Skill Pack Bet and the Giant Cat Trap
“Hoo.”
Carpe took a deep breath to calm his pounding heart as he stepped out of the castle.
When Gillian smoothly offered him the advanced skill pack, he'd been so shocked he'd nearly hugged his mentor right there on the spot—but he'd barely managed to hold back.
-Damn. Never seen a route to snag an advanced skill pack before level 50.
Normally, you didn't see something like this until late in your second job change or after completing your third.
“Kuh. What a god game. You're awfully quiet this time, though? Usually when one of these pops, you go off yelling, ‘Is this even a game? RaSe, you bastards, get your shit together!’”
-Eh... it's just a skill pack in the end. Worst case, it's all 4-stars. Best case, maybe one 5-star sneaks in. No real reason to get hyped.
“Tsk tsk. After all these years, you still don't get it. This is minimum 7-star. My gut says it could even hit 8.”
-Yeah. No. It's 4-star trash~
“We'll see. You'll find out soon enough~”
-Wanna bet? If the best from an advanced pack is 5-star, I get one wish.
“Oh yeah, I do have one of your wishes on hold.”
He'd made a similar bet back when he'd faced off against that fanatic priest.
And Carpe had won, so he still had one of Cheonma's wishes banked.
“Deal. Accepted. Betting a wish when you can't see even one step ahead? You'll be switching from Heavenly Demon to Genie at this rate. I'm putting mine on at least a 7-star.”
The two men, now rivals over something pointless, started scouting for a spot.
“Tch. Should've picked up some feng shui if I'd known.”
-...Just rip it open already, man. Don't talk nonsense about ‘auspicious ground.’
“No choice, then. Gotta find somewhere with mountains behind and water in front... Ah, there!”
Carpe pointed to a fountain near Ramark Castle.
He wasn't sure about the mountain part, but his ironclad ‘scientific’ logic was: at least facing water should boost the luck.
“No one's around. Perfect.”
Ramark Kingdom had so few users that the whole city felt deserted.
The NPCs here hated players anyway, so they wouldn't care if he cracked packs or not—ideal for focusing without interruptions.
“Alright, here we go.”
He started with the beginner skill pack from hitting level 45.
Carpe was the type to save the best food for last.
Skill pack opened! 5 cards rise into the air.
A familiar sight by now, but it still made his heart race.
Carpe carefully opened the leftmost card first.
“Please. Just one 7-star here. One 8-star in the next pack.”
-...Your greed's getting out of hand, huh? Who wishes for top-tier on both?
“Who needs morals? Just give it to me!”
The first card: a 3-star attack skill. Archer class, too—straight trash, skipped.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
One by one, the cards flipped past via Repeat skill.
All five opened, but no effects exploded. Best was a 4-star.
But it wasn't a total bust.
You already possess the same skill. Proceed with enhancement?
“Whoa, this again?”
-Huh. Your luck's no joke. Out of all the 4-stars, this one pops twice?
“Tell me about it. Enhance the skill.”
+2 Enhancement Effect: Bleeding Immunity monsters can now suffer Bleeding status.
“Oh? Ignores bleeding immunity? So now golems and undead take bleed damage too? Solid bonus.”
-Yeah, duplicates are rare, so they gotta compensate.
“Not bad for a beginner pack. Riding the momentum—next pack!”
Carpe ripped open the advanced pack. Five cards floated up again.
“Hoo. Alright.”
Entering the real game, not some warm-up, amped his tension fivefold.
-...Your life's gotta be a thrill. Everything's edge-of-your-seat.
“What? No one's not tense here.”
-Even exam kids aren't this wound up on test day.
“Wait, we should've bombed the beginner pack first.”
Pure scientific logic.
He'd needed to ‘bleed off’ the bad luck!
“Tch. No bleed-off means no 8-star. Settle for 7.”
-Thought you only sucked at math. Turns out language too. ‘Settle’ ain't the word, psycho!
“Fine, no settling! Come on, 8-star!”
He opened the first card—and an unexpected twist hit right away.
“...What the hell. This. Rigged?”
Wind Cutter again? Anyone would've cried hack.
“God's telling me to +3 it...”
-Skill +3, huh. I only pulled it off twice in ten years.
“That rare? Does +3 unlock something big?”
-It does, but... on a 4-star? Meh. If it were 5-star, I'd +3 no questions.
Being born 4-star meant even +3 topped out around a plain 6-star.
“Hmm. Check the rest first, then decide.”
