8. My Buff is a Drug
8. My Buff is a Drug
Hye-yong recalled the conversation he'd had with Ah-young.
Her biggest worry was 'luck,' just as he'd thought.
She said nearly every raid she went on was hit with such outrageous misfortune that it failed almost without exception.
At first, her original comrades had thought she was just unlucky, but they gradually realized something was off. Before long, everyone had taken to avoiding her.
Even when she found new comrades, the misfortune followed her. She kept lowering her standards over and over, and before she knew it, she'd plummeted all the way down to this point.
But luck was such an uncertain, abstract element that there wasn't much Hye-yong could do about it.
'Not that I didn't try, though.'
The Luck stat.
There had never been a Luck stat in the original game or the novel.
Still, with this Buff Custom system, it felt like making one might be possible. He'd tried to craft a luck-boosting buff — something that would actually make you luckier.
The result was a disastrous failure.
The system declared it impossible, and the skill itself was never generated.
He didn't know whether increasing a person's fundamental luck was impossible, or if the world's power he could access simply wasn't enough.
What was certain was that, for now, he couldn't do it.
'In that case, I'll have to make something from her other problems.'
Choi Ah-young's armament was a sword.
Her other worry, if you could call it that, was that her mental state had been so bad lately, making her training feel stagnant and her skills barely improve.
Specifically, she'd said her swordsmanship skills were making no progress.
Unlike Chae Hwa-ra, who used a light shortsword and kept one hand free, Choi Ah-young carried a longsword with a blade about 130 centimeters long.
It looked heavy at a glance, and it certainly had some heft.
Wielding something like that in a fight required strength, sure, but swordsmanship skill would be crucial.
'Swordsmanship skill, huh.'
He had a feeling that Buff Custom would be more than capable of handling that.
But how should the application work?
Just raise her sword skill?
'I don't know exactly how the skill system works here.'
Plenty of settings had been created, erased, and altered as this world was constructed.
The reality was, it was tricky to just blindly shove in the settings Hye-yong knew.
'The safest bet is definitely...'
Weapon Proficiency!
Boosting her proficiency with the sword itself would let her use it in all kinds of ways.
'Okay. Main option, decided.'
Now he just had to create the skill name, lock in the main option, and carefully check how far he could push the performance.
He even fretted over whether there was a name that felt fitting for an exclusive buff.
'Hm. Instead of a boring name like Weapon Proficiency Increase, how about something like Soul of the Sword?'
He kicked around ideas before finally deciding to name the buff 'Sword's Enlightenment.'
The effect: Longsword Proficiency.
He also wanted to throw in some Strength and Agility if the cost fit, distributing the extra budget he'd secured by converting the buff into a dedicated skill.
[ Sword's Enlightenment ]
Longsword Proficiency +3 Levels
Strength Stat +2 Levels
Agility Stat +1 Level
Choi Ah-young Exclusive
'I guess that's about right?'
The longsword proficiency increase ate up way more of the cost than he'd expected.
So he shaved one level off the Magic Power stat in Han Geon-hu's buff — the member he liked the least — and redistributed it over here.
Honestly, Hye-yong was a guy too.
Why would he dump stats into a male character with no redeeming qualities?
'Alright~. I can sleep easy now.'
Hye-yong finished his shower and went to bed.
Tap, tap, tap!
"Hye-yong."
As usual, Seo Ha-yoon came to Hye-yong's room and knocked on his door.
He opened the door and greeted her right away.
"Good morning."
"Yeah, good morning."
A girl came to his door every morning and smiled at him in greeting.
So this is what youth is like, Hye-yong thought.
He walked down the now-familiar hallway toward the Otherworld Waiting Room.
"You're here. I'll start explaining right away."
Everyone was gathered, as expected.
It seemed Seo Ha-yoon had fetched him again as soon as they'd all met up.
"Today our destination is 'The Cave of the Ice Shell Turtle.' The Ice Shell Turtle is a bit tougher opponent than the Deep Forest Elephant Shrew we caught yesterday, but we can't let our guard down. It has patterns with solid offensive power."
Explaining the raid monster's patterns and things to watch for.
