Chapter 63
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Lee Soo-ah's Ability
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Lee Soo-ah was incredibly busy.
Looking at her schedule on the calendar, she had barely any days off.
The only reason she could carve out some time lately was that the movies and dramas she was filming had just wrapped up, giving her a brief rest period.
It made perfect sense.
She hadn't retired, after all.
Idol. Solo singer.
She'd stepped back from those activities lately, so more people knew her as an actress now, but she hadn't retired from singing.
She just wanted to focus on acting for a while, so she was taking a break.
No one in the industry thought she was washed up or anything just because she wasn't active as a singer.
Her vocal prowess. Her songwriting and composing skills.
Her performances. Her dancing.
She still held annual concerts at Jamsil Main Stadium, selling out 50,000 seats the moment tickets went on sale. That proved her talent.
And today, she had cleared her entire schedule.
She had an ad shoot lined up, but she'd demanded they postpone it—or cancel it outright if they couldn't. An extreme decision that wasn't like her at all.
Her agency, of course, went along with it.
They had no intention of letting it go forward anyway, so if she no-showed, they'd be the ones taking the heat.
In truth, she had plenty of time until evening, so she could've finished the shoot early and been fine. But her heart wouldn't let her.
She'd been trembling with excitement since the countdown hit 24 hours, unable to sleep.
"Am I really going to awaken? For real? To an SS-grade ability? And if it's a great success, SSS-grade?"
She scrolled through the publicly known SSS-grade abilities.
Of course, none had their full details revealed.
SSS-grade hunters were national treasures, and those born with SSS-grade abilities often had to hide them for safety.
Just reading about them made her heart race.
incinerating dungeons with a flick of the wrist, shattering them, crumbling them to dust.
SSS-grade hunters were the ones bringing fantasy movie magic to life.
She prayed fervently.
"I wouldn't mind hiding it, but please... let it be something that can kill monsters...!"
Honestly, seeing Im Hyeji's ability had made her not want to be a healer.
It might sound ungrateful, but she wanted to become a hunter so she wouldn't have to watch people around her die or feel powerless anymore.
In that sense, a healer was useless.
Resurrection?
Even that—did it really matter in the moment she'd been through in America?
The helplessness shown by those non-S-grade hunters stuck with her far more, and she envied their power.
Of course, it's all personal preference.
She knew if she got a healing ability, she'd use it gratefully.
She just prayed.
She could at least hope for what came out.
And she had to think about the cost, too.
"Five A-grade magic stones... and one S-grade..."
Scribbled messily.
The paper with Kang Jik's handwriting—"Ability Pregnancy Cost"—was still precious to her, tucked away at home.
The first time she'd seen it, she'd been so shocked and dumbfounded.
Impregnating her to grant an ability? Absurd. And guaranteeing at least A-grade, while S or SS-grade sounded insane in hindsight.
Only Lee Soo-ah would trust a madman like that and prepare an S-grade stone.
The gamble paid off.
Now it was her turn to pay the price listed there.
"Yeah. If I awaken, that money's nothing..."
She hadn't thought it was expensive back then.
But actually buying them? Even for her, the price made her hands shake.
Five A-grade stones were worth nearly one S-grade.
Roughly 100 billion won.
And if, by some miracle, it turned out to be SSS-grade?
It wasn't in the contract, so could she just settle for S-grade and call it even?
No, she didn't want to do that to him.
This contract wasn't the end; she wasn't done seeing Kang Jik.
This was just the beginning.
Like with Im Hyeji, she needed to grow her ability, make it stronger.
She'd need to buy and absorb even more stones. Haggling now wouldn't make him care enough to help her level it up or impregnate her with skills.
So she made a call.
"Lawyer? I think I need to sell some of my buildings. About... 200 billion won."
No need for her to bother calculating which ones to sell or keep.
That's why she paid people for it.
With the urgent matter settled,
She sat reverently, waiting.
