217. You Know, the More I Learn About You, the More Monstrous You Seem?
217. You Know, the More I Learn About You, the More Monstrous You Seem?
***
That was how they were drinking on the terrace, gazing out at the night view.
Suddenly, Sua's face went pale as she stared straight at Serin.
Under that pure white silver hair, her sister's face definitely showed signs of fatigue, but she had thought Serin was okay because she kept smiling and responding well.
But what she had just heard from Serin was not something she could let pass.
"You were forcibly logged out?"
"Yeah. While I was checking a skill, a forced logout notice popped up."
At Serin's calm voice mentioning the disconnection, Sua's relaxed expression froze solid.
"Serin, are you really okay right now? Shouldn't you go rest immediately?"
"What, you're worrying about me now?"
When Serin answered playfully with her face flushed from the alcohol, Sua spoke up as if apologizing.
"No, why are you only telling me something that important now? If you were that tired, you're still pushing yourself right now. I feel like I've only been thinking about myself... I feel so sorry."
As Sua spoke like she was blaming herself, Serin looked at her with her flushed face and let out a small laugh.
"Ah, you don't have to go that far. I'm the one who accepted, and even if I'm tired, I'm enjoying myself. That's why we're drinking together like this, isn't it?"
"...But you said you were forcibly logged out. Are you really okay right now?"
Sua couldn't help but worry as she asked again.
The forced logout policy set by the game company might seem like nothing, but it was precisely checking the user's body.
If the system determined that a user was tired or that their body was under excessive strain, the connection capsule made its own judgment and disconnected the user.
And that capsule judgment was nothing less than a critical safety measure.
Clink.
Sua set down even the wine glass she had been holding onto the table. Her eyes were filled with genuine worry.
But Serin answered with a small shake of her head.
"I don't plan on drinking for that long either, and since we already opened the bottle, wouldn't it be right to finish this wine and call it a night?"
As Serin spoke calmly, looking at the red wine with about a third left, Sua had no choice but to nod.
"...Okay. But then you absolutely can't push yourself, okay?"
"Pfft... you really worry about everything. Sua, don't worry. I know my own body better than anyone."
At Serin's relaxed smile with the corners of her lips raised, Sua hesitated but eventually picked up her glass again.
And the amount of red wine left on the table really wasn't much.
Just enough to finish after clinking glasses a couple of times.
Cheers!
With that, the sound of glasses clinking rang out again, and the two women slowly brought the wine to their lips.
Unlike before when she had drunk without hesitation, Sua now drank slowly as if pacing herself. Watching her, Serin smiled and spoke.
"So, is there anything else you're curious about?"
"Hmm... then, among the things you gained when you advanced to the hidden class, was there anything special?"
"Well, I haven't checked everything, but there was one interesting trait."
"An interesting trait?"
"A new trait called Moon Dancer appeared."
At those words, Sua looked at her with eyes full of curiosity. Serin gazed back at Sua and brought her wine glass to her cheek.
It was a brief pause to organize her thoughts, and also a way to cool down the intoxication that was rising.
'Am I already drunk?'
Serin was aware that the alcohol was hitting her faster than usual.
Maybe it was because she was tired. Even while chatting, heat rose to her face and a silly laugh escaped her.
Then she slowly parted her lips.
"Moon Dancer. It's a passive that increases damage based on the number of skills you've mastered."
"...Wow, then isn't that an amazing trait?"
As if finding Sua's sparkling eyes cute, Serin rested her chin on her hand and added more.
"But it also applies a damage decrease based on the number of skills you haven't mastered. How about that? Interesting, right?"
"...A damage decrease based on skills you haven't mastered?"
Sua murmured blankly and tilted her head as if she couldn't quite understand.
The "master" stage for skills required by the system was a high hurdle, so even pro players rarely mastered skills unless they were their main skills.
Then she let out a hollow laugh as if dumbfounded.
"No, Serin, then isn't the penalty completely ridiculous? If a damage decrease applies, that means your damage could actually be reduced, right?"
"Right? So to properly use the trait, you have to properly master every Dancer skill. That's what it seems like."
"Wait, Serin... can that trait be toggled on and off?"
"No, it can't."
At Serin's calm smile, Sua asked in an exasperated voice.
"No, then how exactly are you being affected by it right now?"
She had thought the trait was unusual, as expected of a hidden class, but this was too much. Sua even found herself thinking that.
"About 20%?"
"It's reduced by 20 percent? What kind of hidden class trait is that??"
When Sua let out a lament as if she felt even more sorry than Serin, Serin laughed and shook her head as if asking what she meant.
"Why would it be reduced? I said the damage increase is 20%."
Sua stared at her with eyes that couldn't understand.
