CH 210

“…Mr. Choi Yu-Seong, you’ve surprised me many times in the past. To be honest, aside from yourself, I’ve also met many strong people belonging to Earth who have set numerous amazing records. However, I’ve never encountered an achievement as unbelievable as yours. There probably won’t be one like it in the future, either.”

While Mr. Guy tried to remain calm, Yu-Seong scratched his cheek and asked, “Well, is there a problem?”

With the help of a god, Loki, Yu-Seong aced his promotion test easily. To put it bluntly, he had displayed an overpowering show of force that was not commensurate with his rank. That was why Yu-Seong fully understood Mr. Guy’s bewilderment.

“…Actually, there’s no problem. But for the Joke-loving Prankster to intervene…”

“My main body is still trapped within the confines of that filthy Tower, so I didn’t take a step outside my boundary,” snorted the small Dragon as it flapped its wings by Yu-Seong’s side.

“You’re certainly not wrong.” Mr. Guy nodded as he once again chuckled at the unbelievable situation.

He looked at the completely ruined battlefield before gazing at Yu-Seong. “Congratulations, Choi Yu-Seong. This is a tremendous achievement. You didn’t need the entire 100 hours; you have annihilated the undead army without the scheduled god’s punishment. No matter how I think about it, your accomplishment is beyond my comprehension. The system is calculating your compensation rewards right now, but honestly, it’s taking awhile due to your astronomically large accomplishment.”

“…That’s a good thing, right?”

“Perhaps, yes.”

Mr. Guy probably insisted on adding the word ‘perhaps’ because he was being put in a difficult position.

Seeing Mr. Guy scratching his cheek as he was deep in thought for a while, Loki complained, “Why are you dragging this on? Can’t you just look through the list of compensation rewards, pick a few, and hand them over for Yu-Seong to choose?”

“That’s… I’m having a hard time choosing. Hmm…” Mr. Guy sighed before waving his hand in the air.

Although Yu-Seong couldn’t see anything, it was clear that there was some sort of list that only Mr. Guy could see. Mr. Guy’s gaze went up and down the empty air in front of him before he eventually let out a defeated sigh.

“Okay, I’ve compiled a rough list. Please pick one.” Mr. Guy then waved his hand as if he was throwing something at Yu-Seong.

At the same time, three options unfolded before Yu-Seong’s eyes.

1. Special promotion: Direct access to S-Rank.

2. Nine-headed Snake’s Colorful Accessory Set.

3. Obtaining at least 5 Special Skills of S-Rank or higher.

Yu-Seong’s eyes widened once he saw the choices. He exclaimed, “Special direct promotion to S-Rank?”

“I’ve never seen such a list of rewards myself; the system seems to have recognized Mr. Choi Yu-Seong as already being beyond the A-Rank. Well, I agree with its assessment.” Mr. Guy, stroking his long beard, tilted his head and stated, “In my opinion, I think the first choice is better than going through another cumbersome promotion test, but…”

“Guy, you’re being quite naughty,” Loki stated in a flabbergasted tone of voice before turning to Yu-Seong. She continued, “You’re not going to choose option one, right?”

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“Of course not, I’m not dumb.”

Yu-Seong felt good that the system had judged him to be an S-Rank or higher. In this case, even a non-human machine was viewing his limits as being ridiculously high for his current rank. However, choosing option one just because of that sentiment would be foolish.

‘In other words, the system is telling me that I’m already at a level where I can take and pass the S-Rank promotion test any time I want.’

In the end, Yu-Seong would eventually obtain the S-Rank, so option one only brought forward that eventuality a little bit quicker. The advantage of option one was that it would save him time, since he wouldn’t need to gather 100 levels of A-Rank experience.

However, Yu-Seong was still unconvinced.

‘Is it necessary?’

Thanks to his Star Factor skill, Yu-Seong’s speed of leveling-up was already unparalleled. If he really wanted, he could reach the qualification to take the S-Rank promotion test within two to three months. Moreover, if he chose option one, he would have to give up the reward for completing the S-Rank promotion test. Hence, Yu-Seong obviously excluded option one from his consideration.