Her heart pounded like it might burst.
When the timer hit zero,
Birth Great Success!
Congratulations! You have given birth to the SSS-grade ability 'Pyromancer'!
She clamped her hand over her mouth, unable to even scream, her whole body frozen as she stared at the message for minutes.
"Hah...!"
She'd been so shocked she forgot to breathe, her face turning red and her head spinning until she finally exhaled.
Tears streamed from Lee Soo-ah's laughing eyes.
@
30 days after Ability Pregnancy, if no Skill Pregnancy occurs, 1~3 skills matching the ability's potential will be naturally birthed.
Raising the Ability Lv to 5 will allow acquisition of 'Lee Soo-ah's ability.
The birthed ability requires ongoing nourishment from its father. Provide steady nourishment until it reaches Lv5, where it can survive independently. Without nourishment, performance degrades after 7 days and it dies after 14 days. If the ability dies, possessed skills die with it, and permanent stat penalties apply.
Seeing the messages pop up for me too once the time hit, I marveled.
"Is my sperm divine or something?"
How was it great success every single pregnancy and birth?
This time, the odds were plausible enough that failing would've been the real letdown.
Two births, two SSS-grade abilities and skills.
Luckily, growing and utilizing an ability birth wasn't much different from skills.
No more worries about her getting the ability, deciding I was useless, and refusing sex or running away.
Skill pregnancies were a bit trickier, though.
"If no skill pregnancy, it gives 1~3 random ones. But once pregnant, it limits to one?"
I'd need to look into that more.
Either way, SSS-grade was a win, and I'd hit the jackpot.
"One S-grade stone and five A-grades are mine."
Should've listed SSS-grade too.
Honestly, back then, I hadn't even considered another SSS-grade possible.
I didn't expect her to bring an S-grade stone, and jumping from guaranteed A-grade to SSS was a three-tier gap—ridiculous to assume.
Unlike Im Hyeji, who had an S-grade base or whatever.
So yeah, a bit regrettable.
It was already a steep price, but someone like Lee Soo-ah could probably pay more.
Still, no point pushing it.
Our future together was bright.
I still had skills left that could drain her entire fortune if I wanted. No need to seem petty over a little extra now.
A bit later, Im Hyeji returned and heard the news.
"Whoa! Really? Jackpot...!"
"Doesn't sound genuine."
"Nooo!!! Oppa, don't tease me like that in front of Soo-ah unnie??"
"That sounded jealous, though?"
"...But envy is envy. Not that I'm unhappy with Resurrection or anything..."
Im Hyeji's honest side, without the pretense, was adorable.
I couldn't promise it, but tossed her a blank check anyway.
"If possible, I'll make you an SSS-grade healer too. Not fake SSS skills—all genuine SSS-grade ability healer."
"If you do, I'll give you everything I have!!"
"Feels a bit unbalanced."
"No!! I'm shooting ads soon and making bank. Just wait a little."
People need competition, huh.
Better than complacency. The fear of losing it or someone outshining you makes you desperate.
Even without sex, she clung to me, slipping into my arm as we lay there, checking out Lee Soo-ah's ability together.
Im Hyeji couldn't see it, of course.
＊ Fire skill damage increased by 3x.
＊ Fire skill mana consumption reduced by 50%.
"...Insane."
"What? What? I'm curious too!"
I told Im Hyeji about Lee Soo-ah's ability.
"...Huh? Huuuh...?"
Simple and straightforward.
And Im Hyeji's reaction—an S-grade holder herself—said it all about how good it was.
"No way. You made it up, right, oppa? Even SSS-grade can't be that broken—3x damage and half mana cost? Impossible."
"At level 1, too? And it grows."
"....."
"Wanna check your ability too?"
"Nooo!!"
Teasing Im Hyeji, lost in envy and speechless, she climbed on top of me, desperately blocking me.
Her pouty lips only smoothed out after another round of sex.