Chapter 30
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Fog Mine (5)
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As soon as she acquired the skill, the skill menu opened in the settings.
From what she could check in the menu, it seemed she could evolve skills by inserting them along with a material called the "Stone of Evolution" and other desired ingredients.
Depending on the materials, it looked like they could evolve in various directions.
"...With no info, I have no clue what to put in."
Put in a fish
Sounds good
Fish + Ambush... what the heck would come out?
"......Why waste a fish on skill material?"
That's the issue?
Aren't we more worried about Ambush evolving weirdly here?
ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Thanks for the 1000 won donation]
Does that mean you get one fish every time you use Ambush?
It was a pretty tempting donation message.
"...That actually sounds good."
Of course, right now, even with all sorts of guesses, she didn't have the "Stone of Evolution," so she couldn't evolve the skill immediately. Cheisi decided to think about it later.
To gain some experience and test the skill, Cheisi headed off to find the specters of the Fog Mine.
Once she spotted a flickering shape in the fog, Cheisi murmured softly.
"Ambush."
Her vision suddenly flipped, and her body teleported behind the specter.
Attacking it in that state dealt significantly more damage than usual.
It shaved off 75% of the specter's health in one go.
This was more satisfying than expected.
Not bad?
Could use it for evasion too.
Cheisi finished off the specter whose health she'd whittled down.
"...My character's turning into an assassin bit by bit."
Dagger. And Ambush. Everything she was using felt straight out of an assassin's toolkit.
At this point, it would feel weirder not to switch to an assassin-class job.
'The situation's flipped somehow.'
Before, the specters would ambush her, but now she could ambush them.
Cheisi paused in thought.
'So if I ambush first, what happens to their attacks?'
Would they no longer count as ambushes?
And what about abilities triggered by ambush attacks?
Cheisi suddenly realized something.
"Maybe......"
Maybe this skill could be more useful than she thought.
"It might even be possible to break the Knight of Kaliune's pattern."
????
What're you talking about
Did she find another solo strat again?
"A skill, huh..."
Oh Sang-cheol, a reporter for the gaming news site GameMain, was staring intently at his laptop screen in the office.
"What're you looking at?"
"Oh, Team Leader."
The middle-aged Team Leader Eom Jeong-baek approached Sang-cheol.
"I'm watching that streamer who's been blowing up the community lately."
"Ariant World?"
"Yeah."
"Cheisi?"
"...How'd you know?"
Sang-cheol looked at Jeong-baek with surprised eyes.
"Why? I was just writing an article about it."
Jeong-baek shrugged like it was obvious.
"Ariant World news is super hot right now. New zones. Elite monsters. Every item is grabbing attention."
"Yeah, all the gaming news lately has been Ariant World stuff."
Recent gaming news was all about VR games. Sang-cheol, as a GameMain reporter, knew that well.
"Azelchen. And Megrana Pit. A solo streamer found two new zones. How juicy is that?"
"True."
"So, I need you to land an interview with that streamer, Oh Sang-cheol."
"...Pardon?"
"This isn't just for me. GameMain's in a rough spot, and your position's kinda shaky these days."
"Am I getting fired?"
"...Not yet. But it's. If you score a big scoop, it'd help."
As Sang-cheol's face paled, Jeong-baek tried to reassure him.
"Come on, it won't come to firing."
"Right?"
"Yeah."
Sang-cheol gave an awkward smile as Jeong-baek clicked his tongue.
"Anyway, how far's that streamer gone? My article's a bit short on details."
Sang-cheol relayed what he'd just seen on the broadcast.
"She just got a skill."
"Live?"
"Yes."
"Perfect scoop. Brief me later on how she got it and what it does. Current situation?"
"Ah, seems stuck now. There's an elite mob called the Knight of Kaliune hiding in the Fog Mine. Insane specs. It gets massive buffs whether hit by ambush or not."
Sang-cheol had been watching Cheisi's stream since it started. He'd seen the Knight of Kaliune appear and checked its stats, so he could explain.
"Probably needs a dedicated tank. Solo's impossible."
'The Knight of Kaliune' wasn't an easy catch. That's what Sang-cheol thought.
