66. My Buff is a Drug
66. My Buff is a Drug
"Hoo. We're pretty evenly matched, aren't we?"
Lanfang caught her breath for a moment before answering.
"Master, you were going easy on me. Back then, you suppressed me so easily."
"I had buffs on me then. None right now."
"Ah......! O-oh, I see!"
Well, actually, he did have some on.
"Anyway, that's not what matters. It's about time I gave you your present."
A present!
Lanfang's face lit up with anticipation the instant she heard that word.
What could it be? What sort of present would her Master give her?
Lanfang waited like a puppy anticipating a treat, watching Hye-yong expectantly, ready for him to take something out.
That was when a buff landed on her.
[ Adaptive Stat Growth Efficiency Increase ]
Adaptive Stat Growth Efficiency Increase Level 12
Exclusive to Rian Pang
She couldn't believe her eyes.
"Stat...... growth, efficiency?"
Her gaze shot to Hye-yong.
As if asking him to explain.
"Master, this buff is......?"
"Exactly what it says. It boosts the growth efficiency of your stats. The word 'adaptive' means the growth prioritizes stats you prefer, like agility or dagger proficiency."
Even after hearing the explanation, Lanfang kept flicking her eyes between the buff description and Hye-yong's face, as if she still couldn't quite believe it.
"So, if I receive this buff, even with the same amount of effort, I'll become much stronger...... is that right?"
"That's right."
"H-how is something like that even possible!?"
Hye-yong paused for a beat so Lanfang could hear every word clearly, then opened his mouth to deliver the line he had prepared.
"That's my real ability — the ability to make the pets I love grow faster than anyone else's."
"That's the kind of person your Master is. As long as you stay my pet, you won't have a single worry or care."
"So, how about it? Don't you think becoming my pet dog was the right choice? This is a privilege only my pets get to enjoy."
As each deliberate word etched itself clearly into her mind, Lanfang's eyes filled not only with affection and loyalty but also with awe.
Like staring at a god!
It was the gaze of someone looking upon a savior in the midst of despair.
'I'm so glad! So glad I became a pet loved by someone like this......!!'
The moment that thought crossed her mind, her knees buckled and hit the floor of their own accord.
Whether she could climb to B-rank and graduate from the facility, even as Hye-yong's pet dog, had been an entirely separate issue.
That had been Lanfang's sole worry, the one thing weighing her down with gloom.
But just now, all those worries and all that gloom had melted away like snow.
With a buff like this, with a Master like this, every problem she faced could be resolved.
"Aah...... Master......!! I'm so happy. Lanfang is so happy to be Master's pet dog......!!"
Hye-yong looked down at the kneeling Lanfang with a small smirk and adjusted his grip on the blade tonfa.
"Now, get up and come at me again. Show your Master how you grow by clashing with me at full strength."
"I want to show you too!! My growth — please watch your pet dog grow, Master!!"
Lanfang rose, her face alight with elation, and dashed at him.
Clang—! Cla-ang—!
The crash of metal against metal rang out far more clamorously than before.
They had exchanged only a few blows, but he could feel it.
With every repeated clash, he was coming off slightly worse, bit by steady bit.
And then, when about three minutes had passed.
Cla-ang——!
"Kh......!"
A jolt shot through the arm gripping the handle like an electric shock, and an instant later his weapon went spinning into the air.
Whirrrr— clatter!
Lanfang, who had been undeniably his equal, had grown in that brief span of time and overwhelmed Hye-yong, whose stats were a full tier higher than hers.
"M-Master. Are you okay?"
"This much is nothing. More importantly...... you've grown."
Lanfang nodded, her face brimming with joy.
"Yes, yes!!"
"Come here and kneel. I'll praise you."
Hye-yong stroked under the chin of Lanfang as she knelt and gazed up at him, openly showing his affection.
Stroke, stroke!
"Well done. Good girl. That's my puppy."
"Aahh...... feels good...... praise me a little more, pleeease......."
She was happy.
Lanfang felt as if adrenaline was bubbling up inside her mind.
'Master, I love you...... treat me more like a dog...... Masteeer.......'
The pride of having grown.
