Chapter 37
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Sales (1)
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"Really? That's a relief."
Lee Seojun brightened up at my words that the two of them were moving without issue.
Separately from him, I checked the Status Window once more and noticed a difference from before.
"By the way, looking at the Absolute Clone and Calculation stats on the Status Window, there's a + attached at the end?"
-Ah. That's nothing major. It means it's influenced by the skill that Lee Seongmin acquired.
"A skill I acquired?"
-Yes. When it receives support from a skill, a + is added. And if it gets support from an artifact, another + is added.
It meant it ultimately reached EX++ rank.
"I guess I need to find an artifact that helps with Absolute Clone among artifacts."
I said that, but the thought of dangling artifacts all over myself didn't sit well.
-Well... All of Lee Seongmin's artifacts right now are stolen goods, so wouldn't it be inviting danger?
"It's more of a hassle than danger. Anyway, let's skip artifacts."
I next asked about ways to raise the grade of the skills I'd just acquired.
"Skills are raised with these stones, right?"
It was a stone I'd set aside separately while checking the Skill Stones one by one, due to its unusual name.
-Yes. You need a [Rank-Up Stone], not a Skill Stone. And since they're rare, there aren't many.
"Rank-Up Stone... Exactly nine of them."
【C-Rank Rank-Up Stone】
【Using it allows you to raise one acquired skill up to C-Rank.】
-For reference, the skills Lee Seongmin has are C-Rank and B-Rank, so you need at least a B-Rank Rank-Up Stone.
"Can't this C-Rank Rank-Up Stone raise it to B-Rank?"
-Yes. It can precisely raise up to C-Rank. So that's why you need at least a B-Rank Rank-Up Stone.
I nodded at that and scanned through the remaining Rank-Up Stones.
There were 2 C-Rank, 5 D-Rank, and 2 E-Rank, so I couldn't raise any of the skills I'd acquired.
"How is there not even a B-Rank?"
-Because Rank-Up Stones are what every hero is after. A B-Rank Rank-Up Stone sells out in an instant.
In the end, it meant I'd have to acquire them separately.
"How do I acquire them?"
-They come out with low probability from Towers or Gates, and occasionally at black market auctions.
Lee Seojun explained how to acquire Rank-Up Stones and soon asked about the abilities I possessed.
-More importantly, Lee Seongmin. It just occurred to me—what if you use the ability to combine two items into one on a Rank-Up Stone?
"Weapon Evolution? Probably won't work."
Even if it did, it was unlikely to make much difference with just one or two tries.
But experimenting was feasible enough, so I gripped a Rank-Up Stone and used [Item Duplication].
Flash―
Then I combined the two Rank-Up Stones with [Weapon Evolution].
Flaaash―
'Let's see.'
【C-Rank Rank-Up Stone】
【Using it allows you to raise one acquired skill up to C-Rank.】
【Success Rate +5% Increased.】
As expected, it remained C-Rank, but I could see new text added below.
"Still C-Rank. But there's a Success Rate +5% added below."
-Success rate? Wow. It even adds that.
"But success rate? I thought it unconditionally raises the rank."
-It's probabilistic. The probability changes based on proficiency. If proficiency is 100%, the probability is 100% too.
Proficiency seemed to determine the success probability for rank-ups.
"So if I use it now, it's a 0.001% chance?"
-Exactly. Try combining once more.
"I'd love to, but I can't. [Item Duplication]'s cooldown depends on the item used."
To be precise, the cooldown was determined by the item's value.
The pattern drawn on scrap metal had little value, so the cooldown was short, but this Rank-Up Stone was different.
"Cooldown is 4 days."
It meant I had to wait 4 days before duplicating another with [Item Duplication] and combining it via Weapon Evolution.
"Even if I combine once more, there's no guarantee it becomes B-Rank."
-Too bad. I thought it'd turn into a higher rank.
"Don't worry about it. We can get them plenty of other ways."
If needed, I could enter a Tower or Gate myself to get them.
Or like this time, through villain activities, or from black market auctions.
'Ways to get them are endless.'
I stopped thinking there and refocused on Absolute Clone.
"Anyway, controlling Absolute Clone has gotten easier..."
-What do you plan to do?
"Maybe increase to four."
The reason for four was a hunch that proficiency might change based on the number of bodies.
Lee Seojun nodded, seemingly agreeing that proficiency gain speed varied by number.
-Four would definitely make proficiency rise faster. But are you okay with that?
