Duel City Doelro
Duel City Doelro was a city themed around a 19th-century Western town. Every building inside had that classic Western village look, and the residents wore clothes straight out of that era. It was perfectly normal for them to strut around with toy guns holstered at their waists as props. Naturally, the adventurers staying in the city played along with the theme, dressing in Western-style outfits and packing pistols as they wandered about.
The inn where the party was staying captured that same Western saloon vibe. As Namgung Seojun came down the slightly creaky wooden stairs, Lee Guho was already waiting below. They'd agreed to help him with his duel today.
"Hyungnim, but..."
Two men were already standing in front of Lee Guho. They were dressed in typical Western cowboy getups, and they flung their gloves at him while shouting,
"It's a duel!"
In Doelro, you didn't die even if you lost a duel. That made it a playground for reckless adventurers who challenged people left and right without a care. The two who'd tossed their gloves at Namgung Seojun and Lee Guho were just thrill-seekers having fun in the City of Duels.
He checked their status windows with God's Eye.
'Nothing special.'
Level 26, standard warrior class, and their traits and skills were all average. But one trait caught his eye.
"Guho. You duel the guy on the right."
At those words, Lee Guho challenged the man on the right. He accepted immediately, and they quickly moved on to what to wager.
"Guho, put up your Intermediate Stamina."
"Huh? Okay."
When Lee Guho offered his Intermediate Stamina trait, the man looked a bit flustered. It was all just a game. What they were doing was pure entertainment in this duel-happy city. Since losing didn't mean death, they'd usually bet a few gold coins and call it a night. But Lee Guho had jumped straight in with a top-tier trait like Intermediate Stamina, throwing the guy off.
Seojun spoke up first to put him at ease. "Any trait's fine. As long as it's Intermediate."
The man pointed to what looked like his most useless trait in his status window and said, "In that case... how about Intermediate Luck?"
"Yeah, perfect."
The guy naturally yelled "Nice!" and accepted. It was a no-brainer—swap a worthless Intermediate Luck for Intermediate Stamina? Win big if he pulled it off, and no real loss if he didn't.
With the duel agreed upon, a temple staffer appeared out of nowhere.
"You two! This is all settled, right? Then let's head out."
They were teleported to the duel arena, and the fight between Lee Guho and the man began.
"Magic Missile! Magic Missile!"
The moment it started, Lee Guho unleashed six Magic Missiles with multishot and fast casting. They slammed right into the man.
"Aaaagh!!"
He dropped like a sack of potatoes. An easy win.
"Lee Guho wins!"
The temple staffer declared the victory, and Lee Guho and Namgung Seojun were automatically sent back to an area a short distance from the inn. A new message window popped up for Lee Guho.
You have acquired the Intermediate Luck trait.
You already possess this trait. Your existing Intermediate Luck has been upgraded to Advanced Luck.
And just like that, Advanced Luck was added to Lee Guho's status window. He wasn't overly thrilled despite landing an Advanced trait—he didn't fully grasp the value of Luck yet. It was a trait everyone underrated. Aside from a slight charm boost, it seemed the most lackluster of them all.
But Super Sense told him it was incredibly useful and necessary. That's why he'd orchestrated the duel to boost Lee Guho's Luck.
"Nice. Ready for the next one?"
Lee Guho didn't get it, but seeing Namgung Seojun satisfied made him think, 'Must be good.' They spent the day roaming the city together.
By the end, they'd fought three more duels. Lee Guho picked up Low-grade Focus (boosts magic damage), Low-grade Agility, and even a Normal skill called Vitality, which upgraded to Rare-grade Vitality.
For his last duel, Lee Guho went off alone to try it solo.
The next day was Dmitri's turn. Like Lee Guho, she roamed with Namgung Seojun and snagged some traits.
"Nice!"
First, Low-grade Luck.
"Yes!"
Another Low-grade Luck in the next fight upgraded her to Intermediate Luck.
"Victory again."
Her Low-grade Stamina became Intermediate, and she even grabbed a Rare-grade skill, Mercenary Shield Mastery (P).
Then it was Li Zhangwei's day.
"..."
But hardly anyone wanted to duel him. Truth be told, Doelro didn't have tons of duel-happy adventurers. Most refused challenges outright, and you couldn't force one. With Namgung Seojun tagging along, the few eager ones knew Li Zhangwei's rep and steered clear.
