Chapter 127
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 127
Chapter Title: Event (1)
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After chatting with Song Bi-yeon about this and that, I focused back on my original student's body.
On the way back, Ha Chae-jung whined, begging me to assign her a class too, but I brushed her off lightly.
I could have done it if I wanted, but it wouldn't be too late after she first underwent Physical Transcendence from Limit Breakthrough.
"So, what kind of skills are [Giant God Turret] and [Instant Execution]?"
The reason I'd shifted my focus back to the student's body was to ask Lee Seojun about those two skills.
[Giant God Turret] is a skill that summons an anti-air cannon-type weapon. It's considered one of the top support fire skills.
"Support fire?"
Yes. True to its level 10 status, it packs a punch. The downside is that it needs an artifact to produce ammunition.
"A separate artifact just for making ammo?"
Lee Seojun nodded again at my question.
There is a dedicated artifact for [Giant God Turret]. Of course, you can use other artifacts too.
"Well, that's something... but having to slot in an artifact to make it work rubs me the wrong way."
The upside is that even F-rank heroes can use it. With an A-rank artifact, you'd probably get around 20 shots.
"Twenty shots? What if you use the dedicated one?"
You can fire infinitely. Each shot requires a 5-second charge time, though.
I tilted my head at the mention of five seconds and asked what happened with other artifacts.
"And with other artifacts?"
Ammo generates, and it can rapid-fire.
"So the dedicated artifact isn't always the best."
Each has its pros and cons.
As Lee Seojun said, both had their advantages and drawbacks.
But among me and the people around me, there wasn't anyone who really needed [Giant God Turret].
"Guess I'll pick one up if the opportunity arises later."
Sounds good. No need to go out of your way for it.
"What about [Instant Execution]?"
When I asked next about [Instant Execution], Lee Seojun spoke with a face full of quiet admiration.
It's an excellent skill. For 5 seconds, your weapon attack power and physical stats skyrocket.
"Only 5 seconds? Sounds like a last-resort move for critical moments."
Exactly. If Cheon Seo-yun used it, she could one-shot a B-rank monster.
Considering Cheon Seo-yun's growth rate, she could probably handle B-rank monsters even now.
Anyway, having confirmed that [Instant Execution] was a trump card for melee heroes, I soon summoned my personal merchant.
Fwosh!—
"Yes! Langsi has arrived!"
I registered all the level 10 skill stones I'd obtained this time with my personal merchant Langsi and bought them up.
Then, after acquiring [Fatigue Dissipation] as well, I felt the lingering fatigue in my body vanish cleanly.
"Oh."
It was only F-rank, but the effect was strikingly clear.
While I was at it, I bought up a ton of skill stones from Langsi and upgraded [Fatigue Dissipation] all the way to C-rank.
"..."
Once it hit C-rank, I felt an incredible lightness, like my body might just float away.
If F-rank had brought my condition to 100%, now it felt like I'd exceeded that original peak to around 130%.
"The effect is better than I expected."
I told you it'd be good to pick up.
"Still a shame it's not a brain-related skill."
No direct link, but it eliminates fatigue buildup when controlling Absolute Clone, so it'll help.
"If I look at it that way, yeah, maybe."
Besides, this [Fatigue Dissipation] skill seemed like it would suit Hong Ju-a too.
Hong Ju-a pulls all-nighters every day too.
With midterms over now, she might be taking a break.
"Anyway, skill stones acquired. All that's left is checking the next event, right?"
Yes. Probably tomorrow or the day after? A gate will burst, and monsters will come pouring out.
"The problem is the random event."
If it switched to a random event again this time, the plot would be utterly derailed.
"By now, the Villain Alliance and Geneva Cult are probably beating the crap out of each other, right?"
Probably.
"Guess I should prepare a bit too."
With even a slim chance of a random event, it was smart to get ready.
Deep in the mountains near Seoul.
In an underground cave hidden from all eyes, a black oval gate sat silently.
Crackle— Crackle—
The gate, beyond the range of any detection devices, spewed sparks like it was on the verge of exploding.
At first, the lightning clung to the edges, but it gradually moved inward until cracks finally spiderwebbed across it, as if it had reached its limit.
Crackle-crackle!—
The cracks widened bit by bit, forming fissures.
Boooom!!—
Like a bomb going off, it unleashed a massive explosion, vomiting out countless monsters.
The hulking beasts paid no mind to the collapsing cave, smashing through or devouring boulders as they clawed their way to the surface.
