Chapter 26
Ding.
[Skill activated.]
[Repeat?]
“…Huh?”
About 3 seconds.
That’s how long it took for Karpe to grasp the situation after seeing the notification.
Of course, it didn’t take a second to understand that the ‘Repeat’ skill had activated; the rest of the time was simply spent recovering from mental shutdown.
“Oh, no. This…”
If only he had drawn an 8-star skill from the card pack, he might have exclaimed, “Wow, unbelievable! This is insane!” or something along those lines.
But when people are unexpectedly faced with such situations, words don’t come out properly, as Karpe realized.
-…Huh.
Karpe glanced at Cheonma for a moment.
He was wearing a difficult-to-describe expression.
Distrust, anger, disappointment, resignation, anticipation… etc.
All of these emotions combined, creating an expression that couldn’t possibly exist in real life.
Perhaps, in that brief sigh, there was an indescribable frustration that even the culprits couldn’t imagine.
-There was a time when I thought that way too. That Lase was the only god-tier game without luck elements. The fun and balance provided by luck elements, Lase has it all, making it the only god-tier game.
“Huh… Well…”
-But it was all nonsense, wasn’t it? There’s no such thing as a game like this. Balance? Is luck fair to both the rich and the poor? No, it’s not. If something bad comes out, just repeat until something good comes out… I want to cry, really.
“No, grown-ups shouldn’t cry over things like this…”
-My life is at stake in this garbage game, why wouldn’t I cry!
Kiyun was fiercely relentless.
Actually, the flood of Kiyun was planned from the moment Lase’s 10-year-old strategy book was drawn, but it was difficult to control when Kiyun poured in double.
“I’m really scared now. It feels like the administrator will come and say I’m an irregular and delete me.”
-There’s no such thing as an administrator in Lase. Well, there might be monitoring agents, but there are no administrators with the authority to intervene in the game.
“How fascinating. And yet the game still runs smoothly?”
-It hasn’t had any incidents due to bugs or operations for 10 years, so it must be running well. Anyway, we don’t need to worry about Lase.
Pointing to the cards still floating there, Cheonma continued.
“Aren’t you going to draw again? Are you seriously going to stick with a 2-star skill?”
“Of course not.”
Karpe touched the cards again.
[Repeat?]
“Repeat.”
[0-star Skill - Repeat activated.]
Swoosh.
As the skill was activated, the 2-star skill card Karpe had drawn, ‘Charge Arrow,’ returned to its original position with a ‘?’ mark.
“Wow. It actually works.”
-But if you use Repeat, does the entire skill card composition change, or can you only repeat the selection while keeping the card composition the same? And is Repeat only available once…?
“You’re quite eager for something new, as if you’re an old-timer.”
Karpe cut off Cheonma’s inevitable long-winded explanation. Such minor questions could be addressed from now on!
“Let’s go again.”
The disappointment he felt when he drew the 2-star skill was nowhere to be found, replaced by anticipation swelling in his chest.
“This time, the second one from the right.”
Ding.
[3-star Skill Card - ‘Basic Mana Recovery’ acquired!]
“Ah. A 3-star.”
-Still, it’s one star higher. Let’s try again to see if it works.
“Will it work?”
Though the thought crossed my mind, ‘Wouldn’t it be too much of a scam if it kept repeating infinitely?’…
Ding.
[Repeat?]
But it actually happened.
“It works!”
-Ugh, this damn game doesn’t know when to stop.
At this point, I decided to conduct one experiment.
I chose the second card from the left, just like I did the first time.
[2-star Skill Card - ‘Charge Arrow’ acquired!]
And just like the first time, the same skill card appeared.
“It seems that using the Repeat skill doesn’t change the card composition or arrangement.”
-If the card composition changes every time you repeat, you could infinitely repeat until you get the card you want. That doesn’t make sense.
“True.”
Now that I had found out what I wanted to know, I continued to draw without any pressure.
On the fourth draw, a new 3-star skill, different from Basic Mana Recovery, appeared.
No need to look, just repeat!
As I repeated the fourth draw and selected a card, an effect that had never appeared before suddenly burst forth.
Whoosh!
A brilliant golden light emanated the moment I selected the card!
“Huh?!”
-Wow.
Just like with the Cheonma draw, the skill also had an effect depending on the grade when drawn.
Among them, the golden effect meant one thing.
[7-star Skill Card - ‘Holy Sacrifice’ acquired!]
“Wow!”
-Can this actually happen? Seriously?
Even with a 5-star, let alone a 7-star!
As Karpe was overwhelmed with emotion, Cheonma spoke up.
-Hey.
“Yes?”
A bright smile, unseen until now, adorned Cheonma’s face.
Wouldn’t it be like the expression of a gambler who had been pushed to the brink of bankruptcy at the gambling table but resurrected with a last-minute all-in?
-If you change your Cheonma, your special skills will be deleted.
In addition, if the affinity with Cheonma falls below a certain level, it will also be deactivated.
As powerful as it is compared to skills of the same grade, the Special Skill had many restrictions.
-It’s sad, really. Teaching this and teaching that. You raise them up, only to change Cheonma just because you got a mediocre job and skill… Ah, should I change Cheonma?
“…Ah. Did you really take me seriously? It was just a playful expression of affection. Of course, you’re the best, bro.”
-It’s okay. I’ll change it for you. I understand everything. Let’s walk the flower path together with Cheonma, our Level 9 Guardian Spirit.