“Hehehe… I put it in as a small joke, but I guess it is not working out well.”

“Your pranks reflect your mischievousness, Mr. Guy,” Yu-Seong responded.

“Hasn’t Mr. Choi Yu-Seong previously played pranks on me as well?” Mr. Guy smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

In the meantime, Yu-Seong looked over the remaining two reward options. After a moment of looking back and forth between the remaining two options, he quickly made up his mind.

‘Let’s do option two.’

Actually, Yu-Seong considered the third reward option very highly, so he had been torn between the two remaining options.

It was commonly accepted that having more skills was always better for a player, as skills conferred multiple benefits. In fact, Yu-Seong mostly agreed with this general sentiment. Moreover, if the skill rewards in option three were given as Special Skills, then they would not affect his empty skill slot count either. Needless to say, option three would truly be a transcendent reward option.

However, Yu-Seong decided to place his trust on Loki, on his own Eye of Replication, and on the power of his Fusion skill.

‘Anyway, there’ll be many opportunities for me to acquire more skills in the future.’

On the other hand, getting his hands on a treasure from an other-world was a different situation.

If he wanted to obtain just a part of an other-world’s treasure, Yu-Seong felt that he would be able to purchase it somehow through his accrued Karma Points. If he was lucky, he might even be able to purchase a couple of parts. However, getting his hands on a complete item set, which was rare in its own right, was an entirely different situation.

As the item set’s name suggested, the set’s various components produced an additional power and effect once the set was complete, and there was no guarantee that these otherworldly treasures could be obtained no matter how many Karma Points one had.

‘There’s probably only one unique set item in every dimension, and each set item probably has an owner already.’

Hence, collecting all the set items was most likely more difficult than collecting all the dragon balls, a popular concept that had been described in an old Japanese comic.

In other words, the value of items was at their highest when a set was complete.

‘It’s a pity that I have to give up the 5 Special Skills of S rank or higher, but…’

This time around, Yu-Seong was convinced he had to choose the item set option. He firmly stated, “I choose option two.”

“You won’t have any regrets, right?” Mr. Guy asked with sparkling eyes.

Yu-Seong, who had already made up his mind, answered quickly without any hesitation, “Yes.”

“Alright. I’ll see you again…in the near future… Mr. Choi Yu-Seong.”

After hearing Mr. Guy’s words, Yu-Seong felt his consciousness slipping away at a rapid pace. It was time for him to go back to reality.

***

The Nine-headed Snake’s Colorful Accessory Set was, as its name suggested, a treasure from an other-world that consisted of nine different items.

‘Two earrings, two bracelets, four rings, and one necklace.’

As the name suggested, the set items were mainly in the shape of a snake’s head or a coiled snake.

‘If I wear all of these, I’ll have no choice but to look flashy.’

With his given nickname, his bizarre spell chant, and now this accessory set, Yu-Seong felt like he was gradually becoming something like an awkward, mid-puberty teenager. However, he knew that there was no turning back now.

‘…I can’t give this up.’

No matter how embarrassed he might feel, Yu-Seong could not give up something that provided him with such enormous benefits.

First of all, there was the effect of the two earrings.

‘My maximum mana capacity has increased.’

Yu-Seong felt as though each earring increased his mana capacity by 25%. Hence, by gaining 50% more mana capacity in total, he felt as though the sudden increase had emptied his insides.

‘I feel so empty and weak.’

However, this problem was quickly resolved once he put on the two bracelets, which overlapped with each other, on his left arm.

‘Increased mana recovery speed.’

Yu-Seong’s God’s Chakra continuously restored his mana even without Yu-Seong having to consciously concentrate on the act. Now, with the addition of the Nine-headed Snake’s bracelets, the speed of his mana recovery had increased exponentially.

‘This is great, no? If I have about five more of such bracelets, even if I use Wind Thunder Dragon God Art continuously, my mana level won’t decrease. Rather, it’ll constantly fill up.’