Praise from the being she held in awe.
The considerable rush of pleasure chemicals that fact produced seeped into every corner of her body.
The wish to serve this Master for a lifetime sank its roots deep into Lanfang's mind.
-
"Your stats should have gotten stronger by now too, right?"
"Stat increases usually take a little while after training to settle. The terminal needs time to read the mana settling into the body. Growth that happens during training itself is when everything that's built up finally bursts through."
Lanfang, having diligently attended her classes, did have some basic knowledge.
In any case, today's events had shown him that even at just Level 12, the speed of her growth was incredibly aggressive.
'Hmm...... training's good, but I hear mixing in sparring is important for combat experience too.'
Hye-yong's desire to raise Lanfang wasn't for raids.
It was so she could protect herself from other people.
That was why he wanted to focus her training on anti-personnel combat rather than anti-monster abilities.
'Ideally, I'd be the one to be her sparring partner.......'
Hye-yong was clearly, objectively, weak.
He'd been working out diligently to raise his stats, but he still hadn't reached Level 5.
It was fair to say that aside from the Buff Custom ability, he had no talent whatsoever.
So, to be a match for Lanfang, he had to coat himself in buffs, and doing that drastically decreased the efficiency of the growth buff.
He could already see the evidence: he was able to raise it to Level 15 earlier, but as soon as he raised his own stats a bit, it dropped to Level 12.
The available cost pool stayed the same, but the cost required to raise the growth buff's level went down — meaning using that cost elsewhere was an outright loss.
He'd done it this time just to see how fast she could grow.
'Should I check out that place called the Fight Club?'
In the building next to the Sparring Ground, there was a club-like thing called the Fight Club.
A place where people who wanted to beat each other up and brawl gathered.
He'd heard it wasn't crawling with thugs the way the name might suggest.
Hye-yong recalled something Choi Ah-young had told him during a chat before class.
— Training is important, but sparring is pretty crucial for honing your combat sense too.
— So there's a place where people who want to spar mostly gather.
— The Fight Club, next to the Sparring Ground.
— Fighting someone way too strong isn't a real match, and fighting someone way too weak doesn't train you, so you jot down your specs in brief and look for an opponent who's roughly comparable.
— If you're interested, you can use it...... but you're a Blessing Mage, so you probably won't have a reason to.
'Mm, mm. But here I am, finding a reason to use it after all.'
Right now, heading toward the Fight Club seemed like the right move.
"Lanfang."
"Yes?"
"How about fighting someone other than me? It'll help you improve."
A brief silence.
For Lanfang, who was afraid of conflict with other people to begin with, that was probably not a welcome suggestion.
But her loyalty crushed her fear overwhelmingly.
Lanfang put submission into her words.
"If it's something Master says, I'll follow anything. That's my duty as your pet dog, after all......."
"Good girl. Then let's head to the building next door."
Hye-yong and Lanfang moved to the Fight Club.
'Oh...... what's this, some kind of meeting room setup?'
Small room, small room, small room. One after another.
It was like a coin karaoke place with all the booths jammed together.
Looking closely, each door had a small monitor displaying personal details.
[ Lee Han-jun ]
[ 1st Year ]
[ Swordsman ]
[ B-rank ]
If there had been a photo and just a name up there, it would've felt exactly like a sleazy adult establishment.
'First year and B-rank? Whoa. Got some talent, I guess. I'd rather not run into him.'
He kept scanning the doors.
He'd been hoping to find an opponent around D-rank — Lanfang's current rank — but D-ranks were nearly, or rather entirely, absent.
Apparently, you needed to be at least C-rank before you even thought about coming here to fight.
[ Park Yuri ]
[ 1st Year ]
[ Martial Fighter ]
[ C-rank ]
'Is this about as good as it gets......?'
He didn't particularly want to watch Lanfang getting hit by a guy, so the opponent had to be a girl.
And C-rank, which was only one tier higher than her.
Figuring a Martial Fighter was the better pick, he'd been looking for one.
'With a name like Park Yuri, she's obviously a girl.'
A girl, first year, Martial Fighter, C-rank.
This was the best he could find.
