Critical Hits and the Goddess's Benevolence

I opened my Skill Window, and there in the upper right corner it read SP: 1. On the left side sat a single skill icon.

Strong Punch, huh… The name was straightforward to the point of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠being ridiculous. It looked like a total trash skill, but then again, every starting skill is like that, right? Besides, my current class was Brawler (Initiate)★. I couldn’t exactly expect anything amazing.

“SP stands for Skill Points! You can spend them to learn any skill you want! Right now only Strong Punch is unlocked, but once you learn it, more skills will become available!”

I used my SP and learned Strong Punch. The moment I did, something sparkled next to the skill icon. A brand-new skill had been activated.

Body Reinforcement. This was an absolute must-have for a brawler like me. Passive skills of this type should always be taken. But before I learned anything else, there was one thing I absolutely needed to confirm.

“What happens to the SP I’ve already used if my class changes?”

If it turned out I’d wasted precious points, I’d lose my mind.

“Don’t worry! When your class changes, all previously used SP will be fully refunded! Feel free to spend them even on your starting class!”

“Thank goodness.”

If they weren’t refunded, I’d have been forced to play without skills until I got a better class. “Alright then, shall we test this out?”

I stood in front of the training dummy and tried to use the skill. The only problem was… I had no idea how.

“How exactly do I use a skill?”

“Focus hard on the desire to use it and shout the skill name out loud!”

“Hmm… do I really have to shout it?”

“Yes!”

“Ugh, that’s kind of embarrassing…”

If I were still in my edgy middle-school phase I’d have yelled it with glee, but mentally I was already a full-grown adult. Still, she said I had to, so I let out a sigh and prepared myself.

Focus hard…

“…Strong Punch.”

Bang!

I muttered the name in a small voice, but my arm moved almost on its own, launching the punch. The air popped as it slammed cleanly into the dummy. The feedback was intense.

“Oh… so that’s how it works.”

The moment I used the skill, I finally felt like I was actually playing an RPG. I hit the dummy with Strong Punch a few more times. The impact felt incredibly satisfying.

Bang! Bang!! Bang!!

Crack…

The dummy that had been perfectly fine when I hit it normally now showed faint cracks. The damage was clearly on another level. But sometimes, even though I was hitting it the exact same way, the feeling was completely different. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠It felt noticeably stronger. Same spot, same motion, yet the result changed. Even the sound was louder.

“What the…?”

Bang!! Bang! Bang! Bang!!

It was definitely different. The impact I felt in my hand was completely unlike the others.

“Sometimes when I hit it the exact same way it feels different. What’s that about?”

“That’s a critical hit! Criticals deal double the normal damage! Your Luck stat still isn’t very high, so it won’t trigger often!”

“…It won’t trigger often?”

“That’s right! The critical chance is extremely low!”

“…”

No way. Could this little angel not see what I was doing? At least thirty percent of my attacks were clearly critting.

“Is a ten percent critical rate considered high?”

“Yes! That’s incredibly high! There probably isn’t a single player who’s reached that much Luck yet!”

“…Hah, so that’s why my Luck is so low? Hehehe…”

People would probably say Luck 1 is way too low, right? Screw that. Heh heh. Luck 1 is more than enough for me.

Statistically my critical rate should have been insanely low. Yet the actual results were the complete opposite. It was practically a bug-level exploit. Anyone watching would assume my Luck stat was through the roof.

Ding! But it was actually 1, wasn’t it?

If someone reported me as a hacker, no one could blame them. Not that they’d find anything. I hadn’t done any cheating whatsoever.

Besides, there was no need to wait for reports. The legend of the Black Dragon—Black Dragon Legend—was constantly monitored by Tyche’s Super AI. According to the information released by Utopia Play, it was called the Gaia System. Any attempt at hacking or cheating would be instantly caught by Gaia. Utopia Play had declared it impossible to bypass Gaia, and they’d supposedly tested it exhaustively since security was their top priority. If even Tyche was confident they couldn’t break through, then it had to be true.