Carpe flipped the next four in sequence.
Second: 4-star.
Third: 4-star.
Fourth: 4-star...
“This is insane? Total rig!”
-Nah. Your pulls were the rigs. This is normal.
“No way. My RaSe wouldn't...”
-Hahaha. World's greatest Carpe tongue-tied? Hurry up with the last one.
“Please... please...”
Carpe poured his soul into the final card.
Silver effect explodes!
“Yesss! It popped!”
-...It did. We both lost, though.
Clear silver glow—6-star effect.
“Whew. Good enough.”
His bold 8-star talk was long gone.
No 44444? Count the blessings.
Carpe touched the card, revealing its truth.
“Gasp.”
Silent Tina gulped hard.
The longed-for skill had finally arrived.
“M-M-My lord...!”
“Tina. Calm down. You'll bite your tongue.”
“I am composed. A knight remains unflinching in any situation, maintaining a mind clear as a still mirror...”
Her flushed face ruined the claim.
“Hmm.”
Carpe pondered briefly.
Congratulations! Acquired 6-star Skill Card – ‘Mount’ from Advanced Skill Pack!
+3 Wind Cutter was tempting, but he went with Mount.
His gut said he'd see endless Wind Cutters ahead.
“An... excellent choice, my lord.”
Ever-cool Tina was stammering nonstop.
What did Mount mean to her...?
Light's Tistania meets acquisition conditions.
Grant 6-star Skill – ‘Mount’?
“Proceed.”
Light's Tistania expends 1 skill point to acquire ‘Mount’ skill!
“Your grace, my lord—I shall repay it with feats in battle.”
“Yeah. Keep it up.”
“Entrust it to me. No foe who blocks my lord shall survive.”
Doll-mode Tina raising her sword in excitement was just adorable.
Affinity maxed already, but without a cap, messages would've flooded endlessly.
-Skills sorted. Let's hit the quests.
“Right. White Nightmare and Black Plague, yeah?”
-Yeah. Technically White Tiger and Elder Snake.
“How'd you know their identities on your first Magic King quest?”
-They're not exclusive to it. Remember? I stuck around Ramark a while back.
Cheonma had once dug deep for hidden quests in the continent's weakest nation.
After ages of research, he'd uncovered Ramark legends, traced clues, and ID'd the White Nightmare and Black Plague.
-Caught 'em then too, but hidden boss rewards were meh. No clue they tied to the Magic King.
“Kuh. You've done all my work already.”
-Yup. You just pick up the scraps.
“Blood of the Heavenly Demon! All Demons Shall Kneel!”
“Kyut! Kyu-kyu!”
“Praises done—let's roll. Where first?”
-Black one. Elder Snake drops an item to fight White Tiger. Quests are linked.
“Ah, got it.”
Carpe nodded; Cheonma chuckled amusedly.
-Felt it from the ‘12 Trials’ name, but these seem based on Hercules' 12 Labors.
White Tiger as Nemean Lion, Elder Snake as Hydra.
-Others probably match too. Down to three's a relief—some eat tons of time.
“...You're too knowledgeable sometimes. Weird.”
-Rolling in the dirt teaches you. Anyway, let's go. Oh, general store first.
“General store? For what?”
-Need to kill a precursor monster for Elder Snake. And that's a hidden boss too.
The item summoned that precursor.
At the store, Carpe had to question Cheonma's pick.
“...This summons a hidden boss?”
-Yup. Looks lame now, huh?
“Honestly? Yeah. Just a plain...”
-Watch and learn. Move out.
Near Ramark lay Cat Forest, a hunting ground.
True to the name—a forest of cat monsters indistinguishable from real cats. Huge hit with cat lovers; everyone visited once.
“Whoa, too cute.”
“...How do they expect us to hunt these?!”
But looks deceived: tiny, agile, hard to hit, yet devastating damage. Let your guard down, and gray screen.
Common knowledge: no boss in Cat Forest.
-Wrong. Hidden boss lurks. Remember launch day? Acorn toss summoned giant squirrel from tree.
“Yeah, vividly.”
-Similar. Hidden boss reacts to specific item. Pull out the store buy.
Carpe hauled a massive 3-meter empty box from inventory.
-Open the top, toss anywhere.
“Got it.”
He set the ‘trap,’ and soon...
“Grooowl!”
A massive tiger sauntered from the woods.
Swoosh!
It hopped right in, curled up.
“...Holy shit.”
-Cats fall for empty box traps every time! Get it!