In the official terminology, this was called an Order.
Giving the Order was considered a duty of the party leader.
Choi Ah-young had studied the monster's patterns from books and videos for the party.
Though normally, you could pick all that up just by paying attention in class.
"Everyone, check your messengers, please?"
He checked and saw a new chatroom had been created.
They finally had a party chatroom now.
Choi Ah-young had sent a video to it.
'So that's the Ice Shell Turtle.'
A turtle about the size of a midsize car appeared in the video.
Hye-yong was the one who'd created the Deep Forest Elephant Shrew, but this was a monster he didn't know.
It had tough-looking blue skin and a shell made of opaque ice.
Its shell was ice, which was probably why it was called Ice Shell.
"We didn't have data last time, but we do now. The first pattern is the Bite."
Crack!
The thing opened its mouth and bit down on a boulder, leaving a turtle-mouth-shaped crater.
"Its destructive power is significant, so don't even think about blocking. The attack speed is slow, so if you keep your wits about you, you can dodge it without much trouble."
The second pattern was the Tail Swing.
It twisted its body and lashed out with its ice-clumped tail.
"This ice acts as a weight. You'd be okay if you have a shield, but it'll be lethal for Hwa-ra. Be careful. When it uses this attack, it winds up its body in a big, heavy motion — recognize the tell and dodge."
And the third pattern was the Desperation Move.
"The place we'll be fighting has a slightly slippery ice floor. Not enough to need crampons, but if the Ice Shell Turtle's shell skids across it, it becomes a dangerous offensive tool."
The Ice Shell Turtle slid and flipped its own body over.
Then it tucked its head and limbs into its shell, spun itself around, and started ricocheting off the walls like a billiard ball.
"When this pattern comes out, Ha-yoon's role becomes critical. Before it builds up speed, you just have to block it once and bring it to a halt."
"G-g-got it. I-I've memorized it."
"And its weakness is this shell. The ice isn't as hard as you'd think, and its internal organs are right underneath. If we focus our attacks on the shell, we can take it down without much trouble."
Choi Ah-young encouraged everyone.
"Let's do our best. We can all pull this off."
Was she checking if everyone was ready?
Choi Ah-young looked over each of their faces before finally touching the entrance ticket to the crystal.
Light enveloped us, and the landscape around us shifted.
An ice cave greeted the party.
A path stretched out right in front of them.
Just like with the shrew, the Ice Shell Turtle would be waiting at the end of the path.
'If I cast that exclusive buff during the fight, Ah-young will like it, right?'
After all, he wasn't the one fighting.
Hye-yong walked with a light heart.
Shhhhhhhhh!
Inside the cave, a freezing aura swirled.
At the center sat a single chunk of opaque ice.
As if sensing the party's entry, blue legs, a head, and a tail poked out of a hole and heaved the ice chunk upright.
"Very well! Loyal confidant of 'That Person,' the time has come to draw forth this body's latent potential. I beseech thee: grant me 'Power Surge!'"
"Indeed. All according to 'That Person's' will. Power Surge!"
Every time he played along with Chae Hwa-ra's concept, he was reminded that life is never easy, no matter where you are.
"Hah-ya!"
Chae Hwa-ra, hyped up from the buff, charged out.
He also cast a buff on Seo Ha-yoon so she could match the tempo.
"Th-th-thank you. I-I'll do my best!"
Seo Ha-yoon's role as the tank seemed pretty important, so he bumped up the stat values on her buff by one level from yesterday.
Next was Choi Ah-young.
With a feeling of 'Take this! This is the buff I agonized over making yesterday!' he cast his blessing on her.
"Ah...?"
[ Sword's Enlightenment ]
Longsword Proficiency +3 Levels
Strength Stat +2 Levels
Agility Stat +1 Level
Choi Ah-young Exclusive
Choi Ah-young checked the buff and looked at Hye-yong.
"Sword's Enlightenment... So this buff is just for me."
Instead of answering, Hye-yong gave a small smile and nodded.
Ah-young returned the smile and nodded back.
Right after that, as if eager to test the power of the exclusive buff placed on her, she drew the sword from her back and sprinted out.