Hye-yong opened the door and walked in.
The inside was structured like two study carrel desks linked together.
Pop!
The gum the ponytailed girl in a grey sports bra, black zip-up hoodie, and navy dolphin shorts had been chewing popped with a loud snap.
Park Yuri, who had been sitting with her long legs crossed and half-lidded eyes fixed on her terminal, only deigned to glance at him once Hye-yong had taken a seat.
"Hey."
A cool, laconic greeting.
"Ah, hey."
Hye-yong caught himself stumbling over his words slightly without meaning to.
'She could've zipped that hoodie up, but leaving it open on purpose — is she trying to show it off or what?'
She didn't exactly seem like the type with a strong sense of modesty.
For someone who likes working out, she probably likes that kind of workout too, right?
"Rank."
The moment she asked for his rank, Hye-yong realized he had walked into the wrong room.
'Lanfang is the one who should be coming in here — why did I come in?'
It had felt so natural that he hadn't noticed.
"Just a moment."
Hye-yong stood up, apologized, then fetched Lanfang and brought her in.
"I came in by mistake. The one who'll be fighting is her, not me."
"Ah, h-hello......?"
Park Yuri gave them a slight stare.
Overwhelmed by that presence, Lanfang let out a tiny, "Eep."
'Looking at her, if she'd gone to a normal school, she'd have been the gang leader for sure.......'
No sooner had he thought that than Park Yuri's expression relaxed.
"Rank."
"D, D......."
"D? Class?"
"Assassin-class...... I use blade tonfas."
Park Yuri let out a short laugh.
"An assassin picking a fight with a martial fighter...... and with that weapon? That's gonna be rough. Your ranks are different too."
Apparently, the prevailing wisdom here was that assassins were weak against martial fighters.
He was getting a strong sense that he had picked the wrong opponent.
Should he just apologize now and take Lanfang out?
"I-It's fine! Please, fight me!!"
Even as he was thinking that, Lanfang suddenly gunned it.
'If I chicken out and back down here, I'll be showing Master a pathetic sight!'
With that single-minded resolve, Lanfang had crumpled up her inner fear and stuffed it way down.
"If you really want to, fine. I'll meet you at the entrance."
Ptoo!
Park Yuri, exuding delinquent energy, spat her gum into the nearby trash can, then tapped at the small monitor to clear the personal details she'd written.
She then shoved her hands into her hoodie pockets and walked out of the room.
"Lanfang...... will you really be okay?"
"I'm fine! I might not be able to show you a cool performance, but I'll show you my effort!"
Whoa, this admirable, good girl!
Hye-yong gently stroked upwards under Lanfang's chin.
"I'm proud to be your Master."
"......Eheh. Getting praise from Master put me a little at ease."
Those words must have stimulated some part of Hye-yong's mind, because he suddenly felt turned on with a jolt.
'Tonight's gonna be a wrap.'
With that thought, he walked with Lanfang out to the entrance of the sparring area.
Park Yuri, having arrived first and confirmed they were coming, went inside, and they followed right behind her.
"Why are you following along?"
"Just here to spectate."
"Watching your girlfriend get hit isn't gonna be much fun."
To other people's eyes, Hye-yong and Lanfang apparently looked like a couple.
'It's better than looking like a master and his pet dog, but still.......'
Given how improper their relationship was, he didn't particularly want to draw attention.
"If it bothers you, I can wait outside."
"I don't really care either way. Whether there's a spectator or not."
And so, the three of them entered the 1v1 sparring room.
'She's kind of cocky. I've been showing proper courtesy and speaking politely the whole time, but she keeps talking down to me. I'd love to see her get knocked around and have that pride busted.'
It was absolutely not because she gave off gang leader vibes.
'But I'll hold back. Lanfang's growth is the goal here, more than anything else.'
Park Yuri had knuckles. Lanfang had blade tonfas.
The two of them picked up their respective sparring weapons and stood on the sparring floor.
"Hey, you over there. How about a countdown at least?"
"Ah. Understood."
Hye-yong started counting down.
5. 4. 3. 2. 1.
Lanfang swallowed hard.
Park Yuri launched herself forward all at once.