Skill Development

The activation mechanism of my skill, Predator's Domain, was actually quite simple.

Register an attack with the skill, then recycle it.

The cheat perks are an exception, of course.

Even though everything currently slotted in was ripped straight from boss monsters—

Hey, a win is a win.

But I can't rely on just these forever.

The higher I climb, the stronger the monsters will get.

And once they get stronger?

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These boss abilities I grabbed near the starting zone won't cut it anymore.

I need to get stronger myself.

I couldn't just keep leaning on my cheat perks.

"Hey, status window. Show me my stats."

"Oh."

I'd been too distracted to check anything but my level, but my stats had shot up quite a bit.

Considering they were barely scraping past 20 the last time I checked—

—this was a massive leap forward.

"Hey, Sae-ah."

"...?"

"Show me your stats."

At my request, Han Sae-ah proudly planted her hands on her hips, a smug grin spreading across her face. But once she read out her stats, my jaw dropped.

"Alright, I lose."

"Are you stupid, Woojin? You literally just finished the tutorial. I've been doing this for years, not to mention my time at the academy..."

"Ah, the sorrow. How is a man without an academy diploma supposed to survive in this cruel world?"

"You can still apply at your age. Want to go? I can help you."

"I have to go back into the Tower soon. When would I even find the time for school?"

Brushing off Sae-ah's suddenly crestfallen expression, I steeled my resolve.

"Just you wait. I'll catch up to you in no time."

"Don't worry. However much you catch up, I'll just pull further ahead."

"Oh, screw you."

"So, what are your stats anyway, Woojin?"

"..."

"I showed you mine, so you have to show me yours."

Unable to withstand her pressure, I finally revealed my stats. The teasing look on Sae-ah's face instantly vanished, replaced by a bizarre expression.

"...Already?"

"What do you mean 'already'? Look at the massive gap between us."

"No, this is absurd. If you were an academy student, you'd actually be able to give me a run for my money."

"Really?"

Competing with Han Sae-ah for top grades at the academy? That was actually a massive compliment.

After all, watching her academy days from the sidelines—

—it had been a truly brilliant and dazzling time.

Well, she's still pretty brilliant and dazzling in active duty.

Just looking at the titles the public showered her with made my head spin.

"Star of the Generation," "The Future of South Korea," "Hope," and so on.

She boasted a reputation so heavily laden with grand modifiers that it was dizzying.

"I have a concern."

"What kind of concern?"

At Sae-ah's question, I fell into thought.

My purpose in visiting the training ground today was, of course, to fill my empty skill slots.

First, let's test the limits.

I took a deep breath.

I unleashed the skill, declaring a set radius as my domain, and conjured the attacks of the Goblin Champion within it.

I kept the domain active, pushing myself to maintain it until my stamina hit its absolute limit.

Crash! Rumble!

The Goblin Champion's heavy blows slammed into the ground in real-time, violently shattering the surroundings.

This is definitely exhausting.

True to its reputation, just keeping the skill active drained my stamina at an alarming rate.

"For basic attacks, Shadow Slash is much more efficient."

It seemed best to use Judgment Strike as a finishing move and Shadow Slash for general combat.

"Woojin."

"Yeah?"

"I can see the mana swirling around you. Is that your skill?"

"Yeah."

Noticing the skill's presence, Sae-ah took a step closer to me.

"Whoa, watch out. It's dangerous."

"I'm fine."

Stopping precisely outside the domain's boundary, Han Sae-ah stared at me and the shape of the domain for a long moment before speaking.

"Looking at it now, your skill seems great for offense, but your defense is wide open."

"Yeah, I noticed that too."

I recalled my fight with the Goblin Champion.

The constant, swirling slashes had managed to deflect incoming arrows, but—

—there was no guarantee that every ranged attack thrown at me would be a simple arrow.

"If your offensive ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠capabilities are limited to physical strikes and slashes..."

Crackle.

Han Sae-ah raised one hand, and tiny sparks of black lightning crackled over her palm.

"Oh."

"It's going to be hard to block pure mana attacks, like the one I'm using right now."

She was right.

If someone rained down fire or water spells on me—

—what good would spinning a blender of physical slashes do?

"You need to prepare a countermeasure for that."

"Tell me about it."

"I'll help you."

"Oh?"

As I looked at her with anticipation, Han Sae-ah took the cue.

She fired a weakened bolt of black lightning, letting it drift into my domain.

Zzzzt!

The moment the black lightning touched the invisible energy of my domain, it passed straight through without any resistance.

