Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Collection?
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“Collection?”
I knew there was something called a Collection. It was content where you put items into the Collection to get minor boosts like +1 Strength or +1 Magic Power.
I’d thought of it as just side content, but to think it was the alpha and omega? With equipment, levels, and above all, this cheat-level [Class] content?
“Well, it’s probably just about slotting in drop items, so I can fill it up while leveling.”
Deciding to take it lightly, I left my room and got into the elevator.
The one-room I’d rented was in a Room Tower in Jongno-gu, Seoul—a 80-story building made up of rooms of various sizes.
I headed down to the first floor for a meal. Next to me, Cheda toddled along. It was handy having a smartphone that followed me without needing any attention.
“Meow! Meow!”
As I waited for the elevator, I heard a dog barking from down the hall. Looking over, I saw a door halfway down the corridor swing open and a brown Toy Poodle come bounding out.
“Ssuth! Behave yourself!”
A woman who looked to be in her early twenties chased after the dog from her one-room. Her hair was tied back messily, and she was dressed in loose clothes, but she was still strikingly beautiful.
“Sniff! Sniff sniff!”
The Toy Poodle rushed toward me and approached Cheda to sniff its butt.
As you’d expect from a smart pet, Cheda paid it no mind. Its attitude wouldn’t change unless the dog attacked with hostility.
“Ssuth! Oh, sorry about that.”
“No, it’s fine.”
I brushed it off and pressed the button for the first floor. The woman got into the elevator too.
‘She really has a real dog, huh.’
In these days when smart pets were the norm, that was a rare case. Real dogs needed their poop cleaned up and feeding on a schedule.
Ding!
We arrived at the first floor without exchanging a word and headed to the restaurant. No conversation at all, yet we were headed to the same place—the donburi shop closest to the elevator.
“Tonkatsu donburi.”
-Order confirmed.
“Squid donburi!”
-Order confirmed.
We took our seats.
‘For now, I need to play the game a bit more. If I stick around on Earth and play Revenge some more instead of heading back right away, I can get better gear.’
And then it hit me.
‘But classes don’t seem like something you can get that way.’
“Cheda.”
I called its name, and Cheda, which had been curled up under the table, nimbly climbed onto the chair and then the table, rolling over to expose its belly.
Cheda’s form was close to that of a plump cat—though it couldn’t be too small due to its functions—so the screen was nice and large.
“Meow! Meow!”
“Ssuth, quiet down.”
“Whine…”
There was a brief bark, but I ignored it and received my donburi. Then I returned to my seat and tapped on Cheda’s belly.
“Let’s see…”
I checked the official homepage and cafes, but there were almost no mentions of getting a class during gameplay. It wasn’t impossible to drop one, but the probability was practically meaningless, and they were hard to trade, so it felt like you had to gacha them with cash.
“Guess I have no choice but to buy one.”
I’d played a ton of games, but I’d always kept my distance from spending money. It didn’t make sense to drop serious cash on a bunch of data bits.
However.
Clench.
Just clenching my fist let me feel strength surpassing that of an ordinary person. And not just that.
Hum!
I could feel the inner energy flowing through my body. Unlike what the examiner had said—that I couldn’t accumulate even [1 Year of Inner Energy] before dying—this inner energy felt substantial.
‘Amazing.’
It was unbelievable. This was tantamount to overcoming my [F-grade Mana Aptitude], which even the vaunted tech of Earth—one of the top planets in the universe—couldn’t fix (not impossible, just that it would cost hundreds of billions…).
And this class was only the second from the bottom in the hierarchy of Normal, Advanced, Rare, Heroic, Legendary, Mythic?
I checked the class description on the official homepage.
“There’s a pattern to it. Normal classes give a total stat increase of 100 points. 40 points to the main stat, 20 each to two sub-stats, and 10 each to the remaining two.”
For example, the Normal class Archer I’d already gotten boosted Strength +20, Agility +40, Vitality +20, Life +10, Mana +10. 40 points to the main stat Agility, 20 to sub-stats Strength and Vitality, and 10 to Life and Mana.
So what about Advanced?
‘Total 200 points. Double the stats in the same ratio.’
You could see it from the Advanced class job I had equipped now, High Swordsman: Strength +80, Agility +40? No, wait: from text: High Swordsman: Strength+80, Agility+40? Wait, text says: High Swordsman Strength+80, Agility+40, Vitality+20, Life+40, Mana+20
Standardized: Strength, Agility, Constitution/Vitality, Life Force/Vitality? In games its often STR, AGI, VIT, HP, MP.
Anyway: main Strength 80? But earlier Archer Agility 40 main.
High Swordsman main is Strength.
Next, Rare.
“Total 300 points. Plus a job buff.”
For example, the Swordsman-line Rare class Sword Ghost has a permanent 50% attack speed increase that stacks with all buffs.
Wizard-line Rare Pyroancer gets 50% fire damage, Archer-line gets 50% ranged damage or 50% range increase buffs.
The difference in buffs is huge.
A 50% attack speed boost with no conditions? Does that even make sense? It made even the Advanced class I was so satisfied with seem like worthless trash.
