Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: No Skill Trees
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Revenge had no skill selection system to determine a character's growth path—what was commonly called a [skill tree].
If a holy knight only had rare-grade holy attack skills while tanking skills were advanced-grade, did that mean they had gone down an attack-specialized skill tree path?
No.
He had simply lacked the money to buy tanking skills.
‘Unlike typical MMORPGs. If I had to compare it... it’s closer to a collectible RPG.’
Since skills followed the principle of “buy everything if you have the money, and it’s all beneficial,” everyone ultimately ended up the same. Thus, stats and gear determined Revenge’s growth paths.
Character progression meant selecting one desired stat and gear set from various options.
Even with the same swordsman character, dumping everything into strength and equipping gear with extra attack and counter options made them a dealer. Investing in vitality and wearing gear with damage reduction and auto-heal turned them into a damage tank.
Revenge was infamous for its lack of freedom, but that didn’t mean it had zero freedom.
‘Of course, some classes force specific gear choices.’
Take my current Sword King (Hero) class, for example.
Swordsman or swordmaster tree classes placed such extreme importance on critical hit rates that no other stats could be greedily pursued.
If a swordmaster class invested in other stats, it would only be a suboptimal choice because they had no other way to boost critical hits.
‘And the direction that points to is clear.’
The dream and hope of all swordmaster class players. The ultimate goal they aimed for.
100% critical hit rate.
“Log out.”
I returned to the convenience store and browsed the job boards.
[Title]: Sword Saint... Hit 100% Critical Chance!
It feels like I’ve come through a long... long... tunnel...
Lately, crit jobs have multiplied (especially that damn Point-Blaze Sword Demon, so many of them). Crit accessory prices have skyrocketed, and I keep slipping on the 9-reinforce special effect for that extra 5% crit... (sobbing).
Ah! Why won’t crit engravings drop!? Everyone else gets them fine, but I only get strength enhancements!
Anyway! I did it!
Ah, 100% crit is a whole new world. Hunting feels orgasmic. ㅠㅠ It’s on another level from 95%. Monsters use skills too, so whether the first hit crits or not is a huge deal.
Plus, pairing the spare accessories (earrings and rings) for attack speed means Thousand Sword-One Hundred Slashes procs every 10 seconds!
Behold my badass Sword Saint mowing down hordes with a single blade!
“Ah, suddenly I want a Sword Saint...”
I’d been looking up critical hit info, but stumbling on this post made my stomach ache. I’d already spent 10 million won frugally, so it was an unavoidable situation, yet here I was.
“Well, I’m plenty strong even without Sword Saint. Thousand Sword is a shame, but full buffs make me formidable... and I invested in other specs instead of crit.”
Revenge’s growth paths were ultimately determined by stats and gear.
And my chosen concept was very simple.
“Strength.”
In Revenge, warriors investing in strength simply boosted melee damage. Sure, damage was the alpha and omega of character specs in any RPG, making it crucially important—but that was all it amounted to.
Reality was different.
Strength—the contraction and relaxation of those muscles—was the beginning and end of physical function, the limit line for all human athletic ability.
With strong strength, an ordinary human could lift weights beyond imagination. And that was just the start.
Strong strength meant jumping higher and faster, crushing stone with a mere grip.
In Revenge terms, raising strength alone boosted attack speed, movement speed, attack power, and evasion—all at once. Its importance was beyond words.
I checked my status window.
ID: Han Jaeyeon
Class: Sword King (Hero)
Title: New Adventurer (Common)
Level: 35
Strength: 120 (+296) Stamina: 49 (+120)
Vitality: 62 (+179) Agility: 52 (+180)
Mana: 1 (+75) Mana Power: 1 (+25) Magic Resistance: 1 (+15)
Recovery: 100 (+15) Mana Recovery: 21 (+11) Luck: 10
Free Stats: 0
Status: Normal
In the end, I had over 400 points of strength. Comparable to a master-level physical trainer.
On top of that... Expert’s Joint Strike buff (Strength, Stamina, Vitality, Agility +5) stacked 20 times pushed it past 500 stats.
‘My god. Five hundred stats.’
If 400 points matched a master-level physical trainer...
500 points definitively surpassed master level.
“What creature has over 500 strength stats? Cheda!”
“Meow.”
I rubbed the belly of Cheda, who leaped onto the counter. A quick wiki search yielded results.
“Adult ogre strength is five hundred points...”
On Earth, they were spectacles in museums or beast preserves for tourists’ amusement, but their monstrous power was legendary. Monsters among monsters, standing 4.5 to 6 meters tall!
“To wield that much strength in human size... though this spec is limited to Ardania.”
Class, skills, collections, and guardian spirit effects applied in reality too.
Thanks to them, I now possessed physical specs and supernatural abilities incomparable to my old self.
However, not all effects carried over.
‘Can’t bring pets, for starters. But that’s not the issue. The real problem is... gear.’
Gear was the beginning and end of Revenge specs. No matter how amazing the class, level, or guardian spirits, without matching gear, it was all illusion.
