26. My Buff is a Drug
26. My Buff is a Drug
Shnk!
Back in his dorm, Hye-yong lost track of time admiring the Burst Wolf.
'Seriously, it's so damn sleek. Has that nice, heavy kick when you fire, too.'
Wasting time with nothing to do was a specialty of his, but today, he just couldn't sit still.
Normally, he'd still be with Baek Yun-seo at this hour.
'I wanna try a raid.'
But honestly, even if it was just an F-rank Otherworld, going solo felt a bit sketchy.
What if his shit luck kicked in and he actually got wrecked?
Even if it wasn't real death, that'd be mortifying.
He finally had a ranged dealer to work with, and going off solo could ruin their ability to raid together later.
That was why Hye-yong was holding back.
'I can't even practice solo at the shooting range because Baek Yun-seo's off on a trip.'
Nishimoto Kana had the training room key.
He couldn't exactly go bother a senior from the middle division for it.
'If I had one solid, dependable party member, the two of us could probably manage just fine.'
The most dependable teammate Hye-yong could think of right now was, naturally, Choi Ah-young.
Excluding Hye-yong and his unique abilities, she was the party's greatest asset.
And on top of that, she was the most desperate person in the group.
'If I sweet-talk her into going, think she'd bite?'
The day was long.
Strictly speaking, time-wise, there was room for several raids a day.
There were plenty of reasons people didn't do that, of course.
The party's stamina, for one.
The more you pushed your body to exhaustion, the higher the odds of making a mistake.
The standard for most parties was one raid in optimal condition. Two, if they felt like pushing it. Three, if they absolutely had to grind.
But if the Otherworld's rank was lower than the party's capabilities, running it multiple times became possible.
Even if the efficiency wasn't great.
'That's something I heard from Choi Ah-young.'
Hye-yong decided to get in touch with her.
[ Choi Hye-yong : What are you up to? ]
[ Choi Ah-young : About to head out for some swordsmanship practice. ]
So, when she had nothing else to do, she just trained. That figured.
Choi Ah-young practiced swordsmanship and did separate physical conditioning on top of it.
No wonder her stamina and strength were so high.
[ Choi Hye-yong : So you haven't left yet. ]
[ Choi Ah-young : Did you need something? ]
[ Choi Hye-yong : If you're free, wanna do a raid, just the two of us? ]
She must have taken about thirty seconds to actually think it through before her reply came.
[ Choi Ah-young : Let's hear the details. ]
[ Choi Hye-yong : Let's be real. Between your skills and my buffs, the two of us could clear an F-rank pretty easily, right? ]
[ Choi Ah-young : That much is true, but if I'm alone, I might not be able to keep you out of danger. ]
[ Choi Ah-young : If something went wrong, even by a tiny chance, it'd be a huge problem for the party. ]
He understood what she was worried about.
Hye-yong typed his next message, trying to sound as confident as possible.
[ Choi Hye-yong : Don't worry. I can protect myself well enough now. I've got the tools to do it. ]
[ Choi Ah-young : What kind of tools? ]
[ Choi Hye-yong : How about we meet up and I'll tell you? See you at the Transition Stone shop. ]
He figured if he just said he'd gotten a gun, she'd react with a lot of skepticism, so he decided to call her out first.
[ Choi Ah-young : Fine. ]
Still, she agreed to come. That was Choi Ah-young for you.
Once he got her to meet him face-to-face, he could talk her into it.
May 17th, 4:09 PM.
In front of the Transition Stone shop.
"Over here!"
Spotting Choi Ah-young approaching from a distance, Hye-yong waved his arm and shouted.
She must have come ready to enter the Otherworld, because she was wearing all her usual protective gear.
"I'm curious to see what kind of secret weapon's got you so full of yourself."
Those were the first words out of Choi Ah-young's mouth when she arrived.
Hye-yong laughed, unfazed, and drew the Burst Wolf from its holster.
"Ta-da."
"...A gun? Hye-yong, did you have a firearms-related trait?"
"Nope. But I've been practicing hard."
Just as he'd predicted, Choi Ah-young immediately gave him a skeptical look.
Guns really got no respect around here.
"No trait, but just trust me on this once. For what it's worth, I learned from an instructor who gave me high praise. She called me a tragic genius. Said I'm an incredible shot, I just don't have the trait."
"High praise from an instructor? Who was it?"
"Instructor Baek Yun-seo."