"Huuuuh..."
Yeah, you get a buff too.
He cast a buff on Han Geon-hu, who was catching his breath and prepping something to eat.
Now Hye-yong's job was to spectate.
"Mega Slash! Mega Slash!"
Thwack! Thwack!
"Hup!"
Crack!
Chae Hwa-ra and Choi Ah-young took turns cutting in, carving away at the ice.
The difference in power was clear. The shortsword Chae Hwa-ra swung with all her might only chipped off a few ice shards, while the longsword Choi Ah-young swung with heavy force cleanly split the ice and wounded the organs underneath.
Blood dribbled from the cracked ice shell!
Thrashing in agony, the Ice Shell Turtle spun its body.
"Ha-yoon, it's spinning!"
"I-I'll block it!"
Clang!
Its tail, like an ice mace, swung around but was stopped squarely by Ha-yoon's shield.
'Mm, good.'
Just watching filled him with satisfaction!
Normally, the sight of blood would've made her anemic and incapable of proper combat, but thanks to his buff, she was definitely pulling her weight. He was pleased.
"Now! That pattern getting blocked opens a DPS window!"
Thrust!
Choi Ah-young shouted that as she drove her sword into a gap Chae Hwa-ra had hacked open.
Gripping it like a climber, she hauled herself up onto the shell.
"Keep its attention by attacking the skin! I'll handle the damage!"
Balancing on the shell, Choi Ah-young swung her sword in rapid succession.
Every strike unerringly sliced through the ice shell and the flesh beneath.
"Huuuh, Wind Blast!"
While Chae Hwa-ra slashed at its legs and Seo Ha-yoon tried to shove it back with her shield, Han Geon-hu wasn't slacking off either.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The Wind Blasts kept hammering its head, sowing confusion in the turtle.
The desperate struggle continued for about two minutes...
Thud!
At last, the Ice Shell Turtle's body went limp, and it collapsed.
"Hwaaa! I-I brought it down."
Seo Ha-yoon, who had been groaning and shoving against the turtle the whole time, slumped down right there.
Chae Hwa-ra was busy preening with an infuriatingly smug look on her face, and Choi Ah-young flicked the blood from her sword and watched with a refreshed expression as the foe she'd vanquished crumbled into dust and vanished.
"Good work, everyone!"
When Hye-yong walked over and told them they'd done well, the three praised his buffs almost in unison.
"I had no idea a buff could even raise weapon proficiency. I feel like an incredibly frustrating blockage has just been blown wide open."
"Were it not for an exclusive buff, this body's sealed potential could not have been drawn forth to such a degree! 'That Person' shall surely be proud of you as well."
"I really can do it after all! It's all thanks to your buffs, right? Ehehe, thank you, Hye-yong."
He felt like he hadn't even done anything, but as the shower of praise poured down, he got all sheepish for no reason.
"Hey, don't flatter me like that. You guys fought well."
Even as he said it, he was in a considerably elevated mood.
You could say he felt rewarded for making the buffs.
"Still, you kept so many of these buffs going at once. Is your divine power okay?"
Choi Ah-young's question brought the subject of divine power to mind.
Now that he thought about it, there had been a force constantly draining out of him.
Obviously, since he'd used blessings, they were consuming his divine power.
'Definitely. It feels like if I maintain the buffs for about four more minutes, my divine power will run dry.'
That was the gut feeling he got.
If fights were going to drag on, he figured he'd have to consider sacrificing some stats to reduce divine power consumption.
'On the flip side, I could also increase the power by raising the divine power consumption, right?'
He'd have to test that later.
"I'm fine for now. More importantly, let's check the reward. Hope it's something good this time."
"Yeah."
In the spot where the Ice Shell Turtle vanished, there was once again a Dirt Box.
Everyone probably knew better than to get their hopes up over a Dirt Box.
But being human, they couldn't help secretly hoping.
The only person here with truly zero expectations was Hye-yong, who came from another world.
'I don't really care what comes out of some Dirt Box... but still, I hope it's something decent, enough that the kids can get something out of it proportional to their efforts.'
Choi Ah-young opened the box.