With such thoughts in mind, Yu-Seong reached a hypothesis and he could not help but chuckle.

‘Right now, I can probably use a skill similar to that of my Dancing Electric Doll indefinitely without worrying about mana consumption.’

Skills that he had never dared to use beyond a few times, due to his lack of mana, could now be used to his heart’s content.

By acquiring the God’s Chakra and the Nine-headed Snake’s bracelets, he had achieved unbelievable growth.

‘In addition to all this, there are the four rings.’

The four rings shared the same effect.

‘Increased vitality.’

This increase in vitality had two meanings.

The first was that it literally improved Yu-Seong’s physical strength. His concentration levels during battle would increase, and he would be able to fight for longer.

That was not all. To test something out, Yu-Seong transformed his Pharoah’s Caprice into a short dagger and drew a long cut on his palm. In an instant, blood flowed from the large wound, but the wound quickly regenerated with the four rings’ glow.

‘If I summon the Green Wind Spirit Cat while wearing these four rings during battle…’

Yu-Seong gave out another satisfied chuckle.

‘Sooner or later, people will probably be calling me a Human Troll.’

In other words, Yu-Seong would be compared to a monster that was known for its regeneration ability. From his own point of view, being called a Human Troll was better than his current nickname, the Prince of Reversals.

The final item was a necklace. As soon as he put it on, Yu-Seong felt half of his mana instantly disappear. He was initially taken aback by the sudden sensation of having half of his mana being taken away; however, he knew the effects of the Nine-headed Snake’s Colorful Accessory Set based on the original novel, so he soon regained his composure.

‘That’s why I chose this in the first place. The explanation of this set in the original novel is largely to blame.’

Yu-Seong did not choose the accessory set because it looked good. In the original novel, [Modern Master Returns], the effects of the Nine-headed Snake’s Colorful Accessory Set had been clearly spelled out for him.

‘Originally, it was a treasure that the Immortal Demon King had gathered and used.’

Due to the effects of this other-world treasure, Kim Do-Jin and his party had struggled mightily against the Immortal Demon King in the novel. However, Yu-Seong was now in possession of this set.

Even if he had to face the Immortal Demon King sometime in the future, Yu-Seong was confident he would be able to deal with the Demon King much more comfortably than what Do-Jin had to go through in the original novel.

‘Anyway, this necklace is the most important item. It is also the essential representative symbol of the Nine-headed Snake.’

The Nine-headed Snake’s Colorful Accessory Set possessed a rather non-intuitive effect.

‘Half of my total mana has been sealed.’

At first glance, one might have this thought, but the reality was a little different. Half of his mana had flowed into the necklace that Yu-Seong was wearing, and that was not all.

If his regenerated mana reached above half his maximum mana capacity, the necklace would suck in that additional mana. This sort of mechanism might have concerned others who were not familiar with the necklace’s set effect, but Yu-Seong knew the effects beforehand. This was why he was not concerned.

‘Mana accumulation.’

The set effect was to immediately take half of a player’s maximum mana capacity and store that mana within the necklace. In a way, this could be seen as an immediate penalty. However, the story changed when one activated the necklace’s second ability, ‘emission’.

‘Once I use emission, I can use the mana I’ve accumulated in the necklace in whatever way I want for five minutes.’

In other words, depending on the amount of mana one accumulated, one could use mana that may be several times the amount of mana that one had or even of one’s overall maximum capacity.

‘By combining this Nine-headed Snake’s Colorful Accessory Set’s effect and Loki’s spell, with its embarrassing spell chant…’

It was now possible for Yu-Seong to borrow a god’s power and blow up a small city. Having seen the effects of Storm of Destruction firsthand, Yu-Seong was sure of it.

‘It’s like I’ve become a walking nuclear bomb.’

As an A-Rank player, Yu-Seong was relating himself to a nickname that was often given to players of EX rank or higher.

Yu-Seong seemed to be very satisfied with his present situation.