“What a touching sentiment, Master. As the first strike leader of the Cheonma Faith, I, Karpe, will devote myself to serving the Faith.”
“Kyu!”
“Look, even the Little Sect Leader approves.”
-…They argue well. Anyway, enough with the jokes. It’s Holy Sacrifice.
“Is it good?”
-Of course, it’s a good skill. It’s not just a 7-star for nothing.
Holy Sacrifice, also known as the ‘Divine Grenade,’ was the strongest damage-dealing skill in the holy attribute category.
-The damage is incredible. It increases with the total MP amount, albeit conditionally, but when it hits dark or magic-type monsters, the damage digits differ from other skills. Even among 9-star skills, there are few that are stronger than that.
However, the reason it stopped at 7-stars despite such immense damage was because the penalties were severe.
-Once used, HP and MP are reduced to 10,000, and all stats decrease by 300%. Skill use is disabled.
“Hmm. It’s like saying, ‘Just die’ after using it.”
-That’s why it’s a skill that should only be used when a proper finishing blow is guaranteed.
“Considering the penalties, it still seems like a very good skill.”
A massively damaging skill that can be used as a last resort. Isn’t there abundant room for utilization?
-If that’s the case, it should at least be given a minimum of 8-stars, but there’s another penalty.
“What is it?”
-It’s a disposable skill.
“What?”
-Once the skill is used, it’s deleted.
“Ugh. That’s lame.”
Skill points are very precious. Besides leveling up, there are very few ways to acquire them, and you only get one point per level.
The problem is that unlike when advancing, when you learn skills with skill cards, one skill point is consumed.
-Other penalties aside, it’s a bit annoying to have to spend a skill point on a disposable skill.
“That’s for sure.”
-Still, there’s demand for it in its own way. Sometimes in quests, if you die, the quest itself disappears, so it might be much better to invest in a skill point than to risk that. If you list it on the auction house, it’ll sell well.
“It sells? For how much?”
-It’ll be cheaper later when there’s more supply, but at the moment… I’d say around 5 million?
“What?!”
5 million?!
Karpe’s mouth fell open. To a college dropout in his early twenties, it was an enormous sum.
“I have to sell it no matter what! Wow, how many chickens is this?”
-Check first. It might be an untradeable card.
“Oh, right.”
Karpe hastily checked the information on Holy Sacrifice.
At the bottom of the card description, the words ‘Tradeable’ were clearly marked.
“Heavenly Lord, thank you so much!”
This was it.
This was the game.
This was the 0-star Rear Commander!
“Where is the auction house?”
-They’re in most major cities. There’s one in Luana, of course.
“I can stop by on my quest to get materials and register it there.”
Things were progressing smoothly, and it felt like a good omen.
Just in case there was an 8-star skill hidden in the last of the five cards, Karpe used the repeat skill once again, but the last card turned out to be another 2-star.
“Two 2-stars and two 3-stars out of five cards… It’s ridiculous. It’s an 80% chance of failure, isn’t it?”
“Well, probabilities in gacha games are like that. If you stress over every little thing like that, you won’t live up to my name.”
Anyway, it was no longer his concern.
He had a Rear Commander who could turn a 20% chance into 100%.
Karpe quickly selected the 7-star skill card and hurriedly moved to the city.
Commercial district near Luana’s East Gate.
Karpe arrived in front of the largest building among them.
“Phew. This is the auction house!”
-Yes, it is, so calm down. 5 million won may not be a small amount, but do you have to make such a fuss?
“For a college student, how much money do you think I have? 5 million won is a huge sum. It’s a relief since I was short on gaming room fees anyway.”
“What? What do you mean short on?”
“Gaming room fees. I barely managed to play for 5 hours today because I didn’t have enough money…”
“Hey! Why are you talking so calmly? This is a huge problem!”
The Heavenly Lord scolded him.
To fully utilize the 10-hour daily limit, but only managing 5 hours? What?
“Well, I can’t help it if I don’t have money. Still, with 5 million won, I won’t have to worry for a few months.”
“No, that’s just putting out a fire. In the long run, we need to solve it properly and move on.”
As someone who hoped Karpe would grow quickly and finish the game, not being able to play the game due to lack of money was a serious matter that couldn’t be tolerated.
“First of all, I need to buy game capsules even if I put everything else aside.”
After all, to build a big house, you need to start with a solid foundation.
In a situation where even securing basic login time was difficult, nothing else would work properly.
“I’d like to buy capsules too, but I don’t have money. Maybe if I get lucky a few more times like this…”
“No, you don’t have to wait until then. There’s an easy way.”
“An easy way?”
“I’ll buy it for you.”
“What?”
“I’ll buy it for you. Isn’t that the easiest?”
“…Is that possible?”
It was so obvious that it didn’t need to be mentioned, but Karpe was shocked.
Can a deceased person buy capsules? How?
I don’t know the details, but even if you have a lot of property in your lifetime, isn’t it confiscated by the family or the state if you die?
“There are various ways, so don’t worry. Let’s go into the auction house first. To buy capsules, you need to register at the auction house.”
His statements were becoming more and more incomprehensible.
Why would you need to register at the in-game auction house to buy real-life game capsules? And it’s not like he had an item that could buy capsules in one go.
“If you become a game master or clear the game… well, maybe. Luck also has to be on your side. But even if I don’t know anything else, there’s one thing I can guarantee for sure.”
Karpe felt like he knew one thing even if he didn’t know anything else.
“I’ll make sure you can play games without worrying about money for the rest of your life.”
The Heavenly Lord was just damn cool.
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