Earrings x2, rings x2, bracelets x2, belt, necklace, helmet, top, bottom... and so on. The total was enormous.
Above all, without gear in reality, I got no [attack power] or [defense] bonuses.
‘Only my body is shared between Earth and Ardania, causing this.’
I’d hoped wearing gear in Ardania would apply in reality, but it was just wishful thinking.
‘Well, nothing to be done. Just be careful not to slip up due to the physical ability gap between Earth and Ardania.’
With my thoughts settled, I glanced around the convenience store and muttered.
“Log in.”
The moment I spoke, the silent, empty store...
“Knock it down! Topple it! Push!”
“Pull! Pull! Pull!”
“Why aren’t you pushing from behind!?”
Transformed into a battlefield screaming with countless goblins.
“Strip the armor! It’s too hard like this—we can’t wound it!”
“No gaps in the armor! Not even a skewer fits!”
“It won’t come off! No screws on the armor! No straps! What is this!?”
The goblins shoving and pulling at me, stumped, clung to my entire body trying to remove the armor.
But that was futile too.
‘As if they could.’
Rough Might Mithril Armor was a full-body suit. The so-called full plate armor, but its structure differed from real-world or medieval versions. It was a seamless cover enveloping the entire body!
An absurd design, really. It looked flawless, but what was the point of armor you couldn’t physically damage?
‘But it works. Game item, after all.’
Normally, full-body armor used countless parts, screws, and straps for fastening, but Rough Might Mithril Armor had none of that.
Of course not.
Who would implement such details in a game unless they were insane about realism? They were too busy designing armor engravings.
Revenge’s full-body armor was physically impossible to wear or remove. It only worked by dragging from inventory to status window.
“Whew...”
Ignoring the goblins plastered to me, I crouched down.
“Crush it! Crush it!”
“Crush it to death! Break every bone!”
The horde of goblins grew. From a dozen to dozens, then hundreds in moments.
I felt them piling atop me like a tower, shrieking.
“Argh! Ow! It hurts! Let me out!”
“Argh! I’m being crushed!”
“Kek!?”
The goblin tower grew too tall; the ones on bottom couldn’t bear the weight and screamed. Some didn’t just scream—their bones snapped, bellies burst, and they died.
It was too fanatical and murderous to just laugh off as stupidity. But instead of fearing the madness enveloping me...
I kicked off the ground, rising and flinging my arms upward.
Pffft—boom!
Ever seen popcorn popping?
Or puffed grains exploding?
The goblins flew off exactly like that, scattering everywhere.
“Arrrgh!? It exploded! Exploded!”
“It’s a monster! Monster armor!”
“I’m flying! Flying! Everyone’s flying away!”
Screams erupted from all directions.
Splatter-splat!
Moments later, blood and flesh rained down like a storm.
“...Hm.”
I stood still, checking my condition. The mithril armor was unscratched, but it couldn’t block the goblin blood and chunks sticking everywhere.
“Whatever.”
Monsters dissolved into dust after death, leaving only drops. My underclothes were soaked in goblin blood, sticky and gross, but temporary.
“Fight? Fight? Fight that thing?”
“We’ve got tons! Overwhelm with numbers!”
“Then you go first! You!”
Looking around, goblins surrounded me, chattering. Still snarling and burning with killing intent, but unmistakably terrified.
“What’re you staring at?”
I smirked, raising my sword.
[Sword of Conviction (Advanced) +9].
Weapon Damage +12 (+15)
Strength +1 (+8) Vitality +1 (+7)
Material: Iron
Weight: 2.1 kg
Special Effect: Soul Collector (Intermediate)
My first 9-reinforce weapon. I hadn’t reinforced it myself—just bought someone else’s.
‘Wanted rare-grade, but...’
Unfortunately, rares were too pricey per unit.
Advanced gear went for 10 dia (1,000 won). At most 20 dia (2,000 won)—barely more than the exchange minimum of 10 dia.
Rares, though, started at 800 dia (80,000 won) up to 4,500 dia (450,000 won).
And those were no-reinforce base prices.
‘Why so expensive? Are they insane?’
Such market prices meant someone was buying them, but I couldn’t fathom it.
‘You can only equip one weapon anyway. Sigh, and there are hero legend grades too. Sigh.’
Shaking my head at Revenge’s ever-absurd prices, I moved.
Internal Energy Infusion (Active) (Rare).
Wooong!
The internal energy in my body flowed instinctively into the Sword of Conviction. And that wasn’t all.
Hard Qi Gong (Active) (Common).
True essence from my dantian swirled around my skin, boosting physical toughness.
Kwayun Gong (Active) (Advanced).
True essence from my dantian spread throughout my body.
“Whew.”
Power surged through my entire body. Of course, it consumed mana—over 10% gone.
But no matter.
Why else would I wield advanced +9 over rare +6? Even advanced at +9 matched rare +6 pricing.
Thanks to the special effect at +9.
[Soul Collector (Passive) (Intermediate)]
Killing enemies recovers a certain amount of mana.