"Not many takers."
"Let's keep looking a bit."
Luckily, some bit anyway. Li Zhangwei was dangling a Unique skill, which was tempting from their perspective.
"A Unique skill! But I can just bet a Low-grade trait???"
Those who took the bait lost their Low-grade traits to him one by one. By day's end, after five duels, his Low-grade Stamina hit Intermediate, he doubled up on Low-grade Intellect and Low-grade Luck to reach Intermediate Luck, and racked up even more traits.
That evening, Namgung Seojun finally had dinner with Gisohee at the inn after a while apart. As they ate, she recounted the past three days roaming the city.
"More idiots than I expected. Just like you said, Seojun—offer big stakes, and they hand over their traits like candy."
Gisohee's Unique Stealth made 1v1s a breeze, so she'd wandered solo, dueling whenever she spotted a good trait.
"Yes, Lady, you made smart picks and got great results. I snagged some solid traits through fair duels too."
Pinara's combat prowess made her unbeatable in these 1v1s too.
"What'd you get?"
Gisohee upgraded Low-grade Luck to Intermediate and Low-grade Intelligence to Intermediate, plus new Low-grade Agility and Low-grade Stamina. Pinara turned Low-grade Stamina to Intermediate, Low-grade Mana to Intermediate, and Low-grade Luck to Intermediate.
"Good work. But no greed in the remaining duels. People might start targeting you now."
With their patterns known, Super Sense warned that dangling good traits could draw hunters.
"Got it. We'll be careful with the rest."
Thankfully, Gisohee and Pinara always followed his lead.
The next day, Namgung Seojun roamed Doelro alone. Plenty of adventurers still undervalued Luck.
"Advanced Attribute Resistance and Low-grade Luck? You're sure mine's just Low-grade?"
He won handily, and they handed over their Luck. Two duels later, his own Low-grade Luck shot up to Advanced.
Problem was, no one else worth dueling after that. So he headed to the plaza he'd scoped out earlier.
The plaza was where adventurers gathered to recruit party members or join ones. But in Duel City, unique signs dotted the crowd.
"Trading traits. Inquire within."
"Selling Heavy Strike skill."
"Rare-grade Presence Detection skill for sale."
"Skill trades wanted."
"Selling Low-grade Stamina, Agility traits."
"Trading or selling traits and skills."
A bunch of adventurers stood around with signs hawking their skills and traits. A sight unique to Doelro. Lose on purpose in a duel, and you could trade them away. But prices weren't cheap.
"How much for Low-grade Intelligence?"
"Just 50 gold."
Low-grade traits went for 50 gold, Intermediate around 100. The five-duel limit per stay set the market.
Namgung Seojun scanned the plaza.
'No Intermediate Agility. Guess Low-grade it is.'
He approached a woman.
"I'd like to buy Low-grade Agility."
She beamed. "50 gold."
"Deal."
They drew up a divine contract right there. He won the duel, and Low-grade Agility joined his traits.
On their last day, Namgung Seojun made up his mind and headed out with Isu-yeon.
"Master? Where to?"
He stroked her hair. "Just follow me."
"..."
He led her to the plaza, where adventurers hawked traits and skills. Isu-yeon eyed them, a sudden fear hitting her.
'Does Master... want to sell my traits or skills...?'
Lots did that with slaves' stuff here. Her top trait, Low-grade Fire Affinity Attack, was worth at least 200 gold—a steal no one would pass up.
'Because I'm a first-class slave...'
She couldn't hide her anxiety. Seojun noticed and patted her shoulder.
"Don't worry."
Those words melted it away. She leaned into him without thinking.
Namgung Seojun approached the cheapest Intermediate Luck seller.
"I'll buy Intermediate Luck."
"Oh! I've got the best price! Just 70 gold."
He prepped the divine contract, but the recipient was Isu-yeon.
"Master..."
She gazed at him, overwhelmed. She'd feared losing traits; instead, he was gifting her one—using up one of his precious duels.
"Go win quick."
She did, and Intermediate Luck appeared in her status window.
"Thank you so much, Master."
Grateful tears flowed as she kept thanking him. He just stroked her hair a few more times.
In the end, the party scored massive upgrades in Duel City. Especially Luck—everyone hit Intermediate or higher.