"Got it. What's her plan then?"
"Skipping the Knight of Kaliune, probably farm more coins, buy a fish with underwater breathing, then head to the flooded area in Azelchen..."
Sang-cheol doubted his own ears.
It was because of what he'd just heard on the broadcast.
"...She's saying she'll try to catch it? The Knight of Kaliune?"
"...Huh?"
The two men blinked at each other, then simultaneously turned to the Abyss broadcast screen.
????
What're you talking about
Did she find another solo strat again?
The chat was flooded with question marks.
"Listen up."
Cheisi began explaining to her viewers.
Her logic was simple.
"According to the info, Kaliune's forces get a defense buff if their ambush is blocked or misses."
The Knight of Kaliune was the same. Success granted damage amp too.
But ultimately, all these patterns depended on ambushes.
"So if they can't ambush in the first place, they won't get the buff, right?"
???
Is that how it works?
But how do you prevent their ambush?
"I ambush first. Then their attacks might not count as ambushes."
Before the specters could leap from the fog, strike first—then their counter wouldn't be an ambush. That was the idea.
"Not sure if it'll work, but if it does..."
The payoff would be huge.
"Maybe I can take down the Knight of Kaliune in my current state."
Fr, doable?
Might work.
The viewers' reactions were positive too.
Cheisi immediately went to test it on Kaliune's forces.
The moment she saw it raise its shield, she used Ambush—massive damage!
And even though she clearly dodged the specter's attack, no white glow indicating the defense buff appeared.
Conclusion reached.
"If you Ambush and attack before the shield slam motion finishes, no defense buff."
Cheisi watched the specter take damage and retreat into the fog.
"...If it hits me now, it'll probably count as an ambush."
So she needed to pursue to prevent it from hiding in the fog.
Cheisi chased the specter into the fog. Damage was minimal, but keeping up the attacks mattered.
Prevent it from entering the fog while waiting out Ambush's cooldown.
"Ambush."
Using the skill teleported her behind the shield specter.
Another immediate attack shaved off a huge chunk of health.
Cheisi was certain now.
"Found the strat."
Gained 11,000 EXP.
Hunted Kaliune's Forces.
What that meant was straightforward.
"We can take down the Knight of Kaliune the same way."
Solve the defense buff issue, and the rest could be dodged with reaction speed. That made hunting feasible.
Cheisi began seriously planning how to take down the Knight of Kaliune.
There was a problem.
Cheisi stood before the Blacksmith Guild's Training Dummy, deep in thought.
Testing damage on the dummy adjusted to the Knight of Kaliune's stats—it was iffy.
Damage went through, but with Ambush on a 60-second cooldown, hunting would take too long.
"Normal attacks do zero damage."
How long to kill this with just Ambush
Eternal;;
The Knight of Kaliune was tough baseline. Only effective hits were via Ambush, and even those weren't great.
"With cooking buffs, it might be doable."
Expensive 1000-coin dish. Living Specter effect: 250% damage amp on Ambush.
Fighting buffed would make hunting realistic.
"But..."
Cheisi hesitated.
"That's money for the fish..."
Spending 1000 coins now distanced her from the fish. Skipping to farm coins meant awkwardly passing on the elite.
Tough choice.
Your call
No idea tbh.
"Ugh... What to do..."
As Cheisi agonized with her viewers, someone called out.
"Cheisi!"
An hour had passed, and the Knight had logged back into Ariant World.
"Do you know what a Knight of Kaliune is?"
"...Yeah. Why?"
"That NPC over there says he'll give 2000 coins for hunting one. Not that I'm after the money— as a fellow knight, I crave an honorable duel."
Cheisi urgently asked the rambling Knight.
"Where?!"
Maybe the dilemma would solve itself. Her tail swished in excitement.
Following the Knight, Cheisi saw a familiar face.
"What."
The disheveled-haired man glared at Cheisi unpleasantly.
｢Scammer Algeo｣
It was Algeo.
"...No way the NPC giving that quest is this guy, right?"
"It is."
Cheisi had hoped otherwise.
She pinched her forehead.