"Hmm... I've heard the name. It's true that firearms work reasonably well up to E-rank, but..."
"Just trust me this once! You think I'd suggest we duo a raid with nothing to back it up? You wanted to go too, didn't you?"
At that, Choi Ah-young let out a small, defeated-sounding chuckle.
"I know you're not the type to do something without thinking it through. Fine, let's go. To be honest, at F-rank, I could probably manage just fine by myself. With the two of us, it'll be a breeze."
Now they were finally on the same page.
"Then let's grab a Transition Stone. Our party didn't raid today, so we get one free, right?"
"Right, let's do that."
The two of them browsed the Transition Stones together like they were shopping.
"How about this one? Marsh of the Writhing Giant Slugs."
"That's perfect. You've got a good eye, Ah-yeong."
"I get the feeling you would've said that no matter which one I picked up."
"Busted. What are you, a mind reader? Spooky."
Choi Ah-young laughed and headed for the counter.
There was a person standing guard, but paying just meant scanning your terminal.
Since it was their first F-rank Transition Stone purchase of the day, it cost 0 points.
"Couldn't I just buy another one on my terminal and get that free too?"
"You think the system's that sloppy? It has to be the terminal of the person registered as the party leader."
Yeah, that figured.
"Giant Slugs... honestly, I doubt I need to explain much. They don't really have patterns. We'll probably see about six of them. Just be careful if they start grouping up. Once they pile on, it's a pain to get out."
"Got it, noted."
"Then let's head in."
Choi Ah-young held the Transition Stone up to the crystal.
Probably because it was a marsh, the ground was mossy and humid.
He could already feel his discomfort index climbing.
"Ugh, my shoes are getting damp. Let's finish this fast and get out."
"Right. The slugs will appear at the end of the path. I'll handle the ones on the ground, so you keep the high spots in check with your gun."
"Okay."
Keep them in check?
Hye-yong had no intention of doing something like "keeping them in check."
Whether they were on the floor or the ceiling, he was going to shoot every last one of them dead.
[ Pistol Proficiency Increase ]
Pistol Proficiency Increase Lv. 13
Pistol Firing Accuracy Increase Lv. 13
Choi Hye-yong Exclusive
'Nice, nice. They're just F-rank slugs. No need to boost the power.'
He put in his earplugs and cast the buffs on himself.
While he was at it, he put Choi Ah-young's exclusive buffs on her, too.
"You're casting already? Is your Divine Power okay?"
"I've got plenty, plenty."
Thanks to the Divine Power Lv. 5 that Yoo Ji-ah had lent him, he probably wouldn't have to worry about buff duration at all for a while.
Hye-yong and Ah-yeong entered the field where the giant slugs were waiting.
Squirm, squirm, squirm, squirm...
The slugs crawled over the moss, leaving trails of slime behind them!
Each one was about the size of a human torso.
'Oh man. That's pretty gross.'
Hye-yong usually found the little slugs that clung to leaves on rainy days kind of cute, but scaled up this big, they were definitely nasty.
Shnk!
He aimed his muzzle at a slug squirming on the ceiling.
His very first live-fire engagement.
'If I pull the trigger now, it's a guaranteed hit.'
His heart pounding, he squeezed the trigger.
BANG!
The instant the gunshot rang out, a sound like FWUMP! followed, and chunks of slug flesh splattered.
At the same time, the giant slug began to shudder violently.
FWOO-SH!
The Mana Bullet detonated, shredding the slug's entire body, and it fell to the ground.
SPLAT!
"That firepower..."
Choi Ah-young turned toward the loud gunshot and also witnessed the slug's gruesome end.
'Ah, this, this is it! The hand-feel is absolutely killer.'
There were five more slugs left.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Five shots fired, practically spraying bullets.
And yet, all five bullets ripped apart a slug each, as if they had specific assignments.
One shot, one kill!
From the moment he first saw the slugs to wiping every last one of them out, it took less than ten seconds.
If there was ever a moment to show off in front of Choi Ah-young, it was right now.
Conveniently, she was already looking his way.
Hye-yong decided this was the moment to deploy the flashy trick Baek Yun-seo had taught him: "Spinning Your Gun With Style."
It was a much more nerve-wracking moment than the first pull of the trigger against the slugs.
Whirr, whirr, whirr, whirr!
Shnk!
The pistol, spinning in a dizzying blur, bent smoothly into his grip and slid right into the holster.