“And Heroic classes…”
I checked one of the Heroic classes.
[Variant Ranger (Heroic)]
Strength +80, Agility +160, Constitution +80, Life +40, Mana +40
[Range 50% Increase]
[Observer of Darkness]
“Let’s see… Total 400 points plus job buff. And a job trait.”
And that job trait was…
[Observer of Darkness]
Mid-level Stealth with no cost if unobserved for 1 minute or more.
I read the description, but I couldn’t quite grasp it. Seemed pretty good since it had no cost and just needed to be unobserved for a minute, but I didn’t know exactly how strong this mid-level stealth was.
“Need to check other jobs.”
I looked at the Swordsman-line Heroic job, Sword King.
[Sword King (Heroic)]
Strength +80, Agility +160, Constitution +80, Life +40, Mana +40
“It’s a Swordsman line, but main stat is Agility, not Strength?”
Looking again, Sword Ghost’s main was also Agility. Swordsman lines varied; jobs like Highlander (two-handed swordsman) had Strength as main. These wuxia-flavored jobs seemed to emphasize agility.
“How many jobs are there exactly?”
On a whim, I scrolled down Cheda’s belly rapidly. The list scrolled.
Down.
And down.
“No way.”
I stopped in disbelief. It was still Heroic jobs. Legendaries and Mythics were way further down.
I quickly searched.
“No… over 300 jobs? And they keep increasing…”
Especially Rare and Heroic ones were insane in number. For example, just Barbarian had Fire Barbarian, Earth Barbarian, Wind Barbarian, and so on. Ranger had Silver Ranger, Phantom Ranger, Grand Ranger, Grand Abyss Ranger, countless variants.
Even the Swordsman ones I’d seen: Plum Blossom Sword Immortal, Blue Spirit Warrior, Witch Sword Immortal, endless.
The problem was they weren’t that different from each other.
“They just churned them out by tweaking buffs and traits a bit… And some are identical except for main or sub stat swaps…”
I went back to Sword King.
“Let’s see, job buff same as Sword Ghost: 50% attack speed up. Trait is… [Expert’s Interval].”
[Expert’s Interval]
Critical hit generates [Expert’s Aura] stack. Up to 20 stacks. Duration 30 seconds.
[Expert’s Aura]
Self-buff: Strength, Agility, Constitution, Life +5 points.
“This is insane…”
I was speechless. All four physical stats +5 each, stackable to 20?
That’s +100 to each stat. Total +400 from buff alone?
I was already a completely different being with Advanced class’s +200 total, and this was +400 from buff alone…
‘Max stat is 999, and exceeding 900 in one makes you Mythic-level, and they just hand this out?’
This wasn’t just broken. It was beyond. If Heroic was this strong, what the hell was Legendary?
Mesmerized, I checked a Swordsman-line Legendary job.
And I found it.
[Sword Saint (Legendary)]
Strength +100, Agility +180, Constitution +100, Life +60, Mana +60
Attack speed 50% increase.
[Expert’s Interval]
[Heavenly Sword]
“Legendary bumps total to 500 points… and adds a unique skill.”
I read the unique skill description.
[Heavenly Sword]
Usable when [Expert’s Aura] stacks reach max (20 stacks). Choose one of two forms to activate.
[Heavenly Sword - Hundred Man Slash]
On successful damage to enemy after activation, apply identical damage to surrounding enemies (up to 100 targets).
[Heavenly Sword - Moon-Piercing Fang]
On activation, add 1000% damage amplification to one target (calculated on final damage). Ignores defense, evasion, counter.
“…”
I tore my eyes from Cheda’s belly and shoveled down the donburi. Crispy fried tonkatsu drenched in sauce, rice grains smothered in egg—flavors undreamt of in medieval Ardania—slid down my throat in heavenly bliss.
I downed a pre-poured cup of water and groaned.
“Total cheat… Isn’t this insanely broken?”
Moreover, this Expert’s Interval could be even more cheat-like in Ardania.
Why?
‘Because I can land critical hits infinitely.’
Ardania Continent followed Revenge’s setting exactly, even applying the game system in reality…
But it was still reality.
Places where game systems applied—like my stats—existed, but others didn’t.
Like critical hits, accuracy, evasion.
In Revenge, those were [probabilities] based on weapons, character stats, etc. But in Ardania, if my attack landed, it was a hit; if dodged, evasion. If it vitaled, it was critical.
From what I’d confirmed so far, decapitating, head strikes, or heart stabs always crit. And parrying attacks were parry judgments.
So if I maxed stacks and used Hundred Man Slash to behead an orc…
One swing, and heads fly off 100 surrounding orc warriors.
“Cheda. G-Bank 1173-5511.”
“Meow!”
Cheda, sitting on the table, mewed softly and met my eyes. Iris scan.
Lick!
I held out my hand; it licked my finger. DNA confirmed.
“Meow!”
Another mew, and the bank account appeared. After moving and miscellaneous expenses, balance around 36 million won.
Not a huge sum, but more than enough for a few cash items.
“I’m buying.”
I resolved.
I’m going to buy it, no matter what.
A Legendary class. Sword Saint.