"What's not to be okay about?"
I spoke as if it were no big deal and used Absolute Clone to increase my bodies to four.
And as another day passed, just as Lee Seojun and I had predicted, there was a change in proficiency.
【Innate Ability】
└ ① Absolute Clone (EX+) (Proficiency: 0.133%) (↑0.029%)
After increasing to four bodies and letting a day pass, I confirmed the proficiency had risen much more than before.
"Feels like it's about double the increase."
-Because the number of bodies doubled. Still, the big proficiency gain is encouraging.
"Yeah. Looks like we should go with increasing the clones more."
Moreover, thanks to operating mana and training magic all night, there were changes in the stats too.
The previous F-Rank Magic Power and Calculation stats had each risen a rank to E-Rank.
I stared at the Magic Power and Calculation stats for a moment before asking Lee Seojun about other stats.
"How do you raise Strength or Stamina?"
-Through exercise. When muscles tear, mana seeps in during recovery, creating tougher, more resilient muscles. Repeat that, and stats rise.
"..."
It was a pretty standard method.
The problem was it was something I couldn't do.
"I can't do that."
What kind of exercise would it take to tear the muscles in my current body?
Lee Seojun, having grasped my power to some extent, immediately understood and nodded.
-Yeah, Lee Seongmin's strength is far from ordinary.
However, recalling the abilities I possessed, I changed my mind.
"...No, thinking about it, there's a way."
-There's a way?
"If I seal my power and then exercise, it should work."
-Seal? It's possible to seal Lee Seongmin's power?
"I can do it for Park So-yul's ability, so why not mine?"
I mentioned Park So-yul, who had mind-reading, and suddenly remembered I'd agreed to seal her ability.
Sealing abilities themselves wasn't hard, so I pulled a plain ring from my subsace to prepare.
Beep beep beep―
Then, right on time, an alarm blared from my watch.
Checking it, as expected, it was the usual morning stamina training message for today too.
[In front of the auditorium. By 30 minutes. Morning stamina training. +5P.]
"Guess I have to do stamina training first."
-If you seal it, won't Stamina rise too?
"That makes sense too."
Confirming I still had time, I sealed all physical-related stats and abilities.
'Ah... Just sealing abilities isn't enough.'
Even after sealing all related abilities, my pure physical body was no pushover.
'My body alone is probably around C-Rank.'
I figured I'd need to seal about 50% of the power in my current physical body along with the abilities.
Fortunately, sealing itself wasn't hard, so I quickly sealed my physical performance to 50%.
'...Feels weird.'
After sealing, I realized the other bodies created by Absolute Clone weren't affected by the seal.
Confirming only the body at the Hero Officer Academy was sealed, I headed out for stamina training.
-You sealed it?
"Yeah. By my current stats, it's around D-Rank."
Meaning Strength and Stamina were D-Rank.
But that still seemed high, as Lee Seojun gave a negative look.
-Personally, dropping to F-Rank might help growth more?
"I can reseal as stats rise."
Heading to the auditorium afterward, I noticed more students out than before.
'Ah. If you don't have classes on weekends like me, earning points is tough.'
You still had to eat on weekends, so points would dwindle bit by bit for sure.
The students must have felt the crisis from their shrinking points and come out.
-About half showed up. Probably 80-90% next week.
I nodded at Lee Seojun's words.
In the meantime, unlike usual, the students were chattering busily here and there.
"Did you hear? The Destroyer."
"The villain who just appeared caused 30 trillion in damages."
"I heard a bounty was already posted. 200 billion, they say."
"200 billion? No sense if that's a lot or little."
"For a villain who beat an S-Rank hero, isn't it on the low side?"
Eavesdropping briefly, they were talking about the newly appeared Destroyer.
'A bounty already, huh.'
Hearing it was 200 billion also made it feel smaller than expected.
-Hm. Lots of people will be after Lee Seongmin now.
"Because of 200 billion?"
-That's part of it, but rumors that Lee Seongmin doesn't kill people have spread too. More people than you'd think will see it as worth challenging since he doesn't kill.
I thought it might get annoying from now on.
Because after increasing to four bodies with Absolute Clone, one was in the mountains in Destroyer form.
For reference, the other one was training in the mountains near the Hero Officer Academy like before.
"Heard that one too? Seo Ji-ho's dad got badly hurt this time. With his skills declined, he probably won't be as active as before."
...Skills?