His ability to handle such a large gun so deftly was entirely thanks to his Pistol Proficiency.
'That was cool as fuck.'
Lost in self-admiration, Hye-yong stayed frozen with his right hand resting on the holster until Choi Ah-young got closer.
She walked up and gave her review.
"That's incredible... You're really, really skilled."
Keep praising me!
"Even if they're F-rank, you cleared them all out in what felt like barely ten seconds."
More!
"The raw power of that gun seems amazing, too. That can't be easy to handle without a trait."
A little more!
"I had no idea you had that kind of talent. If you can get some proper training and handle a rifle just as well, you'd be unstoppable, as long as no Mana Barrier gets in the way."
Now, if she'd just praise the trick shot, that'd be perfect.
Or so Hye-yong thought, but no words about the flourish came.
He felt a tiny bit deflated.
"As expected of F-rank, the rewards aren't much. Giant slug soul stones are cheap, so thinking of this as a paid run, we barely broke even."
Choi Ah-young said after opening the dropped box.
"We're a duo now. If we keep running these, we're bound to score something eventually."
"You basically soloed this one, so you should take all of it."
"Now, now! I'm not that heartless. The only reason I'm even in here is because you came with me. If I were alone, I wouldn't have even thought about raiding. Split it exactly down the middle."
"Heh, fine. I'll do that."
A handful of points here and there didn't matter to Hye-yong at all.
Most students saved up these points meticulously, not just for rank advancement, but to buy gear or even skills.
But Hye-yong could just create the skills he wanted in the form of buffs.
As a Blessing Mage, he didn't need to buy the most expensive and important thing: a separate weapon.
He'd need to buy defensive gear eventually, but he could take his time with that.
What mattered most to Hye-yong right now was someone's trust!
Rather than nickel-and-diming over a few points, it was far more profitable to be generous and earn a little goodwill.
Only then would his buffs get stronger, wouldn't they?
"For now, let's just go hard — hard and fast! Forget settling accounts. The two of us are gonna sweep the F-rank Transition Stones."
"Got it."
From that point on, it wasn't really raiding so much as it was an Otherworld date.
"How about here?"
"Let's go, go!"
"Stone Skin... think the gun can punch through?"
"Let's just go!"
"You're not even gonna listen to the explanations anymore, are you?"
"If you've got the Transition Stone, let's just go in and talk later."
"I decided we're just buying five at a time."
"That's a damn wise choice, Ah-yeong."
Shnnk!
Having bisected a long-beaked stonechat bird, Choi Ah-young let out a small sigh.
"That's number eleven."
Despite her words, Choi Ah-young's face looked immensely satisfied.
"Still, the money's getting pretty decent since we're grinding nonstop like this, huh?"
"Right? I haven't done the math, but I think the two of us pulled in around 300 points today."
Since they cleared everything so fast, they never got too exhausted and could keep entering Otherworlds back-to-back.
And because they only split the take two ways, they could pocket way more points.
"Well, shall we call it here and call it a day? I'm starting to get tired."
He felt like they'd had enough fun.
It was still a raid, so fatigue built up and sapped his energy, after all.
Even with the Synchronization Procedure, it seemed like being in the Otherworld for too long gradually drained your stamina.
Choi Ah-young nodded, looking perfectly content.
"But I'm still going to do my exercise on schedule."
"Why so serious about it? Of course you will. Open the box first. You never know what might drop on the last one, right?"
"Fine."
Click.
Choi Ah-young opened the Dirt Box.
But inside, instead of a reward, some sort of liquid mass was floating.
"Th-this is...!"
As soon as Choi Ah-young cried out in surprise, the liquid, swirling with red light, leaped from the box. It divided, spun, and shot straight toward Ah-yeong and Hye-yong's chests.
Swoosh!
'Near my heart... is it seeping inside?'
He touched his chest, thinking his clothes had gotten wet, but they weren't damp at all.
BADUMP!
In an instant, he felt his heart pound hard, followed by a sensation of his strength increasing — even if only by a little.
"An Essence of Strength dropping from an F-rank... Guess if you grind enough, you really do see everything."
From what Ah-yeong said, these items apparently appeared with a certain probability and increased your stats.
'So it is possible to get stronger just by running raids in the Otherworld.'
It seemed like a manifested form of the experience points you'd get in a game.
Since this world didn't have any kind of level-up system.