In other words, if Sae-ah had actually intended to hurt me—

"..."

—the attack would have bypassed my domain entirely and hit me dead-on.

"If I went into the Tower like this, I would've died after taking a few spells."

"Most of a Hunter's growth comes from the Tower's system, but how you utilize your skills is entirely up to you. So..."

I needed to increase the adaptability of my skill and use it to cover my weaknesses.

"Okay."

I closed my eyes and focused on the sensation of the domain I had created.

The shape of the skill constantly drifted within the expanded radius of my domain.

Then, I caught a foreign, tingling sensation piercing through it.

Sae-ah had fired another spark of black lightning into my domain.

"...!"

Rumble!

Sensing that energy, I channeled more of my skill toward that direction.

It felt like I was right on the verge of grasping it.

"Woojin, you don't have to push yourself."

"Wait."

Sensing the sudden acceleration in the domain's circulation, Sae-ah spoke up in worry, but I cut her off.

"Can you make that attack a bit stronger?"

"But..."

"Just try it once. If it doesn't work, I'll stop."

At my words, Han Sae-ah fired another bolt of black lightning into the domain.

And then—

Hummmmm...

The flow of mana spinning furiously within the domain detected Sae-ah's mana much more clearly than before.

Ah.

In that instant, a flash of realization struck me.

Following that realization, I poured even more power into Judgment Strike.

"Woojin...!"

"..."

Her worried voice rang out again, but I pushed further.

Creeeeak!

I accelerated the flow, intending to completely bury the presence of Sae-ah's black lightning under my own mana.

And then—

Ding!

"Whew..."

I stopped the acceleration as the name of the newly created sub-skill settled into its slot.

"Oh-ho."

In the end, shifting my mindset from trying to block the attack to actively attacking Sae-ah's attack had paved the way.

"Sae-ah, try it one more time."

"..."

At my request, Han Sae-ah immediately fired another bolt of lightning with the exact same power as before.

Hummmmm...

The moment Sae-ah's attack entered my domain, it was caught by an invisible energy, slowing down to a crawl—

—before vanishing entirely.

"...What was that?"

"Pretty neat, right? Just got it."

"You acquired a skill outside of the Tower...?"

Han Sae-ah stared at me with utter disbelief, but this wasn't something I could easily explain to her anyway.

"I guess the Tower just really likes me. It even gives me presents on the outside."

"Are you seriously...!"

She started to snap, but seeing my smug, satisfied face, she could only let out a deep sigh and accept it.

She let out a heavy sigh, giving up.

"...Seriously, what is even going on with you?"

"Isn't this the perfect defensive tool? I was lacking defense anyway, so this worked out great."

"..."

She shot me a suspicious look, but I had been truly desperate for a defensive option.

Even though I had the Goblin Champion's Bone Necklace, that was a one-time emergency escape button.

I couldn't rely on that passive effect for every single battle.

"I'm in a great mood, so pork belly is on me tonight. Let's go."

"...I'm not hungry."

"Even though I'm paying?"

"Let's go to your place and order bossam instead."

"As my lady wishes."

Wouldn't it be better to grill it ourselves at a restaurant?

Why did she always want to come to my place?

Seriously, she treats my place like her personal hideout.

Leading a very smug-looking Sae-ah, we headed back to my apartment to wrap up the day, just like we always did.

"Yeah, yeah. It's time."

After a rest that felt both short and long, the time to start climbing the Tower had finally arrived.

The moment to begin the raid was here.

I had done some basic research in the meantime.

Since I had ties to the Association, and the girl who basically lived at my place was a famous prodigy in the industry, asking questions was like having access to a walking library.

Answers poured out effortlessly whenever I asked.

"Now that the tutorial is over, it's time for the real deal."

I wondered how my friends were doing.

They were probably already inside, working hard.

Since they were on Normal difficulty, they probably didn't feel the suffocating pressure of life-or-death survival.

For them, it wasn't a matter of living or dying.

It was more about how high of a score they could achieve.

Damn education system.

I cursed the harsh reality that forced young blood to suffer even in another dimension.

A brilliant light enveloped my entire body.

"...I'll be back."

"..."

"Don't cry."

"..."

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"If I come back and you're throwing another fit, you're dead. Got it? Hey, answer me."

"You'd better not die."

I forced myself to look away from Han Sae-ah's sniffling face.

The world shifted.

"Yeah, nice to meet you too."

I greeted the status window welcoming me under the pale, dead sky.

Might as well say hello here, too.

Ah, this familiar, nostalgic flavor.

I announced my arrival to the community where the climbers gathered.