"Serin, you clearly just said that damage decrease applies based on skills you haven't mastered..."
"Yeah. I did."
"...Then shouldn't it be a damage decrease number?"
"No, I've mastered about 60 skills. The new skills cut into it, so it's a 20% increase."
"......"
Sua suddenly felt like she had become an idiot.
Serin's voice had been transparent and clear without a single trace of inaccuracy, and she had been listening attentively, so there was no way she had misheard.
But she couldn't understand a single word Serin said.
'Sixty mastered skills...?'
It was something beyond common sense.
Even pros who had mastered many skills didn't exceed 30 mastered skills.
The phrase "selection and focus" existed among pro players for a reason.
The number of skills actually used in real combat was naturally limited, and it was also difficult to maintain the sense needed to keep skills at the master stage.
The system was cunning. It provided some degree of correction when users used skills, but it didn't correct "everything."
No matter how much you polished a skill, if the user's level wasn't deemed to meet the system's standards, the master proficiency was never granted.
That was why Sua had no choice but to ask again.
"...Serin, do you really have 60 mastered skills?"
"I'm pretty sure. I checked the skill window right before the forced logout today."
At Serin's calm demeanor as she sipped her wine, Sua now wore an expression beyond description.
The boundary between facts she could accept and things she absolutely couldn't.
She felt like she was in a situation where she had to somehow accept it.
She clearly knew Serin wasn't someone who would lie. But it was like hearing something that common sense simply couldn't comprehend.
Caught between those two contradictory facts, she was trying to accept Serin's words... but that alone seemed to cause cognitive dissonance.
Then Sua's thoughts reached one idea.
Three years had passed since Another World launched, and only three Great Heroes had appeared.
The Legendary Dancer Daji. Why had she appeared only now?
Thinking about the Great Hero no one had ever encountered, along with the Moon Dancer trait, it felt like things were clicking into place.
Serin choosing Daji in the Stage 5 trial was clearly a decision made through her own thoughts and judgment, but Daji revealing herself before Serin somehow felt like inevitability.
Even if it hadn't been the Cave of Trials, she felt Daji would have appeared before Serin before long.
Because it had to be Serin.
It made sense that no Dancer other than Serin had ever met the conditions for Daji's appearance.
'Grandmaster. The founder of the Dancer class...'
Thinking about the traits Daji possessed, in a way, it felt like Serin had received the hidden class offer directly from Daji "because it was her."
Amid all those thoughts, she sipped her wine and parted her faintly glistening lips.
"Serin, you know the more I learn about you, the more monstrous you seem?"
"Sua, there's nothing you won't say now, is there?"
"No... really, you say things that would make other people freak out or be shocked as if they're nothing."
As Sua emptied her glass with a playful air, Serin reached for the wine again.
Glug, glug.
As she accepted the wine Serin poured for her, Sua took in Serin's appearance once more.
'Where on earth did this person come from?'
Even the word monstrous felt insufficient.
Another World wasn't a game that had just come out. Three years had passed, and it was amazing that someone like Serin had suddenly appeared.
Her skill surpassed most pros, her skill proficiency was unbelievable, and on top of that, she had outstanding looks.
There truly wasn't a single thing about her that wasn't exceptional.
Even now, drinking together like this, it felt unreal.
The mysterious atmosphere, as if she wasn't from this world, caught her eye anew.
After that, Sua gave a small thanks as Serin lifted her wine from her glass, then touched her own glass to Serin's.
The clear sound of glasses clinking rang out, and the wine in both glasses rippled slightly.
As she brought the wine to her lips, a thought occurred to Sua and she spoke again.
"Ah, Serin. I think it would be better not to reveal the number of mastered skills on stream."
"Why's that?"
"Well... because it's beyond common sense? You're already getting a lot of attention these days. I think it'd be better to give viewers time to adjust and reveal those things after some time has passed."
Even she, who maintained a top-tier rank, felt this much disbelief. Could viewers or ordinary users casually accept Serin's words?
And just from Serin's visible appearance alone, everyone was already shocked enough. In the community, topics related to Serin had become an everyday occurrence.
While Serin was on the rise like this, Sua worried that unnecessary controversy might arise.
Amid that small worry, as Sua was drinking her wine.
"..."
Serin blankly brought the cold wine glass to her cheek and felt her vision growing increasingly blurry.
The colorful lights of the world shone dreamily, and just looking at them seemed to cut off her thoughts entirely.
"Serin... Serin!?"
Hearing someone calling her, Serin looked at Sua with her now clearly blurred vision.
Sua's figure visible through the hazy lights was somehow comical, but Serin couldn't manage a proper answer.
"Looking at your condition, let's just stop here. I'll help you to the bedroom."
"...Okay."