"Fifth place? No way!"
In the clubroom, Hong Ju-a scarfed down her lunch, repeating over and over that it was impossible.
Honestly, she'd said yesterday that she'd do better next time, but with it happening again today, even reacting felt like a hassle.
"Do you know how hard I studied? Lee Seongmin, does this even make sense to you?"
"Just eat your food."
"Damn. If I'd joined your party for the practical combat, I could've made top three at least."
Hong Ju-a, too modest to claim first, settled for saying top three.
The actual first-place Cheon Seo-yun, meanwhile, casually demolished the food I'd summoned.
Nom nom nom.
If Hong Ju-a had actually joined, would our ranking have climbed even higher?
Every girl who'd teamed up with me had boosted her rank, so the odds were good.
"Anyway, next time we form new teams, pair up with me."
"Teaming with you would tank the bonus points big time. You cool with that?"
"Bonus points? Oh, right, there were bonus points."
And thanks to these midterms, Cheon Seo-yun had shot up to first.
Now, just me and her teaming up would surely slash the bonus points.
"Gonna have to ditch the bonus points, huh."
Hong Ju-a pondered it seriously, but team reshuffles weren't until the second semester anyway.
Finals are coming up too, so plenty of time left.
Plus, vacation after finals.
By then, Hong Ju-a might've changed her mind, so I switched topics.
"More importantly, Hong Ju-a, did you get anything good from the gate?"
"Three skill stones. I left them for appraisal, but I might just convert them to points."
From what she said, they were E-rank gate drops, and she didn't seem to expect much.
Fair enough.
At best, level 1 or 2 skill stones—no real reason to absorb them.
You couldn't absorb skill stones infinitely, and the initial limit was ten anyway.
Supposedly, climbing the Tower gradually expands it to fifteen.
I currently had eight skill stones learned, so I'd have to hit the Tower soon or be capped.
Of course, since I was focusing on brain-related ones, there was no rush to fill the last two.
Still, I'll head to the Tower eventually.
I could just send a clone, so no issue.
Beep beep beep beep—
Hm?
Right then, a blaring alarm rang out from my watch—and everyone else's.
Hearing it echo from all around, I figured it was a group message and checked.
Afternoon classes are self-study. Points paid in advance.
The moment I checked the message on my watch, Lee Seojun beside me spoke up.
Looks like it's started.
As Lee Seojun said, it seemed a gate had burst and monsters were flooding out.
The instructors had probably sent this message before deploying to intercept them.
Time for me to get moving too.
After some deliberation, I mobilized the Archmage.
And here, I spread the power of space, lying in wait for a Doomsday Cultist raid.
"Self-study? Out of nowhere?"
Hong Ju-a sounded puzzled, and Park So-yul across from her pulled out her tablet.
"Let me check."
Park So-yul fiddled with her tablet, searching for something.
A quick glance showed she was scrolling through news sites.
Nice approach. Instructors on emergency dispatch means some sudden incident, huh.
Park So-yul's thinking wasn't wrong either.
She quickly found the info and spoke up.
"Looks like a gate blew open in the nearby mountains. Apparently, a ridiculous number of monsters are pouring out."
Thinking back, even the S-rank gate I'd entered as a Destroyer had thousands of monsters.
If they all burst out at once and scattered every which way, the damage would be severe—everyone's faces showed shock.
"Monsters? Gate rank?"
"Estimated S-rank."
Park So-yul confirmed it was S-rank in response to Hong Ju-a.
Of course, even if we rushed out right now, no one but me could help.
Even Cheon Seo-yun would struggle with S-rank monsters for now.
She was growing in real time, but S-rank was still too much.
On the flip side, I could kill S-rank monsters with Warlord's Weapon, but no one knew that.
And with the Archmage deployed, there shouldn't be major casualties.
All that was left was the Doomsday Cultist raid.
But no matter how long I waited, no one invaded the Hero Officer Academy.
"..."
I gradually grew more serious as a result.
If the cultists didn't raid, the odds were high it'd get replaced by some other random event.
Lee Seongmin, any raid?
I silently shook my head just a bit.
Lee Seojun picked up on the lack of raid and spoke gravely.
No raid means it'll switch to a random event.
Random events were the worst because you had no idea what might pop up.
With no raid in sight, I prepared while waiting to see what event would appear.
That was when it happened.
"...!?"
I felt a gaze, as if something enormous in the sky was peering down at us.