And since I wasn’t being flagged by Gaia right now, it meant I truly wasn’t doing anything wrong. These constant critical hits were purely the result of my own luck.

Crack…!!

I was enjoying the crits when the cracks on the dummy grew larger and larger.

“Just a little more…”

Bang! Bang!! Bang!!

Crunch!

BOOM!!!

With one final critical Strong Punch, the dummy exploded. The satisfying burst of impact was no joke.

I immediately dumped the new stat point into Agility, bringing it up to 11. For now, I planned to keep investing in Strength and Agility. Since I was a brawler, those two would be my main focus. There were nine stats in total, but I didn’t need to touch Luck. I’d clearly end up luckier than anyone who went all-in on it anyway. So realistically it was like having only eight stats. If I ignored Intelligence too, it was basically seven. It really felt like I was playing with a cheat key.

Looking at my status again after all this, I realized just how absurdly good the results were. Probably close to the best possible outcome.

I was grinning like an idiot when I suddenly felt eyes on me. I looked around and saw a bunch of players staring at me and the shattered dummy in front of me.

Why are they looking at me?

I didn’t understand at first, but after taking a proper look, it clicked. I was the only one who had destroyed a dummy. The question of why only mine broke was pointless.

Because I kept landing critical hits thanks to my insane luck.

Hitting with double ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠damage was bound to make a difference. My Strength was also high, so the damage was even bigger.

I immediately learned Body Reinforcement. The moment I did, several new skills lit up. I’d have to think carefully before picking the next ones.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t asked what to do next.

“What should I do now?”

“Keep hitting the training dummies until you reach Level 5!”

“Got it.”

To be honest, I was getting a little sick of hitting things, but the impact felt so good that I could tolerate it. Before I knew it, I had reached Level 5.

I immediately invested the new points into Strength and Agility. For skills, I chose these:

Since I had a punch, I figured I should have a kick too. And of course I needed an evasion skill. Roll sounded a bit lame, but that was to be expected with a starter class. I’d just have to live with it. If this were a martial arts game instead of fantasy, I’d probably get flamed to hell for learning something called Roll. Thank god it was fantasy.

“You’ve reached Level 5! Congratulations!”

“What now?”

“Please follow me! I’ll guide you!”

I walked where the mini-angel led and arrived at a place with a massive portal.

“Please step inside!”

Without hesitation, I walked through. The place I arrived at was… an area filled with an endless number of doors. So many that the word “infinite” came to mind.

The portal had taken me to the top of a tall hill. Looking down from there, I saw an absolutely staggering number of doors standing below. Just how far did they stretch? They continued all the way to the horizon, so I genuinely wondered if there really were infinite doors.

And they weren’t all the same. Every single door had a completely different design. Some were ornate with luxurious patterns that looked like they belonged on a mansion. Others were plain wooden doors you’d see at a regular inn. There were even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠worn-out doors that looked like they were about to fall apart.

I was staring blankly at the majestic sight when another player appeared behind me.

So all the players who reach Level 5 gather here?

Looking closer, I could see a few other players scattered among the countless doors. The fact that they were already here meant they had leveled up to 5 very quickly. At this point, they were probably the strong ones. Or maybe they’d dumped all their stats into attack power.

While I was observing them, the mini-angel appeared again.

“This place is called the Goddess’s Benevolence! Players must choose one of these countless doors and enter!”

“You’re telling me to pick any door out of all these?”

“Yes! Please enter the door you desire! The Goddess will then bestow a trial upon you! If you overcome the trials given by the Goddess, she will grant you a reward!”

“All the trials behind these doors are different, right? It wouldn’t make sense if they were the same.”

“Correct! Every door holds a completely unique trial and a completely unique reward! The outcome will depend entirely on Kaios-nim’s choice!”

“I see.”

So to summarize… it was all down to luck, wasn’t it?