and picked them just like Hyun told him to.
—Extreme combo thief setting.
Although it wasn’t that good for PvP, if your control was good, you wouldn’t lag behind the other classes while hunting.
“It’s okay. I’m just going to be here watching!”
“It makes me uncomfortable. That’s why I was asking you to go and play somewhere else.”
“Then I’ll do that!”
Even though Hyun had asked him to stop bothering him, TarrTarr seemed excited.
After Hyun was left alone, he began thinking about possible skill combinations.
‘First, I should fill it with buff-type skills. Right?’
Although the Support was similar to a Priest, it didn’t have a way to recover HP.
But thanks to it being a hidden job, the efficacy of the supporting skills was incomparable.
Hyun always thought that it was a bummer that he hadn’t been able to properly use the other skills thanks to having focused mostly on «Assimilation» or «Vision Sword», so that was a perfect chance for him.
‘I also have the option to reset the skills, so there’s nothing to be afraid of!’
He had focused on «Vision Sword» because he wanted to be able to deal lots of damage… But if he looked at it from an efficiency point of view, he could’ve probably come up with a stronger combination.
The true value of the Support job came from its exclusive skills!
Hyun thought about all the possible skill combinations.
But he had already thought of the best possible one, so it didn’t take him long.
[«Impact Amplification» Lv.3]
– Increase the damage of allies that are within a range of two meters by 2x.
– The amplification lasts 10 minutes.
<Mana Required: 80>
The first skill he thought of was one that buffed.
If «Powerless Wave» reduced the opponent’s defense, «Impact Amplification» increased the damage allies dealt.
‘Although it’s useless without «Assimilation»…’
The bad thing about amplification skills was that they had hard pre-requisites.
While in a battle, a Support couldn’t always be next to an ally. Right?
But if you had «Assimilation», the story changed.
There was no reason not to learn the best possible buff skill.
Hyun didn’t doubt for a moment and used 30 points.
But he still had 102 points left.
‘Now, I should pick a utility one.’
Hyun checked out the skill list once more.
Since the time he used to play Asra, Hyun liked skills that could create an unforeseen variable.
The skill he found this time was one that could let him stylishly lead the battle.
[«Invisible» Lv.2]
– Makes the target invisible for two seconds.
– While using «Invisible», all attacks become critical hits.
<Cooldown Time: 120 seconds>
[«Biorhythm Acceleration» Lv.3]
– Increase the speed of a target by 250%.
<Cooldown Time: 120 seconds>
Invisibility and a skill that accelerated!
According to the skills’ explanations, both had a range of 20 meters. They didn’t require mana, and the cooldown time for both was 120 seconds.
If amplification-type skills worked great with «Assimilation», those two skills were great because he could use them in all conditions.
As he spent 30 and 40 points respectively, the second skill tree became filled with four new skills.
The reason why he’d spent so many points on them was that it was better to make the main skills stronger rather than having lots of useless ones.
The duration of «Invisible» depended on the skill level, so everything was decided in an instant. That’s why one second could make a huge difference in a battle.
‘What would happen if I used both skills simultaneously?’
Hyun tried to think of the combination between «Invisible» and «Biorhythm Acceleration», but then he noticed something.
His body started trembling because of expectation.
There was a good way to test the new skills he had learned.
「TarrTarr, come here.」
「Did you finish?」
「Do you want to PvP?」
The moment he heard the word “PvP”, he seemed troubled.
“I’m a combo thief, so I’m weak in PvP…”
“And I’m a Support, so who cares? It’s not like you’re really going to die.”
And that’s how TarrTarr and Hyun’s duel began.
Since it was a friendly battle, one could play with various settings, but Hyun decided to leave things as they were.
That meant both sides were on equal terms.
«Powerless Wave».
Before the battle began, Hyun used a skill.
The reason he didn’t use «Impact Amplification» was that he soon discovered that it didn’t work on himself.
[Three, Two, One, fight!]
‘«Invisible», «Biorhythm Acceleration»!’
The moment the countdown reached 0, he used the other two skills and immediately ran towards TarrTarr.
Paf-!
When Hyun’s figure disappeared, TarrTarr looked around, surprised.
It was to find Hyun, who had suddenly vanished.
It was at that moment…
[Critical Hit! You’ve received 52 damage!]
[Critical Hit! You’ve received 51 damage!]
[Critical Hit! You’ve received 55 damage!]
[Critical Hit! You’ve received 60 damage!]
[Critical Hit! You’ve received 49 damage!]
…
“Ugh, wh-what’s happening?!” TarrTarr shouted in surprise.
After using «Invisible», Hyun had started to attack at a very high speed.
Before he could find a way to counter, thanks to the consecutive attacks, the battle had ended before the duration of «Invisible» was over.
When Hyun’s figure appeared, TarrTarr just stared at him blankly.
“Was the novice dagger this good…?”
It wasn’t just TarrTarr who was dumbfounded. Hyun was also in the same state.
He didn’t expect the skill combination he had just created to work so perfectly!
It wasn’t TarrTarr’s fault he’d lost.
The battle had ended the moment the opponent’s figure disappeared. Who could’ve reacted to that type of strategy the first time they saw it?
‘I didn’t use any amplification buff. This meant that in a real battle, the damage output would be even higher…!’
Hyun’s heart was beating faster. He was in a good mood.
The expectations regarding the new skill tree were getting bigger.
To be honest, Hyun had been underestimating the Support’s skills up until then.
Even if the effects were great, they were all designed to support others. Right?
He didn’t feel okay investing points in a skill that he couldn’t become the target of.
But as he learned «Assimilation» and started to unlock the Support’s skills, he had no other option but to change his opinion.
Hyun’s heart began beating faster as he took a glimpse of the true potential of the Support.
